Airen leaned back on the hotel bed, staring at the ceiling.
"Mmm… I guess I'll just stay here until I fall asleep."
The System's voice chimed inside his head.
[You are a hero. Remember, until you fall asleep and return to the cubic world to earn more points, you can still act here. Why not find some villians and deal with them until you get sleepy?]
Airen frowned. "What the hell are y—" He stopped midway, then smirked. "Don't worry, I'll do that. This hero will solve all the problems."
He stood up and walked out of the hotel, the cool night air brushing against his skin like a whisper.
"But where the hell am I supposed to find bad people?" he muttered, scanning the streets.
A thought suddenly came to him.
Those guys from yesterday… the ones I choked. They were only lackeys. The real bastard is their boss. Just roughing up underlings isn't enough. I should crush the boss and take my money back too. Those guys are scum anyway—two problems solved at once.
An hour later, Airen stood in front of a shabby two–floor building. The signboard looked clean, but he knew better.
"Mm, this is it. The loan sharks' den," he muttered. "From outside they look like proper businessmen… but once you borrow, their fangs come out. Time to meet the boss."
Airen pushed open the door. The ground floor looked harmless—just benches filled with people waiting silently.
Loan victims, Airen thought, glancing at their nervous faces. He ignored them and climbed the creaking stairs to the first floor.
The air changed immediately. Cigarette smoke hung heavy, the wallpaper peeled, and empty bottles littered the floor. The room looked less like an office and more like a gang hideout. The smell of sweat and alcohol made the place suffocating.
And there he was—the man whose neck Airen had choked yesterday.
Airen smirked. "How's your neck?"
Seven men were lounging inside. All of them looked shady, eyes sharp like wolves sizing up prey.
One man sneered. "That the guy who choked you? This chicken? You should retire, old man."
But the one who had felt Airen's grip trembled, his voice cracking. "N-no, he's not a chicken… he's strong. He lifted me with one hand!"
Another laughed. "What nonsense? You're nearly 100 kilos!"
Their mocking dragged on, boring Airen. His irritation flared.
"Enough. Where's your bald boss?" he asked sharply.
One thug's face twisted in anger. "What the hell did you say about our boss? You beggar, you took mon—"
He couldn't finish. Airen moved like lightning, his fist smashing into the man's face. The thug flew into the wall and crumpled, unconscious.
Before the others even processed what happened, Airen had already punched the rest. One by one they were sent sprawling, blood dripping from split lips, teeth clattering onto the floor. None of them fully collapsed—just kneeled in pain, unable to rise.
The man from yesterday shivered. "D-didn't I tell you? He's strong as f***!"
Airen stood tall, his eyes burning cold. "Call your bald boss."
Heavy footsteps echoed. A bald man in a neat shirt descended the stairs, frowning.
"What's going on here? I heard a loud crash—why are all of you on the floor? Who are you? Did you do this?" His hand slipped into his pocket and pulled out a knife.
Airen's gaze didn't waver. The man lunged—only to be smashed in the face by Airen's punch. The bald boss staggered, then dropped to his knees, dazed.
"Damn… that felt like getting hit by a car," the man muttered, clutching his cheek.
Airen leaned forward. "Do you remember me?"
The boss blinked, his eyes widening. "Y-you're Airen… the one who begged for a loan."
Airen slapped him across the face, the sharp crack echoing through the room.
"From today, stop your filthy loan business."
The boss laughed bitterly, even through the pain. "Ha! Do you really think you can stop us?"
Another slap silenced him.
"Ahh! That hurts!" He spat blood. "Fine, fine! I'll stop… but why are you doing this? Just because we charged you interest?"
Airen's mind whirred. If I say it's for revenge, the System won't see this as a hero's act. It'll think I'm selfish.
He raised his chin and declared, "Yes, you charged me too much. But more than that—I'll make sure no one else suffers like me. You lure people with sweet words, but the moment they're late, you humiliate them. When I tried to repay in full, you doubled the debt as interest. That ends tonight."
Heh, that line should satisfy the System, Airen thought.
The boss growled. "You think one man can change anything? Even if I stop, there are countless loan sharks like us."
The System's voice chimed smugly.
[Exactly. You should teach all people like this a lesson.]
Airen's eyebrow twitched. Damn bastard, just creating more problems for me.
His palm snapped across the boss's jaw, this time so hard that teeth scattered onto the floor. The man collapsed fully, unconscious.
Airen kicked him lightly. "Wake up. Stop acting."
[I don't think he's acting,] the System noted dryly.
Airen turned to a trembling thug. "Where does he keep his money?"
The man's voice shook. "U-upstairs… in the office. Behind the boss's table. The vault is visible, but… it has a password. Only the boss knows it."
Airen clenched his fist, veins bulging. A vault, huh? Guess I'll test my strength.
He marched upstairs and entered a small office. Just as the man said, a vault sat behind the table. Not hidden, just waiting.
Airen gripped the handle. His muscles flexed, cords tightening across his arms. With one savage pull—
CRACK!
The vault door tore free, metal screeching as it came off in his hands.
"Yeah… I knew I could break it," he muttered, grinning.
Stacks of cash gleamed inside. The piles looked endless, like bricks of pure temptation. Airen's eyes widened, his pupils trembling with greed. His lips curled into a grin that showed all his teeth, the kind of smile only money could draw out.
He quickly shoved everything into his inventory.
The System spoke again.
[You took that money because you plan to give it to those in need, right?]
Airen's smile stiffened. What good? Of course I'll use it for myself.
But he forced a grin. "Yeah… you're right."
[I knew it. For reference, I've calculated the total amount: 133,000,000 won.]
Airen's eyes lit up. "Damn… that much?"
But as the excitement rushed through him, another thought whispered at the back of his mind.
Still… this can't be everything. A man like him should've had more.