The Second Skill

I stepped onto the fifth floor.

It wasn't long after that.

An event notice had popped.

China cleared the hidden monster?

An event. That was what you got for taking down a hidden monster. They called it an event, but it wasn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all good news.

For high-rank hunters on a floor this easy, it might as well be a festival. For a country like Korea, it's hell.

The effects came in all shapes. Sometimes a particular monster grew stronger. Sometimes the numbers swelled out of control. This time, though—Stealth?

And on every monster, no less...

The difficulty was going to climb, and I'd have to keep my guard up too. Not right this second, though. It wouldn't hit until tomorrow.

Krrrrumble—

Skill first.

A torrent of rain came crashing down, and a message flared up at once.

The messages spilled down in a rush. Something about them felt off.

Why did so many Chinese hunters die?

Hunters from other countries were in the mix, sure. Even so, the Chinese names stood out by a ridiculous margin. ...What had they all been gathered here to do?

Their bags came flooding in right after, and one of them was anything but ordinary. Why was it wreathed in black light? And why did it hold exactly one material?

...Huh?

What was this?

Wait. Calamity Blood?

Something clicked. A hidden-item material—two liters of Calamity Blood.

"......"

So that was why so many Chinese hunters had died. They'd killed the hidden monster right here, and my skill had just stolen the whole thing out from under them?

Thump. Thump. Thump!!

My heart slammed against my ribs. Then what was in the other bags? I checked at once.

"......My god."

There was a lot of good stuff in there, and every bit of it had come off the hidden monster.

So if I escape now, does the Tower register the clear as mine?

In the Tower, getting out was the baseline, and a hidden monster was no different. You had to kill it and escape before it counted as done. The Chinese had done the killing. I'd taken it from them before they could leave.

And if I walked out with this? The national buff would land on Korea. The country's first.

I'm leaving. Now.

On any other day I would have stayed longer. This was not that day. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I had to get out immediately.

All right. What first? The exit.

Good. Not far. Then one more skill, and the area ought to be wiped clean. I forced the escape at once.

Shanghai, China.

Heavenly Dragon Gate was in serious trouble. Something had gone very wrong.

"We found it too, but it definitely vanished before we could kill it!"

"Same on our phase!"

"Didn't guild members from another phase finish it? I'm telling you, the thing disappeared!"

Everyone was saying the same thing. It had vanished mid-hunt, which meant someone had killed it.

Then why isn't there a single report of a clear?

All anyone could say was that it had disappeared. Someone had obviously taken it down, and yet...

Tap. Tap. Tap.

A whole team poured in at once. A lot of them had made it back, and with numbers like that, they would have been hunting.

"......Did the hidden monster suddenly vanish on you as well?"

"Ah, no! Th-that's not it! We caught it!"

"What? You—you caught it?"

The guild master's eyes went wide, color rushing into his face.

"So it was you! Well done! I'll see that you're rewarded separately...... No. Wait."

Something was off. If they had really caught it, a message should have appeared. The hall was far too quiet.

"......Why isn't the message coming up?"

"Th-that's—! We definitely killed it, and we secured the rewards too. B-but then the sky turned red all of a sudden, and..."

"......?"

"It was him. Korea's JUNE. That bastard took the rewards from the hidden monster we killed!"

What was he saying? So their story was...

"......You'd already killed it. All you had to do was escape, and he got you on the way out?"

"Y-yes..."

"......"

There was nothing to say. The hunt hadn't failed. They hadn't missed the rewards. All they'd had to do was walk out.

......He used a skill once and walked off with everything we bled for?

What kind of nonsense was this?

"......"

Stolen.

Hunternet exploded, and for one reason only: the national buff.

Korea's national buff, Alejandro's Legacy. On a kill, there was a chance the enemy would rise again as a Death Knight, and it applied to every monster.

It wasn't pure upside. The duration was a mere minute. Even so, you could have up to three of them at once, and there was no pretending the effect wasn't enormous.

The news lost its mind as well. A national holiday, of course, and special sales from the major corporations on top of it. All of Korea was buzzing.

"......But how did this happen? China had the information on this hidden monster, didn't they?"

A meeting was convened at the Blue House. The outcome was welcome. The method was not. How, exactly, had it been cleared?

"Yes, that's correct. Our analysis shows China's Heavenly Dragon Gate guild held that information. We were certain China would clear it today..."

"Our working theory is that Hunter JUNE knew about the hidden monster as well."

"Well, given everything he's done so far, that wouldn't be strange."

"But the target is a hidden monster. That's information a nation can struggle to uncover even when it throws its full weight behind the search. How would a private individual......"

"Rather than that—maybe something happened while they were trying to escape?"

Theories piled up. The process, though, mattered less than the result.

"In any case, Korea now holds a national buff. And that other matter? I'd like it handled as quickly as possible."

The President brought the room to order.

"It's already moving quickly, sir. If you make the announcement in one hour, that will do."

"Good. I'll prepare on my end as well."

What he had asked for was an address: a statement in which the President of Korea offered JUNE the nation's thanks.

"......Mr. President. China is lodging a protest."

"A protest? What do you mean?"

That was when it arrived, out of nowhere.

"According to China's own investigation, Heavenly Dragon Gate succeeded in hunting the hidden monster, just as planned. Then Hunter JUNE attacked without warning and took everything..."

"......Th-that's true? So he didn't kill it himself. He stole it on the way out!"

"Hahaha! Those Chinese bastards must be sick over this. Haha!"

"Well, I'll be. Stole it like that? I've got to admit, that's satisfying."

China had handed them the full story. So he hadn't killed it. He'd taken it.

"Ah, now that's refreshing."

"China has a right to complain. I'll give them that."

"Aigoo, I'd protest too! How bitter would that feel! Hahaha!"

Korea, of course, felt precisely the opposite. The President settled it.

Nothing to object to. That was simply how the Tower worked.

"Though I do ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠find it rather amusing. If what China says is true, this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is merely one of the things Korea has endured all along. And they mean to file a protest over that?"

Funny how quiet they'd been when they were the ones doing the slaughtering.

I was back in my room. First thing I did? Check the national buff.

All I did was use the skill the way I always do, and I walked off with the hidden monster's materials. A national buff really did land on Korea...

I hadn't meant to. I hadn't even known it was possible. And yet here we were.

Well. Not a bad outcome.

China had national buffs to spare anyway, didn't they? And the Tower had always worked like this.

That aside.

The national buff mattered. Something else mattered too: the fifth-floor clear reward, the second skill.

I pulled up the second skill at once.