“Ugh… khaaa…”
After a deep-ocean broadcast followed by a deep-sleep, Parang woke up feeling refreshed.
At eleven in the morning. Once again, she overslept.
Meanwhile, while she was asleep, the world was frantically searching for her.
Parang looked at the mountain of notifications and missed calls.
She tried not to panic, knowing exactly what she’d done yesterday.
The last time she checked, the viewer count was at 200,000.
Two hundred thousand. Not two thousand, but two hundred thousand people watching her as she did that thing, wrapping it up in a rushed manner.
She had expected this kind of mess to happen.
Steeling her resolve, Parang opened her mailbox.
Unlike when she had just rescued Yuna, this time, she had left the channels of communication open, prepared to be contacted.
[You have (999+) unread emails]
… surprisingly, there was no disaster like that.
Thanks to Yuna’s clever plan.
“They’ll line up to throw tantrums for artifacts after the broadcast. They’ll bring all sorts of sob stories.”
To preemptively filter those out, Yuna created a dedicated email for [Artifact-related inquiries] and directed all inquiries about artifacts to that.
She even threatened that anyone talking about artifacts in the wrong channel would be excluded from the lottery.
Artifacts would be distributed through a lottery after individual authentication through a separate site. There was no reason to contact otherwise.
During this time, inquiries that came in? All begging.
The [Artifact-related inquiries] email was internally treated as if it didn’t even exist the moment it was opened.
Next came inquiries related to Yu Parang the Hunter. She split the channels again for interviews, sponsorship inquiries, and guild invitations.
While Parang and other creator Hunters wondered, “Is that really necessary?” Yuna insisted, “It’s absolutely essential,” and pressed forward.
Now Parang thought she had made the right choice by listening to her.
Having the world’s attention focused on her turned out to be way more troublesome than she imagined.
“Ah, I chew through all of them.”
Though it seems some didn’t feel that way. Parang felt a bit jittery about dealing with them.
Thus, the emails Parang had to handle: 2,892 interview requests, 122 sponsorship inquiries, and 45 guild invitations.
All totaled, that’s 3,059.
Still a lot, but compared to 200,000 people and giving away 10 A-grade artifacts, it felt remarkably low.
Moreover, she could narrow that down!
Before her, the 3,000 interview request emails piled up.
Since her goal was her goal, she couldn’t ignore them. However, she could filter them.
Out of those, about 2,500 were sent by YouTubers.
Parang opened a notepad and pulled up the “Approved Media Outlets for Interviews” list, a list agreed upon by 14 production industry Hunters with varied backgrounds in ideology, gender, and age.
Then she proceeded with email search -> filtering -> search by sender.
Tap-tap-tap…
[Hunter Times] Six entries.
[Post Korea] Ten entries.
[Subganet] Nine entries.
The remaining emails were all deleted.
Parang, feeling like a monster fish expanding her merciless slaughter to emails, reduced the pile of 3,000 emails down to 25 in a flash. Such power could astonish the world. (Not really.)
Anyway, Parang skated through the emails and drafted a response to reporter Lee Hyungjin from [Subganet].
It was because of a line that struck a chord with her.
[Interviews can be conducted underwater.]
Inside, Parang was deeply worried about shaking like a leaf during the interview.
Interview inquiries? Done.
Next was sponsorship. Parang didn’t need financial support. Trash it all.
Guild invitations? Same here.
Which guild could help her dive into a kilometer deep sea? Trash them all.
Still, Parang considered creating a guild for underwater Hunters. How cool would that be!
Well, that would be set aside for later; Parang still had work to do.
There were still those who wanted to talk to her.
Those who didn’t need “emails” to contact Parang.
Hunter Association, World Government, Silo.
Except for the Hunter Association, these were remnants left by the original protagonist and the Slayers.
Of course, “officially” what the Slayers established was only the Silo Corporation.
The World Government claimed, “To prevent the dispersion of Hunters’ power due to competitive hegemony, all governments worldwide united to form a singular government centered in Seoul.”
“Then how do you explain the Hunter troops under your command?”
“Oh, they volunteered to serve.”
“Why Seoul?”
“Geographically, it’s the best.”
Naturally, that’s nonsense. Nobody seriously believes this.
As a result, all sorts of conspiracy theories abound. From reptilians to revived Nazis, flat Earth, donut Earth, to flying spaghetti… several of them.
Among them, the most supported is the Slayers conspiracy theory.
“Isn’t it just Hunter Han Siwoo who made it?” That’s the theory.
This isn’t really a conspiracy theory, but a public fact.
Speaking of conspiracy theories, the first president of the world government? Kang Yuri, Slayer.
The second president? Olivia Cloverfield, Slayer.
The third president? Yoo Sungjun, Lancers.
Oops! The third president Yoo Sungjun! Is he the hope of the era on a white horse who ended the cruel dictatorship of the Slayers?!
Of course not. The Lancers were nurtured by Hunter Han Siwoo to maintain order on Earth after his ascension, so they are essentially the Slayer’s B-team. Given that they have a massive force as a goal, each of them ranks among the best in the world.
In fact, they essentially rule the world now. The reason why the order is maintained even after the Slayers’ ascension. Hunter Han Siwoo had a talent for farming successors.
Due to their overwhelming force, they can’t even cause an incident if they tried.
So what happened to the existing governments? They still exist for now. As underlings of the World Government.
If the World Government is the Blue House, then the governments of each country act like city halls. Thus, even if there are some power struggles behind the scenes, no wars or displays of force, or diplomatic disputes occur.
Next, the Silo Corporation.
These guys can simply be thought of as “the giant corporation that swallowed the world.”
With capital and technologies no one on Earth can match, they completely consumed the global market…
And did nothing in particular. The world’s economy surprisingly continued unchanged before and after the emergence of the Silo.
The founder is Hunter Han Siwoo.
As for the Hunter Association:
Current Association Head, Igarashi Natsuko. Lancers.
Deputy Association Head, Alisa Kozlov. Lancers.
Head of Asia and Chief of Seoul Branch, Seo Sunwoo. Lancers.
Head of Europe and Chief of Berlin Branch, Alfonso Lopez Blasco. Lancers.
Head of North America and… Lancers.
It’s a common world after a munchkin Hunter story ends.
As expected for the protagonist of a munchkin Hunter tale, everything was dealt with very neatly. There were no gaps at all.
Surprisingly, these three organizations are currently in competition. Hunter Han Siwoo, deeply Korean to the bone, established a tripartite system even after his ascension.
Around five years before he ascended, the Slayers completely retreated and the Lancers took their place.
In any case, both organizations leading the world simultaneously reached out to Parang.
First, the World Government.
“Are you Yu Parang the Hunter?”
“Yes, I am.”
Just as she was processing her emails earlier, a man in sunglasses and a suit showed up holding an official ID, handed her documents, and left.
It listed the time, place, and other miscellaneous details.
Next, the Hunter Association.
Immediately after the World Government agent left, a call came in from Manager Choi.
“Parang, you should come by the Seoul Association next Sunday. The branch head wants to meet you.”
“Huh? The branch head?”
Parang was quite surprised. Manager Choi was somewhat knowledgeable about the association, but was he trusted enough to run errands for the branch head?
When she asked this over the phone, Manager Choi replied,
“That sort of thing happens. It won’t be a bad thing for you, so trust me and go.”
“Well… okay. Next Sunday, then…”
“August 4th, at 2 PM.”
It was the same date proposed by the World Government.
Well, it’s probably just a scouting offer anyway. Parang accepted the proposal without much thought. She had known Manager Choi for eight years now.
Lastly, the Silo Corporation. Surprisingly, there was no contact from this side.
Honestly, Parang was taken aback. Hadn’t she had a good relationship with the Silo? They had given her dive suits and phones and everything.
Moreover, the broadcast she did yesterday was an achievement capable of surprising even them. In fact, the World Government and Hunter Association were surprised enough to contact her.
Well, they must have their own circumstances. She decided not to think deeply about it.
Anyway, Parang had received calls from two out of the three groups that lead the world.
And lastly.
Only then did Parang turn on her phone. It was the first time since waking up.
Missed calls: (9)
Messages: (3)
Silo Talk: (77)
Seeing herself at the center of the bustling world, her friends, benefactors, and ties sent her messages filled with concern, pride, and encouragement.
First, she tackled the missed calls.
Three calls from Yuna, oh. Sorry about that.
One call from the ‘director’.
Five calls with caller ID blocked.
First, Parang dialed Yuna back.
Doo-doo…
Click.
“Hello?”
Her voice seemed a bit tired.
“Uh, Yuna?”
“Speak…”
Cancel that. She really did look tired. Did she stay up all night?
She decided not to ask. Asking would only make her feel guilty.
“Really, you helped me a lot this time. I’m so grateful, um…”
To be honest, she had never received such a significant favor in her life. She didn’t really know how to respond at times like this.
“Oh, stop. If you’re thinking of repaying me with something separate, please don’t. Repaying goodwill makes me uncomfortable, and more than that…”
“More than that, I’ve gained quite a bit too, you know.”
Parang tilted her head.
She really wasn’t very good at this. Had Yuna gained something this time?
“……”
She still couldn’t think of anything.
While she was stuck in confusion, Yuna jumped in first.
“To be honest, I’ve gained so much from the broadcast we did. The last call I made was because of that. If you’re okay, I want to continue our collaboration moving forward.”
“Excuse me?”
Parang jumped in surprise. Was it that significant?
“What kind of benefit have you gained to go that far…?”
“In broad terms, there are three things.”
Three things. The number three, transcending time and space, symbolizes perfection and wholeness.
Everything is one made of three and must be divided into three.
Father, Son, Holy Spirit; rock-paper-scissors; Amta, lily, no romance.
Anyway, Parang listened intently.
“Parang, a creator Hunter is essentially a merchant. They live by selling what they create. And there are two most important things for a merchant: recognition and reputation.”
Parang already knew that. Recognition and reputation is something you can never have too much of.
“First, recognition. 200,000 people saw the artifacts I created and the broadcasting equipment operating at a depth of 2 kilometers.”
“Ah….”
“Second, reputation. The current perception of Shin Yuna is that she’s the one who distributed ten A-grade artifacts to help her savior.”
Only then did Parang smack her forehead.
No, wait. She was about to smack it but stopped.
“So what’s the other one?”
“Don’t you really know?”
“Not at all.”
“You, Yu Parang the Hunter.”
“Eh?”
Parang let out a confused sound.
“Don’t you know? A Hunter who gets 3,000 interview requests in one go and received 45 guild invitations simultaneously, one that the World Government and Hunter Association are both paying attention to. Anyone would want to keep interacting with someone like that. I can’t repay influence with a one-off gratitude. Nobody would.”
Only then did Parang realize her own position.
When laid out separately, they could seem all fine and dandy (not at all), but seeing them all together finally made her grasp her situation.
Shin Yuna was an individual who had reached an S-rank status in this merciless society.
And Parang, who was outside the water, was weak to such charisma.
“Then, should we meet and talk…?”
“Sure. I’m always fine, so just contact me at a time that works for you.”
There’s no way that’s true. It meant she would drop everything and come running whenever Parang called.
This person was no pushover, Parang thought after hanging up.
Then she checked for her next contacts. Three messages.
The orphanage director who had taken care of Parang after her reincarnation as an orphan.
Far from a typical cold-hearted orphanage director, he was a good adult who truly cared for and loved the children and supported them in every way.
Parang also went to visit the orphanage whenever she could, bringing a hefty supply of beef.
Director: “Parang, you seem busy, so I’m leaving a message.”
Director: “I watched your broadcast. You looked happy. That’s wonderful.”
Director: “I’m cheering for you.”
Feeling the warmth dripping through from the simple text, Parang’s heart swelled.
Parang immediately dialed the director back.
Doo-doo-doo… doo-doo-doo…
“The recipient is not answering and has gone to voice mail…”
Oh dear, he must be busy. The director usually can’t take calls because he’s busy playing with the kids.
Parang decided to convey her thoughts through text.
– Thank you, Director. I’ll come visit next week.
And she would bring not just beef, but chicken and pork, covering the entire orphanage in a buffet.
Finally, five calls with caller ID blocked.
These weren’t calls she needed to return.
Parang entered a secret chat room on Silo Talk.
The room’s name was simply a dot.
There were six members. All names were randomly generated.
Muddi in a zooming car: &2* I900 5-3 3km Q.
July 28th at 7 PM, Arctic Ocean point 3, emergency.
Checking the time, it was 3:40 PM.
Even for Parang, she would need to use a warp station to reach the Arctic Ocean point 3.
Parang quickly changed clothes, burst out of her house, and jumped straight into the water heading to Seoul.
