‘D… Diamond grade?’
They had seen Platinum grade before.
The player among players that no player could possibly be unaware of.
They had seen the top-ranker Lee Jiyu appear as Platinum grade.
‘But that face I don’t even recognize… No matter how you look at it, that guy who can only be a newly awakened person is Diamond?’
It was nonsense.
Yet soon, people had no choice but to believe.
Wasn’t the head chef of the VIP fine-dining restaurant coming out personally and bowing deeply to Choi Junseok?
Every time the players tried to appraise Choi Junseok, the same warning window unfailingly appeared.
It made those watching from afar feel even more chills down their spines.
[Appraisal is impossible due to the overwhelming difference in stature with the target.]
It was a notification window they had never seen before.
No.
‘Even I, an S-rank, cannot view it because of the difference in stature?’
They couldn’t believe it.
‘Unable to view status window………….’
‘Is something like that…… even possible?’
The fact that the status window could not be viewed was already bewildering, but there was something even more shocking than that.
‘Diamond… actually existed?’
Diamond grade.
Among the players, no one in the Player Settlement had ever witnessed a Diamond grade.
Because the place was so closed off, if even a few players had been judged as Diamond grade, rumors would have spread immediately.
Lee Jiyu, one of the top-rankers.
Even she, ranked 17th, was Platinum.
On top of that, there were rumors that the S-rank executive from one of the top five guilds, ranked 8th, was also Platinum grade.
The players had interpreted those words in roughly two ways.
First, Diamond grade exists only symbolically.
Second, it is something raised as a reward depending on the achievements of Platinum-grade players.
Choi Junseok’s appearance instantly overturned that dominant evaluation.
‘It wasn’t a tier you climb through promotion?’
Of course, it was common for new players to awaken as S-rank or A-rank.
However, there were no newly awakened S-ranks or A-ranks who had moved into this Player Management Settlement.
At least, not as far as they had seen over the past few weeks.
They were already established players.
Wasn’t the treatment given to those who conquered the upper floors of the Suseo Magic Tower and the top floors of North Korea’s Kaesong Magic Tower completely different?
“That makes no sense…”
That was why the players who had been passing by and sneering at the sight of Choi Junseok and Song Hana, who were being escorted inside with the utmost courtesy by the chef, shut their mouths.
“I think I’ve seen that guy somewhere before?”
“It’s my first time seeing that face. Is he a secret weapon of one of the top five guilds?”
“……Or maybe a player belonging to the NIS that the government has been hiding?”
“I definitely heard the name Choi Junseok, right?”
“Yeah. It’s a real name I’ve never heard before…….”
None of the guesses were correct.
And rumors grow wildest when there is no definite answer.
The first Diamond-grade player of unknown identity ever witnessed in the Player Settlement.
Choi Junseok, who had entered the restaurant, inwardly bit his lip at the Player Management Office’s little trick.
‘If you’re going to advertise me anyway, just do it openly, why all this?’
“We will guide you to the very best seats.”
***
Of course, all of this was close to a scheme by the Player Management Office to keep Choi Junseok in their grasp.
‘You cannot cover the sky with your palm.’
While the Player Management Office was extremely busy with matters concerning the Player Settlement,
the Director’s dilemma was whether or not to place “Hamsu” inside the Player Settlement.
“It hasn’t even been a full month since Hamsu appeared. And all these achievements are possible?”
Director Moon Kwonsu once again compiled and organized the information about Hamsu, stroking his prickly beard.
“This level of existence escaping our control is what I fear.”
Resting his chin on his hand, he tapped the desk tok tok with his index finger while organizing his thoughts.
The achievements Hamsu had shown so far were feats that even mobilizing the full power of one of the top five guilds would fall short of.
No.
If you combined all five major guilds and demanded something equivalent to Hamsu’s achievements within a single month?
He could confidently say it was impossible.
“We are relying far too much on Hamsu.”
It had been the same with this recent North Korean player terrorism incident.
They had never depended this heavily on even a single S-rank.
It was dangerous.
If Hamsu were to be eliminated or simply left the country, the domestic player society could be shaken from its very roots.
It would literally mean the sudden disappearance of a national-power-level player.
Director Moon Kwonsu pressed the call button.
The internal line number 1 was already connected not to his aide but directly to Team Leader Kang Jinsu.
Team Leader Kang Jinsu entered as though he had been waiting.
He had been meaning to visit the Director anyway.
“How should we manage the risk regarding Player Choi Junseok?”
If anyone else had heard that question, they would have made a face that said, ‘How should I know?’
But Kang Jinsu was different.
“I was just about to report the progress and plans regarding that very matter.”
Director Moon Kwonsu nodded, thinking he should give Kang Jinsu a special promotion.
“Go ahead.”
Kang Jinsu spoke fluently.
“First, the possibility of Player Choi Junseok wanting to go abroad is extremely low.”
“Why do you think that?”
“He seems to be afraid of foreign countries.”
“Afraid?”
Team Leader Kang Jinsu nodded and took out a piece of paper resembling a ticket from the inner pocket of his suit jacket.
It was the item Choi Junseok had handed over—the Magic Tower Floor Selection Entry Ticket.
“What is this?”
“It is a Mythic-grade consumable item that allows entry to any floor of the Magic Tower from the 2nd to the 100th floor. It is the hidden reward Hamsu obtained after clearing the 1st floor of the Shibuya Magic Tower.”
“You can…… choose and enter any floor of the Magic Tower? Even the 100th floor?”
“Yes. That’s correct. It appears Japan secured it first, then sold it to China, and China warned North Korea that this item had passed to Korea.”
“……..Huh. Just like the other privileges for clearing the 1st floor of a Magic Tower, it’s an item that twists the rules of the tower.”
The Director nodded as if he now understood.
He roughly understood why North Korea had withdrawn without launching any additional operations.
They had been terrified.
Because a situation where Hamsu cleared the 100th floor of the Kaesong Magic Tower might actually occur.
The money North Korea could earn from the Kaesong Magic Tower was worth dozens of times their entire GDP.
They had recalled ‘all’ of the player mercenaries dispatched for foreign currency earnings, yet before they could even enter the middle floors, the gold mine in the lower floors suddenly vanished?
Perhaps that was why North Korea had shown no dissatisfaction despite South Korea’s complete trade blockade.
“So that’s why… instead of raging and conducting nuclear tests, they stayed quiet.”
Director Moon Kwonsu felt even more strongly that he had to control Hamsu properly.
“He wouldn’t have just given that to you for nothing.”
“Correct. He asked to exchange it for a penthouse.”
Director Moon Kwonsu blinked.
In his opinion, if it were put up for auction abroad, the price would far exceed a single penthouse.
“Really, just that one thing?”
“And he seems to want the money from selling the rest to be tax-free.”
“…He’s strangely thorough in odd places.”
“I also think he’s a person I sometimes understand and sometimes don’t.”
It was sincere.
It had been less than a month since Kang Jinsu began exclusively marking Choi Junseok, but he could confidently say he had seen and spoken with him more than with his own family.
Even so, Kang Jinsu still wasn’t sure what kind of person Choi Junseok really was.
Only a few things were certain.
“His personality leans toward extreme caution and self-preservation. He clears multiple Magic Towers in various places in record time every single day, yet…….”
“Self-preservationist.”
“And yet sometimes he actively takes risks, even going abroad and coming back… I’m not completely certain, but that is my analysis.”
The Director brought up the concern he had been pondering lately.
“The world will soon learn of Choi Junseok’s existence. From what I heard last time, he doesn’t intend to hide his appearance forever either, right?”
“Yes. He seems to want fame as long as we can provide reasonable protection.”
“I remember. Protection on the level of Yoo Junhyuk.”
“That level of protection is something even the President doesn’t receive.”
In any case, providing Yoo Junhyuk-level protection was not feasible under the current circumstances.
Above all, people would ask, “Who is he to receive that kind of protection?”
“Then why don’t we just make him a Yoo Junhyuk-level figure?”
“……Pardon?”
“He wants fame, doesn’t he? Turn him into the nation’s star so he won’t have strange ideas about flying to another country. And before he debuts to the public, make him a hot star among players first.”
Team Leader Kang Jinsu understood the Director’s intention but wasn’t sure if it was a good idea.
“So you mean to have him move in as Platinum grade in the Player Settlement.”
“No?”
“……Then what do you mean?”
The Director grinned widely, as if an amusing picture was about to be drawn.
“No, of course as Diamond grade.”
“……Pardon?”
“What’s the problem? Choi Junseok’s achievements wouldn wouldn’t feel out of place even if he received a grade above Diamond.”
“But wasn’t Diamond grade left as something to upgrade to from Platinum in order to motivate everyone?”
The Director shook his head.
“No. If a newcomer like that is Diamond grade, how do you think the others will see it?”
“They’ll want to test Choi Junseok’s strength.”
“Exactly. And they’ll probably think he doesn’t seem like much at first glance, right?”
“…….”
“It will stimulate the other players too?”
“Naturally.”
But with two S-ranks beside Choi Junseok, no one would be able to ignore this supernova called Choi Junseok.
“You plan to raise him as a mysterious powerhouse in player society.”
“Correct.”
Kang Jinsu nodded.
They would try their best not to let the fact that Choi Junseok was Hamsu become known, but raising Choi Junseok’s fame to eliminate controversy over special protection or special treatment was necessary.
Moreover, Choi Junseok himself wanted that kind of fame.
“I will proceed that way.”
“Good.”
Thanks to that behind-the-scenes decision, Choi Junseok became the only Diamond-grade player in this Player Settlement.
The attention of everyone who had been quietly eating was instantly drawn.
It was because they overheard the head chef who came out to greet Choi Junseok mentioning that he was Diamond grade.
“Diamond?”
“He said Diamond?”
“That chick is Diamond?”
“Who is he? I’ve never seen him before.”
The sharp gazes of Korea’s top rankers locked onto Choi Junseok.
The moment they inevitably used their appraisal skills,
[Warning! Appraisal skill cannot be used due to the overwhelming difference in stature with the target.]
A notification window that crushed the pride of S-ranks appeared.
An S-rank can’t appraise him?
“Wait, try appraising that guy.”
Unable to believe the warning window, the rankers signaled with their chins for their companions to appraise him.
Yet the same warning window appeared in their vision without fail.
[Warning! ᆞᆞᆞᆞᆞᆞ
Flustered by the unprecedented warning window, they blinked rapidly.
Song Hana inwardly smiled with satisfaction, seeing that her protection was working perfectly.
Pretending to casually look out the window,
Choi Junseok, who was counting the glares reflected in the glass, nodded.
‘Has the time come to debut in player society?’
If that was the Player Management Office’s intention,
he was fully willing to play along very thoroughly.