Chapter 4
The news reached Awakened people across the country.
And then Awakened people around the world.
Word spread that a new ranker had appeared.
[Korean Hunter Rankings]
[Floor 1]
[1st]
[Hikki]
[3945 points]
[2nd]
[FlameSword]
[1214 points]
[3rd]
[SpearStabber]
[1094 points]
Three times the score of the previous top Korean Hunter.
An overwhelming first-place finish had been achieved.
[Global Hunter Rankings]
[Floor 1]
[1st]
[Hikki]
[3945 points]
[2nd]
[ABC]
[2317 points]
[NewCaptain]
[2296 points]
A score that easily surpassed even the world’s first- and second-ranked Hunters.
The internet was ablaze.
└Mr. Kim Gu, are you watching? A proud son of Korea is finally proclaiming the greatness of our people on the world stage.
└Is this a Hunter the government has been grooming all along?
└How do you groom someone in ten days?
└Maybe they’d been grooming them beforehand.
└How would they know who was going to Awaken? Do you keep your brain just for decoration?
└You son of a bitch.
Who could it be?
Curiosity kept growing.
└Who is this? Anyone know them from last week’s Association camp?
└I was there last week, and I have no clue. There wasn’t anyone overwhelmingly talented.
└Damn, were they a hidden powerhouse…? People really do learn the weirdest things.
Of course, there were a few people who couldn’t help being petty.
└NewCaptain got shoved down to third lol. Bet that stings.
└Oh, why did Heaven give birth to NewCaptain, then ABC-noona, and then the great Hikki God?
└But who knows? Maybe it’s just an early flash in the pan. Seen that a couple times before.
└For real lol. How many of those so-called promising rookies are still around?
└Ugh, NewCaptain fanboys. Look at them praying for him to fail the second they get the chance.
Whatever their motives.
The arrival of a new ranker had clearly sent Hunter and civilian dopamine levels through the roof.
While people excitedly pounded away at their keyboards.
Serious discussions were underway elsewhere.
***
Republic of Korea Awakened Management Bureau.
“An unregistered Hunter?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Could it be an error?”
“We’ve cross-checked through several channels. An error is unlikely.”
“Could the Association or a guild be hiding them?”
“We checked that as well, using several human intelligence sources…. We haven’t detected any such activity.”
A senior official at the Awakened Management Bureau covered his face.
‘Why…!’
A Korean talent the likes of which hadn’t appeared in decades.
“Why are they an unregistered Hunter?”
“I’m sorry….”
“There’s no need to apologize…. They haven’t appeared online or in public at all?”
“No.”
This is a problem.
Most Hunters registered with the Bureau as soon as they Awakened.
They were offered a high-performance starter pack.
And even basic military training.
Any Awakened person who wanted to stay alive needed to get to the Bureau as soon as possible.
And yet, unregistered Hunters still appeared.
Those were emergencies, plain and simple.
A capable person who could climb the Tower without government support was outside their control.
There was the risk they might get involved in crime, of course.
There was also the possibility of another country taking them away.
Even if they didn’t turn to a life of crime.
The government would still face criticism for failing to earn the Hunter’s loyalty.
And this time, it was the country’s first-ever globally ranked No. 1 Hunter.
You could say it was only Floor 1.
But the fact that it was Floor 1 made them even more valuable.
It meant they were overflowing with natural talent.
“We absolutely cannot let them slip away.”
“…Yes.”
“Any way to find them?”
“Nothing practical at the moment. Unless they reveal themselves, we can’t even begin to track them….”
“Then find a way, no matter what.”
***
Pop-!
“Ugh….”
I feel carsick.
Returning from the Tower felt even worse than I’d expected.
I threw myself onto the bed.
Flump-
“Ow!”
Something hard poked me around the waist through the soft blankets.
When I checked, I found a little leather pouch hanging there.
“Magic stones?”
The magic stones they gave you for clearing a floor.
So this was how they handed them out.
‘That’s probably worth about fifty thousand won.’
If I only cleared Floor 1 for a month, I could make a little pocket money.
No wonder everyone wanted to Awaken.
If this had happened to me before, I’d have been grinning at the thought of making easy money.
Well, not really now.
There was something even better than easy money.
Whoosh-
I tossed the pouch of magic stones far away.
Instead, I pulled a heap of blankets over myself and opened the gallery.
“Let’s go to the Archmage Gallery!”
[I’ve been through a lot]
[Author: Hikki]
(Ranking photo)
Just kidding. I hunted five goblins and came right back.
I just took first place!
My Magic Power grew from 9 to 11, hehehe.
└Nyeomnyong: It reminds me of my first hunt. You did well.
└AngryArtist: Whoever taught you did a fine job.
└GoodAtHousework: I know, right? ^^ I’m so proud!
└DisqualifiedElf: But you’re still just competing with other humans, aren’t you? What meaning is there in seeing which ant is the strongest?
└Ice Bat: Wait, seriously? Your Magic Power went up 20% from killing five goblins?
└MomThatKidEatsDirt: Give me a Tower, please!!!!! I want to enter the Tower, too!!!
My teachers were proud of me, while the other gallery members talked nonsense.
What a heartwarming scene.
└HorsesAreForRiding: So, nothing went wrong? A lot of things tend to happen in your first fight.
└Hikki: I almost died because my Fireball didn’t have enough range.
└SuitonSuiton: ??? Who was teaching you fire magic? Did they not teach you properly or what?
└Hikki: I also felt a little dizzy after the fight.
└SuitonSuiton: Mana exhaustion, too? You fire-mage bastard, you’re dead when I find you.
└BearDoorBearDoorBear: Should we just cut off their head?
The topic naturally shifted to taking down Teacher AngryArtist.
I quietly backed away.
Maybe it was because I’d moved around so much for the first time in ages.
I’m sleepy.
I forced my eyes open and watched the gallery until the very end.
└AngryArtist: I taught them everything they needed to know. Applying it in the field is the student’s responsibility.
└BestDryad: Did you really just say that?
└Illegal: Boo! Die, you measly 9th-tier fire mage!
└QueenNeverCries: This might turn into a controversy.
└ElectricityIsntFireMagic: Resign! Give up your professorship! Out of the way, you old wreck!
└AngryArtist: If that’s what everyone thinks…. I accept full responsibility and will resign.
└Illegal: Then what about the rest of the lessons?!
└AngryArtist: We were done today anyway. It’s fine.
And so, the fire magic lessons came to an end.
.
.
.
└Ice Bat: Nice to meet you. I’m Ice Bat, and I’ll be teaching water magic. For the record, I’m a siren.
└Ice Bat: I carry a whip for when people don’t pay attention.
└Hikki: You mean you’ll beat me…. Hit me…. Am I the only one who thinks that’d be impossible since you’re in the gallery?
└Ice Bat: Ah, shit.
The water magic lessons began the very next day.
As expected, Ice Bat, a frost-magic combat mage, took the teacher’s seat.
The ice mage began the first lecture by slandering fire magic.
└Ice Bat: Why does fire magic suck?
└Ice Bat: You’ve experienced it yourself, so you should know.
└Ice Bat: Fire goes out as soon as there’s nothing left to burn.
└Ice Bat: You have to either put enough mana into it to launch it, or keep the mana connection between you and the Fireball intact. Neither is easy.
└Ice Bat: Your Fireball petered out because you’re still inexperienced and failed at both.
So firing it like a cannonball wasn’t enough.
It needed fuel to carry it all the way to its target.
It was basically a long-range missile.
The mana I naturally released was enough for playing around at home.
But an actual battlefield was different.
└AngryArtist: You heard that, right? Keep practicing whenever you can.
└Water Spirit: Give it a rest.
└Ice Bat: But ice magic is different.
└Ice Bat: With a simple spell like Ice Ball, all you need to do is throw it properly.
└Ice Bat: Accurate aim and enough propulsion.
└Ice Bat: That’s all you need for basic cold magic.
A Fireball needed mana to be maintained all the way to the target.
An Ice Ball was launched with a burst of force.
Ice magic was much easier to conjure.
└Ice Bat: This week, we’ll focus on firing projectiles with power and accuracy.
└Ice Bat: Forget ice for now. Make a water bomb and throw it.
└Ice Bat: You just need to get the hang of launching it, so make it small and practice.
So I was supposed to practice on my own until my next climb?
I’d practiced with my candle-sized Fireball, sending it this way and that.
But how was I supposed to practice with a water bomb?
This time, I needed to make sure it flew all the way to its target.
‘There’s no way I can do that inside my house.’
After thinking about it for a while.
Rattle-
I opened the window.
There was a retaining wall beyond the narrow alley.
Past it, the mountain behind my building stretched into view.
A studio apartment right beside a mountain.
Normally, I hated that because bugs got in.
I guess it came in handy after all.
I started training without delay.
I circulated mana through my kidneys.
Once I drew it out of my body before my kidneys got too cold, I was ready.
A fist-sized blob of water formed.
I chose a rock at a reasonable distance as my target.
I roughly calculated the distance, angle, and amount of mana—
Launch!
Pshoo-!
The water bomb flew far into the distance!
Splosh!
It hit the rock I’d picked out perfectly.
Twice, then three times.
After twenty shots, I wrapped up my training.
I shouldn’t overdo it.
I felt a little mana exhaustion yesterday, too.
And I’m worried I’ll draw attention.
What if someone posts online that there’s a crazy bitch in their apartment building throwing water balloons at it?
That would be an instant death by embarrassment.
My face already feels like it’s burning. Ugh….
Let’s hurry and get to the Tower.
└Hikki: I’m off to the Tower, then.
└AngryArtist: Aye.
└Ice Bat: Can’t you take me with you?
└GoodAtHousework: Good luck! Be careful today, too!
I entered with my teachers’ encouragement.
[Floor 2 Objective: Defeat 6 Goblins]
Floor 1 had five goblins.
Floor 2 had six.
That was only one more, numerically speaking.
That didn’t mean I could let my guard down.
Because the new one was an archer.
If I got cocky, I might die from an arrow.
[3]
[2]
[1]
The protective barrier came down with the countdown.
The battlefield was the same as yesterday.
A forest filled with trees and rocks.
“Krrrk?!”
I could see the goblins, and hear them, too.
They weren’t very close, though.
Just enough distance for two casts, as expected.
Let’s target the archer first.
Quietly, quietly.
I moved while making as little noise as possible.
I looked around for a good sniping spot.
‘Here.’
Behind a rock.
There was a clear path between me and the goblin archer keeping watch.
‘Focus, focus.’
I couldn’t mess around like yesterday.
I should make good use of my mana, too.
It’ll be cold, but just bear with it for a moment.
Crack- crack-
I quickly made an Ice Ball, frozen solid.
I had to hit it accurately, like a pitcher throwing a fastball.
I’m nervous.
‘Stay calm.’
Aim.
Launch!
Smack─!
‘I did it!’
The goblin crumpled with a dull thud.
It twitched for a moment, then stopped moving.
“Krrr!”
“Grrk!”
“Kek! Kekek!”
The goblins were thrown into disarray.
Before long, they figured out where the ice ball had come from.
Two of them checked on their dead comrade.
The rest came after me.
‘I can’t use Fireball.’
I had to take them out one by one.
It’d be a disaster if I ran out of mana halfway through.
Let’s try responding with small Ice Balls.
As I backed away to put some distance between us.
Whirring-
I split my mana into three streams and sent them to my kidneys.
It was an application of the juggling I’d done with three balls on the day I first Awakened.
I’m getting the hang of things I haven’t even been taught, huh?
I should ask them to praise me when I get back.
‘Wait, focus!’
I quickly circulated the three streams of mana, and I was ready.
Crack-
Crack-crack-!
I formed an Ice Ball in each hand.
As the goblins came within range—
“Take this!”
I threw one.
Smack-!
Then I fired the one in my left hand.
Wham!
And finally, I brought out the last one I’d saved at my solar plexus—
Wham─!
I hit all three approaching goblins squarely.
‘What about the other two?’
They were still beside the first victim.
“Phew, can I take a quick break?”
I just need to catch my breath.
I’d fired four shots in a row.
Not little water bombs, but Ice Balls.
My kidneys had gotten so cold I could practically tell exactly where they sat inside me.
My body temperature seemed to have dropped a lot, too.
‘I could use a Fireball right about now….’
I needed a warm-up, not a cooldown.
I circulated mana through my heart to warm myself up from the inside.
It felt as if the frozen parts of my body were melting away.
‘They work together better than I thought.’
Next time, I should try alternating between a Fireball and an Ice Ball.
Once I was more or less warmed up, I drew the mana out of my body.
Fwoosh-
A small Fireball appeared.
It’d be a waste to throw it away.
‘Should I shoot it?’
It was farther away than where I’d fired my first Fireball yesterday.
There are two ways to make a Fireball travel a long distance.
You can keep a thread of mana connected, or load it with enough mana for the flames to burn through.
It’s like the difference between using your phone while it’s plugged in and using it with a full battery.
Either way, I wasn’t confident I could keep a mana thread connected over a long distance yet.
Let’s go with the easier method.
I fed more mana into the Fireball hovering in the air.
The little flame blazed more fiercely.
All right, now aim.
Shoot!
Whoooooosh-
The Fireball flew in an arc.
“Krrk?”
“Krrk!!!”
Boom-!
[Floor 2 cleared.]
[You have reached No. 1 in the Korean Hunter Rankings.]
[You have reached No. 1 in the Global Hunter Rankings.]
.
.
.
[SSS Rank Achieved]
[4159 points]
[An additional Piece of Growth has been awarded.]
Heh heh.
I should hurry and go brag!