Chapter 20

1. Chapter 20

   A Rank Appraiser Yoo Ah-rin.

   After failing to perfectly appraise Baek Cheon-myeong's item several days ago,

   she had begun training.

   The reason was simple.

   Her pride had been hurt.

   As a result,

   her Appraisal skill had improved slightly.

   Skills could grow depending on the user's proficiency.

   The same phenomenon appeared among Hunters who repeatedly fought through Dimensional Breaks.

   Of course,

   compared to growth inside the Tower, the results were tiny.

   Most Hunters barely paid attention to it.

   But for Hunters who couldn't climb the Tower,

   training their skills directly was their only option.

   Even though only a few days had passed,

   Yoo Ah-rin had still achieved some results.

   She had appraised every high-level item she could find.

   Her skill had no choice but to improve.

   Still...

   It didn't feel like her skill had grown as much as when she failed to appraise Baek Cheon-myeong's items.

   Every item Baek Cheon-myeong brings is something I can't fully appraise.

   Failure was the mother of success.

   In other words,

   the process of failing itself became experience.

   That was why Yoo Ah-rin was waiting for Baek Cheon-myeong,

   regardless of what her pride thought.

   She still couldn't perfectly appraise his items.

   That fact frustrated her.

   But struggling against those failures made her skill improve.

   Failure was the mother of success.

   As a perfectionist,

   she had never truly understood that saying before.

   Recently,

   she had begun to understand.

   If she continued appraising Baek Cheon-myeong's items,

   perhaps becoming an S Rank Appraiser wasn't impossible.

   I've spent my entire life without any foundation.

   But somehow, even repeating failures like this has started building one.

   More importantly,

   Baek Cheon-myeong didn't care whether she succeeded or failed.

   Those indifferent eyes

   ironically made her feel comfortable.

   In front of him,

   it felt as though she could try as many times as necessary.

   Maybe that was why.

   At some point,

   Yoo Ah-rin began eagerly waiting for Baek Cheon-myeong to appear.

   She fixed her makeup.

   She styled her hair.

   She made sure she always looked her best.

   Baek Cheon-myeong had a habit of appearing without warning.

   So Yoo Ah-rin made sure she was prepared every single day.

   "Chief Administrator, Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong has arrived."

   The message finally came.

   Yoo Ah-rin immediately stood up,

   fixed her clothes,

   and headed outside.

   He's here.

   A chance to restore her pride.

   And perhaps,

   a valuable customer who might help her become an S Rank Appraiser.

   The VVIP room.

   More specifically,

   a private room that only selected individuals could use.

   When she opened the door,

   Baek Cheon-myeong was already sitting inside.

   He was staring seriously at his phone.

   Maybe because his appearance was on another level compared to ordinary people,

   for a moment she wondered if she was watching a phone advertisement.

   No matter what he did,

   he somehow looked like a picture.

   "Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong."

   "You're here."

   Only after Yoo Ah-rin arrived did Baek Cheon-myeong reluctantly put away his phone.

   Had he been dealing with something important?

   He had recently revealed himself through a full press conference.

   Someone at his level could be connected to almost anything.

   I heard even Hunters who achieved Tower Ascension are trying to contact him.

   He would probably become someone far beyond her reach very soon.

   This might be her only chance to build a connection with him.

   She had no idea that Baek Cheon-myeong had actually been watching short clips advertising ridiculous melodramas.

   "What have you brought for appraisal today?"

   But investigating his personal business wasn't her job.

   She was an Appraiser.

   She simply needed to perform that role properly.

   And her skill had improved recently.

   Yoo Ah-rin was excited to show what she could do.

   "No. I didn't come for an appraisal today."

   Yoo Ah-rin's expression froze.

   She had naturally assumed that was the reason.

   What was this?

   "...You didn't come for an appraisal?"

   "Correct."

   Yoo Ah-rin barely hid her disappointment.

   Baek Cheon-myeong placed a heavy Magic Stone in front of her.

   "I want you to have a weapon made from this."

   "This is..."

   She recognized the stone immediately.

   A type of highest-grade Magic Stone.

   Arcanite.

   And this was extremely high-quality Arcanite.

   "You managed to obtain something impressive."

   Highest-grade Magic Stones were normally obtained as rewards from the upper floors.

   But recently,

   there had been a problem at the highest-grade Magic Stone factory on the 79th Floor.

   The Hunter who had been the Floor Lord suddenly died,

   leaving the position empty.

   Because of that,

   a fierce war was currently raging on the 79th Floor.

   As a result,

   the supply of highest-grade Magic Stones had become unstable.

   Yet Baek Cheon-myeong had obtained one.

   It was also difficult to obtain Magic Stones as pure as Tower-produced stones from Dimensional Breaks.

   Because of that,

   their prices had recently skyrocketed.

   "With material this good, we can make an excellent weapon."

   "Will Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong be the one using it?"

   "Hmm. Something like that."

   Baek Cheon-myeong gave a vague answer.

   But Yoo Ah-rin's eyes changed.

   Baek Cheon-myeong would definitely achieve Tower Ascension someday.

   Even now,

   he was already shaking the world.

   Once he entered the upper floors,

   he would undoubtedly shake the Tower itself.

   A Hunter's equipment always attracted attention from other Hunters.

   Sometimes,

   a single famous Hunter using one item could create an entire equipment trend.

   So what if Yoo Ah-rin publicly revealed that she had commissioned the sword used by Baek Cheon-myeong?

   I could expand my influence beyond South Korea and into the entire world.

   Yoo Ah-rin's eyes changed.

   They became the eyes of a businesswoman.

   She absolutely had to succeed.

   "It doesn't need any special additional abilities."

   "Just make it durable."

   "Durable, you say."

   She was disappointed that he hadn't brought something to appraise.

   But Baek Cheon-myeong had still come directly to her when he needed something done.

   That meant he trusted her enough to rely on her.

   If I want to become an S Rank Appraiser, maintaining my relationship with Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong is essential.

   Yes.

   This burning feeling was obviously because she was thinking about her future business relationship with an S Rank Hunter.

   This is a test.

   Yoo Ah-rin already made more than enough money through Appraisal work and managing the Marketplace.

   Baek Cheon-myeong had only given her the highest-grade Magic Stone.

   But she would gather every high-quality material she could obtain

and create the finest sword possible.

She would make the strongest sword on the surface!

"Understood. I'll commission the sword through the Forge of Fire."

Placing an order with the Forge of Fire on the 71st Floor could easily cost hundreds of millions of won.

But Yoo Ah-rin was willing to pay.

What she didn't know

was who would actually use the sword she was about to create.

I'm glad Ms. Yoo Ah-rin accepted the request so easily.

Naturally,

Kang Ha-min didn't know either.

He had no idea that the sword he would eventually receive

was about to become one of the strongest blades on the surface.

A tragic misunderstanding existed between them.

And that misunderstanding would determine the fate of the sword.

At that exact moment,

a message arrived on Baek Cheon-myeong's phone.

[Shin No-seop: Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong, where are you right now?! Deus is heading toward South Korea!]

Kang Ha-min learned the news ten minutes later.

A message from Shin No-seop.

The moment Kang Ha-min saw it,

his eyes shook more violently than ever.

We're screwed! We're screwed! We're screwed!

You said he wasn't coming!

You said there was no way Deus would come!

I've been tricked!

They lied to me!

Deus.

He called himself the strongest,

but Deus was still Deus.

And now,

that man had ignored the United States and was heading directly toward South Korea.

For someone obsessed with safety,

this was enough to drive him insane.

"Hmm. He was going to come eventually anyway. Does it matter?"

"Of course it matters!"

They had been told that the United States would stop him.

That reckless bastard.

Diplomacy.

His own country.

He didn't care about any of it.

He simply did whatever he wanted.

"Master, what we need to do hasn't changed."

Baek Cheon-myeong remained perfectly calm.

"If he comes, I cut him down."

"That is enough."

How nice would life be if everyone could think like Baek Cheon-myeong?

Unfortunately,

this was modern society.

You couldn't solve everything by cutting people down.

"Even cutting him down is a problem!"

"He's an S Rank Hunter that the United States treats like a national shield!"

Kang Ha-min didn't necessarily think Baek Cheon-myeong would lose against Deus.

As far as Ha-min knew,

Baek Cheon-myeong was the strongest person he had ever seen.

Still,

that didn't guarantee victory.

More importantly,

Deus might be someone Baek Cheon-myeong couldn't afford to hold back against.

What if the two of them fought until one side died,

and Deus was killed?

Would the United States really stay quiet?

The United States had recently become more aggressive in international affairs.

Even allied nations didn't receive unlimited forgiveness.

This incident could destroy relations between South Korea and the United States!

An S Rank Hunter was valuable enough to cause that kind of crisis.

Uaaaaagh! Korea and America's relationship is going to collapse because of me!

Kang Ha-min rolled back and forth across the bed.

God.

Why are you giving me trials like this?!

"...I didn't realize Master would react this strongly."

For once,

even Baek Cheon-myeong looked slightly apologetic.

He seemed to realize that he had made a mistake.

Kang Ha-min understood.

Baek Cheon-myeong always made decisions with Ha-min's safety as the highest priority.

Even this situation had probably been caused because he was trying to protect Kang Ha-min.

The problem was simply that Baek Cheon-myeong didn't fully understand modern society yet.

Complaining at him wouldn't change reality.

So Ha-min finally stopped groaning.

"Let's come up with a plan."

How should they deal with Deus once he arrived?

It was time to think seriously.

Exactly two hours later,

another message arrived.

[Shin No-seop: We have received reports that Deus's private jet was shot down by an unidentified group.]

Once again,

something completely unexpected had happened.

Deus's private jet had been shot down.

Naturally,

Kang Ha-min asked what kind of group had done it.

But Shin No-seop's answer sounded equally confused.

[Shin No-seop: We are investigating as well, but nothing has been confirmed yet.]

[We are also contacting the United States, but they seem just as desperate and confused.]

[I will send you information as soon as we learn anything.]

Even the United States didn't understand what had happened.

Kang Ha-min looked completely lost.

"What in the world happened?"

"Perhaps he made enemies."

Deus had caused trouble with countless people.

As someone naturally addicted to attention,

he went around provoking people everywhere.

It wouldn't exactly be strange if someone eventually attacked him.

But there was one problem.

"We're talking about Deus."

A man strong enough to call himself a god.

He hadn't achieved Tower Ascension yet,

but everyone agreed that his potential was among the highest in the world.

Someone had attacked Deus?

No matter how he looked at it,

too many parts didn't make sense.

But Kang Ha-min had no way of discovering the truth himself.

Deus's plane had apparently been attacked and crashed somewhere over the Pacific Ocean.

What was Ha-min supposed to do about that?

For now,

he could only wait for more information.

Maybe this is actually good for us.

At least Baek Cheon-myeong hadn't personally defeated Deus.

So there probably wouldn't be any trouble.

Unfortunately,

Kang Ha-min had seriously underestimated public opinion.

The day after Deus disappeared,

Ha-min froze in the middle of brushing his teeth while watching television.

[Breaking News]

[Deus Missing While Traveling Toward South Korea?]

[Could South Korean Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong Be Connected to Deus's Disappearance?]

The headline filled the entire screen.

Kang Ha-min stood there frozen.

He couldn't do anything.

Deus was naturally obsessed with attention.

Because of that,

he publicly announced almost everything he did.

He was the kind of extreme attention seeker who might lose his mind if he couldn't post on social media for even one day.

Naturally,

he had scheduled a post announcing his trip to South Korea.

@Deus

[Photo]

♥ 3,914,368 Likes

[Photo]

"I'm going to Korea."
(Korean Translation)

#Deus #GOD #Deity #...

"Deuuuuuuuuus!"

Kang Ha-min screamed.

Naturally,

an identical scream echoed through the White House as well.