Chapter 15
Bang-!
“Sujin!”
Lee So-yeon abruptly shoved away from the table and stood up.
Jin Su-jin stared at her blankly.
“…….”
“What is it?”
“It's a mission!”
A mission?
What was she talking about all of a sudden?
Jin Su-jin only blinked.
This wasn't the first or second time something like this had happened, so that was about all the reaction it got.
“Hikki-nim gave us a mission.”
“Ah!”
Only then did Sujin spring up from the sofa.
“What is it? What is it?”
Jin Su-jin pressed herself close behind So-yeon.
“Look at this.”
Lee So-yeon showed her the chat she'd had with Hikki.
“Hmm?”
Jin Su-jin's eyebrow twitched.
“What?”
“Didn't Hikki-nim tell you to shut up?”
“No?”
As expected, such a kind person.
Anyway, registering as an Awakened….
That would certainly make things easier for Hikki as a Hunter.
The Bureau and Association would provide tremendous support.
‘But that's not true from Hikki-nim's perspective.’
A child who struggles not only to face people but even to communicate over a messenger.
How could she go to the Bureau in person and complete the registration process?
Sujin remembered when she'd registered as an Awakened.
It was a fairly annoying and tedious experience.
Piles of paperwork and identity-verification procedures.
Tests to prove her awakened abilities.
Training and instruction for the tutorial climb.
If Hikki, a minor without a guardian, had to register, they'd probably even make her stay at a training camp.
And it wouldn't end there.
The Hunter Association would urge her to sign up for all sorts of services.
All kinds of guilds would try to recruit her, too.
They were so annoying about it.
She'd even started a two-person guild with her lanky friend beside her in a fit of pique.
‘It's something I regret several times a day.’
Still, if she could go back, wouldn't she make the same choice?
Anyway.
“It'd be too harsh for Hikki-nim to go through that right now.”
They had to handle it privately and discreetly, as the child had asked.
“People might accuse us of special treatment, though.”
“Special treatment? Are you saying a young girl who's lost her entire family and is suffering from nationwide hate campaigns and fake news should have to reveal her identity in front of everyone and become the center of every kind of gossip?”
Sujin, are you a psychopath?
“No, that's not what I meant…!”
Jin Su-jin was startled and took back what she'd said.
There, now who could criticize Hikki?
It wasn't special treatment. It was consideration.
If you disagree, you're a psychopath.
“Anyway, what are we supposed to do?”
Bribe the Bureau official in charge of Awakened registration and send them to Hikki's home?
The secret would never stay secret.
Their names, the Capybara Guild and Hikki, would be in the news in no time.
‘Or hack the system and register her secretly?’
They didn't know how, and they weren't capable of handling it.
“Have you thought of a way?”
“Well, that's….”
Lee So-yeon subtly looked away.
“You accepted the job without thinking again!”
“Yeah….”
“Oh, So-yeon!”
Even Jin Su-jin herself would've volunteered to help.
But first, she had to give her a scolding.
“Umm, I do have one idea.”
“What?”
“Let's ask the Director directly.”
“The Director of the Awakened Management Bureau?”
She nodded.
Right. If they asked the Director, there'd be no need to worry about the secret leaking.
The person at the very top would handle it with only people they trusted.
It was probably the best option they had.
But.
“…….”
Jin Su-jin furrowed her brow.
“You do know what the Director's like, right?”
Sujin had met the Director of the Awakened Management Bureau in person.
It was at the training camp, just after she registered as an Awakened.
It was supposed to be a special lecture with some encouragement and words of wisdom.
“Even now, just thinking about it makes me feel like I might wet myself.”
Eyes like a tiger's.
An overwhelming charisma.
And mana that made all of that seem insignificant.
It was a storm.
A storm of swirling blades.
The Director's mana had taken that form.
While everyone listened to the Director's lecture with admiring eyes,
Jin Su-jin alone had been afraid.
Go see that person?
I don't think I can.
“So are we just abandoning Hikki-nim?”
“…I can't abandon her.”
“We have to do it, Sujin.”
Jin Su-jin squeezed her eyes shut.
“So-yeon, is your dad the Director or something?”
“No.”
“What about your uncle? Your mom's brother?”
“Not him, either.”
That's a shame.
For now, let's get ready.
**
I cleared Floor 8…. Now it's Floor 9.
Tap tap-
I turned on WTube.
‘I need to prepare.’
I heard the difficulty shoots way up on Floors 9 and 10.
That's where the Dire Wolf matriarch appears.
She's twice as big as any Dire Wolf I've fought so far.
She must be just as much stronger.
She might tear the tree trunks apart and charge at me.
Wouldn't it be better to refine my strategy and tactics if I wanted to clear it reliably?
Click, click-
Today's clear video was Fire Sword's.
It was footage from when he cleared Floor 9 with Korea's No. 1 record.
This was my first time watching Fire Sword's video.
I'd only watched foreign videos every day until now.
─ Floor 9, Hard difficulty. One mother wolf and five regular Dire Wolves.
─ I'll be back.
Fire Sword finished his briefing in his usual curt tone.
He headed straight for the battlefield.
His greatsword occasionally appeared in the bodycam footage.
As his name suggested, Fire Sword fought by setting his sword on fire.
‘Then isn't he a mage?’
If he could set a sword on fire, he should be able to throw Fireballs, too.
Apparently, lots of people had the same question as me.
But since he insisted emphatically that he was a swordsman, he'd been classified as one for now.
Some people had mocked him, saying he was just being stubborn because he didn't want to be grouped with mages—
‘I heard that's settled now.’
All the magic-type Awakened who'd tried to infuse their swords with magic, insisting they could fight in melee too, had failed miserably.
After trying it, they came to a conclusion.
Not just anyone can do it.
Mages can't fight like Fire Sword.
Anyway.
I fast-forwarded through the video.
Before long, it was the battle scene.
Fwoosh-
His sword caught fire.
The blade glowed a deep red.
The flames looked hot enough to melt it.
Of course, the blade still looked both flexible and sturdy.
‘I heard the Bureau got him that weapon, too.’
Bureau-sponsored equipment really was on another level.
Wung-
So, you go too, Moo-sang!
Vwoom─!
Fwoooooosh! Bang!
I heard a sound.
Not the sound of Moo-sang swinging, but of a greatsword.
I focused on the video again.
He was surrounded by wolves.
Fire Sword first swung his flaming sword to keep the monsters at bay.
Fire was threatening to wild animals.
The wolves couldn't approach.
They kept creeping closer, then backing away.
Then, just as their formation seemed to break—
Shing-!
He darted in like lightning and took them out one at a time.
Even to me, who knew nothing about swordsmanship, it looked like a textbook strategy.
Even though he was surrounded, I couldn't sense any danger.
Didn't that mean his stance and distance control were perfect?
Before awakening, he'd been an elite kendo athlete, hadn't he?
As expected, his combat instincts seemed exceptional.
As he took down the wolves one by one,
before long, only one monster remained.
The giant mother Dire Wolf.
“Grrrrrrrrr-”
A wolf's roar after losing its pups.
The figure caught on the bodycam was terrifying.
‘Scary….’
Was Fire Sword tense, too?
He adjusted his stance in front of it.
Then he swung his sword, and a wave of flame—
“That's magic!!!”
Are you kidding me?
Something the size of an elephant just flew through the air!
How is that swordsmanship and not magic?!
Anyway, Fire Sword attacked the mother Dire Wolf with a wave of flame as big as a house.
The mother wolf was cooked in no time.
And that was how he cleared Floor 9.
‘Well, I'll be.’
No wonder people called him a mage.
Why hadn't he used that finishing move from the start when he had it?
I also looked up Fire Sword's Floor 10 recording.
This time, I should pay closer attention to Fire Sword's movements.
─ Rustle-
Right after he entered, I caught him making a motion like he was gathering energy.
‘What was that?’
─ Floor 10. Two parent wolves and eight smaller ones, ten in total.
His fighting style was the same.
Defend first, then counterattack.
Even while facing enemies much faster than him, his footing never faltered.
Was he predicting their movements and acting first?
That's interesting.
When he'd dealt with about half the enemies,
Fire Sword's movements changed.
This time, he seemed to be trying to break out of the encirclement.
After a few steps, he broke through their formation and herded the wolves together.
Fwoooosh-!
Then he simply blasted them with the wave and cleared the floor.
“Huh? Why did he use the wave in the middle of the fight this time?”
What was different?
I watched the Floor 9 and Floor 10 videos over and over.
Then I found a clue.
“The clear times are pretty similar?”
Floor 9 took 30 minutes.
Floor 10 took 33 minutes.
But even on Floor 10, he changed his approach at around the 30-minute mark.
I guess he held out until he finished charging it.
It must take time to gather energy, given how destructive it is.
“If it were me, I'd cast it first, then go fight. Right?”
Wung-wung-
He just gathered energy while trading blows.
That's impressive, too.
Is this the Korean spirit of doing everything fast?
I recorded Fire Sword's video through the status window.
Then illegally shared it on Archmage Gallery.
[Watch before it gets taken down, seriously, this is one hell of a fiery video]
[Hikki]
(Video)
His fighting style is fucking fiery
And the flames he breathes are fucking fiery, too
It's a combat video of Korea's No. 1 Awakened (at least until I awakened haha).
What do you think?
└AngryArtist: That parenthetical is seriously infuriating
└Illegal: What's this? Why'd you post it? You asking us to dogpile him?
└TreeFucker: Hnngh hnngh hnngh hnngh
└Ice Bat: Is this a dogpile opportunity?
└TitanWithTeeth: Okay. Dogpile. Let's go.
└Hikki: No, that's not what this is!
I'm telling you to look at how he fights.
└ElectricityIsFireMagic: A fire mage? Then why's he waving a sword around?
└BonkYouWithAStaff: A battle mage, is it?
└Hikki: He says he's not a mage, but a swordsman.
└Illegal: Bullshit. That's a fire mage, all right.
└Illegal: But he's so bad at magic he probably doesn't even know he's a mage lol
└AngryArtist: Yeah, he's got that thing they all have.
└Hikki: What thing?
└AngryArtist: You know, that thing.
└Illegal: If you don't know what that is, get out.
They're trying to tease me again.
Anyway, Fire Sword is actually Fire Mage?
└Ice Bat: Taking 30 minutes to cast that is a bit much.
└IronBeard: Hahaha! That's enough time to flatten this entire prairie!
└BestDryad: Still, his mana pool seems pretty big.
└AngryArtist: I mean, his mana pool really is big.
└Illegal: Ah, magery, magery.
└BestDryad: That's not what I mean. His vessel is big, but it takes ages to fill. If he could improve that, he'd make a decent mage.
I see.
But why did this turn into Fire Sword consulting?
I only posted it so you could watch someone fight while conserving their casting time.
└Hikki: Since we're on the subject, give me some consulting, too.
└AngryArtist: You should just go clear it already, damn it.
└MomThatKidEatsDirt: If you let me climb that Tower, I'll do it for you, too.
└└Hikki: How do you even do that?;;
└Illegal: Possible to clear with fire magic only?
└Illegal: Illegal, the Constellation, gives the climber a mission.
What mission are you giving me?
I'm not streaming right now or anything.
And how am I supposed to fight without CC?
└HorsesAreForRiding: If that guy who's terrible at magic can fight that well, you can clear it, can't you?
└Ice Bat: Hey, if you keep hyping him up like that;;
└└AngryArtist: Our tough girl isn't that much of a pushover~
└Ice Bat: Sigh, still, be careful. Pay special attention to the mother wolf.
Well, I guess my stats aren't lacking in the eyes of the Archmages.
Then let's go.
“Entering Floor 9!”
**
While Hikki was beating up wolves on Floor 9,
a life-or-death battle was unfolding elsewhere on the internet.
A fierce fight between Hikki's fan club and people who wanted to crush that damn Hikki.
[The issue isn't whether the fucking Hikki is in Korea or not]
The problem is that they still haven't registered
Of course they aren't paying taxes
And it means they won't join the extermination teams when a Gate breaks open
Meanwhile, they'll rake in a nice profit from magic stones through brokers
They're just a blight on society, and what's wrong with the brains of the idiots praising this as patriotic?
└Honestly, considering the benefits of registering, it makes no sense not to register over taxes
└└They definitely fled overseas ages ago; they're still showing up in Korea because their address hasn't been changed, 100%
└└Address change, my ass. You think they're filing a change-of-address form? They either haven't registered because they don't want attention, or they registered but are keeping it secret, as they should. What are you talking about?
└└Yeah, keep barking, Hikki simps~ Your master is already on a plane~
Even while mainstream media was reporting positively about Hikki, the mood in the comment sections was different.
Most public opinion about Hikki was negative.
One reporter was keeping an eye on this trend.
‘This is when you ride the wave.’
He immediately texted an acquaintance inside the Bureau.
A reply came back soon.
─ Any news about Hikki? Nothing in particular.
─ The U.S. just announced an upcoming major statement, so I'm keeping an eye on that.
A major announcement from the U.S.? The reporter's instincts kicked in.
─ I don't think it's about Hikki.
─ The leading theory is that it's about their top-floor challenge.
─ But that's just a rumor and speculation, too…. Don't say I told you.
Oh, of course.
He immediately wrote an article.
[America Set to Make Major Announcement—Recruiting Hikki? “Hikki Has Reached Floor 8”]
Once he had the headline, the words flowed.
‘According to a source familiar with the Hunter industry’
He led with an anonymous source.
Then added some embellishment.
‘As speculation grows that American Hunters are preparing to challenge the highest floor,’
‘claims that they will announce Hikki's recruitment are also gaining traction.’
It wasn't technically false.
Add just a little seasoning, and it was done.
‘Hikki's journey climbing the Tower in Korea is expected to end on Floor 8.’
He published the article.
The view count shot up in an instant.
His article even appeared at the top of the portal site.
“Heh heh.”
Let Hikki be No. 1 in Tower climbing.
I'll be No. 1 in views.
Just as he leisurely stretched—
“Hey, you bastard! Take that Hikki article down, now?!”
The editor-in-chief's roar crashed over him.
“What? It's getting plenty of views right now.”
“At least check your facts before you write, you idiot! Did you see the Bureau's announcement or not?”
Whish-
A stack of papers flew at him.
They were articles from other outlets.
[U.S.: “We Will Challenge the Highest Floor and Prove Our Strength as a Hunter Powerhouse”]
[(Breaking) Hikki Has Cleared Floor 9, Too]
[Awakened Management Bureau Director Im Wan-seop: “We're Leading the Race to Recruit Hikki. Good News Soon”]
The reporter's face turned deathly pale.