Chapter 647: Three Rewards (2)

After finally managing to clear my schedule, which had been packed for a while after officially becoming an S-class hunter, over the course of two weeks.

It was the third day since I officially returned to work at the company for the first time in a long while, excluding the brief visits for things like broadcast filming or interviews.

“Hunter Sung Taekyung-bun, you’ve been summoned by the CEO.”

“Ah, yes. Should I head to the CEO’s office?”

“Yes, please visit the CEO’s office on the 17th floor.”

Although I was slightly puzzled by the CEO’s summons right after returning to work after so long, a strange sense of anticipation bloomed in my chest.

The thought that I might finally receive the Orihalcon material we discussed last time and repair my Mithril Greatsword began to creep into my mind.

‘Since the Basilisk materials have almost all been sold off, I bet she called me over to hand over the Orihalcon material this time. Once I get it, I’ll take it to Areum later to get the Mithril Greatsword remade….’

Picturing delightful scenarios in my head, I got into the company elevator and headed up to the 17th floor where the CEO’s office was located, my heart filled with excitement.

Fortunately, it seemed my guess wasn’t too far off this time, as the CEO handed me the Orihalcon material the moment she saw me.

“……What?”

Although the item she intended to give me wasn’t just the Orihalcon material alone.

The day I found myself having a private meeting with CEO Seo Ok-hee in her office after a long time.

As soon as our eyes met, the CEO exchanged pleasantries with me, and once the greetings were over, she brought a pre-arranged item from below onto the desk and showed it to me.

“Here. This is the Orihalcon material I told you about last time.”

“Ooh….”

Although it had a slightly dull aura because it was raw ore, seeing those few chunks of stone shimmering purple, it was undoubtedly Orihalcon.

One of the only two materials capable of saving my Mithril Greatsword in the current situation. That Orihalcon was now sparkling right before my eyes.

The last time I swung my Mithril Greatsword was two months ago during the Basilisk subjugation. Other than that, the only experience I had was indirectly swinging it in a dream recently.

Of course, the Damascus steel greatsword Areum made for me was also a fine weapon, but compared to when I used the Mithril Greatsword, I couldn’t help but feel a slight sense of lacking.

This was finally the chance to repair the Mithril Greatsword I had used for so long.

“Can I take it?”

“Yep. I set it aside for you.”

“By any chance, are there any additional costs related to retrieving the material…?”

“I took care of it. Besides, that’s not the only thing I have to give you.”

“Huh?”

As I was pocketing the Orihalcon stone fragments into my spatial pouch, the CEO then handed me something else she took out from a drawer below.

It didn’t take long for me to realize it was a bank account and a seal from a commercial bank.

“And this is the account containing your reward for subjugating the Three-Headed Basilisk.”

“Ah, yes.”

“It’s separate from the allowance you earned working as a recovery-type hunter in the Abandoned Village. The amount is quite large, so if it were sent directly to your account, too much tax would be deducted. So, it’s better to just take this as is and use it. If you want to receive it in your account after tax, you can use the seal I gave you to cancel it.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“Check it right here in front of me. I don’t want any hassle later about the amount being different.”

“Okay.”

Just how much was the reward for the subjugation?

I knew the government had placed a bounty on the Three-Headed Basilisk we hunted. And I also knew the bounty amount was quite hefty.

As far as I remember, it was roughly in the billions. If divided by the number of people involved, that would be several hundred million won per person, maybe close to a billion at most.

Adding the Basilisk material prices and other things, the amount per person would easily exceed hundreds of millions of won. For that scale of money, I could fully understand why she wouldn’t send it directly to my account due to tax concerns.

With those thoughts and a touch of nervousness, the moment I opened the bankbook the CEO handed me.

…I couldn’t help but feel quite flustered by the number, which had a completely different unit than anything I’d ever seen in my account before.

‘Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions, ten millions, hundred millions, billions….’

“…CEO. Did you perhaps give me the wrong account?”

“What does it say?”

“I might be mistaken, but it looks like… around 47 billion won…?”

“You saw correctly.”

“……What?”

Seeing Seo Ok-hee nod as if it were the most natural thing in the world, I was still engulfed in confusion.

Perhaps frustrated by my reaction, the CEO stated the exact amount once more.

“Yes, you saw correctly. Isn’t it 47 billion, 56 million, 420 thousand won? Are you unhappy because I rounded it down, omitting the thousand won unit for convenience?”

“Ah, no… Of course, I shouldn’t be unhappy about something like that….”

“Right? Considering how much effort I put in behind the scenes to secure your payment, you shouldn’t complain about something like this now.”

“……”

“I’ll tell you roughly how this amount came about, so open your ears and listen carefully.”

“……Yes.”

“First off, because you eliminated the Three-Headed Basilisk, the government land tied up in Chuncheon City became available for transactions again. The compensation you’re receiving from this is technically called….”

After that, the CEO explained various details about the amount, but honestly, it was specialized knowledge that my brain struggled to keep up with.

What I could barely grasp was that the money the other hunters and I involved in the subjugation were to receive wasn’t limited to just the boss monster’s bounty and material prices, and that the CEO had collected all these compensations without missing a single one.

The bounty placed on the Abandoned Village boss monster’s head, the material value of the Three-Headed Basilisk itself, the government’s subjugation contribution reward, land release fees, and various other compensations were combined into this account containing the 47 billion won subjugation reward.

What provided some relief was that this share wasn’t solely mine.

“So, this 47 billion won is the total amount that all the personnel who participated in the subjugation back then should receive, combined, right?”

“Uh, correct.”

“Hoo, what was I worried about… I thought this was all my share and got surprised….”

Since 8 people cooperated to subjugate it, maybe around 5 to 6 billion won per person?

It was still a large sum, but at this level, it was a comprehensible amount.

Considering that the annual salaries of famous athletes in my past life were in the tens or hundreds of billions, a subjugation reward of a few billion won was within a somewhat understandable range.

Of course, I wasn’t thinking that an amount like 5 to 6 billion won was small, but the sense of money in this world felt a bit different from my original world.

Especially since this world had Dungeon Gates and Monster Waves, Seoul’s housing prices were going crazier than in my original world.

I was trying to rationalize it by thinking that the combined price of my house and Hye-eun’s house might be around 5 to 6 billion won, almost managing to lower it in my mind to a comprehensible level, but…

The CEO’s subsequent words made me feel dizzy once again.

“While that amount is indeed the compensation given to all personnel involved in the subjugation back then, it’s practically all your money anyway.”

“……What?”

“First, here are copies of three affidavits from personnel affiliated with the Foundation.”

Foundation personnel… does that mean Sihee, Do Yehee, and Lulusia, the three of them?

Wondering what these affidavits meant, I took the three documents from the CEO and checked their contents.

On the very first page, the affidavit bearing Do Sihee’s name, I could confirm the meaning of the oath the CEO mentioned.

“Hunter Do Sihee hereby delegates all her subjugation contribution rewards for the Three-Headed Basilisk of the Abandoned Village to Hunter Sung Taekyung…”

“For your reference, the other two pages contain the exact same content.”

“…N-no way. Maybe Sihee, but there’s no way the other two would make such an oath to me….”

Thinking there might be some misunderstanding, I checked the other two affidavits as well, but they indeed contained exactly what the CEO had said.

Not only Lulusia, whom I had only recently begun to understand her emotions, but even Do Yehee’s affidavit, with whom I didn’t share as deep a relationship as the other two, contained the same text.

Faced with three affidavits whose intentions were unclear, I couldn’t help but feel bewildered.

“This, what on earth….”

“I don’t know how you know the Dokyung Group’s heir candidates, but regardless, this subjugation reward probably doesn’t seem like an exorbitant amount to those children.”

“…What?”

“Dokyung is a group with significant reach in construction, right? A family where trillions of won move with every apartment complex they build. It seems they thought they could give you a few billion won out of consideration for your friendship.”

“Just for my friendship…?”

“It’s not just for your friendship. It’s for friendship with the world’s first and only male Awakened S-class hunter. If it’s a relationship that can be bought with money, they probably see it as a bargain?”

“……”

“And regarding the Saintess’s affidavit, while it might be her own will, it’s safe to assume that the entire Vatican City is keeping an eye on the movements of you, a male S-class hunter. From their perspective, considering national budget scales, they likely reached a similar conclusion as the Dokyung Group sisters.”

…Well.

Thinking about the relationships I’ve built with those three, including Sihee, over the past year, I felt that couldn’t be the sole reason.

And even if they were wealthy, willingly gifting me rewards amounting to billions was an act I couldn’t quite comprehend.

One thing was certain, though: I was definitely indebted to them for this.

“Then, the shares for the other members of the Sky Blue Shield…?”

“They’re the same. Since you were the leader of the last subjugation operation, they confirmed that you can distribute the rewards however you see fit. Whether you take it all, distribute it equally, or distribute it differentially, it doesn’t matter.”

“……”

“So, in effect, it’s all your money, Sung Taekyung.”

…I thought I’d just get the Orihalcon material today and head back.

Suddenly having an amount like 47 billion won come into my possession was something I hadn’t anticipated at all.

Little did I know that the final item among the ‘three things’ the CEO intended to give me today hadn’t even been mentioned yet.