Player Hunting (1)
“So someone can reach SS-grade.”
Yu Junhyeok’s words were exactly right.
“Can I… rise to E-grade?”
“Don’t say such nonsense.”
“That… that doesn’t seem right to me!”
Choi Junseok had only meant it as a joke, yet the other S-grades looked genuinely horrified.
Would an F-grade even want to keep living like this?
“It was a joke. Just a joke. Who’d want to stay an F-grade?”
“Hamsu… I think Hamsu should stay F-grade.”
“Why?! If I were E-grade, wouldn’t they call me Ex-grade?!”
“…Fine. I give up.”
Choi Junseok thought about the Rank Upgrade Ticket sitting in his inventory and sighed.
“Can’t sell it, so best to use it.”
An item this rare would be difficult to sell anyway. Even if he went through the Player Management Agency, something of this caliber would inevitably trace back to its source.
The risk of identity exposure is too high.
Greed always comes back to bite you.
Besides, if Song Hana or Lee Nayeon reached SS-grade…
“How big is the gap between S-grade and SS-grade?”
“SS-grade players are rare even worldwide. Reaching that level usually requires forcibly upgrading with items worth hundreds of billions of won. At the very least, there has never been an SS-grade player in Korea.”
“Never?”
“One might have appeared from the Incheon Magic Tower, but none have ever been used domestically.”
Anyone who could would sell it overseas. Who in their right mind would sell it inside Korea or use it on themselves?
If he could somehow contact a foreign buyer and offload that single slip of paper, there would be no reason to risk his life climbing towers anymore.
The government strictly prevented Magic Tower items from leaving the country, but when hundreds of billions of won were on the line, would immigration really be an issue?
No. The country probably wouldn’t even try to stop him.
Earning hundreds of billions in foreign currency? That would be the Magic Tower’s own creative economy.
If the nation gets that much foreign exchange, they’d probably say, “Okay, retirement approved!” …right?
“Should I just sell it and move to America for real?”
Choi Junseok hesitated. If he took his entire family and left for the States at once…
But he shook his head.
No way that would work.
The Player Management Agency and the government wouldn’t stay quiet.
If he took two S-grade summons to America, and those national-level weapons leaked out…
“Let’s not get greedy. Yeah… I’ve decided. I’ll use it on Lee Nayeon.”
A flicker of disappointment crossed Song Hana’s eyes, but she nodded.
Lee Nayeon’s eyes widened.
“You’re… using it on me?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
Choi Junseok knew Lee Nayeon had been throwing herself into training lately. She wanted to grow stronger. At the same time, she probably wanted to be more useful to him. Perhaps she also felt impatient because, compared to Song Hana’s versatility, her own combat power wasn’t overwhelmingly superior.
But Lee Nayeon still hasn’t bloomed. Her potential is more than enough.
Her skills remained locked. They would likely awaken only after she accumulated sufficient combat experience inside the Magic Tower, or perhaps once she reached a certain level.
Choi Junseok’s own level was only 42 after clearing two floors, including the hidden stage. He had wondered if crossing level 40 would unlock one of her skills, but nothing had happened.
“Things will change once you’re SS-grade.”
Choi Junseok stood before Lee Nayeon and held out the Rank Upgrade Ticket.
“May I… really accept this?”
Before she could take it, Yu Junhyeok’s voice cut in.
“Stop.”
“…?”
Yu Junhyeok continued calmly.
“If the Magic Tower disappears… summons may not survive long either. There is a chance the summoning will be released the moment the tower vanishes. Will you still use it?”
The words were shocking, yet Choi Junseok nodded.
“I’m retiring the moment we clear the Suseo Magic Tower anyway. I’ll be filthy rich by then. And if I want to survive climbing towers until that day, Lee Nayeon needs to be stronger.”
“I still object.”
“If Lee Nayeon becomes SS-grade… won’t she be able to use that Holy Sword?”
A heavy silence fell.
Then a tremor ran through Choi Junseok’s chest. Yu Junhyeok was shaking with excitement.
“Hah! You should have said that sooner if that was your plan! Use it right now! Hurry!”
“Lee Nayeon. I’m investing an item worth hundreds of billions of won in you.”
Lee Nayeon nodded with a solemn expression.
Choi Junseok immediately tore the Rank Upgrade Ticket in front of her and declared its use.
In that instant—
A brilliant light exploded through the room and enveloped Lee Nayeon.
The moment her eyes flashed with golden radiance—
SS-grade…
“How do you feel? Stronger?”
Lee Nayeon gripped Kim Chun-sik’s longsword. She lightly bit her red lips and nodded.
“It seems so.”
“There’s a good place to test it.”
A red portal appeared before Choi Junseok and Lee Nayeon.
At that exact moment, a heavy thud sounded outside Choi Junseok’s house. An apple box had arrived.
— Junseok-nim. The magic stones you requested have been delivered to your door.
A message from Team Leader Kang.
The moment of Lee Nayeon’s second evolution had arrived.
Thud! Clang! Ratatatat! Thud! Bang! Twang!
Choi Junseok kept summoning weapons from his inventory. Haetaesik stood with arms crossed, watching.
Items, consumables, and miscellaneous drops from Magic Tower monsters kept pouring out.
“All of that is inside your skill? That’s one hell of a convenient ability.”
It far surpassed ordinary subspace inventories that bound to the user upon acquisition. The lack of weight or volume warnings was especially nice.
As his level rose, the Inventory Master skill had apparently grown along with him.
Haetaesik snorted while idly watching the trash and junk pile up.
“Everything except the Balrog’s sword is basically garbage. At best, the sword that woman is wearing might pass.”
Then Choi Junseok summoned the apple box containing six kilograms of magic stones. Haetaesik’s eyes lit up.
“Whoa! You actually brought magic stones this fast! You’re a man who gets things done!”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Oho, my goodness… Wait, that’s over five kilos?”
“Yeah?”
Haetaesik lifted the box, examined the stones, and nodded confidently.
“A blacksmith of my caliber can tell at a glance. This is about 6.3 kilos. Quality’s top-notch too. This is more than enough to melt down the Balrog’s sword.”
“Really? That’s even better. Then how about fixing up the other stuff into something usable?”
“Usable stuff?”
Choi Junseok lined up the items he had obtained from the VIP shop.
“You want me to turn these kids’ toys into proper weapons?”
“Yeah.”
“The base materials… they’d shatter in midair past the 40th floor. Still, if I recycle them, they’re not completely useless. I’ll make something decent with the leftover magic stones.”
Haetaesik turned to Lee Nayeon standing behind Choi Junseok.
“Your name was Lee Nayeon, right? Swing your sword. I’ll forge one that suits you.”
Shring—
The sword slid out lightly. To Haetaesik’s eyes, it looked slightly short and thin for her.
Lee Nayeon’s gaze turned cold and deep. Even the aura she gave off while holding the blade was on a completely different level from when she had been S-grade.
At that moment, a status window appeared before both Lee Nayeon and Choi Junseok.
[You have acquired ‘Aura Blade – Low’.]
[You have acquired ‘Aura Blade – Intermediate’.]
[You have acquired ‘Aura Blade – High’.]
[You have broken through ‘Aura Blade – High’ and acquired the linked skill ‘Sword Qi’.]
At the same time, the skill [Sword Qi] was registered under Lee Nayeon’s universal skills.
As Lee Nayeon poured power into her blade, pure white energy gathered along the sword like a massive plume of steam condensing onto Kim Chun-sik’s longsword.
“That is… Sword Qi!”
Yu Junhyeok, who had once reached that realm himself, let out an admiring cry.
Yet Lee Nayeon instinctively knew that drawing any more Sword Qi would snap the blade.
Whoosh!
She halted the incomplete Sword Qi midway, then swung the sword upward in a diagonal arc from low to high stance.
BOOOOOOM!
The pure white sword energy split the lava in half and slammed into the opposite wall of the cavern, shaking the entire forge.
Even Lee Nayeon stared at her own hand in disbelief, clenching and unclenching her fist.
“She could probably solo up to the 20th floor by herself.”
When Lee Nayeon handed over the sheathed Kim Chun-sik’s longsword, Haetaesik nodded in satisfaction and scurried off with the magic stone box.
In the dark dawn, several men in black wetsuits silently climbed ashore along South Korea’s eastern coast.
With practiced movements, they dug deep pits with their bare hands, changed out of their swimsuits, and pulled everyday clothes from waterproof bags.
They were North Korean special operatives who were also active as players.
Surprisingly, their status windows listed their affiliation as Korea.
North Korea’s movements—shifting troops around the Kaesong Magic Tower, launching filth balloons daily, and firing long-range missiles toward the eastern sea—had all been a smokescreen to hide the infiltration of their players.
“For the Great Leader.”
“Glory to the Great Leader.”
Even their speech was natural South Korean dialect.
After burying their wetsuits in the deep pits, they looked up as a black vehicle arrived. They boarded in their civilian clothes and began driving toward Seoul.
Their operation, vowing never to stand by idly, had begun.
Their sole target: approach a player team near Paju, infiltrate by pretending to be comrades, and slaughter them both inside and outside the Magic Tower.
If possible, they would do the same at the Suseo Magic Tower.
“Come to think of it, Junseok, why haven’t you joined any team?”
Choi Junseok’s mother, who knew little about the player world, asked while grilling samgyeopsal.
“Mom, why would I need a team when I have two S-grade summons and I’m already climbing the double-digit floors?”
“Is that so? Suho told me you’re strong, but not that strong… so I wondered if the rumors about Function were exaggerated.”
“Not at all.”
Come to think of it, the 14th floor he had reached in his previous life was right in front of him now. He had obtained the hidden area on the 14th floor.
In a way, it was because Pungshin F&D had thrown their porter away to erase the hidden stage and escape with a return stone.
That was several months from now, though…
The superiors who had ordered him to die back then were probably still in that guild.
Choi Junseok tapped out a short message to Team Leader Kang.
— Please check if someone named Yu Jeong-hyeon is still employed at the Pungshin F&D Guild.
— Yes, I’ll confirm right away.
A moment later, the reply came. Choi Junseok’s eyes wavered as he read it.
— Reported deceased today.
— Something seems off. The only guild survivor that day was a single porter who joined on the same day.
— Would you like me to investigate further?