Chapter 117
The cleanup operation in Mexico was far easier than expected.
A hand-picked team, even by S-rank standards.
In just a few days, they freed 10% of the former Mexican territory from monsters.
Of course, since there was absolutely no way to close the gate, no one knew how long this forced peace would last.
But the demigod didn’t care about that.
All he wanted was to steal the world’s attention back to himself.
This global, historic operation had, just as the demigod intended, drawn the attention of the entire world.
A Hollywood film crew was brought in to film their exploits around the clock.
Today, the same operation was underway again.
“Another new monster force. Nice.”
Monsters that had never been seen inside the Tower sometimes poured out of gates.
Besides, since this was territory that had been neglected for so long, new monsters were discovered almost every day.
This time, their opponent was a giant scorpion.
One of its pincers was about the size of a truck.
“I’ll handle the pincers! Team A, block the tail. Team B, protect the rear support team!”
Demigod shouted that and charged first.
The massive pincer came crashing down, but Demigod dodged it lightly and punched back.
KWAANG!
With a deafening boom, cracks spread across the scorpion’s carapace.
“Hurry and cut off the tail!”
Kim Suho was on Team A.
He steadily chipped away at the thick carapace as he continued the fight.
The assault progressed steadily.
At this rate, it looked like they’d finish smoothly again this time too.
That was when it happened.
Pzzzzzt!
A heat beam shot out from the venom sting at the tip of the scorpion’s tail.
A dark green ray scraped across the ground.
A beam that shot straight ahead at terrifying speed.
The ground melted, leaving behind a red line.
“Move!”
The hunters on Team A reflexively moved to dodge the beam.
But Kim Suho couldn’t.
In the direction of the heat beam stood Team B’s supporters and healers, along with the film crew.
“Damn it…!”
The tank, Abrams, who had been on Team B to protect the supporters, stepped forward.
As the tank activated his skill, a wall of light rose to block the heat beam.
But Abrams immediately grimaced and shouted,
“…I-I can’t hold this!”
The barrier began to crack in an instant.
Screams erupted from the back line.
It was obvious to anyone that serious damage would result if this continued.
“…!”
Then, a single gust of wind blew.
It was Kim Suho.
In his hands was the shield that had always hung on his back.
“Are you crazy, you’re not even a tank!? You’ll die for nothing!”
Abrams shouted, but Kim Suho ignored him and raised his shield.
He alone knew how powerful the item was.
KWAANG!
At last, Abrams’ skill shattered.
At the same time, the beam struck Kim Suho’s shield head-on.
Everyone anticipated what would happen next.
That mad wizard would be split in half and dead.
But that didn’t happen.
The shield reflected the heat beam exactly as a mirror reflects light.
Cutting through the air, the beam slammed into a mountain far away and caused a massive explosion.
“…….”
A brief silence fell over the battlefield.
Even the giant scorpion seemed startled, stopping its movements and turning its gaze toward Kim Suho.
A mage—moreover, a mage specialized in attack magic—blocking an attack while holding a shield?
And doing it more perfectly than even an S-rank tank?
“W-what is that…?”
The camera operator, without realizing it, swung the camera over for a close-up of Kim Suho and his shield.
An unfamiliar logo was engraved on the shield.
“Hourglass…?”
“HOO—!”
That was when it happened.
Demigod shouted and focused his attention.
At the same time, he tore off one of the scorpion’s right pincers whole.
“What are you all doing! Focus on the attack and get your heads in the game! Check that out afterward!”
Hearing that, Kim Suho and the other S-rank hunters who had been staring at him immediately returned to the battlefield.
The battle didn’t drag on long.
Before long, the scorpion had lost both its tail and its pincers.
KRAK!
Demigod punched the giant scorpion’s head to pieces.
“Hey! Kim!”
As soon as the fight ended, Demigod walked over to Kim Suho.
He was wiping the scorpion’s bodily fluids off with a towel.
“You were hiding something incredible, huh? What on earth is that shield?”
“It’s just a pretty sturdy shield.”
“Hey, don’t give me that ridiculous joke. Can’t you see everyone here is sneaking glances? They all look like they’re dying to know!”
When he looked around after hearing that, he saw the other hunters flinching and turning their eyes away.
Most of them even avoided his gaze awkwardly while pretending to look elsewhere, ears perked up.
“Is that item maybe a state secret or something?”
“If I said yes, would you stop asking?”
“No? Then you’d better tell just me! I’ll make sure they can’t hear.”
“…Hmm.”
“Hey! Don’t be that way, Kim!”
“It’s a crafted item. I can’t tell you who made it.”
“What? This is a crafted item?”
Demigod’s eyes widened.
He examined the shield all over, as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Can I show it to someone else? I’d like our team tank to give it an exact evaluation.”
“Go ahead.”
“Hey, Abrams!”
At Demigod’s call, Abrams came over.
“What do you think?”
“I’d say hire this shield instead of me. Didn’t you see it block that heat beam just now?”
“Hey, have some confidence! Even if the shield is good, you’re not going to be out of a job.... Besides, I want one too.”
“Do you need something like a shield too?”
“Insurance is nice. If you live in fucking America without health insurance, you’ll understand right away.”
“…Sorry, but this isn’t for sale. I was given it for testing.”
Demigod looked genuinely disappointed.
“Then it can’t be helped. If you change your mind later, make sure to tell me.”
Suddenly, as if he’d thought of something, Demigod looked at Kim Suho.
“Come to think of it, that way you wield those two staves. I heard that wasn’t something you could just do either…. Was that method also made by that ‘crafting team’?”
“…….”
Kim Suho fell silent for a moment, flustered.
After all, both the shield and the dual-staff technique had clearly come from the Magician Gallery’s connections.
He hadn’t expected him to make that connection.
“So you’re being backed by some place with considerable technical expertise? I don’t know whether it’s a country or a company, but….”
Demigod seemed to have taken Kim Suho’s silence as confirmation.
He patted Kim Suho’s shoulder and gave him a knowing smile.
“Make sure to introduce them to me sometime.”
Kim Suho let out a deep sigh inwardly.
***
[Title: All of Us in the Magician Gallery Congratulate Beetle on Going World-Class.]
[Author: Pkkatju]
[Link to the leaked video of S-rank Hunter Kim Suho]
ㄴFridge: What's this?
ㄴMagicIsFirepower: (Oh my gosh…)
“What the hell is this guy doing?”
I had gone to talk about the book, 'Beetle and the Mage,' and ended up seeing a shocking video.
A video of Kim Suho blocking a new monster’s attack with my shield in front of everyone.
At the very end of the video, the hourglass emblem engraved on the shield even got a huge close-up.
I was so dazed my mind went blank.
Then the person in question appeared in the chatroom.
ㄴBeetle: Ah, you saw it…..
ㄴBeetle: But how did it get leaked…. It was supposed to go out on broadcast later.
ㄴPkkatju: That’s not what’s important.
ㄴBeetle: Yeah, that’s not the point.
ㄴBeetle: The problem is that Demigod is curious about this shield.
ㄴBeetle: What do I do?
“What? This….”
I pressed a hand to my forehead.
The world’s biggest attention hog I had deliberately avoided.
The top ranker and the item.
Demigod had started obsessing over me in both ways.
“No. Maybe this is an opportunity.”
Suddenly, I remembered a conversation I’d had with the broker just a little while earlier.
What he’d said about not being able to invite big names to the showcase because we lacked prestige and history.
“Couldn’t this solve that?”
History and prestige?
An S-rank hunter, Kim Suho, used it in actual combat and saved the lives of multiple party members.
And on top of that, an item that the world’s number one ranker is fussing over and obsessing about?
With this, what more prestige do we need?
This was exactly the kind of value the broker had talked about—something money couldn’t buy.
I quickly picked up my phone.
I had to tell the broker about this.
“Mister, you’re still awake, right?”
[What on earth is it at this hour….]
I couldn’t hide my excitement and explained exactly what I’d just seen.
Everything—from the fact that the world’s number one ranker, Demigod, was interested in my shield to the fact that he wanted to meet its creator.
[My word….]
The broker was speechless for quite a while.
He had every reason to be. I waited a bit so he could process the situation.
How long had it been?
The broker spoke in a voice full of certainty.
[Boss, this is an opportunity.]
“I think so too.”
[I’ll prepare the showcase again from scratch.]
There wasn’t a trace of discouragement left in his voice.
[Let’s scrap the entire invite list. There’s no need to grovel and beg anymore.]
“Then?”
[We only need to invite one person now, and let everyone know about it.]
“Use Demigod as bait?”
I was impressed by how bold the plan was.
[Just the rumor that the world’s number one will attend will turn the situation 180 degrees around. Even if we don’t send out invitations, people will come to us first, begging to be allowed to attend.]
“That won’t be the end of it, right?”
[Exactly. If Demigod comes, top-tier hunters will follow. Then the reporters and guilds who want to follow them will start moving again….]
“Then it’s bound to succeed.”
I nodded.
There was no reason not to go ahead.
[I’ll get in touch with Demigod’s side right away.]
“Yes, please.”
The call ended.
I sat there blankly for a moment.
Things had fallen into place in an instant.
Now all that was left was to wait for the result.
And a few days passed.
The showcase date was set.
Naturally, it became a massive event drawing VVIPs from all over the world.