Fame That Refuses to Fade
The fame didn't bury itself. "……."
Not a sound, not a trace. It was an excessively clean job.
"H-Hyungnim?"
Lee Han-seong wore an expression of utter disbelief at the shocking brutality.
I shook my head desperately.
"No. It wasn't me."
Sometime without my noticing, the grimoire had ended up in my hand.
Whoosh—.
A breeze flipped the pages.
[If a situation arises where you reject your fate, the 'Finger of the Great Existence' will intervene directly.]
And the finger retreated back through the hole, as if its task was complete.
[Do your utmost to remember and fulfill the contract.]
How the hell do I resolve this situation?
Could I really explain away the spotless disappearance of those two administrators' heads?
"What the…"
I'd thought I'd just walk a bed of roses from here on out.
But every incident swirling around me was so chaotic, I just wanted to run away.
The next day, I stood on the podium.
The entire neighborhood had gathered in the auditorium, gazing up at me.
Thankfully, it wasn't a crowd assembled to watch my head roll on the guillotine.
'Traitor who ruined this country.'
I'd braced for that level of vitriol, complete with flying filth.
"Baek Seo-hu! Baek Seo-hu! Baek Seo-hu!"
Instead, the people started cheering my name.
"We now begin the talk with Incheon's savior, Baek Seo-hu!"
The Hunter Association official opened his mouth.
Roooar—! Cheers and applause poured out.
How this had all come about? This official, who'd rushed here from Seoul for the performance, would explain it in detail from here on.
"Hunter Baek Seo-hu didn't just single-handedly subjugate the monster and save this city—he even restored the world's proper order."
The official began reciting my exploits in a solemn voice.
"Nationwide fugitives, vicious criminals. The mother-son duo with the 'Trait: Transformation Technique' that had the police giving up the chase—they were personally captured and executed."
The official asked me,
"How did you know those who looked just like Tower administrators were criminals?"
How did I know they were criminals?
I had no fucking clue.
Their names being some Park this-and-that.
The mother clutching a knife in her bosom while face-down.
That they'd been lying in wait for a chance to slit my throat—all that I only learned after rummaging through the corpses.
I hadn't even imagined they'd killed multiple people, extorted money and valuables, kidnapped kids for torture, and sold them as slaves on the black market.
Even approaching me by impersonating association officials to scam newbie hunters out of settlement fees—that was their MO, and there were already plenty of victims.
But I'd just beaten them because they were being dicks and I needed to vent stress. That was it.
I hadn't meant to kill them.
It was that transparent finger from who-knows-where.
Do you know what the Heavenly Killing Star is?
I just followed that fate, and turns out they were vicious criminals.
Kill first, ask questions later, and bam—superpowered scumbags.
So let's not praise me too much.
Of course, I didn't answer that honestly.
"I've always had sharp intuition. Their vulgar speech was nothing like the dignified officials of the administration, so I got suspicious."
My lips moved shamelessly.
"The vile lie of the wicked is seen through beneath the heavens, so I merely did what had to be done. Before more victims could pile up. It's hardly praiseworthy."
"Waaaaaaah!!!"
The crowd erupted in applause and cheers.
A man was even shedding tears. Lee Han-seong, who'd watched the whole thing from behind me.
"There was meaning to it all, Hyungnim!"
With things having come this far, I had to live up to their expectations.
…Probably.
This whole thing felt like some backwater farce.
"Before awakening as a hunter, you were an ordinary Grade 7 civil servant, they say. We'd love to hear the details?"
"Embarrassing as it is, it's been about a month since I became a hunter."
Bullshit, it'd been a week.
"I needed time to get used to using my abilities, and I wanted to hand over my duties properly. Being a civil servant is a noble job eating from the nation's coffers, after all."
"Such responsibility. What were your thoughts when S-rank hunter Elise prophesied about you?"
"It was probably right before clocking out. Yes, that's when I first felt my blood run ice cold."
"And I hear the government's support was tremendous afterward?"
Huh?
"What bullshit is that? This whole mess happened because they cheaped out on mana stones and threw it into quarantine…."
"Cut!"
The director holding the camera clapped the slate. He rushed over and whispered in my ear.
"Hunter Baek Seo-hu, you really going there? We already agreed on everything. This puts us in a bind too."
"Got it. Let's just splice it together."
I sighed and continued.
"The elixirs stockpiled in the supply room were a huge help. Thanks to the excellent policies as usual, we got through this crisis."
"Ah, perfect. That's a wrap then. One photo with the district chief for the commendation ceremony, and we're done. Both sides just want to check the boxes, right?"
In truth, all this had been agreed upon before filming.
The government didn't want this incident spreading far and wide, either.
It'd stain them with the blemish of abandoning citizens.
I didn't want the attention, for the same reason.
Objectively speaking, my power's still too weak.
I'd witnessed S-rank hunter Seo Ha-rin's abilities up close.
An lightning-affinity awakener.
Imagine that bolt that erased Arakhan from the world crashing down on my head right now….
How the hell do I dodge that?
So I hid it.
Most of the facts, including that I'd subjugated Arakhan.
If they knew I soloed a B-rank disaster, it'd be pandemonium.
The incident would fade quickly after a few commemorative photos hit the press releases.
"Hunter-nim, more warmly!"
So there I was, smiling as I received the commendation plaque from some bigwig.
Under the pretext of a 'Dedication Appreciation Plaque,' I was getting 30 million won wired too.
Amazingly, tax-free. Pretty grateful for that, honestly.
"Good work. Drinks?"
"Nah, too wiped out."
After filming wrapped, I returned to my cheap studio apartment. The familiar smell hit my nose.
Somehow mixed with a burnt tang, but probably just my imagination. Lying on the bed, the relief of it all finally being over washed over me.
Lounging in languid comfort, I opened the gallery I'd forgotten about.
The vibe was off.
They'd already held the funeral, and Bingbing Girl was wailing like the lone widow left at the crematorium.
Was I really okay jumping in here?
As soon as I posted the short message, notifications exploded like mad.
Considering what they'd done to help me, posting was the least I could do. I started detailing the battle events.
I hesitated briefly, then decided to be honest. Might feel better spilling it.
I recalled that overheated final instant. Something snapped.
At that point, I genuinely didn't care what happened to anything.
If Seo Ha-rin hadn't shown up….
The form of the magic I'd prepared lingered vividly.
A lumpy mass of malice.
A sensation like being devoured. Similar to the Heavenly Killing Star—feeling unlike myself.
Even the finger ripping through space and appearing.
Hadn't I become a pretty dangerous existence?
?
Was he right?
The ongoing comfort and their examples of turning mere mortals into maniacs brought relief.
Compared to these guys, I was totally normal. Bunch of psychos.
"That's more like it~."
With a relaxed mind, I lay on the bed and pulled out my smartphone. Still, articles with my face—better check 'em.
Articles we'd agreed to bury were up as-is.