Chapter 14

Chapter 14

“What the hell is this? The more I watch, the less I understand... this guy.”

Inside a brightly lit office.

A man stared at his monitor with an extremely serious expression.

Displayed on the screen was none other than an internet livestream.

It was the stream of Haejin, a rookie Hunter who had begun broadcasting for the first time today.

Tap tap tap-!

The man carefully typed into the chat.

[Yeombani – Streamer. I know it isn’t fake, but what kind of skill is this?]

[Yeombani – I can tell it’s defensive, but you’re not using any equipment like a shield. I’ve seriously never seen anything like this, so I’m curious]

An answer came back shortly afterward.

-Ah, Yeombani. You want to know what Skill it is? Come on, if I tell you everything, how am I supposed to make a living? Secret. It’s a secret. Wahaha!

He had suspected as much, but of course it wouldn’t be that easy.

Apparently casually fishing for information wasn’t enough.

The brow of the man using the nickname ‘Yeombani’ gradually furrowed.

‘There’s absolutely no way this is staged. It’s definitely 100% on location.’

He was in his mid-thirties.

It might not suit his image, but watching internet streams was both Yeombani’s biggest hobby and an extension of his work.

Honestly, there was hardly a better way to kill time.

And Yeombani himself had an enormous interest in Hunters.

That only made this mysterious Hunter drive him even crazier with curiosity.

‘What exactly is his ability? It looks like some kind of invincibility Skill. Absolute Defense? Is he a Paladin-type class?’

He wracked his brain, drawing on everything he knew.

‘No. If he were a Paladin, I should see divine power. And was there even a defensive Skill like that? It doesn’t feel like he’s blocking monsters so much as completely preventing them from approaching. Then spatial manipulation?’

No answer came to mind.

He was using an unprecedented defensive Skill, and there was even a dog beside him that looked like a summoned beast.

His raw combat power didn’t appear especially impressive, but taken individually, each of his Skills seemed top-tier.

And there was something else that surprised Yeombani even more.

‘He’s been maintaining a defensive Skill like that continuously, yet he doesn’t even look tired. The stream’s already been running for over two hours, and he’s still that relaxed. Does he have infinite mana?!’

An immediate comparison made it seem even stranger.

Take ‘Radiance,’ currently ranked fourth among Korean Hunters.

His class was Paladin, a warrior-type class that used divine power obtained through a contract with a god.

Radiance’s unique Skill, ‘Divine Shield,’ summoned a shield of light formed from divine power that could block every attack from the front.

But even it had clear limitations.

It consumed such an enormous amount of divine power that its maximum duration was only around twenty minutes.

And worse, it didn’t provide protection from every direction. It could only block attacks from wherever the shield was facing.

Yet that single Skill had earned Radiance recognition strong enough to place him fourth in the rankings.

Which made this even more.

‘This is impossible.’

Yeombani couldn’t help focusing closely on Haejin on the screen.

‘That defensive Skill alone is at least B-rank. No, probably A-rank. Somehow... I want to find out.’

After agonizing over it for a while, Yeombani finally made a move.

For now, he would test the waters.

-Ding!

[‘Yeombani’ donated 100,000 won!]

[Yeombani – Streamer, streamer. This is seriously driving me crazy. Could you at least tell me your class?]

Money truly was king, apparently.

The moment the donation came in, Haejin’s ears perked up.

-Oh my, Yeombani! A generous 100,000-won donation! Kyaa, thank you! Hmm, but my class name?

[Yeombani – Yeah. Can you reveal it?]

His heart pounded.

Just as he muttered, Please tell me.

-Unfortunately, not a chance. Why is everyone so curious about my class anyway? Are you guys with the National Intelligence Service or something?

Snap-!

At this point, there was no turning back.

He immediately picked up his phone and confidently pressed his fingerprint against the payment screen.

-Ding!

[‘Yeombani’ donated 1,000,000 won!]

[Yeombani – Does this make it a little more possible? I’m seriously curious. I mean it.]

Ten times the 100,000 won from earlier.

An enormous donation bomb of one million won dropped into the stream.

-W-what is this? One million? Is my class really worth knowing that badly? Spending this much money, wow...

Surely even he couldn’t simply ignore that amount.

Haejin’s eyes visibly twitched.

After thinking for a moment, he looked at the camera and spoke.

-At this point, I’m curious too. Yeombani, why do you want to know my class this badly? Is it really worth donating a million won?!

Hmmm.

Yeombani began thinking seriously.

This was the turning point.

How he answered here mattered enormously.

What words could he choose to get the answer he wanted without applying too much pressure?

After thinking stubbornly for a while, Yeombani carefully typed.

[Yeombani – I’m a Hunter fanboy.]

-A Hunter nerd? Seriously?!

[Yeombani – I swear on everything I own. Real fact, true.]

At least he wasn’t lying.

Fortunately, his shot landed to some degree.

-Tch. Well, I did get 1.1 million from you. It’d feel a little wrong to just swallow it and give nothing.

After a moment of thought, Haejin spoke.

-I don’t really want to reveal the class name, but I’ll give you a hint. My class has something to do with land.

“Land? Something related to land?”

He had finally managed to get the answer he had been waiting for.

But it was still difficult to guess.

Keeping his eyes fixed on Haejin’s stream, he clicked his tongue.

Then he picked up the phone on his desk, pressed extension three, and said.

“Chief Choi, I have an assignment. Pull the list of everyone who obtained a Hunter license within the past six months and ranked B or above. No... A-rank or above. Bring me all of them.”

He ordered the research in a serious voice.

A female employee answered over the phone.

-Yes, Director.

“And one more thing. I’m sending you a link now. Find out who this person is. As quickly as possible.”

-A link? Director, this is... an internet livestream?

“Yes, it’s a livestream. I need information on that Hunter.”

-All right. But may I ask what the information will be used for?

Chief Choi sounded somewhat confused by the mention of a livestream.

Yeombani answered without hesitation.

“I have a feeling.”

-You mean recruitment?

“Yes. I think he may be an unpolished gem worth reaching out to. Please handle it carefully.”

-If you feel that strongly about him... understood. I’ll start immediately.

Beep- Beep- Beep-

The call ended.

Yeombani focused on Haejin on the monitor and muttered softly.

“I can feel it. That man is definitely... a rough diamond nobody else has discovered.”

Then shouldn’t he be the one to dig him up?

On Yeombani’s desk stood a nameplate displaying his name and rank.

[National Intelligence Service Special Hunter Management Team Director – Yeom Myoil]

Yeombani.

No, Yeom Myoil closed his eyes for a moment and thought.

A remark Haejin had tossed out casually earlier.

-Why is everyone so curious about my class anyway? Are you guys with the National Intelligence Service or something?

‘He didn’t figure it out, did he?’

He looked young, but Yeom Myoil couldn’t afford to let his guard down.

His eyes narrowed.

* * *

“Hmm, looks like nothing else is coming. Well, I did kill this many.”

Around six hours had passed since the stream began.

A small hill made of monster corpses had formed in front of Haejin.

Most were Ratras, but there were also plenty of other monsters like Garbage Dogs and Smoking Plants.

A rough count put the total at more than forty.

“I’ve eaten all the meat I prepared, and I’ve had enough fun. Shall we call it a day?”

[KimPlay – byebyebyebye]

[O00N – Bye streamer~~]

[Yeombani – Streaming tomorrow too?]

“My schedule’s still irregular, but unless something special happens, I’ll probably turn it on. I have some stuff to do tomorrow, so I might start a little late. Anyway, thanks for watching, everyone. Bye!”

Click-!

With that final line, he ended the stream.

Haejin checked today’s results with satisfaction.

Peak viewers: 298. Donations and mission rewards: more than two million won!

“Kyaaaaa!”

Seeing the numbers made him cry out automatically.

He had started streaming merely hoping to earn a little side income, yet this was his haul on the very first day.

It was so sweet his teeth felt ready to rot and give him diabetes.

His audience would only grow from now on, which meant donations would naturally increase as well.

“And the main income is pretty sweet too, isn’t it? Hehehe!”

“Woof woof!”

He and Pasu began moving the monster corpses they had killed.

Pasu helped by dragging them with his mouth, so the work finished faster than expected.

Using ‘Go Home,’ Haejin connected the camper van entrance to the pension, then loaded the corpses onto the truck waiting there.

Spatial travel made even this kind of manual labor incredibly convenient.

“Time to settle up!”

Vroooom--

Driving a truck packed full of monster corpses toward the exchange.

With his hands on the wheel, Haejin suddenly thought.

‘Come to think of it... there were a lot of questions and donations asking about me. I guess my ability really is unusual.’

Just look at ‘Yeombani,’ who had become the biggest spender in his stream.

The man had spent a whopping 1.1 million won just to ask about his class.

The same thing would clearly happen in future broadcasts, so it seemed wise to decide how he would handle it.

‘Hmm... Either hide it or reveal everything. One of the two.’

Haejin thought deeply.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long to reach a conclusion.

“Yeah, hiding it is still more beneficial.”

Of course, he couldn’t keep everything wrapped up forever.

Whether he became more famous, made more money, or his stream became a bigger hit.

Eventually, the day would come when he had to reveal his identity.

But until then, hiding it clearly offered far greater benefits.

The biggest reason was, naturally, safety.

‘Safety first. For now, minimizing variables is the right move. Yeah.’

Coward. Wimp. Self-preservation freak.

Haejin wouldn’t blink no matter what anyone called him.

Because it was true.

You only got one life. If possible, it was better to live long, even if quietly.

After arriving at the exchange, he sold every monster he had hunted that day.

Ratras were higher-tier monsters worth more than Garbage Dogs.

Which meant the profit was also.

“Thank you for waiting, Hunter Lee Haejin. Here is your settlement statement.”

“Let’s see... Eek!”

Haejin’s eyes widened when he saw the amount printed on the statement.

“Th-this is correct?!”