WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 51: 051
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Office of the First Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service.
“The Chinese bastards are about to cross the line.”
A stern-looking man in a suit and glasses spoke as he examined a document.
It was Han Jiwon, First Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service.
“China mobilized the Ministry of State Security's Hunter special operations unit... Can this intelligence be trusted?”
“We cross-checked it. The documents definitely came from the Ministry of State Security. The intelligence is highly reliable.”
“Damn it. First America, and now China knows too. Just how badly did that Fourth Deputy Director bastard get compromised?”
Only yesterday, the office of the First Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service had detected China's movements through an unexpected source.
They had obtained internal documents from the Ministry of State Security through Rachel.
The documents described the Ministry of State Security's recent activities in considerable detail.
China had learned of Baek Jiho, Korea's sixth Hard-rank Hunter.
To kidnap him, they had assembled a Hunter special operations unit and were infiltrating its members into Korea one by one.
China's operation was steadily progressing.
Han Jiwon spoke quietly as he looked through the documents.
“They plan to infiltrate Korea separately, then escape by submarine.”
“Should we contact the navy and request tighter security? If we block the submarine they intend to escape in early...”
Han Seonga asked at the deputy director's murmur, but he shook his head.
“No. We can't do that. As you know... this country's military is full of traitorous bastards. If we seek the military's help, our movements will obviously leak. Then they may change their plan, and the situation could become even more complicated.”
“Then what should we...?”
“We'll have to deal with it ourselves, like always.”
The military was currently riddled with corruption and misconduct.
With the Republic of Korea's destruction drawing near, officers of every rank, from generals to field-grade officers, were selling military secrets and intelligence.
If they requested cooperation from the military, the information would inevitably leak at once.
“We'd be lucky if it stopped at information leaking. There's even a chance the military may turn its guns on us.”
The corrupt generals.
Weren't they the kind of people who would even kidnap Hunters from their own country and hand them over in exchange for immigration to China?
The current high-ranking officers were selling military equipment to China and Russia. There was no reason they wouldn't sell Hunters too.
Han Seonga spoke quietly.
“If we can't receive the military's cooperation... the field agents will suffer heavy casualties.”
“It can't be helped. No matter what losses we must bear, we have to protect Baek Jiho.”
“Our opponent is China's Hunter special operations unit.”
“We have special operations agents too, don't we? We'll have to hope they do their jobs well.”
Every member of the Ministry of State Security Hunter special operations unit was a High Floor Hunter.
In contrast, most of the National Intelligence Service's Hunter special operations agents were from the Middle Floors, and even among them, many were on the lower end.
If they clashed, heavy casualties were inevitable.
Still, they could not back down.
“He climbs one floor a day. He's a Hunter who surpasses even the existing Hard-rank Hunters. We must protect him, whatever the cost.”
Baek Jiho.
Korea's sixth Hard-rank Hunter.
A man who was setting new world records every day.
Despite only being in the Middle Floors, he was earning more Points than even upper-tier High Floor Hunters.
Perhaps he was this country's only remaining hope.
That was why the office of the First Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service intended to protect him, even if they had to sacrifice much for it.
“...There will be many more nameless stars this time.”
At Han Seonga's murmur, the deputy director silently put a cigarette between his lips.
China was coming.
* * *
Morning.
I prepared to climb Floor 20.
In other words, I searched Hunter Gallery for information about Floor 20.
I typed “Floor 20” into Hunter Gallery's search bar.
[The Orc Warlord is fucking insane, I almost died]
[Starting from Floor 20, being Normal-rank isn't enough. You need some talent too]
[What gear is this Orc Warlord bastard wearing? Why is he reenacting Changban Bridge all by himself? Fuck]
[Floor 20 strategy guide]
...
Only a handful of posts appeared.
HunterNet had been created around the time Hunters first started clearing Floor 20, so there were not many old posts left.
From Floor 20 onward, I would have to get information from HunterNet instead of Hunter Gallery.
Of course, I would keep flexing on Hunter Gallery in the future too.
Anyway.
-Click.
I found a post and read it.
[Post Title: Floor 20 Strategy Guide]
You've all done well getting this far.
Floor 20 is the Orc boss floor.
Once you get through this one, the next floors are the Golem Floors, so hang in there and push through.
Other countries are happily collecting Golem Magic Stones. We need to bring back Magic Stones too and contribute to industry.
Anyway, let's begin the guide.
Once you start, you'll see a fucking huge Orc Village in the distance.
The clear condition is to reach the Escape Portal inside the canyon beyond the village.
But if you charge in headfirst, you'll obviously get slaughtered.
There are nearly 1,500 Orcs in the village, so it's massive.
A frontal fight is absolutely impossible.
You have to infiltrate and break through.
The method is simple.
First, wait until nightfall.
Then run through the center of the Orc Village as fast as possible in the middle of the night.
Orcs are a bit weaker at night, and you've all raised your stats a lot by the time you reach Floor 20.
You should be able to shake off the Orcs chasing you easily enough.
Cross the village quickly like that.
Once you enter the canyon, you'll find one fucking huge Orc blocking the entrance.
That's the Orc Warlord, the Orc boss.
You need to gang up on that bastard with five people and kill him as quickly as possible.
Kill him before the Orcs following behind catch up, run past him into the canyon, and take the Escape Portal.
That's how you clear Floor 20.
But the Orc Warlord is fucking strong.
He's basically the king of the Orcs.
Even five against one, he won't be easy to handle...
If you screw up, you could really die.
One of my party members was seriously injured here and retired.
I recommend attempting Floor 20 only if you're really confident in combat.
Oh, and you know the admin made a site called HunterNet this time, right?
Hunter Gallery seems like it's putting climbing on the back burner now because of all the civilians and cash-grubbers.
Nothing but shitty posts about loot prices and what people bought with the money they earned keep getting posted.
Those fucking bastards ruined the gallery, so after this strategy guide, I'm leaving Hunter Gallery too.
From now on, I'll only be active on HunterNet.
HunterNet requires real names.
My name is Kim Taeseok.
If you see me on HunterNet, say hi.
I'd be really happy if someone recognized me and said they enjoyed my strategy guides...
Anyway, you've all worked hard until now.
See you on HunterNet.
└??? What? The strategy guide guy was Kim Taeseok? Korea's first Hard-rank Hunter?
└Wow lol. He always cleared floors faster than anyone in Korea and wrote strategy guides, so I thought he might be a Hard-rank Hunter. He really was one.
└The strategy guide guy was Kim Taeseok? Holy shit, what an unexpected identity!
└Pilgrimage.
└Pilgrimage.
└Look at how clean the comments are on this post when every other post has gone to hell.
└└It's Kim Taeseok, not just anyone. He's a patriot who turned down astronomical money offered by America and stayed in this hellhole called Korea. Anyone with a conscience can't hate on him.
└└Meanwhile, Yoo Seunghee abandoned our country and immediately ran off to America. Fuck Yoo Seunghee.
└└Still, the difference in treatment was so overwhelming that I understand why Yoo Seunghee left...
└Bullshit. Acting all high and mighty because he's Hard-rank. Isn't he just a potential murderer anyway?
└└Look at this troll showing up the moment someone says the comments are clean lol.
└└Why are you all worshipping Kim Taeseok so much? Isn't he just a thief sucking up taxpayer money? It's disgusting. You all look like idol fangirls.
└└The disgusting one is you, sitting at home and posting hateful comments.
└└Looking at the ruined comments, it really does seem right to leave Hunter Gallery and use HunterNet instead.
└└For real lol. I didn't join because it requires real names, but I should sign up right away.
...
As I read the comments, I murmured quietly.
“Kim Taeseok was Hunter Gallery's strategy guide guy.”
It had been a hot topic once, so I remembered it too.
He was the user who had consistently written Tower strategy guides.
The user everyone called the strategy guide guy.
It turned out to be Kim Taeseok.
Korea's first Hard-rank Hunter had been the user consistently posting strategy guides on Hunter Gallery.
I murmured quietly.
“He wrote all these useful strategy guides for Hunter Gallery. It's kind of sad that he's trapped on Floor 41 now.”
Kim Taeseok had currently been stranded on Floor 41 for over three weeks.
According to the government's announcement, his name still remained in the Tower, so he was supposedly still alive...
But since Korea had so few Hard-rank Hunters, I had heard that rescuing him was difficult.
Floor 41.
“Hold out for just twenty-one days somehow, Mr. Kim Taeseok. If I make it to Floor 41, I'll save you!”
If I kept climbing one floor a day like I was now, I would reach Floor 41 in twenty-one days.
I would be able to enter the Highest Floors.
And I had heard that if you contacted someone through the names in the Tower, you could intervene midway through.
If Hunter Kim Taeseok was still alive by the time I reached Floor 41, I intended to save him.
Hadn't his strategy guides helped me quite a bit so far?
As the Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter destined to save the Republic of Korea, a beloved regular of Hunter Gallery, and a fellow patriot, I had no reason not to save him.
Anyway...
The next floor was Floor 20.
The floor of the Orc Warlord.
I murmured quietly.
“I heard those Chinese bastards have been targeting me lately.”
I clicked my tongue.
According to Han Seonga, China had learned of my existence and was likely to try something to kidnap me.
China's stalking had begun, just as I feared!
I needed to prepare for it.
“I should get my abilities in proper order.”
So, while steadily climbing the Tower and raising my stats as I had until now, I intended to polish all the magic I had learned and reorganize my abilities.
That way, I could respond immediately no matter where an enemy appeared.
Tower of Trials, Floor 20.
There was a wonderful punching bag called the Orc Warlord, and an absurd number of Orcs to kill.
I should be able to get a feel for things.
I waited for my EX-grade porter and the fairy.
[Entering Tower Floor 20.]
The assault on Floor 20 began.
* * *
Ministry of State Security headquarters of the People's Republic of China.
Minister's office.
“I heard America contacted Baek Jiho. What happened?”
A sharp-featured middle-aged man asked.
Feng Tianxia.
He was the Minister of State Security and held the rank of Commissioner General.
A police officer under his command answered his question.
“They successfully made contact, but it appears their attempt at recruitment failed.”
“Why? Surely the Americans did not offer insufficient compensation?”
“It was because of... patriotism, apparently. He said he would remain in his homeland instead of abandoning it.”
“Patriotism? Hah!”
At his subordinate's mention of patriotism, Feng Tianxia let out a small laugh.
It was clearly a mocking one.
“What a ridiculous Korean bastard. His country is on the verge of collapse, yet he gave up his chance to escape to America because of patriotism? Does that make any sense?”
“Based on the intelligence we gathered, that appears to be the case.”
“What an idiot. Well, it is good for us. Since he did not go to America, we still have a chance.”
America.
Unlike Korea, a small country on the brink of collapse, it was a superpower competing with China for dominance over the Pacific.
It had lost some of its power after the Tower appeared, but it was still the country with the strongest national power in the world.
It was a burdensome opponent to conduct operations against in many ways.
If Baek Jiho had gone to America, they would have found it difficult to make any further moves.
But for some reason, Baek Jiho had remained in Korea.
Thanks to that, the Ministry of State Security had not abandoned its plan to kidnap Baek Jiho.
Minister Feng Tianxia looked for someone.
“Deputy Minister Yan Zihe. When can we execute the operation?”
Yan Zihe was the Ministry of State Security's second-in-command.
Yan Zihe answered.
“The Hunter special operations unit members will finish gathering in Seoul within six hours. The Northern Fleet will reach Incheon in five hours.”
“And?”
“The operation begins in roughly seven hours, around midnight tonight.”
The Ministry of State Security's plan to kidnap Baek Jiho was extremely simple.
First, China's Hunter special operations unit would infiltrate Seoul separately, then regroup.
After that, they would raid the villa district in Jungnang-gu, Seoul, where Baek Jiho was staying, crush the National Intelligence Service agents guarding him, and kidnap Baek Jiho.
They would then quickly leave the scene and escape through a Type 039C submarine from the Northern Theater Command Northern Fleet, which would be submerged off the coast of Incheon.
Then they would return to Beijing.
It was an operation that seemed incredibly sloppy and crude.
They would cause chaos in an enemy capital out of nowhere and escape by submarine?
What a reckless plan.
Yet the Ministry of State Security executives remained confident of its success.
“What about the Korean military? It would be troublesome if Korea's Second Fleet pursued us during the escape.”
“The Korean military will not move. More precisely, it will only pretend to move.”
“And the police?”
“We have already spoken to the police chiefs there.”
“Good. Then all that remains is to get rid of the National Intelligence Service bastards.”
The Republic of Korea's destruction was approaching.
Even the military and police's high-ranking officials did not hesitate to betray their homeland for a life after its fall.
Korea's Second Fleet and several Seoul police chiefs were already cooperating with China.
With the military and police leadership already aiding them, there was no reason for the operation to fail.
Besides...
“What floor is Baek Jiho on now?”
“Floor 20.”
“He is a Hard-rank Hunter, but he has only reached Floor 20. There should be no particular difficulty in securing him.”
“That is correct.”
Those being deployed were none other than the Ministry of State Security's Hunter special operations unit.
Each of them had climbed to the High Floors and accumulated countless real combat experiences in India and Southeast Asia.
They were human weapons who had killed more monsters and people than they could count.
In contrast, Baek Jiho was only a Hunter in the Middle Floors.
No matter that he was a Hard-rank Hunter.
At only Floor 20, he could not put up much resistance against them.
“Good. We will turn that inferior Korean into a worker for Greater China.”
“Leave it to us. We will certainly succeed. For the People's Republic of China!”
Around midnight tonight, China's Hunter special operations unit would raid Seoul.
Baek Jiho was currently climbing Floor 20.
Footnotes:
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