WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 42: 042

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Right after returning.

I habitually opened my status window.

[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 17)]

[39,160 Points]

I had 39,160 Points.

Since I originally had 24,470 Points...

"I earned 14,690 Points."

Amazing.

Just yesterday, I had been happy to earn over 10,000 Points in a single day.

Now I had earned several thousand more than that.

My Point income was increasing exponentially!

Of course it had to skyrocket.

On the previous Floors, my lack of mobility made it impossible to kill every enemy in the available time...

But now that the fairy had joined us, I had overwhelming mobility and could rip apart every last enemy.

I had scrubbed the entire Floor clean.

I grinned.

"Hehe. The salvation of the Republic of Korea isn't far off."

Who was I?

The Extreme Lunatic Hell National Power-level Wizard Hunter who would save the Republic of Korea in the future.

A martial artist who had reached the peak of mastery.

And a Longbow Apache.

Someone like me had to earn 10,000 Points every single day, even in the Middle Floors!

Hoo... I hoped all those Middle Floor mediocrities earning only a few hundred Points a day would look at me and learn.

Anyway, today's Tower climb was over.

It was time to follow my usual post-climb routine.

Click!

I took a picture of the loot in the living room and quickly wrote a post.

[Post Title: Newbie went to Floor 16 today...]

[Author: Blue Dot]

(A photo of ramen boxes filling nearly half the living room)

Newbie went to Floor 16 today...

Had to kill five Orc Shamans.

But killing only five would've been kind of boring.

So I just killed every Orc on Floor 16...

Think it took about an hour lol

Hunted differently than usual today, it was super comfortable and convenient...!

Anyway, today's earnings!

Five Orc Shaman Ring Sets.

Fifty-three pieces of Orc Warrior armor.

Seven hundred eighty-nine Orc axeheads.

And 14,690 Points...!

Total: 451.6 million won!!!!!!!!!

Just yesterday I was happy about making 300 million won...

Today I made a whole 450 million!

The gap between Elon Mengsk and me is closing day by day!

Oh, right.

I've been thinking about something lately.

Would it be better to save up and move into a luxury apartment?

Or should I buy a detached house?

A luxury apartment seems more convenient for living a fancy life.

But I've always dreamed of living in a detached house with a yard.

Can't decide...

Anyone here live in a detached house? What's it like?

└Your bullshit disorder is acting up again today.

└The best place for you isn't a house or an apartment. It's a ramen box. You seem to love ramen boxes so much, just live in one, you bastard.

└└Blue Dot: That's mean.

└Go with a detached house. Your whole concept is that you make tons of money anyway, right? Hire people and maintenance will be easy. There's a reason all the rich chaebol types in this country live in huge Hannam-dong mansions.

└No, a high-rise apartment with a view of the Han River is the best. Lots of bugs get into detached houses. Plus you'll be pissed when you have to sweep leaves in fall and shovel snow in winter.

└Lol, these bastards are cute. Look at them seriously thinking it over and answering a concept addict's question post. Are you guys tsunderes?

└Oh, you're right. Damn, have I gotten attached to him without realizing it? Why am I leaving a thoughtful comment for this stupid concept addict?

└└Blue Dot: I've gotten attached to you Hunter bros too... Let's stay close from now on!!!

└└Fuck off.

└You cleared Floor 16 in an hour? Killed over 800 Orcs? Bullshit lol. Other people take two weeks to clear that huge map, how are you clearing it in an hour? If you're going to play a character, at least research it properly, idiot.

└└Blue Dot: I'm an attack helicopter, so wiping out the Floor 16 Orcs in an hour is totally possible.

└└What kind of bullshit is that? Why are you suddenly an attack helicopter?

└└Blue Dot: Call me "Longbow Apache," and respect my right to needlessly kill monsters. If you can't accept me, you're helicopter-phobic. Think carefully about what you get to enjoy in life. Thank you for understanding.

└└Why is this bastard suddenly acting like this? Did he lose his mind? Then again, he was always mentally ill, wasn't he?

└└That's that attack helicopter meme... How many years old is that meme? Why are you using it now? Hahahaha.

└└What a stupid fucking meme.

└Hello! I'm also an Offensive Tankromantic Aerosexual Heligender, just like you! I feel aggressive affection toward tanks, and I'm aligning my identity with military helicopters! I'm so happy to meet someone like me!

└└Blue Dot: What the hell are you talking about, you lunatic? Get a grip.

└└???

...

After checking the comments, I could only let out a sorrowful sigh.

"There are all kinds of crazy bastards in this world...!"

It was heartbreaking.

Among the citizens of the Republic of Korea that I would save in the future, there was someone that insane!

Offensive Tankromantic Aerosexual Heligender...?

What the hell was that, you damn nerd?

Seeing the abyss left me a little frightened.

"How does it feel getting a taste of your own medicine, Jiho?"

"Iing iing, heehee."

Hyeji and the fairy teased me from beside me.

Tsk. I clicked my tongue.

Treated with my own medicine?

What a slanderous thing to say.

I wasn't some lunatic like that!

'But why are you teasing me, fairy?'

Weren't you scared of me...?

Did going to the Tower once make her more comfortable around me?

Anyway...

I had safely completed Floor 16 today as well.

Tomorrow, I would enter Floor 17.

* * *

The next morning.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

My eyes snapped open at the sound of pounding from the ceiling.

It was a familiar noise.

"Thumpity-thump, you're so damn loud!!!"

It was upstairs noise!

I lived in the basement unit of an old villa building.

Every morning during rush hour, the man upstairs bustled around and stomped with his heels.

As the people downstairs, we had no choice but to suffer through it every day.

It was an unpleasant start to the day.

Then I went through my usual routine.

"Jiho, help me move the loot."

"Okay."

First, I called the loot buyer, the National Intelligence Service, and handed over the loot.

As usual, an old, shabby one-ton truck rattled its way over.

"Oh my! You've got a huge amount again today, hahaha."

"Um... Is it really okay to load all this? It's pretty heavy. It weighs just under three tons. Your truck might break down. Wouldn't it be better to make several trips..."

"Haha! It's fine! Three tons is nothing!"

Despite my objections, the older loot buyer, who was also a National Intelligence Service agent, began carrying the boxes over and cramming them into the truck bed.

He was loading three tons into a one-ton truck.

Wasn't that overloaded?

Could he really do that?

I watched the man load the truck, then suddenly realized something.

'Wait, each of those boxes must weigh over 160 kilograms. He's carrying them so easily. Is that man a Hunter?'

It hit me a little late.

The National Intelligence Service agent and loot buyer in front of me seemed to be a Hunter.

He was easily carrying boxes that each weighed over a hundred kilograms.

With physical abilities like that...

He had to be at least a Normal-rank Hunter who had reached the beginning of the Middle Floors, right?

'Hm. He was Normal-rank and reached the Middle Floors, but he still didn't immigrate and stayed in this country until the end? That National Intelligence Service guy must be a patriot too.'

He wasn't even working as a Hunter and earning lots of money.

Instead, he was working as a National Intelligence Service agent for money that was practically pocket change compared to what Hunters made.

The man in front of me seemed like a true patriot.

It couldn't be helped.

For the sake of such a commendable man, I had no choice but to save the Republic of Korea myself.

Just wait a little longer, mister.

I'll grow quickly and save Korea.

A little later, the man finished loading the loot.

"Thank you as always! I'll be on my way, then!"

"Yep, take care."

Vrooom.

The man drove his truck out of the villa neighborhood.

By the way, cars made in this country were really amazing.

How could it carry three tons in a one-ton truck without breaking down?

The overwhelming technological prowess of domestic cars was beyond comparison with those uncivilized German bastards.

As expected of the Porter truck, god of overloading!

There was a reason people converted them into technicals in the Middle East.

Anyway, the loot had been dealt with.

Now it was time to exchange my Points.

After returning home, I called Han Seonga.

"Hello, Hunter Baek Jiho."

"Hello, Han Seonga. I contacted you because I want to transfer my Points."

"I see. Please place your hand on the crystal ball here."

Han Seonga held out the familiar crystal ball.

I placed my hand on top of it.

[Please specify the amount of Points you wish to transfer to the 'Republic of Korea'.]

"All of them."

[Transferring 39,160 Points to the 'Republic of Korea'.]

I transferred the Points.

Han Seonga looked at the crystal ball and spoke slowly.

"Hunter Baek Jiho. 39,160 Points...?"

She suddenly stopped speaking.

Looking closely, I could see Han Seonga's eyes trembling slightly.

She seemed pretty surprised by my Point income.

Well, she had no choice but to be surprised.

Thirty-nine thousand Points in only four days.

An average of 9,790 Points per day.

That level of Point income was probably something only the top Hunters on the Upper Floors could achieve.

Yet a Hunter on only Floor 16 of the Middle Floors had brought in that much...

Han Seonga checked the crystal ball again and again, then continued in a quiet voice.

"...I have confirmed 39,160 Points. We will deposit 391.6 million won into your designated account. The Republic of Korea will remember Hunter Baek Jiho's dedication."

Han Seonga bowed her head.

It was a perfect ninety-degree bow, like the civil servants I had seen at the branch office.

Surely that wasn't in some manual too, right?

Like having to bow at a right angle if someone transferred over a certain number of Points.

Anyway.

As I accepted her bow, I thought to myself.

'Have I saved up around 1.6 billion won now?'

It had been over two weeks since I became a Hunter and began climbing the Tower in earnest.

I had already earned nearly 1.7 billion won.

After buying my sister a car and splurging here and there, I had about 1.6 billion won left in my account.

The income was truly overwhelming.

I nodded in satisfaction.

'Good. Let's move after I save about five billion won. My income is increasing incredibly fast... At this rate, I'll have it within a week.'

Honestly, I wanted to make tens of billions and move into some luxurious home once owned by a Hannam-dong chaebol family...

Still, I wanted to escape this basement apartment as quickly as possible.

'I want to live above ground now too!'

How could the noble and great Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter that I was be stuck in a basement apartment like this?

Hardly any sunlight came in.

The ventilation was terrible.

Let cleaning slide a little, and mold would quickly grow.

All kinds of bugs appeared whenever they felt like it.

That was what a basement apartment was like.

And the upstairs man's floor noise was an added bonus.

So once I had a decent amount of money, I planned to move right away.

'All the rich people immigrated, so luxury home prices have dropped to less than half... I should be able to move into a Power Palace penthouse for around five billion won.'

Power Palace in Dogok-dong.

It had once been the name that represented luxury apartments in this country.

Prices started at four billion won.

The larger units cost seven billion.

Penthouses were ultra-luxury apartments that easily exceeded ten billion won.

But now prices had crashed to less than half, and even a penthouse seemed easily possible for five billion won.

I imagined it.

A huge home over three hundred square meters.

Standing atop a towering high-rise and elegantly drinking wine while looking down at mediocrities busily scurrying about like ants below.

Khh...!

Just imagining it made me feel good.

I was quietly snickering to myself when it happened.

"Oh, right. Baek Jiho."

"Yes?"

At Han Seonga's call, I immediately stopped daydreaming and turned back to reality.

She held something out to me.

"Please accept this."

"...It's a smartphone?"

What she offered was a smartphone.

A top-of-the-line domestic flagship model, too.

Why was she suddenly giving me this?

Han Seonga continued.

"It's a secured smartphone. Please use this smartphone from now on. Please use the number assigned to it as well."

"Secured?"

"That's right. It has protections against wiretapping and location tracking, and uses a secure line that does not remain in carrier records. It is a standard smartphone with slight modifications. If you use this regularly, we should be able to completely protect Hunter Baek Jiho's information."

"Oh..."

From the explanation, it sounded like the kind of special smartphone National Intelligence Service agents used.

Security was important.

If my information leaked, who knew when Chinese or Russian bastards might come after me?

I accepted the smartphone Han Seonga offered.

"Thank you. I'll use it well. My old phone was so outdated that I was thinking of replacing it anyway, so this worked out perfectly."

"The government of the Republic of Korea will continue to do its utmost to protect Hunter Baek Jiho and secure your information. Then I'll be on my way."

"Get home safely."

Click.

Han Seonga left.

I fiddled with the new smartphone I had received.

"So this is a modern phone? Oh... AI photo editing? Summarization? It has all kinds of features. Wow! The camera quality is incredible too."

I was still using an old smartphone I had bought before the Tower appeared, so the latest smartphone fascinated me.

New things really were nice.

Phones these days had amazing performance.

'Hm. Since my phone number changed, I should tell my sister and the people I know my new number. Well, there aren't that many people who contact me anyway... It won't be a big issue.'

I didn't normally talk to many people, so I didn't particularly care about changing my number.

The only people I contacted were my sister, relatives, and a few close friends.

My social circle was narrow, just like a shut-in's.

Thankfully, notifying everyone of my new phone number didn't seem like it would be much trouble.

I was still fiddling with the new smartphone when it happened.

Riiing.

The phone suddenly rang.

But the caller ID was blocked.

I was puzzled.

'What? I just got this smartphone, and someone's already calling? Did Han Seonga call to test it?'

Though confused, I answered the phone.

Then, right after that...

"Hello, Hunter Baek Jiho. I am with the United States Climber Management Depart..."

...

Click.

I hung up.

Then I muttered quietly.

"Those National Intelligence Service bastards are pretty unreliable."

They said they took security seriously.

Why was I getting a call from the United States thirty minutes after receiving the phone?

Was this really right?

Footnotes:

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