Stay-at-Home Summoner

Two hundred li along the southeast sea route from Ulleungdo.

A lonely island. Home to birds.

An S-Rank Tower has appeared.

Dokdo.

– Ah, crazy. Of all places, why Dokdo?

When the tower appeared in Dokdo, many lamented over the location.

– These Japanese will go crazy, trying to claim Dokdo for themselves!

Although there were no internationally established standards, there was an implicit rule globally regarding towers of A-Rank or higher.

If a country cannot deal with a specific tower within its own territory, it must seek assistance from other countries.

As climbing a tower is undoubtedly life-threatening, the nation must offer clear compensation to the assisting country or hunter.

This inspired discussions online, drawing parallels to a popular meme.

“The tower is like a snake that comes out of your house.”

If a snake shows up at home, a Korean would undoubtedly call 119.

However, in places like the United States or Australia, if one couldn’t handle the snake themselves, it’s often faster to call a pest control expert than to call the fire department.

The pest control expert arrives with a net and tongs and takes care of the snake in less than five minutes.

Some wonder.

How can they charge 150,000 or 300,000 won for handling a snake in less than five minutes?

Entering and exiting the bathroom feels different.

The same goes for towers. When a tower is present, people naturally hope that even a neighboring country’s hunter would come to deal with it, but once the tower is gone, discussions arise about paying hundreds of millions in taxes to that person, and everyone voices their gripes.

– Hmm… is it really that much?

The reason these discussions arise is twofold.

Firstly, a vanished tower does not reappear.

If a pest control expert releases the snake back into the house claiming, “I’ll return it to its original state,” they simply leave, but once a tower is generated and then vanishes, it does not return to that spot.

It’s difficult to say which country it was, but there was a case where a hunter guild that tackled an A-Rank tower generated in Zhangjiajie was cheated and kicked out without receiving a single penny.

Such incidents have occurred frequently enough that hunters formed an international organization, the “International Hunter Association,” to stand against their nations, while countries have mobilized media and public opinion to force their local hunters’ patriotism through various means.

Some might argue.

In fact, the hunters went through so much hardship tackling the tower; shouldn’t they be compensated enough with merely a building in the capital?

– Is there any proof that the hunters struggled inside?

The second reason and the issue at hand.

Unprovable.

– We cannot know what happens inside the tower, nor can we determine whether they easily or painstakingly conquered it.

– They should have recorded the video! Oh, the memory card ran out while conquering the tower? How unfortunate! They said it was an A-Rank tower, but was the boss just a sleeping one that they easily took down from a distance with a single shot? Did they think they could take all the payment after just firing one shot?

There’s no signal inside the tower.

There’s no real-time way to find out, and hunters have no choice but to rely on the footage from their own black box cameras they brought inside while tackling the tower.

Given these circumstances, hunters planning to conquer a tower try to draft contracts as thoroughly as possible with the country, region, or company beforehand.

Whether by leaving a record of the contract signing via real-time streaming or by documenting the entire 30-day process of their raid from day one to day thirty, showing the evidence of their battles inside the tower to the world.

The standard in the current hunter industry is to endure such difficulties to earn substantial financial compensation.

There are cases where this occurs at the state level, with the tower in Dokdo being the most representative.

“Kiharu. What do you think about this issue?”

“The goddess doesn’t belong to any specific country, but as Kiharu, the summoned beast of the summoner, I would say this.”

“How?”

“Dokdo is Korean territory?”

“That’s correct.”

Kiharu doesn’t say this simply because of being from a Korean gaming company. It’s a historically validated issue, and the presence of the S-Rank tower that appeared in Dokdo actually proves that “Dokdo is Korean territory.”

“Kiharu. Do you think the Japanese have made such statements? That Dokdo is their land, and they’ll conquer it?”

“They would have. Not just Japan, but countries worldwide are creating territorial disputes based on their towers.”

Kiharu manipulated my smartphone and found information on the internet.

“About the territorial disputes caused by towers. Someone has already written a thesis on it.”

“That’s right. It has indeed become a complex issue. The country that tackles the S-Rank tower in Dokdo calls it theirs.”

The country where the tower appears must resolve it.

Even though the tower poses a common threat to humanity, each nation has created an even more closed-off atmosphere domestically while outwardly pushing for territorial expansion.

“I’ll break the tower, give me Dokdo. This is no children’s song, after all.”

“But Partner. There’s no official word from Japan about this?”

“That’s precisely why Dokdo is Korean territory. It’s an S-Rank tower, so Japan has never officially sent hunters there.”

“Oh, if it were an A-Rank tower, things might have been ambiguous. They might have rushed in, conquered it first, and claimed, ‘We conquered this, so it’s our land now,’ which would complicate matters.”

“Exactly.”

In the era of hunter capitalism, the international community now sees that the hunters who tackle towers influence a nation’s defense capability and national power.

However, there are some countries notoriously known for treating such hunters poorly.

Forcing patriotism.

Reminding them of their duties as citizens.

Mobilizing family, friends, and acquaintances who remain in the country to persuade them.

Calling them patriots while saying they should navigate through the country’s difficulties and crises together.

Through government-controlled media, portraying those who don’t break the tower as ‘anti-nationals’ or labeling any dissent as ‘selfish’ for not considering the public peace, getting them publicly shamed.

When someone tries to defect to another country, reporters or cyber hunters swarm them with cameras, and the government wouldn’t protect them, spreading rumors of defection from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and calling them ‘traitors.’

What countries exist like that?

Not even in North Joseon or South Joseon.

Even if such a country existed, it would be a phenomenon resulting from the emergence of towers and hunters; in an ordinary world where neither towers appear nor hunters exist, those occurrences wouldn’t happen.

…Or so I think.

Anyway.

“Kiharu. Right now, the Korean government is trying to mobilize an S-Rank hunter and 13 A-Rank hunters to conquer the tower, aside from one S-Rank hunter for capital defense?”

“13? I heard it was 31 from the news last time.”

“Yeah. 13. It’s a bit much to say anything. After all, it’s a life-threatening situation.”

It wouldn’t be fair to criticize A-Rank hunters for not stepping up.

Instead, we should applaud the courage of those A-Rank hunters challenging the S-Rank tower and support their safe return.

“The community says they are being sent by the state. Is that true?”

“Oh, come on. Do you really think grown adults would be dragged into a life-threatening war just because the country told them to? Look here. There’s even an interview in the news saying ‘a path they chose for themselves.’”

Well, that’s how it is.

Whether they chose to participate because they couldn’t withstand the pressure from their country or higher-ranked hunters, or they were inspired to form a new raid party with Blue Lightning while trying to be the escape tank, it doesn’t matter.

“We just have to support their raid while tackling Dokdo. By the way, it’s time for our appointment.”

It was late afternoon.

At the moment, it was just Kiharu and me at home.

Elaine and Dry were not here.

The two had left earlier for separate missions.

Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong.

The doorbell rang three times.

The last one rang slightly later, and I turned off the computer and pretended my arm was in a cast.

Shuffle.

Kiharu jumped onto my arm.

Not just in a simple SD character form, but in a cat form snuggling into my embrace.

“Are you ready? From now on, I can’t really say much myself.”

“Of course.”

“And one more thing. If they succeed in conquering Jeju Island…”

“Then we go straight to the U.S. after tackling Dokdo.”

Rather, it allows for a sense of relief in departing.

“Let’s go, Kiharu.”

Creeeek.

I opened the door.

Outside stood a sharply dressed man with blonde hair and blue eyes, whom you seldom see in an apartment like this.

“Long time no see, Mister.”

“Good to see you, Patrick. But… Korean?”

“I learned it in a hurry. I learned quickly. Please bear with me.”

Patrick, the presidential secretary who was already acquainted with me, greeted me in his business attire.

“But… a cat?”

“A cat.”

Nya-ow.

Kiharu opened her mouth wide and yawned, burying her head further into my arms.

If I were in danger, she could transform and care for me, and even if I got hurt, Kiharu could heal me.

That’s why I’m currently not moving with Elaine or Dry, but with Kiharu.

Those two had separate missions to carry out.

“Patrick. Is there anything about stepping on tails or anything like that?”

“I took measures. The government agencies of this country will have realized.”

A presidential secretary has come to find the person.

On the surface, he looks like a Korean man, so there are surely suspicions of at least him being a defector or a maximum of being ‘the Master.’

“But you can rest easy. The president has issued administrative orders to prevent suspicions among the Korean people.”

“Administrative orders?”

“Yes. Emergency summoning order.”

Patrick scanned the surroundings and directed his gaze toward my hair.

“Collection of black-haired individuals. The president has executed measures that this regime typically undertakes.”

“Um… So, ‘collection’?”

“Yes. Summoning.”

Patrick gave me a thumbs up.

“All awakened Americans staying in Korea must visit the U.S. within three days to obtain new federally certified hunter licenses and assist in conquering the towers.”

“…Can a free country do that?”

“It’s fine. The results will prove everything. And everyone has learned. A matter of procedure? A sudden move? Crazy something?”

Patrick raised another thumb toward me.

“If President Luigi does crazy things, it’s all for the sake of the [Master].”

“[Master]…”

A hollow laugh escaped my empty left hand for a moment, but I soon pointed ahead at Patrick.

“Let’s go. To board the warship. Oh, but I mentioned warship-”

“It’s alright. Japan may be a bit noisy, though.”

“Japan?”

“Yes.”

Patrick calmly guided me underground, stating matter-of-factly.

“A warship that was stationed at the Okinawa U.S. military base has set sail.”

“…Okinawa?”

“Yes. Oh, don’t feel pressured.”

Patrick shrugged lightly as if saying there’s no problem.

“It’s just a sudden training exercise. Haha.”

“……”

“The Master wishes to head there by ship, so naturally, we must provide the best support. Yes. This is America’s protocol. Master.”

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