Chapter 3: The Collateral
The "Sweeper" was still breathing, but he was no longer an Awakened. To the Association, he was now less than the trash he was hired to bag.
Siwoo didn't leave the alley. He knew the protocol. In six minutes, a second cleanup crew would arrive to check on the first. He needed a base, and he needed a shield.
He pulled up the Ledger, his eyes scanning the nearby buildings. The red numbers bled through the concrete walls, showing the "Debt Value" of every soul within a hundred yards.
120... 80... 300...
Then, his eyes locked onto a basement window across the street. A number was pulsing there, thick and heavy like a heartbeat.
[DV: 45,000,000 (Past Due)]
Siwoo dragged the unconscious Sweeper into the shadows and crossed the street. He kicked the basement door open.
The room smelled of stale ramen and ozone. It was a "Workshop"—a graveyard of broken mana-engines and salvaged gear. In the center of the mess sat a girl, barely twenty, her hands covered in grease and her eyes bloodshot. She was frantically trying to repair an A-Rank Mana-Core with F-Rank tools.
She didn't even look up. "I told you, Boss. Give me two more days. I'll have the core stabilized. Just don't touch my sister."
"I'm not your Boss," Siwoo said, his voice cutting through the hum of the machines.
The girl froze. She looked up, her eyes wide with terror. She saw a man in a ruined, blood-stained suit with eyes that glowed like embers. "You're... you're not with the Loan Sharks?"
[Scanning Target: Yoo Hana]
[Class: Artificer (Buried Talent)]
[Debt: 45 Million Won to the 'Black Tiger' Syndicate. 300 Million 'Karmic' Debt to the Association.]
"The Black Tigers are small time," Siwoo said, walking toward her workbench. He picked up the A-Rank core. It was cracked, leaking lethal amounts of mana. "You're trying to fix a bomb with duct tape. Why?"
"The Association... they blacklisted my father. He was a Hero who 'failed' a raid. They took his pension, his gear, and now they're taking his life. I have to fix this core to pay for his mana-poisoning treatment."
She was the perfect "Asset." Talented, desperate, and buried in debt.
"They didn't blacklist your father because he failed," Siwoo said, his voice cold. "They blacklisted him because he found out the Association was skimming mana-taxes from the raids. I should know. I'm the one who filed the paperwork."
Yoo Hana stood up, her wrench trembling in her hand. "You... you're one of them?"
"I was," Siwoo said. He stepped closer, the System Interface flaring to life between them. "But I just died. Now, I'm the guy who's going to help you settle your accounts."
[Notification: Contract Proposal Initialized.]
[Terms: The Host will pay off Yoo Hana's debt and provide 'Protection'.]
[Cost: Yoo Hana's absolute loyalty and 50% of her produced Mana-Artifacts.]
"I can't pay you," she whispered.
"I don't want your money, Hana. I want your hands." Siwoo reached out, touching the cracked A-Rank core.
[Skill Activation: Foreclosure.]
[Seizing 'Debt' from Debtor: Black Tiger Syndicate (Indirect).]
The red veins of light surged from Siwoo's hand into the cracked core. The cracks didn't just heal; they fused. The leaking mana was sucked back into the center, turning the chaotic energy into a steady, rhythmic glow.
[Asset Seized: 5,000 AP from the Syndicate's 'Interest' Ledger.]
[Core Stabilized. Efficiency increased by 20%.]
Hana gasped, falling to her knees as she watched the "impossible" repair happen in seconds.
Siwoo turned back to the door. The sound of heavy boots echoed in the alley outside. The Black Tiger collection squad had arrived early.
"Stay behind me," Siwoo said, his shadow stretching across the workshop floor, becoming darker, denser. "I'm about to show you how a Debt Collector handles a late payment."
[Warning: 5 Hostile 'Debtors' approaching.]
[Calculated payout: 12,000 Asset Points.]
Siwoo didn't pull a weapon. He just loosened his tie.
"Let's balance the books."