Anyone else would have felt intimidated in this situation, but Seo Kangrim’s expression remained unwavering.

Hong Daehoon glared at him, then spoke as if dismissing the matter entirely.

“Hah, forget it. I heard someone opened up a restaurant, so I called you over. We’ve been stuck in here eating nothing but fruit anyway.”

【Did Kangrim come to cook on a business trip?】

【A top-tier chef!】

【Today I’m~ a Demon Beast soup chef!】

【But how did they know Seo Kangrim had a grand opening? Were they spying?】

Just as the gods had remarked, Zone 1’s members had been spying on Seo Kangrim’s camp.

He had sensed their presence at the time but chose not to confront them.

He had been meaning to meet Zone 1’s leader anyway.

Seo Kangrim stared back at Hong Daehoon and spoke.

“So, would you like something to eat?”

“That would be nice.”

“Do you have money?”

“Yeah, I’ve got it. It was 200 Spirit Jade, right?”

Hong Daehoon held out his pocket and poured out 200 Insect Grade Spirit Jade with a clatter.

He could have transferred them through the trade window, but instead chose to scatter them across the ground.

As if telling him to pick them up himself.

Seo Kangrim glanced down.

“That’s not enough.”

“It’s 200. Pick them up and count them.”

“It’s not enough. 200 Ghost Grade Spirit Jade is the price of a meal.”

200 Ghost Grade Spirit Jade—an absurd amount.

Hong Daehoon’s brow furrowed involuntarily.

“Hey, cut the jokes.”

“If you can’t pay, I’ll be going. Do you have any other business?”

When Seo Kangrim took a firm stance, Hong Daehoon seemed to falter.

With a slightly irritated expression, he opened his mouth.

“Fine. From the looks of it, you’ve got plenty of useful Special Abilities. Cooperate with us.”

“…….”

“Then I’ll let you attempt the high-grade difficulty.”

He spoke with a swagger, but Seo Kangrim remained unmoved.

Seo Kangrim’s voice carried a note of disappointment.

“Is that all you’ve got?”

“Huh?”

“I asked if that was all you intended to use to buy me off. It seems you haven’t even found the high-grade clear conditions yet.”

If they had found the high-grade clear conditions, they would have left this place long ago.

At best, it seemed they had only managed to find the mid-grade conditions.

Seo Kangrim turned to leave.

“I’ll be going now.”

“Hey. Seems like you’re misunderstanding something.”

Hong Daehoon growled as he rose from his seat.

Picking up the massive spear that had been standing beside him.

“From the moment you came here, you have no choice. Either cooperate with us, or die right here.”

With ‘Senses’ activated, Seo Kangrim could sense the situation beyond the screen.

Several people were waiting outside, armed with weapons.

Despite this, Seo Kangrim remained unfazed and pulled something from his pocket.

“Do you see this?”

What Seo Kangrim produced was an elongated metal tag.

Hong Daehoon stared at it with a puzzled expression, but when a warning window appeared before his eyes, his face went rigid.

“The Token of Revenge……?”

═══════════════

[Item] Token of Revenge

[Rank] First Human Grade

[Description] If the holder of this item is murdered by a human, a brand of revenge is seared upon the killer.

The killer becomes the target of ‘Princess, Team Leader of the Fate Protection Bureau.’

═══════════════

The gift Princess had sent was an item called the ‘Token of Revenge.’

It was an item typically issued as a protective measure when requesting escort services or registering with a Sect.

It couldn’t prevent being killed by Demon Beasts, but it was effective against humans.

“Killing me would bring you a great deal of trouble.”

Hong Daehoon seemed to think so too—hesitation was evident in the hand gripping his weapon.

He might not know who Princess was, but the name ‘Fate Protection Bureau’ itself carried weight.

Kill Seo Kangrim, and become a target of the Fate Protection Bureau.

Hong Daehoon glared at Seo Kangrim, seething with frustration.

“You……. Seems like you’re a more important figure than I expected.”

Hong Daehoon appeared hesitant, yet he still didn’t lower his weapon.

After pondering for a moment, he strode toward Seo Kangrim.

A cruel smile crept across his face.

“The condition is murder, right? As long as I don’t kill you, it should be fine. I could lock you up somewhere. Maybe cut off a limb or two.”

One of the drawbacks of the ‘Token of Revenge’ was that it didn’t cover harm short of murder.

Hong Daehoon’s eyes gleamed with malice as he leveled his weapon.

“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you.”

The atmosphere was far more hostile than it had been with Zone 4, where Joo Hyeryung had been.

In Zone 4’s case, the hostility had stemmed from a killer’s accusation, but this time the situation was different.

Outside, people were already preparing to launch an ambush.

Seo Kangrim assessed the situation and asked.

“At least tell me why you’re going this far.”

“About what?”

“I don’t understand why you’re so determined to fight. I haven’t even found the high-grade clear conditions yet.”

“Just eliminating a potential threat.”

Hong Daehoon grinned and said.

“We received orders to produce the first clearer from our side.”

Seo Kangrim let out an exasperated sigh.

In his past life, the friction between Zone 1 and Zone 2 had intensified, but he had never known the cause.

He had come here willingly because he wanted to know the reason—and it turned out to be nothing more than the First Clear reward.

‘Could this be related to Princess sending the Token of Revenge?’

She had mentioned that additional rewards would be granted for successfully clearing at a higher difficulty this time.

‘Looks like there’s a power struggle among the team leaders.’

It seemed Zone 1 had also been promised substantial rewards.

Seo Kangrim found this distasteful.

‘To think this whole mess was caused by pressure from the Fate Protection Bureau.’

The moment that thought crossed his mind, Hong Daehoon’s spear thrust sharply toward his flank.

Seo Kangrim swiftly sidestepped to the left.

“I don’t know what you’re daydreaming about, but come quietly. Everyone, capture Seo Kangrim!”

The instant that command rang out, the screen was ripped aside and several people rushed in.

They all charged with weapons raised, ready to ambush Seo Kangrim—only to freeze in bewilderment.

“Huh? He’s gone!”

“He was just here a second ago!”

Seo Kangrim had vanished without a trace.

Hong Daehoon was also looking around in confusion.

“He was right here just now.”

“Did he run up above?”

They searched the area, but Seo Kangrim was nowhere to be found.

For good reason—Seo Kangrim had activated ‘Hidden One.’

The Special Ability ‘Hidden One,’ obtained after disposing of Nam Yoojun last time.

‘I considered taking Murder Impulse instead, but…….’

‘Murder Impulse’ might seem appealing at first glance, but killing people was harder than one might think.

Besides, committing murder accumulated Karma.

‘Hidden One was far more useful in comparison.’

Even now, everyone was dumbfounded by Seo Kangrim’s disappearance.

Seo Kangrim held his breath and observed them.

‘I’d like to take out one or two of them, if I could.’

Using ‘Hidden One’ in a confined space carried a high risk of colliding with multiple people, so Seo Kangrim decided to retreat for now.

However, he had no intention of leaving quietly.

[Special Ability ‘Ten-Foot Blaze’ is activating!]

He tossed ‘Ten-Foot Blaze’ toward the screen, and flames erupted in an instant.

Zone 1’s members could be seen panicking at the sudden blaze.

“What the—! Why did it suddenly catch fire?”

“Hurry, get someone with a water ability!”

In the chaos, Seo Kangrim slipped away, setting fires throughout the camp.

Their camp began to burn in an instant.

Amidst the flames, Seo Kangrim tossed Magical Beast Peaches into the burning areas.

He had stashed a few earlier.

“Huh? What’s that sweet smell……?”

“W-What is that!”

As the fragrance of the Magical Beast Peaches spread in all directions, Demon Beasts in the vicinity began to swarm.

While the people scrambled in chaos, Seo Kangrim casually slipped away from the scene.

“Put out the fire!”

“Aargh, there are Demon Beasts over here……!”

The camp, thrown into pandemonium by the fire and Demon Beasts, was only brought under control deep into the night.

But the losses were devastating.

Most of the camp had burned to ash, and casualties were numerous.

“Damn it, was this that bastard’s doing……!”

Hong Daehoon said through gritted teeth.

His entire body was caked in blood and sweat from fighting off the Demon Beasts.

His face was smeared with black soot, making him look even worse.

“Daehoon, what do we do now?”

A man with a similarly haggard appearance asked.

Hong Daehoon snapped irritably.

“What do you mean, what do we do? We catch that bastard Seo Kangrim and crush him.”

“Instead of that, wouldn’t it be better to use that time to clear the high-grade? You need to keep your promise with Team Leader Seomun.”

Just as Princess had contacted Seo Kangrim, Seomun Yongnyeo had also sent messages to several people in Zone 1.

Hong Daehoon was one of those who had received the message.

“100 million won. 100 million. If we achieve the First Clear at high-grade here, it’s 100 million won.”

The condition Seomun Yongnyeo had set was the sum of 100 million won.

At the words “100 million,” Hong Daehoon’s eyes gleamed.

To him, that sum was far more tempting than any weapon or item.

“Right. That’s exactly why we need to crush Seo Kangrim. He’s the one who’s likely to achieve the First Clear.”

“So what do we do? Attack him?”

Hong Daehoon fell into thought at those words.

But then he suddenly looked up and turned toward the other man.

“Hey, how much Spirit Jade do you have?”

“Huh? About 500 Spirit Jade…….”

“Give it all to me. And tell everyone else to bring theirs too.”

“Why?”

When the other man asked with uneasy eyes, Hong Daehoon grinned and pulled something from his coat.

“We’ve got a gift from Seomun Yongnyeo.”

What he produced with confidence was a single ticket.

The other man wore a puzzled expression, not knowing what it was.

Hong Daehoon waved the ticket and said.

“It’s a One-Time Shop Access Pass. With this, we can use the shop even from here.”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah. So go scrape together every last piece of Spirit Jade.”

Hong Daehoon hurled his weapon to the ground.

As if it were trash.

“We’ll buy the best weapon with that Spirit Jade. Then we use it to crush Seo Kangrim.”

* * *

“I’m hungry……. When’s the food going to be ready, Master?”

Yoon Bom asked, squatting near the pot.

I paused from preparing the leaves and roots of medicinal herbs and glanced at her.

“It’ll take a while. If you can’t wait, eat a White Fragrance Fruit or something.”

“No! I’ll wait!”

Yoon Bom said with a grin.

I sighed and prepared the herbs more quickly.

Looking around, Yoon Bom wasn’t the only one waiting for the meal to be finished.

Everyone was going about their tasks, but kept stealing glances in my direction.

They wore expressions like baby birds waiting to be fed.

When our eyes met, one person raised his pocket high.

“Kangrim, I’ve got my Spirit Jade ready!”

“Me too!”

“I’ve got 600 Spirit Jade ready!”