88 - 92

Chapter 88: Chapter 88

Foreman Bae's eyes went extra-round.

"Heok….? Was there some kind of an accident? Should we ask the Guild for additional personnel?"

"No, no need. It's a personal matter. I just wanted to talk to him about something private, so you don't have to worry."

"Oh… I see."

Cha Hae-In spun towards the Gate.

However, her side felt rather empty, then.

'Ah. My weapon…..'

She felt around her waist, only to belatedly remember that she had left her sword back home. Since she never imagined that she'd be entering a dungeon on her off day like this, well…..

Cha Hae-In's forehead beautifully creased up.

'As a leader, Mister Ki-Hoon is someone totally trustworthy, and the rest of the team are made up of capable Hunters. But….'

But, it was still unimaginable to enter a dungeon without a weapon in hand. A short deliberation later, she turned around to face Foreman Bae once more.

"Is there something else, Miss….?��

Foreman Bae looked at her with confused eyes.

"Mister Foreman, can I borrow a weapon from you?"

"Pardon me?"

Foreman Bae hesitated somewhat, before calling out to a Hunter passing by.

"Hey, over here, Mister Seok. Please bring me one of our equipments."

"Yes, boss."

The 'equipment' Mister Seok rapidly brought over was a pickaxe, as used by the mining team.

"...."

Cha Hae-In's expression stiffened.

"Excuse me…. Don't you have anything else?"

"Uhm, such as….?"

"For instance, swords or spears."

"But, if you ask us for such things, well….."

"…"

Cha Hae-In sighed out under her breath.

"I understand."

She then carefully rejected the pickaxe Foreman Bae tried to hand over and quickly walked towards the Gate. He anxiously asked her as he watched her distancing back.

"Cha Hunter-nim, will it be fine for you to be empty-handed in there?"

Cha Hae-In came to an abrupt halt and stood there for a moment, before hurriedly walking back to take the pickaxe from Foreman Bae. He guffawed out in a genial manner.

"I think that's for the best, miss. I mean, it'll be dangerous to be weaponless inside a dungeon, regardless of what."

"Well, then…."

As she turned around to hurriedly leave, Foreman Bae unluckily didn't get to see her ears dyed in deep shades of crimson.

The looks of determination were clearly visible on the faces of the raid team members. They kept their mouths resolutely shut as if to imply that they knew their fate already. Meanwhile, the female Healer approached Jin-Woo and began rummaging through the luggage.

Jin-Woo turned his head towards her and asked.

"What are you doing?"

"Hold on."

What she took out was a small ladies handbag.

"I kinda feel a bit uncomfortable if I'm too far away from my bag, you see."

He didn't even ask her, yet she provided him with an explanation oh-so-kindly. She took out a memo pad and a pen from the bag and then began jotting something down on said memo pad.

Because she wasn't looking in front of her, she kept bumping into Jin-Woo's shoulder with her head.

Eventually, though – she closed the memo pad.

Her bag, which she slung around her shoulder while writing on the memo, was pushed back inside the luggage again, but that memo remained in her hands.

Jin-Woo observed her with a bit of interest, wondering what she'd do with that, but she simply pushed the memo towards him, instead.

"…..?"

After taking it, Jin-Woo tilted his head, prompting the female Healer to tearfully spoke up.

"I wrote down what I wanted to say to my family. When you get outside, please make sure that they get it. Please."

If he burst out in laughter, she'd probably get hurt, no? Jin-Woo suppressed his rising laughter and pocketed the memo.

"I'll hold onto this for the time being, but I'm pretty sure I won't get to deliver this."

"It's going to be fine."

The female Healer nodded her head.

'With High Orc warriors zealously keeping tabs on us like this, it won't be easy for him to get out of here unscathed.'

After all, Mister Porter was only a rank E. She hadn't figured out yet what Jin-Woo meant, though.

Soon, their eyes caught the sight of the boss room. The anxiety felt by the Hunters came over the air and could be felt on his skin.

They were greeted by a huge open space.

'....'

Jin-Woo scanned the boss room. It was smaller than yesterday's boss room with the giant in it.

However, quite unlike yesterday, he didn't get the impression that the boss room was huge at all. And that would be all thanks to countless High Orcs completely filling up the chamber.

As a matter of fact, there were over twice as many Orcs here as those that 'escorted' the raid team.

'At least a hundred… no, maybe it's a bit more than that?'

While there were no monsters inside the rest of the dungeon, they had been gathered inside the boss room, instead.

Seeing the masses of High Orcs waiting inside, Sohn Ki-Hoon's complexion paled in an instant.

'If this many High Orcs manage to escape from the Gate, then….'

This was a large enough horde to utterly destroy a small city, even before the top Hunters had the chance to do something about them.

Cold sweat trickled down his backside.

'At the very least, we gotta eliminate the boss.'

Just like how he resolutely swallowed the dry saliva, he did his best to keep his determination burning in his heart.

The High Orcs of the boss room parted to make way.

"Ah sharkh."

The leader High Orc beckoned again. The raid team and the escorting High Orcs walked over to an altar located in the corner of the boss room.

"Over there!"

One of the Hunters pointed towards the top of the altar.

And that's where the High Orc Shaman stood, dressed in all manner of accessories adorning its entire body, including a mask, bone necklace, and earrings.

'So, that's the boss….'

Sohn Ki-Hoon's expression hardened.

He immediately realised that the terrifying magic energy filling up the interior of this dungeon was being emitted from that creature. And then, surrounding that b*stard was….

From the four 'guards' possessing an air of alertness standing around the boss, he also sensed a rather ominous aura as well.

'This isn't good.'

Could the raid team get past those guards and kill the Shaman in one fell swoop? The Hunters were all thinking roughly the same thing.

The Hunters stopped in front of the Shaman.

A certain intangible tension flowed in between the High Orcs surrounding the human Hunters as they kept a certain distance away.

"Kekeke."

However, the Shaman didn't seem to care about the mood of the place; it simply opened its rather malformed jaw, visible below the mask, and cackled out.

"Oh humans, welcome."

The Hunters of the raid team exchanged glances.

'As soon as Sohn hyung gives us the signal….'

'We attack together.'

'Aim for the Shaman, no matter what.'

It was for the purpose of coordinating their attacks.

However….

Suddenly, the air around them began freezing up.

Hunters of this raid team were some of the very best out there. They all shifted their gazes at the same time at this sudden outpouring of chilling aura. The source was the Shaman.

The creature finally took the mask off. When it did, the magic energy it had been hiding until then exploded forth, unchecked and unhindered.

Rumble-!!

The freakish magic power spread out in circular waves with the boss as the centre.

As if they were normal, powerless civilians that ran into a lion or a tiger, the Hunters froze up on the spot like a bunch of statues.

"O-oh my god…."

"How can a magic power of such magnitude be….?"

"We, we gotta fight against something like this?!"

Despair, lamentation, resentment, even regret. The Shaman formed an ominous grin when facing these varying forms of hopelessness.

"Are you scared of me, humans?"

Sohn Ki-Hoon bit down on his lower lip, hard, and took a difficult step forward before asking a question.

"Why did you summon us here? Your warriors would've been enough to kill us back there."

The Shaman grinned again. Simply looking at the grin chilled the backs of the Hunters.

"It's for entertainment."

"What?"

Sohn Ki-Hoon was left utterly speechless.

Were they brought here just for that purpose?

The Shaman continued on.

"While we wait out the remaining time, I will kill you one by one and entertain the soldiers!"

Waaaaaah-!!

High Orc warriors all roared out in frenzy and excitement.

Hunters were ruthlessly forced down by the enormous pressure emitted from the Orcs and couldn't even breathe properly. One of them even began crying, no less.

"However…."

The Shaman briefly stopped talking, then.

The boss's gaze shifted and stopped at the rear of the human's group – where Jin-Woo was.

"…..I see that a strange being is mixed among you, humans."

It was then, Sohn Ki-Hoon's eyes gleamed dangerously.

'With the Shaman looking elsewhere, this is my chance!'

Veins bulged in his neck.

"Now!!"

Sohn Ki-Hoon roared out at the top of his lungs, unsheathed his sword, and rushed out. However, it was eerily quiet behind him.

'How come….?'

He glanced behind him while running, and discovered his comrades rooted to their spots, not daring to move an inch. They had lost their fighting spirit a long time ago from the display of the boss's overwhelming might.

Sohn Ki-Hoon's heart fell to the pit of his stomach.

'Ah….'

Still, someone had to do this. He couldn't stop now.

His gaze shifted back to the front.

Perhaps his attack wasn't expected, the Shaman was still smiling, and its guards weren't showing any urgent reactions, either.

This could be his one and only chance.

Didn't matter if it was pure luck. He'd accept fluke, too. As long as his sword could reach….

Sohn Ki-Hoon fiercely rushed forward and cocked his sword behind him.

"Euhwaaaaaah-!!"

But, even before he could swing the sword with all his might, he collided with something invisible and was flung away.

Boom!!

At first, it was shield magic.

"Keok!"

Flung away from the rebound, Sohn Ki-Hoon landed on the ground and rolled backwards. But, that lasted only for a short while.

"Looks like we have our first volunteer."

Along with the Shaman's mocking words, Sohn Ki-Hoon's body was lifted up into the air.

Wuuuoooo…

And now, it was the anti-gravity magic.

"…."

The lips of the Shaman were moving up and down non-stop. When Sohn Ki-Hoon was lifted up as high as a two-story building, the Shaman began chanting a different spell.

"….."

Next to come was gravity acceleration.

Kaboom!!!!

Sohn Ki-Hoon was slammed into the ground.

"Keo-heok!"

He didn't even have the time to writhe in pain as he was lifted up in the air again.

"Anti-gravity."

Kekeke….

Not only the Shaman, but the rest of the High Orcs were cackling in derision as well, their fangs fully bared now.

Kaboom!!

"Keo-heok!!"

Wuuooong….

Boom!!

"Keok!"

The Shaman continued to toy with Sohn Ki-Hoon by lifting him up and slamming him down.

When he landed on the ground for the fourth time, Sohn Ki-Hoon vomited out a mouthful of blood. Seeing that scene, the complexions of the Hunters got paler and paler. However, none of them dared to step forward to stop this.

"Ki-Ki-Hoon hyung…."

They simply stood there trembling while witnessing Sohn Ki-Hoon being broken into pieces.

Plop.

The female Healer collapsed on the floor as if she no longer had any strength left in her legs.

Eventually….

The Shaman raised Sohn Ki-Hoon in the air for the fifth time.

"You sure are a tenacious b*stard, aren't you?"

"Euh, euh….."

A pained moan leaked out of Sohn Ki-Hoon's mouth. However, he still didn't let go of the sword as if he hadn't given up yet.

Wuuoong!

Slam!

Wuuuonnng!

Slam!!

Wuuuonng!

As he was thrown up and down between the air and ground several times more, Sohn Ki-Hoon finally lost his grip on the sword.

Clang….

It happened then.

Just as Sohn Ki-Hoon was thrown down to the ground once more, he vanished from the view.

"Ng??"

The Shaman's eyes opened wider.

Where did the human disappear to, when all of his bones should be broken by now? The Shaman searched for the whereabouts of Sohn Ki-Hoon.

'There….?'

In a corner not too far, it discovered Sohn Ki-Hoon, unmoving on the ground. And at the same time, found a certain man crouching nearby.

Of course, it was Jin-Woo.

Jin-Woo carefully laid Sohn Ki-Hoon down and glared at the Shaman.

"Hey, mister leader. I want to ask you something."

"…..?"

Until now, Sohn Ki-Hoon hadn't figured out what happened to him.

"Will it be okay if I kill all of the monsters in here?"

"You… What are you….?"

The Shaman frowned and gestured with its chin, and one of the guards swung about its scimitar and ran to where Jin-Woo was.

As Jin-Woo glared at the monster rushing towards him, a light of fury lit up in his eyes. He reached out with his hands.

'Ruler's Reach.'

When he did, it was as if a giant, invisible hand grabbed the Orc guard, and the monster was cleanly picked up from the ground.

"Ku, kurua?!"

The monster kicked and struggled in the air.

'What….?!'

The eyes of the Shaman opened wider.

Jin-Woo pointed down towards the ground.

Slam!!

The guard crashed down to the ground. The impact force was so great that deep cracks spread out on the ground. However, Jin-Woo didn't stop there; just like how the Shaman manipulated Sohn Ki-Hoon's body, he lifted the guard up in the air again.

Slam!!

Boom!!

Kaboom!!

Like a basketball bouncing between the ground and one's hand, the Orc guard continuously slammed into the ceiling and the ground non-stop, a helpless cry coming out from its mouth. Eventually, its head pierced into the ceiling.

Kaboom!!

Scatter….

With that, debris from the ceiling fell down.

While staring at the dangling Orc guard with its head buried deep into the ceiling, both groups of the High Orcs and the Hunters couldn't hide their astonishment.

Sohn Ki-Hoon trembled and questioned Jin-Woo.

"You… Just what is your….?"

"I'll ask you again."

This here was a hunting ground the Hunters Guild paid for. And there was only one person present that could speak for the Guild at the moment.

Jin-Woo asked for the last time.

"Monsters in this place…. Can I have them all?"

What was this?

Sohn Ki-Hoon realised now that the identity of the porter or whatever didn't matter anymore. No, he was just p*ssed off. He was angry at himself for being toyed around with by the monsters like that. Tears rolled down Sohn Ki-Hoon's face.

"Please…. I beg of you, do something…."

With that, it was done.

When Jin-Woo stood back up, High Orcs approached him. The Shaman was behind them. The boss began smirking in derision.

"For a measly human, you know some interesting skills, don't you?"

The boss gestured, and the High Orcs quickly surrounded Jin-Woo.

"However, just how far do you think your tricks will get you?"

Jin-Woo's glare became so much colder. He never really cared for any of the monsters he killed so far, but this would be his first time wanting to slice one up this badly.

"I'll take care of you last."

If the boss knew the meaning of enjoyment, surely it'd know what fear tasted like.

Jin-Woo slowly murmured out.

"My shadows…."

Two daggers appeared in Jin-Woo's hands.

"….Come out and play."

Chapter 89: Chapter 89

Screech.

A black sedan stopped by the side of the road.

The man climbing out of the driver's seat, kitted out in a pair of sunglasses and a black business suit, was none other than Woo Jin-Cheol, the section chief of the Monitoring Division, the Hunters Association.

Soon after his exit, three more men climbed out of the car from the passenger and rear seats. All of them were from the Monitoring Division as well.

"Chief, weren't we on our way back to the Association?"

"I just wanted to confirm something, first."

Woo Jin-Cheol shifted his gaze over the Gate, some distance away.

'A rank A Gate still gives me the creeps every time I look at it.'

Woo Jin-Cheol frowned deeply. If that giant hole opened up like a door and monsters trapped inside emerged outside…..

Just imagining that made him shudder.

'However, why did that man apply to become a miner in such a horrifying place?'

Not only that, for two days in a row, too.

Even if Association President Goh Gun-Hui hadn't asked him, Woo Jin-Cheol would have personally come here to find out, anyway.

'Investigating behind his back is…. impossible.'

The man in question was a rank S Awakened. A measly rank A like him going undiscovered while secretly investigating a rank S was, realistically speaking, an impossible dream.

That was why he decided to show up in the open like this.

Since he had a matter to attend to nearby anyway, he was thinking of greeting the youth while saying he was in the neighbourhood, and then ask a couple of simple questions.

'I hope he won't find me strange or anything.'

Anyone would get curious of the circumstances if a Hunter, already pretty much confirmed to be a rank S, chose to shovel the ground for some reason.

On top of this, wasn't Seong Jin-Woo someone the Association President was paying close attention to? The Association President must've found this young man very much to his liking, because he even focused all of his attention on everything Jin-Woo did.

'No, I'm not the strange one here.'

It was obvious that you'd get curious, and it was only natural to ask.

While telling himself that, Woo Jin-Cheol walked over to where the representative of the Hunters Guild was.

"I'm looking for your mining team."

"Who…. are you?"

"I'm from the Association."

The Guild employee confirmed Woo Jin-Cheol's identity and pointed in the direction of the waiting mining team.

"Please head over that way."

"Thank you."

Four Hunters from the Monitoring Division were now paying a visit to the mining team. As if he had received a heads-up already, Foreman Bae Yun-Seok hurriedly ran to meet them halfway.

"Aigoo, what brings the Hunters from the Monitoring Division to this place?"

The members of the mining team had been relaxing until then overheard those words, and tension briefly flashed by in their eyes.

The oppressive pressure Hunters felt from the words 'Monitoring Division' was rather huge.

The people whose job was to arrest the Awakened that the normal laws couldn't do anything about, they then either reformed the troublemakers or simply eliminated them. The 'Monitoring Division' was where those kinds of people worked for.

"What's going on?"

"Hunters from the Monitoring Division are here."

"Monitoring Division?"

"Something must've happened."

Feeling curious now, the mining team members began flocking around Foreman Bae.

Woo Jin-Cheol took his sunglasses off.

'...'

He swept his gaze around the miners to locate Seong Jin-Woo, but in the end, he had to ask for that man's whereabouts from Foreman Bae.

"Do you know by any chance where Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim is?"

"I bloody knew it!"

Suddenly, a man jumped out from among the miners. It was Lee Seong-Gu, who had run into Jin-Woo's shoulder yesterday.

Lee Seong-Gu passionately spat out his complaints, flying spittle accompanying his rapidly firing words.

"When that bstard looked at me and began grinning, I was terrified that he might eat me alive or something, you know! Uh-whew, it's still so dmn scary even when I think about it now…."

Woo Jin-Cheol's brows furrowed slightly.

'Terrifying enough to eat a person….?'

Just what on earth was this man talking about?

Murmur, murmur…

The voices of the Hunters rose up higher and higher. Woo Jin-Cheol ignored the background noise and asked Lee Seong-Gu.

"Did something happen?"

"Ah, well, that is…."

Lee Seong-Gu was about to answer him, but then, he rapidly realised that he was also at fault and quickly waved his hands around.

"Well, that isn't really important, but the main thing is, his eyes were really scary, man."

"…."

Woo Jin-Cheol's gaze shifted back to Foreman Bae.

"Where can I find Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim?"

"Mister Seong is… He's inside the Gate right now."

Seong Jin-Woo was inside the rank A dungeon, where a raid was ongoing? Woo Jin-Cheol's eyes opened wider.

"Why did he enter the dungeon?"

"Well, the raid team's porter hasn't shown up today, you see. Nobody wanted to go in there, so Mister Seong volunteered as the porter."

"…."

"But, it's a wee bit weird, you know?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's nothing particular, but… Cha Hunter-nim… no, I mean, Cha Hae-In Hunter-nim was also looking for Mister Seong, so she entered the Gate just now, you know? Isn't it just too weird…?"

Foreman Bae spoke up to there and tilted his head.

Meanwhile, the mind of Woo Jin-Cheol became a bit of mess after hearing that.

'The Vice Chairman of the Hunters Guild Cha Hae-In was looking for Seong Jin-Woo? Not only that, she even went after him into the dungeon, too?'

Just what was happening here?

He only stopped by to say hello to Seong Jin-Woo, but now, it felt like something big was afoot here.

'For the time being, I should head over to the Gate.'

That seemed to be the best choice he could make for the time being.

"We'll stop by at the Gate, and leave afterwards."

"Oh, sure thing."

Foreman Bae chuckled genially and nodded his head. Just as Woo Jin-Cheol and his subordinates turned around to leave, Lee Seong-Gu quickly grabbed his arm.

"Excuse me, Mister Hunter?"

Lee Seong-Gu had this expectant face for some reason as he hurriedly asked Woo Jin-Cheol.

"That b*stard, Seong Jin-Woo, did he do something bad? Maybe, he's killed someone? I mean, he looked like someone fully capable of that."

Woo Jin-Cheol frowned slightly again. He sort of could understand why Seong Jin-Woo glared scarily at this moron.

'A fool who'd get blown away into the weeds if Seong Jin-Woo snorts in front of him…..'

Still, there were too many eyes watching. As a Hunter working for the Association, he couldn't carelessly display his irritation at a stranger.

This was why working for a public organisation sometimes could get rather annoying. Woo Jin-Cheol spat out a long sigh and did his best to sound as diplomatic as possible.

"You'll find out when you take a look at tomorrow evening's news broadcast."

Perhaps that answered most of his own suspicions, Lee Seong-Gu raised his voice high as if he had correctly predicted this.

"I told you, didn't I? I told you that man is too suspicious!"

"But, he didn't look that way…."

"Right. And he worked so diligently, too."

Not minding the lukewarm responses of his colleagues, Lee Seong-Gu went on about how great his discerning eyes were.

'Tsk.'

Woo Jin-Cheol stared at that man making a fool of himself, before taking his subordinates towards the Gate.

However….

Woo Jin-Cheol instinctively stopped a few steps away from the Gate.

"Chief?"

The subordinates began staring in confusion at Woo Jin-Cheol's stiff face.

'This… This can't be. It makes no sense.'

Woo Jin-Cheol quickly yanked his phone out. He then accessed the Association's information hub and checked out the available info on the rank A Gate the Hunters Guild was supposed to conquer today.

Woo Jin-Cheol's eyes widened in shock.

'Why is the measured value of the magic energy so low?!'

His head began rocking side to side automatically.

'The measurement results are wrong.'

Not all rank A Hunters were equal. For instance, Hunter Woo Jin-Cheol was right near the top within the rank A. And his instincts were telling him this: The measurement value was all wrong.

Woo Jin-Cheol quickly issued an order to his subordinate next to him.

"Go get the magic energy measuring device."

The subordinate immediately realised that Woo Jin-Cheol's expression was grave, and hurriedly ran to where their car was parked.

The miniature measuring device used by the Monitoring Division was a world apart in quality from the devices used by the regular Association employees. As befitting a device created from a top-grade magic crystal that cost over a billion Won, this piece of equipment very rarely threw up errors or mistakes in its results.

Bleep.

The measurement result quickly came out.

'I knew it….'

The displayed result showed a clear discrepancy to the previously measured value. If the Guild formed their raid team according to the measured value presented by the Association, then it'd definitely become a serious situation.

'Well, with two rank S Hunters inside, I'm sure nothing untoward would happen, but…'

But, when Woo Jin-Cheol placed the measuring device on the ground and tried to stand back up…

Wuuuuoooonnng!!

The Gate suddenly began vibrating.

The powerful gushing magic energy wave caused Woo Jin-Cheol and his three subordinates, with far worse perceptions than him, to flinch grandly on the spot. They began trembling like leaves right away.

"S-Section Chief?!"

"What, what was that, sir??"

Woo Jin-Cheol shifted his gaze to the youngest of the agents present, the kid's complexion looking awfully pale now.

"You okay?"

"Y-yes, sir. I'm okay."

The youngest agent cautiously stared at the back of his hand after making his reply. He could see goosebumps covering up his skin.

Woo Jin-Cheol stood upright.

"We're going inside."

"Pardon me?"

"You want to go in there, sir?"

Woo Jin-Cheol's determination didn't waver, even for a second.

"If you're scared, it's okay for you to back out."

Only he knew that the measurement value was incorrect at this stage. It was his duty to inform the Hunters trapped inside. It was the duty of the Association's agents to manage other Hunters, and to keep a close watch on them, but also to aid them in time of their needs.

"N-no, sir."

"We'll go with you."

Woo Jin-Cheol nodded his head in satisfaction.

"Junior. Stay behind and report the new measurement result back to the Association."

"Yes. No, wait. Sir?"

"Can you do it?"

Woo Jin-Cheol lightly tapped the youngest agent here on the shoulder, and the latter nodded his head with some difficulty.

"….Yes, sir. I understand."

Woo Jin-Cheol turned to look back at the Gate.

On top of its already nonsensically-high magic energy emission, an even greater storm of magic power rushed out from the Gate just now.

'What the hell is going on inside this Gate?'

With Woo Jin-Cheol as the lead, the two agents of the Monitoring Division also threw themselves beyond the Gate's surface.

Around the same time….

Cha Hae-In was following after the traces left behind the raid team.

'This is so weird. Why can't I find the traces of monsters?'

In a regular dungeon, it was normal to find the corpses of monsters strewn about here and there, starting from somewhere near the entrance and all the way till the boss room.

But, no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't see any dead monsters. Did the monsters gather in one place or something?

She thought like this and continued to walk forward, until….

'…Huh?'

She finally located corpses in the distance.

As befitting a rank S melee-type Hunter, Cha Hae-In arrived at the location of the battle in the blink of an eye.

'How can this be?!'

Her eyes opened up super-wide. All the corpses belonged to the High Orcs. It was easy to identify them, because they featured red skin and their fangs were noticeably longer, too.

'How did Mister Sohn Ki-Hoon's team manage to defeat this many High Orcs?!'

And, was that all? There was seemingly not one casualty, too. Of course, if there was a casualty, they would've retreated on their own accord, saving her the trouble of having to step foot inside here.

'…Did I underestimate the rank A and B Hunters by too much?'

That could certainly be the case.

Surveying the location, she thought that the battle had to be a bit one-sided, as well.

However….

'Wait, isn't that….?'

Cha Hae-In discovered something odd and crouched down to take a closer look at one of the corpses. And her eyes grew even wider than before. She stood back up and quickly began checking out each of the High Orc corpses.

'This one, and this one, too….'

Her suspicion gradually morphed into certainty.

'But, how��.??'

How could something like this happen?

Almost all the High Orcs were left with injuries inflicted by short but incredibly sharp weapons.

'They weren't blows fatal enough to kill, but….'

But, she thought that these were definitely enough to hinder the movements of the High Orcs. Which meant that other Hunters were simply dining on the table full of tasty dishes prepared by someone else.

It also meant that one Hunter managed to almost single-handedly massacre all 20 High Orcs.

Only two High Orcs were killed off in a different fashion to everyone else. One had its head ripped off by an incredible force, while the other one had died after something blunt hit it in the head.

'Excluding those two, one person managed to drive all the other Orcs to the brink of death?!'

Could such a thing even be possible??

She was deeply confident of her own speed, but even then, she couldn't be sure of achieving the same feat under the same given situation. And also, from what she knew, there was no Assassin-type Hunter wielding daggers or shortswords within Sohn Ki-Hoon's team.

'….Shortswords?'

It was then, a certain scene flashed past her brain.

The man who stood near the boss room yesterday.

Seong Jin-Woo was definitely holding short weapons in both of his hands.

'Could it be that man?'

When her thoughts arrived at this point, Cha Hae-In's head snapped towards the deeper parts of the dungeon. And her expression rapidly hardened. She could sense this incredibly powerful magic energy wave, no, magic energy tremors, the kind she'd never experienced before, coming from there.

The air itself was trembling, hard.

'No!!'

Cha Hae-In bit her lower lips.

If that magical energy belonged to the boss monster, then no one from Sohn Ki-Hoon's team would be able to survive.

She began running towards the boss room with all her might.

Chapter 90: Chapter 90

"Come out and play."

Everything began with those words.

Whoooosh-!!

A ripple incomparably greater than that of the magic energy wave from the High Orc Shaman spread out everywhere. That wasn't the only change to take place, however.

Along with him unshackling his magic power, the shadow beneath Jin-Woo's feet spread out, too. And it covered the entirety of the chamber's surface at a frightening pace, as if someone had poured a bucket of pitch-black ink onto the floor.

"Heok?!"

"W-what's this??"

The Hunters of Sohn Ki-Hoon's raid team saw the 'shadow' spread beneath their feet and freaked out. How should they even go about describing this situation? Even the most experienced, grizzled Hunters among the group hadn't heard of anything like this, never mind seeing one.

Tremble…

An unknown fear crept up over them.

Sohn Ki-Hoon, lying on the ground, powerlessly began trembling violently while staring up at Jin-Woo.

'What…. Just what are you planning to do?'

As if to answer his silent question – when the spreading shadow completely covered the floor of the boss room….

Shururuk…

The surface of the shadow wavered, and soldiers wearing jet-black armour rose up one by one.

[You have activated 'Skill: Sovereign's Territory'.]

[All Stats of the Shadow Soldiers fighting over the Summoner's shadow will rise up by 50%.]

A thin smile spread on Jin-Woo's lips.

'Good.'

This was the new Class-specific Skill he learnt when he broke past level 70 back in the Demon's Castle.

He sensed the fighting spirit of his enhanced soldiers soaring higher. Quite obviously, a satisfied grin formed on his face. 50 summoned Shadow Soldiers stood around Jin-Woo in a circle as if to protect him.

"Ku-kururuk??"

"Kuruk!!"

The High Orc Warriors, famed for their bravery, began retreating one step at a time after getting their wits scared off by the dangerous pressure emitted by Jin-Woo and his soldiers.

"O-Orcs are retreating?!"

"Just what is the meaning of this…."

Even though they were trembling like a leaf from this unbelievable situation, the Hunters also began clutching onto a slender thread of renewed hope now.

"D-did you feel that?"

"Yeah."

"Can… can that even make any sense?"

The mage-type Hunters were sensitive towards the magic energy, to begin with. And they couldn't control their furiously quickening heartbeat no matter what. Because, an insane amount of magic energy was gushing out from the man who subbed in for their luggage carrier. Someone whom they thought of as a simple rank E, no less.

'No, hang on. Is this even magic energy?'

'To think, this magical energy is even more ominous than what the High Orc Shaman is emitting…!!'

The sheer pressure from the magic energy thickly filling up the boss room made it difficult to even breathe properly. The fact that this incredible power didn't belong to an enemy relieved them to no end.

On the other hand, indescribably heavy and taut tension was flowing among the ranks of High Orcs.

With the appearance of the Shadow Soldiers, the difference of 1 to 150 suddenly got reduced to 50 to 150.

More importantly, though, those 50 were no ordinary 50 at all. No, that was the power that already transcended common sense, the one that couldn't be quantified with mere numbers!

As if to prove that reality, Jin-Woo was the very first one to dash forward.

The Shaman hurriedly shouted out, then.

"What are you doing!! Kill that human right now!!"

With their backs pushed forward by the voice carrying a thick amount of the Shaman's magical energy, the High Orc warriors all roared out and raised their weapons.

"Kuwaaaaarrr!!"

Step, step, step – slice!!

The skill, 'Sovereign's Territory' was designed solely for his Shadow Soldiers. However, even without a Status boosting buff, Jin-Woo's displayed strength was already out of this world.

"Kuwaaahk!!"

"Kuaahh, kuaaah!!"

High Orcs screamed out. Limbs, bits of body parts sliced off by Jin-Woo's two daggers, and the ensuing trails of blood scattered in all directions. He was so fast that even the elite Hunters could only catch the glimpses of his afterimage.

"That…."

"Right. That's like seeing our Vice Chairman."

Cha Hae-In's nickname was the 'Dancer'.

Normally, she remained a calm, composed figure, but when she jumped into a battle, she swiftly cut down monsters as if she was performing a fast-tempo dance routine. Hence, that nickname was given to her.

The woman in question forbade the use of that nickname because of how embarrassing it sounded, so it wasn't widely known, but some people still resorted to calling her that every now and then.

And now, their supposed porter was displaying a movement that equalled Cha Hae-In – no, even exceeding her speed.

If Cha Hae-In danced, then Mister Porter was a typhoon. He had become the centre of the storm to obliterate the surrounding monsters.

Kuoooaaahhh!!

The Shadow Soldiers didn't lose out, either; the former leader of the Ice Bears, Tank, took a step forward and that signalled the attack of the Shadow Soldiers.

Iron took to the front. Just as he had done previously, Iron yelled out at the top of his lungs before he could enter the fray properly.

Wuooaaaahhhh!!!

[Iron has used 'Skill: Shout of Provocation'.]

[The targets' resistance is too high and the intended effect didn't activate.]

When his skill failed to work, Iron got angry and began roaring out like a beast. And then, he began destroying the hapless High Orcs with his massive hammer.

Swooosh-!!

Kwajeeck!!

Crack!!

"Kuhhhaarck!!"

"Kiiehck!"

He was so destructive that one even felt a smidgeon of pity for the High Orcs.

On the other hand, Igrit was elegantly and efficiently cutting down the necks of his enemies in complete contrast to Iron's brutality. High Orcs running into Igrit didn't even have a chance to scream before their breaths were cut short.

Slice!

When Igrit's sword drew an arc in the air, another High Orc lost its head.

Regular Shadow Soldiers found it hard to fight against individual High Orcs, but they possessed stamina that didn't know the meaning of fatigue, and the capability to regenerate almost endlessly.

And by buying time in this fashion, the sea of fire shooting out from the Magic Soldiers would rain down on top of the enemies with no exceptions.

Kaaabbboooom!!

Rumble-!!

The number of High Orcs decreased substantially in no time at all. The Shaman's swine-like cheek meat quivered in rage.

'How an insolent human being dares to…!'

The boss's glare was now firmly fixed on Jin-Woo. The boss quickly decided to kill that human first.

The black-armoured soldiers were summons called forth by that human! If that human died, then these soldiers would disappear, too.

In order to kill Jin-Woo, the Shaman began chanting a spell.

"…"

The lips of the Shaman quickly moved up and down.

The song of slowness, the song of blindness, the song of crippling fever, the song of intolerable pain, and the song of demonic slumber; five different types of hexes were completed in an instant and flew towards their intended victim.

"It's done!"

The corners of the Shaman's lips arched up.

The moment all those hexes were completed, Jin-Woo also sensed the unnatural movement of magic energy.

'….Magic, is it?'

Jin-Woo's eyes met those of the Shaman's.

The Orc Shaman smirked derisively.

'It's already too late, human.'

Hexes were different from normal magic spells and couldn't be evaded. The moment it was cast, that would be the end.

With that human b*stard turning into a walking corpse wrecked by all sorts of afflictions, his fate was sealed – to be ripped to shreds by the High Orc Warriors and their weapons. That was the end truly befitting a measly human who didn't know his place and dared to show off.

Unfortunately for the monster, however….

A familiar mechanical beep rang in Jin-Woo's ears.

Tti-ring.

[Abnormal status has occurred.]

[All abnormal status will be removed with the effects of 'Buff: Immunity'.]

Tti-ring, tti-ring, tti-ring.

Mechanical beeps fired out one after the other.

['Hex: Slow' has been dispelled.]

['Hex: Blindness' has been dispelled.]

….

.....

All five hexes were dispelled even before they had the chance to activate.

Grin.

Jin-Woo smirked at the results. There was this 'Buff' he received when he changed into the 'Player'.

[The blessings from the Grand Sorcerer, Kandiaru]

Continuous effect 'Good Health and Long Life': You'll be immune to all types of diseases, poisonous substances, as well as all forms of status debuffs. During sleep, your recovery rate will increase exponentially.

Thanks to that, he didn't have to worry about status-altering magic, such as hexes.

"W-what?!"

The Shaman shuddered in shock. Fitting for a boss of the rank A dungeon, the High Orc Shaman had immediately realised that its curses were rendered ineffective by an even greater power than it.

'But, those were hexes I cast!'

This made no sense!

In order to dispel hexes, one required the purification magic, or the blessings of a being possessing greater power than that of the hex itself.

'There is an even more excellent Shaman than this great me among humans?'

Even before the monster could think about it some more, the Shaman cried out from the pain shooting up from the back of its foot.

"Kuuuwaaaahk!!"

When it looked down, it found a dagger deeply lodged in its foot.

"Keuh…."

It was Jin-Woo's 'Knight Killer'.

The Shaman raised its head and its bloodshot glare landed on Jin-Woo.

"How dare a mere human…..!"

Jin-Woo casually cut apart a High Orc trying to pounce on him, and silently mouthed some words to the Orc Shaman.

Quietly wait for your turn.

….Don't do anything useless, in other words.

Immediately, the Shaman's face reddened up like a beautifully ripe persimmon.

"How dare a measly human!!"

'….So, it still has some mental capacity left to get angry, huh?'

Jin-Woo's expression turned icy in the blink of an eye.

In all honesty, he could've eliminated the Shaman right at the beginning of the battle if he wanted to. However, he chose not to.

Because, he wanted to instil the sense of fear into the heart of that Shaman, the way it managed to do to the Hunters present.

However, it seemed not quite enough to make that arrogant monster taste the true meaning of fear. The b*stard's eyes were still 'alive'.

In that case….

'Let me show you an interesting spectacle, then.'

From now on, he'd show the true sphere of influence of a necromancer.

In the eyes of this Shadow Sovereign, his surroundings now resembled a location of celebration, filled with all sorts of delicacies. From the corpses of the High Orcs sprawled on the ground, black smokes eerily rose up as if they were waiting for Jin-Woo's call.

So, Jin-Woo called out to them.

"Rise up."

[Shadow Extraction has commenced.]

Accompanying the System's message alerting him to the activation of his skill, horrifying screams that resembled death throes resounded out from somewhere unknown.

Wuuuaaaaahhhh—-

The Shaman's eyes widened in shock.

"W-what is….?!"

The Shaman didn't get to finish its sentence. Even before it could, black hands began rising up from the shadows beneath the corpses of the High Orcs, that was why.

[Shadow Extraction is a success.]

Jin-Woo began smiling deeply while gazing contently at the newbies joining his Shadow army.

'My warriors have become undead…!!'

The Shaman began shuddering uncontrollably. About 50 warriors had lost their lives so far. And about the same number had changed into those black-armoured soldiers.

'Which means, those soldiers that b*stard had summoned are…?!'

The Shaman finally realised that the unidentifiable human was not wielding regular summons at all. And at the same time, it also realised how disadvantageous they were against the enemy's powers.

The fight between 50 and 150 had morphed to 100 versus 100.

High Orc Warriors would bravely jump into a fight against enemies stronger than themselves without fear, but they rapidly lost all their fighting spirit the moment they saw their former comrades being 'revived' as Shadow Soldiers.

"Ku…. Kururuk."

"Kuruk."

"Kuwak."

High Orcs, renowned for never backing down from a chance to shed some blood, were now openly retreating out of terror.

The fact that they wouldn't be able to ascend to the warrior's heaven after their death and instead become the puppets of the enemy was the worst possible nightmare for these High Orcs.

For sure, the impact of him showing off the Shadow Extraction skill was quite huge.

'It worked against the warriors, so what about the Shaman, then?'

Jin-Woo scanned the complexion of the Shaman next.

���Hoh.'

Jin-Woo's expression brightened.

Finally, there were signs of fear in that b*stard's eyes.

While shaking like a leaf, the Shaman recalled the existence that could revive the dead into 'shadows'. There could not possibly be two people possessing the exact same power. So, that human had to be 'him'.

'If that person is him, then….. Then, why are we here….?!'

However, the moment the Shaman thought about 'itself' and 'we', the inside of its brain blanked out and the relevant memories contained within were wiped out in an instant. The only emotion remaining there was fear.

Not knowing what happened, Jin-Woo formed a satisfied expression.

'That's right. Stay exactly like that.'

His plan of making the Shaman shudder in fear until the end was a resounding success. He turned his head while smiling like that, and then, spotted a certain familiar female standing by the entrance of the boss room.

Jin-Woo tilted his head.

'Who was that?'

She seemed a bit too 'distant' to be totally familiar to him, however.

That was why he needed a bit of a moment to recall what her name was.

And she was none other than the rank S Hunter currently affiliated to the Hunters Guild, Cha Hae-In.

'But, what is that woman doing here?'

Jin-Woo might have been somewhat surprised by her presence here, but then, Cha Hae-In's own shock was far greater than his. Her wide-open eyes stared at Jin-Woo and his Shadow Soldiers.

Chapter 91: Chapter 91

'Summons??'

The first thing Cha Hae-In thought of was summoning when she saw the Shadow Soldiers. However, there were simply too many of them to say that this was the result of summoning magic.

The thing was, the mage-type Hunters specialising in summoning magic could only control one, or two at a push. If one could control two, then the treatment one received improved greatly, and she hadn't yet heard of anyone capable of controlling three or more summon creatures.

However….

Just how many of them were here?!

'This makes no sense!'

One man summoned over 100 in one go. And, he didn't even need a lot of time to summon them, too. No, he only needed a moment to summon dozens and dozens in one go.

'I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own two eyes.'

She might be one of the top-ten ranked Hunters in South Korea, but another Hunter's ability had managed to leave her totally speechless now.

However….

'This isn't the time for me to stand around like this.'

Her gaze immediately shifted past the Shadow Soldiers and locked onto the raid team. Their complexions were not good at all. Some of them were squatting on the ground as if they no longer had any energy left.

Didn't matter what the identity of the man named Seong Jin-Woo was, didn't matter what kind of ability he possessed – her priority lay with lending him aid by taking care of these High Orcs right away.

The results of her thought process might be simple, but she was incredibly quick to put them into action. Cha Hae-In tightened her grip on the 'weapon' in her hands and took a step towards the High Orcs.

However, it happened then.

Her eyes met Jin-Woo's. And his eyes were telling her in no uncertain terms.

….That it was not necessary; that she shouldn't interfere.

That she should just observe from the sidelines.

Cha Hae-In couldn't understand why.

'But, how come….?'

She could easily tell that Seong Jin-Woo was capable of controlling countless summons. However, there were just as many High Orcs standing, and there was also the boss possessing greater power, too.

Because he had to summon that many creatures, and he had to maintain them constantly too, his magic energy reserve should be running empty by now. Yet….

'What is he trying to do on his own?'

She was puzzled, sure, but in the end, Cha Hae-In lowered her weapon. It wasn't because the so-called weapon just so happened to be a pickaxe she borrowed from the mining team. No, she became curious with what the Hunter named Seong Jin-Woo would do against the army of High Orcs, instead.

Expectations.

Her cool-headed reasoning and her expectation had a fight in her mind, and the latter achieved a resounding victory. For some reason, her heart began palpitating faster now.

'Whew, that's a relief.'

Jin-Woo inwardly breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Cha Hae-In's response. Seriously, the real thing was about to begin, so it wouldn't do for some interference to suddenly pop out, now would it?

Heck, he even had to let the poor Sohn Ki-Hoon go through that crap until the very last moment humanly possible, just for a chance to monopolise all the monsters in here.

'Well, he's the kind of a guy who'd try to fight alongside if he has some energy left still.'

That was why he only acted the moment Sohn Ki-Hoon let go of his sword. Even though he had to suppress his urge to rush forward and kick the head of that d*mn Shaman.

It was all for this moment.

'As expected of a quick-witted woman.'

What a relief it was that Cha Hae-In turned out to be a smart girl. She backed off without him needing to raise his voice, after all. Jin-Woo turned his attention back to his front while a deep smile formed on his face.

"Shadows!"

Jin-Woo loud yell reverberating within the boss room prompted the shadows to take the battle stance all at once, not one of them deviating from the formation ever so slightly.

Clack!!

Only a moment later, an eerie silence filled up the chamber.

The thing that broke this silence was the single word Jin-Woo threw out while pointing at the High Orc Shaman.

"Go."

With that, over a hundred Shadow Soldiers rushed towards the cowering group of High Orc warriors.

RUMBLE—!!!

The black soldiers and their controlled march shook the ground, the cavern, and even the eyes of all those witnessing this scene.

Woo Jin-Cheol was running breathlessly.

"Pant, pant, pant…."

He ran so hard that he now tasted sweetness in his mouth.

He bent over and tried to catch his breaths, before raising his torso up – only to spot a woman with a short hairstyle standing near the entrance of the boss room. He immediately recognised who she was.

'Cha Hae-in….'

Where would you find a female Hunter possessing an aura like hers?

'….However, why is she standing still like that?'

Woo Jin-Cheol found it strange that she didn't try to participate in the battle and simply stood by, so he quickly walked up next to her.

And it was at that point he got to see clearly the situation inside the boss room.

"This…. What is this?"

Soldiers wearing jet-black armour were one-sidedly massacring the supposedly-powerful monsters, also known as High Orc warriors.

"K-kuwaaahk!!"

"Kiiahk!"

"Kueehhk!!"

The pitiful screams of the High Orcs even managed to deafen Woo Jin-Cheol's hearing.

Also, he might have been less shocked if there were only human-shaped soldiers present. But then again, just what were those nonsensically huge black bears with smoke coming out of them, as well as High Orcs kitted out in various black-coloured armours?

"Been a while, Chief Woo Jin-Cheol."

"Ah, yes, miss. It's been a while… but, what are they? They don't seem to be simple monsters…."

"They are summons that man called out."

Cha Hae-In greeted Woo Jin-Cheol first before pointing at Jin-Woo in the distance.

Woo Jin-Cheol quickly took his sunglasses off and stared at Jin-Woo, now standing in the middle of the battlefield. While wielding two shortswords that looked like daggers, he was busy destroying the formation of the High Orcs.

'No matter how I see it, doesn't he look like a top-ranked melee-type Hunter?'

However, he could even use summoning magic, too?

And, sure enough…

When Jin-Woo's lips moved a little, dozens more summons rose up from the ground.

"Oh, my god!"

Woo Jin-Cheol's jaw fell to the floor.

Just how many summons could that man control?!

'This… this is the true ability of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo….'

He couldn't close shut his slack jaw at all.

Could the Association President Goh Gun-Hui have recognised the skill set of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo already? If so, then his sky-high interest in Hunter Seong Jin-Woo made plenty of sense.

Cha Hae-In couldn't rip her eyes away from Jin-Woo for a long time, but she belatedly did manage that and asked Woo Jin-Cheol.

"By the way, why are you here, Chief Woo? Was the call made to the Monitoring Division already?"

When Cha Hae-In asked him that question, Woo Jin-Cheol somehow managed to regain control over his emotions and replied.

"No, that's not it. We were in the neighbourhood, just passing by. But, it was a coincidence that we discovered the Gate's abnormal condition, and we came here to help facilitate the evacuation of the raid team, but well…."

Woo Jin-Cheol stopped talking there and stared at Jin-Woo again.

"However, looks like that won't be necessary."

This would be his first time witnessing Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's true skill. And that just so happened to be the spectacle of him clearing a rank A dungeon with his own power.

It didn't look like other's help was necessary.

"Yes. I think standing still is the right call to make here."

Cha Hae-In too agreed with that assessment.

That man's battle didn't leave any gaps for a rank S like her to butt in at all.

"Do you know who that man is?"

Cha Hae-In asked.

Woo Jin-Cheol was clearly admiring Seong Jin-Woo's skills, and obviously not worried about his identity, at least not outwardly. Also, he was an agent of the Association which did block Jin-Woo's information from leaking out, too.

'So maybe, Woo Jin-Cheol might know who that man is.'

Her expectation was on the money.

"Yes, a little bit."

"That man… just who is he?"

Woo Jin-Cheol put his sunglasses back on and replied.

"I can't reveal that information."

The Shaman was furious.

When it first opened its eyes in this place, only one order was filling up its mind.

Hunt down humans!

However, what was the meaning of this pathetic display?

Wasn't a lone human easily hunting down every single member of its tribe? This wasn't supposed to happen. No, such a thing must not happen at all.

The Shaman's eyes reddened even further as it witnessed the massacre of its subordinates.

'You insect-like b*stard! I'll step on you!!'

If hexes didn't work against the enemy, then all it had to do was to bless itself and fight!

"The song of rage! The song of strengthening! The song of the giants! The song of the fire dragon!"

With the completion of the various spells, the Shaman's body suddenly ballooned up to nearly ten metres tall. Its strength, agility, stamina, and even its confidence increased greatly as well, power filling up every square inch of its frame.

Right away, the Shaman used its gigantic arm to swat away the Shadow Soldiers, and then took a deep breath.

And then…

"Fuuuu-hoook!!"

When the Shaman spat out its breath, reddish black flames erupted out of its mouth.

Rumble!!

The soldiers immediately dissipated and scattered away when they were struck dead-on by the flames. Even those grazed by it were no exception. Parts of their bodies were blown away and they were rendered unable to carry on fighting.

The flames didn't end with one attack; the second wave of flames spat out of the Shaman's mouth in a row.

The Shaman was able to greatly reduce the number of the Shadow Soldiers with its continuous attacks. Having received a boost to its confidence, it roared out at the top of its lungs.

"Do you still find this great Karugalgan funny now?!"

The reply came from above its head.

"Yup."

The Shaman flinched and raised its head, all the while hurriedly trying to chant a defensive spell, but…

But, Jin-Woo was one step quicker.

POW!!

CRACK!!

The Shaman's head smashed down into the ground. The floor shattered and spiderweb-like cracks rapidly spread out.

Jin-Woo had already experienced blowing away Vulcan with his bare fist. And that demon was much, much larger than this arrogant Shaman, too.

[You have killed the owner of the dungeon.]

Tab.

When he lightly landed on the ground, feel-good messages began popping up in his view one after the other.

Tt-ring.

[Level up!]

"There you go!"

Jin-Woo pumped his fist.

Back when he was fighting using 'Stealth', he levelled up once. When he was killing these Orcs, another level up. And, after killing the boss just now, another level up. Clearing this rank A dungeon netted him three level ups, in other words. This was a result well above his expectation. He even felt very grateful towards Foreman Bae for suggesting yesterday that they should work together again.

'This is very good.'

With an elated mind, Jin-Woo walked closer to the boss. The once-buffed up Shaman's body had reverted back to its original size already.

He saw an egg-sized magic crystal embedded in the dead boss's necklace, but he decided to not to get too greedy.

'Earning experience points is good enough.'

This was the Hunters Guild's dungeon, at the end of the day.

If he wanted to get his hands on a magic crystal from a rank A dungeon, he didn't need to enter someone else's dungeon – he'd just buy himself a permit for a dungeon of his own, instead.

No, what Jin-Woo was aiming for was something else. And that would be the black smoke beginning to rise up from the boss's corpse.

Gulp.

Jin-Woo licked his lips in anticipation.

He couldn't help but remember the corpse of Baruka, the one that slipped through his fingers back in the Red Gate.

'But, my situation is a lot different compared to then.'

Compared to now, his Stats weren't that high back then.

Also, killing that b*stard took a lot out of him. Only after receiving the aid of two knight-grade soldiers, Igrit and Iron, did he manage to beat that boss down.

However, he was able to kill this Shaman comparatively easily today.

A week spent inside the Demon's Castle – this was the definite proof that the events of those short seven days weren't in vain.

Jin-Woo issued a new order at the rising, wavering black steam-like smoke.

"Rise up."

At the same time, an ominous wind brushed past his two cheeks. He instinctively realised it right away.

'It worked!'

A radiant smile bloomed on Jin-Woo's face.

Kuwaaaahhh!!

As the soul-tearing scream resounded out, a mage covered in black robe rose up from the shadow of the dead Shaman.

'…Huh?'

Jin-Woo sensed something was different about this guy, and so he checked the information window.

[?? Lv.1]

Elite Knight grade

'An Elite Knight?'

Previously, Jin-Woo was able to confirm that there were three grades to the Shadow Soldiers.

Regular grade.

Elite grade.

And then, the Knight grade.

But now, for the first time ever, the 'Elite Knight' grade appeared.

He began to think that, seeing the word 'elite' tacked on to the already-existing grade 'Knight', this new guy had to be a realm higher than either Igrit or Iron in terms of combat prowess.

'For sure, I can sense that its magic energy is far greater than that of my two knights.'

As expected of turning the boss of a rank A dungeon into his Shadow Soldier.

Tti-ring.

[Please set the soldier's name.]

And also as expected, he got another System message telling to name the new guy, now that another Knight-grade Shadow Soldier had appeared.

'A name, is it….'

Well, its face was hidden under the hood of the robe now, but still, High Orcs and lengthy fangs went hand in hand, no?

'Right, let's name it Fangs.' (TL note at the end)

He didn't need to issue a separate order; just thinking about it meant the new guy's name would be set.

[Fangs Lv.1]

Elite Knight grade.

Instead of question marks, the new name appeared in the information window.

If the Shaman who remained utterly arrogant right till the moment it died heard this name, the poor guy might have fainted on the spot. But well, who cares? It was already dead, anyway.

With a satisfied grin on his face, Jin-Woo recalled his Shadow Soldiers.

He could now store almost 130 of them. Although it was a bit regrettable, he had to return the rest back to the void.

'This much is more than enough, though.'

He stepped off from the altar with a big smile on his face, but then, several people rushed over to him. They were – Hunters from the raid team, Cha Hae-In, and finally, a group of men wearing matching black business suits.

Jin-Woo recognised one of the faces among the black suits.

'Since when did Chief Woo Jin-Cheol show up?'

Seeing the expression on Woo Jin-Cheol, he probably had witnessed the Shadow Soldiers in action in full.

"Mister Seong Jin-Woo."

"Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."

"Mister Porter?!"

Everyone called out to him at the same time, then they took glances at each other.

Well, it was all fine and dandy that he got to fight to his heart's content since he no longer had any reason to hide his powers, but…..

'….How am I supposed to get out of this now?'

Jin-Woo looked at all these people surrounding him and scratched the back of his head.

(TL: Right, for some reason, this author keep using the Korean word for molars when describing the characteristics of the High Orc. So, he named the new Shadow Soldier "Molar" but I just couldn't use that in my good conscience and swapped it out to "Fangs" which, to me personally, make more physiological sense. I mean, lengthy molars wouldn't be practical at all, right? And I'm pretty sure Orcs have long fangs, not long molars….)

Chapter 92: Chapter 92

Woo Jin-Cheol was the first to react.

While everyone else was busy eyeing others around them, he quickly walked right up to Jin-Woo's side, pulled out his identification card and displayed it proudly for all to see.

"We're from the Association's Monitoring Division."

Didn't matter whether you were a high ranked Hunter or a low ranked one, you'd inevitably tense up after hearing the name of the Monitoring Division. And this tactic was the right one.

It was only for a brief moment, but a hint of nervousness flashed past the expressions of the Hunters Guild members, with the sole exception of Cha Hae-In.

Woo Jin-Cheol seized upon this chance and carried on with what he wanted to say.

"The identity of Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim is being strictly guarded by the Association. It is highly classified information that cannot be revealed publicly."

Jin-Woo could only stand back in dumbfounded admiration at Woo Jin-Cheol's skilful bullsh*tting.

Heck, his expression and words looked and sounded so natural that one couldn't help but wonder if he practised it every morning while looking in the mirror or some such.

Whatever the case may be, his intentions definitely got through to the other party. At the same time, Woo Jin-Cheol sent the slightest hint of a signal to Jin-Woo with his eyes.

'We will assist you with avoiding unnecessary fuss when exiting from this place.'

Jin-Woo had no idea why the Monitoring Division were helping him, but since they were volunteering to take care of the aftermath, was there a reason for him to refuse now?

Jin-Woo nodded his head.

That's what he wanted, anyway.

The quick-witted subordinates of Woo Jin-Cheol quickly surrounded Jin-Woo like bodyguards.

"If you have any questions, please send them to the Association. We shall escort Seong Jin-Woo Hunter now."

Not-so-subtle implication of 'We won't hear any of your objections' was apparent in his voice.

All thanks to Woo Jin-Cheol's hardened attitude, hard enough to shatter a rock even, the members of the Hunters Guild had no choice but to rein in their questions and stay silent.

"Shall we go?"

While being escorted by the agents of the Monitoring Division, Jin-Woo walked past the Hunters.

'Well, I am grateful, but….'

Something felt a bit odd, just then. Why did Chief Woo Jin-Cheol do something no one asked him to do in the first place? Once they got to a sufficient distance away from the members of the Hunters Guild, Jin-Woo quietly asked.

"Why are you doing this all of a sudden?"

"By any chance, are you thinking of signing up with the Hunters Guild?"

Jin-Woo shook his head. As if he knew that such an answer was coming already, Woo Jin-Cheol quickly made his reply.

"What you did just now was to display the kind of power that exceeds rank S classification in front of the employees working for the largest, wealthiest Guild in South Korea. If you wish to avoid annoying matters in the near future, this method is the best one."

Indeed, he was right.

No one could tell just what lengths the wealthy Hunters Guild might go to secure another rank S Hunter. Other Hunters would raise their hands and welcome that, but Jin-Woo was different.

It was the same story for the Hunter's Association, too.

And so, the interests of both the Association, trying to prevent the concentration of too much power to one specific Guild, and Jin-Woo's, who found the hindrance (?) of the Guilds annoying, lined up rather nicely.

Since this wasn't one-sided goodwill coming from the other party but something that would help both sides, Jin-Woo didn't feel uncomfortable by the current situation at all.

'Well, things have become more convenient thanks to the Association.'

Because this matter had been resolved quite nicely in an unexpected manner, Jin-Woo could afford to float a thin, nearly-imperceptible smile on his lips.

But, as they were about to exit from the boss room for good….

"H-hold on!!"

An urgent call came from behind the group.

Unintentionally looking back, Jin-Woo spotted Sohn Ki-Hoon approaching them while being supported by his big-framed colleague. All of his external wounds had been healed perfectly, but his complexion remained pale as he had lost a lot of blood.

'It'd be better for him to not move yet, though.'

Despite Jin-Woo's worries, Sohn Ki-Hoon managed to stand before him. He then bowed deeply.

"Thank you."

And he began speaking up his mind without holding anything back.

"Thanks to you, we are all still alive. On behalf of the raid team, I'd like to thank you."

If one believed the words of the Monitoring Division's Hunters, then this young man seemed to be burdened by some kind of circumstances preventing him from revealing himself.

'With that kind of power, it'd not be too strange if he does have some kind of an unspeakable circumstance.'

However….

He risked his identity being revealed to aid Sohn Ki-Hoon and the rest of the raid team. But, was that all? He didn't even ask for any compensation, either.

He could've easily requested the Hunters Guild for the corpses of the monsters or for the cost of saving the lives of the raid team, but he backed off without saying a thing.

So, how could he not bow down to this young man?

"….Thank you very much!"

His emotions now getting raw, Sohn Ki-Hoon bent his back forward 90 degrees once more. That sudden movement caused his aching body to scream out in pain, but he actually found that rather welcoming.

His heart had welled up with emotions when he saw Jin-Woo kill the monster in the exact same fashion as how he had been toyed around with before. Thinking back to that moment was enough for him to thank this young man a countless number of times.

The Hunters of the raid team saw their leader bow down to express his gratitude and finally snapped out of their stupor.

'If it wasn't for that man….'

'He's our saviour, isn't he?'

'In that case, I shouldn't be standing around like this in a daze.'

They scrambled to get closer and bowed their heads as well.

"Thank you, Mister Port…. No, I mean, Hunter-nim."

"If it wasn't for you, we….."

"Thanks to you, my wife won't become a widow now."

A young male Hunter who showed off his shaking hands back when Sohn Ki-Hoon decided to give up on raiding this dungeon, approached Jin-Woo with a tearful face.

"Excuse me, Hunter-nim…. It's because I'm really grateful so, like, can I hug you just this once?"

"Eiii, that's too much, dude."

"He's starting again. Someone stop him."

"Well, why don't you hug me instead, then??"

Hug.

"Euh-heok?! You're giving me the creeps, so let go of me!!"

Wahahahahaha…..

For the first time ever since entering this particular rank A dungeon, the members of the raid team got to laugh to their heart's content.

Jin-Woo stared at these Hunters, feeling content inside. He didn't help them out for their flattery or for their praises, but their genuine thanks did automatically bring about a warm smile to his lips.

"….Ah."

Jin-Woo walked over to the female Hunter jumping up and down by the corner.

'Because she's so small, I nearly failed to spot her.'

When he pushed forward the memo she gave to him earlier, the female Healer blushed and received it with both of her hands.

"T-thank you…."

Inwardly, though, she was admonishing herself.

'Ah-whew. Why did I even say those embarrassing things to him back then?'

She now had one more reason to kick her sheets before going to bed if and when she ended up remembering today's event in the future.

From the perspective of Mister Porter who could easily punch the dungeon boss to death, she must've looked really funny when she handed over a memo while saying it contained her final will.

She slightly raised her head and found that, thankfully enough, he wasn't sneering at her. No, actually – he began speaking to her in a bit of strict voice.

"Miss Healer."

"Y-yes?"

The female Healer straightened her posture right away like a student being reprimanded for her sloppy behaviour.

"From today onwards, please refrain from placing your personal articles inside the raid team's luggage. It only serves to increase the volume."

"….Pardon me??"

The female Healer became utterly speechless, her eyes opening up to form round buttons. Jin-Woo grinned in satisfaction.

He said all he wanted to say. And it seemed that the other party had pretty much said everything in her mind, too. So, putting the dazed female Healer behind him, he coolly turned around to leave.

"Let's go."

As soon as Jin-Woo began walking, the agents of the Monitoring Division moved together in one unit as if they had been rehearsing it.

There was one exception, though.

'Ah…'

Only Cha Hae-In had failed to say something to Jin-Woo and she tried to reach out to him, but gave up in the end.

'I wanted to ask him for his contact numbers….'

All she wanted was to ask him if he could find some time to talk to her. However, she might be misunderstood if she asked him that now, what with the current situation not being settled yet.

It was then.

A female Hunter walked over to Cha Hae-In.

"Excuse me…. Vice Chair?"

"Yes?"

When Cha Hae-In turned around to look, the female Hunter pointed to her hand.

"Why are you carrying a pickaxe?"

Cha Hae-In's gaze drifted towards the head of the pickaxe and her face began blushing rather quickly. She hurriedly lowered the pickaxe and cautiously asked.

"You think he found me weird?"

The female Hunter, a mage, tilted her head and asked back.

"Who did?"

And that caused not just Cha Hae-In's face, but even her neck to blush in the deep shade of crimson.

When they came out of the Gate…

Woo Jin-Cheol took a look at his wristwatch and asked Jin-Woo.

"We're planning to return to the Association but, well…. If it's okay with you, why don't you ride along with us and join the Association President for dinner?"

"What time is it now?"

"It's quarter past five. PM."

'Mm….'

Although he was cutting it close, he should be able to arrive at the promised location in time.

Jin-Woo politely rejected Woo Jin-Cheol's invitation.

"I'm sorry. I've already made a prior engagement."

Shu, shu, fuu, fuu….

Yu Jin-Ho did his very best to maintain his calm by breathing in deeply several times, just like how he saw it in one of the movies.

'My fated hour is approaching.'

Indeed, hyung-nim's choice would decide Yu Jin-Ho's fate.

His heart was palpitating faster, and he felt even more nervous compared to a few days ago when he was negotiating with his father for the right to become the Yujin Guild Master.

'Let's go back to my original purpose. My original purpose….'

It was no coincidence that he chose the exact same cafe as the first time he met hyung-nim back when to propose his plan.

'Without hyung-nim's help, I wouldn't even be here right now.'

He began looking around the interior of the cafe while thinking as such, and he was able to see this place in a new light. Quite coincidentally, the table he chose was the exact same one as the last time, too.

Ringgg….

Along with the doorbell, Jin-Woo entered the cafe.

"Hyung-nim!"

Yu Jin-Ho discovered Jin-Woo and shot up from his seat with a welcoming smile on his face. He bowed down as his greeting. Jin-Woo performed a simple little greeting with a nod and settled down on the opposite side of Yu Jin-Ho. The latter sat down after that.

"So, what did you call me here for?"

Yu Jin-Ho raised his head, only for his eyes to widen.

"H-hyung-nim, your clothes…..?"

"Oh, this?"

Jin-Woo came running here right after killing the High Orcs so his clothing was understandably dirty. His shirt even sported bloodstains from the dying High Orcs, too. He spoke as if there was nothing to worry about.

"I was coming straight from a dungeon, that's why."

'Heok!'

Yu Jin-Ho was taken by surprise once more.

He was nothing compared to someone like hyung-nim; after getting his Guild Master licence, all Yu Jin-Ho did was to waste time by drinking and partying. But, what did hyung-nim do in the meantime? He possessed incredible power, yet he still found time to enter dungeons to further hone his crafts.

Suddenly, Yu Jin-Ho felt ashamed of himself.

'As expected of hyung-nim….'

And at the same time, he held hyung-nim in an even higher reverence now.

The reason why hyung-nim didn't bother to wipe away the blood on his clothes was probably because he was confident and forthright enough not to feel the need to hide his training process.

'Well, the evidence of battle would be more like a medal of honour that he earned through his own two hands, after all.'

Yu Jin-Ho's expression hardened. He was ready to follow hyung-nim's decision, regardless of which direction he'd take.

So, he should come clean and don't hold anything back.

"Hyung-nim, actually…."

Yu Jin-Ho didn't leave anything out and reported everything that happened during the negotiation with his father to Jin-Woo – even the event of Goh Myoung-Hwan's testimony revealing the truth of who saved the Hunters of the White Tiger Guild from the Red Gate incident, too.

'That uncle, doing something unnecessary….'

Still, that man did that for Jin-Woo's benefit, so he couldn't get angry at that.

Perhaps that was the reason for Yu Jin-Ho's expression to be a bit more glowing than usual when he was talking about the Red Gate incident.

In any case….

Jin-Woo knew what Yu Jin-Ho was trying to say here.

"So, in order for you to become the Yujin Guild's new Master, you need my help, is that about right?"

Finishing all he had to say, Yu Jin-Ho calmly waited for Jin-Woo's reply. He didn't grow restless or try to sweet talk like how he would do normally.

'Well, I'm talking to hyung-nim here, after all.'

Yu Jin-Ho was definitely thinking of leaving everything to hyung-nim's decision.

Remaining silent as long as Yu Jin-Ho's worries were deep, Jin-Woo finally raised his gaze.

"Hey, Jin-Ho. I am…."

Gulp.

Yu Jin-Ho swallowed his drying saliva.

The Chairman of the Hunters Guild Choi Jong-In received a certain call. After answering that, he abandoned what he was doing, entered his private chamber, and began shouting out loudly at the phone.

"What was that?! Seong Jin-Woo was present during our raids yesterday and today?!"

The newly-appeared rank S Hunter, Seong Jin-Woo.

Such a man decided to present himself right before Choi Jong-In's own Guild, yet why did he fail to even notice that?! It was the same thing as kicking away the golden goose willing to enter his house.

It was enough to make him tear his hair out, but…

"Whaaat?! He was working for the mining team yesterday, and today, he was carrying luggage?!"

….After hearing that revelation, it did make sense for him to not know.

'Okay, for the time being, let's not worry about why he did what he did….'

He got this feeling that sweating over that mystery would only give him a case of a migraine and no tangible answer to chew on. Besides, that wasn't important at all.

'After White Tiger, us Hunters also owe that man now.'

Indeed, they were indebted to Seong Jin-Woo.

Choi Jong-In wished to talk to that man as equals as much as he could before attempting to scout him, but now, his position was no different than that of the White Tiger.

'Even still, I learned of the tenth rank S's existence before anyone else, so that's something.'

That's right.

The more pressing issue here was not the fact that his Guild received that man's aid, but rather, knowing of what his abilities were.

"Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, what type of Hunter was he?"

"….."

As he listened to the explanation coming from the other side of the phone line, Choi Jong-In began talking progressively less and less.

The person he was talking to right now – the Hunter who took on the role of the raid team's captain, Sohn Ki-Hoon, wasn't a fellow who'd lie about something that didn't happen, or embellish something minor as if it was a big deal. Even then, Choi Jong-In asked reflexively.

"Are you telling me the truth??"

"Yes, sir. That's all I saw."

'That's all he saw….?! Does that mean there could be more?!'

If Seong Jin-Woo was that powerful, then….

"If you compare him to me, then how about it?"

Although he may have sounded a bit childish just then, there was no better way to ascertain someone's strength than this question.

Sohn Ki-Hoon took a little time before continuing on.

"Chairman. Can you solo an upper-grade rank A dungeon by yourself?"

"…..No, it's impossible."

"However, that man did precisely that. He even dissuaded Cha Hunter-nim from lending her aid, as well."

'Cha Hae-In was there, too?'

Something felt a bit off, but her being there was not a big problem to worry about.

"Is there a chance that the dungeon was not an upper grade rank A?"

"If it wasn't, we wouldn't have encountered so much difficulty, sir. That man saved us all."

"…."

Choi Jong-In was often referred to as the 'Ultimate Weapon'.

From a certain perspective, one could argue that he was being roundly disregarded in this situation, but rather than feeling sour, his heart was pounding harder instead.

'Me, Cha Hae-In, and then, Seong Jin-Woo.'

This was the golden chance that his Guild could become renowned in South Korea, no, Asia, no, the whole world, on the back of Seong Jin-Woo's abilities alone.

"Chairman Choi. I know that I'm in no position to advise you on how to run the Guild, but…."

Sohn Ki-Hoon was definitely not someone who'd go beyond his stations and run his mouth off about the Guild. So, Choi Jong-In became even more curious about what he might say next.

"No, it's fine. Please speak."

"That man…. You must scout Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim to our Guild. With him, your dream might become reality."

Ba-dump.

Choi Jong-In's heart began beating faster.

He tried very hard to disguise his trembling voice as he spoke.

"I'll do my best."

In front of the Korean Hunters Association main building.

The sea of reporters showing up to cover Rhee Min-Seong's rank assignment test had set up a camp in front of the Association building.

South Korea's own Rhee Min-Seong, often referred as Asia's top superstar, becoming a Hunter!

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the cameras from the entire world were being focused here today.

What with space being such a premium, the reporters began a war of nerves with each other.

"Excuse me! We already reserved this spot!"

"Hey man! Are you blind? Can't you see how many people showed up today? Who cares about your spot or mine?! Your spot is where you're standing."

"Dang it…."

Meanwhile, a full-blown smile was forming on Rhee Min-Seong's face as he stared through the window at the sea of reporters extending as far as the access road while standing inside the Association building.

"Indeed, this many people showing up sounds about right."

Deliberately wasting time and attracting the attention of the public definitely paid off today.

"Excuse me, Mister Min-Seong? This will be tomorrow's headline, but what do you think about it?"

South Korea's top newspaper reporter showed Rhee Min-Seong the manuscript for tomorrow's front page and asked.

"Don't you think using that as the headline is a bit dull?"

"You think so?"

"Hmm…. How about this one? 'The man who has everything, Rhee Min-Seong. He now grasps power transcending humanity!'. Well?"

"But, if we use a strong lead-in like that, don't you think a portion of the readers will feel uncomfortable?"

"Well, I'm not exaggerating here, and besides, no one in their right minds would talk rubbish about me in South Korea, anyway. I mean, both the media and my fans are watching closely with their eyes wide open, after all."

"Okay. Got it. We'll go with that one."

"I'll be in your care."

Rhee Min-Seong bowed his head good-naturedly, but when he raised it again, a deep frown was etched on his face.

'He's going to do what I told him in the end, so why does he have to yap on about so much crap?'

It was then, two imported luxury sedans arrived at the parking lot of the Association. Two men climbed out of their respective cars almost at the same time – they were none other than Baek Yun-Ho from the White Tiger Guild, and Choi Jong-In from the Hunters Guild.

"Uh? Look at that!"

"It's Baek Yun-Ho!"

"Choi Jong-In's here too!"

The reporters blocking the front entrance of the Association building all rushed towards the side of these two men. Baek Yun-Ho and Choi Jong-In both frowned unhappily.

'What is up with these reporters?'

'Why is it so chaotic today?'

The noises of camera flashes going off were ringing out loudly. Countless reporters surrounded these two men and began their barrage of questions.

"Are you two visiting the Association to scout Mister Rhee Min-Seong?"

"As the Hunters representing South Korea, what do you think about Mister Rhee Min-Seong potentially retiring from the entertainment industry?"

"What do you think will be Mister Rhee Min-Seong's rank?"

"Please share your thoughts on Mister Rhee Min-Seong."

The famously short-tempered Baek Yun-Ho waved his hands around as if he found all this annoying.

"I'm not here because of that man. I've nothing else to say."

….While Choi Jong-In emotionlessly stated the facts.

"Anyone related to this matter would know by now that Mister Rhee Min-Seong has already signed up with the Reapers Guild. I'm visiting the Association today on an unrelated matter."

After hearing answers that didn't meet their expectations, the reporters inwardly grumbled and turned around.

'Eii, what the hell.'

'And I thought I might have a juicy new story.'

'I got excited for no dang reason.'

Still, none of them dared to express their dissatisfaction in front of a pair of rank S Hunters. Reporters returned to their spots and began their waiting for Rhee Min-Seong's emergence once more.

Once the reporters left them alone, Baek Yun-Ho and Choi Jong-In met each other's glare. Baek Yun-Ho greeted his counterpart first.

"I heard the story. Hunters Guild almost got into a big tangle yesterday, too. Or so I hear."

He even deliberately emphasized the word 'too' as well.

"Well, it wasn't much of a big 'tangle', compared to how the White Tiger had to lose their newbie rank A."

The two men's war of nerves was just as fierce as the one taking place among the reporters. Baek Yun-Ho was incensed for a little bit there, but eventually, he sighed out softly and spoke up.

"In any case, both the Hunters and us are in that man's debt."

"We really were kissed by Lady Luck yesterday. If he wasn't there, my second elite team would've been wiped out."

Even though both men knew that person's name, not mentioning it could be considered the final act to their war of nerves. Choi Jong-In took a step closer.

"That is why, out of principal, I'd like to 'definitely' bring that man over to our Guild."

Baek Yun-Ho didn't back down. He and Choi Jong-In got close enough for their foreheads to nearly butt against each other.

"We even had suffered casualties. Looking at the need to replenish our combat force, wouldn't you agree that person joining us makes more sense?"

"Just what are you planning to do by recruiting a rank S to shore up your combat force? Are you thinking of invading North Korea or something?"

"What about you? Since when did you worry about principals and the like to talk about your principals here?"

Flames erupted out from the eyes of the two men.

'….Huh?'

Master of the Reapers Guild, Im Tae-Gyu, was arriving at the Association building just now to match the timing of the press conference. When he saw those two growling at one another, a mocking smirk formed on his face.

Wasn't there an old saying for that?

Didn't it go, counting chickens before hatching or something like that?

For Im Tae-Gyu, this sure was an exciting development, since he always lost out to their two Guilds when trying to secure resources until now. He did his best to not to let the corners of his lips arch up and approached the two men.

"Oiii, two Guild chairmen over there. I hope you aren't acting like that over my Min-Seong, no?"

And then, both Baek Yun-Ho and Choi Jong-In's heads spun at the same time towards Im Tae-Gyu. It was hard to tell who was first, really.

'What the hell is up with this moron?'

'I don't give a rat's a*s about this Rhee Min-Seong or Rhee Min-Gun or whatever.'

Im Tae-Gyu flinched in surprise and took a step back when two rather terrifying glares landed squarely on him.

'What is up with these two b*stards all of a sudden?!'

'What's this? Choi Jong-In, and Baek Yun-Ho, too?'

Rhee Min-Seong grinned deeply.

He already familiar with Chairman Im Tae-Gyu when they met during the signing of the contract.

Rhee Min-Seong signing up with the Reapers Guild, which had been criticised for being a shell of its former glory, while disregarding the country's top two Guilds, was a calculated move on his part.

'I mean, with this, I'll enjoy the image of someone willing to stand up for the underdogs.'

Crudely speaking, celebrities survived on their public image. And Rhee Min-Seong was really meticulous about maintaining his.

'The best Guilds in Korea are fighting over me….'

He wasn't thinking of carrying on this Hunter lifestyle for long, but still, that sight naturally made him feel even better about himself. Soon afterwards, his manager entered the reception area.

"Min-Seong-ah, they say they are ready now. Let's go and do the press conference."

"Alright."

The manager took the lead. He opened the glass front entrance and allowed Rhee Min-Seong to emerge from the Association building; camera flashes exploded in a scary cacophony of endless shutter clicks.

Click, click, click, click, click…..

As he would do every day, Rhee Min-Seong formed a fake smile towards hundreds of lenses surrounding him.

It was then.

Jin-Woo had finally arrived at the front of the Association.

'...??'

Just like he'd been told, he was stopping by the Association three days later.

'Why is it so noisy here?'

However, it didn't look like he'd be able to enter the Association at all under the current circumstances. Of course, there were plenty of ways to go around these people, such as using 'Stealth', or jumping over the reporters, or even by finding a back entrance.

But then again, his re-evaluation test had been reserved in advance three days ago, so he didn't feel like going through the back entrance just to avoid this wall of reporters.

'It's not like I committed a crime or something anyways.'

He had no reason not to use the front door at all. Jin-Woo then proceeded to push away the tightly-packed throngs of reporters and made a path for himself.

"I'm coming through."

"Oii, what are you doing??"

"What the hell?"

"What's wrong with you?!"

This was the physical strength of a rank S Hunter. Reporters were all helplessly pushed away, deep frowns etched on their faces. The path forward was opened up in the blink of an eye, and Jin-Woo could walk up the steps leading to the front entrance of the Association.

However, even before he could take another step, a large, muscular dude suddenly blocked Jin-Woo's path.

"Oii!!"

He was Rhee Min-Seong's manager. His eyebrows rose up as he growled menacingly.

"Who the hell are you? You work for the Association or something?"

Jin-Woo didn't bother to avert his gaze and met this manager's glare squarely, before shaking his head.

'Huh? Would you look at this b*stard?'

The manager's thick eyebrows quivered.

"Can't you see all those reporters behind you?!"

Jin-Woo took a short glance at the reporters. They were all shooting him with unhappy glares. Even Jin-Woo could understand that they were trying to do a press conference here. However, it wasn't as if they had rented out the whole entrance, now had they?

A private individual had no right to chase away the reporters, and conversely, they had no right to chase him away, either. That was common knowledge.

There were plenty of eyes watching and Jin-Woo didn't particularly want to raise his voice here, so he was going to ignore this idiot and walk right by, but at that moment….

"Go back to where you came from. You can't go through here. Get lost, punk."

The manager blocked the path again and tried to shove Jin-Woo's chest away. The light in Jin-Woo's eyes changed immediately.

'….What was that?!'

The manager was taken by a huge surprise.

He was a melee-type rank D Awakened, and pushed this young punk away with the full intention of embarrassing him, but the guy didn't even budge from the spot as if his legs were nailed to the ground.

The manager had used enough force that would've injured a regular person greatly. Jin-Woo also knew that fact very well.

"….."

That was why he wordlessly glared, and that alone was enough to gradually drain the manager's face of all colour.

"What the heck? What's the matter with that guy?"

"What happened? Are they going to fight?"

Bustle, bustle…

The reporters present all sensed the atmosphere becoming rather strange, and they became noisy quite quickly.

Cold sweat was pouring out of the manager.

If there was no one watching, he'd have conceded already and stepped aside. However, never mind the reporters, his employer Rhee Min-Seong was watching him from behind at the moment.

Rhee Min-Seong walked closer to the manager and whispered with a deep frown.

"Argh, hyung, what are you doing? Hurry up and get rid of this loser already."

"Uh, uh….. S-sure thing."

If he showed a shameful sight here, then he'd lose his job without a doubt. The manager's expression crumpled unsightly and he raised his voice up high.

"You can't pass by here, so get lost already!"

"And just who said you can block the entrance like this?"

'Uh?'

The reply didn't come from the manager's front but from his back. The manager quickly spun his head around.

The Hunter's Association President Goh Gun-Hui stood tall in front of the glass doors. The eyes of the reporters grew extra round. They were so shocked that they even forgot to operate their cameras.

"G-Goh Gun-Hui?!"

"President Goh Gun-Hui's here?"

The once-chaotic bustling atmosphere immediately cooled down with the entrance of someone completely unexpected. Goh Gun-Hui walked right up to the steps and spoke up.

"This gentleman is my guest."

And then, Goh Gun-Hui stared at Rhee Min-Seong.

"I hope you haven't forgotten who gave you the permission to hold a press conference in this place, Mister Rhee Min-Seong."

Rhee Min-Seong recovered his wits right away.

"O-of course, sir."

The first day as a Hunter, he falls out of favour with the Association President and loses the location of the press conference – Rhee Min-Seong couldn't afford to suffer such a humiliation when there were so many eyes watching him right now.

Rhee Min-Seong frowned and quickly signalled his manager; the burly guy bowed slightly to both Goh Gun-Hui and Jin-Woo and voluntarily stepped aside.

"Please, follow me, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."

Even until Jin-Woo disappeared into the Association building under the guidance of Goh Gun-Hui, the gathered reporters couldn't hide their confusion at all.

Noisy, noisy….

"What was that all about?

"Who was that man, and why is the Association President personally coming out to greet him?"

"Does anyone know who that man is?"

Reporters felt frustrated and raised their voices, but there was no one answering them.