Invasion at Gwanghwamun
They rode a staggeringly expensive-looking elevator up to the thirtieth floor, and what opened out before them upon arrival was an enormous, cavernous space.
Heeyeon hadn't dragged even the S-rank Hunters she found uncomfortable to look at all the way here without a reason.
S-rank Hunter Cha Minah. The short-haired woman who, even now, had not spoken a single word.
One of the unique abilities Minah had been granted as a Hunter was the power to read an opponent's current stats with absolute certainty. When she had first awakened, she had been lucky enough to receive massive bonuses to her own status as well—which was how she had reached S-rank in the first place.
I'll have him spar with Minah and figure out what kind of trigger it takes for his stats to change. Asking him about his ability outright would be a little awkward, and if the state is going to manage him going forward, finding out this way is the right call.
From the government's perspective, knowing exactly what abilities a Hunter possessed was convenient in any number of ways. But the times being what they were, Hunters tended not to advertise their hidden talents, and even the state could hardly grab an S-rank or higher by the collar and demand to know what they could do. There were people in this very room who operated without ever disclosing their abilities to the government.
That said, if she summoned Minah alone and staged the whole thing so obviously, Jisu might find it suspicious. The solution, then, was to call everyone, dress it up as a test, and have them trade a few blows. It was a thoroughly cheap little scheme.
I feel a bit bad making him fight twice for no good reason, but Ayeon can handle that much on her own.
"Alright, now that we're all on the same page, get ready. Let's get this test over with and sign the contract. Staff—raid field mode ON, please."
And with that, the verification of Jisu's abilities was about to begin in earnest.
Jisu had no idea what was going on, but he prepared to fight anyway, figuring he might as well do as he was told. The Hunters around him fixed their eyes on him as one.
What's he going to use for a weapon?
They watched and waited to see what he would request. Jisu asked for nothing. Jihoon, who had been staring at him the whole time, finally couldn't take it anymore.
"Um. You're not going to pick up a weapon?"
"Huh? Oh, no… I don't think I'll need one."
"What?"
The Hunters' expressions hardened. This was an ability test, yes—but the people who would actually be sparring with Jisu were almost certainly going to be some of the Hunters gathered in this room. And he still wasn't going to take a weapon?
"I don't know where that arrogance is coming from, but this is getting interesting. Hey, Kim Heeyeon. We're gonna fight him anyway, right? Mind if I go first?"
Woohyuk raised a hand as he spoke. Heeyeon sank into thought.
One way or another, I only need him to go a round with Minah, so it shouldn't matter if someone else goes first. Him being with Seongwolhoe does bother me a little… but it should be fine, right?
"Whatever. Go ahead."
"That's more like it."
Woohyuk stepped forward and planted himself squarely in front of Jisu, who was still standing there looking lost. A familiar string of text bloomed across Jisu's vision—the same kind he had seen once before.
You have entered a raid zone: AsciA-01-V
Entering Sparring Mode.
Wait. I actually have to fight this guy?
It had all happened far too fast. But Jisu was not even given time to be confused.
A sharp, explosive crack split the air as Woohyuk's fist came screaming in, filling Jisu's vision. And Jisu saw every frame of the movement. He raised a hand and caught the punch as if it were nothing.
This is…?
The fist that met his palm was no ordinary fist. Fitted between Woohyuk's fingers were iron rings studded with razor-sharp spikes. A hit from something like that should have punched straight through a person's hand, and it would not have been surprising if it had.
What was stranger still—
"What the hell?"
Woohyuk, the one who had thrown the first punch, was the one who reeled. Blocking the blow was one thing; the kid was supposed to be SS-rank, so that much he could accept. What stunned him was this: Jisu's palm had not taken so much as a scratch, as if his flesh itself were forged of adamant.
"He blocked my weapon like it was nothing…?"
Woohyuk staggered back, startled. The recoil that had slammed up his arm on impact was enormous—it had felt less like punching a person and more like driving his fist into solid steel with everything he had. A body like that actually existed?
That's possible?
He was doing a decent job of not showing it, but Jisu was just as stunned. An attack from a weapon like that, and all he had felt was something blunt and dull tapping against his skin? What was going on? Was his defense just that high?
Come to think of it—what was happening with the coin he had invested in last time? Even on the way to the Hunter Association, it had barely moved from the price he had bought in at. Had something changed in the meantime? Or was this simply what S++-level ability looked like?
He was still trying to make sense of any of it when it happened.
WEEEEOOO! WEEEEOOO!
A siren suddenly flooded the room. Every person present snapped to attention at once.
"An invasion?"
"Well. I figured it was about time."
They would have been well within their rights to panic, but perhaps this was simply what it meant to be S-rank. None of them showed any real alarm. Internally, though, at least one of them was losing it.
Oh, why did it have to be now of all times!
Minah approached Heeyeon carefully as she fumed in silence.
"Director Heeyeon. I believe we need to leave immediately."
"Ugh…"
Minah knew enough about the plan. She also knew that this was no longer the time to be confirming what abilities Jisu possessed.
"Everyone, to the rooftop, now! We'll take the helicopters. Follow me!"
"Damn it! Hey, you! We'll have a proper fight next time. Got it?"
Woohyuk clearly did not appreciate having the spar cut short. He spat on the floor and hurried after Heeyeon.
What the hell is even going on. Shouldn't we be signing a contract first?
Jisu thought it, and followed the others anyway. This was an emergency.
Two helicopters waited on the roof. Jisu picked the one Heeyeon was not boarding. He had no particular desire to share a cabin with that vaguely insufferable woman.
Wait. Sortie or no sortie, I need to check the market.
Jisu slipped his phone out carefully. Had something happened in the meantime? Even granting that his defense was high, it didn't seem possible that an attack like that wouldn't hurt at all. Those spikes had been a proper weapon—and the person swinging them had been an S-rank Hunter. That had to mean something.
He opened Bitstorm.
Oh? It's gone up a bit.
And it was still climbing, tick by tick. The chat was in an uproar. He had bought in at 3,200 won, so yes—it had risen by about one and a half times. That earlier attack hadn't landed because his defense was high.
Alright. Let's take a look at the Equilium market.
"We're almost there! Everyone get ready to jump!"
Huh?
A heavy metallic rattle—the helicopter door sliding open. At the same instant, a message window bloomed in front of Jisu's eyes. It had almost certainly appeared in front of everyone else's as well.
"Go!"
The Hunters seated in the helicopter began leaping out one after another—without parachutes.
"Wait, there are no parachutes?"
"What are you doing? Jump already! It's a raid field—Hunters get a compensation buff, so it's not dangerous. Besides, you're SS-rank, aren't you?!"
A red-haired woman shouted at Jisu, who was still hesitating beside her.
She wants me to jump?
Jisu plunged into a sudden, sharp dilemma. This was, for all practical purposes, his first sortie as a Hunter. And they wanted him to throw himself out of a helicopter the moment it started? Sure, in those famous video games you jumped out of planes with a gun in your hands just fine—but a game was a game, and this was reality.
Then again, they had said he would receive raid field compensation. So it would probably be fine.
Here goes!
Jisu threw himself out.
I'M FALLING!!!!
Coincidence—or fate? In the Bitstorm chatroom that Jisu, tumbling from the helicopter, had no chance to check, a curious message was going up at that very moment.
The moment his feet met the ground, Jisu registered several surprising facts. First: his body was barely subject to gravity at all. Second: it was far less terrifying than he had expected. And last: he landed as naturally as if he had simply stepped off a curb. In other words, it hardly hurt.
Nothing happened. At all.
He remembered going bungee jumping back in his school days. If anything, that had been scarier than this. So this was what raw stats could do?
He was still turning that over when it came.
SKREEEEEEEE!!!
"…?"
At a monstrous cry the likes of which he had never heard in his life, Jisu lifted his head. And there it was—a gigantic pterosaur, something he had only ever seen in books and games, beating enormous wings as it carved through the sky.
What the hell is all this?
Jisu looked around, stunned. This was, without a doubt, a place he knew well: Gwanghwamun Square. The statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin and the statue of King Sejong were both still standing, perfectly intact. But at some point the streets had been closed—not a single car passed through—and the buildings around the square sat dark, as if they had already become ruins.
Across that barren stretch of stone, the only thing filling the air was a sound that did not belong in this world.
SKREEEEEEEEEE!!!