Chapter 64
Joo Donghoon!
The hottest name lately!
Especially for Kim Jina, who always had her eyes peeled for Hunter-related intel, his face was familiar.
[E-rank Hunter.]
[Necromancer? Production class?]
[A person the Shadow Empress, Ki Soyul, has shown interest in. ★★Important★★]
[High probability of connections with the Five Stars of Seoul.]
[Recently established the workshop “Dmir,” weapons show decent performance.]
[Spent the past two weeks hammering nonstop.]
……
Shrrrk!
Information she had gathered lined up neatly in her mind.
Normally, such data wouldn’t even have been worth memorizing.
‘But this man is different.’
Instinctively, she had stored it away.
Because there was something unusual about him.
Even though it had been ages since someone had awakened as a rare Necromancer, he was still only using skeletons.
Then suddenly, he showed up at an auction and sold a dozen B-rank weapons?
Well, maybe he stumbled across some ‘opportunity’.
‘But the Shadow Empress being interested?’
Unbelievable.
That, more than anything else, had caught her attention.
Ki Soyul, by all her research, was not the kind of woman to open her heart easily.
She had countless encounters, but the only ones who remained at her side were her blood kin, the renowned archer, and the Five Stars of Seoul.
Kim Jina’s eyes brimmed with curiosity.
“Yes, sir. You mean loan products?”
Her voice was full of energy.
She couldn’t hide her excitement at meeting in person the man she had been so curious about.
He replied.
“Yes. What’s the maximum I can borrow?”
“Well, normally the limit for E-rank Hunters is 20 million won. But… if there’s something unusual about your ability, or if you have assets for collateral, I could push the limit higher under my authority.”
“E-rank is twenty million, huh…”
He hesitated, then asked,
“So if my rank were higher, I could borrow more?”
“……”
In that moment, her eyes gleamed.
‘This man.’
He was hiding his strength.
A non-updater.
A Hunter who deliberately hadn’t renewed his rank.
Of course, someone like that might be worthy of the Shadow Empress’s attention.
Gulp.
She swallowed hard.
A man like an onion—peeling back layers only revealed more.
And now, she had the chance to see beyond what the media could tell her.
“Sir.”
“Yes?”
“About your rank. How high can it go?”
She blurted it out.
A sensitive question for any Hunter.
But her curiosity overrode everything.
—
“Hmm?”
I studied the woman before me.
A sleek black nameplate gleamed.
[Team Leader, Kim Jina]
She was different.
Unlike any other banker I’d dealt with.
‘Normally, the moment they see an E-rank plaque, they brush me off or give me the bare minimum.’
But she was different.
She had leaned in, interested, even offering to raise the limit herself.
And more than that—
She had asked as if she knew I was hiding my real rank.
How high could it go?
Could anyone with normal insight say something like that?
I felt intrigued.
“If I answer honestly, does that mean you’ll increase the amount?”
“Hmm, Joo Donghoon?”
“Yes?”
“If you don’t mind… would you join me in the VIP room for a private consultation?”
“What? That much?”
“I’ll be honest. I think I know why you need funds. Want to hear it?”
Whoa.
Bold, wasn’t she?
And she claimed to know me?
No, more than that—she claimed to know ‘why’ I needed money?
I narrowed my eyes.
She continued.
“Going with me will yield far better results than any other bank. Trust me.”
“…Alright, fine.”
Why not?
If she was willing to lend me more, there was nothing to lose.
And I really did need capital.
I nodded, and followed her to the VIP room.
Some staff looked puzzled, but Kim Jina walked with confident strides.
As befitted the loan team leader, she had a solid position here.
“Sir.”
She set down coffee for me on the luxurious sofa and asked,
“You’re planning to take on Ohsung Workshop, aren’t you?”
“Wow.”
Who ‘is’ this woman?
How could she know?
Besides me, my skeletons, and Ki Soyul, no one should have—
Wait, unless she’d heard from Shin Jongoh?
“How do you know?”
“So I was right.”
She exhaled deeply, like someone who had guessed and struck gold.
“I’ve always been interested in Hunters. Conflicts like this are easy to deduce. Director Shin Jongoh of Ohsung Workshop has long harassed people around the Shadow Empress. And she happens to be interested in you.”
“……”
“And now Ohsung Workshop has bought up this entire sector? The conclusion’s obvious.”
I stared in disbelief.
If she said she worked for national intelligence instead of a bank, I’d have believed her.
“Yes.”
I nodded.
No reason to hide it now.
Banks were the only place I could turn for funds.
And to borrow big, I’d have to explain my purpose anyway.
“I’m going to use Dmir’s Workshop to fight Ohsung. Openly. For that, I need money.”
“Openly… as in opening a store right next to theirs?”
“Wow, you could lay out a fortune-teller’s mat right here.”
“With the performance of the weapons you auctioned off, you’ve got more than enough competitive power.”
“Ha.”
A short talk, but I couldn’t help being impressed.
It felt like she was reading my mind.
Calmly, she went on.
“Ohsung Workshop currently has five branches. So if you borrow enough to open five, that’ll do. We’ll take those as collateral. And since Ohsung will pick a fight, buying is safer than renting. Let’s say seventy to a hundred billion won, including interiors.”
“……”
I was awestruck.
So this was what the old man meant by genius.
How could anyone’s brain calculate that in under ten seconds?
“Oh, and about your rank earlier. How high can it go?”
“…At least B-rank.”
I answered honestly.
Go ahead, figure me out. Then give me a plan.
“B-rank…? Incredible. To have such strength yet the restraint to hide it…”
“What?”
“Oh, nothing.”
“……?”
I tilted my head at her muttering. She quickly continued.
“Ahem. Normally, B-rank can only borrow up to ten billion.”
“Ten billion?”
Less than I thought.
“But with my proposal, we could push it up to one hundred billion.”
“…What?”
Even as a team leader, how could she boost it tenfold just like that?
How much clout did she really have?
“Loan approvals always depend on how the case is presented. From what I see, you’re worth the investment. Collateral’s solid. But the interest rate will be high.”
“I don’t care about the interest.”
This business would succeed no matter what.
I’d pay it all off at once.
“Hehe, good. Then I’ll prepare the paperwork and try to get approval. How does that sound?”
“I’d be grateful for any funds.”
“Exactly. You get your business, the bank gets profit.”
She summarized neatly.
“……”
I was honestly amazed.
Such decisiveness—where did it come from?
And the way she looked at me wasn’t normal.
She said the bank profited, but her eyes didn’t reflect that.
‘It’s like…’
Sunny.
The way the ancient desert’s Sun Spear had once looked at me.
Like she was judging me.
Her concern wasn’t the bank’s bottom line, or her own career.
She had some other motive.
‘I don’t know what it is…’
But as long as I benefitted, who cared?
—
Hunter Bank, Branch Manager’s Office.
The manager stroked his chin.
“Team Leader Kim Jina?”
“Yes.”
“You serious?”
“Excuse me?”
“You’ve been quiet until now, and suddenly you want a hundred billion? For Joo Donghoon?”
“He’s a newly updated B-rank Hunter.”
She handed him papers.
A copy of a freshly issued B-rank Hunter license from the Hunter Association.
Rank updates were automated through the system; it only took a day to register.
“That’s not the problem! If my eyes aren’t failing me… you’re saying he wants to fight Ohsung Group?”
“That’s correct.”
“Not correct—damn it! Ohsung’s a top ten conglomerate!”
“Yes. Founded by Chairman Shin Juyong, a leading Korean chaebol. They even have five foreign Rankers under them. But Joo Donghoon isn’t fighting Shin Juyong. Just his spoiled grandson, Ohsung Workshop.”
“That’s the same thing!”
“Chairman Shin is cold and detached. He doesn’t meddle in his children’s businesses. He won’t turn against Hunter Bank over a petty division squabble.”
“How can you be so sure? Are you a prophet?”
“Come on. Have I ever been wrong?”
“Grmph.”
The manager cleared his throat.
Truthfully, her meteoric rise to team leader in her twenties came from this very foresight.
She had a natural gift for grasping whole situations with minimal info.
She had earned the bank billions in record time.
“Still, Ohsung is dangerous.”
“Or maybe it’s the other way around.”
“The other way?”
“What if Ohsung falls to Dmir’s Workshop one day?”
“Ridiculous.”
“Even I can’t guarantee that.”
“……”
“But I see a sliver of possibility. Considering his boldness, connections, and potential.”
“Really?”
“Yes. And a B-rank production class alone is worth a hundred billion.”
“Hmph.”
As the manager wavered, she pressed the point.
“It’s only a hundred billion. Compared to the profits I’ve brought this bank, it’s nothing. If you refuse, then… I may have to consider other opportunities.”
“What, that serious?”
The manager panicked.
Technically, he was her superior, but in truth, she held the real leverage.
Banks and corporations alike were constantly trying to recruit her.
“If you won’t trust me after all I’ve proven… then I’ll be disappointed.”
“Fine, fine. Do as you please.”
“Hehe, thank you.”
In truth.
This wasn’t a proposal. It was blackmail.