CHAPTER 19: POST-DUNGEON ECONOMICS 101

I knew that morbid ass curiosity would eventually get the better of her. Call it intuition. Call it the way her left eye twitches when she’s dying to know something. Whatever the fuck you want to call it, I knew the moment she stepped out of that bathroom, Natalia Kuzmina would come looking for me.

The condo’s AC hummed softly, creating a bubble of sterile chill that couldn’t have been more different from the heat and stench of that hellish tunnelsystem we’d crawled through. My body ached in places I didn’t know could ache, muscles I’d only just started developing screaming in protest at what I’d put them through. But that pain was nothing compared to the sweet, sweet burn of success.

I scrolled through the Hunter Net black market listings on my tablet, my fingers dancing across the screen with practiced ease. The original contract would have netted us a respectable 550,000 credits total. Not bad for an afternoon’s work. But the real money? That was in the secondary market.

"Highest quality D-Rank Nest Mother Core, harvested intact. Perfect crystalline matrix, suitable for high-level transmutation." I added a few more technical details I’d picked up from browsing similar listings, then uploaded the verification photos.

Ten seconds later, the first bid came in. Then another. Then five more in rapid succession.

My lips curled into a smile as the numbers climbed. The Guild alchemists were getting desperate with the NPA exams approaching. They needed cores for crafting catalysts, rings, pendants—all the fancy toys aspiring Hunters craved to give them an edge.

And I had exactly what they wanted.

[Status Update: Commercial Transaction Initiated. Schema Points +5]

The System’s notification floated across my vision, then faded. I mentally dismissed it. Five points was nice, but I was aiming for a much bigger prize.

"What are you doing?"

I didn’t need to look up to know Natalia was standing in the hallway. The subtle scent of her lavender shampoo gave her away, carried on the artificial breeze of the air conditioning. My enhanced senses—courtesy of my steadily rising stats—picked up on the soft padding of her bare feet against the hardwood floor, the subtle rustle of fabric.

"Working," I replied, still focused on my tablet as another bid popped up. 800,000 credits. Getting warmer.

"I asked if you handled the bounty," she said, her voice carrying a note of hesitation I’d never heard before today. Vulnerability. It sounded strange coming from her.

I glanced up briefly. She stood wrapped in a large towel, her wet purple hair clinging to her shoulders. Her skin was flushed from the hot shower, making the shadows of exhaustion under her eyes more pronounced. The Aspect Overload had taken more out of her than she’d admit.

"I’m handling it right now." I nodded toward my tablet. "Taking care of our payload."

She took a few tentative steps closer, curiosity overcoming her usual reluctance to enter my personal space. "What do you mean? Wasn’t the contract just a flat fee?"

I snorted. "Only if you’re an idiot. The real money’s in direct sales."

The tablet chimed again. 900,000. 950,000. The bidding war was heating up nicely.

Natalia moved to stand behind the couch, peering over my shoulder. I could feel the heat radiating from her shower-warmed skin, smell the clean scent of her. The towel she clutched left her shoulders bare, showcasing the elegant curve of her neck and collarbone. If I turned my head just slightly...

"You’re selling the Core directly?" Her voice was closer now, breath tickling my ear. "Isn’t that against the contract terms?"

I laughed. "You read the fine print. The contract guarantees them the confirmation of the kill and the right to mine out all the mana crystals. We fulfilled that obligation. It says nothing about harvesting rights. The core was a bonus."

Her eyes widened as she processed this information. "So we get to keep..."

"Everything," I finished for her. "The Core, the mandibles, the chitin plates, even the venom sacs I extracted while you were taking your little nap."

She made a noise of indignation. "I wasn’t napping. I was suffering from Aspect Overload."

"Semantics." I waved dismissively. "The point is, I’ve got at least six different Guild alchemists trying to outbid each other for our haul."

The tablet chimed one final time. A message appeared:

\[FINAL OFFER: 1,150,000 CREDITS. IMMEDIATE TRANSFER UPON ACCEPTANCE.\]

I tapped the screen, accepting the offer. The transaction processed in seconds. My banking app pinged with a notification, followed immediately by a chime from Natalia’s phone sitting on the coffee table.

She reached for it, her eyes widening as she read the notification.

"Credit Transfer Received: +805,000."

"That’s..." She stared at her phone in disbelief. "That’s almost double what we expected."

"Seventy percent of our total haul, as agreed," I said casually, setting my tablet aside. "Though I rounded up a bit in your favor. Consider it hazard pay for the Overload."

She looked from her phone to me, suspicion and confusion warring on her face. "Why would you do that?"

I shrugged. "The split was fair. You did most of the heavy lifting in there."

"But this is..." She shook her head, clearly struggling to reconcile my actions with her image of me. "This is enough for the Cryo-Lich Ring with plenty to spare."

"I know." I stood up, stretching my sore muscles. "Speaking of which..."

I picked up my phone and showed her the screen. It was a news alert from the Hunter Auction House:

\[FINAL BID FOR CRYO-LICH RING CATALYST: 470,000 CREDITS. AUCTION CLOSES IN ONE HOUR.\]

Her eyes darted between the alert and her banking app. Then, without a word, she hurried back to her room, presumably to secure her prize before someone else snatched it up.

I allowed myself a small smile of satisfaction as I watched her go.

[Status Update: Strategic Generosity recognized. Schema Points +15. Total: 45]

[Primary Quest Update: Seduce and Corrupt Natalia. Progress: 55%]

Now we were getting somewhere.

I walked to the dining area where several large bags sat waiting. I’d placed the order while Natalia was in the shower, using part of my share of the bounty. The bags came from Takashi’s—the most expensive sushi restaurant in the district, a place where people like us would normally never get a reservation.

But money talks. Especially when you throw in a hefty tip.

I began unpacking the feast: platters of expertly sliced sashimi, colorful rolls adorned with tobiko and gold leaf, tender grilled unagi, and small dishes of rare delicacies that cost more than what most people made in a day. Crystal glasses and a bottle of chilled sake completed the spread.

"What is all this?"

Natalia had returned, now dressed in loose silk pajamas, her hair partly dried and falling in soft waves around her face. Her phone was still clutched in her hand.

"Dinner," I replied simply. "Or a post-mission debriefing, if you prefer the professional term."

She approached the table cautiously, as if the food might bite her. "You spent your share on... sushi?"

"Not all of it. Just enough for a proper celebration." I gestured to the spread. "We survived our first independent Gate run, made a small fortune, and you’re about to acquire your precious ice ring. If that doesn’t call for Takashi’s omakase selection, what does?"

Natalia’s eyes roamed over the expensive spread, lingering on pieces I knew she particularly liked. I’d seen her browsing Takashi’s menu online more than once.

"How did you know what I..." She trailed off, narrowing her eyes. "You’ve been spying on me."

I laughed, the sound genuine. "I live with you. I notice things. It’s not espionage to remember what sushi you drool over on your Snapgram feed."

Her cheeks colored slightly. "I don’t drool."

"Figure of speech." I pulled out a chair for her. "Sit. Eat. Your body needs protein after an Overload."

She hesitated for a second, then slowly sank into the offered chair. "I got the ring," she said quietly. "My bid was accepted."

"Congratulations." I took the seat across from her and poured sake into two small crystal glasses. "To your first step toward becoming an A-Rank Hunter."

I raised my glass. After a moment’s hesitation, she raised hers as well, the crystal clinking softly.

"And to your unexpected Aspect manifestation," she added, studying me over the rim of her glass. "Though we still need to figure out exactly what it is."

I smiled enigmatically. "All in good time."