Chapter 30
Two days later.
“Yahoo!!”
I'm bouncing up and down on the mattress with Ddaengdaengi. It's fine anyway, because an old man with bad hearing lives downstairs.
“It's A-rank, Ophelia!”
“Congratulations, Princess.”
“Ehehe! Nya-ha!”
I did a joyful moonwalk dance with Minyumi. Of course, I can't glide nearly as well as Minyumi can, but that just shows how happy I am. I'm now an official A-rank Hunter, recognized by the Awakeners Gallery, the Recognition Association, and the Hunter Management Association.
I'm one of those top-tier human elites—someone only one in fifty thousand Koreans can be. So what changes in my life now? Nothing, really, but you know, it feels different.
That idiot who was laughing and spouting bullshit with us on the gallery is actually a super-super-super elite A-rank Hunter? I can already hear fifty million Korean Awakeners Gallery users collapsing in jealousy.
ㅡClick!
“Hehehe... I should post proof on the gallery.”
“Princess, the rank certificate contains various personal details, so please be careful when uploading it to an open space like the internet.”
“Oh, right. Got it!”
“And if it's all right with you, there is one matter on which I would like to make a suggestion.”
“Huh? What is it?”
Ophelia raised the phone screen in her hand and showed it to me. What appeared on the screen was none other than...
“Ah, uh....”
“This is a list of the posts you wrote over roughly two years and three months, Princess. Even after deleting a great deal of personal information, the fact that you are a new A-rank Hunter alone still leaves enough information to identify you, since there are so few of you.”
“R-right, I guess....?”
“Therefore, from now on, I ask that you be a little more careful when writing posts. This gallery log is a backup copy, and I have deleted all posts containing potentially controversial content and photos, or remarks such as profanity and racist slurs.”
“Mmm....”
“In addition, I have censored all internet records that could harm the reputation you may gain in the future, as well as screenshot image files contained in other people's posts. Even so, please remain careful.”
“You can delete posts other people uploaded, too..?!”
“That is correct.”
Wait, then Ophelia can already do something basically like hacking..? She deleted other people's posts willy-nilly and dug through years' worth of internet records, wrapping it all up in one night?
Is this what they call cyberpunk? The netrunning technology that actually connects body and internet... Come to think of it, Ophelia really is connected to the internet.
On top of that, this phone model was made through collaboration with foreign countries for active Hunters, so anywhere on Earth, as long as there's internet, you can use Wi-Fi without any extra charge.
You know, that satellite Wi-Fi thing. The one made by the person who acquired Huntwit. Apparently it works by connecting to that.
I guess Ophelia can too, since she absorbed the original version of this phone.
“Th-thank you, Ophelia... You erased the stain on my life....”
“Yes.”
Honestly, I wasn't sure I'd done anything worthy of calling a stain on my life, but that's from the gallery users' perspective. From the outside, it would just look like crazy people talking.
More than anything, I'm ten years old, so it'd be a little awkward if it were dug up that I spent all that time cursing and fighting other gallery dwellers on the board.
“Then should I change my gallery nickname too..?”
“Personally, I recommend not just changing your nickname, but opening a brand-new account.”
“But, Ophelia, you're not really stopping me from using the Awakeners Gallery, are you?”
“I understand it was a community site you relied on heavily back when we weren't there. I understand that it isn't something you can easily let go of.”
“..I see.”
Okay, decided. From now on, I'm Insaenganmanghaetda.
* * * * *
[Insaenganmanghaetda : What is thisㅠㅠ I just got my rank measuredㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
(photo)
What's A? ㅠㅠ Is this a good thingㅠㅠ??]
-Anon : Wow, holy shit, you're new?
↳ Kimheukgan : Since the rank certificate is on brand-new paper, you're new.
↳ Anon : @Kimheukgan It's a fresh account, and it's not even a re-measurement.
-Elidan : Which guild are you going to join?
-Anon : (Hmm..)
-Dosyungjak : That nickname looks familiar.
↳ Gagalliptan : Uh-huh.
↳ Gagalliptan : Is it really?
↳ Husta : ? Tsk.
-Amcho : Please check your private messages.
-Anon : Holy shit, you got your rank measured and immediately posted proof in the Awakeners Gallery instead of the Hunter Gallery? You're the new Awakeners Gallery king now.
-Utaha's Teardrop-Shaped Fan : That rank is like bust size, so A is the smallest one lol.
↳ Anon : S-cups are kind of interesting, though, yeah..
-Anon : If it's from Yongsan, then it's in the Gyeonggi area.
“Unghehe.”
With Ophelia's help, I completely covered up any information that could identify me, then uploaded it to the Awakeners Gallery. Envious gallery dwellers immediately started piling on comments, and before long it had even made it to the best-post board.
[81(52) concept★] [↓downvotes 11]
“What! Look at all those downvotes, you brats! You're all so mean!”
Already, eleven people were jealous of me. This is why being too outstanding is a problem. Of course, I do hit downvote every time a certification post for a C-rank or higher Hunter goes up, but still, this is different.
[Insaenganmanghaetda : Come on, leave a 'Praise the Princess' comment
Burger set, 20 minutes left]
-Anon : I praise the Princess. I'm a lurker, but give me one too.
-Elidan : I praise the Princess. Please take pity on this poor subject. My mother died before I was born, and my grandmother passed away before my mother was even born. I don't even know what my father looks like, and I live every day on just one bottle of mineral water, while the stars of the prairie flow through my soul and my heart goes thump-thumpㅠㅠ
↳ Anon : Was this guy born inside a cabbage?
-Anon : Damn, it's the same bastard from last time.
↳ Anon : He's handing out burgers, so have a drink.
-Kimheukgan : I praise the Princess.
-Husta : It really was that guy from last time;
-Anon : I praise the Princess.
-Utaha's Teardrop-Shaped Fan : I praise the Princess.
-RamskavilGOA : I praise the Princess.
-Anon : I praise the Princess.
-Anon : I praise the Princess.
-Alhwang's Curry : I praise the Princess.
-Dosyungjak : Princess, what are you doing..
“Uwooo! I feel power surging through me!”
The comments praising me are overflowing. That's how a real princess should be.
“Status window!”
[ Status Window /Name : Eve
Age : 10 / Gender : Female
Occupation : {Princess of a Fallen Nation}
Rank : A
Skills : {Golem Creation : EX}, {Powerless Princess : F}, {Command Issuance : E}, {Summon : F} ]
Just in case, I opened my status window, but aside from the fact that I'd been measured as A-rank, nothing had really changed.
Oh well, that's about all the Awakeners Gallery could muster anyway. This princess was disappointed in the gallery dwellers.
“Huh? What's this?”
-Anon : How long is this guy gonna keep going 'princess, princess' and all that crap? With this many censored parts in the proof, it's obviously fake. Just hand out burgers and get lost lol
↳ Anon : Uh, turn Tor on.
↳ Kimheukgan : What if it's really a girl, lol?
↳ Anon : If this bastard proves he's a guy, I'll pop a bag of flour over my head and do a windmill in front of Sosa Station, yeah.
“H, h-huuuuuh!!!!!!!!!”
How dare they... How dare they treat me like this..! I'm really A-rank, damn it..!! The Princess herself said so..!!!
“Y-you brat..?!”
I can't let these insulting words stand any longer.
But how am I supposed to prove it? Ophelia already censored everything that needed censoring in the measurement document, and photo proof is a little awkward for me....
But I can't stand this bastard's flour-soaked Sosa Station windmill. How dare he mock the Princess like this!!
“Hmm..”
After mulling it over for a while, a good idea popped into my head.
* * * * *
[Insaenganmanghaetda : Suspicious Anon semi-account, please come here
[Play voice reply] [Copy] [Share]
I'll be looking forward to your Sosa Station windmill proof]
A voice recording should do. You nasty little punk, I'm going to give you a proper chewing-out.
When I pressed the play voice-reply button, the voice I had carefully recorded began to play.
[Hey.. Anon-nim. I'm Insaenganmanghaetda—please post proof of the flour windmill in front of Sosa Station.]
Not long after, upvotes shot up in an instant. The firepower was far greater than when I posted my A-rank measurement result sheet.
[241(73) concept★] [↓downvotes 1]
There was even only one downvote. These guys really do love seeing other people fail more than anything in the world.
I even made sure to take notes so I wouldn't forget the bastard who cursed at me. If I become S-rank, I'm deporting you from Korea.
[Anon : I'm going to livestream the semi-anon's windmill lololol]
[Reulreul : My dad works as a sanitation worker at Sosa Station, so stop making a mess in Bucheon. If you're gonna do it, at least clean up after...
[MaxiMaxi : Throw an egg on him and pour boiling oil over it, and it's instantly fried food lol]
[Anon : If it's A-rank, then honestly, even without the whole 'koja' thing, it's basically a princess, yeah]
Once my voice proof post shot up to the best-post board and started circulating as the main gallery topic, the semi-anon who had been saying nasty things to me showed up in the comments.
-Anon[TheGuyWhoInsultedMe] : Hm
↳ Anon[TheGuyWhoInsultedMe] : Listen to that voice lol. You brought your little sibling home and did all sorts of weird crap, huh lol
↳ Anon : Ugh, how pathetic.
↳ Kimheukgan : So damn unfunny. Just die.
↳ Gyahong : But voice proof, not even a photo, is kind of iffy, yeah;
↳ Anon : @Gyahong What the hell does that have to do with anything, fuck lol. I just want to see the flour windmill.
After that guy's comment, things stalled for a few minutes, and even the rare red mod who only ever played card games and never managed the gallery, showing up late just to half-heartedly clean up the mess, left a comment.
↳ Jobless Warrior : Flour would count as littering and would probably cause a controversy, so just do the windmill proof by the day after tomorrow. If you don't, ban.
↳ Anon : Who the hell are you?
↳ Gyahong : I start praising the mod.
↳ Czech Association : Who the hell are you?
↳ Dosyungjak : lol
“Hehehe... That's it.”
This is the Princess's power. Got it?