A phone call came.
—"Hello. This is Jongwon. How are you?"
"Fking hell, it's that fking guy."
Hyunseok smirked. His human relationships were generally good, but only on the surface. Deep bonds? He had very few of those.
Among them, Jongwon was different. They had been in the same class since middle school, and even now, fifteen years later, they still kept in touch. It wasn't just the occasional call either. Back in school, they'd sworn eternal friendship while sneaking alcohol, only to get caught by the disciplinary teacher and beaten black and blue.
Jongwon was the one person Hyunseok truly considered a real friend.
His old nickname had been Mad Dog.
That mad dog suddenly declared he'd go to America to get a doctorate, and two years had already passed since then.
—"A friend calls you after ages, and the first thing out of your mouth is cursing?"
"Your voice deserves a 'f**k you' as soon as it's heard."
—"Come on, man. We're nearly thirty. When are you gonna quit swearing? Try using a beautiful, refined language like me, you dumbass moron."
"What's with you all of a sudden?"
They weren't the kind of friends who contacted each other daily. Only when something special happened. Yet whenever they did talk, there was no awkwardness. Somehow, whenever he spoke to Jongwon, curses just flowed out naturally, like he was back in middle school.
—"I'm coming back to Korea."
"Already? What about your PhD?"
—"I finished it, idiot. Who do you think I am?"
"Yeah, right. You're full of crap."
It had only been two years since he left, and back then, he hadn't even finished his Master's degree.
'No way he really got a PhD.'
It made no sense.
Then Jongwon dropped the real bomb.
—"I became a Slayer."
"A Slayer?"
—"Yeah. Surprised?"
"Surprised, my ass. Just don't cause trouble, dumbass. There's enough of that going around lately."
Hyunseok did flinch a little, but he didn't show it. From what Jongwon said, he'd become a pretty strong Slayer. He'd abandoned his PhD to pursue the Slayer path.
Hyunseok shook his head.
"Damn, your drive really is wasted. Remember how you suddenly went off about getting a doctorate, then ran away to the U.S.?"
Now he'd become a Slayer, and apparently wanted to live as one.
To be fair, Slayers were treated well. Their physical abilities far surpassed normal humans, so governments around the world recruited and supported them.
Four days later, Jongwon really did arrive back in Korea.
Sitting in his underwear on Hyunseok's sofa, chewing on squid legs, Jongwon said:
"You bastard. You couldn't even come pick me up?"
"I was working. How was I supposed to meet you? Where are you staying?"
"I'll rent a studio. Until then, I'll crash here. By the way, you've been working out, huh? Your body looks crazy."
Hyunseok had always been fit. He'd trained consistently since he was twenty.
"You're the one who's changed. Does becoming a Slayer automatically buff your body?"
Jongwon sprang up.
"Hey, brat, show some respect. My value's sky-high now."
"Sure, sure. Your cockiness hasn't died down one bit."
Hyunseok sighed deeply. Jongwon frowned.
"I'm not being cocky!"
"Shut up, you human amplifier. What's next? Gonna tell me you're the world's strongest Slayer? Damn, whenever I'm with you, curses just spill out."
Hyunseok hadn't really cursed since his twenties. But whenever he met Jongwon, the words just slipped out.
Jongwon put on a serious face.
"How'd you know?"
"Cut the crap."
"No, really. When I awakened as a Slayer, my Strength was thirty-eight. Now it's forty-eight. I checked U.S. statistics, officially, no one has higher stats than me."
Hyunseok twitched.
'Strength 48? That's the official U.S. record?'
He himself hadn't even registered as a Slayer yet. Surely there were others like him, quietly staying hidden. But Strength 48 being the highest official record… that was shocking.
"Are you sure forty-eight is the peak?"
"This is top-secret info, and I'm only telling you. Stats are classified."
"Classified my ass. All my stats are at 100."
Jongwon burst into loud laughter.
"Yeah, right. Sure, you've got 100 across the board. Cute. I'm crashing, man."
"On the floor. The bed's mine."
Hyunseok shoved him off the mattress and lay down, lost in thought.
'So forty-eight is the official record. Then what am I?'
It wasn't joy he felt, it was unease.
Every one of his stats was at 100. When his Strength first reached 100, he'd earned the title Strongman and three bonus points, which he'd spread across Intelligence, Stamina, and Agility.
Reaching 100 in each stat had given him four titles: Strongman, Sage, Stone Ox, Quickstepper. Plus twelve bonus points, which he still hadn't used.
So right now, every one of his stats was 100, with nine points remaining unspent. Only his Vitality lagged behind, leaving him with penalties.
'There have to be others who figured out what I did…'
If tutorials differed for everyone, maybe not. Most people probably just boosted Vitality blindly, following instructions.
And if quests weren't the same for everyone? What if he'd just lucked out with the perfect quest and exploited it?
'Right. My titles were awarded for being the first to hit 100 in each stat. If there was no system error, then I really was first.'
"Hey, Jongwon. You awake?"
"Yeah."
"How did you get into Easy Mode from the Tutorial?"
"Quest, of course. I had to kill 500 mosquitoes, 10 foxes, 5 bears… what else? Ah, right, the big one was an eagle monster. I even practiced shooting to catch it, it was way too fast. Hey, are you even listening?"
"I am."
And it confirmed his suspicion. Quests differed per person.
His own quest had given him +1 stat for every 100 monsters killed. An absurdly broken quest. If others had the same, they could've stacked crazy stats too.
But Jongwon bragged anyway:
"Anyway, I got 20 stat points as a reward. My abilities are insane now."
"Good for you."
Hyunseok drifted back into thought.
'What the hell am I?'
Stat 100 was clearly beyond normal. But it wasn't godlike perfection either. A protruding stone gets struck first, he'd learned that painfully as a kid. Better to keep quiet and watch.
Not long ago, after receiving his first quest, Hyunseok had tried raising Vitality.
Vitality influenced overall ability. Not exactly a stat like Strength or Agility, but important nonetheless. And he was already feeling drained from excessive sex, so it couldn't hurt to live healthier.
'Regular lifestyle, some black raspberry extract juice… that should help.'
He decided to cut down on sex, keep a routine, exercise, and drink black raspberry extract daily.
'Will this really raise my Vitality?'
He'd read online that someone gained +1 Strength after working out. Hard to trust rumors, but it was worth testing himself.
It wasn't harmful, if anything, it was good for him.
And with actual numbers to track, he found himself motivated.
Three days later:
[Your Vitality stat has increased by 1.]
[Your body feels invigorated. Physical activation 57%. Recovery speed has increased.]
[All stats except Vitality now influence your body.]
[Based on non-Vitality stats, physical age judged as 26. Recovery speed increased.]
He felt good. Twenty-six sounded a lot better than late twenties nearing thirty.
He eventually maxed his stats to 100, forcing a transition from Tutorial Mode to Easy Mode. Three months passed like that.
One evening, Jongwon barged into his apartment, knowing the door code.
His face was flushed red from drinking.
"Hey, bastard, I brought in some nice profit today."
"Is this your house now?"
"Don't sweat the small stuff."
He explained: his guild had hunted a tiger monster and obtained a Monster Stone, a valuable item.
"Sit down, Jongwon."
"What, no drinks? I'm buying today."
"Not that. Sit."
"Let me guess, you're about to spew that same crap about having 100 in all stats again?"
Jongwon chuckled. Hyunseok sometimes teased him with absurd questions like, "What if I had 100 in everything?" Today looked like one of those times.
"Listen carefully. I hit 100 in Strength, got the Strongman title, and three bonus points. Then, since I was the first to hit 100 in every stat, I got nine more. Do you know what that means?"
Jongwon snorted. "Did you take a dump or something?"
Hyunseok shook his head. He'd stayed quiet, stacking his stats, while the world rapidly changed.
Government Slayers had appeared. Private companies had formed, drawn by profit.
The key was monsters dropped loot when killed, items and, most importantly, Monster Stones.
These stones were treasures of immense value, versatile in use, and fetched high prices. Drop rates weren't bad either.
The companies that specialized in monster hunting became known as guilds, a phenomenon spreading globally. Governments quickly adapted tax codes and laws to keep up.
Jongwon, a melee-focused Strength-type Slayer, had joined I'UET, one of Korea's top five elite guilds.
(End of Chapter 4)
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