Only five people had been killed in the eighth wave. There were a reduced number of casualties not only because Seon-Hu had joined the villagers after blocking more than four access roads in advance, but also because people had become more familiar with fighting. A small memorial service was held after they cleaned up the monster corpses and distributed mana stones. Then, stalls were set up on the street.

Stalls not only served commercial purposes, but also served as a window to relieve tension, grief, and stress. Since people had lived in capitalistic societies in the real world, they skillfully utilized the system that Seon-Hu had installed. Even people who sang country songs without any accompaniment could earn mana stones if their singing was decent. Also, they could gain a big profit if they were skilled at card games. In particular, those who quickly read the market value of supplies constantly did the legwork and filled their backpacks with mana stones.

Joo Pan-Seok was one of them. He was also a member of the commission of self-government and had one concern. That worry grew when people became aware that he was the second richest in the village after Odin. In fact, thieves had actually broken into his house last night. Fortunately, he had hired security personnel in advance by paying them mana stones. Without them, his entire house would have been robbed. After thinking through...