Taser, Taser
The café played old pop songs.
It was the kind of place I’d never visit under normal circumstances.
‘Well, unless I was farming.’
As I scanned the tables, one person immediately caught my eye.
‘Whoa… a celebrity? Is she filming something?’
But no matter how much I looked around, there were no cameras in sight.
People kept stealing glances at her, so she definitely had that celebrity vibe.
‘I should’ve come to cafés more often! Who knew I’d get to see a celebrity?’
I set my spatial backpack down and took a seat at an empty table, waiting for Yu Sia.
Ten minutes passed like that.
‘Is she running late?’
I didn’t want to rush her.
Honestly, I wasn’t even bored.
I was too busy staring at the celebrity sitting across from me.
When else would I get a chance like this?
Bzzz.
A message from Yu Sia popped up.
‘What? Was she already here?’
Come to think of it, I didn’t even know what Yu Sia looked like.
I’d only caught a vague silhouette of her in the dark.
I glanced around and spotted someone else doing the exact same thing.
‘Huh?!’
It was the celebrity I’d been sneaking glances at.
Well, I wasn’t sure if she was actually a celebrity, but she stood out. She had this undeniable aura.
And then—
‘As expected, my eyes never lie.’
She was impossibly beautiful.
Even with sunglasses on, her looks pierced right through them.
I walked over to her.
“You’re Sia, right?”
“Ah, yes. Jaeha?”
“That’s me.”
Yu Sia took off her sunglasses and greeted me.
“First time meeting outside the tower, huh? Nice to meet you.”
“Ah, uh, yeah. Nice to meet you too.”
Why the hell was I so nervous?
We’d spent the entire day together yesterday.
“Oh, please, sit down.”
“Thanks.”
And just like that, the conversation died.
An awkward silence settled between us.
“What would you like to order?”
“I’ll have whatever you’re having.”
More silence until the coffee arrived.
Slurp.
One sip, then silence again.
‘What am I supposed to do? I’ve barely talked to girls before! What the hell do I even say?!’
There was no way I wouldn’t be nervous.
I knew she’d be pretty, but I had no idea it would be this bad!
“So, Jaeha, how old are you?”
She spoke first. Thank you, Sia!
“I’m twenty-two.”
“Wait, really?! Me too! Ah…”
She must’ve been just as awkward as I was.
If we kept going like this, the conversation would never get anywhere.
“Then… should we drop the formal speech?”
I’d suggested it because things felt too stiff, but the moment the words left my mouth I worried I might’ve been rude.
“Sure! I mean, yeah. Let’s do that.”
Ugh. Casual speech hit harder than I expected.
Maybe I should’ve just suggested we keep our helmets on while talking?
This wasn’t working.
With Yu Sia sitting right in front of me, my mind kept wandering to all sorts of random thoughts.
Time to get straight to the point.
“I awakened my unique skill.”
“Oh! Congratulations!”
Ah, crap!
I’d just suggested we drop formalities, but I’d slipped back into polite speech again.
Yu Sia seemed to notice too—she froze for a split second.
“Haha, thanks.”
“Mhm.”
This was painfully awkward!!
I screamed internally.
It would probably be less awkward to talk outside the café.
Actually, talking in a ruined city would feel way more natural!
And Yu Sia was the same.
She’d been so smooth and talkative inside the tower.
Why couldn’t she speak now that we were outside?!
Our eyes accidentally met.
‘Gah…’
I was stunned.
No exaggeration—I felt like I’d been hit by a taser!
And we’d only made eye contact for a second!
Her appearance really was a weapon!
‘Now that I think about it…’
I’d been so shocked by her face that I hadn’t even noticed until now.
‘She’s showing way too much skin?! What is this woman thinking?!’
Her slightly exposed cleavage and those pure-white thighs left me with nowhere safe to look.
This was already my first (well, second) time in a café!
And it was already this awkward!
Was she dressed like this because she was a celebrity?
Or had she come straight from a photoshoot?
In that case, I couldn’t really complain.
I’d just have to appreciate the view.
…As if I had the composure or courage for that.
I just kept my eyes down, sipping my coffee.
Slurp.
“Do you live around here?”
“Y-yeah. About four minutes away.”
Only after answering did I realize how obvious that was.
Of course we’d been matched together—we lived close to each other.
“Aww, that was such an obvious question.”
Yu Sia seemed just as flustered as I was.
“Hey, want to talk outside? We can’t exactly show skills in here anyway.”
“S-sure!”
She must’ve felt like she was suffocating too, because she immediately agreed.
Jingle jingle.
We practically fled the café, escaping the sound of the bell on the door.
“Um, J-Jaeha. Have you registered as a hunter yet?”
She’d called me Jaeha.
“Uh, no. Not yet.”
Calling someone a hunter wasn’t just a nickname.
It was the official title designated by the government.
After the various resources brought back from the Tower of Calamity proved useful, the government established an agency to manage hunters.
That was the Korean Hunter Association.
Registering with the association came with all sorts of benefits.
Tax reductions, proxy auction registration, equipment crafting requests, training programs, medical support, and more.
They handed out benefits so generously it was almost suspicious.
They even had the government immediately purchase certain items at high prices.
Those were Energy Cubes.
This was exactly why the government offered such special treatment.
“Then how about we go register right now?”
“Sounds good.”
To be honest, I’d been feeling a bit lost.
I’d only thought about getting out of the café, but once we were outside, I had no idea where to go.
‘Plus, to demonstrate my skill, I needed somewhere away from prying eyes.’
The Hunter Association had testing areas for skills.
I could just show her there while we were at it.
Even after we got in the taxi, we didn’t talk much.
Still, it felt a little less awkward.
I could just look at the scenery outside.
‘Mmm…’
But every ounce of my attention was still on Yu Sia.
I couldn’t help it.
Her presence was just too overwhelming.
Without realizing it, I kept focusing on her.
“Hey.”
“Y-yes?!”
“Are you a celebrity?”
I’d almost asked, Are you an idol?
“Ah, no.”
“Really?”
She looked like a celebrity to anyone who saw her.
That’s why I’d assumed the sunglasses were for disguise.
“I’m just a model and influencer.”
“Ah, that explains the outfit.”
It was revealing, sure.
But if she was a model, that made sense.
“Th-this is sponsored.”
She must’ve felt embarrassed, because she adjusted her cardigan and tugged the hem of her skirt down a little.
‘Guh.’
The way she moved her hands nearly made me dizzy.
Hmm.
Very desirable sponsorship.
I wouldn’t mind if she got even more.
“Please write your name and address here—”
When we arrived at the association and started the hunter registration process.
“And please fill in your ranking here.”
“I have to write my ranking too?”
They didn’t ask for unique skills, but they wanted ranking?
“Didn’t you see the news yesterday?”
“Ah, I was inside the tower yesterday.”
The receptionist explained the benefits.
Additional tax reductions based on ranking.
Priority for auction proxy registration and equipment crafting requests.
Intensive training and medical support.
“Especially for the top 0.1 percent, taxes are completely waived. If that applies to you, you should definitely write it down.”
“I see.”
Tax exemption alone was an incredible benefit.
Not that it had anything to do with me.
‘Well, they’re desperate to recover cash, so they have no choice but to offer full support. But where exactly do I rank?’
I hadn’t checked because I’d been sleeping.
I opened the app and looked up my ranking.
Yoon Jaeha
South Korea Ranking: 1st
Amount Recovered: 1,127,430,000 won
Highest Floor Reached: Floor 2
Survivals: 1
“…First place? 1.1 billion?!”
How the hell had I taken first place?
I’d robbed a bank, sure.
‘Did that come out to 1.1 billion?’
At the time I’d been in too much of a hurry, and it had been too dark to check properly.
The amount and the ranking were both shocking, but—
‘How did 1.1 billion get me first place?’
Even if no one else was recovering cash because they were busy farming, a newbie taking first with 1.1 billion was insane.
‘Is this country really doomed?’
No wonder the achievement rate was only 0.3 percent.
I barely pulled myself together and wrote down my ranking.
“Oh my!”
The receptionist looked shocked when she saw it.
“J-just a moment! Please wait just a moment!”
“Huh? Oh, sure.”
She immediately picked up the phone and called someone.
Yu Sia, who had been quietly watching from the side, looked surprised too.
“Jaeha, you’re ranked first?”
“Yeah, I guess so. I just checked myself.”
“How? You said it was your first run.”
“I robbed a bank before I met up with you.”
Yu Sia froze, looking completely stunned by my words.
Seeing her expression, I was stunned all over again.
Her face really was a weapon.
“No way.”
“Is it really that unbelievable? Was the bank that tough? It wasn’t that hard for me.”
I couldn’t resist showing off a little in front of her.
“Ughhh! Of course it is! There are Stage 2 zombies in banks, you know?!”
Her reaction was so satisfying—how could I not tease her?
“Stage 2 zombies are that dangerous? Really? Not just anyone could pull it off?”
If they’d had high intelligence, even I might not have managed it.
“I’m telling you, they are! So how exactly did you rob it?”
She asked with an adorably frustrated expression.
“Want me to show you?”
“Yes! But how?”
“Like this.”
I played a video on my phone.
“I recorded the whole thing.”
I’d set up a camera on the building across the street with maximum zoom right before the heist.
I practically lived on the Hunter Gallery.
I posted there often.
I’d do it like this. This method would be more effective. Stuff like that.
But the comments that always followed were things like:
— Without proof, who cares?
Just mockery and demands for verification.
So I’d left evidence.
Those Hunter Gallery bastards would have to shut up now that there was video, right?
I handed her the phone so she could watch comfortably.
“You’re insane… You set this up here to lure them? Wait! If you go that way—! Ahh, you have to hurry! If the Stage 2 zombie comes back—!”
Her reactions made me smile.
She watched for a long time.
“Why would you take such a dangerous risk?”
“Well, um…”
Honestly, even I realized how reckless it had been after it was over.
But at the time, I’d been so curious whether my idea would actually work that I couldn’t hold back.
Besides, if it succeeded even once, I’d get to brag about it for the rest of my life. How could I pass that up?
“I made it out alive, so isn’t that what matters?”
“Still, this is way too dangerous!”
Um, Sia.
That’s not something someone who was planning to solo a massive hospital should be saying…
“So from now on I’ll be more careful, haha…”
Even while scolding me for the danger, she couldn’t take her eyes off the screen.
Was she planning to use it as reference for her hospital run?
‘Though maybe…’
My method might not even be necessary anymore.
Not when my moving marionettes could draw aggro themselves.
“Team Leader, this is the person!”
Someone came hurrying over.
It must’ve been the person the receptionist had called.
“Hunter, hello! I’m Choi Jinseong, leader of the Hunter Support Team.”
“Ah, yes. I’m Yoon Jaeha.”
“If it’s not too much trouble, could you verify your ranking screen?”
“Just showing it is fine?”
That was easy enough.
“Yes, please!”
When I showed him the screen—
“Hup! One survival and only reached the second floor…? Does this make any sense?”
Ah, I hadn’t meant to show that part.
“This won’t be made public, right?”
“Of course not! It will never be disclosed externally. And if you’re not too busy, I was hoping we could talk for a moment…”
Seemed like he had something else to discuss.
I glanced at Sia to ask her opinion.
“Go ahead. I have some auction items I need to check anyway.”
“Sorry, I’ll be back soon.”
I felt bad for Sia, but the team leader looked incredibly desperate.
I followed him to his office.
As soon as we sat down, he slid some documents toward me.
“These are the benefits we can offer you, Hunter Yoon Jaeha.”
Just a quick glance showed an absurd number of perks.
Why go this far?
Wait a second!
This includes a house? Is this for real?
“In return, I have one request!”
“W-what is it?”
If they were offering this many benefits, it had to be something dangerous, right?
Smack!
The team leader slammed both hands on the table with great force.
“South Korea’s current cash recovery rate is far below the disaster prevention threshold!”
‘I was worried about that, but what exactly is he asking for?’
“Please teach us how you managed to recover so much cash! Share your know-how!”
He even bowed his head deeply.
Well, that wasn’t particularly difficult.
But why was he going this far?
“And if possible, we would greatly appreciate it if you could record a video the next time you enter!”
Huh? If it was about a video, I’d already recorded one.
I’d been planning to post it on the Hunter Gallery for verification anyway.
Maybe…
With one click of a video, my dream of buying a house could actually come true?