The One Who Saved a World Before Will be Best at Saving Another

A car pulled up outside the window and dropped off a case.

“Wait a moment, I’ll go retrieve the item.”

A short while later, he returned and opened the case.

“A sleeve-type shoulder guard. The outer shell is…”

He picked up a drill and brought it to the shoulder guard, then pressed a button. A rattling noise echoed, but the shoulder guard showed no damage.

“Hunters move around a lot, don’t they? It helps prevent dislocations and other shoulder injuries.”

Its appearance closely resembled the kind of shoulder brace people wore to prevent sports injuries. It was a bit unfortunate that it only protected one shoulder though.

Inside the guard was a simple mechanism. It stored emergency medication for critical moments and could inject it immediately with the press of a button.

“Not bad, right? If you don’t like it, you can sell it, and we’ll deposit the amount minus the processing cost.”

At Choi Seung-gi’s words, I nodded.

“I’ll pay for the processing cost and the additional fee. I’ll use it.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary. You haven’t received your payout yet for the Gyodong job, have you?”

After all, not much time had passed since the Gyodong incident ended.

“If we count that as part of your share, then we can say the processing and service fees are covered.”

After saying that, Choi Seung-gi let out a small sigh of relief and grinned.

“Anyway, I’m glad it worked out. I was worried I was being too pushy.”

He wasn’t being pushy at all. I needed more gear anyway. Still, there was something I had to ask.

“Even if you prepared this, there’s no guarantee I’ll sign a contract with your side.”

At that, Choi Seung-gi shrugged.

“I was planning to send it as a gift anyway. New Hunters always struggle with a lack of equipment.”

As he said that, he watched me carefully.

“I’m not too bothered by it.”

Selling monster parts wouldn’t have brought in a huge amount of money anyway. This was a grade 3 Erosion Zone.

Getting a piece of gear that looked this durable in exchange was a win.

“Now that I accepted the gift, let’s talk about the contract.”

Choi Seung-gi let out a small exclamation and turned to me.

“Let’s start with the most important part: the split. We’d like to take 30 percent.”

“That’s higher than the typical fee a junk dealer takes.”

Choi Seung-gi nodded.

“Think of it this way: the larger the cut we get, the more credit we earn in the system.”

“What do you mean by that?”

At my question, he gulped and stirred the ice in his glass with a straw.

“My philosophy is that well-fed people don’t get tempted easily.”

“I don’t think that’s wrong.”

Loyalty and trust increased with the amount of money a person received. You couldn’t expect absolute loyalty by handing someone scraps.

“Because our cut is higher, we absolutely never touch your loot. Honestly, even with the 30 percent rate, our company ends up with about the same as others.”

“So the rest goes to the crew that retrieves the loot?”

Choi Seung-gi nodded at my question.

“Even if someone wanted to steal Hunter loot, most of the time they’d have to fence it. If they’re getting a decent cut already, no one’s going to risk jail time for a few extra coins.”

He had a point. I looked over the contract. It spelled out exactly how much went to the company and how much went to the deployed staff.

“The reason I’m asking for this 30 percent split is clear. It’s not because I want to squeeze a little more money out of you.”

“I’m guessing that’s also why you came in person?”

At my words, he shook his head.

“No, that’s a separate reason. I came personally because I really want to sign you, Hunter Yoo Chan-seok.”

“That’s flattering.”

At my comment, he laughed briefly and then turned serious again.

“Please sign with us. We may be smaller than Blue Wrench, but we don’t want to fall behind in this field.”

“Doesn’t being that humble put you at a disadvantage in negotiations?”

To that, he answered,

“Well, to be honest, we are at a disadvantage. We’re not number one in this field. And among new Hunters, you are clearly the top pick.”

It was hard to argue with that kind of honesty. And he wasn’t wrong.

“Usually, once a Hunter signs with a junk dealer, they stick together for life unless something goes horribly wrong.”

It was a trust-based relationship. Once you found a reliable junk dealer, there wasn’t much reason to switch.

In other words, if they failed to sign me now, they might never get another chance.

“Let’s start with a 40 percent cut, short-term three-month contract and see how things go.”

Choi Seung-gi looked up at me.

“A short-term contract…”

“Think of it as a trial run.”

The rate wasn’t the important part. It was only three months. If things didn’t work out, being locked into a long contract would be more trouble.

It was like buying groceries. Just because the price per pound was cheap didn’t mean you should buy five kilograms of onions when you live alone. They’d rot before you could finish them.

We could start at a higher rate for a short period. If things went well, we could switch to a long-term contract with the originally proposed 30 percent.

“Understood. Though we usually don’t do things like this.”

Choi Seung-gi pounded his chest and his eyes lit up.

“I’ll make sure you want a long-term contract with us.”

“I hope so. Finding a new junk dealer later would be a hassle.”

We drew up the contract right then and there. Afterward, he handed me something. It was the same gun-shaped chip injector that Kim Minjae had used earlier for tracking.

“It’s loaded with 150 microchips. I’ll give you another 150 as backup. Just let me know if you run out, and I’ll send more.”

“Looking forward to working with you.”

That settled it. I now had a junk dealer to work with.

As a bonus, I had also secured access to the Hut. It was a satisfying arrangement.

Now, all that was left was to head to Tsushima.

Once the contract was signed, I packed my things and headed to meet Han Sang-ah at the point we promised to meet up.

* * *

It might go without saying, but there were no ferries to Tsushima.

There just weren’t any. With a level-2 Erosion Zone sitting right there, what sane civilian ship would head in that direction?

So I had to ask the Busan Coast Guard for help.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

“Not at all. We’re honored to assist you.”

Reputation. Whatever the reason, I was now a Hunter who had appeared in the media. This was exactly why I wanted to become known.

Under normal circumstances, they would have asked all kinds of questions and wouldn’t have handed anything over so easily. But with some degree of public recognition, many of the procedures were skipped.

Once I had their agreement to send a boat to Geoje, I met up with Han Sang-ah.

“You’re looking sharp.”

At my words, Han Sang-ah made a face like she didn’t know how to respond.

“I wasn’t expecting a reply.”

After meeting up, we headed to Geoje High School. There was a port not far from the school, so once the meeting was done, we could board the boat the Coast Guard had arranged.

When we arrived at the school, the eyes of the people waiting at the gate all turned to us.

They all looked older. The youngest among them seemed to be in their late 40s.

“We truly appreciate your help.”

“Hey, Hyun’s dad, isn’t that the guy who was on TV?”

An elderly man holding a bottle of makgeolli looked at me and spoke to another old man beside him.

“Huh, you might be right.”

While the gathered people murmured among themselves, one of them came up and grabbed both of my hands.

“My husband went out there and never came back…”

Unlike those gossiping about TV appearances, the person who came to me had a desperate face.

“First, there’s something I need to make absolutely clear.”

At my words, the gazes of the roughly fifty people gathered turned to me.

“I need to know exactly what it is that you want.”

“What do you mean by that?”

It was simple.

“Do you want me to destroy the Erosion Core, or to rescue any captured individuals? If I can only do one, which should I prioritize?”

It was a question of priorities. Was rescuing people more important, or destroying the zone? Depending on the situation, only one might be possible.

In that case, what should I do?

No one answered. Everyone stayed silent and glanced around at each other.

Only then did I fully understand the situation.

It seemed the people gathered here fell into two groups.

One group had family members actually captured and taken to Tsushima. The other group were fishermen who, out of fear, hadn’t been able to set sail since then.

“Well...”

It was obvious just by their expressions. Some glared at others while some shifted their eyes nervously, hesitant to speak.

I didn’t waste any more time and moved on to my next question.

“How do you even know people were captured alive?”

Wasn’t it more likely they were dead?

“There was a guy who escaped. What was it… Baek Hospital? He was taken there, I heard.”

Apparently, someone who had come to their senses claimed that those who were taken were still alive.

There was a good chance that the fishermen captured on Tsushima were indeed still alive.

“Even if that’s not the case, if I could recover their remains, that would still bring you some peace, wouldn’t it?”

I saw people nodding at my words. About seventeen of them. That meant the rest were the ones afraid to go back out to sea.

“Still… to reduce further casualties, shouldn’t we destroy the hole those monsters are coming out of first?”

“How can you say that? So what, the people captured over there can just die!?”

Before the argument escalated, I cleared my throat to interrupt.

“Understood. I get the situation.”

In the end, I was the one making the decision anyway. It wasn’t like any of them were going to pick up weapons, board a boat, and go hunt monsters themselves.

“Right, right. We should trust the great Hunter to figure it out. We believe in you.”

I gave a bitter smile at those words.

“Rescuing survivors takes priority. If there are no survivors, I’ll recover their remains.”

In any case, I had the Coast Guard’s support. If I could recover survivors or remains, they’d be sent to Geoje first, and I would proceed to clear the zone afterward.

“Listen, the dead are important, sure, but shouldn’t we focus on the living first? It’s shrimp season now, and if we can’t fish…”

“Are you seriously bringing up shrimp, you bastard!”

They were about to start fighting again. I stepped in quickly.

“I’ll do my best.”

“…But can the two of you really pull this off?”