Chapter 277 – Part 2 – Synchronization Rate

Two hunters had died easily.

One of them was an E-rank with over 3,000 combat power.

‘As expected, there’s nothing better than ambush for killing strong opponents.’

It was only because he had hidden in the armory beforehand and struck first – if he had faced them head-on, he would have been the one to die.

‘An E-rank wearing equipment is no easy opponent.’

Thinking he had been somewhat lucky, Seong-min examined the traits he had acquired.

[Trait – Stealth Detection]

-Rank: C

-Description: Detects stealth or invisibility of targets within a 30m radius. Can detect even opponents with high combat power.

[Trait – Dagger Mastery]

-Rank: B

-Description: Allows skilled handling of daggers. Weapon attack power doubles when wielding a dagger.

The trait obtained from killing the F-rank was actually better than the one from the E-rank manager.

‘Good. I got the trait I wanted.’

Seong-min had already known that Nam-gi’s trait was Dagger Mastery.

He had planned everything after confirming his trait before possession.

‘I was determined to kill this bastard no matter what.’

Seong-min had predicted every situation from the beginning.

That Nam-gi, with his strong pride, would tattle to the E-rank manager for revenge after being beaten.

That the E-rank manager, given his personality, would open the armory to lend items rather than intervene directly.

That Nam-gi would head toward the daggers to utilize his trait.

Everything was in Seong-min’s head, which is why he could succeed in the ambush.

‘But I didn’t know I could kill an E-rank hunter so easily.’

Seong-min examined the dagger he was holding.

[Sharp Emerald Dagger]

-Category: Weapon

-Rank: F

-Attack Power: 50~56

-Effect: Agility +4

-Durability: 397/400

-Usage Restriction: F-rank or higher

-Description: A dagger with a beautiful, subtle emerald glow. The blade is quite sharp.

‘Looking at the attack power and options, it’s top-tier among F-rank weapons.’

Thanks to the dagger’s high attack power, the Hunter Slayer trait’s damage amplification was effective, allowing him to handle the E-rank hunter more easily.

‘Very good. Everything’s good, but…’

Seong-min looked with puzzled eyes at a message that appeared in one corner.

[Synchronization Rate 12.9%]

[Synchronization Rate 13.0%]

‘What’s this? Synchronization rate?’

It was an unfamiliar message even to Seong-min, a veteran hunter with 110 years of experience.

‘Is this only in the old version?’

Since he hadn’t heard about it separately from God, he had no way of knowing.

‘What’s certain is that this message appeared when I killed people…’

That’s why the message appeared twice.

‘Does the percentage go up from killing people? But why didn’t it start from 0%?’

He’d have to kill someone else to know for sure.

‘I can’t ask God either, this is frustrating.’

It was frustrating in many ways, but he decided not to worry about it.

There was a more urgent problem than the synchronization rate right now.

‘I need to clean up quickly before someone comes.’

There wouldn’t be anyone looking for the armory late at night, but just in case.

Seong-min took a shovel and went outside, digging a hole nearby.

Then he secretly dragged the bodies and buried them, and wiped the blood from the armory floor.

Having finished destroying the evidence, Seong-min wiped the sweat from his forehead.

‘Phew, I can rest easy for now.’

But it wasn’t over yet.

The most important task remained.

‘Shall I clean out the armory?’

Seong-min began moving through the armory, putting items into his inventory.

As long as the CCTV was off, no one would know who took them.

* * *

“Oppa.”

His sister A-yeon looked at him with worried eyes from the morning.

“Do you really have to go to work?”

“Of course I do.”

“It hasn’t even been a day since you were discharged.”

“The higher-ups think you’re fine once you’re discharged.”

“Still, without resting for a few days…”

“If I could do as I pleased, I wouldn’t be doing this.”

Commoners couldn’t skip work unless it was unavoidable.

A-yeon knew this fact too, so she didn’t try to stop him anymore.

“Let’s go, A-yeon. Let’s commute together after a long time.”

“Huh? Oh, okay.”

Originally, Seong-min, who had depression, didn’t open his heart even to his family.

Because of this, even when their commute routes were the same, they would go separately or he would leave home early.

But Seong-min, who woke up from the coma, was completely different.

Not only did he talk more than before, but he even suggested commuting together.

‘He’s changed 180 degrees.’

A-yeon was bewildered by her brother’s changed appearance, but it didn’t look bad.

Rather, his current confident appearance looked better.

“I couldn’t say this yesterday because of the chaos, but thank you for helping me.”

“It was nothing.”

“Were you always that good at fighting, oppa?”

Answering yes would contradict his claim of being bullied, so he had to make another excuse.

“Seeing him hitting on my sister made me find strength I didn’t know I had.”

“If it wasn’t for oppa, who knows what might have happened. That person’s eyes were kind of scary.”

“Don’t worry anymore. That bastard will never appear in front of you again.”

Though it sounded like empty words, A-yeon found her brother’s words reassuring.

“But you know what? Walking to work with oppa like this was actually my wish.”

“Really? I didn’t know. Then shall we walk together every day from now on?”

“Really? Is that okay?”

“Of course. What’s so difficult about that?”

It wasn’t difficult since they were going in the same direction anyway.

“I thought oppa always left for work first because you didn’t like me…”

“Hey, how could oppa dislike his sister?”

“Then?”

“Back then, I just wanted to walk alone. I had a mental illness.”

“Ah…”

“It’s all better now, so you don’t need to worry.”

At the mention of mental illness, his sister’s gaze became pitying.

“I didn’t even know that and only blamed oppa…”

A-yeon, who had been hanging her head, raised it again with a lively face.

“I’ll really treat you well from now on, oppa.”

“You don’t have to force yourself.”

“No. You don’t know how much I cried when oppa was hospitalized. I reflected on myself then. I should have treated you well while you were there.”

“…”

“So I’m going to be a sister who helps oppa.”

“Just saying that is enough.”

Seong-min, who patted her back, stopped walking.

From here, they had to go separate ways.

“Work hard and I’ll see you at home later.”

“Yeah! It’s oppa’s first day back at work, so don’t overdo it!”

“Okay. Got it.”

After parting with A-yeon, Seong-min headed toward the company.

‘I don’t expect anything from my family.’

There was nothing they could help with, and he wasn’t in a position to receive help.

‘I just need them not to interfere with what I’m going to do.’

It might seem cold, but it was a thought he could have because they weren’t really his family.

* * *

“Good morning. Good morning.”

Seong-min, who arrived at the Hunter Management Center, bowed to every employee he saw.

The regular employees had higher status than him, a commoner.

‘So mornings start with greetings like this.’

Most of them didn’t even acknowledge his greetings or make eye contact, but if he ignored them and passed by, his work life would become difficult.

Because he was a commoner.

‘Commoner in name, but no different from a slave.’

Though the treatment was much better than slaves, the class below commoners, in terms of being treated like livestock, there wasn’t much difference.

‘Even if it’s unpleasant, I’ll endure it. This kind of life won’t last long.’

Seong-min first headed to the team leader’s seat to report his return.

“Good morning. I’m Seong-min, who took sick leave and is returning this time…”

“Got it, now go.”

The team leader waved his hand quickly as if shooing away a fly, then made a phone call somewhere.

‘He looks busy from the morning.’

He could guess why, but pretended not to know and headed to his seat.

Then he began preparing for work based on the memories transmitted from the original owner.

“Seong-min.”

At the voice from beside him, Seong-min turned his head.

A man with a familiar face was smiling as if happy to see him.

‘His name is Gwang-jin. A commoner of the same age who joined the company at the same time.’

Having quickly assessed the other person, Seong-min began acting friendly, thinking of their past relationship.

“Oh, Gwang-jin.”

“Hey, if you woke up, you should have immediately reported to me. When did you wake up?”

“Yesterday.”

“You look healthier than I thought? Though you do look thinner than three months ago.”

At first glance, the two seemed close, but in reality, there was an invisible hierarchy.

‘Even though we’re both commoners and the same age, he tends to be subtly sarcastic or treat me like a subordinate…’

That’s why the original Seong-min didn’t consider Gwang-jin a friend either.

He felt that he wasn’t being treated as an equal.

“Anyway, congratulations on coming back. We almost had to hold a funeral. Kek kek.”

Commoners couldn’t hold funerals.

They didn’t have the money for it.

He probably meant it as a joke, but this crossed the line.

“Hey, you bastard. Is that something to say in front of someone who almost died?”

“Huh? What?”

When he pointed it out seriously, the guy was flustered.

Of course he would be.

Seong-min had always laughed off even the most inappropriate jokes.

“Hey, it was just a joke, why are you…”

“Save that kind of joke for when your parents die.”

“What, what?”

Gwang-jin’s expression immediately contorted.

His eyes were trembling, showing how angry he was.

“You, you son of a…”

“Hey. It was just a joke, why are you like that? You’re not taking it seriously, are you?”

When Seong-min said this with a grin, Gwang-jin swallowed his anger that had risen to his throat.

“Ha… Seong-min, you seem to have changed a bit after coming back to life?”

“Coming back to life? When did I die? Am I Jesus?”

“…”

With that last comment, Gwang-jin was certain.

The guy in front of him wasn’t the loser he knew.

Regardless, Seong-min casually asked to gather information.

“Hey, but did something happen? Why is the company atmosphere so chaotic?”

“You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“The armory in the next building got robbed yesterday.”

“Robbed? What do you mean?”

“Someone swept away all the items.”

“What?”

Seong-min acted surprised with a bit of overacting.

That way Gwang-jin would get excited and talk more.

Sure enough, Gwang-jin was smiling with enjoyment at Seong-min’s reaction.

“This guy really didn’t know.”

“Of course I didn’t. I just got to work.”

“Tsk tsk, being so slow with information.”

“Who robbed it?”

“I don’t know either. But seeing that the armory manager and Nam-gi didn’t come to work, they seem to be considering those two as prime suspects.”

“Nam-gi didn’t come to work?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Today’s a total jackpot.”

Nam-gi’s absence, who was the drill sergeant of F-ranks, was good news for the two who got scolded every day.

“Ah, I wish he’d never come back.”

‘Don’t worry. Unless someone digs up his grave, you’ll never see that bastard’s face again.’

Swallowing his internal response, Seong-min checked the ranking system for the two people’s names.

783,803rd – Nam Dong-il (31 years old) – Combat Power 3,021 (E-rank)

1,000,009th – Oh Nam-gi (30 years old) – Combat Power 200 (F-rank)

Even though they were definitely dead, their names were still listed in the rankings.

‘This is what’s good about this world. Rankings are only updated once a month.’

In the previous dimension, you could check rankings in real-time to know survival status, but this world’s system was different.

‘Rankings are updated on the 1st of every month.’

That was why the two dead people were being blamed as the culprits who robbed the armory.

‘No one will notice the truth until the rankings are updated.’

There were still three weeks until the 1st of next month.

‘Well, even if their deaths are revealed, I won’t get caught.’

Seong-min also checked his own combat power while he was at it.

1,021,392nd – Choi Seong-min (20 years old) – Combat Power 0 (F-rank)

His actual combat power in the status window had risen to 181 from killing Nam-gi and the manager, but it was still displayed as 0 in the rankings.

‘I should raise my combat power as much as possible before the update.’

If combat power exceeds 3,000, you become E-rank, and then you can escape commoner status.

And all these ranks are based on the ranking system.

‘Fortunately, dungeons will open before next month, so there’s a chance to increase combat power.’

While thinking he needed to escape commoner status as soon as possible, Seong-min turned his gaze and happened to see a man.

“That person is…”

“Huh? Isn’t that a manager from another branch?”

He was a manager who managed E-rank armories at other Hunter Management Centers and was often seen around.

“What’s a manager from another center doing here?”

Gwang-jin expressed his curiosity, but Seong-min knew.

The reason why E-rank armory manager Kim Gi-hong had visited the center early in the morning.