Quest Reward (1)
Oh Eun-joo had a dream.
A peaceful afternoon.
Watching her most precious son play at the apartment playground.
Keeping her eyes on him, afraid he might get hurt—just another ordinary day.
Then, she quietly opened her eyes.
Realizing she had woken from sleep, Oh Eun-joo gasped softly and wept.
It had been a sweet dream.
She couldn't hold back her tears because she knew that dream could never come true.
That was when—
"Oh Eun-joo."
A man stood by the emergency exit, looking straight down at her.
'Who is he?'
Maybe because of the dream, strangely, she felt at ease in his presence.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Kim Jae-hyun."
There was something mysterious about him.
Her instincts told her—
The source of the unknown power she had just experienced was standing right before her.
That overwhelming force was hidden beneath his gentle demeanor.
"...Was it you?"
"Pardon?"
"The one who blew off the goblins' heads."
He slowly nodded in confirmation.
"Yes."
As if it was nothing to him.
'Maybe...'
Was it the lingering haze from her dream?
Or was it because of what she had dreamed about?
A ridiculous thought crossed her mind.
'If it's this man...'
Could it be possible?
Tears streaming down her face, Oh Eun-joo pleaded before this stranger.
"Please... Please save my son. Even if it's just for one day..."
My first meeting with Oh Eun-joo was intense from the start.
[Citizen Oh Eun-joo's trust level has significantly increased.]
Just making eye contact with her had caused a massive jump in trust.
And after just a few words, another trust increase notification appeared.
It happened the moment I revealed that I was the one who had killed the goblins.
Right after that, she stared at me blankly for a long time before bursting into tears and making a desperate request.
"Please... Please save my son."
"..."
Save her son.
That alone was enough for me to piece together the situation.
'She must have lost her child to the goblins.'
The emergency staircase was a mess, littered with goblin corpses slain by Oh Eun-joo.
Since she had killed them before becoming a citizen, their bodies had not disappeared.
The remains were gruesome.
Smashed skulls, spilled entrails, broken necks—
It wasn't hard to imagine how desperate the battle had been.
And from those traces, I could sense overwhelming hatred.
'Save him?'
She wasn't asking me to heal her injured son.
She was asking me to bring him back from the dead.
"Huuuh..."
Perhaps even she knew how impossible that request was, because after saying it, she simply sobbed in sorrow.
Watching her, I felt something stir in my chest.
'Is there really no way?'
Bringing back the dead.
Once, I would have thought it was a foolish question.
But in this world, where everything had changed, it wasn't entirely ridiculous.
After all, were the monsters and superhumans roaming the streets any less absurd?
I pondered for a moment before a possibility came to mind.
'If this works...'
When I first gained the ability to grant quests, I tested the penalty limits.
But I had never tested the limits of the rewards.
'Quest assignment. Hunt 1,000 goblins. No time limit. No penalty. Reward... my son's resurrection.'
Ding!
The moment I heard the system notification, I couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope.
If this was truly possible, then it meant I could bring even the dead back to life.
And that meant I could do the same for my own loved ones.
However—
[Quest cannot be assigned.]
My hopes were immediately crushed.
'So it's not possible after all...'
As expected.
No matter how great the ability, bringing someone back to life should be impossible.
That was what I thought—until that moment.
[Insufficient funds to grant (Quest Reward: Resurrection).]
[Please increase your available funds and try again.]
"...What?"
For a moment, I doubted my eyes.
Because the system window displayed something completely absurd.
But no matter how many times I reread it, the message didn't change.
'So, in other words...'
The meaning was crystal clear.
'As long as I have money, I can bring the dead back to life?'
Even as I attempted it, I never truly believed it would work.
'My god.'
But it actually was possible.
"Hic..."
Oh Won-joo, sobbing quietly, looked utterly pitiful.
It was cruel, but even as she cried in front of me, I was crunching numbers in my head.
'I can't estimate how much money resurrection will cost yet.'
Even without exact figures, I was certain it would require an astronomical amount.
'Is this person worth investing that much money in?'
There was no need for lengthy contemplation.
Her level and abilities alone were more than enough to justify the investment.
"Oh Won-joo. Oh Won-joo."
I called out to her as she lifted her tear-streaked face.
"I believe I can help you."
"...What?"
"I can bring your son back to life."
"!!!"
Oh Won-joo snapped to attention, her face filled with shock.
"Really? Are you really saying you can save my son?"
"To be honest, it's not possible right now."
"Ah..."
Her face fell with disappointment, but I continued speaking.
"But I swear on my name—I will bring your son back."
"What... what do I have to do?"
She didn't truly believe me.
She was simply grasping at straws.
That desperation was written all over her face.
"Hmm."
Part of me wanted to send her straight back to her family home.
I wanted to ask her to bring them to this apartment.
After all, she had the strongest specs among all the civilians.
But sending her alone was too risky.
The biggest concern was the level of monsters she might encounter on the way.
'If I'm going to send her, I need to make sure she has solid support to minimize the danger.'
The most powerful combination I currently had among my cards was bringing Oh Won-joo into Ha Dong-gun's party.
In Ha Dong-gun's party, there were Moon Byung-ho and Kang Deok-soo, who were registered as retainers.
Both had reached levels 30 and 25, respectively, and had even awakened decent abilities.
If Oh Won-joo, who was level 33, joined them, they would be able to tear through most monsters with ease.
'The best scenario would be making all seven of them my retainers.'
If that happened, I wouldn't have to worry even if we encountered an unbeatable monster. I could simply summon them all as my retainers.
That would significantly reduce the risk of losing our fighting strength.
After organizing my thoughts, I turned to Oh Won-joo and spoke.
"For now, please come with me. There are some people I'd like to introduce you to."
.....
"Nice to meet you. I'm Ha Dong-gun."
"I'm Oh Won-joo."
The introduction between Oh Won-joo and Ha Dong-gun's group took place in Choi Hyung-joon's family living room.
The survivors who had previously filled the space had dispersed to their respective homes with the relief supplies. However, since Ha Dong-gun's group and Oh Won-joo were originally from different apartment buildings, they had no proper place to stay.
Thanks to the generous Choi Hyung-joon, they were able to gather here.
Oh Won-joo cautiously spoke first.
"You're the one who hunted goblins by throwing baseballs, right? And that woman shoots arrows."
Ha Dong-gun looked surprised and asked,
"You know us?"
"Don't you remember me? We've met before."
When they showed no sign of recognition, Oh Won-joo activated her ability.
Crack!
"Ugh!"
A moment ago, she had appeared to be just an ordinary middle-aged woman, but suddenly, she transformed into a beast covered in black fur.
Kim Ga-young gasped in shock and shouted.
"The werewolf from the side path!"
The werewolf that Ha Dong-gun's party had seen in the alley was actually Oh Won-joo in her beast form.
She quickly returned to her human form and casually corrected them.
"To be precise, I'm not a wolf—I'm a bear."
"...A bear?"
"Yes, a bear."
Thanks to her unexpectedly gentle response, the tense atmosphere eased.
'Is this the composure of an adult?'
Then, Oh Won-joo smiled and said,
"I actually helped you a few times. Didn't you notice?"
"Oh!"
"That time!"
As if recalling a specific moment, they immediately reacted.
"You were the one who helped us at the entrance of the underground parking lot!"
"It was intentional. Goblins are my enemy, after all."
I had assumed she was just sociable, but from the conversation, it seemed like she had already developed a fondness for Ha Dong-gun's party.
That made things progress much faster.
"It's a relief that you all already know each other."
I gave Oh Won-joo a brief explanation of the situation.
"I see... So your grandmother..."
[Citizen Oh Won-joo's trust level has increased significantly.]
"The rescue mission for Moon Byung-ho's grandmother is planned for early tomorrow morning. Oh Won-joo, you'll be joining us for the operation."
The plan wasn't particularly complex.
Since we had already hunted down many goblins in the underground parking lot, their numbers in the surrounding area had significantly decreased. The goal was to take advantage of this opportunity and rescue Moon Byung-ho's grandmother.
"I'll be counting on you."
"Same here."
With that, the preliminary meeting for tomorrow's operation was concluded.
"Everyone, you've worked hard today. Get a good rest, and I'll see you early in the morning."
Just then, Choi Hyung-joon, who had been silently listening, hesitantly spoke to me.
"Uh... Jaehyun?"
"Yes?"
"Am I included in tomorrow's operation?"
Sweat was dripping down his face.
Originally, I had intended to bring him along.
However, after seeing how he performed in the previous goblin operation, I had no choice but to reconsider.
"Even if you have immense strength, it's useless if your body freezes in front of a monster."
In reality, during the group hunt, Choi Hyung-joon had been in quite a bit of danger.
Knowing that, I couldn't bring him into the operation.
I shook my head once and replied,
"No. You've been injured as well. You should rest fully tomorrow."
"Phew."
Hearing my response, Choi Hyung-joon let out a sigh of relief.
Park Hye-won, who had also been relieved beside him, asked with a concerned expression,
"But what should we do? We have some guest bedding prepared, but it's not exactly abundant."
"Is it seriously lacking?"
"Not really... but if we squeeze in, it might work."
It seemed like if just two people left, everyone else would be able to sleep comfortably.
I said,
"The rest of you can sleep here, but Moon Byung-ho and Kang Deok-soo, please follow me."
"Huh?"
"W-Wait, me?"
I nodded toward the two, who looked flustered.
"Yes, you two."
Moon Byung-ho entered the house more casually than expected, while Kang Deok-soo followed behind, looking extremely tense.
"That small room over there is the guest room. The blankets are inside the built-in closet, so take them out and use them as needed."
"Thank you."
Just as the two were about to go in, I spoke.
"Do you know why I called only the two of you separately?"
Kang Deok-soo scratched his head.
"I'm not sure."
Right after that, Moon Byung-ho spoke up.
"Is it because we've been chosen by you, Jaehyun?"
I nodded.
"That's right."
Looking straight at them, I continued my explanation.
"You two have awakened. Moon Byung-ho, your ability is teleportation. Kang Deok-soo, yours is 'Iron Knight.'"
Their eyes widened in shock.
It seemed they found my words hard to believe.
Inside, I thought to myself:
'Quest assignment. Demonstrate your abilities in front of me. Time limit: one hour. Penalty: sleeping in the hallway. Reward…'
How far can quest rewards go?
'Strength enhancement.'
Ding!