Chapter 18: The Price of a Secret

At Se-hyeon’s remark about leaving the corpse behind, Park Sang-soo asked cautiously, “By leaving the corpse, should I assume you intend to keep the existence of the secret treasury hidden?”

Se-hyeon nodded. “Yes. I didn’t get much out of it anyway, and I’d rather not create unnecessary headaches.”

Park Sang-soo’s expression grew tense. ‘I see…’

In the world of hunters, the simplest way to ensure a secret stays kept is to eliminate the witnesses. While he didn’t think Se-hyeon was that kind of person, one could never be too sure. Furthermore, he didn’t truly believe Se-hyeon had only obtained a single robe; he suspected the hunter had found a way to hide other treasures from sight.

“Since the entrance will be sealed forever in a few minutes,” Se-hyeon continued, “as long as we get our stories straight, no one will ever know, right?”

Park Sang-soo’s eyes flickered with understanding. Agreeing on a story meant Se-hyeon had no intention of “silencing” them permanently. “Certainly. We can just say you already had that robe in your bag and put it on after entering the dungeon. It’s definitely better to keep it under wraps.”

Se-hyeon turned to the other porters. “Which is why I’d like to ask all of you to keep silent about what happened here.”

The porters chimed in immediately, eager to prove their loyalty.

“Haha, don’t worry, sir! My lips are sealed.” “Huh? Did something happen? I’ve just been resting here this whole time.” “Right, right! We’ve just been on a break.”

They were desperate to ensure Se-hyeon felt no need to resort to more… permanent measures.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Se-hyeon said. “I’ll make sure you’re well compensated after the hunt. So, please… don’t forget this commitment.”

The group waited until the entrance to the treasury was completely and permanently sealed before resuming their hunt. They took down about 40 more Goblins before finally heading for the exit.

The hunt ended with a total of 73 Goblins. While it fell short of Se-hyeon’s initial 100-kill goal, he didn’t care. Compared to the haul from the secret treasury, a few dozen Goblins were pocket change.

“E-rank Goblins are priced at 300,000 won for the corpse and 500,000 for the mana stone,” Park Sang-soo calculated. “For 73 kills, that’s 21.9 million for the bodies and 36.5 million for the stones. Total: 58.4 million won. After the 20% tax, the final payout is 46.72 million won. I’ll transfer it to your account now.”

As Park began the transfer, Se-hyeon stopped him. “Wait.”

“Is something wrong?” Park asked, confused.

“I told you I’d take care of you, didn’t I? I want to give 10 million won each to everyone here, including you, Manager Park. Just transfer the remaining 6.72 million won to me.”

The porters gasped in unison. “Ten million won? Each?” “Whoa!”

A porter’s monthly salary was barely over 2 million won. Earning five months’ worth of pay in a single day was staggering.

“I’ll be looking after you in the future as well. You understand what that means, right?” Se-hyeon added.

The porters nodded vigorously but stayed silent. They were at the dungeon entrance where employees from other firms and various hunters could overhear them.

“Manager Park, if you have time, would you care for a drink?”

Park Sang-soo nodded immediately. “For you, I’ll make the time. I know a sushi place with private rooms—perfect for a quiet chat. Shall we?”

The sushi restaurant near the E-rank Goblin Supply Base was ideal. The private rooms ensured their conversation wouldn’t leak.

“You worked hard today,” Se-hyeon said, pouring a drink.

“You’re the one who did the heavy lifting,” Park replied. “Seriously, taking down over seventy Goblins alone is one thing, but that fight with Jeltona was something else.”

Se-hyeon smiled and reached into his pocket. He had “stepped out to the restroom” earlier to pull a few items from his Subspace. He placed a Mithril Ingot and a Gold Coin on the table.

Thud.

Park Sang-soo’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “H-huh? Is this… Mithril and dungeon gold?”

“Yes. Roughly how much are these worth?”

Park, having years of experience in the logistics of dungeon loot, analyzed them instantly. “Mithril ingots are currently trading at 200 million won per kilogram. This looks to be about 10kg, so this single ingot is worth 2 billion won ($1.5M USD).”

Se-hyeon’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Two billion each? I have twenty of them… that’s 40 billion won?’

“And the gold coin?”

“Standard gold is around 3.5 million won per ounce, but since these are dungeon-minted, they carry a premium. I’d estimate about 4 million won per coin.”

Se-hyeon did the math. ‘5,400 coins at 4 million each… that’s over 21 billion won.’

Between the Mithril and the gold, he was sitting on over 60 billion won ($45M USD). He quickly masked his shock and returned to his calm demeanor. “I see.”

“Did these come from the secret treasury?” Park asked tentatively.

“They did.”

“I assume you have more than just one of each. If you’re looking for a discreet way to liquidate these, I can handle it for you.”

Park knew Se-hyeon didn’t show him these just for a price check. He wanted a clean route to sell them without alerting the authorities or the Association.

“I won’t sell them all at once,” Se-hyeon said. “I’ll liquidate them slowly over time.”

“I have a contact I’ve worked with for years. To keep it quiet, there will be a ‘confidentiality fee’—anywhere from 20 million to 100 million won per transaction.”

“Understood. I’ll call on you when the time comes. Also… I’m thinking of hitting a D-rank dungeon tomorrow. Are you interested?”

Park looked worried. “D-rank? Even for you, that might be pushing it. Usually, D-rank hunters stick to E-rank dungeons for safety and efficiency until their Phase 2 growth.”

Se-hyeon shook his head. “We’ll try it. If it’s too much, we retreat immediately.”

Se-hyeon was confident. With his new robe and the 70% mana reduction, his efficiency was through the roof.

“Alright,” Park agreed. “I’ll have to ask the porters, though. It’s dangerous, so I can’t force them.”

“Tell them this: if they come to a D-rank dungeon with me, I’ll pay a 3 million won danger premium per person, per day.”

Park laughed. “For three million a day, they’ll follow you to hell. Especially Jaegwang—he’s in desperate need of cash.”

“Then I’ll leave that to you, Manager Park. Find a suitable dungeon and let me know. I’ll guarantee your safety, and as I said, we pull out the moment things look dicey.”

At the same time, in the office of the Twilight Guild—one of Korea’s Big Five.

Slam!

“Sister! Did you see this?”

Lee So-hyeon, a woman in her late twenties and the Guild Leader, frowned. “Nayeon, how many times do I have to tell you? Coordinate with my secretary. At least knock. And in the guild, call me ‘Guild Leader.'”

“Fine, Guild Leader Lee So-hyeon. But look at this video! A monster of a Mage just appeared!”

Lee So-hyeon was an S-rank Mage herself, ranked #1 among Korea’s long-range dealers and top 100 globally.

“Haa… a Mage? Nayeon—Team Leader Lee. What we need right now is a top-tier Tanker. Maybe a melee dealer. But another Mage? People already call us the ‘Mage Kingdom.'”

Lee Na-yeon, So-hyeon’s younger sister and an A-rank Mage, shoved her phone forward. “Just watch. It’s from yesterday. I thought it was fake at first, but it’s real.”

The video showed a hunter pulverizing a dungeon wave at the Kobold Den and soloing the Kobold General. Even after the 20-minute video ended, Lee So-hyeon remained silent, staring at the screen.