[ Hello, viewers! ]
[ I'm Mona, MC of Good Morning Babel, always bringing you the latest Hunter news first! ]
[ I'm MC Riza. ]
[ You all heard that beautiful sound last night, right? Yes! The Dawn guild led by rank 6, Hwanghon ("Twilight"), gifted the Korean Babel server with the bell of victory for the first time in a while! ]
[ Since Floor 39 has been unlocked after a long five months, expectations are sky-high! And wouldn't you know it, the 40th Tutorial Week is just about to kick off, Riza-Riza? The timing is ab-so-lutely killer! ]
[ Indeed. As the final gate of the 30s, a significant level of difficulty is expected, so each guild is highly likely to pull elite members and go in as a coalition. ]
[ Which means every guild will need to bolster its power in its own way—in other words, recruitment. ]
[ With the Tutorial running, the upper floors of the Tower will also be temporarily closed, so naturally all eyes will be on the Tutorial. ]
[ Especially! Floors 19, 29, and now 39! There's even a superstition that the cohorts who come in when one of those "cursed nines" opens get chosen more often by the Stars! ]
[ It's not something to dismiss as mere superstition. ]
[ Gyeon Riok ("Bambi"), currently #5 domestically, and #6 Hwanghon ("Twilight") were the most-watched rookies in the year Floor 29 opened. Both succeeded in being chosen by "Cheonmun" and were rated S-rank. ]
[ Wow, so is it okay to look forward to the birth of a new S-rank? ]
[ No comment. ]
[ Always dodging like a pro! ]
[ Who will be the supernova that appears this time? Maybe it's you—the very person watching this broadcast! You! "Babel didn't give me a ticket," you say? ]
[ Oh no! But it's still too early to despair! There are still 27 hours left until the opening of Tutorial Week. You see the clock at the top right? Don't forget—Babel Tower has tossed out tickets as little as 10 seconds before opening! ]
[ We'll dig into the details in our Deep Dive segment right after a quick break! ]
[ But first, let's watch One Hot Minute, Mona-Mona. ]
[ Oh! That's right! ]
[ Today's One Hot Minute is a fresh tip video sent by user '한국인이라면제발죠팝시다'! The quick ones among you have already heard of him—the Hero of Seolleung Station! ]
[ It got a little overshadowed by His Majesty's eraser-work making a rare reappearance, but a divinity's descent is always welcome! Shall we watch together? ]
"I'm going to have to be away from home for a bit."
"Mm. Go and come back."
"Might take a while."
"How long?"
"A week… or so?"
Whip.
Jioh's head turned so fast it practically made a whip sound. He looked like the sky had fallen.
Late to bed, late to rise.
No one nagging him for not studying, free to use his phone and play games, eat whatever he wanted, lie down whenever he liked.
These days were so comfortable he wondered if his life had ever been this cushy.
He was even thinking he could entrust his life to this man (the butler). His Constellation was about to tear its hair out over it.
A week?
Jioh glared, stung by a surge of betrayal.
"Then what about my meals?"
"You'll have to make them yourself."
Baek Dohyun spoke as he neatly cleared away the empty five-dish bansang (set table).
"Then my ice cream?"
"Use this chance to cut back on ice cream. You eat far too much."
Handing over dessert—Hä*en-Dazs, salted caramel—Baek Dohyun made a cool-headed point.
"Then my laundry and cleaning!"
Jioh stamped his foot in anger.
Every time he moved, the XL Champion hoodie he'd stolen off Baek Dohyun flapped.
At that shamelessness with no answer in sight, Baek Dohyun finally hit the limits of his patience.
He stuffed the juice-soaked comforter Jioh had spilled on into the washer, tap, tap, pressed the buttons, and turned back.
He snapped, snapping out Jioh's laundry to hang it.
"If you didn't snack while lying down, it wouldn't get dirty in the first place! I'll do the laundry when I'm back anyway! Fix that habit of eating while lying down! You'll end up with reflux esophagitis!"
[Your Constellation, "Reader of Fate," asks what exactly you think you're doing right now.]
"What's that supposed to mean! If I get esophagitis are you saying you'll dump me and refuse to pay the hospital bill?"
[Constellation "Reader of Fate" says: excuse me, hello?]
"I'm not saying I won't pay! Do you know how scary reflux esophagitis is? Knowing you, your esophagus is tiny, it'll hurt like hell! Do you not even think about how your butler's heart will shred watching that?"
"I don't care! I hate you!"
"What did you just say! Saying it in a cute voice doesn't erase the fact you just said something horrifying! This is gaslighting! Sit down!"
[Your Constellation casts a fishing rod by the river.]
[They put on sunglasses and lie back, saying to tell them when this is over.]
"No! You boomer! You can't even salt doenjang-jjigae right!"
"..."
"..."
The suffocating silence that falls when someone says something way out of line.
Jioh faltered, gauging the mood.
Eyes lowered, Baek Dohyun's face was plainly wounded.
Jioh forced himself to turn away as if nothing were wrong.
"...H–hm."
"...You said it was good."
"..."
"It was Baek Jong-won's recipe..."
He'd splurged on all-purpose doenjang and even added Hanwoo brisket.
But should it have been clams after all? He couldn't help it—Gyeon Jioh had sung endless songs about hating shellfish.
Baek Dohyun's face clouded.
Since Jioh entered this home, even the wall of his perpetually active Trait "Shameless" was pierced—Jioh's expression dented his conscience.
"...A–hem."
"..."
"Thinking back, it was a tad sweet, but it was fine."
"Oh, a bit too sweet?"
"Yeah."
"I figured he's unusually fond of sugar. I hesitated until the end about putting it in—maybe that's what did it."
"You can just do better next time."
"Yes. I'll reflect and improve."
[Trait "Shameless" evolves by one stage!]
[Second job-change condition met — "Hustler Specializing in Suckers (Common)." Would you like to change class?]
Gyeon Jioh had the knack of only reading the status window when it suited him. He ignored it with ease and scooped his ice cream again.
The mood warmed quickly.
"Why are you gone for a whole week? I thought you quit work and only do the occasional loading gig."
"Because of this."
Baek Dohyun rolled up his left sleeve.
Hooh, Jioh rounded his mouth.
A familiar golden sigil.
And beneath it, a countdown ticking down in real time.
A Babel Tower "ticket."
Judging by the color, it wasn't transferred from someone else. Transferred tickets turn silver.
"Weren't you already rated trash—no, F-rank? How are you going again?"
"Never heard of 're-entry'?"
"Ah."
Awakeners who finish the Tutorial go through registration at the Center.
A measuring device determines their rank, and they're officially registered as an awakener on the server.
Since the rank meter is based on the Babel Stone, its judgment doesn't err and is almost impossible to overturn.
However.
As you know, the Hunter world has warlords called Constellations who ignore such rules.
Even if you weren't chosen by "Heaven" the first time, if you later meet a Constellation, your already-rated rank can be upgraded as much as you like.
Constellations, by nature, are beings that erase human limits.
And the fastest path to that upgrade is "Tutorial re-entry."
Sure, you might meet a Constellation while climbing the Tower or crawling through dungeons—
But compared to the Tutorial, when all the stars pay attention at once, the odds are a world apart.
"But re-entry's for people without a Star, right? I thought you had a Constellation."
Jioh, recalling Baek Dohyun's past info, spoke flatly.
The purpose of "re-entry" is to dig up pearls in the mud that were overlooked.
Hence, the chance to try again from Babel is given only to those without a Constellation.
Baek Dohyun lowered his sleeve and smiled.
"It's currently sealed. Think of it as something like a reset. I heard I have to meet them again and be chosen the same as before to be acknowledged as an incarnation."
"With your Constellation?"
"Yes. So I have to do it all over. From the beginning."
[Constellation "Reader of Fate" snorts, saying they'd love to see what a funny guy you are.]
Why?
[They ask: with what confidence do you believe a Constellation will choose you again—don't you know how fickle the stars are?]
So Jioh asked directly as well.
"Based on what? Stars are fickle."
"I'm not trusting the Constellation."
Baek Dohyun answered with clear, quiet eyes.
"I'm trusting myself—to walk the same path no matter how hard it is. Just because I regressed, just because I parted ways with a Constellation, there's no reason to change the convictions I hold."
...
...What is this… coolness?
Jioh darted his gaze around. He had to change the subject fast.
He couldn't just tumble straight into the devoted-supporter position.
D—damn protagonist. Landing a Lawful Good punch out of nowhere…!
"E–ehem. Ahem. So you really were F-rank last time too?"
"Yes. And understandably so. Even I can see I was pathetic in many ways back then. 'Why am I the only one this shabby?'—I had childish resentments like that…
By luck I got a re-entry ticket, met my Constellation, met good comrades, and thanks to that I became someone halfway presentable. Though I'm still lacking."
"Nooo, you angel…!"
"Pardon?"
[Your Constellation, "Reader of Fate," snaps that you'd better dial it down before Oppa really gets mad at our baby.]
[They lay into you: what halo, what frozen-to-death halo—there isn't one, so open your eyes properly.]
Wh—no halo?
Jioh, who had clenched his fist and shouted, slit his eyes open.
Under the fluorescents, only "Shining" Dohyun stared at him, startled. Sure, he had looks like a thousand fluorescent lights flipped on, but it wasn't a halo.
Relieved, Jioh reset his poker face.
"Anyway. Re-entry. Got it. Tutorial. Good luck. I'm going to bed."
A stiff goodnight that would make an AI weep.
From behind, Baek Dohyun shouted to brush his teeth before sleeping, but Jioh ignored him and burrowed under the covers.
He pulled them over his head.
[Your Constellation, "Reader of Fate," goads you to say, while we're being nice, that you're hot under the blanket, that's why your temperature's up.]
[Before he shows just how messy a man can get when blinded by jealousy, he gently recommends you go back home at first light.]
Shut up, you disposable crap-star.
[Constellation "Reader of Fate" asks what kind of novel nickname that is now.]
You just mocked Baek Dohyun earlier. "With what confidence do you think a Constellation would choose you again?" If I regressed you'd be all "and who might you be?" Fine. I'm not buying either. Beat it.
Click.
The lights went out—Baek Dohyun must have flipped the switch.
At that, Jioh lowered the suffocating blanket a bit. He turned onto his side and closed his eyes.
Gyeon Jioh.
This is when I enjoy you most—when you sulk, yet still leave a little room.
A slightly open stigmata.
From far away, a Constellation smothered its immense presence and whispered to its small incarnation.
[Regression, is it.]
[I wouldn't put you through such half-baked hardship in the first place.]