Li Feng's Explosive Meltdown

Unable to contain his rage, Li Feng slammed his fist down on the table, splintering it as he shot to his feet and bellowed.

"Are you kidding me?! Do you even know who we are in this room? You think we don't know about the dirty tricks you pulled during the agenda meeting? Shameless scoundrels without a shred of decency!"

Cha Minhyuk smirked slyly.

With the whole world watching the feed live, the guy was losing it emotionally like this.

Tsk tsk. What a political amateur.

He'd sensed it at every general assembly, but still.

They had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no clue that their spies were screaming in agony deep underground at the Korean National Intelligence Service.

Well, that was to be expected.

They'd seized the spies' secret accounts and flawlessly forwarded daily reports to Chinese intelligence headquarters.

With no response, Li Feng assumed he was being ignored and flew into an even greater frenzy.

"So you climbed to fourth place and now you think you're untouchable? A puny little nation on a speck of land! You just barely escaped becoming a colony, and yet right now, this very moment, you're still beneath our great power—!"

"Wh-what?"

"The 18th floor ranking's been updated?"

"18th floor... that's the one Hitchhiker was supposed to climb today..."

The awakeners among the attendees hurriedly checked their status windows.

Cha Minhyuk was an awakener too.

He could see the ranking window.

This wasn't in the plan. Did Hitchhiker time it perfectly on purpose?

He marveled inwardly.

Perfect—it concealed the truth while making it look like Korea was under protection.

He shared the ranking window on the screen, sneering at Li Feng.

"Great power, huh? Not sure that's something to say with the whole world watching. But who exactly is beneath whom?"

"Th-this...!"

"China beneath Korea? Is that right?"

"Arghhh!"

"Why can't you answer?"

Li Feng panicked hard.

Sweat poured down his oily face in rivers.

Scoring at a moment like this—what impeccable timing.

It felt like a warning from Hitchhiker against his outburst.

His double chin quivered violently.

Thud!

He slumped back into his seat, defeated.

Then came a barrage of questions amid frenzied hands shooting up.

"So the Korean Management Agency has never seen Hitchhiker's face?"

"Correct."

I haven't seen him.

Because I really haven't.

"Does that mean you don't know Hitchhiker's gender or age either?"

"Correct."

I don't know.

Because I really don't.

Cha Minhyuk turned into an answering machine.

Don't know. Who can say? Maybe?

The delegations were on the verge of exploding.

The questions grew more heated.

"You! You made contact with Hitchhiker but you're lying about failing? Jumping to second place right when talking to the Chinese rep—looks staged!"

Pfft.

"So the Chinese rep suddenly slamming the table and standing up was staged too? All to hype up Korea, the nation you'd been blocking with everything you had?"

"...!"

"Hitchhiker must be watching the broadcast for sure. And he'll remember the Japanese director's aggressive questioning crystal clear."

"Urk...!"

Nakayama realized he'd jumped the gun ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and slunk back to his seat.

The room buzzed.

Confused eyes darted everywhere.

Was Korea telling the truth about failing to recruit Hitchhiker?

Or had they succeeded and were just lying?

Cha Minhyuk smirked at the chaotic assembly.

Because that was exactly what the Korean Management Agency had aimed for.

Competition between nations for tower points.

Like a street fight.

You pass an alley and meet someone.

1. Bare-handed guy.

2. Guy with a knife.

Who's the trickiest opponent?

Not 1 or 2.

The answer: the one hiding his hands behind his back.

Bare hands? Easy takedown.

But what if he's hiding a knife?

If it's a knife, you run or grab a gun ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and shoot.

But if it's bare hands after all that?

Wouldn't that be a huge loss?

Uncertainty forces you to abandon any sure strategy.

So Korea devised a plan.

Schrödinger's Hitchhiker.

Recruited? Maybe. Maybe not.

Play it as ambiguously as possible at this assembly—that was the core strategy.

No hard evidence, just suspicions. Other nations couldn't commit to any judgment.

Of course, the plan had side effects.

Like this.

"The attitude the Korean delegation took at the agenda meeting was a blatant ploy against the international community. Have you considered the international sanctions that will follow this assembly?"

Basically: Get ready to get wrecked after the assembly ends.

But Cha Minhyuk responded with leisure.

"We've considered that. But given Korea's already precarious diplomatic position with the world's top nations, we concluded no additional sanctions would make a difference."

Basically: We're already getting wrecked, so more won't even show.

And it was true.

Korea was the nation that had stubbornly rejected support offers from tower powerhouses like the US, China, and Japan.

In retaliation, they'd been kicked around like a soccer ball in diplomatic payback.

Well, with Hitchhiker's emergence, the board would flip completely soon enough.

Anyway.

Korea at the assembly was like a madman dancing with a blade—nothing to lose.

Success? Great. Fail? Whatever.

And even if, just suppose.

If Korea had permanently locked in Hitchhiker's nationality and could prove it.

Better not to.

Cha Minhyuk recalled his conversation with Hitchhiker via proxy.

The difference between America and Korea.

America was a superpower even without tower points—no one dared challenge them nationally.

But Korea?

Just starting to get dragged up by Hitchhiker's hair.

Nationally, it was creaking like a collapsing house.

Detonate a "Hitchhiker nationality confirmed" nuke here?

No telling what would happen.

Literally.

So then.

That set the course of action.

Keep Hitchhiker's allegiance as unclear as possible.

Buy time for national growth.

Tank aggro only up to what we can handle.

Exploit the chaos within that.

The more we talked, the more convinced I became.

Hitchhiker wasn't just superhuman in ability—his thinking ran deep too.

Shiver! His chest swelled with emotion.

Korea ascending to world throne.

Might not be impossible after all?

Savoring an indescribable thrill, he fielded the incoming questions.

"Couldn't say."

So what? What can you do about it even if you glare?

Right after the international assembly ended, media from every nation unleashed a flood of reports.

Foreign communities, naturally, exploded too.

These were reactions to the events at the assembly itself.

Lower-tier nations felt vicarious thrill, overwhelmingly pro-Korea.

Top nations seethed inwardly but acknowledged Korea's strategy.

And then.

Li Feng's reckless words drew fierce criticism and mockery everywhere.

Playful prophecies and serious analyses galore.

Serious debates on ranking rewards.

And the post with the most upvotes.

"It's insane, Master! The reactions are off the charts!"

Carmina sprawled on the bed with her laptop.

Munching her fave junk snack, nachos—nom nom nom.

Her excited feet kicked up and down wildly.

She was running translations to check overseas buzz.

"Can't read other languages besides Korean?"

"Looks like it! When summoned, I only got patched for Master's language—Korean!"

Bummer. Thought she could double as interpreter for overseas trips.

"Hehe! Look! Even domestic communities are all about you, Master!"

Peeking at the screen, posts hunting for the mastermind—the true boss—were everywhere.

Portal search rankings too.

Internet everywhere hyped and praised Hitchhiker nonstop.

Cha Minhyuk pulled the tricks, but I get the glory—kinda feels that way.

"Pfft! Without Master existing, they couldn't even dream up that plan!"

True enough.

No Hitchhiker card, no Cha Minhyuk rampage possible.

Nodding, he grabbed his phone to check domestic and global reactions like Carmina.

The article flood is nuts.

He felt it anew.

How massive Hitchhiker's influence on the world was.

Is this okay?

Regular dopamine highs might not cut it anymore?

Eh, got a fix for that.

Dopamine threshold rising?

Hit harder.

Let's go.

Dopamine farming time.

Two days later.