Chapter 86
“How could such a thing happen…?”
I muttered blankly from my home base.
No, to think that the friend I had normally been playing games and chatting with until now was the famous Ice Empress.
I knew she was a Hunter, but I thought she would be a c-rank at best, or maybe a B-rank if she was high up.
But to think she was an S-rank Hunter, of which in Korea there are only four.
It was a truly unimaginable identity.
At that moment, a thought flashed through my mind.
“Then, could the Benefactor she kept talking about also be…”
Could it be, me?
Now I understood.
Why the Ice Empress had acted so favorably towards me, and why she had personally stepped up to help with Ha-eun’s contract issue.
I didn’t know how she was so sure, but she seemed to know that I was the one who saved her in the Gate.
My mind was in chaos.
But what hit me harder than that bewilderment was the thought:
“Thank goodness.”
The thought that it was a really good thing I saved the Ice Empress.
After all, I had essentially saved my friend from a crisis with my own hands.
Along with a sense of relief, I calmly organized my thoughts.
First of all, the Ice Empress still doesn’t know my true identity.
Even if she knows that the True Ancestor is the Benefactor who saved her, she wouldn’t dream that the True Ancestor is “Jin-yu”, the one she plays ranked games with day in and day out.
If that’s the case, there’s no need to reveal it first; I could just treat her like I used to.
By the way.
“Does the Ice Empress want to become my retainers?”
Thinking back to the message from earlier, she seemed secretly disappointed, wondering why I only recruited Ha-eun and just passed her by.
But whether or not to make someone my retainers wasn’t a matter I could decide as I pleased.
First, I had to see the target’s blood fiend potential, but the Ice Empress was such a powerhouse that neither her status nor her potential could be seen even with my Appraisal Eye.
In fact, rather than truly wanting to become a Vampire, it seemed more like the Ice Empress just wanted to be acknowledged by the Benefactor who saved her, or was feeling a bit left out.
“I can use her as much as she wants.”
Even if making her my retainers right away was impossible, cooperating was entirely possible.
Just looking at this incident, wasn’t it very smoothly resolved thanks to the Ice Empress?
[Jin-yu: The Esteemed One might be saving you to use you for something better. Don’t be too disappointed.]
I sent a message with a suitable excuse.
[Iced Coffee: Is that so…?]
[Jin-yu: Of course Yeah Ah, and did you help that person like I advised last time?]
[Iced Coffee: Yeah, I did help them. It was a trivial matter, though…]
[Jin-yu: That’s for the receiver to judge, not the giver. I bet they were super thankful.]
[Iced Coffee: …Hearing you say that puts me at ease.]
With those words, the conversation paused for a moment.
Since I was actually thankful, I hoped the Ice Empress wouldn’t feel too disappointed either.
At that moment, my smartphone rang again.
[Iced Coffee: Thank you so much for the advice.]
[Iced Coffee: Do you want to duo tonight?]
“Good grief.”
I burst into a chuckle while looking at the screen.
The Ice Empress seen through No. 7's vision right now was the very embodiment of unapproachable charisma.
“…”
Silently fiddling with her smartphone with a face as cold as ice.
“Wow, it’s the Ice Empress…!”
“Look at her presence, it’s no joke.”
A few passersby on the street seemed to have recognized her, but they didn’t even dare to speak to her and were just secretly taking pictures from afar.
To anyone looking, she had the posture of a Hunter handling an incredibly serious and important task.
But what she was actually doing was sending a duo request to her game friend?
I had discovered not only the saintess’s but also the Ice Empress’s other side.
It was absurd, but what could I do.
I must do what I must.
[Jin-yu: gogogo]
I quickly sent a reply.
“Her being the Ice Empress is one thing, but we still have to duo.”
I don’t know about anything else, but her combat skills are truly amazing.
I always wondered why her mechanics were so good whenever we played, but it turned out it was because her main job was an S-rank Hunter.
“Ice Empress. Hurry and carry this body to Platinum!”
Mhm. I’m looking forward to today’s ranked games.
Through the screen, I could see a faint smile spreading across the Ice Empress’s face as she checked my reply.
* * *
“Thank you so much for today, Ice Empress-nim! Get home safely!”
“Ha-eun Hunter, you get home safely too.”
After parting ways with Song Ha-eun, who was said to be the True Ancestor’s new retainers, Baek Eun-seol fell into thought as she walked.
‘…I’m glad I have a friend.’
Her mind, which had been complicated with various thoughts until just a moment ago, felt much more at ease after exchanging a few short messages with her game friend.
Her friend was truly kind.
Although he usually seemed eccentric and short-sighted, there were many times when she felt an unexpectedly deep side to him while conversing.
Her only friend.
A precious person.
“Is it a man, or a woman?”
Judging solely by the way he spoke, he did seem like a man.
In the first place, the main user base that enjoyed playing games was male.
She thought she would like to meet him in person at least once if possible.
However.
‘If… he finds out that I’m the Ice Empress.’
As soon as she thought of that hypothetical, her heart grew a little heavy.
If her identity was revealed, they wouldn’t be able to remain in a comfortable relationship like before.
Considering her friend’s personality that she had experienced so far, she believed he wouldn’t try to use her.
But, he would definitely feel burdened.
He wouldn’t agree to play a duo as brightly as he just did without hesitation.
“…”
What an ironic relationship.
To think she couldn’t see the person she wanted to see so much.
She felt like it was Schrödinger’s cat.
The moment you observe the inside of the box, the result is finalized.
Was that why she couldn’t bring herself to open the box, not wanting to lose this comfortable relationship they had now?
It was when she was walking, quietly lost in her thoughts.
Bzzzt-.
Her smartphone rang.
It was a call from Kim Tae-Seong Association President.
“Hm…?”
As she answered the phone, a familiar voice came from the other end of the receiver.
“Baek Eun-seol Hunter. The situation regarding the saintess’s party clashing with the Abyss Cult yesterday has been roughly sorted out. I have an urgent matter to share with you privately, so could you come over?”
Baek Eun-seol had already heard the rough report that the Abyss Cult had appeared in the capital’s downtown area yesterday.
But seeing as he was calling her separately, it seemed there was something more detailed.
Baek Eun-seol’s expression stiffened slightly.
“I’ll head there right now.”
* * *
A short while later.
The top floor of the Republic of Korea Hunter Association.
Sitting in his office, Kim Tae-Seong Association President’s face looked much more troubled than usual.
“You’re here, Baek Eun-seol Hunter.”
“Has the situation at the scene been roughly sorted out?”
As Baek Eun-seol asked while taking a seat, Kim Tae-seong nodded.
“Yes. As I mentioned yesterday, thanks to saintess-nim using the Barrier of Light to seal the area, there was no external damage.”
“That’s a relief.”
The story Baek Eun-seol had heard from Kim Tae-seong yesterday.
It was a story about the Abyss Cult using an unidentified item to summon a bizarre creature and carry out a terrorist attack on the saintess.
The Abyss Cult.
It was a globally wanted organization of interest, and a cult group to which many vicious Awakener criminals, commonly called “Villain”, belonged.
“The Association’s mobile strike force has collected all the corpses of the bizarre creatures inside the barrier, and the saintess’s side has also promised an apology and appropriate compensation for their independent action this time, so the initial cleanup is finished.”
How on earth did a follower of the Abyss Cult enter Korea?
And what was the identity of the item they used?
There was a mountain of things to find out, but the immediate fire had been put out.
“Even so, seeing as you called me separately, it seems that’s not the end of it.”
At Baek Eun-seol’s question, Kim Tae-seong opened his mouth.
“That’s right. Actually, additional information came in from the saintess’s side, and there was a very crucial fact.”
“What is it?”
“It’s information that the True Ancestor intervened in this incident.”
“True Ancestor-nim did…”
Baek Eun-seol’s eyes wavered.
“Yes. Saintess-nim didn’t explain exactly how they intervened in detail. However, she said this:”
Kim Tae-seong spoke in a serious voice.
““It is not yet certain whether the True Ancestor is on the side of justice or evil. However, it is certain that we received great help from them.””
“…”
“If even a super-powerful figure like the saintess expresses it as receiving “great help”.”
Kim Tae-seong slowly continued his words.
“Just how far does the True Ancestor’s power reach… It can’t even be estimated.”
As Baek Eun-seol listened, he let out a long sigh.
“Phew. Anyway, it’s a relief that it was resolved well in the end.”
He wasn’t wrong.
If the saintess had been severely injured or even lost her life.
Or if the bizarre creatures summoned by the Abyss Cult had been unleashed right in the middle of the capital.
A catastrophe that was hard to even imagine would have occurred.
“We really have the True Ancestor to thank for this incident.”
Kim Tae-seong seemed to stare out the window for a moment before carefully revealing his inner thoughts.
“I also have this thought: that the True Ancestor might actually be a being more friendly to humans than we think.”
“…”
Soon he shook his head and concluded his words.
“Of course, we don’t know what other intentions might be hidden behind it, so hasty assumptions are forbidden.”
Soon, his eyes sharpened.
“And the Abyss Cult. They had been quiet for a while, so I didn’t expect them to be plotting such a wicked scheme in Korea again.”
His voice was laced with vigilance.
“They are persistent. Once they realize this incident has come to nothing, they will surely try to lash out in another direction, so we must be thoroughly careful.”
* * *
<Climber community>
[Title: BecomeonewithTheEsteemedOneallwillsoonbecomeclear.]
[Poster: Sim-Yeon-Ui-Priest]
(A picture of a giant something’s eye)
BecomeonewithTheEsteemedOnesoonallwillbecomeclear.
BecomeonewithTheEsteemedOnesoonallwillbecomeclear.
BecomeonewithTheEsteemedOnesoonallwillbecomeclear.
BecomeonewithTheEsteemedOnesoonallwillbecomeclear.
BecomeonewithTheEsteemedOnesoonallwillbecomeclear.
…
- Uh-oh, why is this bastard suddenly having a seizure?
- He’s spamming like crazy today
- Ah, he put in another mental attack pic, fuck
- He’s just being toxic, lol