Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Capitalism Knows the Answer (3)
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It had been about three days since the second S-rank tower conquest.
Normally, issues like this would fade from people's attention within a day, but the buzz around the S-rank tower just wouldn't die down.
— Do You Know Elaine? If anyone knows anything about the female hunter who conquered the Mungyeong Saejae and Ganghwa Island S-rank towers, please tip us off via the email below. [We Want to Know That Production Team] — Cosplay Maid Info Wanted If you know anything about the 'Cosplay Maid,' please send tips to NPia TV. I stake my pride as a hunter specialist cyber sleuth on tracking her down. Check out the donation account open below... "People are really into this, huh."
The entire nation of Korea had its eyes glued to the story.
It was the same during the Mungyeong Saejae S-rank tower raid, but after Ganghwa Island, every media outlet was overflowing with interest in the [Cosplay Maid].
Even the mayors of Mungyeong and Ganghwa Island, along with local councils, were hanging up placards saying 'We're Searching for Our Hometown Hero' in a bid to find Elaine.
Most were just purely curious about her identity.
But some had other motives for tracking her down.
Why?
Obviously, to pull her to their side.
"Humans are the same no matter where you go, nya."
As I was browsing, Kiharu padded over in her cat form and plopped down beside me.
"The more advanced modern civilization gets, the more they hide behind anonymity to pull off all sorts of sleazy crap. Without even realizing the target could squash them with a flick of a finger."
She's a cat, but reading the screen is basic for her. If she wants, she can even tap out comments on the keyboard herself.
"Don't you ever want to brag to the world about this, Partner?"
"Brag?"
"That you're Elaine's master."
"Brag? I'm not an idiot. If I did that..."
The post I'd drafted—
— Draft Post [Elaine's lying in my bed right now?] "I absolutely can't post that."
"Just add 'This post was written by a cat' at the bottom, nya?"
"That'd just pull aggro and get my IP traced. I'm already holding back from logging into communities like this."
I deleted the text without posting, then grabbed Kiharu's head and kneaded it roughly.
"You're messing with me on purpose, aren't you? Huh?"
"I was just saying, hold back if you really want to brag."
"We gotta be careful. Post stuff like this, and real doxxers will come crawling out."
I searched up some examples and showed her posts from others.
"Take a look at this."
"Oh, someone claiming to be Elaine's ex-boyfriend posted this."
Beneath the post where the guy claimed to be Elaine's ex:
— Reporter Comment "Sir, is this real? I'm a reporter from KCN..." "See this? People think it's real and are swarming him."
The comments were flooded with reporters' emails.
Not even meme-level stuff like 'Tteokbokki Newspaper's Jang Reporter'—I checked the newspaper's site, and it pulled up a real journalist who writes articles.
And there were tons of them.
"Look at this. Even explaining 'Guys, this is a joke' is embarrassing at this point."
"...Even a cat goddess can't tell jokes from reality? These people must not play subculture mobile games, nya."
"Normal folks don't. The whole country's in a serious mood right now."
When a big issue hits—especially about a specific person—YouTube videos and community comments get flooded with all sorts of nonsense.
"Totally different from the Blue Lightning days."
"How was it back then?"
Take Blue Lightning, one of the S-rank hunters currently in the country.
"Hometown buddies, ex-girlfriends, even pathological liars claiming one-night stands—it was a circus."
Guy got bullied in school as a kid.
Was a total loser before awakening, but turned into an S-rank hunter and changed.
Drove around in a Maserati, spewing electricity everywhere, frying nearby EVs' batteries and causing accidents.
It was way worse than the slander aimed at regular celebs—pure incitement, fabrications, and hate comments everywhere.
"The government and Hunter Association stepped in with official responses, and it quieted down after that. But even then, no one dug for info this hard."
"Because his life story was already public knowledge, nya?"
"Exactly. S-rank hunters are like that. Totally different from someone like Elaine who dropped out of the sky, whose name we don't even know yet."
A beautiful cosplay hunter who'd conquered two S-rank towers.
Just dig up her real name, age, or hometown, post a one-minute short online, and it'd hit a million views in under an hour, easy.
Hell, fake rumor videos were already racking up views like candy.
Normally they'd flood the place, but right now, anything posted gets nuked in under an hour.
"It's not just randos tossing bait. Corporations and the government are treating Elaine intel as official business. No one's posting even as a joke. Ah, here we go."
I pulled up a post and showed Kiharu.
"This one's...archived?"
"Original got deleted. By government agencies."
There was a post on a community site titled [Just Got Back from the Police Station]—dead serious, not fitting the usual vibe.
"Guy posted claiming he was Elaine's ex-husband, deleted it in a minute, but cops traced the server and called him."
"Isn't that...a privacy violation, nya?"
"That's how aggressive the Elaine hunt is right now. Even the government's losing it—the president's chewing out his underlings left and right."
Figure of speech, obviously.
No way the president drags ministers into a cabinet meeting yelling, 'Find that cosplay hunter!' while kicking their shins or cursing them out.
He'd have politely said, 'For the nation's prestige, please find her by any means.'
Or mobilized every hotline connected to those US-linked folks.
"Kiharu, check this out."
"This is...a travel vlog channel, nya?"
"Look at the views on the latest upload. Others top out at 10k-20k, but this one's at two million."
"West Virginia...the rumored Elaine hometown vid blows up like this."
"Yup."
The 'president's hometown buddy' bait.
Thanks to that, some are flying to the US to poke around West Virginia.
Place is booming unexpectedly—strong presidential support, even folks waving maid outfits like national flags.
"Buddy over there messaged me. Congressmen from Senate and House are getting prodded. Even ex-CIA directors and grunts are reaching out."
US friend.
Name's Aizen A. Luigi.
I've only got one friend in America.
"Korea's stirring up that much heat in the US?"
"Nah, the whole world's on it."
"Hoo."
Kiharu's eyes sparkled as she grabbed the mouse herself.
"Even Americans, knowing the US president's backing her, wanna lure Elaine stateside. Probably starting with the basics...money?"
"Yeah."
This world's capitalism.
And globally, hunters move by capitalist logic—guilds over nationality, mostly.
Korea's got its four Korean S-ranks sticking around instead of going abroad, but they chose something over cash.
Politely: patriotism.
Harshly: suckers, since motives vary wildly person-to-person.
"Take Blue Lightning. The one and only guy now. Pulls 200 billion a year."
"Walking power plant?"
"China offered two trillion. For naturalization."
"Ooh..."
Kiharu stuck out her tongue in shock.
"Passed on ten times the pay to stay in Korea?"
"Yup. That's why folks gossip. I'd take the two tril and bounce to China. Why's this idiot settling for 200 bil here? Sucker?"
"Sucker, nya?"
"Who knows. Looks like a standard S-rank on the surface. Don't care to dig."
"How to find out?"
"Ask here, we'd know instantly."
I pointed to an SNS profile.
"Directly ask the US president?"
"If needed. Whatever intel they've got from the US, they'd have the world's best stash."
Used to be a torso shot of his face, but now President Luigi's profile is a concept pic with me.
Elaine's just a hint of maid outfit on the side.
Like showing off that his chat buddy is Elaine's hidden master.
If the US president says 'Get me info on that Korean hunter,' it'd land in my lap ASAP.
That's our relationship level now.
The internet's flooded with all sorts of info like this.
To suppress and control it, you need experts.
Someone who can hack the whole world solo would be perfect.
"Neither man nor woman, got personal combat skills, smart enough to shield our info from global intel agencies."
"That's this one, nya?"
"Yeah."
We found her.
The doll that looks just like a human.
An android.
"Partner."
As I opened the game screen, Kiharu thumped her tail against it and gave me a meaningful stare.
"This one's bust size changes per illustration?"
"That's proof she's the pro."
This android's an electronic warfare specialist.