Ch.127Change Is Dangerous (3)

After returning to Earth from Thebes, it’s already been a year and a half since I first awakened.

Quite a lot of time has passed and my relationships have undergone extreme changes, but what I actually need to do hasn’t changed much.

Enter dungeons, kill monsters, level up.

Following that simple principle, I tackled every A-rank and B-rank dungeon I could find, and now I was resting at home while exchanging various information with Joseph.

“Wow, there are definitely many more high-rank dungeons compared to before.”

[Of course, like I said last time, it’s not just your imagination—the numbers have increased dramatically. Compared to two years ago, they’ve already tripled.]

“What about S-rank dungeons?”

[Those haven’t shown such noticeable changes yet. There’s a lot of talk about why, but I guess it’s just not time yet.]

Well, that makes sense. Even in games, difficulty increases usually happen gradually, starting from the bottom up.

But the situation I was sensing was a bit different.

‘Even compared to just a few months ago, the energy concentration on Earth has become noticeably denser.’

Especially recently, the rate of increase has been so steep that I can feel the changes day by day.

The difference is significant even compared to the major dungeon in America or the recent S-rank dungeon incident in Korea.

In other words, I think Earth is already prepared to accept more powerful and massive dungeons.

‘If my prediction is correct, then soon…’

S-rank dungeons would likely appear in much greater numbers, just like the other ranks.

Perhaps in the future, dungeons of a level humanity has never experienced before might appear.

When I shared these thoughts, Joseph responded with a slightly tense expression.

[That’s a terrible thought, but somehow I feel it’s not just paranoia.]

The statistics actually showed it.

Dungeons are changing. They always have been, but even more so recently.

No one knows where this will lead, but everyone agrees that humanity is being pushed into increasingly dangerous situations.

And they weren’t the only ones harboring such thoughts.

“Don’t you all find this strange?”

At an emergency countermeasure meeting hosted by the British Hunters Association.

There, Association President Albert pointed to the prepared materials and questioned each of the high-ranking officials gathered in the conference room.

“Last month alone, there were 163 B-rank dungeon occurrences and 37 A-rank occurrences. What do you make of this?”

“The rate of increase is tremendous. It almost makes the previous figures seem like they were false.”

“This recent situation is definitely abnormal. What on earth is happening?”

Unlike in the past when they would constantly criticize each other, everyone continued the conversation with a worried atmosphere.

Albert nodded solemnly and moved to the next slide.

“Honestly, what’s even more strange is the decrease in D-rank dungeon generation.”

Unlike last month’s 489 occurrences, this month saw only 187—a dramatic decrease.

And that was certainly peculiar.

Just last year, D-rank dungeon occurrences in Britain often exceeded 1,000 per month.

“Do you all understand what these numbers mean?”

Albert’s words were followed by a moment of silence in the conference room.

Then, a middle-aged female council member with trembling eyes spoke softly.

“D-rank dungeons might disappear completely. This means the lower threshold of dungeon occurrences is rising.”

“Exactly. Soon we might not find any D-rank dungeons across all of Britain. Instead, higher-ranked dungeons will fill that void.”

It was a terrifying prospect. Honestly, even containing the current dungeons was already causing steady casualties every year.

The numbers might not seem impactful, but even at this very moment, somewhere people are falling victim to dungeons and monsters.

As everyone sighed deeply, Senator Wilson, who had been sitting with his arms crossed, hesitantly spoke up.

“Then, doesn’t this mean that as the lowest rank disappears, another rank could emerge at the top?”

“Pardon?”

“I mean, there’s a possibility that something new might appear above S-rank.”

Most council members tilted their heads at Wilson’s somewhat abstract suggestion.

But thinking about it, it wasn’t an unreasonable idea.

If the lower threshold of dungeons is rising, wouldn’t the upper threshold naturally rise as well?

The high-ranking officials of the association and council members all imagined such a scenario with one mind.

A dungeon appearing that would break the defined S-rank standard, threatening Britain with a level never seen before.

“Oh, my…”

It would be nothing short of a catastrophe. Something too frightening to even imagine.

‘The worst dungeon that has appeared on Earth so far is S2-rank.’

Even that was just an estimate from when clear standards hadn’t been established, not a definitive record.

And beyond that is truly uncharted territory.

It’s just a blank space left in anticipation of dungeons more powerful than S2-rank.

But now, such a dungeon requiring a new rank might actually appear soon.

“…Sigh, I believe the severity of the situation has been clearly conveyed. This is beyond our control anyway. Let’s focus on increasing our clearance pace to match the growth in occurrences.”

That was the right answer.

The council members nodded and moved on to the next agenda, earnestly exchanging opinions.

All while desperately hoping that their concerns would never become reality.

#

Baek Eunha’s recent actions had been quite extraordinary.

Out of nowhere, he headed to a large S-rank dungeon in America and became an internationally wanted person, then resolved all those issues and proudly became South Korea’s fifth S-rank hunter.

Then he cleared an S4-rank dungeon that appeared in Korea after 4 years with a party of just three people.

Although his companions were Exiel and Xavier, it was an undeniably impressive achievement.

‘After that, he suddenly got entangled with Western powers and went through another round of tension.’

The incidents involving Henesia’s group and the Seven Stars members were conveyed to the general public in a somewhat distorted form.

Obviously, revealing the truth about humans crossing over from another planet would cause chaos. It was a natural measure from the world organization’s perspective.

And ultimately, the story became that Baek Eunha, who was involved in the incident, made Henesia and Astride—previously unregistered awakened ones—into hunters affiliated with Korea.

This was largely influenced by Julian Chenbiltz, a hunter known as one of the Seven Stars.

– Baek Eunha is seriously lucky.

– He causes trouble but everything works out well in the end. At this point, he must just be naturally skilled.

– Whether they’re hidden test subjects or conspiracy theories, I don’t care—we’re finally a hunter superpower too lol

Of course, no citizens would dislike the fact that he brought two S-rank hunters to Korea.

While various unfounded speculations and rumors were spreading in Korea and other countries, causing controversy, most people no longer cared about that.

And naturally, Baek Eunha, who was at the center of it all, was now treated almost like a national hero in online communities.

From the association’s perspective, having clearly recognized Baek Eunha’s formidable strength, they wouldn’t even think of going against his wishes.

As a result, Baek Eunha was freely allocated high-rank dungeons to gain experience without having to worry about others’ opinions.

However, as things developed this way, some factions began to harbor dissatisfaction toward Baek Eunha.

Most of these were various Korean guilds that had lost out due to the excessive dungeon allocations to Baek Eunha.

BANG!

“How is this acceptable? Even for an S-rank hunter, no one has ever shown such tyranny before.”

“No matter how much we complain, the association only repeats that it’s appropriate compensation and remains silent otherwise. They must all be in cahoots.”

“Shouldn’t we all unite on this? This country runs because of us—there’s no reason to tolerate such blatant mistreatment.”

Of course, not all major guilds shared this sentiment.

Especially the Blue-White Guild, which knew Baek Eunha’s abilities, and its allied guilds expressed no complaints.

They thought it would be pointless to challenge him and end up getting crushed, and it was sufficient to maintain their current positions in Korea under the protection of such a powerful figure.

However, even considering this, there were surprisingly many guilds that shared the dissenting opinion.

And they immediately began taking action. From short-term public opinion manipulation to increasingly bold moves.

The major guilds that had occupied a significant portion of Korea’s hunter scene were now targeting Baek Eunha alone.