I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 144
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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 144.
I headed straight toward a building on the outskirts of the Village.
It was the General Workshop—a structure erected once the necessary conditions had been fulfilled.
“Hello!”
Ervan was there.
He’d been organizing supplies when he noticed my approach, straightening up and offering a respectful bow.
I returned the greeting and asked him a question.
“You arrived earlier than scheduled?”
“The preparations finished sooner than expected! Since organizing everything takes time anyway, I figured I might as well come early.”
Behind Ervan, the General Workshop stood packed with stacked cargo.
Being an alchemist, his equipment and instruments were extraordinary in quantity. The materials seemed equally abundant.
I shifted my gaze back to Ervan and posed another question.
“Isn’t the workshop cramped?”
“Oh, not at all! It’s far more spacious than the one I used in the Neutral Zone. Plenty of room!”
He was right about that.
Compared to the previous space, this was at least 1.5 times larger. Ervan’s belongings were simply abnormally abundant.
I paused briefly before speaking.
“Then let’s postpone any expansion for now. I’ll have a storage building constructed next to this one for material storage.”
“Oh! Thank you so much!”
Ervan accepted this proposal without hesitation.
In reality, constructing even a simple storage building would take considerable time, but here in the Territory, basic structures materialized instantly once resources were invested.
I gave Baek-seol, who stood beside me listening, another instruction before turning back to Ervan.
“There are materials in the communal storage as well—feel free to check them out. Just inform Baek-seol here if you need anything withdrawn.”
“Yes! Thank you!”
I began wrapping up the conversation.
There was nothing I needed to request from Ervan at the moment.
But then, Ervan retrieved something from his inventory and handed it to me.
“This is nothing special, but I prepared it in advance!”
It was a glass bottle filled with crimson liquid. Reading the description that materialized before my eyes, I asked.
“A Healing Potion?”
“Yes. Since it’s my best-selling potion, I made quite a lot. I’m no longer running a business, so I wanted to donate them to the Territory!”
The Healing Potions weren’t crafted from particularly rare materials, so their grade wasn’t exceptionally high. However, the description indicated their craftsmanship quality was outstanding.
With such a generous quantity, this would serve as a reliable reserve for the Territory’s storage.
“Excellent. We’ll put them to good use.”
“Yes!”
Ervan nodded with a smile. After concluding our exchange,
I turned to speak with Baek-seol.
“Once we have more people, implementing a contribution system might be worthwhile.”
“A contribution system?”
“Right. When someone contributes to the Territory, we award points accordingly, and they can use those points to receive rewards or other benefits.”
That thought had occurred to me the moment I received the potion from Ervan.
Ervan aside, I’d planned to provide various forms of support to Cho Cheon-woong and Maria, who had joined earlier.
But beyond the basic support provided, I continued to wonder if there might be some additional system in place.
‘Contribute to the Territory, and receive something in return for that contribution. That way, a virtuous cycle would form.’
Wasn’t that far better than simply asking for things or handing them out indiscriminately?
“I’ll work out the details!”
“Sure. I’m counting on you.”
I smiled as I answered, then stood before my home and spoke.
“I have some errands to run outside, so I’ll be going out for a bit.”
Under normal circumstances, after resting sufficiently, I would have headed straight to The Tower to make progress, but now I needed to handle matters outside first.
There were things I needed to verify.
“Yes! Have a safe trip!”
“See you later.”
I exchanged brief farewells with Baek-seol and entered the house, returning to Earth.
Earth.
Upon returning to my home, I first swept my gaze across the surroundings.
“Hmm.”
For now, there didn’t appear to be any significant changes from when I’d last left. I sensed no presence of anyone else either.
Normally, one’s home is the place where one can feel most at ease.
But for me, it was an exception.
I’d already been attacked at home once before.
The Association had said there would be no repeat incidents, but it was difficult to let my guard down based solely on that assurance.
‘It’s hard to blame the Association entirely.’
How could they possibly know the abilities of every Awakener across the globe and prepare countermeasures accordingly?
So recently, whenever I needed sufficient sleep, I simply slept at my home in the Territory.
I only came to Earth for meals, bathing, or brief rest.
This return was solely to handle a few matters.
After confirming the safety of my home’s interior, I picked up my phone first.
“Messages… there are quite a few.”
My phone was filled with messages.
Most of them were from Baek Jin-woo.
I began reading through them in chronological order.
The messages fell into two main categories.
First was information about the attacker I’d personally captured previously.
I’d already heard the basic details about the attacker when I went to interrogate him directly last time.
Though my basic questions had been answered then, Baek Jin-woo had compiled additional information that had since come to light and sent it to me.
“It seems there are quite a few places targeting me.”
According to the attacker, there would be no one targeting me for a while, but similar incidents would likely repeat as time passed.
Because I stood out far too much.
Of course, the most important thing was recruitment, but currently I had completely severed contact with other nations.
That’s why several nations are growing anxious and seeking to eliminate or abduct me.
‘This sounds similar to what I heard before.’
I wasn’t particularly surprised seeing such information again.
The story I’d heard during my direct interrogation had been much the same.
At that time, I’d already reached a conclusion about it internally.
Ultimately, the answer was simple: I just needed to become stronger.
‘After all, most Awakeners have limits to the power they can exert outside The Tower anyway.’
The same applied to the one who’d attacked me previously.
The ability to infiltrate this place so covertly was certainly impressive, but that was all.
Their physical capabilities were no different from an ordinary person’s, and they couldn’t employ their abilities offensively.
Yet such an Awakener is treated as a Ranker on Earth.
‘In other words, at this point in time, only someone of Ranker caliber or higher would find it feasible to target me.’
It was an obvious conclusion, but Rankers weren’t exactly abundant.
This attacker was simply an abnormal case.
Ordinarily, the money earned from climbing The Tower alone would suffice, and even without Tower climbing, reaching Ranker status opens numerous avenues for wealth.
There’s no need to resort to dangerous activities like assassination or kidnapping.
Even if a Ranker were to attack me, I was confident I could subdue them without difficulty.
Regardless of other factors, my swordsmanship is potent enough to be effective even without mana.
Of course, a surprise attack while sleeping could still be dangerous.
I could handle even that by utilizing artifacts effectively, but I’ve simply been managing it by sleeping inside The Tower instead.
“For now, I don’t need to worry about attacks for a while.”
Ultimately, living by moving back and forth through The Tower as I do now seemed to pose no significant problems.
After all, I rarely venture outside directly anyway.
I then reviewed the contents of the next message.
Actually, this was what I was more curious about.
The monsters that had appeared around The Tower.
“Hmm.”
With time having passed, the message contained quite detailed information.
The numbers and types of monsters, their subjugation, and so forth.
‘It wasn’t immediately at a critical danger level.’
Most of the monsters were relatively weak, and even those could apparently be handled by the military.
However, there was one noteworthy point.
‘Firearms don’t work well against them.’
For example, goblins are the lowest-tier monsters, creatures so weak that arrows pierce their bodies easily.
Yet according to the message, such goblins continued charging even while being shot at.
Though they eventually fell after continuous gunfire, considering that goblins in The Tower don’t have particularly high durability, this was peculiar.
‘Firearms aren’t completely ineffective, but is their power reduced by half?’
It seemed research was still ongoing, as detailed information hadn’t been released.
The exact reason why monsters are appearing remains similarly unclear.
Apparently, the relevant nations haven’t made an official announcement about this yet.
I’ve received information through several channels, but nothing’s confirmed yet.
However, it’s certain that it’s connected to something that happened inside The Tower.
“I’ll need to check on this again later.”
The Korean Awaker Association isn’t incompetent, so they’ll bring proper information once time passes.
I set my phone aside and turned on the television.
The news channel I’d watched last came up.
―…Meanwhile, the region is experiencing severe chaos due to monsters appearing outside The Tower for the first time in history, and the surrounding area has been placed under lockdown. More details are still pending….
By coincidence, the news was covering the very story I’d been interested in.
I leaned back on the sofa and watched the broadcast.
It was natural enough, but the coverage was far more sparse than the message I’d received from Baek Jin-woo.
The information circulating among civilians was probably limited to that much.
Revealing all the details would cause even greater panic.
‘Though things must already be quite chaotic as it is.’
I hadn’t checked the Community separately, but I could imagine it without looking.
Until now, monsters were creatures encountered only within The Tower.
Beings that only Awakeners—specifically climbers ascending The Tower—would ever face.
But such a monster had burst out from beyond The Tower. And it had even engaged in combat with the military.
Though it happened in a distant country, from people’s perspective, monsters had suddenly manifested in reality.
‘Though this time it was a distant land and the monster was summoned right near The Tower….’
What if monsters appeared from Korea’s Tower next?
Or what if a rift opened not near The Tower at all, but in some completely unexpected location, and monsters poured out from there?
The damage would be catastrophic.
The chaos would multiply several times over.
Society’s very structure might undergo another upheaval.
Just like when The Tower first appeared.
And such speculation couldn’t be dismissed as mere excessive worry.
According to what I’d heard from a resident of another dimension, monsters exist outside The Tower in their world as well.
―Next, we have domestic political news….
I turned off the television at the sound of the anchor’s voice and set the remote aside.
When my mind was cluttered, moving my body was always the best remedy.
So I didn’t linger at home any longer and immediately returned to The Tower.
Whoosh!
My vision shifted, and the Unique Space unfolded before my eyes.
I glanced around briefly, then opened my inventory. I dumped the items I’d stored inside onto the ground and spoke.
“Onyx. Come out.”
It was time to power up Onyx.
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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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