What Cannot Be Bought

Jiwan had a somewhat twisted upbringing, which made it difficult for him to turn someone into his own person.

However, since the world was ruled by capital, he had kept people by his side by winning them over with abundant money.

In a way, it was no different from buying an object.

But at the very least, that method was effective and convenient.

There was no need to give his heart; relationships were maintained with money alone.

There was no need to worry about betrayal either.

Since Jiwan never gave his heart to the other party, betrayal wasn’t truly betrayal, and any potential traitor swayed by capital could simply be bound with even greater capital.

‘But I can’t use that method on Shin Jiho.’

From Jiwan’s perspective, Jiho was a truly peculiar human.

He said he needed money, yet his actions showed he wasn’t particularly attached to it.

If Jiwan hadn’t discovered through a background check that Jiho was genuinely in dire straits, he might have suspected Jiho of using money as an excuse to approach him.

But Jiho had inherited debt, and unfortunately, it was loan shark debt.

It was true that he needed money.

Yet what puzzled Jiwan was why Jiho, with such ability, was living as an assist.

‘Before that, with that level of recovery ability, is he really just D-rank?’

Even to Jiwan, who was practically a first-generation hunter, Jiho’s abilities as a healer were remarkable.

To the point that he might even surpass the healer in Jiwan’s own raid party.

Healers were called “extra lives” for a reason—they were the very flower of the dungeon.

Instead of doing assist work, he could earn far more by working as a healer.

‘Even if he’s afraid of fighting, healers usually stay in the rear, so they rarely participate directly in combat.’

So there was no way Jiwan could understand why Jiho deliberately chose the harder path.

However, thanks to Jiho’s actions, meeting him could be considered an unintended stroke of luck.

Though he felt a little sorry for Jiho, Jiwan had no intention of telling him any of this.

Why would he help someone else for free?

If Jiho realized he could earn more money as a healer, he would try to become one.

But the raid party already had a healer, and they had built teamwork over a long time.

He couldn’t just replace that person with Jiho.

And above all, the thought of Jiho healing people other than himself was something Jiwan deeply disliked.

He wanted Jiho to heal only him.

‘Ah….’

Perhaps because of that, Jiwan often—no, frequently—thought back to the life in his dreams.

Now he knew it had been a trap meant to devour him, but still, he had never lived with his heart so swollen with fulfillment as he had back then.

A perfect ally.

It was a little embarrassing that everything about him had been laid bare to Jiho in that dream, but that wasn’t a major issue.

‘How can I keep Shin Jiho by my side?’

In Jiwan’s space, there was only Jiho.

But in Jiho’s space, there were several others besides Jiwan.

Among them, the most irritating was Jeongho.

Though he wasn’t even a Shin but a Lee, Jiho treated him like family, and that bothered Jiwan the most.

“Ha….”

Thinking endlessly about Jiho, Jiwan let out a sigh.

A person who couldn’t be moved by money was the most difficult kind for Jiwan to deal with, and therefore someone he was bound to be wary of.

Jiwan wanted to control his surroundings, and the most powerful weapon he possessed was money.

He had force as well, but the moment force was used, emotions were damaged.

Even if he bound someone’s body to his side by force, it was useless if their feelings were ruined.

And what barely allowed Jiwan to breathe was Jiho’s debt.

If not for that, there would be no reason at all for Jiho to remain by Jiwan’s side.

“……Come to think of it, something like that happened.”

As he thought about Jiho’s loan shark debt, he recalled the time Jiho had come in with a badly bruised cheek.

He hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but later he learned it had happened because the loan shark had threatened Jiho.

Though it was in the past, now that Jiho had stepped into his domain, even a grudge from Jiho’s past became Jiwan’s to settle.

Once Jiwan decided to deal with it, things moved swiftly.

In less than an hour, the loan shark who had hit Jiho was delivered before him, kneeling.

The loan shark trembled in fear, not knowing why he had been dragged here.

Thinking about how such a trivial man had swaggered and acted powerful in front of Jiho made Jiwan slightly irritated.

“Th-there… um… why have you called for me…?”

Grinning obsequiously at Jiwan, his darting eyes were filled with fear.

At first, Jiwan had thought not to let him off easily, but seeing such a typical bully-the-weak, fear-the-strong attitude made him lose interest.

The only thing that extended the man’s lifespan was the usefulness he still had.

“Among your clients, there is someone named Shin Jiho. Do you know him?”

“Shin… Jiho?”

At Jiwan’s question, confusion flickered across the loan shark’s face, soon replaced with cunning.

He seemed to be rapidly deducing why Do Jiwan was asking about Shin Jiho.

Glancing at him, Jiwan continued.

“I would like to purchase all of Shin Jiho’s debt.”

“All… of it?”

At those words, the fear vanished from the loan shark’s face.

It was obvious he was now pondering why Jiwan would want to buy Jiho’s debt.

‘There are two reasons to buy someone’s debt….’

To completely ruin that person.

Or to help them.

In this line of work, the former was far more common, but judging by the atmosphere, this seemed closer to the latter.

The loan shark found it absurd.

‘Why would Do Jiwan help Shin Jiho? Did Shin Jiho latch onto him as a sponsor?’

The Jiho the loan shark knew had absolutely nothing.

He had nothing but his body—no different from a beggar.

If only his hunter rank or aptitude had been good, he might have aimed for a comeback, but he was D-rank with an enhancement-type aptitude.

An aptitude so common that 89 out of 100 people had it, paired with a low rank.

‘…It’s not like he’s particularly handsome either.’

Some hunters received appearance buffs, but Jiho hadn’t been so lucky.

He was neat-looking and inoffensive, but not handsome enough to become an entertainer or even be sent into the nightlife industry.

‘If anything, this one here is more….’

Forgetting his fear as he sank into thought, the loan shark’s eyes scanned Jiwan’s face.

Unlike Jiho, this man was so strikingly handsome that even a current idol would pale in comparison.

So the loan shark discarded the suspicion that Shin Jiho might have become Jiwan’s sponsored companion.

Why would a man like this settle for someone like Shin Jiho?

Seeing the loan shark chuckle faintly in disbelief, Jiwan clicked his tongue.

He disliked the way the man’s gaze seemed to evaluate him.

As Jiwan’s mood darkened, fear crept back onto the loan shark’s face.

But in front of money, fear was powerless.

“Shin Jiho’s debt is quite substantial….”

“…….”

“It’s around 2.3 billion won. Are you aware?”

It was a large sum for someone barely in his early twenties to bear.

Of course, it wasn’t debt from extravagance, but debt inherited from his parents.

His father, desperately trying to revive his failing business, had eventually been cornered into a loan shark’s office.

Naturally, it hadn’t started as such a large amount.

But as various charges accumulated, skirting the edge of legality, the sum had ballooned.

If it were Jiho alone, powerless, that would be one thing.

But if someone with Jiwan’s authority chose to contest it, things could become troublesome.

The loan shark tensed.

Looking at him in silence, Jiwan finally spoke, as if pronouncing a verdict.

“I will pay the full debt, without reducing even a single won.”

Relief washed over the loan shark’s face, but Jiwan wasn’t finished.

“In return, you will do one thing for me.”

“One… thing?”

“Yes. As you have done until now, continue collecting money from Shin Jiho.”

At those words, the loan shark’s eyes widened.

Wasn’t he buying the debt to help him?

‘More importantly… does that mean he’s hiring me?’

The loan shark’s heart pounded.

Even now, he held a relatively important position within his organization, but ultimately he was still beneath the head.

To move from a gang-run group to beneath the heir of a conglomerate…

‘Even if I’m a tail, I’d rather be a dragon’s tail!’

Joy lit up the loan shark’s face.

It wasn’t just stepping from the shadows into the light—it was ascending straight into the heavens.

There was no longer fear toward Jiwan in his eyes.

Jiwan was no longer someone to fear, but someone to serve.

“Yes, Guild Leader! I will give you my utmost loyalty!”

The loan shark prostrated himself on the floor and shouted.

Jiwan, who had been watching him indifferently, rose from his seat and slowly approached him.