“Your son… is dying?” Jae-hee asked dubiously.

Jung Kwan Jang nodded, his face a mask of sorrow. “Yes. He’s sick. They say he won’t live much longer.”

The first reaction came from the commentary booth below the ring.

«Whoa! A surprise melodrama attack! It’s a classic, but a powerful one desu!»

«Is Boy faltering? Is he faltering now? The Outing Permit is right in front of him, and he’s faltering!»

But Jae-hee was a thoroughbred Korean—which is to say, the blood of passion, melodrama, and trot music ran thick in his veins.

Before he knew it, he was completely engrossed in Jung Kwan Jang’s sob story.

“While his worthless father spent ten years in a warm prison, my child’s illness only worsened in the cold world outside… He truly doesn’t have much time left.”

“Oh, no…” Jae-hee said, his expression full of sympathy.

A collective sigh of “Aww…” rippled through the audience.

“That’s why I had to attend this auction… I just want to see his face one last time before he dies.”

“My god, what a tragic story…”

As Jae-hee covered his mouth with his hand, Rapidfire and Status Window slapped their foreheads outside the ring.

«Ooh, that one landed hard! Boy took a clean hit and he’s reeling!»

«Just like his callsign, Boy-kun has a soft, naive heart, so he’s weak to this kind of attack desu. Mister Jung Kwan Jang is really laying it on thick desu!»

Whatever the two of them were shouting, Jae-hee, now in full-on empathy mode, nodded at Jung Kwan Jang.

“You have a family to return to, Mr. Jung Kwan Jang… a wife and son.”

“Well…” Jung Kwan Jang hesitated before confessing. “I’ve actually never met them.”

“Huh?”

The heck is he talking about now? Jae-hee wondered.

Jung Kwan Jang laid it all out.

Twenty years ago, in the heat of his reckless youth, he’d met a woman at a bar and dated her for a short time.

They’d drifted apart, and then ten years later—ten years ago from the present—she contacted him again. It was a heartfelt, handwritten letter.

She’d enclosed a photo of herself, suggesting they give it another try.

Though their only contact was through letters, Jung Kwan Jang fell for her completely.

As they continued their correspondence, dreaming of a future together, he learned a shocking truth.

The thing is, I had your child ten years ago.

But the child, she explained, had been born with a rare disease.

She was at the hospital twenty-four-seven, nursing the boy, and said it would be difficult to meet in person because she didn’t want to be a burden to him…

Already in love, Jung Kwan Jang felt a heavy sense of responsibility and replied that she could ask for anything he could do to help.

The kindhearted woman was very hesitant, but she eventually requested a small amount for hospital bills and medicine. Jung Kwan Jang readily sent the money.

But as time went on, the amounts she requested grew larger and larger.

Her pleas were accompanied by stories of their worsening financial situation. What started as a small sum for medicine became a month’s worth of hospital fees and, eventually, the cost of an expensive surgery.

Our son’s condition has gotten worse. He needs special treatment overseas.

He needs emergency surgery. If we don’t get the money now, he’s in danger.

Why did you send so little last month? Do you want to see your own boy die?

Every time one of these urgent letters arrived, Jung Kwan Jang scrambled to send money. Soon, he had exhausted his entire savings and had to take out loans and borrow from friends.

He was sinking deeper into a mire of debt, but with every wire transfer, she would send a new photo of the boy, and Jung Kwan Jang began to feel a burgeoning sense of fatherly love.

One day, when the boy is all better, the three of us will build a happy family together.

But disaster struck before that day could come.

With nowhere left to borrow from, Jung Kwan Jang finally dipped his hands into the public funds of the Hunter Guild where he worked.

It wasn’t long before his crime was discovered. He was arrested and dragged onto this ship.

That was ten years ago.

Having heard the story up to this point, everyone in the audience had the exact same thought.

Wait… isn’t that just a romance scam?

No matter how you sliced it, it was a classic con, a long-term, meticulously planned phishing scheme. The photos, the story—it was all obviously fabricated.

The problem was that the man himself, Jung Kwan Jang, still seemed oblivious to this fact.

And the listener, Jae-hee, was a complete novice in these matters. Tears were now welling in his eyes.

Sniffling, he wiped his runny nose on his sleeve. “I can’t believe a story this sad exists in the world…”

As if overcome by his own telling, Jung Kwan Jang also wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Then, a few months ago, a letter arrived here at the prison. It said the boy is on the verge of death and that I need to send more money right away.”

“…”

“But I’m an inmate now… I have no money to send for my son. So, at the very least, I want to be with him as he passes.”

Jung Kwan Jang covered his face with both hands. “We’ve never even seen each other, but still… I’m his father…”

Hiccuping, Jae-hee rubbed his eyes with his sleeve and took a deep, steadying breath. Then he turned to the commentary booth and declared, “I forfeit.”

«Excuse me?»

“I’m forfeiting my right… to purchase the Outing Permit.” Jae-hee gestured toward Jung Kwan Jang. “I yield to Mr. Jung Kwan Jang.”

A groan erupted from the commentary booth.

«Noooo! Boy-kuuuun! He totally fell for it desu!»

«Is this how it ends? Is this how it ends? The scales of victory have tipped in an instant!»

Jung Kwan Jang, who had been staring wide-eyed in surprise, spread his arms, his face a picture of gratitude.

“Boy…!”

Jae-hee spread his arms, too, and stepped forward. “Mr. Kwan Jang!”

Whump!

The two men, their faces a mess of tears and snot, embraced fiercely.

“I will never forget this kindness.”

“You have to promise me you’ll have a wonderful time with your son…!”

Leaning against a ring post, Razor watched the whole spectacle, coughed, and muttered, “Jae-hee, you gullible bastard… You’d better buy the jade mattress I’m selling later…”

From the booth, Rapidfire roared into the microphone.

«The winner of the Hell Fight is ‘Boy,’ but the right to purchase the prize, the Outing Permit, goes to ‘Jung Kwan Jang’! Now, everyone! For all the bidders who gave us a heated match, for the boy who demonstrated a beautiful act of concession, and for Jung Kwan Jang, who has finally secured the Outing Permit! Please give them a huge round of applause!»

Jae-hee and Jung Kwan Jang stood side by side, held hands, and bowed to the audience.

“Yaaay…”

Clap, clap, clap…

As they offered up half-hearted cheers and applause, every single prisoner was thinking the same thing.

He got scammed for sure…

And so, today’s long Hell Auction came to a close.

***

There was no neat epilogue to Jung Kwan Jang’s story. No one knew how it ended.

A few days after the auction, Jung Kwan Jang boarded a transport plane and left on his outing. The fellows he’d befriended while working out at the gym over the past ten years came to see him off.

Jae-hee was among them.

Clutching a bundle of gifts his fellow inmates had given him to “pass along to his wife and son,” Jung Kwan Jang stepped onto the plane. Through the closing hatch, he waved, a bright smile on his face.

That was the last anyone ever saw of him.

He did not return after his scheduled week was up. He had simply vanished.

A pursuit team was dispatched but found no significant traces.

From a distance, Hae-eun activated his Guillotine collar and the parasitic Gu. Both functioned properly, but there was no way to confirm if they had killed him.

Some speculated that Jung Kwan Jang had been lured in and killed by the scammer who had deceived him.

Others guessed that he had realized it was a romance scam, lost the will to live, and was hiding somewhere, quietly waiting to die.

Still others spun a conspiracy theory that everything he said was a lie, that he had been a spy planted from the outside from the very beginning and had escaped when the time was right.

A grim rumor even started circulating that the Outing Permit was an illusion and that anyone who left was immediately taken to a military hospital for biological experiments. Surprisingly, this theory gained the most traction.

And then, there was one person who believed this: “I’m sure he met his wife and son and found happiness. And after that… well, I’m sure he figured out how to disable the bomb collar and remove the parasite and made a clean getaway. That’s what I believe.”

Listening to Jae-hee’s chatter, Ghost gestured with her chin. “And how was he supposed to disable the bomb and the parasite?”

“Well, the Archmage disabled those cuff-like devices during our last outing, and look at the Crimson Poverty Front—they all get rid of their parasites just fine, right? There has to be a way.”

Jae-hee nodded seriously. “Mhm. I think Mr. Jung Kwan Jang escaped safely just like that. I’m sure of it! I’m telling you, I’m a great judge of character.”

Ghost just shook her head quietly.

They were on Deck 0, in a training room at the Central sector.

It was day seven of their tutelage, and the seventh training session had just ended. Ghost and Jae-hee were talking during a short break.

“Well now,” Ghost said, leaning against the wall, the corners of her mouth lifting into a faint smirk. “Today’s training is almost over. What’s your plan for an extension, kid? If you don’t have an Outing Permit to offer, I suppose our contract ends here.”

“M-Master!”

His eyes darting around, Jae-hee quickly dropped to his knees in front of Ghost.

“I promise I’ll get an Outing Permit by the next time I come…! Can’t we please remain master and disciple until then?”

“Next time when?”

“Until the next time an Outing Permit goes up for auction! I’ll do whatever it takes to get one then, I swear!”

As Jae-hee pressed his hands together and begged, Ghost let out a short, sharp laugh.

“I don’t need an Outing Permit anymore.”

She pulled something from her pocket and dangled it in front of him. Jae-hee’s eyes went wide.

The first Outing Permit sold at the Hell Auction was in Ghost’s hand.

The hooded woman who had won the bid—it had been Ghost all along.

“No way, how… Wow, Master, you’re an auction pro?!”

“That’s right. If I need one, I’ll buy it myself. I don’t need to wait for you to present it to me.”

Tucking the permit back into her pocket, Ghost jutted her chin out.

“So forget the permit. Offer me something else of value. Something that might actually tempt me.”

“…”

“Don’t you have any attractive terms to offer?”

As Ghost smiled a teasing grin, Jae-hee squeezed his eyes shut in thought, then…

“Um…” He suddenly yelled, “If you teach me, I’ll get strong!”

Blinking, Ghost asked, “You’ll get strong? How strong?”

“Stronger than anyone!”

Jae-hee shot to his feet and declared, “I’ll become stronger than anyone else in this world! As long as you’re the one to guide me!”

Stunned into silence by this absurd declaration, Ghost stared with her mouth slightly agape.

Then she asked, “Are you declaring you’re going to become the strongest in the world right now?”

“I guess you could put it that way…?!”

Jae-hee grinned with a carefree air and held up a fist. “Since I’ve taken up the sword, it’d be cool to aim for the top, right?”

Ghost crossed her arms, looking utterly flabbergasted. “I’ve never seen such a reckless fool. Hey, do you have any idea what you just said?”

“Of course I do! It means you, Master, will go down in history as the one who taught the world’s strongest, Jae-hee!”

“You’re unbelievable, you little shit…” Ghost let out a hollow laugh. “You’re all talk for a guy who just barely made it to Deck 2.”

But she didn’t seem particularly offended.

After a moment’s thought, Ghost said, “Fine. I’ll continue to teach you the sword.”

“Yessss!”

As Jae-hee leaped higher than he ever had before, Ghost held up her index and middle fingers.

Her face was dead serious.

“In return, you will promise me two things.”

“Two promises?” Jae-hee’s eyes widened. “What two things? Just name them!”

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