Chapter 3
Chapter 3
1. Status Window and Tutorial -1
After taking down the EX-grade Monster, I spent a busy stretch of time. I split people up and housed them in whatever buildings were still intact, let the S-rank hunter Max Owen know—fucker that he is—that I was alive so we could receive relief supplies, and somehow kept a grip on a shaken Seoul.
Just as the golden hour matters when a person suffers a critical injury, the same goes for a city.
It had been a catastrophe that made earthquakes look like nothing. To put it plainly, Seoul had been half smashed to pieces, so I had to start cleaning up right away if I wanted to keep the city breathing at all.
But for some people, questions came before post-disaster recovery.
"Hunter Noah Won! Please, explain the situation to us...! What happened with the EX-grade Monster?!"
-Hunter Noah Won, congratulations on overcoming the crisis. Perhaps you may even earn the second S-rank title. But... how did you repel it?
Right. Of course they'd be curious. If I were in their shoes, I'd be dying to know about the guy who vaporized an unprecedented EX-grade Monster that appeared on the planet. Because, no exaggeration, this meant the birth of a new order.
But the "System" is not my ability. I still don't know exactly what it is. I haven't finished figuring it out. Which meant I was short on answers.
So to all these questions, I answered each one like this:
"When I went to New York for support last time, I copied Max Owen's ability. I was able to use that to repel it. So, Team Leader Park, you can rest easy. That monster is dead."
Rest easy. It's probably dead. So take this news and go soothe the citizens.
"Max Owen, you must have wondered why our hunters in Seoul didn't choose to defect. This is the reason. There's a secret project that was being pushed forward right before the Republic of Korea collapsed. Before I get into that, let's first discuss the relief supplies—"
We've got something like a nuke, so give us rice. You want to know how I did it too, don't you? Think carefully about what happens if you refuse support again, you piece of shit.
And then.
To Minsik, who had fought prepared to die, only for the monster to vanish into thin air and save his life, leaving him with a face that still didn't know if this was a dream or reality—
"Hey, what the hell actually happened back there...? Did you awaken as S-rank, or was there really a secret project by the Republic of Korea?"
"Neither. My ability's the same as always, and the secret project is obviously bullshit."
"Then?"
"I don't know either. I'll look into it and let you know later, so get to work first."
"No, you're putting off explaining this...?"
I told him to get to work.
Minsik looked at me the way you'd look at an author who'd just announced an indefinite hiatus. After that, he kept clinging to me whenever he had a spare moment, asking for at least a hint. He must have been dying of curiosity.
But I didn't breathe a single word about the "System" to Minsik either. Not because I didn't trust him. Because it might be dangerous.
According to the latest theories in academia: hunters' abilities manifest randomly at the moment of first contact with Magic Power. Afterward, their names and grades are determined based on the Hunter Support Agency's database.
My power, "Download -2," is the same. I got my hands on this ability three days after the world turned upside down. Minsik's "Bullseye" is no different. He awakened the moment a Gate opened nearby.
Also, awakened abilities are mostly simple in their manifestation. If it's acceleration, it's acceleration. If it's a fireball, it's a fireball. Ability descriptions rarely exceed a single line.
My Download, which copies and stores abilities, was described as an ability so complex and highly structured that it was considered exceptional even across the entire academic field.
In other words.
By any reasonable standard, there was no way an ability could have functions as varied, complex, and... artificial as the System did. In other words, the 『System』 wasn't a hunter ability. Or at least, there was an extremely high chance it wasn't.
It was something utterly alien that directly defied everything I'd previously considered common sense.
Thinking rationally—if anything, there was a high probability this was a mental-interference-type monster seducing or brainwashing hunters with sweet words like "Status Window" and "System." There actually were monster bastards that induced mental illness, after all.
This was why I approached the "System" cautiously.
Even while restoring Seoul, I explored the 『System』 whenever I had a spare moment. And the more I dug into it, the more strongly I sensed the will of some artificial being behind it.
This wasn't something that had arisen at random. Some divine being had created it with a clear purpose and bestowed it on me. So how could I carelessly run my mouth about it?
Until I completely figured out how to handle it, I was keeping my mouth shut.
Two days after the incident, a report on battered Seoul came up from Team Leader Park. If Seoul were a person, you wouldn't have been able to tell whether it was a corpse or still alive.
Every time I turned a page with my fingers—rustle—the weight of that A4 paper catching on my fingertips felt like a whole truck. Far too much blood was soaked into that thin paper.
"...What's the most urgent issue?"
"Electricity, Hunter. Power Plants 1 and 2, which were functioning as the main generation facilities, were destroyed in the fierce fighting. We did emergency-start Power Plant 3, which hadn't been in use, but..."
Flicker. Flicker. Tick.
The moment Team Leader Park spoke, the fluorescent lights in the office went out.
"........"
"........"
It was dark.
Without electricity, people's lives go back to the Stone Age. Heating becomes a problem right away, and if we want to make use of what few doctors we have, we'll need to supply power to the medical equipment.
In that case, I have no choice but to use manpower. I was pretty sure there were about two C-rank electric-type ability users. If I "Download" their abilities and use them as a stopgap...
Looks like I'll have to become a human lightning rod for the first time in a while. I hate the sensation of getting electrocuted, though.
"I'll produce what I can with the hunters whenever we have the capacity. However, the output won't be enough to meet expectations, so please make sure the citizens fully understand the current situation."
"Yes, Hunter!"
"How's the public order situation? Has there been any unrest?"
Whenever a major incident breaks out, public order shakes violently. When life gets hard, thoughts flow in a negative direction, and when that stress builds up, fights naturally break out. So I'd asked assuming something had obviously gone down.
Team Leader Park hesitated with a slightly awkward expression before answering.
"Ah, that's... there was no major unrest."
Which meant there had been minor unrest.
"What is it?"
"The citizens now fully understand that the hunters are working hard, so they don't cause major disturbances. However, on the hunters' side..."
Ah.
"...Yes. I'll have a good talk with them. I'll strictly crack down on any violations of the community's laws. But I'd like you, Team Leader Park, to turn a blind eye to minor deviations."
"Yes. I'm putting my faith in you, Hunter Noah Won...!"
The report continued for about ten more minutes before ending. Team Leader Park bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle and left the office. He had quite a few more gray hairs than before.
"Haah..."
I let out a sigh as I looked at the ruined scenery of Seoul beyond the window.
The city-state of Seoul that I operated was a community born from toppling the Hunter Monarchy—the Duke of Incheon, the Viscount of Dobong-gu, and all that. I'd charged in because I couldn't stand the sight of a structure where hunters ruled over non-hunters without abilities.
Somehow the revolution succeeded, and Seoul was reborn. It was a mutual-prosperity state of sorts: everyone did their part in their own place.
It sounded fancy, but in the end it was a half-baked system that satisfied neither hunters nor citizens. I was just suppressing the discontent on both sides with the keyword "guaranteed survival."
So of course it shook when a crisis came.
The hunters' discontent. When Seoul's situation deteriorated, the hunters' workload naturally increased, and so did the danger. Then they'd start thinking about defecting, and talk would come up about why they had to feed citizens who did nothing.
I contacted Minsik.
-Hello? You gonna tell me how you fucked that EX-grade up soon?
"Go soothe the kids for me. We're short on power, so attach the electric-type ability users to me."
-Do you know how many jobs I already have right now...!
"Back when you were my manager, that time you crashed the rental car into a utility pole, I—"
-Stop milking that damn rental car already!
Minsik grumbled plenty, but even with all that complaining, he'd handle what I asked cleanly. He'd been reliable since his road manager days.
People need at least some small reward to work. But since I had no reward to hand the hunters right now, I was planning to at least loosen the reins.
Honestly, I don't dislike hunter elitism. Because I'm one of those hunters. I also very much enjoy being looked up to and living it up above others. But.
People treating other people like animals is a different matter.
Cursing at someone or looking down on them with words is fine. But once it goes beyond that, there's no turning back. No matter how upside-down the world gets, I wanted to protect at least that much.
"...If I can, that is."
A self-deprecating remark slipped past my lips.
Right. It's idealism.
I know full well what happens when you argue ideals in the face of survival. If the situation gets worse than it is now, maybe... I really don't want to, but I might end up making a different choice.
Which is exactly why I was desperate. I was desperate.
[System.A01]
I desperately hoped this existence—this phenomenon, this System—would become light and salt for me, my friends, and my people, just as it had in that moment when it annihilated the EX-grade Monster.
It didn't have to be an angel. If this thing was like a loan shark that would collect a massive price later, then I'd pay it all back myself, so just let me borrow a little more.
If I let myself be a little greedier, I desperately hoped that this existence, which might be the whisper of a demon, lay somewhere within the realm of the "positive change" depicted in countless works of fiction.
........
After that, I worked like crazy. I went into the erosion zones and gathered edible weeds, and I pestered Max Owen every single day for relief supplies.
I also managed to secure the most important thing—electricity—somehow.
"Get up there, Noah Won."
"...At this point, I have to do this shit again?"
"You said we're short on power. And conveniently, they say it's gonna rain like crazy today. Probably lightning too. I brought three hand warmers because I was worried you'd be cold all night. Nice, right?"
"Nice my ass, you bastard."
On top of the tallest building that hadn't collapsed from the EX-grade Monster, I wrapped myself in layers of clothing and hugged a lightning rod. All I had to do was endure the rainy night like this.
My ability [Download -2] downloads fastest when I'm directly hit. So in addition to real lightning, I could take the artificial lightning strikes from the electric-type ability users with my body and... inflate the power output.
Rumble—!
"...Ah, that stings!"
Luckily, lightning struck three times that day.
After working frantically for about three days and nights, I finally had some free time. I dragged a chair under the parasol of an ownerless convenience store and sat down. The dawn wind was cold.
Now it was time to properly examine the "System."
The System functions I'd figured out in my spare moments so far were as follows:
[Function List: Community / Party Matching / Stage Viewing / Status Window / Support Request (Disabled) / Shop (Disabled)]
The "Support Request" that had blown away the EX-grade Monster was disabled. The Shop was also locked. The reason was clear even without explanation.
[Credits Held: - 10,000,000,000 (Debt)]
Probably because of the debt. Damn it.
"Shop."
[D-grade Shop (Currently Disabled - Purchases Unavailable)]
[Sorted by Price Ascending ▼ (Filter: Survival Supplies)]
[● Random Food Box worth 100,000 kcal (1 Credit)]
[● Convenience Clothing and Sundries (2 Credits)]
[● Construction Materials (5 Credits)]
[● Magic Power Generator (500 Credits)]
[........]
"...Hah."
It was full of items that made my mouth water just looking at them.
I don't properly know the currency value, but even just looking at the cheapest item got me excited. Let's see. The cost of requesting support from an S-rank is 10 billion Credits. Conversely, that means the moment I become S-rank, I can earn 10 billion from a single dispatch.
If I invested that entire amount into food boxes, I could feed about 20 million people for 50 years. I could fill the stomachs of everyone on the entire planet.
Even if I could earn just 100 Credits a week, our Seoul community would be completely liberated from food shortages. Which is why that "Disabled" label stung so much.
I had no money on hand.
But if this Credit currency was being issued and operated, there had to be a way to earn these Credits. I judged that to be "Stage" and "Party Matching."
"Stage."
[D-grade Stage List (Abbreviated)]
[General | - Days | Reinforcement Request | 100 Credits + D-grade Random Box]
[Dungeon | 3 Days | Designated Target Hunt | 100 Credits + D-grade Random Box]
[Restoration | 1 Day | Terminal Reinstallation | 500 Credits]
[Dungeon | 5 Days | Designated Zone Purification | 300 Credits + D-grade Random Box]
This looked an awful lot like game dungeons. It was hard to understand precisely since there was no explanation of the keywords, but it seemed to be a structure where completing some objective granted a reward.
Then Party Matching was also clear. It was probably a function that helped you enter a chosen Stage together with other people.
100 Credits. As I'd calculated earlier, that was enough to feed Seoul. But compared to a debt of 10 billion, it was an amount that shrank like a firefly before the sun.
With low-grade Stages like these, I'd never pay it all back even if I grinded for a lifetime. I needed to aim for higher-grade Stages and bigger rewards.
Then why did I search for D-grade Stages? Well...
[(Caution) Stages exceeding your own hunter rank cannot be viewed or accessed.]
"...Status Window."
Name: Noah Won
Age: 27
Hunter Rank: D
Title: Coup Idol
Skill List
└ Unidentified Skill 1 (F): B07#@R2e8
-> Slot 1: A01#@47Eb
-> Slot 2:
(Re-evaluation required due to an error of unknown cause)
Credits Held: - 10,000,000,000 (Debt)
It was because my Hunter Rank was D.
Was it an error? I wasn't sure. Given that the System appeared in Korean to my eyes, this thing was providing some kind of localization translation function. Taking that into account... the probability that it wasn't an error was higher.
Maybe the "System" had its own independent rank system. Different from Earth's.
I seemed to have a general grasp of the functions overall. What I needed after this was a more precise explanation. What criteria determined rank. What exactly a Stage was. What the System itself was.
The Title... well, I wondered what that was about. I'd set it aside for now.
I needed help. And there was a function here that served a similar role.
Community.
The "System" had a Party Matching function. Which meant... there were people other than me using this thing. Then the "Community" was probably a place for direct communication between users. How many of them were there? Dozens? Or... a hundred?
Alright, let's go extract some information. But don't let your guard down.
The System had said this to me:
[Connection complete. System connection authority is granted to the individual with the most outstanding talent on the planet.]
Right. In that case, every hunter using this System was someone with serious skills. There'd be plenty of twisted bastards like Max Owen too. I pictured highly trained special forces operatives gathered in one place.
Stay sharp. Don't waver. Don't let their presence overwhelm me. Just charge in.
"Community!"
And what appeared before my eyes was—
Pop!
[D-grade Hunter Bulletin Board]
Tag | Hunter | Title
General | (Hunter1) | ↓ Would you go if you were me? lol
Support Request | (Heejin's Dad) | Please just help me once, I'm begging you
Last Words | (Hunter1) | Ah fuck I think roses bloomed in my front yard, am I screwed?
General | Moon Rabbit | Everyone take today's luck with you~~~~
General | (Hunter1) | How long until this magic stone generator piece of shit drops, seriously
Info | (Hunter1) | Tutorial opening soon << You bastards who want Credits, apply to be mentors before it's too late gogo
General | (Hunter1) | The planet is flat, you fuckers
"...What the hell."
What is this.
General | (Hunter1) | Are the plant bastards tasty? What if you blanch them
"...They weren't good."
The Community I'd entered with high expectations was—a bit different from what I'd imagined.
No, very different.