Chapter 43: Resource War
"General! General! General!"
Thousands of Hunters chanted "General" in unison.
I hovered in the sky, listening to their cheers in a daze.
Then...
Ding!
[The "East Sea Oil Field" is currently the territory of the Republic of Korea.]
[Hunters from other countries are prohibited from entering.]
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Immediately after the message appeared, the Japanese Hunters vanished.
They had probably been summoned back to the Tower.
How many Contribution Points did I earn?
I immediately checked.
[Available Contribution Points: 5,041,867]
[Total Contribution Points: 14,756,809]
[Current Rank: One-Star General]
"Five million points...!"
I'd earned nearly five million points from a single Resource War.
I want to do it again!
Hunter Association.
Meeting Room.
"So... you're saying this One-Star General was an unregistered Hunter?"
One of the executives asked cautiously.
"Yes. Based on the available evidence, that appears to be the case."
The reporting employee's voice was subdued.
"Then how should we..."
Just as someone was about to suggest disciplinary action, Chairman Han Sangho raised his hand and interrupted.
"Let's pretend we never had this conversation."
"...Excuse me?"
The Chairman smiled bitterly.
"That man is a national hero right now. He saved the country during the Resource War."
"That's true, but..."
"And you want to punish him for a registration violation? What do you think would happen to us?"
"I understand your point, but the law must apply equally to everyone."
"Yes. Under normal circumstances."
"...What do you mean?"
"The Resource War is practically a wartime situation."
"A wartime situation...!"
"Exactly! We cannot allow our country to suffer the same resource exploitation our ancestors endured a hundred years ago!"
One by one, the employees began agreeing with the Chairman.
He continued.
"Instead, start considering how we can approach him without causing him any inconvenience. Identifying him is important, but before that..."
"Before that... what do you mean?"
"We should consider awarding him a national decoration."
The meeting room fell silent for a moment.
"Right now, there is no national priority more important than that man. It would be wise to avoid upsetting him as much as possible."
Nobody could object to the Chairman's words.
My house.
[Contribution Points x2,000,000 consumed.]
[Tower Knights Knight Division Leader's Gloves acquired.]
[Tower Knights Knight Division Leader's...]
...
[Tower Knights Knight Division Leader's Epaulet acquired.]
Five pieces of Knight Division Leader armor, plus the epaulet.
I had finally completed the Knight Division Leader set.
Ding!
[You have acquired the title "First Tower Knights Knight Division Leader"!]
[Damage dealt to fellow humans increased by 20%.]
[Damage received from fellow humans reduced by 20%.]
"Another first."
Well, that was only natural.
At this point, I wasn't even particularly surprised anymore.
[Available Contribution Points: 3,041,867]
And I still have three million points left.
Just then, my smartphone rang.
It was CEO Park from F&C Refining Corporation.
As a side note, I didn't think he was involved in moneylending anymore.
"Hello?"
-Hey, CEO Choi. I watched you fight. Those Japanese bastards couldn't do a damn thing against you.
His voice was cheerful.
"Oh, it was nothing."
-Don't say that. You protected our business. You did a great job. Seriously.
I casually brought up something that had been on my mind.
"Since we managed to protect the oil field thanks to me, how about doubling my salary next month?"
I wasn't joking.
Preparing for this Resource War had cost me quite a bit of money.
Both the Gatling Laser and the Knight Commander's Wings consume one top-grade Mana Stone each.
A top-grade Mana Stone costs around two hundred million won.
Operating both meant burning through four hundred million won.
-Double? I'll pay you several times more if you want!
"Oh, really?"
-Of course! If it weren't for you, who knows what would have happened to our business? Why stop at double?
"Thank you! Hahahahaha!"
-Anyway, I have something important to tell you now.
CEO Park's voice changed.
"Yes. Go ahead."
"It isn't just the Hunter Association. Governments from various countries are trying to uncover your identity."
"I see."
That was only natural.
-I'm doing everything I can to stop them. I'll make sure you don't get dragged into any troublesome situations.
"It's fine. Just let them investigate. As long as it doesn't put me in danger."
-Are you sure? If I do that, the Association could find you within a day. They might even ring your doorbell right now.
"What are they going to do once they find me? Discipline me?"
-They wouldn't dare.
"Wouldn't dare?"
I heard CEO Park chuckle quietly on the other end of the line.
"Exactly. That's how much influence and status you have in the Republic of Korea right now. You're a national hero. Even if you demanded tax exemptions, they'd seriously consider it."
"That's great. Then let them come find me!"
-Sounds like you've had a change of heart. I imagine something happened to bring that about.
CEO Park really was frighteningly perceptive.
He continued.
-Anyway, it's not a bad thing to experience being treated like a hero at least once in your life. Have fun with it.
I ended the call in a good mood.
All right. With the remaining three million points...
I purchased the Tower Knights Knight Captain's Necklace and two Knight Captain's Rings.
Those three items consumed all three million points.
That means I'll lose the twelve-piece set bonus from my Knight Division Leader's Badge.
But that was fine.
The stat increase I'd gained from the new title alone was much greater.
Anyway, after those upgrades, my damage bonus against fellow humans exceeded 200%.
My damage reduction was somewhere around 180%.
But calculating my strength based on individual numbers alone doesn't mean much anymore.
My true strength didn't come solely from my damage bonus and damage reduction.
It came from the overwhelming firepower, mobility, and versatility provided by my Gate ability, the Knight Commander's Wings, and my S-rank Artifacts.
And as I grow stronger, everyone else is growing stronger too.
Anyone could purchase Tower Knights equipment as long as they accumulated enough Contribution Points.
Simply reaching Third-Class Officer was enough to complete the Squad Leader set.
There were probably already a few people collecting Knight Unit Leader equipment.
And somewhere on Earth, someone might even own one or two pieces of Knight Division Leader equipment.
That's why maintaining and widening the gap is the most important thing.
Someday, I might encounter an enemy whose equipment was almost as good as mine.
[Available Contribution Points: 41,867]
"...I'm broke again."
Still, I felt satisfied.
Japanese Hunter Agency.
Meeting Room.
The atmosphere in the meeting room was completely different from the confident mood that had prevailed before the Resource War.
An oppressive silence hung over the room.
"...How the hell did this happen?!"
The Director slammed his fist onto the table.
"Didn't you all say we were certain to win?!"
Yaksha, who had been sitting with his arms crossed and eyes closed, spoke.
"There was an unexpected variable."
"A variable?"
"We had no idea the enemy possessed the ability to fly or a laser weapon with such terrifying firepower."
The Director questioned him.
"Didn't we already know that a General could purchase wings? I thought Hunters could view the Contribution Point Shop's equipment list."
Asura answered this time.
"Yes, but even we didn't think the wings would actually allow someone to fly. We assumed they were just decorations."
He shrugged.
"And what difference would it have made if we'd known? Would you have supplied us with surface-to-air missiles?"
His point wasn't entirely unreasonable.
Flight was extremely rare, even among Awakened Hunter abilities.
Then again, practically every ability was rare.
Even Asura's and Yaksha's abilities were unique enough that you wouldn't find anything quite like them elsewhere.
Nobody had expected a pair of wings purchased with Contribution Points to grant genuine flight.
The Director sighed deeply.
"So what are we supposed to do? Just because the enemy can fly, are we going to stand there and watch helplessly?"
Katana chuckled.
"Of course not. If he'd fought me fairly, I definitely would have won."
"But your opponent has no intention of fighting fairly, does he?"
"Then we simply create a situation where he has to fight fairly."
"What exactly do you mean?"
"All we need to do is become Generals ourselves, right? Those wings are nothing special. We can buy as many as we want with Contribution Points."
"...Are you saying...?"
Katana's blade glinted dangerously.
"Fine. I'll collect those damn Contribution Points."
Katana, who had previously done little more than accept challenges from anyone who approached her, was finally declaring that she would devote herself completely to accumulating Contribution Points.
Somewhere inside the Japanese Tower.
Ding!
[You have been promoted to First-Class Officer.]
A grin spread across Inferno's face.
Japan's first.
Inferno had also participated in the Resource War.
But the moment Korea's One-Star General displayed firepower far beyond anyone's expectations, Inferno had abandoned the battlefield without hesitation.
There's no answer to that.
Instead, he had immediately returned to the Tower and moved between Floors 60 and 70, alternating between PvP and monster hunting.
Since most of Japan's S-rank Hunters had been completely occupied with the Resource War, he'd practically monopolized that entire range without any competitors.
His promotion to First-Class Officer was the result.
The Resource War was certainly an opportunity that offered high risks and high rewards.
But if you don't actually obtain the rewards, there's no point.
Inferno had chosen not to take that risk.
He already understood the nature of the Contribution Point race quite deeply.
It wasn't simply the strongest person who achieved the highest rank.
The system was structured so that those who advanced early would inevitably accumulate points at an increasingly faster rate.
[Tower Knights Knight Division Leader's Belt acquired.]
So this is Knight Division Leader equipment.
Its design was far more sophisticated than the Squad Leader equipment two tiers below it, and even more refined than the Knight Unit Leader equipment of the previous tier.
It wasn't merely stylish.
At a glance, he could tell it had been crafted from superior materials.
Eventually, he learned through the Hunter Inventory forums that Japan had lost the Resource War by a razor-thin margin.
"Oh? Korea managed to turn it around."
But Inferno merely smiled with interest.
He shrugged and muttered.
"Well, it's not like winning or losing the Resource War is what really matters."
The East Sea oil field had never interested him in the first place.
More importantly...
He had become Japan's first First-Class Officer.
How can I use this to further solidify my position in Japan?
Lost in that thought, Inferno started walking again.
The most important thing was to reach first place faster than everyone else.
And once he'd reached it, he could never allow himself to fall behind.
Hunter Association.
Special Situation Room.
"...That's strange."
An employee tilted his head.
The Chairman looked toward him.
"What is?"
"Those instructions from above telling us to refrain from approaching him. At some point, they stopped coming entirely."
The Chairman frowned.
The instructions had come from the Blue House.
The subtle pressure warning them not to approach the mysterious One-Star General recklessly had suddenly disappeared.
Did the higher-ups confirm something... or perhaps reach some kind of agreement?
If so, the Association no longer had any reason to hold back.
The Chairman immediately issued an order.
"Resume the investigation into the One-Star General's identity. Commit all available resources to it."
