Chapter 25

Posted by Kuze, ? Views, Released on January 23, 2025

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Pinterest Telegram

Amon clutched his warm side and grumbled.

“They said they’d slit my throat, but they just killed me outright.”

As if mocking the declaration that he’d be thrown to the birds, the demon turned to ashes and vanished.

Anyway, from the moment it appeared to its death, it was a demon that just didn’t sit right with me.

Regardless of the declaration, after venting my anger and cooling my head, I realized it was a move that made no financial sense.

If I had just calmly left the boss room, farmed diligently, and come back a year later, how much easier would it have been to defeat this boss?

At least my side wouldn’t have been roasted like this.

Wait, no. The burn marks are sticky, so is it both crispy and moist?

“Ugh…”

During the fight, adrenaline kept me going, but now that it’s over, it hurts like hell.

I don’t have medical knowledge, but it’s probably a second-degree burn.

The blisters are bubbling up, so it’s clearly not a first-degree burn, and from what I’ve heard, third-degree burns destroy the nerves, so it doesn’t hurt. By process of elimination, it must be a second-degree burn.

“Ugh… Should I like this or not…?”

Well, it’s better than a third-degree burn, but of all places, it had to be my side. If I let my guard down even a little, I might pass out.

Just breathing sends pain shooting up my spine, spreading throughout my body, driving me insane.

“Next time… seriously… ugh…”

Amon fanned his side, trying to cool the pain.

The lesson learned from the pain.

Even if you’re going to bash your head in, pick your battles wisely.

Moreover, aside from the pain, this whole challenge was incredibly reckless.

Thanks to the unique nature of Amon’s divine power, the demon couldn’t regenerate, which is why he won. If the demon had regenerated normally, Amon would have been the one to die.

There were plenty of other scenarios where Amon could have died.

If a single beam grazed him and caused this much damage, getting hit directly would have been game over.

It was like walking a tightrope.

Looking back, Amon’s chances of winning were probably just under 40%, but somehow he survived.

‘No matter how I think about it, it was insane.’

This time, Amon didn’t survive because he was skilled, but because he got lucky.

Reflection, and more reflection.

Amon had a lot to reflect on today, but if you don’t reflect on these things in the moment, they tend to repeat themselves.

As he reflected on today’s events, something fell in front of him.

“Huh?”

It was some kind of orb.

Amon had a rough idea of what it was.

‘So it drops after all.’

In gaming terms, it’s a drop item. In this world’s terms, it’s spoils of war or essence.

It’s a lump of divine or magical power left behind when a boss or monster is defeated, which can later be used to imbue equipment with abilities.

This essence, along with the technology left in the deepest parts of the dungeon by the megacorp, is what drives mercenaries to explore dungeons.

Amon examined the orb closely.

Traditionally, the color of the essence changes depending on the concentration of divine or magical power, allowing one to estimate its grade.

Bright yellow.

‘Oh, legendary.’

It was a big catch.

But it wasn’t something to jump for joy over.

Higher grades mean more power, but it’s about damage and judgment, not necessarily special effects.

In a world overflowing with unique magic and implants, what matters isn’t overwhelming output, but compatibility, cost-effectiveness, and creating variables.

Overwhelming firepower can be supplemented by other means, but unexpected special effects are irreplaceable.

That’s why the content of the essence is far more important than its grade.

The problem is, I don’t even know if the content suits Amon.

If the essence spits out some bow-related ability that Amon doesn’t even use, it’ll just be a pretty piece of trash.

So until I confirm the specific content of this essence, I can’t be happy about it.

Amon pocketed the essence and got up.

‘I’ll check it later.’

It was time to leave the dungeon.

It was an incident where a major corporation had turned into a dungeon.

With the chairman and executives still trapped inside, the police were probably pacing at the dungeon entrance.

But before that, Amon had something to do.

Amon took out his phone and called someone.

“Yes, Father. It’s done. The plan has changed. Yes, yes. I’ll send you the map, so can you sneak in there? Yes, yes. Bring lots of bags and the Holy Knights. Yes~”

Amon ended the call and immediately started gathering the guards’ weapons and hard drives.

‘Can’t resist looting.’

It was time for looting.

***

As if they couldn’t imagine the boss being defeated on the day it was born, the police didn’t even dare to enter.

Honestly, who could blame them?

If a nuclear power plant exploded, what cop would go in there?

Thanks to that, the Holy Knights and Amon could enjoy a farming spree at Hixen Group.

Although it was a distribution company and didn’t have endgame equipment like a military supplier, Hixen Group’s pride—its high-speed, low-cost 3D printers and various rights—were a big haul.

After a fun looting session at Hixen Group.

Amon headed not to the church, but to a hospital affiliated with the church.

The Holy Knights and the priest, who also found the looting quite rewarding, recommended a hospital where he could get his side treated without worrying about the bill.

Thanks to that, new skin was already sprouting on Amon’s side.

‘Now I feel like I might live.’

He had been pretending not to be in pain to keep up appearances, but from moving the loot to getting to the hospital, it hurt like hell.

Only after the painkillers kicked in and some cream was applied did the pain finally subside.

– “This isn’t narcotic, right?”

Before getting the painkillers, Amon asked, and the doctor went ballistic, calling him a money-grubbing bastard. Amon and the priest looked at the doctor like they’d discovered a mythical creature, but aside from that, the hospital was peaceful.

The TV was flooded with breaking news about Hixen Group turning into a dungeon.

The streets were in chaos with descendants of Jean Valjean shouting for liberty.

The authorities, including the police, were in disarray with the king who held their leash gone.

But the hospital where Amon was stayed quiet.

“Ah… so quiet-”

[Room 502, Building 5. Cardiac arrest patient. Attending doctor, please come quickly.]

[ER, Building 1. Multiple trauma patients. All hospital doctors, please come down immediately.]

“…”

Before he could finish his sentence, two incidents occurred.

Let me rephrase.

Only Amon’s private room was peaceful.

Listening to the medical staff running down the hallway, Amon thought.

‘It’s probably because of me.’

With one of the megacorps that ruled the area suddenly disappearing without warning, such chaos was inevitable.

When a tiger dies, other beasts fight tooth and nail to take its den.

Now it’s a race between the police regaining their senses or the hyenas expanding their influence to fill the void.

The hyenas would be smaller companies or gangs, and if they seized power first, they could become the second Hixen Group.

It’s not just a problem for gangs and corporations.

Citizens would rise up in groups, and among the protesters, there would be criminals trying to loot stores.

On top of that, with many people losing their jobs, public safety would deteriorate.

All of this was the result of Amon bringing down a megacorp in a single night.

In a cyberpunk world, megacorps are the axis of evil, but they are a necessary evil.

They put many people out of work while also employing them.

They manipulate the city’s public safety while also maintaining it.

They kill people while also keeping them alive.

Knowing that many would die or be injured if they disappeared, neither the government nor the people could easily touch them.

Amon closed his eyes and sank into thought.

Honestly, he didn’t feel guilty.

Asking Amon and Sonia to sacrifice themselves for the city’s stability was absurd.

Besides, in this world, if you blamed yourself for every tragedy, you’d lose your mind.

He was a good person by this world’s standards, but also an extremely rational one.

That’s why he didn’t feel much responsibility for this situation.

But.

‘The director and the kids…’

He didn’t care about the city’s public safety.

To him, the city was already corrupt enough, and a little more bloodstains wouldn’t make a difference.

But if the sisters or the kids got caught up in something bad because of this, he wouldn’t be able to stand it.

Amon fiddled with the hard drive he had taken from Hixen Group.

Finally, he made up his mind and called the priest.

“Yes, Father. I’m sorry to trouble you. If you could do me one last favor, I’d be grateful.”

***

The chaos that erupted overnight was quickly quelled.

Amon nodded as he watched the breaking news flooding every channel.

On his hospital bed, instead of bland, healthy hospital food, there was a hamburger made with ‘real’ pork.

Amon put the hamburger in his mouth and nodded again.

‘Sold it well.’

Last night.

Amon sold Hixen Group’s data and rights licenses to a food service megacorp.

The name was 3 Dollar Meat.

A food service company that sold all kinds of meat in $3 units as a franchise.

When Hixen Group was around, it was the city’s second-in-command megacorp.

Through the Vatican’s mediation, Amon handed over all of Hixen Group’s headquarters data to that company.

From Hixen’s core technology to patent rights, everything.

In a past life, this would have been unthinkable, but in this world, there’s a special dungeon law.

To streamline dungeon processing, a company that turns into a dungeon automatically loses all its rights.

And anything acquired inside the dungeon automatically becomes the property of the acquirer, including patents and core technology.

First come, first served.

If a second person claims ownership of rights or technology obtained in the dungeon, the first acquirer can even sue.

Amon exercised that right and sold everything from Hixen Group to 3 Dollar Meat.

However, the selling process was a bit complicated.

Amon knew full well how socially vulnerable he was.

If he had openly proposed a deal to 3 Dollar Meat, he would have been swindled in no time.

So he sought the Vatican’s help.

‘The Archbishop was thrilled.’

Here’s how it went.

First, through the priest’s connections, he got in touch with the Archbishop, who helped disguise Amon’s identity.

From a special orphan with divine power to a legendary secret Holy Knight who single-handedly conquered a mysterious dungeon in an hour, destroying Hixen Group.

With Amon’s affiliation changed to the church’s sword, the Vatican acted as the Holy Knight’s trading agent.

Legendary Holy Knights don’t like to reveal their faces, so all transactions are conducted through the Vatican.

The Vatican, acting as the Holy Knight’s agent, contacted the city’s second-in-command, 3 Dollar Meat, and the other party accepted the deal on very generous terms.

‘I never knew 3 Dollar Meat was this quick to act.’

The 3 Dollar Meat he knew took 7 hours to answer the phone when a food poisoning incident broke out, a week to connect with the person in charge, 7 months to go to court, and after 7 years of legal battles, the victim would lose.

But this company answered the phone in 7 seconds, resolved all legal procedures in 7 minutes, and solved all problems in 7 hours.

‘How many employees did they grind through overnight?’

But I could understand why they reacted this way.

The reason 3 Dollar Meat remained the city’s second-in-command was that they didn’t have a market to sell their meat.

Even if they wanted to open a butcher shop, everything from general goods to groceries had to go through Hixen Group’s Hixen Mart, so 3 Dollar Meat had to bow to Hixen Group.

A deal that could resolve that injustice had suddenly come their way.

Hixen Group, which had been blocking their market entry at every turn, was gone, and now they were being offered all the rights to Hixen Group’s marts.

On top of that, the core technology of Hixen Group’s underground processes, low-cost 3D printing technology, was bundled in.

They were given marts to sell their meat.

3D printing technology to lower production costs.

And other rights held by Hixen Group.

With all that on the table, who cares about employees’ sleep rights?

Every minute and second was precious.

According to the Archbishop, who mediated the deal, the Vatican could propose any condition, and they would just keep saying YES YES, so favorable were the terms.

Thus, the deal was finalized overnight.

All Hixen Marts worldwide would rebrand as 3 Dollar Marts, and the city, thrown into chaos, was calmed by the new king, 3 Dollar Group.

‘Is this the completion of a world where everyone is happy?’

The Vatican was happy, receiving the rights fees from 3 Dollar Group and tightening their leash.

3 Dollar Group was happy, not just escaping their second-place status but seeing their market cap double.

Amon was happy, getting paid and ensuring the safety of the sisters and the kids.

It was the best happy ending.

Of course, someone might ask Amon.

If you monopolized those rights, becoming a megacorp chairman would be a dream. Don’t you regret it?

To that, Amon could say with certainty.

‘Greed will burst your stomach.’

Amon knows his place.

Amon has no factory or capital to use that technology, no ability, power, or backing to protect those rights.

In that situation, those things were nothing but bombs.

It was better to sell them to the Vatican, get paid, and build up goodwill.

He didn’t even worry about the Vatican lowballing him.

From the Vatican’s perspective, Amon is a benefactor who prevented a threat to their existence, but also a powerhouse who single-handedly defeated an artificial saint.

The disguise of a legendary Holy Knight was to deceive corporations, but it also means the Vatican thinks so too.

From the Vatican’s perspective, the various interests from that technology are already a huge gain, and they wouldn’t take the risk of antagonizing a heavyweight.

As Amon expected, through the priest, he received a reply that he could expect favorable treatment.

“At least you’ll never have to worry about money for the rest of your life, Amon.”

“Really?”

“… Assuming Amon lives a normal life.”

“Bummer.”

With endgame equipment covering his entire body, he could acquire a small to medium-sized enterprise, so it’s probably not that much.

Still, Amon could rest easy.

‘With this amount, you don’t have to worry.’

He had been feeling heavy-hearted since Hixen Group’s attack and the orphanage being destroyed, but that problem seemed to be resolved.

Do I regret spending the money?

Not at all.

Who would regret spending enough money to fix their own house?

To Amon, it felt just like that.

Fixing his own house with his own money, and doing a bit of filial piety on the side.

He was even disappointed he couldn’t fix more than the orphanage.

He wanted to build a hospital or school next to it, but in this world, building such things next to an orphanage would just encourage more people to abandon their kids, so he let it go.

‘Help should be given in invisible forms.’

Visible support was satisfied with 3 Dollar Group supplying the orphanage with high-quality synthetic meat for free.

“Now we’ll have to worry about obesity instead of malnutrition.”

Amon quietly shared this good news only with the orphanage director who came to visit him.

Hearing this, she hugged Amon and cried.

“You’re an angel sent by the Goddess, Amon. Thank you so much… really… for caring about someone like me…”

“Ugh…”

Her hug sent a sharp pain through Amon’s burn, but it was a truly moving ending.

‘My side was worth it.’

It was a truly touching ending.

.

It should have been.