110 - 114

Chapter 110: Chapter 110

"What was that??"

The director of Seoul-Ilsin Hospital, Doctor Lee Seong-Chul got to hear a rather stunning piece of news. A patient suffering from 'Eternal Sleep' disorder had woken up from the terminal stage of the illness.

"Are you telling me the truth??"

"Yes, Director. I've confirmed it personally."

As a doctor, his ears would perk up greatly if such an event occurred in someone else's hospital, yet the patient in question was actually in his own??

'Who knew such a jackpot would come knocking at my door?'

The exceptional brain of Director Lee Seong-Chul began punching some numbers in his mental calculator.

"Isn't this an unprecedented event in the whole world?"

"You're correct, Director."

The doctor in charge nodded his head.

Lee Seong-Chul's smile was so wide that it actually broke past his ears and threatened to rip his face in half.

"Nicely done!! Doctor Choi!!"

"I beg your pardon? D-director, I haven't done…."

"Ehheii, my man, don't be like that now!"

Lee Seong-Chul sent a meaningful gaze at the doctor in charge.

"It doesn't matter 'how' it happened, we can always cook something up later. But, it's only right and proper that the doctor in charge is praised for the work well done when a patient gets better! Am I wrong?"

Not to mention, the hospital that the doctor was working in would be praised, too!

"Ah, y-yes…. T-thank you very much, director."

The doctor in charge gave in and bowed his head slightly to the director.

Even though the doctor's response was rather lukewarm, the wide smile on Lee Seong-Chul's face didn't want to leave him, knowing that he had been blessed with an unexpected boon.

'If we play our cards right, the world's attention might gather on my Ilsin Hospital!!'

Being constantly talked about by other people because of a good piece of news was, in a word, free publicity. There was nothing to lose here, and everything to gain.

If this news got out, reporters from all over the world would descend upon this hospital and absolutely lose their minds trying to uncover any related info, however small or insignificant it was.

This was a great opportunity to advertise the hospital's name without spending a dime.

'What those reporters want to know would be the treatment method, but….'

Well, all he had to do was to keep the patient nearby and find out what happened a step at a time. Indeed, nothing could go wrong here. That's what Lee Seong-Chul thought.

The doctor in charge acted as if something was troubling him and cautiously spoke up.

"The patient's legal guardian requested for immediate discharge."

"What was that?!"

No, that definitely could not be allowed!

Reporters would only come to the hospital if the patient was still here! No, never mind the reporters, he needed to keep the patient here in order to figure out how the disorder had been cured, to begin with!

Lee Seong-Chul's brows quivered.

"What was the status of the patient?"

"Everything was normal, director."

"The patient's been asleep, completely immobile, for the past four years, yet you are telling me that her body was completely fine??"

"Couldn't it be because of the life support machines?"

"H-mm….."

Indeed, the performance of the machines being too good could also be a factor here.

"Delay the discharge for as long as possible with an excuse that… we need to observe the patient for a while longer to make sure she's fine."

"I said the exact same thing to the guardian, but it didn't work, Director."

'We can't keep a patient here without a valid reason if she wishes to leave, can we…..'

If that was the case, then he had only one option remaining – and that would be to let the world know before the patient left the hospital.

"Let's alert the press while they are still in the premise."

The doctor in charge shook his head.

"That will be…. difficult, Director."

"How come?"

"We can't expose the identity of the patient. If we handle this poorly, something really bad will happen, Director."

Hearing those unexpected words, Lee Seong-Chul could only form a flustered expression. Seeing the doctor's own troubled expression, he didn't seem to be exaggerating things, either.

Lee Seong-Chul's attitude became a lot more serious.

"Is the patient such an important person?"

"It's not the patient herself, but the guardian, well…. The protection of the private information has been requested by the guardian himself, actually."

Now that Lee Seong-Chul thought about it, Doctor Choi was being super respectful whenever he mentioned the legal guardian.

"Just who is this guardian supposed to be that you're acting like this?"

What kind of a person was the guardian that the hospital had to honour the request for the protection of the patient's information, as well as Doctor Choi being this polite?

"Have you heard about Mister Seong Jin-Woo?"

"Seong Jin-Woo?"

Was he a powerful politician? Or, a CEO of some massive corporation?

Lee Seong-Chul thought that he had heard of the name somewhere, but couldn't quite recall the face, and helplessly tilted his head. As if he expected this to happen, the doctor in charge quickly offered up an explanation.

"He's the Hunter who was evaluated as a rank S recently."

"A rank S!!"

Here was the reason why Doctor Choi was being so cautious. Who would have guessed that the patient's guardian happened to be a rank S Hunter?

'This… It'll be the end for us if we make a rash move and things go sideways as a result.'

The influence a rank S Hunter had over society was extensive, to begin with, but more importantly, if such a Hunter lost his cool and decided to rampage around, then….

Lee Seong-Chul nervously swallowed dry saliva when a rather unexpected name was brought up.

'That sure was too close for comfort….'

His hardened expression suddenly softened into a cheery smile.

"Begin the discharge procedure right away."

"Indeed, we should do that."

"Yes, we must."

A smile of a good-natured person remained on Lee Seong-Chul's lips.

They should definitely release the patient now. What were they hoping to gain by getting on the bad side of a rank S Hunter? He quickly came with a logical-sounding excuse that contained the rough meaning of what both of them were thinking about.

"We surely can't force a perfectly healthy person to remain cooped up in a hospital, now can we?"

"Indeed, Director."

The doctor in charge quickly stood up from his seat.

And after he left….

"Whew…."

Lee Seong-Chul stared at the now-closed door to the director's office and spat out a sigh of relief.

As soon as she got the call, Jin-Ah dropped everything and rushed to the hospital.

Jin-Woo had been sitting on a chair next to mom's bed, and when he sensed his fast-approaching sister, quickly stood up. Right then, the door to his mom's hospital room was flung open.

"Mom?? Mom!!"

She hadn't even crossed the doorway yet, but Jin-Ah's face was already a messy mixture of streaming tears and snot falling from her nose.

"Oh, my gosh. My little girl, you've grown up so much."

The last time their mom, Park Gyung-Hye, saw her daughter was when she was still in middle school. She gazed at her grown-up daughter with a surprised expression, but shortly afterwards, opened her arms wide to welcome Jin-Ah with a warm smile on her face.

When that happened….

"Mom!!"

Jin-Ah tightly embraced her mother.

Jin-Woo hesitated slightly. That wasn't something she should have done to a patient who regained her consciousness after four years of being in a coma. But, seeing his sister crying her eyes out like that while locked in their mother's embrace, he couldn't bring himself to stop her.

"Mom, Mom….."

She always acted all grown-up, but in the end, Jin-Ah was still a kid inside. The energetic and brave everyday appearance of Jin-Ah overlapped with the current sobbing one, and that stung Jin-Woo's nostrils a bit.

"That is eno…."

Jin-Woo eventually moved in to separate Jin-Ah, but Park Gyung-Hye placed her index finger on her lips and slowly shook her head, her other hand still gently patting her daughter's back.

Jin-Woo sighed softly and took a step back.

As he looked on at his sister in his mom's embrace, as well as his mom's gentle and warm expression, a satisfied smile automatically formed on his lips.

'My effort wasn't in vain.'

It felt like he was being fully rewarded for all the hard work he had put in right at this moment. Also, he felt as if something hard and stubborn stuck in the corner of his heart had finally melted down and was now flowing away, out of him.

In that case, should he leave the two of them alone for a while? At least, until his little sister found a way to get a hold of her overflowing emotions.

Since she was one smart girl, she'd know not to unnecessarily stress out mom. Only that, she needed a bit more time here.

Jin-Woo grinned a little and shifted his gaze outside the hospital window. As if to congratulate the reunion of his family, the weather outside was brilliantly sunny today.

Feeling a bit awkward from standing there and staring at the weather without saying anything, he decided to pull out his phone.

'.....'

There was a scary amount of missed calls and text messages left on his phone that he couldn't even dare to attempt replying to a select few, never mind all of them. Jin-Woo scrolled the list of the missed calls and texts, before giving up and closing the window altogether.

'Well, if it's something urgent, I'm sure they'll contact me again.'

He quickly gave up on replying and instead, accessed the internet browser.

But then….

'…Heok!!'

He clicked on the online news portal without thinking too much, only to perform a grand facepalm.

[A flying monster spotted over the skies of Seoul?]

[The potential destination of the flying monster?]

[Hunters Association fails to respond. What about the safety of citizens?]

Photos of Kaisel were plastered all over the various internet news sites.

From the vicinity of his house all the way to this hospital, the distance between the two points was rather considerable, but he figured nothing serious would happen because he was travelling at such a high speed. But this….

'….It was only a short flight, but we got photographed a lot, didn't we?'

The only fortunate thing here was that the photos didn't show him riding on the back of Kaisel.

He made up his mind to not care about what others thought of him when he summoned Kaisel near his house, but now that he was dominating the headlines, he sure felt conflicted now.

'Oh, well.'

Anyone would have their hearts in their mouths, seeing a monster flying in the sky like that. Jin-Woo scanned the news articles filled with a great deal of anxiety and told himself to be more careful in the future.

'There's no need to go out of my way to scare the public, anyway.'

Indeed, didn't he feel a certain aversion towards the Class of Necromancer because he was worried about failing to handle all the pointed stares of the public?

'However, if the frenzy over a winged lizard is this huge, then, uh, the responses to the gigantic Fangs would really be something else, no?'

While he was thinking of this and that….

Vrrr…. Vrrr….

His phone began vibrating.

'Who's this?'

He didn't recognise the number; after exiting the hospital room, he answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."

A baritone yet still bright voice of an old man came out. Jin-Woo immediately recalled the owner of that voice.

"Association President?"

"Yes, this is the Association President Goh Gun-Hui speaking."

'Why is he giving me a call?'

What prompted the one-and-only Association President to give him a call like this? Jin-Woo noticed that there were several people walking to and fro within the hospital's corridor, so he quickly walked towards a more secluded area. He continued to speak in the meantime.

"What's the matter, sir?"

"I'm sure you've heard of the news by now."

'…What news?'

Jin-Woo tilted his head a bit, before realising that this wouldn't do and asked again.

"I'm not sure what news you're talking about….?"

"Wait, could it be… You haven't seen the news lately?"

'Wow. I guess the speed of news getting around these days is nothing to scoff at.'

Jin-Woo readily admitted to his wrongdoing.

"I'm sorry about that. But I'll make sure to be more careful next time."

"….Excuse me?"

Only after hearing the confused voice of Goh Gun-Hui did Jin-Woo realise that he was deeply mistaken about something here.

'Wait, wasn't he calling me about Kaisel?'

If not, what else could the news outlets be talking about, instead?

The dual dungeon, the Red Gate, clearing the rank A dungeons, the 'Bead of Avarice', etc….

Now that he thought about, there were quite a few potential topics of contention, instead.

"…..Can you clarify what happened?"

"Looks like you really haven't heard anything yet."

"I've been spending some time in a location recently where contacting outside was difficult, actually."

He wasn't lying about that, technically speaking.

Goh Gun-Hui's voice betrayed how surprised he was, but then, it became even graver than before.

"Hunter-nim."

According to Jin-Woo's experience, this could only mean that the reason for this call should be brought up now.

"I'd like to come and discuss something with you face-to-face. Will that be okay with you?"

Jin-Woo's suspicion grew even larger compared to when he first answered the phone.

'Calling me on the phone isn't enough, so the Association President wishes to come here and see me personally?'

Just how much of an important matter was this to make someone as busy as him personally move?

Even then….

Jin-Woo glanced in the direction of mom's hospital room.

'I can't ask the Association President to come here.'

He might have to come up with bullsh*t stories related to his mother if that happened.

"No, I'll go over there, instead."

"Will you do that for us, then?"

"Yes, I will."

That was far more simpler for him.

Quickly making the arrangement over the phone, and after telling his mom and sister that he had an errand to run and he'd be back a little later, Jin-Woo left the hospital.

Having spent way too long inside the Demon's Castle where there was no sunlight, his eyes were feeling a bit itchy as the warm rays fell on him. Jin-Woo furrowed his brows.

'Man, this is so cumbersome. Should I just summon Kaisel?'

He deliberated for a moment or two, before smirking to himself and walked towards a waiting taxi.

Chapter 111: Chapter 111

The footage shown was quite a shocking one.

Shot from a CCTV camera placed high up on a stretch of road, the viewer could see how deserted this unknown street was; it was so quiet that, even after the footage had been greatly sped up, only a handful of cars drove by.

One might even end up suspecting that the road was located in the sparsely-populated outskirts of a city or even in a rural area.

The sped-up footage was slowed down greatly. And then, it happened.

A saloon appeared on the edge of the screen. It was moving fast enough that even when the footage had been slowed down, one could still sense its high speed.

But then, in the blink of an eye….

A black thing suddenly appeared before the speeding car. It was a dark lifeform, standing on two feet like a person. The car couldn't slow down sufficiently with this sudden development. However, no such thing as the car and the unknown lifeform colliding ever occurred.

Just before the collision happened, the car suddenly flew up in the air.

The dark lifeform easily flipped the mid-sized saloon speeding towards it with one hand, and then, dragged the unconscious driver out from the wreckage to devour the poor guy from the head.

Chomp, chomp….

That surely would've been the noise most likely to be captured by a mic, had the CCTV camera been equipped with one.

The footage came to an end there.

Jin-Woo shifted his gaze away from the giant TV screen filling up an entire wall of the Association President's office, and to Goh Gun-Hui sitting on the other side of the table.

The older man slowly put the remote down.

"Three hundred people."

Unlike some others, he didn't speak about the neighbouring nation's misfortune with an easy-going attitude.

"That one ant managed to kill that many people."

"Were the Japanese too slow to respond?"

"That's not correct."

Goh Gun-Hui shook his head.

"From what I hear, the Japanese Hunters only took 30 minutes to get to the location. But, in that short period of time, a small village was wiped off the map."

Japan boasted one of the most advanced Hunter systems in all of Asia. And a country like that had to experience such a level of devastation, so what would happen if an ant entered the South Korean border?

Goh Gun-Hui had viewed that footage multiple times already, but he still was overcome with a chilling premonition of an impending crisis every time he did.

'Before it's too late, we need to destroy the ants once and for all.'

The subjugation operation would get underway in four days' time. The Japanese had been demanding the release of the final list of all Korean Hunters participating in the operation for a few days now.

However, using his authority as the leader of the Korean side, Goh Gun-Hui delayed the announcement of the final list. The reason for that was simple.

Because no one could get in touch with Jin-Woo until now.

And so, after a long wait, the moment of the list being finalised had arrived. Goh Gun-Hui continued on with a trembling heart.

"We'll go to Jeju Island and get rid of the ants found there."

He formed a pleading expression next.

"And that is why we need your help, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."

Next up, Goh Gun-Hui's expression shifted to one of anxiety.

If Jin-Woo refused to participate, then there was nothing anyone could do. He was no longer affiliated with the Association, and he was not duty-bound to carry out the demands of the Association, either. In other words, the final decision rested solely on his whim.

After lengthy deliberation, he opened his mouth.

"I….."

After ending the meeting with the Association President, Jin-Woo stood up from the seat to leave, only to sense something and shifted his head in that direction.

'What was that just now?'

In a place not too far from here, he sensed clashes of magical energy.

'Could it be a dungeon break?'

Initially, he suspected a dungeon break happening nearby, but he soon realised that wasn't the case. He couldn't sense any presence of monsters, only the magic energy coming from various Hunters, instead.

"Did something happen?"

Goh Gun-Hui had stood up from his seat first and walked over to the doorway to bid Jin-Woo goodbye, only to turn around and question him when the youth failed to move from the spot.

"Well, I don't think it's anything serious, but…. It seems that Hunters are fighting each other nearby."

"But, that can't be."

Goh Gun-Hui chuckled loudly.

Which foolhardy Hunters would dare to fight each other near the Association's HQ? There was no way such a thing would happen.

'No, wait…. The direction of Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim is looking at….?'

A possibility formed in Goh Gun-Hui's mind.

"I believe that rank S Hunters are doing some light exercises in the gymnasium. Maybe you're talking about that?"

'…Light exercises, is it?'

If that was the case, then for sure, the continuous yet restrained clashes of magical energy made sense. Jin-Woo nodded his head.

"I see."

Goh Gun-Hui's eyes looking at the youth were filled with undisguised surprise.

'He can sense something like that from this distance?'

The Association's gymnasium was designed to greatly minimise the amount of magic energy leaking outside. In actual reality, even Goh Gun-Hui himself couldn't sense anything.

But then, not only had Jin-Woo sensed the minuscule amount leaking out from there, he even correctly guessed that different magic energies were clashing with one another, too.

'Just how highly attuned are his senses?'

It was simply impossible to even take a wild guess.

"….Ah, right! Would you like to take a look if you're interested?"

Goh Gun-Hui made a quick suggestion. It was a rare event to find all of the rank S Hunters in South Korea gathered in one place. Personally witnessing the abilities of other rank S Hunters from the sideline would do a world of good to Seong Jin-Woo, who had become a rank S himself only recently.

"I believe that Mister Goto Ryuji is also present there."

Jin-Woo was thinking of taking a look-see with an open mind, only to stop in his tracks.

"If you say Goto Ryuji, do you mean….?"

"Yes, it is him."

If you were a Hunter – no, even if you weren't a Hunter – you'd have at least heard of that name once, the name that belonged to one of the most powerful Hunters in existence.

"It is indeed that Goto Ryuji. He's currently staying in the country to aid in building a good repertoire and a sense of camaraderie in both the Korean and Japanese participants. Since he's planning to leave tomorrow, if you don't meet him today, you might not get another opportunity in the future."

Not only were Korea's best Hunters gathered in one place, but even Japan's best was also here too?

'Obviously, I can't miss this chance.'

Jin-Woo accepted Goh Gun-Hui's suggestion with a deeply interested expression.

At the same time, Goto Ryuji was doing his very best to stifle a yawn.

'This is supposed to be the abilities of Korea's best?'

How laughable.

No, they were actually pitiful.

The assessment of 'laughable' was made from an objective point of view, while the 'pitiful' bit came from him adding a bit of sympathy to that initial assessment.

'Rather than leaving the safety of the country to these people's hands, wouldn't it be far better to be under the protection of us, the Japanese, instead?'

Goto Ryuji formed a leery smile and surveyed the Korean rank S Hunters. Out of all the rank S Hunters he met in Korea so far, only one seemed to be somewhat 'useful' to his eyes.

'Her name's supposed to be Cha Hae-In, right?'

Even then, her abilities were only around the level of Japan's upper-rank Hunters. She fell way, way short when compared to the best Hunters Japan could offer.

'But, there's no helping it, is there?'

South Korea was a small nation, and its population wasn't that vast, either. Also, the person who had Awakened the greatest ability within the populace just so happened to be an old man who didn't have that many days to live and couldn't even fight properly.

'If it's Goh Gun-Hui, then he might be able to contend with some of our best on a similar level, but…..'

He could say that the Koreans had drawn a short straw on this one.

In any case, he was done with assessing the capabilities of the Korean Hunters. He had completed the real reason for his extended stay in Korea.

'They wouldn't even survive for five minutes if we withdraw during the subjugation.'

Thinking that there was no more reason to stick around, Goto Ryuji turned around to leave, but then, he spotted someone unfamiliar walking closer from the entrance of the gymnasium.

'Mm….?'

Goto Ryuji's brows quivered greatly.

He hadn't realised the approach of this unknown man even though they were in close proximity already. He was looking at the man with his own eyes, yet he still couldn't sense the other person's presence at all.

'Is he an Assassin-type Hunter?'

Goto Ryuji asked the Association employee tasked with translation next to him.

"Who is that man?"

The employee fidgeted with his glasses and stared for a long time, before finally recalling who the unknown man was and formed a smile.

"Ah. He's the newly registered rank S Hunter."

"Aha…."

So, that man was that Re-Awakened with no known reliable information available?

Goto Ryuji was thinking of spending the remaining time in Korea to unearth more about this man, but he now thought that this was actually better for him. He formed a bright smile and asked the Association employee again.

"Seems like he's a pretty excellent Assassin?"

"Pardon?"

When the employee stared back with a strange expression, Goto Ryuji realised something was off.

"Did I make a mistake?"

"Oh, no. That's not it. But, well…"

The employee pointed at Jin-Woo and spoke.

"He's actually a Mage-type Hunter. Mister Goto."

'No freaking way?!'

Carrying a disbelieving expression, Goto Ryuji quickly accessed the Korean Hunters Association website and went through the list of rank S Hunters there.

The automated translation app allowed him to read the information on the Korean rank S Hunters right away.

[Seong Jin-Woo, rank S, Mage-type]

There it was. The profile image and the person's face were a perfect match.

'He's really a Mage-type??'

Goto Ryuji got inwardly stunned by this and hurriedly raised his shocked face. By then, that man was already standing nearby.

'So, this guy is Goto Ryuji, huh.'

Jin-Woo only needed one glance to recognise Japan's most powerful Hunter.

He was a tall man with a sharp sense of fashion. His beard was trimmed neatly, too. At a casual glance, one might mistakenly think that he was a famous Japanese actor.

'But, why does he keep looking at me like that?'

Just as Jin-Woo was beginning to feel a bit unhappy at the continued gaze, the Japanese man performed a simple greeting with his eyes first.

Did he stare like that because they had never met before until now?

Jin-Woo didn't think too much about it and reciprocated the light greeting, and took a look around.

In the middle of the gymnasium, the shirtless Baek Yun-Ho and a hulking middle-aged man with a huge frame were having a sparring session. Excluding Goto Ryuji, everyone else present was looking on at that with deeply interested expressions.

Swish-!!

Baek Yun-Ho slapped away the hand of the quickly-approaching man, spun his lower half, and sent out a powerful low kick.

Pah!

Contrary to expectations, though, the one to frown was Baek Yun-Ho.

'Oho.'

Jin-Woo could tell why. In that briefest of moments, the giant man utilised a body reinforcement-type skill to defend his legs.

Judging from that huge body and the skill he used just now, he seemed to be a Tanker type, but his Agility Stat must've been rather out of the norm, as well. Should Jin-Woo chalk that one up to that man being a rank S?

The giant middle-aged man smirked.

"Instructor Baek! It won't do for a young man like you to be this powerless."

"I'm not an instructor, Mah Instructor-nim."

The giant man referred to as Mah Instructor-nim chuckled genially and grabbed the belt of his dobok. Maybe because a guy with a physique of a Sumo wrestler was wearing a dobok, it kind of felt a bit out of place to Jin-Woo's eyes.

"Well, in that case."

The giant man fixed his attire for a moment before pouncing forward again, and Baek Yun-Ho unleashed his magic power to counter-attack. Both of them were carrying joyous expressions.

As Instructor Mah pushed forward, and as Baek Yun-Ho was pushed back, they both looked to be enjoying themselves.

It seemed that they were relishing this rare opportunity to unleash some of their powers that had to be restrained most of the time in this gathering of rank S Awakened.

"Even then, if Mister Baek Yun-Ho were to fight seriously, Mister Mah Dong-Wook wouldn't be able to endure it."

Choi Jong-In walked in closer to Jin-Woo and spoke up. The latter turned his head to look, prompting the former to nod his head in a greeting.

Jin-Woo reciprocated the greeting, and their conversation continued on from there.

"That person wearing dobok is the Shining Star's Mah Dong-Wook."

'Ah.'

Jin-Woo was thinking to himself that he had heard of that name before, and it turned out that man was the Master of the Shining Star. He nodded his head and threw a question.

"It's not like he needs to go easy on his opponent, so why is Master Baek hiding most of his powers?"

"He finds it a bit troublesome to reveal his powers in front of too many eyes…. Chairman Baek transforms into a real monster when he fights seriously, you see."

Back in front of the Red Gate, Baek Yun-Ho did reveal a pair of beast-like eyes to Jin-Woo.

'So, it's not just his eyes that can transform, eh.'

Just like Baek Yun-Ho's ability to transform, one would hear about top Hunters possessing rather unique abilities every now and then.

In a way, they were the possessors of monster-like powers. From other people's perspective, Jin-Woo thought that he'd be seen like that, too.

'A guy who can morph into a monster, and a guy who can summon monsters….���

When he thought about others finding him mystifying, just like how he thought of Baek Yun-Ho's powers being weird, Jin-Woo couldn't help but smirk softly to himself.

But, that was all.

He only found Baek Yun-Ho's ability to transform strange and nothing else. There was nothing interesting to look at in regards to the sparring between Baek Yun-Ho and Mah Dong-Wook.

'So slow.'

Jin-Woo didn't even need to concentrate, yet he could clearly read the attacks and counters of both men.

It was then.

"…Uh?"

Sensing something was off, Baek Yun-Ho stopped moving. Mah Dong-Wook also stopped at the same time, as well. And their gazes shifted to Jin-Woo simultaneously as if they had made a prior arrangement.

Maybe it was because Jin-Woo's boredom was too easy to see?

'...?'

But then again, too many people were looking at Jin-Woo the same way for him to think that was the case. However, he got to figure out the reason soon enough.

'It's not me, but behind me….'

When he looked back, Goto Ryuji was standing there. The light glinting in his eyes was rather suspicious.

The interpreter next to the Japanese man spoke on behalf of Goto Ryuji.

"Hunter-nim? Mister Goto wishes to speak to you for a moment."

Jin-Woo knew that Goto Ryuji was standing nearby, but because he hadn't expected to be addressed at all, he could only form a confused expression.

'This guy, I sensed that he didn't seem right since a while ago, but now….'

Did Jin-Woo's unhappiness get transmitted? Because Goto Ryuji quietly threw out a rather unexpected question.

"Will you have a sparring match with me?"

Chapter 112: Chapter 112

There wasn't any deeper meaning behind his actions. Goto Ryuji came to South Korea to personally confirm the capabilities of the top Korean Hunters with his own eyes. And now, he had developed a bit of curiosity after discovering someone a bit unique out of the lot. That was all.

'I'll soon find out whether he's really a Mage or not.'

Goto Ryuji refused to accept that the man standing right in front of his eyes wasn't a melee-type Hunter.

He needed more 'data'. In order to eliminate any and all form of unexpected variations, he simply had to acquire more data on Seong Jin-Woo.

'Well, half of it is for fun, though….'

Goto Ryuji smirked to himself.

The interpreter heard what the Japanese Hunter had to say, jumped up in surprise, before hurriedly asking a question.

"M-mister Goto, are you sure about this?"

"Please translate what I said to this man ad verbatim."

"B-but, even then…."

"Will there be a problem?"

Goto Ryuji asked back in a teasing tone. His voice seemed to ask why shouldn't he participate in the proceedings, when the Korean Hunters were already doing some 'light exercises'?

The interpreter continued to sweat buckets, before giving up in the end and replied to him.

"I… I understand."

He turned his head and met Jin-Woo's questioning gaze. The interpreter hesitated before opening his mouth.

"Mister Goto is asking… If you don't mind 'training' with him….."

There was no need for an extra explanation on what that training was supposed to be.

Jin-Woo's gaze shifted over to Goto Ryuji. The Japanese man was waiting for an answer with an unreadable smile on his face.

'You want to find out more about my skill level, is that it?'

There was no way that the world-famous Goto Ryuji would do something so eye-catching just to show off his abilities. If that was indeed his aim, he'd have asked either Choi Jong-In or Baek Yun-Ho, the leaders of the number one and two South Korean Guilds respectively, instead.

'I don't know what you're planning here, but….'

Judging from the undisguised stare from earlier on, it was more than likely that Goto Ryuji's interest was on Jin-Woo.

Even then, he didn't feel displeased by the Japanese Hunter's abrupt suggestion. No, rather than that, he was genuinely intrigued by the prospect of the fight itself.

He wanted to test out the strength he got to raise inside the Demon's Castle, and he was also curious about the abilities of Japan's top Hunter, too. Indeed, it wasn't only Goto Ryuji who was curious about his opponent's strength.

'…..Mm?'

Goto Ryuji stopped smiling as a thin frown formed on his forehead.

'He's smiling?'

He expected Jin-Woo to become flustered and then eventually try to back out, but then, the Korean Hunter simply displayed a certain relaxed vibe, instead.

Was there something he felt confident of? Or, was he smiling wryly after finding the current situation troublesome to handle?

The answer was revealed soon enough. Jin-Woo told something to the interpreter, and the latter jumped up pretty high in shock right away.

Next up, the interpreter looked as if he was doing his best to dissuade the youth, while Jin-Woo was all smiles as he tried to calm the former, instead. Since they were talking in Korean, Goto Ryuji couldn't understand a word being spoken and as a result, a frown grew progressively deeper on his face.

'What are they even talking about…?'

It should've only been either 'yes' or 'no'.

Why was the interpreter sweating buckets like that over a question with only two exceedingly simple available answers?

Just as Goto Ryuji's patience was about to run out, the interpreter spoke up while continuously sneaking glances at Jin-Woo.

"Uhm, excuse me, Mister Goto…."

If only there were no eyes watching right now, Goto Ryuji would've shouted at the man to stop wasting time and hurry up with it. Forcibly maintaining his smile meant that Goto Ryuji's brows were quivering greatly, as he waited for the interpreter's next words.

"Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim agreed to your proposal. However…."

"However?"

"He says he has a condition."

'A condition?'

Not only had the opponent failed to lower his tail and cower, but he also accepted the challenge straight away, and even put up an extra condition, as well. It was Goto Ryuji's turn to feel somewhat flustered now.

"And what is this condition?"

"Well, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim said that….."

The interpreter took one last look at Jin-Woo, and the latter nodded his head.

"….He'll agree only on the condition that Mister Goto gives his all."

Goto Ryuji's stare immediately shifted to Seong Jin-Woo.

'Is he being serious??'

Seeing the expression on Jin-Woo's face, one could tell that he wasn't kidding around. Goto Ryuji tilted his head.

'Wait… Maybe he doesn't know who I am?'

But, that couldn't be. Even if he didn't know before, the interpreter should've provided an explanation just now. Even then, for him to not cower and back off – was this the case of arrogance or a mistaken belief in himself?

'….This might be fun.'

The smile was already wiped clean from Goto Ryuji's mug.

He was thinking of matching the opponent's pace and ending things after checking out Seong Jin-Woo's skill, but now, his thoughts had changed. Thankfully, with a rank S Healer nearby, there shouldn't be any big 'accidents' either.

"Alright, I accept."

"Heok!"

The interpreter's face paled immediately.

Hunter Seong Jin-Woo had just advanced to rank 'S', so he might not be able to contain his overflowing passion, but why was Mister Goto, who had experienced all sorts of trials and tribulations, behaving like this?

Unfortunately, the atmosphere had already gone past the point of no return.

"Who's that guy next to the Japanese Hunter?"

"Isn't he… Hunter Seong Jin-Woo?"

"What's this? Are they going to spar or something?"

Soon, the rank S Hunters and Association employees within the gymnasium all gathered around the two men glaring at each other. As everyone was immersed in the developing situation, half of them looking on with worry while the other half in anticipation, Cha Hae-In also stood next to the Hunters and looked on at the duo.

'Will he be fine…?'

Jin-Woo's opponent was a man who managed to stand at the top of Japan, a country with over 20 rank S Hunters.

As for Jin-Woo himself, if one excluded the years he spent as a rank E, then he should be considered as a newbie who had been a rank S for only a few days now.

It'd be the right thing to stop Hunter Seong Jin-Woo from continuing on any further.

From Cha Hae-In's perspective as someone affiliated with the Hunters Guild, Seong Jin-Woo was a benefactor who saved the lives of an entire team consisting of her Guild's elite men and women.

She wasn't some honour-less woman who'd do nothing and watch a benefactor get hurt from the sidelines.

However, she kept recalling the events of that day whenever she thought about dissuading him.

….The look Jin-Woo gave her, telling her not to interfere even when he was facing off against over one hundred High Orcs and a boss of a rank A dungeon.

When recalling that powerful, determined stare, she felt her chest palpitate, and unexplainable anticipation bubbled up in her heart. That was why she couldn't readily step forward, only to bite down on her lower lip in nervousness.

It was then.

"Are you feeling okay today with other Hunters around you?"

Before she had time to notice it, Baek Yun-Ho was already next to her to ask that question. They had gone on several raids together, so he knew very well of her strange physical condition.

"Well, it's not like I'll be able to continue blocking my nose in Jeju Island, so…"

Hearing her answer, Baek Yun-Ho nodded his head. It was her turn to ask next.

"You said before that you're an acquaintance with Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, yes?"

"Yes."

Cha Hae-In remembered that the White Tiger Guild also received Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's help in the past, just like her own Guild did.

"In that case, shouldn't you try to stop Mister Seong Jin-Woo?"

"I guess that's the normal way of thinking."

After all, the opponent today was none other than Goto Ryuji. Cha Hae-In tilted her head.

"If so, then why….?"

Baek Yun-Ho shifted his gaze and met her eyes before replying to her.

"It's the same reason as yours, Cha Hunter-nim."

Flinch.

Cha Hae-In felt as if her inner secrets had been exposed by Baek Yun-Ho just now. Her always-taciturn expression displayed just a hint of change.

"I don't….."

"Don't you feel this strange anticipation in the air?"

….She couldn't deny that.

Even now, her heart was racing with a singular thought of 'If it's Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, then he might….' filling up her head.

"It's the same story for me."

Baek Yun-Ho replied with a grin and looked back in Jin-Woo and Goto Ryuji's direction. His expression was filled with barely-checked anticipation.

'If Hunter Seong is really an Awakened who can grow stronger as per my expectation, then….'

This could be the chance to confirm that theory.

Goto Ryuji raised his fist first.

The interpreter standing nearby hurriedly left their side. Two rank S Hunters were about to have a smackdown. Not only that, one of them happened to be referred to as Japan's best, as well. A normal person would die simply from being too close in this situation.

Making sure that the interpreter had run off to a safe-enough distance, Jin-Woo belatedly put his dukes up as well. No, that's what he tried to do.

But then…

Swish!

Without a moment's delay, Goto Ryuji's fist flew past where Jin-Woo's head had been a blink ago.

The Japanese man's eyes grew wide.

'I missed?'

The attack was meant to floor Jin-Woo in one go and help Goto recover his damaged pride, but now, it was all for nothing. Jin-Woo evaded the punch by tilting his head out of the way, and then, he easily created some distance between them.

His reaction speed was surprisingly fast.

'And you still claim to be a Mage after that??'

What a bloody laughable notion that was.

Indeed, Goto Ryuji's eyes weren't mistaken. He didn't know the reason for the Korean Association hiding that man's true abilities, but without a doubt, Seong Jin-Woo was a melee-type Hunter. Not only that, definitely an Assassin, too. His agile movements and his silent steps were all the proof needed.

'You may be able to fool the others, but you can't hide the truth from me.'

The corner of Goto Ryuji's lips arched up.

'Allow me to peel off another layer of yours.'

….Right until everything you possess is brought up to the surface!

For the first time in a long, long while, Goto Ryuji was feeling genuinely pumped up.

After taking some distance away from the aggressive Japanese Hunter, Jin-Woo stood still and listened to his heartbeat.

Thump, thump, thump….

Indeed, his heart was beating faster. He could sense power on another level compared to other Hunters from Goto Ryuji.

However, the emotion filling up Jin-Woo's heart whenever Goto Ryuji's unbelievable aura touched his skin was this strong sense of belief in himself.

'So, that guy is the best in Japan….'

Only now could he truly recognise how much he had changed while raising his level to 97. His strong confidence was clearly visible on his face now. On the other hand, Goto Ryuji's expression was hardening.

'He's smiling again?'

How dare he, in front of me??

Goto Ryuji spat out a heavy breath.

The scarcely-believable amount of magical energy he emitted began to heavily press down the surrounding air. Hunters watching on were jolted by a nasty surprise.

'Shouldn't we stop them before something happens here?'

'Goto Ryuji, maybe he's thinking of really going for it now?'

However, there was a thin smile on Jin-Woo's face. This was what he wanted, anyways.

Goto Ryuji saw that Jin-Woo showed no signs of cowering even after he had unleashed his fearsome level of magic power, and felt something welling up from deep within.

His eyes gleamed dangerously just then!

Even before other Hunters had the chance to step forward and stop this bout, Goto Ryuji pounced like an angry predator.

The distance closed up in an instant; Goto Ryuji reached out with his hand; Jin-Woo leaned back in the nick of time and evaded the attack.

'….!!'

Goto Ryuji's eyes trembled imperceptibly.

'He dodged?!'

Was that also a coincidence, or….?

Even though many thoughts fleeted in and out of his head, he didn't stay his hands and continued to rain down his attacks. Too bad, not one of them could connect to his target; Jin-Woo always managed to dodge by a hair's breadth or repelled the incoming hits away.

'How could this be…??'

Cold sweat drops formed on Goto Ryuji's forehead.

Goto Ryuji and his brilliantly flashy attacks, and Jin-Woo who managed to dodge everything by the smallest margins imaginable. Other Hunters watched the duo and expressed their genuine admiration.

"That's some fierce attacks, alright."

"Hard to follow those movements with my naked eyes."

"Look, even Hunter Seong Jin-Woo is enduring pretty well, no?"

"Right, it's already pretty remarkable that he can evade the attacks from Japan's best to that extent."

Cha Hae-In shook her head multiple times inwardly.

'No, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo isn't enduring anything right now.'

Others could only see that Jin-Woo was being endlessly led around by Goto Ryuji's continuous stream of attacks, but in reality, it was completely the opposite. Cha Hae-In swallowed her saliva, feeling rather astonished at the moment.

'He's actually leading Goto in such a way that Goto has no choice but to keep attacking!'

If she was not wrong about this, then… Hunter Seong Jin-Woo had matched his own pace to the opponent's, so he could figure out more about who he was facing here.

Such a thing was only possible if his own level of abilities was several times greater than that of his opponent's.

'How can that even make any sense….??'

But, that nonsensical event was actually unfolding right before her eyes. And now, she couldn't help but think that the real reason to stop this sparring wasn't that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo might find himself in danger, but the other way around….

Just as Cha Hae-In's thoughts arrived at this point, she discovered Baek Yun-Ho next to her shuddering non-stop.

"C-Chairman Baek…??"

She called out to him in a soft voice, but he didn't respond. His eyes were glued to Jin-Woo and nothing else. She tried to read his expression, only to get stunned by what she saw.

'His eyes….?'

Baek Yun-Ho's eyes were gleaming in yellow colour like that of a wild beast. His vertical-slit eyes were trembling softly in shock.

She looked on with a worried expression on her face, but he didn't even notice that someone was looking at him right now. Baek Yun-Ho was seeing everything clearly with his 'Eyes of the Beast'.

'I…. I was right!'

Jin-Woo's current level of power was incomparably greater than back when they last met in front of the Association building.

'….A Hunter who can grow stronger!!'

Baek Yun-Ho's entire body shook from the unbridled shock.

It was then.

"…Ah!"

Baek Yun-Ho had been paying his utmost attention to Jin-Woo all this time, and when 'it' happened, he unconsciously spat out a frightened gasp. Cha Hae-In next to her also sensed this deeply chilling aura and hurriedly shifted her gaze.

"Ah!!"

A few seconds ago….

Goto Ryuji knew better than anyone else here that he had been suckered into Jin-Woo's pace.

He had been always referred to as the 'Strongest' back home, so it felt like his pride had been shoved down the gutter in its entirety by this development.

'How dare he do this to me….?!'

The attack that he meticulously aimed at the opening also missed its mark, as Jin-Woo narrowly avoided it at the last possible second. Goto Ryuji grew enraged, and murderous intent began filling up his eyes.

'I'll kill him!!'

Jin-Woo's own eyes grew wider. He could acutely sense Goto Ryuji's killing intent pricking his skin.

'Murderous intent?!'

Jin-Woo's heart nearly fell to the pit of his stomach, then.

If someone formed a murderous intent towards him, the System would float up a message and issue an emergency quest right afterwards. What if he got a quest telling him to kill Goto Ryuji here…??

Tti-ring!

A mechanical beep resounded out right at that moment, and Jin-Woo quickly looked up.

[Warning! Discovered a subject with murderous intent nearby!]

Thankfully, it was still a warning message; there was no emergency quest, like back then with Hwang Dong-Seok or Kahng Tae-Sik.

However….

Swish-!!

Goto Ryuji's outstretched hand, aimed at Jin-Woo's eye, narrowly missed and ended up slicing his cheek just a little. If his reflexes that had reached the absolute limit, didn't react in time and tilt his head out of the way, he might have really lost his eye just now.

It was an attack that clearly carried the intent to kill, and it was clearly aimed at a vital spot of the human anatomy. Such a thing would never be accepted during a training match like this.

Grit.

In the blink of an eye, the atmosphere changed.

"Ah."

Baek Yun-Ho unconsciously spat out a frightened gasp.

The first person to sense the abrupt shift in the atmosphere was actually Goto Ryuji, however. Unfortunately for him, although his body understood the change, his head could not.

The chilly air roused sleeping goosebumps to break out all over his body, and all the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He had never, ever felt like this before.

'This, what is this….?'

Even before his brain had the time to process anything, Jin-Woo grabbed his wrist, hard. Goto Ryuji tried to yank his arm out with all his might, but it wouldn't budge.

'What kind of strength is this….?!'

His gaze briefly lingered on his wrist, before moving on to Jin-Woo's face. And he found an icy cold glare.

But what caught Goto Ryuji's attention even more than Jin-Woo's cold eyes were his right shoulder and his raised right arm. Jin-Woo's arm was cocked back by a lot; a tightly-clenched fist at the end of that arm was taking an aim at Goto Ryuji's unguarded face.

The air sinking lower all around Goto Ryuji pressed down on his shoulders. He suddenly couldn't breathe anymore.

Why?

Why did he inexplicably think of the word 'death' right at this moment?

But, then….

"S-stop!"

Baek Yun-Ho and Cha Hae-In jumped into the fray purely out of instinct and grabbed hold onto Jin-Woo's right arm.

The former was tightly hugging Jin-Woo's shoulder as if he was trying to pull it down, while the latter was grabbing onto his wrist with everything she had.

When Jin-Woo looked back, Baek Yun-Ho hurriedly shook his head. Even Cha Hae-In was looking at him with anxious eyes, fear clearly visible on her face.

'....'

The desperate dissuasion of these two that didn't even care about their own safety helped Jin-Woo to cool his agitation down somehow.

"Fuu."

Jin-Woo let off a short sigh and released Goto Ryuji's wrist.

The Japanese man rubbed his now-freed wrist and retreated quickly. Meanwhile, the interpreter hurriedly arrived near his side. Baek Yun-Ho quickly spoke to him.

"Let's stop the sparring session here, since the mood seems to have turned for the worse. Please tell the Japanese for us."

The interpreter nodded his head.

When Baek Yun-Ho's words were relayed to him, Goto Ryuji proceeded to glare at Jin-Woo for a long time, before spinning on his heels to exit from the gymnasium without saying single a word.

"M-mister Goto!!"

The voice of the interpreter as he ran after Goto Ryuji sounded so pitiful. Baek Yun-Ho finally spat out a sigh of relief and lowered his head at Jin-Woo.

"Forgive us for butting in."

"…"

"That man is supposed to lead the Japanese team in the operation a few days from now. I couldn't just stand by and watch, even though there was a chance that something might go horribly wrong for us."

Baek Yun-Ho cautiously studied Jin-Woo's expression and asked.

"Did I do something unnecessary?"

"No, not at all."

Jin-Woo readily admitted to it.

Baek Yun-Ho was right. If something happened to Goto Ryuji and that led to an unnecessary snag in the operation, then both countries might end up suffering severe consequences afterwards.

So, he never thought of assigning any blame on Baek Yun-Ho or Cha Hae-In after they interfered in the timely fashion.

"Wow…."

Now that the situation seemed to have calmed down, people absorbed in spectating on the sparring session between Goto Ryuji and Jin-Woo quickly approached him. The way they looked at him went through a noticeable change.

The first one to make his approach was the Master of the Shining Star Guild, the massive-framed Mah Dong-Wook.

"Huhuh!!"

Mah Dong-Wook laughed genially.

"To be able to walk away with only a small scratch on your cheek after having a bout with the one and only Goto, you're truly something else, young man!"

Regretfully, no one else seemed to have figured out what happened here besides Cha Hae-In and Baek Yun-Ho.

"Ooh!! You have really firm muscles! What an outstanding physique!"

Mah Dong-Wook touched Jin-Woo's shoulders and arms while expressing his genuine admiration.

"My Guild is full of Mage-type Hunters, so we're severely lacking in melee-types at the moment. Instructor Seong, if you haven't thought of a Guild to join, how about joining mine?"

"Excuse me, Mah Instructor-nim?"

Having been quietly observing the situation from behind until then, Choi Jong-In stepped forward and raised his voice.

"Yes?"

When Mah Dong-Wook turned his head, Choi Jong-In spoke up as if he was waiting for this moment.

"Hunter Seong Jin-Woo is actually a Mage-type Hunter."

A massive earthquake erupted within Mah Dong-Wook's eyes.

"What was that?!"

On the other hand….

Goto Ryuji escaped from the confines of the gymnasium and, after quickly distancing himself from the interpreter, he checked his wrist.

'...'

His wrist was bruised black and blue all over. Even though the weather wasn't all that hot, there were cold sweat drops visible on his forehead. He pulled out his phone and dialled a familiar number. After a couple of rings, he could hear the sound of the phone's receiver being picked up.

Click.

It's Matsumoto speaking.

"Association President."

"Is it you, Goto? What's the matter with your voice?"

Goto Ryuji did his best to calm his trembling voice.

"In South Korea…. There's an incredible Hunter in South Korea."

"More than you?"

"More than likely, sir."

"….."

"I think there's a need to modify our plan a little bit, sir."

Matsumoto Shigeo didn't immediately say anything, but rummaged through something for a while instead, before finally asking a question.

"The name of that Hunter is?"

"It's Seong Jin-Woo. He's a Re-Awakened, evaluated as a rank S recently."

"This is strange. Such a name doesn't exist."

"I beg your pardon?"

Such a name didn't exist?!

Did that mean the Hunter Goto Ryuji met just now was a phantom, an illusion? Well, he did kind of feel that he had been bewitched just now, though. However, didn't he also personally enter the Korean Association's website to confirm that that man was supposed to be a Mage??

"What do you mean, sir? How can Seong Jin-Woo not exist?"

"Actually, we have received the final list of the Korean Hunters participating in the operation not too long ago."

"Are you saying Seong Jin-Woo isn't on the list?"

But, how could that be?

Unless Goh Gun-Hui had gone truly senile, there was just no way that he'd form a raiding party without the strongest member available.

Matsumoto Shigeo spoke in a calm manner from across the phone line.

"Choi Jong-In, Mah Dong-Wook, Baek Yun-Ho, Cha Hae-In, Im Tae-Gyu, and Min Byung-Gu."

As if to signify that there was no need to modify their plan at all, Matsumoto Shigeo spoke in a voice filled with conviction.

"These six are the members of the Korean team that will leave for the raid in four days' time."

Baek Yun-Ho took a deep breath.

Even after the two men who turned the inside of the gymnasium chaotic had left, his heartbeat didn't want to slow down at all.

'Was such a thing even possible?'

Having witnessed something that he'd been hypothesizing in his head for real, Baek Yun-Ho had difficulty trying to hide his astonishment.

'An Awakened that can really grow stronger….'

Just what would be that man's true value? He couldn't even dare to imagine it.

This was his reason for standing back and watching on from the distance at the efforts of Choi Jong-In, Mah Dong-Wook, and Im Tae-Gyu as they tried to scout Jin-Woo. He remembered Choi Jong-In's confused stare directed at him, as he didn't even bother to sweet-talk the youth.

'If it was me, I'd probably never even think about joining a Guild with an ability like that.'

Indeed.

All the attempts to scout Hunter Seong Jin-Woo were a waste of time. However, there were all sorts of ways to form a good relationship with a brilliant Hunter that didn't involve scouting him.

Time to activate the 'Plan B', then.

It was then.

Vrrr….

His mobile phone suddenly began vibrating. Seeing that the vibration didn't last for long, it must've been a text message. Without thinking too much, he pulled his phone out and took a look.

It was an alert sent out by the Association. And it was the final list of the participants for the ant subjugation raid taking place four days from now.

Baek Yun-Ho skipped past the lengthy list of the Japanese Hunters and scanned the list of the Koreans, only for his eyes to widen in surprise.

He shot up from his spot in the wooden bench.

"Hunter Seong Jin-Woo isn't on the list?!"

Chapter 113: Chapter 113

The mass media was whipped into a frenzy.

To eradicate the monsters that turned the island of Jeju into a barren wasteland, the nations of South Korea and Japan form a united raid team!

Where would you find another story that could stimulate the interests of the country's citizens even more than this news?

TV channels ran news segments related to this upcoming raid all day long, while every front page of newspapers was completely dominated by the topics of the united raid team.

However, it was only Korea's media that kept talking about this matter. Even though the number of Japanese Hunters participating in this operation exceeded the Koreans by three folds, no one thought it was strange that the Japanese media kept quiet over the upcoming event.

And when a handful of articles did appear online, the comments that followed said articles were negative in nature, to say the least.

└ What did you expect when the Koreans are too weak to close a Gate by themselves?

└ Why are you cleaning up the sh*t left behind by the Koreans?

└ Are they going to compensate us for the damages those ants caused here or not?

└ Useless Japanese Hunter's Association, and irresponsible Korean Hunters, why dontcha all kick the bucket together on Jeju Island? LOL

'Dong-sahng-yi-mong'. (TL note at the end)

While two parties thought of two different things regarding the same upcoming event, time continued to tick down towards the date of the operation.

In the meantime, these past few days proved to be the happiest Jin-Woo had been since his mother was admitted to the hospital.

Many things went through a change. First thing first – the Seong family returned to their home with their mom as soon as she was discharged from the hospital.

Clank….

When he opened the front entrance, the first thing saw was the messy living room of the apartment, all thanks to Jin-Ah being alone while he was kept busy inside the Demon's Castle.

"…."

Jin-Woo began pinching his sister's cheeks, and with gentle laughter, Mom tried to stop him.

The very first thing their mother had to do after returning home from four years of coma, was to clean the house. Jin-Woo tried to dissuade her, but in the end, he couldn't win against her insistence. Eventually, the whole family rolled their sleeves up to clean up their home.

Once the house was spotless, the complexions of all three brightened up considerably as well. The apartment that had always felt empty and lonely after Mom's admittance to the hospital now seemed so full of life.

For the first time in a long while, Jin-Woo got to stretch his legs and go to bed without any worries in his mind. And on the next morning, when he got to the living room….

He got to truly appreciate the fact that his mother had returned when he saw the breakfast neatly arranged on the dining table. Park Gyung-Hye stopped cutting the spring onions, turned her head towards Jin-Woo, and asked.

"Did you sleep well, son?"

With still-sleepy eyes, he replied as a smile bloomed on his face.

"….Yes, Mom."

The so-called expert continued to speak on the TV screen.

"The rate of evolution these ant monsters have shown is truly surprising to behold."

A guest sitting next to the expert formed an exaggerated expression of surprise and asked.

"Monsters are evolving?! Wasn't the ant found in Japan, a lone mutated creature?"

"You're correct. When the mutated specimen increase in number and gain control of the whole horde, then we call that evolution."

After that, the prepared video footage began playing. Ants, as they appeared during the first and second subjugation attempts, were displayed on the screen.

At first, they were no different from regular ants as they crawled on the ground. Just from their external appearances alone, they looked exactly like oversized super-massive ants.

But then, a short while later….

"This is the footage taken during the third subjugation attempt."

The ant monsters were now walking on two legs like humans. The once-giant heads had shrunken down in size by a great deal, they were able to move around much more nimbly, and the four limbs acted like arms.

Its appearance looked as if half an ant and half a person had been mashed together to form a new creature. In only two years, the distinct characteristics of the ant species had been completely transformed into something else.

"And this footage of the ant monster was taken recently as it wreaked havoc in Japan."

"Wow…"

The audience members in the studio all gasped out in shock at the footage being played. To their horror, the ant was now even closer in appearance to a human, and not only that, it even sported huge wings on its back.

The comedian appearing in this show as a guest flinched in great surprise and raised his voice higher.

"That thing can now fly?!"

"That's correct. And that would be the decisive factor in the formation of the Korea-Japan united raid team."

'The Korea-Japan united raid team.'

When that term came out of the TV's speakers, Jin-Woo wordlessly switched the TV off. In all honesty, he also didn't want to miss out on this operation. His heart began racing so fast after he thought of all the experience points he'd get to earn when Association President Goh Gun-Hui requested for his participation in the raid.

However, his excitement cooled down in no time at all. And he was able to objectively and coldly analyse the situation.

'It hadn't even been one day since Mom woke up.'

More than that, his mom didn't know that her son was a Hunter yet. He also recalled the sight of his mother staying up all night for several months after she heard the news of his father going missing inside the Gate all those years ago, too.

He couldn't bring himself to tell mom that he was going to Jeju Island when she was already carrying around such a painful memory, to begin with.

His lips didn't want to part and provide an answer. He wanted to spend some time with his family for a few days, at the least. And he definitely didn't want to delay the moment he'd been fighting for so long for some other matter.

"….I will…."

Jin-Woo barely made up his mind and spoke with great difficulty.

"….Not take part in the operation."

The one thing far more precious than experience points, the reason why he gritted his teeth and endured everything in order to become stronger. He did not regret making this choice.

Except that, now….

└ BTW, why is Seong Jin-Woo not on the Korean list?

└ Your disposition won't change just because you've become a rank S, you know. Once a rank E, forever a rank E, dude. Prolly ran off to hide, nearly wetting his pants in the process. Kek.

└ 21 Jap rank S Hunters + even the retired Hunter is gonna represent for Korea, yet…. where is Seong Jin-Woo?

└ Why does he want to do that when he's a rank S? It's so embarrassing;;

Except that, all these anonymous pointing fingers who didn't even know of his situation were really getting on his nerves now. Or, to be more specific, it was his sister's stress level that got on his nerves, actually.

'I don't really give a d*mn about what others think of me, and mom doesn't really go online, so it's fine on that front, but….'

….But, Jin-Ah liked to search for stuff like this in her spare time.

'Tsk'.

Jin-Woo clicked his tongue and put his phone down. There was no helping it, what with the poor timing and all.

Mom had retired early for the day, and it was also still too early for Jin-Ah to come back from her studies. He was thinking of taking a stroll to get some fresh air and change his spoiled mood, but like a devil, his phone began ringing just then.

Jin-Woo checked the caller ID and a grin formed on his face.

Click.

"Hyung-nim!! It's me, Yu Jin-Ho!"

"Hey, Jin-Ho."

Now that Jin-Woo thought about it, was this kid still staying in that local motel even now?

"Where are you staying now? Is it the same motel?"

"Oh, no, hyung-nim. I started renting a room not too long ago. Thankfully, my mom came to my rescue…."

Hearing his giggling voice, Jin-Woo felt happy inwardly as well.

Yu Jin-Ho briefly updated Jin-Woo regarding the status of his life, before hurriedly continuing on after remembering the reason for the call in the first place.

"Ah, right! Hyung-nim, I found some office space for us, so would you like to come over and take a look?"

What office space was he even talking about?

"What office?"

When Jin-Woo asked with a confused voice, Yu Jin-Ho confidently declared.

"Of course, it's the office space for our Guild, hyung-nim! If you want to establish a Guild, then you'll need an office, at the very least."

'Yu Jin-Ho, this kid…..'

It seemed more than likely that this kid was under the grand delusion of developing the Guild he'd preside over as its Vice Master, and make it as big as the Hunters or the White Tiger in the near future. Jin-Woo slowly scratched his chin.

'If I tell him that the raid team will consist of only me and no one else, he might flip out in shock here….'

He only invited the kid to join him in passing, but now that it was time to explain to Yu Jin-Ho the future of the Guild, Jin-Woo didn't even know how he should go about it.

"What do you think, hyung-nim?"

Now that he was here, Jin-Woo could understand why Yu Jin-Ho sounded so confident on the phone. He scanned the empty office space and nodded his head.

Its location was pretty good.

"I specifically chose a place not too far from your place, hyung-nim."

It was also tidy, too.

"I deliberately went for the newly-developed office spaces. I believe that the old saying goes something like 'put new wine in a new bottle'. Don't you agree, hyung-nim?"

Perhaps most importantly, the place was freaking huge.

'....'

"I'll do my best to grow this Guild so it'll surpass the five large Guilds someday, hyung-nim!"

Yu Jin-Ho was burning with unbridled passion, figuratively speaking.

'It's fine for you to burn with passion like that, but please, leave me out of it….'

Jin-Woo pondered seriously about this quandary: Should he tell Yu Jin-Ho to just go back to Yujin Guild now, before it's too late?

Well, he had this gut feeling that the Yujin's Chairman, a guy who even froze his own son's bank account, wouldn't be so keen on taking his son back at this point in time. Seeing that Jin-Woo was in deep contemplation, Yu Jin-Ho formed an expression that cried out "Heok!"

"Hyung-nim…. You don't like this place?"

"…..No, that's not it."

"Then, should I sign the lease contract, hyung-nim?"

"….Sure, why not."

Judging from the size of the place, the monthly rental must've been crazy steep, but when comparing to the potential revenue stream of a Guild, it'd be a chump change at the end of the day.

'I guess it'll be fine to let him dream a little bit longer.'

For now, Jin-Woo couldn't tell the kid that it'd be only the two of them sharing this huge office space.

"Ah!"

Yu Jin-Ho suddenly clapped his hands.

"By the way, hyung-nim. Who do you have in mind for the remaining spot?"

"….The remaining spot?"

Did he make a promise to open up a spot for someone?

Since Jin-Woo wasn't the type to forget his promises, he could only look at Yu Jin-Ho with a confused expression, prompting the latter to excitedly explain the situation.

"You need at least three people when creating a Guild, hyung-nim."

The Master, the Vice-Master, and an employee.

Indeed, that was the minimum required composition of a Guild's founding members. The rule of the minimum number for a team raiding the least dangerous Gate out there, a rank E, being three people seemed to be related to this, somehow.

'Well, you will never find a Guild wanting to clear a rank E Gate, though….'

The founding members, was it?

Several familiar faces fleeted in and out of Jin-Woo's head as he considered who could fill up the remaining vacant spot. The only condition being, they had to be Hunters, too. If it was at all possible, someone who didn't want to work as a Hunter ever again, and only there to make up the numbers.

'Why do I keep picturing women's faces….?'

He recalled the faces of the high school girl who decided to give up being a Hunter, as well as a certain female Healer who went back to her family home in the city of Busan, but they disappeared from his thoughts quickly enough. It was then.

"Ah, I almost forgot."

Yu Jin-Ho abruptly opened his mouth. Jin-Woo quickly asked him.

"Did you suddenly remember someone suitable for the spot, then?"

"No, it's not that, hyung-nim. Actually, there was someone looking for you."

"Me?"

"Yes, hyung-nim."

Jin-Woo couldn't help but get curious. Seeing that this unknown person had indirectly contacted him through Yu Jin-Ho, he or she must've done their thorough research.

'Yu Jin-Ho and I aren't known as associates publicly, after all.'

Indeed, if anything, others should see their relationship simply as one being the previous raid leader while the other being the member of that raid team.

'Even then, calling me through Yu Jin-Ho, is it?'

Jin-Woo's eyes narrowed to a slit just a little.

"Who was it?"

"I don't know, hyung-nim. That person was definitely an English-speaking foreigner. Hold on."

Yu Jin-Ho rummaged through his pockets, pulled out his wallet and extracted a piece of a memo from there.

"This person said that he'd be staying in Korea until the 17th, so he'd very much appreciate it if you give him a call, hyung-nim."

Jin-Woo took the memo and found a number for a mobile phone as well as a hotel room number. He took a look at the back of the memo, but nothing was written there.

'17th… that's three days from now.'

An English-speaking foreigner – just who could it be? He couldn't think of anyone he knew or fit the bill.

However, quite suddenly…

"….Looks like I'll have to go home first."

Jin-Woo's expression hardened.

"Pardon? You're going home already, hyung-nim?"

Yu Jin-Ho had been thinking of treating his hyung-nim to a delicious meal since it had been a long time they ate together. But now, he looked like a person who had lost his country. Perhaps a bit too callously, though, Jin-Woo didn't even try to understand his dongsaeng's feelings at all.

"I'm going ahead first."

Yu Jin-Ho quickly hid his disappointed expression and quickly bent down in a polite bow, as usual.

"Okay, have a safe trip, hyung…. nim?"

When he raised his head, Jin-Woo was already long gone.

It was now that time in the day when the inky-black darkness dwelt on the hidden alleyways.

A female college student named Eun Ji-Min was on her way back home; her heart was pounding like crazy at the moment, however.

'There's no way, right….?'

Because, there was a man busy following her.

She hoped that they were simply walking in the same direction, and that had to be the reason why his footsteps were continuing right behind her like that.

'I saw something like this on a message board.'

In a situation like this one, it wasn't only the woman, but the man would be feeling rather troubled, as well. A man's walking speed should be faster or similar to that of a woman; if he tried to walk past her, she'd freak out, but if he tried to simply stay behind her, then he'd come across even more suspicious, instead.

On top of that, by going around the corner up ahead, she'd find herself in a secluded street with a broken street lamp, which could potentially make things even more awkward for the parties involved.

Eun Ji-Min took a glance behind her.

A man with a baseball cap pulled down low and his face staring at the ground was quietly walking on the street. Although it was suspicious, it was not a crime to wear baseball caps like that in public.

'Instead of letting this awkward walk-together thing carry on, maybe I should….'

Eun Ji-Min stopped walking as if she needed to tie her shoelaces, and eventually, the man walked right past her.

"Whew…."

After confirming that the man was gone from her sight, Eun Ji-Min spat out a sigh of relief. She then gathered her hands in mock prayer and closed her eyes.

'I'm really sorry about that, mister unknown uncle.'

She looked around her vicinity for a bit longer before tidying up her clothes. With a smile on her face, Eun Ji-Min energetically began walking again.

She had a mountain of assignments to get through! If she were to prepare for the end-of-term exams, running back home now would still leave her with not enough time.

'How wide was the scope again?'

Thinking about how she'd have to spend the whole night studying, her shoulders slumped dejectedly. But, as Eun Ji-Min went around the corner, her eyes widened.

"You make a noise, I'll kill you."

The man who walked right by her seconds ago was standing in the street corner with a kitchen knife and an insidious smile on his face.

"You know that…. a few people had died here already, right?"

"Ah….."

Eun Ji-Min couldn't even scream. With a pale complexion, she stood there completely frozen.

The man lowered the white surgical mask on his face and grinned.

"Follow me."

Tick, tick…

There was no one around them; only the broken street light flickered listlessly.

Chapter 114: Chapter 114

"Ah…. S-someone, s-save me…"

Eun Ji-Min somehow managed to squeeze out her dried-up voice and took a couple of steps back.

No, that's what she tried to.

However, her feet didn't want to move. It was as if heavy iron ingots were attached to her ankles. She could only stand there frozen as her tears began streaming down her face.

Meanwhile, the man scanned his surroundings.

Since the girl didn't look like she'd be able to move, he was thinking of offing her here, right now. How fortunate that there was nobody around. Also, there wouldn't be a CCTV camera of the Big Brother installed in a secluded alleyway like this one, as well.

'That's why I love this neighbourhood, you know.'

The man formed an evil grin and thrust the knife at Eun Ji-Min's midriff.

But then, a hand shot out from the darkness and grabbed the knife.

"Uh??"

The man raised his head, only to find a strange youth standing there. Because of his hood, only the punk's chin was visible. But he possessed a pretty d*mn outstanding physique.

'Is he… wearing a glove or something?'

Not a drop of blood dripped down from the hand grasping the blade.

"Who the hell are you?!"

The serial killer tried to yank the knife out several times, but after realising that it wouldn't budge an inch, he quickly let go of the knife's grip and turned around. He rapidly escaped from the spot.

"What a strange son of a b*tch…."

The serial killer took a look behind several times and found that strange youth was following along, constantly scanning the surroundings while he was at it.

'What the hell is up with this b*stard…?'

The serial killer changed his direction and led the youth to a deserted vacant lot, the place he originally wanted to drag that woman to. If that punk was protecting his hand with something, then it'd be fine to attack him elsewhere.

When he arrived at the destination, the serial killer slowed down, and gradually shortened his distance to the strange punk that had been keeping pace with him until then. Once their gap closed to around a couple of feet or so….

"Hey punk, who the hell do you think you are?"

The serial killer spun around and stabbed the youth in the chest with an awl he'd been hiding under his jacket.

"Do I look like an easy mark to you?! Huh?"

Stab!

The hand pushing the awl into the youth's chest shook, hard.

'….What the hell could be this hard?!'

A stab-proof vest? Or something else underneath his shirt??

The serial killer quickly threw out a question.

"What the f*ck?! You wearing something under your clothes or something?"

If this guy was able to sense magical energy, then he wouldn't have asked such a stupid question. Too bad, the serial killer somehow failed to think of the word 'Hunter' even though his opponent didn't try to retaliate after that second sneak attack. Instead, a quiet voice leaked out from under the hood.

"I'm curious about something."

The voice naturally belonged to Jin-Woo. He discarded the kitchen knife of the serial killer to the ground.

"Why are you doing this?"

"What's the matter? You wish to reform me or something?"

"Nope. Just curious if you have a reason or not. That's all."

The serial killer snorted derisively. He thought that, what with this punk jumping out of nowhere to save that woman, and following him all the way out here, he was looking at some weirdo masquerading as an ally of justice or something. But now…

'This kid's just a bloody idiot, isn't he?'

Or maybe, this punk was the same type of madman as he was?

The serial killer thought that maybe he could get away from here unscathed if he used his gift of gab, so he readily humoured the youth.

"A reason, is it? Well, if I were to really think of one… because it's fun?"

"Fun?"

"For some reason, whenever I see someone weaker than me, I just wanna torment that….."

….Person.

The serial killer didn't get to finish what he wanted to say. Instead….

"Uwaaaahk?! Uwahk!!"

Instead, he fell to the ground clutching his left ankle where his tendon had been sliced apart. When he raised his head, he realised that Jin-Woo was holding the kitchen knife even before he had the time to notice it.

'But, didn't he throw that away? Just when….?'

It was right then, Jin-Woo's shape grew blurry again.

"Uwaaahk?!"

This time, it was his right ankle. The serial killer rolled around the ground in pain. Meanwhile, Jin-Woo leisurely rummaged through the serial killer's pockets now that the murdering b*stard wasn't going anywhere with his tendons cut in half. He soon found the killer's mobile phone and the wallet.

"You, you!! Who the hell are you, you son of a b*tch?!"

Jin-Woo ignored the venom-spewing serial killer and calmly dialled 119 to call for an ambulance. He then pulled out the ID card from the wallet to take a look.

Next, he placed the phone and the wallet back in the hands of the shivering serial killer and murmured quietly.

"Hand yourself over to the police before midnight tomorrow."

"What?!"

"….If you wish to keep breathing, that is."

He said all he wanted to say.

Jin-Woo got up from the spot and inserted one of his Shadow Soldiers inside the serial killer's shadow, before leaving a similar sounding order to that soldier.

'Although, I don't know how patient a High Orc's shadow can be, but….'

That soldier might not be good with patiently waiting around until the designated time, but well, carrying out the next part of the order should be the speciality of High Orcs.

"I'd prefer it if you keep living on."

The killer had to be alive if he were to repent for his sins for the rest of his life.

"J-just… what the hell are you?"

Jin-Woo left the serial killer shivering from pain and fear behind in the vacant lot. He could hear the sirens of an ambulance coming from afar.

He walked to a far enough location, and after confirming that there was no one nearby, he pulled his hood back.

"….Whew."

Thanks to the signal sent by the Shadow Soldier after discovering the serial killer, Jin-Woo was able to arrive just in time.

The 'Shadow Exchange'.

This skill was proving to be exceptionally convenient the more he used it.

'It's not the highest-ranked Rune Stone for nothing, is it?'

Jin-Woo formed a satisfied smile now that he got to experience the greatness of the Shadow Exchange once more in the last couple of days. He couldn't even begin to imagine just how much more useful this skill would get, once the skill level rose up high enough to sufficiently decrease the cooldown time.

And so, as he continued to walk back home…

'Mm?'

He abruptly raised his head to see that the moon was now in the middle of the night sky.

'Now that I think about it… it's already tomorrow.'

The Korea-Japan united assault team's raid. It was already here.

He wasn't even on the team, yet his heart was pounding this much in anticipation. So, what would the participating members be feeling right now?

Jin-Woo recalled the faces of the raid members he was acquainted with, and prayed for their safety as well as their success in the mission.

Late at night.

Goto Ryuji was still in the dojo inside the Japanese Hunter's Association.

In front of him, two men, and at his back, one other. He was surrounded by rank S Hunters, ostensibly the same rank as he was. Goto Ryuji took a deep breath, and just as his eyes flew open….

"Ta-ha-aht!!"

The Hunters biding their time powerfully pounced on him all at the same time. However….

Slam!

The ones to fall down were the three attacking Hunters.

"That was great!"

"As expected of Goto-san!"

"No one can measure up to your skills, sir."

The three Hunters lying on the wooden floor of the dojo dusted themselves off and stood back up. This was only possible because Goto Ryuji had held back his power. Without saying anything, he lowered his head slightly to imply that they all did a good job.

'As expected, there's no problem with my physical condition.'

No, if he were to frankly assess himself, then he was at peak condition right now. Just from imagining how he'd swallow up South Korea, it felt like his condition was getting better and better all by itself.

So, how come….?

Goto Ryuji continued to stare at the dojo, now empty that the three Hunters had left, as the memories of that day still lingered on in his mind.

Seong Jin-Woo.

Just what was he?

'...'

The more he thought back to that day, the more bitter he felt. Soon, though, Goto Ryuji shook his head.

'Well, it doesn't matter now.'

Regardless of all else, that man Seong Jin-Woo wasn't taking part in this raid. And the Association President's plan would unfold without any mishaps.

Once South Korea loses almost all of her rank S Hunters, its leadership would naturally fall into Japanese hands. By then, the complaints of the Japanese citizens demanding for the appropriate reparations from the Koreans would have been transformed into rousing cheers of fanfare, instead.

When that happened….

'What can Seong Jin-Woo do all by himself?'

Didn't matter whether Seong Jin-Woo was a genuinely powerful Hunter or he simply came across that way through Goto Ryuji's momentary delusion, the fact remained that, him not participating in tomorrow's raid was for the greater benefit of Japan.

There was nothing to bother him now. The decisive moment would come tomorrow.

Inside this still dojo bathed in the cold moonlight, Goto Ryuji formed a quiet smile to himself.

"We'll be in your care!"

The managing director of a certain TV station deeply bowed his head to the lone cameraman. Such a thing was completely unheard of. However, the cameraman standing in front of the director was no ordinary man; he was an active Hunter and a proud holder of a rank A licence.

"The future of my station depends on this raid."

In order to win the exclusive broadcasting rights, the director had to spend over half of the station's total annual budget. There had been simply too many competing bids, and that's why he had to go all in.

But, then again, there was a compelling reason why he simply had to make such a brave business decision.

Not many rank S Gates opened up around the world. Even when one did open, it was still impossible to take the recording equipment inside to capture the footage of what happened in there.

In other words, this would be the one and only opportunity for regular citizens to witness an actual rank S raid in progress. As long as there wasn't another unfortunate event of a rank S Gate opening up somewhere else, that was.

On top of this, this broadcast wouldn't be a recording, but shown live. Sure, there would be a ten-minute delay to the live feed, but still.

Just how high would the audience rating reach?

70 percent? 80?

When the managing director thought back to all the potential profit margin to be had from selling the footage to the TV networks in other countries, he no longer felt regret in investing half of the station's budget in this venture.

'….As long as the raid doesn't end in failure!'

Indeed, no sane-minded viewer out there would ever want to watch the top-ranked Hunters get devoured by the monsters during the raid. No, even if there were, he couldn't let such footage be broadcast to the public, to begin with.

So, the director had staked everything he had on the success of the fourth subjugation operation.

Considering that, bowing his head several times to the cameraman tasked with capturing the all-too-important footage was indeed, nothing.

Heck, if the cameraman wished for it, the director was prepared to prostrate on the floor, even.

"Please don't worry too much, director."

The cameraman did his best to calm the shivering managing director down from his high anxiety level.

Even before he became a Hunter, he made his living as a cameraman. And after agreeing to take on this job, he made sure to study and polish his skills of wielding the camera even further.

Obviously, he didn't want to spoil the broadcast that the entire nation would be watching through some stupid mistake on his part. Of course, he'd get paid quite a big reward in return, too.

'He's going to give me a portion of the profit earned from the broadcast, after all.'

The cameraman had already earned plenty from being a rank A Hunter, but the offered amount was so high that it really excited him to no end.

If the operation ends in success, then he'd be able to earn an enormous amount of money and fame, perhaps as much as the rank S Hunters actually participating in the raid.

Wouldn't he become quite possibly the most famous rank A Hunter in South Korea?

A smile formed on the cameraman's face as all sorts of wonderful thoughts of the future bloomed in his head.

"By the way, I'm surprised that the Association President Goh Gun-Hui actually gave his permission to film this raid. I mean, that hard-headed man wouldn't have allowed it simply for the sake of money, so…."

The station's director nodded his head at the cameraman's puzzled question.

"He said that the fee we paid will be split equally among all the Hunters participating today, actually."

"Oh? In that case, why….?"

Why did he permit the filming of the raid?

The director cautiously voiced his educated guess.

"I think….. I think, perhaps he wishes to console the hearts of the citizens."

The Korean Hunter's Association had to swallow the bitter pill of defeat three times at the hands of the ant monsters. Because of the continuous failure, the Association had to suffer great losses, which in turn also led to the loss of the public's trust. Meanwhile, the citizens felt increasingly powerless as the thought of these ant monsters being invincible took root in their hearts.

As the atmosphere of the nation festered like that, a chance to reverse this whole thing had suddenly landed on their laps.

'You can tell how the public is responding by taking a quick look at the internet forums.'

The Association President wanted to take a step further than that. He wanted to capture the moment of victory and broadcast it live to the citizens.

His grim and perhaps desperate resolution to not fail could be gleamed from this decision.

The cameraman nodded his head after hearing the managing director's explanation. He took a look at his wristwatch before standing up with a determined expression on his face.

"It's time already. I'll be on my way now, sir."

The managing director once more bowed deeply to the cameraman.

"We leave everything to you, Hunter-nim!!"

Hunters began boarding the helicopter, as the spinning rotors issued deafening noises above their heads.

"…"

"…"

The constantly-smiling Mah Dong-Wook, the always-confident Choi Jong-In, and even Baek Yun-Ho famed for his positive personality, were all wearing sombre expressions.

The cameraman checked his recording equipment for the last time. The camera itself was designed to be fitted around the head so it should not impinge on his movement by much.

'I wouldn't have agreed to come if the camera was bulky and made it impossible to move.'

The place their helicopter was heading off to was perhaps the most dangerous place in the whole of South Korea – no, maybe, even the world. Thinking about their destination, the cameraman could only swallow his saliva down in nervousness.

No matter how hard he tried to stay calm, there was nothing he could do about the nervous tension slowly mushrooming in his heart. It was the same story for the rank S Hunters, as well.

In order to dispel the tension in the air, Baek Yun-Ho started talking to his 'dongsaeng', the one he was closest to.

"Hey, Byung-Gu. I really didn't expect you to show up here today."

Min Byung-Gu grinned in response.

"I thought that, without me healing you, hyung would be the first one to get killed today. I mean, you always jump on a monster whenever you see one, you know."

"What the hell. Why do you have talk like that? Since when did I ever 'jump' on monsters??"

Other Hunters began giggling after hearing the two men chat.

Min Byung-Gu was the sole rank S Healer in South Korea. All members of the raid team were greatly relieved and happy to hear that he was coming out of retirement especially to participate in this operation.

There was a big difference in whether there was a Healer or not in a raid. After all, one would be able to fight harder without worrying about getting hurt when there was one.

As the tense atmosphere frozen stiff in nervousness gradually relaxed through Baek Yun-Ho and Min Byung-Gu's conversation, Cha Hae-In sitting next to the former quietly asked a question.

"Chairman Baek. By any chance, have you spoken to Mister Seong Jin-Woo before coming here today?"

"Mister Seong Jin-Woo?"

"Yes."

Baek Yun-Ho shook his head.

"No, I haven't. But, why do you ask?"

"Ah…. It's nothing important, actually. I guess I've made a mistake."

It was then.

Mah Dong-Wook broke out in genial laughter.

"Huhuh. Looks like it's finally starting."

The gazes of the Hunters present followed the direction he was pointing at. Through the window of the helicopter, they could see the darkened island that had become the land of monsters.