I Became a Hunter with the Heavenly Slaughter Star Trait. - Chapter 26

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 26

Episode 26

“Congratulations on clearing the 10th Floor!”

She seemed somehow more excited than I was…

“Kang Min-a?”

Kang Min-a from the Talent Management Team.

Why is Kang Min-a at the Entry Hall?

“It feels like just yesterday I met Lee Tae-pyeong Hunter, and you’ve already cleared the 10th Floor!”

“Ah, hahaha…”

“I already knew you were an amazing person, but this is a result that even I and the Team Leader didn’t expect!”

“Th, thank you…?”

Did they think I’d run off without even reaching the 10th Floor?

‘Well, they’re not wrong…’

That’s definitely what I was planning to do at first.

It’s just that somehow it became fun and suited me, so I kept going.

“From today, I’ll be Lee Tae-pyeong Hunter’s dedicated manager.”

“Dedicated manager?”

What’s this about a dedicated manager all of a sudden?

Do they normally assign management team people to each Hunter?

Probably not.

“Ah, right. Look at me losing my mind.”

Kang Min-a clapped her palm as if remembering something.

She handed me a black envelope made of unusual material.

“What’s this?”

“Well, that’s, um, argh! It’ll be more touching if you see it yourself!”

“I see…”

What, do they give bonuses for breaking through the 10th Floor?

I casually opened the black envelope.

Inside the envelope was something well-packaged…

‘A card?’

A transparent card with the number ‘0’ written on it.

“How is it?”

Kang Min-a’s voice was full of expectation.

“Want me to be honest?”

“Yes!”

Hmm. I scratched my chin for a moment.

“I have absolutely no idea what this is.”

“Wh, what?!”

Is that really so shocking?

I mean, it’s just got a ‘0’ on it, how am I supposed to know what it is?

“You’re joking, right?”

“I really don’t know.”

Kang Min-a looked horrified.

She looked completely deflated, then looked at me again with a spirited expression.

“That’s understandable. This isn’t something you can see easily!”

“So, what is it?”

“This is…”

Kang Min-a made a strange “mhehehe” sound as she smiled.

“It’s Lee Tae-pyeong Hunter’s exclusive Zero Section card key!”

Zero Section?

I looked at Kang Min-a with a bewildered expression.

“Su, surely you haven’t forgotten what Zero Section is? I definitely explained it to you back then!”

Ah.

The place I’m staying now is First Section…

And the level above that is Zero Section, right.

A special space where top-tier Hunters like Ban Hae-yeong and Han Si-on stay.

First Section where I’m staying now is so nice that I’d completely forgotten there was a higher level.

“The place I’m staying now is already great.”

“Huh?”

“Do I have to move?”

“Wh, what?!”

Thud.

Kang Min-a seemed shocked once again.

But I’m being serious.

First Section is already incredibly nice.

Do I really need to ‘move’?

What a hassle.

“Ze, Zero Section provides various services that are on a completely different level from First Section!”

“Hmm…”

“Everything is five times better than now! Not just helpers, but professional security personnel…!”

“The helper changes too?”

“Yes. Professional helpers will be hired to assist Lee Tae-pyeong Hunter’s convenience in various fields…”

“Do Sang-jin is sufficient for me.”

“Huh?”

“And security… do I really need it?”

“Bu, but now Lee Tae-pyeong Hunter is a key Hunter for the Management Bureau…”

“I’ll keep using Do Sang-jin.”

He makes good kimchi stew and cleans well too.

No need to change him.

Kang Min-a made various other proposals.

But I declined most of them.

I returned the Zero Section card too.

First Section where I’m staying now is sufficient, so why bother?

Of course, it would probably be much better.

But.

‘They’re being too aggressive, it’s burdensome…’

South Korea already has 9 Hunters who have climbed above the 50th Floor of Babel Tower.

Considering that even the United States, the strongest nation, only has 16 Hunters who’ve climbed above the 50th Floor, it’s an incredible number.

But I’ve only just finished climbing the 10th Floor.

Yet they’re already offering Zero Section…

‘Am I going to end up like Choi Mu-ryeong?’

Choi Mu-ryeong.

He’s undoubtedly South Korea’s greatest Hunter.

From when Babel Tower first appeared until now.

The savior who will lead South Korea to the 60th Floor.

However, on the other hand.

‘The Management Bureau’s dog…’

Choi Mu-ryeong, who received tremendous government support from the beginning.

He literally became the Management Bureau’s dog.

It was also a chaotic time during the early days of Babel Tower’s appearance.

Since Choi Mu-ryeong was a soldier at the time,

it would have been difficult for him to refuse the government’s demands.

Of course, Choi Mu-ryeong would receive various privileges and conveniences as South Korea’s strongest Hunter.

To a degree ordinary people couldn’t even imagine.

However.

The nickname ‘Management Bureau’s dog’ didn’t arise for no reason.

No matter how well you’re treated,

what’s the point if you’re not free?

I don’t want to get that deeply entangled with the Management Bureau.

The various conveniences from First Section are sufficient.

“I suppose reconsidering would be difficult?”

Kang Min-a asked cautiously, but I smiled and shook my head.

“Phew…”

Kang Min-a let out a deep sigh.

She must be quite disappointed.

But that was only momentary.

“Still, I plan to support Hunter Lee Tae-pyeong with all my resources!”

Kang Min-a showed her spirited face again, clenching her fist tightly.

“Please don’t refuse that too!”

Actually.

Kang Min-a herself doesn’t seem like a bad person.

She’s passionate too.

I can feel her ‘sincerity’ in truly wanting me to succeed.

“Yes. Please help me a lot.”

So I also shook hands with her sincerely.

Anyway, she’s my ‘dedicated’ staff member.

I don’t particularly plan to join a guild or anything.

A dedicated staff member feels different from a helper.

I should be able to receive various kinds of help regarding Babel Tower.

“Then, shall we go meet the External Cooperation Team for now?”

“Pardon?”

Not the Information Analysis Team.

Why suddenly the External Cooperation Team out of nowhere?

“The External Cooperation Team?”

“Yes. Oh, you haven’t heard yet?”

“What do you mean…?”

Kang Min-a checked her tablet.

“Ah. It was a request that came in while you were on the 10th Floor, so you wouldn’t have heard.”

“What’s it about?”

“You remember ‘Wrath of the Sun’, right?”

Wrath of the Sun.

That’s the map where I met Narin.

“I remember.”

“You know you’re the first human to clear it, right?”

“That seemed to be the case.”

I remember hearing that during the interview.

First human and so on and so forth.

“There are countries that want to purchase the full ‘Wrath of the Sun’ interview.”

“The interview?”

“To be precise, the map information.”

“Information…”

“There’s an unidentified map where rookie Hunters have been disappearing en masse lately, and many countries suspect ‘Wrath of the Sun’ might be that area.”

Ah.

So that’s why they want to buy my interview.

“We also purchased the ‘Noah’s Ark’ map interview from the United States in the early days. Nowadays there’s relatively more information about Babel Tower, but back then it was really…”

Kang Min-a explained various things about transactions between countries.

While listening to the explanation, we arrived at.

[Meeting Room]

A meeting room, not the consultation room I always went to after returning.

Another official who had been reviewing documents suddenly stood up from his seat.

“Hunter Lee Tae-pyeong!”

A middle-aged man with a gentle impression quickly approached and grabbed my hand.

“Nice to meet you for the first time.”

“Hello.”

“I’m Jang Jin-seok, Team Leader of the Management Bureau’s External Cooperation Team.”

The middle-aged man handed me his business card.

“The reason we’ve invited you today is none other than…”

Jang Jin-seok began speaking with a bright smile.

Thanks to the explanation I’d heard from Kang Min-a beforehand,

I was able to converse smoothly with Jang Jin-seok.

“So, the United States and Japan?”

“Yes. Other countries have shown interest too, but we plan to deal with these two first.”

I’d done several interviews about ‘Wrath of the Sun’.

It seems all of that has been organized now.

Numerous countries showed interest.

But the two countries prioritized for deals were the United States and Japan.

“The United States promised a huge sum.”

Oh.

As expected of America, I guess.

“Thanks to that, we should be able to reach an amicable agreement, but…”

While explaining various things, Jang Jin-seok suddenly made a subtle expression.

“It seems we need to discuss the Japanese side’s conditions with Hunter Lee Tae-pyeong.”

“What kind of conditions?”

Jang Jin-seok hesitated for a moment.

“They asked how about exchanging it for an ‘item’.”

An item?

I reflexively looked at Kang Min-a.

Then, Kang Min-a nodded and asked Jang Jin-seok back.

“We’d need to know what kind of item it is for the Hunter to make a decision, wouldn’t we?”

At those words, Jang Jin-seok glanced at me.

He seemed annoyed by Kang Min-a.

If Kang Min-a hadn’t been there, was he planning to just push through?

“…”

I deliberately said nothing and just looked at Jang Jin-seok.

Tsk, tsk, clicking his tongue, Jang Jin-seok finally answered.

“Well, about that item.”

“Yes.”

“It’s an S-rank weapon.”

S-rank?

Why would they hand over something like that?

I looked at Jang Jin-seok with a puzzled expression.

Jang Jin-seok let out a deep sigh.

“You may have heard of it.”

“Heard of what?”

“About ‘Dan’.”

This was the first I’d heard of it.

“Ah, it’s quite an old story, so you might not know about it.”

Kang Min-a quickly explained.

‘Dan’.

It was the first S-rank weapon that Japan obtained.

A reward that Japan’s top-tier Hunter Nakamura obtained from a diamond box.

Then it must be an incredible item, right?

At the time, the Japanese Archipelago was buzzing with excitement.

People thought Nakamura would become Asia’s strongest Hunter.

However, that excitement didn’t last long and soon faded away.

Despite ‘Dan’ being an S-rank weapon.

Other than absorbing the user’s life force.

It had no special abilities whatsoever.

An S-rank weapon that didn’t even have the common “5% attack power increase” attached to it.

And it even gave the user a ‘debuff’?

If it couldn’t cut anything.

If it couldn’t pierce anything.

Then it was no longer an S-rank weapon.

There was even self-deprecating talk that an orc’s club would be stronger.

Why was such a useless thing S-rank?

That question was quickly answered.

Chinese Hunter Li Xian had obtained ‘Jie’.

‘Jie’ was also an S-rank weapon, just like ‘Dan’.

It had no special abilities.

It couldn’t cut anything.

It couldn’t pierce anything.

A useless S-rank weapon!

However, if ‘Jie’ and ‘Dan’ were truly useless.

There was no way they would be S-rank.

By this time, both Japan and China knew.

That the two weapons were a ‘pair’.

The true value of ‘Jie’ and ‘Dan’ would be revealed when they were together.

However.

Neither side could yield.

Japan and China.

The option of the two nations handing over.

An S-rank weapon to each other’s hands was…

‘Impossible.’

Thus, ‘Jie’ and ‘Dan’ became burdens for China and Japan respectively.

And now.

Japan was trying to dispose of that burden.

Since China would never yield ‘Jie’ to anyone.

On the surface, pretending to hand over an S-rank weapon.

In reality, trying to dump their burden.

There was a high level of political calculation behind this.

If South Korea got their hands on ‘Dan’.

China’s pressure would surely begin.

Then my choice is…

“Let’s make a deal.”

Go big or go home.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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