Chapter 32: (2): Season 1: Preparation
Along with the government-issued license, Sung-hyung established another system. It was the ranking system, which served as an indicator that determined the Slayer’s rank.
“Hyun-seok, you are the only Platinum-ranked Slayer,” he continued.
“Platinum-ranked?” Hyun-seok questioned.
“Hyun-seok, you’re the only Platinum Slayer.”
“Platinum Slayer?”
“Yes, you’re the only one in our country. However, we won’t disclose your identity. We need to let people know that there’s only one Slayer with the Platinum rank. We can utilize that information when the need arises.”
Sung-hyung provided further explanation about the ranking system.
“Although there will be a badge, we can also verify your rank through your fingerprints.”
“Fingerprints?”
“Yes, we’ll integrate them with sound. We’ve introduced a fingerprint recognition system in the Smart Encyclopedia to display the Slayer’s rank. You can use it when you need to prove your abilities.”
Verification of rank through fingerprints. There were risks of hacking and potential exposure of personal information. However, it wasn’t considered a significant issue, at least concerning maintaining the secrecy of identities. Hyun-seok’s identity couldn’t be considered a perfect secret anyway. It was expected that organizations like the United States had analyzed Cyclops Slayings through satellites and had some knowledge about Hyun-seok. The Union in Japan already knew about him. The only remaining questions were whether the top-tier Slayers or government agencies knew about him and whether the general public was aware.
Hyun-seok nodded with admiration.
“It’s quite impressive.”
A few days earlier, Hyun-seok and Sung-hyung had discussed similar thoughts. Both of them had agreed to reveal Hyun-seok to some extent. After Sung-hyung mentioned the idea, it only took three days to come up with these results.
Hyun-seok looked at Sung-hyung.
“It’s clear that the company Sori has significant influence, right?”
He knew that Sung-hyung had prevented the release of Monster Detector before. Currently, it was only sold to top-tier Slayers. Despite being a profit-oriented company, it restricted sales to a minimal number of customers. It showed the strong influence of Sung-hyung.
“Brother, how did you gain such influence through Sori?”
“Don’t you know?”
“What do you mean?”
“I am the largest shareholder in Sori. I was the largest shareholder even before Sori became so big. Actually, it was originally a small electronics company. My family owns most of the shares.”
Hyun-seok’s mouth gaped open. Sung-hyung chuckled. While humbly saying, “Why are you surprised by this? It wasn’t originally a big company. We just happened to create something good and sold it well, earning some money,” he also acknowledged that it was indeed remarkable.
During that conversation, they received a request for assistance from Japan.
“They’re asking us to capture Cyclops.”
“Cyclops?”
“Yes, it seems that over 100 Slayers have been killed by Cyclops.”
“Hmm…”
Hyun-seok knew the reason. His H/P was over 100,000, and his defense exceeded 55,000. Yet, even with those stats, it had been shaved down to just over 30,000. It was a creature that far surpassed the standard of Normal Mode. Hence, it was given the Impossible Achievement rating.
“But I think this Cyclops might be weaker than the one that appeared in Korea.”
“You think so?”
“What do you say? Will you participate in the Slaying? Our course of action will depend on your decision. We could also use it to emphasize the existence of a Platinum Slayer.”
Hyun-seok pondered. The previous Cyclops had been truly dangerous. If he were the same person who advocated safety first not too long ago, he would have immediately said NO upon hearing the proposal. However, now he hesitated a bit.
Based on the patterns so far, the Cyclops appearing in Japan would likely be weaker than the one in Korea. However, even so, it was undoubtedly a dangerous monster. If it were the 70 Japanese members who had bravely challenged the Cyclops in the beginning, they wouldn’t be considered weak Slayers.
‘If I have Pyeong-hwa Ratio Heal… And if my attacking power is formidable, it might be possible.’
That’s what he thought at first, but then he got lost in his thoughts.
‘No, it might be better if I go solo…’
Sunk in his thoughts, Hyun-seok didn’t want Sung-hyung to interrupt his contemplation, so he silently observed from the side.
‘In essence, the main purpose of group Slaying is to secure safety and efficiently switch between offense and defense.’
Slayers with high stamina and defense took on the defensive role, while agile Slayers disrupted the monsters, and Slayers with high attacking power focused on offense. There wasn’t an absolute rule of “you can only do one thing,” but in group Slaying, each Slayer was assigned a specific role.
‘But if it’s just me… If I defend and attack by myself, that’s enough. If necessary, I can just dodge.’
The concept of forming a group was to combine strengths to effectively subdue the opponent. Dividing the roles of offense and defense was ultimately to make Slaying easier. Specialized defense Slayers would handle defense, agile Slayers would disrupt, and high-attacking Slayers would take on offense. While it would be best to have a Slayer capable of both offense and defense, there were limits to the attainable stats, so most often, the focus was on intensive development of one aspect. But what if there was a Slayer who excelled in every aspect? And what if there was no target to protect?
Things would change.
‘Besides, the Cyclops gets stunned due to my partial elasticity.’
In that case, he just needed to block an attack once and then counter when the stun kicked in. During the previous Cyclops Slaying, his shield had been significantly depleted only when he attacked.
“The problem is my H/P. Regular healing won’t do anything to that absurdly huge H/P, not even the advanced healing. Only Ratio Heal might help.”
While Sung-hyung had been quietly waiting, he smirked.
“Are you thinking about your debut?”
“Not a debut…”
“I have a rough idea of what you’re thinking… In reality, except for you, the other 79 Slayers weren’t of much help at that time.”
Damage could be considered damage only when it exceeded a certain threshold. For example, when facing a monster with 100 defense, if 101 Slayers with 1 attacking power attacked simultaneously, they would barely inflict 1 damage. It was physically nearly impossible.
In other words, 101 Slayers with 1 attacking power were almost unable to hunt a monster with 100 defense. However, a Slayer with 101 attacking power would always inflict big damage, no matter how they attacked. In that sense, the one who played the most significant role during the previous Cyclops Slaying was none other than Hyun-seok. Most of the other Slayers’ attacks had been in vain.
“Ultimately, the problem lies with your durability. Healing actions won’t do a damn thing to that monstrous durability of yours. Not even the advanced heals. At best, the ratio healing from Pyeong-hwa would be helpful.”
“Yes… I suppose.”
“I have a good idea. Want to hear it? It’s about revealing the existence of a Platinum-ranked Slayer in the Korean Union. We don’t have to disclose your face, but giving credibility to the information is another issue. With your solo Cyclops Slayer status… wouldn’t that be sufficient? It’s a Platinum-ranked Slayer that hasn’t been known to the public, but undoubtedly exists. It would be beneficial for you and quite appealing to the Korean Union.”
Just a few months ago, Hyun-seok would have said no to that suggestion, but now he began to listen earnestly to Sung-hyung’s words. A method to make solo slaying safe and certain. It wasn’t too far away.
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