Chapter 99 Beginning of Summer (1)
-You’ve suppressed a monster that is harmful to the order of things. Bonus based on membership level! You received 780,000HP! As a VIP bonus, you receive an additional HP bonus equivalent to 50% of the reward, for a total of 1,170,000HP!
-The proficiency of Dragon’s Fan Dance has increased. Wind Mastery has grown to the C+ Rank. Resist Poison has grown to the A-rank.
Several lines of messages appeared before Kang Shin-hyuk at the moment he ended the queen wasp’s life. He had gained tens of millions of HP in the process, so the HP gain wasn’t too impressive to him, but his skill growth was huge. Suppressing a gate that was of a higher rank probably had a big impact on his skill increases.
-The irregular gate will disappear. You received [Queen Wasp’s Wing Bracelet (S-)]!
“Wow?!” There was a huge gap between artifacts found in gates, known as natural artifacts, and ones made by modern artisans, known as artificial artifacts. Natural artifacts were difficult to obtain but often had great abilities. However, it didn’t matter what the gate’s level was, and it required luck to obtain one. Because of that, they were also very expensive. Although, Kang Shin-hyuk had found out that there were plenty of artisans in the Hero Universe who could make objects that rivaled and even surpassed natural artifacts.
‘Odd.’ This was the first time he had directly obtained a natural artifact, even considering his past life. It was also an S-rank artifact, which meant that the boss monster was S-rank. He took a moment to appreciate the fact that his web trap had actually worked.
‘It’s a good thing it was collected directly into my inventory through the routing function too.’ Kang Shin-hyuk smiled bitterly as he turned to face the members of the task force who were watching him with wide-open eyes. If they had seen the wing bracelet appearing in place of the gate, there would have been an uproar.
-That’s right. All features provided by the Hero Universe are immensely useful.
“Well… there’s a lot of things I want to say about that, but this time it worked out, so I’ll keep quiet.” Kang Shin-hyuk let out a sigh of relief as he checked what he had gathered. At a glance, it seemed like the boss had also dropped a skill stone. It was unfortunate that they tried to hurt innocent people by summoning an irregular gate, but the results hadn’t gone in their favor. He almost felt like he needed to thank them for the gifts he had received.
“The last gate has disappeared!”
“He must be a superhuman who belongs to the association.”
“Must be a ranker. No monsters were able to get out of that gate!” As the situation began to calm down, more and more eyes began to focus on him. Maybe this was planned by Shin Eunah as well? He sighed and turned his head; Shin Eunah met his gaze from across the banquet hall. She had a warm smile on her lips for just a moment before her usual cold expression returned.
-Eunah’s whisper: It was hard but good work. When you get a chance, take off and return. I’ll take care of the rest and ask for the officials to continue with the award ceremony.
-You want to continue the award ceremony after that?!
Was this competition that big of a deal? Of course, the Superhuman Association had responded immediately and prevented civilian casualties, but it was still surprising.
-Eunah’s whisper: It has to be shown that this kind of terrorism won’t work.
-That’s why…
Kang Shin-hyuk sent a message to say that he understood and looked around. Most of the people were trying to talk to him from a distance, unable to reach him, but members of the task force were approaching him to talk.
“Wow, who are you? I know we have a few domestic S rank superhumans, but I’ve never seen someone with such attack-specific traits before.”
“There must be a reason Shin Eunah hid it…but why today? Shin Eun-hyuk, if it’s okay, won’t you talk with us?”
“…” What could he do in this situation? Members of the Superhuman Association were paying attention to him, not ordinary people.
-First of all, why don’t you enter My Room to change your clothes?
‘But I’ll be caught if I return here.’
-I’ll offer some administrator service to manipulate the coordinates.
The Hero Universe was the best.
“He’s gone?!”
“He even had a space-related ability?”
“The younger brother of the Empress… she’s his sister, right?” Amid the crowd, an unassuming Kang Shin-hyuk returned wearing his school uniform, thanks to the administrator’s assistance. He let out a sigh as he stretched against the back of a pillar but soon felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Junior, if you’re going to do something fun like that, you should let me know.”
“Shh.” It was Lee Na-hee.
“What was with that poisonous web? It looked way stronger.”
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” Kang Shin-hyuk whistled innocently and pretended not to know Lee Na-hee. She giggled and slapped his shoulder.
“Okay, we’ll talk about it later.”
“I’ve nothing to talk about…? Anyway, I’m glad that my senior is also safe.”
“Huh, your clothes are surprisingly clean for this mess.”
“Ah.” He changed into his work uniform as soon as the attack occurred, so his uniform remained neat without a hint of dust. If he stood in front of people now, it would only look out of place. He busied himself, disheveling his outfit.
“How about now?”
“Still feels unnatural, but it’s better. Now let’s go. They say we have to continue with the awards ceremony.”
“I heard.”
“Ho, from whom?”
“… I’ve no idea what you mean.” Lee Na-hee tried to make fun of him a bit more but eventually quieted as they went on.
“Are there any officials from Shinyoung? Oh, this way!”
“We will restart the event in five minutes! If you are feeling unwell, please come to the lounge!”
“We apologize for the inconvenience. As an apology, we will be offering dinner at the hotel restaurant on the 30th floor afterward…” The hotel didn’t suffer much damage thanks to Shin Eunah’s rapid response, despite the terrible attack. The staff was cooperating with the association to restore the banquet hall to order and return the exhibits back to where they were. They were quick to protect the artifacts, so nothing was lost.
“The Korean branch of the association is really excellent. Some minor injuries, but no casualties.”
“What was that irregular gate? This year’s World Superhuman Conference will be noisy.”
“We shouldn’t wait for the conference. We need to take measures now.”
“Everyone, please take a seat! The ceremony will resume soon!” The contest hall was bustling once more. It was hard to imagine after they had just been attacked, but this crazy superhuman society was one that Kang Shin-hyuk was now a part of.
“In this World Rookies Creator Contest…”
-Eunah’s whisper: It’s been successful. A photo of you has already been posted.
-Damn it…
Shin Eunah and Kang Shin-hyuk were whispering as the moderator pushed on with the ceremonies.
-Eunah’s whisper: Now, no matter where or how you work, it’ll be fine.
-Is it really okay? I just wanted to enter gates, not become an employee of the association…
-Eunah’s whisper: Grandpa…no, my junior, trust me. There won’t be a problem at all…hm?
-What?
-Eunah’s whisper: Why is everyone saying that my grandpa is actually my brother?!
-Because you picked a name that was too similar to your own!
Shin Eunah’s reaction was more surprising than the misunderstanding. Kang Shin-hyuk contacted Claire next, who was quick to respond.
-Bartender’s whisper: I was watching a video on my phone.
-What sort of video?
-Bartender’s whisper: A video of Shin Eun-hyuk, the death puppeteer.
-Why is there a video up already?!
‘What the hell was going on in the Internet world right now?! Who filmed it?!’ He wanted to find out who did and throttle them, but he had to accept the grand prize before he could.
-Shinyoung Artifact Creation club 2nd year Lee Na-hee and 1st year Kang Shin-hyuk, please come up!” Despite all that had happened, attention was still focused on Kang Shin-hyuk and Lee Na-hee. They could feel the heat of the gazes around them as they moved forward, especially those on the beautiful Lee Na-hee.
“Really made by two people…a B-rank artifact!”
“I’ll need to watch them going forward, they’ll be stars in the production field.”
“I heard that she’s the Great Chief’s granddaughter, and he’s a disciple.”
“Ha! Amazing!”
“The irregular gates, that death puppeteer guy, and now this team. Things will be interesting.” Kang Shin-hyuk tried not to flinch away from the noise he heard around him. He felt like crying every time he heard the name ‘Death Puppeteer,’ but managed to soldier on. One day, he would find the person who came up with that name and kill them. Lee Na-hee was laughing beside him.
“Haahaha.”
“Ugh.”
Two large photos of Kang Shin-hyuk showed up in the newspaper the following day. One telling the story of the new S-rank superhuman that belongs to the Superhuman Association, and the other, the team who created a B-rank artifact.
Shin Eunah cut out Lee Na-hee from the picture but kept the rest of it.