Chapter 14
Squawk.
Completely passed out.
If I turned it into an emoticon,
o<-<
this would be me.
I just spent all my time in a daze.
I used to dance around when I was alone.
Maybe it was the aftereffects of that day, but I just couldn't muster any energy.
I spent my days sprawled out, barely managing to eat.
It wasn't until the second day that I finally dragged myself up.
Clatter-clatter—
I wondered why the hallway of my studio apartment was so busy today.
Ding—
─ Hikki! This is the Capybara Guild! We left a few basic necessities outside your door, so please make sure to bring them in!
─ We refuse to take no for an answer!
─ Oh! Just so you know, we absolutely won't tell the Awakened Management Bureau!
─ Or anyone else!
Soon, a text like that arrived.
Capybara Guild meant those women who'd come looking for me last time.
Why were they suddenly sending me basic necessities?
When I opened the front door, I saw an absurd number of boxes.
“Heck!”
You said just a few things.
It's kind of a hassle when you send this much….
I can't just accept stuff when I don't even know why they gave it to me.
‘I want to send all of this back….’
I did think about just leaving them there and hoping they'd take them back.
‘No chance.’
Considering how they'd knocked on my door for days, they definitely wouldn't take them back.
First, I should move them.
Before anyone saw me, I hurriedly dragged the boxes into my room.
They were small boxes, but it still took a while.
At least they weren't heavy.
‘I should've learned telekinesis magic sooner.’
I finished the job with a lot of grunting.
“Phew!”
I'd gotten winded from doing just this much…!
Living in a kid's body was really hard.
Still, sweating for the first time in ages felt refreshing.
Like it lifted my mood?
‘Then should I start unboxing right away?’
The first box I opened contained household necessities.
Toilet paper, toiletries, kitchen supplies and the like. I'd been needing these, so this was great.
There were several boxes of easy meals, too.
Ramen, instant rice, frozen foods, canned ham….
There was enough here to last me a few months!
After filling the cupboards with all of it,
I broke down the remaining boxes.
The last ones were full of clothes.
Pajamas and comfortable clothes that fit me perfectly.
And.
“Underwear?”
A set of underwear printed with characters.
It was kind of pink.
Did I look like the sort who'd be into this...? Good grief.
This is kind of embarrassing.
Anyway, that sort of thing.
I didn't know much about this stuff, and it was embarrassing, so I hadn't bought any.
Let's just be glad they got it for me.
As I tidied up the empty boxes, I thought,
‘I should at least send a thank-you text, right?’
I typed the number on the business card into my phone.
- Thank you….
Should I send it like this?
It might look too short, like I didn't mean it.
After receiving this much, I feel like I should write a message just as long.
‘This is hard…!’
Aaaagh!
I rolled around on the bed.
I should've learned magic that sends texts for me! But there's no such thing, right?
Sigh.
A gift. I'm grateful, I really am.
‘Everything is stressful, seriously.’
I decided to send the text later.
For now, I should go to the Tower.
Maybe I felt antsy because I hadn't been using my body.
I hadn't trained or climbed since Floor 7.
Complete muscle loss!
No, magic loss? Climbing loss?
Anyway, I'd lost a ton of something.
I couldn't just keep taking losses like this.
I quickly posted something on Archmage Gallery.
[Tough Girl Ready to Climb]
[Hikki]
Fairy Teacher, 8th-Tier Teacher, Pretty-Face Teacher, Horse-Freak Teacher
Aight, I'm heading out.
Hey, don't come out.
Go on in, go on in.
└GoodAtHousework: You've been quiet lately. Nothing happen?
└└Hikki: Haha, I was just a little busy.
└└GoodAtHousework: Glad to hear itㅎ Safe climbing today!
└AngryArtist: This guy says he's 8th-tier now, too.
└└Illegal: If you act 8th-tier even when you're 9th-tier, then you're 8th-tier.
└Ice Bat: All right, go on.
└HorsesAreForRiding: I'm not a damn horse-fucker.
└└Hikki: Then what are you?
└└HorsesAreForRiding: Damn…… Do I have to explain this……? Never mind, just go.
What was that?
Then don't pick a username like that.
After greeting the teachers, I entered the Tower right away.
Floor 8.
The goal was five wolves.
Their number had gone up again.
I might've struggled if I didn't have Tree Bind.
But I do, don't I?
“Hehehe.”
I walked across the prairie, swinging Moo-sang with a jingle.
Before long, I came across a pack of wolves.
“They're all gathered together this time.”
Five of them were gathered in the wide prairie.
It was the perfect formation to drop a Fireball on.
But if I did that, they'd all run away.
“Wood Release.”
First, I had to set things up.
Grrrrrrrrrunch—!
Tree trunks that burst from the ground snatched all five wolves at once.
At first, around their ankles,
then past their thighs and up to their torsos.
Then all the way to their necks.
Finally, they were completely bound.
Even with the skill's wide range, it worked without a hitch.
It was a use of magic even the Dire Wolves' unreal speed couldn't evade.
“That's what I think, anyway. What about you, Moo-sang?”
Wung—
Good.
It's been a while since we were on the same wavelength.
Then let's do our best again!
I swung Moo-sang.
Fwoooooosh—
A Fireball took shape.
A warm ball of fire orbited around me.
Actually, right now Moo-sang was in No-Affinity mode.
Swinging it didn't make magic come out properly.
‘Still, just in case.’
If I happened to resonate with it like this, that'd be great, right?
Fwoosh-fwoosh—
Fwoooooosh—
I made the Fireballs bigger.
While I was at it, I made a few more.
I needed to bombard a wide area.
One, two.
I made three in total.
I still had plenty of mana.
And I'd used larger and more numerous Fireballs than usual, along with wide-range Tree Bind.
I guess I don't have to worry about running out of mana anymore.
I even made two more Fireballs hover in the air.
If I sent one Fireball at each wolf, I'd be more certain to take them down.
“Grrrrrr—”
I heard a wolf howl in the distance.
They were whimpering, trying to break free of the bind somehow.
I should finish this quickly.
“Moo-sang, close your eyes.”
I manipulated the tree trunks.
The wolves, caught by the trunks, were dragged toward the center.
After I tossed all the Fireballs orbiting around me into the air,
I dropped them right in the middle of the wolves.
Pfffbang—
Bang—!
KABOOM—!
It was an explosion like nothing before.
I didn't need to see the result.
[Floor 8 cleared.]
Another successful climb today!
I took a commemorative screenshot with the status window.
‘I should post proof of today's climb on Archmage Gallery.’
[First SSS-Rank Clear of Floor 8!]
[Global Hunter Ranking: 1st!]
I got the ranking and growth rewards, too.
“Hehehe.”
With the 1.5x bonus, it seemed easier to get SSS rank.
This actually worked out great, didn't it?
You never know how things will turn out.
As soon as I got home, I opened the gallery.
[Proof I Finished My Climb^^]
[Hikki]
(Photo)
V-sign.
└Illegal: I can't see anything. How is this proof?
└IsThatForReal: You think showing just a peace-sign finger counts as proof?
└Hikki: Use your mind's eye, that's what I'm saying.
└AngryArtist: Miss Tough Girl, how about showing off that gorgeous face of yours?
└Hikki: Absolutely not.
└NoWorldTreeNoParty: Boo, you pathetic human girl.
└Hikki: So what?
Why were they asking me to show my face?
I ought to ban all of these guys for fraternizing.
I ignored them and logged off Archmage Gallery.
This time, I checked the news.
[[Breaking News] Hikki resumes climbing after hiatus, takes 1st place on Floor 8]
[Hikki dismisses rumors of naturalization, remains a Korean top-ranked Hunter]
Ooh?
The news was already out.
How long had it been since I'd cleared it?
More rumors must've spread while I was lying around feeling like a corpse.
Why had I suddenly stopped climbing?
Had I already gone to another country?
It was probably stuff like that.
The truth was I'd been lying in bed as a backlash from meeting two people.
Fools.
I skimmed through more articles.
Most of them had a similar angle.
They were focused solely on the fact that I was still in Korea.
There wasn't a single article saying they'd found my location or discovered my identity.
‘Capybara Guild….’
They said they wouldn't tell anyone, and they really meant it.
They could've gotten a ton of money if they'd reported me to the Bureau.
‘Why?’
Why hadn't they reported me?
I was curious about that.
That's when it happened.
Drrring—
“Eek!”
My phone rang.
It was the Capybara Guild leader's number on the screen.
Drrring—
Drrring—
Drrring—
“…….”
Even as it rang three more times, I couldn't answer.
Drrring—
I just froze and stared at my phone.
Drrring—
“Ah.”
Only then did I come to my senses.
I hurriedly moved my fingers.
Tap-tap—
─ I'll get back to you later.
At last, the ringtone stopped.
“Phew….”
Texting is much easier.
Phone calls are the absolute worst.
I should at least send them a message.
I'd left them on read earlier, too.
Tap-tap-tap— Tap-tap-tap—
I added something to the ‘Thank you.’ I'd written earlier.
‘Umm…. I'll put it to good use…? I'll eat well and dress warmly…?’
This wasn't easy, either.
My head felt like it was throbbing.
Still, since I'd received it, I should do my best!
Ding—
An alert rang at that moment.
─ Hikki! Congratulations on your climb! Global No. 1 again! Amazing, amazing!
─ You got the stuff, right?
─ Here's the item list, okay? Let us know if anything's missing!
─ And if you need anything else in your day-to-day life, tell us!
─ We'll deliver it ourselves by Cannonball Express!!!
Ding-ding—
The texts kept coming nonstop.
Each time, a new message popped up marked as read.
This way, I couldn't even pretend I hadn't seen them or seen them late.
I squeezed my eyes shut and hit send.
└ Thank you…. I got everything. Thanks to you, I think I'll be able to manage for a while.
Whew, I did it.
It felt like all the strength had drained out of my body.
How could sending one text be harder than taking down monsters in the Tower?
Now I should get some rest.
Just as I thought that and lay down on the bed,
Dingdingdingdingding-dingding—
My smartphone suddenly went berserk.
The Capybara Guild leader suddenly started sending a barrage of texts.
─ Hikki…! We may not be able to fully understand how you feel,
─ but please know that we'll always be cheering you on!
─ You can do it! You can do it!
─ No bad thoughts! Only positive thoughts!
Why were they doing this, seriously?
Did I have to reply to this, too?
As I wondered that, I stared at the messages arriving.
─ If there's anything you need besides the supplies, please tell us!
─ We'll help you with anything!!
Anything?
For some reason, they were saying they'd do anything for me.
‘Are they my fans?’
Now that I thought about it, maybe it was like the devotion of fans to an idol.
It did sting a little, like I was taking advantage of their pure goodwill.
But there was something I could use help with.
Namely, registering as an Awakened!
I should do what I need to do.
This was a 500-billion-won event, after all. I couldn't miss it.
I braced myself and typed out a text.
└ Then, could you help me with just one thing?
─Yes? Yesyesyesyes! Of course we should help!
─What is it? Is it urgent?
─Should we head to your house right now?
Good grief, this was too much.
They were draining all my energy, too.
─I'll start the car right now!
└No.
─Aah! Then should we just communicate by text like this?
└ Y-yes….
─ Then what exactly do you need us to do?
Tap-tap-tap—
I finished sending the message.
I said I wanted to register as an Awakened.
But that I wanted a little consideration.
For example, a remote AI-powered, non-face-to-face, one-click express registration service.
It took me several hours to compose all that.
It couldn't be helped; it took a lot out of me.
─ Okay! Got it! I'll organize everything and discreetly pass it on to the Bureau!
─ I'm so happy we get to keep in touch like this, Hikkiㅎㅎ
─ We'll text you every day to check in!
└ Go ahead……. I'll reply sometimes.
─ Ah! Yes! Reply whenever it's convenient!
Reply.
Once every three or four days should be about right.