Proof Post

I dragged my exhausted body home and sat down in front of the computer.

Every joint in my body felt like it was creaking, but my mind was clearer than ever.

No, it wasn't merely clear-headed.

Dopamine was surging through me more than ever.

“I need to tell the world about this great feat, and fast.”

The soul of a gallery addict urged me to write the post quickly.

I transferred the proof shots I'd taken in the tutorial onto my computer.

From among them, I chose the photo least likely to reveal my identity.

Deleting the photo's metadata just in case was standard procedure.

I also masked my IP with a VPN.

The one I chose was a slightly shaky photo with the word EXTREME on it.

Perfect.

I immediately logged into Hunter Gallery and started hammering away at the keyboard.

[Title : Proof) Beat Extreme Difficulty.]

I just cleared the Tower tutorial, and apparently there was an Extreme difficulty.

If you're Korean, isn't choosing the highest difficulty just common sense?

So I picked it, and ten goblins started popping out from the very first floor.

I seriously thought I was going to die;

But who am I?

A future S-rank Hunter.

I just wiped them out like it was nothing.

(Scoreboard photo)

As soon as I posted it and hit refresh, comments started flooding in instantly.

Exactly the reaction I'd expected.

ㄴ ?

ㄴ Yep, fake.

ㄴ What even is fake difficulty? (=ㅅ= emoticon)

ㄴ Ten goblins? Are you in grade school or something, lol? Hard only has two.

ㄴ If you're going to fake the scoreboard, at least make it less obvious. The font is completely broken.

“What the hell is the last one?”

As expected, there was always one know-it-all wherever you went.

I snorted and took a sip of cola.

Just another garden-variety troll.

That, too, was within expectations.

That thrill of overturning reactions like this is what makes gallery life so fun.

It was just as I was about to post another proof post after waiting a bit.

A post defending me went up.

It wasn't written by me.

[Title : Hey, isn't the guy who changed the Floor 1 ranking that guy?]

I just went into the Tower and checked the Floor 1 rankings, and the number one nickname had changed to 'ㅇㅇ'.

The timestamp is from just a moment ago too.

This looks real, doesn't it?

ㄴ What? Seriously?

ㄴㄴ [Link] This is the Hunter Association's official ranking site. Go check it out. It really is 'ㅇㅇ'.

ㄴㄴ Holy shit. It's real. That score is insane.

From that post on, the gallery's atmosphere did a 180.

[Title : Everyone Who Said It Was Fake, Stand at Attention lol]

I told you it was real, didn't I?

ㄴ The 'told-you-so' bird, out.

ㄴ (an emoticon of someone bolting away after thinking 'I knew this would happen')

[Title : DemiGod Is a Water Rocket lolol]

The current first-place score is 14,000 points,

and second-place DemiGod is only at 4,000 points,

a whopping threefold gap, damn.

DemiGod <<< suddenly looks like a water rocket, huge upvote lol.

ㄴ Starting with me, lol.

ㄴ (a meme of DemiGod's face photoshopped bright red)

The comments on my original proof post started multiplying frighteningly fast.

ㄴ This person is at least SSS-rank.

ㄴ I came on a pilgrimage. Please let me win first prize in the lottery.

ㄴ Brother, sorry I called you an attention troll. Please spare me.

ㄴ Please party with me. I'm a healer. I'm a girl.

Explosive reaction.

An outpouring of praise and worship.

I sank back into my chair with a satisfied smile.

“This is why I browse the gallery.”

I was basking in the thrill of the flood of comments when—

Suddenly, the Mage Gallery came to mind.

What kind of reaction was it getting by now?

I headed to the Mage Gallery full of anticipation.

But what was waiting for me there wasn't praise.

[Title : Newbie, What Are You Going to Do?]

Author : Pungdeongi

You're the one who wrote that post in the Hunter Gallery, right?

What were you thinking, just dumping a proof post there?

[Title : Goodbye, then.]

Author : pkkatju

The poor newbie is now destined to be dragged off by the government and turned into a test subject.

An unexpected reaction.

I was startled and hurriedly wrote a comment.

ㄴ I posted it because I figured they couldn't doxx me at this level. Should be okay, right?

If I were just an ordinary netizen, maybe not.

With ten years of gallery lurking under my belt, I'd even perfectly handled IP masking and metadata deletion.

I thought it would be impossible to identify me from that.

ㄴMagic Is Firepower: Aren't you being too careless just because the gallery server is in Paraguay?

ㄴPungdeongi: If the state decides to go after you, you can't escape.

ㄴRefrigerator: The NIS Hunter management team is more capable than you think.

Seeing everyone's reactions, I suddenly started to feel uneasy.

I deleted the proof post I'd put up on the Hunter Gallery first.

Blood tears streamed down.

No, my hot post....

[Title: But seriously, would the government really come after me? It's only Floor 1]

ㄴ 풍뎅이 : Why wouldn't they? Of course they'd look for you.

You don't realize how incredible being number one on the rankings is.

ㄴ 냉장고 : Surprisingly, the government might not even bother looking for you. But DemiGod will probably come looking for you? That guy is crazy obsessed with first place.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ : That's scarier than the NIS looking for me....

ㄴ p깟쮸 : It's already been spread all over the place.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ : I deleted it for now.

ㄴ p깟쮸 : Even if you delete the post, the server records remain. Goodbye, then.

Am I really in trouble?

Suddenly, the world went dark before my eyes.

I had finally become a mage and thought I might get to live a little more comfortably, but it looked like I'd be hauled off by the NIS from the very start.

A whole parade of horrific thoughts flashed through my mind.

Then Pungdeongi left a new comment.

ㄴ 풍뎅이 : …If the government really contacts you, let me know. I'll handle it for you.

ㄴ p깟쮸 : Aren't you putting on airs a little too much in front of the newbie?

ㄴ 풍뎅이 : No. I guess it's my fault for not explaining it properly.

I should've told you how desperate the government is for powerful Hunters right now.

ㄴ 냉장고 : Well, if it's Pungdeongi, he'd probably handle it without even breaking a sweat.

“Could this person be the only S-rank?”

Korea's only S-rank, Kim Suho.

His class was a wind-element mage.

“Come to think of it, his nickname is Pungdeongi too. Is he really for real?”

“Such an incredible person is going to help me?”

“And we've never even met?”

I didn't really believe it, but there was nothing else I could do.

Be wary of his inexplicable goodwill, but don't turn it away.

That put me a little at ease.

If an S-rank Hunter capable of negotiating with the government was going to handle it, what could possibly happen?

My anxiety faded, and I felt at ease.

Then a post on another topic went up.

It seemed intended to liven things up.

[Title : So? What do you get for ranking first?]

Author : Magic Is Firepower

That bastard DemiGod, who used to be number one, bragged like crazy.

ㄴ p깟쮸 : He's the kind of guy whose whole life's joy is bragging. Even if he hadn't been number one, he'd have bragged like crazy anyway.

Today, the S-rank Hunter whose number one spot I took. Nickname: DemiGoD.

“He really lives up to his nickname.”

S-rank Hunters. Superhumans so rare there are only about a dozen across the whole world.

Among them, the man who always held the number-one spot in pure combat power. DemiGod.

I became curious about what DemiGod was like in another S-rank's eyes.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ : But what is DemiGod really like? Can other S-ranks really not beat him even if they gang up on him?

ㄴ 풍뎅이 : He's a monster. Honestly, I don't think he should even be grouped with the other S-ranks. He's SS-rank.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ : What about his personality?

ㄴ 풍뎅이 : Personality? Awful. You can tell just from the nickname, right? He really thinks he's the actual god... Well, I guess if I were that strong, I might think that way too.

ㄴ p깟쮸 : He's just a crazy attention-seeker. A social-media addict who posts every five minutes.

“Huh? That's basically me.”

Of course, I use an alias, not my real name.

Hearing firsthand stories about S-rank Hunters from people who had actually met them was fascinating.

But that wasn't the important part.

Because there was someone who was curious about my story.

[No, seriously, what did you get for the first-clear reward?!!]

Author : Magic Is Firepower

If you don't tell me, I'll take a dump in the Han River and set it on fire. Seriously.

ㄴ 냉장고 : (rough punch emoji)

ㄴ p깟쮸 : Pathetic. Act your age already.

I grabbed the keyboard again.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ : There was a reward.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ : It raised the skill book's color tier.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ : And Extreme gave a first-clear reward too, and that also raised the skill book's color tier.

As soon as my comment went up, the comment box exploded again.

ㄴ 마법은화력 : What? Twice?

No, more importantly, skill books are level-up rewards—how did you get one on Floor 1?

ㄴ 풍뎅이 : If he really killed ten goblins like he said, then yes, he'd reach level 2.

ㄴ 냉장고 : Wait, then you pulled a rainbow skill book? I only have one of those too. You got that on Floor 1?

ㄴ 풍뎅이 : Oh, right? Really? You got a rainbow-tier one?

At their excited reactions, I scratched my head.

It was time to pour cold water on their expectations.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ : No. It's gold. At first, they all looked shit-brown.

ㄴ 풍뎅이 : Still, that's amazing. Nobody gets a skill book from Floor 1. And gold, too.

ㄴ 냉장고 : Right. A gold-rank skill will be a huge help early on.

ㄴ 마법은화력 : You know how important skill books are to mages, right?

We’re a class that runs on skill power.

Their encouragement made me puff up with pride. Right, a gold-rank skill, no less.

Besides, I was only on Floor 1 now. The potential for growth was limitless.

ㄴ 냉장고 : So what is the skill?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ : Honestly, I don't really know if it's any good.

ㄴ 마법은화력 : We'll be the judge of that, so hurry up and tell us. What is it?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ : Quicksand.

With that comment, time in the Mage Gallery stood still.

The lively back-and-forth comments stopped as if it had all been a lie.

Silence.

I wrote again to break the awkward silence.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ : Why is everyone silent?

Then, as if they'd been waiting for it, painfully awkward comments started coming in.

ㄴ 풍뎅이 : Ah... good skill! Quicksand! That's an area-of-effect CC skill!

ㄴ p깟쮸 : You rolled a good one for your first skill. That's fine.

ㄴ 마법은화력 : It's not a ruined build yet! You just don't have to use that skill!

For some reason, I had a strong feeling I'd drawn a dud.

But I tilted my head in confusion.

‘It seems like an insanely broken skill to me... so why are they calling it trash?’