Luck Comes Unexpectedly - Victory!
"...Ughhh!! I-I'm back up again!!"
Staring at the word VICTORY that filled her entire screen, Mad Cat—no, Seo Eunsol—let out a triumphant cheer.
PROMOTION SERIES REACHED
This time she had climbed all the way back to the promotion matches. Only three more wins stood between her and Silver. Hit Silver, and this long, brutal mission would finally be over. The mission rewards were nice, of course, but more than anything she just wanted to escape this hell.
Honestly, she had thought yesterday might be the day. But expectations only lead to disappointment. Just yesterday, on stream, during the final game of her promotion series.
She had been completely demolished by an enemy mid-laner who absolutely did not play like a local. The phrase "playing the game alone" existed for moments exactly like that. Four garbage teammates, yet one person still carrying the whole match. After that disaster, Seo Eunsol's mentality had shattered so thoroughly she ended the broadcast on the spot.
Her older brother, former pro gamer Seo Jaehyun, had taken one look at the replay and told her:
"The damage calculations alone are enough proof. He took hits he knew he could afford and dodged everything that would have actually hurt him. It was deliberate. He wanted you to think you could win, then counter-kill you the moment you committed. In your rank, you'd be sitting there wondering why you lost even after landing all your skills."
He had even said—though the odds were low—that the opponent gave off pro-level vibes. Map control, skill accuracy, movement prediction, reading the enemy, anticipating behavior. Even the way he traded autos in lane, using minion positioning to come out ahead in every exchange.
"Could be a smurf. Watch yourself. His match history looks like he's deliberately queuing into promotion games."
Seo Jaehyun rarely worried about his little sister. Typical siblings—they barely paid attention to what the other was doing. But when it came to games, especially smurf stomps like this, he turned razor sharp. And since both of them were streamers, they were extremely sensitive to sniping.
"If you want attention that badly, just ask for donations..."
Sighing, Seo Eunsol ate dinner then sat back down at her desk. She wanted to turn the stream on immediately and show everyone her next promotion attempt. She wanted to climb to Silver in front of cheering viewers, proud and triumphant.
Maybe I should just delete the break notice and go live right now? …No. No, when it's time to rest, I need to rest.
She had seen too many streamers burn out after treating broadcasts lightly. Sitting-down jobs collapsed without proper self-management. Rest when you rest, exercise when you exercise, work when you work. Even her brother, the former pro who claimed to hate working out, trained every single day. She herself went to the gym to maintain at least the minimum stamina. This wasn't a hobby. It was a real job. She had to carry responsibility and take care of herself.
"Huh?"
Seo Eunsol, who had been idly browsing, let out a surprised sound. A news article had just popped up, and the headline was anything but ordinary.
"Gate generated inside a suppressor zone? What? How does that even make sense?"
Suppressors existed to suppress gates. They didn't block every single one, but the probability was extremely high. Some even said society itself hadn't collapsed thanks to that revolutionary invention. So how could a gate appear in an area where a suppressor was working perfectly?
Clickbait? No way. Even trash journalists wouldn't go that far… right?
It wasn't just one article, either. Similar headlines flooded the page. Still frowning, Seo Eunsol clicked on one at random.
"Maybe the suppressor just malfunctioned? Or villains were behind it."
She kept muttering to herself—probably an occupational hazard from streaming to an audience that wasn't even there right now.
The article itself was nothing special. A gate had appeared, monsters had come out, a few people were injured. The response had been slow. People shouldn't rely on suppressors too much. The usual easy criticism, nothing more.
Typical trash journalism…
While scrolling, Seo Eunsol suddenly froze on one photograph. A stunning blonde, blue-eyed beauty shaking hands with a man.
Everyone in Korea knew exactly who the Western woman was. S-rank ability user, the strongest in pure combat power, also the strongest at causing chaos—Irina. There was even a saying that Korea could speak with a loud voice on the international stage thanks to her. Her strength was simply overwhelming.
Gate Manifests in Suppressor Zone — S-Rank Hunter Irina Eliminates All Threats
Irina, an S-rank ability user traveling to the Association, annihilated every monster that emerged from the gate. One was confirmed A-rank, while the other gate was judged between C-rank and B-rank…
According to Irina's testimony, another ability user bravely stepped forward to hold back the monsters. The hero has been identified as Baek Seojin, a civil servant currently dispatched to the Academy from the Ability Measurement Department…
This was not his first heroic act. During the recent large-scale villain assault on the Academy, the dispatched Baek Seojin chose to protect students despite sustaining injuries that required hospitalization. Although not part of the Academy's security detail, he made the decision to fight.
While reading, Seo Eunsol's eyes kept returning to the man in the photo. Just who was he to be standing beside Irina? To be shaking hands with the woman who ignored even the President?
The more she looked at Baek Seojin's bright smile, the more she realized he wasn't simply kind and brave. He was kind, brave, and incredibly handsome. He was supposedly a civil servant, but he looked like he belonged on camera instead.
"He's genuinely a good person..."
Someone like him would definitely play games with perfect manners. No flaming, no asking about your parents, no looking down on anyone for being bad at the game.
And he definitely wouldn't smurf on an alt account and stomp people like the opponent I faced yesterday!
The world would be so much better if there were more people like him. Seo Eunsol clapped for Baek Seojin in the photo like any ordinary citizen would.
After getting off the subway and heading toward the Academy, I spotted a strange crowd up ahead.
"There! Over there!!"
"Baek Seojin! Mr. Baek Seojin!!"
"Just one word, please!!"
What the hell? Was this a zombie horde? Had I walked into an apocalypse movie?
Dozens of people suddenly rushing at me made me instinctively turn away.
"Where are you going, Mr. Baek Seojin!"
"This is a reporter from the Herald! Please give us a statement!"
"This is a reporter from the Daily Press! We have questions about yesterday's incident!"
Did they not care about the person they were interviewing at all? Wasn't asking permission first common sense? Now I understood why Irina got irritated the moment she saw reporters.
Yesterday it had only been a few short interviews, so I had brushed it off. But seeing this mob now, I realized it was because all the attention had been on Irina. With her gone, they had chosen me as their next scoop. And they clearly thought I would be much easier to handle than her.
"Where are you going, Mr. Baek Seojin! How did you meet Irina yesterday?"
"What is your rank? How did it feel when Irina shook your hand?"
"Did you and Irina clear the gate together? Please answer us!"
What were they even talking about? Why did they care who I shook hands with? And now that I was listening properly, every single question was about Irina, not the gate. Had the entertainment reporters shown up? Wasn't this supposed to be a society-section story?
"Baek Seojin!"
"Baek Seojin!!"
"Please answer for the people's right to know!"
Damn it, what about my right to be left alone? I had nothing to say. I already told them everything yesterday. Why were they doing this again?
Kwaaang—!
I couldn't even reach the Academy entrance. While I was busy dodging the reporters, a loud explosion suddenly went off right beside me. For a second I thought it was another villain ambush. The reporters panicked and scattered, screaming for their lives.
"Tsk, tsk. To think they'd come all the way here just to act like that."
"H-Headmaster!"
White hair, old man, squinty eyes. The perfect combination. Ma Hakjun, the man I had saved from Kwak Hyuk not long ago, was now standing right next to me.
Is he a ghost?!
No matter where I went, these white-haired elders were always absurdly powerful. It might be a national rule, but I had heard that ability users grew dramatically weaker with age. After awakening, people reached their prime in their twenties and thirties, then declined steadily afterward. That was why most S-rank ability users were in that age range. Of course there were exceptions—rare individuals who maintained their strength even as they grew older. But that required truly desperate, bone-carving effort.
By that standard, Ma Hakjun was an incredible case.
Thud. Thud.
"Let's go inside. I have a few things I want to discuss with you."
Ma Hakjun tapped the ground lightly with his scabbard and took the lead. The reporters, realizing it wasn't a villain attack, tried to swarm us again—only to freeze under the overwhelming pressure radiating from the old man. They backed away without making a sound.
"Wait! Mr. Baek Seojin!"
One particularly stubborn reporter still tried to push forward. Brave, dedicated, or just an incredible piece of trash journalism? Hard to say.
"I have a question—Hiiiiiik!"
But even he crumbled the instant Ma Hakjun glanced at him. He didn't even seem to be an ability user. Truly impressive in his own way.
"I heard about what happened yesterday."
Knowing Ma Hakjun, he would be more interested in the gate appearing inside a suppressor zone than in Irina. He would probably ask if there had been any unusual characteristics with the gate or the monsters…
"So, what exactly are you?"
At this point, my conscience stung a little. I was clearly just a normal Grade 9 civil servant. Somehow I had gained one strange trait, that was all. Maybe it would be easier to just say, 'Actually, I'm a special agent who was secretly dispatched.'