Chapter 1
The gold-plated door of the penthouse didn't stand a chance against a breach charge, but Han Siwoo didn't use explosives. He used a master key he'd swiped from the building manager's corpse three floors down.
The air inside smelled like expensive scotch and ozone—the lingering scent of an Awakener who had just used a high-tier skill.
"Mr. Kang? You're three months behind," Siwoo said, stepping over a shattered marble vase. He didn't pull a sword. He pulled a clipboard.
"Who the hell... a Cleaner?"
Kang Min-ho, a B-Rank Tanker known for his 'Indestructible Skin,' stood by the floor-to-ceiling window. His knuckles were bloody. On the rug behind him lay a woman, unconscious and bruised. The 'Hero' had been blowing off steam.
"Technically, I'm a Senior Debt Collector for the Association," Siwoo corrected, clicking his pen. "Your Mana-Crystal consumption last month exceeded your allowance by 400%. The bill is six billion won. Pay up, or I start seizing assets."
Kang laughed, a deep, vibrating sound that made the windows rattle. "Seize assets? From me? I'm a National-Level Asset, you unawakened rat. I could pop your head like a grape."
"You could," Siwoo agreed, his voice flat. Cold. "But then your sponsorship with Titan Industries vanishes. Your 'Hero' license gets revoked. And that little secret about the dungeon-raid you faked in Jeju? It hits the front page of the Global Times in exactly five minutes."
Kang's smile died. The ozone smell intensified. "You're threatening me? A bug like you?"
"I'm not threatening you, Min-ho. I'm doing my job." Siwoo glanced at his watch. 2:59 AM. "One minute until the upload starts. Pay, or lose everything."
For a second, the power dynamic shifted. The B-Rank Hunter, a man who could bench-press a semi-truck, looked genuinely afraid of the skinny man in the cheap suit holding a pen.
That was Siwoo's life. Ten years of being the most hated man in a world of Gods. He wasn't strong, but he knew where the bodies were buried. He was the guy who reminded the 'Gods' that they still owed rent to the mortals.
Then, the floor groaned.
The building didn't just shake; it tilted. A massive, obsidian spike erupted through the floor, impaling Kang Min-ho through the chest before he could even activate his 'Indestructible Skin.'
Blood sprayed across Siwoo's clipboard.
"What the—" Siwoo dove behind a sofa as the entire wall of the penthouse disintegrated.
This wasn't a debt collection anymore. Through the dust, three figures landed. They weren't monsters. They were wearing the gold-and-white capes of the Sovereign Guard—the Association's elite S-Rank strike team.
"Target eliminated," the leader said, glancing at Kang's twitching body. Then, his cold gaze landed on Siwoo. "There's a witness. An unawakened staffer."
"The 'Cleaner'?" the second one asked, charging a ball of white light in her hand. "The Association said to leave no loose ends. The Jeju secret dies with him."
Siwoo's heart hammered against his ribs. He had spent ten years protecting the Association's filth, and now, they were burning the trash.
"Wait," Siwoo gasped, reaching for his phone. "I have the—"
He didn't finish. The white light hit him like a freight train.
His body was flung through the shattered window, thirty stories above the Seoul pavement. As the wind whipped past his ears and the ground rushed up to meet him, Siwoo felt a strange sense of clarity.
I spent my whole life collecting their debts... and they paid me in lead.
[Condition for 'Vengeful Creditor' met.]
[Target has died with unresolved accounts.]
[Initializing Sovereign Creditor System...]
The world went black before he hit the asphalt.
[Synchronization: 100%]
[The First Debt is marked: The Hunter Association.]
[Would you like to start the Foreclosure?]