-Ding!
ใYou have defeated a Black Vulture.ใ
ใYou have obtained 290 SC.ใ
The Black Vultures that had filled the sky were mostly gone now.
It was because Lee Tae-seong had been relentlessly throwing hidden weapons to bring them down.
He had run out of daggers long ago, so he had resorted to shattering wood and using the fragments.
When those were exhausted, he began breaking rocks.
-Crackle!
By striking with a palm heated red-hot by the Heavenly Net Flame Hand, he was able to split even massive boulders.
He grabbed those finely shattered pieces and threw them upward without pause.
Since they weren’t daggers, it was difficult to utilize his skills, causing his accuracy to drop, but the sheer volume of stone fragments succeeded in grounding all the Black Vultures.
‘About thirty minutes have passed.’
The mission wasn’t to eliminate all the Black Vultures.
It was to survive for one hour while defeating ten of them.
That would have counted as a mission success, but he had wiped out every single Black Vulture in just thirty minutes.
There were no more missions left to perform.
Perfect!
-Ding!
ใYou have defeated all Black Vultures.ใ
ใMission Success!ใ
ใYou have obtained 1,350 SC.ใ
ใReturning to Earth.ใ
The victory reward was 1,350 Score.
However, the cumulative score obtained from killing all the Black Vultures exceeded 30,000.
The victory reward felt insignificant in comparison.
When Lee Tae-seong blinked, he was back in his room.
He immediately checked his condition.
Stamina?
He was perfectly fine, his breathing wasn’t even disturbed.
Manaโฆ
‘I did use a fair bit.’
Since he had to constantly perform Flying Dagger techniques, there had been some mana consumption.
But it wasn’t severe.
Since he possessed nearly twenty years’ worth of mana, he still had plenty to spare.
“Next!”
Lee Tae-seong shouted immediately.
He would sleep later.
He planned to reach the tenth mission today!
A sudden, surprise report was published.
Despite the late hour, the view count exploded.
Public interest in Hunters was naturally high.
Since the items Hunters purchased from the Score Store supported a pillar of the national economy, everyone longed for the appearance of a powerful Hunter.
Furthermore, the media outlet that reported this was none other than ‘Hunter Patch,’ famous for frequently reporting scoops on Hunters!
-What’s this? If it were some random news site, I’d ignore it, but this is from Hunter Patch?
-Did a top-tier Hunter emerge in Korea?
-That’s amazing. I felt like our country was stagnating lately.
News of a Super Rookie reported by Hunter Patch.
It was only natural for the public’s attention to be drawn to it.
-Is this the first one since the Blue Dragon Guild siblings?
-Yeah. It’s already been several years.
-Other countries have Super Rookies popping up every few months.
-Every few months? In the US, rookies who could be classified as Super emerge almost every month.
-Wellโฆ their population is huge and that place is just unreal in the first placeโฆโฆ
The awakening rate of Hunters is proportional to the population.
It was natural for many talented Hunters to be born in countries with large populations and well-established Hunter-related systems.
Korea’s systems were well-developed, but the sheer numbers were different.
Of course, not all opinions were positive.
-But they didn’t even give a name or reveal their specific achievements. Is Hunter Patch slacking?
-It’s all just speculative articles. Aren’t they going to try to brush it off later saying they were mistaken?
-No wayโฆ Though it’s not like Hunter Patch doesn’t have a history of doing thatโฆ.
-And even if they are a real Super Rookie, we have to keep watching. They need to succeed in dozens of missions before they can be called a ‘real’ Super Rookie.
The newly born Super Rookie.
It was natural for the public to look on with skeptical eyes.
While they desperately hoped a brilliant Hunter had been born, if those expectations weren’t met, that anticipation could easily turn into malicious comments.
-Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
-Get to work, Hunter Patch! Bring more news quickly!
-As soon as it gets light, I’m going to petition the National Hunter Association to reveal the new Hunter lol.
While the country was buzzing with news of a major new rookie.
There was one person who couldn’t simply be happy.
No. To be precise, he was showing a deeply depressed mood instead of joy.
“Sighโฆ Ye-ji.”
“Don’t call me.”
“What do I doโฆ seriouslyโฆ.”
“I told you, why did you do that, you idiot?”
“Haaaaโฆ.”
The man let out a sigh heavy enough to sink the ground.
It was the guild leader of the Blue Dragon Guild, Lee Jung-woo.
The reason he was acting like this was simple.
This scoop published by Hunter Patch had originated from Lee Jung-woo.
Strictly speaking, Hunter Patch had sensed a stir within the National Hunter Association recently and had begun an investigation.
However, because all the employees were careful with their words, there hadn’t been much fruitโuntil they heard news that the Blue Dragon Guild was suddenly and actively expanding its business into China.
A reporter from Hunter Patch, who was close with Lee Jung-woo, visited the guild to see what was going on, and Lee Jung-woo, in a great mood, made a slip of the tongue.
-Hahaha. This is all thanks to that person.
-That person?
-Yes. There is someone who is certain to become a Super Rookie, and their connections are incredibleโฆ Oops!
-Ahem. I see. Thank you for the information. Oh, my. Look at the timeโฆ I have an urgent matter, so I must head out.
Normally, he wouldn’t have made such a mistake, but he had let his guard down because the stagnant business in China had suddenly opened up.
He should have only talked about his own business during the interview, but while sharing behind-the-scenes stories, things ended up like this.
But once words are spoken, they cannot be taken back.
“I’mโฆ finished.”
Lee Jung-woo covered his forehead with both hands.
Especially since Lee Tae-seong was someone he secretly wanted to recruit into his guild.
He even owed him the grace of helping his business in China succeed, and now he had made such a fatal mistake against such a personโฆโฆ
The reason they had heard information about Lee Tae-seong from the Association was that they were a major guild.
The Association’s role was to act as a bridge so that excellent Hunters could enter good guilds.
In the first place, when Hunters receive their licenses from the Association, they sign a contract clause agreeing that their information can be provided to other guilds.
Information leaking due to a guild’s management error was a completely different story.
“How should I apologize for this?”
“We already have the tent and the mat prepared. Let’s go set them up in front of his house and wait.”
“Rightโฆ. I should go with the intention of camping out for about a week. With that much sincerity, he might forgive me, right?”
“Sincerity is basic. Brother. Surely you aren’t planning to ask for forgiveness empty-handed?”
When Lee Ye-ji looked at him as if he were absurd, Lee Jung-woo flared up.
“Of course not! Who do you take me for, some kind of shameless person!”
“Then what are you going to give him as compensation?”
“โฆโฆ”
Lee Jung-woo was struck speechless.
He had been agonizing over it for a while, but nothing specific had come to mind.
“I want to give Hunter Lee Tae-seong something he needsโฆ but what would that beโฆ”
“I think I know.”
“Really?”
Lee Jung-woo looked at his sister with sparkling eyes.
Yes! His sister had always had great intuition and sense.
She was amazing at preparing birthday gifts for others!
If it was her solution, it would surely be something quite goodโฆ
“Let’s give him a house.”
“โฆA house?”
“Yeah. Honestly, the place Hunter Lee Tae-seong lives isn’t very good.”
They knew Lee Tae-seong’s address, and Lee Ye-ji had even visited it once.
A not-so-great neighborhood. An old building. Even a studio apartment.
It didn’t fit the value they placed on Lee Tae-seong at all.
“Maybe he has memories in that house? Honestly, with the scores he’s earned from missions so far, he could have easily moved to a better place.”
“Then we can just leave that house as it is and give him a new one.”
“A new house. Good. I’ll have to look into it.”
“Is there a need to look into it?”
As Lee Ye-ji tilted her head, Lee Jung-woo suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
“โฆYou don’t mean?”
“You said you signed a contract recently. You haven’t moved in yet.”
“โฆHey, hey. That’s a place I’ve wanted to go for a long time.”
Grandio Ether Cheongdam.
It was one of the most expensive apartments in the country, boasting a price tag of over 10 billion won.
Despite the building’s massive size, each unit was a multi-level penthouse with huge square footage, so there were only a few households.
Everyone with money wanted to buy in, but people couldn’t because there were no listings.
He had been waiting for his turn, and by a stroke of luck, a listing appeared and the people ahead of Jung-woo canceled, giving him the chance.
Being the leader of a major guild, he had plenty of money, so he signed the contract immediately and popped champagne just a few days ago.
And she was telling him to give that away?
“So. Do you have a better apology gift than that?”
“โฆI don’t.”
Leaking information was a truly grievous matter, but a house worth over 10 billion won might be enough for forgiveness.
Of course, since he didn’t know how Hunter Lee Tae-seong would feel, he would have to meet him and beg for forgivenessโฆ.
“And in addition to that, let’s ask what else he needs. If the conditions are right, he might even join our guild.”
An apology, a repayment of a favor, and a subtle recruitment attempt all in one.
He had to acknowledge his sister’s wit.
Lee Jung-woo let out a deep sigh.
“โฆHaaa. Fine. Let’s take the sales contract and go. I need to go right now before my resolve wavers.”
“Okay. I’ll pack the tent. We have to show sincerity. Oh, you use the tent by yourself. I don’t want to sleep in one, so I’ll just stay in the car.”
“โฆUnderstood.”
The two siblings stood up and began to move.
The next day.
Though he had gone to sleep late in the early morning, Lee Tae-seong woke up soon after closing his eyes.
The first thing that came to mind upon waking was what happened yesterday.
Last night, he had finally finished the ninth mission.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t achieve his goal of the tenth, and the reason was simple.
‘My mana capacity is still far too lacking.’
A massive Golem appeared in the ninth mission.
To face such an opponent, he had no choice but to constantly pour in the Heavenly Net Flame Hand.
Of course, the strategy wasn’t a head-on confrontation.
Since it was a slow-moving thing, he could have won easily enough by dodging appropriately and targeting the joints.
However, there was a time limit to achieve a Perfect rating, so Lee Tae-seong had crushed it from the front.
As a result, he achieved a Perfect rating, but the lack of mana made it a burden to attempt the tenth mission.
Still, he was sufficiently satisfied.
Held SC: 132,050
The score earned from four consecutive Perfects amounted to nearly 130,000 points!
‘I’ll use this later; I should log in first.’
Since he had come out briefly during a quest, he had to return quickly.
After sending a text to Manager Song Sang-yeop saying he had succeeded up to the ninth mission, Lee Tae-seong logged back into Dream World.
The sun was just rising, and the group from the Red Magic Tower was moving busily.
This was because the place where they had camped was not far from the ruins.
They planned to rest here and begin the investigation early in the morning.
Baek Un-ho approached Lee Tae-seong.
“Are you here?”
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
“No. You’ve arrived at just the right time. The entrance to the ruins has just opened.”
Baek Un-ho pointed forward.
-Rumble
As the Magic Tower’s research mages moved busily, the underground entrance leading down to the ruins was opening.