The hunt had ended, and there were tasks to be done afterward.
Well, to be precise, there were many things more to do when Jeonghyun saw the monster’s corpse.
“Shall we dissect the Zombies~?”
Jeonghyun hummed a tune, sitting next to the broken zombie’s corpse.
It had fallen elegantly, so it only made sense to process it.
“Huh? Jeonghyun, what are you doing?”
However, those who were watching him had puzzled expressions on their faces.
“What? Shouldn’t we process something useful here?”
Jeonghyun tilted his head to show his confusion.
Even as a hunter with a system, there was no support like an inventory.
Even if they enthusiastically killed monsters, the party couldn’t take everything out themselves.
So, naturally, Jeonghyun was about to start working, but…
“If you take the monsters outside the gate and pay the fee to the association, they’ll handle the collection and the processing.”
Somehow, even that seemed a bit unusual compared to common sense.
Monsters captured inside the gate were released to a specific location outside after a certain period, and the association collected them, paying a predetermined fee based on the total quantity.
The collected corpses would end up at the workplace where Jeonghyun used to work.
But why bother with that?
“Huh? Can’t you guys handle zombie processing? It’s really easy.”
Jeonghyun took out what was essentially a utility knife and his sixth finger on his hand.
It was not just a utility knife, it also had attachments like tongs and tweezers on the handle, making it practically an all-purpose tool.
Jeonghyun first pulled out the discolored zombie’s nails with the tongs.
Snip-
“Ah!”
Unexpectedly, Jeonghyun’s actions made it look like a scene from a horror movie, causing Jeonga to instinctively close her eyes and turn her head.
Sunhyung and Doyoon didn’t have particularly good expressions either.
Especially with the eerie atmosphere of the dim dungeon, Jeonghyun’s bizarre appearance was unmatched.
However, as the person involved, it was unjust.
‘Wait, don’t they all do worse things than this?’
When they smashed zombie heads, they looked calmly, but why were they making a fuss over pulling out a nail? Jeonghyun couldn’t understand.
Before Jeonghyun could start the work, Jeonga, looking disturbed, said, “Uh, Jeonghyun, just pay the association comfortably. It seems to be delaying a bit, and…”
And at that moment, as if a switch was pressed, Jeonga urgently stopped Jeonghyun.
It was clearly not because of the time issue.
After all, taking a break after a battle was usual.
In response to Jeonga’s reaction, Jeonghyun responded as if asking what was wrong with that.
“Why? What’s wrong with this? How much do you think you can sell these zombies for?”
“Huh, zombies are about… 80,000 won each?”
“Really? Do you know how much the wholesale price is for ten nails?”
“Uh, what, around 20,000 won?”
Sunhyung’s hesitant answer and similar responses from the other two.
Tsk tsk tsk.
Jeonghyun shook his head, amused.
With so many people in the world who didn’t understand the situation, it was no wonder that the bad guys, who preyed on the kind ones, were thriving.
Of course, the bad guys were wrong a hundred times over, but still.
“40,000 won for ten nails, and for one pair of eyeballs, if they’re in good condition, it goes up to 80,000 won.”
“What?”
Sunhyung’s eyes widened considerably at the price, more than Jeonghyun had expected.
While they might know better than Jeonghyun about the gate itself, however finding a hunter who surpassed Jeonghyun in terms of monster byproducts knowledge was likely impossible.
Those three had frozen expressions.
Soon, Doyoon regained his composure.
“Wait, why does the association only pay hunters for 80,000 won then?”
“Because the price skyrockets during the by-product processing. If you have the ability, it’s much more profitable to process and sell them yourself.”
To others, it might seem like an outrageous scam, but Jeonghyun thought it was a reasonable level.
It wasn’t even a popular industry, having been around for only about ten years, and with not much money, who would do this kind of work?
Most of it went into the personnel costs.
With that money, Jeonghyun could actually pay off his debts and lived.
Of course, now that he was a hunter, he had to maximize it for his own benefits.
But would he get 50 nails even if he hunted diligently here?
The quantity going to the workplace wouldn’t show much of a decrease.
As they finished talking, Jeonghyun looked up at the others, and Sunhyung’s group discreetly avoided eye contact.
Leaving behind Jeonghyun, who had resumed work, the three of them were engrossed in conversation.
“Is that person really F-rank? Doesn’t seem like it, right?”
“Yeah, look at how confidently he’s pulling out the hearts. Could he be someone who always zombie subjugation request?”
“Then what about the newbie act from earlier? It’s strange… Anyway, judging by entering here, he must be at least Level 2, right?”
Opinions were divided about Jeonghyun’s identity.
He must be the one who received the request.
He must have been secretly dispatched from a famous guild.
Originally, his rank was high, but he came to scout lower ranks hunter, etc.
None of them had ever thought that Jeonghyun was truly a rookie who had just completed his hunter registration today.
It was unimaginable that a newbie hunter would dissect zombie corpses with such enthusiasm.
And, of course, the most important topic was not Jeonghyun’s identity.
Sunhyung swallowed his saliva and brought up the topic.
“Hey, what about us then…”
And at that moment, Jeonghyun, who had finished the job in an instant, stood up and called them.
“Hey, it’s over now. Shall we go again?”
The three party members exchanged anxious glances.
Then, simultaneously nodding their heads and smiling brightly, they turned towards Jeonghyun.
“Oh, yes. Let’s go!”
The next monsters they encountered were, unsurprisingly, five more zombies.
It seemed that skeletons were more challenging than zombies, especially if you aimed for the head.
According to Sunhyung, to face skeletons they needed to go deep into the dungeon.
“Nice, Jeonga!”
Relieved, this time, Jeonga’s arrow pierced the forehead of a zombie.
“Yes, this is my skill!”
With an excited voice, Jeonga quickly prepared the next arrow, but it was mostly for backup.
Now, it was time for close combat.
“Yaaah!”
Sunhyung rushed forward with a powerful swing of his shield.
Unluckily, a zombie hit its neck on the shield and, grotesquely, not only did its bones break, but its head also forcefully collided with the wall.
That was definitely fatal.
Watching this, Jeonghyun silently chuckled to himself.
‘Those people were making a fuss over me pulling out a few zombie nails? Tsk tsk. If they hit like that, eyeballs would explode, and 80,000 won would fly away.’
Jeonghyun had a style of keeping his thoughts to himself.
Anyway, the party’s combat power had changed from the first battle.
Perhaps it was because the tension was released.
Jeonghyun realized that the skill level of these people was much higher than he had imagined, and it was a good thing for him to fight alongside them.
‘So, shall we start now?’
Jeonghyun moved, putting strength into the hand holding the mace.
The remaining three zombies were naturally Jeonghyun’s responsibility.
Thanks to Sunhyung concentrating on countering rather than blindly defending, the battle was much easier than the first one.
Jeonghyun could divert the zombies’ attention at the right moment when they focused on him.
If it was E-rank Level 2, it seemed he could endure tanking to some extent.
All that was left was to catch up from behind with his unique fast movements and smash the exposed skull.
This time, as usual, one swing per zombie, a total of three mace blows, ended the battle.
After the battle ended, Jeonga approached with a curious look.
“You’re really fast! What’s your Attribute?”
“Just… a normal Level 1 Agility attribute, you know. Nothing special.”
Jeonghyun replied vaguely.
He didn’t know what kind of category nor the actual ability was in EX, but anyway, it had nothing to do with combat.
Jeonghyun’s ability was, strictly speaking, under a Level 1 Agility attributes, ‘Meager Combat Sense’ and ‘Reasonable Agile Movement’. He also had the synergy effect of the two, acquiring ‘The best defense is evasion attribute’ too.
He just hid the fact that it wasn’t the only one.
At first, Jeonga seemed a bit unconvinced, but once she opened her mouth, she behaved quite amicably.
“This speed is similar to hunting with Sangsoo oppa. You don’t seem like an F-rank…”
Jeonga words trailed off.
Although she was curious, she knew it was impolite to keep asking about an attribute that someone had decided to keep secret.
However, she continued the conversation because she was curious, and Jeonghyun could understand that.
At first, he didn’t have a clear idea of his abilities, but judging by their reactions, it was clear that he wasn’t just at the F-rank level.
The effect of the two attributes and their synergy was greater than he had expected.
He had hidden his rank well.
Anyway, since he wouldn’t meet these people again after this hunt, he just came up with any excuse.
“I guess I exercise a lot normally.”
Jeonga, who clearly understood that he had no intention of explaining, nodded and stepped back.
Seeing this, Jeonghyun sat down again to clean up his share of the kill.
“Uh, Jeonghyun…”
And just as Jeonghyun was about to pull out the zombie’s nails with his tools, Sunhyung interrupted.
He stopped Jeonghyun’s hand and revealed his intention when Jeonghyun looked at him.
“Sorry, but can we ask for the zombies we caught?”
‘Here it comes!’
He had been aware that the three of them were discussing something together.
Jeonghyun silently celebrated, but outwardly, he nonchalantly replied.
“Oh, the processing?”
“Yes, after hearing what you said earlier, there’s a significant price difference. How about it?”
Certainly, if you were originally receiving 80,000 won per head and when they association was selling if for 300,000 won, it was natural for this to happen.
‘How can someone who refuses beef stew enjoy miso soup in peace?’
Jeonghyun nodded with a smile, lowering his gaze as if contemplating for a moment.
“Well, it’s not that difficult. Since we’ve met, it must be fate.”
“Thank you!”
Sunhyung turned back, meeting eyes with the rest of the group as if to say, “Mission accomplished.”
Everyone seemed elated with the increased profits.
Of course, Jeonghyun had never mentioned providing free service.
“Oh, but I can’t just do it for free.”
“Huh? Uh… Of course not.”
Sunhyung seemed a bit more subdued than before, but it wasn’t entirely unexpected.
Seizing the opportunity, Jeonghyun quickly proposed the conditions.
“I’ll take the fingernails as my condition. How about that?”
“Uh…”
“That’s enough to be grateful for! I’m fine with it!”
Instead of Sunhyung, who was scanning the group’s reactions, it was Jeonga who responded abruptly.
Even if they subtract 40,000 won for a set of fingernails, it was still several times more than the money received from the association.
There was no reason to hesitate.
Jeonghyun nodded with a sly smile.
“Well, then, it’s a deal. I’ll earn more money, and we’ll catch a lot today.”
“Yeah!”
Indeed, even for hunters, money seemed to be the ultimate inspiration to work, and the situation was much more profitable than originally expected, lifting everyone’s spirits.
Swift hunting!
Swift butchering!
“Is this really a hunt? Even if we include Jeonghyun’s working time, isn’t this similar to our usual pace?”
“Seriously. Even if it’s our first time, it’s about the fifth, right?”
Contrary to the initial expectations, when it was proven that Jeonghyun was, in fact, a bus driver (someone they ride on to get more benefits), the party members couldn’t stop expressing their admiration.
A bus driver who not only drives buses but also showers money? Unbelievable!
As Jeonghyun laid six zombies to rest and started gnawing on their fingernails, he didn’t show any signs of excitement, but the situation was undeniably thrilling.
Although, he accounted for about 50% of the kills.
Still, the reason for his excitement was clear.
“A set of zombie fingernails goes for 60,000 won.”
In his own way, he was secretly pocketing additional fees.
Even if it’s a direct deal, there’s bound to be some hidden profits, right?
