Chapter 31
It happened before she could react.
“……”
“……”
Silence fell inside the measurement room.
“Uh.”
At Saebyeok’s flustered voice, the silence broke, and Ipado’s laughter filled the space.
“Wahaha! Seoul’s machines are weaklings!”
Laughing heartily, he slung an arm around Saebyeok’s shoulder.
“Miss! Come to Busan! Busan’s machines are solid—hey, they don’t break easy! And while you’re at it, the sashimi there is killer, washed down with soju!”
He spoke as though he had caught an opportunity, but his noisy voice passed right through her.
Because in Saebyeok’s gaze, turned toward Ipado, she saw more than just his face.
<Status Window>
Name: Ipado
Rank: S
Server: Earth (S3-EH)
Affiliation: East Sea Guild
Title: Man of the Sea (S)
Why… why can I see his status window?
Startled, Saebyeok turned to check the others.
<Status Window>
Name: Hwang Taesan
Rank: S
Server: Earth (S3-EH)
Affiliation: Black Dragon Guild
Title: Dragon Warrior (S)
Even Hwang Taesan’s, as he stared at the broken measuring device with a blank expression.
<Status Window>
Name: Kim I-han
Rank: S
Server: Earth (S3-EH)
Affiliation: Glory Guild
Title: Popular Life (S: Variable)
And even Kim I-han’s, smiling as though he were watching an amusing play.
<Status Window>
Name: Park Woojun
Rank: A
Server: Earth (S3-EH)
Affiliation: Korean Hunter Association
Title: Shield of the Investigator (A: Variable)
“Wh-what’s going on? No, why is this happening again?”
Park Woojun flailed in confusion at the gauge that had gone haywire after the machine shattered.
<Status Window>
Name: Yoon Byung-geun
Rank: S
Server: Earth (S3-EH)
Affiliation: Korean Hunter Association, World Hunter Union
Title: Sword Emperor (S)
Finally, after even checking the Association President’s status window, Saebyeok barely suppressed a laugh.
I can see other people’s status windows?
To her, this was far more shocking than the machine breaking.
No way…
With a pounding heart, she selected one of them, trying to manipulate it.
And just like when she checked her own titles, the details of the other’s title spilled out in full.
<Title: Popular Life (S: Variable)>
You live off the attention and affection of others! Share with those who like you. Anything tied to your life grows stronger by being loved and loving in return.
Unique Active Skills:
Ride the Word Without Feet (S*)
Charm of Eloquence (A)
An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth (A*)
Superstar of This District (A)
Sage’s Eye (B)
Live for Style, Die for Style (C)
Unique Passive Skills:
Stardom (S)
Word Without Feet (C)
Love is a Blessing (C)
Saebyeok swallowed hard.
She had deliberately chosen the title of the one she knew least, but nothing was hidden.
The Association President’s skills were already widely known, and Park Woojun had blurted his out the moment he awakened.
Hwang Taesan’s were straightforward and mostly public knowledge as well.
But Kim I-han’s skills? Those had always been shrouded in mystery.
Everyone knew he had buff skills, but the values fluctuated constantly, and no one ever uncovered what else he had.
So she had chosen him, the one she knew least, half-thinking it might just be an illusion conjured by her own knowledge.
<Skill: Ride the Word Without Feet (S)>*
Current Power: C
Even a word without feet can travel a thousand miles. Your allies will ride these words and soar high.
※ This is a variable skill. Power fluctuates based on <Passive: Word Without Feet (C)>.
She saw it all. It wasn’t an illusion.
And she realized something even more shocking.
I knew the buff numbers always changed, so I suspected it was variable… but it was only at C-level power?
When he buffed her, her stats rose by 18%.
If that was just C-rank power, then how much could it increase if it reached S-rank?
Her eyes widened. And when she checked what determined the numbers, she was floored.
<Passive: Word Without Feet (C)>
To be popular, you must get used to being the talk of the town.
└ Effect: Compiles your notoriety across the server for the past 90 days into a single value.
So that’s why.
Now she understood why Kim I-han was such an attention seeker.
Was he a clown because of this title, or did he get this title because he was a clown? Either way, all his actions now made sense.
Leaving dungeon gates unattended until the last moment just to draw aggro.
Always appearing wherever the hottest, loudest drama was—whether to be cursed or praised.
And why, when Korea began collapsing, he was the very first S-rank to disappear.
Wait. Just yesterday and today, his name’s been everywhere because of that Bukhansan lightning strike. That means…
When he buffed her, the skill might’ve been even weaker than the C-rank she was seeing now.
I knew it. S-ranks are S-ranks for a reason.
And if her ability let her freely read others like this…
Honestly, this one’s even more broken.
With skills like <Guardian’s Time> and <Atlas’s Safehouse>, she didn’t expect her <Server Administrator> title to surprise her again.
But it never disappointed.
The ability to check other hunters’ status windows as though they were my own…
For now, it was limited to <Asia>. But once updated with other regions, she’d hold the information of every hunter in the world.
Status, skills, title details—all things normally kept secret.
Especially passives, which you usually never knew unless someone told you directly.
As the saying went: know yourself and know your enemy, and you’ll never be defeated.
If she could see everything about an opponent, then she could see their weaknesses too—and fear nothing.
This was why hunters with unique titles were revered, and why B-rank and lower hunters, whose skills often overlapped with stronger ones, were treated so differently.
It was also why non-combat types with insight, analysis, or appraisal abilities—just after blacksmiths—were so highly valued.
Glory Guild’s vice leader Jin Seong-cheol was one such example.
Updating the data from other regions will be a hassle, but that’s a small price to pay.
<Atlas’s Safehouse> required a key. <Guardian’s Time> couldn’t be activated whenever she wished.
But this? The “penalty” was laughable.
Updating seems as simple as touching a measuring device like earlier… surely that doesn’t mean the machines will break every time?
That would be a problem, but she’d think about it later.
“I’m sorry. It looks like it broke because of me… It can be fixed, right?”
Saebyeok turned to the Association President with an apologetic face.
“A good craftsman will repair it without issue.”
He gazed steadily at her.
“However, since a case of a measuring device breaking is unprecedented, I’ll need to report this to the World Hunter Union for investigation.”
Though his expression was calm, his eyes analyzed her like a hawk.
If Kim I-han was a sly snake, then this man was more like an eagle—silent, sharp, seizing prey in an instant.
Unfortunately for him, the prey was a tiger he couldn’t catch.
!! Notification !!
Abnormal status detected.
Negated by <Passive: Heaven’s Protection (S)>.
At the same time Saebyeok’s notification rang, the Association President’s private notification sounded too.
<Skill: Confession Induction Eye (A)> has been canceled.
Target is not applicable.
I can even see other people’s private notifications.
Saebyeok thought she’d better learn to toggle this skill on and off as needed.
Otherwise, her life would be drowned in endless pop-ups.
So that skill was called <Confession Induction Eye>… Kind of a lame name.
<Skill: Confession Induction Eye (A)>
Who dares speak lies in the emperor’s court? Only confession is the path to survival—never forget this.
She knew he had a skill that forced people to tell the truth.
He had used it to root out a mountain of corruption and rot in the old Association.
But she hadn’t known until today what it was called.
Just as Kim I-han casually used <Charm of Eloquence> in conversations, the President would silently use this skill to draw truth from his opponents’ mouths.
I knew you’d try it.
It didn’t work on S-ranks, but to most hunters, it was irresistible.
Saebyeok caught the faint twitch in the President’s brow and asked, her voice trembling:
“President… don’t tell me… Do you think… I broke it on purpose?”
She looked at him with eyes full of shock and betrayal—perfectly acted.
