Nawa looked at the business card left behind by Noppadon, his mind filled with unease.
The name printed on it was Kraisorn, a core member of the Earth Tiger Guild—one of the three largest guilds in the nation. Not only that, he also held the title of Managing Director of Play for Clash, a finance company that provided loans for players venturing into The Oneness to hunt monsters.
In this era, players band together into organizations called "Guilds" to support one another in various aspects when entering The Oneness, primarily for monster hunting.
However, because guilds gather a large number of players, they have become organizations possessing both immense power and wealth. This has allowed guilds to expand their influence into various other industries as well.
For players who are core members of the three giant guilds, their social status and wealth are on par with the country's leading politicians and business moguls.
In stark contrast, low-rank players live in completely different conditions. They receive very little support from their guilds and must risk their lives every time they hunt monsters.
Furthermore, monster hunting requires more than just a player's strength. They must rely on numerous resources, such as potions, artifacts, information, and various services provided by The Oneness Association—all of which cost money.
Although monster meat from The Oneness fetches a high price, once all expenses are deducted, it is often insufficient for most players to fund their own development.
To advance, they need a source of capital. In a cruel twist of irony, most banks refuse to grant loans to low-level players because their lives are considered too high-risk.
Consequently, Playfloor Cash, backed by the Earth Tiger Guild, stepped in to provide funding for these players. Naturally, with high risk comes even higher interest rates and returns.
Nawa sensed something suspicious. No matter how he looked at it, someone like Noppadol didn't seem like the type to help him sincerely.
When Nawa was pushed by him earlier, the force could have seriously injured an ordinary person. Nevertheless, Nawa intended to visit the address on the business card.
He wanted to pull his family out of their current hardship as quickly as possible, and the only way he could see to achieve that was by becoming a player.
The next morning, Nawa set out.
He no longer had a job—the restaurant manager had fired him after yesterday's incident. Though it wasn't his fault, he understood. If the restaurant offended a core member of the Blue Dragon Guild, it would be forced to close.
If Nawa had a modern device—the kind people now use in place of phones—he would have easily found the location on the business card.
This device would generate a holographic map in the air and provide directions. However, Nawa's financial situation was currently dire; even the cheapest model was beyond his means.
Since his disappearance five years ago, his father had been consistently ill. For the first two years, his mother had to cover all medical expenses herself, forcing them to sell all their assets.
Fortunately, an election brought a change in government, and after the era of the "legendary uncle" ended, the new administration implemented welfare policies to care for patients suffering from the side effects of "The Oneness." This allowed his father to continue receiving treatment at the hospital.
Even though his mother and younger sibling tried to avoid discussing the hardships they faced over the past five years, Nawa knew well that they had endured a much harder time than he had in the Himmapan Forest.
While the forest was dangerous at every turn, Ren was there, so despite the peril, Nawa still had beautiful moments. Her smile was both a light of hope and a balm for his soul in that extremely dangerous land.
After spending a long time asking for directions, he finally arrived at the building shown on the business card. It was a multi-story office building, about the same size as a major bank branch.
Upon walking through the glass doors, he saw a receptionist and people sitting in the customer waiting area. The atmosphere inside was similar to a typical bank, but there were no customers depositing money; only those coming to apply for loans or make payments.
"Hello, how may I help you?" the beautiful receptionist greeted him.
Nawa handed her the business card.
"You'd like to see the manager? Do you have an appointment?" she asked politely.
"No, but Mr. Noppadon recommended I come."
"Oh, I see. Please wait a moment," the receptionist said before picking up her phone to make a call.
At that moment, Nawa wondered if the business card would actually be of any help. There was a high chance it was just a prank intended to mess with his head. Fortunately, after a while, the staff told him to take the elevator to the top floor. Nawa followed her instructions and headed up.
When the elevator doors opened, Nawa was astonished by what he saw. It was vastly different from what he had imagined; it didn't look like a typical office at all. Instead, it resembled a luxurious clubhouse—the kind he had never visited before.
The interior was decorated with paintings, vases, and loft-style decor that felt rugged yet beautiful. There was a bar for drinks, several comfortable-looking sofas, a pool table, and various gym equipment.
A man was practicing his punches on a machine that looked like an arcade cabinet. Each time he struck, it made a thunderous sound. Even from a distance, Nawa could feel the vibrations of the impact.
"Beep beep beep."
The number displayed on the machine was 3,567.
Even though Nawa didn't know what that figure meant, he knew that a punch of that force was not something an average person could achieve.
Nawa pulled his gaze away and surveyed his surroundings. He saw a group of men and women sitting and talking on a sofa. Next to them, two other men were having drinks at the bar. Soft music played in the background, making the atmosphere feel like a nightlife venue.
"Excuse me, I'm here to see Khun Kraisorn," Nawa asked the bartender behind the counter. However, the person who answered was another man sitting on the sofa.
"What's your business?" asked the thin man wearing a T-shirt and jeans.
His name was Wan, a subordinate of Kraisorn. Just by looking, Nawa instantly knew this man was a player because a player device was attached to his ear.
"Khun Noppadol from the Blue Dragon Guild recommended that I come here," Nawa said, but before he could finish, Wan interrupted him.
"Kid, I didn't ask who sent you. I asked why you are here." Wan wanted to project power for the women present to see.
Although Nawa wanted to ignore him, he couldn't just let it slide. If he was intimidated right from the start, his chances of getting a loan would decrease. Even with an introductory business card, if the other party perceived him as weak, they were highly likely to deny his credit application.
Nawa glared back at Wan with fierce eyes. Even though he was in Wan's territory, there was not the slightest hint of fear or nervousness in his demeanor.
Nawa might be extremely weak now, but he had already faced gods while in the Himmapan Forest. Compared to some petty thug like this, Nawa didn't even see them as a threat.
"I need to apply for a loan," Nawa cut straight to the point, knowing that talking any further would be pointless. While he wasn't scared, he didn't need to show excessive displeasure either.
"That's all I wanted to know. How much money do you need?"
Wan's attitude softened when he realized Nawa wasn't someone who would be easily intimidated. As he spoke, Wan put his arm around the shoulder of the girl sitting next to him, posing like a gangster from 1956.
"One million." Nawa replied curtly.
In reality, the expenses needed to enter The Oneness were only 500,000, but Nawa wanted reserve funds for his mother's living expenses and for his younger brother's continuing education costs. This was an all-in gamble; whatever the interest rate, it was meaningless. Having more capital would be more beneficial.
"What? One million? Hahaha! Someone in your condition is asking to borrow a million? I doubt you could even pay back ten thousand! Hahahaha!"
Wan burst into loud laughter, and the entire group of men and women there laughed along, looking at Nawa with contempt and disdain.
"If this place doesn't have the money, just say so. I'll go somewhere else," Nawa said in a harsh tone, clearly showing his contempt for them.
The atmosphere shifted instantly. The people at the bar glared at him intensely, and Wan stood up immediately. After all, these people were thugs by trade; being insulted was something they couldn't tolerate, as it affected their professional reputation.
Wan reached into his back pocket as if to draw a weapon, but before anything could happen, a voice brought everything to a halt.
"Hey... stop it," shouted a man in his late twenties who had been punching the arcade machine. Everyone in the room fell silent; no one dared to make a sound. Wan himself turned visibly pale.
"I'm Kraisorn, the man you're looking for. Since Khun Noppadol recommended you, I'll consider you one of us. But since this is business, I believe I have the right to know what you plan to do with that much money," Kraisorn said, continuing to punch the machine.
"Bang! Bang!"
The vibrations were stronger than before. The numbers displayed on the screen climbed nearly to 5,000, clearly reflecting his current mood.
"I want to use it to enter The Oneness," Nawa replied calmly.
"So, you're going to be a player?" Kraisorn paused for a moment before continuing.
"Hm. Do these kids nowadays think being a player is that easy? I've seen countless people like you, hoping to try their luck in The Oneness without training and without a guild backing them up. People like that usually end up throwing their lives away. If they're lucky, they might survive and escape, but they'll be so terrified they won't dare step foot into The Oneness a second time."
"I am not one of those people. If you give me this opportunity, in the future, not only will you get your money back, but what you gain from me will be ten, maybe a hundred times more,"
Nawa said with determined eyes. He had risked his life countless times while in the Himmapan Forest. Even though he didn't know what kind of place The Oneness was, retreating was not an option in Nawa's mind, because the burden he carried was heavier than his own life.
"It looks like you are very confident in your own strength. Fine, since Khun Noppadol recommended you, I will give you a chance to prove yourself," Kraisorn said, pointing to the display panel on the punching machine he had been using.
"If you can make that machine display a number greater than 1,000, I will lend you one million baht interest-free. But if you can't do it, get out of my sight. Otherwise, this fist will go straight to exploding your brain for wasting Kraisorn's time."
"Bang!"
After speaking, Kraisorn struck the pad with more force than ever before, sending the numbers soaring to over 8,000.
From that impact, Nawa knew instantly that Kraisorn was a player—and one not the least bit inferior to Noppadol. Not only that, but Nawa's instincts warned him that the man standing before him was a dangerous individual who should be avoided.
"Hahaha! One thousand points? Even a Rank D player can't achieve that! How is a puny kid like this supposed to do it? Let's see if he can even hit 100 first! Hahaha!" Wan and his friends laughed mockingly.
Nawa ignored Wan's words. He chose to accept the offer because even if he failed, he had nothing to lose; the outcome would be the same. Nawa suspected that the other party had no real intention of granting him the loan anyway.
Another reason was that Nawa wanted to test his own strength. Although he couldn't compare to how he was back in the Himmapan Forest, he wanted to know where his current strength stood in relation to today's player rankings.
Nawa approached the machine, which looked like an arcade cabinet. It had a punching pad made of hard cushioning, with a display above it.
Right now, the numbers showed 0000. In his youth, Nawa had played similar games, but this machine was incomparably sturdier and more durable than those old ones. it seemed to be made of some kind of alloy Nawa had never seen before.
Nawa took a long breath, focusing his concentration. His eyes locked onto the punching pad, and his right hand clenched into a tight fist before he threw a punch with every ounce of strength he possessed.
"Bang!"
The sound of the fist hitting the testing pad echoed through the room. The numbers climbed rapidly, but as soon as they stopped, the room fell into a dead silence, followed by a roar of laughter. The number displayed on the machine was (77).
Aside from Nawa, only Kraisorn remained silent. On the contrary, his expression turned deadly serious.
"Are you trying to mock me?" Kraisorn said, glaring at Nawa with fierce eyes while releasing a powerful murderous intent.
"With this little power, you wouldn't even qualify to be a laborer player. If it weren't for Khun Noppadol's name, I would have blown your brains out by now. Get out, and don't let me see your face again if you don't want to die."
Nawa didn't say a word; he wasn't the least bit frightened. The pressure Kraisorn emitted was intense, yet it didn't compare to even a fraction of what Nawa had faced in the Himmapan Forest.
Nawa simply reached out one hand, and a glass of liquor on the bar dozens of feet away floated into his palm, as if an invisible hand had picked it up.
Everyone was stunned. Normally, while players possess basic psychic abilities, using power in this manner requires serious training and the consumption of a significant amount of monster meat to boost one's energy.
For someone who didn't even have the money to pay for a player registration fee to be able to use telekinesis, there was only one answer: he was a person of immense natural talent.
Nawa handed the glass of liquor to Kraisorn, who seemed to understand exactly what Nawa intended. Kraisorn took it and drained the glass in one gulp.
"Not bad. So, you have this kind of talent—no wonder you want to become a player. Telekinesis is considered a rare ability. It makes sense now why Khun Noppadol recommended you. In that case, we're all set. Let's discuss the contract."
Kraisorn's attitude shifted instantly. He ordered Wan to quickly bring the money and the paperwork. Nawa sat and read the contract for a while, verifying the loan amount and the interest he was required to pay.
"Alright, sign right here and we're done. The interest rate is settled at 5,000 baht per day," Wan said, pointing at the document.
Nawa paused to think for a moment before putting pen to paper. In reality, an interest rate of 5,000 baht a day was incredibly high for Nawa's current situation. He would have to work at the restaurant for an entire week just to cover the interest for a single day.
However, if he could enter The Oneness, this amount of money would be trivial.
Judging by the price of monster meat sold at the restaurant, Nawa was confident he could earn enough to pay the interest and repay the principal in no time. What truly concerned Nawa, however, was the collateral used to guarantee the contract—which was his own body.
When a player's heart stops beating, the system automatically teleports their body out. Therefore, players can use their own bodies as collateral for loans. If Nawa were to die, his corpse and all the items on his person would become the property of Playfloor Cash.
After thinking it over for a moment, Nawa finally decided to sign the contract. Once he had finished counting the money he received and was about to head out, Kraisorn stepped in to block his path. With incredible speed, Kraisorn flicked his hand across Nawa's face—so fast that Nawa couldn't track the movement, let alone react.
He didn't feel any pain, only a slight lightness around his head. A clump of his hair was now in Kraisorn's hand. Kraisorn's hand was as sharp as a blade; if he had intended to kill Nawa, Nawa would already be dead.
"Don't be startled, brother. I just wanted a bit of your hair for DNA verification. If an accident happens and you lose your life in The Oneness, we want to make sure there's no mistake when we go to claim the body," Kraisorn said.
"P'Kraisorn, why did you let that kid take out a loan? With power like that, he's a Rank E at best. Do you really think he'll be able to pay us back?" Wan asked after Nawa had left.
"You don't understand anything. It's true that those with telekinetic powers are usually weak; they can only move objects around and rarely have skills that complement that type of energy.
No matter how much talent they have, if their basic psychic power is telekinesis, they usually end up as nothing more than laborer players," Kraisorn said.
"Then why did you give him the money? Isn't that just throwing our money away?" Wan asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"You really are clueless. When the body of someone with telekinetic powers is used for organ transplants, it provides properties far superior to the original organs. Rich people would kill to get their hands on them.
Just think about how much money a whole corpse could make us. With profit margins like that, why on earth would I refuse?" Kraisorn said, a devious smirk spreading across his face.