Chapter 38

Chapter 38.

‘You have to become stronger.’

I had felt it while watching the battle with Scathach.

‘Han Seol-ah is still weak.’

Han Seol-ah’s ice was still far too thin and soft.

I needed to make her a true EX-rank.

If Han Seol-ah became stronger, the Republic of Korea would become safe.

And the most important thing was this.

‘She is still lacking if we are going to clear the Tower.’

I opened Whisper.

[/w “Han Seol-ah” Ah, ah. Whisper test. One-two, one-two. If you can hear me clearly, say that you heard me.]

Just as I was about to press Enter.

[There was a Fortuitous Encounter.]

I stopped my finger when I heard Han Seol-ah’s calm voice.

“...She must be talking about me, right?”

[A Fortuitous Encounter?]

[I will speak about that again shortly.]

Ahem.

Han Seol-ah cleared her throat.

[I will convey the most important news first.]

[The calamity that descended upon Pyongyang, ‘Ice Dragon Scathach,’ has been perfectly subjugated.]

[Furthermore, I officially declare that the Tower Break that nearly occurred immediately afterward has also been frozen for the time being, granting us a precious grace period of fifteen days.]

[Ooooh...!]

[Kh...!]

“Ah.”

It was a fact everyone must have already known through the system message.

However, hearing it officially declared at a press conference like this gave me a different kind of emotion.

On top of that, was I not the greatest contributor to this ‘operation’?

The sounds of admiration from the reporters at the scene could not have been more thrilling.

“So this is what they call a ‘desire for recognition.’”

It felt good.

I wanted to feel more of this dopamine.

“Snowy.”

[I will show you the main reactions on Hunter Net.]

Snowy quickly finished setting it up, as though it had read the mood perfectly.

└Wow, I thought the Association was packing up and getting ready to run, but they bought us fifteen whole days. Damn. Queen Seol-ah’s form is insane.

└National Pride TV: [Breaking News] Japan and the United States sobbing, hahaha. The world’s third EX-rank Hunter has been born in the Republic of Korea, hahaha.

└No, but was she not judged unable to be Promoted? What the hell was that Fortuitous Encounter? How did Han Seol-ah, with that Mana Capacity, suddenly become EX? Is this not a lie?

└Seol-ah Lover: OurSeol-ahIsSoCuteAgainTodayWaaaahLookAtThoseWhiteMochiCheeksIWantToTakeOneBiteAaang~Mmm~Chuup~UngnaUngna~~~~

└Please block this attention-seeking bastard already;

└But does the word ‘frozen’ not sound meaningful? They froze it and bought fifteen days? Was that possible? In the first place, is it even possible to postpone a Break? Is this not a lie?

└Did you not see the message saying it was actually delayed by fifteen days? Why would the system lie?

“Hmm...”

[There is no talk about you yet, Agent. It is full of nothing but talk about Han Seol-ah. Well, becoming EX-rank is practically a miracle, after all.]

“That is true.”

Han Seol-ah’s voice continued.

[I will answer the questions many reporters have been most curious about since just now.]

[First, how did I become EX-rank when I was known to be incapable of Promotion?]

[It was not by my own power.]

[For the past few days, I was not missing. Rather, I received the summons of ‘a certain great being’ whose existence far transcends humanity’s understanding, and I underwent training in a special space.]

“Yes. That is me.”

The community went into an uproar.

└?????????? What is this supposed to mean now?

└A great being? Hahaha. An existence that far transcends humanity’s understanding? Hahahahaha. Did Han Seol-ah join the Saintess Order? The Republic of Korea is finished, hahaha. Guardian Han Seol-ah shoots straight into becoming the Saintess Order’s figurehead~

└Hey, wait a second... Is this perhaps related to the ghost Hunter who cleared the Incheon First-Class Gate in five minutes??? Damn.

└Are you from the operations room? Delete your post. Unless you want Min Ji-hee to crack your skull.

[In order to break through my Mana limit, that being fed me legendary elixirs that were not of this world as though they were water... no, as though they were ice cream.]

└Legendary elixirs like ice cream, hahahaha. Imagining Han Seol-ah in hamster mode is insanely cute, hahaha.

“Han Seol-ah, who looked like a hamster... She was cute.”

[As a result, the Mana deficiency that had been no different from a Heaven’s Curse was perfectly resolved, and I was finally able to cross the wall of EX-rank.]

└Alchemy Major: ??? She ate elixirs to break through her Mana limit? Are you saying there are elixirs that increase Mana? I have never heard of anything like that existing in this world even once; game over. This is all just a lie. They are putting on a show.

“Hmm?”

This was different from the truth.

Han Seol-ah had not become EX even after her Mana was increased.

She had crossed the wall the moment Eternal Winter was handed over to her.

“Did they decide to hide it?”

With an item like that, there would not be only one or two people coveting it.

I fully understood the decision to hide it.

[Second, how did I, a Frost Type Mage, defeat Scathach, who possessed ‘complete immunity’ to frost magic? I will correct that. I was not the one who subjugated Scathach.]

└Huh??????

└What does that mean now?

[All I did before that enormous calamity was endure for ‘just two minutes,’ exactly as the great being commanded.]

[And the moment the promised two minutes ended... all of you must have seen it. The absolute trajectory of light that stretched out from the south.]

[That light ignored even the law called frost immunity and erased Scathach and the entire area around Pyongyang into a completely white desert.]

[Even if I have become EX-rank, it was a literal ‘divine might’ that I could never reach even the tip of that being’s foot no matter how long I trained.]

└They fired from 200 kilometers away and turned Pyongyang into flat ground. Is that even human? Hahaha. They really are a ‘great being.’ Damn. Hahaha.

└That Han Seol-ah said, “A divine might I could never reach even the tip of that being’s foot no matter how long I trained”? Ah... This is not even national pride anymore. This fills me with pride as a member of humanity, seriously.

[Lastly, who is that ‘great being’?]

[I do not dare to even speak of that being.]

[The only thing I can say is that they are a merciful being who will not stand by and watch this world fall to ruin, and that they will never tolerate a ‘tragic ending’ such as someone’s noble sacrifice or meaningless death... They are a perfect Savior.]

└What is this, some obsession with a no-death clear? Hahahaha. This is a typical veteran-player perfectionist mindset, is it not? Hahahaha.

└Sentiment Junkie: They said that being will never tolerate a ‘tragic ending’... Wow, that line is insane. Are they a movie protagonist? Sob sob.

└As of today, I am leaving the Saintess Order, Buddhism, and Christianity, and I will believe in the ‘That Being Order.’ Amen.

└But seeing how they are hiding their identity, are they not a damn cool hidden master? They might be watching our reactions from somewhere dark right now, hahaha.

“How did this bastard know?”

[Agent. A post you may find interesting has just been uploaded.]

“What is it? Show me.”

[The Reason Han Seol-ah’s Press Conference Is Total Bullshit.reason]

[Author: Alchemy Major]

“That is the guy who wrote the comment earlier saying there was no way an elixir that increased Mana could exist, right?”

[Correct.]

[I am a potion peddler who makes a living selling potions.Yes. One of those potion peddlers you all curse at, calling us drug-dealer scammers who sell cheap potions at high prices.But put that prejudice aside and listen to me.]

“What is a potion peddler?”

[It refers to illegal sellers who sell ‘potions’ made by combining unverified medicinal ingredients according to unofficial formulas. Since they are cheap, demand for them is steady, but because their effects cannot be guaranteed, they are also cursed at as scammers just as often.]

Ah. So it meant a medicine peddler.

[I am someone who majored in alchemy at a Hunter academy, in my own way. To explain simply, things like potions and elixirs work by maximizing the healing power the human body already possesses.

You think I am talking bullshit? I am saying they do not create something that was not there before.

An elixir that increases your Vitality if you drink it? There is no such thing in this world.

An elixir that increases Mana? What kind of bullshit is this, screwing over everyone who works in alchemy?]

[Anyway, Han Seol-ah’s press conference is a lie. That is my conclusion.]

[It is not exactly wrong to say that potions or elixirs do not create something that was not there.]

“There are elixirs that increase Vitality when you eat them, though?”

In Lost Honor, all kinds of elixirs were scattered everywhere, including elixirs that increased stamina and even elixirs that built muscle.

And I had already proven with my own body that Lost Honor’s system applied to this reality as it was.

“If I just get the materials, I can make something as trivial as an elixir that increases Mana Capacity even if I have to boil it in a pot.”

└This is real. An elixir that increases Mana? Where in the world would something like that exist? Hahaha. If that existed, everyone would drink it, and the Republic of Korea would become a Hunter superpower.

└Could it really exist, though?

└If Han Seol-ah says so, then it is so.

└But did you guys not see the satellite photos of all of Pyongyang frozen solid? Then who cast that insane magic?

└Potion peddler trait) If they cannot make it themselves, they insist everything is a lie. Thanks for coming.

└Could it be that an actual alien or god-like being descended...?

“Tsk, tsk. I suppose it is hard for ordinary minds to understand.”

Even as I clicked my tongue, Han Seol-ah’s remarks continued.

[Citizens. The answer to the crisis that will come in fifteen days has also already been prepared by that being. We need only believe in that being and move according to that being’s will.]

[Thank you.]

Was it over?

The TV was quiet.

“It is over.”

Clack.

I pressed Enter and sent the Whisper I had written.

[Remaining uses today (1/3)]

And the moment I sent the Whisper.

[Then we will begin the question-and-answer sessi—Eek.]

Han Seol-ah collapsed with a single dying cry.

“...What?”

Had something happened to Han Seol-ah?

‘Surely she did not faint because she was startled by the Whisper, right?’

No way.

She was a person, not a hamster. There was no way she would faint just because she heard a whisper beside her ear.

Click.

I turned on Synchronization and flew up.

‘I had to go to the Hunter Association anyway.’

While I was at it, I would check Han Seol-ah’s condition too.

***

“Haaah!!!”

Han Seol-ah sprang upright.

“Seol-ah!”

A lounge inside the Hunter Association.

The place where she had been lying was a sofa.

Around her were her father and mother.

No expected danger.

After grasping the situation in an instant, the tension slowly drained from Han Seol-ah’s body.

“Why am I lying here?”

“Just before the question-and-answer session started, you suddenly startled terribly and collapsed.”

“Did something happen?”

“Ah....”

Han Seol-ah searched through her memories from just before she had collapsed.

Was it because she had been too startled? She could not remember clearly.

[Apostle... contacted you. Most likely.]

Only after Frozen’s explanation could Han Seol-ah nod.

“So that was it.”

Part of her memory returned.

There had definitely been no one around Han Seol-ah.

However, a gloomy voice had suddenly whispered beside her ear.

As for the contents... she could not remember.

‘I think it was... something about testing me.’

As though it were teasing her, or perhaps testing her.

The voice saying, one-two, one-two, lingered vaguely, as if she could almost remember it but not quite.

When Han Seol-ah waved her hand as though asking them to step out for a moment, Jin Cheon-jin and Min Ji-hee cautiously left the lounge.

“It was definitely that being, right?”

[I cannot be certain, but I felt a similar aura. How very strange... and interesting. In any case, keep your ears open. Another ‘Whisper’ will come.]

“A Whisper?”

[It is an extremely high-level space-time magic that sends one’s will across a vast distance. Even in our world, only an exceedingly small number of beings can handle such magic...]

Nod.

Han Seol-ah was filled with admiration.

‘Amazing. Truly...’

With clouded eyes, Han Seol-ah read the system message floating in the corner.

[Hunter Han Seol-ah’s Hunter rank is ‘S’]

At some point, Han Seol-ah’s Hunter rank had been demoted to S-rank.

Not EX, but S.

Han Seol-ah smiled bitterly.

‘It is only natural.’

She had no intention of making excuses.

It was shameful, but in the battle against Scathach, Han Seol-ah’s heart had been completely broken.

Han Seol-ah had lived her whole life bearing the heavy burden of being the ‘Guardian.’

And yet, before the calamity called Scathach, all Han Seol-ah had been able to do was tremble and endure.

On the other hand, what about that being?

Overwhelming divine might.

A distant gap she felt she could never reach no matter how long she trained.

That was probably what a true EX-rank Hunter meant.

Before that overwhelming force, Han Seol-ah had felt terrible despair and, at the same time... for the first time, a sense of ‘relief.’

A weak relief that she should never have held as the Guardian—the relief that someone stronger than her could protect this country.

The moment she acknowledged that weakness herself, her rank plummeted to S.

‘But I cannot hide behind that being forever.’

Han Seol-ah sank her consciousness downward and closed her eyes.

In the darkness, the figure of ‘Nebula’ looking down at her came to mind.

‘...No.’

She forcibly turned her gaze away.

She sank her consciousness downward and refined her Frost Type Mana.

Cold energy, frigid beyond measure, circulated through her entire body with her Mana Hall at the center.

“Hoooo.”

After circulating Mana through her entire body once, as though applying a cold compress, Han Seol-ah opened her eyes.

“How is it, Frozen?”

[The tangled flow of Mana is slowly but surely regaining stability. Facing and acknowledging your own wall is also part of the process of growth, so do not worry too much.]

“...Yes.”

At that moment.

Tap, tap.

She heard someone knocking on the window.

“!”

Han Seol-ah was startled and sprang to her feet.

This was the top floor of the Hunter Association.

It was located at an enormously high altitude.

Furthermore, because it was the room of Han Seol-ah, the ‘Guardian,’ all kinds of barriers and security devices had been installed.

For someone to pierce through all those barriers and calmly knock on the window without creating even the slightest ripple of Mana?

Han Seol-ah’s gaze turned toward the window.

And there.

There was a man whose expression was so calm and indifferent that the fact he was standing in empty air seemed meaningless.

Apostle was looking down at her.

“A-Apostle...?”