Chapter 7
I watched the scene on the TV closely.
The boss of the Gate the Cheonghwa Guild was subjugating.
More simply put, the boss monster.
It looked to be about 50 meters in size, with a thick shell covering its back.
Its legs were short, so one might think it was just an oversized turtle…
But the reality was different.
[Mr. Hee-chan!! Is there no way to do anything about this!?]
[It's wearing something over its head like that. What can I do with a single dagger?]
The turtle was wearing a helmet and greaves.
They were so hard that even the great Hwang Hee-chan couldn't pierce them.
For anyone facing it, there could be no greater calamity.
…Put another way.
But it looked different from where I was watching it from afar.
'That's not where you're supposed to hit it.'
I leisurely approached the TV.
Then I plopped down in perfect posture.
Right before my eyes, the weakness they wanted so desperately was laid bare.
-Ding.
[The trait 'Dragon Eyes'….]
[Bullethelm Titan]
Level: 729
Weakness: The mana core located in the abdomen
'That's a pretty simple place.'
The belly was the weakness?
A raid team from a guild like Cheonghwa couldn't possibly have missed it.
No, anyone could see at a glance that it was the only spot.
There was nowhere else to aim, after all.
I wondered why they were making such a mess of things despite missing that,
[Awakener Minor Gallery]
Title: Can't you just stab that thing in the belly?
As the title says.
ㄴ Hee-chan hyung apparently checked it about five times before coming back
ㄴ They say even the belly's just as hard
ㄴ Seems hard to check because it keeps trying to sit down whenever someone goes underneath
"Aha."
So it body-pressed anyone who went underneath.
Even the great Hwang Hee-chan would turn into ketchup if a 50-meter-class giant turtle crushed him.
The fact that he'd checked five times despite that showed how strong he was, but anyway.
'Hwang Hee-chan couldn't find it?'
After turning off my phone screen.
I looked at the TV again.
When I focused my eyes hard, additional information appeared before me.
[The Bullethelm Titan's Mana Core]
Necessary to maintain its enormous body,
it is effectively its heart and vital point.
Since it cannot be covered by armor,
it disguises itself with protective coloration normally.
It can be identified by its slow, powerful beating.
'Ah, protective coloration.'
No wonder it was hard to find.
The body-press pattern made time tight.
And on top of that, it was the same color as its surroundings.
Of course, this was Hwang Hee-chan and the Cheonghwa Guild we were talking about.
They'd find it eventually…
'But I can't resist giving some legitimate advice from the sidelines.'
I'm Ryu Hwi-min, a man who can't resist making a spectacle of himself when he knows something like this.
I immediately accessed the gallery.
Since I was doing a good deed for a change, I logged in with my main account.
My thumb busily moved across the screen of my budget phone.
[Awakener Minor Gallery]
Poster: Cheol Gangmin's Awakener Analysis
Title: I'll tell you exactly how to beat that turtle
To move at that size,
it obviously needs a mana core
because it has to absorb mana,
so it couldn't have been covered by armor.
So where would it be?
Obviously, somewhere around its belly.
It would naturally protect its weakness,
and it would have camouflage too.
But since it's a heart, it'd be going thump-thump.
It'd beat slowly, judging by its size,
but if Hwang Hee-chan focuses, he'll probably find it quickly?
'Is this enough?'
Half of it is just my own speculation, but who cares.
All I had to do was spoil the weakness.
'I wonder how they'll react.'
I waited a little before checking the comments.
If anyone involved saw it, they'd pass the information along.
I planned to watch and congratulate myself for having chipped in on the raid.
And what greeted me that day was…
a chilly response.
[Comments]
ㄴ Wow, analysis from a Construction Gallery regular with a registered handle~
ㄴ Hey, Cheol, quit playing on your phone and come haul some cement
ㄴ A shut-in armchair analyst, seriously, ugh
ㄴ Every time news like this comes out, one of these assholes always shows up lol
ㄴ That's what all you construction-site bastards are like
"……."
I posted with my main account for once, and they even dug up my activity history.
And what's wrong with construction work?
Do they think ants built their houses for them?
-Press.
[Would you like to delete this?]
[Deleted.]
Before they could dig up any more personal information, I deleted the post.
Then I even ran a cleaner and deleted every post and comment I'd ever written.
It was an account I was fond of, but…
I was an Awakener now, after all.
It was only right to let go of the account I'd used while working construction.
'Still, I won't forget this grudge.'
After taking a quick look at Serin lying in bed.
I carefully connected to the hospital Wi-Fi.
I logged out of the site as well.
There was only one thing left to do.
It was time to unleash 'that.'
'To all the reporting photos I took while working construction, please help me.'
…After that, I unleashed a rain of justice on the community until the hospital IP was blocked.
It took three minutes to get blocked.
In that time, I uploaded about twenty photos.
The total number of views was…
Well, I didn't count them,
but it seemed like enough to change the subject.
[Comments]
ㄴ ㅇㅇ: You shitpost erasers, get your asses to work
ㄴ ㅇㅇ: Mods!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ㄴ ㅇㅇ: I think I went too far, moderator. The gallery is overflowing with shitposts—could you please delete them…
"Phew, that was satisfying."
They could ignore me if they wanted.
But they shouldn't have ignored construction work.
It was a surprisingly respectable industry, with plenty of good people like that old man.
* * *
Before the darkened Hwi-min unleashed his three-minute, all-or-nothing shitstorm across the internet.
A woman saw it and her eyes widened.
Cha Yuna.
A former Administration Bureau employee, now working as a scout for the Cheonghwa Guild.
She possessed a valuable Rare-grade information-type trait, but because of the Tower she came from, she had been saddled with the shitty job of monitoring online communities.
-Tilt.
"Mana core…?"
'That's not a word a non-Awakener would use.'
Hwi-min's post, which others had been too busy mocking,
looked entirely different in her eyes.
For one thing, the words he used sounded plausible.
While everyone else danced around it with vague talk of weaknesses and whatnot, he described it precisely as a mana core.
Even the stuff about protective coloration and such made perfect sense, didn't it?
'It could have been a guess, but…'
"If that's true, this is huge."
After thinking for a moment.
Yuna picked up her phone.
Brrring—
The ringtone sounded, and the call connected.
[Yuna!? I'm busy, what is it!!]
"……."
She thought for a moment.
They may have set up a relay, but Internet resources inside a Gate were still limited.
If she reported incorrect information in this situation…
she would surely be demoted to an even more remote post.
No, she might even be fired outright.
People from the Beginner's Tower had lives as cheap as flies.
If she got fired from the Cheonghwa Guild, she might have to bounce from construction site to construction site.
Even so, Yuna chose to speak.
"…The belly."
[The belly?]
"There might be a mana core in its belly!"
[Mr. Hwang Hee-chan already checked everything….]
"It beats slowly like a heart, but it must be covered in protective coloration! Please check again!!"
[……?]
Silence stretched on the other end of the speaker.
All she could faintly hear was the sound of blades striking the boss monster's armor and the Awakeners shouting.
Yuna gripped her phone tightly and waited.
The answer that came back almost ten seconds later was positive.
[Got it for now. But if you fail, I can't cover for you.]
"Please!!"
Yuna squeezed her eyes shut.
Prayer was the only thing she could do now.
And the result of betting her performance review on a user named Cheol Gangmin was…
a huge success.
[This information isn't certain, but….]
"So there is a mana core beneath its belly. I found it."
Click.
An Awakener gripped a dagger in a reverse grip.
It was Hwang Hee-chan, a legend of South Korea.
[Shadow Dancer (Legendary)]
Shadows become one with you.
You can move by riding shadows.
"Hng!!!"
His body was silently sucked into the darkness.
The activation of a Legendary-grade trait, one of only ten in the country.
He reappeared beneath the boss monster's belly.
"TwaKaaaaw!!!!!!"
The monster slammed its massive body down onto the ground the moment it sensed him.
It felt like a mountain of rock weighing hundreds of tons was crashing down from overhead.
But he did not panic.
Hwang Hee-chan's gaze pierced only one spot.
'…Found it.'
The mark etched into his forearm shone as if aflame.
The proof of one who had broken through that hell, the Pilgrim's Tower.
It was a Stigma.
He merely muttered quietly.
"I offer it."
His arm moved at incredible speed, yet in silence.
It looked as though sound itself couldn't keep up with the movement.
Then, shwaaack—!!!
A sharp sound of air being split rang out.
It was so loud that even the vibration could be felt.
At the same time, a cross-shaped bloody flash burst from the monster's underside.
The ground around it split with a sharp crack.
It was Hwang Hee-chan's ultimate move.
"Mr. Hwang Hee-chan!!?"
'No way…!!'
The Awakeners around him were aghast.
The fact that he'd used his ultimate move meant
he had no intention of leaving himself enough strength to escape from there.
…Put another way.
It meant there was no longer any need to escape.
-Slice.
"Towaaaa…."
A cross-shaped line was carved into the turtle monster's thick shell.
Crack, craaack—!!
The massive body that had deflected every attack until moments ago split into four pieces in an instant.
It was such a clean strike that even Hwang Hee-chan himself was a little surprised.
'Did the mana core break and dispel its hardening?'
Fsssh—
Before the monster could even fall, its underside turned to dust.
Hwang Hee-chan, drained of strength, slumped to the ground.
A gigantic Gate capable of annihilating an entire city.
The moment that colossal disaster was recorded as a single achievement on a legend's résumé.
"Phew, that was tough."
"Mr. Hwang Hee-chan!!"
"Give me a hand. I've used too much mana."
"Yes!!"
The other Awakeners hurried over to him as well.
They were all renowned figures, members of a raid team from a guild on the level of Cheonghwa.
Even their eyes, fixed on Hwang Hee-chan, shone as if they were looking at a hero.
Normally, he would have joked, asking what they were staring at.
But Hwang Hee-chan paid no attention.
All his attention was focused on one place.
-Brrring.
[Mr. Hwang Hee-chan!]
"We succeeded. But who figured that out? Was it you?"
The mana core had been cleverly concealed.
He'd missed it even after checking five times—who on earth had found it?
The answer he got was unexpected.
[No, actually….]
"Oh-ho?"
'Someone from the Beginner's Tower?'
First, even the person who had passed on the information was unexpected,
[Actually, I-I didn't see it myself… Um, there's someone on the internet named Cheol Gangmin….]
Somehow, Yuna had ended up on the phone with a living legend.
The source she honestly revealed was just as surprising.
Even Hwang Hee-chan himself froze for a moment.
"…The internet? Did you risk my life based on nothing but that?"
[No, sir!! I checked it with my trait, and I thought the probability was extremely high.]
"You jest."
But his bewilderment lasted only a moment.
Hwang Hee-chan let out a hearty laugh and waved it off.
'It might have been a coincidence, but if it wasn't…. '
"Tell that Cheol Gangmin fellow that this Hwang Hee-chan will personally reward him. Have him contact me."
A man who had even drawn the attention of the great Hwang Hee-chan.
Cheol Gangmin, an anonymous Awakener whose face he didn't even know.
Yuna gulped when she heard that.
A promotion danced before her eyes.
'If this guy is the real deal, this is a colossal achievement!!'
"Understood!!!"
Snatch—!!
The moment she hung up, Yuna grabbed the mouse.
Her hand frantically closed dozens of Internet windows.
She had been monitoring everything related to Awakeners, regardless of whether it was aimed at men or women.
Now, everywhere else was irrelevant.
Cheol Gangmin.
Catching him was all that mattered.
'That post… Why was it deleted again?'
But his whereabouts were unclear.
The post had definitely been there, yet it had already been deleted.
Even the account had vanished as if it had never existed.
With no other choice, Yuna logged into the main account provided by Cheonghwa…
[Awakener Minor Gallery]
Poster: Scout17_Cheonghwa_Official
Title: I want to repay Mr. Cheol Gangmin
(Photo of Cheonghwa Guild employee ID)
Awakener Hwang Hee-chan would like to personally express his gratitude.
Mr. Cheol Gangmin, please contact the number below.
ㄴ ???? This is the real account
ㄴ Then are all the popular posts real?
"……Huh?"
Notifications multiplied in an instant.
Most of them were mentioning the popular post.
'What?'
Yuna's hand moved toward the popular-post button.
The username 'Cheol Gangmin’s Awakener Analysis 2'
was plastered all over the popular posts.