Chapter 33 : Are you trying to buy me with money?! (2)

“It’s been a while, Winter-nim.”

“Hello…”

Surely, they couldn’t have come knowing I was the user who caused the ‘ Annihilation’ incident, right?

I thought not.

The places I flew to weren’t likely captured by CCTV, and I had made a pledge with every single hostage returned to their families and every

member of the [Hellbando] guild under the condition that they ‘not reveal my identity’.

If they broke the pledge, they would have died of a heart attack the moment they decided to reveal information about me.

So there shouldn’t be any evidence anywhere that I was the main culprit of that incident.

As proof, among the thousands of articles posted online, not a single one contained information about me.

Therefore, I was confident they hadn’t come knowing what I did.

“We came regarding the [Hellbando] matter.”

“You shattered my confidence right away…”

As expected, the intelligence capability of our country’s highest agency is not something to be ignored.

I smacked my lips with a bitter taste.

How on earth did they figure out I was the protagonist of those news stories when I made sure all witnesses couldn’t speak?

I thought our utterly incompetent government agencies would surely be unable to identify me as the culprit.

There was absolutely no reason for me to get involved in the conflict between users and ordinary people.

In fact, I had even conveyed my intention to remain neutral.

“So, anyway, I did something good for the government… You didn’t come here to make me pay for my sins, did you?”

If they actually tried to hold me accountable, there were countless grounds for me to become a criminal, such as property damage, murder,

and assault charges.

However, as if my prediction was wrong again, he shook his head and offered the bag he brought.

“What’s this? A bribe?”

“It’s neither a bribe nor hush money. Please take a look at this.”

He handed me a bundle of documents, and I read the list of names written on them.

“…Lee Jin-sung, bounty 4 million won. Kim Woo-jin, bounty… 50 million won?”

All the users of [Hellbando] were criminals and wanted fugitives, and naturally, bounties were placed on their heads.

The number of people I knocked out and dropped off in front of the police station alone numbered in the hundreds.

Even if only some of them had bounties, their value was not insignificant.

‘Fortunately, Yejin and Yerim aren’t on the list.’

The period they acted as the guild masters of [Hellbando] was less than a day.

Naturally, it would have been difficult for the police to identify them as criminals in such a short time.

When I returned the list, the man handed it to his subordinates behind him and spoke.

“If you’ve read it all, you must know where this money came from.”

“But why pay the sum in this particular way… Aren’t there other methods?”

“Except for us coming directly and paying in cash, all other methods could leave a trail. Agencies other than the Blue House, which knows

your identity, are all searching for Winter-nim through every possible network. The same goes for the rank 2 female user who fought Winter-

nim.”

‘That rank 2 female user is lying down in that room wearing a maid outfit.’

It seemed there were a few users among the Blue House agents who came this time, but fortunately, they didn’t seem to have noticed Yejin

and Yerim inside the room.

Perhaps the two of them were also cleverly erasing their presence to avoid being caught in their surveillance network.

The Blue House agent, completely unaware of my thoughts, sighed and continued speaking.

“For Winter-nim’s personal protection, there was no other option but this method. Our investigation revealed that your financial situation

isn’t very comfortable, which made us insist even more on the payment.”

“I see. Understood. Then all this money is mine…?”

In a capitalist society, money is always right.

It was a maxim I realized daily while living as part of society’s vulnerable class.

‘With just this money… I don’t have to live hand-to-mouth anymore.’

The thought of a bright future where I could laze around on a good bed in a nice house without working made me happy.

As I couldn’t hide my greed and stealthily pulled the bag towards me, he smiled and took out another bag.

“You might have expected this, but there’s one more thing we need to ask of you.”

“… This bag is the bribe, isn’t it?”

“Correct.”

The previous money bag was legitimate compensation for my efforts, but I had no intention of accepting a bribe.

Who knows what troublesome things might happen if I accepted it.

I like lazing around.

I’m going to live as a bum my whole life, so if you’re going to bother me, go away.

“I don’t accept bribes. And I’ll refuse your request too.”

At my answer, he smiled meaningfully and opened the tightly shut bag.

With a click, the splendid bag opened, and inside- was heaven.

A heaven of precious metals and jewels was there.

“…Do you like it?”

I want to grab those things right now.

I want to lie down on those jewels.

I want to hear the characteristic clinking sound of jewels.

A powerful attraction I’d never felt before.

A desire that made the childish emotions felt in the toy section of a department store in my youth seem incomparable.

When I came to my senses, I had already plunged my head into the bag.

Not even my hand went first, but my head.

I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I couldn’t help but admire the feast of sparkles filling my vision.

“…You seem to like it.”

“Hah!”

Feeling a sense of déjà vu, I quickly pulled my head out of the bag.

The fact that I had behaved disgracefully in front of others combined with the dragon’s privacy to form shame.

I fanned my reddened face with my hand and said.

“Somehow, I keep showing you unsightly things every time we meet… I’m sorry.”

“Not at all. Honestly, it was rather cute.”

The man smiled and waved his hand dismissively, and I blushed at the personally biased comment about being cute, trying hard not to pay

attention to the jewels in his arms.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t help my gaze wandering.

Later, I even started drooling.

“So, are you willing to hear our proposal?”

At his question, I wiped the drool that had escaped and answered firmly.

“No. No matter how appealing, I can’t imagine how troublesome and dangerous a proposal requiring a bribe would be. Seeing as there seem

to be quite a few users who have joined the Blue House… Can’t they handle it themselves?”

I asked, pointing to the elf user with long ears standing behind him, and he smiled again and replied.

“Of course, our users are a great help, but… the [Hellbando] case made the higher-ups realize that in PvP among top-ranking users, especially

within the top 100, a fight doesn’t even begin unless the users are of similar rank. Indeed, Winter-nim alone subdued hundreds of users.”

“That’s true, but…”

“The matter we need to ask about concerns the rank 4 user. Normally, it’s classified information that shouldn’t be mentioned until you accept

the proposal-“

“I refuse. Hearing that just gave me one more reason to refuse.”

I closed the bag that had been open, teasingly showing its contents right in front of me.

Knowing his gloominess and creepiness, this was tantamount to telling me to refuse the offer.

‘Getting involved with that guy is repulsive, even if jewels are the reward.’

I even considered dealing with the Blue House agents and taking the jewels, but crunching the numbers, it didn’t add up.

In exchange for possessing that amount of jewels, being branded an international criminal for killing Blue House agents.

It was a choice likely to attract countless troubles.

I closed my eyes and tried to maintain my composure, eventually succeeding in suppressing all desires and urges.

‘Phew… I feel a bit calmer now.’

With the bag closed, hiding the feast of jewels and precious metals from my sight, I seemed able to make a more rational judgment.

“Please leave. Let me say it again, I have no intention of falling for your tricks…”

“On our side, we are preparing a dump truck full of jewels and precious metals as a reward for mission success.”

“…?”

The elf user I had noticed earlier displayed a screen in the air and began explaining, cutting me off.

“In addition, the reward includes not just simple precious metals and jewels, but also a bed decorated with jewels like this, a wardrobe, of

course…”

Pictures and videos were streamed onto the screen, showing a bed embedded with large diamonds, a wardrobe adorned with amethyst and

emeralds, a residence plated with gold and marble, and chandeliers dangling with expensive jewels.

“…So, in total, a reward of about 300 billion is planned. If Winter-nim succeeds in the operation.”

After the entire explanation, not only the elf user’s but all the agents’ gazes focused on me.

I knelt before them.

Then, just as Yejin and Yerim had done, I clasped my hands demurely.

“I will do whatever you ask.”

Literally, it was a declaration of surrender.