Chapter 62

“Oh, so this is that Devil’s Editing, huh?”

The video ended like that. It didn’t show whose victory it was, but since it ended with Cho-i Hyeon’s roar, everyone would assume it was her victory. Cho-i Hyeon chuckled, once again realizing the terror of editing. After all, wasn’t that Devil’s Editing on her side now?

“…It’s better made than I thought.” “It seems ready to be released as is.” “Yes, I’ll pass that along.”

Taehyeok Sa sent a text to his secretary and then turned off his smartphone screen. Cho-i took off her coat to put on the clothes the secretary had brought. The clothes were all burnt and stuck together, and Cho-i…

“…Oh dear.” “…”

She quickly stripped off all her clothes, changed into a dress, and put on a coat. The two men both turned their heads, one to the right and one to the left. Awkwardness was etched on their faces, but Cho-i Hyeon calmly smoothed down her skirt.

“Well, I’m leaving?”

“Yes, the video will be uploaded immediately in the evening.”

“Got it.”

Then Cho-i looked at Dongju. Because Dongju Kim had said he would drive her home. Dongju Kim picked Cho-i Hyeon up under his arm. Because she didn’t have shoes.

“Then I’ll be going.”

“I’m leaving.”

“…Go.”

Taehyeok Sa saw the funny sight and saw the two off without even laughing. The elevator dinged, arrived, and the two soon went down. Taehyeok Sa rubbed his temples, feeling somehow tired even though he hadn’t fought today. And Cho-i was carried home by Dongju Kim’s escort, which was not an escort. He was so meticulous that he took her right to her doorstep because she didn’t have shoes. When she entered the house, Nara Shim wasn’t there. It seemed she hadn’t yet made it out of the dungeon. For the first time in a long while, she went into her room alone and lay down.

“System window.”

[Cho-i Hyeon (S-grade)] Strength 290506 Intelligence 201054 Stamina 302010 Agility 211674…] [Skills] [Pushback (C-rank)] [Shout (S-grade)] [Sanity Paralysis (EX)] [Pain Sensation (SS Rank)] [Inspect (S-grade)]

“My skill ranks have risen a lot too.”

Cho-i said, listing her skills in the system window. Pushback was still C-rank because she hadn’t used it, but Shout and Inspect seemed to have risen with her rank.

“Skills are really tricky.”

A hunter’s rank is always determined by their stats. No matter how good the skill, it cannot be used without a body to support it. Cho-i lay face down on the bed and touched the system window that spun with her. Of course, nothing touched her fingertips. The blue window visible in the air.

“Where did this come from, anyway?”

Perhaps some famous national agency is diligently researching the system window. That means this isn’t something she should be worrying about. Cho-i selected Pain Sensation. Ding-

[Your stats temporarily increase by the amount of pain you feel. Pain Sensation becomes doubly sensitive while using the skill.]

“It really is a strange skill…”

Sanity Paralysis was indeed a skill related to what was inside her belly.

“But this is peculiar.”

Is this skill related to what’s inside her belly? Or is it a completely unrelated skill? Cho-i had no way of knowing right now.

“What’s certain is that it’s a skill created by surpassing the limits of pain.”

Does a mantis ever surpass the limits of pain? Cho-i, who usually loathed insects and bugs, didn’t have any related knowledge in her head. She thought about getting up and looking up information about mantises online but didn’t feel like it, so she just flopped back onto the bed and turned off the system window. And so, she slowly fell back asleep due to the accumulated fatigue. Something faintly appeared right before she fell asleep, but she closed her eyes without being able to confirm it.

[□□□□□’s □ has □□ □!]

***

[She’s here!!!!!!!!1]
[Did you see the fight between Hyeon-chae Oh and Byeong-gu Han? My heart swells to witness an S-Rank battle. Wow, Hyeon-chae Oh is no joke, huh? And Byeong-gu Han isn’t just any Guild Master either.]
└ You’re just realizing that now?
└ But Hyeon-chae Oh doing that much was really unexpected.
└ 22222 I also thought Byeong-gu Han would win.
└ But who won? Hyeon-chae Oh?
└ Hyeon-chae Oh seems to have taken more hits.
└ If you look at the end, Byeong-gu Han seems to have lost. Even though the video is out now, there are no articles from Hyeon-chae Oh’s side, and it’s quiet, so he might have really lost.
└ Ah, damn it, hyung, I bought Hyeon-chae Oh’s stock!
└ Here comes another ant investor~
[Is Hyeon-chae Oh about to skyrocket?]
[She’s pretty and good at fighting.]
[Hey, is there any Ansta upload from Hyeon-chae Oh today?]
[Hey, now that you mention it, she had burns on her face.]
[Is her face not okay?]
└ What’s there to worry about when there’s an S-Rank healer?
└ Yeah.
└ Hyeon-chae Oh is more of a problem; they don’t even have an S-Rank healer, lol.
└ Paehyeok must have done something, surely.
└ If you had your pretty tank beaten up, would you look kindly on them?
└ Ah, hahaha, that’s right. Paehyeok’s Guild Leader has a crush on Hyeon-chae Oh, right? If he treated her, he’s just a magnanimous person.
[Hey, any Ansta uploads from Byeong-gu Han’s side?]
└ None.
└ Looks like he crawled away in shame.
└ How can he show his face after getting beaten by someone who just reached S-Rank?

The internet was abuzz with posts about the new video Paehyeok had uploaded. From YouTube comments to the hunter anonymous site Huntred, discussions about the video continued late into the night.

[But Hyeon-chae Oh is really tough.]
[She can withstand burning?]
└ And that skill she used at the end, she’s been using it since last time, what is it?
└ “In the name of love and justice” seemed like a crazy bitch.
└ Maybe she survived because she’s a crazy bitch.
└ Do you guys want to die? Don’t say anything bad about our Chae Oh.
[Becoming an S-Rank by fighting like Hyeon-chae Oh vs. living as is]
[Just as the title says.]
└ It’s an unbalanced question, isn’t it?
└ The latter, right?
└ Ugh; I can’t fight like that;
└ The latter.

But amidst these, there was one unusual post that stood out.

[Hey, did you see the breaking news?]
[An SS-Rank dungeon appeared in the USA [link]]
└ ?
└ SS-Rank?
└ That’s insane, is the USA doomed?
└ Paehyeok’s Guild Leader will step up.
└ But isn’t an SS-Rank too much even for Paehyeok’s Guild Leader alone?
└ There are many S-Ranks, so they’ll take them. Paehyeok’s stock will rise again this time.
└ Hey, but where exactly is it?
└ Didn’t you read the article?
└ Near Las Vegas, in a protected area.

***

Shire, the number one hunter guild in the USA, based in New York and operating throughout the country. It boasted a total of three S-Ranks, including its Guild Master, and was the second largest guild in the world. It was often said by connoisseurs that if not for Paehyeok, Shire would have held the top spot without ever relinquishing it.
And from Shire, a cry for help came to Korea. It was, of course, about the incident reported in the news: the emergence of an SS-Rank dungeon.

“What should we do, Guild Master?”

“Well, if they fall, it’ll be a nuisance for us too, so we should help. However.”

Taehyeok Sa said to his secretary with a smile befitting his sculpted face.

“It depends on how much ‘sincerity’ they show.”

To others, it might look like an angelic smile, but the secretary knew. It was the kind of smile that only appeared when showing how wicked a person could be.

“Connect me.”

“Yes.”

Ring-click. After a slightly long ringtone, the other party soon picked up the phone. Then, a man with a low baritone voice spoke first.

-“It’s been a while.”

Then Taehyeok Sa replied.

” ‘It’s been a while,’ my ass. You’re obviously scrambling like a desperate bastard right now, trying to act cool.”
-“….”

“Why, do you have something to say? If you do, say it.”
-“Your personality seems to have changed a lot in the meantime….”

“Yeah, something happened. Anyway, let’s get straight to the point. How much will you pay?”
-“What kind of crisis is the USA facing right now…”

“What are you talking about? That’s your burning issue, not mine, is it? I’m hanging up.”
-“600 billion.”

“Are you out of your mind? Do you know how many S-Ranks I have to take with me to offer such a paltry sum?”

Then, from the other side, there was a groan. The baritone man, Kevin Max. With a truly American-sounding name, he was the Guild Master of Shire.

“800 billion.”
-“I should be asking, are you out of your mind?”

“Including me, Dongju Kim, Yeonhan Kim, and the new S-Rank tank, if we all have to go, should I accept anything less?”
-“700, no more than that.”

“780.”
-“…750, really, no more than that.”

Then Taehyeok Sa chuckled lightly and said.

“Considering our relationship, I’ll let it go at that.”
-“Let it go, my ass…. You’ve already fleeced me dry.”

“Do you need Myeongok Shin too?”
-“No, we have an S-Rank healer on our side too. Where else are you trying to fleece us?”

“Haha, was I caught?”
-“Your healer is getting on in years; why don’t you stop working them so hard?”

“Unfortunately, hunters don’t have a retirement age. So, by when do we need to be there?”

There was a loud sigh from the other side.

– “It’s urgent. You need to come within two weeks. It’s a place that was suddenly upgraded, so it will erupt within four weeks.”

“That’s too urgent. More importantly, an upgrade? I haven’t heard anything about that.” – “There’s no credibility in the articles reporters churn out every day while eating hamburgers. It wasn’t that low-ranked to begin with. It’s an S+ Rank dungeon that we were paying special attention to, but just before we entered this time, its condition seemed unstable, and then its rank suddenly increased.”

“Its rank suddenly increased, huh. That doesn’t happen very often…”

Taehyeok Sa mulled over a memory. Not long ago, there was an incident in Korea where a dungeon’s rank suddenly increased. It was probably during the Paehyeok trial. Taehyeok Sa thought, ‘Is this really a coincidence?’ His intuition often had a strange way of being right, so the thought that briefly crossed his mind wouldn’t leave.

“First… I’ll send three S-Rank hunters to support. “- “Thank you. If Korea sends support, we should be able to manage.”

“You don’t need any A-Rank hunters?” – “Why?”

“There’s someone I’d like to send along this time.” – “If you send more, we wouldn’t refuse.”

“It’s almost like a field trip, so we won’t charge anything.” – “You’re stating the obvious.”

“But, we need to discuss what percentage of the dungeon items and byproducts we’ll split, right?” – “…”

The sound of Shire’s Guild Master being meticulously exploited by Taehyeok Sa seemed to reach the secretary’s ears.