Testing the Blade
• Who was the true hero of the Tsushima Island Demonic Outbreak raid? South Korea's hunters.
• Where Japan's strongest faltered, a Korean hunter forged ahead.
• The aftermath of the Demonic Outbreak... Can a devastated Tsushima Island recover?
• A fleeing hero? The shocking 47 seconds... Nakamura Ryohei goes into hiding.
• Japanese government to launch a massive overhaul of their hunter system.
• Super rookie Lee Taepyeong's unexpected performance: "I just did my job."
• Will retired hero "Succubus" Maeng Juim return? Eyes on his next move.
• Stolen Contribution Points, can they be returned? The blind spot of international law.
"It's a complete madhouse."
Tsk, tsk.
I clicked my tongue as I scrolled down the screen.
The successful raid on the Tsushima Island Demonic Outbreak was apparently massive bait for the media, because there hadn't been a single quiet day since.
From the Hunter Administration Office to the Typhoon Guild, the phones wouldn't stop ringing.
As if the flood of interview requests wasn't enough, some reporters even managed to dig up my personal number and call me directly.
Thanks to them, I had to change my phone.
"Well, you did perform an incredible feat, Hunter-nim," Do Sangjin added, folding laundry beside me.
"If I didn't think I could clear it, I wouldn't have gone in the first place."
*Thud.*
I tossed my phone onto the table and began eating the fruit Do Sangjin had prepared for me.
Apples neatly carved into the shape of rabbits.
"I'm glad I gave them a proper warning during the Han Myeongjin incident."
If I hadn't, the media would have been flooded with clickbait articles trying to paint me in a bad light.
For instance, they might have labeled me a murderous hunter for killing Kenji.
In fact, that was exactly the kind of news that initially broke in Japan.
Korean Hunter Lee Taepyeong Kills Kenji.
Fortunately, though...
"Kenji was undergoing Kappa transformation. It was a situation where he had to be put down."
"If he hadn't been killed then, the others would have been infected as well."
"The Korean hunter, Lee Taepyeong, did what Nakamura Ryohei could not."
"Without him, the Tsushima Island raid would never have succeeded."
Kurosawa Rei had defended me in her interviews in Japan.
Nakamura Ryohei remained silent since he was in hiding, but thanks to Kurosawa Rei's counter-interviews, articles calling me a murderer had practically vanished.
Of course, the more they pushed that narrative, the more it highlighted the sheer incompetence of the Japanese hunters.
Thanks to that, South Korean media was pumping out nationalistic, patriotic articles like crazy.
Whenever I turned on the TV, practically every channel was broadcasting footage of me slicing through Kappa.
Even if half the screen was censored with mosaics.
In any case, the live broadcast that was supposed to elevate the prestige of Japanese hunters had, ironically, made me famous instead.
...Watching the exact same news for an entire week is getting exhausting.
I yawned and flipped the channel.
An action movie happened to be playing on a movie channel.
"Oh, I wanted to watch this."
It was a film I had planned to see in theaters when it was released.
I had completely forgotten about it.
Just how much time had passed?
Come to think of it, it's been ages since I last went to a movie theater.
I had been so busy lately that the thought of going to the cinema hadn't even crossed my mind.
Maybe I should just watch a movie today.
I settled into a comfortable position and sprawled out on the sofa.
*Boom!*
*Crash!*
The movie was a whirlwind of massive explosions and high-octane action.
"Meh..."
Unlike before, it didn't feel all that exciting.
It was true what they said—the movie industry had taken a massive hit ever since the Babel Tower appeared.
It made sense.
When reality itself became more cinematic than any film, it was only natural that movies started to feel dull.
Instead of wasting time here, maybe I should run the tower...
Was I turning into a tower-obsessed maniac?
Do Sangjin, Kang Mina, and even Go Juhee—almost everyone around me practically begged me to take a break from raiding.
But resting was only fun for a day or two.
By the third day, boredom was already setting in.
How many days had it been since the Tsushima Island raid?
Had it been a week?
It would be one thing if I had actually climbed the tower, but instead, I was stuck doing boring things like interviews.
*Kaboom!*
My body was itching for action.
*Rat-a-tat-tat!*
I stared blankly at the TV for a moment before quietly pushing myself up.
Do Sangjin had gone to clean the bathroom.
Woo Jumin was at school.
So, if I just slipped out for a quick, light run...
Maybe I'll just clear a floor.
I tiptoed out of the living room.
If I told Do Sangjin I was heading to the tower, he would nag me to rest.
So, secretly...
"Where are you going?"
Caught instantly.
Maybe I should have used Echo Walker to slip out.
"Ahem. Just going for a walk."
"I see. The wind is chilly, so make sure to bundle up before you go."
Huh?
Did he not realize?
I smiled and nodded.
"Yes! I'll bundle up and head out!"
"How does fish cake udon sound for dinner?"
Oh!
I was actually planning to go to the snowy mountain map to hunt Ice Bears anyway!
Eating hot fish cake udon after that would be absolutely perfect.
"That sounds amazing!"
"You always crave hot soup whenever you return from the snowy mountain, so I will have it ready."
"As expected of you, Sangjin..."
Wait.
Hold on.
How did he know I was going to the snowy mountain?
As I stared at him with my mouth agape, Do Sangjin offered a knowing smile.
"Since you've been cooped up inside for a while, I figured it was about time you wanted to head out."
"...Wow. You figured that out just by intuition?"
"I have accumulated quite a bit of data on you by now."
I scratched the back of my head, feeling a bit sheepish.
Indeed.
A top-tier butler was truly on another level.
He might actually know me better than I knew myself...
"I'll be back in a flash, so please make the fish cake udon extra delicious."
"Understood. Please be careful."
With Do Sangjin sending me off, I headed to the Hunter Administration Office.
"Hunter Lee Taepyeong-nim!"
The gate entry staff member who had lost his hand trying to hold onto me when I was forcibly abducted to the Elf Empire greeted me warmly.
Thanks to the Elixir I had given him back then, his hand had been completely restored.
"How is your hand doing?"
"Ah, thanks to you, Hunter-nim, it's perfectly fine!"
"Haha, that's a relief."
"Honestly, I feel like it's even better than before!"
The staff member showed me his fully healed hand.
I had been feeling guilty since he lost it trying to stop me from being dragged away, so this was a huge weight off my chest. Good, good.
"Are you going solo today?"
"Yes. Just a light run by myself."
"Haha, I believe you said the same thing last time."
"Well, it was relatively light back then too."
I only lightly slaughtered about a thousand elves before coming back.
"The 47th floor, correct?"
"Yes."
"I'll assist you with entry right away."
As I sat in the chair, the number 47 appeared on the opposite wall.
The 47th floor was a snowy mountain map where Ice Bears spawned.
Compared to how powerful the Ice Bears were, the rewards were rather stingy.
It wasn't a popular floor for repeated runs.
So why was I going there?
Because it was unpopular, of course.
Unpopular meant no people.
And no people meant I could kill everything all by myself. How convenient was that?
Even when I entered as a party last time...
There was absolutely no one else besides us.
Heh.
I'd go in, summon Cerberus, have him herd the Ice Bears, and then sweep them all away.
It would be a great workout for today.
Let's sweat it out and head back for some piping hot fish cake udon!
"Entering the Babel Tower."
*Whoosh.*
I didn't even feel anything when entering the tower anymore.
Just like how nobody gets surprised every time they ride an elevator.
I had gotten far too used to this.
*Fwoooooosh!*
When I opened my eyes, a snowy mountain buffeted by a fierce, biting wind stretched out before me.
"Ugh, freezing."
I quickly opened my inventory and equipped the Fire Rat Leather Hat.
*Whoosh!*
A warm, cozy heat instantly enveloped my entire body.
Ah.
Expensive things really were worth the price.
I was glad I bought it back then.
Since these extreme environment maps popped up quite often, it was incredibly useful once you had one.
"Now then, for today..."
*Shring!*
Instead of Jeoldanchamgeuk, I drew the Sword of Calamity.
Reflecting the light from the snow, the Sword of Calamity gleamed with an ominous luster.
*Kieeeee...*
The screams of the Kappa still echoed from the Void Stone embedded in the center.
Rather than feeling unpleasant, it actually sounded almost pleasant to my ears.
Maybe that was a weird way to put it.
Anyway.
If I killed the Ice Bears today, would their screams be stored in it too?
I wasn't entirely sure how the mechanics of this thing worked.
It was fascinating, though.
"Well, I'll find out once I use it."
I had felt this back on Tsushima Island as well, but the sword fit my hand perfectly, as if it had been custom-made for me.
Unlike when it was the Sword of the Successor (Incomplete), the shape of the hilt and the length of the blade itself had completely changed.
Since it was originally crafted for an elf, it had felt a bit too long, but now it was about 100 centimeters—the perfect length for me.
On top of that...
"Why is it so light?"
It was remarkably light.
I had thought it was light when I was killing the Kappa, but now it felt even lighter, almost like a feather.
Was it actually lighter than my dagger, Jeoldanchamgeuk?
*Whoosh!*
Swinging it required absolutely no effort at all.
Was this thanks to elven technology, or did I receive some kind of buff because I impressed the Sword Holy Spirit or whatever it was?
I should ask the Emperor about it the next time I go back.
*Flutter...*
*Flutter...*
Snow began to fall.
I watched the flakes drift down for a moment, then...
*Swish!*
I swung the sword lightly.
It looked as if I had merely sliced through empty air, but...
*Snip!*
A falling snowflake was cleanly sliced in half along the trajectory of the blade.
"Oh, that actually worked."
I had tried it on a whim, but this was seriously impressive.
The hides of the Ice Bears that lived in the freezing cold of the snowy mountain were incredibly thick.
It was no easy task to pierce their hide with an ordinary weapon.
Their skulls were also extremely hard, so hunters usually targeted their eye sockets to pierce their brains.
But...
With this...
I could probably slice right through the hide.
I wasn't sure about the durability yet, but if I played my cards right, I might even be able to pierce straight through to their hearts.
Of course, to keep the hide intact, it was better to target the eye sockets as usual.
But it was fine to kill them in a different way once in a while, right?
Even I was getting tired of relentlessly stabbing eyes.
Besides, the Wyverns I would encounter in the 50s had hides that were far thicker than those of Ice Bears.
So, I might as well treat the hides as write-offs.
I could just sweep through the Ice Bears for practice.
Well, it was a bit of a waste of good hide, but selling the mana stones alone would still yield a tidy profit.
*Swish!*
*Swoosh!*
After swinging the Sword of Calamity a few more times, I began to trek through the deep, sinking snow of the mountain.
Since the Fire Rat Leather Hat took care of the cold, my movements weren't sluggish at all.
This was why you had to spend money—or rather, Contribution Points—when the time was right.
If you tried to pinch pennies at every turn like Japan did, you'd end up in deep shit.
By the way...
Why weren't there any Ice Bears around?
Normally, they should have rushed out by now, trying to swallow me whole.
Yet, today was strangely quiet.
It wasn't like those beasts to lie in ambush.
Will they show up if I keep walking?
*Crunch.*
*Crunch.*
I forged ahead through the snowdrifts for a while, when...
*Fwoooooosh...*
Far in the distance, halfway up the blizzard-swept mountain, I spotted gray shadows tumbling and thrashing against one another.
...What on earth is that?