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Chapter 201
Jin-Woo had a bit of history with the monsters called Ice Elves.
Didn’t he encounter these creatures when he stumbled into a Red Gate for the first time in his life? How rueful did he feel back then, after seeing the boss mob ‘Baruka’ slipping out of his hands while leaving only a dagger behind?
Just remembering that event brought back all the bad emotions he felt then after failing to extract that monster’s shadow.
‘And here I was, having just barely forgotten about it….’
Naturally, his strength while gripping this creature’s wrist and neck increased.
Wuduk!
[Keok!]
In any case, why was a high-ranking monster that should have been confined to a dungeon roaming freely around here?
Jin-Woo got here by switching his position with his Shadow Soldier. Next up, he used ‘Ruler’s Authority’ to keep his balance and float in the air about 7 or 8 stories high. While gripping the monster tightly, he asked this mysterious Ice Elf a question.
“What the hell are you?”
Seeing those pointy ears, or the long whitish hair, or even its pair of silvery eyes, this thing seemed to be a White Phantom alright, but then again, he could also sense the trace of an unfathomably lengthy passage of time from this creature, too.
Not only that….
[Kuwuaaahk!]
The monster gritted its teeth and shook off Jin-Woo’s hands.
‘….!!’
What an incredible physical strength!
Even before he had the chance to get surprised from the monster slipping out of his grasp, Jin-Woo picked up on this chilling aura coagulating around the creature’s mouth.
Inexplicably, the image of Demon King Baran shooting lightning out of its mouth overlapped with this b*stard. By sheer instinct, Jin-Woo tilted his torso away.
Kawahh-!!
The bitterly cold air shot out from the monster’s mouth, sped past Jin-Woo’s original position, and poured out into the air behind him.
After confirming the scary amount of magical energy being poured out by the monster with his two eyes, Jin-Woo quickly retreated an adequate-enough distance away.
‘…..’
He lightly dusted the particles of ice clinging onto his shoulder and stared intently at the Ice Elf – no, the Sovereign of Frost.
That thing was no ordinary monster. His ultra-sharp senses were warning him that this thing was much stronger than any monster he had faced off against so far.
Jin-Woo wasn’t the only one getting surprised, though.
[But, how can you….??]
The Sovereign hurriedly looked at Jin-Woo’s shadow and, after confirming the number of soldiers hiding in there, couldn’t hide the fact that it was feeling deeply surprised right now.
[You have managed to amass that many soldiers, so why haven’t you contacted us already?]
When Jin-Woo made no effort to reply, the Sovereign began looking into his eyes. And then, a pained gasp leaked out from the creature’s mouth.
[So, that’s how it was…. You’re the variable he talked about, aren’t you?]
What was this fool talking about?
Jin-Woo was getting rather curious about the meaning behind this monster’s constant babbling, but too bad, he didn’t have enough leeway to hold a cordial Q&A session with this creature.
Just one moment of carelessness and the enemy’s blade would reach him. And that blade wasn’t dull enough for him to ignore it and hope for the best. As a matter of fact, his shoulder that got frozen for a moment just a few seconds ago was still aching even now.
Jin-Woo took a glance at the hurting shoulder and quietly summoned the ‘Demon King’s Shortswords’ from his Inventory.
Weapons silently appeared in his hands.
‘Is it a Mage-type creature?’
Judging from how it barely managed to get out of his grasp, its physical strength or defences didn’t seem to be as high as its magical energy reserve suggested.
Which was a relief, actually.
He knew from his vast experiences in fighting many different types of monsters up until now that the Mage-type enemies were the easiest to deal with since they could be killed in an instant.
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Just one hit would be enough to determine the winner.
If they both possessed a similar level of magical energy reserves, then the one needing to dodge the magic attacks would hold an advantage.
His opponent must’ve known that too because it didn’t immediately try to go on the offensive, even though it had clearly sensed Jin-Woo’s hostility.
The Sovereign of Frost deliberated on its options very seriously – but, only for a brief time – before deciding on what it would do next.
[….We shall stop here. I didn’t come here today to hold a life-or-death struggle with you.]
“What was that??”
Jin-Woo frowned deeply. He had no desire to let this guy leave, so just who decided when they would stop fighting?
Besides, this creature wielded a massive amount of magic energy. Jin-Woo couldn’t even begin to imagine just how many experience points he’d earn if he successfully killed this monster. His level might even jump up by another ten, just like back when he killed the King of Giants.
‘….Hang on.’
When his thoughts arrived there, Jin-Woo finally deduced the identity of the monster.
‘Could that thing be….??’
Meanwhile, the Sovereign pointed towards the broken wall of the Hunter’s Association building.
[Did you not come here to save that human?]
Technically speaking, he came here because the ant soldier he left behind in the Association President’s shadow sent him an urgent alert, that was all.
Jin-Woo’s gaze shifted towards the location the Sovereign’s outstretched finger was pointing at. And he found Goh Gun-Hui lying on the floor there.
‘….!!’
The unconscious Association President was covered in blood from head to toe, and even at a casual glance, he could tell that the man’s life was hanging precariously on the edge.
It was then.
[Now, choose.]
A large, incredibly sharp ice lance suddenly formed on the left hand of the Sovereign.
[Choose between fighting me or saving that human.]
The moment the creature’s words came to an end, the lance flew towards Goh Gun-Hui.
Jin-Woo’s eyes widened. He pushed his concentration to the absolute max, causing the flow of time to slow down greatly. He watched the lance fly agonisingly slowly, but accurately, towards the unmoving Association President.
‘Ruler’s Authority!’
He tried to use his invisible hand to stop the ice lance, but the magical energy of the one who threw it easily thwarted his attempts. Enraged, Jin-Woo shifted his glare at the Sovereign of Frost.
The b*stard was waiting. For Jin-Woo’s answer, that was.
He bit his lower lip before dashing towards the spot where the Association President Goh Gun-Hui had collapsed on.
Wuuwung-!!
The air where Jin-Woo used to be wavered and tumbled about from the explosive power. Just before the lance landed, he arrived by Goh Gun-Hui’s side first with almost no time to spare and dragged the unmoving man away from the weapon’s trajectory.
Kwajeeck!!
The lance stabbed straight through the floor and the bitter coldness rapidly flooded out to freeze up the surroundings in an instant.
Kwa-du-duk, kwa-duk!!
In the blink of an eye, the entire floor of the President’s office froze up solid from the extremely low temperature.
‘D*mn it!’
Jin-Woo picked Goh Gun-Hui up and lightly jumped up in the air to avoid the freeze, and once this incredible biting coldness stopped spreading around, he settled back down on the floor.
Further enraged by this cheap tactic, Jin-Woo raised his head to look, but the b*stard was already jumping into a small Gate to escape from this battle.
In a rush, he quickly summoned ‘Baruka’s Dagger’ from the Inventory and threw it.
‘Dagger Rush!’
Swishhhh-!
The dagger flew in a dead-straight line and accurately stabbed into the Sovereign’s shoulder.
[Kuwahk!!]
The Sovereign of Frost glared at the dagger in its shoulder, then glared at the one who threw it next – at Jin-Woo – and gnashed its teeth. It soon disappeared into the depth of the Gate.
Jin-Woo was thinking of chasing after the creature, but seeing the Gate’s gradually shrink in size, he gave up on that idea. Besides, Goh Gun-Hui’s current condition wasn’t good enough for him to focus his attention elsewhere.
“Euh-euhk….”
The older man gasped out a pained moan.
Jin-Woo’s lips closed shut in a straight line as he watched the Association President Goh Gun-Hui teeter precariously on the edge of life and death.
‘This can’t be healed with a healing potion.’
In that case, the best response he could come up with was to….
….Jin-Woo yelled out at the top of his lungs.
“Beru!”
Right away, he sensed the familiar aura hurriedly fly out from his apartment from a far away.
Kwa-boom!!
Beru smashed past several walls after flying in with all his might and entered the President’s office, before kneeling down in front of Jin-Woo.
“Have you called for me, oh, my king?”
Jin-Woo cautiously lowered Goh Gun-Hui’s upper torso on the floor and took a step back.
There was so much blood dripping out from the Association President that Jin-Woo’s hands were now painted crimson just from supporting the older man’s torso for a few seconds.
Drip, drip….
Jin-Woo’s complexion grew gloomier as he stared at the droplets of blood fall to the floor from his fingertips.
Beru did as his master willed it and approached Goh Gun-Hui. He began using up all of his magical energy healing the gravely injured man.
Wuuonng… Wuuwuong…
Unfortunately, the complexion of the dying man didn’t want to improve at all even with such a concerted healing effort. Beru panicked and opened his mouth.
“M-my king….”
Beru’s scared eyes shifted over to Jin-Woo as he spoke.
“My healing magic… isn’t working on him. I can’t heal this man.”
“What??”
He didn’t seem to be exaggerating, because Beru’s hands were shuddering as he continued on with his healing magic. Even Jin-Woo could sense the enormous amount of Beru’s magic energy being spent right now. At this rate, even the former ant king would keel over from exhaustion.
Jin-Woo halted the healing effort and sat down next to Goh Gun-Hui to take a closer look at the man’s current condition. Despite Beru’s near-selfless efforts, the Association President’s vitality had weakened even further than before.
Whatever that attack was, the hole in Goh Gun-Hui’s chest didn’t want to close up even after Jin-Woo poured in a whole bottle of the most expensive healing potion sold in the Store.
‘D*mn it!’
Jin-Woo’s breathing became urgent as the critical moment for Goh Gun-Hui approached closer and closer. The man who did his best for Jin-Woo’s sake was slipping away and he couldn’t do anything.
Out of sheer desperation, he even summoned out the bottle of ‘Divine Water of Life’, but before he could use it, someone grasped his wrist.
“Please…. stop.”
It was Goh Gun-Hui. He managed somehow to force his eyes open.
“Association President!”
His breathing remained heavy as if it was on the brink of cutting out. He still got to confirm the faces of Jin-Woo and Beru next to him, though.
“….You did come for me. Thank you.”
A weak smile spread on Goh Gun-Hui’s face.
“Please, hold on for a little bit longer. I’ll take you to a hospital right now.”
Jin-Woo’s urgent voice only managed to earn a shake of Goh Gun-Hui’s head.
“It’s useless… the attack that got me far exceeds the level of being curable with medicine or magic.”n(0)vel(b)(j)(n)served as the original host for this chapter’s release on N0v3l-B1n.
“But, sir!”
Jin-Woo was about to get angry after hearing those words of weakness from the Association President, but he had to stop. Goh Gun-Hui’s trembling hand was grasping his, that was why.
“Listen to me!”
As if he was spurring on the dying embers of life for one last hurrah, Goh Gun-Hui’s brows rose up high, his eyes opening up wide.
“I was able to get in touch with the will of the great beings. I saw their plans, who our common enemies are, and the things that we must do….”
The blood pooling in Goh Gun-Hui mouth gurgled and welled up.
“What a relief that you’re here with us… to think, you’d possess that kind of power…. Thank you, God….”
Tears began welling up in Goh Gun-Hui’s eyes as he stared at Jin-Woo. He then grasped the young Hunter’s hand with both of his own and spoke with a trembling voice.
“Gates and dungeons weren’t for them. In order to protect us, they chose this method, and…. Cough….”
At that moment, Goh Gun-Hui coughed and reddish-black blood spluttered out from his mouth.
Jin-Woo hurriedly tried to use the Divine Water, but Goh Gun-Hui shook his head. He knew the condition of his own body better than anyone.
“Sometime in the future… there will come a time when you must make a decision. When you do… I pray that you remain on the side of mankind.”
Hearing the pained gasping voice of Goh Gun-Hui, Jin-Woo felt as if his heart was being ripped to pieces. But, all he could do right now was to quietly listen to his words. That’s all he could do.
“Cough. I always wished I could fight alongside young people like you. But…. This body of mine made sure that would never happen.”
For the first time ever, Goh Gun-Hui poured out what was in his heart without holding back.
Some people pointed their disapproving fingers at him, accusing him of establishing the Association to rake in more money. Some even insulted him as a senile old fool who was blinded by the allure of power.
The thing was, the man they were criticising was feeling angry that, even though he was blessed with this incredible power, he couldn’t even use it properly.
He sought out other avenues to use his powers and, after spending every cent to his name, created the Hunter’s Association. And through this organisation, he got to be near other Hunters and fulfilled his calling to its fullest.
“Even then, cough, I don’t regret anything. I can now entrust the future to young people like you. That’s all I ask for.”
Drop….
Goh Gun-Hui’s hands holding onto Jin-Woo’s powerlessly fell to the floor. And he was no longer staring at the young man, but at the ceiling of his office.
Was it because his tears had spread out? The lights hanging on the ceiling, the ones he always thought were a bit too dim for his liking, seemed excessively blinding today.
Goh Gun-Hui shielded his eyes to block those lights.
“I’m truly relieved…. Thank you, thank you….”
At the end of those words, the Association President Goh Gun-Hui stopped murmuring altogether.
Confirming that he was no longer breathing now, Jin-Woo wordlessly closed the deceased man’s unmoving eyes shut. Like his final words of gratitude, the expression on his face was one of peace.
Jin-Woo raised his head above to stare outside.
Drip, drip…
He saw through the destroyed wall the raindrops falling from the cloudy sky. The sky that had been gloomy since the early morning.
***
Next day. Several headlines dominated the front pages of countless newspapers.
The first news item was about Brazil’s greatest Hunter, ‘Jonas’ being found on the vicinity of a river – as a corpse. The second one was about the grisly murder of the Korean Hunter’s Association President after his chest was stabbed through by an unidentified assailant.
And finally, the news of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo returning to South Korea.
Chapter 202
First, it was Christopher Reid.
Next, Brazil’s top Hunter, Jonas.
And finally, the Korean Hunter’s Association President, Goh Gun-Hui.
The news of these Hunters dying, thought to be some of the world’s best, was revealed to the public one after the other and caused substantial chaos in their wake.
If the enemies were capable of murdering the Hunters who stood at the apex when it came to fighting power, then just who would be able to catch them?
The world’s mass media continued to talk about nothing else other than the deaths of these three Hunters for several days and nights. America’s own Hunter Bureau even issued an official statement regarding these events, too.
And it said that the Bureau had gotten in contact with various Guilds from other nations to focus their resources in tracking down the culprits responsible.
Unfortunately, the public’s fears couldn’t be assuaged with a simple statement like that. It was obvious why – the trusty walls that defended them like an impregnable fortress from the dire threats of monsters had been breached, after all.
As the Hunter communities and the mass media around the world were going through an upheaval, the Korean Hunter’s Association suddenly released video footage to the public. It contained scenes recorded from Association President Goh Gun-Hui’s office at the time of his death.
“Oh, my god!”
“Heok!”
Everyone who clapped their eyes on the footage in question couldn’t hide their shocks and astonishments.
Two men were shown on the captured footage.
One of them was, without a doubt, the Association President Goh Gun-Hui. As for the other ‘man’ stabbing the former’s chest with something very sharp, he was… no matter how one looked, that thing was not human.
It was a monster.
‘An Ice Elf!!’
The shocking sight of a monster that should’ve been confined in a dungeon murdering a top-ranked Hunter was captured so vividly in the video. The creature’s face in a close-up soon spread out to the rest of the world.
The shockwave from that video was massive.
People finally realised that, although Hunters existed to hunt down monsters, they too could be hunted down in turn by their supposed prey, just like everyone else. This only served to create yet another layer of terror in the people’s hearts.
Regular folks were being protected by the Hunters, but then, who was protecting these Hunters?
Things got bad enough to the point where some people began saying that the nation’s best Hunters shouldn’t be let outside their own borders, citing that Jin-Woo was not in Korea at the time of the Association President Goh Gun-Hui’s murder.
And so – as the chaotic atmosphere ruled supreme, the focus of the general public quickly shifted over to Jin-Woo. Everyone knew the close-knit relationship he had with the Association President, so people naturally became curious as to what his response would be.
However, Jin-Woo didn’t say anything to the media.
A few days went by like that.
By this time, the investigation into the Association President Goh Gun-Hui’s cause of death was complete. The day before the funeral, Jin-Woo paid an unannounced visit to the Hunter’s Association.
***
Woo Jin-Cheol, looking wane and exhausted, came to receive Jin-Woo at the waiting area.
“I’m sorry about the wait, Hunter-nim. It’s been really hectic for the last few days….”
Woo Jin-Cheol rubbed his scruffy, unkempt beard and apologised. On that day they returned from the United States, he was greeted with this out-of-nowhere news and had to rush straight back to the Hunter’s Association.
The meeting of these two men was taking place exactly three days after that. Before they got down to business, though, Jin-Woo asked him a question.
“Why did you… hide the rest of the footage taken by the CCTV camera?”
The Association’s footage went only as far as revealing the face of the Sovereign of Frost. As for Jin-Woo or Beru who entered the Association President’s office afterwards, their footage was not revealed to the public.
Woo Jin-Cheol scratched his head and replied with a bitter expression on his face.
“We at the Association will always prioritise the safety of our Hunters. We decided that we can’t carelessly reveal one of your hidden abilities to the public.”
A Hunter’s skills were like all the hidden trump cards he or she possessed. Publicly revealing a skill would be akin to unveiling one’s hands. Quite obviously, the higher the one’s Awakened rank was, the more likely it was for one to hide one’s skills, as this act could save one’s life in an unexpected situation.
Jin-Woo’s skill that allowed him to travel in the blink of an eye from America to the Hunter’s Association building in South Korea – the Association decided that they couldn’t reveal a skill this monumental to the world without the consent of the Hunter in question.
“I’m sure that the Association President would have made the exact same decision if he was still with us.”
Chief Woo Jin-Cheol respected Goh Gun-Hui greatly and one could even say that he was closer to his late boss than anybody else in this organisation. So, when he mentioned the term ‘Association President’, his eyes reddened automatically.
“Ah, I see. That was why your expression looked so scary and unforgiving before we got on the plane heading back home.”
Jin-Woo admitted to Woo Jin-Cheol’s guess with a simple nod.
The latter felt as if a mystery was solved the moment he watched the footage – the mystery regarding why Jin-Woo’s atmosphere came across as so heavy on the day they were about to depart for South Korea.
“Was that monster so strong that you couldn’t stop it, Hunter-nim?”
Jin-Woo shook his head.
“When I got here, it was already…..”
Jin-Woo formed a gloomy expression again and Woo Jin-Cheol’s head dropped lower in the end.
“I’m sorry…. I’m sure you’re also feeling really bad right now. I was just frustrated and that ended up troubling you….”
Woo Jin-Cheol knew better than anyone that Jin-Woo was not responsible. That was perhaps why the latter’s attempt at trying to console the former only made it worse.
“I still can’t believe it.”
Woo Jin-Cheol’s gaze remained fixed on the floor as he carried on.
“How could he die…. He was urging me the day before to return as soon as possible because he wanted to hear about everything that happened in the U.S…..”
Jin-Woo patiently waited for Woo Jin-Cheol as the latter struggled to finish his sentence.
“What did…. What did the Association President say to you? Before he closed his eyes?”
“He said that he felt relieved.”
“Pardon?”
Woo Jin-Cheol raised his head, surprised.
“He felt relieved that the future could be entrusted to the young Hunters, like myself….”
“Ah.”
That’s what he meant.
Tears began falling from Woo Jin-Cheol’s eyes as his emotions welled up. He felt moved by the generous heart of Association President Goh Gun-Hui, who worried for the future of his fellow men right up until the end.
He dabbed around his eyes with the back of his hand and hid the tears away before nodding his head.
“Thank you. Thank you for being there for the final moments of the Association President.”
The thing about him being relieved couldn’t have been a lie. If it was, how could he have formed such a serene expression as he passed on?
Woo Jin-Cheol’s gratitude was genuine, it came from the depths of his heart.
“…”
Jin-Woo kept his mouth firmly shut, opting to not reply. He felt as if his complicated thoughts had been untangled somewhat by having this conversation with Woo Jin-Cheol.
“….I’ll kill that b*stard.”
“Excuse me?”
Jin-Woo’s expression became extremely cold.
“The monster that murdered the Association President. I’ll definitely hunt it down.”
Not just for the sake of avenging Goh Gun-Hui, but to send the clear message to those b*stards threatening him.
Gulp.
Woo Jin-Cheol swallowed his dry saliva.
He knew that this killing aura wasn’t even directed at him, yet he could hardly breathe right now from the intense pressure. As a matter of fact, this cold and heavy murderous intent was squashing down hard on his shoulders.
Jin-Woo spotted Woo Jin-Cheol’s complexion becoming pale and quickly withdrew his aura.
“You can save your thanks until then.”
“Oh….”
Woo Jin-Cheol did his best to calm the pounding heart in his chest and nodded his head.
“I understand.”n(0)vel(b)(j)(n)served as the original host for this chapter’s release on N0v3l-B1n.
Only then did he realise that Jin-Woo still hadn’t told him about the purpose of his visit to the Association. A Hunter on his level wouldn’t have come here to ask about the latter part of the security video footage.
So, Woo Jin-Cheol asked politely.
“I apologise for my inattentiveness…. I even forgot to ask you why you are paying us a visit, Hunter-nim.”
Jin-Woo told him about the decision he had come to after a few days of deliberation.
“Can you organise me a press conference?”
***
Reporters descended on the press conference venue like a flock of vultures. Jin-Woo was being seen as a walking, talking bundle of big news waiting to happen to these reporters for a while now.
And such a man had called for a press conference, the first time ever that he did that, so which reporter worth his or her salt wouldn’t be interested in that?
Noisy, noisy….
The conference venue became quite noisy, as befitting the large number of the gathered crowd. But, just like a lie, every single one of them shut their mouths as soon as Jin-Woo made his entrance.
Right away, the expectant silence filled up the venue.
Jin-Woo could feel each of the focused gazes from the reporters landing on his skin as he began addressing them.
“A group of monsters possessing a high level of intelligence is currently hunting down humanity’s top-ranked Hunters. They are stronger than any Hunters out there, and they also employ all sorts of means to get to their targets.”
A group of monsters?
There was more than one monster that murdered the Association President Goh Gun-Hui?
The reporters were immediately thrown into confusion.
However, Jin-Woo got his information straight from the mouth of the King of Giants, the Sovereign of the Beginning. There were nine Sovereigns, and he said that soon, a battle between them and the so-called ‘Rulers’ would commence.
The Sovereigns were prioritising targetting the Hunters at the top of the pile who were borrowing the powers of the Rulers. Three Hunters had been killed already. And it was unknown how many more victims would arise in the near future.
For the time being, he did attach his boys to those Hunters that the Hunter Bureau had pointed out, but realistically speaking, he couldn’t keep his eyes on every single Hunter in the world who was called ‘strong’.
For instance, there could be another victim from an unexpected quarter like Goh Gun-Hui.
Jin-Woo’s sudden press conference was meant to serve as a message of warning to the potential victims who were fighting against monsters in some parts of the world.
“These monsters employ special magic that separates the targetted space from the surroundings. That’s how they isolate their targets.”
This was incredible information. He could reveal this without hesitation because he had met a Sovereign already.
“That is why, if you fear that you might be their next target, please, stay as close as humanly possible to your comrades that could protect you. However, just in case…..”
‘Just in case’, he said.
Jin-Woo finally revealed the reason why he wanted to hold this press conference in the first place.
“If you don’t have a comrade that can fulfil that role, contact the Korean Hunter’s Association. They will put you through to me.”
“Oh, oh!”
Exclamations of admiration came out from the lips of the reporters.
Such unwavering confidence!
The Hunter responsible for beating Thomas Andre to a pulp was emitting a confidence-inspiring aura as if such monsters were a trifling matter to him. This sure was a surprising announcement capable of blowing away the fog of anxiety from the public’s hearts.
The thing was, though – Jin-Woo was actually aiming for something else.
‘I’ll lay a trap using all the Hunters that might be targetted by those b*stards.’
With this, he’d be able to trace the movements of the Sovereigns even if they targetted the retired or inactive Hunters like the Association President Goh Gun-Hui. He had no doubt that at least one of them would fall into his trap sooner or later.
When Jin-Woo was about to end his announcement, a barrage of questions descended on him almost immediately.
“I’m a reporter working for the X Daily! How do you know so much about this group of monsters, Hunter-nim?”
“I’ve encountered them before.”
To be more specific, he had run into them twice already. He met the King of Giants in Japan, while the other one in Korea.
Noisy, noisy….
Reporters couldn’t immediately recover from their surprises but still, they didn’t forget to jot down what Jin-Woo had said.
“Does that mean you were unscathed even after encountering them, Hunter-nim??”
Jin-Woo replied concisely, his eyes burning with the flames of confidence.
“Yes.”
Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was unhurt even after encountering those creatures! Reporters hurriedly operated their cameras as the expected scoop happened yet again.
Click, click, click, click-!!
It was then, a certain reporter sitting a bit away from the front row raised his hand up high. He was none other than the same reporter who accompanied Chief Woo Jin-Cheol to document the sacrifices the Hunters had made trying to battle the angel statue. Jin-Woo shifted his gaze over to him.
Reporter Kim slowly lowered his hand and, quite unlike his frenzied peers, voiced his question clearly and concisely.
“What will you do when you meet the monster responsible for the murder of the Association President Goh Gun-Hui?”
Jin-Woo studied the still-furious expression etched on the face of Reporter Kim without saying anything, before switching the mic off.
“….That will be all.”
Reporter Kim stared for a long time at Jin-Woo’s departing back as the latter descended from the platform. He thought that, even though there was no verbal answer, he could still hear the young Hunter’s determined voice somehow.
***
“Guild Master.”
“Master!”
The two security guards on duty jumped up from their seats in surprise after seeing Thomas Andre walking towards their guard station, but he simply signalled at them, telling them to settle back down.
Beep.
He pressed his thumb on the fingerprint scanner, and the automated door slid open. He and the top manager of the Guild, Laura, stepped into the underground storage facility located below the Guild’s building.
The two guards who got spooked by Thomas Andre’s presence were rank A Hunters in reality.
Since he stayed in the building’s penthouse suite and would be informed immediately if something happened, the number of people who could step into this storage facility were extremely few.
Thomas Andre didn’t hesitate for a second and headed straight into the deepest part of the underground facility.
“Are you really planning to gift him with ‘those’, sir?”
Beep.
They finally gained access to the chamber housing ‘those’ after another round of fingerprint scanning.
“What’s the matter? Do you believe this is too much for the price of my Guild members, as well as my life?”
“No, sir. That’s not it, but….”
“Well, you think he’s not good enough as a Hunter to wield these guys, then?”
“….”
Laura knew that talking to him now was a waste of time. Since she knew retorting to him wouldn’t work anyway, she decided to close her mouth shut for now.
Meanwhile, Thomas Andre stood before the items he was searching for. These weapons didn’t even suit him at all, yet he couldn’t help but feel his heart tremble every time he stood before them.
“….No matter how many times I look at them, they still look cool.”
Thomas Andre murmured in admiration, and Laura tried to dissuade him one last time, her voice sounding slightly unwilling.
“Sir, there are only two of these in the entire world.”
“Yup, that’s true.”
“And it’ll stay that way.”
“I’m sure it will.”
“Even then, will you still give them away?”
“That’s why I’m giving them to him.”
Thomas Andre formed a smirk.
It had been almost eight years since these guys were crafted, but the searing light coming off of them hadn’t diminished by a single bit.
“The best Hunter needs the best weapons. Don’t you think it’s too much of a waste to let them rot in here?”
As if to answer him, a pair of shortswords resting within the metal case reflected the spotlight, the glare of the blades remaining sharp and cold.
Chapter 203
Streets were filled with the gloomy atmosphere of a funeral.
Someone had to perform that role, but no one wanted to step forward to do it – that was the position of the first President of the Hunter’s Association.
Goh Gun-Hui.
When the nation needed someone to rally the powerful Hunters, he unhesitatingly closed up his own successful business and rolled up his sleeves to get to work.
And under the command of its President Goh Gun-Hui, the Korean Hunter’s Association was able to achieve so many things.
The organisation controlled and protected various Hunters; at the same time, it took the lead in compensating the victims of the monster attacks, while also silently aiding the families of the deceased Hunters, as well.
Many victims who had received Goh Gun-Hui’s aid in the past gathered at his memorial service and cried their hearts out in genuine sorrow.
Citizens filled up the venue until there was no room to even stand; the people paying their respects remained until deep into the night, burning their candles and grieving for the life lost.
Even the various TV stations interrupted their regular broadcasting schedules to play the video packages summarising the life of the late Association President and his various accomplishments.
One of the gigantic electronic advertising boards hung up in the middle of the city played the scene of Goh Gun-Hui taking shots at Assemblyman Nam Joon-Wook during the parliamentary hearing.
[“I’d like to urge you to think about this carefully. If and when another rank S Gate appears in our land, just who will step up to protect your life? You will not be able to buy back your life even if you are willing to pay hundreds of times, no, make that thousands of times the price you paid for your new residence.”]
The pedestrian lights changed colour to green, but no one moved from their spot. They stood still, unable to rip their eyes away from the electronic boards or from their smartphones.
Next up was a clip of an interview featuring the longtime personal physician of Goh Gun-Hui.
[“Back when Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim was fighting against the ant monsters on Jeju Island, I was watching the raid broadcast by the Association President’s side. He turned around to tell me that his biggest wish had now come true, and he had no more regrets left. But to think, he’d really leave us like this….”]
His eyes were red and swollen even before the interview began, and the good doctor eventually broke down and cried.
The viewers watching all became lost for words. They began recalling the sight of the Association President Goh Gun-Hui standing before the families of the victims and wordlessly shedding tears after the previous three attempts to take Jeju Island back all ended in failures.
Just as the number of people who respected and admired him was great, the number of those who hated him and were jealous of him was quite high, as well. However, even these people paid their respects to him on this day, their hearts all feeling the same sort of emotion.
*
Late at night.
Jin-Woo stood on the rooftop of the 100-stories-tall Daesung Tower. Powerful gusts of wind constantly blew at him as he stood at this dizzying height, but his body didn’t even sway for one second.
His eyes were fixated on the cityscape below. He could see the streets of Seoul filled with the palpable air of grief.
One of the electronic advertisement boards was playing a documentary detailing the life of the Association President Goh Gun-Hui.
‘…..’
Jin-Woo’s sharp glare scanned every corner of the city like a hawk searching for prey.
Meanwhile, his Shadow Soldiers were searching through Seoul with greater efficiency than before, perhaps owing to the fact that they felt familiar with the order as it was similar to the one he issued in America.
A great deal of information flowed into Jin-Woo’s mind, but none of them was what he wanted to know. No matter how much of the city was searched, no traces of that ancient White Phantom could be detected.
‘As expected, this method isn’t going to work.’
Jin-Woo knew all too well that using a method like this to catch a monster who was capable of freely entering and exiting a dimension through Gates was not the answer.
Back then, he tried to stick a Shadow Soldier on the b*stard before it made its escape so he could chase after it later. But that ended in failure. Because… that creature didn’t have that one little thing that all existences possessed. It didn’t have a shadow.
‘It’s supposed to be a spiritual body or some such, right?’
The King of Giants did say that both the Sovereigns and the Rulers were made up of the ‘spiritual bodies’ so they couldn’t be turned into Shadow Soldiers.
If that was the reason why that Sovereign didn’t possess a shadow, then Jin-Woo no longer enjoyed the benefit of having the greatest method of tracking someone down.
However….
‘….It doesn’t matter.’
The King of Giants warned him back then – once Jin-Woo’s existence was known to the remaining Sovereigns, they would not sit back idly and suck on their thumbs. That’s what he said.
Meaning, these Sovereigns would come knocking on his doorstep sooner rather than later. Not to target the Association President Goh Gun-Hui, but him, as their sole target.
But when that happens, he would…..
The heavy and intense killing intent spread out from Jin-Woo.
Ever since he got the System, his reward for surviving the terrors of the first dual dungeon, he had never missed his enemy. The only one to buck this trend was that ‘Ice Elf’.
Jin-Woo had ensured that his enemies would meet their ends, regardless of whether they were monsters or humans. And he wasn’t planning on letting that thing become the only exception.
But then….
‘Uh….?’
He had to take a pause there.
Jin-Woo was going through all the enemies he fought until now and realised that something was a bit odd.
Now that he thought about it…
‘….Wait, when I was fighting Hwang Dong-Su or Thomas Andre, I didn’t see any messages from the System, did I?’
In the past, the System always warned him with messages if someone nearby directed murderous intent towards him, and soon after that, issued emergency quests.
It happened with Hwang Dong-Seok, Kahng Tae-Sik, and finally, with Kim Cheol. There was no exception.
Hell, he even received a warning message during that sparring session with Goto Ryuji just because, for the briefest moment, the Japanese Hunter attacked him with the intent to cause real harm.
‘But then, no messages popped up when Hwang Dong-Su was trying to get revenge for his brother, or when Thomas Andre declared that he’d kill me. Why?’
What a strange development this was.
No matter how he dissected it, it didn’t sound right. Jin-Woo pondered this mystery for a second or two, then pulled out his phone in order to confirm a theory of his.
Thankfully, he still had the contact number he got from that American’s blonde lady manager.
It was 1 AM in Korea, but when thinking about the time difference to the Eastern United States, he shouldn’t be unduly inconveniencing them.
Ringgg….
As he expected, the ringtone didn’t last long before the other side answered the call.
– “Hey, Mister Seong. I didn’t expect you to give me a call first.”
Perhaps puzzled by the phone call, Thomas Andre’s voice sounded a bit surprised.
“Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you about.”
– “You have a question? Not a problem. I’ll try to answer it as truthfully as I can.”
“That day, when we were fighting….”
– “….When we were fighting?”
“Did you attack me with the intent to kill?”
Since Thomas Andre was rather unwilling to recall the events of that day, Jin-Woo quickly explained that he simply wanted to satisfy his curiosity and nothing more.
There was no reason to hide anything, though. Thomas Andre took his time before answering as truthfully as he promised earlier.
– “Well, when I get angry, I can’t really control myself, so…. Yeah, I was thinking of really killing you that day.”
As expected – the murderous intent the American carried was all for real. Even then, the System maintained silence.
Something definitely….
‘….Has changed.’
His hypothesis that started off from suspicion was quickly morphing into a sure thing.
– “Mister Seong?”
Thomas Andre must’ve felt the ensuing silence from his answer a wee bit uncomfortable because he tried to change the topic with an excited voice.
– “How about we change the subject from this uninteresting story to the fantastic thing I prepared for you…..”
Ttuk….
Jin-Woo wasn’t really in the mood to share a jokey banter with Thomas Andre right now, so he mumbled a quick goodbye and ended the call right there.
That answer confirmed it for him. The System didn’t react to the presence of enemies with hostile intentions against him. This was totally different from before. What a big change this was, considering that in the beginning, it tried to make him protect himself no matter what.
‘This is not a problem that I can take lightly.’
When it happened for the first time – when he saw the overtly-threatening quest telling him to kill his enemies or his own heart would stop beating, he began to hold a vague notion on just what the end game of the System could be.
It was likely that the System was trying to goad him down a certain path – that’s what he thought.
So, now that there were no emergency quests being issued, this could signal a change in the goal of the System.
Thanks to this, he now enjoyed the luxury of having more choices, and he also got to spare Thomas Andre even though the American had bared his fangs like that.
‘If another emergency quest was issued, then well, such a thing wouldn’t have happened.’
It sure was a welcome piece of news that he now had a wider variety of options available, but still, he couldn’t help but be curious as to what the real reason for this change might be.
Did it have something to with the original owner of this power supposedly betraying the other Sovereigns? Or, did the death of the ‘architect’ of the System throw a wrench in their plan, whatever it was, and everything had gone down the crapper?
Jin-Woo continued to dissect each guess and hypothesis that popped up one after the other in his mind before ruefully shaking his head.
‘I should clear my mind.’
There was a need to set a clear goal for the time being. And that would be to kill that ancient White Phantom, as well as to get as much information on other Sovereigns from the b*stard while he was at it.
If the creature came for him first, that would be good. But, even if it targetted other Hunters instead, he was in the midst of increasing his traps, anyway.
As long as that thing fell for it, then he’d be able to catch two birds with one stone.
The problem was with time.
Since he didn’t know when the Sovereigns might appear again, he needed to adequately prepare himself for the battle against the unknown enemies who were, no doubt, incredibly powerful.
Thankfully, he had already got himself a perfect place to keep earning more experience points.
That would be none other than Japan. It had not recovered fully from all the destruction caused by the Giants. Several parts of the country were still left abandoned in ruin.
While Jin-Woo was in America, countless Gates went on to become full-on dungeon breaks, and monsters emerging from them settled down and began increasing their territories.
To the Japanese people, those monsters might be the source of terror, but for Jin-Woo, they were nothing more than juicy prey just waiting to be converted into experience points.
One by one…
His heart began pounding hard just from imagining his level climbing up by pushing back the monsters occupying the land there.
It was then, his phone vibrated for a short moment and alerted him to the incoming message. He looked at the screen to find a text message from Thomas Andre.
[Mister Seong? Can you give me another call? There was something I still wanna tell you about….]
The old saying went along the lines of ‘the ground will harden after a rainfall’; it seemed that Thomas Andre wanted to form a friendship on the basis of them having fought against each other.
Jin-Woo welcomed the idea, obviously. His social skill wasn’t poor enough for him to refuse the hand of friendship the other side was offering first.
Still, they could chat at any time they wanted to, no? He liked Thomas Andre and his lack of ulterior motives, but it was a bit too late in the evening to share banter with him, he thought.
Jin-Woo quickly typed his reply and sent it on its way.
[OK. But later. I’ve got this urgent thing to take care of.]
Beep.
A smile spread on Jin-Woo’s face after he tapped ‘Send’ icon.
‘Nothing will change.’
Indeed, he’d continue to raise his level in preparation for the days ahead. It was the same story back then or now.
‘Good.’
He felt better than when he was climbing up here. His steps now taking him back down the Daesung Tower were lighter than ever before.
***
However, Jin-Woo wasn’t the only one getting ready for a battle.
The Sovereign of Frost, after successfully escaping to the hideout, summoned other Sovereigns who had already descended on this planet.
Three men and one woman appeared within this frozen cave. The Sovereign of Frost addressed these four ‘kings’.
[The Shadow Sovereign is in this world.]
And then, it proceeded to explain what it saw and heard to its new guests.
[…..]
[…..]
The Sovereigns weren’t even bothered in the slightest by the coldness of the cave capable of freezing a person’s flesh and blood, but after hearing the story, their atmosphere became incredibly frosty in mere seconds.
[I thought there was no vessel good enough to contain his power?]
Also, wasn’t that the reason why the Dragon Emperor couldn’t descend to this world, too?
The Sovereign of Frost resolutely shook its head.
[I saw it clearly with my own two eyes. That being was real.]
Two of the Sovereigns who had sensed the lingering power of the Shadow Sovereign back in Jeju Island could only agree with their comrade at this point. The atmosphere remained frosty as the Sovereign of Frost continued on.
[He will prove to be an even bigger threat to us than the Fragments of the Brilliant Light. I shall dispose of him. Are any of you willing to lend me your aid?]
Too bad, the response to its request for aid was indifferent, to say the least. This made some sense. Their opponent this time was seen as one of the most powerful ‘kings’ among the nine kings that ruled over the Chaos World.
A battle against him was the same as killing yourself. It was only obvious that these Sovereigns would become extra hesitant by the prospect.
One of the Sovereigns spoke up.
[How about we wait for the Dragon Emperor?]
The Sovereign of Destruction. If it was ‘him’, then the betrayer would be dealt with quite swiftly.
However, the Sovereign of Frost growled angrily at its comrades.
[We might be on the run, but do not forget that we’re kings of our own armies. How long will you cry out for the Dragon Emperor to come and save you?]
The dagger that stabbed into its shoulder – the wound inflicted from that encounter was no ordinary physical injury, but one that directly bruised its ego. The Sovereign of Frost had a score to settle with the Shadow Sovereign.
[If we wish to remove him from the picture, then now is the chance as he is still a human. Lend me your aid. I shall make sure to send him back to the void.]
Even though its resolution was unwavering, one of the Sovereigns still stepped away.
[I shall not partake in this venture.]
Another Sovereign brought up the incident of the King of the Demons, Baran, who unwisely went up against the Shadow Sovereign and disappeared from the spot, as well.
[I do not wish to end up like the Sovereign of the White Flames.]
[….Cowards.]
The Sovereign of Frost clicked its tongue as two of its comrades disappeared from the view. Out of the five kings that had gathered, only three remained. A muscular giant of a figure threw a question at the Sovereign of Frost.
[Where’s the proof that he’s still a human being?]
As if it was waiting for this chance, the ancient White Phantom showed the dagger that used to be stabbed into its shoulder. Its tip was gleaming in a greenish hue.
[Poison has been applied to the blade.]n(0)vel(b)(j)(n)served as the original host for this chapter’s release on N0v3l-B1n.
More precisely, it was the poison of a Manticore. It might not be effective against Sovereigns, but it was still a fatal substance powerful enough to rot away the flesh of the regular denizens of the Chaos World just from simple, innocuous contact.
That man had coated his blade with the poison in preparation of the future events. It was indeed a meticulous and smart thing to do, but it was also not the Shadow Sovereign’s original style. This was the clear evidence that the human was in charge of that body.
The Sovereign of Frost respectfully asked the two remaining comrades.
[Are you with me on this one?]
Its powers were about the same compared to the Shadow Sovereign, who was still a mere human. However, if two other Sovereigns supported its cause, then it was sure of subjugating the human Shadow Sovereign.
The two remaining ‘kings’ exchanged glances between each other before nodding their heads.
[I shall aid you.]
[We shall kill the Shadow Sovereign.]
The Sovereign of Frost swore in its heart that it’d teach the true meaning of terror to that puny little human responsible for wounding its shoulder with a dagger.
The corner of the ancient White Phantom’s lips curled upwards.
Chapter 204
To fill the vacant Association President’s position, an executive-level meeting was held among the Vice-President and the chiefs of various departments, as well as directors from the regional branch offices.
Over thirty members filled up the large conference room.
Even though these people boasted societal authority exceeding the directors and managers of regular parastatal entities or large corporations, all thanks to the Hunter’s Association, the complexions of every single one present today were clouded by deep anxiety.
As this heavy atmosphere bubbled on, a couple of unimportant topics were discussed to bring everyone up to speed on what was happening around the globe.
“….Looks like it’s time to decide on who’ll follow in the footsteps of our late President.”
Finally, the time had come. Along with that declaration from the Vice-President, nervous tension brushed past the expressions of all the attending staff members.
Gulp.
Even the sounds of saliva being swallowed could be heard here and there. This moment could decide the fate of the Hunter’s Association, after all.
The number of Hunters were increasing, while the Gates appeared more frequently now. All these people forming the core of the Association’s command structure knew full well that the instability of their organisation could lead to the nation itself becoming unstable as well.
“Well, then….”
The Vice-President, in charge of leading the proceedings, closed the documents in front of him before the topic could get on the way. This gesture signalled that the words written on these pages were insignificant compared to what was about to be discussed.
“After a lengthy, in-depth discussion between the board of directors and myself, we decided to nominate Chief Woo Jin-Cheol as the new Association President.”
The person in question, Woo Jin-Cheol, hadn’t been told before the meeting, so rather understandably, he raised his head up in great surprise. He quickly looked at the Vice-President.
‘But, why me….?’
His eyes were silently asking this question, and as a reply, the Vice-President stared straight back while pulling the head of the microphone closer.
“Chief Woo has learned what the job entails by serving our late Association President from the closest vantage point. Not to mention, he possesses more than adequate power to make other Hunters acquiesce, as well.”
Those were all undeniable facts.
The late Association President Goh Gun-Hui deeply appreciated Woo Jin-Cheol, the man who willingly chose to work for the Association despite receiving many scouting offers from major Guilds. And the Chief of the Monitoring Division was rank A, infinitely close to the threshold of ‘S’.
If only his magic energy evaluation numbers were a bit higher, the Association would’ve been blessed with its second rank S Hunter alongside Goh Gun-Hui.
He possessed four years of on-field job experience and also possessed powerful abilities that easily exceeded regular rank A Awakened, too.
There were no opposing voices on whether or not he was fit to command countless other Hunters affiliated with the Association.
The staff members initially began murmuring to each other after the nomination of Woo Jin-Cheol was made, but soon, they grew calmer from the Vice-President explaining the executives’ decision.
Unfortunately, the man in the spotlight still couldn’t really accept this outcome.
“I’m lacking in several key areas to take on that role. Not only are there executives holding higher offices than mine, aren’t I too young to hold such an important office?”
He was only in his mid-thirties. No one here would disregard his four years of experience in the Monitoring Division, but still, he was far, far too young to lead an organisation of this magnitude as its leader.
At least, that’s what Woo Jin-Cheol believed.
“We have you, the Vice-President. What about the directors of the executive board? Directors from the various regional branch offices?”
Woo Jin-Cheol looked at the faces of all these powerful men and asked the Vice-President once more.
“There are this many excellent candidates present, so why am I being nominated as the replacement for the late Association President, sir?”
“Fuu….”
The Vice-President turned his head away to his side and sighed out softly under his breath. He did expect to run into this sort of resistance. However, he didn’t count on that resistance to come from Woo Jin-Cheol himself.
The Vice-President switched his mic off. The official stance of the board of the directors had been communicated in full by now. So, it was time to get to the meat of the matter, the unofficial stance.
The mic being switched off prompted the attending staff members to pay even greater attention. The Vice-President opened his mouth.
“No personnel within the Association, including myself, possesses the ability to persuade South Korea’s greatest combat potential.”
The greatest combat potential ‘affiliated’ with the Hunter’s Association – there was no need to mention that person’s name as everyone present could already picture his face.
“He has clearly demonstrated the extent of his powers in Korea, Japan, as well in the United States. It’s already happened, but well, without a doubt, the Hunter’s Association would not be able to function properly without his presence.”
The ‘Special Authority-rank’ Hunter, capable of shifting a country with his individual power, had to kneel before Seong Jin-Woo. How could a measly little Association demand anything from someone like that?
The only thing they could do was to politely make a request and wait patiently for a reply. That was all.
Just like how the Association President Goh Gun-Hui was able to rescue the Jeju Island raid team by borrowing Hunter Seong’s power, the organisation needed someone, a line of communication as it were, to request for his aid once more in the future.
And the closest person to Hunter Seong Jin-Woo currently working for the Association was Woo Jin-Cheol. That alone was enough of a qualification.
The Vice-President had spoken his opinion on the subject matter to the board of directors, and they, in turn, agreed with his analysis. And now, the staff members sitting inside the conference room were also nodding along as well.
“Just like how it is with Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim, we can’t force you to make this decision, Chief Woo.”
The power was with the Hunters. The Vice-President declared that he wanted to make that distinction crystal clear.
“That is why, will you not accept our nomination in good faith and be our leader moving forward?”
Everyone was now looking at Woo Jin-Cheol. A brief bout of silence later, he finally opened his mouth, still aware of the expectant gazes prickling his skin.
“I…..”
***
“Hul…..”
Jin-Woo was unaware that he just muttered out a gasp that his little sister used to make rather often. He was flipping through the articles found online through his phone, and his hand movements became faster.
[The new master of the Hunter’s Association, following in the footsteps of the late President Goh Gun-Hui, is President Woo Jin-Cheol!]
He was momentarily surprised and worried after seeing that Chief Woo’s name appeared as the number one real-time search result, but now that the confusion was cleared up, his racing heart began to slowly calm down.
It was a welcome piece of news, after all. To think that Chief Woo, a personal friend, would climb up to the position of the Association President.
Jin-Woo formed a smile and congratulated the man in his mind before shutting the device’s power off and chucked it lightly behind him. An ant Shadow Soldier standing there just barely caught it.
Jin-Woo watched the ant stuff the phone in a bag and warned the creature.
“Your predecessor was much better at stuff like this than you. You gotta bring your A game from now on, okay?”
Yu Jin-Ho was too busy performing the role of the Vice-Chairman of the Guild and couldn’t accompany him this time, so this ant Shadow Solder was elected to replace him as the luggage carrier. As if the creature was feeling sheepish about his new role, he continuously bowed while scratching the back of his head.
“Okay, good.”
Jin-Woo chuckled and lightly tapped the soldier on his shoulder before turning around to leave. He had finished eating lunch, so it was now time to recommence with the hunt.
But then…
“Hah-ah…. It’s these guys again?”
Jin-Woo scratched his forehead as he scanned the dense forest of trees dyeing his view a sea of green.
Only a short while ago, there used to be a village right here before it got trampled on by the Giants. But to think, it now resembled the Amazon rainforest….
One didn’t even need to be able to sense magical energy to realise that something was very wrong with this sight, indeed.
However, it seemed that regular animals weren’t suspicious of this forest, as various traces of them being devoured could be seen here and there. Jin-Woo stared at the bones of the dead animals and the flies buzzing around them before clicking his tongue.
He then picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at the forest.
Swish-!!
It was no longer a plain stone, though. No, it was a stone thrown by a rank S Hunter – no, by Jin-Woo of all people.
Smack!!
The stone accurately struck where the face of the tree-type monster was. The creature’s closed eyes shot wide open. It began frowning angrily and stood up from the spot to run straight at him.
“Kiiiieeehk!!”
It seemed that you’d get p*ssed off after getting hit by a rock whether you were a person or a plant.
Jin-Woo summoned out the ‘Demon King’s Shortswords’ and rushed forward. The huge tree creature swung its thick branches at the approaching human.
‘So slow….’
This monster was indeed, far too slow. Jin-Woo leisurely slid past the two branches currently being used like fists and took a closer look at the tree’s ‘face’.
The tree monster was struggling to spot him with its eyes.
‘Even its reactions are poor.’
Whenever the branches smashed the ground, the earth was deeply gouged out, but even then, Jin-Woo was still clicking his tongue.
‘Compared to how big it is, its power is nothing to write home about.’
The monster looked tough and powerful because of how large it was, but when compared to the Giant-type creatures of similar size, its power simply lagged far behind. But then again, maybe this was the trade-off for it being very sturdy.
Jin-Woo gripped the shortswords tightly as the blades sliced and diced past the trunk of the tree monster.
“Kiiiechk, kiieeehk!”This chapter’s initial release occurred on the N0v3l-B1n site.
The monster kept screaming in pain but it didn’t want to go down at all.
‘Violent Slash!’
Sword slashes pouring out at once like a buckshot stabbed and sliced and ripped into the tree monster.
Dududududududu!!
“Kiiiiieeehk!!”
The monster actually squeezed its eyes shut at the continuous barrage of attacks and flailed its ‘fists’ around in a frenzy. Jin-Woo evaded those attacks and approached the body of the monster again before sending his shortswords back into his ‘Inventory’. He then clenched his fist tightly.
The muscles of his right arm expanded in an instant as magical energy flooded there in a great quantity. And then, he punched out just once.
WOO-JEECK!!
The tree was folded in half as it got flung away.
“Kiiiehck?!?!”
The creature tumbled around on the ground as a painful scream exploded out from its mouth. Even then, it began dragging its broken body back towards Jin-Woo again.
“Huh….”
This thing possessed truly shocking durability, that’s for sure. These tree monsters, spotted for the very first time here in Japan, boasted a frightening level of endurance. Only after Jin-Woo beat the living daylights out of the creature for the umpteenth time did it stop moving altogether.
“K-kiechk…”
The dying tree moaned out a short gasp of death and spat out some kind of a liquid possessing an unbearable stink.
“Euhk.”
Jin-Woo covered his nose up.
What irritated him more than the monster’s tenacious vitality was this atrocious stink.
While the ‘Yu Jin-Ho replacement’ ant soldier diligently dug through the monster’s remains to find it’s Magic Crystal, Jin-Woo shifted his glare towards the forest where the same type of monsters were in hiding.
‘And I’m supposed to repeat the same thing over and over again…..’
Just how long ago was it since the dungeon break occurred nearby? A deep frown etched on his forehead as he stared at the monsters that had already formed a dense forest.
The thing was, though – humans were intelligent creatures.
Jin-Woo had fought against these monsters and now knew what their weaknesses were. So, he came up with a plan.
‘I knew something like this would happen. Good thing that I had them on standby.’
Jin-Woo grinned and summoned out a few Shadow Soldiers.
“Hey, come out.”
As if they were waiting for that summons, Fangs and the three Magic Soldiers emerged from the shadow. As it turned out, Jin-Woo made the correct call to have these guys on standby even though he sent others out on their own expeditions.
“Okay, begin!”
As soon as Jin-Woo issued his order, Fangs quickly grew into his usual massive size and spat out his trademark pillar of flames, while the remaining three Magic Soldiers also began their spectacular fire magic show.
Kuwaaaah!!
Boom!! Ka-boom! Bang!!
Flames rapidly spread out, causing the tree monsters to twist around and scream out in pain.
“Kiiieeehk!”
“Kiiehk!”
“Kiiiiiaaaahk!”
These flames were ripe with magical energy and easily burned their targets into ashes, even though these trees weren’t dry, to begin with. Even that liquid with the terrible smell was quickly evaporated by the heat, so Jin-Woo standing at an adequate-enough distance could spectate on this sight in a relaxed manner.
Jin-Woo smiled as his plan came together rather perfectly. In the meantime, the System’s messages kept on piling up in his vision.
[You have defeated the enemy.]
[You have…]
[You have…]
Countless messages climbed up non-stop in his view.
The monster’s rapid rate of reproduction might sound like bad news to some, but actually, it was a good thing for him. It meant that his experience points earned would be higher.
And sure enough, a cheerier-than-usual mechanical beep went off in his head.
Tti-ring.
[Level up!]
‘That’s what I’m talking about!’
Jin-Woo tightly clenched his fist. To confirm the increases in his Stats, he quickly summoned up his Status Window.
‘Stat Window.’
Tti-ring.
Name: Seong Jin-Woo
Level: 133
Class: Shadow Sovereign
Title: Demon Hunter (extra 2)
HP: 78,230
MP: 136,160
Tiredness: 3
[Stats]
Strength: 308
Endurance: 307
Agility: 316
Intelligence: 321
Perception: 298
(Available points to distribute: 0)
His level was now sitting on 133.
Thanks to his soldiers currently doing their things throughout the whole of Japan, the quest to raise his level was progressing rather quickly. All those countless monsters pouring out from the Gates were proving to be a boon for Jin-Woo.
Almost all of his Stats had exceeded 300, with the sole exception of Perception, which still required two more points to reach that mark.
‘I’m going to spend all the points from tomorrow’s Daily Quest on Perception.’
Jin-Woo grinned brightly as he closed the Stat Window.
The war that the King of Giants had spoken of, as well as the scheme ‘they’ had cooked up as mentioned by the late Association President Goh Gun-Hui – Jin-Woo had no clear idea what any of them could be.
However, it didn’t matter, did it?
All he had to do was to prepare as much as he could so he’d be ready for any and all eventualities. Meaning, he should focus on diligently raising his levels.
But then – Beru was supposed to lead the ant battalion and kill the monsters in a location far from where Jin-Woo was, but he suddenly got in contact with his master.
[Oh, my king…. May I be permitted to address you regarding a certain matter?]
“Mm?”
Why was Beru calling him up all of a sudden?
Jin-Woo was puzzled by this occurrence and quickly sent Beru a response.
‘What’s the matter?’
***
[“….Contact the Korean Hunter’s Association. They will put you through to me.”]
After Jin-Woo’s press conference was broadcast to the rest of the world, countless requests and inquiries began inundating the Hunter’s Association.
Most of them belonged to the top Hunters from other countries. Some of them even came to visit Korea in secret just so they could speak to Jin-Woo and get his advice.
Germany’s best Hunter, Lennart Niermann, was one of those.
‘Even the Special Authority-rank and a top-ranked Hunter got done in by those things. How can I be safe from them, then?’
He possessed an outstanding sensory perception as well as a good deal of modesty. He thought that, rather than shivering away in fear, he’d place his faith in Hunter Seong Jin-Woo’s declaration, the one about him possessing a way to defeat the unknown monsters.
And that was why he decided to travel to South Korea.
Stepping foot into the Incheon International Airport, he breathed in the Korean air that had this different flavour to it compared to that of Germany’s or America’s.
‘So, this is what Korea smells like….’
Feeling somewhat excited by his first trip to Asia, he spoke to the clerk manning the immigration checkpoint in a clearly-eager voice.
“Is this Hunter Seong Jin-Woo’s country?”
“Pardon? Ah, y-yes, it is.”
The clerk got flustered and nodded his head. Lennart Niermann formed a satisfied smile. He’d soon be able to have a chat with the world’s strongest Hunter.
He ended up missing Jin-Woo by a hair’s breadth during the banquet at the end of the International Guild Conference. But to get another opportunity like this! Just thinking about it made his heart flutter in excitement.
He took a deep, deep breath to rein in his wildly-racing emotions, but then, a huge, hulking man standing close behind him spoke up in irritation.
“Hey, if you’re planning to waste time here, get out of my way.”
Thick veins suddenly popped up in Lennart Niermann’s once-peaceful face.
Who dares to…!
How could anyone speak so rudely to him, one of the best Hunters in the entire world??
‘I shall fix your attitude for good today!’
The German Hunter took off the sunglasses he wore to hide his identity and turned around.
“Look here, friend! What you said just now, you think you can repeat word for word straight to my face?”
Lennart Niermann stood with a heavy frown etched on his face. The man in front of him, taller than the German by at least a head, took off his own sunglasses and growled menacingly.
“Get. The. F*ck. Out. Of. My. Way.”
Lennart Niermann immediately recognised who this burly man was and his expression hardened like a rock right there and then. He hesitated before opening his mouth.
“P-please, go ahead first.”
Thomas Andre used his wide shoulders to brush past the German Hunter and stepped into immigration control. The act of apologising was the job reserved for Laura following him from close behind.
That was a bona fide Special Authority-rank Hunter. The airport’s workers felt their breathing becoming much heavier and harder after seeing the actual Thomas Andre, often referred to as the world’s top Hunter.
What a giant he was; it was not for nothing that people attached the nickname of ‘Goliath’ to him.
Thomas Andre discovered the face of the immigration officer rapidly turning pale and put the sunglasses back on before forming a genial smile.
“Is this Mister Seong’s country?”
Chapter 205
[Oh, my king…. May I be permitted to address you regarding a certain matter?]
Beru contacted Jin-Woo out of the blue.
What did the most powerful Shadow Soldier, tasked with leading the ant battalion to kill monsters far away, want to say to his master?
‘What’s going on?’
Jin-Woo inwardly asked him. Beru then cautiously sought out permission from his master.
[May you be gracious enough to drive the prey to this servant’s location?]
Drive the prey to his location?
The ‘prey’ Beru was talking about was, of course, monsters that roamed outside of the Gates after the various dungeon breaks took place. It implied that the former ant king wished to take care of all the monsters by himself.
Even Greed couldn’t compare to Beru in terms of power, although they were supposed to be in the same Commander-grade. So, it was unlikely that his subordinates started a rebellion or some such and he wanted to do things alone now.
Jin-Woo pondered the reason for this request for a bit, but then, a certain possibility quickly entered his head.
‘Could it be….??’
[Every time I defeat a prey, I can feel a sensation similar to ‘moulting’ throughout my entire body, my king.]
As he thought! His guess turned out to correct.
‘Moulting’, Beru said. Meaning, he was about to break through to the next stage.
Ever since his inclusion into the Shadow Army, Beru stood at the forefront, always, and fought off more enemies than anyone else. And finally, he was being rewarded with an opportunity to advance to a higher grade.
When recalling how much stronger high-grade soldiers like Igrit and Iron became after the advancement…..
‘….This is wonderful news.’
Beru was already strong enough to toy with rank S Hunters even before he became a part of the Shadow Army. His current grade, too, was the highest among all of his existing Shadow Soldiers.
‘Does this mean I finally get to see the grade above ‘Commander’?’
Jin-Woo was getting really curious about just what kind of changes Beru would go through after his stats jump up greatly via his advancement. He quickly replied to his ant soldier, no doubt anxiously waiting for his king’s answer.
‘Alright. Let’s do it.’
[Oh, I thank thee, my king. I shall send back the ant battalion to your side right away.]
‘No, there’s no need.’
Jin-Woo smirked to himself. Of course, Beru wouldn’t be able to see the expression his Sovereign was making, since they were dozens upon dozens of kilometres away.
‘Shadow Army.’
Jin-Woo called out, and his soldiers, almost 1200-strong, responded back to him simultaneously.
From Igrit, in charge of leading the knights, Fangs leading the High Orcs, Jima leading the Nagas, No.6 leading the giants, Tank leading the Ice Bears, and even Greed leading the leftover soldiers.
He thought he could hear their loud roars. Every single one of them began focusing all of their attention on Jin-Woo’s summons. He sensed their tension oh-so-clearly, even this far away.
While enjoying this feeling of satisfaction, Jin-Woo issued his new command.
‘Everyone, withdraw.’
[….!!]
‘I want you guys back.’
The moment his order was given, the entirety of the Shadow Army began moving again. Soldiers all reverted back to their shadow state and rapidly headed in the direction where Jin-Woo was waiting for them.
[Oh, my king…. Why have you recalled your loyal soldiers?]
Jin-Woo replied with a chuckle at the surprised-sounding Beru.
‘From here onwards, only you and I will defeat the remaining monsters.’
This seemed to be the best option available in order to speed up Beru’s advancement.
Just like how a high-levelled player helped out the lower-levelled friend in a game, he was planning to fight alongside Beru and greatly speed up their hunting speed, gifting a whole bunch of experience points to his subordinate in the process.
He was going to ‘power level’ Beru, in other words.
There were still quite a few areas where dungeon breaks had occurred, so if the two of them went around clearing them, the required level cap would be met pretty soon.
Of course, as the ground they had to cover was vast, the efficiency of this method fell far behind the one with sending out his soldiers to sweep the enemies clean, but Beru’s advancement was the priority here.
[Oh, my king….]
Beru couldn’t finish his sentence, his voice overflowing with emotions.
‘Hah. This guy.’
Seeing that his emotions had become richer as time went on, there was little doubt that he had been hiding in the shadows watching TV the whole day when he was supposed to protect his mother and Jin-Ah at home.
As the recalling of his shadows was just about complete, Jin-Woo asked the question to his soldiers.
“Is there anyone else beside Beru who feels that their advancement is just around the corner?”
Perhaps inevitably, there was no reply. It wasn’t easy to advance to the next grade, after all. And one would need an excellent perception to sense the approaching advancement, too.
There was a reason why only Beru could sense his own advancement out of all his Shadow Soldiers.
Just as his thoughts arrived at this point…
Shururuk….
As Beru stood there, itching to go on the intimate solo hunting with his liege, yet another Shadow Soldier emerged from the ground next to him.
While a look of disappointment flashed on Beru’s face, Jin-Woo’s own expression brightened up even more.
“Nice.”
As he would do normally, Igrit politely knelt down on one knee.
Jin-Woo always felt kinda uncomfortable with Igrit’s unyielding dedication to the formalities, but still, seeing the gesture again after a long while made him happy regardless.
Igrit’s advancement – that too, was something he had been looking forward to, wasn’t it?
“Alright. Let’s get started.”
Jin-Woo summoned the ‘Demon King’s Shortswords’ and smiled deeply.
What an amazing rate of reproduction this was – it hadn’t been that long, yet new sprouts were rising up from the scorched-black remains of the tree monsters.
“Kiiieehk!”
“Kiiehk!”
There were around 40 or so dungeon break locations left to clear in Japan beside this one.
Every second and every minute was precious if these three were to clear them all.
***
Within the Ah-Jin Guild office.
For Yu Jin-Ho, this office had become far more comfortable than his own place. But right this moment, it felt as if every passing minute was as agonisingly long as an hour. He sneaked a glance at the clock hanging on the wall.
It said, ’16:10 PM’.
It had been over two hours since ‘that man’ had shown up here.
Gulp.
Worried that his unconscious saliva swallowing had made too much noise, Yu Jin-Ho quickly sneaked a glance at the unannounced guest to the side. Unfortunately, his gaze ended up meeting the guest’s eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. The big man replied with a refreshing grin.
Yu Jin-Ho forced his stiff facial muscles to form a grin of his own, or something that roughly resembled one, and hurriedly averted his gaze elsewhere.
Thick sweatdrops formed on his forehead. He then hurriedly pulled out his poor phone and tried to call his dear hyung-nim, but it was a waste of time.
Ring…. Ringgg….
It had been two days since the last communication with hyung-nim. For some reason, he wasn’t picking up his phone at all. Even today.
“…”
“…”
Yu Jin-Ho lowered his phone and closed his mouth real tightly. It was the same story for other employees of the Guild.
These talented individuals who chose to work for the Ah-Jin Guild after seeing its potential were all overwhelmed by this awkward atmosphere and, as if they had made a promise to do so, resolutely maintained this heavy silence.
Of course, none of this was their fault. No, anyone who found themselves in a similar situation would react in the same manner.
Especially so, when the man sitting on a chair by the corner of the office happened to be one of the most powerful Hunters in the entire world, who also was happened to be known as the man with one of the shortest fuse in the world.
Not only that, the owner of this office was the very man who beat this Hunter to a pulp and sent him to the hospital. So, how could anyone be able to smile and jovially chat amongst themselves in front of this man?
He was, of course, Thomas Andre.
The Hunter standing on top of the world had come to visit Ah-Jin Guild to meet Jin-Woo. All thanks to that, the Vice Guild Chairman Yu Jin-Ho and his employees had no choice but to deal with this unannounced guest and consequently, felt like they were dying a little bit with every passing second right now.
Yu Jin-Ho began wondering whether he should attempt contacting hyung-nim one more time or not, but then…
Shururuk…
The automated door to the Guild slid open.
The heads of every single employee, including Yu Jin-Ho, instantly snapped in that direction.
Right away, his eyes grew wide. Yu Jin-Ho jumped up from his seat in sheer joy and spoke in a voice that contained the desperate pleading hearts of everyone working for this Guild.
“Hyung-niiiim!!”
***
‘I was wondering why there were so many reporters camping outside, but this….’
Jin-Woo helplessly stared at Thomas Andre grinning back at him.
Looking at that expression, the American didn’t seem to be hung up over what happened before, so what brought him all the way out here? Funnily enough, though, it was Yu Jin-Ho who welcomed Jin-Woo way before Thomas Andre could.
“Hyung-nim!! Why couldn’t I get a hold of you for so long?!”
“Well, uh, I was busy.”
“Hang on a minute, now that I see your clothes…..”
Yu Jin-Ho faltered and stopped moving. Jin-Woo’s clothing bore countless pieces of evidence of the harsh battles he must’ve gone through. It was like looking at hyung-nim after he concluded his Giant monster hunting trip.
‘If hyung-nim was fighting non-stop, to the point he couldn’t contact anyone for two days straight, then…..’
Just how many monsters were sent back to hell by hyung-nim’s shortswords? Trying to imagine the carnage brought up a nasty case of goosebumps on his skin.
It was at this point in time that Thomas Andre stood up leisurely from the chair to walk up to Jin-Woo. Since he was such a big dude, to begin with, he didn’t need to take that many steps to close the distance between him and his target.
Soon, the American stood before Jin-Woo.
‘Heok….’
‘No, hang on. They aren’t going to fight again in here, right?’
The Guild employees were unaware of these two’s current relationship, so understandably, they were busy swallowing nervous saliva as their eyes locked onto the two men standing before each other.
The sounds of their racing hearts were so loud that Jin-Woo’s ears were actually aching right now from the noise assaulting him.
“Mister Seong.”
Thomas Andre extended his hand first. Jin-Woo grinned and held the offered hand to shake it. The two men shared a brief greeting that way.
But then, the smile on Thomas Andre’s face was wiped off in an instant.
How….
‘How could this be??’
For some reason, the American felt that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was different from before. It was only by a little bit, but this Seong Jin-Woo was different than the one he met back in America.
Was it because the impression had changed?
For sure, Jin-Woo’s attire back when they first met, or when they were in the banquet, was remarkably different from his current duds, which were in a really sorry state.
However, a certain sense of ‘sturdiness’ unrelated to clothing could be felt from him right now.
In a word, it was ‘strong’. Back then, he was strong, but now, he came across as even stronger. However….
‘Can something like that even happen….?’
No, it couldn’t – at least not according to his common sense.
Thomas Andre’s ultra-sharp senses allowed him to detect Jin-Woo’s change that came about from levelling up, but he lacked the knowledge to decipher just what he was sensing here.
As the American was swimming within his confusion, their handshake came to an end and Jin-Woo asked him the question.
“What brings you to Korea?”
“Oh, that.”
Thomas Andre recovered his wits and formed another smile.
“Didn’t I promise you before? I told you that I’ll buy a meal once my arm heals up.”
He raised his completely-healed left arm and waved it around.
“And, also….”
Jin-Woo sneaked a glance at the clock on the wall. It was almost half past four in the afternoon. The time was obviously too late for lunch, but it was also a bit too early for supper.
“There’s still a lot of time left before dinner time, so…. Hang on.”
Jin-Woo asked for Thomas Andre’s understanding and hurriedly walked over to Yu Jin-Ho. Now that he knew the American’s business with him wasn’t as urgent, he decided to prioritise on the matter that required his greater attention first.
“Can you find out for me the biggest Gate currently opening up in Seoul?”
Yu Jin-Ho’s eyes went extra round after hearing Jin-Woo’s request.
“Hyung-nim, will it be fine as long as it’s a big one?”
“It’s fine if someone has booked it already, so find one that’s a high-enough rank.”
“Got it, hyung-nim.”
Yu Jin-Ho typed away on the keyboard at the speed of light and searched for the relevant information before a bright expression formed on his face.
“Hyung-nim, I found a particularly dangerous rank A Gate.”N0vel_Biin hosted the premiere release of this chapter.
“Oh, really?”
“However, the Hunters Guild has called dibs on it already.”
Contrary to Yu Jin-Ho’s expectation, though, Jin-Woo didn’t look disappointed at all.
“It’s fine.”
He didn’t care who had the raid permit or not.
As a matter of fact, Jin-Woo thought that explaining himself would be easier now since he knew someone from the Hunters Guild, and that brought about a smile to his face.
Jin-Woo prepared to leave the office with cheery, airy steps, before turning around to address Thomas Andre.
“Ah, I’ve got an errand to run so I’ll be going out for a little while. As for the promised meal, let’s talk about it after I return.”
“…..”
Jin-Woo left the flustered American behind and disappeared from the office like a passing breeze. Thomas Andre dazedly stared at the doorway the Korean Hunter had disappeared through, before loudly bursting out with laughter.
“Ahahaha. Isn’t this….”
What else could he do?
What Jin-Woo was doing might come across as inconsiderate, but then again, it was Thomas Andre who showed up totally unannounced, to begin with. In fact, he should have expected that a Hunter on the level of Seong Jin-Woo would be even busier than himself.
“In that case…. I’ll be staying here.”
Thomas Andre left behind the contact details of the hotel he was staying at with Yu Jin-Ho before vacating from the office himself.
“Whew…..”
Yu Jin-Ho spat out a sigh of relief as he stared at the empty space once occupied by the American’s hulking figure, but then, nearly jumped in fright after sensing another presence right next to him.
“Heok?! You were still here, too??”
It was rather lamentable that Lennart Niermann, who had arrived in the Guild office long before Thomas Andre did, had no grasp on the Korean language. Even then, he was pretty sure of Ah-Jin Guild’s Vice-Chair completely forgetting about his presence until now.
“I even made a prior appointment, too…..”
Realising that even someone like himself, used to being treated like a VVIP back in Germany, could end up being forgotten to this extent, his head slowly drooped towards the floor.
Unfortunately, what else can he do now when even the one and only Thomas Andre left the office without any complaints?
Whether it be a monster or a Hunter, you only had one life, after all.
“…”
Lennart Niermann stood up with no energy whatsoever in his body and jotted down his own contact details on the small corner of the memo Thomas Andre left behind.
***
The elite assault team members of the Hunters Guild were in the middle of getting ready for the raid, but Jin-Woo’s sudden entrance stole away their focus and they could only concentrate on him now.
Noisy, noisy….
Cha Hae-In was the only one to get a heads-up from him, so she was able to remain collected, at least compared to her colleagues.
“You want to borrow our dungeon? Did something happen?”
“It’s as I said before. I’d like to borrow the dungeon if it’s at all possible.”
Having seen another familiar face after what felt like forever, Jin-Woo formed a bright smile of genuine happiness.
On the other hand – he hadn’t contacted her for a long time and yet the first thing he said after abruptly appearing before her, was about borrowing a dungeon that her team was about to raid.
Cha Hae-In was about to get angry, but seeing how happy Jin-Woo was, she ended up averting her gaze elsewhere, instead.
While she stood there in hesitation, unable to think of something to say, Choi Jong-In quickly ran in and addressed Jin-Woo. The Master of the Hunters Guild was waiting for the latter’s arrival, actually.
“Seong Hunter-nim!”
The explanation had been concluded quickly enough.
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Jin-Woo was proposing to kill every single monster inside the dungeon, barring the boss itself, and he even promised not to touch anything else. There would be no Guild Master worth his salt who’d reject this deal.
The thing was, Choi Jong-In had been greatly worried about his people getting injured inside this high-ranking Gate, so he welcomed this offer with both of his arms raised up high.
Of course, the members of the raid team themselves were also welcoming this development, although they were careful not to show it outwardly.
Jin-Woo immediately headed towards the Gate.
Before he could go far, though, someone tugged at his sleeve so he turned around to see who it was. He found Cha Hae-In and her blushing cheeks there, asking him in a hushed voice.
“What will you do inside the dungeon?”
“There’s something I need to test inside. One of my summons has gone through a change, you see.”
One of his summons, he said.
Cha Hae-In recalled the two summons she fought against in the Association’s gymnasium – Igrit and Beru. They were far too strong to be labelled as mere summons. She was supposed to be a rank S Hunter, yet those two could easily threaten her life.
Did something change regarding those two and he wanted to test them out now? Cha Hae-In became really curious and whispered in an even more hushed voice.
“In that case…. Can I go inside with you and take a look, too?”
Jin-Woo heard that question containing just a tiny bit of ulterior motive and resolutely shook his head.
“It’ll get far too dangerous. I’m planning to let him run amok, you see.”
Jin-Woo cut her off, his expression one of seriousness. Cha Hae-In nodded her head and didn’t press any further.
Jin-Woo left behind her longing gaze and jumped into the Gate.
[You have entered a dungeon.]
The same message he saw so many times popped up again. Jin-Woo hurriedly summoned Beru, on standby within his shadow.
‘Come out.’
Chapter 206
After Jin-Woo left, the elite members of the Hunters Guild fought against each other to become the first one to enter the dungeon.
“H-hey! Stop pushing me!”
“This dungeon ain’t gonna run away, so there’s no need for all this craziness!”
Rumble, tumble-!
Just what did the one and only Hunter Seong Jin-Woo want to test out that he even resorted to borrowing a rank A Gate someone else had already booked? Not only that, a Gate with a difficulty that had clearly gone up drastically?
Hunters quickly stepped on the dungeon’s floor and scanned every corner with their curious eyes. But soon, their expressions turned into ones of pure shock and astonishment.
Literally, they were facing a river of blood!
The corpses of monsters, ripped to almost unrecognisable shreds, formed a road of blood. And this ‘road’ seemed to continue on forever into the darkness on the far side.
The Hunters were all rendered speechless and couldn’t even dare to go in any deeper.
“Look…. Look over there.”
One of the Hunters ribbed the person next to him with his elbow.
The victim of the elbowing attempt shifted his dazed gaze towards the location being pointed out and gradually, his jaw almost hit the floor at the unbelievable sight waiting for him there.
Just what kind of force could make a monster get embedded in the ceiling of the dungeon in such a grotesque fashion?
Considering that the walls of these dungeons were made up of materials incomparably harder than any regular caves, that was one seriously shocking sight to behold, indeed.
“That’s all for my dinner plan tonight, I guess….”
Hunters with weaker stomachs saw this scene of utter slaughter and their complexions turned paler than a sheet of paper. What surprised them even more, was the fact that monsters of the dungeon measured to be at the top end of rank A had been killed off in such a state in less than ten minutes.
A female Hunter muttered to herself, her expression still one of pure shock.
“Hunter Seong Jin-Woo…. He didn’t even look like the type, but this is just….”
The deeper the group entered, the clearer and clearer for them to spot the signs of the overwhelming violence; she had been a Hunter for almost five years now, but never once did she witness the walls of a dungeon destroyed to such an extent before.
Another male Hunter scanning the interior of the dungeon responded to her muttering.
“What do other people call this? Unleashing the inner beast? Or something like that?”
Cha Hae-In slowly shook her head after hearing that. None of this was the handiwork of Hunter Seong. She had witnessed his fights from up close several times already, so she was pretty certain of this.
The Jin-Woo she knew was a Hunter who preferred to end his enemies as cleanly as possible. It was artistic, even.
She was enthralled by the beauty in the way he controlled his skills the first time she saw him fight.
If that was the case….
‘….The one capable of doing this among Hunter Seong’s summons is…’
It was right then – she recalled the head of the ant monster screeching at her with its mandibles wide open, causing a chill to run down her spine.
That creature was the peak existence of vicious cruelty!
Didn’t Jin-Woo say it? That one of his summons had gone through a change. Just what kind of a change did that ant monster go through, then?
Cha Hae-In left behind her colleagues still being shocked by the remaining traces of Beru’s activity found throughout the dungeon, and quickly exited from the Gate. However, Jin-Woo was nowhere to be seen by then, even though he left only a few minutes ago.
“Why does he have to be so fast….”
Cha Hae-In scanned her surroundings and murmured with a cheeky pout. And she had so many things to ask him, too….
‘I’m sure there will be another chance.’
She sighed so softly that it wouldn’t even frighten a butterfly settling down in front of her. A subtle smile formed on her face as she slowly turned around to re-enter the Gate.
***
Jin-Ah killed her footsteps and sneaked like a crafty little cat to close in her mom busying washing dishes.
Clink, clink….
Either mom didn’t hear her daughter’s footsteps, or maybe she did hear them but decided to pretend that she didn’t, she didn’t react to Jin-Ah closing the distance. And then, in the end…
Jin-Ah got close enough to hear her mom’s breathing before hugging her tightly.
“Mom!”
Too bad for all of her efforts, though, her mother didn’t seem to be surprised at all. She simply responded with a gentle voice.
“Are you feeling bored?”
“Ng, I am. Oppa doesn’t want to come home, and Mom doesn’t want to play with me~.”
While mom was sleeping in the hospital, Jin-Woo performed the role of the substitute mother to his sister. To help Jin-Ah focus on her studies, he did his best to act as the sole breadwinner and took care of all the chores around the family home.
To her, he was her sibling, her parent, and at the same time, her friend.
That was why Jin-Ah often missed her oppa’s presence around the family home as he grew busier and busier every day.
Every single one of her fellow countrymen knew her oppa’s face and his name by now, but what was the point if she couldn’t really get to see him anymore?
And so, here she was, trying to fill the hole Jin-Woo had left behind with her mom and her warm words of encouragements.
“Still, it’s great to have you around, Mom.”
Jin-Ah buried her face in her mom’s back and formed a happy smile. Although she couldn’t see her back, the mother carried a similar expression as the daughter and continued cleaning the dishes.
Jin-Ah clung to her mom’s back like a cicada holding onto a tree for a while before opening her mouth.
“Mom? Let’s move house.”
Flinch.
Mom’s hands momentarily stopped moving before resuming their actions. A smile formed on her lips again.
“Do you want to move to somewhere else?”
“Yeah.”
“But, what will we do? Mom really likes this place, you know.”
“Why do you like such an old apartment?”
Jin-Ah lightly rebuked her, but mom simply smiled back and her hands continued to move briskly.
Actually, Jin-Ah knew why her mom didn’t want to leave this old apartment. She knew the reason why her mom still persisted in staying here while paying the monthly rent, when her oppa was making the kind of money that regular people would never get to touch in their lifetime.
She was still waiting for her missing husband, her children’s father. She was hoping that, maybe one day, he’d stumble back here.
Jin-Ah couldn’t remember much about her father now and felt that waiting for him was a waste of time. But, her brother hadn’t mentioned moving house again after he heard mom’s reasoning.
“Still, I like this apartment.”
Mom gently persuaded her daughter again, prompting Jin-Ah to spin on her heels to leave, her cheeks puffing up unhappily.
“Che.”
“Don’t be like…. Ah!”
Mom quickly turned around and looked at Jin-Ah with a face that said, ‘I forgot!’; she had just remembered that the weather forecast warned of rainfall later in the evenings.
“Sweetie, can you take the washing from the veranda and bring them in?”
“Mom, you only call me sweetie when you need me to do stuff.”
Still, she didn’t mind being called that, as evidenced by her happy humming as she made her way to the veranda.
As befitting of Jin-Ah, who was more or less an expert at performing chores like this, she quickly took down the washings and placed them in the basket.
But then….
Her rapid hands suddenly stuttered to a halt. She realised that the sky above had darkened even before she noticed it.
“…Uh?”
Did the rain clouds arrive already?
Naturally, she raised her head up to look above. And her eyes opened incredibly wide next.
The basket filled with washed clothes fell out of her hands.
“M-Moooom!!”
***
His hands were soaked with sweat.
The Association President Woo Jin-Cheol looked down on his wet palms before hurriedly rubbing them against his blameless pants.
How long had it been since he felt this nervous? He’d actually prefer to enter a Gate on the brink of a dungeon break. That would be easier on his stress level.
“You don’t have to be that tense, Association President Woo Jin-Cheol.”
A certain high-ranking official who had invited Woo Jin-Cheol to the Korean Presidential residence – the Blue House – formed a rather slimy grin.
How could a proper conversation be held when the guy supposed to meet the holder of the highest office in the country was this nervous?
The official understood full well that climbing up to such a high office at a young age must’ve been quite burdensome, but even then, he prayed that there wouldn’t be any ‘mistakes’ committed during the meeting itself.
“My apologies.”
Woo Jin-Cheol’s smile was just a tad stiff but he still nodded his head. As a gesture of encouragement, the official patted his back a couple of times.
Soon, the door to the special guest room opened and the president of the country these two men were waiting for strode in while flanked by several of his retinues.
“Mister President!”
“Sir!”
Woo Jin-Cheol and the government official both stood up from their seats.
“Ah, ah. It’s fine. Please, take a seat. I’m okay either way. It’s not like I’m someone that impressive, anyway.”
The President of Korea, Kim Myung-Cheol, cracked a light joke to disperse the nervous atmosphere and settled down on his seat.
Once the president of the nation found his seat, the government official and Woo Jin-Cheol settled down as well, in that order.
The president’s gaze shifted immediately in Woo Jin-Cheol’s direction.
“I’m sure you’re really busy with the matters of the Association right about now, Mister Association President.”
“Well, uh… not as much, sir.”
His lips might have denied it, but the dark circles beneath Woo Jin-Cheol’s eyes were expanding their territories every single day.
He began wondering how did the late Association President Goh Gun-Hui manage to survive all this workload with his unhealthy body. Woo Jin-Cheol’s level of respect for him had deepened even further after his passing.
But that was probably why he really wanted this uncomfortable get-together to end as quickly as possible.
“Excuse me, sir…. Why did you ask me to come by today, sir?”
“Uh-huh, this guy!”
The high-ranking government official tried to warn Woo Jin-Cheol as the latter tried to jump straight into the meat of the story, but then, the President stopped him.
“Indeed, it’s not right to keep the Association President here for too long when he took time out of his busy schedule to come and see me.”
Not beating around the bush, and keeping it simple when it comes to the main topic; President Kim Myung-Cheol didn’t mind the speedy progress of discussions at all.
“In that case, allow me to get to the topic right away. The reason why I asked you, the Association President, to come here is because….”
For the briefest time then, Woo Jin-Cheol’s senses of a high-ranked Hunter caught on to the fact that the country’s president was trying to read his current mood.
This led to him having a certain premonition. No doubt, the other man was getting ready to ask him for a rather troublesome favour.
Sure enough – as if he also felt a bit sheepish about this, President Kim smiled awkwardly and began explaining himself.
“I heard that you and Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim enjoy a particularly close relationship.”
Woo Jin-Cheol immediately corrected that faulty rumour.
“I am indeed an acquaintance with Seong Hunter-nim, but our relationship is not as close as you think, sir.”
“Huhuh, is that so.”
“Yes. It was actually the late Association President Goh Gun-Hui who enjoyed a close-knit relationship with Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim.”
Woo Jin-Cheol nodded by himself, recalling the moment when Goh Gun-Hui expressed his desire to knock back a few cold ones with Hunter Seong.
President Kim pondered something in silence for a bit, before carrying on.
“Even still, you are in a position to communicate readily with Seong Hunter-nim, yes?”
“Oh…. Yes, I am.”
“In that case, may we ask you for a favour, Association President Woo?”
As expected…
Woo Jin-Cheol inwardly thought, “Here it comes,” and replied with a begrudging tone of voice.
“What kind of a favour are we talking about, sir?”
“Because of Seong Hunter-nim’s sky-high acclaim, we were wondering if we could use him as a public relations ambassador for the country. With a slogan similar to, ‘Hunter Seong Jin-Woo makes the Republic of Korea safe’.”
President Kim ended his words there and grinned brightly.
Here was a proudly Korean Hunter strong enough to teach the American Special Authority-rank Hunter a lesson, not to mention important enough to make the Hunter Bureau be at his beck and call, too.
There was no way that the financial and the political world wouldn’t take notice of such a person’s actions.
Kim Myung-Cheol was planning to use his position as the country’s president to reel Jin-Woo in to his side before anyone else could.
In the beginning, as the public relations ambassador of the nation, and then, gradually build up a friendship with him over time.
As his fame as the world’s strongest Hunter soared higher, being his ‘friend’ would prove to be one of the most powerful cards anyone could possess.
As for the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol, his role was to become the bridgehead to facilitate that purpose.
Of course, Woo Jin-Cheol wasn’t naïve enough to not realise what the ulterior motive of President Kim was.
‘You called me here to talk about something like that?’This chapter’s initial release occurred on the N0v3l-B1n site.
Woo Jin-Cheol felt all his nervous tension dissipate. And then, he began to get angry, wondering about why he had to get involved in this kind of crap as soon as he occupied the position of the Association President.
‘….So, he thinks I’m easier to push around.’
Indeed, he wasn’t Goh Gun-Hui. The late Association President performed the role of a breakwater of the Association, but with him gone, the figures of the financial and political world were now focusing their attention on him, instead.
They were telling him to serve their interests.
The funny thing was, though – Woo Jin-Cheol was getting angry, sure, but at the same time, he also felt rather relieved, as well.
In the past, the late Association President Goh Gun-Hui often mentioned this – the Hunter’s Association needed to create the right kind of atmosphere for the Hunters to do their jobs.
And this incredibly important role wasn’t just for the sake of the Hunters, but for the sake of everyone else, as well.
When his thoughts reached up to that point, Woo Jin-Cheol became much more relaxed than before. A natural smile even crept up on his face, too.
Unfortunately for President Kim, though, he misinterpreted that smile and began laughing alongside as well.
“Huhuhuh. It seems that Association President Woo is quite a sensible man, unlike a certain someone. Very good. I’d be very appreciative if you do us this small favour. This isn’t just for my benefit, wouldn’t you say?”
He said ‘unlike a certain someone’. It didn’t take a genius to figure out just who the president was talking about. Woo Jin-Cheol soundlessly gritted his teeth and spoke up.
“Indeed, the late Association President was an amazing gentleman.”
“That’s right. Very true. He was a great gentleman, but also just as stubborn and inflexible, too.”
“I’m very different from the late Association President.”
“Huhuhuh! Indeed, you are. The Hunter’s Association should change accordingly with the times. It’s no good to be tied to the ideals of the past forever.”
A cold grin floated up on Woo Jin-Cheol’s lips as he began glaring at President Kim.
“How long do you think it’ll take me to kill every single person in this building, including all of your bodyguards?”
“W-what was that?!”
The high-ranking official jumped up from his seat, but he was frozen stiff immediately from the dense killing intent emitted by Woo Jin-Cheol.
Never mind low ranked Hunters, a rank A Awakened would prove to be an existence even more lethal than any known savage beasts to a normal civilian.
Regular people would be utterly powerless when facing against a tiger or a bear out in the wilderness, so how could the same people be able to deal with a rank A Hunter?
“A few hours? No. I think it won’t even take a few minutes.”
Woo Jin-Cheol watched the complexions of the two men listening turn paler and paler with every passing second and calmly addressed them.
“In that case, how many men do you think you’ll need to stop me when I start rampaging around? I wonder. If you were to mobilise every single police officer and soldier stationed within Seoul and defend until my magical energy reserve bottoms out, then, well, I think you can somehow save yourselves.”
Woo Jin-Cheol drawing this incredibly horrifying picture with a calm expression only served to heighten President Kim’s terror even further.
“Y-you…. But, but, why….”
The politician wanted to say something, but this dense killing intent constantly weighed down on his lips and he couldn’t utter anything that resembled words.
“However, what if it was Hunter Seong going on a rampage, instead of me? How many men do you have to mobilise to defend against him?”
Was it because of all this murderous intent emitted by Woo Jin-Cheol?
President Kim was instantly overcome with a nasty case of goosebumps spreading all over his body after imagining Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, capable of hunting down those Giant monsters alone, suddenly starting to hunt down people, instead.
Woo Jin-Cheol figured that this was enough of terrorising the two men and withdrew his killing intent.
“Such a thing doesn’t happen, because every Hunter out there focuses solely on what a Hunter must do.”
Hunters needed to operate in the sphere of Hunters. Meanwhile, politicians needed to stay within their bubbles.
Making the world go around the correct way – that was the creed of the Hunter’s Association, nay, of the late Association President Goh Gun-Hui.
Woo Jin-Cheol stared straight into the frightened eyes of President Kim and firmly warned him.
“I have no thoughts of sullying the ideals of the Hunter’s Association as established by the late President Goh Gun-Hui, sir. And of course, I expect you to cooperate with us fully.”
Chapter 207
Was there any reason to doubt him?
President Kim confirmed that Woo Jin-Cheol was being dead serious and hurriedly muttered out an answer, not even giving himself enough time to spin this situation to his advantage.
“O-of course. A Hunter needs to do a Hunter’s job. My thoughts were too rash. It was a slip of the tongue on my part.”
Woo Jin-Cheol watched the pale-faced president nodding his head non-stop, and stood up from his seat to leave. Even after he was long gone, though, both the president and the high-ranking government official couldn’t get up from their seats, their legs having turned to jelly a long time ago.
“…”
“…”
Only now did they awake to the reality of how scary the existences called Hunters could be.
***
“Did something good happen in there, sir?”
As the car was about to drive away, the escort driving the vehicle asked Woo Jin-Cheol sitting in the backseat.
“Does it look that way to you?”
“Yes, sir. It does.”
His escort was also an agent of the Monitoring Division.
Woo Jin-Cheol glanced at the baby-faced newbie, effectively his junior from the same department, and ended up recalling his own newbie days and he let a content smile sneak up on his lips.
“Well, it feels like I’ve performed the duty of the Association President for the first time since I got the job, that’s all.”
Woo Jin-Cheol reclined against the back of the seat that Goh Gun-Hui used to occupy. He then looked back fondly at the late Association President, who would’ve been sitting in places like this, out of everyone’s gazes and earning the ire and hatred of many powerful men in high places, all for the sake of other Hunters.
‘….What a relief.’
Thanks to Woo Jin-Cheol’s angry-looking eyes and his large frame, he was used to being hated and feared already. If that was part of being the Association’s President, then he’d gladly accept it.
The moment he decided to take over from Goh Gun-Hui, he had prepared himself to a certain extent for this kind of rubbish, anyway.
“Where should we go next, sir?”
“….To the Association.”
He dearly wanted to go home and take a break, but he actually came running here after abandoning his job back in the office. He still had a mountain of work to go through.
“Then, we’ll get going, sir.”
The escort seemed to understand Woo Jin-Cheol’s mind as he stepped on the accelerator. The vehicle carrying the two men easily slipped out of the Blue House’s grounds.
How long had passed by like that?
Woo Jin-Cheol drifted off to sleep while staring at the passing scenery, only to abruptly wake up again. He could see an endless ocean of cars filling up the road, not going anywhere fast.
Even though Seoul was infamous for its clogged roadways, such a traffic jam seemed improbable in the middle of a weekday.
‘Did another Gate pop up in the middle of the road again?’
Feeling a bit worried now, Woo Jin-Cheol scanned his surroundings. Unfortunately, the overall atmosphere of the road seemed far too suspicious for something as simple as that. In fact, all the drivers had stopped their cars and stepped outside to look up into the sky.
It wasn’t just the drivers, either.
Even the pedestrians on the sidewalks, people on the zebra crossings, every single one had come to a dead stop and was looking up at the sky above their heads. That included the escort in the driver’s seat, who was also craning his neck forward to look at the sky.
‘What on earth is going on here….?’
Now feeling genuinely alarmed, Woo Jin-Cheol quickly grabbed the escort’s shoulder and shook him around.
“Hey. What’s going on?”
“A-Association President…”
The escort spoke with a trembling voice, leaned out of the way and pointed up at the top of the windscreen.
“T-there, sir….”
In an instant, Woo Jin-Cheol’s expression stiffened.
Were his eyes playing tricks on him?
No, if that was the case, then everyone shouldn’t be looking at the sky with the exact same expression etched on their faces. He didn’t want to believe what he just saw, but just like with everyone else on the road, he leapt out of the car.
His eyes weren’t lying to him.
Woo Jin-Cheol dazedly stared at the sky before a look of pure, unadulterated shock took over his face.
“How… how can something like that be….?!”
***
The result of the test proved to be very satisfying. Jin-Woo’s steps taking him back home were cheerier than ever before.
Beru had become really strong. A lot stronger than his initial expectation, even.
It was unfortunate that Igrit couldn’t advance, but Beru’s advancement alone was already an excellent result. Without a doubt, the elites of the Hunters Guild should be unable to shut their slack jaws from the spectacle laid out within that dungeon by now.
Jin-Woo imagined Cha Hae-In and her wide-open eyes, and a smirk formed on his lips.
It had been a while since they saw each other and he wanted to talk to her for a bit longer, but regrettably, he still had guests waiting for him. Jin-Woo pondered his options between Thomas Andre and Lennart Niermann before giving the American the call first.
He could pretty much guess what the German was here for, but he simply couldn’t figure out what the Hunter ranked No.2 in the world was thinking of by showing up unannounced like this.
The call got through in no time at all.
– “Mister Seong!”
Worried that Jin-Woo would cut him off again, Thomas Andre was quick to pour out what he wanted to say.
– “I came bearing a fantastic gift for you, Mister Seong.”
A gift?The debut release occurred at N-ov3l-Bin.
“What the heck. If you had something like that, you should’ve told me earlier.”
Jin-Woo spoke to the American half-jokingly and half-seriously, but then, he was suddenly faced with silence from the other side of the line.
A short while later, Thomas Andre spoke with a kind of voice belonging to someone suppressing his swelling emotions.
– “….I’m really happy to hear that you’re looking forward to my gift. Okay, then. Where will we meet? I want to hand over the gift as soon as possible.”
“Wherever it’s convenient for you.”
– “Can you come to where I am? These guys are a bit too dangerous to walk around in the open, you see.”
Too dangerous?
Jin-Woo was left puzzled for a moment then, but still, told Thomas Andre that he’d be there soon and ended the call.
‘Hang on… It really can’t be a bomb, right?’
Of course, it couldn’t be. It’d be far more effective than an explosive to attack personally if you were a Special Authority-rank Hunter.
Jin-Woo began regretting a bit at the fact that he forgot to ask what kind of a gift it was. It was then, Beru suddenly began addressing him.
[Oh, my king.]
‘Mm?’
[May I be permitted to fight against that foreigner?]
‘…….’
Jin-Woo pondered that for a little while, before shaking his head as if to get rid of the distracting thoughts.
What was he even wondering about here?
Sure, he was really curious as to find out just how far Beru’s powers had been enhanced, but there was no way he’d let his Shadow Soldier fight against Thomas Andre.
He didn’t want to see either the American get hurt or see Beru get destroyed. Their personalities meant that the fight would definitely not end with someone getting a bit bruised.
‘Even then….’
Still, being able to ponder such a possibility attested to how much Beru had grown compared to before. In fact, the former ant king’s desire to test his own enhanced body could be heard so clearly in his voice.
‘Beru?’
[Please bestow unto this lowly servant your wisdom, oh, my king.]
‘There should come a time when you’ll be free to test your limits as much as you want. So, there’s no need to be rash.’
[This servant shall take it to heart, my king.]
‘And also, you gotta stop watching those historical dramas on TV. Your speech has become really weird lately, you know?’
[This servant shall heed my liege’s….]
‘Just say ‘Yes, I will’, okay? Say, ‘Yes’. Just ‘Yes’, nothing more.’
[Yes.]
Very good.
Now that he finally told Beru what was on his mind, Jin-Woo happily headed off to the meeting location with Thomas Andre.
***
“Oh, Mister Seong! You probably have no idea how long I waited for this moment.”
Thomas Andre welcomed Jin-Woo into his hotel suite with open arms.
It was true that you’d feel great about receiving gifts, but the joy of giving itself shouldn’t be underestimated, as well.
From the time Jin-Woo mentioned that he needed new shortswords to up until now – Thomas Andre had been counting the days he’d get to hand over the greatest weapons ever made, sleeping within his Guild’s storage, to his new friend.
He didn’t simply fly all the way to this distant foreign land for no reason at all.
How would the guy Thomas Andre personally acknowledged as the world’s best Hunter react when he sees these two bad boys?
Along with a big bout of anticipation bubbling in his heart…
Snap!
…Thomas Andre snapped his fingers, prompting his ‘bodyguards’ to bring out a large box covered in a sheet of fabric.
Even if it was ostensibly a gift, Jin-Woo didn’t really want anything, to begin with, so he stared at the box with disinterest, but then, as the bodyguards got closer and closer, his eyes became equally sharper and sharper as well.
‘What’s this….?’
Wuoong…. Wuuuuong…
Something inside that box was resonating with his magical energy.
Thomas Andre easily caught the changes in Jin-Woo’s expression and inwardly punched the air.
‘That’s what I’m talking about!’
Hunter Seong Jin-Woo would recognise the weapons, while said weapons would recognise their new owner; Thomas Andre predicted that they would naturally recognise each other, and as expected, he was proven right, at this moment.
It was possible that these weapons had been hiding inside the Scavenger Guild’s storage unit where not even a strand of outside light entered, biding their time just for this very moment.
Tack!
The box was placed on the coffee table between Thomas Andre and Jin-Woo.
“This here is my repayment for the favour you’ve shown to my Guild members and to myself.”
Thomas Andre grasped the corner of the fabric and carefully pulled it away.
Shururuk….
The sheet slid off smoothly and revealed what it had been hiding all this time. It was a see-through case underneath. And within it were a pair of shortswords stabbed into a large reptilian scale.
No, hang on – could they even be called shortswords?
Jin-Woo grew doubtful almost immediately.
The blades of these weapons were definitely shorter than a longsword’s, yes, but then again, they were so much longer than a regular shortsword’s, too.
However, what caught his attention wasn’t the puzzling length of the shortswords themselves. No, it was actually their ice-white blades.
Jin-Woo was familiar with the concept of crafting blades out of non-metallic materials. As a matter of fact, the very first weapon he acquired inside the first instant dungeon was the ‘Poison Fang of Kasaka’.
Thanks to the memories of that time, Jin-Woo could guess just which monster’s fang was used as raw material to craft this pair of shortswords. Besides, there was only one creature capable of emitting this kind of aura from a part of its remains.
“Kamish….”
Jin-Woo involuntarily whispered that name out, prompting Thomas Andre to shake his head while clapping his hands, feeling impressed.
“To think, you’d correctly guess the base material used for these guys just from one look.”
Jin-Woo’s guess was correct. But then, because he was right, he became puzzled about something else.
“Hang on, I thought Kamish’s remains were in safekeeping with the Hunter Bureau….?”
“Because the American government wanted the intact corpse, we gave up on that monster completely. We got something else even more valuable than money from that deal, anyway.”
Thomas Andre recalled the raid back then and grinned meaningfully.
“However, Kamish’s biggest and sharpest fang…. When that thing tried to bite me, I yanked out one such fang, and it was given to me as a souvenir.”
The problem was, there were no Awakened capable of crafting weapons out of stripped materials from a d*mn Dragon.
….Besides one single man, that was.
Thomas Andre added that, with the master craftsman responsible for the creation of these two genuine masterpieces having passed away due to old age, there would never be another weapon crafted out of the Dragon corpse in this world again.
“The fang’s length wasn’t nearly long enough to make a proper longsword, so they were made into shortswords back then. Who knew that decision would pay off now?”
Thomas Andre recounted the situation of all those years ago, his expression remaining bright and cheerful. He then leisurely took away the clear case and pushed the scale with the shortswords stabbed into it in Jin-Woo’s direction.
“And now, these are yours.”
Finally, the best weapons in the world had met the best owner in the world. Thomas Andre did his darnedest to calm his fluttering heart and studied Jin-Woo’s response.
The latter pulled one of the shortswords out.
Shuwuk.
As if the weapon was waiting for it, it came off without any resistance whatsoever.
Tti-ring.
The mechanical beep went off in Jin-Woo’s head as soon as he grasped the shortsword and he quickly swallowed his saliva. Shortly afterwards, the detailed explanations on the weapon popped up in his view.
‘WHAT?!’
Jin-Woo doubted his own eyes right away.
This couldn’t be real.
He was completely taken aback by the nonsensical attack value of this weapon and hurriedly summoned out his current main weapon, the ‘Demon King’s Shortsword’.
[Item: Demon King’s Shortsword]
Rarity: S
Type: Shortsword
Attack: +220
A shortsword taken from the Demon King, Baran. Using two ‘Demon King’s Shortswords’ will activate a set effect.
Set effect ‘Two Becomes One’: Extra attack power equal to the current Strength Stat will be added to each shortsword.
This blade’s attack power would shoot way past the 500 mark when his current Strength Stat of over 300 was added on top. He had always thought that such a set effect would make this shortsword plenty useful for his cause.
But then, the attack value of the new shortsword in his hand was…..?!
Jin-Woo compared the stats for both shortswords and began freaking out inwardly.
‘….How can this even be possible?!’
Chapter 208
Jin-Woo’s gaze was fixed to the shortsword crafted out of Kamish’s fang. Its utterly unbelievable attack power could be seen floating above the weapon.
[Item: Kamish’s Wrath]
Rarity: ??
Type: Shortsword
Attack: +1,500
Top quality shortsword fashioned from the sharpest fang among the Dragon’s teeth by the expert’s hands.
The blade’s sharpness has no equal in this world; it also boasts excellent sensitivity towards Mana, and can become greatly strengthened depending on the wielder’s capability.
The explanation seemed to go on forever. However, nothing besides the attack damage entered his eyes.
‘1,500?! Just the pure attack damage??’
Never mind any added options, just the base damage dealt was 1,500.
As much as 1,500!
After recalling that the higher attack damage would make it easier to slice up the enemy, Jin-Woo couldn’t even begin to imagine just how scarily effective this shortsword was going to be.
‘N-no, hang on. Was there any weapon with 1,500 attack damage in the Store, to begin with?!’
Jin-Woo was so excited by the shortsword’s attack damage, he hurriedly summoned the Store’s interface without paying any mind to all those eyes studying his every move.
Obviously, it was quite a bit embarrassing to compare this bad boy to the shortswords being sold there, so he went straight to the section with broadswords, which boasted the highest attacking power among the blade-type weapons.
‘Huh….’
The most expensive broadsword’s attack damage barely cracked past the 1,000 mark. Even if this weapon was sold in the Store, it was still a broadsword boasting 1,000 damage, but a measly little shortsword was 1,500.
‘Hang on. Just purely from the perspective of the attack damage, won’t it be the same thing as me wielding two broadswords in each of my hands?’
The weightiness of the shortsword could still be felt through his palm.
He raised his head, his desire to cut something up with this thing powerfully stimulating him. That’s when he spotted Thomas Andre forming an awkward smile after having read Jin-Woo’s mind. The American shook his head.
“Whoa there, Mister Seong. Even if I activate my reinforcement skill to increase my defence, that blade will still cut me down. I hope you ain’t thinking of killing me with my own gift, right?”
Of course, Jin-Woo wasn’t thinking of doing that. He replied to Thomas Andre’s OTT exaggeration with a chuckle and focused back on the shortsword.
‘It’s got excellent sensitivity towards Mana, is it?’
Mana was another name for magical energy. To find out what the ‘excellent sensitivity towards Mana’ could even mean, Jin-Woo poured a tiny little amount of his magic energy into the blade.
And when he did….
“Heok….”
The bodyguards were supposed to refrain from making needless noises, but one of them couldn’t hold back and gasped out in pure astonishment. He quickly covered his mouth, but no matter – no one scolded him, anyway.
Because, everyone else’s attention had been stolen away by Jin-Woo’s shortsword to such an extent that they failed to notice his faux pas just now.
“Oh, my god…..”
Thomas Andre had experienced all sorts of craziness in his life, but even he couldn’t hold back his shocked gasp from leaking out of his mouth. From Jin-Woo’s hand, from the entirety of the shortsword itself, a blackish aura was slowly rising up, that was why.
‘This shortsword is…. It’s responding to my magic energy.’
It wasn’t just the aura rising up from the weapon; that weightiness of the shortsword seemingly filling up his palm had also vanished in an instant. As if it was all a lie from the very start.
The weapon had become lighter than a feather.
‘Holy cow….’
This weapon even allowed its wielder to control its weight as he willed it.
Wuuong, wuuong…
The shortsword ‘Kamish’s Wrath’ began vibrating as if to greet its new owner. Jin-Woo’s heart began pounding even harder as he grasped its hilt.
Ba-thump, ba-thump!!
He really wanted to fight with this weapon. He really, really wanted to use it right now. Although, he couldn’t really figure out whether this was the shortsword’s will, or his own desire speaking.
Jin-Woo calmed his palpitating heart down and stabbed the shortsword back to where it used to be.
Stab.
That brought about the end to the blade’s vibration.
The black aura had been oppressing Laura and the bodyguards to the extent that they couldn’t even breathe properly, but now that the overwhelming aura was gone, they were able to finally gasp for fresh air.
Thomas Andre stopped looking at Jin-Woo and shifted his gaze over to her.
‘You still think I made a mistake?’
Thomas Andre’s meaningful gaze prompted Laura to shake her head quickly. As long as these shortswords were to be pointed in the direction of the monsters and not other humans, Thomas Andre’s decision should be seen as irrefutable.
The weapon would find its rightful owner. Even as a regular person who couldn’t sense any magical energy, Laura understood what was going on here in an instant.
Now that his judgement was proven correct, Thomas Andre began grinning quite refreshingly.
“So, how do you like my present, Mister Seong?”
The most extreme of all emotions would always be expressed not in words, but through one’s actions. Jin-Woo quietly lifted his thumb up real high.
“Hahaha-!!”
Thomas Andre felt pleased as punch and leisurely clapped his hands to express his joy.
These shortswords were the proof of their friendship. He didn’t feel a shred of regret for using them if he was able to get on Jin-Woo’s good books.
Rather, it was Jin-Woo who was feeling burdened by this gift.
“Is it really okay for me to receive something like this for free?”
“What do you mean, for free?”
Thomas Andre erased that semi-permanent smile off his face and formed a serious expression next.
“Actually, I think it’s a cheap price to pay for the lives of my Guild members as well as myself.”
This was how Thomas Andre expressed his plea of “Don’t refuse my gift and just say yes.”
Since Jin-Woo had already heard the particular way Thomas Andre expressed himself from Laura, he simply chuckled and replied to the American.
“In that case, thank you. I’ll gladly accept them.”
“If you’re willing to do that, well, I’m happy, too.”
As the atmosphere between the two Hunters standing at the very apex of the world grew warmer and more cordial…
….Jin-Woo and Thomas Andre both stopped moving at the same time.
Laura and the bodyguards didn’t even have the chance to panic at the sudden stiffness in the two men’s expression, because Thomas Andre opened his mouth before they could.
“Mister Seong, just now, that…”
Jin-Woo briefly nodded his head. That ominous sensation that brushed past his backside – Thomas Andre must’ve felt something quite similar to that.
It came from the sky. As if they had a prior agreement, both men shot up from their seats and quickly stood next to the window.
“….”
Jin-Woo spat out a gasp. Thomas Andre discovered the same thing and his eyes visibly quaked. Just how could a thing like that appear in the middle of the sky?!This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.
The American Hunter stared at the massive Gate floating up high in the sky and muttered loudly.
“I can hardly believe this. I’ve never seen a Gate that huge before.”
Even the Gate that spat out Kamish wasn’t as big as that b*stard up there. The thing was, though, Jin-Woo had seen a Gate with similar dimensions before – within the ‘data’ the stone angel statue played for him back then.
He saw winged soldiers pour out in their droves from a Gate high up in the sky.
The massive size of the Gate covering the heavens above the city of Seoul was almost an exact match to the Gate he saw within the data. Just from recalling the sight of all those soldiers painting the sky silver, Jin-Woo felt this shudder, a jolt, buzzing from the back of his neck.
‘Hang on. Could it be that the identity of the massive amount of magisphere pooling in Seoul’s sky is that thing?’
Jin-Woo became utterly speechless. Even Thomas Andre, even Laura, and even their bodyguards, all of them failed to close their slack jaws.
And as a heavy, powerful silence descended on everyone in the room, the gigantic Gate that suddenly manifested itself in the sky continued to gently ripple about, as if to swallow everything that was down below.
***
Right below the airborne Gate.
The residents of the city formed a literal sea of people below it, knowing that there was no danger of a dungeon break as the Gate had been generated not too long ago. They raised their smartphones and busily snapped shots of the portal dyeing the heavens black.
It was the first-ever Gate to form in the middle of the sky. And its gigantic size was unprecedented, too.
Although no one knew what would come out from there and should all be terrified as a result, people still couldn’t rein in their curiosity.
There were quite a few members of foreign press mixed among the crowd. Their cameras were working at full capacity to capture the scenes of this packed gathering of people
[Yes, I’m currently standing right below the giant Gate that has covered the entirety of Seoul’s skies, and….]
[The Gate you see before you is the biggest one ever recorded since monsters began appearing….]
[As you can see behind me, the crowd spectating on the Gate itself are carrying bright expressions, but….]
[….This is Nick Powell from BBN News.]
Reporters from various nations carried serious, even grave, expressions and spoke their mother tongue towards the camera lenses.
Japanese people had been interested in the ongoings of South Korea for a while now, so a certain TV station even scheduled a special program to report extensively on the ‘Gate above Seoul’s skies’.
As for the expert invited to share his insight on the program, it was none other than Doctor Norman Belzer who had been studying the irregular phenomenon in the sky for a long time.
After the brief introduction by the emcee, Doctor Belzer grasped his microphone.
“I have been warning the relevant authorities about the unknown mass of energy gathering in the various spots in the atmosphere for a while now. The giant Gate appearing in the skies of Seoul is merely the beginning, I fear. We will be seeing Gates just as horrifying as that one over the skies of many other countries in the future.”
The emcee’s shoulders flinched greatly.
“Ehhh?! What you’re implying there is, Doctor, there are more than one or two places with such ominous phenomena in the world?”
“That’s what I’d like to emphasize today.”
The scientist then went on to explain again what he told the Hunters participating in the International Guild Conference. He had a duty to inform the public of the dangers, now that his subject of research had bared its fangs for real.
Indeed, Seoul was just the beginning.
The magisphere was still being amassed above the skies of the remaining eight spots even now.
The scientist proceeded to reveal the nine locations with the help of the satellite images, leading to many gasps of shock and pained moans to leak out from the audience seats.
Some felt relieved by the fact that Japan was not among the list, while some were left deeply shocked by the imminent threat the neighbouring nations had to face.
The emcee listened to Doctor Belzer’s explanations with a gloomy, heavy expression, before asking the scientist.
“Doctor, you have been researching the Gates and monsters for a very long time, am I correct?”
“You’re correct.”
“In that case, can you tell us your opinion on what would be the smartest response we can come up with in this situation?”
Not just the audience members present, but even all the viewers at home watching their TV sets, leaned forward to pay closer attention to the good scientist’s next words.
Unfortunately for them, what he said was something everyone could say, too.
“We can only pray.”
He shifted his gaze over to the audience members and continued on.
“We can only pray that this unprecedented event doesn’t end in tragedy.”
Even as the expressions of the audience members became graver, the scientist carried on with his explanation.
“However, there is this one thing. One piece of news that can’t be considered bad.”
Doctor Belzer’s words, coming in just before the broadcast was about to end, managed to change the emcee’s expression. Hoping to brighten the sorrowful, gloomy mood of the studio even by a little bit, the emcee quickly asked the scientist with an expectant face.
“What could that news be, doctor?”
“It’s rather fortunate that the location of the Gate just so happens to be South Korea.”
Did this doctor hold some sort of personal grudge against Korea or something?
Noisy, noisy…
Doctor Belzer’s shocking declaration left the audience members in noisy confusion.
The expression of the Chief Producer of this program hardened in an instant, fearful that one wrong move now and he might end up with a broadcasting accident big enough to cause a serious diplomatic incident.
Fortunately enough, the feared event didn’t materialise. The scientist quickly added more explanation before the misunderstanding could get any deeper.
“South Korea is the home of one of the greatest Hunters, someone who has already stopped a couple of world-ending calamities all by himself.”
Everyone present here definitely knew who that Hunter was.
“Yes, I’m talking about Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, who has removed every single ant monster from Jeju Island, and then killed all the Giants in Japan.”
The spot where the most amount of magisphere concentration could be found also happened to be where the world’s best Hunter lived. Doctor Belzer felt that this was no simple coincidence.
“If he can’t stop that Gate, then no Hunter alive will be able to do so, either. And that is why, when viewed from the world’s perspective, we should be thankful that the first Gate to open up is in South Korea.”
Should they feel glad, or console their neighbours, instead?
As the Japanese audience members couldn’t decide what to feel, the scientist emphasized his point once more.
“What I’m saying might come across as cold-hearted ans callous, especially when Korea is facing a grave crisis, but the truth is, the world doesn’t need to feel pity for the Korean people.”
Ah, so the broadcasting accident had finally happened!
The Chief Producer began tearing his hair out, but then, as if to mock the poor man, Doctor Norman Belzer formed a deeply meaningful expression and ended his explanations.
“If we ever come to the situation where we must pity the Koreans, then that means there will be no humans left on this planet to console each other anymore.”
Chapter 209
The biggest Gate ever to open up on Earth so far had been the one in the United States of America, where Kamish came out of. However, the one in front of everyone’s eyes was easily over ten times that.
Was there a need to even measure its rank in such a case?
Unfortunately, someone had to do the job and so, the Hunter’s Association had to dispatch a helicopter up there.
The aircraft was being populated by employees who were also Hunters. This was done out of fear that the bodies of the regular employees would not be able to endure against the magical energy emitted by the ‘Super-massive Gate’ and break down if they got too close.
Tatatatatata….
Pilot and co-pilot, as well as two Association employees, were riding on the helicopter as it flew ever closer to the Gate.
Would being sucked into a black hole feel like this?
Within this shaking hunk of metal flying in the sky, one of the employees stared intently at the gigantic black circle drawing ever closer and asked.
“Senior, have you ever seen anything like that before?”
The sun had set already, and they had to rely on the spotlights attached to the helicopter, but the sheer massive scale of this terrifying Gate still entered their sights with no problem.
The senior employee shook his head.
“No, never. I’m sure no one in this world has seen a Gate this big before.”
The entire world was in a great upheaval over this single Gate. Such a thing wouldn’t happen just because this particular one appeared in mid-air.
Actually, the world was freaking out by the unbelievable scale of the Gate along with its unique location of being in the air.
If only these employees knew that even Thomas Andre had to doubt his own eyes – they wouldn’t even have shared the dumb conversation about anyone seeing a Gate like that before.
Gulp.
While the two men’s gazes were stolen away by the Gate and dry saliva continued to slide down their throats, the helicopter arrived near the destination and gradually slowed its rate of ascent.
The co-pilot informed his passengers.
“Getting any nearer than this will endanger the helicopter.”
The employees mouthed their understandings and finished getting ready to measure the Gate. Now originally, one would have to stand right next to a Gate in order to measure its rank. However, doing that wasn’t necessary this time around.
As soon as the switch was turned on, the measuring device went ‘Pop!’ and stopped functioning immediately. It was proof that the device couldn’t handle the level of magic energy leaking out from the Gate.
It was also an expected result, too.
“Senior?”
The employee trying to manipulate the device looked up at the senior employee. The latter nodded his head to express his agreement. The junior employee opened the communication line in order to report the findings to the Association.
It was at that moment that the senior employee staring outside suddenly cried out.
“Be careful!”
The junior employee jumped up in fright and quickly scanned his surroundings.
“W-what was that?!”
“I, I thought I saw something resembling a monster outside….”
“Eh? A monster came out already??”
A monster emerged from a Gate that had appeared less than a day ago?
Such a thing couldn’t happen, but the senior employee witnessing this phenomenon was one of the high-ranked Hunters in the country. Neither the pilots nor the junior employee were in a position to criticise him and ask him if he was sure of what he saw.
But then, sure enough….
“Over there!”
The senior employee accurately pointed out again what he saw earlier.
It was also around this time that the urgent voice of the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol came out from the headset the junior employee was wearing.
– “What’s going on? What are you saying? Agent Sahng-Won! Hey, Yu Sahng-Won!! Tell me what’s going on up there!”
“S-sir, it’s a monster! We spotted a large monster near the helicopter!”
– “What?!”
“But, uh… I don’t think it’s an ordinary monster, sir.”
– “Don’t you know that you’re utterly helpless when encountering a monster in the air? I didn’t send you guys up there to find that out, so get back down here right now!”
“N-no, sir. The thing is, Association President, uh… There’s a person riding on top of the monster.”
– “What are you even talking about?? Hey, how can a person be riding on a mon…..”
It was then, an image of a certain man that really rode around on the back of a monster entered Woo Jin-Cheol’s head and his voice got cut off for a moment there.
– “Hey, Sahng-Won….? Can you see the face of the man riding on the monster?”
“Hold on, sir. Yes, I can just about make it out.”
– “Could he be Hunter Seong Jin-Woo?”
“Excuse me?”
The junior employee opened his eyes wider and pressed his face tightly against the window to take a closer look at the monster, before crying out in surprise and asking back.
“H-how did you know that, sir?”
***
Kkkiiiieehk-!
Jin-Woo riding on the back of the Sky Dragon Kaisel drew closer to the Gate. Once he got near its bottom, the d*mn thing looked more like an endlessly-stretching lake rather than an actual Gate.
What a near-overwhelming size it was.
A regular Hunter wouldn’t have been able to endure this extraordinary amount of magical energy leaking out from the Gate itself, but Jin-Woo remained unaffected and aloof, starting from the moment he decided to check this thing out personally, all the way up to this point in time.
He could see that the Association’s helicopter far below had begun descending to the ground, perhaps assessing that it was too dangerous for them now.
Jin-Woo watched the aircraft for a little while before he got even closer to the Gate itself.
Above his head, in the distance where his hand could reach, the Gate, with its maws wide open towards the ground below, floated in eerie silence.
Of course, the portal’s surface was still blocked off by the black screen so he couldn’t see what its inside looked like.
‘…..’
If he reached out to touch it, would he be able to enter it, or would he get sucked in like a Red Gate, or…?
Jin-Woo cautiously extended his hand out.
‘I most likely need to enter it and solve the problem before this Gate breaks open and monsters start pouring out.’
With a little bit of expectation bubbling noisily in his heart, he pressed the tip of his hand against the Gate’s screen.
‘What the…?’
For the first time ever since becoming an Awakened, he encountered a rather strange situation. He couldn’t enter the Gate.
His hand couldn’t enter the Gate as it got blocked off by the black screen. It was as hard as a solid wall.
‘If it was a regular wall, I could’ve broken it down, but….’
He pushed with everything he had, but this ‘wall’ didn’t even budge.
Knock, knock….
Jin-Woo knocked on the screen next, and his lips closed shut in a straight line.
‘It’s different.’
A Gate where Awakened couldn’t pass through. Indeed, this one was different from all the other Gates that preceded it. If so, would the things waiting inside be different from everything else that had emerged before?
‘Whatever the case may be….’
Whatever came out – his family and friends were below this Gate. He had no plan of letting them easily get past him.
‘I now possess the Stats I’ve raised up until now and the brave soldiers that will fight alongside me.’
When his thoughts reached there…
Waaaaaah-!!
He thought he could hear the uproarious cheers of the soldiers hidden in his shadows echo in his ears.
Ba-thump-!
Anxiety and anticipation alternated in his heart. Ever since he became the ‘Player’ and received the powers of the System, Jin-Woo believed that there was a reason, a purpose, for his existence.
If that was the case, then could it be that he was meant to stop this calamity?
‘What rubbish am I even thinking about now….?’
Jin-Woo chuckled and brushed aside his needlessly grim determination before pulling his hand back from the Gate.
It was then. The Hunter-issue smartphone, which he left on in the vibrate-only mode, suddenly began writhing around inside his pocket. The caller was from the Japanese Hunter’s Association.
Jin-Woo had asked them for a favour earlier, so he quickly answered the call.
– “Hello? Seong Hunter-nim?”The debut release occurred at N-ov3l=B(j)n.
“Please speak.”
– “Ah, my apologies. I can hardly hear your voice. Should I call you some other time?”
Jin-Woo glanced down at Seoul’s skyscrapers, now small enough to resemble toy building blocks, and grinned to himself.
“There’s no need for that. Actually, I’m somewhere pretty high up at the moment. Anyway, have you found out what I asked you about?”
– “Ah, yes. We scanned the entire territory of Japan with our satellite just now, but….”
Unlike how he usually was, the employee from the Japanese Hunter’s Association blurred the ends of his sentence. Could something have happened in Japan on a day like this?
The answer from the employee was completely out of Jin-Woo’s expectation, however.
– “We couldn’t locate a single Gate, Hunter-nim. There isn’t a single new Gate being generated in the entirity of Japan.”
‘….!!’
After he killed off the Giants, he had been spending most of his time raiding dungeons in Japan, so this news came across as a bolt from the blue.
“Not one new Gate has appeared?”
– “Yes, that’s correct. We couldn’t be sure if this was a phenomenon unique to us or not, so we contacted Hunter agencies in other countries, but….”
The employee hesitated before continuing on with a voice thickly laden with his own vexation.
– “All the new Gates suddenly vanished from the world when the super-massive Gate appeared above the skies of Seoul.”
It had been about three hours since this super-massive Gate had appeared in the air. What were the odds of every Gate in the entire world all ‘coincidentally’ vanishing at the same time?
‘….It’s not a coincidence, obviously.’
Jin-Woo’s expression hardened. His stiffened face looked up at the Gate again, and in the meantime, the Japanese Association employee asked him again.
– “Excuse me…. May I ask why you wished for us to find the locations of the highest-ranking Gates?”
“….”
It was a bit troubling to honestly answer that.
Well, he couldn’t really come out and say that he just wanted to test the shortswords boasting 1,500 attack damage he got from Thomas Andre as gifts before this uselessly huge Gate opened up, now could he?
In that case…
“We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow so someone needs to plant an apple tree, don’t you agree?”
– “Oh…. an apple tree. I see. It’s a wonderful saying.”
Jin-Woo gave out an evasive answer and left the guy on the other side of the line to interpret it in any way he liked, before trying to end the call there.
– “Uhm, excuse me, Seong Hunter-nim?”
“Yes?”
As if he was feeling embarrassed, the employee hesitated greatly before continuing on.
– “Honestly speaking, I’ve never looked at Korea in a favourable light in the past. As you may well know, the Japanese Hunter’s Association had been suffering a major headache from the ant monsters on Jeju Island for the last four years. As an employee of the Association, and as a Japanese, I disliked Koreans as a result.”
Jin-Woo quietly listened on to his confession.
– “However, I had to change my mindset all because of you, Hunter-nim. Korea has become the country of our saviour. I’m truly grateful for your help and I wish to thank Korea, your home country.”
As his story got longer and longer, his voice became more and more tearful as well.
– “That is why I pray that Korea won’t ever experience the horrors that my country had to endure.”
People who got trampled by the Giants. Cities were burned down. Screams echoed around in the air. The despair that couldn’t be forgotten.
Those nightmares happened only a few weeks ago.
The employee had witnessed the calamity from up close and that was why he knew; he knew that such things should happen to no one.
Jin-Woo heard his pleas and confidently replied back.
“That will not happen.”
He wasn’t making a promise. No, it was much closer to him making a resolution. The reason for him diligently maintaining his growth up until this moment was the same.
It was now time to show the results of his hard work.
The employee heard Jin-Woo’s reply and quietly laughed.
– “Haha. I never guessed that I’d stop hating Korea and feel envious of them instead. I’m really envious of Korea that has you, Seong Hunter-nim.”
“You don’t have to praise me that much. I don’t have any other hobbies besides hunting down monsters, so I was planning to continue to visit Japan as long as there are monsters still running loose in this world.”
– “Ahh, you saw straight through me. As expected, it’s impossible to fool you when you’re a top-ranked Hunter. I really wanted to earn some brownie points with you, too.”
The employee thanked Jin-Woo for ably improving the atmosphere that threatened to get untenably heavy, before saying his ‘heartfelt’ goodbye.
– “In that case, please, don’t hesitate to call us ‘again’.”
“Of course.”
Jin-Woo pocketed the Hunter-issue smartphone. He then quietly stared at the Gate that was preternaturally quiet as if this was the calm before the storm.
‘If this thing’s duration is the same as dungeon breaks from other Gates, then…’
There were around six days left. Jin-Woo’s two eyes glowed softly within this darkness.
“….Let’s go down.”
Kiiiahk-!!
The Sky Dragon carrying Jin-Woo energetically flapped its wings and made its descent.
***
About a day later, other people also detected the changes; Gates had disappeared.
New Gates stopped being generated right after the super-massive portal appeared in the skies above Seoul! There was no way to tell whether this was a good or a bad thing, but still, those welcoming this change did exist.
And that would be the Hunter’s Association, currently being led by Woo Jin-Cheol.
With a deeply tense expression, he read the report being handed in and made a decision.
“Call every Hunter in our country to Seoul.”
“Sir? But, that will be too dangerous.”
“If we do that and a Gate we failed to discover goes to become a full-on dungeon break, then…”
“How about we summon only around half of the Hunters and leave the rest to…..”
Woo Jin-Cheol heard the incoming rush of objections and angrily slammed down on the conference table.
SLAM!
The shoulders of the people attending the emergency meeting flinched from this display of a high-ranked Hunter’s anger.
Woo Jin-Cheol shouted out loudly.
“Do you all believe we have the necessary leeway to worry about unseen dangers right now?”
With that, everyone inside the conference room stopped talking at once. Woo Jin-Cheol pointed to somewhere beyond the walls of the room.
“We’re facing an unprecedented calamity right now. We don’t know whether we can stop that d*mn thing or not even after we pour out everything we have at our disposal!”
Woo Jin-Cheol roared out and scanned the faces of the attendees.
“I shall take full responsibilities if incidents take place in other districts. Even if you tell me to give up my entire wealth, I will. If you tell me to put my life on the line and fight, I’ll gladly do so.”
No one could argue against Woo Jin-Cheol’s grim determination.
In a case where the opinions differed during the life-threatening situations inside dungeons, the leader of the raid team would even resort to killing the insubordinate team member.
It was because the incorrect decision made by a few could drag everyone else to their doom. In the outside world, such an action would be seen as a crime, but it was a different story altogether when inside a dungeon.
Raids weren’t a kids’ garden tea party, but true warfare where everyone involved had to put their lives on the line to win, And right now, that war was about to spill outside the dungeon and onto the world.
Woo Jin-Cheol wasn’t a slack Hunter who would entertain opposing arguments when every second counted.
“Summon every Hunter in the country to Seoul immediately, please. As long as they can fight, do not leave anyone behind.”
And so, under the direct order of the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol, the Hunters of the Republic of Korea began heading to the city of Seoul.
Chapter 210
An unusual scene was playing out; the roads had become a confused mess as the citizens tried to evacuate from Seoul, while the Hunters were trying to enter the city in order to protect it.
People living in the districts directly below the super-massive Gate, the ones predicted to bear the brunt of the damage, heeded the warnings issued by the Hunter’s Association and the government, or even their own logical reasoning, and escaped from the city in droves.
Jin-Woo watched the TV news, busy covering the evacuation efforts and spoke to his mom.
“Mom, don’t you think it’ll be for the best if you and Jin-Ah go somewhere else?”
“Our area isn’t even one of the evacuation zones, you know.”
Mom had no thoughts of leaving Seoul at all, it seemed.
Jin-Woo’s home, the old apartment, was located far, far away from the centre of Seoul. If monsters invaded this place, then that meant the defensive line of the Hunters had crumbled, and that would also signify Jin-Woo’s failure to defend the frontline, too.
Mom believed that the flames of danger would never reach here.
Jin-Woo also grinned but didn’t say anything else.
Unlike him and his mom sitting around a low coffee table located in front of the couch, Jin-Ah was sitting on the couch itself with her knees drawn up. She glanced at her older brother and asked him.
“Don’t you have to go, too?”
She was talking about the nationwide Hunter summons. However, Jin-Woo was a Seoul resident, to begin with. He wasn’t really included in that summons.
“The Hunters on TV are from other regions and they are trying to report to the Association that they have arrived in Seoul.”
“Ohh.”
Jin-Ah nodded her head while receiving a plate of sliced apples from her mom.
In reality, Jin-Woo had been feeling frustrated by the fact that he had no choice but to dazedly spend his time at home under the current circumstances.
He wanted to raise his level, but there were no monsters to fight. He wanted to enter the instant dungeon, but he hadn’t seen a single special key as his reward ever since the architect of the System died.
His family certainly enjoyed him spending more time at home, but Jin-Woo really wanted to strengthen himself even further in order to prepare for any and all eventualities.
‘Should I not do the daily quests and enter the penalty zone or something?’
It sounded like a good idea, but at the same time, not really.
First of all, he had no clue what might come out from that Gate in front of his eyes, yet he was thinking of entering the penalty zone where unknown monsters were lying in wait?
‘Even if the odds are low….’
If there was one in ten thousand, no, one in ten million chance that something could happen to him during the penalty quest, then he wouldn’t be able to deal with what might happen on this side.
He had no reason to take on two different types of risks right now. And so, that idea was dismissed.
In the end, he’d have to look for another way to test out the ‘Kamish’s Wrath’ shortswords somehow.
What should he do?
As Jin-Woo pondered his options, a certain scene fleeted in and out of the TV screen. It was of the Hunter’s Association HQ building, as shot from a flying helicopter.
That’s right.
‘Should I use ‘that’?’
The corners of Jin-Woo’s lips arched up, his eyes gleaming rather suspiciously. He pulled his smartphone out and tapped one of the saved numbers.
Ringgg…. Ringggg….
As usual, the call was promptly answered only after a couple of ringtones.
– “Hello, Seong Hunter-nim. It’s Woo Jin-Cheol speaking.”
“Looks like I should start referring to you as the Association President from now on, don’t I?”
Woo Jin-Cheol chuckled sheepishly on the other side of the line before brushing past the issue.
– “You can call me with whatever is convenient for you. Even I’m still feeling weirded out by stumbling into a job that I wasn’t ready for.”
After sharing simple greetings, Woo Jin-Cheol figured that now would be a good time and his voice instantly became serious.
– “Did something happen on your end? I can’t help but get worried with you giving me a call quite unexpectedly like this.”
With the current situation being what it was, all of Woo Jin-Cheol’s nerves had been sharpened to a noticeable degree. How could he be not tense when the country’s most influential Hunter suddenly gave him a call?
“Well, it’s nothing serious, actually….”
Woo Jin-Cheol, still very tense, audibly swallowed his saliva.
‘Even if it’s not a serious matter to Hunter Seong, it might be a grave one for us. No, because he doesn’t sound that concerned, it could very well be incredibly bad news for us.’
As this short bout of silence drifted in between the two men, Woo Jin-Cheol did his best to calm his frayed nerves and paid closer attention.
Jin-Woo nonchalantly asked for a favour, since it really was nothing serious.
“Can I borrow the Association’s gymnasium for a little while?”
***
Even though he was really busy, Woo Jin-Cheol personally came out to greet Jin-Woo.
“As you can see…. This is the situation of our gymnasium.”
Jin-Woo scratched the side of his head.
In his quest to find a quiet place that was also out of people’s prying eyes, he thought that using the Association’s gymnasium would be a good idea, but it was currently housing the Hunters that had gathered in the city.
He saw the stuff being carried by their hands and belatedly remembered what was hidden within the storage of the gymnasium.
“Are you giving weapons to the Hunters that lack proper equipment?”
“Yes. The late Association President Goh Gun-Hui had prepared them for a rainy day like this.”
Jin-Woo’s head nodded by itself.
This was a sight he wanted to show to those detractors who pointed fingers and criticised the Association for storing all this expensive equipment in a dark corner and letting them rot away.
These Hunters came across as grimly determined as they equipped their handed-out weapons and armours.
It was then.
A physically-imposing Hunter struggling to push his arms and legs into a set of armour coated in magic energy raised his head and by chance, met Jin-Woo’s gaze.
“Uh?”
He was taken by surprise after witnessing the presence of the greatest Hunter, a man he only got to see on TV screens until then.
“Hunter Seong Jin-Woo??”
“What was that?”
“Hunter Seong is here?”
Hunters filling up the gymnasium all simultaneously looked behind them. And sure enough – just like what that big Hunter had said, there he was, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo in his full glory, standing alongside the Association President and studying them without saying anything.
The noisy interior was suddenly enveloped in silence. The atmosphere became deeply heavy in no time at all. The overwhelming presence that couldn’t be transmitted through TV screens flooded out from this Hunter at the top of his game.
It was only natural that one’s heart would start palpitating when doing nothing but staring at a person who was standing at a realm that one couldn’t even hope to reach.
Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump!
The expressions of the Hunters facing Jin-Woo all began to glow. Gazes filled with envy and respect flew in from everywhere. Only now did he realise the reason why Woo Jin-Cheol wanted to show him this sight when explaining it over the phone would’ve been sufficient.
Everyone gathered here were lower-ranked Hunters who found it hard to prepare their own expensive magic energy-infused equipment.
The new Association President was hoping to rally the lower-ranked Hunters, who should have been mentally strained by the sudden summons, by showing them the single greatest ally they had on their side right now.
His calculation was proven true since renewed vigour seemed to have seeped into the eyes of these Hunters.
Jin-Woo couldn’t help but chuckle softly at Woo Jin-Cheol’s smart thinking. Well, the latter had been leading the Monitoring Division for quite a while, after all.
Meanwhile, Woo Jin-Cheol had been scratching the back of his neck as if he was embarrassed about his intentions being seen through. He suddenly asked a probing little question.
“By the way, Hunter-nim. Why did you want to borrow the gymnasium?”
Jin-Woo pretended to pull something out from his pocket, when he was actually taking it out from his Inventory.
“I want to use this.”The initial instance of this chapter being available happened at n(0))vel(b)(j)(n).
Woo Jin-Cheol tilted his head in confusion as he looked at the plum-sized seed resting on Jin-Woo’s palm.
“This… What is it, exactly?”
“When you plant this on the ground, a monster resembling a tree will pop up. I wanted to test something with it.”
“A monster will pop up?!”
Jin-Woo looked at Woo Jin-Cheol’s wide-open eyes and nodded his head.
The tree-type monster would spit out a seed in its death throes. Failing to destroy this little seed meant that a new monster would sprout in the same spot again.
He figured that it was inefficient to repeatedly hunt these monsters since their defences and vitality was so tenaciously high, so he proceeded to destroy all the seeds. However, he stored this particular seed from the boss tree monster in his Inventory, thinking that maybe, he’d find a use for it later.
Jin-Woo took to calling these monsters ‘Armoured Tree’, trying to imply that they were as sturdy as if they were wearing metal armour.
‘If it’s that guy, wouldn’t it be the best target to test out these new blades of mine?’
The problem was…
“Under the current atmosphere of unease, many people will freak out from the sight of a moving monster out in the open.”
Woo Jin-Cheol spoke up in a worried voice. Jin-Woo agreed with him.
“That’s why I was looking for a quiet, reinforced location out of people’s eyes, but this….”
Civilians had no access to the Association’s gymnasium, and its hardiness was second to none, but it was impossible to use it now in this situation.
Jin-Woo shifted his gaze back over to the Hunters.
Even now, many Hunters holding tightly the weapons given to them by the Association and were glancing in his direction while trying to psych themselves up.
“Well, what with the situation like this….”
He could go to one of the uninhabited areas in Japan and use the seed there, but then again, the distance he had to fly was quite far, and as for using the skill, ‘Shadow Exchange’, he thought it’d be a waste.
Who could say what might happen in Korea during the two hours of cooldown time? That was why Jin-Woo was about to turn around to leave, but Woo Jin-Cheol had come to a decision by then, so he spoke up with a resolute voice.
“Very well.”
“Excuse me?”
“The afternoon schedule for the gymnasium today will be cleared out for you, Hunter-nim. Compared to everything you’ve done, something like this doesn’t even qualify as a special privilege.”
The late Association President Goh Gun-Hui even went as far as to change the related laws for Hunter Seong Jin-Woo. He argued that no one would be able to ask an excellent Hunter to put his life on the line to fight for them when they were unwilling to even do such small favours.
And now, as he was the new Association President, how could it make any sort of sense if he couldn’t even lend out a measly gymnasium for a few hours?
“Will that really be fine?”
Jin-Woo worriedly asked, but Woo Jin-Cheol simply grinned.
“I may not look it, but I am still the man in charge of this place. I get to decide when to open or close this building, you see.”
Woo Jin-Cheol clapped his hands and gathered the attention of the Hunters, before speaking out loudly.
“Who’s in charge here?”
“I-it’s me, sir!”
Jin-Woo watched an Association employee hurriedly run over here from the far end of the gymnasium and thought to himself that, didn’t matter whether a job title sounded awkward or if it suited a person, the job itself needed to be a high enough position at the end of the day first.
***
In a certain top luxury hotel in Seol.
There was a man wordlessly looking down at the cars trying to escape the city clogging the streets below from his suite’s window. He was Thomas Andre. Laura quietly approached him from behind.
Her hands were grabbing onto the travel case filled with her luggage.
“Master, will you still not leave with us?”
“That’s right.”
Thomas Andre lightly tapped the window with his finger. He was pointing at the Gate.
“How can I leave behind something that big and beautiful and run away?”
“It is big, but…. beautiful, sir?”
Thomas Andre’s eccentricity was well-documented by now, but for him to say that horrifyingly huge and ominous Gate was beautiful….
Just as Laura, his manager, was feeling puzzled by his declaration, he turned around to look at her.
“Anything that makes your heart palpitate is beautiful.”
He placed his hand on his own chest to confirm his heart pulsating there. Ever since he saw the Gate, his heart had been racing non-stop with nary a sign of fatigue.
“From the Dragon spitting out flames, that massive Gate, and even the power of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, all of them are beautiful things to me.”
He couldn’t be understood by normal logic. Laura shook her head helplessly, but still, couldn’t hide her smile, either. Thomas Andre lowered his hand away from his chest and grinned brightly.
“Besides, all Gates have disappeared, so what’s the point of going back now?”
“However…. the Hunter Bureau is getting worried, sir.”
Worried, she said.
Thomas Andre began chuckling at the notion of someone being worried about his well-being.
“What a funny notion that is, worrying about me. Is there any place safer than right next to Hunter Seong Jin-Woo?”
Even Laura forgot what she wanted to say after hearing Thomas Andre’s words. It was no secret that the Hunter Bureau had asked Seong Jin-Woo to protect the world’s top-ranked Hunters.
Thomas Andre smiled back at the clearly-speechless Laura and turned away from her. He stared at the Gate that had exceeded the classification of ‘huge’ and entered the realm of ‘super-massive’. It floated high up in the skies above Seoul, its surface quietly rippling.
“If that thing’s not stopped here, then there will be no future for us, anyway.”
A calamity that even Seong Jin-Woo may not be able to stop would occur eight more times around the world.
Who would be able to stop them? Thomas Andre himself? Or, China’s Liu Zhigeng? Maybe other Special Authority-rank Hunters?
What an absurd notion that was.
“That’s why I wish to witness everything.”
Thomas Andre’s gaze drifted off towards Laura’s reflection on the glass and a smile floated onto his lips again as he spoke.
“I wish to witness whether this will be the curtain call of human history, or the beginning of a new chapter.”
***
Inside the empty gymnasium.
Jin-Woo walked to the middle of this large structure.
‘Okay, this should be good enough.’
Jin-Woo put the seed down on the floor and poured some water on it.
A seed and water – these two were the only things needed for a monster to sprout even without soil or sunlight. He had confirmed this many times already.
Wududuk, Wudududuk…
Accompanied by the sounds akin to bones twisting around, the seed rapidly expanded and became a tree.
“Huh.”
No matter how many times he saw it, this process remained a spectacle, that’s for sure.
What an outrageous vitality this was, one so strong that the number of these tree monsters would never decrease even if the surrounding environments were barren and infertile.
Jin-Woo leisurely stepped back to the distance he thought was safe.
“Kiiieehk! Kiiehk!”
The ‘baby’ tree continued to grow larger until it regained its original appearance. Eventually, the seed had transformed into a monster so big that its head nearly touched the gymnasium’s ceiling in less than five minutes.
“Kiiieehkk!”
Jin-Woo didn’t pay any mind to the screech of the monster tree reverberating around within the interior and calmly summoned the newly-upgraded Beru.
‘Come out.’
Beru’s figure smoothly emerged from the ground.
[Oh, my king!]
Beru’s new and improved appearance was indeed eye-catching; rather than the usual insect-like exoskeleton, his entire body was now outfitted with the snug-fitting black armour, which made him look even more ‘substantial’ than before.
Was that all?
The black smoke rising up from his body became even more noticeable as well, and now, rather than looking like a haze, it looked like black flames burning up, instead.
That overflowing power!
Jin-Woo confirmed Beru’s information window one more time.
[Beru Lv. MAX]
Marshal Grade
This grade is equivalent to the head of the army and only one such being can exist. If another Shadow Soldier also reaches this grade, the hierarchy must be decided.
‘So, the only ones that can potentially challenge the Marshal Grade right now is Greed, who is currently a Commander Grade, and Igrit, who’s only a step away from entering the Commander Grade himself….’
Jin-Woo inwardly thought that the competition between the three of them for the grade of ‘Marshal’ should be quite entertaining, before gesturing at Beru with his chin.
“Beru, attack that creature with everything you have.”
Everything he had – Beru increased his physical size as per the command given to him by his liege.
Kiiiiiiieeehk!
Screech of the genuine beast!
The armours also naturally transformed to match the enlarged body. Beru soon became twice his original size and began striding forward with loud, thudding footsteps.
His steps gradually picked up speed until he broke into a full-on sprint and he pounced on the Armoured Tree.
Ka-boom!!
Beru’s eyes widened in surprise.
The attack he poured in his entire being couldn’t sever the tree monster in half, only managing to dig in as deep as his wrist, instead. For Beru, capable of ripping rank S monsters into pieces as if they were jokes, this was one hell of a fluster-inducing event.
But then again, such a sight was befitting of the ‘Armoured Tree’ specialising in defence against pretty much all physical damage, barring the magic attacks.
That was enough of a warm-up. Jin-Woo recalled Beru after achieving a satisfactory result.
“Step aside.”
Beru quickly moved aside.
Meanwhile, Jin-Woo summoned the pair of ‘Kamish’s Wrath’ from the Inventory.
Shuwuk…
Two shortswords as long as regular swords appeared in the grips of his hands.
‘Nice.’
Kuueehhk!
The Armoured Tree was searching for the culprit responsible for the hole in its tummy, before inadvertently discovering Jin-Woo’s presence and began to slowly run towards him.
So, so slow….
Seriously speaking, this thing had no other redeeming qualities other than its high defence.
Indeed, there was no doubt about its defensive capability. But, how well would these two shortswords work against that stupefying defence?
The blackish aura starting to spread out from the ends of his hands instantly enveloped the blades.
‘What I need is the destructive power, right?’
When his thoughts arrived there, the two weapons suddenly became rather heavy as if there were thousands of weights attached to them. They were so heavy, in fact, veins began bulging on Jin-Woo’s shoulder muscles as he tried to endure against this increase in weight.
‘The attack damage of 1,500…. Let’s see what it feels like.’
Jin-Woo made up his mind to fight, and the blades of the two Wraths began to shiver in unison.
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