The Rapidly Rotating Thing
Right after returning from Inwangsan.
"As expected, chicken is the best!"
"I agree. There's nothing like chicken."
The three of them sat in a circle in the semi-basement room, devouring five chickens in the blink of an eye.
Jinhyuk, patting his bloated belly, stood up.
"Commander? Where to now?"
"No, just packing up."
"Didn't you say you'd leave later?"
"I'm planning to leave anyway, so might as well go now."
"Is it because of that guy from earlier?"
"Yeah."
Player Hunter Agency Team Leader Jin Yunho.
He wasn't the type to strike up a casual conversation out of boredom.
There had to be a purpose behind it.
The first thing that came to mind was the Book of Honor, which was being updated daily.
The Player Hunter Agency didn't let talented individuals slip through their fingers.
Moreover, picking him out from the nearly thirty people descending the mountain wasn't a coincidence.
It was most likely that they'd used some ability to check his cleared floor count and matched it to the Book of Honor record.
"Did that guy ask any threatening questions?"
Jinhyuk shook his head.
That was the problem—there hadn't been anything even remotely like that.
The Hunter Agency would have detected the disappearance of his transfer by now.
Yet, not asking a single question about it meant they were clearly wary of putting him on guard.
"If this place had already been my new home, I would've just stayed put casually. I haven't done anything wrong, after all. But if possible, I'd like to put off getting tangled with the Hunter Agency."
"Why?"
"Because it'll be a hundred percent hassle. At minimum, they'll push for me to join, and then the questions will come pouring in. How did you clear it so fast? What's your synchronization rate? And so on."
Thwack!
Kancho slammed the floor with her staff.
"If they want me, tell them to take all my treasures! And then join up—wouldn't that work?"
"I'd do it under normal circumstances. But my current state is way too irregular for our world."
Jinhyuk turned his gaze to his status window.
Even if Kancho and Seira released their manifestations.
Synchronization Rate: 100%.
This was the issue.
The moment this got exposed, the world would flip upside down.
If the Hunter Agency had any competent ability users and caught wind of it, things would get really, really annoying.
Twitch!
"Commander. Someone's outside! A car's stopped, but they're not getting out!"
"How many?"
"Two!"
"Ugh."
As expected of the Hunter Agency.
They'd already looked up the address and arrived.
Assuming they had a way to check floor counts, Jinhyuk could roughly picture what they were after.
They'd probably wait around and confirm the moment he cleared the 20th floor.
It was past midnight, but he'd decided to put off entering the tower for today.
"Don't worry. Commander. I'll go handle it."
Kancho pulled out a thick lump of explosive clay from her bosom.
What a scary kid.
"No explosives from the house."
"I forgot for a second."
Jinhyuk chuckled softly and tossed whatever caught his eye into his backpack.
He hadn't brought much in the first place, so leaving was just as light.
'I'll get that 1 million won deposit back via bank transfer later.'
Jinhyuk brought his finger to his lips.
"We have to sneak out quietly from now on."
"Got it."
Leaving the room light on, the trio climbed up to the rooftop.
Standing at the railing, Jinhyuk gazed at the moon hanging high in the sky.
'What's so fun about this?'
It was a midnight flight he hadn't planned for, yet a laugh escaped him.
Maybe because his bag was stuffed full of udum ore.
"Let's go, Seira."
Seira nodded and scooped Jinhyuk up in a princess carry.
Kancho hopped onto Seira's shoulder on her own.
Confirming all passengers were aboard, Seira began leaping from rooftop to rooftop.
'Whoa.'
His legs felt a bit wobbly at first, but soon even that turned fun.
Kancho burst into excited puhehehe! laughter, clearly thrilled.
Jinhyuk thought of the receding villa and Jin Yunho, who was probably waiting out front.
'See you again sometime. Just... later.'
He had no intention of running forever.
They'd cross paths eventually, in some form or another.
But by then, he'd be fully prepared.
Even if his synchronization rate or abilities got exposed and caused a huge uproar, even if unexpected trouble came crashing down.
Prepared to brush it all off lightly and preserve his body, that is.
That very evening, after the midnight escape.
Beep beep beep beep, click.
Jinhyuk, shouldering a large backpack, entered the room.
Kancho and Seira manifested as if they'd been waiting.
"Wowww! It's huge!"
"Is this another kind of house?"
"It's called an officetel. A place where you can move in the same day, no less."
An officetel in an old town slated for redevelopment.
It was a spot he'd scouted in advance, so the decision didn't take long.
"The outside looks like it's falling apart, but the inside is amazing!"
"They remodeled it."
"Re-mo-del...?"
"Basically, they cleaned it up nice and new."
Finishing his quick explanation, Jinhyuk checked his bank balance.
130 million.
Money left after selling the udum at the pawnshop at dawn and paying the 100 million deposit.
-Wh-where did you get all this?
It was the first time.
The old man at the pawnshop's eyes had nearly bugged out.
Oh Jaegap had even rolled down the shop shutter so no one would see.
The sheer quantity had taken quite a while just to appraise and settle the payment.
'Man, not just anyone can run a pawnshop.'
Dropping 230 million in cash in one go.
Pawnshops are the best.
"Huuuuh."
Setting down his luggage and catching his breath, Jinhyuk flopped onto the floor.
Then he rolled over once to the left and right.
Things had moved a bit hastily because of Jin Yunho's sudden appearance, but anyway—successful escape from the semi-basement.
'Goodbye, mold. Goodbye, rainwater pouring through the window. Goodbye, stray cats that used to peek in as they passed by.'
Bidding farewell to all sorts of things, he stood up again.
Remodeled with two rooms and a living room, and at 100 million deposit with 3 million monthly rent.
Even considering it was in an old redevelopment zone, it was an excellent deal.
"Now that we've moved, how about some chicken?"
"I think that's a good idea too."
Kancho's suggestion, and Seira nodding as if she'd been waiting for it.
"Chicken sounds great. I'll order some, so you two head to the tower first."
Jinhyuk glanced at his watch.
9 p.m.
With time a bit tight, the tower came first.
As Kancho and Seira finished preparing and stood, he pressed the entry button.
[Entering the 20th floor of the Tower of Despair!]
"Hey there."
The tower's resident, Konyu, waved his hand.
Unlike usual, he wasn't sprawled out.
This floor would require even them to give some explanations, after all.
"The tower mission doesn't start for another two hours. I'll brief you in the meantime."
Konyu cleared his throat with an ahem!
It was a first.
For these guys to line up and listen attentively.
"Do you happen to know the clear condition for the 20th floor?"
"Base defense?"
"Correct. I hear there's some tower sa-to? Site? in the players' world—information spreads fast. Would you mind taking a look around this place?"
A fairly large village made of tents and wooden planks.
Gnome residents—one of the tower's inhabitants—were stationed here and there.
"The 20th floor mission is to defend the gnome village from waves of orc warrior troops. Naturally, the gnomes, as the village owners, will assist the player too."
Konyu's explanation continued.
In the meantime, Jinhyuk cross-checked the info he'd seen beforehand with the current layout of the village before his eyes.
The 20th floor wasn't something you could just rush through for a good rank.
The degree of village destruction and gnome casualties affected the score, so he had to pay attention.
"That concludes the briefing. Just so you know, I won't be helping—I'll be lying down. You've got 1 hour and 59 minutes left for village prep, so let me know when you're ready."
Konyu stuck out a chubby thumbs-up and headed to his pre-scouted spot to lie down.
But before his back could even fully hit the ground, Jinhyuk raised his hand.
"Start it, please."
"Pardon?"
He had no choice but to ask again.
It had only been a minute since the start.
Naturally, nothing that could be called preparation had been done.
The gnome residents, who hadn't received their gear, stood around blankly waiting for the player's orders, and the sandbags meant to block the entrance were piled up tower-high for some reason.
Seira and Kancho must have been stacking them even during the explanation.
"At least let us position the gnomes..."
"It's fine. Start, start."
Prep time didn't count toward playtime.
You could use it all up without issue, but today time was a little tight.
It had been 9 p.m. when they entered.
After clearing the 20th, they still had to hit the Mythical Tower, so they'd hurry.
"Hey, you rat! Didn't you hear the commander?! Start it before I blow you up!"
'That foul-tempered raccoon bastard!'
Konyu scowled and let out a deep sigh.
"I clearly told you. This isn't on me! Alright, starting now!"
Konyu snapped his fingers.
As the curtain lifted, the gnome residents began milling about in confusion.
"Everyone, gnomes—head inside here, please!"
A tower of sandbags built to encircle the small huts.
As the gnomes filed in, Seira drew her sword and exited the village.
'That won't work, I tell you.'
Konyu clicked his tongue and shook his head.
The orc troops weren't coming from just one direction.
With attacks from all sides, defending from within the village was crucial on the 20th floor.
Yet the party's main firepower, Seira, was abandoning the village and heading out—leaving Jinhyuk behind to get swarmed by the orc warriors and hit the escape button.
Thud thud thud thud thud thud...
The ground tremors started, and soon all directions were dyed green.
A brute-force assault force made entirely of orc warriors, armed only with swords, axes, and clubs.
Swoosh!
From one side, Seira's sword energy scattered.
Dozens of orcs were bisected in a single blow, but that was far from enough.
Seira would eventually cut them all down, sure—but the village would fly first.
'And he's still so relaxed in the middle of this.'
Jinhyuk, gripping his sword, stared at the oncoming orc horde.
As they drew close enough, Jinhyuk turned his head.
"Kancho, ready yet?"
'Not so relaxed after all.'
Sweat beaded on Jinhyuk's face.
With massive orc warriors charging like that, who wouldn't break a sweat?
"Done!"
"Phew."
Jinhyuk let out a sigh of relief.
Kancho had dawdled more than expected—it had been a bit scary.
'What the hell does "done" mean from that crazy raccoon...?'
Question marks popped up in Konyu's eyes as he turned to look.
Kancho was holding a weapon he'd never seen before.
A smile spread across Jinhyuk's lips.
Before heading to the officetel, they'd stopped by a toy store.
Kancho, who always stuffed tiny firecrackers with pea-sized bits of explosive clay and went pop pop.
It was to gift that Kancho a fine modern weapon.
"Here I go then!"
Kancho, equipped with the newfangled weapon, bellowed and paused for a moment.
Then, with a whirring rumble, it began to spin.
The barrels of the Gatling gun—also called a Vulcan cannon or minigun— that is.
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T/N:
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