Chapter 23: The Difference in Specs

Basic reward: 1,000 SC. Additional reward: 9,000 SC.

A total of 10,000 SC.

This was the score Lee Tae-sung received for completing his fourth mission.

If he were to go all-in on purchasing mana stones with this amount, it would vary depending on the daily market price, but he would receive roughly between 100 and

130 million won.

An incredible profit in many ways!

However, Tae-sung felt more bewildered than joyful.

‘…The mission was too easy.’

He had prepared a lot to deal with the orc.

Originally, he planned to engage in a close-quarters struggle after throwing his daggers, using feints, and even enduring injuries if victory seemed impossible…

“It died just from one dagger throw?”

He never imagined the mission would end with a single strike intended merely as a diversion.

“Returning to Earth.”

Immediately after the notification appeared, Tae-sung returned to his studio apartment.

He had clearly succeeded in the mission and was completely unharmed, but

he felt a strange lack of reality.

He had expected something much more intense…

‘…Let’s try one more time.’

If the fourth mission was like this, wouldn’t the fifth be worth a shot?

Originally, Tae-sung had planned to focus on the Dream World again after the fourth mission to raise his specs.

Since he prioritized safety above all else, it was the natural choice… but now, that didn’t seem necessary.

In fact, it felt like he might be over-specced even for the fifth mission.

Tae-sung immediately set out to perform the next mission.

The moment he thought about participating, his vision inverted.

When he opened his eyes, he saw…

“It’s the same?”

It was the exact same appearance of the dueling arena where he had performed the fourth mission just a moment ago.

-Ding!

[Welcome to the fifth mission.]

[Mission: Win the Duel.

You are currently at Hephotra’s Dueling Arena. Defeat all enemies and win the duel.]

Mission Reward: 1,200 SC.

Note: If a winner is not decided within 5 minutes, it will be judged as a draw.

In the event of a draw, the mission reward will be halved.

The faster and more powerfully you defeat the enemies, the more the mission reward increases.]

At first, he thought he had been summoned incorrectly, but that wasn’t it.

The mission details had changed.

Originally, it was to defeat ‘an enemy,’ but now it said to defeat ‘all enemies.’

That meant multiple opponents would appear.

Other than that, the mission reward had increased slightly, and the rest was the same.

-Rumble

A moment later, the stone wall rose, and monsters appeared from beyond it.

One muscular orc like the one he saw earlier.

“Kerek, kerek.”

“Kerr-reuk.”

And next to it were two green dwarfs—creatures that anyone would identify as goblins—standing side by side.

One orc and two goblins.

‘The difficulty has certainly increased.’

By common standards, there is a saying that even for world-class athletes, there’s no answer for a group fight in reality.

Fighting against multiple opponents feels completely different from a one-on-one.

However, Tae-sung’s gaze sank coldly.

The nervousness and the way he had been running simulations earlier were nowhere to be found.
That orc is a pushover.

He wasn’t sure about the goblins, but they didn’t look stronger than the orc.

-Shink!

He immediately threw a dagger, infused with internal energy following the principles of the Soul-Chasing Flying Star.

Though it was a second-rate martial art, a dagger imbued with five years of internal energy flew incredibly fast.

People like the Crimson Brothers, Elder Dam Ho-pung, or Oh Choong, whom he had met in the Dream World, would have dodged it with a laugh.

-Thwack!!

“Kieek!”

“Kek!”

However, the goblins collapsed as holes were blown through their foreheads and necks.

They couldn’t even react properly.

In that gap, Tae-sung used his footwork to approach the orc.

He had finished the fourth mission with a dagger, but there was no need to do that now.

On the contrary, since he knew it was easy, he decided to take advantage of it.

He intended to use this for training.

“Kraaagh!”

The orc raised its club with both hands and swung it down at the charging Tae-sung.

Dodging lightly, Tae-sung dove into the inner space of the creature, whose movements had become overextended.

-Sizzle

His palm began to glow a deep crimson.

The Grade 5 Legendary Hybrid technique he had struggled to learn—the Heavenly Net Flame Hand—was unleashed.

Since he wanted to test it in actual combat, he deliberately took the risk and closed in.

-Ugh!

He struck his palm into the orc’s chest.

The chest caved in in the shape of a palm, as if it had been seared with a branding iron.

It was sunken so deep it almost reached the back, and the skin and muscle were distorted as if burned.

“Guh-ugh…”

There was no way it could be fine after such an injury.

The orc’s eyes rolled back as it collapsed backward.

‘The power is no joke…’

Even though he was the one who did it, Tae-sung clicked his tongue.

He felt it when he saw Baek Woon-ho use it, but it was a skill of truly incredible power.

The downside was that it consumed quite a lot of mana, but with this kind of power, it couldn’t be helped.

He just had to overcome it by continuing to train and consuming elixirs.

‘And what’s even more encouraging is that the skill level is still only Level 1.’

What would happen as he continued to use it and the skill level rose?

Tae-sung looked forward to that time immensely.

-Ding!

[You have won the duel.]

[Mission Success!

You have acquired 1,200 SC.]

[Time taken to win: 7 seconds.

The mission reward increases overwhelmingly.]

[You have acquired an additional 10,800 SC.]

“Returning to Earth.”

With the pleasant notification ending, Tae-sung returned to his studio apartment once again.

***

-Tap, tap, tap

“……”

-Tap, tap, tap, tap

“……”

-Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap…

“Oh, Director! Please just stay still. You’re making me nervous!”

“Ah… alright. Sorry.”

When Manager Song Sang-yeob finally couldn’t take it and shouted, Director Han Kyung-jin, who had been shaking his leg next to him for a while, apologized cautiously.

“Well… Sang-yeob. I’m just so nervous, so can’t I just shake my leg?”

“Ah! Seriously!!!”

“Geez… okay, okay. I wonder who the director is and who the manager is here. I’m scared to death.”

“In the first place, Director, why are you sitting next to me instead of at your own desk?”

“There’s only one reason for that.”

Manager Song Sang-yeob knew the reason even though he asked.

It was because he had reported that Lee Tae-sung had gone to perform his fourth mission.

-What? Hunter Lee Tae-sung is already on his fourth mission? What about the training??

-I carried it out as diligently as possible. He completed it well, too.

-Then… then he’ll succeed, right?

-I suppose so. We have to believe he will.

-I can’t do this. I’m too anxious to do anything else. I’ll stay by your side until the call comes.

-???

That was what had happened just a moment ago.

Although it was the tutorial, he had cleared three consecutive missions perfectly.

An outstanding hunter, by their very existence, brings effects such as national prestige and increased national competitiveness, so the association had no choice but to pay attention.

That’s why, as soon as he received the report that Tae-sung was entering his fourth mission today, Director Han canceled all his appointments.

Even though one of those appointments was another meeting with Hunter Lee Ye-ji alongside Executive Director Choi!

-Uh-huh. Of course, Director Han should keep his post for that. Stay in the office.

Executive Director Choi was also a person who knew how to prioritize.

Since he could lead the meeting with Lee Ye-ji himself, there was no need for Director Han to be present.

“Whew…”

From then on, Director Han stayed next to Manager Song Sang-yeob, constantly checking to see when the phone would ring.

And at that moment!

-Ring!

As soon as the phone rang, Manager Song Sang-yeob answered it like lightning.

“Yes. I’ve received the call. Yes, Hunter Lee Tae-sung!”

“!!”

It was a call from Lee Tae-sung!

First of all, the fact that a call came meant he had returned alive, which meant he had succeeded.

With just that, Director Han clenched his fist.

However…

“Yes, what? You’ve already done the fifth one as well? What? The total score is over 20,000 points?”

“????”

Not only Director Han but also the team members who were pretending not to listen looked at Manager Song Sang-yeob with eyes wide open.

***

An upscale mansion near Beijing where Politburo Member Zhang Xuan was staying.

-Pshhh

The capsule opened, and Zhang Xuan raised his body.

His expression was full of annoyance as he got up.

‘Tsk. Having to take time out to deal with those talkative old men. What a waste.’

If it were up to him, he would want to stay inside the game all day long.

He was finally starting to settle in properly at the Red Magic Tower, and now he was being held back like this.

He had recently become completely obsessed with the Dream World.

At first, he ignored it, thinking it was just a game, but the more he knew, the more incredibly addictive it became.

To think this world is a game.

That was actually more strange.

It felt more real than reality, so could it really be said that humans made it?

He had ordered an investigation out of curiosity, but even with his power, it was impossible.

The most he found was that a top-tier American hunter, called a Ranker, had created it.

That was it.

Zhang Xuan became even more curious, but he knew that not everything in the world is possible.

One must also know how to give up cleanly.

“Commissioner. I’ve prepared the report on what you mentioned last time.”

A secretary approached at that moment.

He handed over several sheets of paper.

Zhang Xuan’s expression brightened.

“Oh. You finally brought it.”

“I’m sorry for the delay.”

Opening the first page, there was a graduation photo of Lee Tae-sung, and next to it, his age, education, family relations, and life history were listed.

“This fellow. He didn’t change his appearance in the game at all. He must have been easy to find.”

“Yes. That is correct.”

He knew the nationality and the name.

He had described the appearance in the game, and as a result, it didn’t take long to find him.

“Recent activities… Oho. He was a hunter?”

“That is correct. However, it hasn’t been very long since he awakened. I checked the records of the Korean Hunter Association, and they said he has only participated in three missions so far.”

At the time this data was being researched, it was before Lee Tae-sung had participated in the next mission.

“So he’s just started.”

“Yes. Perhaps because of that… the place where he is residing is not very good.”

With that, he turned to the next page and saw the photos, and Zhang Xuan was dumbfounded.

A view of the old villa where Tae-sung resided.

There was also a photo of the interior of a cramped studio apartment, though it was a different vacant unit.

Perhaps because it was a photo from when it was briefly vacant, it looked even dirtier.

“Does the Korean Association treat their own hunters like that?”

“Um… perhaps it’s because he hasn’t proven his skills yet?”

“Even so!”

Zhang Xuan’s cheeks trembled as he crumpled the documents.

He wasn’t angry simply because Tae-sung was the benefactor who had saved his life.

‘How dare they… treat the little brother of a member of the Central Politburo of Great China like this?’

Even though it happened in a game, he believed they had formed a true relationship.

It wasn’t reality, but if it’s exactly the same as reality, then isn’t that another reality as well?

That’s why he treated him as a brother, but for his brother to live somewhere without receiving proper treatment…

That was an insult to Zhang Xuan’s face.

He could not tolerate it.

“I can’t just stand by and watch the Korean Association treat him like this. Do we have any influence over there?”

“It’s difficult to exert significant influence, but making a suggestion is possible.”

The National Hunter Association was a place created by the government and numerous organizations and corporations.

Because the importance of hunters was so great, the shares were scattered so that it wouldn’t be swayed by anyone.

However, among the companies that held shares in the association, many had received investment from Chinese companies.

It was inevitable, as China’s massive capital had penetrated every corner of the world.

While they couldn’t exert some incredible influence over the association, they could at least raise their voice as a major shareholder.

“That’s enough. It’ll be more effective if I go and speak directly. Book the fastest flight to Incheon. Postpone my schedule unless it’s something critically important.”

“Understood.”

Zhang Xuan made a vow.

If only to save his damaged pride, he would go in person and give his little brother his proper place!