"Let's not waste time, Leon. Name your price—we want you in ARES."
The ARES Guild's chief executive sat across from Leon in a conference room that screamed luxury. A marble table, leather chairs that probably cost more than cars, and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city's financial district created an atmosphere of opulence.
Two bodyguards flanked the door, and the executive-a corporate shark in a tailored suit—leaned forward with predatory confidence.
Leon studied the man's face: cold eyes and a calculating smile, the kind of person who measured everything in profit margins.
"Any price," the exec continued. "Signing bonus, equipment allowance, luxury housing. We can make you wealthy beyond imagination."
Leon listened without expression. The offer was generous—obscenely generous. It was the kind of deal that would set him up for life.
He stood slowly.
"Even if you were the last guild on earth, I wouldn't join."
The exec's face hardened like concrete setting. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
Leon walked toward the door. The bodyguards tensed but didn't move—a wise choice.
"You're making a mistake," the exec called after him. "ARES doesn't make offers twice."
"Good."
Leon left them sitting in their expensive room, surrounded by their lavish furniture and their worthless offer.
Staff whispered in the hallway as he passed. Word traveled fast in the hunter community. Refusing ARES was either brilliant or suicidal.
Leon didn't care which.
Back home, he opened his laptop and checked the Hunter Association website. His name still dominated the trending section, with video clips of the boss fight playing repeatedly.
The live rankings showed his meteoric rise: B-Rank, 47th nationally. These numbers represent years of grinding for most hunters, but he'd done it in weeks.
Leon opened the dungeon portal finder. Dozens of gates waited across the city—E-Rank, D-Rank, and a few C-Ranks that caught his attention.
He needed a challenge, something to test his upgraded abilities.
His phone buzzed with a text from Elise.
I hid when that thing came out—I thought I'd die. Glad you finished it. I'm D-rank now, by the way.
Leon smiled. She'd earned it.
Congrats! Want to clear a C-rank with me tomorrow?
Hell yes! Let's pick up three more and go.
Her enthusiasm was infectious, and Leon looked forward to working with someone who understood the thrill of advancement.
Real estate portals are loaded on his second monitor. Leon browsed upscale neighborhoods with the casual confidence of someone who could actually afford them now.
A three-bedroom apartment caught his eye—it was in a safe district, with good schools nearby and a security system—and it was all for six hundred thousand credits.
He bought it without hesitation.
His mother deserved better than the Shadow Quarter's peeling paint and broken dreams. She deserved windows that didn't leak and neighbors who didn't deal drugs in the hallways.
A delivery truck rumbled outside his window, bringing Leon's official loot shipment from the Association.
He carried the reinforced cases upstairs one by one. Each container required biometric verification before opening; the Association took its security seriously.
The Champion's remains had yielded extraordinary materials: armor fragments that hummed with residual power, crystallized mana cores worth small fortunes, and a chain artifact pulsed with dark energy.
Leon scrutinized the chain. The spectral metal links felt warm, perfect for his assassin zombie.
He summoned her with practiced ease. The undead killer materialized silently, her head tilted in question.
"New equipment," Leon said, holding up the chain.
She accepted it with a silent nod. The artifact wrapped around her waist like a living thing, absorbing into her spectral form. Her outline grew sharper, more defined.
Leon's system interface confirmed the upgrade:
[Assassin Zombie - Equipment Updated]
[Shadowchain Equipped: +25 Agility, +15 Stealth]
[New Ability: Phase Strike - Ignores armor for 3 seconds]
The monster's skin and secondary weapon went into storage, and Leon planned to sell them later for additional funding. There was no point in hoarding materials he couldn't use.
He opened the system market with growing excitement. His hand, which had accumulated tokens from recent victories, provided substantial purchasing power.
A staff caught his attention first—a crystalline focus topped with a gem that swirled with captured starlight.
[Voidstar Staff - Rare]
[+40 Magic Damage, +20 Mana Regeneration]
[Special: Spell Amplification - All magic effects +15%]
Perfect for his mage zombie, Leon bought the staff without hesitation.
Three skill scrolls followed—advanced techniques designed to expand his undead army's tactical options.
[Frost Nova - Area ice damage and crowd control]
[Spectral Armor - Damage reduction for all friendly undead]
[Mana Burn - Drains enemy magical energy]
Leon assigned them immediately. His mage zombie flickered as new knowledge integrated into its consciousness.
For his warrior zombie, Leon found something special.
[Berserker's Fury - Combat Skill]
[+50% damage when health drops below 30%]
[+25% attack speed during extended combat]
[Warning: May cause uncontrolled aggression]
The warrior would become more dangerous as it took damage, and Leon liked that trade-off.
His system interface updated with the accumulated changes:
[System Credits: 180/350]
[New Abilities Unlocked:]
[Zombie Coordination - All undead gain +10% effectiveness when working together]
[Threat Adaptation - 3% stat boost per enemy level above your own]
Leon grinned. "Nice."
The stat point allocation came next. Two hundred points to distribute across his capabilities.
[Strength: 32 → 45]
[Vitality: 38 → 50]
[Agility: 41 → 53]
[Magic: 47 → 62]
[Luck: 12 → 20]
Power flowed through his body like electricity. His muscles felt denser, his reflexes sharper, and his mana capacity expanded until his chest felt like a contained storm.
Leon flexed his fingers, watching enhanced coordination respond to his mental commands. The upgrade was substantial enough to feel in his bones.
He closed the system interface and tidied his apartment. Tomorrow would bring new challenges, but he could rest knowing his family's future was secure tonight.
The apartment felt different now. It was not like home anymore, but more like a temporary shelter he had already outgrown. His mother would love the new place.
Leon changed clothes and settled into bed. Exhaustion pulled at him despite the excitement of his advancement; boss fights took more out of you than regular dungeons.
His phone vibrated against the nightstand.
Leon received a text message from an unknown number. He almost ignored it, but then he noticed the sender ID: Jinocam.
"Bro, I want to share the stream money with you and maybe help if you're cool with it."