Contract

A **contract** (Korean: 계약서, RR: *gyeyakseo*) is a binding agreement made between two or more parties, enforced magically through the applications of curse skills.

## Appearance

Contract items, much like their mundane equivalent, are documents listing a series of conditions that all parties signing the contract must abide by.

Contracts are generally made out of parchment prepared from the skins of monsters so that they can be placed into the inventory. The ink used for writing on parchment contracts is also made from dungeon byproducts. The durability of contracts appears to be linked to the strength of their effects, such that a parchment contract designed for use on F-ranks could be easily ripped apart by an F-rank himself. This is further proven by the appearance of high-rank contracts, such as L-rank ones, taking the form of solid boards. Due to their tougher material, their terms are engraved into the board rather than being written on their surface.

Once a contract is signed, it glows faintly and its surface becomes smooth as though laminated, preventing any modifications from being made to the terms.

## Usage

Contract items can be used as any mundane contract would be, securing agreements and obligations between two or more parties. They differ from mundane contracts, however, in that breaches of a contract result in the activation of a curse embedded into the contract item by a curse skill user. This curse targets the party who broke the terms, and can vary in strength and effect. It is not limited to affecting Awakened people, and can target Unawakened individuals as well.

### Target ranks

Since curse skills are inherently limited by their wielder's strength and therefore limited in who they can affect, a range of contracts designed for people of various ranks are available, with higher-rank-use contracts selling for higher prices: A-rank-use contracts cost around 4 or 5 million won, while S-rank-use contracts go for upwards of 20 million won.

### Curse types

Multiple types of contracts are known to exist; this presumably means contract variants with different curse skills attached. These include the Association-certified legal contracts that decrease stats or lower the ranks of skills, as well as illegal contracts that stake riskier assets such as one's physical body parts or life. Contracts with debuffing effects for stats and skills can maintain the penalty for a fixed time period, or inflict it permanently; the latter type of contract is naturally avoided by most.

The effect of contract curses is generally strong relative to the curse's rank when individuals voluntarily signed the contract.

## Trivia

* Due to the potentially staggering effects of contracts, underage Hunters can have their designated guardians nullify unfavorable contracts they signed without their guardian's oversight.
* The usage of illegal contracts is classified as a misdemeanour and can result in prohibition of entrance into the country for up to 1 year.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 *The S-Ranks That I Raised* Novel: Chapter 8
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 *The S-Ranks That I Raised* Novel: Chapter 13
3. ↑ *The S-Ranks That I Raised* Novel: Chapter 21
4. ↑ *The S-Ranks That I Raised* Webtoon: Episode 16
5. ↑ *The S-Ranks That I Raised* Novel: Chapter 102
6. ↑ *The S-Ranks That I Raised* Novel: Chapter 14
7. ↑ *The S-Ranks That I Raised* Novel: Chapter 22
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 *The S-Ranks That I Raised* Novel: Chapter 101
9. ↑ *The S-Ranks That I Raised* Novel: Chapter 107
10. ↑ *The S-Ranks That I Raised* Novel: Chapter 93