The Weight of Hidden Power

Chapter 16

After returning to reality from the Pocket Girls world, Seong-il lay on his bed, trying to cool his head while calmly analyzing the situation.

'For now… aside from the points, nothing else has changed. Even if I gain stats or skills inside the game, they carry over to reality. Got it.'

'Then what about the other worlds? Did time stop in the Pocket Girls world where I left off last time? Or has time continued to flow there, independent of reality or the Wuxia world…?'

Once one question was resolved, more popped up like bamboo shoots after rain. To satisfy his curiosity, Seong-il attempted to enter the Pocket Girls world again after only a few hours.

As soon as he was enveloped in the familiar blue light and opened his eyes, a dark sky and dense thicket greeted him.

'Ah! This is… the exact spot where I had sex with Hana, fell asleep, and stepped out for a moment!'

Seong-il realized that time flowed independently in reality and each game world.

'That means…! While adventuring through different worlds and training, in theory I can acquire countless abilities!'

A chill ran down his spine.

'This ability… it's absolutely incredible. If I use it properly, I might be able to grow into the strongest hunter…'

Seong-il indulged in hopeful daydreams for a moment before shaking his head.

'No. If I stand out too much in reality, the government and the Hunter Association will never leave me alone.'

In truth, Seong-il didn't particularly envy the superhumans who enjoyed various benefits and fame. On the surface, the government seemed to favor ability users for the war against the aliens, but in reality, they were little more than soldiers bound under strict governmental control.

After alien civilizations appeared, the powerless nations found a chance to turn the tide with the emergence of psychic hunters. In that process, the superhumans—who could efficiently combat the aliens—gained near-absolute power thanks to desperate governments.

But when the hunters grew drunk on power and began committing all sorts of excesses, forces dissatisfied with them started appearing across all levels of society. Of course, they couldn't openly defy the hunters who held the lives of the world in their hands, so they could only swallow their anger.

Then, around the time various countries began researching hunters' abilities and producing strategic weapons, however weak, the aliens suddenly switched to a defensive strategy for some reason.

With the situation reversing both internally and externally, the accumulated resentment from all sectors toward the hunters' misconduct finally erupted.

The flustered hunters established the Hunter Association to counter the public opinion and politicians' offensive. Their united power to protect their interests was so immense that even the government couldn't touch them recklessly.

To deal with them, seasoned politicians decided to collapse the Hunter Association from within. They focused on recruiting the relatively marginalized ability users. They approached the semi-combat ability users (the type Go Yeong-tae belonged to) and non-combat ability users who had difficulty directly fighting aliens, denounced the top-tier ability users, and promised the lower ranks equal treatment.

In the end, their strategy succeeded. The lower ability users, who had long resented the disregard and discrimination from the top ranks, joined hands with the politicians. In an instant, the confrontation that had been ability users versus non-ability users flipped to top-tier ability users versus the absolute majority of citizens plus mid- and low-tier ability users.

The Hunter Association, having lost all justification and practical benefit, lost its momentum to resist and was helplessly pushed back by the government. Some of the top-tier ability users, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠watching the trend, suddenly surrendered to the government, and the Association ultimately submitted.

The government and politicians pretended to handle matters moderately and fairly, but behind the scenes they began secretly pinning various charges on anti-government hunters and gradually eliminating them. Using clever political maneuvers to completely drain the hunters' power, the government then suddenly passed the Hunter Special Act, which prevented ability users from using their powers without state control.

The hunters realized what was happening and regretted it too late. The situation had already ended.

'Outstanding hunters may seem glamorous and privileged on the outside, but in the end they're just the government's dogs—consumables that get used up and die.'

Seong-il recalled the end of Choi Un-hyun, the former chairman of the Hunter Association who had been revered as a first-generation top-tier ability user and hero.

'He was arrested on charges of attempting to overthrow the state, along with multiple counts of rape and murder. He was tortured under the guise of academic experimentation and then vivisected alive. The video was 'coincidentally' leaked and spread across the internet.'

After that video incident, many enraged hunters attempted strong countermeasures against the government, but they were easily suppressed and executed in the same manner. Why were the strong countermeasures so easily crushed? Simple—aliens weren't affected by guns or missiles, but hunters died when shot. The unique ability to kill aliens was impressive, but it didn't mean they could overwhelm existing human civilization.

'I will absolutely never live like that. I'll hide my abilities as much as possible and live for my own benefit and pleasure. I won't become the government's dog by stupidly trying to protect the world!'

Staring at the stars that seemed ready to pour down from the sky, Seong-il organized his thoughts and returned to the tent.

To soothe his gloomy mood, he slipped his hand under the sleeping Hana's shirt and massaged her breasts, calming his mind. He woke the sleeping girl, coaxed the tired Hana, and began caressing her. She soon grew excited again and accepted his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠touch.

The sex that followed lasted until just before sunrise. Hana was pounded like a beast and began her day that way. Even after having sex all night, she felt strangely little fatigue and marveled at herself as they resumed their journey.

'It's definitely weaker in effect than the Young Sect Leader's, but the burden is lighter too. If I keep training steadily like this, I should be able to grow without any major problems and devour the Young Sect Leader.'

Now that he had proven a clear way to solve his immediate problem, Seong-il felt much more at ease and continued the journey with a light heart.

Before long, Seong-il and Hana arrived at A-02 Shelter.

A-02 Shelter was a small village that seemed to house roughly forty households. Following Hana's guidance, Seong-il headed to the Center to treat Blue. The facility was quite large compared to the modest number of residents.

The Center's main facilities were divided into four major sections:

Seong-il went straight to the clinic, had Blue treated, and checked on Red's health. Blue had suffered fairly serious injuries, but they weren't beyond treatment. She was healed without issue. Red, of course, was perfectly healthy.

After finishing their business, Seong-il and Hana parted ways for their respective tasks, promising to meet again someday.

After seeing Hana off and turning to head back to the Center, a familiar ringtone reached his ears.

"Vrrrr!"

With a trembling heart, Seong-il checked his phone.

Startled, Seong-il checked his status window and saw the updated information.

'Quests???'

Startled, Seong-il tapped around on his phone, but no quest information appeared anywhere.

'Hmm… is there a separate way to use it…?'

Setting the question aside for now, Seong-il re-entered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Center to retrieve Blue.

"Hello! I'm the one who left a child named Blue here for treatment."

A nurse with striking, vivid red hair stood before him and handed over a ball.

"Ah! You're this child's trainer! Here, take the ball."

She casually verified his identity and simply handed Blue over.

'Strictly speaking, Blue was stolen… no, kidnapped, yet there's no interference at all. Is information exchange between shelters that poor?'

While pondering alone, Seong-il was about to leave the Center when his gaze was involuntarily drawn to a research lab employee passing by.

'What the…? Why is there an exclamation mark floating above that person's head?!'

Amazingly, above the researcher's head floated the quest marker he was so familiar with from online games.

'No way… is this what I think it is?'

Muttering to himself, Seong-il unconsciously approached ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the researcher.

"Can I help you?"

The researcher asked as he looked at Seong-il who had walked up to him.

"Um… do you happen to have any work available?"

At Seong-il's words, the researcher's face brightened.

"Ah! Are you a hunter who saw the mission notice?"

"I'm a hunter, yes, but I didn't see any notice…"

The researcher smiled as if that was even better and continued.

"Well, if you didn't see it, I can just explain it. Most of the wild psychics' socialization training has been completed. Could you bring in more psychics? We're hoping for up to about ten…"

After listening, Seong-il immediately accepted the offer.

"Of course! What about the reward…?"

"Naturally there is a reward. The basics provided are…"

The researcher explained that basic capture supplies would be provided, and upon successful completion of the mission, contribution points—which could be used like money—would be awarded.

Although Seong-il had no idea what contribution points were, his curiosity about the quest system made him accept the request on the spot.

With an excited heart, Seong-il left the Center and soon noticed an old man sitting nearby, sighing heavily. Of course, an exclamation mark floated above the old man's head as well.

"Um… sir?"

"What is it?"

Having a rough idea of how quests worked now, Seong-il asked more naturally.

"It's nothing special, but I saw you sighing. I wondered if you had some problem. Do you need any help?"

The old man looked at him with the expression of someone who had seen his savior and grabbed Seong-il's hand.

"Oh… are you a hunter by any chance? If so, I have a shameless favor to ask…"

The old man then poured out his story in great detail.

He had been a hunter in his youth but had no family. After retiring in old age, he lived in loneliness until he took in a young wild psychic boy, raised him as family, and cherished him like a son, educating him with great care. Just as the boy's socialization was nearly complete, they went out for external training and the boy was attacked and taken by another psychic. Overwhelmed by guilt and loss, the old man desperately wanted to rescue the child but had no contribution points to request help from hunters, so he could only sigh.

'Whoa… so there are quests like this too. No monetary reward…'

Normally Seong-il would never have accepted, but his curiosity about the quest system made him take the old man's request.

Leaving behind the grateful old man, Seong-il headed toward his temporary residence.