I Want to Live
“Ha... damn it.”
As I scrolled through the Hunter Universe, news, anonymous boards, blogs, YouTube, the hunter community was literally on fire.
Because of me...
Who is the Unregistered? What kind of guy is he? His ID is terrifying.
Grateful. A hero. There were even such opinions, but anyway, it’s hot.
The peak of that heat is right here.
[Sponsor] - [Certified Hunter Management Bureau]
■ Gold = 100,000,000
“I didn’t even sign a contract with them.”
Just thinking about it, it was clearly an expression of intent to recruit me.
Even if it was the Hunter Management Bureau, there was no way they had any sinister motives.
“So this is what it means to have drawn their attention.”
But that wasn’t all.
[Sponsor] - [Hong Maehwa]
■ Gold = 30,000,000
“???”
Thirty million gold from Korea’s number-one assassination guild.
[Sponsor] - [Dokgak Village]
■ Gold = 10,000,000
“???”
Ten million gold from Korea’s number-one tank guild.
“Did an auction open up just for me?”
It was pressure itself.
Considering that the donations had already been made without any conditions, this was an absurd flood of support.
“This... feels uneasy.”
The energy being poured toward me felt a little hotter than I thought.
But that wasn’t all.
System rewards also arrived via email, separate from the donations.
[Attack 1st Place Reward] = 2,000,000G
[Boss 1st Place Reward] = 2,000,000G
[MVP Reward] = 5,000,000G
“Whoa.”
Since I was the gate MVP, the rewards were quite generous.
It took me over two hours just to review all the emails, donations, and contract requests.
The total gold collected reached 169,870,000.
“The mail just feels like a letter, and the gold is flowing from the donations.”
The system rewards only arrived via email, and the 9 million gold I received there was added on top.
“I can’t believe how much this actually is.”
I knew they were being generous, but still...
So I tucked myself back into my blanket and scrolled through the Hunter Universe.
First, I needed to understand the value of the currency called gold, and I also wanted to brush up on hunter society knowledge.
Knowing in real time what the world was saying about me would be useful.
While doing that,
I entered the [Exchange] of the Hunter Universe.
It looked like a market where hunters bought and sold things was booming.
Like the cash shop in games.
And then
[Exchange] [Gold] Buy Gold
Cost = 100,000G
Offer = Cash 1,000,000 won (1G = 10 won)
(No negotiation / No on-site transaction)
“???”
[Exchange] [Gold] Sell Gold
Quantity = 1,100,000G
Offer = 1G = 11 won
(Negotiation possible / No on-site transaction)
“???”
I quit my part-time job.
***
When gates opened and the existence called “hunter” suddenly rose to prominence,
they replaced celebrities and replaced soldiers in the war.
They replaced the meaning of national power.
This world began to run on the binary logic of humans versus gates...
Which meant
hunter’s made a lot of money.
“I can’t go to work tomorrow... because something came up.”
- The M-Z guys are like this! Back in my day
“M-Z... I’m sorry, boss... I’m sorry.”
Thud.
Since my friend had already bought a substitute to take the boss’s rage, he should calm down soon.
“Anyway, I can’t leave the house because of my 1 HP.”
But I didn’t need to work anymore.
■ Gold = 169,870,000
“Haa...”
My chest felt grand.
My living space was still a cramped 6-pyeong studio apartment with a shabby bed, a smelly blanket, and a moldy mini-fridge, but my shoulders felt looser. My chest felt fuller.
I gulped down lukewarm samdasu like it was Evian, and now every morning I would look in the mirror and ask myself.
“Who am I?”
Owner of 169 million won.
“Aaaah!”
While saying that and peeing, I almost stuck my toe in the bathroom door crack.
“That was close to death.”
Reality hit me again.
This wasn’t the time.
I had momentarily become a billionaire and lost my mind, so I pulled myself together and started thinking about ways to survive.
First, skills.
Penetration
The skill I unlocked at level 11 was Penetration.
“Hmm...”
With this skill, bullets would pierce through three enemies for one minute.
“Damn. It won’t help much with survival.”
It also didn’t seem meaningful unless the enemies were tightly packed or lined up.
“Still, since it’s my first skill, I should treat it as a good card.”
I planned to use it in the next fight.
Gates were scheduled to open again today.
“From the news, another one is expected in Seoul in a few hours. Forecasts are always wrong, though...”
Anyway, there was no other way from the skills,
and the next method was, of course, “spending gold.”
Converting it to won would be an enormous amount of money, but what I needed right now wasn’t money, it was life.
“As long as I can overcome my 1 HP a little, it’s fine.”
From what I saw, gold seemed to be something I could earn as much as I wanted.
So I went back and forth between the [Shop] and [Exchange] of the Hunter Universe.
First, the [Shop].
“Whoa.”
This was just like Coupang.
The categories were incredibly diverse and complex, and there were items for every conceivable purpose.
I didn’t have time to browse everything, so I decided to divide the most important parts into categories and search.
Defense and Support.
But no matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find any sharp solution to my 1 HP problem.
There were tons of items that raised defense, but it was meaningless to me.
There was no defense that didn’t reduce my 1 HP.
There were also many items that raised HP, but it was meaningless to me.
My stamina was fixed.
“Ugh.”
It seemed difficult in the shop, so after a rough search I found the answer to why there was no sharp solution.
1. The [Shop] didn’t sell overwhelmingly effective items.
* Same as game NPCs not selling them.
2. Instead, the [Shop] was the best place to get potions, consumables, and other materials.
So I went to the [Exchange], where hunters bought and sold things among themselves.
The [Exchange] also had categories like the shop,
and I set the major categories to “Defense” and “Support.”
I removed “HP increase” and “Defense increase” from the function categories.
I removed a few other meaningless settings
and set it to “100 million gold or more.”
I had no intention of using cheap things to dress up my life.
So I searched again.
“Please, let there be something.”
Something to maintain my daily life.
Then,
[Search Results] (0)
“100 million gold or less. No, just remove the amount limit.”
[Search Results] (0)
“Kik...”
A single drop of saliva fell.
Did my life have no answer?
“If you have money, what do you do? I’d risk my life for one piss.”
I sat on the bed and covered my face.
“What the hell am I supposed to do.”
It was an incredibly gloomy life, far from public interest and expectations.
I couldn’t even meet people. I couldn’t even eat hot ramen anymore...?
And more than that. When gates opened, there were earthquakes, tsunamis, and all kinds of natural disasters, and dead dragons crashing through windows was common.
It was literally sudden death.
I was sweating profusely from tension, just fiddling with the status window,
when
“Hmm?”
In the corner of the status window of the [Sniper Shelter], there was a glowing purple menu.
Below it was
[Sniper Shop]
“Sniper Shelter and shop?”
Ah, now that I thought about it,
I had done the tutorial when I killed the minotaur, and there were rewards there...
“Use the Practice Sniper Rifle to kill one enemy.”
“■ Achievement Reward: Open Sniper Shelter, Open Sniper Shop, Open Skill Tree”
It was the Sniper Shelter and shop.
The skill tree was already open, and I had gotten Penetration.
“So this is how it was given!”
Since I was rich, I immediately clicked [Sniper Shop] in a hurry,
[Not linked to Shelter.]
[Not linked to Shelter.]
[Not linked to Shelter.]
“Ah.”
It seemed the shelter was essential.
And my heart started pounding,
what was the shelter.
It looked like a cozy name...
It was definitely something that would wrap around my sweet house...
“Huu. Huu.”
I clicked [Sniper Shelter] with a serious heart,
and at that moment,
- Whoosh!
“Uwaaaah!”
A blinding light burst from the status window, and my 6-pyeong studio apartment walls melted away and turned into a flash.
It wasn’t over.
『Sniper Shelter syncing... (Progress: 17%)』
『Current location analysis result [Suitable].』
When I opened my eyes, a small status window floated in front of me,
as if analyzing my space.
『Sniper Shelter syncing... (Progress: 31%)』
『Area/height/structure analysis result [Suitable].』
Then the blinding light moved light sources up and down the apartment, analyzing every corner,
and soon a completion message appeared.
『Sniper Shelter syncing... (Progress: 100%)』
『Syncing complete.』
『Shelter deployed.』
- Whoosh!
The light quickly seeped back into the status window,
and
“Eh...”
In front of my eyes, a status window for the “Shelter” opened.
“No way, no way, no way.”
Was it protecting me?
The status window showed functions related to the shelter,
------------------------
[Shelter Upgrade] [Agent Hiring] [Function Improvement] [New Opening]
------------------------
Inside the shelter, there were functions to support my smooth sniper lifestyle.