AWOST 09

Chapter 09

[You have obtained the title ‘Instant Killer — Mantis’ in the dungeon ‘Kakuar Mountains’! Remaining count: 3.]

The title acquisition notification reached every Myeonghak Guild hunter nearby.

Everyone realized it once again.

This blond man had defeated a Kadaryl Mantis by himself, even though twenty or thirty of them together wouldn’t have been able to kill one.

In other words.

If this man wanted to, he could slaughter everyone here in a single attack.

There was no chance of escaping either.

They had seen the range and power of the aura he had unleashed.

It was clearly an aura capable of striking down numerous targets at once.

“I already saw the title appear in the Kakuar Ruins yesterday and thought it was some kind of amusement for a named ranker…”

Everyone nodded.

That was the only explanation that made sense.

They had assumed that some absurdly high-level hunter had come to a low-level dungeon just to farm titles before leaving.

At that moment.

One of the guild members mustered up his courage and asked Rakiss.

“Excuse me… who are you?”

The moment he was asked his name.

Rakiss remembered what Lee Yeon had repeatedly emphasized to him.

“Don’t reveal your affiliation to anyone except me. No matter who asks, just say you’re my friend.”

“My name is ‘Lee Yeon.’ You can say you’re Yeon’s friend or Lee Yeon’s friend.”

How could Rakiss ever disregard his master’s words?

He had taken those words to heart as a lifelong creed and answered firmly.

“You mean me? I am Yeon’s friend!”

……

For a moment, silence fell over every member of the Myeonghak Guild.

Normally, when someone asked who you were, you introduced yourself by name and profession.

Introducing yourself as someone’s friend meant…

Perhaps he wanted to emphasize that the person was someone he deeply trusted and followed, like a teacher or life mentor.

One thing was certain.

A person capable of killing a Kadaryl Mantis in one hit wouldn’t say something like that without a reason.

Every word, every letter spoken by someone of his caliber surely carried meaning.

“Are you saying this person named Yeon, your friend… is someone even more incredible than you?”

“Yes! He is my spiritual pillar and my everything! I am!”

“Yes, yes.”

“I am Yeon’s friend!”

And so, the name of a hunter who wasn’t even present there was engraved into the minds of dozens of Myeonghak Guild members.

A hunter who went by the name ‘Yeon.’

That hunter had to be an even more powerful, mysterious named figure than this blond hunter.

“Has it already gotten this late?”

There had been so much information that I had been focused on absorbing it, and time had passed unbelievably quickly.

The world I had only been interested in as an ordinary person had now become the reality I lived in.

There was so much I wanted to know.

And at the same time, there was plenty of information I needed to filter out because it was inaccurate.

I assumed Rakiss was handling things just fine on his own.

Since I had only just taken my eyes off the monitor for the first time, I shifted my gaze to the status window.

Hunter: Lee Yeon

Level: 82

Class: General (* Appraiser)

“My level went up by 22 already.”

My level had shot up.

I didn’t know what Rakiss would think of the expression, but auto-hunting really was the ultimate cheat.

I put all my bonus stats into Mana.

[Maximum number of appraisals available: 8]

The total number of appraisals I could perform each day had also increased to eight according to my level.

What had he killed for my level to rise that much?

I opened the ‘Combat Information’ window among the system windows containing various kinds of information.

This showed a summary called combat records or combat logs.

[You have defeated ‘Kadaryl Mantis’ in the dungeon ‘Kakuar Mountains’.]

“He found it perfectly.”

I had sent Rakiss specifically to target the Kadaryl Mantis, and as expected, he had carried out my orders perfectly.

The title had also been confirmed.

[You have obtained the title ‘Instant Killer — Mantis’!]

[The Mantis race will instinctively fear you and your subordinates.]

[The acquisition of this title will be announced to all hunters currently in the dungeon and to all hunters in every dungeon within a 15-kilometer radius.]

“I got an Instant Killer title yesterday too. This is definitely going to become a topic in the regional community.”

Hunter communities were extremely active on a regional basis as well.

There were so many hunters these days that if everything were combined into one nationwide community, new posts would pour in too quickly.

So the communities were divided by province, and then further subdivided by city, county, and district.

Since both of the valuable titles I had obtained came from the same place, there would probably be talk about me in the ‘Anyang’ community.

In any case, it seemed everything was over, so I connected my vision with Rakiss.

Through his eyes, I could see him heading to the Hunter Market to sell the dimensional stones on his way home.

“Rakiss, how was it?”

— Master, are you awake?

“I wasn’t asleep. Do you really think I’m the kind of petty person who sends my subordinate onto the battlefield and then casually goes to sleep?”

— Ah! No, no! I apologize! I misspoke!

“Forget that. How was the dungeon?”

— A mantis of that level can’t even be considered a proper magical beast! I dispatched it very easily with a single aura attack!

As expected of Rakiss.

With this level of ability, I became confident that I could raise the difficulty of the dungeons he challenged considerably.

“Good work.”

— But, Master. People sure are interested in me, aren’t they?

“Huh? What do you mean? People are interested? Did someone follow you?”

— No! After I killed the Kadaryl Mantis, everyone gathered around and asked who I was.

At that moment.

I remembered what I had told Rakiss.

At the time, I had never imagined those words would come back to bite me this badly.

“So what did you do?”

Just tell me you handled it smoothly.

Tell me you didn’t honestly repeat what I said.

— Just as you commanded, I introduced myself as Yeon’s friend! Then they kept asking who Yeon was.

“And you told them that too?”

— Yes! I told them that you are my spiritual pillar and my everything!

“……”

I had come to one conclusion after careful consideration.

I was screwed.

Why was the opening line of some famous novel suddenly coming vividly to mind?

“Just sell the dimensional stones and come straight home. If anyone follows you, lose them no matter what. Don’t let anyone tail you. Come straight home, understand?”

— Yes, I will keep that in mind!

He sure answered obediently.

With Rakiss’s abilities, he wouldn’t foolishly expose himself to someone following him.

He had even detected and warned the assassin hunter who had been hiding in the Kakuar Ruins yesterday.

That part didn’t worry me.

I immediately accessed the Hunter community.

I went to the Anyang community.

And then I saw it.

Does anyone know a hunter named ‘Yeon’ who has a blond foreign hunter as a friend?

The title alone specifically identified Rakiss and me.

It was probably posted by one of the hunters who had asked Rakiss who he was.

A foreign hunter just one-shot a Kadaryl Mantis in the Kakuar Mountains dungeon.

But apparently this hunter said that a hunter named Yeon was his spiritual pillar? Doesn’t that mean Yeon is basically Level 700 or higher?

A Level 82 Appraiser with absolutely no physical combat ability was now being treated as someone above Level 700.

Level 700 hunters were so rare that they could be considered the top 0.5% of hunters, and each one was often described as a living weapon.

And they were mistaking me for one of those people.

People who didn’t know Rakiss was a summoned creature were now more curious about me, his friend, than Rakiss himself.

Of course, if they had known he was a summoned creature, they would have been interested in his summoner anyway.

…Either way, I was screwed.

It would have been fine if Rakiss had simply left.

But his innocent attempt to praise his master had caused a snowball effect.

The comments continued to appear in real time.

↳ Yeon? Is it a one-character name? It’s not common. If we search hard enough, we might be able to figure out who he is.

↳ Wasn’t there an Instant Killer title in the Ruins yesterday too?

↳ Huh? You’re right! Then it must be the same person? But why would that blond guy introduce himself as Yeon’s friend?

↳ Maybe he’s his master! Isn’t he basically saying he’s nothing without his master?

↳ Hello, I’m Kim Yeon from Anyang City. Ask me anything. Yes, I’m the one.

↳ In another post, you said you were Park Somi from Paju. Are you using multiple accounts?

↳ I think I know who this Yeon person is.

All kinds of speculation flooded the comments.

New comments continued appearing every few seconds.

The conclusion everyone was reaching was the same.

Who was the hunter named Yeon, and was there such a person among the named hunters?

“……”

In any case, it had happened.

It wasn’t Rakiss’s fault.

I had never thought a situation like this would never happen in the first place.

But I had underestimated Rakiss’s innocence.

I had overlooked the fact that he was far more friendly toward people than I was.

Meanwhile.

Suddenly, I saw the number of comments begin to explode.

“What?”

The issue had already caught fire, but there was no reason for hundreds of comments to suddenly appear all at once.

Wondering what had happened, I scrolled upward.

And then.

“Ah.”

There was a huge development.

A user who had been verified by the community administrators as being above Level 700 had left a comment.

Because the verification had been officially confirmed through the status window, there was absolutely no possibility of boasting or forgery.

It was a perfect verification badge.

↳ Bloody Rain [* Lv 700 Verified]: That blond guy. Does anyone know exactly where you saw him and where he went? I’ll send 50,000 candies to whoever sends me the most detailed information through a private message.

↳ 50,000 candies? That’s worth five million won, isn’t it?

↳ Bloody Rain [* Lv 700 Verified]: Yeah. I really need to know who this guy is. Send me whatever information you have.

↳ [* Original Poster] Holy shit, this is insane. I’m the original poster, and I saw which direction he went. I’ll try to find him somehow.

The reaction exploded the moment a genuine named ranker commented.

It seemed the hunter who had actually spoken with Rakiss was even going to chase after him.

He couldn’t have gone very far.

And if more than one person followed him, it could potentially turn into a bloody incident.

Rakiss might use force while trying to prevent them from following him.

↳ He’s the guy wearing the short-sleeved shirt and shorts with the Poo Bear character on them! He talks like a soldier and carries a huge greatsword!

“Damn, at this point they basically just posted a police sketch. But why the hell is he wearing pajamas outside?”

What on earth had happened?

The character T-shirt and shorts were something I had given him to wear as pajamas at home.