The sound of his heartbeat thundered, filling his ears.
I Taemin gripped his twin swords and raised his mana. A deep blue mana, studded with stars like a vast universe, surged.
At that sight, Chyabu the Awakened exclaimed in admiration.
“Whoa, whoa, look at this. Our rookie Hunter could reawaken as an S-rank and it wouldn’t even be strange, right? Everyone, the future of the Republic of Korea is looking bright, isn’t it?”
Sensing the immense mana, Pyroclast showed signs of faltering.
I Taemin suddenly felt his earlobe, adorned with an earring, burn.
“Friend, I think you should take that earring off.”
The warning of Gidan came to mind in an instant.
Even the baby bandits who had threatened him with forks, demanding he hand over the earring.
What did Hyeonak know about this earring?
He vaguely sensed it. That this thing was threatening his life.
‘But…….’
The image of Choe Hyeonu, who had given him the earring, flashed through his mind.
“What is this?”
“I scraped together some cash. I bought this in secret, so don’t go around telling anyone.”
“Hyung, this…… it must have cost more than just a few pennies…….”
“How many times do I have to tell you? You’re our star. Only if you live do I live, and we all live.”
A top-grade mana stone earring, purchased with all the money he had scraped together—even what he’d saved for his wedding.
By the time he realized something was wrong with it, he had already come too far.
‘I’m such a dumbass.’
His own mana surged as if it would pounce on him.
Nevertheless, I Taemin gritted his teeth and charged at Pyroclast.
The energy of water enveloped the twin swords, extending their length.
The water from the now extended twin swords coiled around Pyroclast’s scorching surface like a whip.
Chiiiiik-!
But every time the water summoned by I Taemin touched Pyroclast’s shell, it evaporated and reformed repeatedly.
A difference in rank.
Though he kept summoning water with the mana gushing from the earring, it was obvious the skill wasn’t working.
Continuing like this was impossible.
A support-type Hunter was needed to lower the monster’s defense and target its weak points. Doing this alone was clearly impossible.
“U-Uh, uh, it looks like the situation is turning against us.”
Chyabu, who had observed countless raids, waved both hands.
“I Taemin Hunter! Let’s pull back for now!”
If they bought a little time and called the Hunters on standby, they could escape safely. They had already made every possible preparation for unforeseen circumstances.
But.
“I Taemin Hunter?”
I Taemin’s reaction was unusual.
“My eyes are going weird…….”
“Why is he acting like that?”
Chyabu gestured to the PD.
“Call the standby Hunters for now. The situation is strange.”
“Graaaaaaaah!”
Pyroclast, which had been trading blows with I Taemin, roared once more.
Chyabu’s body stiffened.
Pyroclast had used a skill.
‘Terror!’
When afflicted by a terror skill, lower-rank Hunters would find their bodies stiffening for a moment.
And here, there was no Awakened with a higher rank than Pyroclast.
“No, damn it!”
Just as Pyroclast opened its mouth wide to devour I Taemin.
Shiiiiiiik-
A sandstorm suddenly engulfed the boss.
Its once-hard shell was effortlessly ground away by the sand, revealing the flesh beneath.
“H-Guys…… do you see that? A sandstorm suddenly erupted…… what is it?”
The defense that even an A-rank rookie couldn’t pierce was breached this easily?
While everyone, including Chyabu, was watching that astonishing scene.
Tak!
A dagger that appeared from nowhere struck a light normal attack, and.
Sshung-
Sshung-
Sshung-
At the same time, bullets fired from three drones at Mach speed.
The bullets cleanly pierced the head of Pyroclast, whose flesh was now fully exposed.
“Graaaaaah……!”
Boom!
Pyroclast fell in a single blow, and the surroundings shook violently.
‘Could it be an S-rank?’
Just as everyone was thinking the same thing.
A silhouette emerged from within the sand.
Azure eyes turned toward them.
“Serhi……?”
Chyabu muttered softly.
He was a YouTuber for a large Hunter channel.
Naturally, he had all the famous guild members memorized, and he knew well about Serhi too.
There had been quite an uproar in various communities when a minor of undisclosed rank suddenly joined Hyeonak, which had declared it wouldn’t take new recruits.
‘If so, then could it be…….’
Thump, thump, thump. His heart began to pound fiercely.
That fluttering he felt whenever he saw a strong person.
His heart was reacting violently upon discovering a powerhouse.
Serhi’s skill clearly surpassed that of A-rank I Taemin!
Despite the crowd’s astonished gazes, Serhi nonchalantly blew a bubble and popped it.
“Yeah. Serhi Markov.”
After answering shortly, Serhi, who had been looking straight ahead, suddenly flinched.
What was the matter? Had another monster appeared?
Just as the filming crew looked around nervously.
With a displeased look, Serhi pointed at the chick drones buzzing around above his head like flies and said,
“These little chicks will be on sale soon, so please show lots of interest.”
The half-made teddy bear doll, which had somehow wedged itself among the staff members, stuck its thumb out as if it were the PD.
- Mm! That’s exactly it!
But Serhi merely chewed his gum in annoyance, seemingly completely dissatisfied with having become an advertising model.
“……?”
It was the astonishing AA-rank solo clear debut of an undisclosed-rank Hunter.
But.
All of this was for an advertisement?
“…….”
The place fell into silence.
Only the chatroom was rampaging in frenzy. The chat window scrolled up endlessly alongside countless question marks.
- ?
- ?
- Serhi? Drones?
- Chyabu hyung, are we on a super-fun hidden camera prank right now?
- It is super fun though??
- Is this real? Then is Serhi S-rank?
- IDK
Chyabu, a seasoned broadcaster, was the first to come to his senses.
He immediately turned the microphone toward Jjapsso.
Serhi’s unexpected skills were impressive, but what had elicited a reaction in the chat that surpassed even that was the appearance of the railgun.
“Jjapsso hyungnim! Did you say the drones are planned for sale?!”
- That’s correct.
“It looks a bit different in size from the one on the news, right?”
Geuru nodded hesitantly.
- This is a B-rank…….
The mechanism was the same, but since its rank had dropped, its power had decreased, so they had been slightly worried.
“Ah, so it’s a slightly lower-rank railgun? Where will it be sold? The chat is going crazy right now, so please give me a bit more info, hyungnim. Just a tiny bit more.”
- Mm, we will sell about five drones. However, the mana stones must be purchased separately. We will announce the detailed sales route later.
“Wow, only five? People must be going crazy trying to buy this. They’re already telling me to take their money. Can you see?”
Geuru perked up its ears.
Chyabu briefly showed him the rapidly scrolling chat on his phone.
He couldn’t read what was written because it was too fast, but he could tell that there were many who wanted it.
‘Is it popular even with a lower rank?’
Just as Geuru felt slightly relieved.
“Geuuugh…….”
A sound like I Taemin scratching his throat was heard.
‘……?’
“Kuaaack!”
“T-Taemin! Taemin, what’s wrong!”
Immediately afterward, a wind stirred by mana spread around I Taemin like shockwaves.
Ssasasasasak-!
Serhi dashed to Geuru in an instant, moving away from the radius of the shockwave.
Geuru’s bag wobbled, and Beillak poked its face out.
“Myumyut…….” (It’s going to rampage.)
It was a core containing the mana of SSS-rank Beillak.
Since he had been using it raw, without refining it, a frail human body couldn’t withstand it.
It was truly a rampage of mana.
It was similar to an imperfect awakening.
It would leave enormous damage to the surroundings, and he himself would burst like a balloon.
As befit a Hunter channel, BJ Chyabu and the staff, sensing the danger, began to flee at once.
The suffering Taemin and the scattering filming crew.
And the only one trying to approach Taemin amid it all was Choe Hyeonu.