Scout Rejection

"National Intelligence Service, my ass."

Ten minutes had passed since the Extreme Tower world rankings went public. In that short span, I had become the most watched person in the entire country — no, possibly the entire world. That wasn't exaggeration. It was simply the truth.

—Ahem. First of all… allow me to offer my congratulations to 'Shooting Star,' the world-ranked number one clearer of Extreme Tower Difficulty Floor 1…

I opened YouTube and found the president giving me a live thank-you speech. The sheer unreality of the scene slammed a headache into my skull, and I clutched my head and collapsed face-first onto the desk.

"This is way too much…!"

Honestly, I'd expected my record to be decent. Thirty-two seconds was objectively a tiny amount of time, so I'd figured I'd land somewhere respectable on the rankings. But number one? That, I genuinely had not seen coming. Common sense said that if clearing it had been that easy for me, it should have been easy for other people too.

"Haa… I'm so tired."

Being ranked first wasn't all good news. Especially not right now, when my actual personal combat power was basically that of a civilian. Hiding it for now is the right call, right?

I couldn't just stroll into the Hunter Association and announce that I was the number-one ranker. The bulk of my fighting strength came from my summons — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠without them, I was about as threatening as a treasure goblin. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Oksun was one thing, but if I ran into assassins or kidnappers sent by another country while Yeonbi wasn't around, I'd be finished. So until I at least cleared Floor 10, I wanted to keep my identity buried.

"Summoner, what troubles thee so?"

Yeonbi spoke up while I was lost in my solitary fretting. Apparently my little meltdown had worried her.

"Haa… I've got a bit of a problem, yeah."

"What manner of problem?"

"Well, you see…"

There was no reason to hide it, so I laid the whole situation out for her — that I'd gotten far too famous, and that the fallout had me worried. A simple problem, and yet a difficult one. Her answer, however, was refreshingly clear-cut.

"Until thou growest stronger, thou must simply hide thyself well. What else is there to do?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Claim thy Floor 2 clear rewards. Hast thou not much still to do?"

Watching her speak so calmly, so matter-of-factly, settled my racing thoughts. Right. The things I needed to do were already decided.

"Claim rewards!"

Might as well just focus on the situation in front of me.

Chinese Public Security Bureau, Awakened Management Division — Korean Branch.

Dispatched abroad on state orders to carry out various missions, the agents stationed there were in an especially foul mood today.

"Damn it! Where the fuck is this bastard already?!"

"Wochao. I told you to stick to Korean even in ordinary situations, in case of emergencies."

"I got it, damn it!"

The reason was simple: they had no idea where to find 'Shooting Star,' the Extreme Tower rank-one holder who'd set a record without precedent. The moment the rankings went global, the Party had ordered a "gentlemanly scout" of Shooting Star.

These men were obligated to meet the man in person and bring him back to the homeland. Of course, if he refused, they might have to get a little more… forceful.

"Is this guy not even in the birth registry? How the hell is there this little information…"

"There's also the possibility he was raised by a private corporation rather than the NIS."

"Shit. This job never ends."

They dug through the National Intelligence Service, the Korean Awakened Association, the top-tier guilds — every institution they could think of — hunting for Shooting Star. They couldn't find so much as a shadow.

Of course, the real reason was that Yuseong had absolutely no connection to any of those organizations. The idea that the world rank-one was just an ordinary twenty-five-year-old kid was, admittedly, a hard thing to guess.

"But if we find him, we can take him, right?"

"Naturally."

"And once this job's done, we get out of this goddamn basement?"

"Correct."

"Fantastic."

They weren't going in empty-handed, of course. Three A-class Awakened and a team of professional hackers had been dispatched for this "gentlemanly scout." With that kind of manpower, it would only be a matter of time — the Bureau's plan was guaranteed success.

Once this was over they'd be leaving Korea, so maybe he'd grab a nice Korean girl to play with before they left. That was what Wochao of the Public Security Bureau was thinking.

"So this is your den, is it?"

And then a fox appeared.

"…?"

"Tsk. What a foul-smelling place you live in."

A peerless beauty — the kind that could topple a nation — materialized from thin air. Where she'd come from, how she'd gotten in, who she even was — none of that mattered.

"Kill her!"

"Hyaaaaah!!"

The Bureau agents' judgment was fast. Judging by the aura she radiated, the woman was clearly an immense powerhouse. But no matter who she was, anyone who had witnessed this scene could not be left alive.

"Chain-Flow Heaven Sword!"

"Ion Slash!"

"Dark Binding!"

A coordinated assault from three A-class Awakened — two swordsmen bringing their blades down toward her neck, a supporter locking the fox-woman in place. A beautiful combination.

"What a load of nonsense."

And then all three of them died with their heads exploding. Unfortunately for them, the gap in raw ability was so overwhelming that their coordination meant nothing.

"Hoo… 'Tis warm."

In the blood-soaked basement, the fox straightened her clothes and stretched. She thought of her summoner, who was no doubt still playing with her clone, blissfully unaware of any of this.

"Strength again…"

The stat from this clear reward was Strength. Better than nothing, sure, but still a little disappointing. And the Floor 2 first-clear reward was a thousand-carat diamond — which, right now, was more of a white elephant than anything useful.

"Summoner! Where shall I put this greatsword?"

"Just set it on the floor."

"Understood!"

The longsword I'd pulled last time with three thousand carats, the Murder Snail fragments, and assorted other junk had completely filled my eight-pyeong studio. That was why I still hadn't claimed the eight remaining three-thousand-carat diamond challenge rewards sitting in my inventory. One more gacha pull and I might not even have room left to lie down.

"Hnn… Maybe I should just move."

Finding a new place wouldn't be hard. Of the 1.5 billion won I'd gotten from a previous clear reward, I'd spent 1.1 billion paying off debt, so the remaining ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠400 million would more than cover a better apartment. I decided to head out for the first time in a while — might as well look at some real estate while I was at it.

"Yeonbi, Oksun. I'm stepping out for a bit — watch the house for me."

"Where art thou going?"

"Just a quick errand."

"Have a safe trip!"

I left my goodbyes at the door and stepped outside. A spring morning, wind stirring flower petals through the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠air. This was basically my first real outing since Awakening — I really had been that busy climbing the Tower.

I was walking toward a real estate office when my phone buzzed with an incoming message.

The sender was the capital company deputy who'd managed the loan my parents had taken out. Hearing from him after so long raised a few questions, so I replied.

"What's this guy's deal…"

Did people usually stay in touch after a debt was paid off? I was puzzled, but the pin he'd dropped was nearby, so I headed over right away. Rounding the corner brought me to a well-known brand-name café. I went inside and sat down at the deputy's table.

"Why'd you call me?"

"Just wanted to see your face, you punk."

"What, is it that handsome or something…"

"Shut it. Let me ask you something."

A man in a black suit, putting on airs. The sunglasses he was wearing as a fashion statement — which did not suit him at all — looked pretty ridiculous.

"How'd you pay off the debt?"

"Just worked hard."

"Don't give me that bullshit. You think 1.1 billion is the kind of money you pay off with a part-time job?"

This hyung had a few things that set him apart from your average loan shark. His backers ran a black guild of unregistered Awakened, for one. He himself was an A-class Awakened, for another. There were plenty of unusual things about him, but if I had to pick the one that mattered most to me, it'd be this:

"You're not out there doing anything dangerous, are you?"

"Huh? No?"

"The hell you're not! How many times has hyung told you — pay the money late if you have to, just do something safe!"

A gangster with a soft heart. In all my life, I had never met a loan shark this much of a sucker. Of course, the fact that he'd cut me so much slack was a big part of how I'd managed to keep up with the interest at all. If the employee handling my debt hadn't been switched to this guy midway through, I'd probably be missing at least one organ by now.

"What, you play the stock market or something?"

"No, it's just…"

"How many times have I told you life is long?!"

And just like that, he switched into full teacher mode and launched into a lecture. God, I wanted so badly to just tell him I'd Awakened — but my only skill was summoning, so I couldn't exactly flash it around. At this rate I was looking at a solid forty minutes of life coaching. If only I had a more straightforward skill. Haa. Don't I have any cool combat skills or something?

"What?"

"So like I was saying, stocks are no different from gambling… huh? Why is light coming out of your body…?"

Ignoring hyung's ongoing lecture, my body began to blaze with brilliant light. This insane system had actually responded to that split-second idle thought? That was the skill selection ticket I'd been saving for when I actually needed a skill!

Don't you fucking dare!!

Today, of all days, the heavens seemed to hate me.