Debt-Collector of the Apocalypse

CHAPTER 6: Midnight Liquidation

11:59:53 PM.

The rooftop of the three-story abandoned pharmacy in downtown Incheon tasted of copper and ozone.

Yoo Seo-ah huddled against a concrete ventilation shaft, her hands clamped over her ears. Down on the streets, the modern world was screaming its death rattle. Car alarms blared across the district in a chaotic symphony, while the power grid, which had failed ten minutes earlier, left the city drowning in darkness. Only the orange flames of burning gas lines and the headlights of jackknifed buses offered any illumination.

But nobody was looking at the fires.

Everyone was looking up.

The sky was no longer black. A violent vortex of iridescent violet and cracked obsidian churned above the city. Massive geometric runes, each miles wide, burned through the clouds like brands seared into flesh.

Kang Min-jae stood at the edge of the rooftop, his boots balanced on the narrow concrete edge. He paid no attention to the spectacle above him as his left eye, covered by the glowing violet lens of the Scavenger's Sightglass, remained fixed on the rooftop beneath his feet.

Through the lens, a brilliant pillar of emerald light pulsed upward from the center of the building.

A Grade-1 Safe Zone Node.

One of only three pristine sanctuary points in the entire city, it would automatically shield its territory from the first forty-eight hours of the monster descent.

In his previous life, a corrupt local assemblyman had seized this building and barricaded himself inside with armed thugs while thousands of civilians died in the streets outside.

This time, Min-jae intended to claim it first.

He glanced at his phone. Its digital interface was melting away, replaced by heavy, blocky system text.

11:59:58.

11:59:59.

[00:00:00]

[The Tutorial Phase has Concluded.]

[World Integration: 100% Synchronization Reached.]

[Welcome to the Cosmic Ecosystem, Species: Human.]

BOOM!

A sound like the snapping of reality itself echoed across the planet making Min-jae ears pop.

The atmospheric pressure in the whole surrounding dropped instantly, while above the city, the enormous geometric runes shattered. Millions of streaks of dark crimson light descended from the cosmos like a meteor shower, slamming into skyscrapers, parks, and crowded streets throughout Incheon.

The descent had begun.

[Initiating Global Currency Liquidation Protocol...]

[Scanning User Assets for Kang Min-jae...]

[Physical Currency: Worthless.]

[Verified Digital Assets: 541,200,000 Won.]

[Conversion Rate Applied: 100,000 Won = 1 Karma Point (KP).]

[Calculation Complete.]

[You have been awarded 5,412 Karma Points!]

[System Notice: You currently hold the highest liquid KP balance in the Republic of Korea Regional Sector.]

[Achievement Unlocked: 'The Early Investor' (Title assigned).]

Min-jae didn't even pause to celebrate. He didn't check the title's stats. The moment the gold text flashed in his vision, he slammed his palm flat against the concrete roof, directly into the pulsing emerald light of the node.

"System," Min-jae commanded, his voice cold and cutting through the distant screams of the city. "Purchase ownership of the local coordinate node. Deduct the KP."

[Alert: You are attempting to purchase a Grade-1 Sanctuary Node ahead of the designated territory phase.]

[Purchase Cost: 5,000 Karma Points. Do you wish to proceed?]

"Confirm."

[5,000 KP Consumed.]

[Remaining KP: 412.]

[Ownership Verified. Coordinate 37.456, 126.705 is now registered as the Private Territory of User: Kang Min-jae.]

[Deploying F-Rank Defensive Barrier...]

Instantly, 

A blinding wave of translucent emerald energy erupted from the roof, cascading down the sides of the pharmacy building like a waterfall.  When it reached the pavement, it expanded into a dome of translucent mana that hummed with power.

A pack of Seven low-tier Abyssal Hounds came sprinting down the alley, drawn by the scent of blood from the surrounding.

They struck the barrier at full speed.

CRACK!

Their skulls shattered against the invisible wall while their bodies bounced off the pavement and tumbled across the alley like bugs hitting a windshield.

Seo-ah lifted her head, a strangled gasp escaping her throat.

Seo-ah let out a choked gasp, finally looking up from her knees. "The... the light stopped them."

"For now," Min-jae said, slowly standing up. He wiped a stray speck of concrete dust from his denim jacket. "But 5,000 KP only buys us a forty-eight-hour lease. If we don't upgrade the node's core before the barrier decays, the high-tier variants will walk right through it."

He turned his focus back to his inner vision. Now that he had a secure base and his starting capital was processed, it was time to open his true leverage.

"Vault Interface," Min-jae thought. "Synchronize with local territory."

The oil-slick black window snapped open in front of his eyes. Because he was standing inside his own private territory, the "Energy Output" indicator suddenly jumped from a pathetic zero to a steady, vibrating hum.

[The Collector's Personal Vault (Damaged / Sealed)]

[Current Regional Energy Output: 1.2% (Territory Bonus Applied)]

[Available Manifestation Slots: 1/50]

[Total Stored Items: 1,402]

[System Notification: Due to your regional title 'The Early Investor' and your active territory status, the Energy Debt for your first three vault items has been slashed by 50%.]

Min-jae’s eyes locked onto the locked item preview list. The red padlocks over his high-tier gear were still heavily sealed, but one specific item—a tool that would allow him to dominate the entire Incheon sector within the next twelve hours—was finally glowing with a dull, permissive green light.

Rank-C: [The Scavenger's Automaton Blueprint: Model-01] — Base Debt: 800 Cosmic Units. (Current Cost: 400 Units).

Rank-D: [The Ashen-Bone Dagger] — Base Debt: 200 Cosmic Units. (Current Cost: 100 Units).

Rank-E: [The Basic Alchemist's Refining Crucible] — Base Debt: 30 Cosmic Units. (Current Cost: 15 Units).

He currently had 25 Cosmic Units left over from his warehouse siphoning and hound kill.

Min-jae stared at the Basic Alchemist's Refining Crucible. Fifteen units to unlock. In his pocket, he had the F-Rank Mana Core from the hound scout.

In his past life, humans didn't figure out how to refine monster cores into edible stat elixirs until Year Two of the apocalypse. Until then, people were swallowing raw cores, mutating their own bloodlines, or blowing themselves up. Min-jae was about to bring an endgame pharmaceutical monopoly into Day One of the Integration.

"Manifest," Min-jae whispered, his voice carrying the calm, absolute certainty of a man who had already won this war once before. "Unlock item three."