Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Japan's S-Rank Hunters

Tokyo, Japan.

A conference room on the top floor of a luxury hotel.

Japan's strongest Hunters and elite figures had gathered.

There were more than ten S-rank Hunters alone.

A rare sight.

Yet the atmosphere was far from friendly.

The S-rank Hunters sat beside people according to personal friendships and alliances.

Naturally, the people sitting across from them tended to be rivals.

That bastard...

The Japanese HunVen user Asura glared at Yaksha across the table.

Just yesterday, one A-rank Hunter who had served as Asura's right hand had died inside the Tower.

Witnesses said the killer had been a high-rank Assassin.

There was no evidence.

But Asura was convinced.

Yaksha did it. No doubt.

Similar gazes crossed the conference room.

Quiet.

Tense.

If anyone casually reached for a sword, the entire room looked ready to explode.

Several people already had hands resting unconsciously on weapon handles.

Others constantly watched everyone around them.

Then a boy spoke first.

"Come on, everyone. Japan's finest Hunters have gathered in one place. It's a happy occasion. Relax."

"Who's tense, Hellfire?"

Yaksha glared at the innocent-looking boy.

Hellfire wasn't on Asura's side.

He wasn't on Yaksha's either.

Still...

He's the person I least want to meet inside the Tower.

The memory of Hellfire smiling calmly while burning people black with overwhelming flames made it impossible to underestimate him.

"Huh? That's what you focused on? I thought you'd ask why I called it a 'happy occasion.'"

Yaksha frowned.

Hellfire didn't shrink at all.

"What's so amazing about gathering a few S-rank Hunters?"

"It is pretty amazing."

"Sure, but I don't have time to sit around making pointless small talk."

"Agreed."

The atmosphere stayed sharp.

One S-rank Hunter after another complained.

Then...

"The Japanese government has decided to provide full support to Hunter Guilds."

The head of Japan's Hunter Agency spoke.

The room immediately fell silent.

The Hunters' expressions changed.

"Full support?"

"Will that include S-rank equipment?"

"There must be conditions."

"Do we need an official Guild? Managing a Guild is annoying."

Once the room calmed, the Hunter Agency Director continued.

"Before discussing that, there is one issue I would like to address. I assume all of you have heard about the Third-Class Officer who appeared in Korea."

Third-Class Officer.

The room became silent again.

Even the air felt suffocating.

Everyone seemed to think the same thing.

So what?

The Director continued.

"Does anyone here believe they could defeat that Hunter?"

Several people smirked.

Some shrugged.

Hands went up.

After watching the room, even more S-rank Hunters raised theirs.

Asura was among them.

He laughed.

"You made things sound serious, but isn't that obvious?"

Asura.

Japan's current top Ranker.

Ace of the country's largest Guild, also called Asura.

He stood at the very peak of High-Rank NCO.

"Obvious?"

"What's so special about Third-Class Officer? If I were in the Korean Tower, I'd already be First-Class Officer."

"Are you certain, Asura?"

"My American friend told me the Korean Tower is basically a pond full of frogs. Nobody dies often, so it's easy to climb rank quickly. Japan's Tower? It's a war zone."

Soft laughter appeared around the room.

Not mocking Asura.

Agreeing with him.

Asura enjoyed the reaction.

Then glanced toward Yaksha.

"Not sure how many people here could manage it, though."

"...Hmph."

Yaksha's eyes sharpened.

"You talk well. Were you this confident yesterday too?"

"What are you talking about?"

Asura's smile vanished.

The room grew colder.

"Tomorrow, Japan's first Third-Class Officer will appear. Watch carefully and see who it is."

"Want to bet?"

"Gladly."

Hellfire quickly interrupted before the tension exploded.

"Well, I partially agree with Asura. From the rumors, that Third-Class Officer doesn't fight fairly anyway. He only knows how to massacre weaker Hunters. Apparently he's so slippery that whenever Korean S-rank Hunters follow reports to hunt him, he just runs away."

"Exactly. We don't even need to interfere. Korean S-ranks will eventually deal with him."

Asura's words clearly carried another meaning.

Korean Hunters can't possibly be stronger than Japanese Hunters.

To him, that wasn't even prejudice.

It was simply common sense.

Most Japanese S-rank Hunters didn't think very differently.

"Do the rest of you agree?"

Yaksha answered this time.

"Anyone can ambush weak people. If he fought me head-on, I'd win."

"Exactly. Rank isn't the same thing as actual combat ability. It's just a number-based title."

"Right."

"True."

"We have a B-rank Hunter in our Guild who already reached High-Rank NCO."

"B-rank? That's impressive."

"Well, he got demoted immediately afterward."

The Hunter Agency Director nodded at their confidence.

It's not entirely baseless.

From his information, Rankers in smaller developing nations sometimes accumulated Contribution Points extremely quickly.

If a country had only one S-rank Hunter...

That Hunter might almost never die.

Of course, they'd have fewer valuable targets too and would need to grind constantly.

"You're correct. However... regardless of the reason, Japan cannot afford to fall behind Korea."

The atmosphere changed again.

Everyone knew the real discussion had begun.

"So?"

"The Japanese government wants to secure Hunters capable of overtaking Korea's Third-Class Officer and leading the world."

"Is that what you meant by government support?"

"Correct. The government intends to provide tax benefits and other support to Hunter Guilds and corporations sponsoring Hunters. Several companies have already responded positively. We're currently selecting participants."

"What do you want from us?"

Someone asked the important question.

There was no free money in the world.

The Director folded his hands.

"We want you to publicly support important government projects when needed."

"Important projects?"

"You all know that an oil field was recently discovered in the East Sea... or rather, the Sea of Japan."

"...!"

"It's oil from Japanese waters. We cannot simply allow Korea to steal it."

They want to use us as political weapons.

Everyone understood.

But this wasn't new.

The number and power of Hunters directly represented national power.

And national power became diplomatic power.

"So I would like to know how many S-rank Hunters here are willing to stand with the Japanese government."

The Hunters watched one another.

Then slowly raised their hands.

About half the room.

Roughly ten people.

More than half. Encouraging. But...

The Hunter Agency Director looked toward one woman sitting alone at the far end.

"Katana. You aren't willing to join us?"

Every S-rank Hunter turned toward her.

Katana belonged to no faction.

Paradoxically, her words carried more weight than most factions.

"I'll think about it."

Not a direct refusal.

The Director decided to be satisfied with that.

Tower of Fate, Floor 0.

Waiting Room.

"Here are ten Low-Grade Magic Stones."

I placed ten dull stones on the table.

"Thank you very much."

The buyer happily shoved them into his pocket.

Then pulled fifty thousand won from his wallet and handed it to me.

"What are you going to do with the money?"

"Huh? Why?"

"If you're buying items, would you be interested in trading regularly?"

"No. I'm just going to buy jjajangmyeon."

"Oh. You're a gold farmer."

Correct.

I was doing this because I literally had no cash.

One interesting thing was that ranks weren't visible inside the Waiting Room.

Then my trade partner, Kim Jjeopjjeop, noticed my hand.

"What's that ring?"

"Oh, this? This ring is..."

Before I could explain, Kim Jjeopjjeop proudly showed me his own finger.

"I finally got one Tower Knights Squad Leader Ring today. What do you think? Awesome, right?"

"Oh. Can you actually feel the difference?"

I was honestly curious too.

"Hmm. With only one ring, I can't really say the difference is huge."

"Yeah. I thought so."

"But one of my acquaintances has the full Squad Leader accessory set. He's Mid-Rank NCO."

"Okay?"

"He says Hunters of the same ability rank aren't even competition anymore. Just bam, bam, bam, a few hits and they die."

"Oh...!"

Kim Jjeopjjeop puffed out his chest and lovingly stared at his ring.

"From now on, you won't have human rights inside the Tower without Tower Knights gear. DivineMan, you should start preparing too. Have you collected any Contribution Points?"

"Yeah. Some."

"What's your rank? If you're still Low-Rank Soldier..."

"Second-Class Officer."

"Huh? Second-Class Officer?"

"Yes."

Kim Jjeopjjeop stared at me.

Then...

"Ah... Hahahahaha!"

He burst out laughing.

"Hahahahaha!"

I laughed too.

"Well, I guess a man should dream big! Hahaha! Honestly, I only got my ring because my Mid-Rank NCO acquaintance carried me."

"I see. And?"

"If you ever want help earning Contribution Points, contact me. Three people are safer than two."

"Do party members split Contribution Points?"

"Yeah. But the risk drops too. That's why Rankers usually travel alone."

So lower-rank Hunters formed parties to farm Contribution Points.

If they had connections, they got carried.

"Oh, speaking of Rankers. You know that Third-Class Officer?"

Kim Jjeopjjeop talked a lot for someone I'd met only to trade Magic Stones.

But since he was talking about me...

I wanted to listen.

"Yeah."

"Who do you think would win if he fought a real S-rank Hunter?"

"No idea."

"Apparently S-rank Hunters say they'll kill him the moment they find him."

"They do?"

I knew S-ranks were desperate to find me.

"The Japanese ones."

"Japan?"

"Yeah! They're bragging that if they were in Korea, they'd already be First-Class Officers. They keep saying Korea's Tower is an easy farming server."

Kim Jjeopjjeop smacked his lips.

"Damn Japanese bastards without even a drop of oil. Someone should stomp them, but it's a shame we'll never meet."

Hmm.

So that's what they're saying?