Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Who am I? S-Rank 'Owner' (1)
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Private Jang Wook, stationed at the outpost of the Mungyeong Saejae S-Rank Tower, bolted upright in bed as the ground shook beneath him.
"Shit!"
The barracks lights flicked on, and Jang Wook cursed under his breath as he scrambled to pack up his sleeping bag.
"I've only got two months left!"
What did he have left? His discharge.
He'd secretly hoped that if a break ever happened in the tower, it would at least wait until after he'd shipped out—sorry to his replacements and all.
Was it that very thought that had jinxed it?
"A break right at the end of my service?!"
The dungeon had broken.
The ground trembled, and soon enough, monsters would come swarming out.
"Damn it, no choice now...!"
There was nothing for it.
He had no family, no girlfriend—just people around him who needed protecting.
"Sergeant Jang! B-big trouble! R-right now...!"
"I know! Even if I die, I'll die for the country and its people... huh?"
Rumble rumble.
Through the barracks window, the White Ivory Tower came into view.
That White Ivory Tower was slowly dissolving into the sky, showering white light downward.
It wasn't a break phenomenon—it was the resonance of light signaling the tower's conquest.
"An S-Rank Tower... no way, when did this...?"
"The tower's been cleared!"
"I-I know! But it's S-Rank...!"
Corporal Jang Wook stared.
A shooting star plummeted from near the tower's peak toward the ground.
The moment he locked eyes with that golden 'gaze' twinkling even in the black night sky, a memory flashed in Jang Wook's mind.
"Elaine Jang...?"
The at-least-A-Rank hunter who'd set Korea abuzz.
Did that 'A-Rank' label piss her off or something?
If she'd come secretly to solo an S-Rank Tower—
"...Ah."
Jang Wook's legs gave out, and he collapsed right there.
His special duty in the hazard zone had cut his service time to half what others endured, but even so, he'd spent those days tormented by nightmares of daily breaks turning the area to wasteland.
"Elaine Jang...!!"
Those hellish days were finally over.
"Ah."
Which meant...
"...What happens to my discharge now?"
No way the Ministry of Defense would say, 'Hazard zone's gone, so back to full service time.'
"......."
Jang Wook hauled himself up amid a tangle of emotions—laugh or cry, he wasn't sure.
"Ha, haha..."
One thing was clear: the dungeon was gone.
"...What was the protocol again for when a dungeon vanishes?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Using your smartphone while driving is a no-go.
I had to focus solely on the road, leaving no room for fiddling with anything else.
Why?
"Master. Won't speeding actually get us caught right now?"
"In a situation where an S-Rank Tower just vanished, they'll figure we're fleeing the scene!"
I was flooring it at the best speed I could manage on this road.
I eased off before signals or detectors to dodge tickets, but otherwise hammered the pedal as I escaped Mungyeong.
"Elaine, pull up the live YouTube news for me?"
I tossed my phone her way.
In my rush to pick up Elaine after she cleared the tower and raced down, I hadn't had a chance to tell her to hop in the back—she'd just slid into the passenger seat.
"M-me, handle this...?"
Elaine panicked.
A quick glance sideways showed her draped in my jacket over her top, staring back and forth between the phone and me in bewilderment.
"Hurry!"
"Y-yes!"
Elaine took the phone and fired up a live stream.
Unlimited data, so no worries there.
[Can you see it, everyone? The S-Rank Tower in Mungyeong Saejae has vanished!]
[All S-Rank Hunters in Korea are accounted for! Which means, just as everyone suspects, it must be that 'maid' who...!!]
Even the anchors and reporters were in a frenzy.
No need to mention the streamers and YouTubers who lived off hunter and dungeon content.
'Same overseas, probably.'
Soloing an A-Rank Tower alone would've drawn massive attention from the Hunter Association and Awakener Management Committee.
But an S-Rank on top of that?
At a place where an S-Rank Hunter had died just months ago, no less?
[Citizens of the nation. Whoever finds this 'cosplay maid' will be rewarded handsomely! I stake my position as Prime Minister on it...!]
"What? The Prime Minister?"
"Second only to the President, right?"
"This is insane."
The Prime Minister himself was out hunting for Elaine.
Realistically, the President couldn't show his face directly, so they'd pushed the PM forward.
Or maybe the PM had jumped the gun.
"Find an S-Rank Hunter... no, something beyond that... and appoint them to a national post? Then he could ride that wave to the next election."
"Master?"
"Ugh, seriously. A guy with zero ties to politics trying to think like one—my head hurts."
"S-sorry. It's my fault..."
"No, no. Elaine did nothing wrong. We did the righteous thing."
It might look like things were getting messy because of Elaine, but I'd engineered the whole situation myself.
If I'd kept her to just the A-Rank Tower, there'd be zero issues.
But I aimed for the S-Rank, trusted Elaine, and we nailed it.
The one and only S-Rank Tower in this country—only conquered six times worldwide.
A tower that required over ten S-Rank Hunters from around the globe each time.
"...This gives us plenty of leverage to negotiate...!"
"Master, careful...!"
Ahead.
A police car blocked the road.
More precisely, cops in fluorescent vests visible even in the dark were waving batons, directing me to slow down.
Gulp.
My throat went dry on instinct.
I hadn't committed a crime, but my heart pounded like it would burst.
Rumble rumble.
I slowed, stopped in front of the officer, and flashed a friendly smile with a polite nod.
"Thanks for your hard work~"
"Excuse me."
The young cop bowed slightly, looking dazed, like his mind was elsewhere even as he went through the motions.
[All units, stay calm and focus on your assignments...]
From the radio crackled a brief message, and I instantly clocked the guy's state.
The world was in chaos with back-to-back shocks.
If it were a break, fine—but a tower cleared? Even the brass upstairs were probably floundering.
Maintain the status quo for now.
So.
"Haha, country's a mess right now. Tough job."
"Ah, yes."
"What's the holdup? Tower break or something...?"
"No, not that."
I played a bit flustered myself while slipping in casual chit-chat to distract him.
"Breathalyzer test..."
The young cop spotted Elaine in the passenger seat and froze.
She had my jacket over her top, but the hem of her maid outfit peeked out below.
"...Huh?"
The officer holding the breathalyzer blinked in confusion.
Like something clicked—he kept glancing between me and Elaine.
"Ah, need my license?"
"N-no. Just blow into this... Sorry to intrude."
I wanted to say 'if it's intrusive, don't do it,' but he was just doing his job.
"And the lady... uh..."
"My girlfriend."
Elaine answered in a slightly lowered voice.
"Girlfriend."
"Ah, got it. ...Um, why the outfit...?"
"Well."
"Oh, come on..."
Elaine's tone sharpened with irritation.
"I told you we should've just stayed at the motel...!"
Her complaint and embarrassment hit me, her hands fidgeting on her thighs as she bowed her head.
"N-no, Hyejeong. It's not like that."
"You saw that maid on the news and got all obsessed, insisted on making me wear it, then said we should try it in the car of all places...!"
"Uh, ahem!"
The cop hurriedly shoved the breathalyzer at my mouth.
"Blow. Harder. Good. ...Sorry for the trouble."
He backed off fast. I nodded to him, then glanced sideways.
"Hyejeong, I swear it's not—"
"Whatever! Just drive already!"
Window up all the way, engine roaring over our voices, I peeled out like I was fleeing the cop, putting distance between us.
"...Phew."
Relief washed over me.
If we got caught later, so be it—but dodging it now was key.
"Lucky break. That cop's tried stuff like this with his girlfriend before."
"Master."
Elaine's voice pierced my ear—colder than her acting, less icy than before.
"Who's Hyejeong?"
"......."
A chill ran down my spine for a moment.
Blood froze in my veins.
"Ah, this prickling tension..."
"Prickling tension? Master, did I do something wrong?"
"No, nothing like that."
It'd been ages since I'd felt this bloodcurdling vibe.
"Just pulled a random name. Yours sounds too foreign no matter how I slice it."
"...I'll think of a more fitting alias."
Thankfully, Elaine set the phone down in the console without complaint.
"So, Master. What now? Our position is..."
"We're heading to Seoul."
"You said south to Busan if things went south?"
"Yeah. That was the plan."
Up until we'd come down here.
"Elaine. Your combat power—you can output it fully even outside a tower, right?"
"Yes."
But watching her hop out, sprint up the tower, solo it, then dash straight back to me on this road? That sealed it.
"Then let's head to Seoul. Home."
Busan was running away.
Seoul was facing this changing world head-on.
"And Elaine. Make us an SNS account. The one with the blue bird flying over an 'X'."
As an S-Rank summoner owner, to stand against the world.
To protect Elaine, I had to become the madman from here on out.
"This one?"
"Yeah. Top of the page, profiles—pick the one right at the top..."
New-school style.
"Sunglasses, muscled guy. Yeah, that's it."
Handle it via DM.
"U.S. President."