The first to scream was Ahn Ki-yoon.
His already rabbit-like, wide eyes grew even larger as he let out a shrill screech. He flung the sword he was holding. For a moment, it looked like a gray-haired rabbit thrashing in panic—but before the sword even hit the ground, Baek Tae-beom effortlessly caught it mid-air.
The next person to snap out of it was me.
“What the hell did you just make?”
“I-I don’t know! How should I know…!”
“What are you?”
“That’s what I want to ask, aaaaaaaah!”
Ahn Ki-yoon yelled as I grabbed his shoulders and shook him back and forth.
An S+ grade item? Never heard of it. Not once did it show up in The Apocalypse Chronicles of Another World. In fact, I wasn’t even sure such a rank existed. The name of that item was something I’d never seen before either.
Carpores? I had never encountered that name in any mythology to date. If it had been something like Excalibur or Gungnir, I wouldn’t have been so stunned.
“What’s going on, Ki-yoon?”
“N-nothing at all, Grandma!”
Ahn Ki-yoon flailed as he answered the voice coming from the room inside.
Baek Tae-beom examined the sword he had caught, turning it over in his hands before slowly drawing the blade from its scabbard. A pure white sword, shimmering with a faint red aura. The gilded decorations sparkled ominously—anyone could see it wasn’t an ordinary weapon.
The blade looked so sharp, it seemed it could cut a finger with the slightest touch. After carefully inspecting it from tip to hilt, Baek Tae-beom slid the blade back into its sheath, then smiled at Ahn Ki-yoon.
“Mind if I keep this?”
“Ah, a-ah… sure! Of course! Absolutely!”
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: I can’t tell if that was a fluke or if the kid’s actually got skills. Making something like that out of a single busted blueprint? Ridiculous.]
[CH. Private / One Who Seeks to Escape Destruction: Was there ever a sword like that in mythology? That grade is insane. What if it’s cursed or something?]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: That’s your first concern?]
[CH. Private / One Who Seeks to Escape Destruction: My kid’s gonna be using it—of course I’m worried!]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Since when were you the kid’s legal guardian? What do you mean “your kid”? Does that look like a kid to you anymore?]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: Ga-hyeon must need his eyes checked ㅇㅁㅇ;;]
[CH. Private / One Who Guides the Dead: At this point, I’m used to it. This kind of development.]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Whatever. Just consider yourself blessed to have gotten something that good.]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: <Living Point> You can ignore Apollo bragging about something he didn’t even help with.]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Hey!!]
“Do you like it?”
“Yes, hyung.”
Baek Tae-beom fastened the sword to his belt as he answered, then turned to the still-stunned Ahn Ki-yoon.
“I’ll wire your commission fee to the Hansung-registered account, so just keep that in mind.”
“H-huh. Yes, understood….”
“Shall we head out now, hyung?”
“Wait, already?”
Dropping in unannounced was one thing, but leaving right after taking care of business felt a bit too rude. I tried to stop him, but Baek Tae-beom just looked back at me as if wondering what the problem was.
“They probably want us gone ASAP.”
Looking over at Ahn Ki-yoon, I saw his face drenched in cold sweat, squirming like a puppy crushed by Baek Tae-beom’s overwhelming presence. I understood then—leaving first was clearly the more merciful option for Ki-yoon’s mental well-being.
Just as we were about to go, Ahn Ki-yoon quickly grabbed at us.
“H-hey. About that armor you mentioned last time….”
“Oh, that?”
Though he kept glancing nervously at Baek Tae-beom, Ahn Ki-yoon pressed on.
“I-I’ll send you the designs via Message. Pick whatever looks good. And… and I think I’m gonna need a Mana Stone.”
“Mana Stone? What size?”
Ahn Ki-yoon hesitated, then spread his palm wide open.
“About… this big.”
I sized it up for a moment and then nodded.
“Got it. Thanks. I’ll bring it to you when we’re done.”
“O-okay… and um….”
In the end, we ended up staying at Ahn Ki-yoon’s dorm a bit longer. We had some tea and even greeted his grandmother before finally heading home.
Baek Tae-beom always smiled when he was with me, but with his new sword in hand, he looked especially cheerful—noticeably so. He was itching to try it out all day, so we sparred a little in his yard with me acting as a makeshift practice dummy. It made me realize one thing for sure: I should never, ever wield a sword.
Even a light tap from Baek Tae-beom sent me tumbling like a row of dominoes. The Constellations clicked their tongues at me.
[CH. Private / One Who Guides the Dead: With a body like that, you’ve made it this far? Impressive.]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: And you still go running into danger every time—no wonder your Contractor’s got stomach ulcers.]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: Are you guys really Constellations?]
To be precise, it wasn’t tongue-clicking—it was straight-up mockery.
Even so, the day to conquer the Tower of Hellnest was steadily approaching.
***
“Hunter Choi Ga-hyeon, please sign here.”
I glanced over the document pushed in front of me. The gist of it was an elaborate way of saying, “If you die in there, it’s your fault—we bear no responsibility.” Without hesitation, I signed, and the association hunter who’d handed it to me gave a polite bow as he took the papers back.
Roughly 200 hunters had gathered for the assault on the Tower of Hellnest. Even though they tried to restrict access near the entrance, the buzz surrounding high-ranking Hunters taking on a top-tier dungeon had drawn so many people that it felt more like an idol concert than a raid.
Probably to avoid unnecessary stragglers, they even checked the wristbands wrapped around our arms.
[Welcome, Choi Ga-hyeon.]
[Assigned Number – 34]
“Blue Star! Blue Star-nim! Look over here! Oh my God! He looked at me! Kyaaaaa!”
“Blue Staaaaar-nim! Please just one glance! Ah, ahhh, he winked at meeee! I can die happy now…!”
Blue Star was striking poses in every direction like a full-on fan signing event, smiling and posing for the reporters and crowd snapping pictures. Thanks to him drawing all the attention, the other Awakened were visibly more at ease.
[CH.Private/Free Wind: It’s like a jam-packed marketplace~]
[CH.Private/Free Wind: Oh! Someone’s approaching from the back.]
The back? I quickly turned in that direction and saw a man holding up his phone, eyes wide in surprise, frozen in an awkward pose. But that only lasted a moment.
He flashed a cheerful grin—then casually slung his arm over my shoulder.
“Alright, viewers! Here’s the terrifyingly powerful, unrankable Hunter you’ve all been waiting for—Choi Ga-hyeon!”
When he released his phone, it floated mid-air like it was hanging from a selfie stick, capturing us on screen. For a moment, I stood dumbfounded, staring at it in disbelief.
The phone’s display was already flooded with a waterfall of comments.
[No way, it’s really Choi Ga-hyeon]
[Can we even get that close??]
[Bro ㅠㅠㅠ please be safe and come back]
[Wow, that’s really him]
[(clapping emoticon)]
[Wait, where’s Baek Tae-beom??]
[Choi Ga-hyeon’s actually kinda pretty-looking?]
[Look at that glare lol]
[I think I’m better looking, tbh]
Snapping back to my senses, I smacked the man’s arm off my shoulder. He immediately clutched it dramatically like he was in agony.
“Ow, ow, if a Hunter with an unmeasurable rank hits me like that, my shoulder’s gonna fly off…!”
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“What do you mean? Don’t you know who I am?”
He curled his lips into a smug smile.
Of course I knew. Brown hair, sly cat-like eyes, a cap pulled low. Loud, messy, and annoying—this was Yoo Ji-won, the Hunter who livestreamed dungeon raids. Even on The Apocalypse Chronicles of Another World, he maintained a neutral stance and only picked profitable dungeons to stream, which constantly caused Kang Si-hoo headaches from the aftermath.
There had been rumors that someone would be broadcasting the Hellnest raid, but I didn’t expect Yoo Ji-won himself to be involved. Of all people.
Unwilling to bother with him, I stepped back and shook my head.
“Never heard of you.”
“What? You don’t know me?”
He stepped forward—two steps closer this time. And his phone followed.
“My name’s Yoo Ji-won! A famous streamer with over five million subscribers. Still nothing?”
“Yeah. Still nothing.”
[Choi Ga-hyeon pretending not to know him because he can’t be bothered]
[That attitude tho lol]
[Such a jerk lmaoooooo]
[Ah, the power of a top-rank Hunter]
[Ugh, shut up~]
[This is why you don’t hype up high-rankers too much. They get so full of themselves.]
Even though I only caught the chat out of the corner of my eye, it was enough to make me think, Our dear Constellations sure know how to type sweet nothings.
Baek Tae-beom was still chatting with another Hunter nearby, so I couldn’t call him over. I tried to take another step back from the encroaching Yoo Ji-won—
But there was someone right behind me.
[Uh-oh]
[Ji-won, RUN RUN RUN]
Oh Kwon-hyuk was staring down at us with eyes as black as pitch.
