Chapter 39: Payday

The lobby of Meridian Exchange was large enough to make Jet wonder whether the company had deliberately designed it to intimidate first-time Raiders.

The building occupied an entire corner of the Awakener District, and its ground floor looked less like a shop than a combination of bank, warehouse, auction house, and luxury showroom.

Long counters divided the purchasing section into Dungeon Materials, Beyond Materials, Relics, Mana Resources, and Monster Components, while enormous digital boards displayed constantly changing market prices overhead.

Beyond the counters, glass showcases contained weapons, armor, medical kits, dimensional storage equipment, harvesting tools, potions, and equipment Jet couldn’t currently afford without adding another loan to the collection already waiting to murder his credit score.

Raiders moved through the lobby carrying everything from monster horns to sealed containers of organs, while employees in dark uniforms directed customers toward appraisal stations.

Frey walked beside him looking remarkably comfortable despite having entered a Dungeon earlier that day, although his destroyed cream jacket had been replaced by a plain black shirt he’d apparently kept inside his Inventory.

Jet looked considerably worse. He had cleaned most of the blood from himself, but bruises remained beneath his clothes, and every deep breath reminded him that the Bell-Tower Executioner had treated his ribs like a personal punching bag.

A young woman behind Appraisal Counter Seven looked up when they approached and gave them the practiced smile of someone who had already seen several disgusting things that morning.

Her badge read Elena Marrow — Senior Material Appraiser.

"Good afternoon. Dungeon materials, Beyond materials, or both?"

Jet answered, "Both," and Elena’s expression became slightly more interested. She gestured toward the broad reinforced platform beside her.

"Place everything you’re selling on the appraisal table. If you’re dividing proceeds between party members, tell me before settlement so the system can process separate transfers."

Frey immediately leaned against the counter. "Fifty-fifty for the Dungeon haul. Anything from his Beyond trip belongs to him."

Elena nodded and activated the platform. Jet and Frey began unloading their harvest in batches, and within minutes the clean appraisal surface looked like a butcher’s nightmare. Claws, teeth, preserved eyes, sections of hide, bone plates, cleavers, bell fragments and sealed organs covered the table while automated scanners moved overhead.

Elena worked efficiently, separating damaged materials from intact ones while prices appeared on her terminal.

"You harvested better than most first-time teams," she said, lifting a Grave Gnawer claw and checking its edge. "But someone crushed several specimens badly enough that half their useful components were destroyed."

Jet slowly turned toward Frey.

Frey looked away. "Environmental damage."

Jet stared at him. "Your environment was a giant snake."

Elena’s lips twitched before she continued. "From the Grave Gnawers, twenty-three usable claw sets, nineteen complete dental sets and fourteen intact Mana glands. That’s $18,400, $11,400 and $28,000 respectively. Total, $57,800."

The next batch contained Gallows Hound materials. "Eight complete ocular sets, seven fang sets, five usable tracking tissues and four good hide sections. $32,000, $12,600, $25,000 and $16,000. Gallows Hound total: $85,600."

Frey whistled quietly. "Those ugly dogs were carrying rent money in their faces."

Jet replied, "Please never become an appraiser."

The Ironbone Sentinel materials pushed the numbers higher. Elena inspected seven reinforced plates, three intact bone cleavers and four dense marrow crystals before entering the grades.

"The plates have minor damage, but they’re suitable for processing. $42,000. Three cleavers, $27,000. Four marrow crystals, $48,000. Sentinel total: $117,000."

She then approached the Boss materials with noticeably more care. The Bell-Tower Executioner’s fused armor required two assistants to help position it, while the massive executioner’s axe earned several looks from nearby Raiders.

Elena scanned everything twice. "Green-Class Boss material inside a White Dungeon always carries a premium. Fused armor sections: $76,000. Executioner’s axe: $95,000. Mana-conductive bell fragments: $84,000. Intact Boss Mana organ: $140,000."

Frey stopped leaning against the counter. Elena glanced at the final figure. "Bell-Tower Executioner total: $395,000. Your complete Dungeon material sale is therefore $655,400."

Frey immediately looked at Jet. "We’re rich."

Jet rubbed his forehead. "We had this conversation already."

"And I was right both times."

Elena asked whether they wanted the payment divided evenly, and both confirmed. After the company’s standard appraisal and processing fee had already been incorporated into the quoted purchase values, each received $327,700.

Frey’s phone chimed first. He checked the transfer, nodded approvingly, then looked over Jet’s shoulder as Jet confirmed his own deposit. "Lunch is on you."

Jet frowned. "Why?"

Frey grinned. "Because I killed more monsters."

"You destroyed more merchandise."

"Unproven."

Elena quietly began clearing the counter while pretending not to listen.

Jet wasn’t finished. He opened his Inventory again and removed three small objects that immediately changed Elena’s attention.

The Lesser Monster Cores from the Black-Fang Hyena, Spine-Backed Myriapod Caterpillar, and Vorpal Bunny rested on the appraisal surface with faint Mana moving inside them.

Frey leaned closer. "Those are your Beyond Cores?"

Jet nodded. "The ones I’m selling."

He wasn’t particularly happy about it. Monster Cores were important for Divine Rune development, and under different circumstances he would have kept every one.

Unfortunately, different circumstances didn’t include more than fifty short-term loans, a multimillion-dollar mortgage, and a financial situation he’d intentionally turned into a disaster because he’d needed enough money to tattoo ten Divine Runes before September fifteenth.

The Second Red Moon had arrived. His gamble had worked beyond anything he’d imagined.

Now the lenders still expected their money.

Elena placed each Core inside a small scanning chamber. "All three are Lesser-grade. Black-Fang Hyena, neutral physical affinity with predatory characteristics: $38,000. Spine-Backed Myriapod, defensive and paralytic characteristics: $52,000. Vorpal Bunny..."

She paused as additional information populated her screen. "Wind affinity, unusually high purity for Lesser-grade. $71,000."

Jet had expected that one to be worth more after nearly dying for it.

Elena finished the calculation. "Total Beyond Core offer: $161,000."

Frey looked toward him. "You’re really selling all three?"

Jet nodded. "I need liquid cash more than I need them right now."

Frey knew enough about Jet’s pre-Awakening financial madness not to argue immediately. "How bad is it?"

Jet considered the question. "If every bank and lender I’ve borrowed from formed a Guild, they’d probably qualify for the Global Top One Hundred based entirely on their hatred for me."

Frey laughed so loudly that two nearby Raiders turned around. "You borrowed from fifty places, mortgaged your apartment, spent almost ten million on tattoos, and somehow you’re acting surprised that repayment exists."

Jet accepted the $161,000 offer and watched the transfer process. "I wasn’t surprised. I was operating under a deadline."

"Normal people under deadlines drink coffee."

"Normal people didn’t know the Second Red Moon was coming." Jet stopped there before the sentence became dangerous.

Frey knew Jet had somehow anticipated the Awakening enough to prepare his tattoos, but the full truth about regression remained Jet’s secret.

Fortunately, Frey was more interested in the money. He tapped the calculator on his Gentleman, no, ordinary premium phone and said, "So today you made four hundred eighty-eight thousand seven hundred dollars."

Jet nodded. His personal total was exactly $488,700: $327,700 from his half of the Dungeon materials plus $161,000 from the three Monster Cores.

The number felt good until Jet remembered the scale of his debts. It wouldn’t erase everything, but it was the first meaningful step toward cleaning up the financial mess he’d deliberately created.

More importantly, he now had a repeatable way to earn money. Dungeons produced materials and Mana Crystals. The Beyond produced Monster Cores, Relics, and other resources.

He was no longer the powerless man from his previous life calculating whether overtime would cover groceries. He could enter places ordinary humans couldn’t survive and return carrying resources worth hundreds of thousands.

Jet deliberately kept the Low-Grade Mana Crystals from Greyhaven inside his Inventory. Selling those would have brought additional cash, but there was a limit to how much short-term debt repayment he was willing to prioritize over his own progression.

The crystals were staying with him.

They left Meridian Exchange after checking several equipment displays but buying nothing yet.

Frey immediately began complaining that Jet needed proper armor before their next Dungeon, while Jet reminded him that someone who blocked a Green-Class Boss axe with two swords had surrendered his right to lecture anyone about safety.

Their argument followed them through the enormous glass doors and onto the busy sidewalk of the Awakener District. Afternoon traffic had thickened, digital advertisements covered the towers around them, and Raiders moved between equipment stores and Guild buildings as though entering another dimension to fight monsters was an ordinary profession.

Jet pulled out his phone to check the new bank balance, but the time at the top of the screen caught his attention first.

His expression changed immediately.

Frey noticed. "What?"

Jet slid the phone back into his pocket and started toward the parking structure. "Inez is about to close from school."

Frey followed. "So?"

Jet glanced at him. "So you’re dropping me there."