Chapter 55 — If Oppa Ever Becomes Famous...
Chapter 55 — If Oppa Ever Becomes Famous...
Translation: GodTL
To escape the barrage of calls from reporters and guild officials—and to discuss everything that had happened—I immediately video-called Sia.
As always, the moment I called, Sia picked up right away.
[Oppa! Oh, wait—Oppa. Did something happen?]
The moment she answered, she greeted me cheerfully, but as soon as she saw my face on the screen, her voice turned worried.
I must have looked visibly exhausted from dealing with all the calls.
[Did you... um, lose the ring? Is that why you called?]
Huh.
Come to think of it, the ring Sia had given me wasn't on my finger.
For a second, a chill ran down my spine at the thought that I might have lost it, but thankfully, after racking my brain, I realized that wasn't the case.
"No, it's just... I took it off earlier when I was washing up, and now that I think about it, I left it in the bathroom."
I almost aged ten years in that moment.
If I had actually lost it, I wouldn't have known how to handle the aftermath.
[Phew, that's a relief. It's not uncomfortable to wear or anything, right?]
"Nope. Fits perfectly. Easy to put on, too."
Times like these make me realize how terrifying I can be.
The way lies slip effortlessly from my lips without even a flicker in my expression is honestly impressive.
I am grateful that Sia made it for me herself, and I do know that wearing it helps me in some ways.
But that doesn't change the indescribable discomfort I feel when it's on.
At least I've gotten used to it now, but whenever I remember that this ring—and the necklace I'm wearing—are made from Sia's bones, I still get goosebumps all over.
Casually, I walked to the bathroom, slipped the ring I'd left there back onto my finger, and showed it to Sia.
[Even if you lost the ring, I could always make another one, but I was worried you might be stressing over it.]
She let out a sigh of relief as she spoke.
[So, Oppa, what did you call about?]
I gave Sia a brief rundown of everything that had happened today.
"At first, it was exciting, but after a while, it just got exhausting."
[But that's still good news! It means people are recognizing and acknowledging your achievements.]
"Maybe in the past, I would've cared, but now? Not really. No matter how much others acknowledge me, that's not what's important anymore. What matters is your recognition."
Whether I went from D-rank to B-rank in a month and a half or even SSS-rank, in the end, my only goal was to fully master the Dragon's power.
That was the intent behind my words, but Sia seemed to interpret them differently—her face flushed bright red, and she squirmed with embarrassment.
[Oppa, you're so...]
Sometimes, when Sia reacts like this, I end up feeling awkward too.
Clearing my throat, I continued.
"Anyway, I'm getting tired of answering calls, but I can't just ignore them or turn off my phone... I don't even know how these people got my number. But if I'm going to be stuck talking to them, I'd rather be talking to you."
[Mhm! I'll make all that exhaustion disappear, so don't worry. Hmm, what should we talk about?]
We kept the call going, and while we were at it, we also discussed our date plans for this week.
After the long conversation finally wrapped up—
"See you then."
[Yeah! And Oppa, if you can't turn off your phone because of me, it's fine to shut it down. Besides, if you need to call, you still have your laptop.]
"Oh, right. There's no rule saying we have to use phones."
Why didn't I think of that sooner?
Whether it's voice chat or something else, there are ways.
"Then, Sia, I'll probably turn off my phone for today, so don't worry too much, okay?"
[Okay! It'll be dinnertime soon, so eat well!]
"You too."
After hanging up, I tossed my phone onto the bed with a refreshed sigh.
After a long chat with Sia, all the fatigue just melted away.
"Right, I already told Sia I'd turn off my phone," I muttered, about to power it down.
Yet another call came through just then.
"Again...?"
Fine, I'll answer this one last call before shutting it off.
After ending the call with Min-jun, Sia sank deep into thought.
It went without saying that having someone she loved recognized by so many people was wonderful news.
Sure, he seemed exhausted from all the calls, but hadn't he even described it as pleasantly tiring while talking to her?
Still, there was one thing that nagged at her.
What if he ends up appearing on TV?
From the way he'd spoken earlier, he clearly had no intention of doing interviews or shows.
But that was just her gut feeling.
Who knew? Maybe his mind would change, and he'd end up on some high-profile program.
Some might wonder why she was even worrying about this—wouldn't it just be cool to see her boyfriend on TV?
But her concerns ran deeper.
If he becomes famous from appearing on TV—there's no way some girls won't start batting their eyelashes at him.
If Min-jun ever did appear on a show, they'd obviously focus on his incredible growth and achievements as a Hunter.
But Sia was certain people wouldn't just stop there—they'd also latch onto his unfairly handsome face, the kind that could rival celebrities.
Someone who isn't even an idol yet can charm women like this? It'd be huge news.
And considering the potential he'd shown as a Hunter, the attention would only snowball.
Talented and gorgeous? No way broadcasters would leave him alone.
Then he'd naturally get more offers, become a celebrity, and suddenly, other women would take notice. Pretty, famous female stars might even get close to him while working together on shows...
And what if one of them decided to make a move on him?
Unlike her, they wouldn't have any restrictions on seeing him. Young, beautiful, accomplished women could start subtly seducing him whenever they pleased.
Most people would probably think she was being paranoid, overthinking things—
But this wasn't something anyone else could truly understand.
In the short time since they'd returned to Earth—less than a month and a half—she'd already witnessed two women shamelessly pursuing him.
She'd heard stories before about how, even before his reincarnation, women had tried to get his number.
And she'd seen firsthand how often girls flirted with him.
But two incidents in such a short span? No wonder she was on edge.
Click, click, click—
Her teeth gnawed anxiously at her nails.
"That... That absolutely can't happen."
No matter what, she couldn't let his face become widely known—not through TV, not even through YouTube.
A contradictory feeling twisted inside her: she wanted the whole world to acknowledge him, yet at the same time, she wished his charm could remain hers alone.
Why am I so uneasy?
She stopped biting her nails and instead pressed Min-jun's old clothes to her nose.
Though his scent had faded over time, she'd spritzed it with the cologne he always wore, restoring some of its familiarity.
"Haaah..."
She felt a little calmer, but her thoughts soon spiraled elsewhere.
Come to think of it, wasn't Min-jun exhausted right now because someone had leaked his number, flooding him with calls?
...Actually, that's pretty infuriating, isn't it?
The attention was one thing, but—
On the other hand, who in the world had the audacity to recklessly spread such precious personal information everywhere?
She found herself growing curious about the face of that person.
'I should look into this too.'
She wasn't sure through what process Min-jun's personal details and number had been leaked, but if his contact information had been exposed without going through proper legal channels—
Sia resolved to make them pay the appropriate price.
If I were to turn on this powered-off phone right now, just how many missed calls would be piled up?
For a moment, I considered turning it on to check, but remembering the relentless barrage of calls that had bombarded me all day instantly killed my motivation.
At this rate, I probably wouldn't be able to turn it back on until tomorrow at the earliest.
Still, just because I'd turned off my phone didn't mean I could sit around doing nothing. So, I settled in front of my laptop.
The moment I booted it up, the first thing I did was check the news.
And sure enough—
Various portal sites were flooded with articles about me.
<'From D-rank to B-rank'—A Stunning Leap in Just One Month: Korea Hunter Co. Welcomes an Unprecedented Rising Star>
<'Villain or Not?' Experts Suggest 'High Probability of Intentional Power Concealment'>
<'Two-Tier Advancement in Just a Month and a Half'—Unprecedented Growth Speed Draws Global Attention>
<Will China and Saudi Arabia Open Their Wallets for This Meteorically Rising Prodigy?>
Reading the articles, it was clear that those who had nothing to lose were spewing baseless speculation left and right.
Some even went so far as to claim this was outright fraud, suggesting without any evidence that I must have used some trick to deliberately lower my initial assessment rank. At that point, words failed me.
The only saving grace was that none of them had leaked my personal details or anything that could lead to them.
If they had, I would've sued them for personal information violations without hesitation.
Anyway, before searching for any Gates worth tackling tomorrow or the day after, I absentmindedly checked my inbox.
And, unsurprisingly, there it was—a considerable number of emails from guilds, broadcasters, and journalists.
Not only that, but even without opening them—just skimming the subject lines—I could tell some were invitations from major networks, including offers from popular talk shows.
How am I supposed to reply to all of these?
And since it was a major broadcast network, well...
The thought of possibly meeting famous celebrities was admittedly tempting, but the potential downsides seemed to outweigh the benefits, so I decided to decline them all.
After dealing with the emails, I started scanning for any decent Gates worth raiding.
A B-rank Gate, located in the metropolitan area, with no guild holding exclusive rights—meaning unaffiliated Hunters like me could participate.
I needed to find Gates that fit those criteria, but...
"...There aren't many."
I had expected the number of Gates I could participate in to be limited, but it was far fewer than I'd imagined.
The reasons were simple.
First, the lower the rank of a Gate, the more numerous they are—and the higher the rank, the rarer they become.
Second, most A and B-rank Gates are purchased by guilds for exclusive raiding rights, meaning the number of Gates available to independent Hunters shrinks even further.
Because of this, back when I was a D-rank Hunter, not being in a guild wasn't an issue.
Guilds rarely bothered buying raiding rights for D-rank Gates, and their sheer numbers meant there were always plenty to choose from.
But for B-rank and above, the situation was different—being a freelancer made participating in Gate raids significantly harder.
'Maybe I should've just joined a guild?'
I'd heard before that freelance Hunters struggled with B-rank Gates, but now that I was experiencing it firsthand, I wondered if my refusal to join a guild was just stubborn pride.
It wasn't like I had any preconceptions or trauma about guilds.
Maybe it would be better to earn slightly less in exchange for fewer raids, using the extra time to train or spar instead.
Or perhaps I should seek Rokan's advice.
He'd probably know better than me which path was the wiser choice.
With that thought, I immediately headed to Rokan's Lair.
But the moment I arrived—
Rokan, who had just noticed my entrance, looked at me with an intrigued expression.
"How curious. I was just about to contact you myself."