I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 53

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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 53.
Baek Jin-woo held a position of considerable responsibility within the Awaker Association.
Rather than dealing with individual Awakeners one by one, he managed and directed them from a broader strategic perspective, orchestrating the internal flow of the Association itself.
Occasionally, when important Awakeners or promising prospects visited the Association, he would greet them personally—but that was the extent of it.
He had never traveled directly to an Awakener’s home to deliver news.
Save for one exception.
“Please, have a seat. We have coffee or tea—what would you prefer?”
“Ah, just water is fine. Caffeine doesn’t agree with me.”
Baek Jin-woo answered as he settled into the offered chair.
The homeowner, Jung Han-sung, acknowledged with a nod and returned with a cup of water, placing it on the table.
“So… what brings you here?”
Baek Jin-woo smiled as he responded to Jung Han-sung’s question.
“It concerns the Unclaimed Territory. I understand you’ve cleared Floor 40—I wanted to ask if you’ve entered the Unclaimed Territory itself.”
For an ordinary Awakener, the only way to learn how many floors they’ve conquered is to ask them directly.
But the man before me, Jung Han-sung, was different.
He held the top position on the conquest rankings with each floor he cleared, constantly displacing the previous record holder.
This allowed the Association to track Jung Han-sung’s progress in real time.
The moment they confirmed he’d cleared Floor 40, Baek Jin-woo came directly to his home.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Jung Han-sung nodded as expected.
Baek Jin-woo’s eyes gleamed as he continued.
“Since you’ve already ventured there, you’ll understand—the Unclaimed Territory operates quite differently from ascending the Tower in the conventional sense.”
Climbing the Tower is a formidable challenge.
Achieving first place on every floor while clearing it is exponentially more difficult.
An Awakener who accomplishes such feats is truly a phenomenon commanding the world’s attention.
Yet despite all this, he remains an individual, and individuals have limits.
“The Unclaimed Territory has no floor divisions. There is a system in place to protect latecomers to some degree, but those at Floor 40 level still find themselves competing against those at Floor 80 or 90—that hasn’t changed.”
“Yes, I’ve noticed that.”
“Indeed. Moreover, it’s customary for multiple Awakeners to form alliances. Even in Korea alone, there are those who’ve banded together as Guilds to ensure survival and prosperity in the Unclaimed Territory.”
People refer to the three most powerful Guilds collectively as the “Big Three Guilds.”
The strongest bond among Awakeners is the “team” that climbs the Tower together.
But Guild bonds are equally formidable, for they share common interests and goals.
“Among these, there are Guilds with connections to the Association.”
Baek Jin-woo spoke with a smile. The Guild he mentioned was called the White Tiger.
Though he said it had connections to the Association, those in the know understood the truth.
The White Tiger was essentially a Guild created by the Association itself.
Jung Han-sung opened his mouth as he listened to Baek Jin-woo’s words.
“Are you trying to scout me for that Guild?”
It was a natural inference for Jung Han-sung to make. The conversation’s direction made it obvious.
But Baek Jin-woo shook his head.
“No.”
I’d certainly considered such an offer, but based on the attitude he’d shown last time, I judged the probability of acceptance to be low.
So I brought a more practical proposal instead.
“What if you remained in the White Tiger’s territory until you’ve grown strong enough?”
“…You mean just stay there?”
“Yes. It’s awkward to say, but there are more than a few people targeting you right now. Not just in Korea, but overseas as well.”
To be precise, quite a lot of them.
The Unclaimed Territory was vast, but the most valuable resources were others’ territories.
By absorbing territory, one could expand their own domain and produce far more resources.
The reason nations provided such generous support to Awakeners was largely due to the Unclaimed Territory and its territories.
The value of resources from territories in the Unclaimed Territory far exceeded what one could gain from simply clearing floor after floor of the Tower.
‘This person is an exception, though.’
Well, someone like Jung Han-sung who ascended several floors a day was quite exceptional.
Most Awakeners, even the diligent ones, only challenged the Tower about once a week.
It wasn’t that they were lazy.
Simply, clearing the Tower was dangerous enough to risk one’s life, and it consumed enormous amounts of mental and physical stamina.
But no matter how exceptional Jung Han-sung was, he would eventually hit a limit.
Once he reached the 80th or 90th floor, it would become difficult to breakthrough multiple floors daily as he did now.
Meanwhile, territories in the Unclaimed Territory could continuously yield resources at regular intervals if properly managed.
The larger and more developed a territory became, the greater the resources it could produce.
That’s why I made this proposal.
“Why not grow stronger in our Guild’s territory until you can easily repel such threats, and then establish your own separate territory? Wouldn’t that be more convenient?”
If a powerful Awakener like Jung Han-sung grew safely and secured a proper territory, it would certainly benefit not just the Association but Korea as a whole.
“You wouldn’t need to join the Guild or do anything else. It’s purely support from the Association’s perspective.”
“I see.”
Baek Jin-woo thought the probability of Jung Han-sung accepting the proposal was high.
It was an offer with no downside for him.
“Hmm. But I think I’ll be fine.”
“…Is there perhaps something bothering you?”
So when the rejection came, Baek Jin-woo asked carefully.
Jung Han-sung shook his head in response.
“No. For now, there doesn’t seem to be any need to rely on elsewhere.”
His tone carried confidence.
“There will be dangers, certainly, but I think I can overcome them alone.”
Baek Jin-woo started to say something but closed his mouth.
If his counterpart had been merely exceptional, Jin-woo would have interpreted it as arrogance or conceit.
But Jung Han-sung was an existence that transcended such categories.
‘He’s already shattered my expectations several times.’
When Jung Han-sung first came to him, Baek Jin-woo hadn’t expected him to breakthrough to the 40th floor with such unstoppable momentum, even with the groundbreaking proposal he’d offered.
He’d thought he’d struggle around the 20s at most.
But he did not.
I had thought his pace would slow once he reached the 30s floors.
Yet Jung Han-sung ascended through the 30s without obstruction, and now he had reached Floor 40.
‘And on Floor 41, he shattered the record once more with an overwhelming margin.’
What was even more terrifying was that he still showed no signs of hitting his limits.
Because of this, Baek Jin-woo abandoned the proposal he had already been rejected on and instead pulled out Plan C.
“Understood. Then please just review this.”
Jung Han-sung examined the documents that Baek Jin-woo withdrew from his pocket and placed on the table. His expression grew puzzled as he looked at him.
“A new support package? Are you renewing the contract?”
“No. This is support provided by the Association separately from the contract.”
The proposal written there contained far greater funding and support items than when they had previously signed the contract.
It was only natural that Jung Han-sung found this bewildering.
Rather than evade the question, Baek Jin-woo answered honestly.
“The United States, China, Japan, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.”
He listed off the countries one by one.
“This is the list of nations currently showing interest in Awakener Jung Han-sung.”
To be precise, it was far beyond mere interest.
They had already sent countless scouts and continued to do so even now, all attempting to recruit Jung Han-sung.
While the Association blocked them at the national level based on the contract they had signed with him, Baek Jin-woo did not believe this would hold indefinitely.
The contract they had signed?
Honestly, even that could not be trusted completely.
According to reliable sources, they had prepared astronomical sums as signing bonuses.
And that was not all.
The items they possessed were on an equally staggering level.
‘I’ve heard that China alone is prepared to offer an Epic-grade item as a signing bonus. The United States has apparently prepared a Unique-grade set item.’
Because of this, Baek Jin-woo had strongly recommended to his superiors that Korea increase the scale of its support as well.
Having established his position somewhat by signing the contract with Jung Han-sung early on, his recommendation carried some weight, and he was able to bring additional funding.
In particular, he focused more on items than money. He believed that was where Jung Han-sung’s true interest lay.
“We plan to provide the funding along with a Unique-grade item as listed.”
“A Unique-grade item… Is it possible to know which item it is?”
As expected, Jung Han-sung showed greater interest in the item.
Baek Jin-woo smiled at this.
He had not been able to prepare multiple items. Unfortunately, Korea’s inventory of items fell short of what the United States and China possessed.
Instead, he had done his best within those constraints.
“You may choose from among these.”
Baek Jin-woo withdrew his phone and displayed the screen.
It was a list of Unique-grade items that the Association currently held in its possession.
“From these?”
“Yes. Whichever you prefer—anything is fine.”
“Oh…”
Jung Han-sung showed interest.
Baek Jin-woo felt relieved at that.
The best outcome would be for Jung Han-sung to remain an Awakener in Korea, but if that wasn’t possible, his goal was to keep him here as long as possible.
If he judged there was still more to extract from Korea, he would stay longer.
* * *
The next day.
Jung Han-sung, who had stopped by the Territory, wore an exceptionally pleased expression.
“Wow. I never expected them to hand over a Unique-grade item just like that.”
“For an Awakener of your caliber, the nation has no choice but to pay attention!”
Baek-seol spoke cheerfully from beside him.
At that, Jung Han-sung chuckled and examined the item in his hand.
It was a small disc-shaped object, and the moment I infused mana into it, it responded immediately.
Whoosh—!
A blue circular barrier formed around the disc.
That’s right. This was a shield.
I brought it to my left arm.
Click—.
The shield locked firmly onto my arm.
“Excellent.”
I hadn’t originally been particularly interested in shields, but after reading the detailed description, I chose this one immediately.
It wouldn’t significantly interfere with my existing combat style while providing sufficient defensive capability.
“As long as mana doesn’t run out, it can be maintained continuously. Even if it gets damaged, it repairs itself automatically once you infuse it with mana again.”
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
Baek-seol enthusiastically agreed from beside me.
I smiled contentedly at that.
Free items always feel more precious. Besides, I didn’t have many Unique-grade items.
Just this one alone would easily be worth hundreds of millions. The Association really gave me something substantial.
I examined it for a while longer before asking Baek-seol.
“How much time is left until the merchant and administrator visit?”
“About 2 hours still!”
“2 hours, huh….”
I pondered briefly before speaking.
“I should be able to clear a floor or two and be back. I’ll head out for a bit.”
Though I spoke of Tower conquest as casually as taking a stroll, Baek-seol, now somewhat accustomed to this, responded without surprise.
“Yes! Please be careful!”
“Got it.”
I secured the disc firmly on my arm and retrieved two bone fragments from my inventory.
“Entering Floor 42.”
As I said that, my vision shifted along with the familiar vertigo.
Simultaneously, a message appeared before my eyes.
[Objective: Eliminate Psycho Jack]
[Time Limit: 120 hours]
The objective itself held nothing particularly remarkable.
But the time limit was different—120 hours, a full five days granted as my constraint.
Yet that wasn’t the only thing that caught me off guard.
“Where am I…?”
Jung Han-sung narrowed his brow, surveying his surroundings.
He stood in a damp alleyway, yet ahead of him stretched an entirely different landscape.
Brilliant neon signs. Automobiles soaring through the sky. And pedestrians moving with an oddly ominous atmosphere.
‘Cyberpunk?’
Jung Han-sung felt confusion wash over him.

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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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