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Translator: penny
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Stocks with Caution, Loans with Even More Caution (3)
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-Ding!
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[The rift in space-time responds to your will!] [The 'Corpse Diviner' job is changing.]
Suddenly, that message rang in my ears.
The psycho killer—even he stopped what he was doing, like I was hailing a cab to the loony bin—and I froze dead in my tracks.
"...What?"
A job change phenomenon.
Something I'd only heard about in interview articles from S-Rank Hunters who were active decades ago.
Fwoosh-!
That was when it happened. Before I could even react, my body was engulfed in a blinding light.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Epic job conversion complete.] ['Corpse Diviner (Normal)' → 'Voodoo Sorcerer (Epic)']⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Skills acquired due to job change.]⚔ NEW SKILLS ⚔[Voodoo: Wraith Charge (Rare)] [Summon: Ancestor Spirits (Epic)] [Summon: Dancing Specter El Ayla (Epic)] [Summon: Carnival Zombie Platoon (Normal)]
Messages poured in like machine-gun fire!
My head was already spinning just trying to keep up with the changes.
"...It evolved? My job?"
I mumbled blankly, my mouth hanging open.
'Could this be... a second awakening?'
For real? The second awakening I'd only ever heard about in stories?!
Second awakening.
A phenomenon that happens extremely rarely to Hunters.
There were fewer than fifty confirmed cases, for sure.
Fifty might sound like a lot, but considering Earth's population in the billions, it was an insane ratio. Even the U.S. Powerball lottery couldn't compare.
-Thwack!! I kicked off the blanket and bolted upright.
'For real? Did I really just have a second awakening?'
Why me? No, more importantly, how?
My mind blanked out for a moment, but my body moved on instinct.
I unconsciously chanted the incantation from my lips.
"...Call Ancestor Spirits!"
-Kyuu?
As soon as I summoned the new familiar, I got a reply in a tone like, 'Yo, we're right here.'
Startled, I whipped around, and there they were—the same little ghosts as before, tilting their heads like, 'What're you doing?'
But I sensed it instinctively.
'They've changed. Completely different from just moments ago.'
They'd evolved a step, just like me.
"...So, what's different?"
Something had changed, but they looked exactly the same.
No amount of staring would reveal it.
-Kyuuui!
At that moment, the ghosts seemed to interpret my mumbling as a command and shot up into the air.
"Huh?"
Out the window of my studio apartment.
In other words, outside the house.
"...Huh? Huh?! Hey! Shit, wait! Hold on!"
Were these crazy bastards thinking I asked what they could do and deciding to demo their skills?
"Hey! Stop, stop! Where are you going?!"
I yelled out the window, but maybe because I hadn't given a clear mental command.
They completely ignored me, flying off hundreds of meters before finally stopping. Cold sweat dripped down my back—damn them.
"Whew... Thought my soul was gonna leave my body."
I scowled, focusing my vision.
They're fast as hell. Just how far did they go?
'...Wait. Isn't this way too fast?'
I finally clocked their speed and was floored, but the real shock came next.
-Kyuu!
Fwoosh-!
The ghosts let out a cute battle cry, and my mana drained sharply.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Ancestor Spirits use Mediation Summon!]⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Summoned Dancing Specter El Ayla.]
Just barely visible to my eyes, a woman appeared on the rooftop of a distant apartment building.
Dancing Specter. Did that mean ghost dancer?
True to her name, the summon was a beauty with black hair and brown skin.
But I was too busy recovering from the shock to admire her looks.
'...She summoned a familiar? From this distance?'
I got why she'd been summoned out of nowhere.
Probably because I'd asked what had changed.
But normal summons couldn't be called from this far away. And even if you did, they'd despawn if the distance grew too great.
Most of them didn't even have a strong enough ego to fight on their own.
'And from this range, I couldn't even give commands.'
Neither telepathy nor voice would reach.
Fighting with summons from afar?
I'd never heard of a summoner who could do that.
That was the common sense after the Great Cataclysm.
But.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[You can now issue commands to El Ayla.]
But not anymore.
The summon, dressed in clothes like an Arabian dancer or a priestess, bowed politely toward me.
As if my orders could reach her even here.
No point overthinking it now.
I sent telepathy to her, just like with the ghosts.
'Raise your right hand.'
The ghosts and El Ayla raised their right hands.
'Lower right, raise left.'
The ghosts and El Ayla raised their left hands.
'Dance.'
The ghosts twisted awkwardly in circles midair, while El Ayla put on a stunning performance befitting a ghost dancer.
'It really works, huh?'
We were already over 500 meters apart.
Way beyond voice or even telepathy range.
'Must be the effect of that Mediation Summon skill.'
More precisely, the power of my upgraded little ghosts.
Snapping out of it, I checked my new abilities properly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇⚔ STATUS ⚔
■ Job:
[Voodoo Sorcerer (Lv 5)]
■ Summon Skills:
[Summon: Ancestor Spirits.]
◇ Summons ghosts that mediate between souls and the sorcerer.
◇ Allows communication with summons even from afar.
'No mention of summon maintenance distance!'
My suspicions turned to certainty.
I dismissed the summons first, then called back just the ghosts. I rummaged through a drawer, handed them an old phone, and commanded.
"Take this phone and go as far as you can. As far as possible!"
Farther, until they were out of sight.
-Kyuuui.
Confirming the ghosts flying off, I turned on my main phone.
'Smartphones have GPS tracking.'
I checked their location via the GPS app.
It was more intuitive than sharing vision.
The marker moved to 2km, 3km out.
The ghosts didn't vanish.
'No doubt about it. No matter the distance, the summons hold!'
Even at 3km, they didn't despawn.
What about 10km?
100km? 1,000km?
What was the point of asking? Obviously possible.
"Yes! This is it!"
I shouted in ecstasy.
At first, it was just a fleeting thought: if I'd had a second awakening, maybe my luck was turning around a bit.
But if [Mediation Summon] truly removed all distance limits, that changed everything.
Summoners had to stay near their summons.
That was Hunters' common sense.
Just like the myth that Gate live streams or Hunter Association stocks were 100% safe—accepted wisdom!
'But that common sense doesn't apply to me anymore.'
Ideas flooded my mind.
My brain, on its last legs, lit up like a Christmas tree.
I sat at my computer desk and scoured the news.
For info on the Gate Live Broadcast Ban Law.
'Gate live streams were banned because they turned life-or-death struggles into entertainment.'
Respect for human life. A powerful moral justification.
But that justification had a weakness.
A weakness no one considered because it was so obvious.
My goal crystallized in an instant.
My eyes burned in the monitor's reflection.
'With this, I won't even need a guild.'
No guild master, no members—just me.
A one-man army guild.
It wouldn't get legal recognition, but who cared?
And even I, the one-man army, wouldn't enter the Gates.
"Clearing dungeons solely with summons... without anyone stepping inside the Gate."
Send in only the summons to challenge the Gate.
Just like game streamers do.
Like viewers watching a broadcast, I'd do it from my bedroom!
"If live streams of people tackling Gates are banned... then have a non-human raid team do it instead?"
Then there'd be no grounds to stop me from live-streaming Gate clears.
Sure, those bastards would fabricate some if they could, but I could counter any lame pushback.
If it turned into a mudslinging morals war, I'd have the advantage.
'The raid team I'll show is the safest in the world—no humans dying or getting hurt!'
Gate broadcasts with zero injuries.
Dungeon clears without risking lives.
That's the concept.
"Even if the raid wipes or the team gets slaughtered, viewers can spam chat and laugh their asses off."
Gripping their seats in tension, yet enjoying it guilt-free!
My lips curled up to my ears.
I couldn't hold back the grin.
'Other Hunters got Gate streams banned. So I can monopolize the entire live-stream market solo!'
Someone once said only one can be number one.
Yeah, that tracks.
If you're the only player, you're first no matter what.
The Hunter industry was infamous for cutthroat competition.
A red ocean of red oceans, packed to the gills.
But what's this? The big shots froze it, torched it, turned it into a total shitshow?
'Red ocean comes from a sea of blood, right?'
A blood-red sea from excessive competition.
Hence, red ocean.
But any fisherman knows not all seas are the same.
This blood sea was an abandoned wasteland where all other fish had bled out and died.
'Bombed to hell and barren...'
But a cozy blood sea made just for me.
Bathing in others' fresh blood. I might just turn back the clock.
If you can't capitalize on this, you're an idiot.
Ah, sure, I couldn't monopolize it forever.
Soon, copycats would pop up imitating me.
But I didn't care. Hell, I'd welcome it.
"When a new meta opens in the Hunter scene... won't that revive my Hunter Association stock retirement fund?"
My retirement fund still had revival potential!
Wow! No matter how it rolls, zero downside!
"Fuck yeah, this is real investing!"
Otherwise, my only path was a Han River dive.
Nothing to lose—why fear the challenge?
Common sense crumbles.
The meta shifts.
No—it's not shifting.
I'm shifting it. With my own hands.
This world's common sense.
The meta of Gate broadcasts.
This was the voodoo spell of my lifetime, cast by newbie Voodoo Sorcerer me at the ruined market.
"I'll... make Hunter Association stock moon."
With this keyboard alone, I'd become an S-Rank Hunter.