I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 137

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#Chapter 137.
Jung Han-sung, who had been gazing out the window with no intention of eavesdropping on the call, suddenly whipped his head around at those words.
Baek Jin-woo’s expression was unmistakably one of shock.
His eyes had widened to their absolute limit, and his mouth hung open in astonishment.
“Monsters appeared? What do you mean, actual monsters? The ones from The Tower?”
He fired off questions in rapid succession, too flustered to even lower his voice.
Since I was now focused in that direction, I could hear the voice coming through the phone as well.
―That’s right. There were roughly a hundred monsters, mostly weak ones like goblins, but the chaos has been absolutely massive.
Of course the chaos would be enormous.
Encountering a hundred monsters from The Tower was hardly surprising for any Awakener who had climbed to a reasonable height.
But outside The Tower?
That was a different story entirely.
Monsters had never escaped from The Tower before in all of recorded history.
“But how did that even…”
It seemed the Association, or at least Baek Jin-woo, was equally shocked by this development.
In any case, Baek Jin-woo apparently remembered the driver and I were in the car with him, so he lowered his voice slightly as he spoke.
“Yes, understood. I’ll attend the meeting as soon as I return.”
It appeared he intended to discuss the details during the meeting itself.
The moment Baek Jin-woo hung up, I asked him directly.
“Did monsters really appear in Africa?”
“Yes. At least, that appears to be the case.”
Baek Jin-woo spoke with a grave expression.
“It seems posts about it have already been uploaded to the internet.”
“Is that so?”
Upon hearing that answer, I immediately pulled out my phone. And as soon as I searched, I found the relevant footage.
It was plastered across a video site.
A brilliant blue light bloomed around a towering structure, and goblins came pouring out from within it.
The video was quite short, but its impact was staggering.
Screams from people near The Tower, a frantically shaking camera, temporary structures collapsing.
The comments were full of claims that it was a composite or AI-generated footage, but I could tell.
‘This is real.’
The goblins’ appearance and even the rifts—it was far too detailed to be artificially synthesized.
After watching it one more time, I spoke to Baek Jin-woo.
“Would it be possible to receive related information after the meeting concludes?”
“Yes. I’ll compile and send it to you.”
Baek Jin-woo nodded gravely.
After that, little conversation passed between us, and upon returning home, I collected the items Baek Jin-woo had transferred to me and immediately returned to The Tower.
* * *
Upon returning to The Tower.
I headed straight to my Territory and summoned Baek-seol and Maria, then spoke to them.
“Monsters have appeared on Earth—specifically near the African Tower.”
At this sudden revelation, Baek-seol and Maria exchanged startled glances before responding.
“On Earth?”
“Monsters appeared in Africa?”
“Yes. To be precise, a rift opened near the African Tower, and goblins came pouring out of it.”
Jung Han-sung paused and looked toward Baek-seol.
While Maria wore an expression of pure shock, Baek-seol’s face suggested she knew something more.
“Faster than expected.”
As expected, Baek-seol spoke with a peculiar tone.
Jung Han-sung turned to her with a question.
“You know something about this, don’t you?”
“Yes… Originally, I couldn’t discuss this topic, but it seems the restriction has been lifted now.”
Jung Han-sung nodded in understanding.
He had already witnessed many instances where Baek-seol and others were bound by constraints, unable to speak freely about certain matters.
Now that one such restriction appeared to have been lifted, Baek-seol continued without hesitation.
“It’s likely a penalty was imposed because the Tower in that African region hasn’t been cleared sufficiently.”
“A penalty?”
“Yes. The mildest form of penalty. At most, only weak monsters like goblins would appear sporadically around the Tower.”
Jung Han-sung’s brow furrowed at her words.
Why had such a penalty manifested for the first time specifically in Africa?
At that moment, Maria spoke up.
“Africa has very few climbers.”
“Really? Don’t they have quite a few Awakeners there?”
Africa was vast with a considerable population. Surely there were enough Awakeners to match.
But Maria pointed out the fact Jung Han-sung had overlooked.
“There are many Awakeners, but few powerful ones. Most of them emigrate to other countries.”
“Ah, that’s true.”
Powerful Awakeners were coveted talent in most nations.
Even Jung Han-sung himself was being actively recruited by multiple organizations.
Korea was fortunate enough to be a reasonably comfortable place to live, so few chose to emigrate unless offered exceptionally attractive terms.
But Africa was different. Conditions that seemed unsatisfactory by Korean standards often represented excellent opportunities there.
Consequently, Africa suffered from severe brain drain of Awakener talent.
“That likely contributed to the penalty as well. It’s not merely insufficient Tower clearance—it’s insufficient clearance despite having adequate Awakener forces available.”
After hearing Baek-seol’s explanation, Jung Han-sung pondered for a moment before asking another question.
“But why have I never heard of this before?”
“The first penalty typically comes without any warning. Likely, warning messages will be displayed in advance from now on.”
“I see.”
“Yes. And the penalty doesn’t end with just one occurrence.”
Baek-seol explained that while initially only weak goblins would emerge, eventually orcs, trolls, and even more dangerous monsters could appear.
Moreover, the affected area would continue to expand over time.
“Is there any way to know the exact criteria beforehand?”
“That’s difficult. Multiple complex factors are at play—population, resources, the number of Awakeners, technological level, and so on.”
“Certainly complicated.”
Jung Han-sung nodded and closed his eyes for a moment.
‘The repercussions will be enormous.’
Monsters had only emerged in Africa so far, but from what Baek-seol had said, other regions couldn’t be considered entirely safe either.
Beyond that, there was one more thing troubling me.
“But even if goblins can be dealt with using firearms, anything beyond that would be dangerous, wouldn’t it? Awakeners can’t exert their full power outside The Tower.”
Goblins were weak. By my standards, orcs and trolls weren’t particularly dangerous either.
But outside The Tower, things were different.
On Earth, I could only exert about ten percent of my power compared to The Tower.
Other Awakeners would be even weaker.
Baek-seol’s answer to that was straightforward.
“The mana concentration will probably increase gradually.”
“The mana concentration?”
“Yes. By now, the mana concentration around The Tower should be rising rapidly. If the mana concentration is too low, the monsters won’t be able to maintain their bodies properly either.”
“The chaos will only grow worse.”
Maria added her thoughts from beside me after hearing the explanation.
I nodded in agreement.
It seemed I would need to keep a close eye on Earth’s situation for some time to come.
But the task I needed to accomplish remained unchanged.
“I’ll need to climb The Tower faster.”
It was the same conclusion I’d reached before returning to The Tower. The greater the chaos, the more valuable raw power becomes.
In times like these, I needed to secure more power while climbing The Tower.
This time, both Baek-seol and Maria agreed with my assessment.
“There’s no harm in securing more power first.”
“That’s right. It would be best if not just you, Master, but Maria and Cho Cheon-woong also climbed The Tower as much as possible. Usually, major chaos occurs after the first penalty is imposed in any world.”
“What about managing the Territory?”
“It should be fine. The newly hired personnel are doing better work than expected. We’ve also dispatched people to the Territory where Cho Cheon-woong is currently located.”
As expected, Baek-seol’s work management was reliable.
“Good. Then I’ll tell Cho Cheon-woong to focus on climbing The Tower for now.”
Jung Han-sung took out his terminal to relay the message right away.
He’d brought it along but had barely used it due to lack of time, though he’d learned the basic operations while here.
All he needed to do was call Cho Cheon-woong’s auxiliary terminal.
―Brother?
Cho Cheon-woong’s voice came through not long after.
I briefly explained the situation to Cho Cheon-woong and then instructed him to focus on conquering The Tower for the time being.
Initially flustered, Cho Cheon-woong acknowledged the final instruction and spoke with determined resolve that he would do his best.
“Good. Don’t overexert yourself.”
―Yes!
After ending the call, I set down the phone and turned back to Baek-seol and Maria.
“I’ll focus on climbing The Tower for a while too. Besides, I’ve already wrapped up all the urgent matters.”
Recently, with so much to handle, my Tower progression had stalled, but now I’d finally cleared most of the critical tasks.
While external affairs weighed on my mind, I couldn’t justify remaining outside indefinitely.
Since monsters hadn’t emerged in Korea yet, I decided to concentrate solely on ascending The Tower for now.
“Understood.”
“I’ll manage the Territory well!”
I nodded at their words and spoke.
“If you need any help, just let me know immediately.”
“Yes.”
“Yes!”
After concluding our conversation, I headed straight home.
There was something I needed to bring with me.
The moment I opened the door and stepped inside, something massive approached from within.
It was Thunder Wolf.
“You’ve been waiting patiently, I see?”
At my words, Thunder Wolf nodded and lowered his body slightly.
I placed my hand on Thunder Wolf’s head and asked him.
“I’m going to climb The Tower now. What about you? Will you come with me?”
Without hesitation, Thunder Wolf nodded eagerly.
I’d already planned to bring him along anyway. Since he’d just joined, I wanted to assess his capabilities firsthand.
And honestly, leaving him alone made me somewhat uneasy.
Even though he recognized me as his master, to everyone else, Thunder Wolf would be nothing more than a meaningless beast.
“Good. Then we need to go together. Will you follow me automatically when I enter?”
―You probably will.
It was Onyx who answered my murmur.
―You’re bonded, so as long as you clearly intend to move together when entering the next floor, it should work.
“Is that so? Then let’s head in right away.”
Following that advice, I focused intently on entering The Tower with Thunder Wolf.
Immediately after, the familiar vertigo struck, and my surroundings began to shift.
As the dizziness faded, a vast Grassland came into view, and I confirmed that Thunder Wolf still stood beside me.
“It worked.”
―Didn’t I tell you it would?
Onyx spoke with a tone of self-satisfaction.
Ever since Thunder Wolf joined, he seemed increasingly eager to prove his usefulness.
“You did.”
I chuckled softly in response and looked ahead.
For now, I’d set aside complicated thoughts and simply let loose.

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