Chapter Five - The Reapers Guild

The weight of the five-thousand-dollar repair bill pressed down on Kim Jin-Hyuk like a physical burden. He stared at the crumpled estimate, the stark numbers blurring through a haze of disbelief and simmering rage. Five thousand dollars. For a single, hastily destroyed wall. The absurdity of it all fueled his anger, a fire that crackled within him, threatening to consume him entirely. "Five thousand dollars?!" he bellowed, the sound echoing in the sterile, white-walled hospital waiting room. "For a fucking wall?"

His outburst, a raw expression of frustration and impotent fury, was a desperate attempt to wrestle control from the suffocating grip of his circumstances. He was broke, hopelessly so. The looming debt represented not just financial ruin, but the crushing weight of his own impulsive actions, a stark reminder of his inability to control his volatile temper. He paced the small waiting area, his agitation growing with each passing second, a caged animal desperate for an escape.

Then, she appeared. Yoo Yeonhee.

Her entrance was less an arrival and more a shift in the very atmosphere of the room. The air seemed to thicken, charged with an almost palpable energy that sent a shiver down Jin-Hyuk's spine. She moved with a fluid grace that belied the steely determination in her eyes. Her gaze, sharp and unwavering, settled on him, assessing, judging. It was a look that stripped away any pretense, leaving him feeling naked and exposed.

"Kim Jin-Hyuk," she said, her voice a low, silken purr that held an undercurrent of steel. The casualness of her tone was a stark contrast to the weight of her words. "If you join the Reapers Guild, I'll gladly pay for your… incident."

The offer hung in the air, a lifeline thrown to a drowning man. He knew, instinctively, that this was not a benevolent act. This was a transaction, a calculated exchange, but it was an exchange he couldn't refuse. He had no money, no prospects, no other options. His pride, his anger, his sense of self-worth – all were swallowed by the overwhelming tide of desperation.

"Fine," he muttered, the word barely audible above the pounding of his own heart. "I'll join your guild."

The swiftness of Yeonhee's actions was breathtaking. She settled the bill with the hospital administrator with an almost casual efficiency, her movements precise and economical. Then, without a word, she took his wrist, her grip surprisingly strong, and pulled him from the waiting room, leaving him no time for protest or second thoughts.

The car ride was a blur of unsettling silence punctuated by the occasional sharp turn and the rhythmic thump of the tires on the asphalt. Jin-Hyuk's attempts to question his abrupt abduction were met with an unnerving silence, a chilling indifference that only served to heighten his anxiety. He was shoved into the passenger seat, a contract thrust into his hands. He didn't read it. He couldn't. The sheer weight of the situation, the palpable threat emanating from Yeonhee, paralyzed him. He signed, his signature a desperate scrawl on a document whose implications he didn't fully comprehend.

The revelation came later, a chillingly casual confession delivered at a red light. "What even is this shit?" he asked, his voice laced with a growing unease. Yeonhee's smirk was predatory. "Ah, that?" she said, her eyes glittering with amusement. "It's to make you my slave."

The temporary deactivation of his "No Emotion" skill hit him like a physical blow. The dam holding back the torrent of his emotions shattered. The humiliation, the rage, the crushing weight of his own naivete – it all erupted within him, a volcanic explosion of fury and despair. He felt a profound sense of betrayal, a searing anger that threatened to consume him. He ripped the contract, scattering the fragments onto the street like confetti of his shattered hopes. "I'm not in the mood for your sick jokes," he snarled, his voice tight with barely controlled fury. "Drop me off. Now."

His attempt to intimidate Yeonhee with a display of mana was pathetic, a desperate gesture that only served to underscore his weakness. She laughed, a sound that chilled him to the core. The subtle release of her own mana was a terrifying demonstration of power, a wave of energy that washed over him, leaving him feeling utterly insignificant, a small insect crushed beneath the heel of a giant. It was the power of a dungeon boss, amplified, magnified, a force that dwarfed his own abilities. He felt the cold grip of primal fear, a desperate instinct screaming at him to flee.

"Is that a threat, Kim Jin-Hyuk?" she asked, her voice laced with amusement, her gaze unwavering, a silent promise of swift and brutal retribution should he dare to defy her further.

The activation of his "No Emotion" skill was a desperate act of self-preservation, a last-ditch effort to regain control. The icy calm returned, suppressing the overwhelming tide of emotions, leaving him with a cold, calculating clarity. His mana pool surged, his stats boosted by fifty percent, a sudden, unexpected surge of power that brought him to a level that could finally match Yeonhee's earlier display. But even this unexpected power surge didn't deter her; instead, it seemed to ignite a spark of something akin to interest in her cold, calculating eyes.

The car pulled up to the Reapers Guild headquarters, a monolithic structure that seemed to absorb the very light around it, a fortress of shadows and secrets. As she opened the car door, Yeonhee's tone shifted, becoming colder, more businesslike. "Welcome to the Reapers Guild, Kim Jin-Hyuk," she said. "You'll be assigned to a solo-raid dungeon tomorrow. Consider it a test." The words hung in the air, a chilling prelude to the trials that awaited him, a stark and terrifying initiation into a world far removed from the one he'd known before. The game had begun, and he was already a pawn in a deadly game played by beings far more powerful than himself.

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