Chapter 6: AAAAAAAAAARGH!

At the tip of my finger, a single star floated coldly. Dozens of light-years away, a nameless star. Even I wasn't entirely sure what I had been planning to do with it. It was simply that the one line my sister had sent—"Looks like I won't be able to come over for a while"—had strangely tugged at a corner of my heart.

"...Forget it."

I sent the star back into the night sky. Then I flopped back down onto the bed and opened the gallery app.

I didn't even open the comment section. I just set my phone down.

At the same time, on the top floor of the Hunter Association headquarters.

The vice minister's hand trembled faintly as he held the report.

The high-ranking officials seated around the long table all wore hardened expressions as they received the news.

"The deadline is two weeks."

"If we cannot prove the existence of one additional S-class hunter within two weeks, Korea will lose its sovereign right to handle its own gates. The mana stones and byproducts that emerge from the gates will all be taken by China and Japan under the pretext of proxy management."

"Just one. If we can secure just one more, we'll meet the baseline requirement."

"How can they do something this unreasonable—"

The president voiced his resentment after hearing the report. But his words were cut off midway.

"It's because the nation's power is weak. The problem is national strength... national strength."

Im Jihoo, the 22nd president of South Korea, spoke with candid honesty.

The gap between thirty S-class hunters and five was obvious. Even if the retired S-class hunters returned, they had all aged to the point where A-class would be their limit.

The association president pressed his temples. His complexion suggested he was on his third consecutive night of overtime.

"...Libra."

The air in the conference room instantly focused on him.

"The unregistered awakener who erased the Kangseo-gu gate in a single strike. The astronomical observatory data matches perfectly. The person exists. At minimum S-class—possibly even higher."

"Have you located them?"

"......"

"There are eyewitness accounts from the hunters on site, but all they can say is that a star fell..."

The vice minister answered.

"No one other than the hunters and the cleanup crew left any trace of entering the site."

They still hadn't found the person. If simply wanting to find someone was enough, they would have done so long ago. The existence was clear. But they didn't know who it was, where it was, or what it was doing.

The association president dragged a wrinkled hand down his face.

"...Please, wherever you are, just show yourself..."

The awakener he so desperately sought was, at this very moment, sprawled across a bed in a tiny five-square-meter studio apartment, thoroughly enjoying the life of a NEET.

Beijing, Gate International Management Committee conference room.

Six Chinese S-class hunters sat on the opposite side of the long table. On the Korean side, there was only Kim Suhyun. She was the entirety of the personnel Korea could bring to the negotiation table.

Kim Suhyun understood the meaning behind the fingers and the expression before the interpreter even finished speaking. Her nails dug into her palm.

"So you're saying you'll pressure us with numbers?"

It was blatant condescension toward Korea. In truth, if it were one-on-one, none of the hunters present could defeat Kim Suhyun. But two-on-one? Three-on-one? She couldn't guarantee victory. That was the terror of numbers.

Kim Suhyun bit the inside of her cheek. Exploding here meant losing. The moment even a single speck of mana leaked out, they would seize on it and pressure Korea even harder. The justification would shift to their side.

They would claim, "It's difficult to clear gates when you only have a small number of S-class hunters who can't even be properly controlled."

It would begin with the high-grade gates. They would lose management rights over A- and B-class gates. Chinese and Japanese hunters would descend to clear them, and after that it would be a swift collapse. Cleanup crews, personnel for hunter housing, food services—everything would follow. In the end, Korea would be overwhelmed by sheer numbers and left without hope.

'That absolutely cannot happen.'

This was their opening move—seizing the right to handle high-grade gates. So she endured. Alone. Carrying the fate of Korea on her shoulders.

'Star-embedding bastard.'

Suddenly, the friend who had been on the verge of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠death a few days ago came to mind. That frail hand that had barely managed to pick up a single piece of chicken breast.

'I just need to protect them. So that every citizen can comfortably eat ramen and browse the galleries—that's why I exist.'

S-class hunter Kim Suhyun clenched her teeth and straightened her thoughts. Completely unaware that the weak friend she wanted to protect could erase this entire conference room in one breath if he felt like it.

"Kekekekeke."

Just thinking about it made laughter bubble up. Before explaining why, let me ask—what is the most important thing in life?

Some people say family. But I have none.

Some say love. Bullshit. My mind is male. With a woman's body, I can't love a woman, so I'll be single for life.

Others say conviction. That's a bit more complicated, but for me there's something that takes priority over conviction.

Yes. As everyone probably guessed, it's money.

Without money you can't eat. Without eating you die. If you die, there is no family, love, or conviction.

In that sense, I had recently obtained something very precious.

The 25 million won the old man gave me. Not 2,500 won, not 25,000 won—25 million. It was a lot of money. But it wouldn't last forever.

If I bought ramen, paid the electricity bill, and even contributed cola for the chicken that the girl next door bought out of conscience, my account would eventually run dry.

Becoming a hunter? I'd rather die. I don't want to get stabbed, and above all, the moment I start, my abilities would be exposed to everyone and my peaceful life would be over.

So what was the solution? Stocks, obviously.

A way to earn money while lying down, without revealing my abilities. The problem was that I was almost completely clueless about stocks. All I knew was to buy undervalued blue-chip stocks and wait.

However, I had power. The kind that could now move planets.

I would move Mars.

The success or failure depended on controlling the variables. And one of those variables was Mars. If I could control that Mars...

Slowly, I felt the corners of my mouth rising.

Of course, my ID card still listed me as Lee Suhyuk, born in 2009, male, so I couldn't open any more formal accounts—but the me of the future would take care of that. Money was about to be duplicated!

"Kihihihi."

A clear, pure laugh spread through the room.

I was currently in the bathroom. Why? To look in the mirror.

It had become a daily routine lately—admiring my own face. It was my face, but it really was well-made. I pulled my cheeks out as far as they would go. Sqqquuueeeze—soft and springy.

The features were cute and delicate, a different kind of beauty from the gallery owner's. More on the adorable side, I'd say. And the lines were artistic. Everything that should protrude did, everything that should curve in did. I'd heard that large breasts usually came with some body fat, but apparently that rule didn't apply to me. My body was slender and delicate.

"Hehe—"

After finishing my appreciation, I came out and flopped onto the bed. There was something important right now. Checking Orion's stock price and deciding where to buy...!

The current price was two hundred dollars. About 310,000 won in Korean money.

"Should I just jump in now..."

If it was going to rise anyway, buying now made sense. But what if it dropped more? I didn't know. Since it would rise eventually, I might as well just buy it.

Ding—

Eighty shares, all filled.

Whoa. As expected, with high trading volume it filled instantly. Now that I'd bought the stock, I should take a proper look at the project.

"Hwaaaa—"

I had finally finished researching everything. It was mostly about Mars' wind speeds, solar flares, and the like. Most of it was something I could adjust, so it was fine. I just needed to test once more to make sure it would actually work.

I expanded my senses. Past Earth, past the moon, reaching toward Mars—

In that instant, my heart stopped for one beat.

Beyond Mars. The strange thing my senses had brushed against last time. The object that was neither asteroid nor planet nor anything else.

It was looking this way.

Last time it had merely been a passing glance. This time, I felt it slowly lifting its head. The sensation of precisely locating the owner of the finger that had touched its domain.

Whew—fortunately the tracking had failed. Yet the gaze I felt on the back of my neck refused to disappear. We might meet again someday. From now on I should avoid this direction.

Anyway, I passed it and reached Mars. Good... Just a little. I'd only give it a tiny, tiny touch.

While I was gently prodding Mars here and there, my phone suddenly began ringing like crazy.

Ding— Ding— Ding—

I slowly looked down at the light at my fingertip. I hadn't even pressed it yet. I'd only just touched it.

"Ah..."

It was cold. Had a dagger flown in and stabbed me? Don't tell me it got my stocks too?

With trembling hands I opened the stock app.

Orion 80 shares –25%

It got me good, damn it.