Golden Gate Bridge.
Crater Lake National Park.
Delicate Arch.
Devil’s Tower.
The Statue of Liberty.
And the Panama Canal.
We cleared five S-rank Towers within the United States, and one S-rank Tower located outside the U.S.
Six in total.
Since summoning Justice, I’ve cleared six Towers in just one month—between boarding an Air Force transport plane and summoning Illinois to rest in her captain’s quarters at a quiet resort in West Virginia.
– Master, haven’t you spent more time resting than clearing Towers?
That’s how fast we’ve been clearing the S-rank Towers in the U.S.
And now, we’ve encountered an important issue.
“You want to intentionally leave one S-rank Tower uncleared?”
[That’s right.]
Apparently, a lot has happened while I was taking a break. President Luigi looked absolutely exhausted.
[If we clear all the S-rank Towers, like in Korea, we’ll have no reason to call you back again. Have you checked public opinion in Korea?]
“I didn’t see the need to monitor it too closely, but from the briefings, public sentiment about whether the Master is essential to the Korean Peninsula seems to be fading.”
In Korea, the public image of the Master is now more like a footballer playing for a foreign club.
He’s reached the “Do you know Master?” level of fame overseas,
but people hope he won’t participate in the national team games overseen by the association.
And yet, when a national game does come around, they know it’ll be tough for him—but they still want him to play.
Thankfully, there are no more “national team-level” S-rank Towers left in Korea.
Korea itself is busy reorganizing and restructuring.
“Just as there was a strong response when the Master cleared Korea’s S-rank Towers, I understand the U.S. is in a similar position now.”
[Then this conversation will go smoothly.]
Here, in the U.S.—
[I plan to carry out a large-scale ‘purge’.]
“That’s a rather Soviet-sounding word.”
[It can’t be helped. If we want to wipe out S-rank villains who tried to launch a nuclear missile at you, or dismantle the ‘GA idealists’ within the U.S., we have to.]
Right now, the U.S. is in a state of chaos on many fronts.
[Thanks to your fifth summon, Justice, erasing that missile, people are saying it wasn’t nuclear—but those who manage the nukes know the truth.]
“They’d know if a warhead went missing.”
[Exactly. And using that as a lead, I dug through everything. What I found wasn’t even in the data you provided—darkness within this country I hadn’t imagined.]
It’s not just peering into the abyss—
It’s like he stuck his head straight into it.
President Luigi’s voice was heavy with complexity.
[The Vice President, the Speaker of the House, heads of departments… all of them have skeletons in their closets. If we somehow triggered a miracle that wiped all that away, the entire government would collapse.]
“Nobody’s perfect, sir. The question is whether it’s just harmless dust—or rotten grime that harms people’s lungs.”
[Still, I can’t just ignore it. I’ll try sweeping it out using what power I have left in the U.S. On that note…]
President Luigi spoke with a decisive tone and sent over two files.
[I’d like you to not clear the S-rank Tower in Montana. And, if possible, leave the one in the Bermuda Triangle alone too.]
“The first is in U.S. territory, but the second… aren’t there multiple nations with interests tangled up in that one?”
[Exactly.]
One S-rank Tower on the border with Canada.
And another floating over the Bermuda Triangle.
“Are you trying to prevent U.S. citizens who moved to Canada from coming back into the country?”
[That’s part of it. But more importantly, the U.S. Hunters need a way to grow stronger on their own.]
These are the only remaining S-rank Towers in North America.
[If you clear them all, where are we supposed to farm XP? Hah.]
He chuckled kindly, but I could still sense the fatigue behind the smile.
[And besides, don’t you have somewhere you’re supposed to go next? People are already placing bets on which country you’ll head to after clearing the S-rank Tower in Montana.]
“They’re betting on my next destination?”
[Indeed. Seems like the information overload made it hard for you to notice.]
“I only look into the dark web when it’s for hunting down criminals or murderers, so I haven’t checked that kind of content.”
[I see. If you’d like, I could shut it down—officially or unofficially.]
“No need for that. It’s just their way of chasing dopamine.”
I don’t have any intention of stopping it.
Some people will use me to make money, and others will blame me for losing their bets when I choose a different country than they expected—
“But for someone in my position, things like that are just background noise.”
What can you do?
As the world’s only officially recognized EX-rank Hunter, I’ve become the person who clears every S-rank Tower around the globe—
The one whom diplomats and governments constantly message with, “Please come clear ours next.”
“So, Mr. President, which country did you bet on?”
[I didn’t place an actual bet, but if I were a regular civilian, I’d have put my money on Japan.]
“…Japan?”
How did he know?
“I came across the Pacific to get to the U.S., and now you think I’ll go straight to Japan?”
[You’re someone who understands give and take very clearly, aren’t you?]
“What has Japan ever done for me?”
[Maybe the country hasn’t—but a Japanese game company certainly has, don’t you think?]
“…”
[It wasn’t hacking or anything shady. Just looking at official update notes and user comments is enough to figure it out.]
President Luigi sent over a file.
“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”
[So? What do you think of my deduction?]
It was a screenshot of a conversation between President Luigi—on a normal player captain account—and a GM.
— Will there be a moe version of Illinois in this collab?
— We’re sorry, Captain! There are no plans to update that character! As always, thank you for your…
[They’ve updated all the sister ships, starting with Iowa, equipping them with cute anime girl AI interfaces—except for Illinois? That’s not a coincidence. The developers must’ve decided: Illinois is meant to be someone’s exclusive summon.]
“…That alone seems like a stretch.”
[This might involve a bit of private info being exposed, but… who do you think owns the black card you received?]
“…”
[One more name appeared recently. Should I take that as a hint about your sixth summon? I’d wager this update turned a non-human into something that looks human.]
“…I can’t even deny it.”
As much as I wanted to keep it secret, I wasn’t about to lie about a sixth summon that doesn’t even exist.
“…It is Illinois. And the people who gave Illinois the ability to live and breathe as a person—
I’m going to help them keep making their game in peace. I’m not saving Japan; I’m saving the game company in Japan.”
I turned my eyes toward the countless mobile gacha games installed on my computer.
“…Especially for that ‘sixth one’ I mentioned.”
* * *
[At the same time, Korea – A hotel in Yeouido.]
“Da-ram, are you seriously going through with this?”
“Of course. It has to be done. How do I look?”
With his once-blue hair now dyed black, the young man known as Blue Lightning adjusted his white suit and glanced at the tall man behind him.
“Do I look crazy?”
“If you wore a white tie too, you’d look totally insane.”
“I’ve got white shoes. And I can’t just wear any random color for the tie—don’t want people projecting political bias.”
“So that’s why you custom-ordered a tie with a Taegeuk symbol?”
“Exactly.”
Blue Lightning spread his arms and stood in front of the window.
“What does this remind you of?”
“A madman.”
“Be serious.”
“If I say what you want to hear—The Taegeukgi.”
“Right. That’s it. I almost added trigram accents like Geon-Gon-Gam-Ri, but figured my hair would cover that symbolically.”
“…Are you sure you want to go down this path?”
“Of course. It’s the mission given to me. You’re an A-rank Hunter too—that’s why you’re my aide now, right?”
“I used to be an aide for the old men in the Assembly… Ugh, whatever.”
The man, Kim Moo-jin, known publicly by the alias [Mugung], an A-rank Hunter, scratched his head and picked up a poster from the table.
“I thought I’d walk the path of a Hunter forever. Never imagined I’d end up back in politics, this time as an aide to a National Assembly candidate.”
“You talk like I’ve already won.”
“Of course. An S-rank Hunter is running for office—what party would dare oppose that? I hear even the opposition isn’t bothering to field a candidate.”
“And that S-rank Hunter isn’t running with the ruling party or the opposition—but is forming a whole new party and running in the heart of Seoul.”
“I bet the property owners are thrilled. So tell me, Mr. Representative of the [Korean Hunter Party], how far are you planning to go with this?”
“As far as I can. And from there…”
Through the glass window.
“To a world without Ironblood.”
Blue Lightning gently clenched his fist in the direction of the National Assembly building visible in the distance.
“And someday, may this become the home Master can return to—after conquering every Tower in the world.”
“…Honestly, it’d probably be faster for Master to finish clearing all those Towers than for you to get rid of all the Ironblood in this country.”
“Doesn’t matter. We have to try. And that’s not the only thing. How’s the situation over in Pangyo?”
“Pangyo? They’re doing well. NPia and several game companies are pooling their resources and working hard.”
“Good. That’s how it should be. We’re in a race against every other country now.”
Blue Lightning pulled out his smartphone and opened a folder full of saved screenshots.
“Master’s an otaku who loves mecha and anime girls. We need to support summoning people like that at the national level. Next time too… We need to make sure Korea’s devs are the ones who create the next summon.”
* * *
“Someone out there has seriously misunderstood something.”
“You’re not an otaku who loves anime girls?”
“Drei, do I seem like the type to summon someone just because they’re a cute girl?”
“Next you’ll deny that, back when you were a civilian, you fully limit broke and fully refined Elaine.
Didn’t you save a dozen worlds in anime girl gacha games instead of playing console games?”
“…”
