Floor 11, the Predator

He came out of the eleventh floor at once.

And the first thing he did the moment he was out?

"Craft, craft, craft..."

The crafting station, obviously. He had a hidden item to make.

"Good. Every material's in."

He hadn't simply scraped them together, either. A few of the materials were overflowing.

If I'd had more of Alejandro's Blood, I could've made a few extras.

A shame, but there was no helping it. One would do for now. He ran the craft at once.

The message appeared, and he waited while it finished. A short while later—

Finished at last. He pulled it up at once.

"Hah."

He'd finally finished it. That damned hidden item. The other options were plenty good, but above all else—the mana. An absurd amount of it.

With this, I could chain skills back to back and still be fine.

And that wasn't even all of it. Mana recovery speed +100%. Stacked on his existing rate, the figure was monstrous. Spend mana, and it would come surging straight back.

One thing more. He'd piled up a fair store of materials along the way. So what was left to do?

Upgrade every crafting station.

The stations leveled on the spot. Level 4 already.

A level 4 crafting station usually doesn't show up until you're past floor 20.

Which was just another way of saying how thoroughly he'd swept the materials clean. Now then—the thing he was most curious about. The alchemy station. The mana potions ought to have upgraded too, hadn't they?

There. Upgraded. And the effect?

Okay. This was enough. Perfect.

One of my weak points—the mana problem—is finally getting solved.

In that case, maybe ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it was time to go catch that one, too.

The United States. Washington.

The White House was in an uproar.

"...So what exactly do you intend to do!"

"And how am I supposed to know that right this second?! Well?!"

"You're planning to just sit here and do nothing?"

Voices tore back and forth. They were fighting over exactly one thing: what to do about the large-class monster.

"Korea's JUNE is in the middle of the eleventh floor as we speak. Judging by the message that appeared a little while ago, he's pulled off something outrageous yet again. But that was all!"

One congressman's voice rang out, thick with confidence.

"Even he doesn't appear to have dealt with the large-class monster. If we, the United States, step forward now and take down the large monster of the eleventh floor, we can broadcast America's strength to the world!"

A large-class monster even JUNE couldn't handle—brought down by America. We're still in this. That was what they wanted.

"...But we failed as well, didn't we? And to try it now, of all times..."

"Then and now are different. Have you forgotten? The next generation of rankers America itself has raised."

"...You're saying we send out the prospects?"

"That's right."

America had not been idle. China's growth was hounding them like something unhinged, and other nations were latched on right behind. Even the seat of first place had begun to totter.

So America had thrown itself into raising talent. Vast capital, vast piles of items—and out of that, prospects of real caliber had been born.

The President of the United States, however, was not particularly taken with the idea. Rather than that, he would sooner...

"Sending the prospects out front to handle the large monster isn't a bad plan, I'll grant you. But wouldn't it be better to simply... bring Korea's Hunter JUNE over to us?"

"...Pardon?"

"I'm saying there's no need to bother keeping him in check. Rather than treating him as a rival, it would be better to naturalize him and welcome him in."

The President had laid his intentions bare. The room, however, was not one of agreement.

"I don't believe that's a good idea. Think it through. If we offer him naturalization, what will the other nations think of us?"

"I feel the same. It could show the other nations a weak face."

"Likewise. And yes, Hunter JUNE did pull off an all-kill, but it's also true his power has fallen off considerably compared to before. Clearing the eleventh floor took him longer than it used to, as well."

The opposition was fierce, and the reasons were plain.

"Hm."

And so the President of the United States withdrew his proposal.

A strange post had gone up on Hunternet. Right on the heels of the praise for JUNE came a worried one—what if they formed an alliance?

But that mood lasted only a moment. Little by little, the atmosphere began to turn. And then—

A challenge the likes of which rarely came around had begun.

The next day, the Tower was open for entry again. Two choices.

Floor 11, or floor 12.

He'd obtained a passage stone as well, so the twelfth floor was open to him. But he still had one piece of business left on the eleventh: the large-class monster.

Enter the twelfth floor, and there would be no coming back. He hadn't entered it yet. Which meant he could still return to the eleventh.

"Enter."

And so, back into the eleventh floor. It burned his chance for the day, but if he accomplished what he'd come for, it was no loss.

"Hm."

He looked around. The thing still wasn't in sight. Then he'd just have to go find it.

Whoosh—

He hung in the air and shot forward, waiting to hear it. But he couldn't catch so much as a glimpse.

Rustle.

Then—a sound, close by. He turned toward it.

"D-don't attack!"

Someone stepped out from behind a tree. Black hair, skin white as snow, a rather cute face. Chinese? Or Japanese?

"I-I'm a hunter with Japan! I-I have no intention of attacking!"

"..."

Somehow it brought the first day back. A Japanese hunter who'd said the exact same thing, then stabbed him in the back. This time, too?

"I-I know you're JUNE! I w-won't attack! I absolutely will not! I-I'm not crazy!"

Ah. This one was different. Even if she did attack, he had a way. The shield he'd taken off that Chinese hunter—he'd brought it with him.

I can go invincible whenever I feel like it.

Cast a skill in the meantime, and it would be over. Might as well ask.

"There's something I'd like to ask."

"W-what is it?"

"Do you happen to know where the large-class monster is?"

"Eh~? The big one? What's that?"

Huh? What was she saying.

"Not the big one. The large-class monster! Large. Class!"

"Uh, um... the big one. I don't really know. What's big?"

Huh. What was this. Was the translation off? Strange.

"No. What's big is—the body! The body is big!"

"Body? Hmm. I don't really know."

Say the body was big, and people usually caught the gist, didn't they? If the translation was the problem, it was getting rather frustrating.

"Body. Booooody! Large-class monster! The Predator!"

Whoosh.

His gestures had grown rougher without his noticing. And then—

"I-I'm sorry! I-I really don't know! D-do you mean this is what's big~?"

Her gaze dropped, all at once.

...No. Why is she looking at her chest.

"Hah."

A sigh slipped out of him, born of pure frustration. And then—

"Kya—kyaaaaaah!"

"..."

She fled from his sigh. Fled utterly terrified. And then she ran straight into a tree.

"..."

For a second he'd thought he might luck into the location. Completely useless.

THOOM—!!

Then it came. A tremor, all at once.

Thoom, thooom—!!

That was it. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Where?

Thoooom—

Thooooom—

The tremors came faster and faster. It was drawing close. He rose higher.

There it is.

Far off, he could see it—a head just barely jutting out at the forest's edge. Okay. Found it.

Whoosh.

He headed straight for it.

"D-don't come any closer! P-please, I'm begging you! Kyaaah!"

"..."

"W-why do you keep chasing me! I-I'm scared!"

"..."

He'd run into the Japanese woman who'd fled earlier. She'd gotten the wrong idea. And of all the luck—

Same direction.

She looked scared half to death; that much was obvious at a glance. But what if she got in the way while he fought the Predator?

Whoosh.

He stopped. Come to think of it, there was no need to get close.

Even from here, it'll reach the Predator.

Snap!

He flicked his fingers. The sky darkened, slowly. And the rain came pouring down.

The Japanese woman—eliminated. The other hunters—eliminated. But that wasn't the part that mattered.

Vwooom—

He climbed higher, and checked on the Predator.

"Kr—kraaa—kraaaaa!"

As expected. Still in one piece.

Now I start.

This wasn't like before. He had mana to spare.

Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap!

Cast after cast, without a pause. Still more rain fell from the sky.

KRRRRUMBLE— KRRUMBLE— KRRUMBLE!

The ground caved in, over and over.

Flap, flap—

The cloak, too, unleashed skills without rest.

"Kr—kraaaaa..."

And the result.

"Kr... krrr..."

THOOOOOM—!!!

He had taken down the large-class monster of the eleventh floor. The first to ever do it.