Chapter 19 - Leisure Over a Cup of Coffee (1)

1

A buzz of conversation filled the air.

"Seriously, who cleared the tenth floor?"

"I've been watching the news nonstop, but there's nothing. Just rumors..."

"Maybe Black Dragon is deliberately keeping it secret? If they make a dramatic announcement later..."

"Oh, come on! I'm telling you, it was definitely the Sword Star!"

Babylon, the city on the Tower's first floor, was abuzz. People rejoiced that the impregnable tenth floor had finally been conquered. They gathered at outdoor cafés, speculating about the mystery hunter whose identity had yet to be revealed.

How would they react, I wondered?

"Hmm."

If they learned that I, sitting right beside them, was the one who had broken through the tenth floor.

"How sweet."

I spoke as I sipped my caramel macchiato. This outdoor café, situated across from Union headquarters, was Babylon's one and only StarXucks.

I felt a renewed respect for the enterprising spirit that had insisted on establishing a chain store here, even though anyone who entered the Tower could never leave. There were even franchises whose mascots were a red-nosed clown and a portly old man, respectively.

Ah, human desire!

"What do you think, Mr. Sword Emperor? Isn't victory sweet? Honestly, I think even straight espresso would taste sweet to me right now. Huh?"

— ...

"Huh? Is this earbud broken? That's strange. I can't hear an answer."

I pulled the earbud out and tapped it twice. Naturally, no sound came from it.

It was a simple bit of camouflage. Talking to myself with nothing there would make me look crazy, so I wore an earbud and pretended to be on a call. It worked pretty well. Not one person in the café was giving me strange looks.

"Mr. Sword Emperor? Sir Sword Emperor? Hello, Mr. Psychopath? Hello, Mr. Lunatic?"

— ... Yeah.

"Oh, there you are at last. I was worried you'd gone deaf. Tsk, tsk. Making your exalted Lord Gongja worry like that. A person really shouldn't behave that way."

— ...

"Oh, right. You're not a person. You're a ghost. Silly me, I forgot. Say, Sword Emperor, can we drop the formalities now? It'd be a little strange for me to speak politely when you're calling me Lord Gongja, wouldn't it?"

— Fuck... ing hell...

The attendant spirit floating across the table trembled at the shoulders.

— Never in my life have I suffered such humiliation... An emperor... I, who was hailed as the Emperor of Swords, reduced to this catastrophe in death...

"Oh, come on. I'm kidding. Kidding. Even if you call me Lord Gongja, would I really drop the formalities with a hunter who's so much my senior? Of course, I could. I certainly could, but I'll keep calling you Mr. Sword Emperor for the sake of my own sterling character. How's that? Happy now?"

— Just kill me!

The attendant spirit wailed.

— Get a new skill and overwrite the [Sword Constellation] slot! That'd do it, you son of a bitch! Just kill me instead!

"Now, that's a terrible thing to say. Aren't we supposed to be partners? Partners, lifelong friends, best buddies! What kind of person kills their best buddy? We're going to be together forever and ever."

— Boo-hoo-hoo... Forget it... I'm not saying another word. Old man Markus, I want to go back to you...

Ah, so sweet.

I drank my coffee and looked up at the sky.

[22:32:50]

The clock in the sky told me an hour and a half had already passed.

Just as I was thinking it was about time they arrived...

MEOW.

"Hmm?"

A brown cat crept over. It was too well groomed to be a stray. Its one unusual feature was perhaps the two gold coins hanging from its neck in place of a bell.

"..."

I swallowed, briefly wondering how to handle this.

'The Gold Coin Cat.'

— Huh?

'The Gold Coin Cat. It's incredibly famous... Oh, people wouldn't know about it yet.'

This cat was no ordinary pet. In about five years, it would be a mascot whose name had become a household word.

'... I never expected someone this important to come in person.'

For now, I had no choice but to pretend I didn't know.

I looked calmly down at the cat, keeping my expression under control.

"Are you lost?"

MEOW.

The brown cat rubbed its head against my leg. Inwardly, I was astounded. If I hadn't known its identity, I would have taken it for a real cat being friendly toward a human.

"Want to stay with me for a bit until your owner comes looking for you?"

MEOWWW.

"There we go."

I picked the cat up and set it on my lap. It curled up there without a care, as though this had been its destination all along. It even let out a meow and yawned.

'I'd heard this person was obsessed with cats. What incredible acting.'

Marveling inwardly, I stroked the cat's head.

MEEOW.

After I'd spent a while enjoying the cat's purring, a group of hunters approached the café. One of them addressed me first.

"Excuse me. Are you Mr. Kim Gongja?"

"Hmm."

Even a glance revealed their impressive equipment. These weren't nobodies. If they weren't guild leaders, they were at least executives. People of that caliber had descended on the outdoor café.

I took out my ID with one hand and showed it to them.

"I was wondering how long it would take. Exactly an hour and a half, I see."

"...!"

The hunters' eyes wavered at the sight of my ID. Agitation spread among them. They hastily pulled out their smartphones and began calling someone.

"Yes, we've found him!"

"At the café right across from the bank..."

"No. The other guilds are all here too... Yes, yes! Understood, Colonel."

"Don't worry. We absolutely won't let another guild take him!"

It was truly the calm before the storm.

I watched the scene unfolding right in front of me with satisfaction.

'I feel like a total VIP.'

— Well, pretty much every guild will be desperate to recruit you. You single-handedly cleared the tenth floor when nobody else could. That makes you a genuine VIP.

'Hmm. True. Someone who cleared all the way to the ninety-ninth floor is respectfully calling me Lord Gongja. It would be strange if I weren't a VIP.'

— Fuck! Fuck! Fuuuck!

One by one, the hunters finished their calls. Every one of them looked at me nervously.

As I waited to see which guild would make the first move, a large blond hunter stepped forward.

"I'm the head of recruitment for the Vigilante Guild. Hunter Kim Gongja, as you know, the Vigilantes are Babylon's most honorable guild. If you would join us...!"

"Please wait a moment."

I raised my hand. The Vigilantes' recruitment head hesitated.

"I'm very sorry to interrupt. But let's make two things clear before we talk."

"..."

"First, don't leak this to the press yet."

I slowly looked around at the hunters. I could guarantee that not a single one of them was ranked lower than me. Before my regression, these were hunters I wouldn't even have dared look up at.

But I wasn't intimidated in the slightest.

Results!

I had the achievement of being the first human to conquer the Tower's tenth floor. It was a towering monument nobody could tarnish, regardless of their rank.

The more capable a hunter was, the more they valued results. If these people were truly capable, they couldn't treat me carelessly.

"If any guild leaks my name to the press, I will never sign a contract with them. I won't even deal with them. Please keep that in mind."

"Uh... um, until when?"

Another hunter raised a hand to ask.

"The Illusory Gate Newspaper's reporters are currently pestering every guild... Mr. Kim Gongja, even if we keep quiet, I honestly can't guarantee how long we can keep this secret."

"Well, I'm not asking you to hide it for long."

I pointed at the sky. The hunters followed my lead and looked up.

[22:25:31]

"Just until today is over. Please maintain the embargo until that clock reaches 00:00:00."

"Oh! Yes, if it's only until then, we can manage somehow... Understood."

The hunters sighed in relief.

I smiled.

'I can't afford to be swarmed by reporters for no reason. I need to rush over as soon as the eleventh floor opens.'

I spoke again.

"That's the first condition. Now, second—"

"..."

The hunters watched me with tense expressions, bracing themselves for whatever difficult condition I might demand next.

I grinned and gestured around us.

"—this is a public place. Let's show some consideration for the other customers."

"Pardon?"

"Can't you feel the customers staring at us? They're all startled because you suddenly showed up in a crowd."

I was right. The other customers at the outdoor café were stealing glances at us. Most whispered to one another, watching us suspiciously. A few even appeared to be secretly turning on their smartphones to film us.

"We're being a nuisance."

"..."

"I can imagine you were all frantic trying to find me, but let's take things slowly. It's not as though I'm going to run off."

"O-our apologies."

Belatedly coming to their senses, the hunters dispersed around the café.

"We're sorry. We can't explain the circumstances, but if you would vacate your seats..."

"Owner, we'd like to rent out this café for an hour. How much would that cost?"

"Everyone, thank you for your understanding! If you visit the Heavenly Martial School later, we'll thank you properly..."

The executives of major guilds really were a cut above.

Five minutes to bow in apology to the customers and rent the place from its owner. In less than five minutes, the café was completely cleared out.

"Now, then."

We moved indoors and resumed our discussion.

"Let's begin negotiating. Tell me your terms."

Amusingly, each hunter held a cup of coffee. After I'd pointed out that they were being a nuisance, they'd all ordered one. How cute.

"... The Vigilantes offer a signing bonus of ten thousand gold."

That opened the floodgates.

"Ten thousand gold? Good grief. Flaunting your poverty on an occasion like this. Hunter Kim Gongja! Join the Adventurers' League. We promise twenty thousand gold as a signing bonus, plus an executive position."

"Come to the Heavenly Martial School, Hunter. Our guild specializes in training combat hunters with the utmost integrity in Babylon. We will immediately appoint you as an instructor and give you a signing bonus of twenty-five thousand gold."

"A position like instructor is nothing but a hassle. Think carefully. Hunter Kim Gongja! If you join our Pantheon, we guarantee you an honorary position. To be frank, we'd like you to promote the Pantheon both internally and externally. A thirty-thousand-gold signing bonus, with separate payment for each engagement...!"

"The Bureau! Please become the Bureau's promotional ambassador!"

Pandemonium.

The recruitment heads courted me desperately. I understood their position. Until now, all the leading guilds must have felt the weight of the name 'Sword Star,' whether they realized it or not.

The number-one-ranked hunter, standing supreme without joining any guild!

His very existence made people wonder whether they really needed to join a guild. Whether solo play wasn't ultimately the right answer for a hunter...

'The Sword Star is simply an exceptional case, of course.'

But it definitely damaged the guilds' image.

'And in that situation, a new hero appears who can create as much of a stir as the Sword Star?'

I smiled.

'They have to recruit him by any means necessary.'

At the very least, they had to prevent another guild from snatching me up!

Those were probably the orders their recruitment heads had received. It was obvious.

"Th-the Vigilantes... can offer a signing bonus of thirty-six thousand gold..."

"Honestly, could the poor guilds step back a little? Please?"

"Are you seriously trying to compete in increments of a thousand gold? Can't you read the room?"

"Our Alchemy Ministry...!"

That was when it happened.

"The Union."

A deep voice rang out from somewhere.

"Five hundred thousand gold."

"..."

The hunters all turned their heads. Their gazes fell on none other than my lap. More precisely, on the cat curled up on it.

The cat meowed and leaped. As it pushed off my lap, its hind paws were still soft animal paws. But not when it landed on the café floor. By then, the cat's hind paws had become human shoes, touching down lightly.

"Five hundred thousand gold for the signing bonus alone. If you wish, I can hand it over right here."

The person turned back toward me. The two gold coins hanging from the necklace struck each other with a clear chime.

"And I will give you the position of the Union's deputy guild leader."

The third-ranked hunter.

The guild leader of the Merchants' Union. The Count.

"Five hundred thousand gold and deputy guild leader. What do you say?"

The woman with the [Shapeshifting] skill spoke with a gentle smile. She must have been over forty, yet she looked to be in her twenties. She was probably procuring the finest elixirs of youth and drinking them every day.

Just what one would expect from the hunter whose wealth dwarfed everyone else's in the Tower.

"Hmm."

Someone so important that my old self could never even have met her.

I forced myself to stay calm and smiled.

"Now this is starting to feel like a proper negotiation."

The first stage of negotiating my price was complete.