I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 119

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

#Chapter 119.
A car drove along the road.
Jung Han-sung sat in the back seat with a peculiar expression, gazing out at the surroundings.
‘Looking at it this way, it feels less like I’m inside The Tower and more like I’ve stepped into a foreign country.’
Beneath the elevated highway cutting through the heart of the city, vehicles, pedestrians, and various automated equipment moved busily about.
‘Perhaps it’s because it’s daytime.’
Unlike the night landscape where countless lights shone brilliantly, everything now lay bare and exposed beneath the sun.
Faded concrete. Structures with exposed metal frames. Advertisements repeating endlessly on massive screens.
Communication towers with tangled wires and expressionless faces of pedestrians.
Well, the air was somewhat dirtier than Earth, and robots were far more prevalent, but that was about the only difference.
―Seven minutes until arrival.
At that moment, a voice came from the driver’s seat.
Yet no one actually sat in the driver’s seat. An AI controlled this vehicle.
Thinking about how Korea was only just beginning to operate autonomous taxis gave him an odd feeling.
Jung Han-sung turned his head again and swept his gaze across the window once more.
Street stalls playing unidentifiable music, small shops lined up along narrow alleys.
It felt more lively and bustling with people than the districts he’d explored before.
The car continued straight into the depths of the street, and soon came to a stop in front of a shop.
―We have arrived.
“Here.”
Jung Han-sung pulled out a credit chip and held it toward the driver’s seat.
Then light extended from the device ahead.
―50 credits have been deducted. Have a pleasant day.
Jung Han-sung retrieved his chip and exited the vehicle.
“Hmm.”
The shop in front appeared to have nothing particularly special about it at first glance.
On the front signboard, the words “Glow Parts — Electronic Component Repair and Restoration” glowed faintly.
The display case beside the automatic door was cluttered with all manner of components and broken circuit boards.
It looked just like a junk repair shop.
“Is this the right place?”
“Yes. The owner of this establishment is the most skilled information decryption specialist among those not affiliated with any particular organization.”
At Akasha’s words, Jung Han-sung nodded and slowly approached the shop.
Whoosh—.
“Huh?”
As the door opened, a man who had been sprawled halfway inside lifted his head.
“Who is it?”
“I’d like to request something.”
Jung Han-sung walked toward him and answered.
The interior of the shop was just as cluttered and disorganized as the exterior.
The man looked Jung Han-sung over with an expression of utter indifference and asked.
“A commission?”
“Yeah, a commission. You’re Herman, right?”
At my question, the man narrowed his eyes and straightened his posture.
One eye had a cybernetic lens implanted in it, and one arm resembled a mechanical prosthetic.
“That’s correct.”
On the surface, he handled repairs for various miscellaneous items, but in reality, he was an expert in information decryption and unauthorized area access.
“What do you need repaired?”
“It’s not repair—I’m looking to commission an analysis.”
“Hmm, that kind of commission is quite expensive, you know?”
I silently opened my inventory as if reaching into my pocket at Herman’s probing tone, then withdrew a credit chip and several gems, placing them on the counter.
“Is this sufficient?”
“…This isn’t just sufficient—it’s excessive.”
“That includes confidentiality.”
“Confidentiality, huh? Well, let me see the item first.”
At Herman’s words, I retrieved an information chip and handed it over.
Herman accepted it with practiced movements, then opened one of his arms and inserted the chip into the slot.
A few seconds later, incomprehensible code began flooding across a monitor positioned on one side of the counter where he sat.
“Wait…”
Herman’s eyes changed as he observed it.
Initially, his expression had been one of indifference, but upon seeing the display, he retrieved several more pieces of equipment and connected additional monitors, then began working with serious concentration.
And shortly after.
“This isn’t… just an ordinary information chip.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s encrypted in multiple layers. At this level, it’s military-grade. Where on earth did you get something like this…?”
“Can you analyze it?”
I cut off his words and asked again directly.
Herman scratched his unkempt beard and let out a sigh before responding.
“It’s possible. Though it’ll take some time.”
“How much?”
“Minimum four hours. Maximum twelve hours.”
That fell within my expected range.
Considering the value of the information contained within, it would have been stranger if it were left accessible to just anyone.
In fact, Herman’s skill seemed better than anticipated—it would take less time than I’d estimated.
“Alright then. I’m counting on you. How should I contact you?”
“I’ll contact you via terminal.”
At those words, I recited the terminal number I’d memorized beforehand.
“You memorize phone numbers?”
Herman wore a puzzled expression as he input it into his device, then gestured and spoke.
“I’ll need to focus, so come when I call.”
“Got it.”
Jung Han-sung slipped out of the shop without hesitation. Once he’d put some distance between himself and the store, he spoke to Akasha.
“Keep watch around the shop from the shadows. See if anyone suspicious shows up.”
“Yes, understood.”
Akasha moved toward the shadows near the shop the moment the order left my lips.
Jung Han-sung watched her go for a moment, then began walking slowly.
The information chip likely held the biggest clue, but I had no intention of simply waiting around for results.
Even without new leads, this world was worth examining in detail.
There were far too many intriguing aspects to it.
―So where are you planning to start exploring?
Before I’d taken more than a few steps, Onyx’s voice reached me.
Jung Han-sung answered simply.
“Starting with this area.”
The current location was crowded with various shops, and there was plenty here to capture one’s interest.
‘Every kind of shop imaginable.’
The first thing that caught my eye was the street vendors.
Unlike the formal shops lining the Streets, there were numerous shabby stalls run by unregistered sellers hawking their wares.
Everything from prosthetic repair parts to illegally modified chips, and even unidentifiable bio-materials.
It was utter chaos incarnate.
“Hey, friend! Check this out! Sensory enhancement patches!”
“We’ve got tons of modified weapons! Take a look!”
As I passed their stalls, the vendors called out loudly to solicit customers.
But Jung Han-sung merely glanced at most of them and continued walking.
Curiosity aside, nothing immediately useful caught my eye.
Then, after walking for a while, a particular stall suddenly seized my attention.
The display was scattered with broken or mangled items, which explained why it had no customers.
―It’s all garbage.
Jung Han-sung’s mind agreed with Onyx’s assessment. Yet my instincts pointed toward that stall.
Not ordinary instinct—the instinct of the Shadowless Divine Thief.
Through several missions, I’d come to understand that this instinct had remarkably broad applications.
This case was no exception.
What is theft, fundamentally?
The relocation of something valuable from one place to another. Usually from someone else’s possession or building to one’s own.
The crucial element here is ‘something valuable.’
‘In other words, it includes the eye for recognizing value in objects.’
The instinct I felt now was precisely that discerning eye activating on a primal level.
Jung Han-sung slowed his pace, then walked toward the stall and stopped.
“Hello there.”
Sitting inside the stall was a Young Boy who looked to be in his mid-teens at most.
The Young Boy spoke hesitantly, gauging my reaction.
“Well, there are a lot of broken things, but there are plenty of usable ones too. You can at least salvage parts from most of them.”
At first glance, it appeared he had scraped together discarded items that looked like they might fetch a price, spread them out on a makeshift stall, and was selling them.
“Hmm.”
Jung Han-sung surveyed the stall thoroughly.
First, roughly ninety percent of the items weren’t worth examining in detail—pure garbage.
As the Young Boy had said, if I disassembled them, I might salvage a component or two worth using, but the labor costs would likely exceed any profit.
As for the remaining ten percent, not all of it was useful either.
Most were simply not garbage, yet not worth paying money for either.
It was only natural, given that the Young Boy hadn’t acquired these items with any particularly discerning eye.
If something were truly useful, why would anyone throw it away? They would have found some way to repurpose it.
So was everything worthless?
Not quite.
“May I examine this one?”
There was exactly one item that caught my eye.
“Oh, yes! Of course!”
Jung Han-sung sought the Young Boy’s permission before carefully picking it up.
It was a rectangular metal cube. From its appearance alone, it looked like nothing more than a child’s toy.
But the moment I held it in my hands, I could tell immediately.
This was the treasure that the Shadowless Divine Thief’s instinct had been pointing toward.
‘Why?’
Jung Han-sung examined it carefully, eyes narrowed. Yet even to my eyes, nothing particularly special stood out.
After a moment of contemplation, I cautiously infused mana into it.
And then, at that instant.
Shhhhh—.
The mana flowing from my fingertips burrowed into the cube’s interior.
‘What is this?’
Jung Han-sung’s eyes widened in surprise.
Beneath its deceptively simple exterior lay an extraordinarily complex internal structure.
This was no toy whatsoever. Rather, it contained the most intricate technology I had ever encountered in this world.
“It doesn’t have any special functions, but it’s incredibly durable! That’s why it’s so fun to play with!”
At the Young Boy’s words, Jung Han-sung kept his gaze fixed on the cube as he spoke.
“How much?”
“Eh? Ah, 10… just 10 credits, please.”
10 credits. Even by the standards of ordinary people here, it was pocket change.
Jung Han-sung heard this and pulled a credit chip from his pocket, flicking it toward the Young Boy.
The Young Boy reflexively caught it, then checked the amount and his eyes widened.
It was a full 1,000 credits.
He was about to voice the amount aloud when he hastily glanced around nervously and spoke in a hushed voice.
“Sir, your change—”
“Keep it.”
Jung Han-sung waved his hand and walked away, the cube in hand.
―Where is that thing used?
“I’m not sure.”
―You don’t know?
“No description came up, and I don’t have much knowledge about devices like this.”
Subscribing to the channel would probably reveal another way to find out, but there was no urgent need to investigate right now.
Besides, tracing the cube’s structure by channeling mana through it was quite entertaining.
I moved forward while roughly tracing the cube’s structure through mana.
―But wouldn’t it be better to subscribe to an ability to decrypt that information chip?
“That would certainly be much safer.”
―Then why did you entrust it to someone else?
“In the end, I only have one body. It’s more efficient to delegate what I can to others and use that time to do something else. Besides, tickets aren’t an unlimited resource either.”
As for trust—well, that’s a rabbit hole with no bottom if you start thinking about it.
Analyzing the chip would require equipment, and a suitable location as well.
If I obsessed over security and safety for every single step, it would truly be endless.
“It’s far more efficient to just entrust it to a suitable person and have Akasha oversee it.”
Onyx was about to ask what would happen if that man transmitted the information to someone else, but he stopped himself.
It was obvious I would answer that I’d simply eliminate them all and obtain the blueprint myself in the end.
After that, I wandered through the surrounding streets gathering various information.
Obtaining information about Atlas Frame itself wasn’t easy.
But gathering information about the organizations and companies entangled with it was relatively simple.
They were all formidable players, after all.
Thanks to that, by the time about ten hours had passed, I’d learned quite a lot.
―The decryption is complete.
And around that time, I received a message from Herman.
As soon as I got the call, I headed to his shop.
“This information is dangerously filthy.”
Herman greeted me while grumbling.
“First, look at this.”
He then displayed a large map on one of the screens.
There, alongside the words “Erosion Spiral,” was a sentence indicating the whereabouts of Atlas Frame.
“What is this?”
“Exactly what you see. An object. And a location. Surely you understand what that means?”
Unwilling to speak those words aloud, Herman pointed at “Erosion Spiral” with his finger as he spoke.
“Here. In this high-grade danger zone, you’ll find what you’re looking for.”

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