“Suddenly, my ear itches.”
I scratched my ear, feeling the strange itch, and smiled contently while looking in the mirror.
The appearance of wearing General Yi Sun-sin’s helmet looked quite impressive.
It felt like I was a general from the Joseon Dynasty.
“Ugh.”
My younger sister, Choi Seo-yeon, made a face as if she couldn’t watch.
“What’s with that weird helmet? Oppa, are you cosplaying now?”
“Do you know how much this is worth?”
“How much?”
“Hm, two hundred billion?”
Since Anwi’s old Hwando was five billion, Yi Sun-sin’s helmet would probably be worth four times that.
“Oppa, are you struggling lately?”
Seeing Choi Seo-yeon looking genuinely worried, I shook my head.
‘I shouldn’t have said anything.’
What would a clueless high schooler know about the value of artifacts?
“Dad! Oppa is acting weird.”
“Stop making fun of your brother’s hobbies, Seo-yeon. Come over here and watch TV.”
Father, Choi Do-jun, who had been sitting on the couch watching TV, scolded Choi Seo-yeon.
Kim Hayun, the Hunter who just finished the Noryang Gate conquest, is now exiting the gate!
Kim Hayun! How was the Noryang Gate conquest?
On the TV, Kim Hayun was surrounded by reporters for an interview.
This gate conquest wasn’t something I achieved on my own. It was only possible thanks to General Anwi’s Hwando.
“Wow~ She’s beautiful and humble too.”
“She’s really nice.”
Choi Do-jun and Choi Seo-yeon, sitting cozily on the couch, praised Kim Hayun.
Even our ordinary family expressed admiration, and the whole country’s attention was focused on Kim Hayun.
Kim Hayun was the hero who stopped the rampage of the Noryang Gate.
The community forums were flooded with posts about Kim Hayun, and the stock price of the Dawn Constellation Guild doubled compared to before the Noryang Gate conquest.
‘Looks like the Hwando was more useful than I thought.’
At this point, it felt like selling Anwi’s Hwando for five billion was a loss.
Of course, it was because Kim Hayun was an outstanding Hunter that Anwi’s Hwando could shine, but still.
If the user is below the required level, no matter how good the artifact is, a gate conquest wouldn’t succeed.
It’s a different story if it’s a legendary artifact like the Twin Dragon Sword.
Anyway, while Kim Hayun emerged as a hero, there was also a Hunter who was completely humiliated.
“Ugh, how could someone like that exist?”
“I really hate him. Why did they bring in Chinese Hunters?”
The Hunter they were cursing was the deputy leader of team 2 of the Dawn Constellation Guild, Lee Taejun.
Lee Taejun, who brought in Chinese Communist Party Hunters as reinforcements, didn’t help Kim Hayun but headed to the wrong area.
It would have ended with just him being criticized for incompetence, but Lee Tae-jun went further and dragged out a boss-level monster.
A Grade A monster, the Burning Black Ghost.
The scene of Lee Tae-jun tossing the Black Ghost to Kim Hayun and running away was caught on a body cam and broadcast live across the nation, causing an uproar.
Thanks to that, the Dawn Constellation Guild’s forum was flooded with posts calling for Lee Tae-jun’s expulsion.
‘That bastard ran away and even blocked the Star comment section.’
‘How much money did he get paid to bring Chinese Hunters into the Noryang Gate?’
‘I work for the Hunter Association, and I heard those Chinese were trying to steal the Yi Sun-sin artifacts.’
‘What? There were Yi Sun-sin artifacts in Noryang?’
└I don’t know, but that’s what I heard from above.
‘Wow, Lee Tae-jun turned out to be a traitor.’
A national petition even appeared calling for Lee Tae-jun’s expulsion from the Hunter industry.
“An A-grade Hunter, and he’s selling out his country just to pick up some extra loot?”
“Honestly, it’s better to be like my brother, with no abilities.”
She had to bring that up.
“Choi Seo-yeon, are you making fun of E-grade Hunters?”
“Hey, that’s why it’s good. There’s no risk of messing things up.”
“Seo-yeon’s right. It’s better to be low-level. If you’re too mediocre, you’ll mess things up in the gate and cause trouble.”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s true.”
It was a fact.
Hunters of mediocre ranks were the ones who died the most in gates.
Anyway, while Lee Tae-jun was disgraced, China also suffered humiliation from this incident.
Ambassador Wang Wei, who had gained favor by buying odeng on the market as a pro-Korean figure, was ridiculed and told not to show off.
The scene of the Chinese Hunters fleeing was uploaded to YouTube and ridiculed internationally.
While the Noryang Gate incident ended with Kim Hayun’s heroism, there was still a hot topic.
The conqueror of the ‘Myeongnyang Gate.’
‘The Connector.’
─ If the Connector joins the Association, I’d be willing to give up my position as a top-tier Hunter.
Famous S-rank Hunter Han Yoo-jin, a big fan of Yi Sun-sin, made an extraordinary declaration, saying she would give up her position.
─ If the Connector comes to Samdocheon, I promise to give him the deputy guild leader position.
Baek Seo-rin, the guild leader of the Black Witch Guild in Samdocheon, also promised the deputy guild leader position.
Both the Cheonmu-mun and Dawn Constellation Guilds had similar offers, and their conditions weren’t low.
If this was the situation in Korea, the interest in the Connector abroad was just as great.
If he helps with defeating the Frozen Sea’s fanatic, Russia will welcome him as a VIP.
The Russian president personally sent a love call.
“I want to invite the Connector to our guild.”
Rachel Bonaparte, an S-rank Hunter from France and a descendant of Napoleon, mentioned my nickname at a press conference.
The Myeongnyang Gate wasn’t just famous in Korea—it was a globally renowned, incredibly difficult gate.
It was no surprise that the world’s attention was on the Connector, who conquered it with an SSS rating.
The problem was, it was me.
“Wow, look at these offers. They’re no joke.”
Choi Seo-yeon was astonished by the offers for the Connector that were continuously being discussed on TV.
“Seo-yeon, what would it be like if such a person were in our family?”
“Impressive, but… I don’t know about family.”
“Why?”
Isn’t it good if a famous person is in your family?
“It’s dangerous.”
As expected, my sister.
We think alike.
‘Being famous is dangerous.’
The fanatic of the Frozen Sea is nothing.
D-grade gates are much better.
Yi Sun-sin’s helmet is an ancient artifact.
An item whose value cannot be compared to the legendary rank.
Even in reality, just wearing Yi Sun-sin’s helmet made me feel unknowingly protected.
Even if a meteor fell from the sky, I felt like I’d survive just by wearing this helmet.
That alone seemed to fulfill the role of the helmet.
But.
The attack power of the Twin Dragon Sword increases slightly due to Yi Sun-sin’s helmet.
‘This is unexpected.’
Is this a set of artifacts?
When the artifacts of the same hero come together, the attack power of the Twin Dragon Sword increased.
The helmet’s defense also increased similarly.
Ka-aa-aang!
“Creak?!”
The Hop Goblin that had hit my head with a baseball bat was now clutching its own hand.
“Surely, the performance is solid.”
However, unlike other artifacts, Yi Sun-sin’s helmet had too distinct of a characteristic.
The helmet, engraved with the Chinese character ‘元帥’ (Commander-in-Chief), was easily recognizable.
If I were to wear it around, I’d need to decorate the outside.
[You have defeated the Hop Goblin.]
[D-9 Gate Conquest Complete]
[Conquest Rank: SSS]
When I finished the gate conquest and came out, the Hunters gathered, murmuring.
“Again! Another SSS rank!”
“Crazy! It’s real. Who is it?”
Breaking through all the D-rank gates with SSS rank seemed to be a hot topic around me.
‘Should I start controlling my strength?’
Well, it’s just D-rank anyway.
Controlling my strength was more difficult.
After finishing the helmet performance test, I returned to the pawn shop and saw someone standing in front of the store.
‘Who is it?’
A woman with long hair down to her waist and a slim figure stood there.
“Here we meet again.”
“Ah, hello.”
The woman was none other than Kim Hayun.
“What brings you here?”
“Of course, I came to thank you.”
Kim Hayun smiled brightly while holding up a set of magic potions.
‘She really is beautiful.’
Her smile was captivating.
No wonder she had so many fans.
“Please, come in.”
“Thank you.”
Kim Hayun entered the store, casually looking around and asked.
“The conquest of the Myeongnyang Gate was really impressive.”
“I was surprised watching it on TV too.”
“You weren’t on TV, though.”
“I got confused with YouTube. I connect it to the TV to watch.”
“I see.”
“Yes.”
Kim Hayun smiled gently.
“By the way, where did you get Anwi’s artifact?”
“I got it by chance at my previous job. Working with artifacts, it just came into my hands.”
“Ah, from Samdocheon.”
“Yes.”
“Samdocheon is a good guild too.”
Kim Hayun said while brushing her ear.
“But the welfare is better at Dawn Constellation Guild. If you want, they even guarantee anonymity and take care of you.”
Guaranteed anonymity.
That was an enticing condition.
What I needed the most was anonymity.
“Our guild has anonymous Hunters who earn up to a billion a month.”
…A billion?
“Yes, as the gate levels increase, the amounts go higher.”
Kim Hayun tilted her head as she said.
“If you conquer a gate like the Myeongnyang Gate, you’ll probably get around a hundred billion.”
‘A, a hundred billion…!’
My heart started to race.
“They don’t force you to do conquest activities either. Anonymous Hunters are guaranteed freedom.”
As if she was speaking directly to me, Kim Hayun continued to list the benefits.
Then, she gave me the set of magic potions as a gift and left.
“I’ll come again.”
After saying that, she left.
“Whew, I almost got tempted.”
Once Kim Hayun left, I exhaled the breath I had been holding.
Each of those conditions was tempting, and if I stayed longer, I might have revealed that I was the Connector.
‘That can’t happen.’
Even if it gets revealed, my goal was to make sure it happened as late as possible.
I calmed my unsettled heart and got up to drink some water.
Ding-
At that moment, the shop door opened again.
I looked up, thinking Kim Hayun had returned, but standing there was a blonde girl I had never seen before.
She had a doll-like, awe-inspiring appearance.
“Did you call for me?”
Her purple eyes stared at me.
At the same time, a message popped up in my mind.
You’ve encountered a transcendental being from a failed world-line.