Chapter 145. Those Who Move (3)
“Where the hell did you crawl in from? How many times do I have to tell you that you can’t hunt monsters without permission?”
Five in the morning.
After finishing off the monsters that had appeared in the slums, Kang Yujin found himself at a nearby government office.
Not to receive thanks.
Not to claim a subjugation reward.
He was there to listen to a civil servant lecture him.
“I already told you. I came from Korea.”
“Don’t give me that! How would someone from Korea even get here?”
“I was speaking Korean earlier. Turn off the translation item and everything I say will be in Korean.”
“You could’ve learned Korean!”
“For crying out loud.”
Maybe the man was exhausted from working the night shift, because his attitude was extremely irritable.
“Enough nonsense. Tell me your affiliation! Which organization are you with?!”
“I told you, I’m not affiliated with anyone.”
“Don’t lie! What kind of Contractor operates without an organization these days?!”
The civil servant slammed his hand on the desk and shouted.
“You clearly aren’t a beginner if you can subjugate monsters like that! Tell me which organization you belong to!”
“You really don’t believe a word I say.”
“Still pretending, huh...”
The civil servant frowned and sighed.
“Fine. Then show me your status window.”
“My status window?”
“Yes. If you’re a Contractor, you have one, don’t you?”
“Well, yeah.”
A status window could be shown to other people.
Seok Taejun had taught Kang Yujin how to do it a long time ago.
However, he had also been taught that showing personal information carelessly could be dangerous, so he should only reveal it to people he trusted.
“What? Can’t show it because your identity will be exposed?”
“No, that’s not it. Will you even understand it if I show you?”
“Are you messing with me? I’m a Contractor too!”
“You’re a Contractor?”
Kang Yujin frowned.
“You’re a Contractor, and you just sat around while civilians were being attacked by monsters?”
“W-What? Why are you glaring at me like that?”
“Unbelievable.”
Sighing, Kang Yujin moved his hand through the air.
He opened his status window and made it visible to the civil servant.
“Let’s see...”
The man leaned closer to inspect it, then flinched.
“W-What? What language is this?”
“I told you. I’m from Korea.”
Apparently, a Contractor’s status window was displayed in the language of their nationality.
“This is my name, this is my Coins, this is my Enhancement Rank...”
“H-Huh?”
Kang Yujin pointed to each part one by one, but the civil servant only grew more flustered.
“H-Hey.”
“What?”
“This really is the Enhancement Rank section, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Strength, Stamina, Agility, Magic Power?”
“That’s right.”
“B-But... they’re all S-rank?! And your Strength has five plus signs?!”
Kang Yujin’s current Enhancement Ranks were as follows.
[Strength Enhancement S+++++]
[Stamina Enhancement S+++]
[Agility Enhancement S++]
[Magic Power Enhancement S+]
When Kang Yujin had first received an Enhancement Engraving with Seok Taejun, he had obtained S-rank [Strength Enhancement].
Afterward, as he continued operating and collected more Enhancement Crystals, he received S-rank [Strength Enhancement] five more times.
That was why it had become S+++++.
He had also received S-rank [Stamina Enhancement] four times, S-rank [Agility Enhancement] three times, and S-rank [Magic Power Enhancement] twice.
That was how his current Enhancement Ranks had been completed.
“I-Impossible. You stacked this many S-rank Enhancements?!”
The civil servant stared at Kang Yujin in shock.
“D-Don’t tell me you’re contracted with an S-rank Constellation?”
“I am.”
Kang Yujin pointed toward one corner of the status window.
“It says S-rank Constellation ‘Nameless King’ right here.”
"...!"
Of course, the man couldn’t read Korean.
But at least he could recognize the letter S.
“N-No way! Contracting with an S-rank Constellation doesn’t mean every Enhancement you draw becomes S-rank! You must have done something!”
“Hey.”
Kang Yujin sighed.
“Can’t you just assume I obtained a lot of Enhancement Crystals and used a lot of Enhancement Engravings?”
“Th-Then...”
The civil servant swallowed dryly.
“You’re really a veteran Contractor with all-S-rank Enhancements... contracted with an S-rank Constellation...?”
“I’m not a veteran.”
“D-Don’t tell me... you’re the Kang Yujin who destroyed that gigantic island at the harbor yesterday...?”
“I told you my name earlier.”
Kang Yujin stared at him.
“You said there was no way Kang Yujin would be in a place like this, so you didn’t believe me.”
“Huuup!”
The civil servant suddenly jumped to his feet with a strange gasp.
“U-Um...”
“What?”
“I-I’m sorry... I’m so sorry!”
The man abruptly dropped to his knees and bowed his head to the floor.
“I-I was wrong! Please forgive me!”
“What the hell? You were yelling your head off at me a second ago.”
“I-I apologize for treating you so rudely! Please forgive me just this once!”
The civil servant repeatedly slammed his forehead against the floor.
“P-Please... just spare my life!”
“What is this now...”
Kang Yujin was genuinely baffled.
The man had been shouting confidently just moments ago.
Now he was on his knees, begging forgiveness?
“I got arrogant because I’m an A-rank Contractor! Please forgive me!”
“You’re an A-rank Contractor and you still ignored monsters attacking civilians?”
“Huuup! I-I was wrong!”
The civil servant grabbed Kang Yujin’s trouser leg and clung to him.
“Please! Please forgive me! I’m getting married next month!”
“No, seriously...”
Kang Yujin couldn’t exactly kick him away.
What was he supposed to do with this?
While he was struggling with that question, salvation appeared.
“L-Lord Kang Yujin!”
Liu Xianfei burst into the office, drenched in sweat.
“If you had just mentioned the Black Dragon Society’s name, you could have been released much earlier...”
“I’m not a member of the Black Dragon Society. I didn’t want to do that.”
Thanks to Liu Xianfei, the entire incident was resolved without further trouble.
Even Kang Yujin’s unregistered Contractor status was processed almost immediately once Liu Xianfei stepped in.
“Liu Xianfei.”
On the way back to his accommodation, Kang Yujin spoke to Liu Xianfei, who was driving.
“This country is ridiculous.”
“What?”
“What’s the point of having a functioning government? Monsters appear and they just leave them alone, then drag in the person who killed them and lecture him all night.”
“Th-That’s...”
“I’m sure your system has its own advantages from your perspective.”
Kang Yujin yawned.
“But from where I’m standing, it’s ridiculous.”
He continued,
“At least in Korea, I’ve never been detained at a government office until dawn because I killed a monster without permission.”
Liu Xianfei glanced at him cautiously and spoke in a subtle tone.
“S-So if you joined the Black Dragon Society, problems like that would all be solved...”
“Hey.”
“Eek?!”
Kang Yujin turned toward her.
Liu Xianfei screamed and instinctively ducked her head.
The steering wheel jerked with her movement, and the car swerved sharply.
“Hey! Drive properly!”
“S-Sorry!”
“Why are you so scared all the time? Can you even fight monsters properly like that?”
“M-Monsters are less frightening than you, Lord Kang Yujin...”
“For crying out loud...”
Kang Yujin sighed.
“B-But why did you just sit there and take it?”
“What?”
“With your strength, you could’ve smashed everything apart and walked out whenever you wanted.”
“Do I look like some mindless outlaw to you?”
“N-No, but...”
“You think I’d kill that civil servant just because he annoyed me?”
“In China, that kind of thing can happen.”
“What?”
“If someone fails to recognize a person vastly stronger than themselves and treats them carelessly... that can be enough to lose their head in this country.”
"..."
Was this what Keito had meant when he called China a land of Asura?
The government still functioned properly, yet somehow the country seemed even more brutal than Korea.
