Having returned home, I dragged my weary body to sit before my computer.
Although every bone in my body seemed to creak, my mind was clearer than ever before.
No, it wasn’t merely clear.
Dopamine surged through me with an intensity I had never experienced.
“I must quickly announce this grand achievement to the world.”
The soul of a gallery addict urged me to compose the post without delay.
I transferred the verification photos I had taken during the tutorial onto my computer.
From these, I carefully selected an image that would not reveal my personal information.
As a basic precaution against unforeseen circumstances, deleting the photo’s metadata was essential.
I also routed my IP address through a VPN.
The chosen picture, slightly blurred, bore the inscription ‘EXTREME’.
It was perfect.
I immediately accessed the Hunter Gallery and began typing.
[Title: Verification) Cleared Extreme Difficulty.]
I just cleared the Tower Tutorial, and it turns out there’s an Extreme difficulty.
For a Korean, isn’t choosing the highest difficulty the unspoken rule (TL Note: A common phrase referring to an unwritten national rule or standard practice)?
So I picked it, and from the first floor, goblins started pouring out ten at a time.
I genuinely thought I was going to die;
But who am I?
The future S-rank Hunter.
I just casually swept through it.
(Scoreboard photo)
After posting the message and hitting refresh, comments instantaneously began to flood in.
As expected, the reactions were precisely what I had anticipated.
– ?
– Yeah, fake.
– What’s ‘difficulty faking’?
(A character emoticon with a roughly =ㅅ= expression)
– Ten goblins? Are you a grade-schooler, lol? Even Hard difficulty only has two.
– If you’re going to Photoshop the scoreboard, at least make it less obvious. The font is glitching.
“What on earth is that last guy talking about?”
It seemed there was always someone pretending to be an expert, no matter where you went.
I snorted dismissively and took a sip of cola.
Just another run-of-the-mill troll, I concluded.
This, too, fell within my realm of expectation.
Indeed, the true thrill of browsing galleries lay in the satisfaction of overturning such skepticism.
Just as I was about to upload another verification post, staggered by a time delay…
…a post defending me appeared.
It wasn’t something I had written.
[Title: Hey, isn’t that person the one who just changed the 1st Floor ranking?]
I just went into the Tower and checked the 1st Floor rankings; the top spot’s username has changed to ‘ㅇㅇ’.
And the time stamp is just now.
This looks real?
– What? It’s real?
– [Link] This is the official Hunter Association ranking site link. Go check it out. It’s really ‘ㅇㅇ’.
– Wow, holy crap. It’s real. The score is insane.
From that post onward, the gallery’s atmosphere shifted by 180 degrees.
[Title: All you guys who called it fake, stand at attention ㅋㅋ]
Didn’t I tell you it was real?
– ‘I told you so’ parrot out (TL Note: Refers to someone who repeatedly says ‘I told you so’).
– (Emoticon of someone quickly fleeing while saying ‘I knew it would happen’)
[Title: Demigod relegated to water rocket status ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
Currently, the 1st place score is 14,000 points,
while the 2nd place Demigod is only at 4,000 points.
That’s a whopping three-fold difference ㄷㄷ
Demigod <<< If they suddenly look like a water rocket (TL Note: Slang for something that was once considered powerful but is now seen as weak or outdated), give a thumbs-up ㅋㅋ
– Me first, lol ㅋㅋ
– (Emoticon of Demigod’s face roughly photoshopped red)
Comments on my original verification post began to multiply at a terrifying pace.
– This person is at least SSS-rank.
– I’ve come on a pilgrimage (TL Note: A common internet trend where users visit a popular post, often to make a wish). Please let me win the lottery.
– Brother, I’m sorry for calling you a troll. Please spare me.
– Please, please party with me. I’m a healer. And I’m a girl.
The response was explosive.
Praise and adoration poured forth.
A satisfied smile graced my lips as I leaned back deeply into my chair.
“This is the real joy of gallery surfing,” I mused.
As I indulged in the torrent of comments for a long while, basking in the euphoria…
…the Mage Gallery suddenly came to mind.
What might the reaction be like there now?
Filled with anticipation, I navigated to the Mage Gallery.
However, what awaited me there was not praise.
[Title: Newbie, what are you going to do?]
Author: Beetle
That post in the Hunter Gallery, that was you, right?
What were you thinking, just outright posting a verification like that?
[Title: Farewell, yo]
Author: Pikachu
The pitiful newbie is now destined to be dragged away by the government and become a test subject, yo.
A reaction vastly different from my expectations.
Flustered, I hastily posted a comment.
– I posted it thinking they wouldn’t be able to trace my personal info with this level of precaution.
– Shouldn’t it be fine?
Perhaps if I were an ordinary netizen, it would be different.
But with ten years of gallery-surfing experience, I had perfectly handled not only IP spoofing but also the deletion of photo metadata.
I believed it impossible for anyone to identify my personal information with such measures in place.
– Magic is Firepower: Aren’t you being too complacent just because the gallery server is in Paraguay?
– Beetle: If the government is determined to catch you, there’s no escaping.
– Refrigerator: The National Intelligence Service’s Hunter Management Team is more competent than you think.
Witnessing people’s reactions, a sudden wave of unease washed over me.
I immediately deleted the verification post I had uploaded to the Hunter Gallery.
Tears of blood (TL Note: An idiom for extreme sorrow or regret) streamed down my face.
No, my cherished post (TL Note: ‘Nyeomgeul,’ a popular post that gets pinned to the top of a gallery)….
[Title: But surely the government wouldn’t try to catch me, would they? It’s just the 1st Floor.]
– Beetle: Why wouldn’t they? Of course, they’ll look for you.
You don’t understand how significant being ranked #1 is.
– Refrigerator: Surprisingly, the government might not actively search. But Demigod will probably try to find you. He’s obsessed with being #1.
– ㅇㅇ: That’s even scarier than the NIS looking for me….
– Pikachu: What are you going to do now, yo? The rumors have already spread everywhere, yo.
– ㅇㅇ: I deleted the post for now.
– Pikachu: Even if you delete the post, server records remain, yo. Farewell, yo.
Was I truly in deep trouble?
Suddenly, my vision darkened.
After finally becoming a mage, I had hoped for a somewhat comfortable life, only to face the prospect of being dragged away by the National Intelligence Service right from the start.
All sorts of dreadful imaginings flashed through my mind.
Just then, Beetle posted a new comment.
– Beetle: …If the government truly contacts you, tell me. I’ll handle it.
– Pikachu: Aren’t you putting on too much of a show just because there’s a newbie here, yo?
– Beetle: No. This is probably my fault for not properly informing them.
I should have told them how desperate the government is for powerful hunters right now.
– Refrigerator: Well, if it’s Beetle, they’d certainly be more than capable of resolving it.
‘Could this person be the one and only S-rank?’
Korea’s sole S-rank, Kim Suho.
His class was a Wind-attribute Mage.
‘Now that I think about it, their username is Beetle. Could it be real?’
Such an incredible person offering to help me?
Someone I’d never even met?
Although I found it hard to believe, I had no other choice at the moment.
I would doubt his inexplicable goodwill, but I wouldn’t reject it.
A slight sense of relief settled over me.
With an S-rank Hunter, an entity capable of negotiating with the government, offering to resolve it, what more could possibly go wrong?
My anxiety subsided, replaced by a sense of calm.
Just then, a post on a different topic appeared.
It seemed intended to lighten the mood.
[Title: So? You hit #1 in the rankings, is there nothing to it?]
Author: Magic is Firepower
That Demigod fellow, who used to be #1, bragged incessantly.
– Pikachu: He’s the type whose life’s greatest joy is bragging, yo. Even if he weren’t #1, he’d still be bragging like crazy, yo.
The S-rank Hunter I had unseated from the #1 spot today. Username: DemiGoD.
‘He certainly lives up to his name.’
S-rank Hunters. Superhumans numbering only a dozen or so across the entire world.
Among them, a man who consistently held the #1 position in terms of combat power: Demigod.
I grew curious about Demigod, as seen through the eyes of fellow S-ranks.
– ㅇㅇ: But what’s Demigod actually like? Is it true that even if other S-ranks ganged up on him, they couldn’t win?
– Beetle: He’s a monster. Honestly, I don’t think he should be grouped with other S-ranks. That human is SS-rank.
– ㅇㅇ: What about his personality?
– Beetle: His personality? It’s a pain in the ass. You can tell just from his username, can’t you? He genuinely thinks he’s a god… Well, if I were that strong, I suppose I might think the same.
– Pikachu: He’s just a crazy attention-seeker, yo. A narcissist who posts on social media every five minutes, yo.
‘Hmm? That sounds like me, too.’
Of course, I was anonymous, not using my real name.
Hearing firsthand accounts of the fabled S-rank Hunters from those who had actually met them was an intriguing experience.
However, that wasn’t what was important right now.
It was because there was someone curious about *my* story.
[So what did you get for the 1st place clear reward?!]
Author: Magic is Firepower
If you don’t tell me, I’ll take a dump in the Han River and set it on fire. Seriously.
– Refrigerator: (Roughly a fist-punching emoticon)
– Pikachu: How pathetic, yo. Act your age, yo.
I took to the keyboard once more.
– ㅇㅇ: There were rewards.
– ㅇㅇ: They upgraded the color of my skillbook.
– ㅇㅇ: And for the first clear of Extreme difficulty, I also received a reward, which also upgraded the skillbook’s color.
As my comments appeared, the comment section exploded once more.
– Magic is Firepower: What?! Twice?
No, more importantly, skillbooks are level-up rewards, so how did you get one on the 1st Floor?
– Beetle: If they indeed caught ten goblins as they said, reaching level 2 is correct.
– Refrigerator: No, then did you get a Rainbow skillbook? I only have one of those myself! You got that from the 1st Floor?
– Beetle: Oh, that’s right? Is it true? Did you really get a Rainbow-grade skillbook?
Their agitated reactions prompted me to scratch my head.
It was time to pour cold water (TL Note: An idiom meaning to dampen enthusiasm or expectations) on their excitement.
– ㅇㅇ: No, it’s gold. All of them were poop-colored at first.
– Beetle: That’s still incredible. No one gets a skillbook from the 1st Floor. And for it to be gold-colored?
– Refrigerator: Exactly. A Gold-grade skill would be an immense help in the early stages.
– Magic is Firepower: You already know how important skillbooks are to mages, right?
We’re a profession that runs on skills.
Their encouragement made my shoulders straighten with pride.
Indeed, Gold grade was nothing to scoff at.
Moreover, I was only on the 1st Floor; my potential for growth was limitless.
– Refrigerator: So what’s the skill?
– ㅇㅇ: Honestly, I’m not sure if it’s good.
– Magic is Firepower: We’ll judge that, so hurry up and tell us. What is it?
– ㅇㅇ: Quicksand.
With that final comment, time in the Mage Gallery seemed to stop.
The lively exchange of comments abruptly ceased, as if by magic.
Silence.
To break the awkward stillness, I typed again.
– ㅇㅇ: Why is everyone so quiet?
As if on cue, a flurry of exceedingly awkward comments began to appear.
– Beetle: Ah… that’s a good skill! Quicksand! It’s an area-of-effect crowd control ability!
– Pikachu: For a first skill, you got a good one, yo. It’s fine, yo.
– Magic is Firepower: It’s not a ruined character! You just don’t have to use that skill!
Somehow, a strong premonition struck me that I had drawn a dud.
Yet, I tilted my head, puzzled.
‘I thought it was an overpowered skill… why are they calling it trash?’
