With a pleased look, Jin-Woo lowered his gaze — but one section caught his eye.
[Title: Beast Slaughterer (Plus 1)]
'...One more?'
Ah. Now that he thought about it, he'd earned a new title as a reward for the job-change quest. Jin-Woo checked the hidden title.
[Title: The One Who Overcame Hardship] A title granted to those who have superbly overcome adversity. Ability stats increase proportionally to lost HP (1% stat increase per 1% HP lost).
'Nice!'
Every time his HP dropped, stats would go up by a percentage — a fantastic buff. The 'Beast Slaughterer' title, which granted a 40% stat boost against beast-type monsters, was also a great title. But its conditions were so strict that the buff was hard to benefit from.
'If it's not a beast-type monster, the title effect is basically useless.'
And now, in the midst of that, he'd obtained an efficient new title. Reading the description, he saw it paired perfectly with the passive effect of his Fortitude skill. Without a moment's hesitation, Jin-Woo switched titles.
[Title: The One Who Overcame Hardship (Plus 1)]
Unused titles were hidden away, and he could swap them back anytime he needed.
'Next up, stats.'
The rewards for surpassing the achievement cap yesterday had come to three things in total. First was the higher-class job change. Second was the title. And third was bonus stats.
[Stats] Strength: 132 Endurance: 91 Agility: 111 Intelligence: 70 Perception: 93 (Available stat points: 10) Physical Damage Reduction: 46%
He had 10 unallocated points sitting there. Back in the old days, he would've dumped them into Agility or Perception, but this time things were a bit different. Jin-Woo poured all 10 points into Intelligence. Even so, his Intelligence was only at 80. Ding.
[Stats] Strength: 132 Endurance: 91 Agility: 111 Intelligence: 80 Perception: 93 (Available stat points: 0) Physical Damage Reduction: 46%
It was absurdly low compared to Strength and Agility. So much so that it was even worse than Endurance — the very stat he'd neglected while boosting Agility. That was proof of just how much he'd ignored the Intelligence stat.
'Who would've thought I'd end up using magic.'
His plan was to dump every future point into Intelligence the moment he got them. That didn't mean he intended to suddenly overhaul his fighting style, though.
'The new skill I got is an assassin type, too.'
A new skill acquired during combat. Dagger Throw. No need to even read the description — it was obviously a dagger-exclusive skill.
[Skill: Dagger Throw Lv.1] Active skill. Mana cost: 30. Dagger exclusive. Throws a dagger to deal damage. As the skill level increases, additional damage and accuracy improve.
'Just as I thought.'
He'd been fighting like a combat-type this whole time. Just because he'd gotten a new class and new skills didn't mean he could suddenly upend his existing approach. For now, he'd use the shadow skills as support and keep daggers as his main weapon.
'At least until I raise my Intelligence stat enough to make it useful.'
Superior combat ability. Supplementary troops backing him up. His plan when he accepted the job change was still the same.
'The only difference from what I expected was...'
The shadow soldiers turned out to be more useful than he'd imagined. He never expected a boss monster to become one of his subordinates.
'...Still.'
Abandoning his dagger mastery and trained techniques to focus on shadow skills was too big a sacrifice. It had barely been since he bought Night Killer, too.
'If I'd known I'd end up a magic-type, I should've bought a wand at the shop.'
Of course, if he'd done that, he'd never have finished the job-change quest and would've been buried under a pile of knights. Jin-Woo closed his status window. That covered just about everything that had changed.
'Wait, the time?'
While he'd been busy, twenty minutes had passed. Jin-Woo scratched the side of his head.
'Should I pick up the pace?'
The corners of Jin-Woo's mouth curled upward. The power of stats didn't only come in handy when fighting monsters. When he focused his mind, time began to slow down. No — to be precise, Jin-Woo got faster. He opened the door and left the room. He finished a shower in the bathroom. He dried off. He grabbed roughly matching clothes and stood in front of the mirror again. All of that took a mere three minutes. He could've moved even faster, but he held back to avoid destroying this run-down apartment.
'My hair's still a bit damp, though.'
In the end, he'd saved over twenty minutes, so there was no need to rush. Should he head out? Just as Jin-Woo was about to step out of his room, he spotted something and froze in his tracks. His house keys. They were sitting on top of the desk. Normally, he would've lazily turned around, grabbed them, and walked out — but today, instead of going over, he simply stretched his hand toward the keys.
'When else am I gonna use it?'
Touch of the Ruler! The keys began to creep along the surface, then suddenly flew right into his palm as if pulled by a powerful magnetic force. Whoosh! Jin-Woo snatched the keys and grinned. Having finished getting ready to go out in the blink of an eye, Jin-Woo whistled as he closed the door behind him.
***
Jin-Woo's first stop was the bank. He was curious how much money had piled up from selling mana crystals.
'I've been too busy to come.'
Mana crystal management was handled entirely by raid leader Yoo Jin-Ho. Apparently, every day after his schedule was done, he sold the mana crystals right away and deposited the proceeds into the account. But there'd been no mention of the actual amount.
'That kid Yoo Jin-Ho reports every little detail about everything else, but he never says a word about the money.'
Was it a lack of interest? Having grown up so well-off, Yoo Jin-Ho's concerns always seemed to be worlds apart from money. His go-to topics were celebrity gossip, raid stories, favorite songs, and movies. Not that it was much of a conversation — it was really just Yoo Jin-Ho chattering excitedly on his own while Jin-Woo listened and occasionally chimed in.
'Oh, come to think of it...'
For someone so talkative, he'd surprisingly never once mentioned his family. That was odd. Even racking his memories back to when they first met, the same held true. Just as a strange thought began to form in his mind, Jin-Woo arrived at the bank.
'Of all days.'
The ATM machines were under maintenance. Can't be helped. Jin-Woo walked into the bank, drew a numbered ticket, waited for his turn, and then sat down in front of a bank teller.
"Hello?"
A fresh smile and a neat bob that reached just below her ears. The young female teller asked politely.
"How may I help you?" "I'd like to sort out my account, please." "Sure thing."
Smiling warmly, she took the bankbook Jin-Woo handed over. While he waited, Jin-Woo looked around the bank. Even on an ordinary weekday afternoon, it was packed. As Jin-Woo was people-watching, the teller glanced at the balance in his bankbook — and her eyes went wide.
'What?!'
[Balance: 1,482,920,000 won]
She double-checked the figure, but the first digit was definitely a billion. And this wasn't accumulated over a lifetime. Over the course of just one week, deposits of over a hundred million had been flowing in steadily.
'He looks so young — how is this possible?'
The teller's expression shifted completely. She'd initially taken Jin-Woo for a college student running an errand for his mother, but now she looked at him differently. With a hint of personal interest, she asked.
"Oh my! If you don't mind me asking, what do you do for a living?"
She was a bit embarrassed by her own overly personal question, her cheeks faintly flushed as she snuck a glance at Jin-Woo. Jin-Woo answered matter-of-factly.
"I'm a Hunter." "Oh..."
The teller nodded involuntarily. The rumors were true.
'Hunters really do make that much money.'
She'd never imagined the income could reach this level. Suddenly, her own life as an ordinary salary worker felt embarrassingly small. Just moments ago, he'd been an ordinary customer. Now he looked like a person from an entirely different world.
'He must be a pretty high-ranking Hunter.'
This wasn't the kind of money a mediocre Hunter could touch. Her very first encounter with a top-tier Hunter — that sense of novelty gradually made her heart flutter. Thump-thump. Her heart beat just a little faster. A 'young client' with over a billion in assets made from quest revenue was VIP material at any bank. A VIP client whose job was a Hunter? That was VVIP. Following bank protocol to not let a VVIP slip away, the teller began promoting various banking products.
"We've just launched a new product for our VIP clients."
She wasn't giving a practiced customer-service smile — it was a genuine one. Her gaze stayed fixed on Jin-Woo.
'Oh my, how handsome...'
Even the hastily thrown-on clothes and slightly tousled hair from rushing out the door made it seem like she was catching a glimpse of a capable young man's daily life squeezed in between a packed schedule, and her heart raced.
"It's been getting very positive responses from clients. Would you be interested in giving it a try?"
But Jin-Woo waved his hand dismissively.
"No, I'm fine." "Ah... I see."
Disappointment crept into the teller's voice. Sensing that the conversation might drag on, Jin-Woo quickly stood up.
"Thank you. Have a good day."
Ignoring the teller's lingering gaze on the back of his neck, he walked out of the bank. The moment the door closed behind him—
"Phew."
Jin-Woo let out a sigh of relief. The instant he'd revealed he was a Hunter, he'd noticed the shift in the teller's gaze. Other people's stares. And their attention. For most Hunters, that was just part of everyday life — but for Jin-Woo, it was unfamiliar territory.
'I guess I'll have to get used to it.'
If a high rank came up at his rank reassessment, things would get far worse than this. He'd heard that reporters and fans trailed Hunters everywhere. His gaze drifted upward, and in the distance, a massive billboard on top of a building showed a popular Hunter endorsing a beverage. Before Gates appeared, those spots had belonged to sports stars and famous idols. That was right. An era where Hunters drew more attention and love than celebrities. There was no way Jin-Woo would be an exception. In this day and age, the only people who disliked Hunters were probably insurance salesmen.
'Anyway.'
Only after leaving the bank was Jin-Woo finally able to check his balance in peace. His eyes went wide.
'1,482,920,000...!'
The total income from nine raids came to roughly 1.5 billion won. That worked out to about 160 million per C-rank Dungeon. The dungeon he'd gone through with Hwang Dong-Suk's party had netted him 180 million, so the average income from a C-rank Dungeon was somewhere between 150 and 200 million.
'No wonder the teller was so shocked.'