Party

I was sitting on the living room sofa early in the morning with the TV on.

The channel was, of course, fixed on the news.

“Everything’s ready for the recording, right?”

“Yes, yes. I’ve checked it at least five times already.”

Broker Uncle and Jung Manho were sitting beside me.

I had invited the two of them to celebrate this historic moment.

The three of us—or four, if you counted Chohogi too—were all wearing cone-shaped party hats.

The black mage and Sand Worm were excluded, since they couldn’t wear hats.

Chohogi seemed to like the new hat, beaming with a hand on its head.

“Do we really have to go this far?”

“Be quiet. It’s about to start.”

On the other hand, Jung Manho didn’t seem to like the hat design.

He kept grumbling nonstop while stuffing pizza into his mouth.

“In a few minutes, we’re going to get tons of calls accusing you of lying...”

“That’s why I told you to climb sooner and sooner.”

“You’ve only known I’m a Hunter for a week! Even if you climbed every day, you still wouldn’t reach the 40th floor!”

“It can’t be helped. Still, if there’s anyone who wants to retaliate too much, tell me. I’ll just take care of them.”

“...Representative.”

“Don’t do that...”

Broker Uncle and Jung Manho both stiffened and looked serious.

I was just joking.

Apparently, the two of them still remembered when I dealt with former Association chairman Park Sang-cheol.

[Breaking News. The government has held an emergency press conference and announced its plan to secure a new legendary item that has recently become a global hot issue.]

“Oh, it’s starting.”

With the announcer’s words, the screen switched to the press conference hall.

Chairman Park Jeongwon, whom I’d met yesterday, stood at the podium.

[Dear citizens, I understand many of you are concerned about the legendary item that’s been making headlines lately.]

Chairman Park spoke confidently, without even looking at the script.

[Some have voiced concern that South Korea may fall behind in this competition. But that is absolutely not true.]

“Should I bring up Hunter Gallery too?”

“It’s distracting, so let’s just watch.”

“Tsk...”

By now, Hunter Gallery was probably streaming the press conference like crazy.

There would probably be posts all over the place titled something like ‘Anyway, it’s not true lol’ and ‘It’s a fact lol.’

I almost opened my phone to watch the stream too, but I stopped myself in case I missed something important.

‘I’ll just read the live comments later when I watch the replay.’

[The South Korean government has already completed all preparations to secure that item. We promise to deliver results faster and more decisively than anyone else.]

I saw a reporter raise a hand to ask a question.

[For something you call perfect preparations, you haven’t shown us anything even after several days since the incident, have you?]

A question that was downright rude.

The room buzzed with whispers.

Chairman Park frowned for a split second, then quickly put on a relaxed smile and replied.

[That is why the government is here today to reveal a new hero who has been kept confidential for national security reasons until now.]

Gulp.

I swallowed dryly.

This was finally the moment my name would be revealed to the world.

[An A-rank Hunter who broke through the 46th floor of the Daejeon Tower in less than a year....]

The hall fell silent.

Everyone waited for Chairman Park to part his lips again.

[The fifth mage of Korea. The name is Kim Hanbyeol.]

Click-click-click-click!

A storm of flashes went off.

The press conference hall instantly turned into chaos.

[Kim Hanbyeol? Never heard that name before.]

[Wasn’t the 46th floor of Daejeon clearly Hunter Jung Manho’s record?]

Chairman Park coughed lightly to calm the room a little.

[Hunter Kim Hanbyeol has been working under a hidden identity while carrying out top-secret national missions until now. Her abilities have already reached S-rank.]

[S-rank? You mean she’s a force on par with Hunter Kim Suho?]

[She might be even stronger than that.]

[There’s a ten-floor gap, and they’re both mages—how could that even be possible? Isn’t that just bragging?]

[How old is she? Which guild is she with?]

The impact of the word S-rank was enormous.

Questions poured in from the reporters without even waiting their turn.

As though he had already expected this reaction, Chairman Park answered calmly without fluster.

[Hunter Kim Hanbyeol is a young talent, twenty-three years old this year. Her skill has already been recognized by Hunter Kim Suho as well.]

[Hunter Kim Suho acknowledged her personally?]

[Yes. The results she’ll bring soon will prove everything.]

“Twenty-three, huh? You’re seriously young-looking.”

“Don’t make fun of me.”

I glared at the uncle and said that.

That was when it happened.

Bam!

A deafening explosion rang out right beside us.

“W-what was that!”

Startled, I turned my head and saw Chohogi covered in firework powder.

The kid had frozen in a half-crouched pose.

There was a firework shell in its hand.

I didn’t even need an explanation to know what had happened.

[….]

The kid stared blankly at its own hand.

Even the sprout on its crown was trembling, apparently shocked.

At that sight, everyone in the living room burst out laughing.

Even Jung Manho, who was seeing Chohogi for the first time today, seemed to find it endearing and walked over to the kid.

“Heh heh, what a funny little guy.”

Jung Manho reached out a hand. He must have been about to pat its head or something.

[!!!]

But right after that, Chohogi’s body swelled up in an instant.

“W-wha?”

The tiny body that had been fist-sized swelled up in an instant until it was huge enough to touch the living room ceiling.

A massive shadow covered Jung Manho’s entire body.

Jung Manho’s face went pale.

“Aaaaagh!”

“...I should just check the Gallery.”

I left the commotion behind and picked up my phone.

As expected, the Gallery was already buzzing with my story.

[Title: Emergency government announcement summary. yoyak]

ㄴ What’s this semi-S-rank declaration lol

ㄴ 46th floor?? That’s insanely high ㄷㄷ

ㄴ So not Korea’s number two then?

ㄴ Not low even by world standards.

ㄴ ㄷㄷㄷㄷ seriously insane. Why did they hide this?

ㄴ But the semi-S-rank thing is fake, right?

ㄴ They say Kim Suho acknowledged it?

ㄴ No, that obviously doesn’t make sense. Ten-floor gap—how could they be that similar, damn it.

ㄴ For real, seems like they’re just hyping him up a bit.

ㄴ I’m Kim Suho, and it’s not hype. We were playing catch yesterday, and I lost.

“?”

There was a suspicious person at the end who seemed to know yesterday’s events well, but I decided to pretend I hadn’t seen it.

[Title: But is it a woman or a man?]

ㄴ Going by the name, it’s a woman?

ㄴ I just read a detailed article and it says it’s a woman.

ㄴ A 23-year-old female college mage?

ㄴ Ughhh.

ㄴ I’m going straight into the fan café lol

ㄴ But why isn’t her face hidden????

ㄴ If the skills are good, who cares about the face?

ㄴ You bastard, are you saying our Kim Hanbyeol-nim isn’t hiding her face because she’s ugly?

ㄴ I know another mage, and they said her face is cute.

ㄴ I’m that mage, and yes, that’s true.

ㄴ I’m another mage too, and yeah, she’s cute.

[Title: So is Kim Hanbyeol hot or plain?]

ㄴ Is this bastard insane?

ㄴ Are you overseas or something?

ㄴ Aren’t you afraid of getting sued....

ㄴ The target is a Hunter—why would a lawsuit be the problem? Your life is the one in danger...

ㄴ Seriously, you’ve got guts lol

ㄴ I just analyzed Korea’s mages, and it’s 2 hotties, 2 plain ones.

ㄴ That balance is busted

ㄴ Wait, did this bastard seriously count Kim Suho as plain???

ㄴ Hahahahahahaha

“Those bastards...”

Not revealing my face seemed like the right call.

Even before my face was revealed, there were already this many people interested in my looks—what if my real face had been revealed?

They’d have talked about nothing else. That was not what I wanted.

I kept scrolling up. Since dozens of posts were being uploaded every second in real time, it was hard to read them all.

“At this rate, I might as well write a post myself.”

[Title: Isn’t Kim Hanbyeol seriously freaking strong????]

[Author: ㅇㅇ(44U.4U4)]

[Doesn’t it feel like my time has come now?]

ㄴ Why is it your time lol

ㄴ (That’s me too, meme)

ㄴ I was wondering why this bastard was so quiet today.

[Title: But if she ends up like this and still can’t get the item, she’s going to get absolutely roasted.]

[Author: ㅇㅇ(44U.4U4)]

[The government was talking so much crap—what are they gonna do if they still can’t get it?]

ㄴ Then the government will get roasted.

ㄴ But I am curious what they’re so confident about.

ㄴ For real, after keeping their mouths shut this whole time, suddenly announcing it like this feels fishy.

ㄴ Maybe they already secured it?

ㄴ Lol say something that actually makes sense.

ㄴ Japan and China will probably be keeping a close eye on them, so it won’t be easy.

ㄴ I’ve already put my entire fortune on a long bet with Kim Hanbyeol...

“Oh, it’s already up~.”

“What on earth are you doing?”

“Managing public opinion. Hmm, should we hire a viral marketing company too?”

“Good grief...”

I must have looked pretty strange, excitedly holding my phone and muttering to myself.

Broker Uncle was leaning back on the sofa and holding his forehead.

“Ah, I should check the news too.”

It was about time for the internet articles to start popping up too.

Sure enough, when I opened a news portal, it was all about me.

[Breaking] Government, “Confident in securing the new legendary item”… reveals hidden card ‘Kim Hanbyeol’

[Report] Who is Kim Hanbyeol, the hidden ruler of Daejeon?

[Editorial] Appearance of the 23-year-old genius mage, shaking up the Hunter scene

ㄴ Can practically hear the noses of those Japanese and Chinese bastards getting flattened all the way over here~~!

ㄴ With two S-ranks, we’ve got more than Japan, and if she’s stronger than ordinary S-ranks, China doesn’t even compare.

ㄴ The government better support her properly. Don’t let her get poached by another country! I hear everyone’s going to the US and Japan these days~~~~!!!

ㄴ This is where taxes should be spent. Make sure she gets the best treatment.

ㄴ I heard our country always gets a hero in times of crisis—this is exactly that.

The reaction was explosive.

Since our pride had been bruised by the provocations of Japan and China, the S-rank title seemed to have stirred up patriotic fervor.

“Wow, the comment section’s vibe is rough...”

The comments had a very different tone from the Gallery I usually browsed.

The openly brazen vibe, in a different sense from the Gallery, was hard to get used to.

But even that felt good right now.

Because all of it was aimed at me.

“I should’ve done this ages ago.”

“That good?”

At last, Jung Manho, who had escaped Chohogi, came back carrying cut-up fruit and asked.

“Definitely. It’s the best day of my life.”

“Jeez...”

“You’d better get used to me, Representative.”

I said it while munching on a slice of apple.

Now only the most important part remained.

With a slightly trembling heart, I pressed the write button.

[Title: It’s a party~~~~]

[Author: ㅇㅇ(99T.9T9)]

[Did everyone see the news?]

[I ordered pizza and chicken and I’m having a little party.]

[It’s the historic day of my first debut, so remember it.]

The moment I posted it, comment notifications rang out as if they had been waiting.

It seemed everyone had stayed up waiting for me this late into the night.

ㄴPkkatju: Congratulations. Can I call you Hanbyeol unnie from now on instead of newbie?

ㄴㅇㅇ(99T.9T9): Ah, stop it.

ㄴPkkatju: U-nnniiiii.

ㄴㅇㅇ(99T.9T9): Hey!

ㄴFridge: I’m watching the news with everyone at the research institute.

ㄴFridge: They asked me if I knew anything about her since we’re both mages lol. Everyone’s super curious.

ㄴㅇㅇ(99T.9T9): What did you say??

ㄴFridge: Just told them she looked cute.

ㄴPkkatju: Hahahahahahaha

ㄴBeetle: Congrats congrats

ㄴBeetle: Hmmm... isn’t it about time the chicken raffle got started...

ㄴPkkatju: If you’ve got that much money, buy your own food.

ㄴBeetle: Hmmm... I hyped you up by calling you my equal... hmmm...

ㄴFridge: You weren’t hyping them up; you were shutting them down.

ㄴFridge: With that personality, if they’d just said it straight, nobody would’ve believed them, so they might’ve done some other crazy thing.

“So that’s what it was?”

I couldn’t believe he’d had such a sneaky ulterior motive all along.

I was even feeling a little betrayed as I tried to write a comment.

But it seemed there was someone who felt even more betrayed than I did.

ㄴMagic Is Firepower: Haah, you’re having a party and you didn’t invite us. That’s hurtful.

ㄴBeetle: This is seriously going to cause a character scandal.

ㄴMagic Is Firepower: And after insisting until the end that he was a guy.

ㄴMagic Is Firepower: A 23-year-old female college-student Hunter????

ㄴMagic Is Firepower: There really isn’t a single person in this world you can trust.

ㄴMagic Is Firepower: I’m just too scared to live in this world.

Jung Taeyeon, MagicIsFirepower.

Seeing her comment made me a little tense.

She had been the most curious about my identity all along, but she was also the only one here I hadn’t met in person.

I felt a little sorry too.

She was someone who had always tried to bring me this and that.

Just as I was about to apologize,

ㄴMagic Is Firepower: It’s fine. At least I know now.

ㄴMagic Is Firepower: If you’re twenty-three, then we’re about the same age anyway. We can just go as older sister and younger sister.

ㄴMagic Is Firepower: I’ll send a flower wreath to the company under the guild’s name later.

ㄴBeetle: You’re at least five years apart on paper? And your looks are even farther apart? Isn’t she an aunt, not an older sister?

ㄴPkkatju: Gasp gasp gasp gasp gasp.

ㄴFridge: This is UFC.

ㄴMagic Is Firepower: You’re really done for.

ㄴBeetle: Sorry...

Watching them, I let out a small laugh.

It was truly a perfectly satisfying day.

“Now for the legendary item reveal, the face reveal, and the number-one ranking reveal...”

I still had a mountain of bombs left to set off, one by one.

Just imagining the reactions that would spill out each time was enough to make me grin.

“I should head out soon. It’s late.”

“Yes, sir. Please take care. And thank you for coming.”

“Yeah, go to bed early. Congrats on being on the news.”

After Broker and Jung Manho left too.

I stayed up for a long time, savoring the lingering afterglow.

***

Several days passed.

I went online as soon as I woke up this morning and started looking for new news.

[Sand Worm clicks its tongue at your appearance.]

“Why, what.”

[Sand Worm diagnoses your attention-seeking as an incurable disease.]

“Shut up.”

But it was also true that I couldn’t keep doing this forever.

All the news that was going to come out over the next few days had already come out, so even refreshing the page didn’t bring any new articles.

“Looks like I need to head to the next floor.”

I threw off the blanket and got to my feet, heading for the tower.