"2,500 won?"

"250 billion."

“The billion that comes after 1 million won and 100 million won? That billion?”

"Yea, that's right."

"Uhhhhhh…"

As Shim Deok-Gu tried to organize this in his head, he groaned with an expression of disbelief. He looked at the little girl drinking tea with a trembling gaze. The girl uttered in a curt voice, "Why are you looking at me? It is rather absurd, but the Contractor is right."

"No, but how is that amount possible...” Shim Deok-Gu's eyes shook for a moment when he stopped talking. “Is that money perhaps… a transfer fee?"

"Not at all. It’s a one-time employment fee."

“That means the Big 6, no, the Hallem Guild came here with a proper plan."

It was a contract limited to a single commission, not even a transfer or a seasonal contract. The Hallem Guild had to be seeing something bigger because they spent 250 billion won on it.

"I don't really know. Should I like this, or should I be sad about this?”

"Of course, you should like it. Why would you be sad?”

“They burned 250 billion won in one go. The Hallem people are not philanthropists, but they are more thorough than any guild when it comes to money. I'm sure they'll try to get their money back."

"Money? Hmm, money...”

The way for them to recover their money in the Blackfield commission was surprisingly simple. They had to obtain the greatest achievement and be rewarded by the emperor without losing most of the guild's forces.

"They’re probably going to work you, I mean Specter, like crazy."

"Hmm? They can’t work him."

Seo Jun-Ho declared as he coolly drank orangeade. Shim Deok-Gu looked at him as if he was crazy.

"What do you mean they can’t work him? What are you talking about? You sold yourself for 250 billion won."

"Seo Jun-Ho got sold, not Specter. They know this part, too.”

Specter would just be with them. Basically, the auction had been to hire Seo Jun-Ho, not ‘Specter.’

"Wait a minute, so you aren’t going to…”

Shim Deok-Gu turned pale when he noticed what Seo Jun-Ho was trying to do.

"Yeah, I don't have any intentions of being Specter.”

"Hey, you crazy punk! That's contract fraud!"

"Lower your voice, man. You’re hurting my ears.”

"You, you… How the hell are you going to deal with the consequences?"

"Consequences?" Seo Jun-Ho thought hard, then shrugged his shoulders. "Well, don't worry. I'm sure I'll figure something out."

"If the Hallem Guild formally files a lawsuit later, we won’t even have the grounds to defend ourselves."

"Bury your worries. I won't go that far."

There was only one way that they would find out that Specter and Seo Jun-Ho were the same people. It was only if Seo Jun-Ho revealed it himself.

'If I’m going to reveal myself, it’ll be when I’m at least at the level of the Nine Heavens.’

They wouldn’t be able to do anything to him at that point. Of course, they could annoy him, but…

"We can just just throw a few carrots and keep them quiet.”

It would also be better for the Hallem Guild to have a win-win situation than to be in conflict with Specter.

"Isn't that too optimistic…?”

"That's why we need to do well. So they won’t feel like we deceived them."

Rather, he had to do well enough to make them think that 250 billion won was cheap in exchange for his services. If he were an ordinary person, he would have been squashed flat by that pressure, but Seo Jun-Ho was happily chewing on some ice.

"Wheeew, I can't even really hit you...”

Shim Deok-Gu scowled at his friend smiling in front of his eyes as if Seo Jun-Ho were a villain disguised as his friend.

"Hey, don't worry. If I had sold only Seo Jun-Ho, they could have gotten suspicious. Huh? Why is Specter doing nothing but playing around on the 1st floor? Like that…"

"That's..."

Shim Deok-Gu could not deny this. In fact, voices of concern about Specter's health had recently been circulating.

"Bam! Signing a contract at a time like this! How nice is that?"

“…”

Seo Jun-Ho's words were right, so there was nothing more to say. After signing the contract, the Hallem Guild spread the news in a flash. The internet had already been filled with enthusiasts at the thought of hearing about Specter’s performance once more.

"And I got money from it, so it's two birds with one stone."

“What if Blackfield’s much more dangerous than you think, and you were forced to reveal your identity?”

"Trust me. The Frost skill is definitely not weaker than the Watchguard of Darkness. It’s even too overwhelming, to the point where it’s becoming a problem."

He still hadn’t mastered the Frost skill, so he couldn’t use it confidently like he could with the Watchguard of Darkness. However, this also meant that there were still areas where he could improve.

"Wheeew, all right. I'll stop worrying. I'm sure you'll do well...”

"This is why I like you…"

Shim Deok-Gu stopped nagging like a mother.

"Then, is there anything else I can help you with?”

"There is, actually..."

"What is it? Just tell me."

"Money." Seo Jun-Ho looked serious. "Please exchange all the money that we got this time for gold."

"What? All that money?"

"Yeah, all of it."

In the future, he wouldn’t have time for luxury like buying buildings on Earth. If he needed money, then it would be money from upstairs. However, it would be very difficult for an individual to turn hundreds of billions of won into gold. At times like this, a professional’s help was necessary.

"You can do it with your connections, right? Please do me a favor."

"Well, you know that ten percent of the deposit is the association’s cut, right?”

"I know."

"If we took out the withholding tax on top of that, the total will only come out to about—220 billion won more or less."

If you converted that money into gold, it would be about 22,000 gold. Having calculated that far, Shim Deok-Gu revealed an envious look.

"Hey, with this money, you can live like an emperor without working.”

"If I were going to live such a pathetic life, I would have already done that in the past."

When Seo Jun-Ho got up, Shim Deok-Gu handed him a small note.

"Take it."

"What's this?"

“It’s a small information organization we built with your investment. It’s a separate organization with no contact with the Korean Player Association. You’re basically like a representative, so you don't have to ask me from now on, but contact them, and they'll help you look for information."

"Oooh."

It was his own information organization. Seo Jun-Ho perused the contents of the note in amazement.

[Maliva City, Moonlight]

"Moonlight, haha. It sounds like the name of a bar.”

"It is a bar. As far as I know, they took over a closed shop so they could use it to work right away. They are working there with all sorts of information in hand.”

'How interesting.' Smiling, Seo Jun-Ho put away the note properly.

"I'll definitely visit after this job."

"Be careful. No matter if it’s you, it’s an S-grade commission, so keep your wits about...”

Shim Deok-Gu suddenly stopped talking. The man in front of him was a man of iron who had always returned under any circumstances. He had always done so, so he would continue to do so.

"Have a safe trip. As usual."

"Yeah, I'll have fun as usual."

They bumped fists.

***

A tall black wall stood above the mountain range at the Wailing Mountains in the northernmost part of Frontier.

"So, this is Blackfield...”

"Did you say it was a large-scale blockade? I can't believe only one person made this. It’s hard to believe."

"I'm dying to know what the hell he was trying to lock up.”

There were about three hundred Players standing in front of Blackfield. They stood there and observed the wall in awe. Arriving late at the venue, Seo Jun-Ho was surprised in two ways.

'What an amazing wall. It's my first time seeing it this close.’

One, the wall had surprised him, so he couldn’t help but appreciate it.

And second…

‘These are the Players from Big 6. Are they the ones at the top of the food chain?’

The level of the Players here was higher than he thought. They were veterans among veterans, emitting pure and sharp auras.

‘They’re not on the same level as Pride, but they’re about as good as fiends in a Squadron.’

Seo Jun-Ho looked around and saw that there were only a few people whom he would find difficult to deal with. Seo Jun-Ho clenched his fists—he had realized just then how far he had risen.

'When I had just returned, I was still a long way off.’

He was level 1, his physical condition was rubbish, and his stats were lower than when he had first become a Player. He had been through numerous adversities, relying solely on the experience of having been at the peak of the world.

"Look at him..."

"Ah, I saw it in an article, but I guess it’s real.”

"I heard he’s not even level 100 yet… but the Big 6 competed to hire him."

"I'm going crazy just wondering about how good he must be.”

The gazes he was receiving were different from those he had received when he was Specter, and when he had just returned from being frozen.

‘They’re curious about me, Seo Jun-Ho, not Specter.’

They were just purely curious about him. They were surprised and amazed at how great he must be to get here in two years. Their lips twisted with bitter smiles and envy as they looked back on their past days. Seo Jun-Ho did not avoid their various emotions and faced them head-on.

'Mmm, just a few months ago, I would have just smiled and scratched the back of my head in front of the High Rankers, but...’

But now? There was no reason to do so.

Step, step.

As Seo Jun-Ho walked slowly between the Players who were split on both sides, his body suddenly stopped in place. 

There was a mischievous prank that the already stagnant High Rankers did when they saw a rookie on a mission. 

The tradition of ‘hazing’.

‘Pressuring me with magic, interesting.’

He didn’t feel any malice from them. Rather, it felt like they were being careful, afraid of breaking him.

‘Is this just purely a test with no intention to harm?’

That was fine. He could accept that much. 

Every time he moved, he could feel the magic weighing on his body. One, two, three... With every step, the intensity grew more intense. It felt as if he had walked into the sea, and the pressure was making his lungs shrink. His shoulders felt like they were going to pop out of their sockets.

"How many steps do you think he can last?"

"Well... I heard he’s a star among the rookies of the past decade. He should be able to take at least ten steps, then."

"I think he can take twenty steps."

"Hey, hey, I heard his talent’s comparable with Players like Kim Woo-Joong and Shin Sung-Hyun. Don’t you think he can take at least fifty steps?”

"Do you really think that the past is the same as today? Yes, they’re elites of the Big 6, but there are a whopping three hundred High Rankers here. The difficulty of today’s hazing is unprecedented.”

The betting board was laid down in a flash. At this moment, everyone focused only on one Player, Seo Jun-Ho. With pure curiosity and a little jealousy, they began to pressure him. They wanted to see this innocent and cute rookie surrender, saying that he couldn’t walk anymore. They weren’t just doing this test for fun. They were testing if Seo Jun-Ho could really lend them a hand in case of emergency, and if they could leave their backs to him.

Step, step.

There was no change in Seo Jun-Ho's pace throughout. At first, the Players enthusiastic about betting and collecting money, had a look of ‘oh, that's pretty good?’ when Seo Jun-Ho took five steps. As soon as he took 10 steps, however, the number of people talking significantly decreased, and their expressions and eyes began to slowly change.

"Didn't they say he's just in his second year as a Player?"

"Are your eyes just for show? Look at his skills. He's not someone you can gauge based on his number of years as a Player."

"I heard he had defeated a hundred fiends in Port Lane not too long ago. That rumor might be true."

"Wasn’t it just Gray and the archmage that did all the work?”

"No, reliable sources say he also did a great job.”

Footprints continued to linger in the places Seo Jun-Ho had passed through. After leaving fifteen footprints, he could finally see the Hallem Guild at the end of the line.

‘They sure are far.’

They may have taken the innermost spot on purpose. No, at this point, he was certain.

'So, you want to see if you've wasted your money or not?'

Seo Jun-Ho smirked. Weren’t they customers who knew how to hurt his pride?

‘I'll show you, then. I need to increase the customer’s satisfaction so that I don't get sued later.’

Whenever Seo Jun-Ho moved, the pressure on him increased. It felt like a mountain was on his shoulder.

'This is...'

It seemed like good training material. Seo Jun-Ho clenched his teeth and mustered his magic. No matter what, he wouldn’t dare to do something crazy like facing their magic head on with just his flesh. Twenty-five steps later, he had reached the center of the procession.

"Hey, hey, are you serious?"

"Are the guys in front pressuring him properly?"

"No way. Even though we’re taking it lightly because it’s hazing...”

Woong, woong.

They wanted to deny it, but the fluctuating magic around them told them that the combined pressure was no joke. It was at a level where even they would have to be prepared to endure it.

Step, step.

However, their combined magic couldn’t even bring Seo Jun-Ho's long eyelashes down. He walked forward without batting an eye.

Gulp.

The sound of someone swallowing their own saliva spread as if it were contagious. Finally, Seo Jun-Ho arrived at his employer.

"It has been a long time since someone decent has appeared."

The Fourth Heaven of the Nine Heavens and a member of the Celestial Dragon Guild, Wei Chun-Hak, spat the cigarette he was mouthing out into the ground as the corners of his mouth curled up. Some players had smiles on their faces just like him, but most of them felt shivers down their spines as they gawked with stiff faces.

"Fifty steps."

He had taken the 50th step that no one else had ever taken since Kim Woo-Joong and Shin Sung-Hyun. Moreover, the intensity of today’s hazing was even higher compared to the hazing they had been doing in the past.

"I was told not to be late for the meeting, so here I am on time."

Hearing Seo Jun-Ho's calm voice, Milphage laughed boisterously, revealing his teeth. His eyes stared at Seo Jun-Ho, revealing the strong desire within.

"You… Seriously, come to this side. I'll give you my entire fortune. There were some big expenses, so I only have about 70 trillion won left."

"I’m sorry, dear customer, but…" Seo Jun-Ho shook his head with a soft smile. "If it's a recruitment offer, please submit it again after this commission."

70 trillion won? Such an amount would no longer be enough once Seo Jun-Ho left Blackfield.