Chapter 5

▶ Chapter 5. World Rank No. 1 (1)

The Line Islands of the Republic of Kiribati were located in the earliest time zone in the entire world.

Every week, the Hunter Rankings changed based on noon on Monday there.

Korea was five hours behind the Line Islands, so the rankings were revealed at 7 a.m. every Monday.

In other words, that's when I'll become Rank 1 in both South Korea and the entire world.

The chaos would probably be beyond anything I could imagine.

Even though I had blatantly chosen the nickname ‘NotAHunter,’ people would stop at nothing to uncover my identity.

But if I just stay quiet like this, no one will ever figure it out.

That had originally been my plan.

However, after getting a small taste of what it was like to possess eighty million won over the past few days, I realized something.

Money is great! I want to be rich! I want to live in luxury!

I was a monster born from modern capitalism.

I wanted to escape this cramped, run-down studio apartment that was practically a paradise for mold.

I want to move into a bigger, cleaner studio apartment with lots of sunlight!

Unfortunately, even if I included the money I had earned from selling those boxes, I still didn't have enough to buy a place like that.

But if I keep clearing Gates and selling the boxes I get from them, I could move into a much better apartment.

Which meant...

Should I become an active Hunter?!

That thought slowly began creeping into my mind.

Of course, I had absolutely no intention of revealing my face.

Not even by the tiniest bit.

If I did, I'd end up being summoned everywhere nonstop and working myself to death just like in my previous life.

What if I secretly work as a Hunter without revealing my identity?

Then I could sell as many boxes anonymously as I wanted.

I can become rich!!!

I could practically see visions of Lady Shin Saimdang flying around in front of me.

It was heavenly...!

That's right! I'll hide my face, work as a Hunter, sell boxes, and become rich!

I'd only make enough money to buy a few buildings.

And then—

I'll retire!

In my previous life, I had spent my entire life suffering before finally retiring, but I never got to enjoy the so-called peaceful retirement I'd dreamed of.

I kept getting sick, and in the end, I fell into a trap and died.

So this time, I would definitely enjoy it.

A quiet yet luxurious retirement in a huge house filled with sunlight and equipped with a bathtub, where I could leisurely watch Netflix on an enormous TV while ordering several different kinds of fried chicken.

Somehow... that sounds a little... just a little modest.

Anyway.

“Yeah! That's what I'll do!”

Before I knew it, I had clenched both fists and jumped to my feet.

“...But how am I supposed to work in secret?”

The Transformation skill had its limits.

Just as I started thinking about how to solve that problem—

+ Chapter 2. World Rank No. 1

[Notification: The system wishes to resolve the concerns of the world's Rank 1 Hunter.]

As though the system had heard me talking to myself, those words suddenly appeared before my eyes.

[If you permanently eliminate one Gate (Grade 9, Sealed), you will be provided with an item suitable for hiding your true strength.

According to the system's calculations, Hunter ‘NotAHunter’ can successfully complete this mission within 10 minutes without suffering any injuries.

Would you like to accept this mission?

Yes / No]

An item for hiding my true strength? An item for pretending to be weak...?

The phrasing was a little ridiculous, but I was incredibly happy to see it.

The system is going to give me something like that?

Twenty years had passed since the beginning of the Gate Era, and quite a lot was already known about the system.

It didn't lie, and it was a useful tool that provided Hunters with various kinds of assistance to prevent the destruction of the world.

However, I had never heard of the system offering a mission first simply because it wanted to help a Hunter.

Ah. Helping me isn't the only purpose.

In exchange, it would be able to permanently eliminate a sealed Gate.

In other words, it would make this world safer.

Without hesitating, I pressed ‘Yes.’

[Special Mission: Eliminate the Olympic Park Gate (Grade 9, Sealed) in Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Time Limit: Within 24 hours

Reward: An item suitable for hiding your true strength, and others.]

“And others?”

There was no response.

I thoroughly finished off the chicken leg in my hand before getting up.

I put my phone and wallet into my Inventory, used Transformation to alter my appearance and voice, then left the apartment.

I stopped by a restroom in the subway station and changed into the clothes, shoes, hat, and gloves I had brought inside my Inventory.

Then, while using the Stealth skill, I headed toward Olympic Park Station.

A sealed Gate, huh.

No matter what kind of Gate it was, if its mission wasn't completed within the designated period, it would burst.

That phenomenon was called a Break.

When a Break happened, the monsters inside the Gate poured out into the world where ordinary people lived.

And not only the regular monsters, but even the boss monsters emerged stronger than before.

Naturally, the resulting damage became far more severe.

That's why everyone works so hard to prevent Breaks.

The higher the numerical Grade of a Gate, the harder it was to clear.

Grades 1 through 3 are low-grade Gates, so they're relatively easy.

Grades 4 through 6 were mid-grade Gates.

They became more difficult as the number increased, but skilled Hunters could still handle them.

However, starting from Grade 7, Gates were classified as high-grade, and their difficulty increased exponentially.

I heard there was even a country that collapsed in the past because they couldn't stop a Grade 7 Break.

Fortunately, no high-grade Gate had undergone a Break for the past fifteen years.

That was thanks to the appearance of Raimund Wiegmann, an SSS-rank Hunter from Germany who possessed a skill capable of ‘sealing’ all sorts of things.

That Hunter could even seal Gates.

Was it two years ago when the Grade 9 Gate appeared in Olympic Park?

South Korea had plenty of excellent Hunters, starting with the three SS-rank brothers.

But a Grade 9 Gate was unbelievably dangerous.

Its mission was impossible to complete.

So rather than sending Hunters inside, the Korean government summoned Raimund Wiegmann and had him seal the Grade 9 Gate that had appeared inside Olympic Park.

I heard they paid him an insane amount of money.

But no matter how much it cost, a Gate in that location absolutely had to be sealed.

If it had broken, the surrounding area—no, the entirety of Seoul—would've been devastated.

Fortunately, everything had remained peaceful until now.

In front of Han-eol Plaza in Olympic Park.

At the center of an area surrounded by bright yellow barriers warning people not to approach—

A snow-white cube floated in the air.

The cube was fairly large, and the sight of it slowly but continuously rotating in one direction was quite fascinating.

Even though it was late at night, several people walking through Olympic Park were taking pictures of the cube.

It's become something of an Olympic Park landmark.

But soon, it would disappear.

Because I was going to complete the mission.

≪Barrier≫

Once dawn arrived and there was no one around, I formed a huge, powerful black barrier around the entire restricted area.

That way, no one would be able to see what happened inside.

≪Annihilation≫

After stepping inside the barrier, I immediately erased the cube-shaped seal.

There was no other way to open a sealed Gate.

[Notification: The Olympic Park Gate (Grade 9, Sealed) will soon undergo a Break.

If the Break occurs, all monsters residing inside will enter this world in an enhanced state.]

There was also only one way to permanently eliminate a sealed Gate.

A Break.

Kill every monster that came out.

For other Hunters, it was something they couldn't accomplish even if they came back from the dead.

An impossible task.

But I could do it.

And I could do it very easily.

[Time Remaining: 10 seconds, 9 seconds, 8 seconds...]

I checked my wristwatch.

3:35 a.m.

[Time Remaining: 3 seconds, 2 seconds, 1 second.]

The system had predicted that I would finish everything within ten minutes.

No.

There was no way it would take me that long.

[90 regular monsters and 1 boss monster from the Grade 9 Break Gate are entering this world.]

Where the sealed cube had disappeared, pitch-black smoke so ominous that an ordinary person might have fainted simply from seeing it began to emerge.

It looked like the entrance to hell itself.

The darkness split open to both sides and began pouring out enormous, vicious monsters.

Every one of them radiated a horrifying murderous aura, as though they intended to tear apart every human being they saw.

Even the strongest SS-rank Hunter in Korea probably wouldn't have been able to stand properly in front of them.

But naturally, I remained completely calm.

I merely gave them a cold smile and activated my skill without the slightest hesitation.

≪Destruction≫

This time, I used the skill with far greater power and over a much wider area than before.

“...!”

Five enormous monsters that had emerged together vanished before they could even let out a scream.

[You have defeated 5 monsters and obtained 1,200 EXP.

Monster materials and Mana Stones have appeared.]

The other monsters finally realized how powerful I was.

≪Destruction≫

I killed another five.

And then I continued doing exactly the same thing.

Again.

And again.

Exactly three minutes and thirty seconds later—

All ninety regular monsters had completely vanished without leaving behind a single trace other than monster materials and Mana Stones.

Only one remained.

“KRAAAAAAAH!”

A gigantic boss monster, easily ten meters tall, roared at me while releasing a murderous aura.

It sounded as though it was screaming that it would devour me immediately.

So noisy.

When I frowned, the boss monster seemed to mistake it for fear and its eyes gleamed even more fiercely.

≪Destruction≫

“Kwek.”

Those were the boss monster's final words.