Chapter 38
“Should I drop you off in Gangnam?”
“Yes.”
“All right. I’ll leave the car at your company and take a taxi.”
“Just take it, sir.”
“Hey! There’s no room at my apartment, no room. I’ve got five cars just from sponsorships. That bastard sent me a car because he didn’t know your number...”
“Haha... Then I’ll use it.”
But weren’t cars like this supposed to come with a chauffeur?
I tilted my head, then brought the Zero Cola in the car to my lips for a sip.
Pffft!
I sprayed it right back out.
What the fuck is this?
“W-What is it?”
“This article...”
I’d opened the portal homepage without thinking, cola still in my mouth, and a huge headline was staring back at me.
[Mystery Gate Conqueror, ‘Hunter Kim Segyun’ to Naturalize as Russian? Is the Government’s Ability to Manage the Awakened Really Adequate?]
There wasn’t just one.
There were dozens of related articles.
[Hunter Kim Segyun to Become the Russian President’s Son-in-Law?]
[Mystery Gate Conqueror: Is His Strength Thanks to Russian Support?]
[Stocks of Dungeon Development Companies in Gangwon Province Plummet After News That the Next Mystery Gate Is Located There.]
“Are these guys insane?”
Zephyros had just started driving, but stopped the car to check his phone and immediately called someone.
“Yeah, Reporter Kim. You know, it’s a little upsetting when you pull something like this. I don’t expect anything from the usual nobodies, but I can cross-check with you, can’t I? Is this really how you’re going to play it? Should I boycott Aseon Ilbo? You didn’t know? Don’t give me that crap. Is there anyone in the industry who doesn’t know I’m Kim Segyun’s source?”
A reporter?
Probably.
“What? The tip came from your Russia bureau? Reporter Kim! Kim Segyun is sitting right next to me! Is there anything more accurate than hearing it from the person himself? Yeah! Issue a correction right now. Say it’s completely false!”
It was rare to see him this angry.
Zephyros berated the person on the other end of the phone, then huffed and shook his head.
“Those fucking bastards. They publish an article without even cross-checking it? Even if he’s a rookie, they should at least know basic manners!”
I was angry too, but mostly dumbfounded.
So smoke really could rise from a chimney without a fire.
Well, technically, there had been an offer, so it wasn’t fireless... More like a chimney that had only been half-lit?
Fortunately, after one call from Zephyros, corrections started popping up one after another.
[Hunter Kim Segyun’s Naturalization as a Russian Citizen Is ‘Completely False.’]
[Awakened Management Department: ‘Hunter Kim Segyun Has No Plans to Naturalize.’]
[Minister of Awakened Management: ‘We Will Strictly Protect the Security of South Korea’s Awakened.’]
What a commotion.
I was involved, but it felt like some other country’s problem, so I just watched and laughed in disbelief.
Just then,
my phone suddenly rang.
An unknown number. Spam?
“Hello?”
─Hello, is this Hunter Kim Segyun’s phone?
“...Who is this? And how did you get my number?”
Seriously, how’d they get my number?
It was a new number, and I’d barely saved anyone’s contact information in it.
─I’m Jo Hyeong-bin, Director of the Awakened Management Department.
“...The government?”
─That’s right. First, I’d like to apologize for the inconvenience of contacting you after looking up your personal information.
Zephyros, listening to my call, silently mouthed, “Speakerphone.”
I switched the call to speakerphone and spoke.
“Are you calling about that article? If so, they should’ve already published a correction.”
─No. We’ve also determined that story is completely false. If it had been true, you wouldn’t have returned from Russia in the first place.
“...Well, that’s true.”
─We’re contacting you to inform you that you, Hunter Kim Segyun, have been included among the government’s priority management targets.
Zephyros stared at me in surprise, mouthing, Already?
Since I had no idea what that meant, I just tilted my head and asked.
“What does that mean?”
─I understand you’ve completed your military service.
“I did.”
Which was so damn unfair.
Awakened could do alternative military service.
But I’d served as a regular foot soldier and only Awakened afterward.
─You can think of it as something like the reserves or civil defense. There are no drills like the reserves, but the restrictions are stricter than those of civil defense. Things like travel restrictions and being among the first called up in wartime. You have a few more restrictions than an ordinary Awakened.
“Travel restrictions?”
─Ah, only in very limited circumstances.
“...I see.”
Suddenly, naturalizing elsewhere sounded pretty tempting.
Maybe he heard the stiffness in my voice, because Director Jo Hyeong-bin hurriedly added,
─O-Of course, there are benefits, too. For starters, you’ll receive a tax-free monthly representation allowance of one billion won.
Twelve billion a year?
I almost blurted out, “Are you messing with me with pocket change?”
─Also, at all auctions held in South Korea, you can claim items that have already been sold for the same price as the winning bid, for a set period. Priority is based on ranking.
That was kind of useful.
Anything else?
─You’ll also receive vice-minister-level protocol at state events, and...
Zephyros cut him off as he started to continue.
“Director Jo. It’s me, Ryu Hyeonsu.”
─Hunter Ryu? You’re there?
“I’ll explain the rest.”
─Understood. Thank you.
After hanging up, Zephyros sighed and scratched his head.
“First of all, congratulations on becoming a ranker-level Hunter.”
“...This makes me a ranker-level Hunter?”
“Yeah. Usually, when the Awakened Management Department puts someone under intensive management, they assign them a ranking, and from then on they’re called a ranker-level Hunter. Of course, no one at your level has ever become one before.”
A ranker.
The position I’d admired all my life had now become reality.
But now I understood what they meant when they said something only mattered because you could yearn for it.
Now that being a ranker was a reality, why did hearing about it leave me completely unmoved?
“The director probably covered most of the minor benefits... but there’s one big benefit he didn’t mention.”
“The biggest benefit?”
I was a little disappointed now.
Still, I had no intention of abandoning my country and becoming a citizen somewhere else, but even so...
For all those restrictions, like sudden travel bans and being first called up in wartime, the benefits sure didn’t seem worth it.
“The benefit for clearing an Unclearable Gate. The formula’s a little complicated, but... they probably calculate a percentage of the value based on factors like how long the Gate went uncleared, its stage, and the increase in tax revenue from pacification. They pay it out every year in tax-exempt government bonds. Even when you clear an ordinary Gate—not an Unclearable one—a certain percentage of the tax revenue is accumulated as government bonds, like a pension... Basically, it’s a tax benefit you can collect ten years later.”
“...Every year?”
“Every year. They might even make it retroactive. You cleared those Stage 3 and Stage 11 dungeons, right? They’d been Unclearable for a long time, so combined, they should bring in roughly 100 billion won a year.”
Considering the economic impact of pacification, it might not seem like much, but it was still a huge sum compared to the representation allowance of only(?) 12 billion won.
“Those two are low-stage Gates, so the rate’s low... If you clear somewhere like Gyeonggi Province’s Stage 67 Gate... you could probably get trillions of won a year. Though it comes in government bonds, not cash.”
“...Is that to stop people from taking the money and running?”
“Something like that. They’re ten-year bonds, but if you naturalize elsewhere, they turn into worthless paper. You can’t cash them in or sell them off anywhere. Only the person they’re issued to can redeem them.”
So they could tie you down for at least ten years.
Wow, even I wouldn’t want to abandon a pile of government bonds I’d accumulated from Hunter work and naturalize elsewhere.
Even if they made up the amount, I’d still hate to lose it.
Our government had actually thought this one through for once.
“This one policy stopped an exodus of Awakened, so... I’ve got quite a lot in government bonds myself. I can’t leave now.”
Right, Zephyros had cleared more than one or two Gates.
Quite a few were first-clear Gates, too.
“The government must’ve been sweating bullets, though. Making you a ranker at your level already... Well... it makes sense. People like me, with plenty of government bonds and deep ties to Korea, are hard to recruit unless they offer ridiculous terms.”
“But I...”
“You don’t have any ties to Korea, do you? Put bluntly, even if you were playing pat-a-cake with the Russian princess, people would just curse me out of envy. What could they threaten you with?”
P-Playing pat-a-cake...?”
“They gave you the ranker title at your most vulnerable moment. Though there’s a problem.”
A problem?
“Honestly, the ranker system is a load of crap. It directly affects that calculation, especially. And who’s the one making the call? A person.”
“...So it can’t be an objective measure.”
“Yeah, but the problem is that this subjective measure actually affects things. I don’t know what rank they’ve given you, but...”
“Huh? Wait a second.”
What was this?
[Awakened Management Department: ‘Mystery Gate Conqueror’ Hunter Kim Segyun Designated as a New Ranker!]
[Hunter Kim Segyun Debuts at No. 48 in South Korea.]
[Is Hunter Kim Segyun’s Ranking Justified?]
Articles were pouring in like crazy again.
“It says... 48th?”
“Those idiots at the department.”
Zephyros gave a hollow laugh.
“I think No. 48 is underselling you... But, well, of course. You beat me, too.”
After his return, Zephyros was ranked No. 3.
Before retirement, he’d naturally been an overwhelming No. 1.
Even now, most people believed he should be No. 1 based on skill.
“You’d better prepare yourself.”
“...No way.”
The man grinned and patted me on the back.
“That’s right. Everyone from No. 49 down, bumped one place lower because of you, is going to come after you openly now.”
“Then... I’ll have to prove myself.”
“Prove yourself?”
“So they won’t even dare think of taking a bite out of me.”
It’s about time I picked up the pace, too.
**
The day Hunter Kim Segyun’s ranking was announced.
The Hunter-related communities in South Korea were absolutely exploding with reactions.
─Is 48th right for Kim Segyun? Isn’t he still in the low twenties?
└Didn’t he solo-clear that weird Mutated Gate in Russia, the one that even Level 50s got chewed up by? If that’s true, 48th seems too low.
└Still, I don’t know if someone in the low 20s should be No. 48.
─The rankers below No. 49 must be pissed as hell, lol.
└Why pissed? He’s just going to keep climbing past them.
└One more member of the Segyun Squad here.
└You Segyun Squad bastards, take it easy, lol. You’re gonna wear your mouths out!
─There’s also a rumor Kim Segyun fought Zephyros and beat him.
└I’m Zephyros, and that’s true.
└Bullshit, lol. Do you take Zephyros for a joke? The guy came back after years and is ranked No. 3.
└Comparing him to Zephyros is really crossing the line. Even if you put it that way.
└And Kim Segyun’s a mage. How could he beat Zephyros one-on-one? Are the guys above me idiots?
The internet communities were embroiled in arguments over Segyun’s ranking.
Then, within a single day, another bombshell hit those communities.
Not just one.
[Hunter Kim Segyun has become the first to subdue the Stage 24 Gate, ‘Vast Land Beneath the Sky’!]
[South Korea’s Gangwon Province has been pacified!]
[Monsters appearing in all Gates in Gangwon Province have been weakened!]
Not two, either.
[Hunter Kim Segyun has become the first to subdue the Stage 24 Gate, ‘The Unicorn’s Grave’!]
[South Korea’s Gyeongsangnam-do Province has been pacified!]
[Monsters appearing in all Gates in Gyeongsangnam-do Province have been weakened!]
Three.
[Hunter Kim Segyun has become the first to subdue the Stage 25 Gate, ‘White Uproar’!]
[South Korea’s Jeollabuk-do Province has been pacified!]
[Monsters appearing in all Gates in Jeollabuk-do Province have been weakened!]
─Kim Segyun, you mad bastard!
─I love you, Kim Segyun! The market’s on fire today thanks to you!
└Fuck, just grab onto anything! We’re breaking through!
└Whoa, the market’s probably hit a circuit breaker! How long has it been?
─So the whole time he was Level 20, he was just building up momentum!
└That’s practically rocket-engine-level momentum, though?
└Maybe he’s only clearing them now because he gets a reward for becoming a ranker?
└There’s a 12... there’s...!
─Then what rank are they going to have to give him next week?
└Could he become the lowest-level No. 1 ranker in history?
└I don’t know about that, but one thing’s for sure... the rankers parked in the 50s are going to be fucking embarrassed.
Level 50 was a benchmark level for top Awakened.
Mana stones started dropping in Level 50 dungeons, and as room-temperature superconductors, they were essential to nuclear fusion power generation.
So even reaching the 50s was enough to make a huge amount of money.
Rather than risk their lives challenging anything above that, they settled in and kept running the same dungeons. This was colloquially called “parking.”
Monsters more than five levels below you no longer gave experience, so they kept running easy dungeons below their level without any intention of leveling up.
Hunters in this level range made up most of the rankers.
No one denied that there was a need for it.
But as a result, stories about Hunters’ pioneering spirit, conquering Unclearable Gates, or breaking through new dungeons had all but disappeared.
─This is what being a Hunter is all about.
In an era when legends like that had become stories of the past,
romance had returned.