SYSTEM LEVEL UP
“Any word from Kwon Yooseok?”
“Nope?”
“Got it. If he contacts you, tell me right away, okay? Be a good girl, yeah?”
Ever since the day Seoya met Na Seonghyeon, the Neverending guild members had been grilling her nonstop about Kwon Yooseok.
Seoya herself hadn't heard a peep from him, so she was utterly baffled.
Right on cue, it was time for the TV news on dungeons and hunters, so they all shut up and turned their attention to the screen.
The disaster news airing every evening at 9 PM was must-watch TV for every hunter.
“Oh, it's about Sira.”
Seoya glanced at Lee Gayeon, who said the name with familiar ease.
A young woman with long brown hair appeared on the screen. She gave a clichéd response about working hard to help people going forward, and once the interview wrapped, the news shifted to today's dungeon outbreaks in Korea.
“What? 22nd place is pretty high up, isn't it? Why didn't you tell me?”
Ji Sein, Korea's 7th-ranked hunter, who was sprawled face-down on the sofa, seemed to be hearing about Jeong Sira's joining for the first time.
“We didn't tell you 'cause you don't do any hunter work anyway. Everyone else in the guild—seventy-two of us, excluding you—already knows.”
Baek Yena shot her a pitiful look.
Seoya asked in her slow drawl, “22nd is top-tier, right?”
“Yeah. And usually, you climb a bit from your initial ranking with activity, so awakening at 22nd means she could aim for top 20.”
“Ah, so that's why~ Gayeon unni~ Are you close with her~?”
Still half-flopped over, Ji Sein whined in a childish tone, her face scrunched up like she was miffed at being the only one out of the loop on a new top hunter.
“We just kinda hit it off. Turns out she's my age. And Sira's a good kid.”
“If unni says that, she's gotta be a total bookworm type! Ugh, boring!”
“Sigh…”
“They said eleven top-100 hunters earlier—is that a lot?”
At Seoya's question, Lee Gayeon paused, humming thoughtfully before explaining.
“We call Korea's top 100 domestic ranks the elite tier… Having eleven out of a hundred is pretty impressive. Plus, our guild only has seventy-four members total.”
“Captain, just say we're a monopoly straight up~.”
“That makes us sound like we're dominating the hunter market.”
“True, but whatever~.”
Baek Yena chuckled as she shoved a mangled apple slice into Seoya's mouth, then kept explaining. More apple clung to the peel than made it inside, though.
“Truth is, Neverending and WithYou basically dupe the domestic hunter market. WithYou's even worse.”
“WithYou—that's Na Seonghyeon, right?”
“Yeah. They've got more cash flow. Only one top-10 with Na Seonghyeon, but sixteen in the top 100. Na Corporation's finally cornered the hunter scene too. Man… that guy's gone full capitalist.”
“Hey, Seonghyeon oppa would love hearing that.”
“…Yeah, that's him alright…”
“Oh, right. Seoya.”
Lee Gayeon's quieter voice cut in as Baek Yena and Ji Sein bantered.
“Yeah?”
“Jeong Sira wants to meet you.”
“Me?”
“She said she has to deliver some item to you personally but wouldn't say what. If you're not comfy, I can take it for you.”
Seoya blinked her round eyes.
“What item?”
“She asked me to pass on this keyword to you…” Lee Gayeon met Seoya's gaze steadily. “Equation. That's what she said.”
“Equation?”
Something flashed in her mind, and Seoya jolted upright in shock.
Equation… The one thing Seoya needed right now was…
'The equation to calculate distance between worlds!'
It was exactly what she needed to return to her homeworld, Toda.
'How does she know about the equation?'
She had to meet Jeong Sira immediately. Seoya grabbed Lee Gayeon's arm, face urgent.
“I wanna meet her right now. How do I contact her?”
“It's that important to you?”
“Yeah.”
Lee Gayeon stared for a moment, then nodded readily.
“…Got it. Come to the guild building tomorrow, and I'll set it up.”
“Thanks.”
If Jeong Sira knew more than just the equation, Seoya had to keep her from spilling. She felt a twinge of anxiety but soon calmed herself.
'Even if she knows, she won't try to blackmail me…'
Blackmail only worked on pushovers, and whatever info Jeong Sira had wouldn't faze Seoya.
She settled back on the sofa, munching the apple.
After finishing the slice Baek Yena fed her, Seoya murmured out of habit, “System window.”
Just checking for messages from other hunters.
▶ Korea | 10 | A | Kwon Yooseok (New)
▶ Korea Ranks 1~10
“Huh?”
There was a chat from Kwon Yooseok—the name her unnis kept mentioning. Seoya glanced around cautiously, then opened it.
10 | A | Kwon Yooseok: Seoya, got something to tell you
10 | A | Kwon Yooseok: Confirm when you read
0 | - | Seoya: Why?
0 | - | Seoya: What's up?
10 | A | Kwon Yooseok: Not much, but we spotted traces of someone overseas trying to pull your info.
10 | A | Kwon Yooseok: NIS almost got hacked.
10 | A | Kwon Yooseok: Our guild swapped it with fake data in a rush, so your info didn't leak~
10 | A | Kwon Yooseok: Figured overseas ties would just be a headache.
The unexpected news left Seoya stunned, her fingers hovering uselessly over empty air instead of typing.
Ji Sein noticed. “What's up, princess~?”
“Uh… hold on.”
0 | - | Seoya: Why were they pulling my info?
10 | A | Kwon Yooseok: Still clueless about this stuff, huh?^^
10 | A | Kwon Yooseok: Obviously—you're Korea rank 0 and world rank 0.
10 | A | Kwon Yooseok: Korea already has world rank 1, so they can hide you with their influence, but no info means overseas is frustrated too.
10 | A | Kwon Yooseok: Plus, your affiliated nation is changeable, so they probably discussed poaching you~
0 | - | Seoya: Which countries tried to pull my info?
10 | A | Kwon Yooseok: Quite a few, actually^^~
10 | A | Kwon Yooseok: Russia, North Korea, USA, France, Hungary, China, Spain, from what I saw~
'What the—why so many…'
Seeing the list of countries pile up, Seoya knew she couldn't handle this alone. She turned to her unnis.
“Hey, Kwon Yooseok just messaged.”
“What?! That bastard finally spouting nonsense?”
“Seoya, what'd he say? Tell unni.”
“Princess, don't fall for whatever he says… That guy's got a silver tongue.”
Their intense reactions froze Seoya for a second, then she mumbled awkwardly.
“...Um… He said other countries tried to pull my info…”
“Phew! Not his usual crap!”
“Really? Nothing else?”
“~Thought he was flirting, but good~.”
Shockingly, their faces lit up as one when she shared. Then Lee Gayeon realized something was off.
“Wait—this isn't 'good.' Overseas is approaching Seoya now.”
“Now that you mention it~ Either way, anyone sniffing around our princess is trouble.”
“Alright, time to figure out how to deal with those punks!”
They snapped to the gravity of it soon enough.
“Overseas hunter issues are best left to Go Heejae. Civilians can't meddle in hunter matters, and the government won't have much pull.”
Lee Gayeon thought of Dungeon Safety Bureau chief Han Daejun, who groveled even to top-10 domestics, and shook her head, settling on Go Heejae as the fix.
“Go Heejae's untouchable internationally thanks to his skills and lone-wolf attitude. Tell him to 'talk' to the other hunters.”
“That guy does 'talk'?”
“More like he dumps his suspicions and theories without listening. But we need his help here.”
“Will Go Heejae help our princess?”
“He acknowledged Seoya last time. Should be fine.”
“Aha! He finally tasted defeat for the first time in his life!”
With everyone landing on 'Go Heejae's help,' Seoya opened a chat with him.
0 | - | Seoya: Need your help.
1 | S | Go Heejae: Finally learned Na Seonghyeon's turning your legend into metal type, huh.
1 | S | Go Heejae: Yeah, that needs stopping too.
0 | - | Seoya: Not that.
0 | - | Seoya: But yeah, that too...