I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 72

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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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#Episode 72.
TowerNet was Korea’s largest Awakeners community.
However, when expanding its scope globally, its scale couldn’t be considered particularly impressive.
Korea had a relatively high number of Awakeners per capita, but its absolute population wasn’t among the world’s highest.
Without looking far, China’s largest Awakeners community right next door boasted over 100 million members.
The American community swept up traffic from all English-speaking nations, showcasing a truly staggering scale.
As a result, TowerNet was merely a small Korean community that attracted no particular attention.
That is, until a few months ago.
―Did Anonymous break another record?
―Has the Nameless Swordsman resumed activity?
―Is it true he’s rewriting the rankings?
―The Nameless Swordsman is writing legend.
―Is Anonymous truly insane?
―We need to bring him to our country.
Now, posts with oddly awkward phrasing could be found without difficulty on the forums.
At first, they appeared very rarely, but their frequency gradually increased until now several appeared per page.
―What is this? Written by AI??
―Nah, foreigners posting with translation software. Look at this: ‘Posting on TowerNet with a Translator’
―Why are foreigners coming here?
―I wish my voice would disappear.
―The server crashes three times because of those bastards when it should only crash once.
Users who were initially bewildered soon realized that overseas users were flooding into the community.
Why would overseas users abandon their own communities and come all the way here to post?
The reason was abundantly clear.
It was interest in a single Awakener.
―Is this the country of Anonymous?
―I wish to know the recent activities of the Nameless Swordsman.
Anonymous. Nameless. And Anonymous.
All referred to the same person.
A mysterious Awakener who appeared like a comet months ago, completely rewriting the rankings of every floor of the Tower.
Everyone was curious about them, but the Association kept the identity so tightly sealed that it remained unknown.
Since even Korea couldn’t reveal information, there was no way overseas sources could find anything about them.
So they thought perhaps Korea’s community, being the same country, might have information, and came here blindly to post their questions.
Of course, Korean users were sick of such questions.
―We don’t know what that bastard does either! Get out of our house!!
Posts like this appeared several times a day, and they were usually followed by comments like these.
―That bastard??
―That asshole???
―Are you insane?
―Call him “that person.”
It wasn’t an unusual occurrence.
The interest surrounding “him”—whose name remained undisclosed—rivaled that of even the most celebrated entertainers and athletes, if not surpassed it entirely.
In any case, TowerNet, which was struggling under the weight of traffic flooding in from every corner of the globe, was celebrating the rankings that updated in rapid succession.
Then, a new post was updated.
―There’s no way he’ll break through fifty floors in one go, no matter what.
Soon, hundreds of comments flooded that post.
While there were considerable opposing comments, the ratio of those in agreement was still higher.
It was unavoidable.
There was always a slight time delay between when a rank updated in The Tower and when that news reached TowerNet.
[The objective of the 50th Floor has been completed.]
There was no way for them to know that I had already defeated the Floor Master of the 50th Floor and was now standing atop its corpse.
I gazed at the messages materializing before my eyes.
[You receive a Medium-Grade Superior Mana Stone as a reward.]
[You have completed the objective of the 1st Floor in record-breaking time.]
[You have overwhelmingly subjugated the Floor Master.]
[You have achieved a Clear Rank of ‘SSS’.]
[You obtain a ‘Rune Box’ as an additional reward.]
The messages didn’t differ particularly just because this floor had a Floor Master.
However, the rewards were certainly worthwhile.
In addition to a Superior Mana Stone roughly the size of my fist, an unfamiliar box appeared as an additional reward for the SSS clear rank.
“A Rune Box, huh… Ah, so that’s what it is.”
I felt the charred corpse beneath my feet slowly crumble to dust and disappear. I landed beside it and examined the Rune Box closely.
“A random box for magic-related items.”
The most famous and commonly obtained random boxes were the comprehensive ones divided into Bronze, Silver, and Gold tiers.
In contrast, random boxes like this Rune Box, which yielded specific types of items, were difficult to obtain and correspondingly valuable.
There were even rumors that they didn’t appear below the 60th Floor. Yet here one was, as an additional reward from the 50th Floor.
‘My luck is holding strong.’
I carefully stored it in my inventory for later inspection, then surveyed my surroundings.
After confirming there was nothing else to collect, I returned to Earth.
“Phew. First, a shower…”
The moment I returned, I headed straight to the bathroom and turned on the cold water.
As the water touched my skin, my body—heated from exertion—cooled rapidly.
‘I got a bit too carried away.’
I’d originally planned to ascend just one or two floors lightly, but the missions that appeared were exactly my type, so I cleared five floors straight through.
Well, I couldn’t complain about my mood.
If anything, testing the new techniques I’d acquired and the martial arts taught to me by Heavenly Demon made for quite an exhilarating battle.
The slight fatigue I’m experiencing now is simply from consuming a large amount of qi—or rather, mana—in a short period.
After showering, instead of immediately lying down on the bed, I picked up my phone.
I sent a message to one of my contacts, and a reply came back in less than a minute.
―Hello. You’re accepting the proposal?
It was a reply from Maria.
I had sent her a message asking if she was available to talk now, and this was her response.
Jung Han-sung chuckled softly and sent a reply.
―Let’s meet at the Neutral Zone and talk.
―Understood. Should I go right now?
―No. In five hours. At Sun Plaza.
―Got it.
The conversation ended there.
Jung Han-sung sat on the edge of the bed and pondered for a moment.
‘Should I eat and then rest… No.’
I had originally planned to go out and handle a meal, but after thinking it over, I simply lay back on the bed.
‘I’ll eat at the Neutral Zone.’
Preparing food felt like a hassle, and I was genuinely curious about the cuisine sold at the Neutral Zone.
The Community had plenty of posts saying the food there was surprisingly good.
‘Oh, the Community.’
On a whim, I decided to check it out for the first time in a while and logged into TowerNet.
“Huh?”
But the connection wouldn’t go through.
“Did the server crash?”
No matter how many times I refreshed, the result was the same—it seemed to be down.
Since it wasn’t particularly important, I simply put my phone down and closed my eyes.
* * *
A little before the appointed time.
Jung Han-sung had entered The Tower—specifically, the Neutral Zone.
―You’re becoming more of a monster as time goes on, Master.
At Onyx’s sudden remark, Jung Han-sung crossed his arms and replied.
“Out of nowhere?”
―I’m talking about the battle before I left. Back then, everything seemed bothersome, so I didn’t bother mentioning it.
“Ah, that. Now that I think about it after waking up, I think it’s a side effect of the divine technique.”
―A side effect?
“Yeah. When I operate the divine technique, brain energy spreads through my body and my mind becomes sharper along with it, but once it ends, there’s a rebound effect that makes everything dull.”
To be precise, it felt similar to entering a forced rest mode the moment I stopped operating it—a protective mechanism for the mind that had been in an excessively heightened state of awakening.
“It’s not a serious side effect, though. The longer I use it, the stronger the backlash. If I use it briefly, there’s almost no impact.”
―I see.
While conversing with Onyx, I noticed someone and turned my head in that direction.
Maria was there, glancing around as if searching for someone.
It was obvious who she was looking for.
I approached her and spoke.
“Maria.”
At the sound of her name, Maria turned her head and, upon seeing me, her eyes filled with caution.
Jung Han-sung spoke before Maria could open her mouth.
“It’s me.”
At those words, Maria’s expression shifted rapidly—from wariness to confusion, bewilderment, and finally to shock.
“Jung Han-sung…?”
“That’s right.”
“What’s with this appearance?”
“A disguise. There are too many people here. Let’s go somewhere else. Do you know a restaurant in the Neutral Zone?”
“Ah, yes. There’s one place quiet enough for a peaceful meal.”
“Let’s go there.”
Maria nodded and glanced at Jung Han-sung once before taking the lead and walking ahead.
I followed her out of the Plaza.
Occasionally, I felt gazes turning in our direction.
Probably people looking at Maria. She was quite a famous figure, after all.
But since no one approached to strike up a conversation, we moved without any inconvenience.
Following Maria like that, we soon arrived at a quiet, upscale street.
“It’s a place people visit for quiet meals or coffee. There aren’t many people around here.”
“Seems pretty expensive, doesn’t it? And they serve coffee too?”
“It’s quite pricey, even by Neutral Zone standards, and even more so compared to the outside. And of course they serve coffee, along with things like strawberry shakes and such.”
“Very modern.”
“Well, climbers tend to have plenty of money.”
It was obvious, but climbers generally earned high incomes.
They risked their lives ascending The Tower because there was money in it.
And if they’d made it to the Neutral Zone, they’d already proven at least a minimum level of talent.
Still, considering how few people were on the entire street, this place was where the higher earners among them came.
“Here it is.”
“A taco place?”
“Yes. It’s a renowned restaurant.”
The restaurant Maria guided me to was unexpectedly a Mexican establishment serving foods like tacos.
It was somewhat different from what I’d imagined, but the interior design was quite luxurious.
“Welcome.”
After being shown in, I entered a private room with Maria.
“I’ll have everything from here to here.”
Maria ordered the entire menu without even glancing at it.
Seeing me stare at her, Maria spoke as if making an excuse.
“Awakeners typically have high caloric requirements, you know.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Right. So does that mean you’re accepting my proposal?”
It felt like she was trying to change the subject, but I let it slide.
“What kind of contract did you prepare?”
“The highest grade contract. And I’ve included almost every condition worth considering.”
Maria said so while reaching her hand into the empty air. A faintly luminous piece of paper materialized in her palm.
“Please review it.”
Jung Han-sung accepted it and examined the contents.
Indeed, the contract was as thorough as Maria had assured him it would be.
Maria would surrender her Core and submit herself under Jung Han-sung’s command.
Should she ever leave in the future, she could not leak any information regarding Jung Han-sung to the outside world.
Beyond that, one could say everything Jung Han-sung might consider was written there.
“The contract is not bad.”
“Given the sensitive nature of the matter, I couldn’t seek outside counsel, but I wrote it as carefully as possible.”
Maria continued in a composed voice after speaking thus.
“Of course, I’m aware this may be insufficient. Someone of your caliber could easily select trustworthy and capable individuals to recruit.”
“Hmm.”
That wasn’t quite accurate.
The only candidate I’d actually considered was Cho Cheon-woong.
But I simply nodded without elaborating further. Then Maria spoke again.
“That’s why I prepared this.”
In Maria’s hand gleamed a talisman that shone with golden light.

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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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