Chapter 19
Chapter 19 -The Luxury of a Cup of Coffee (1)
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Translator: HH
Mumble mumble .
“So who subjugated the 10th floor for real?”
“I’ve been watching the news but there’s nothing . Only gossip…”
“Isn’t the Black Dragon hiding it on purpose? And they’ll do a big reveal…”
“Ah . I said it’s the Sword Saint for sure!”
In the city of the tower’s first floor, people were hectic .
People were happy that the difficult 10th floor was finally cleared . But they were all gathered in cafes to discuss who the secret challenger was .
How would they react?
“Mm . ”
If they knew that person himself was sitting right next to them .
“It’s sweet . ”
I sipped my caramel macchiato . This cafe across Sangryun was the only Starbucks in Babylon .
I admired that fact that even though you couldn’t leave the tower once you entered it, there were still franchises . And there was even the franchise with the red nosed chubby old man as the mascot .
Ah . The desire of humans!
“What do you think, Sword Emperor? Isn’t victory sweet? Actually, I feel like even an espresso will taste sweet right now . Hm?”
-… . .
“Hm . Is this earphone broken? That’s weird . There’s no reply . ”
I tapped the earphone in my ear . Of course, there wasn’t any sound coming from it .
It was a simple trick of the eye .
I would seem like a crazy person if I just spoke to myself, so I pretended like I was calling someone . It actually worked quite well . No one in the cafe looked at me like I was weird .
“Sword Emperor-nim? Sword Emperor? Excuse me, Mr . Psychopath . Excuse me, Mr . Crazy Guy?”
-…what .
“Ah . Now I can hear you . I thought you were deaf now . Tsk tsk, you made the superior Gong-jnim worry . Humans shouldn’t do that . ”
-…
“Ah, right . You’re a ghost, not a human . I’m stupid, so I forgot . Oh right! Sword Emperor . Can I speak informally to you now? It’s weird if I speak formally to you when you call me Gong-jnim . Right?”
-…fuck…
Floating opposite of me, Bae Hu-ryeong’s shoulders shook .
-I’ve never experienced this humiliation in my entire life…emperor…how could someone who was called an emperor become like this…
“Nah . It was just a joke . Even if I’m called Gong-jnim, I couldn’t speak informally to such a senior . Although I could . I can . I’ll just call you Sword Emperor-nim from now on . How’s that? Satisfied?”
-Just kill me instead!
Bae Hu-ryeong cried out .
-Get a new skill and replace the Sword Constellation slot! You can do that, you son of a bitch! Just kill me!
“Oh no . This person’s saying things he shouldn’t . Aren’t we partners, partner? Forever friends . Best friends! Who in the world would kill their best friend? From now on, we’ll be together forever . ”
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-Sob sob sob . Whatever…I’m just not gonna say anything . Grandpops Marcus . I wanna go back to grandpops…
Ah, it was sweet .
I looked up at the sky sipping my coffee .
[22:32:50]
The clock in the sky showed that an hour had passed .
Just when I was thinking it was time for it to show up .
-Meow .
“Mm?”
A brown cat crawled up to me . It was too clean to be a stray . If there was something special about it, it was that there were two gold pieces on its neck instead of a bell .
“······ . ”
Gulp .
I wondered how I should deal with this situation .
‘Gold Piece Cat . ’
-Hm?
‘Gold Piece Cat . It’s a really famous…ah . People wouldn’t know about it now . ’
This cat wasn’t a normal pet .
It would be a well-known mascot of the Tower about 5 years later .
‘…I didn’t know such a bigwig would come to me . ’
I supposed I should pretend like I didn’t know anything .
I calmly looked down at the cat . Controlling my face .
“Are you lost?’
-Meow .
The brown cat rubbed its head on my legs . I was a bit dumbfounded . If I didn’t know its real identity, I would just think it was a friendly cat .
“Do you wanna stay with me until your owner comes?”
-Meoooow .
I lifted the cat onto my laps . The cat calmly licked its paws in my lap like that’s what it wanted the entire time . It even yawned with a meow .
‘I can’t believe it’s a person crazy for cats . The acting is incredible . ’
I rubbed the cat’s head .
-Meooow .
As I was listening to the cat purr, a group of hunters came towards me . One of them spoke to me .
“Excuse me . Is your name Kim Gong-ja?”
“Mm . ”
Just by a glance I could tell their equipment was expensive . They weren’t just a ragtag bunch . If not guild masters, at least executives . A group of those kinds of people were gathered around the cafe .
I showed my ID to them .
“I wondered how long it would take . It took exactly 1 hour and 30 minutes I see . ”
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“…!”
The hunters’ eyes shook upon seeing my ID . They frantically pulled their phones out and started to contact others .
“Yes . I found him!”
“In the cafe right across the bank…”
“No . Other guilds are also here…yes . Yes, sir! Understood, boss . ”
“Don’t worry . I won’t have him taken by other guilds!”
It was the eve of a storm .
I contentedly watched what was happening in front of me .
‘I feel like I’m a VIP . ’
-Well . Most guilds will try to scout you . You cleared the 10th floor by yourself . That’s a real VIP .
‘Mm . I guess . Even a person who cleared the 99th floor calls me Gong-jnim, so it would be weird if I wasn’t a VIP . ’
-Fuck! Fuck! Fuuuck!
The hunters ended their calls one by one .
And they all looked at me with nervous faces .
As I waited for the first guild to speak up, a large blonde hunter took a step forward .
“I am the HR team leader of the Civil Militia Guild . Kim Gong-ja hunter-nim . As you may already know, the Civil Militia is the most honorable guild in Babylon . If you enter our guild…!”
“Just a moment . ”
I lifted my hand . The HR team leader of Civil Militia paused .
“Sorry for cutting you off . But let’s speak after two things are clearly established . ”
“…”
“First . Let’s not leak anything to the media . ”
I slowly looked at the hunters . I could guarantee that none of these hunters would be a lower rank than me . Before I regressed, I wouldn’t even have dared to look at them . But now, I didn’t fall short to any of them .
My performance .
I had the achievement of being the first person to subjugate the 10th floor .
This was like a landmark that no hunter could destroy regardless of their level .
Competent hunters considered performance important . If they were competent, they wouldn’t be able to treat me like I was nothing .
“I won’t sign a contract with any guild that leaks my name to the public . I won’t even associate with them . Please be aware . ”
“Uh…u, until when?”
Another hunt raised their hand to ask .
“The Golden Newspaper reporters are sticking their noses into all the guilds…Kim Gong-jnim . I don’t know how long we’ll be able to hide this . ”
“Well, I’m not saying to hide this forever . ”
I pointed at the sky .
The hunters all looked up at the sky too .
[22:25:31]
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“Just until today . Until the clock reaches 00:00:00, please keep the ban . ”
“Ah! Alright . Somehow until then…understood . ”
The hunters all sighed in relief .
I smiled .
‘I can’t be held up by reporters . Not when I have to run as fast I can to the 11th floor when it opens . ’
I opened my mouth again .
“That’s the first condition . And for the second-”
“…”
The hunters all looked at me with stiff expressions . They were probably nervous about what difficult condition I would request .
I grinned and looked around me .
“-this is a public area so let’s respect the other customers . ”
“Pardon?”
“Can’t you see the customers looking this way? They’re surprised because you all suddenly gathered here . ”
I was right .
All the other customers were looking this way . Most of the customers whispered to each other with suspicious eyes . There was even a customer who looked like they were filming this .
“It’s a nuisance . ”
“I know you were all rushed looking for me, but let’s take it slow . It’s not like I’ll run away . ”
“S, Sorry . ”
The hunters realized the environment and dispersed .
“I’m sorry . I can’t tell you the reason but if you could move…”
“Sir . How much would it cost to rent this cafe for 1 hour?”
“Everyone, thank you for your understanding! If you come to Chen Mu-mun sometime, we’ll…”
The scale of the large clans’ executives was definitely different .
It took 5 minutes for them to make everyone leave and rent to the cafe from the owner . The cafe was empty after only 5 minutes .
“Alright . ”
We entered a corner of the cafe and started to speak .
“Then let’s start the negotiations . State your conditions . ”
Funnily, they all had a cup of coffee in their hands . It was because I said they were being a nuisance . How cute .
“…Our Civil Militia offers 10,000 Gold for the contract fee . ”
That was the starting point .
“10,000 Gold? Dang . You’re showing you’re poor in a place like this . Kim Gong-ja hunter-nim! Please sign up with the Adventure League . We promise 20,000 Gold, and an executive position . ”
“Come to Chen Mu-mun, hunter-nim . Our guild grows combat specific hunters and we’ll take you in as a trainer with 25,000 Gold . ”
“The position of a trainer is just annoying . Please think well . Kim Gong-ja hunternim! If you come into our Ten Thousand Temple, we guarantee an honorary position . To be honest, we hope you promote our clan . With 30,000 Gold and a separate pay for other jobs…”
“Association! Please work as an ambassador for the Association!”
It was a mess .
The HR team leaders all pleaded with me . I understood how they felt . All the high guilds probably felt pressured by Sword Saint .
The lone hunter who didn’t register in any of the guilds who was Rank 1!
Because of that, people probably wondered . If there was really a need to register in a guild . If solo play was the best option…
‘Although it’s because Sword Saint is special . ’
It still hurt the reputation of the guilds .
‘And if a new hero that was as famous as the Sword Saint was born?’
I smiled .
‘They would do anything to scout him . ’
At the very least, block other guilds from taking him!
Was probably the orders that these team leaders got . It was obvious .
“C, Civil Militia can give 36,000 Gold as the contract fee…”
“Sheesh . The poor guilds should step back . Hm?”
“Are you trying to fight us with thousands? Don’t you understand the situation?”
“Us Alchemy Castle can…!”
It was then .
“Sangryun . ”
A heavy voice came from somewhere .
“50,000 Gold . ”
“…”
The hunters all turned their heads . Their gazes landed on my lap . To be exact, it was the cat on my lap .
The cat meowed and jumped up . It’s feet were soft paws when it jumped off my lap, but when it landed, that wasn’t the case . They lightly landed with shoes .
“50,000 Gold . I can give it to you here if you prefer . ”
The person looked back . Clang . The 2 gold pieces on their necklace made a clear sound as they shook .
“And the spot of Sangryun’s vice leader position . ”
Hunter Rank 3 .
The guild master of the Merchant’s Association . Count .
“50,000 Gold and vice guild leader . How’s that . ”
A woman with the skill of [Metamorphosis] brightly smiled and spoke . Although she was probably over 40, she looked to be in her 20s . She was probably drinking elixirs everyday .
She was the wealthiest person in the tower .
“Mm . ”
A bigwig that I wouldn’t have met in the past .
I forced myself to calm down and smiled .
“Now we’re talking . ”
The first step of negotiating for my body ended .