Chapter 1038

〈 Chapter 1038 〉 The Authority of the Gods

[Game Over.]

As always, I picked up my smartphone after returning to reality.

“Hmm… Let’s see how many points I earned this time…”

[Sung Yoojin

Level: 79

Strength: 95 Stamina: 90 Agility: 95 Intelligence: 80 Spirit: 100 Mana: 100]

[Available Points: 5,710]

“Same as usual.”

What surprised me was the level. I thought I’d hit Level 80 this time, but it looks like I fell just short on experience points. A bit disappointing, but can’t be helped.

“I’ll invest these points into stats.”

[Sung Yoojin

Level: 79

Strength: 100 Stamina: 100 Agility: 100 Intelligence: 92 Spirit: 100 Mana: 100]

[Available Points: 110]

The points disappeared in an instant.

I could feel my body getting lighter already. It won’t be long now until all my stats hit 100.

“Haven’t fully tested yet, but at this stat level… I probably match the physical capabilities of a low-tier A-Rank Hunter.”

Even among A-Rank Hunters, physical abilities vary widely. Some have incredible physical prowess but lack mana, while others have the opposite or even both.

“My physical stats will keep improving steadily. Time is on my side anyway, and from other people’s perspective, I’ll seem to be growing like some kind of monster.”

Now I’ve reached a physique that wouldn’t get laughed at even among A-Rank Hunters. The only problem is that I still don’t have enough accomplishments to qualify for A-Rank.

“To boost those accomplishments…”

I need to clear dungeons and complete Guild missions. But honestly, it feels kinda boring. Sure, you get money and special items with magical properties, but compared to the stuff I can acquire from other worlds, they’re not that impressive.

“But if I want to strut around as an A-Rank Hunter, I guess I need to keep boosting my score regularly. First, let’s meet Han Harin.”

Han Harin and I were planning to tackle some suitable dungeons together. She needs accomplishment points to reach A-Rank too, so she won’t say no.

Without further ado, I headed straight to her place. Proximity has its advantages. When you want to talk, you don’t even need to call—just drop by. And when you’re in the mood for sex, being able to meet quickly is definitely a plus.

I entered the security code and walked in. Han Harin was packing her suitcase inside.

“Suitcase? Where are you going, sis?”

“Will you stop showing up out of nowhere like that?”

Han Harin glared at me while packing black lingerie into her suitcase. Since it’s something she says all the time, I just shrugged nonchalantly.

“Going overseas?”

“This time, our guild received a commission and I’m being sent to Japan. Leaving tomorrow.”

Tomorrow.

Her words made me glance absentmindedly at the calendar on the wall. Since today is Thursday, June 10th, 2021, tomorrow would be Friday.

“You’re leaving on a Black Friday? But we planned a hotel stay!”

“That never happened. Don’t try to scam me.”

Han Harin snorted derisively.

“Scam? Come on, it was a joke. Anyway, sis, your guild gets commissions in Japan too?”

“It’s Suwol Guild, remember? Famous guilds receive requests internationally. Especially Korean guilds abroad…”


“Since Seo works often, he’s become quite famous worldwide.”

In Korea, compared to the population or national size, there are a lot of hunters, so many hunters go on expeditions overseas.

“Interesting that Japan would request help from a Korean guild like Suwol.”

“It’s not that special. It’s happened occasionally since the past.”

“What will you do over there? When will you come back?”

“Erosion Dungeon raid. We’ll be raiding an A-Rank Erosion Dungeon that appeared in Hokkaido. That’s all. If it goes well, we’ll be back in two days. At most, we’ll return within a week.”

I quietly smacked my lips. I wanted to follow Han Harin, but I had no reason to. I belong to Seventy Guild, and she belongs to Suwol Guild.

“Will you have time tomorrow? Since it’s evening now, do you want to eat out? I know this great restaurant that was on TV. They say their noodles are absolutely delicious.”

“I have to head to the airport at dawn, so let’s not.”

I hugged Han Harin from behind.

“We still have some time then.”

“…Let go of me.”

“C’mon, don’t be like that. Let’s spend some time together. We won’t see each other for a while. I’ll give you a massage.”

She flinched at the word ‘massage,’ then let out a small sigh, a sigh of resignation.

I laid Han Harin down on the massage bed and kneaded her voluptuous body with both hands. No matter how many times I touched her, her figure was always extraordinary.

Eventually, we were intertwined until dawn.

Before leaving, Han Harin showered and finished all her preparations. I personally drove her to Incheon Airport.

Watching her plane depart for Japan made me feel rather melancholic. Among all the women I’ve been with in the game world, Yuria has been the one I’ve had the most relations with. However, in the real world, Han Harin is the woman I’ve had the most sexual encounters with.

We’ve already built up quite a bond.

•••

The next day,

I visited Park Ga-in, Park Su-ho’s younger sister, along with him. It was our regular hospital visit. After talking with Park Ga-in before she fell asleep, I planned to have dinner with Park Su-ho.

“What’s wrong? You look much worse today than usual. Is something bothering you?”

I asked Park Su-ho. He maintained his expressions when meeting Park Ga-in, but after parting ways with her, he couldn’t manage his expressions at all. While it felt comfortable around me, seeing him with such a gloomy face during dinner was distracting.

“It’s not serious…but it’s also a rather absurd story to tell others…”

“The more you say that, the more curious I get. What’s going on?”

Park Su-ho scooped a spoonful of budae jjigae and ate it. Despite his gloomy face, his appetite remained intact.

“Lately, I’ve been having strange dreams. A woman appears and says the world is in danger.”

“A woman in your dream, huh? What does she look like?”

“Uh…she’s surrounded by light, so I can’t really make out her appearance. But for some reason, she seems female, so I assume she’s a woman.”

“You said these are recent strange dreams, right? Are you having the same dream repeatedly?”

“Yes. It’s been about a week.”

I scratched my head as I pondered.

Having the same dream for a week straight isn’t a good sign, especially in a world with magic and curses.

“Curse?”

“At first, I thought it might be a curse too, considering Ga-in’s situation. So I went back to the hospital immediately…but they said it wasn’t any kind of curse.”

“It could be a ghost, though.”

“As much as I may seem inexperienced, I’m a hunter who knows how to handle mana.”

Knowing how to manipulate mana meant being able to hunt ghost-type monsters.

“This is just a weird dream. Right?”

Park Su-ho was a bit special, possessing the ability to travel to other worlds. Perhaps some entity from another world was trying to send him a message.

“Tell me exactly what this woman said.”

“She said the world is in danger…and…uh… Sorry, my memory is very hazy.”

“Well, that can happen. If you have the same dream tonight, write down what she says as soon as you wake up.”

“Okay, I’ll do that. This isn’t anything serious, right?”

“If it were serious, the dream wouldn’t have ended as just a dream.”

I clinked glasses with him. The budae jjigae paired with soju was fantastic.

Afterward, we headed to a club for the second round.

The club we visited after a long time looked lackluster even though it was Friday night.

“…No, it’s not that. My standards have just gotten higher.”

It was filled with women who didn’t measure up to Han Harin. Even someone who reached 80% of Han Harin’s beauty would suffice… How odd…


As always, no sign of any hot chicks around.

I parted ways with Park Soo-ho after hanging out for a while. Thanks to my absolutely maxed-out mental and stamina stats or whatever, I didn’t get drunk at all without even using mana to burn off the alcohol. Meanwhile, Park Soo-ho got totally wasted and was being dragged around by some orc woman who had latched onto him like gum on the bottom of a shoe.

Before we split up, I took a picture of Park Soo-ho and the woman. She’s trying to cover her face with makeup, but she can’t fool me—definitely an orc. Just look at those calves under her skirt; they’re thicker than my fist!

“Hehe… Matilda…”

“Excuse me, big brother, why are you acting so weird? Do I look that good to you?”

Park Soo-ho and the orc woman were all over each other, hugging tightly. For reference, Matilda runs a flower shop in the tattoo world. She used to be one of my conquests, but Park Soo-ho doesn’t know that.

*Click click.*

“I’ll use this picture to tease Park Soo-ho later.”

The next morning, Park Soo-ho called me.

“Hyung! There’s some random woman in my house! What do I do?”

“It’s that woman you were with yesterday, right? Figure it out yourself. You’re not a kid anymore.”

“B-but, this woman is asking me to date her! Because we slept together last night! Shit! And she took pictures!”

I could hear his swearing through the phone. Looks like he saw her face without makeup. This guy pretends to be innocent but nitpicks about her looks way too much.

“Just tell her you don’t want to date her and ask her to leave.”

I hung up.

Five minutes later, a message came through.

Park Soo-ho: Hyung! This woman is crazy! She says she’s going to report me for rape because I refused to date her!

Me: Did you really sleep with her?

Park Soo-ho: W-well, I don’t remember… I must’ve done something while I was drunk…

Me: Congratulations on graduating from virginhood. Did you use protection?

Park Soo-ho: …I don’t know. My memory’s fuzzy.

Me: But you remember *something*?

Park Soo-ho: …Yeah.

Me: Then you did it.

I didn’t feel the slightest bit envious of Park Soo-ho. Sleeping with an orc like that? Poor bastard. Maybe for five seconds.

Park Soo-ho: Hyung! What do I do? She’s threatening to report me! Help me!

Me: Looks like you got bitten by a dirty broad. Give her a few hundred thousand won, and she’ll probably be satisfied.

Ten minutes later, another message arrived.

Park Soo-ho: …This psycho wants three million won! Is she serious?!

Me: Did you pay her?

Park Soo-ho: She found out I’m a hunter, so I had no choice. Plus, she was being so loud… If the rumors spread, it’ll be bad.

Me: It’s probably already spread. Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention—I took a picture of you two yesterday.

Me: (Photo)

There was a photo of Park Soo-ho, completely trashed, arm-in-arm with the heavily made-up woman. This picture would easily prove it wasn’t rape.

Park Soo-ho: Hyung! Why are you sending me this now?!

Me: I forgot. And three million won isn’t that much, you know.

Park Soo-ho: Three million might not mean much to you, but it’s a lot to me!

Park Soo-ho: I’ll get the money back from that woman and contact you again.

Me: Hey, weren’t you saying you’ve been having weird dreams lately? Did you have them again today? Do you remember what the woman in your dream said?

Park Soo-ho: Sorry, hyung, but I’m too drunk to remember anything. My head hurts from the hangover… I’ll try to get my money back first and contact you later.

Three hours later, Park Soo-ho contacted me again. He lamented that he could only recover 1.5 million won out of the 3 million.

•••

In the afternoon, I got a long-awaited message from Baek Ji-eun.

She might become an S-Rank Hunter soon, starting out as an A-Rank Hunter at such a young age. Due to a cursed sticker, she thinks I’m her childhood friend and occasional sex partner. Recently, she became an officer in the Korean Hunters’ Association, but since she’s at the bottom of the ranks, she’s extremely busy and has little authority.

“Need some credits? Help me out with some association work for a while, and I’ll make sure you get proper credit points.”

“Oh, Ji-eun! I thought you’d forgotten about me since we haven’t talked in ages!”

“I’ve just been busy, okay? That’s why I’m asking for your help with these credits.”

“Is it hard work?”

“Hmm… Kinda. One of my subordinates is in the hospital, so I’m short-staffed. If you could help for about a week, that’d be great.”

“Got it. Just make sure I get my credits.”

“You’ll definitely get them! Trust this older sister!”