Overwhelming Attention

“Hoeee…!”

I sucked in a sharp breath at the flood of messages that had arrived.

It hadn’t been long since I cleared the first floor, yet every country’s channels were already exploding with posts about me.

My personal message inbox was packed with messages from every kind of heavyweight—the association president, the U.S. Hunter Management Bureau, major guilds from around the world, and famous hunters from every nation.

“The whole world has finally realized Your Highness Lucy’s cuteness… no, your majesty! This is truly the world set right!”

“No, that’s not what I—”

Meanwhile Asmodeus was innocently squealing and clapping her hands like an excited seal.

This was hardly the time for clapping.

When I actually looked through the messages, the situation went far beyond simply taking the number one rank.

Most of them were serious, but the most serious of all were messages like these.

“Why is this dumbass suddenly challenging me to a fight…?”

A battle maniac who throws down the gauntlet the moment he sees ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠someone strong. I knew about Ivanova.

Russia’s top-ranked hunter, the man they called the God of Ice. He possessed an incredibly powerful ice-based class.

The reason it displayed as “Dumbass” was because of the status window’s automatic translation feature. This hunter-exclusive community ran on system-provided functions, which were apparently far inferior to normal computer translators. Still, translating “God of Ice” as “Dumbass” was a bit much.

“They did warn me to be careful around this guy…”

Setting aside the ridiculous translation issue, Ivanova was infamous for being a battle junkie. He got off on fighting people stronger than himself. In one interview he claimed the pleasure of defeating a stronger opponent was 5,759,000 times better than sex. (I have no idea where that specific number came from.)

Because of that, he constantly picked fights with hunters stronger than him. There was no one left in Russia who could beat him, so lately he had apparently even challenged Messiah.

“What a pathetic nickname, ‘Dumbass.’ What kind of idiot sends such drivel to Your Highness Lucy? This girl shall go and deal with him at once.”

Asmodeus’s face twisted the moment she read Ivanova’s messages.

I wondered who would win if those two actually fought. I’d never met an S-rank hunter before, but could he really be stronger than the 32nd ranked demon of Hell? Asmodeus was probably stronger—her first-floor score had been much higher. Then again, this “Dumbass” would have grown a lot since then. I couldn’t be sure.

Anyway, I wasn’t actually going to fight him.

“There’s no need for that. I don’t have to pay attention to every little thing like this.”

Regardless of his skill, getting involved with Ivanova would be a huge mistake. If I did, I might end up dueling him between bites of lunch. The best option was to ignore him completely.

“Aah… As expected of Your Highness. There is no need to spare even a glance at mere insects. This girl became angry at nothing more than an ant. How embarrassing.”

I had only said it because it seemed like it would be annoying, but Asmodeus looked deeply moved, as if she had interpreted it on some profound level.

Anyway, people like Ivanova had to be ignored. And he wasn’t the only one rushing in.

They did say there were a lot of weirdos among the top rankers. Even though I had only become famous less than an hour ago, plenty of other aggressive hunters besides Ivanova were already charging at me.

The rest are mostly recruitment offers, huh.

Excluding the Ivanova-style messages, everything else was recruitment offers. Contacts from all sorts of guilds, plus offers from the United States, China, Japan, Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia—every country was competing to recruit me or have me naturalize.

The transfer market is brutal…

Hunters were national assets. In an era where monsters could burst out of gates at any moment, possessing strong hunters was the same as national security. That was why countries scrambled to naturalize powerful hunters. Korea had apparently lost many hunters to richer nations in the past.

…I absolutely cannot reveal my identity.

After skimming the messages, I made my decision. I would hide who I was.

If I revealed myself, there was no telling what kind of chaos would follow. Every nation was desperate to recruit me as a powerful hunter, while battle-crazed people like Ivanova were bloodthirsty to fight me. On top of that, all sorts of dangerous attention was pouring in.

This soft demon whose combined physical stats totaled a measly three was in no position to step into that world.

Ugh… That means I can’t even register as an awakened either.

I wouldn’t be able to register my awakening with the association. Registration would officially expose my identity. I had no choice but to remain an unregistered awakened for now.

“As expected of Lady Lucy…! There is no need for you to lower yourself beneath mere human systems…! As the supreme ruler of Hell, you have no reason to bow to weak humans. You intend to rule over them from above…!”

That wasn’t what I meant at all.

How could a soft demon with combined physical stats of three possibly rule the world?

I glanced at myself in the mirror. Yeah. I was far too cute to appear before the world. People might pay attention not because I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looked like a terrifying hunter, but because I was too adorable. Or worse, someone with weird tastes might try to kidnap me.

“Brooding Lucy is so cute!!”

The moment I rested my chin on my hand, Asmodeus let out a squeal.

Come to think of it, Asmodeus herself seemed like the most dangerous one here. I was only thinking, yet she was reacting like this. Just how cute did she find me?

Asmodeus pulled out a smartphone with a strange design—clearly a device from Hell—and began snapping photos of me as I looked in the mirror.

“What do you think, Your Highness? It came out wonderfully, did it not? This must be uploaded to Helstagram at once!”

“Helstagram?”

“It is Hell’s version of social media. I heard something similar exists in the present world.”

“Let me see.”

I checked the photo Asmodeus had taken.

Yeah. It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was definitely cute.

Now that I thought about it, famous hunters enjoyed popularity that rivaled celebrities. If I revealed my identity, I would be constantly photographed and my pictures would spread all over social media.

Hm. There were still too many risks. I hated to say it myself, but I really was cute.

“No. Uploading is forbidden.”

“A-ah…! Why…! Everyone in Hell must witness Your Highness’s cuteness—ah, no, your majesty!”

“I said no.”

“Hiiing…”

Asmodeus drooped in disappointment. Besides, signals from Hell probably didn’t reach the present world anyway, so uploading wasn’t even possible. In the end, my photo remained only in Asmodeus’s phone gallery.

“Anyway, that’s beside the point. We have something more important to do.”

“What might that be?”

“We need to sell the rewards we obtained.”

There was another reason I had boldly chosen to remain unregistered. It was still possible to make money without registering with the association.

Along with the awakened-exclusive community functions, this was another feature unlocked in the status window—the Awakened Exchange.

Using it, I could easily trade with awakened individuals from all over the world. In simple terms, it was an internet auction house exclusively for awakened people. Since it wasn’t created by humans but was a system function, anyone who was awakened could use it.

Only my nickname would be shown; no address, real name, or other personal information would be revealed.

“I’ll sell the C-rank magic stone I got from the first floor.”

“What is the market price?”

“Around ten million won.”

C-rank magic stones traded for roughly ten million won. The value of magic stones rose exponentially with each rank. Even a B-rank stone was said to be worth ten times more—about a hundred million won.

The trading process was simple. Countless items were listed for sale or purchase in the exchange. I simply selected an item listed in won and sold mine. If I chose a dollar-listed item, the money would come in dollars. The same principle applied for other currencies.

“Trade.”

I pressed the trade button firmly.

A simple status message appeared, and then a money bag popped out of the status window with a soft thud.

“Ooh. How fascinating.”

When I opened it, the bag was stuffed with banknotes. The downside of the exchange was that only physical items could be registered, so transactions had to be done in cash. Still, ten million won had appeared in the blink of an eye.

“The rest as well…”

I sold the miscellaneous rewards along with the magic stone. After selling all the minor equipment that had dropped, I ended up with roughly twenty million won in total.

“Now I can eat as much Yonsei Milk Bread as I want!”

“As expected of Your Highness!”

Twenty million won was enough to live on for quite a while. So this was why everyone wanted to become a hunter.

I had sold pretty much everything else. However, there was still one item I hadn’t sold.

The D-rank skill book that had come as a reward.

Skills were far more valuable than other items of the same rank. Even a D-rank skill had as much demand as C-rank equipment. Learning a skill was the fastest way to become stronger, and skills could grow through use. There were also high-rank skills that could only be obtained by evolving lower-rank ones.

In short, having skills was very good…

I should use this one myself.

I was a soft demon whose combined physical stats totaled three. Even with Asmodeus at my side, I had almost no combat ability on my own. It was better to collect as many skills as possible. Even though it was only D-rank, it was still better ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠than nothing.

Use.

The skill book shone brilliantly and was absorbed.

According to what I had read on the hunter gallery, the skill should appear in my status window immediately after use.

However—

“E-eh?”

The moment I used the skill book, the system began spitting out messages like it was having a seizure. The “unable to learn skill” alerts flooded the screen like screaming sirens.

The characters soon began to distort grotesquely. Bizarre, meaningless broken symbols covered the status window in a horrifying display. The sight of those eerie characters filling my vision was genuinely terrifying.

“A-Asmodeus…!”

“What is the matter, Your Highness?!”

Without thinking I stumbled toward Asmodeus. Sensing something was wrong, she pulled me into a tight embrace. Since she couldn’t see my status window, she had no idea what was happening right in front of my eyes.

“Ugh…”

While I kept my eyes squeezed shut in her arms, the rampaging status window suddenly flashed brightly and returned to normal.

Of course, the skill had not been learned. The skill book had simply evaporated. Instead, text in a different font from the usual system messages began to appear.