Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Remaining Balance
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The remaining balance.
“What is this...?”
Community nickname: Do-shyung-jwak. Her real name, Han Do-hee, was a little confused.
Nickname: Life Is Ruined. She was in the middle of a conversation with a user she vaguely recognized, someone who always appeared in the late-night gallery.
This was the guy who was always posting strange things on the Hunter Community, rambling about whether he'd awakened or not. One day he'd claim to be an S-rank Hunter, the next he'd be whining about wanting to awaken or wanting to die. You'd almost think he had schizophrenia.
That was pretty much the average for the Awakening Gallery, but this guy was particularly extreme. He was infamous in his own way.
Today, he'd posted again, claiming he'd finally awakened. So, as usual, she sent him a message to tease him a bit.
—G-Golem! Dance! Dance!
—*Kkiiik, kkiigiik*....
The video he sent was supposed to be proof of his awakening.
In the thumbnail, she had just seen what looked like a crude Gundam made of silver metal. It didn't even seem to have proper joints; she thought it was just a lump of metal vaguely mashed into a human-like shape.
—Good job, good job! Doggo! End recording now!
The voice that came through was very distinctive. It was the voice of a cute girl. Very pretty, and with the youthful freshness of a child who couldn't be older than a high schooler, at most.
“Huh... he was a girl...?”
Han Do-hee herself was a rare female user, but she never imagined that 'Life Is Ruined' was a girl. A very young one, at that.
Most importantly, the silhouette reflected in the shadow was clearly naked. Her long hair prevented it from being too scandalous, but as she jumped around happily, nothing else but her hair swayed in the shadow.
She might have been in her underwear, but it didn't feel that way.
Han Do-hee was quite flustered, but the other person was so young. To ease her anxiety, she nonchalantly continued the conversation, trying not to let her surprise show.
-Do-shyung-jwak: Yo lol
-Do-shyung-jwak: What's with the voice? You a girl?
-Do-shyung-jwak: And why's your shadow naked lol
“Wh-what do I do...?! What do I do...?!”
Was I too excited and happy? I was so eager to show off how amazing and great I was that I sent the video without even checking it properly. Thankfully, when I replayed it, not a single frame of my actual skin was visible.
—Good job, good job! End recording now!
My very excited voice and the silhouette of my completely naked shadow were perfectly captured in the video.
Smartphone cameras these days have such high quality. No one would even suspect it was faked.
The T-shirt I'd put on because it was cold was...
For reasons I can't say, the bottom hem was soaked with a slightly yellow liquid, so it was now lying crumpled on the bathroom floor.
The hoodie I'd worn outside smelled faintly of beer, so I'd taken it off. In conclusion, I really was naked.
“U-uaaah...!! What do I do?! Mecha-Doggo!! My identity has been exposed!!! And to a famous braggart from the Awakening Gallery...!!”
An active B-rank Hunter who mercilessly crushes the hopes of Awakening wannabes on the gallery. A user who proves her status by showing her bank account and gives away 100 Cybugs at a time, making her impossible to block.
“Nooo...! That person would post my video without a second thought just to get a top post...!!”
Just as I was wondering what on earth to do, a picture appeared in the chat window.
“Eh...?”
-Do-shyung-jwak: lol check the chat
-Do-shyung-jwak: I won't say anything so don't worry
-Do-shyung-jwak: If you don't answer I'm gonna post the video and get that top post~
The chat continued.
“Do-shyung-jwak... was a woman...?!”
How on earth was this possible?
From the nickname to the way she talked, even the emoticons she used. Well, the mint-colored pigtails emoticon was a bit feminine... but that's just a community thing, right...?
-Life Is Ruined: Is this pic realㅠ?
-Life Is Ruined: Stealing pics is bad ㅠ
-Do-shyung-jwak: I'll kill you lol can't you see the paper
Indeed, in the photo Do-shyung-jwak sent, she was holding a piece of paper. And on that paper... were the words 'Do-shyung-jwak,' as if to verify her identity.
But you never know. Hunters have a lot of money, right...? She could have stolen a photo from a regular person who took it to verify themselves for some mysterious, wealthy sponsor...
“I-I can't believe it...”
-Life Is Ruined: You're really not gonna make a top post with this, rightㅠㅠ
-Do-shyung-jwak: I sent the pic already lol Just believe me or else
To be honest, I still wasn't convinced. What if it really was a mysterious sponsor... blah blah... what if she was actually someone else...?
“M-Mecha-Doggo... can you... can you make phone calls...?”
—*Beep!*
The word 'Possible' appeared on Mecha-Doggo's tiny screen.
“G-good... In that case...”
-Life Is Ruined: Gimme your number.. I really can't believe it
-Do-shyung-jwak: So demanding; 010-xxxx-xxxx
“Wait, she's actually giving it to me...?”
It seemed Do-shyung-jwak really was a woman.
“Hehe... but she fell for it...!”
-Life Is Ruined: Got the number ㅎㅎ Now we have mutually assured destruction ㅎㅎ
-Do-shyung-jwak: Are you crazy; I'll kill you for real, call me now
It didn't work, as expected. It was obvious that I, with the video evidence, would suffer greater consequences. It was a naked silhouette, after all...
“Mecha-Doggo, can you call this number for me?”
—*Beep!*
As I lifted Mecha-Doggo onto the desk, it looked at the number on the screen and started making the call.
*Trrrring— Trrrring—*
The call connected shortly after.
“H-hello...?”
“Hey, how's the life of an Awakened?”
“A-are you really Do-shyung-jwak...? If you're a victim of kidnapping and confinement, I could rescue you... well, probably not...”
“Should we go for that top post~?”
“Uwaaah!! I-I'm sorry!! I'll believe that you're the real Do-shyung-jwak!!”
It was undeniably a woman's voice. A little husky, but... definitely a woman.
“Alright, for now... congratulations on awakening. Though it seems you only have some foolish-looking skills.”
Her tone was full of amusement. She was definitely making fun of me.
“Th-that's not true! I... I have an EX-rank skill, you know...?!”
“Still sticking with that concept? Or what, is it really EX-rank?”
“It's real! I just can't prove it...!”
It was certainly an unbelievable story, but the fact that my skill was EX-rank remained unchanged.
“Why can't you prove it? Just do it.”
“Eh...? How?”
“There's an exclusive community app for the Awakened, right? Unless your phone is complete trash, it should have a magic detection feature.”
“Aha...?”
Come to think of it, I remember seeing an article about that. Phones made in the last few years supposedly all come with a magic detection feature.
Most people don't have magic, of course, but it was meant to detect ambient magic and alert the user to danger. When a gate opens, it releases an immense amount of magic.
And from that feature, several other convenient functions exclusive to Hunters had been developed.
“W-wait a minute... what's the app's name...?”
“Search for Huntweet.”
“Mecha-Doggo, did you hear that...? Can you search for it? In the... app store.”
“Who are you talking to?”
“Ah... there's a golem that was born from eating my phone...”
“What...? You turned your phone into a golem?”
“Ehehe...”
“W-well, I guess that's your business. What are you using to make the call?”
“Mecha-Doggo connected the call for me...?”
“That's... interesting.”
I found it interesting too. Anyone else hearing this would probably find it absurd.
“Is it this one, the blue icon?”
“Yeah, that's it. Install it.”
Following Do-shyung-jwak's instructions, I asked Mecha-Doggo to install the app called Huntweet. A notification window popped up on the screen.
“Um... 'Allow only this time'?”
“Set it to 'Allow only while using the app.' You'll be using it often anyway.”
“Ah, then 'Allow only while using the app' it is...”
—*Beep!*
Mecha-Doggo nodded as if it understood, and 'Allow only while using the app' was clicked.
“Try using the quick measurement. Use that and touch your phone, and it should install.”
“Okay...!”
Just as Do-shyung-jwak said, even though I didn't have a phone, the installation began as soon as I placed my hand on Mecha-Doggo's back.
An app that only the Awakened can use... this is really exciting...
“It's finished installing.”
“Good. Go into the app, then settings, and you'll see something like 'Personal Information and... something'.”
Soon, on the tiny screen, I could see Hunters from many different countries gathered together, chatting cozily.
For now, I followed Do-shyung-jwak's tutorial and clicked on 'Personal Information and Security' in the settings.
“Ah, yes. And then?”
“There, below your profile, is an option to input magic measurement results. Click that and place your hand on it again like before.”
“Aha... Did you hear that, Mecha-Doggo?”
—*Beep!*
Mecha-Doggo followed Do-shyung-jwak's tutorial exactly and then presented its back to me.
—*Pat, pat.*
“I think it's done... Ah! It's here! Look at this!”
“Look at what? I won't know until you send me your profile link. Set it to 'Friends Only,' then send me the link. I'll send you a friend request.”
“Got it! Mecha-Doggo, execute!”
—*Beep!*
Sure enough, the profile now displayed the same information as my status window. Since it was set to 'Friends Only,' other people probably wouldn't see it. Only those added as friends could view it...
—*Ting.*
“Han Do-hee...?”
“It's me, Do-shyung-jwak.”
So her name is Han Do-hee, which is why her nickname is Do-shyung-jwak. Well, that didn't matter. I accepted the friend request...
“Let's see... Princess of a Ruined Kingdom? It's real? What is this?”
“I-I told you it was real...”
“One EX-rank and the rest are F-rank... But having four starting skills is still amazing. So it was true?”
“Yess... it's real...”
“And you're 10 years old? Little baby, your name is Eve? I thought you were Korean?”
“A-ah! That's...!”
Everything was completely exposed. To be honest, I had no idea about the name 'Eve', but anyway...
“Mutually assured destruction, got it?”
“But I'm at a bigger disadvantage...”
“Haa~ I really want to make a top post~”
“P-please... I'm begging you...”
The chaotic dawn passed, and morning came. Perhaps because this body was completely different from my original one, whose days and nights were flipped, I fell asleep the moment the call with Do-shyung-jwak ended.
Was it because I was so cold and tired? I slept like a log until 1 PM. So much has happened to me. The electrical short, knocking over the trash bag... blah blah blah, I've reached my limit.
“Ugh... my head...”
It seems this body belongs to a good child who sleeps at night and wakes in the morning. Staying up a little late has left my head completely fuzzy.
“Mecha-Doggo... Mecha-Doggo...? Where did you go...? Mecha-Doggo, what are you doing—!”
Hearing my voice, Mecha-Doggo came toddling out from somewhere. With something displayed on its screen, it rushed into my arms.
“...Huh?”