Got 'Em! The Hunter Trio's Ticket Rescue Party Is On Fire!

CHAPTER_TITLE: The Ticket Purchase of Destiny!

"Jiyun! Are you ready yet?!"

"Yeah!"

"We only have exactly two minutes left! Take a deep breath and loosen up your hands!"

"YEAH!!!"

The phone next to us was displaying time down to the second. Sitting in front of the computer with me, Yoo Sumi and I felt a strange tension between us. We were at a PC bang right now. Specifically, the one with the absolute best computer specs in the neighborhood. Why? Because today was finally the day for the Claire Moreau, Lena Richter, and Emma Ricci collaboration event ticket sales to open!

That hunter trio wasn't just popular with me. They were popular worldwide. Once you go to their events, the popularity skyrockets to the point where it borders on a societal phenomenon. But their real job is hunters, so opportunities like this are rare. International tours are even rarer. That's why ticket sales are brutally competitive. Even scammers were going crazy buying tickets.

And now the open time was approaching in less than ten seconds. Yoo Sumi and I looked at each other and nodded. I used my Focus skill to enter a state where time felt slowed. Yoo Sumi, using her close-range skill of Enhanced Perception, entered slow motion too. With this, we were one step ahead of most ordinary people.

[Title: Awakened people, open the reservation and refresh after 1 second!]

"Shit, their reaction speed and click speed are insanely fast!"

Such comments flooded the Hunter Gallery forum. But what could you do? If you're envious, then become awakened. The last 0.1 seconds on the phone ticked by...

Bing.

Reservation open time.

Without any 0.01-second delay, the refresh was pressed. The moment the refresh happened, the reservation button was clicked. After payment confirmation, the loading time felt like my heart was about to burst.

A moment later.

"Kyah!!!"

I tried to shout from the dopamine explosion but covered my mouth and just raised both hands.

"Unnie! I got it..."

I looked to the side, but Yoo Sumi was unusually quiet. Her head turned creakily to face me, her face deathly pale.

"J-Jiyun. The computer lagged..."

Yoo Sumi pointed at the monitor with trembling fingers. It wasn't an infinite loading from the site breaking. It was that the moment she clicked, the monitor froze and she couldn't click. We came to a top-spec PC bang just in case this happened. But why now?

"Hmm! Ha! Hah!"

I crossed my arms and lifted my head proudly.

"What to do. I accidentally bought two tickets by mistake."

"What?!"

"Since there was some time left, I clicked the + button to increase the number of people from 1 to 2. Just in case someone else makes a mistake."

"Wahahahaha!!"

Yoo Sumi started showering me with mindless praise.

With my crazy performance, we secured two tickets.

After the exhilarating few days of waiting, the event day finally arrived. In the meantime, I had gone to the back of the neighborhood hill and released Hawk.

When we arrived in Yoo Sumi's truck, the parking lot revealed an enormous, flashy event site.

For ordinary people, it was just a place to see three pretty female hunters, but it was actually something else. From the French side, famous hunter-related companies had set up promotional booths, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠besides the trio, other hunters were doing small fan meetings and sparring. It was an exchange venue. After all, it was a massive event where three S-rank hunters visited another country.

"Wow... There are so many people."

"Be careful not to lose your way. Want me to hold your hand?"

"...Not that much."

With Yoo Sumi, we moved inside the event site. After showing our tickets and entering boldly, there was a lot going on. Right after entering, giant statues of the three: Claire Moreau, Lena Richter, and Emma Ricci stood. On both sides, the goods shop and experience booths lined up. Drones flying in the air were guiding people without getting in the way. They were hovering smoothly, spouting circular waves downward without a single propeller.

Those drones were probably made by Lena Richter's magic mechanical engineering company. Lena Richter's class was Mechanic. A rare class worldwide.

The place we went to first was the drink corner. They sold slushies, smoothies, lattes, etc., in cups for 15,000 won per cup. It seemed crazy expensive, but since it was a plastic cup with the trio's illustrations printed on it, that was the price. In reality, they were selling goods while giving away free drinks. If you asked for more drinks, you only paid for the drinks then. You could also just buy the cup alone.

I went to the counter with a big smile.

"Um... Can I get five Claire Moreau cups?"

"I'm sorry... But the cup limit is two per person. Including drinks."

"Eh..."

These people were ruthless with reselling countermeasures. Should I praise them?

But I wasn't buying five to resell. One for daily use, one for decorating next to my desk, one for when I build a goods display later, and the other two as precious backups.

"Then one strawberry latte with Claire Moreau cup, and one single cup please. When I finish the latte, I'll give you the cup too."

"Hek..."

At that moment, Yoo Sumi stepped in as the savior.

"M-Me too...!!"

Just like that, we secured four Claire Moreau cups.

When the latte was gone, we'd go to the bathroom, wash it clean, and put it in our bags. As we walked past the booths while slurping the strawberry latte, we saw a large screen on the left playing a movie-like thing.

"Oh!"

I dashed over to the unmissable sight.

"Berlin Defense Battle...!!"

On the screen, a white knight on a golden-maned horse was charging through hundreds of monster legions. The monsters that covered the streets and destroyed buildings were smashed apart by the terrifying cavalry charge and scattered.

Berlin Defense Battle.

An A-rank Outbreak Gate had appeared in German Berlin, and monsters poured in massively. Claire Moreau single-handedly broke through it and rescued isolated survivors, creating a touching documentary. It was also the event where Claire Moreau debuted as S-rank, and the starting point of why I liked her.

"At that time, Claire caught over 200 monsters alone! And more than 15 were A-rank! It's so cool..."

"Jiyun is really a true fan of Claire Moreau."

"Yeah. She's pretty, strong, and has a great mindset."

More than anything, Claire had a good mindset. On the other side, thousands of monsters were rushing toward us.

"You have to run away! It's hopeless!"

The type that would just get smashed without a word, like "I know."

There was no real hero. That's why in France, she's often linked with Joan of Arc.

"What about you, unnie? Do you like Claire too?"

"Not really as a fan, more like a role model? She's a real hero who doesn't ask for money. As a close-range type too, there's a lot to learn."

"Yeah, yeah."

And at that time, Lena Richter fighting on site and Emma Ricci who came from Italy supporting formed the trio we know now.

On the right, videos of Lena Richter and Emma Ricci's achievements were also playing.

After watching the videos, we moved to the experience booths. There was a strangely designed punching machine experience booth where they compared the punch power to Claire Moreau's.

Yoo Sumi hit the punching machine with all her might, and it reached 10% of Claire Moreau's power. The sound was loud enough to reverberate, but Claire hit it with 10 times the power.

"Hah. Sumi-unnie is 0.1 Claire. If there were 10 of Sumi-unnie, they'd be fighting Claire."

It was a light joke, but the price was bigger than I thought.

"Come here."

Yoo Sumi picked me up and put me in front of the punching machine. I was dazed from being lifted without resistance.

What to do with this. I couldn't escape with everyone watching.

So I hit the punching machine with all my strength...

"......"

They measured it so detailedly. Was this a punch? A bunny headbutt was stronger.

"Uhaahaha. Jiyun is a total cotton fist. You're super light, so you can't resist when lifted."

Yoo Sumi giggled behind me.

On the outdoor, we could try horseback riding. It wasn't real horses; they were machines made by Lena Richter's company. We could make them gallop faster if we wanted, but it was scary and thrilling.

What if I tamed a horse-type phantasmal beast like Hawk? Riding it and shooting arrows would be awesome.

And probably the most popular booth was the magic gun shooting experience. With a scenario where monsters appeared in the city like a theme park attraction, we had to shoot the machines pretending to be monsters and defeat them with magic guns.

Everything about magic guns and monster machines was from Lena Richter's company. I was starting to suspect if the whole event was going to viralize her company, but it was genuinely fun.

As a ranged awakened, I showed off huge power by myself. With Focus on and aiming at critical weaknesses, I scored 2.5 times higher than second place, Yoo Sumi.

"Uhet. Unnie's range is no good. If you score the same as a normal person..."

"You little brat...!!"

Just like that, we got the 1st place prize: a 20cm tall Claire Moreau figure. A limited edition that could only be obtained at the event, completely unofficial. And the quality was so high that I was about to cry. Especially the thighs came out really pretty. Everyone who likes Claire would agree on the thighs.

After that, we wandered around and bought a ton of goods. We stuffed them tightly into the school backpack we used in high school.

Time passed, and now the main event of the festival was approaching. The stage greeting of the three: Claire, Lena, and Emma. Most of the people here were fans of the trio, so the atmosphere was explosively high.

Thousands of people were murmuring in front of the stage when the lights suddenly dimmed.

And then—thud thud thud—hoof sounds roared.

Followed by a loud bang and the sound of a horse, Claire Moreau appeared on stage.

"Waaaaaaaah!!!"

The sight was too cool, so I and the others cheered wildly together.

"Bonsoir tout le monde! Vous allez bien?"

Claire's voice was bright and cheerful, but I only caught "Bonjour" at the front. Luckily, subtitles appeared on the screen behind the stage.

It was a completely Claire-like bright and energetic greeting. Then, one by one, Lena Richter and Emma Ricci appeared beside her. Lena Richter slid over on a floating board like thing, and Emma Ricci descended from the air with a holy atmosphere.

My favorite hunter team was right in front of me. It was like a dream. If it were the old me, I wouldn't have come because I was working part-time and had no money for tickets. I could understand why everyone was making a fuss to watch an idol concert live.

About an hour later, the trio's speeches ended. They talked about hope, courage, unity, and will. The content was deeply impressive, but more than that, Claire's voice was so good that I barely remembered the actual words.

Then, after slightly zoning out and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wandering around the booths, it was almost 5 p.m. The day's schedule was almost over.

"Is there anything else to do? If there's nothing to see, shall we go home?"

"Yeah... Let's go home."

"Jiyun is totally zoned out. Do you like Claire that much? If you like Claire, then unnie likes Claire?"

"Eh. Claire is a fan and unnie is... unnie."

"Puha. Okay. What should we eat tonight? Korean buffet? You've been eating too much oily stuff lately."

Yoo Sumi said she'd go to the bathroom real quick and left her seat. I got in the car first.

When I opened the photo album on my phone, there were so many photos of Claire Moreau. I was about to upload a post with the photos to the gallery to brag.

Just as I was about to upload the post I had written diligently...

I stuck my face to the window and looked outside.

Chi-ji-ji-jik—red sparks were flying from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the middle of the empty parking lot far away.

At the same time, an indescribable sense of unease and foreboding began to rise again.

At this point, I was starting to trust my own instincts.

This wasn't normal.

When I opened the car door and got out, at the same time, the gate appearance warning sound rang from the phone.

A red sphere condensing in the air.

And the asphalt floor changing into sticky dark blue soil.

An Erosion Core that was turning the Earth into an otherworld where monsters came out.