The Calm Before the Storm (4)
BOOM!
The charred corpse of the land shark crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
Kim Minho confirmed the monster's body disintegrating before releasing his hardened skin ability.
"Whew."
"Good work, sir!"
From behind, Kang Sungchul's voice called out.
The team's youngest members, Kang Sungchul and Ha Seojun, were busy collecting the scattered corpses of the Sky Marlins that had fallen all over the area.
Ordinary citizens without hunting licenses would see monster corpses vanish like mirages after a kill. But for hunters like Kang Sungchul and Ha Seojun, the bodies of monsters they hunted would remain intact.
This was the core business of Kim Minho's party — selling these monster materials.
Sky Marlin was a popular delicacy — its flesh was thick, tender, and well-loved.
Of course, it could be bought at supply stores, but the prices there were outrageous.
Since Minho's party sold their catches for far cheaper, there was always decent demand for their Sky Marlin.
Minho pointed to one of the Sky Marlins still writhing faintly on the ground.
"Sungchul, leave that one alive for now."
"Got it!"
Once they finished loading all the other Sky Marlins onto the truck, the party gathered around the remaining body.
Naturally taking the lead, Sungchul pulled out a sashimi knife from his jacket and skillfully ended the Sky Marlin's suffering with a clean cut. Without missing a beat, he began expertly preparing the fish.
Before long, he was slicing it up for sashimi.
Beside him, Ha Seojun brought out disposable bowls and wooden chopsticks, handing them out to the party members.
"Soy sauce with chili paste?"
"Right here!"
Thick slices of fresh Sky Marlin sashimi were served into the bowls, and everyone began eating with their chopsticks.
"Mmm!"
Moon Haeri raised a thumb in admiration as she took a bite.
"Sungchul, your sashimi skills are getting better every time."
"Thank you."
"This is delicious."
Minho dipped a hefty slice into the sauce and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing with satisfaction.
"No matter how much I eat this… smack smack… I never get tired of it."
"Same here."
That's when Moon Haeri, holding up her chopsticks stained red with sauce, casually suggested,
"Should we start a business or something? There are a lot of restaurants popping up these days — I feel like this stuff would sell really well."
Minho shook his head with a chuckle.
"Noona, this tastes so good because we're eating it fresh on the spot. If you try selling it in a store, it'll never taste like this. You know that — you tried it last time."
"You mean that place run by our supplier guy?"
"Yeah. Even pros can't do anything about freshness dropping."
"Hmm… What if I froze it with my Ice Arrows? Or maybe we could get a refrigerated truck?"
"Come on, noona. You know once it's frozen, the quality drops big time. Why do you think we go through all this trouble to eat it right here? It's way better this way."
Haeri nodded in agreement as she popped another slice into her mouth.
"You're right about that. Mmm~ so good."
That's when Sungchul, still slicing fish, chimed in with another idea.
"Then how about this? We take on tourist groups — bring them out here with us. They could watch us hunt, and as a bonus, we give them some fresh sashimi. Sounds fun, right? A lot of people get bored these days."
It sounded plausible at first, but Minho shut it down immediately.
"Get real. Have you gotten soft because nothing's happened lately? This is a seriously dangerous place. Snap out of it."
"Ah, y-yes, sir. Sorry."
As Sungchul sheepishly went back to slicing sashimi, Minho stared at him for a moment before cautiously asking,
***
"So, how much were you thinking of charging per person?"
"Eh?"
"That idea you just mentioned. How much would you charge per head?"
"Umm… maybe 50,000 won per person…?"
Hearing the timid reply, Minho let out a small laugh.
"Pfft. You think you can make a living off that? You'd have to charge at least 100,000 won per person."
"Haha… Yeah, you're probably right."
As their lighthearted chatter continued, Nam Jiho set down his chopsticks and spoke.
"Alright, everyone wrap it up. We need to head back before the fish loses quality."
"Yes, sir."
Everyone picked up the pace, scarfing down the remaining sashimi.
As Minho hurriedly filled his stomach, he couldn't help but seriously consider it.
'Maybe selling frozen fish would be better?'
These days, they had to drive pretty far just to encounter monsters.
Compared to a month ago, the number of people driving within the hunting zones had increased, leading to traffic congestion.
That meant they had to quickly collect their catch and head back as soon as the hunt was over.
The longer the hunt, the more the freshness of the fish would suffer.
But if they could freeze the Sky Marlin like Haeri suggested, things would change.
'We could hunt for much longer.'
That would let them transport much larger quantities in one trip.
'Even if we sell it cheap, the profit would be way better!'
That's why the phrase sell cheap, sell a lot existed.
'And sure, it's winter now so the freshness holds, but in summer? The quality would drop like crazy.'
Eventually, they'd have no choice but to start selling frozen fish.
"Should I really look into getting a refrigerated truck?"
That's when it happened.
[Marketplace is now open.]
"Huh?"
A strange notification appeared in front of his eyes.
"Marketplace?"
The moment he showed his confusion—
"Huh!?"
[Exchange]
-[Search Exchange]
-[Register Item]
A translucent holographic window appeared right before his eyes.
"What… is this?"
Sensing something instinctively, Kim Minho sprinted toward his truck.
A moment later, he returned holding a swordfish carcass.
"Register item."
Immediately—
[Please set the price.]
He set it at the usual market price for swordfish, and then a new notification popped up.
[A 5% deposit fee is required to register this item.]
[Would you like to proceed with registration?]
Fortunately, Kim Minho's wallet was already quite loaded.
"I'll register it."
At that moment—
Ziiiiing—
The swordfish carcass disappeared as it was registered into the exchange.
Soon after, on the very top of the exchange's product list, his swordfish was listed.
And right after that, various items began popping up like mushrooms after rain.
Moments later—
[Sale completed.]
Seeing the amount deposited into his wallet, he couldn't help but cheer.
'The full payment came in!'
Though the deposit fee he paid at the start was gone, even factoring that in, it meant the transaction fee was only 5%.
But considering the sheer convenience of this exchange system, a 5% fee might as well be nothing.
Kim Minho licked his lips, recalling the taste of the fresh sashimi still lingering in his mouth.
What would happen if he caught a swordfish, sliced it up into sashimi right on the spot, and sold it through the exchange?
'This is a guaranteed win.'
A grin stretched across Kim Minho's face, practically lifting his cheeks to the sky.
"Hyung, what's going on?"
"Sungchul."
"Yes?"
"We're about to hit it big."
***
As for me, I never really liked citizens trading amongst themselves.
After all, the 10% fee from their transactions didn't go into the Absolute One's wallet—it simply vanished into thin air.
The more active their trades were, the less effective my 'Tax Collection' skill became.
That's why I had secretly welcomed the rise of direct cash transactions — at least that way, less money was lost to the void.
But now—
'Looks like cash transactions are completely dead from here on out.'
The moment I checked the features of the exchange, I instinctively knew: the value of cash was about to plummet.
'This is too convenient.'
The process of buying and selling was drastically simplified.
Currently, most cash transactions happened face-to-face.
But the exchange was different.
Sellers just had to register their items.
Buyers only needed to decide to purchase.
It revolutionized both time and space.
And in that kind of system, a 5% fee would feel like practically nothing.
'Perfect.'
I smiled.
There was one crucial difference between citizen-to-citizen trades and trades done through the exchange.
That was—
[5,210,260 won has been deposited into the Absolute One's Home Wallet from the Exchange.]
[1,024 won has been deposited into the Absolute One's Home Wallet from the Exchange.]
[30,113 won has been deposited into the Absolute One's Home Wallet from the Exchange.]
[577 won has been deposited into the Absolute One's Home Wallet from the Exchange.]
***
The 5% transaction fee that citizens paid through the exchange went straight into my wallet.
That was the difference.
And thanks to the effect of the Absolute One's Crown I was wearing, the money was being amplified twofold.
It was only natural that I would welcome the existence of the exchange.
"On top of that… I think this has a lot more potential uses than I thought."
For example, you could register weapons in the exchange, and if you ever needed them later, just cancel the registration — sparing yourself the hassle of carrying them around.
For just a 5% fee, it was practically like having an inventory system.
"To be honest, I don't even need to go that far!"
If the marketplace had a wide variety of items registered, all he had to do was buy what he needed, when he needed it.
"This place is going to be incredibly useful in so many ways!"
Signs of an active trading scene were already beginning to show.
Watching the money flow into his account in real time from the marketplace made it impossible to hide his grin.
And this wasn't the only piece of good news.
'Citizen Info Window.'
A new Awakened had joined.
[Name: Yoo Han-gil (Lv. 39)
Trust: 21
Awakened Ability: Clairvoyance (Thousand-Mile Eyes)
EXP Distribution Rate: 0% (+200%) Settlement Distribution Rate: 0% (+200%)
★ Quest Assignment / Expulsion Available]
Clairvoyance was classified as an A-rank skill.
But even considering that, his level was extraordinarily high.
'Even if he started at level 30 after awakening an A-rank ability… getting all the way up there wouldn't have been easy.'
He could make a guess.
'They're all armed with guns.'
If Yoo Han-gil had actively hunted monsters while armed, reaching level 39 wasn't completely impossible.
'First things first — I'll need to confiscate all their guns.'
Using his storage ability, he seized every gun and bullet the group possessed.
The guns vanished from their hands in real-time, causing immediate panic.
"W-What the hell?!"
"Screw this — let's go back!"
"This is insane! All the guns just disappeared!"
Yoo Han-gil responded in a calm voice.
"Everyone, please calm down!"
But for people who had been relying on guns as their literal lifeline in fights against monsters, calming down wasn't so easy.
"You think we can calm down?! We came all this way trusting you, and now our most important weapons are gone! Who's going to take responsibility for that?!"
"I apologize about the guns. But once you see this place for yourselves, I'm sure you'll change your minds."
Judging by the situation, it didn't seem like Yoo Han-gil was the leader of this group.
The man who kept confronting Yoo Han-gil looked to be their actual representative.
Clutching his head with both hands, the man sighed deeply.
"Han-gil… this is beyond what I can handle. Without guns, just moving around here is a death sentence."
"I told you, didn't I? There are no monsters in this place."
"You really expect me to believe that? In this damn world?"
"You know what my ability is."
"Sigh…"
I assigned them a quest to come and meet me.
'No matter how well-armed they were, they still fought their way through monsters to get here. I should at least talk to them.'
That's when it happened.
[An individual meeting the conditions for citizenship has approached the vicinity of your base.]
[Would you like to offer them citizenship?]
In the past, new citizens would show up constantly. But not anymore.
By now, everyone who was going to come had already done so. The rest were either dead or surviving on their own somewhere else.
That's why having people show up back-to-back like this was rare.
'Just one person?'
He looked like a rough, heavily-muscled man.
Without much thought, I pulled up his information.
And the moment I saw it—
'This guy…'
An advanced vampire had appeared.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]