Chapter 39: One-Star General
Then the subordinate tilted his head.
"But Boss..."
"CEO."
"Sorry, CEO. But didn't we sign a contract with the American company Trident Oil?"
"We did. Why?"
"If the Tower can transfer resource extraction rights to either Korea or Japan depending on its decision, doesn't that make bringing in the Americans meaningless?"
"No. That's exactly why it matters even more."
The loan shark exhaled cigar smoke and smiled.
"If it becomes clear that whoever wins the East Sea oil rights gains an absolute result that even the United States cannot interfere with, then the path we should follow becomes even clearer."
"The path...?"
"An absolute power and law above international order."
He leaned back.
"We stand under the order of the Tower. A new order is being born, one where we no longer need to worry about anyone else's opinion."
Even after his business property had suddenly been placed on the gambling table, the loan shark was searching for a way to turn it into profit.
Two days later.
"It's here! My salary!"
Calling it a salary might not be quite right.
Weekly pay?
Compensation?
Dividend?
Profit distribution?
Whatever it was, the money CEO Park had mentioned finally entered my account.
And the amount was...
[Gateway Corporation Account]
-Balance: ₩5,000,000,000
"Five billion won...!"
My hands trembled at the rain falling onto my dried-up bank account.
Then I realized there wasn't really any reason to be excited.
I'm a talent worth four billion won an hour.
I'd waited two whole days only to receive five billion.
It was probably because modern financial systems couldn't properly handle my value.
Still, it's money I can spend however I want.
I decided to forgive the system with my generous heart.
I headed to the convenience store with light steps.
But then...
Something's strange.
I looked around.
[Mid-Rank Soldier]
[Low-Rank Soldier]
[Low-Rank Soldier]
...Why are people's Contribution Point ranks floating above their heads?
Then a thought struck me like lightning.
[Upon promotion to One-Star General, you will be able to identify those of lower rank than yourself.]
A General privilege I'd seen before.
It was active.
But we're not inside the Tower.
Thinking about it, the system had never said it only worked inside the Tower.
That's amazing...!
Someone might think it wasn't a big deal.
But it absolutely was.
Why?
I can tell who's a Hunter.
There was a simple reason I reached that conclusion.
Some people don't have ranks above their heads.
The General privilege's exact condition was "targets of lower rank than yourself."
I'm the world's first General.
Nobody currently had a higher rank than me.
In other words...
Rank displayed above their head = Hunter.
No rank = ordinary person.
Done.
But if I could tell who was a Hunter...
...What's the benefit?
Now that I thought about it, maybe it wasn't that useful after all.
Of course, inside the Tower it was completely different.
I could instantly know who was prey and who I should run away from.
"Please ring these up."
I placed my items on the counter and casually looked above the convenience store worker's head.
[Low-Rank Soldier]
"Excuse me."
"Yes?"
"Are you a Hunter?"
"W-What?! N-No!"
He reacted like he'd been caught stealing.
"Why are you so shocked?"
"Uh... B-Because you suddenly asked such a random question."
"But you are a Hunter, right?"
"No."
"You are."
"I-I said I'm not! Do you have proof?"
Proof?
It's floating over your damn head, man.
But I was genuinely surprised.
There are this many unregistered Hunters in the world.
Awakening as a Hunter, gaining permission to climb the Tower, but failing to register with the Association was illegal.
What a relief.
Knowing there were this many accomplices made me feel safer.
Now I understand why the Association doesn't hunt down unregistered Hunters one by one.
If they did, the prisons would overflow.
The President might even get impeached.
Though most of these people were probably F-rank or E-rank.
Their abilities and grades weren't influential enough to matter much.
The authorities probably didn't want to create unnecessary work.
"Hey, mister."
On my way home, a student called out to me.
"Or should I call you hyung? Anyway, you're an adult, right?"
If he was asking whether I was an adult...
"What? You want me to buy cigarettes?"
His face lit up.
But this brat...
[High-Rank Soldier]
High-Rank Soldier.
It almost felt like the system was giving me a numerical indicator of how little hesitation someone had about harming others.
I'm a One-Star General, though.
Still, I'm allowed to talk.
Why?
Kill one person and you're a murderer.
Kill millions and you're a hero.
That's why I'm a General.
"Actually... I was going to ask you to buy alcohol. But could you buy cigarettes too, hyung?"
He must've approached because he saw me buying beer.
I barely drank.
I'd bought it to steam snow crab.
"No."
"...What?"
"If you want it, buy it yourself, brat."
"You son of..."
"You son of what?"
"N-Nothing. Tch."
Then, the moment I entered the alley leading toward my shabby studio apartment...
"You bastard!"
CLANG!
Something heavy struck the back of my head.
"Aaaaaagh!"
The delinquent student I'd just seen dropped a baseball bat and grabbed his arm with the other hand.
I immediately understood what had happened.
Reflected damage.
I was wearing Tower Knights equipment beneath my clothes.
It was uncomfortable.
