One-Second Lycanslope: China's Reckoning
Awakener 'Wang Wei' from China uses the 'Lycanslope Summon Ticket'.
4:20 AM Seoul-Tokyo time.
The message popping up in awakeners' visions worldwide turned the globe upside down.
What the hell? Lycanslope Summon Ticket?
Did something like this even exist?
[Detailed effects spanning dozens of lines...]
The ticket's effects, spanning dozens of lines, were pure shock and horror.
Why? Until now, monsters appearing in the real world had only happened during tower rampages.
And even then, they stayed within the tower's radius, so the common belief was that real space was safe from monsters.
But now.
The Lycanslope of Madness is summoned before 'Hitchhiker', the top score contributor from the Republic of Korea.
It was an item that completely shattered the established rules.
Did China just attack Korea?
What happens to Hitchhiker?
Questions erupted sporadically, but there was no time to ponder deeply.
A message no one could have predicted appeared almost simultaneously with the first alert.
1 second...?
Isn't Hitchhiker only level 21 right now?
The nightmare of the 50th floor, Lycanslope?
No matter how strong he is, does 1 second even make sense?
A powerful cognitive dissonance hit everyone.
But one clear fact remained.
The Lycanslope, under maximum reinforcement (5x), is resummoned before Wang Wei.
China was now having the nightmare.
Leaders from every nation contacted their embassies in China, dispatching personnel immediately.
Where to?
The Chinese Awakener Management Agency, the most likely epicenter.
Vroooom—! Screeech!
The skyscraper blazed with light even in the pre-dawn hours.
Embassy staff and foreign reporters swarmed around it like bees.
"This is...!"
"Oh my god...!"
The scene was pure chaos.
Under the dawn sky, flames and smoke billowed from spots all over the skyscraper.
Boom—! KABOOM—!
Massive collision sounds from inside made the walls shudder, sending chills down spines.
"Th-the walls are collapsing!"
"Kyaaah!"
People poured out the entrance like a flood, screaming.
"Oh god! That's Wang Wei, isn't it?"
"Whoa, he looks totally dead."
Awakeners, dead or gravely injured, were being carried out on stretchers.
"Over there! Haonan too!"
"Haonan?"
"You know, the one! Tower nickname Brain Dragon! The guy who stirred controversy saying Koreans' ancestors are Chinese!"
Severely wounded personnel who looked beyond saving.
Just the familiar S-rank awakeners numbered over 20.
"There! Director Li Feng!"
"Where? Where?"
"That ambulance over there! On a stretcher!"
Foreign reporters clustered like hyenas.
They snapped photos and videos like mad.
Li Feng's entire chest bore deep claw marks.
His eyes were unfocused, blood gushing from his mouth.
Newly arrived Chinese awakeners under emergency summons charged at the reporters.
"You fucking bastards! Get out now!"
"Put those cameras away before we kill you all!"
The reporters didn't budge.
Why would they let go of a scoop like this?
Chinese awakeners swung fists, but reporters dodged with agile moves, snapping away like demons.
Because they were awakeners too.
You think you're the only ones?
We're awakeners too.
World opinion was ablaze. Not just burning—it was hellfire.
Nations active during the summon alert ignited the blaze first.
Then, as time zones hit morning, others piled on the fuel.
Condemnation of China poured in from all directions, regardless of nation or media.
Anyone even mildly interested in international affairs had already pieced it together.
Espionage via spies.
Assassination attempts on foreign figures.
Plenty of nations did that besides China.
But this case?
It was different.
The target was none other than Hitchhiker.
And the method shattered all common sense.
Reporters pounded on the sealed doors of the Chinese Management Agency.
Bang bang bang bang!
"Where did the ticket come from?!"
"Was this a solo Chinese operation?"
"Did Chairman Bin Hao approve this?!"
The lower floors, including the first, were dark and empty.
But not the upper levels.
Silhouettes of workers repairing the damaged building flickered occasionally.
Above all, hadn't Chairman Bin Hao entered with his aides just 30 minutes ago?
They were likely in a heated strategy meeting with the agency's executives right now.
Of course.
"The meeting won't wrap up quickly, right?"
"It might end easier than expected."
"Yeah. Half the key decision-makers are out of commission."
Director Li Feng and most of the agency's top brass.
They were dead or in equivalent states.
For now, China had subjugated the Lycanslope.
The nightmare of dawn.
The 5x reinforced Lycanslope.
Surrounded by summoned Chinese awakeners, it met its heroic end.
Or rather.
"Gaaah! S-save me!"
"D-die already, you monster bastard!"
Leaving over 50 confirmed casualties amid horrific terror.
Deaths or irreparable injuries.
Even for awakener powerhouse China, it was damage that shook their foundation.
And according to internal witnesses.
"That monster... Before the real fight started, it oddly targeted only Director Li Feng and the executives. Thanks to that, the rest of us evacuated safely."
The reason? Unknown.
But the fact remained: the current leadership was decimated and non-functional.
And while Chairman Bin Hao and his handful of remaining brass met in despair, world opinion raged on.
Rushed programs featured experts debating.
"China's action is tantamount to dropping a tactical nuke on Korea. Considering Hitchhiker single-handedly carries the nation."
"A cowardly pre-dawn strike. But Hitchhiker's successful defense is a blessing for international society."
"Speculating on how China obtained the Lycanslope ticket—"
Every channel buzzed with Hitchhiker.
And China-Korea talk.
Notably, attitudes toward Korea—specifically Hitchhiker—were overwhelmingly positive.
China got trashed everywhere.
Even bottom-tier nations that usually played it safe piled on.
Why? Simple.
Success is revolution; failure is treason, right?
If China had succeeded in the assassination?
Opinion would flip completely.
Korea: brief flash, then certain downfall.
China: solidifying 2nd place behind the US.
In other words.
"Even so, openly sniping a foreign awakener? Isn't that too much?"
Such criticisms would have been performative at best.
Opinion would die down, reverting to the US-China-Japan big three dynamic.
But.
Hitchhiker not only defended perfectly but posted an incomprehensible 1-second clear.
1 second? How?
"Of course, Hitchhiker's scores have always transcended understanding."
"But there was the premise of clearing floors matching his level."
"This time, he took down a level 50 boss monster."
"Showing even superior prowess than tackling same-level monsters in the tower. Hard to comprehend."
Nothing more shocking could happen, they thought.
Yet something beyond expectations occurred.
Global analysts scrapped all prior analyses and hypotheses on Hitchhiker, starting from scratch.
One conclusion: China staged a rebellion.
Confiscating 3,000,000 points from China.
And failed.
The results:
15 Days 12 Hours 3 Minutes 2 Seconds
Starting Score: -1,500,000 Points
Korea took 1st place.
By an overwhelming margin over 2nd.
Japan and Germany snagged 3rd and 4th as beneficiaries.
And China?
(...)
(...)
Straight drop to mid-tier.
They'd passed the rampage threshold, of course.
But analysts agreed climbing back to the top was impossible.
Half the round remained.
Plus, S- to A-rank casualties were beyond imagination, even for confirmed ones.
And the nation now at the center of global buzz.
Newly crowned #1, the Republic of Korea, was gripped by national mania.
Fierce mockery and ridicule toward China.
Awe and praise for Hitchhiker.
"Look, Master! People's reactions are wild today too! Business as usual, lol!"
"Korea's citizens already know Your Majesty is a god, right?"
Carmina and Yulia peered at the laptop together at the table.
The vampire noble munched nachos crunch crunch.
The pleasure-seeker saint chugged canned beer glug glug.
Each indulging in their vice, browsing reactions.
I replied to Yulia.
"Eh, just jokes."
"Hmm, but Your Majesty is a real god? You could found a church right now as the one true deity and pope, no issues."
"...You're kidding, right?"
"Hehe, totally serious."
Yulia, always beaming.
Hard to tell joke from truth.
Anyway, Korea was now #1.
But the US was closing in fiercely, gaining 50k points at steady intervals.
"Weird, Master! US bugs? Should I report?"
"Hmm... Definitely suspicious. Internet's calling it a score generator button."
Unlike my allies, I wasn't that surprised.
Why?
The undisputed world superpower, USA.
Analyses had long suggested they'd conserved power against China and Japan to hold #1.
Meaning they'd stockpiled for emergencies.
Untouched upper tower sections on purpose.
Special items from top-3 rewards like China.
Whatever it is, they've got it.
So I figured the real tower race started now.
But even the US wasn't fully relaxed, apparently.
According to Cha Minhyuk.
—Government contact: US deputy director and key figures are flying in on private jets. Crossing the Pacific to Korea.
Coming personally for talks means they're desperate.
I'll hear details from Cha Minhyuk later.
Anyway, time to work after some rest.
"Shall we get to it?"
"Yes, Master!"
"Time to exterminate demons!"
Lumentia Planet.
Satan's Demon Castle.
Sizzle!
Target Skill: Black Hole
Passing the corridor, I opened the door.
Creeeak—
A vast conference room appeared.
Demons of grotesque forms turned stares like What the hell is this guy?
One, two, three... 72, spot on.
No need to drag this out.
Ally Yulia uses Heavenly Blessing.
Target: Galaxy Traveler
INT and WIS amplified 3x for 30 minutes.
Black Hole.
The black hole opened its maw.
End