Chapter 91: The World Of Hunters Is Changing, The Global Hunter Forums Go Crazy!

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Riven opened the global Hunter Forums, the largest online community for awakened individuals, with millions of active users across every continent. The main board was already on fire. Threads refreshed every few seconds, and the number of online users had spiked dramatically in the last hour.

[GLOBAL HUNTER FORUMS – Trending Threads]

Thread Title: "WHO THE HELL IS ENIGMA?! SS+++ Items for the price of D-Rank junk?!"

Posted by: BladeRunner_87 | 12 minutes ago | 4,812 replies and climbing

First post:

Guys... look at this listing.

[Headless Knight’s Phantom Sword – SS+]

Starting bid: 1.2 million.

Buyout: 3.8 million.

That’s less than half of what the last similar sword sold for last month (8.5 million). And he’s throwing in free antidote vials and a pair of Mid-Grade Mana Recovery Pills.

This has to be a scam... right?

Reply #23 by: IceQueenFan99

Not a scam. I just bought one of the earlier batches of Myconid-derived poison resistance potions he listed yesterday. Worked perfectly. My party cleared a C-Rank gate this morning with zero casualties. Enigma is the real deal.

Reply #47 by: RankedHunter_Korea

Bro dropped FORTY-SEVEN SS-rank items an hour ago. Forty-seven. How is that even possible?! Gates don’t drop this many high-rank items. The drop rates are fixed by the Association’s algorithms!

Reply #112 by: Anonymous_ExClaymoreStaff

Inside info: Claymore’s acquisition team tried to buy the entire stock in bulk three times today. Enigma rejected every offer with the same automated message:

"Sales restricted to individual hunters only. No corporations. No families. No bulk purchases."

The board is losing its mind. Arthur Claymore personally called an emergency meeting.

Reply #189 by: GateRat_FromTheSlums

I finally got a proper weapon.

I’m a D-Rank from the southern districts. Never could afford anything better than a rusty E-Rank spear. Today I bought an SS-rank dagger for what used to be two months of gate fees.

Enigma... if you’re reading this, thank you. For the first time I feel like I might actually survive long enough to protect my little sister.

The thread kept exploding. New posts appeared every few seconds, some filled with disbelief, others with pure excitement. Riven scrolled slowly, reading each reaction with quiet interest.

He moved on to the next trending topic.

Thread Title: "Enigma is connected to the Closed Gate – Theory Thread"

Posted by: ConspiracyHunter | 8 minutes ago

Timeline:

Dark Cave Labyrinth (D-Rank) disappears completely.

18 hours later, Enigma floods the market with items that match residual energy signatures from that exact gate (confirmed by three independent appraisers).

Zero corporate buyers accepted.

Prices deliberately kept low enough that mid- and low-rank hunters can finally equip themselves properly.

Conclusion: Someone stole an entire gate from Claymore and is using it as a personal farm.

The age of the Families controlling every resource is ending.

The replies under the post ranged from pure excitement to outright panic.

Reply by: FrostbaneLoyalist

If this is true, the Frostbane Family should be the first to investigate.

Reply by: FreeGatesNow

LET HIM COOK.

If Enigma keeps this up, every gate under family control becomes a liability. They can’t monopolize what someone can just... take!

HOLY SHIT, IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING!

On the living-room television, the evening news had already switched to a special report. The anchor, a sharp-dressed woman with a serious expression, spoke over looping footage of the empty crater where the Dark Cave Labyrinth once stood and screenshots of Enigma’s market listings.

"In an unprecedented disruption of the global hunter economy, an anonymous seller known only as ’Enigma’ has flooded the Hunter Market with high-rank equipment at prices that have sent shockwaves through every major family.

Claymore Enterprises stock fell 11% in after-hours trading.

Frostbane Holdings issued a brief statement claiming ’no involvement.’

The Hunter Association has opened an official inquiry into the origin of the items, citing ’impossible drop rates’ and ’potential illegal drop rate manipulation.’

Public reaction, however, has been overwhelmingly positive among independent hunters. Online petitions demanding ’Enigma for Association President’ have already surpassed two million signatures in under six hours."

A secondary screen showed live social-media feeds scrolling rapidly.

#EnigmaIsHope was trending worldwide.

Clips of low-rank hunters unboxing their new gear played on loop. Tearful thank-yous. Triumphant poses in front of gate entrances. Entire parties celebrating their first successful clear without crippling debt or serious injuries.

Back on the forums, a new pinned announcement appeared from the Association’s official account:

"We urge all hunters to exercise caution when purchasing unverified high-rank equipment. Any individual found to be illegally extracting or manipulating Gate resources will face the highest level of sanctions."

The replies under that post were merciless.

Reply by: TiredOfPayingFees

Sanctions? Against the only person giving us a fighting chance?

Association can take those sanctions and shove them.

Reply by: FatGatePig

Who are you to even control these things? He can do whatever he wants! You don’t own the fucking world!

Reply by: MadamHunter

I just purchased a set of daggers and armor from him, all legit and working properly! Enigma is the real deal, and I won’t stop spreading the word about him! I am his fan!

Reply by: CommonUser1

Just purchased some of his Antidotes, they all work properly and not only heal from poisons, but if you drink them earlier, you become immune to them! Just went and hunted a bunch of poisonous insect monsters that always sell a lot with my party! Thanks a lot Enigma!!!1

Reply by: RankC_WithKids

My daughter awakens next month. For the first time I can actually afford gear that might keep her alive.

Enigma, whoever you are... keep going. The rest of us are watching.

Riven closed the tablet with a quiet smile. The soft light of the screen faded, leaving the living room illuminated only by the television and the warm glow of the evening lamps.

It had not even been over two weeks since everything started, and the world was already beginning to change.

He leaned back on the sofa, listening to the faint sound of the movie still playing in the background and the quiet laughter of the children nearby. For the first time in a long while, the path ahead felt a little clearer.

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