I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 74

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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 74.
Jung Han-sung furrowed his brow as he examined the objective.
‘The Atlas Frame?’
This time, the goal seemed far more nebulous than before.
Obtaining a clue, they said.
‘This feels considerably more troublesome than the last mission.’
On the surface, acquiring a clue might appear simpler than eliminating a target.
But typically, mission difficulty escalates as one ascends through the floors.
Considering that this was a 51st Floor mission, the fact that it amounted to ‘merely’ obtaining a clue was deeply significant.
‘It must be information that’s difficult to access through ordinary means.’
Jung Han-sung stroked his chin and glanced to the side. Right next to him stood the Tavern where he had received the mission concerning Jack.
‘I should start there.’
The odds of obtaining crucial information directly from that place seemed slim, but there was no helping it.
Instead of rushing into the Tavern blindly, Jung Han-sung opened his subscription window and subscribed to a new channel.
[Detective Koveritze’s Keen Eye]
A channel he had bookmarked separately, thinking it might prove useful someday.
Its effect was simple: it granted exceptionally sharp observational abilities.
Small clues that would normally be overlooked became impossible to miss, and analyzing a person’s thoughts and emotions through their expressions and gestures became possible.
[Subscription duration: 30 minutes]
With a Bronze Ticket, the allotted time was exactly thirty minutes.
‘If I need it again, I’ll have to use a Silver Ticket next time.’
To avoid wasting subscription time, Jung Han-sung quickly exited the Alley and pushed open the Tavern door.
Creeeeak—
The sound of weathered hinges accompanied the familiar scene that greeted his eyes.
The atmosphere was similar to last time. Moderately crowded and bustling with noise.
Jung Han-sung quickly scanned the interior and strode purposefully toward the bar counter at the far end.
Behind the counter, Cali, who had been wiping glasses, broke into a welcoming smile upon seeing Jung Han-sung.
“Han. It’s been a while. Are you here to drink today?”
Jung Han-sung observed Cali, who naturally called out his name while asking the question.
In that brief moment, I perceived much from her expression.
‘She’s happy to see me. Joy and curiosity. And anticipation mixed with greed. That about covers it.’
He had paid her quite generously for information last time, and had returned after swiftly completing a rather difficult mission.
No wonder she wore that gleam in her eyes.
Jung Han-sung replied in a measured tone.
“No, I’m here on business.”
“Are you thinking of taking a new commission? I do have a few worthwhile ones available.”
“Not a commission. I’m curious about something.”
Jung Han-sung retrieved an appropriately sized gold fragment from his inventory and placed it on the counter.
He had Credits as well, but he was saving those. There might be other uses for them later.
Cali swiftly covered the gold fragment with a cloth and pocketed it, then grinned and asked her question.
“What did you want to ask me?”
“Do you know anything about the Atlas Frame?”
“The Atlas Frame?”
As Cali repeated the question, Jung Han-sung studied her face intently.
“Hmm? I’ve never heard of it. Want me to ask around?”
Unfortunately, the result was a complete blank.
Her eyes, her body language, her breathing—everything was perfectly clean. Cali knew absolutely nothing about the Atlas Frame.
Well, I hadn’t expected to learn anything easily anyway.
“Right. If you find any useful information, I’ll reward you for it.”
“Sure. How should I contact you?”
Contact.
That word made Jung Han-sung pause. There wasn’t really any means of communication in this place.
But he quickly came up with an answer.
“Write your contact information on paper. I’ll reach out to you later.”
“Huh, you’re quite the romantic, aren’t you?”
Cali answered with a smile playing at her lips.
This time too, my keen eye easily interpreted her meaning.
‘She finds it amusing and entertaining, but also thinks it’s a rather transparent ploy.’
…Wait, is she really thinking of this as a way to get her number?
“It was quite an original method.”
Seems like it. Well, her tone was definitely tinged with playfulness.
In any case, Cali pulled out paper from somewhere and quickly scribbled something, then handed it to Jung Han-sung.
“Here you go.”
I thought she’d give me a phone number, but it was a mix of numbers and letters.
I was curious what it meant, but Jung Han-sung simply nodded.
“I’ll be in touch then.”
“Won’t you have a drink before you go?”
“I’m busy right now.”
Jung Han-sung tucked the paper into his pocket and stood up.
Cali waved her hand as she spoke.
“Sure. I’ll be waiting for your call.”
And so Jung Han-sung left the tavern and walked through the streets, thinking.
‘Maybe they use something other than a phone here.’
Now that I thought about it, that seemed likely. Their civilization appeared more advanced than Earth’s.
‘I should probably investigate that angle more. Surely they don’t expect me to get a chip implanted in my brain or anything like that?’
Pondering this, Jung Han-sung naturally wandered into a nearby alley.
And shortly after, two men followed him into that same alley.
But soon, confusion crossed their faces.
The alley wasn’t very long and was a dead end, yet the man who had entered first was nowhere to be seen.
Right then.
The two men felt something cold press against their necks.
“Who are you looking for?”
The voice came immediately after. Both men froze, unable to move carelessly, before finally managing to open their mouths.
“Well, there seems to be some misunderstanding here.”
“Following someone from the tavern and then tailing them into an alley—most people wouldn’t call that a misunderstanding, would they?”
At that cold voice, the man who had spoken first fell silent.
It was only natural, but standing behind the two men was Jung Han-sung.
Right after leaving the tavern, he’d noticed some thugs following him, so he deliberately lured them into the alley.
Jung Han-sung held his blade against both their necks and asked again.
“Atlas Frame. Do you know anything about it?”
Of course, I didn’t forget to observe their reactions.
“What’s that?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
They answered with a tone that seemed naturally ignorant.
But Jung Han-sung’s lips curled upward.
Because their body language and the tremor in their voices conveyed the opposite meaning from their words.
They were lying.
In other words, they knew something about the Atlas Frame.
“Only one of you.”
“What?”
“What did you say?”
“I’ll spare whichever one of you provides more useful information. If you speak first, you’ll get bonus points.”
Continuing to ask questions endlessly would be inefficient. So I created competition.
By wagering the most precious commodity of all—their own lives.
Of course, mere words alone wouldn’t be enough to motivate them.
Crunch.
Jung Han-sung applied pressure to the blade against their necks. The blade tip pierced their skin slightly, and crimson droplets of blood beaded up.
“I know! I know!”
Then one of them screamed convulsively.
The other man’s body trembled in response.
Jung Han-sung questioned him without easing the pressure on his blade.
“Know what?”
“Ah, the Atlas Frame. It’s been a recent rumor circulating only among people I know, but….”
The man began spilling out everything he knew.
Whoosh!
But then, the other man suddenly lunged forward.
Jung Han-sung had known from the start that he was holding a sharp blade in his hand.
I also knew that he was preparing to counterattack me.
Crack!
Therefore, Jung Han-sung, showing no panic whatsoever, drove his blade straight into the man’s vital point.
“Gack, cough….”
The Male Ranker, bent forward with the blade piercing through his body, trembled violently before collapsing forward.
Of course, throughout this process, the sword aimed at the other man’s throat didn’t waver even slightly.
It was only natural that the man felt even greater terror at this.
“Continue.”
When Jung Han-sung spoke in that cold voice, the Male Ranker spilled out everything he knew without the slightest hesitation.
* * *
After some time, I emerged from the Alley and naturally blended into the Streets, organizing the newly acquired information in my mind.
First, those two didn’t know much about something called the Atlas Frame.
Some company had recently had a new frame called ‘Atlas’ stolen. And multiple organizations were searching for it.
That was all those bastards knew.
‘Still, the other gains weren’t bad.’
Though information about the Atlas Frame was limited, I didn’t miss the opportunity and asked the Male Ranker everything I was curious about.
First, what exactly was a frame?
From what I heard, a frame seemed to be a kind of body-enhancing glove.
‘So it’s like those reinforced suits you see in futuristic worlds. Something like that, I guess.’
Here, frames had been commercialized for quite some time, so civilians used them frequently.
However, the Atlas that was stolen apparently wasn’t an ordinary frame like that, but a very special frame developed for military purposes.
And I obtained various other information unrelated to the Atlas Frame.
‘First, I should get a terminal.’
First, a terminal.
I had worried whether I’d need to have a chip implanted in my head just to make a call, but fortunately that wasn’t necessary.
This place had something like a mobile phone—a terminal device.
The string of numbers and letters that looked like a cipher that I received from Cali was the terminal’s unique identification number.
And I also learned where to go to buy a terminal.
Truly, he was a man who gave generously.
If I hadn’t tried to stab him from behind at the end, we could have parted beautifully.
―These bastards here must have eyes just for decoration.
As I was heading to the place that sold terminals, Onyx opened his mouth for the first time in a while.
“What eyes?”
―It’s obvious the skill gap is enormous, yet they charged in so stupidly? You don’t exactly go around hiding that kind of thing.
“Yeah, I was a bit puzzled when I faced them. Both of them were just street thug level.”
That’s why I could subdue them so easily.
Honestly, even without hiding and attacking, I could have completely subdued them in just a few seconds.
It was futile how I had been tense, wondering if they might have some hidden trick.
“Doesn’t seem like there are many guys like Jack that we faced last time around here.”
―If there were many guys like that, this would be a pretty strange world.
At Onyx’s words, I chuckled and nodded.
So I walked along, conversing with Onyx.
I didn’t worry about looking like a madman talking to himself. Because I wasn’t the only person doing that.
From what I heard earlier, those who had chips implanted in their heads could make calls and do other things without any separate device.
In any case, after walking for a while, I soon arrived at a street lined with shops.
Jung Han-sung spotted a pawnshop and immediately entered it.
“What brings you in?”
As I stepped inside, a middle-aged man greeted me with a gruff voice.
The interior looked exactly like what one would expect from a pawnshop. The inner and outer sections were strictly separated, and the middle-aged man watched from behind a small opening.
Jung Han-sung spoke to him through that opening.
“A terminal I can use right away. A gun. And a coat to wear on top—one with plenty of pockets.”
“Heh. Looks like you’re preparing for something interesting. First, the money.”
Jung Han-sung immediately pulled out a gold fragment from his inventory and placed it down.
The middle-aged man examined it, silently pocketed it, and then laid out the requested items.
Jung Han-sung draped the black jacket the middle-aged man gave him over his existing clothes, stuffed the gun into an inner pocket, and picked up the terminal.
“If you need anything else, come back anytime. I’ve got pretty much everything.”
“Got it.”
With a brief acknowledgment, Jung Han-sung opened the door and stepped out, turning on the terminal.
“Hmm.”
Though I was using it for the first time, it wasn’t particularly difficult to figure out.
Jung Han-sung quickly found something like a map and checked my location.
Onyx asked me then.
―Where are you headed?
Jung Han-sung slipped the terminal into my pocket and answered.
“Rustbone’s headquarters.”
It was the name of one of the organizations I had learned about earlier.

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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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