Chapter 40
After that, the official conversation with the president was surprisingly uneventful.
Still, I suppose he couldn’t make that kind of bombshell offer in front of everyone.
On the way back, after I told Zephyros all about my conversation with the president, he said,
“So, are you serious?”
“Well, it doesn’t sound like a bad idea...”
“No, I meant the company name. Kim Segyun, Inc.”
“...Yeah, it is weird, isn’t it?”
The president had even laughed and added that the company name was a joke.
I’d grown up getting teased quite a bit over my name... but lately, I’d felt a little proud of it, thinking maybe that was why I’d awakened to a bacteria-based ability. That pride went straight out the window in an instant.
“We can think about the company name later... What do you think of the offer? Is it weird?”
“Are you nuts? A whole country is openly backing you—that’s a no-brainer, even if you have to risk it all. Do you know how rare an offer like that is? I’ve never even heard of one. Though Hunters were treated like dirt in my day.”
“I’ve heard the governments back then were especially hostile to Hunters.”
“Yeah. I’d only heard rumors about the current president since I retired... but he’s got guts. He’s planning to use you to turn the pressure to open the dungeon market back on them, isn’t he? No wonder his approval rating is so high.”
Ahem, I hadn’t known much since I wasn’t interested in politics, but that guy was seriously impressive...
I should brush up on basic stuff, or Zephyros is going to keep calling me ignorant.
Anyway, once the dungeon market opened, they wouldn’t be able to discriminate between foreign Hunters and domestic Hunters.
The same went for companies.
That meant dungeon development companies with massive international capital, like Kaiser Corporation, would be free to run wild.
On the other hand...
It also meant I’d have plenty of room to operate freely overseas.
“Now that the market’s being opened up, the government would face major restrictions if it intervened directly... so it’s planning to build up your company and use it as an indirect defense. There’s nothing wrong with companies going up against companies.”
“I suppose not.”
“Fortunately... thanks to you, we’ve got a lot more time on the countdown.”
“Thanks to me? Oh...”
Since I’d pacified three regions in the blink of an eye, the stock prices of dungeon development companies that owned the Gates in those regions had skyrocketed, too.
That was why the KOSPI circuit breaker had tripped several times.
“Yeah, the stock prices shot up too much in too little time. Even Kaiser, with money like a bottomless well, won’t be able to jump in easily. They’ll target somewhere else first. Japan, for example...”
“Japan...”
It was one of the countries as opposed to opening its dungeon market and as closed-off as Korea.
It was basically a tendency common to East Asian countries.
Japan was especially extreme, with a domestic dungeon economy so isolated it was called ‘Galapagos.’
Another defining feature was the absence of so-called ‘star Hunters.’
They’d temporarily bring in foreign mercenaries to clear troublesome dungeons with unusual gimmicks, then train Hunters in a very conventional mold to clear only ordinary dungeons.
Japan was famous for treating Hunters like cogs in its dungeon economy.
That was why they often became a laughingstock online. For example, videos would sometimes show Hunters in their 60s getting flustered in a bizarre Stage 40 dungeon, or clearing it in some strange way.
The videos perfectly captured the Japanese Hunters’ defining trait: they had high levels, but could only clear textbook dungeons.
“That approach has worked well enough until now, but if the dungeon market is forced open like this... Japan’s government is going to have a problem, too...”
As he spoke, Zephyros searched for something on his phone, then gave a bitter smile and showed it to me.
[America’s Strongest Hunter, Ryan Spencer, Arrives at Haneda Airport! Airport Swarmed by Teen Fans!]
[Ryan Spencer’s Rival, Robert Garcia, Dominates a Sparring Match Against Local Hunters...]
[Is Ryan Spencer Visiting Japan to Appear on a Variety Show?]
They were translated articles from a Japanese portal site.
“It’s already started.”
“But the dungeon market hasn’t even opened yet.”
“The Hunter industry has become something of a celebrity business, basically like entertainment. Put simply, it’d be like Babe Ruth coming to play in your country’s baseball league, or Pelé or Maradona coming to play in your soccer league. Until now, the Japanese government has kept that from happening with strict regulations, but if they can’t stop it...”
“Public opinion’s going to get wrecked, isn’t it?”
Japanese Hunters were already terrible at individual combat...
“Of course. They call it a variety show, but what do you think it’ll be about?”
“Japanese Hunters getting crushed.”
“That’s how you build public opinion. If you look at the broadcaster producing the variety show Ryan Spencer’s appearing on, I bet there’s a lot of American capital in it.”
Damn, that’s scary as hell.
Once public opinion was shaped that way, there’d be no way to stop foreign Hunters and capital from moving in.
Dungeons had once been nothing more than sources of raw materials.
Kaiser Corporation had turned dungeon raids into entertainment that ordinary people could enjoy, making it the greatest entertainment in the world.
If people could get a taste of that entertainment at home...
There was no way they wouldn’t go crazy for it...
“They even meticulously script and manage the relationships between Hunters under their banner. Ryan Spencer and Robert Garcia are known for hating each other... but in reality, they’re close friends.”
The two were active American Hunters ranked No. 1 and No. 2 under Kaiser Corporation.
I knew them from videos I’d seen of them constantly clashing, almost like they wanted to kill each other whenever they met, building up a fierce rivalry and clearing dungeons competitively.
But they were friends?
I even felt a little betrayed.
As if he’d read my feelings, Zephyros murmured,
“That’s the groundwork for American entertainment. Kaiser didn’t dominate the Third World with Hunters first; the company conquered it through media.”
Wasn’t it said that there wasn’t a single village in Southeast Asia or Africa without a picture of a Kaiser Corporation ranked Hunter?
“President Kang Min-guk chose you as the perfect person to stand up to that kind of media. Isn’t that obvious?”
Zephyros grinned and continued in a low voice,
“No matter how well-scripted the entertainment is, it can’t beat real romance.”
**
“Damn it, how much longer do I have to put up with this stupid crap?”
A tall, blond white man voiced his strong dissatisfaction to his manager.
He was Ryan Spencer, the current No. 1-ranked Hunter in North America.
“Japs like this childish stuff? Is this really what they’re into?”
“Ryan, Kaiser personally handpicked this broadcaster before acquiring it. They brought in the best variety-show production team, too.”
“I know, I know.”
If his manager brought up Kaiser, Spencer had no choice but to back down a little.
Spencer let out a deep sigh, leaned his muscular frame against the backrest, and closed his eyes.
He opened his mouth, keeping his eyes shut.
“I should’ve gone to Korea instead.”
“Korea...”
“Yeah. They said it was a no-go because of that Segyun Kim guy, or whatever. What was his nickname?”
“The Annihilator.”
It was the nickname recently being given to Segyun in the West.
Spencer let out a whistle.
“That’s a fucking awesome nickname. Anyway, it would’ve been a little more worth watching if I’d faced him.”
“...It wouldn’t make things any better for a Level 69 Hunter to beat a rookie in the Level 20s. No matter how impressive the rookie is, there are clear limits.”
“Hmph. There’s nothing wrong with stamping out a sprout before it blooms.”
“Even if you win, do you understand how much we’d lose if you showed even the slightest sign of struggling? Things are already getting complicated in our push into the East Asian market because of that Hunter Kim.”
To take charge of the public opinion battle, they had to focus attention on the subject, but the global messages—the biggest attention-grabbers—had rung out across East Asia not once, but three times.
That alone had caused Kaiser Corporation no small amount of tangible and intangible damage.
The cost of viral marketing to shift the flow of online mentions—or buzz—was beyond imagination.
Even now, after they’d poured a fortune into viral marketing...
─So who’d win in a fight between Spencer and the Annihilator?
└The level gap still makes it impossible, but if they were the same level, wouldn’t the Annihilator crush him?
The stress of constantly being dragged into comparisons like that was getting to him.
“Remember, if you get dragged into this, you’re the one who loses. No matter how fearsome a rookie he is, he can’t compare to you, North America’s No. 1 and Kaiser’s official successor. He doesn’t stand a chance.”
“It pisses me off, that’s all.”
“I’ll send a few women over, so you can blow off some steam. Then get ready for the interview.”
Only then did Spencer’s face brighten.
“You should’ve said that sooner.”
**
Spencer left three naked women, half unconscious, sprawled carelessly on the bed, then got fussed over by coordinators and stylists before entering the interview studio.
‘Oh, this one’s pretty nice, too...’
Spencer’s lips curled slightly as he looked at the famous Japanese interviewer.
His eyes slowly traveled up and down her.
Even so, he kept his words impeccably polite.
He wasn’t stupid enough to let one woman ruin the image he’d worked so hard to build.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Ryan Spencer, an ordinary Hunter from America.”
Even those words had been agreed upon in advance.
Apparently humility was considered a virtue in East Asia.
Power was something you flaunted; humility, my ass.
He thought it was a stupid culture, but when in Rome, do as the Romans do. What else could he do?
The interviewer responded to his agreed-upon line with a rehearsed, exaggerated laugh.
“You’re much too humble! An ordinary Hunter? Who could possibly call North America’s No. 1-ranked Hunter that?”
“That’s how I always think of myself.”
“Oh my, then who do you consider an extraordinary Hunter, Mr. Spencer?”
“Who else could there be but one person? My respected mentor, and no one else.”
“Then it must be the person I and all our viewers know!”
The stiff, prearranged interview continued after that.
Spencer, bored enough to yawn, glanced beside the camera.
His manager was making an X with his arms.
‘Damn it, there’s still more?’
It was just then, while cursing inwardly and answering the interviewer’s questions almost by reflex, that—
[Mr. Kim Segyun has become the first to subdue the Stage 23 Gate, ‘Maze of a Thousand Transformations’!]
[The Republic of China, Taoyuan City, has been pacified!]
[Monsters appearing in all Gates in Taoyuan City have been weakened!]
A global message appeared before his eyes, the second time it had happened recently.
The first had been the message about the dungeon clear in Hawaii, and this was the second.
The one thing they had in common was... the same conqueror.
“Uh...”
The interviewer seemed to be an Awakened as well, since she’d seen the message; she looked flustered and glanced at the cameraman.
Then, when she looked at Spencer,
she saw that his face had gone terribly stiff.
Still, she couldn’t end a live interview so awkwardly.
Watching his expression, she cautiously opened her mouth.
“You may have just s-seen that...”
Even so, a warning flashed through her mind.
Under no circumstances was she to mention anything related to Kim Segyun.
But any Awakened viewers would have seen the global message, too. It would be strange not to mention it at all.
So her question came out awkwardly.
“...What do you think?”
“...He’s just making good use of his rookie advantage. Back in my day, I cleared several dungeons classified as impossible to clear, too.”
Though he hadn’t done it alone; those had always been party dungeons, and they’d been handpicked by Kaiser.
Still, he had cleared them.
“Oh, I see! Yes, those are truly wonderful words! That concludes our interview!”
Up to this point, Spencer had no idea.
─Hey, doesn’t the Maze of a Thousand Transformations sound familiar?
└That’s the one Spencer challenged and failed spectacularly at when he was a rookie ten years ago.
└What, so Kim Segyun just cleared the dungeon Spencer failed to conquer?
└And Spencer was going on about his rookie advantage?
That people with good memories would start popping up on online forums...
And that the dungeon whose name he couldn’t even remember was one he’d failed to clear.