Let's Do a Debut Stream! (3)

Kang Mujin sat at his desk with anxiety drawn tight across his face. Why was this taking so long? They had the name, and they had the face. A single query of the administrative database should have pinned her identity down in moments.

BANG!

Just as his unease threatened to climb higher still, the door burst open and his subordinate came striding back in.

"Director! We cannot confirm Dandanso's identity."

"What do you mean, her identity can't be confirmed?"

"We've searched every administrative record. No one matches."

"What!"

How could a person simply fail to appear? Tower Streaming allowed registration under one's legal name alone. Dandanso was an unusual name, granted, but it had to be her real one — and she had entered through Korea's Tower, so her nationality ought to be Korean. Yet the search returned nothing.

"We requested cooperation from the police and the National Intelligence Service as well. They say the Dandanso we're looking for isn't in their databases either."

The police. Even the NIS. Nothing. How was that possible? They knew her legal name and her face, and still couldn't identify her at all!

"What! You're certain?"

"Yes, sir. At present, only two people in Korea go by the name Dandanso. One is an eighty-seven-year-old grandmother. The other is a seven-year-old boy."

"I heard this Dandanso used to stream on a place called Chzzk. What about that?"

"We checked that as well. When Chzzk pulled out of the business, they scrapped the data center. Nothing remains, so we can't verify anything through that route either."

An S-rank whose identity could not be confirmed in the slightest. That was far too large a source of unease.

The Dandanso he had seen in the footage was strong — strong enough to make him doubt she was truly level one. A single swing of her sword, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and a mountain split apart.

If he went down to Floor 1 this very moment and ran the clear over and over, could he do what Dandanso had done? No. He could not. Hunter Kang Chaemin would find it impossible as well.

For a brief moment, Kang Mujin imagined the two of them fighting. One exchange. He would not last even a single clash — the image of his own defeat painted itself, unbidden, across his mind. There was no choice but to admit it. The strongest hunter in South Korea, right now, was Dandanso.

What frightened him more was that she was a hunter who had only just awakened. She might have secretly raised her level beforehand and been putting on an act, but it was wiser to treat that possibility as nearly nonexistent. That distinctive look — flowing crimson hair, piercing red eyes — and she was extraordinarily beautiful besides. However secretly someone like that climbed the Tower, word would have leaked out somehow. For such a hunter's identity to be entirely untraceable was a serious problem.

Of course, she might keep climbing and become the hope of Korea. But he was Director of the Tower Climbing Bureau, and he could not afford to ignore the other possibilities: that she was a dangerous person harboring some terrifying plan. The way she had appeared out of nowhere, flaunting a strength that defied all sense. The way her identity could not be confirmed at all. Every circumstance pointed to the chance that she was dangerous.

Even so, this was not a situation in which he could simply sit on his hands. Kang Mujin resolved to do what little the moment allowed. If he could not confirm who Dandanso was, he would at least determine what kind of person she was. The Dandanso who had appeared today and the Dandanso who used to stream on Chzzk looked to be one and the same. Watch the old broadcasts, and her character would answer for itself.

Kang Mujin opened Nutube and started watching Dandanso's past streams.

"Hey, you idiot! What do you think you're doing over there!"

Kang Mujin, midway through one of Dandanso's videos, finally couldn't hold it in, and the curse came ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠flying out.

Dandanso and three fellow streamers were playing something like Mafia. Anyone with eyes could see that A was the mafia. Every streamer who wasn't the mafia pointed at A. Dandanso alone pointed at B.

"Hold on. Hey, Dandanso, what are you doing?"

"What? Anyone can see B's the mafia."

"What are you talking about! Anyone can see A's the mafia!"

Thanks to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Dandanso's trolling, the votes tied and the mafia survived. In the end, the mafia won.

"Huh?! What! B wasn't the mafia?!"

"Hey! Everybody knew except you, Dandanso!"

And another video. This time Dandanso was the mafia. Kill B now, and it would be obvious the mafia was her; she needed to let the round pass and make the kill quietly next time. Dandanso did not let it pass. She killed B on the spot.

"What! B just died out of nowhere!"

"Hey, it's you, idiot!"

"It's not me!"

"Why would you kill them when anybody could tell it was you? You moron!"

And another video. Dandanso was playing PlanetCraft, the game that had once ruled Korea's PC bangs. She had already eaten most of the resources on the map — a game she could not lose even if she tried. She lost anyway. She had mindlessly thrown her entire army straight into the tanks her opponent had dug in on the high ground, and that was the end of it.

"Argh! Please, stop throwing your units away! Kill the tanks on the hill first!"

Once again, Kang Mujin couldn't swallow the swearing. He rose to drink some water and cool his head, and his eyes caught the clock beside him.

What? He had been watching for this long?

He had only meant to skim a few representative videos, just enough to get a sense of who Dandanso was. The hour now was ten at night. Without noticing, he had fallen straight into her and spent six hours doing nothing but watch.

Terrifying. What a terrifying woman.

Those foolish, brainless performances she had put on stream — every last one of them had to have been meticulously planned. Otherwise there was no way he would have lost his mind and stared at videos for six hours. This settled it. She was a frighteningly meticulous, calculating person. That her identity could not be confirmed was surely because she herself had taken measures.

Dandanso. Just what was her purpose in hiding who she was? Turn it over as he might, he couldn't begin to guess. He had the feeling it was nothing good — and yet there was only one thing Kang Mujin could do. Pray, with everything he had, that Dandanso would prove to be someone friendly toward Korea.

"You all caught that, right? Anyone miss it? If you did, I'll show you one more time!"

Hnnngh... This. This was exactly why you streamed.

Good. Now then — time to really start showing off.

I was just about to put on a proper show for the viewers when a hologram window bloomed open before my eyes.

Wait. No way. It couldn't be.

Hey, System, what are you doing! Read the room. I said read the room!

Along with the notification, my body began to move.

"No! Please, just a second. Just a little longer! Please, not now!"

The waiting room again. And the Tower Streaming broadcast, already over.

No. I still had to show off for the viewers. I'd cut every goblin down so stylishly, and this was just too cruel. Stupid System. I am not forgiving you.

"Puhahaha. A person really ought to know how to be humble. Hahahaha."

I was about to fire something back at Danso, who was laughing as if this were the funniest thing in the world, when another system message surfaced.

Hey. System, are you messing with me? You're supposed to finish all the grading and then move me. If you were going to do it like this, you could've at least let me keep streaming a little longer!

SSS+?

The moment I saw the clear grade, my anger at the System drained away and a question rose in its place. As far as I knew, the Tower's highest clear grade ended at SSS. The only hunters who had ever succeeded at an SSS clear were Xiao Lin and Scarlet. China's Xiao Lin had cleared Floors 6 and 8 at SSS, and America's Scarlet had cleared Floors 4, 7, and 9 at SSS. From Floor 10 on, the difficulty spiked so sharply that not a single hunter had managed an SSS clear. And a grade called SSS+ had existed all along?

From somewhere came the nonsense of a certain someone who, only a moment ago, had been insisting that a person ought to live humbly. I ignored it without a second thought.

And then the next system messages rose, one after another.

Oh! So SSS+ came with a bonus reward too.

Language of the Beginning. The name alone overflowed with swagger. It looked like a skill made exactly for an alpha female like me.

Not bad.

Thanks to Danso, that ridiculously strong Heavenly Demon, I didn't need a combat skill anyway. Right now a support skill like that would do me more good than any attack ever could. Someone might ask what was so great about being able to talk to every race — but read enough web novels, and you knew a power like that always showed its true worth later. A place to use it would turn up. I was sure of it.

"Ehehehe."

Looking over the rewards, my mood lifted all over again.