Chapter 9

The two women, ignoring him, found properly upright chairs and sat down.

“When does our screening start?”

“…It’s from 7 PM.”

“Please order jjajangmyeon for delivery.”

“I’m not ordering that!”

The tall man stomped up the stairs and slammed the door shut. Cho-i, who flinched at the bang, asked,

“Why is he like that?”

“We teased him too much.”

“What do you mean ‘too much’?”

“There are some things you don’t know.”

There’s a limit, and there are things you don’t know now. Nara Shim closed her mouth. She didn’t particularly want to explain. It was amazing what the kid had gone through in there to come out so messed up. But since she didn’t want to know the details about it, Nara Shim sat down and passed the time with Cho-i Hyeon, chatting about useless things. And as time passed, at 7 PM, people began to gather one by one. Their eyes were all sunken, and they held wads of stained cash.

“Oh, should I have brought cash if I want to bet money?”

Just then, Nara Shim pulled out a wad of cash from her bag. It looked to be about 5 million won. Cho-i stared at Nara Shim with unfocused eyes. Nara Shim avoided her gaze and then shouted,

“Why! What! Why!”

“You didn’t say anything when I paid the fee earlier. You made me out to be the woman who spent 1.3 million won at an adult shop.”

“Hey! That’s money you can afford, isn’t it? Does anyone have money to spare? You have more cash than I do!”

“You have a jeonse apartment!”

“Hey, is that my house? It’s the landlord’s house, isn’t it? Half of it belongs to the bank!”

While the two of them were bickering, someone sat down next to them. Unlike the people in messy clothes, the man, wearing a rather neat leather jacket, glanced at them and asked,

“Looks like you’re new here?”

“Yes. We just ended up here somehow.”

Cho-i joked. Her eyes went up to his red-dyed hair and then quickly down again.

“Don’t even think about wearing a rock band t-shirt and dying your hair red.”

“Oh.”

Cho-i acted as if she’d been caught, and Nara Shim sighed. But Cho-i was looking at something completely different.

[ ??? (?) ]

She was looking at that man with ‘Inspect’. Inspect, a basic Hunter skill, showed detailed information about monsters, as well as the rank, stats, skills, and equipped items of Hunters lower than oneself. But Cho-i saw nothing at all in her eyes right now. That meant the other person was a higher rank than her. Currently, Cho-i Hyeon’s rank was A-rank, which meant that man was higher than that. She turned her head forward, pretending to be unconcerned. In the strange venue, where there were many people but no warmth, someone soon appeared in the ring. And that Tall Man appeared, carrying two baskets.

“The Ruler of the Desert is on the left, and the Storm of the Sea is on the right.”

“Why are the names like that?”

“We can’t use real names, so we use nicknames.”

“Wow, those nicknames are so cheesy.”

Nara Shim spoke honestly.

“They’re worse than my old Buddy Buddy ID.”

“What was your Buddy Buddy ID?”

“.・゜PrettyPrincess゜゜・.”

I felt something.

“Why…?”

“Don’t fucking ask. I’m also curious why I did that.”

Nara Shim snapped her head back, and only Cho-i, who hadn’t done a single S-grade since she was a child, was diligently contemplating her nickname. Cho-i suddenly looked at the men in the ring.

[Deoksu Park (E)] [Baeyeon Shim (D)]

Their stats were exactly average for their rank, no need to check separately. The higher you go in ranks, the bigger the gap, and from D-Rank downwards, they tend to be pretty similar. Significant differences only appear from C-Rank. That’s why people say if you’re C-Rank, you’ll have no trouble making a living.

“Still, rank always wins out.”

Unless an E-Rank was an absolute master of martial arts, it was hard for them to beat a D-Rank. It seemed Nara Shim also saw this and was betting on the D-Rank. The Tall Man quietly looked down at Nara Shim betting on the D-Rank, then turned to collect money elsewhere.

“Why, what’s with that look? Is there a law that says Awakened can’t bet money?”

“Judging by the fact that they didn’t stop her, it seems there’s no such law. If we watch, we’ll find out why they looked like that. Who knows? Maybe an E-Rank will win.”

“No way, how can an E-Rank beat a D-Rank? If an E-Rank is a civilian, a D-Rank is a professional.”

“Well, if a civilian isn’t actually a civilian but someone who learned special forces martial arts, who knows?”

“Don’t say such unlucky things. Didn’t you see I bet two hundred fifty on D?”

“Oh my, you bet that much already?”

“They say life is a one-shot deal.”

“And you almost went for it once, still haven’t learned your lesson.”

“…”

The Red-Haired Man listened to their conversation, glanced over, and when his eyes met Cho-i’s, he made intense eye contact. Cho-i thought, ‘Ah, that bastard. Now.’ If Nara Shim hadn’t intervened, he would have spoken first.

“What are you looking at? You know I’m pretty. Don’t stare! You’ll wear me out!”

For the first time, Cho-i felt Nara Shim was acting like a crazy bitch, and the Red-Haired Man seemed to feel the same, letting out a hollow laugh. Nara Shim, ignoring them, looked straight ahead to focus on the upcoming fight in the ring. Cho-i watched the Red-Haired Man, who had turned his head, a little longer before looking forward. He definitely seemed to be looking at me. Ding! At that moment, a starting bell rang from somewhere. It was the sound she only heard when watching boxing matches on TV. Hearing it in person, her ears hurt quite a bit. Cho-i opened her eyes a little wider to watch the fight between the two ranks. And the fight that began was…

“Oh…”

“It’s a real dogfight.”

They weren’t fighting by throwing punches and attempting fancy kicks; they literally lunged at each other like a dogfight. With no particular rules, if an opponent’s punch missed their head, they immediately bit their forearm. They bit so deeply that blood was profusely spilled. That day, Cho-i learned for the first time that an E-Rank could bite and injure a D-Rank. She heard their teeth were hard, and now she understood why. Then, the Red-Haired Man next to her spoke.

“He sharpened his teeth to bite like that.”

“Really?”

Nara Shim asked.

“Yeah, I think so.”

Cho-i also saw the E-Rank’s sharp teeth in that instant.

“Huh, if this goes well, D might lose?”

“What? How can an E-Rank beat a D-Rank?”

“But look over there.”

Cho-i pointed at the ring with her finger. The two were almost glued together, fighting back and forth.

“D’s attacks are almost never landing effectively.”

“Are you saying the E-Rank has higher speed?”

“That could be. Every awakening has some kind of specialty.”

“It’s decided.”

The Red-Haired Man’s voice cut in between the two women’s voices. And in the ring, the E-Rank, who had pinned the D-Rank beneath him, was passionately elbowing the D-Rank’s face. The bridge of his nose collapsed, and broken teeth rolled on the ring. When the D-Rank’s arm went limp and he passed out, the Tall Man lifted and dropped his arm a few times before announcing the winner.

“Desert Ruler wins!”

“But why ‘Desert Ruler’? Doesn’t it seem to have nothing to do with the desert?”

“They probably like the desert.”

“Is it a desert fetish?”

“That’s different! Are you going to flaunt spending 1.3 million won at an adult shop?!”

“Hey, that’s because you wouldn’t lend me cash!”

“Wait a minute.”

At the mention of cash, Nara Shim’s face turned pale. If the E-ranker had won…

“My money…!”

“Hahahaha.”

Perhaps annoyed by Cho-i, who was clapping and laughing next to her, Nara Shim quickly grabbed her by the collar. Cho-i then asked with a smiling face,

“You’re getting bolder, aren’t you?”

“…”

Nara Shim obediently let go of her collar and tidied her clothes. Then she asked cautiously,

“You’re going to participate in that, right? Right?”

Cho-i then said indifferently,

“My mind changed after watching. It’s not as good as I expected.”

“What? Hey!”

In fact, Cho-i’s goal wasn’t this illegal dogfighting arena, so she left Nara Shim, who was screaming behind her, and approached the Red-Haired Man, who was of a higher rank than her. Then she subtly asked,

“Hey.”

“What?”

“I need something, do you know a route for appraising items through illegal channels?”

“Even if I did, why would I tell you?”

“Well, a high-ranking awakened person wandering around here must have some purpose.”

Cho-i smiled slyly and stroked his shoulder.

“Do you personally scout for useful C-Ranks these days? Or is it just a hobby? Anyway.”

She bent her head and whispered,

“How about me?”

She gave a sly smile with her eyes.

“And, how much did you see?”

At her words, the Red-Haired Man raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

At his reaction, Cho-i thought, narrowing her eyes,

‘It seems he only looked at the rank and cleanly averted his gaze. Well, it’s not polite to peek at someone else’s abilities.’

He then stood up without another word and approached the Tall Man. Cho-i followed the man.

“Hey.”

“The payout is over.”

“I didn’t bet any money. I want to get an item appraised.”

“We don’t do that here.”

“I know, so give me an entry ticket.”

The Tall Man then held up five fingers. What, does he mean five hundred? As Cho-i glanced at Nara Shim, the Red-Haired Man casually tossed a worn fifty-won coin from his pocket.

“Oh, that joke isn’t funny.”

The moment Cho-i said that, the Tall Man nodded and took the fifty-won coin.

“So you already have your own entry ticket. I can only give you one more. All I have is the Entity.”

“Give me that one then.”

“An entry ticket is two hundred fifty separately.”

Cho-i smiled brightly and pulled out her card.

“Can I pay by card?”

“There’s a fee.”

“You won’t give me a cash receipt if I pay with cash anyway.”

“Of course. With the fee, it’s two hundred sixty.”

Cho-i readily offered her card, and thus, Cho-i became a woman who had spent a total of three hundred ninety at the adult shop. Wow, this would be hilarious if it got out. She chuckled to herself, crumpling the receipt into her pocket.