Chapter 11: Creditor of 1.06 Trillion Won
Signiel Penthouse.
WaterPuppy, Lee Geonho, was soaking in the bathtub of his Signiel penthouse.
"I'm rich now! Hahahaha!"
The bathtub was filled with bundles of 50,000-won bills.
Lee Geonho grabbed handfuls of money and threw them into the air.
"Dad really made a lot more money behind my back than I thought."
He had assumed his father's total wealth was only a few tens of billions of won.
But apparently, it was actually close to 100 billion won.
Of course, most of it was tied up in real estate, stocks, bonds, and other assets.
Even so, the monthly income generated from those assets alone reached several billion won.
"Thank you, Father! Your son will make very good use of this money! Hahahaha!"
What should he buy first?
He had already moved into Signiel.
He had paid off the loan on his previous home in one lump sum and sold it.
"Mmm, I love the smell of money. What should I do now? Maybe I'll go to the Tower Bar and find myself a girlfriend."
After finishing his bath, he happily imagined all the ways he could spend his money.
Then he suddenly remembered something.
"Right. I should do the most important thing first."
What was the most important thing for a Hunter?
Logging into HunVen.
And then!
[Title: An Elegant Day at Signiel]
[Author: WaterPuppy]
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After working myself to the bone as an A-rank Hunter, I suddenly realized I had somehow ended up living in Signiel... Is this what life among the elite feels like? Still, let's never forget that everything I have was achieved through my own hard work!
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...Cheers!
[Attached Image: Raising a glass of champagne against the Seoul night skyline.]
Feeling superior while receiving the jealousy and envy of lower-ranked Hunters struggling at the bottom.
This was one of Lee Geonho's most important daily activities.
Ding-dong.
The intercom rang.
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Mail delivery.
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"Mail? Just leave it in the mailbox."
·
You have to receive this one in person.
·
What was it?
Did I apply for a credit card or something?
He thought back, but couldn't remember doing anything like that recently.
When he opened the front door, the deliveryman held out a smartphone.
"Please sign here. We need confirmation that you received the mail."
"What is it?"
There was a court seal stamped on the envelope.
"The court? Why is the court sending me... Ah! Ahem. Thank you for your work."
"Sure."
Maybe the court had sent confirmation of the inheritance.
The letter would surely say something like:
[This document certifies that all assets belonging to Lee Jinho, totaling 60 billion won, have been inherited by his son, Lee Geonho.]
That was what Lee Geonho imagined.
In reality...
The inheritance isn't fully complete yet.
Lee Jinho was officially missing.
So Lee Geonho hadn't technically inherited the assets yet.
He had only been appointed as the person temporarily authorized to manage his father's property.
But then...
[Provisional Seizure Notice]
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Debtor Lee Geonho, hereafter Party B, is ordered to repay a debt of 160 billion won to Friends Capital, the legal representative of the creditor, hereafter Party A.
·
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If the debt is not repaid within 30 days, provisional seizure procedures will begin against Party B's assets.
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"A-A provisional seizure notice?!"
Lee Geonho's hands started trembling.
Thud.
His head spun, and the letter slipped from his hands.
"F-Father had... this much debt?"
It was an absurd amount.
If his father's total assets were worth less than 100 billion won, and he also had to pay 160 billion won in debt...
I-I'm bankrupt...!
He would be buried under tens of billions of won in debt.
There was no way he could handle it.
I have to stop this!
First, he'd withdraw as much cash as possible from his accounts...
Then bury it underground?
Or maybe put it in a safe?
Just as that thought occurred to him...
Bzzzt! Bzzzt!
His smartphone vibrated repeatedly.
Several messages had arrived.
[Web Message: Your bank account has been frozen by court order.]
His personal bank account.
His fund accounts.
His stock accounts.
Everything had been frozen.
"I'm screwed...!"
At this point, he had no choice but to personally visit this place called Friends Capital.
Friends Capital Office.
"Tell your boss to come out!"
Bang!
Lee Geonho kicked the door open and shouted.
"The boss is currently away."
"And who the hell are you, you son of..."
He was about to swear.
But then...
Two huge men appeared.
Lee Geonho immediately shrank back.
"You son of... Lee. My surname is Lee. My name is Geonho. I came because I have something I'd like to discuss... Hahaha!"
I'm an A-rank Hunter!
Had he seriously been frightened by mere loan shark employees?
No. I'm simply being polite because we're meeting for the first time. This is business. Yes, business.
That was how Lee Geonho justified it to himself.
Then...
"What? We have a guest?"
"Yes, boss. He says his surname is Lee... Geonho."
"That debtor?"
"Looks like it."
"Boss!"
Lee Geonho's eyes widened at the word "debtor."
He looked ready to grab the loan shark's pant leg.
Flick.
The loan shark lit his cigar with a match.
The gold ring on his finger gleamed.
"Why did you come here? The court will handle everything anyway."
"H-How did this happen? One hundred sixty billion won?!"
"It's written in the contract. Here. Hunter Lee Jinho's signature is right there. Look carefully. That's your father's handwriting, isn't it?"
He slid a copy of the contract across the table.
Lee Geonho picked it up with trembling hands.
"Th-This is definitely... my father's signature..."
"Then we're done."
"No, we're not! This is fraud! Fraud! My father would never sign a contract like this!"
Lee Geonho didn't know exactly what his father, Lee Jinho, and Choi Hyunwoo had discussed or agreed to inside the Tower.
Lee Jinho had never returned from the Tower.
But the loan shark didn't even blink.
"Fraud? Got proof?"
"A-A contract for this much money... without even a guarantor..."
"No guarantor, sure. But there was collateral. An S-rank weapon."
"What S-rank weapon?"
"What was it called again? Anyway, this."
The loan shark slid a photograph across the table.
"Th-That's my father's Shadow Dagger!"
"Why is it your father's? It belongs to the creditor."
"What kind of bullshit is that?! This is Shadow Dagger, the S-rank weapon my father used!"
"Really?"
"Yes!"
"Proof?"
"...What?"
"Do you have proof that it belonged to your father?"
"W-Well, there obviously wouldn't be something like..."
"Why wouldn't there be? If it belonged to your father, shouldn't there be some weapon possession permit issued by the Association?"
"...Gasp!"
A weapon possession permit from the Association?
His father had hidden even his property records to avoid taxes.
There was no chance he had officially registered a weapon like that.
The Association had known about it too.
But they had quietly overlooked it to preserve the prestige of an S-rank Hunter.
Lee Geonho's face turned white.
W-We were set up...!
They had taken the S-rank weapon.
Then used the supposed transaction as an excuse to demand money too!
Lee Geonho finally realized that he had fallen into an enormous trap.
"Even so, the transaction wasn't completed!"
"Correct. That's why we were originally only going to collect the ten-percent deposit, 160 billion won."
The loan shark exhaled cigar smoke and continued.
"But your father canceled the deal and ran away. That means he owes a cancellation penalty."
"He didn't cancel and run away! My father is currently miss..."
BANG!
The loan shark slammed his hand against the table.
"Hey. Can't you read Clause 3? 'As soon as the transaction is concluded, Party A will pay Party B ten percent of the purchase price as a deposit.' Do you know what 'concluded' means here? The moment he signed. The signature."
"..."
"A man signs a perfectly valid contract, then suddenly disappears afterward? How else do you explain that except that he took the weapon and ran?"
Lee Geonho's lips trembled.
"B-But my father isn't me! Why do I have to repay his debt?"
"You inherited his assets. Or maybe you're technically still the legal representative. Either way."
The loan shark pulled out another document.
"Signiel penthouse contract. You moved in this week, right? Congratulations."
"..."
"You even ordered five-million-won champagne. Then posted a picture on HunVen. 'An elegant life,' was it? Hahahaha."
Lee Geonho remembered the post he'd uploaded.
Cold sweat poured down his back.
This loan shark... he's a Hunter!
He had suspected it.
And now he knew.
Then he must know I'm an A-rank Hunter.
WaterPuppy had bragged about it constantly on HunVen.
If the loan shark had seen even one of his posts, there was no way he wouldn't know.
Yet he was still this confident.
Which meant...
He's at least A-rank...!
That was exactly why Lee Geonho couldn't act recklessly.
"Whether you're an heir or a legal representative, the moment you spend even one won from those assets, the debt comes with it. That's the law."
"I-I didn't know! If I'd known, why would I have spent the money?!"
"If saying 'I didn't know' could get people out of legal responsibility, laws wouldn't exist."
The loan shark stood.
He looked at least 190 centimeters tall.
"Now, shall we talk about what you're going to do?"
"P-Please... Please spare me..."
Lee Geonho dropped to his knees.
The pride of an A-rank Hunter had completely disappeared.
"Spare you? Me?"
"Y-Yes! I'll do anything! Please!"
"Anything?"
The loan shark's lips curled upward.
"Then go climb the Tower. Earn 160 billion won and pay it back."
"B-But that would take..."
"I gave you thirty days. You only need to make five billion won a day. You're an A-rank Hunter. That shouldn't be too hard for a young man, right?"
It was complete nonsense.
Even an A-rank Hunter couldn't earn five billion won a day.
"I-I'll give you all the property I own!"
"Your property? We've already seized all of it. What else are you going to give me?"
All color drained from Lee Geonho's face.
"My father's inheritance... all of it..."
"Already calculated it. If we dump your father's assets quickly and account for a few failed auctions, it'll probably bring in around seventy to eighty billion won. That still leaves about eighty billion."
At this point, Lee Geonho had no choice but to grasp at any straw he could find.
"L-Let me meet the creditor!"
But...
"The creditor? He's already standing in front of you."
The loan shark was firm.
He patted Lee Geonho's shoulder.
"Got it? Eighty billion won. Thirty days. Work hard in the Tower."
"Aaaaaaargh!"
