Stay-at-Home Summoner

About three days since the second S-Rank Tower raid.

Normally, issues tend to fade from public interest after a day, but somehow the topic of the S-Rank Tower didn’t die down so easily.

-Does anyone know Elaine!!

-If anyone has information about the female hunter who conquered the S-Rank Towers in Mungyeong Saejae and Ganghwa Island, please report to us at the email below. [We Want to Know Production Team]

-If anyone knows anything about ‘Coser Maid,’ please report it to our NPiaTV. I will definitely find out, with pride as a hunter-specialized cyber tracker. If you see the sponsorship account open below…

“Wow, people are really interested.”

The whole of Korea’s attention is focused on this situation.

Just like when the S-Rank Tower in Mungyeong Saejae was conquered, after the conquest of Ganghwa Island, all media is now filled with interest regarding [Coser Maid].

Even the mayors and local councils of Mungyeong and Ganghwa Island have put up banners saying they are looking for ‘the hero of our hometown’ to find Elaine.

Most are purely curious about her identity.

But some have different intentions in seeking Elaine.

Reasons?

Of course, to draw her to their side.

“Humans are the same everywhere.”

As I was searching, Kiharu came over to me in cat form.

“The more modern civilization develops, the more people hide behind anonymous masks and do all sorts of vile things. Without knowing that the person they are dealing with could kill them with a single finger.”

Even though she’s a cat, she can read the content on the monitor and can even type comments on the keyboard if she wishes.

“Still, don’t you have the desire to boast to the world, partner?”

“Boast?”

“That you are Elaine’s master.”

“Boast? I’m not an idiot, if I boasted about that… hey.”

The post I wrote was—

[Elaine is lying in my bed right now.]

“Absolutely do not post that.”

“Can’t I just add ‘This post was written by a cat’ below?”

“You’ll attract attention and get your IP traced. I’m trying to restrain myself from accessing the community as it is.”

Instead of posting it, I deleted the content immediately and grabbed Kiharu’s head, squeezing it playfully.

“Are you trying to tease me on purpose? Huh?”

“Just thought it would mean you should be patient if you want to brag.”

“Be careful. If you post something like that, there are really people out there who will dig up your personal information.”

I showed Kiharu the content while searching for other people’s posts.

“Want to take a look?”

“Oh, someone claiming to be Elaine’s boyfriend has posted.”

Under the post claiming to be Elaine’s ex-boyfriend:

[Teacher, is this true? I’m a reporter from KCN….]

“Look at this. People living in reality think this is true and are trying to contact him.”

The comments were filled with various reporters’ emails.

They aren’t just joking around like people do with memes, but when I searched the names on the newspaper’s website, I found real reporters’ names.

And there were many of them.

“Look at this. It’s embarrassing to even comment that this is just a joke.”

“…Seriously taking a joke about separating cats from goddesses. Don’t these people play subculture mobile games regularly?”

“Typically they don’t. The situation across the country is quite serious right now.”

When there’s an issue, especially one concerning a person, YouTube videos and community comments are usually overwhelmed with all sorts of content.

“This is completely different from the Blue Lightning incident.”

“What was it like back then?”

Right now, one of the S-Rank hunters in the country, [Blue Lightning] is a prime example.

“From childhood friends to ex-girlfriends, even liars claiming they had a one-night stand spread like wildfire.”

Some would say they were bullied in school when they were younger.

Or claim they were nerds before awakening, and after becoming an S-Rank hunter, they changed completely.

Or that they drove a Maserati, causing electric cars around them to malfunction due to the electricity they emitted and resulted in accidents.

The slander and manipulation against them were much worse than those typically directed at regular celebrities or public figures.

“Since the government and the Hunter Association have announced they will respond officially, things have calmed down, but even back then, no one was looking for information to this extent.”

“Wasn’t it because the identity of the individual involved was already known?”

“Exactly. S-Rank hunters were like that. The situation is completely different from someone like Elaine who dropped out of the sky, completely unknown.”

A beautiful female cosplaying hunter who has conquered two S-Rank Towers.

If one could find even her real name, age, or location, just posting a one-minute video online would easily garner over a million views in under an hour.

In reality, such tabloid fake news is being produced and racking up views.

Normally, such materials would flood the internet, but right now, they are being deleted within an hour of being posted.

“Individuals aren’t just playing with bait. Companies and governments are also actively seeking out information on Elaine ‘as work,’ so no one is posting indiscriminately, even for laughs. Oh, here it is.”

I found a post and showed it to Kiharu.

“This is… an archive?”

“The original was deleted. It was removed by a government agency.”

There was a post on the internet community titled [I Went to the Police Station], which had a serious tone uncharacteristic of the community.

“Someone claimed to be Elaine’s ex-husband and posted on the internet, but deleted it in a minute, and the police traced it through the server and called him.”

“Isn’t that… a violation of privacy?”

“That’s just how seriously they’re actively tracking Elaine right now. The government is flipping out, enough for the president to be pressing lower officials.”

It’s a metaphor.

Surely the president wouldn’t gather ministers in a cabinet meeting and say, “Find that cosplaying hunter!” while kicking their knees or swearing at them.

They probably politely requested, “For the nation’s dignity, please find her.”

Or they might have mobilized hotlines connected with those in the U.S.

“Kiharu, do you want to see this?”

“This is… isn’t it a travel channel? A vlog.”

“Look at the view counts on the most recent video. Other videos get 10 or 20 thousand, but this one shot and edited video got 2 million views.”

“West Virginia… a video considered to be Elaine’s hometown is this popular.”

“That’s right.”

The bait about being a childhood friend of the president.

Because of that, some have flown to the U.S. to explore West Virginia.

Thanks to that, the area is now experiencing an unexpected boom, with people waving maid outfits like flags amid strong support for the president.

“My friend in America contacted me, saying they are probing the senators from both the House and the Senate. They even hear from former CIA directors and low-level employees.”

An American friend.

His name is Eisen A. Louis.

I only have one friend in America.

“Are they really that interested in America from Korea?”

“No, the whole world is.”

“Oh.”

Kiharu’s eyes sparkled as she directly moved the mouse.

“Even though they’re American, knowing the American president is protecting Elaine, they still want to bring her to their country. Maybe their most basic approach is… to solve it with money?”

“Right.”

This world is capitalist.

And across the globe, hunters move according to capitalist logic, which leads to movements centered more around [guilds] than nationality.

While there are cases, like four S-Rank hunters staying in Korea instead of going abroad, they chose something other than money.

Nicely put, it’s patriotism.

In less flattering terms, there are endless reasons and each person’s situation is different, so if we pick just one, it could be seen as being a pushover.

“You know Blue Lightning, right? The only male one. This guy makes 200 billion a year.”

“A walking power plant?”

“I heard they offered 2 trillion in China, with the condition he becomes a Chinese citizen.”

“Oh….”

Kiharu exclaimed in surprise.

“He stayed in Korea and gave up ten times that amount?”

“Right. That’s why people say such things too. If it were me, I’d take 2 trillion and go to China. Why is he staying in Korea for 200 billion? Is he a pushover?”

“Is he a pushover?”

“I don’t know. On the surface, he’s just an ordinary S-Rank hunter. I don’t want to know either.”

“Is there a way to find out?”

“Couldn’t you just ask here?”

I pointed to a profile on social media.

“Are you going to ask the American president directly?”

“I might need to if necessary. I don’t know what kind of intel he has from America, but he probably has the most information in the world.”

Originally, his profile was supposed to show just his upper body, but now President Louis’s profile picture is a conceptual shot taken with me.

Next to him, Elaine appears just slightly in her maid outfit.

Almost as if he’s trying to show that he’s talking to someone of equal rank, hidden beneath Elaine’s identity.

If the American president says, ‘Bring me information about some hunter in Korea,’ that information could be immediately passed to me.

Right now, the relationship between President Louis and me is at that level.

In this internet world, all kinds of information are flowing around.

Controlling and regulating such information requires experts in the field.

If someone could hack against the entire world alone, that would be even better.

“A person who’s neither male nor female but has personal combat power, smart enough to protect our information against agencies around the world.”

“Is that this guy?”

“Exactly.”

We have found it.

An android that looks just like a human.

“Partner.”

As I opened the game screen, Kiharu hit somewhere on the screen with her tail, wide-eyed in surprise.

“Hey, this one has different breast sizes in various illustrations?”

“That’s exactly proof that this friend is an expert.”

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