Chapter 194

“A powerful Guild is looking for a B-Rank healer for an overseas expedition! Someone who’ll make history like in the recent Russia incident! Come this way!”

“Get your A-Rank potions here! We’ve got everything from basic Energy Potions and healing potions to all kinds of special-effect potions!”

The airport looked as bustling as ever.

Hunters waiting for their flights.

And the street vendors targeting those Hunters.

“Hey there, young man! Have a chicken skewer before you go! This isn’t some ordinary skewer! It’s a chicken skewer that boosts your Energy recovery for a whole day!”

Of course, all the street vendors were Hunters too.

After all, once humanity turned twenty, everyone awakened something called a Unique Ability.

They just happened to be Production Hunters rather than Combat Hunters.

“Hoo, I’m here again.”

Had it been about two weeks?

That was around when we left for the Russian expedition, so it sounded about right.

Wearing a mask, I looked over the airport.

A faint sense of unfamiliar comfort on my face.

It was a black fox mask I had picked up from a street stall.

More precisely, a fox mask with narrowed eyes.

》My, even your choice of mask looks exactly like you.

The Elder muttered.

“What’s wrong with it?”

》Just look at it. Doesn’t it have that sly look, like it’s hiding something?

“Huh? Me, sly? Where else are you going to find someone as honest and straightforward as I am?”

》Hmph, as if.

While casually chatting with the Elder, I looked around.

Everywhere I turned, there were plenty of people wearing masks just like me.

And they all had one thing in common.

They had removed the nameplates hanging from their waists that showed their Hunter Rank.

》That’s how it should be. To be honest, I never understood it from the start. If you’re weak, the basics are to hide yourself, so what kind of ridiculous world is this where people strut around with their nameplates on like they’ve won some grand prize?

“Hey, I’m not hiding because I’m weak. I’m hiding because it’s annoying having people swarm me…”

》I’m talking about those idiots over there, not you, you punk.

“Hmm.”

To some extent, I agreed with the Elder.

In this world, exposing your rank was the same as exposing your weakness.

“But well, it is something worth being proud of.”

As a former E-Rank Hunter for three long years, that much I understood from experience.

“Just being B-Rank or above already makes you the pride of your family, and puts you in the top five percent of talent… wouldn’t they want to show that off? They worked hard to get there, so of course they’d want to be recognized.”

It was only because I’d become a High Ranker now that I could say that so calmly.

If I had barely managed to reach B-Rank in the past,

I probably would’ve puffed out my chest and walked around showing off just like them.

》Heh heh, there were plenty of fools like that in my world too. The kind who thought they were kings of their little patch of land. They all ended up as my prey, though.

“Anyway, there are a lot of people.”

If someone asked where the busiest Hunter commercial district in this country was,

a hundred out of a hundred people would name two places.

The underground shopping center at Gangnam GoTo Mall.

And Incheon International Airport.

As expected of a place teeming with people, the air felt thick with human presence.

After walking for a while—

[Tiring!]

A green light blinked in the chat window.

[Water Witch: What, what! Is it true, Hoon?]

[Water Witch: You’re coming to Oxford?]

[Water Witch: I’m all for it, of course!]

About an hour ago,

I had revealed my destination in the peers’ chat room.

She must have been busy and only noticed just now.

[Water Witch: What are you coming for?]

[Water Witch: Sightseeing in the UK?]

[Water Witch: Or are you visiting the Magic Tower?]

[Water Witch: Ah, don’t tell me it’s because of the Magic Tower Lord’s invitation from last time? That’s awesome!]

The problem was that she was making such a fuss that it made me wonder whether I should’ve said anything at all.

‘The bigger problem is…’

Someone else had been causing an even bigger uproar for a while now.

[Kim Jina: Guild Master!]

[Kim Jina: This is a huge opportunity!]

[Kim Jina: You know this, right? The Magic Tower is a place you can never enter unless you’re invited!]

[Kim Jina: It’s the number one place tourism fanatics want to visit!]

[Kim Jina: You absolutely have to see it with your own eyes!]

[Kim Jina: Their organizational structure, what their buildings are like, how they entertain guests, all of it!]

[Kim Jina: We need to benchmark everything we can!]

[Kim Jina: Got it? You have to! Have to! Have to! You absolutely have to!]

Good grief…

The chat window was in chaos from both sides.

》You punk. Why did you suddenly stop walking? Hurry up and go look around some more. This world is definitely more diverse and interesting.

No, not both sides…

Three sides, technically.

‘Haa.’

How had this turned into such a mess?

I sighed inwardly, sent a rough reply in the chat, and shoved it out of my sight.

If I pinned it to both edges like this,

a green light would blink whenever a new message came in.

Capu had a function that could forcibly open it in a real emergency, so I could move around in peace.

Step, step.

I slowly made my way toward the airport.

It was about time to check in for my flight.

Ssk.

I pulled a flashy card from my pocket.

The S-Rank Hunter Exclusive Card Choi Taeseung had given me.

“Welcome, sir. This is a VIP-only entrance. Do you happen to have anything to verify your identity—”

“Here.”

I held the card out to the flight attendant, who bowed politely.

“I heard this gets me a free upgrade to business or first class. Is that right?”

“…!”

The attendant flinched as she checked the card.

“Th-that’s correct, Ranker-nim.”

Judging by how she addressed me as Ranker-nim the moment she saw the S-Rank mark,

she probably knew exactly who I was.

‘I guess she would.’

She’d have to know in order to issue the ticket properly.

This was an airport, after all.

Beep, beep!

After checking something in the system, the flight attendant cautiously asked,

“M-Mr. Joo Donghoon. Is that you? If you don’t mind, the mask you’re wearing…”

“Yes.”

I lifted the black fox mask slightly.

The attendant’s already wide eyes grew even larger.

“I-identity confirmed. Do you happen to have any luggage you need to check in?”

“No. I’m fine.”

As for luggage, Dmir had made me a backpack, so that handled everything.

“Yes, you’re booked on the flight to Heathrow International Airport departing in two hours, correct…? Here is your ticket, sir.”

The attendant seemed properly trained.

Without making a scene, she guided me through everything calmly.

She probably couldn’t risk causing a disturbance for a VIP.

“A-and, sir.”

Still, it seemed she couldn’t completely suppress the fan inside her.

“Could I possibly… get an autograph?”

“Yes, of course.”

She had worked up the courage to ask, probably at the risk of being disciplined.

I could at least do that much for her.

》Heh heh heh, you’ve really become popular. Did you know? That young lady’s heart rate doubled the moment she saw your face.

Was he talking about the flight attendant from earlier?

“…Well, I am a Ranker.”

I had been like that once too.

Even though I’d never met one in person, if a Ranker showed up on TV, I couldn’t take my eyes off them.

A position limited to just one thousand people in the entire world.

And a High Ranker meant being in the top ten percent even among them.

Because of that, I understood how people felt.

I understood.

An idol.

That was what I had become to Hunters now.

“That’s why I’m grateful to you, Elder.”

》Huh? That’s sudden.

“Yes. If it weren’t for you, Elder, I’d still be down there struggling.”

》Heh heh, is that so?

The Elder grinned.

》Anyway, what are you going to do now? Looks like there’s still some time before that hunk of junk takes off.

A hunk of junk was what the Elder called an airplane.

“I’m thinking of looking around the street stalls.”

Last time, I’d given all the emergency food I had stored in my bag to the Russian citizens.

I had no idea when or where I might suddenly end up in a dungeon.

I needed to restock properly.

‘Let’s see.’

The annual limit on the card is one billion won, right?

And if someone gives you a card like that, isn’t it only natural to spend up to the limit?

》The street stalls?

“Yes, I’m going shopping.”

Bustle, bustle.

A marketplace crowded with Hunters and merchants.

Once a large street market formed, it naturally divided itself into sections.

Rather than having everyone set up at random,

sales were better when similar goods were sold in the same area, where Hunters looking for those items naturally gathered.

“Come take a look!”

“The food here keeps for a long time! Perfect for dungeons!”

“If you bought food, then you need potions too! Special ability potions, come take a look!”

In other words, food and potion stalls were usually clustered in nearby sections.

Because people heading into dungeons often bought a little of both.

“Hey, Mr. Kim!”

“Huh?”

A disheveled man lifted his head.

Mr. Kim’s Unique Ability was [Chef].

Food made by his hands granted all sorts of buff effects when eaten.

“Business going well?”

“Not even close. Hah, there are just too many Production Hunters…”

Production-type Unique Abilities were relatively rare.

Compared to combat types, maybe around ten percent?

And within that,

there were all kinds of fields like blacksmiths, tailors, chefs, jewelers, alchemists, perfumers, and so on, so they were definitely uncommon.

But

they were only uncommon in relative terms.

If you took the world’s population of several billion into account, there were still hundreds of thousands of people in the same profession.

And that wasn’t all.

In this world, whether in business or battle, only the best got recognized.

The market was ruthless, so you had to satisfy at least one of two conditions.

High quality.

Or good value.

“Tsk tsk, your cooking is some of the best around here. You ought to promote it more.”

“Would promotion even help? There are so many people here.”

The two men were grumbling and venting their frustrations when—

“M-my goodness, you’re buying everything here?”

“H-here! Please buy this too! If you buy it all, I’ll give you thirty percent off!”

“Oh, oh? Take a look at this item too!”

A huge commotion broke out in the middle of the section.

“Huh? What’s going on?”

“Damn it! Looks like a big spender showed up!”

“A big spender?!”

The occasional customer who spent enormous amounts of money and breathed life into the street-stall economy.

People like that were called big spenders in the trade.

“Look over there!”

In the direction they were pointing, there was a man buying food and potions.

He was wearing a jet-black fox mask.

The man calmly checked the goods each merchant eagerly held out to him.

“Hmm, this one’s quality isn’t very good. Rejected.”

“Oh, this one’s not bad. You said the market price is four hundred thousand won? I’ll buy it for five hundred thousand. Give me all of it.”

“Hmm, this one’s so-so. If you’ll let it go for half price, one hundred fifty thousand won, I’ll buy everything you’ve got.”

As if under a spell,

he evaluated the products and named the prices himself.

And yet, those prices were perfectly reasonable.

Not a single merchant complained as they sold him their wares.

He paid above market price for good products.

And bought average ones at a discount.

“Crazy.”

“He’s not just buying a few. If it meets a certain standard, he buys everything! Whether it’s ten or a hundred! This is insane. How much money does he even have…?”

“Who the hell is that…? Huh?”

The moment he said that, Mr. Kim’s eyes lit up.

“That’s an Association-exclusive S-Rank Card! Right!”

“What, he’s an S-Rank Hunter?”

“Q-quickly, let’s go! The train is leaving!”

The two men hurriedly gathered their goods.

Each grabbed the most reliable, best-selling, highest-performing products from their own stalls.

And it wasn’t just them.

Every merchant in that section did the same.

They had no choice.

Opportunities like this didn’t come around often.