Strength of 11,674

I have to lock him into a contract. No matter what.

While Heeyeon was steeling herself with that resolve, the hunters who had been watching from the sidelines began joining the fight one by one, starting with Mina.

It was a battlefield where every hunter bloomed their own unique abilities in combat. The sight of so many high-ranking hunters of S-rank and above gathered in one place, fighting as one, was a spectacle so rare it bordered on the legendary. Just assembling them all would have been astonishing enough — let alone watching them actually fight.

And yet not a single person here was impressed. Their threshold for awe had already been raised far too high for something like this to register as remarkable. Because in everyone's mind, the same scene kept replaying on a loop: the newly appeared hunter literally exploding a wyvern with a single punch.

That guy... just what the hell is he?

A piercing SKREEEEEEECH split the air.

Jihoon, who had been casually mopping up wyverns, turned to look at Jisu — on his knees in the center of the plaza, gasping for breath. That strike had been enormous, no question. A finishing move, then? The kind of technique that drained every last drop of energy in exchange for a single, devastating blow?

Jihoon knew ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠well enough that hunters' abilities came in every flavor imaginable. But something with that kind of one-shot firepower? Jihoon himself was a hunter of such high rank that people called him a genius of aerial combat, his power in a league of its own. Even for someone that strong, imagining a blow of that magnitude didn't come easily.

You couldn't throw attacks like that back-to-back. That would shatter the balance of this world. And sure enough, this Jisu character was coughing up blood, wasn't he?

The reality of Jisu's situation, however, was something else entirely. Without knowing what kind of ability Jisu actually possessed, even Jihoon could only guess within the bounds of ordinary imagination.

I need to check the... the market prices...

Jisu could feel his vision dimming. Was this it? Was he going to die here? It might have sounded like he was being dramatic, but he could have sworn his life was flashing before his eyes.

Die? Die here?

Jisu fought with everything he had to stay conscious. Strangely — strangely — he felt a little afraid. It was an emotion he'd never experienced before, and in that moment, that was the only explanation he could find.

The sounds of wyverns being hunted around him grew more and more distant. Like a rusted machine whose electrical signals no longer reached, the tingling in his fingertips and toes faded by degrees.

Was he really going to die here?

Meanwhile, the current status Jisu hadn't been able to check was nothing short of catastrophic. His Mental Strength and Stamina were at rock bottom. Stamina: 27.

Equilium Classic — the coin he'd gone all-in on for Stamina and Mental Strength — had crashed from 3,200 won to 152 won. That was the price at the moment he'd attacked the wyvern. When he'd been hurt by a pebble, it had even tanked below 10 Stamina. With his Stamina gutted like that, of course his body could barely hold itself together.

Right now, Jisu wasn't even S-rank. A D-rank hunter attacking in earnest could have taken him down. That's how weak he'd become. This wrecked, the recoil from an "all-out" attack was bound to feel agonizing.

In short, Equilium Classic was currently bouncing between 100 and 200 won, luring in day traders looking to scalp a quick buck.

Which raised the question: for that "all-out" strike — just how high had Jisu's Strength been, the stat that powered it? How had he become this powerful? Where had a super-finishing move like a Spirit Bomb even come from?

With no idea what was happening, his consciousness fading, Jisu barely managed to recall that he'd split his stat investments. Mental Strength and Stamina on Equilium Classic. Strength and Agility on Victoria Surrender.

So then... Victoria Surrender?

It had pumped over tenfold.

Of course, nobody knew why. But anyone with even a passing familiarity with this market would accept it without a second thought. Because in this market, coins simply did this — they got insanely expensive and insanely cheap for absolutely, completely no reason, over and over again. Had anyone ever given a satisfying answer as to why?

Anyway, at the moment Jisu had invested in Strength and Agility, Victoria Surrender had been sitting at 40.99 won. Calculating from his current stats and his purchase price, the readout below was Jisu's status at the moment he'd attacked the wyvern.

A five-digit Strength stat had never been recorded in this world. No — it wasn't just Strength. Not a single hunter had ever posted a raw five-digit number in any stat, period. And yet Jisu was doing it, as if to show the world it was possible.

Strength: 11,674. Overwhelming power enough to rule this world through raw force alone. A number so high that this pure, unadulterated strength could make him the undisputed apex of existence. And this monstrous Strength was the source of Jisu's absurd SSS++ rank.

By comparison, his Mental Strength and Stamina were practically at zero. Mental Strength, fine — you could give him a pass a hundred times over. But even an F-rank hunter didn't have Stamina this pathetic. If you had to compare it to something in the real world, it was about the stamina of a two-year-old.

That's right. An attack packed with 11,674 Strength. Even a boxing champion — someone who actually knew how to fight — would probably clock in under 1,000 Strength if you converted it to a stat. And here Jisu was throwing a punch with more than ten times that, while the Stamina that had to absorb the recoil was at toddler level. Coughing up blood from a single attack was the most natural thing in the world.

But Jisu had no luxury of checking his status or piecing together cause and effect. He felt like he could pass out at any second. Remembering how painfully that pebble had hurt, he squeezed out what little strength he had left, fumbled his smartphone out, and pulled up Bitstorm to sell his coins.

Sell... I have to sell!

All sorts of messages were popping up in front of his eyes, but he could barely see them. Jisu first managed, just barely, to dump all of his Equilium Classic on the KRW market.

Whether it was luck or misfortune, he'd at least managed to sell at a slightly higher price than when he'd attacked the wyvern. A coin the developers had written off entirely was bouncing around like this. Apparently people were swarming it like hyenas on a carcass, trying to scalp a profit off the day trades. Indeed, Equilium Classic's price never stopped — it rose and fell without a moment's rest.

Which meant he needed to sell Victoria Surrender next. That one wasn't on the KRW market — it was a somewhat minor coin listed on the Equilium market. Even on the Bitstorm site, getting to the Equilium market required a fairly complicated process, didn't it?

First you go through the Bitcoin market, and then...

He operated his phone with every last scrap of energy he had. Just a little ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠more. Just a little further. He couldn't just leave his stats invested in a market that could flip at any moment.

But the aftereffects of remaining on a raid field with his stats gutted caught up with him. His fingers wouldn't move anymore. He could no longer withstand whatever was pouring down on him without end. Of course, there was no way for Jisu to know, in that moment, that he'd actually lasted quite a while considering how abysmally low his Mental Strength was.

Thud.

And just like that, Jisu collapsed where he stood.

Jisu, who had lost consciousness, carefully sat up. The place he'd been lying was rather plush.

Where... am I?

Still groggy and hazy with sleep, he looked around. An elegant chandelier hung from the ceiling, and even to Jisu — who had no particular eye for such things — the furniture and furnishings looked like they cost a fortune. One thing was certain: this was not the cramped room where he usually slept, the one with the fluorescent light that buzzed and clicked.

"What the...?"

Just as he was about to wonder why he was lying here, something he absolutely could not afford to forget flashed into his mind.

That's right — the coins! What happened to the coin prices?!

To anyone who didn't know the circumstances, it was a thoroughly impressive coin-junkie thought. Jisu hurriedly rummaged through his pockets. Fortunately, his smartphone was still there. He opened Bitstorm and checked Victoria Surrender, the coin he'd invested his stats in.

Oh. It went up?

As far as he remembered, he'd bought it around 40 won. Double profit! He'd sold Equilium Classic at a pathetic price before passing out, but at least he could make money on this one. That was a relief.

Apparently decimal points didn't apply to status trades. Jisu carefully checked his status window.

Whoa. Stamina and Mental Strength dropped like crazy... but I somehow managed to hang on to S++ rank.

Jisu, who still had no idea how high Victoria Surrender had spiked or how many digits his Strength had reached, was breathing a sigh of relief when he heard the door open.

"You're awake."

Looking toward the voice, he saw the person walking toward him was Heeyeon — the one he'd met at the research lab.

"The situation at Gwanghwamun has been resolved without further incident. How are you feeling? You collapsing like that gave us quite a scare..."

"I'm fine now. You helped me, I take it? Thank you."

At Jisu's words, Heeyeon shook her head and answered with extraordinary courtesy — a far cry from her previous demeanor.

"We're the ones who ought to be thanking you. You carried out the mission before we even had a contract. You have our sincerest gratitude."

Jisu tipped his head in a small nod.

"Good that you know."

Heeyeon didn't care for his tone, but seeing him let it go was a relief all the same. He'd been dragged into this without a contract and forced to help — some people would have demanded compensation for that. The fact that he hadn't said a word about it only confirmed the thought she'd been turning over.

This man... I might be able to get him to sign more easily than I thought.

And in that same moment, Jisu looked into her snake-like eyes and thought:

This woman is a venomous one. I've met plenty of her type. Go ahead. Try me.