Chapter 18
“Hoit~.”
I formed a gun with my fingers and aimed it at the orc.
The sand bullet sliced through the air.
The orc instinctively sensed the threat and raised its steel shield.
“Not a chance.”
KRAK-!
The steel shield was torn apart like a sheet of paper.
The bullet lost none of its momentum and pierced straight through the orc’s skull.
With the sound of a skull exploding, the orc’s massive body toppled weakly to the ground.
I could definitely feel myself getting stronger.
It was on a completely different level from before I obtained the Eye-Opening skill.
“WAAAAARGH-!”
Just then, another orc’s cry came from the other side of the plain.
A furious battle cry.
It looked like it had just seen one of its own kin fall.
But that orc couldn’t rush at me.
“Even if it takes all day….”
“…I can do it.”
Two sand totems that looked just like me were hugging the orc’s torso from both sides and desperately holding it in place.
A fact I learned through several battles.
It was impossible to beat an orc head-on with sand clones.
The only martial art I knew was the Taekwondo I learned in elementary school.
Even if I controlled them, the clones would only become punching bags.
So I changed my strategy.
Just grab hold and hang on.
The sight of sand dolls that looked like me, grunting as they clung to the orc, was rather ridiculous.
After obtaining the Platinum skill, many things changed.
It wasn’t just the power of my magic that had increased.
My mana capacity had grown beyond comparison.
Thanks to that, I could now stably maintain up to four sand totems, which had previously been too much of a burden.
Of course, there were drawbacks too.
The more skills I used at once, the more violently the sand was consumed.
The sand from the Sand Bog I had cast first was already running dry. It looked like less than 10% remained.
Even now, I was in a situation where I ran out of sand before mana.
I could only summon two totems.
I snapped my fingers.
The two sand totems holding the orc in place swelled up at my command, then detonated with tremendous force.
BOOOOM-!
Uwaaaah!
The orc, hit by the explosion at point-blank range, was reduced to a tattered rag and collapsed to the ground.
Soon after came the familiar alarm.
[Congratulations on clearing Tower Floor 9 (EXTREME).]
[The First Clear Bonus is being applied!]
[The Rank 1 Bonus is being applied!]
After obtaining the new skill, I tore through Floors 7 through 9 without a hitch.
Everything was far too easy.
“Nice. Tomorrow is Floor 10.”
Before I knew it, I was facing another boss fight.
The boss monster itself wasn’t all that scary.
Because I hadn’t even gone all-out, and I still had no trouble up to Floor 9.
However, there was still a little unease.
Because the nightmare of the Floor 5 boss fight came back to me.
If I ran into that crazy mage again this time….
Just imagining it was awful.
“Should I just skip it this time even if there’s a hidden piece…?”
Of course, I had gotten a good reward.
The Invincible Trolling VPN.
On top of that, it even gave me a Gold skill book, though it was something very minor.
But scary is scary.
Back then, I really thought I was going to die.
“Eh, it might not even show up…. I don’t even know if there is a hidden piece to begin with.”
I shook my head to brush off the ominous thought.
First, let’s check the gallery.
As soon as I got home, I habitually turned on the computer and logged into the gallery.
Was it just a coincidence?
The Hunter Gallery was, as it happened, buzzing with talk about my story.
[✪ Title : Who’s the guy who’s been wrecking the rankings from Floor 1 to Floor 9 lately?]
From 1st place to 9th, they’re all using the nickname “ㅇㅇ,” and the score gap is ridiculous.
The gap between second place and him is already triple by default—seriously?
“Ah, that’s me.”
The fact that my story was heating up the gallery sent dopamine surging through me.
I scrolled down with a satisfied smile.
But the reactions were a little odd.
ㄴ Demigod is furiously typing on SNS again today lol
ㄴ But seriously, who is it? A hunter secretly raised by the government?
ㄴ There’s no way it’s Korean, right?
ㄴ For real. How could Korea do what even America couldn’t? lol
ㄴ But it’s ㅇㅇ. If it isn’t a Korean, who would even call themselves ㅇㅇ?
ㄴ I heard that isn’t ㅇ but an o or a 0? Abroad they call it Double O.
“Double O? Me?”
That wasn’t the end of it.
[✪ Title : According to the NIS) Rank 1 Is a Chinese Secret Weapon.]
Not a baseless theory, ㅇㅇ.
Anyone who knows the recent movements of the Chinese Communist Party knows they’re not normal, ㅇㅇ.
It’s called the Great Wall Project, where they gather teenage prodigies nationwide, shove them into the Tower, and pick out an S-rank hunter.
The “00” that just overturned the rankings this time is also very likely a result of that project.
ㄴ “Not a baseless theory” special: baseless theory with no evidence
ㄴ China already did Team China and got bodied by Demigod, so what nonsense is that?
ㄴㄴ So they got embarrassed and secretly made another one.
ㄴ Then is 00 the test subject number?
ㄴㄴ So after 99 it became the 00th one, then lol
ㄴㄴ Do you think China is a joke? It’s not 99, it’s 999,999 people.
“What? China? Why is China suddenly involved?”
I swallowed a dry laugh and kept scrolling.
[✪ Title : Isn’t the Pantheon Guild hiding something right now?]
Everyone’s barking up the wrong tree with China and all that, but the real one is elsewhere.
You know the world’s No. 1 guild, Pantheon, right?
Everyone knows their guild master, Croft, is raising his daughter as his successor.
But she vanished from official appearances a few months ago….
Then isn’t it obvious that Rank 1 is Croft’s daughter?
They’d give her every kind of support with guild power, and she’d come out after training.
The moment she breaks through Floor 20, some article like “Pantheon’s Princess Makes a Dazzling S-Rank Debut!” will probably pop up.
I’d bet my hand on it, ㅇㅇ.
ㄴ This one’s actually pretty plausible.
ㄴ If it’s Pantheon, isn’t that the guild Demigod belongs to? They’re teamkilling a guildmate?
ㄴㄴ Strictly speaking, Demigod is directly under the government, and Pantheon is only in a cooperative relationship.
ㄴㄴ Considering the relationship between Croft and Demigod, it does make sense that Pantheon would try to screw Demigod over.
“No, what do you mean it makes sense. Are you kidding?”
A Chinese secret weapon, the princess of the world’s No. 1 guild.
There were also tons of posts from self-proclaimed insiders naming likely candidates from completely unrelated regions and backgrounds.
You’re the one I’m looking for!
I shouted inwardly.
It was truly a contradictory feeling.
I didn’t want my identity exposed, but at the same time I had a powerful desire for everyone to know that I was the main character of all this glory.
‘Should I leak just a little info?’
I casually placed my hands on the keyboard to write a post as an anonymous user.
[Title : Isn’t that actually someone here?]
Author : ㅇㅇ(1A1.11E)
I don’t know if you remember, but there was someone here who posted proof of Extreme difficulty before. Couldn’t it be that person?
“Ah, fuck! The IP!”
Makkagno, you bastard! You should have at least put in an on/off function!
I deleted the post at the speed of light.
Thankfully, no comment was posted.
No one saw it, right?
I immediately fled to the Mage Gallery.
And then I desperately asked for help.
[Title : Urgent) Looking for someone to write a post on Hunter Gallery for me]
Author : ㅇㅇ(99L.99C)
Here’s the content.
‘The guy who’s been holding Rank 1 lately, isn’t he the same guy who posted Extreme-clear proof before?’
Can someone just write that for me?
Please.
A brief silence fell over the gallery.
Soon after, reactions saying it was pathetic poured in.
ㄴ Fridge : (pathetic stare emoticon)
ㄴ MagicIsFirepower : Ah, this is a bit…. Not easy….
ㄴ Beetle : …Why not just keep holding out until Floor 20? That’d be safer.
“So this was way too pathetic after all…?”
I was overcome with self-loathing and tried to delete the post.
But then, a comment was added.
It was pkkatju.
ㄴ pkkatju : Hahahaha, that sounds fun, yeah. So we’re really gonna try manipulating public opinion in the gallery for real, yeah! I’ll write it for you, yeah!
I felt just a tiny, really tiny bit of guilt and self-loathing.
But that feeling quickly vanished before the surging excitement.
Yeah, shame is temporary, but glory is forever.
“Living long enough to actually ask another gallery to shill for me.”
A little while later, a post written by pkkatju really went up in the Hunter Gallery.
Cleverly, it was written as a guest post, not under a fixed nickname.
[Title : That guy at Rank 1, isn’t he the same guy who posted Extreme-clear proof before?]
Author : ㅇㅇ(211.47)
You know, the person who briefly posted proof a few days ago and then disappeared.
He was definitely rank 1 back then, too.
And a few of his posts even made it to the best posts.
ㄴ Was there really someone like that?
ㄴ Ah, maybe there was. It’s fuzzy.
ㄴ I tried to look for it, but all the posts are deleted and gone? What the hell?
ㄴ Wasn’t that fake to begin with?
“No, do these bastards seriously have something wrong with their heads?”
I was so frustrated I pounded my chest.
No, it was only a few days ago—how do they forget that?
No matter how quickly gallery trash posts are forgotten after 10 seconds, isn’t this a bit too much?
Weren’t there several related best posts back then, too?
People’s reactions were far too lukewarm.
It was enough to make it feel strangely alien.
As if they’d all been put under some kind of spell….
The bait I had thrown out drew only a few comments, then quickly got buried under other posts.
“It’s because the firepower’s lacking. The stealth ad’s firepower is too weak….”
I tore at my hair in front of the monitor.
“Ah, seriously, I’m going crazy….”
They needed to bite the bait just enough so I could make a cool entrance with, “Ah, that was actually me.”
Why is no one doing any deduction?
It’s me! Me!
When the dopamine I was supposed to get didn’t come, withdrawal symptoms started to appear.
My whole body itched, and my mind felt completely empty.
I couldn’t think straight at all.
I typed with trembling hands like a drug addict.
[Title : Actually, the rank 1 guy is me…]
“Gasp! What am I doing!”
I hurriedly hit backspace.
Hold it in. Just hold it in.
I calmed my heart with a deep breath.
“Sss… haa….”
Right, it’s not too late to post proof after clearing Floor 20.
Let’s wait. Until someone else pieces together the clues first….
“Please, let someone notice first….”
I prayed desperately.