Chapter 17
Kwon Dohwa, Hwasan Guild Master and S-Rank Hunter.
She threw herself onto the bed in her quarters and muttered.
“This is giving me such a headache…”
Just thinking about the U.S. president made her head spin.
‘He’s insane.’
To sum up the past few days:
1. A few days ago, the U.S. president contacted the Korean president to ask about Sword Maiden’s whereabouts.
2. A conflict arose during the process, so the Korean government ordered the full mobilization of all S-Rank Hunters.
3. In the middle of all that, the U.S. president personally flew a fighter jet to the Presidential Office and made a surprise visit—effectively an air raid.
4. The S-Rank Hunters and presidents who’d been mobilized spent several days in talks about ‘GeniusSwordMaiden.’
Rumors were apparently going around that ‘Rum-hwang abducted the Korean president,’ but that wasn’t true at all.
He’d just jumped out of a fighter jet to make a flashy entrance.
‘…Was there even a reason?’
She wondered about it for a moment, then quickly gave up.
Come to think of it, the U.S. president had always been insane.
Anyway.
‘What am I supposed to do now…?’
After a lengthy series of talks, the U.S. government had secured the right to negotiate first over Sword Maiden.
If Sword Maiden’s identity was confirmed, she would have to report it to the U.S. immediately.
“Ugh…”
In effect, this meant handing Sword Maiden over to the U.S.
Even if it was only the right to negotiate, it would be strange if she didn’t go to the U.S.
‘Those terms are ridiculous.’
They were willing to offer her residency in Washington, D.C., supposedly the safest city in the world,
and even grant Sword Maiden power approaching that of the president.
‘…Should I keep this from her?’
If she told Sword Maiden about it, she’d leave for the U.S. right away.
Then she’d lose not only her connection with Sword Maiden, but also the points Sword Maiden would earn as she climbed the Tower.
“…”
Thinking rationally, keeping it secret was the right choice.
But.
Was it right to stand in the way of a middle-school-aged girl’s future for the sake of Hwaseong’s interests?
“Sigh.”
She felt utterly pathetic.
Not only did she lack the power to keep Sword Maiden here, she was even trying to depend on a girl that young.
‘This isn’t right.’
She steeled herself.
‘I’ll tell her.’
Of course, that was assuming Sword Maiden came back.
The Tower’s system messages were still there, so Sword Maiden wasn’t dead. But she’d lost contact with her after she entered Floor 15.
She might even be in danger.
‘I hope she’s okay.’
Just as she was about to close her eyes,
[GeniusSwordMaiden: Ah, sorry]
[GeniusSwordMaiden: I entered a Hidden Stage, but the system wouldn’t open, so I couldn’t see your messages.]
A message came in from Sword Maiden.
***
When I opened my eyes, I saw a white ceiling.
“Hmm.”
Good, the house was still in one piece.
-Patters.
I jumped out of bed and rushed into the living room.
Then I checked what was going on outside.
‘Everything looks fine?’
I spotted people walking along the street as usual.
I’d heard the president had been abducted, so I thought the country might collapse or a war might break out. But nothing was different from usual.
‘Well, I guess that makes sense?’
Each city was run independently by its own guild, anyway.
The government was… more or less just a bunch of bad guys who took our taxes.
Come to think of it, maybe it’d be better for Korea if the president got abducted.
In any case,
this whole incident seemed to have happened because of me, but it wasn’t really my problem.
The most important thing to me right now was breakfast.
‘I hope they reach an amicable agreement with the U.S. president.’
I offered up a quick prayer and headed for the kitchen.
There was leftover chicken in the fridge from yesterday. I was just thinking I’d heat it up and eat it when—
-Ding-dong.
I heard the front door open.
‘A burglar?’
It might’ve been paranoia, but the timing was way too perfect.
They’d definitely come to steal my chicken.
‘…My longsword is too far away.’
If I went to get my weapon, the chicken might be stolen while I was gone.
Well, I had no choice.
I’d have to use a new weapon.
-Click.
I reached into the air, and a greatsword sprang out of subspace.
It was the same greatsword GreatswordFan had been carrying.
As you’d expect from a Mythic item, even its weight was on another level. It felt like it could easily weigh over a hundred kilograms.
‘I’ll try channeling aura into it.’
Black mist coiled around the purple-tinged blade.
At that moment,
-Crackle!
A powerful energy surged out of the greatsword and engulfed my arm.
“Swooord—Aaaagh!”
The pain was so intense it felt like my entire arm was melting, and I dropped the sword.
“Ngh, aaagh…!”
As I clutched my right arm and writhed on the floor,
“Sword Maiden, are you okay? What happened?!”
Someone I took for a burglar came running toward me.
‘I can’t die like this…!’
I forced myself to move and look at the person’s face.
There stood a red-haired woman: Kwon Dohwa.
‘…Huh?’
So she wasn’t a burglar.
***
After things calmed down, I talked with Kwon Dohwa.
I decided not to explain why I’d been lying on the floor. It was too embarrassing.
“I’m sorry. A magic tool that blocks part of the system kept me from seeing your messages for a few days.”
She explained why she’d come home without replying.
Basically, the system had been restricted for security reasons.
Anyway,
after that, we spent some time catching each other up on what had happened.
“So… you went and negotiated with the U.S. president?”
I asked her, sounding skeptical.
“Yes. You could say that.”
“And there wasn’t any violence during the negotiations?”
“I suppose not…?”
Hearing her answer made my heart sink.
What? A peaceful negotiation with no violence?
Wasn’t Rum-hwang supposed to have kidnapped the Korean president!!!
‘Give me back my dopamine.’
For a moment, I despaired that I alone had missed out on all the juicy Hunter Gallery drama.
“So, what do you think, Sword Maiden?”
“Huh?”
“About the U.S. offer.”
She looked at me with a serious expression.
“Judging by the way the U.S. has treated S-Rank Awakeners, they’ll guarantee your safety, Sword Maiden, and even give you power practically on par with the president.”
“Hmm.”
It was a tempting offer.
But no matter what they said about guaranteeing my safety or giving me power, the most important thing was this:
‘It means I’d be going to Rum-hwang.’
I’d be going to live beside the biggest JOAT in primate history, that once-in-a-generation batshit-crazy president.
Every day would definitely be a festival of insane dopamine.
I’d be exposed to all kinds of sensational events from then on.
‘Then I’d be a guaranteed top post on the Gallery.’
A chance to become a popular regular on the global Hunter Gallery.
It was a really tempting offer, but…
“I’m going to stay here.”
“Pardon?”
Kwon Dohwa’s eyes widened. She clearly hadn’t expected that answer at all.
‘Well, I guess.’
It couldn’t be easy to give up a ticket to the Hunter Gallery’s top posts. No wonder she was reacting like that.
Still,
‘Hwaseong? It’s actually a pretty decent city.’
It was my hometown for one thing, and Hwaseong itself had a nice high-level-area vibe to it.
Our beloved Hwaseong, with a birth rate close to zero, the highest rate of population outflow in the country, and an undisputed first-place ranking for attacks by high-level monsters.
‘Now we’re talking.’
I used to just want to escape, but now Hwaseong was nothing more than a source of dopamine for me.
Maybe being somewhere too peaceful just made things less exciting.
‘Washington, D.C.?’
Monsters don’t pop out at you while you’re walking down the street there.
A proper place where people live should have an A-Rank monster show up now and then.
“Maybe I’ll change my mind later, but for now, I’d like to stay in Hwaseong.”
“…”
Kwon Dohwa spoke with what looked like a deeply moved expression.
“Thank you for thinking of us. Truly… from the bottom of my heart.”
…What was that about?
***
After my conversation with Kwon Dohwa,
I flopped onto the bed and started thinking.
“Hmm…”
I’d forgotten something, but I couldn’t remember what it was.
‘Whatever.’
I gave up and opened the Swordsmanship Gallery out of habit.
I’d left it closed since yesterday and wanted to see what everyone was talking about.
‘Huh?’
Then I suddenly remembered what I’d forgotten.
-You said you’d tell us the story when you got home, f@ck
-Newbie<< wait, didn’t this guy say he doesn’t even have a home???
-I knew this would happen, so I smacked my head really hard and skipped time lol
I’d promised to tell the Swordsmanship Gallery what happened.
“Oh, right!”
I immediately wrote an apology post.
[Title: Sorry lol]
Author: WokeUpAsATSGirl
(A picture of a green frog looking confused)
But was it really my fault?
-You son of a bitch
-You vanished for over 12 hours and that’s all you have to say?
-PureAndLovely*) Upvote if you want the newbie banned lol
└GreatswordFan) Upvote lol
└GeniusSwordMaiden) I’m not sure what an upvote is, but I’ll upvote too…!
“Hmm.”
Seeing even Sword Maiden act like that, it seemed like public opinion had really gone to shit.
‘This is unfair.’
Rum-hwang had raided our Presidential Office and abducted the president. Who could stay sane after that?
You could say he was the root cause of all this.
‘If I actually say that, I feel like I’ll really get kicked out.’
I hurriedly explained everything that had happened.
And then,
-That really happened?
-GreatswordFan) This is seriously wild
-PureAndLovely*) What the hell is the Tower, if it can just plop down the entire world the greatswordcel came from?
└Seriously
└Seems like it’s connected to some kind of transcendent being
The comments filled up with questions.
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) I still don’t know why the world GreatswordFan came from showed up
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) But, GreatswordFan, you don’t remember what happened with me?
└GreatswordFan) Nope, I don’t. Doesn’t seem like I went back in time or anything, at least
└DaggerTechniquePro) Maybe the Tower was a parallel world, or it copied the world Greatswordcel came from
└That seems most likely
└Anyway, why’s Daggercel<< gotten so smart? Is this really the same guy who couldn’t tell ‘되’ from ‘돼’ for 200 years?
└GreatswordFan) Seriously, I just saw that and thought someone was impersonating Daggercel;;
└DaggerTechniquePro) You assholes
└PureAndLovely*) Anyway, newbie, what was the technique you learned there, and what greatsword did you get as a reward?
└GeniusSwordMaiden) I’m curious about that, too!
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) I don’t really remember what the technique was like, but I’ll explain roughly
I recalled the strike I’d landed on the wyvern.
I couldn’t remember it exactly, so I finished explaining by describing how it had felt at the time.
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) I tried to do it again, but I couldn’t even get a feel for it. I think I was able to use it then because I got caught up in the moment.
As I lamented to myself, the gallery users left comments full of confusion.
└What the fuck
└Is this guy actually insane?
└GeniusSwordMaiden) …What was that, really?
└DaggerTechniquePro) No, this is ridiculous lol
Maybe they thought it was funny that I’d forgotten the technique.
Even Sword Maiden reacted like that, which hurt a little.
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) I can forget a technique sometimes, so why’s everyone making a fuss;;
└GreatswordFan) No, newbie, that’s not what I mean
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) ?
└GreatswordFan) You understood two phenomena in just one month of learning aura, you crazy person!!!
└PureAndLovely*) That’s fucking impossible
└DaggerTechniquePro) It took me 16 years just to understand the first phenomenon of my inner world, for fuck’s sake
└GeniusSwordMaiden) At this point, I’m starting to feel embarrassed by my own name… Compared to you, newbie, I’m just a mere mortal…!
└Sword Maiden, the real ‘mere mortal’ is Daggercel up there, so don’t worry.
The Swordsmanship Gallery started catching fire because of me.