135 - 139

Chapter 135: Chapter 135

Beru was the first to make his move. His Sovereign had given him only one order.

'Defeat the enemy without harming her.'

Beru once stood at the peak of his species, and he knew what the best method to perfectly fulfil that order was. And that would be this: Make the opponent lose her will to fight by imprinting the clear gap in power between them in her mind.

Paht!

Beru disappeared from Cha Hae-In's view the moment he moved, before reappearing right in front of her nose even before she had the chance to realise it.

"…!!"

Cha Hae-In's animal-like instinct kicked in even as the astonishment at Beru's speed nearly overwhelmed her, and she swung her sword at her opponent. She followed that up with dozens more.

However, Beru stood in the spot and evaded all of her attacks without taking a single step.

It was a precise movement that eliminated all necessary motion. He was so bloody quick that afterimages were left behind in his wake. This was the display of an unbridgeable gap in their power levels.

'This is impossible!'

Cha Hae-In's eyes shook hard every time she missed.

'It can dodge all my attacks at such a close distance without moving its legs once?'

Just one more time!

She took aim at the neck of her opponent and took a swing, but the creature lightly evaded it by leaning back slightly. No matter where she attacked from, or how she changed her attacks, her opponent easily dodged them all.

'How can this be….?!'

This thing wasn't even alive anymore. This thing was a summon borrowing the powers of the dead monster, so how could it still be this strong?

And also….

'Mister Seong Jin-Woo, who can freely control such a summon, just what…..'

Cha Hae-In's movements became a tad dull from the vague fear invading her, and Beru seized upon this opportunity to smack her incoming sword away with the back of his hand. And then, pressed his face closer to hers.

Cha Hae-In froze up on the spot as the stench of death blew right into her face.

'This is the end.'

She inadvertently gasped out the moment those huge mandibles filled up her view.

"Ah!"

However, the creature didn't crush her head by snapping shut its maws but instead, chose to screech out loudly right in front of her face.

"Kiiiieeeeehhhk!!"

She was knocked away ungainly from the screech containing his magical energy.

"Kyahk!"

Jin-Woo grimaced while watching that. Indeed, there was no way he'd start enjoying the sight of someone else getting knocked around one-sidedly like this.

However, she stood back up again and fixed the grip on the sword as if to show that she wasn't giving up at all. Jin-Woo tilted his head.

'What is she trying to do?'

The Cha Hae-In he knew wasn't a low-class Hunter who didn't want to accept the difference between her and her opponent even after confirming the truth with her own eyes.

'And she's definitely not reckless enough to keep attacking when she knows of the gap, too.'

In that case, could she still be in possession of one more card up her sleeve?

'Whatever it is, I hope she's not making an incorrect call.'

Jin-Woo was mentally linked with Beru, so he could feel how much his soldier was suppressing its killing intent at the moment. On the other hand, Cha Ha-In's will remained unyielding, even though she found herself in an absolutely disadvantageous position.

He was getting a bad premonition here. Jin-Woo's expression became even more serious as he watched the two of them.

'…..?'

On the hand, Beru had failed to understand Cha Ha-In's decision.

He had displayed their overwhelming gap in power several times by now. So, why hadn't she stop her challenges yet?

The former king of ants, a being who lorded over others at the apex of the food chain, was beginning to get displeased by the human female's stubbornness. The basis of his anger stemmed from the past memory of him being a ruler.

'How dare…..'

The moment Beru made up his mind, he arrived before Cha Hae-In in the blink of an eye. He then pressed his face closer to glare straight into her eyes.

Any lifeform still breathing would've immediately realised who was the predator and the prey in this situation just from their gazes meeting like this. It would be a warning from one's primal instinct.

Beru planned to awaken that instinct of his opponent and make her lose her will to fight in that manner, but unfortunately, his ploy wasn't as effective as he thought.

Just as Jin-Woo had predicted, Cha Hae-In still held one last trump card to fall back on.

The skill, 'Sword Dance', one she was most proficient in wielding. Her movements sped up as if she was performing a deadly dance, and the tip of her sword drew splendid arcs in the air.

Paht! Paht! Paht!

Too bad….

Beru used his claws to easily defend against all those smoothly flowing attacks that had no interruptions in between. At the end of the barrage, his expression crumpled unsightly.

'No more playing around.'

Beru snatched the sword flying at him with his bare hand and crushed it.

Kwajeeck!!

She only had half a sword left, but rather than falling into despair, her glare became icy cold, instead.

'I have only one last chance!'

Every single drop of magic energy in her was poured into the broken sword to activate her skill, 'Blade of Light'.

The magic energy expenditure for this skill was far too great and she could only use it as the final hurrah. And for the first time during this fight, she revealed it in its full glory.

The blade of light shone brilliantly.

Beru had lowered his guard for a moment after breaking her sword, and she used that opening to jump into his front and stabbed the blade of light forward.

Jin-Woo's eyes widened.

'Nooo!'

Of course, he wasn't worried about Beru. Utterly disregarding his worries, the blade glowing in golden light pierced deeply into Beru's tummy.

"Kiiieehhk-!!"

In that brief moment, Beru's mind spun quickly.

'This woman is an enemy.'

It'd not be a problem for him to die. However, if he fell here, then this woman's sword would point towards his Sovereign next.

It was then.

An instinct buried deep within all Shadow Soldiers' psyche, one designed to activate in times of great distress and override everything else, wiggled back into life.

"Protect the Sovereign!"

In that moment, inside of Beru's head blanked out into a 'reset' state and the order Jin-Woo gave him, 'defeat the enemy without harming her' was wiped away completely.

Beru transformed into a terrifying monster in order to protect Jin-Woo. His body ballooned up to a giant proportions. His mandibles split wide open as if he was getting ready to chew on steel, and finally, his claws extended out to resemble a group of sharp blades!

"Stop!!"

Beru finished getting ready to rip apart his owner's enemy, and swung all ten of his claws and their sharp edges at his target.

Swish-!!

Just before all ten blades reached Cha Hae-In….

Grab!

Jin-Woo managed to make it just in time.

"….I told you to stop, didn't I?"

Jin-Woo stopped both sets of Beru's claws with his bare hands and began glaring at his soldier. Beru met that enraged glare and began shuddering. He quickly leapt back and, while not even bothering to pull that sword of light from his midriff, prostrated flat on the ground and begged for forgiveness.

"Oh, oh my king. Mercy….."

Jin-Woo knew what this guy was thinking of the moment he was about to act. Hell, the singular thought of 'Protect the Sovereign' was ringing really loud inside his head, too.

'.....'

Jin-Woo glared at Beru for a little while, before shifting his gaze away.

Plop.

Cha Hae-In was completely spent and, unable to stand any longer, plopped down to the ground. She knew that she just came face to face with death again during that brief moment.

"Are you alright?"

Jin-Woo walked closer. She was trying to push herself back up, but gave up in the end and, while keeping her gaze rooted to the floor, nodded her head.

"I am fine."

'Fine, my foot.'

Jin-Woo supported her up and asked.

"Why were you pushing yourself that hard? I mean, you shouldn't have any reasons to enter my Guild while putting yourself through a wringer like this, right?"

"….."

Indeed, this was supposed to be a simple test. More than that, this was a 'test' he cooked up to reject her tactfully. But, to think, she'd be this obsessed about winning, even to the extent of using such a dangerous skill, too.

This couldn't be chalked up to her desire to win at all costs. That was why….

"Could it be….."

��.Jin-Woo cautiously asked her, so as to not damage her ego.

"Are you perhaps interested in me?"

"Excuse me??"

Cha Hae-In got flustered and formed a dazed expression of someone getting hit in the back of her head. Jin-Woo tilted his head.

'That wasn't it, either?'

But then, Cha Hae-In carefully reorganised her thoughts and corrected her answer.

"….Yes, I think so."

Within the United States' Hunter Bureau.

The director was feeling rather unhappy after receiving the news of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's recruitment ending in failure. Instead of getting a report, he summoned the deputy director to the conference chamber.

The deputy director brought Madam Selner with him.

"Explain what happened back there."

The director asked even before they had the chance to sit down. This was the first time since the founding of the Hunter Bureau that their scouting offer, accompanied by Madam Selner no less, had been rejected by the subject.

The deputy stood up with a darkened expression and lowered his head.

"I'm truly sorry, sir."

"I didn't call you here for your apologies, Michael."

The director pressed a certain button, and all the glass walls were covered up and the exit was locked tight. The interior had become perfectly soundproof.

In order to prevent the leakage of information, all matters pertaining to Madam Selner were never discussed over the phone or through emails. That was why the director was still unaware of what went down in South Korea until now.

"Now, please explain to me what happened."

The deputy director glanced at Madam Selner for a moment or two. She slowly nodded her head, and only then did the deputy open his tightly-shut lips once more.

"Madam Selner was able to 'observe' Hunter Seong Jin-Woo."

"What was the result?"

The director knew how her power operated, so the result of her 'observation' was as important as the result of the 'recruitment' itself.

"Hunter Seong Jin-Woo is…."

The deputy licked his dried-up lips from tension and continued on.

"….Is apparently one of the 'kings'."

"What?!"

The director jumped up from his seat.

Of all the powerful Hunters she had met over the years, she described only three people as 'kings'. And all three of them were powerful enough to shake the world by the scruff of its neck, too.

Quite literally, they were the zenith of Hunters! And the man named Seong Jin-Woo had to be included in that list now, as well.

The director shifted his gaze over to Madam Selner and asked her.

"Does that mean Hunter Seong Jin-Woo possesses the level of power equal to other Special Authority-rank Hunters?"

Strangely enough, she promptly shook her head.

"Excuse me?"

Frowns formed on the director's forehead.

The deputy could amply understand how his boss must be feeling right about now. He, too, had displayed a similar reaction back when he heard the exact same answer, after all.

Madam Selner let out a long sigh.

"Looks like… I'll have to explain myself a little."

Her talk began from those words.

"First of all…. I'll assume that both of you know just what kind of an ability I possess."

The director and his deputy both nodded their heads simultaneously. The former spoke first.

"You said that the Awakened are people connected to the powers of the 'other side'."

By staring into the eyes of the Awakened, Madam Selner could sense the 'passageway' connecting said Awakened to the other side.

However, she said that there were certain Awakened who were receiving so much incredible power from the 'other side' that it ends up resembling a blinding flood of light, instead.

These were precisely the 'kings' she talked about.

"So, what is different about Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, then?"

"He doesn't have a passageway."

Madam shivered in fear again.

"When I looked into his eyes, the darkness within him was staring back at me. Oh, my god. He was the darkness itself."

The deputy director refuted this immediately.

"But, he has helped out a lot of people during his tenure as a Hunter, and I can't see him as someone as evil as you describe him to be…."

If Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was indeed a vicious, evil individual, he'd have immediately killed the two agents who pointed guns at him where they stood. However, he just let that slide without caring too much about it.

Madam shook her head.

"I wasn't talking about whether Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was a good or evil man, deputy director."

The light shining in her eyes was determined.

"No, I'm talking about the origin of his power."

The director had been listening to her with his hands pressed below his chin until then, but he finally raised his voice.

"There's no mistaking that he's a powerful Hunter, yes?"

Madam nodded her head.

"Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, he's not borrowing someone else's power. He only relies on the power residing within him, so he's not restricted by the passageway. Which means….."

"There's no limit to his power….."

The deputy director muttered absently before breaking into an abrupt shudder. He couldn't even begin to imagine how absurd the level of power gushing out without any limit could potentially be.

The director fell into a deep thought after he heard both of his guests. And a short while later, he nodded his head, evidently having made his mind up over something.

"Madam, thank you for your hard work."

After seeing Madam Selner off, the director headed down to the underground floors of the Hunter Bureau with his deputy in tow.

"Director, where are we going?"

"Ninth basement floor."

"Isn't that where we store old records?"

"We have something else secured there besides the records."

The director watched as the number on the elevator's display panel steadily decrease and continued on.

"If we can't rely on Madam Selner's power, then we should use a different method to bring him in."

That man was still so young. And he possessed unfathomable power.

If Hunter Seong Jin-Woo indeed possessed incredible power just as Madam Selner had eluded to, then it no longer mattered whether that was the power of light or the power of darkness.

A knife you picked up to protect yourself would look like a deadly weapon from someone else's perspective. And the director wanted to possess the knife called Seong Jin-Woo.

They arrived at their destination, and while unlocking a series of electronic door locks, steadily walked deeper into the ninth underground floor. A few Bureau agents greeted them as they walked past, but the director didn't even spare a single glance.

"Do you still recall the very first rank S Gate ever to appear?"

"Of course."

How could anyone forget the worst dungeon break in history that destroyed a portion of the Western United States?

The American government summoned in the world's most powerful Hunters with an unbelievably huge amount of reward on offer, and eventually, they succeeded in killing the boss-level monster that emerged from that rank S Gate.

However, only five survived that encounter. Meaning, just a single monster managed to kill dozens of the best Hunters out there. Without their sacrifice, the nation of the United States of America might have ceased to exist altogether.

That was why the American government bestowed the five remaining saviours the rights equalling that of the country itself, and that's where the term 'Special Authority-rank' originated from.

The director mouthed the name of the monster that brought upon one of the worst tragedies in the history of mankind.

"Kamish the Dragon…."

Didn't the Mage-type Hunters say that 'Kamish' meant an undying flame?

They entered the deepest room on the floor, and the director opened the safe found in there. And that's when a single Rune Stone, under a heavy guard and being monitored constantly, revealed itself.

The deputy director flinched in surprise.

"In that case, could that thing be….?"

"Your guess is correct."

The director placed his hand on top of the reinforced glass shielding the Rune Stone and formed a smile.

"This Rune Stone came out from that Kamish's corpse."

Two of the Special Authority-rank Hunters settled down in the US after the end of the Kamish raid. In a way, they were the gifts that Kamish managed to deliver to the US.

To avoid another calamity like this, the Americans established the Hunter Bureau and focused all their might on improving the strengths of the Hunters. Around eight years passed by since then.

Simply because no Mage-type Hunters were among the surviving Special Authority-rank Hunters, Kamish's Rune Stone was tucked away in this cold underground storage beneath the Hunter Bureau, waiting for a new owner to come along.

The director formed a meaningful smile as he peered into the glass case.

"Kamish will present us with yet another invaluable gift to our beautiful country very soon."

Chapter 136: Chapter 136

"Hyung-nim, I heard that it might be difficult for us to get the permit for the Gate that appeared yesterday."

The first thing that the chairman of the Knight Order Guild, Park Jong-Su, did after arriving for work was to harden his expression.

"What was that?"

The Vice-Chair Jeong Yun-Tae hurriedly explained himself.

"The result from the Association folks measuring that thing apparently came out higher than they expected."

"What, it's a rank S?!"

"No, not that. They say it's a rank A, but right at the top of the scale."

"Gimme a freaking break, man. Really now."

If it was a rank S Gate, then they could have given up on it without hesitation. The Knight Order Guild didn't have a single rank S Hunter in their midst, so it wouldn't make much sense for them to attempt clearing a rank S Gate, after all.

Just like back in the Jeju Island raid, the Association would have to summon every rank S Hunters in the country just to deal with such a Gate.

However, the story would change drastically if the magic energy emission measurement came out to be rank 'A'. The Knight Order Guild would be ridiculed for being unable to deal with a rank A Gate, even though they were supposed to be one of the five major Guilds in South Korea.

Their already thinning presence could become even more invisible at this rate.

"Hyung-nim, what will you do?"

"Not sure yet."

"If we don't get involved, then the folks from the Shining Star would definitely show up…."

The Shining Star Guild from the district of Honam. Fine blood vessels bulged within Park Jong-Su's eyes when he heard that name.

"You want to gift that big Gate hovering right in front of our house to the hands of Mah Dong-Wook?!"

"No, I'm just saying, hyung-nim."

"I won't let that happen, even over my dead body."

"Then, you wanna take it on, hyung-nim?"

The previously-agitated Park Jong-Su suddenly closed his mouth shut.

His reaction was obvious, though. Just one word from him would decide the fate of not just him, but the rest of the raid team members, as well. Even if he was agitated, he shouldn't mutter whatever he felt like.

A migraine crept into Park Jong-Su's head.

'The rank A Hunters in my Guild can stand toe to toe with the rank As from other large Guilds.'

No, if one were to consider the number or the overall quality of the rank As in the Knight Order's roster, then his outfit easily equalled the best Guild in South Korea, the Hunters.

The only issue was to do with the lack of rank S Hunters.

Because they didn't have any rank S Hunters in their roster, the Knight Order was in real danger of being kicked out of the so-called five major Guild of South Korea.

For the same reason, the elites of Knight Order were more than good enough to deal with regular rank A Gates. However, if it was a Gate measured to be at the top end of the rank A spectrum, then as they didn't have a rank S Hunter, the Knight Order had to risk the lives of their raid team members when attempting to clear it.

Even though it was rated nominally at rank A, the difficulty of clearing such a dungeon would be a lot closer to a rank S in reality. The Hunter's Association also knew of the dangers, and that was why they hadn't decided on whether to issue the raid permit or not to the Knight Order.

'.....'

As Park Jong-Su's silent deliberation grew lengthier, Jeong Yun-Tae cautiously voiced his opinion to his boss.

"Hyung-nim. If that thing turns out to be a Red Gate, then we'll all die for sure."

"I'm sure we will."

It was already tough trying to deal with the highest-rated rank A Gate, but if it were to morph into a dang Red Gate? Even thinking about that horrified him.

If lady luck was on their side, half of the team would survive. If not, the whole of the raid team, including himself, would perish inside the dungeon.

'If I think about it objectively, then I should give up on this one.'

But then again, he should consider the fate of the Knight Order as good as finished if the story of them giving up on a rank A Gate gets around. Just which newbie would want to join a Guild that didn't have a single rank S Hunter, and couldn't even deal with a rank A Gate?

"In that case, hyung-nim, how about forming an alliance with another Guild?"

Park Jong-Su shook his head.

"Who'd wanna form an alliance with us when they already know we can't go at it alone and need help?"

Especially when they monopolise everything a rank A Gate could offer if the Knight Order was removed from the picture altogether? And, even if they formed an alliance, it'd prove to be problematic, still.

'It's the same as us walking around advertising our incompetence.'

Deep frowns of worry drew upon their faces. It was then.

"If allying with another Guild is a problem, then how about working with a freelancer?"

The two men's heads snapped in unison towards the direction of the woman's voice, coming from their side. It was from the rank A Healer charged with mending the elite raid team, Jeong Ye-Rim.

A Healer was given a lot of say in the matters of a raid. And if that Healer just so happened to be a rank A possessing various skills, then there was no need to even mention that.

However, as the fate of the Knight Order Guild was hanging in the balance here, Park Jong-Su couldn't easily hide his troubled expression.

"We want to go inside the hardest rank A Gate, so how could a single freelancer help…"

But then, Park Jong-Su stopped his words right there.

'Ah!!'

Because, he just remembered a certain someone in the middle of his own speech. A man capable of sweeping away rank S monsters all alone, never mind rank As!

Unable to suppress his excitement anymore, Park Jong-Su shot up from his seat.

'If Mister Seong Jin-Woo joins us, then….!'

That man easily brushed off a monster that the combined might of the Korean rank S Hunters couldn't do anything about. If he chose to participate, then the safety of the raid team members was as good as 100% guaranteed. And, was that all?

They could also avoid the ignominy of having to borrow another Guild's power to clear a rank A Gate, too.

'On the contrary, the fame of the Knight Order would increase, instead.'

Allying with the best Hunter in the country to complete a raid would not negatively affect the Guild in any shape or form.

The guaranteed safety of the team members, as well as a boost to the honour of the Knight Order Guild itself – this was a wonderful way to catch two birds with one stone.

Feeling really excited now, Park Jong-Su spoke with an eager voice.

"What is Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim doing right now?"

Both Jeong Ye-Rim, who originally came up with the idea, and Jeong Yun-Tae quietly listening from the side, shook their heads.

"Since he cleared the Gate appearing in the middle of the road not too long ago, he's gone pretty quiet nowadays."

Jeong Yun-Tae recalled seeing Seong Jin-Woo on one of the TV news broadcasts recently, and pulled his phone out.

"Should I find out the contact number for Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim, hyung-nim?"

"No, don't bother. Put your phone down."

"Eh?"

"Do you think you should try to solve something this important over a phone call? No, we gotta meet up with him and discuss it face to face."

"Aha!"

Jeong Yun-Tae agreed with that opinion immediately, and Park Jong-Su continued on with a smile.

"Let's go up north."

That evening.

Cha Hae-In was lying on her bed with sheets pulled right up over her head. But she was writhing around in great distress at the moment.

'Why did I go and say, I think so?! Just why!!'

Wasn't that the exact same thing as confessing?!

She wildly kicked the sheets away, and finally stopped moving only after a thought popped up into her head out of the blue.

'Then…..'

How was she to decipher Mister Seong Jin-Woo's reply, then?

["In that case, isn't there a better way than to join my Guild?"]

She wanted to quickly escape from that situation and told him that she'd think about it before leaving in a hurry, but simply from recalling that moment caused such distress that her thought process ground to a complete halt almost immediately.

Blush.

Her face blushed from the memories she remembered yet again.

Back when she looked into the maddened eyes of the enlarged summoned creature, she predicted her unavoidable death. She felt absolute terror. This was the fate of the prey.

Cha Hae-In even squeezed her eyes shut as ten claws descended upon her from both sides. But, then….

She felt the warmth coming from her back. At the same time, a familiar scent gently wrapped all around her.

'Ah….'

Cha Hae-In cautiously opened her eyes and looked behind her. And she found Jin-Woo standing there, busy glaring with angry eyes at the summoned creature while stopping the claws with his bare hands.

It was true that her heart skipped a beat in that moment.

But then….

["Are you perhaps interested in me?"]

Wasn't it patently unfair to ask a question like that in that sort of a situation?!

'No, wait.'

Cha Hae-In shook her head hard as if to shake off all the distracting thoughts. Even if he asked her like that, she shouldn't have answered him truthfully.

'He might start seeing me as a strange person, after all.'

Even though she knew she shouldn't, her lips parted on their own.

Maybe because her mind felt more relaxed when she was around Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, she ended up revealing a side to him that she always kept hidden. It was as if she wasn't herself anymore.

'….As if I wasn't myself?'

Those words sounded rather familiar for some reason.

Where could it have been from? She could vaguely remember hearing a similar expression from somewhere.

It was then – a piece of memory once erased from her mind brushed past her brain.

….Please, pass it on.

Cha Hae-In quickly bolted upright.

'…..!!'

She finally recalled that voice, a voice that seemed to slowly fade away to the other side, just like a waking dream. Even though it couldn't have been that long ago.

….Please, pass this message on.

'I, I….'

Cha Hae-In did her very best to remember the contents of the voice as well as the owner of it. The full scope of the memory, blurry and indistinct as if a thick veil of fog was covering it, slowly regained its former glory.

….Please, pass on the message that he needs to be wary.

'….I met with Hunter Min Byung-Gu.'

Back when she lost her consciousness and was being dragged into the endless void, Hunter Min Byung-Gu appeared out of nowhere and pulled her back by her wrist. She felt momentarily displeased from her peaceful rest being interrupted back then.

She remembered being puzzled by the black armour covering the entirety of Hunter Min Byung-Gu. Only his face was visible outwardly.

Even that face seemed quite sad for some reason, which was unlike his usual self.

As the memories of those moments slowly crept back into her mind, Cha Hae-In felt a chill run down her spine.

Hunter Min Byung-Gu spoke to her, his expression barely holding back his tears.

To Hunter Seong Jin-Woo….

'To Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, what….?'

Please pass on the message that he needs to be wary of the power he possesses.

After ending the shower, Jin-Woo stood before the bathroom window.

'Hmm….'

He sure looked okay from where he was standing, but….

But, to think that he was so good looking that a beauty like Cha Hae-In felt enough interest to try switching Guilds!

'Am I really that good looking?'

Jin-Woo peered deeper into the mirror. And a smirk leaked out of his mouth. He wasn't planning to drown in narcissism even if no one told him to.

He was confident of only one thing about himself, and that would be….

….That would be his taut muscles, getting progressively firmer through repeated daily quest routines, as well as his height that suddenly grew up much higher than before, probably due to the influence of the System. That was about it. Meaning, all he had was his body and not much else.

As for his face…. Well, minus his sharper than normal eyes, wouldn't it be on the level of an average man commonly seen on the streets?

It was at this point that he noticed something.

'Hold on.'

Jin-Woo's expression became serious as he stared into the mirror. He leaned his head slightly to the side, and took an even closer look than before. The Jin-Woo of the mirror's reflection and the Jin-Woo of reality stared at each other for a long while.

'Uh?'

A strange light flickered in Jin-Woo's eyes. His gaze swept all over his face. And as he thought…

He really did change.

Those small scars, spots and nicks that couldn't be seen normally and needed to be looked at really close, had all disappeared from his face even before he had time to notice it.

'Is this because of the 'Will to Recover' buff?'

One of the buff effects he got as the reward for becoming a Player said that 'all his damaged body parts would be recovered back to their original state'.

This buff even managed to regenerate the leg that got cut off by one of the stone statues, too. So, it wouldn't be so strange for those little skin damages to be healed completely, as well. However, what really came across as mystifying was….

'….I think I've actually grown younger?'

He was originally in the middle of his twenties. But the him in the mirror looked two, three years younger, in his early twenties. Now that was a surprising thing.

The magical energy apparently could delay the ageing process of the Awakened to a certain degree, so could this be a similar effect to that?

'Gimme a break….'

Jin-Woo thought that it was a funny notion for a grown man to stare at himself in the mirror like this, so he decided to leave the bathroom. With excellent timing, his younger sister also emerged from her bedroom, and the siblings got to have a brief reunion in the living room.

Jin-Woo grinned and called out to Jin-Ah.

"Hey, sis?"

"Ng?"

"How do I look to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, my appeal as a man."

"Huh??"

Jin-Ah furrowed her brows.

"And where did you find your baseless confidence from? Because, you're still the same stay-at-home oppa in my eyes, you know?"

"Alright, thanks for that."

Jin-Woo grinned and pinched her cheek lightly, and she too threw a rather sharp kick to his shin as a retaliation. Of course, the one jumping around in pain was Jin-Ah.

"You forgot what kind of a person your oppa was? Can you even study properly with that head of yours?"

"What was that?"

Jin-Ah pouted and narrowed her eyes at him.

"I was ranked first place in the mock test in the entire school, I'll have you know."

Jin-Woo really enjoyed his sister's reaction and had a hard time swallowing back his laughter.

One of the best things about having your family around was that, even if you changed, they still treated you the same with exactly the same attitude as before.

Jin-Woo used the towel to rub his wet hair and walked past Jin-Ah.

"Work hard."

"You too, oppa."

Just before he slipped into his room, though, he remembered something and looked behind him.

"Ah, right. I'm thinking of creating a Guild soon."

"Ohhh!"

Jin-Ah's expression brightly and her eyes sparkled brilliantly as well.

"Oppa, are you going to be called a 'chairman' from now on, too?"

"If it all works out."

"What's the name of the Guild?"

"That's what I wanted to hear your opinion on."

"Oh! What is it? What is it??"

Jin-Woo cautiously asked his little sister busy looking at him with eyes full of expectations.

"What do you think of 'Solo Play' Guild?"

Chapter 137: Chapter 137

"HUH?"

The answer sounded the same but its 'nuance' was rather a lot different than the one that came before. If she was kidding around just now, then she was dead serious this time.

"What's wrong? You think it's weird?"

"…..Oppa, why are you naming your Guild like that?"

"Because I like moving around solo."

"It does sound like you, but still, isn't it a bit strange to name your Guild like that?"

"Why?"

"Isn't your ability summoning out those black-armoured soldiers?"

"Yeah."

"So, if you get technical about it, you aren't fighting alone, right?"

Now that he heard her opinion, that made some sense. Jin-Woo nodded his head.

'I may think of it as just another one of my skills but it won't look that way to other people, is that it?'

Indeed, she had a point there.

This Guild might end up accompanying him for the rest of his life, so he wanted to give it a name that best represented who he was. And that's why he went with 'Solo Play', but now….

'If the true meaning doesn't come across all that well, it'll be useless.'

What could be another term that could describe him the best?

Jin-Woo asked his sister's opinion again.

"How about 'Ah-Jin' Guild?"

"Ahjin?"

Jin-Ah mouthed the name for a bit, before asking him back with a smile.

"I kinda like it, cuz it sounds like my name but flipped around. But, what does it even mean?"

"Ah (我) means 'myself' and Jin (進) means 'moving forward'."

Meaning, only he could tread on this road. And it was a name he wanted to give to the Guild that would grow alongside him.

"Combine them together, and you get the meaning of 'I shall progress forward'. That's Ah-Jin (我進)."

"Ohh…"

Jin-Ah came up with the best praise she could think of.

"You know, that doesn't sound bad at all."

***

Next day.

Jin-Woo went to the office armed with the new Guild name.

"Hey. It's about the Guild's name…."

Yu Jin-Ho had been in the office since early morning, working. When he heard the new name from Jin-Woo, a brilliant smile formed on his face.

"That is an excellent name, hyung-nim!!"

Didn't they say that a swan floating elegantly on water was kicking furiously under the surface? Yu Jin-Ho had been feeling as desperate as that old saying.

'Whatever it is, everything will be fine as long as it's not Solo Play.'

He imagined 'it' so, so many times already. And that would be him introducing himself as 'Hello, I'm Yu Jin-Ho, Vice-Chairman of the Solo Play Guild'.

That seriously tormented him.

He couldn't be sure of why, but a corner of his heart ached every time he imagined himself saying those words. However, how could he dare to rebel against a name that hyung-nim had worked so hard to come up with?

He resigned himself to that fate but then, a heaven-sent opportunity came knocking in his way!

"Hyung-nim, let's go with that as our Guild's name!"

Jin-Woo made his decision after receiving his partner's genuine consent this time.

"Okay, so we decided on the Guild's name, finally."

Yu Jin-Ho began crying out in elation inwardly after hearing Jin-Woo make that declaration. Meanwhile, the latter rubbed his chin and muttered out.

"The remaining issue is the last founding member slot, isn't it?"

"Oh, that. Hyung-nim?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened to Cha Hae-In Hunter-nim yesterday?"

"I don't think it'll work out with Hunter Cha. She's not exactly who I've been looking for."

'Keok?!'

Yu Jin-Ho hastily swallowed a shocked gasp. He expected his hyung-nim to hold a high standard, but to think that he'd not be satisfied with a Hunter on Cha Hae-In's level!

Hunter Cha Hae-In was a rank S, she was still very young, her records were excellent, and to top them all off, she was beautiful as well. No matter from which angle, she was pretty much perfect. At least, from the perspective of an 'average' joe, that was.

However, would the word 'average' even apply to his hyung-nim?

'I mean, he almost swept away all the rank S monsters by himself in the first public raid he participated in as a rank S, after all.'

It'd be oh-so-obvious that 'regular' rank S Hunters wouldn't even be able to catch his attention. But, if that was the case then just what kind of a Hunter would satisfy hyung-nim's strict judging criteria?

It felt as if the hundreds of applications this yet-to-be-named Guild had received recently all due to the name of 'Seong Jin-Woo' were about to be thrown into a trash heap now.

'But, I don't think anyone will be better than Hunter Cha Hae-In among the rest of the applicants, though….'

Yu Jin-Ho was suddenly beset with worry that the Guild might never get to open its door at this rate, and he cautiously asked Jin-Woo.

"Excuse me, hyung-nim. What kind of a person are you looking for, anyway?"

"Someone with a Hunter licence who doesn't care much about the Guild's activity but we can still place our trust in."

"Uh….?"

Yu Jin-Ho thought up of a person meeting that criteria perfectly right away.

'Isn't that…..'

It was then.

Knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the office's entrance.

"Who is it?"

Yu Jin-Ho stood up from his seat and opened the door. And he found two unfamiliar men standing there looking somewhat awkward and all.

They were none other than Chairman Park Jong-Su and his deputy, Jeong Yun-Tae of the Knight Order Guild, who rushed up to Seoul to have a chat with Jin-Woo.

Park Jong-Su recognised Jin-Woo first and formed a bright smile.

"Oh! You're here."

Jin-Woo got up from his seat and asked them.

"Who are you?"

"Ah, where are my manners?"

Park Jong-Su hurriedly walked up closer and extended his hand out for a gentlemanly handshake.

"I'm Park Jong-Su, the Master of the Knight Order."

Jin-Woo nodded his head in acceptance. Indeed, he thought he had seen this man's face from somewhere before. Even if he wasn't all that interested, he'd still recognise a Master of one of the five major Guilds in South Korea. Such a guy would constantly pop up in news and in television shows, after all.

However, the Knight Order was a major Guild based in the city of Busan, so….

After that brief introduction, Jin-Woo could only tilt his head in confusion.

"By the way, what brings the representatives from the Knight Order to Seoul like this, if I may ask?"

"Ahh, the thing is…."

Park Jong-Su hesitated slightly before exchanging a couple of glances with Jeong Yun-Tae. With some difficulty, he opened his mouth.

"We got assigned a pretty big fish among the rank A Gates, and…."

Hesitation disappeared from his eyes almost immediately as he carried on.

"Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim, you won't regret it from hearing us out, that much I assure you. Would you mind taking some time out of your day and listen to what I have to say?"

***

[Citizens cowering in fear at the super-large Gate appearing before the Gwang-An-ri's coastline….]

[The Hunter's Association, still deliberating on the raid permit.]

[Will the Knight Order Guild give up on the raid of Gwang-An-ri's Gate?]

[Will the nightmare of Jeju Island repeat itself?]

Park Jong-Su picked one out of the many online news articles and then, played the video clip embedded in it.

Hey, look at that. Over there. Are you filming this?

Uh, uh.

Wow, how is that even possible? How can a Gate be that huge?

The video footage, obviously taken by a civilian, contained the crowd's scared voices as its BGM. But, that was understandable – the Gate in the video was just nonsensically too large. It was taller than a ten-story building, even.

This particular Gate was so big that it managed to terrify even those citizens who were now pretty much numbed by the smaller Gates popping up almost everywhere without warning these days.

"The size of a Gate and its ranking don't always line up, but…."

Park Jong-Su ended the video playback and further explained himself.

"As befitting its nonsensical size, it's also apparently busy dumping out a massive amount of magic energy as well."

Jin-Woo's eyes began gleaming from this rather interesting piece of news.

"Is it a rank S?"

"We've been told that it hasn't reached the rank of 'unable to measure', but just below the threshold, apparently. It's supposed to be the largest Gate to ever appear in Busan."

Meaning, although it was nominally a rank A, it was far closer to being a rank S, instead.

'If that's the case, I can expect a fair bit of experience points, can't I?'

In contrary to Jin-Woo's heart quietly gearing up to pump even faster, Park Jong-Su's voice sounded quite bitter as he carried on.

"As you can see from those headlines, the Association doesn't want to issue us the raid permit."

"Is it because it'll be too dangerous?"

"Our Guild lacks a rank S Hunter, as you might have heard. From the perspective of the Hunter's Association, they can't trust us to get the job done."

Park Jong-Su stopped talking there and sneaked a glance at Jin-Woo.

"If you are still searching for a Guild to join, then how about…..?"

Before Park Jong-Su had the chance to finish his sentence, Jin-Woo pointed at the cover of a file lying on the top of the conference table.

One could quite clearly see the title written on the upper half of the cover.

[List of applicants for the Guild founding member spot]

Park Jong-Su embarrassedly scratched the back of his head and nodded once.

"Aha…."

And with that, Park Jong-Su's hope-against-hope attempt at reeling Jin-Woo to the Knight Order Guild went down the drain. In that case, it was time to get to the meat of the story.

"The elite Hunters of our Knight Order are in no way inferior compared to those from the Hunters Guild. It's just that we don't have a rank S who can lead our rank As. That's all."

They had done well up until this point, but 'anything' could happen during this particular raid. In case that worried 'anything' happens, they definitely needed the presence of the top-ranked Hunter.

Just a single rank S Hunter would be enough to reverse any situation.

Right now, there was no need to search for one from afar. Because, he was sitting right here.

Just as the Hunters of the Korean team were facing complete and utter annihilation, this young man appeared out of nowhere and overturned the situation all by himself. Such a man was sitting right in front of him.

More than that, now that he could see Hunter Seong Jin-Woo up close…. Even though they were the same Hunters, this man simply instilled trust and confidence in others.

'An autograph…. If I ask him, will he give me one?'

Suddenly, Park Jong-Su could understand where the Healer Jeong Ye-Rim was coming from, back when she asked him to get at least an autograph even if Seong Jin-Woo said no to the idea of cooperation.

"Is there something on my face?"

"Oh, no. Not at all."

Park Jong-Su smiled and waved his hand about before carrying on.

"Actually, I believe that we'll get the raid permit for this Gate if you decide to cooperate with our assault team, Hunter-nim."

Jin-Woo crossed his arms and leaned against the back of his chair. Before his pondering could get any deeper, though, Park Jong-Su hurriedly added on.

"Of course, we will definitely make sure not to treat you poorly."

With a smile still etched on his face, he pulled out the prepared contract.

"We will hand over 20% of the revenue generated from this dungeon."

He was saying that one of the major Guilds was prepared to submit two-tenths of the potential profit from a Gate to a freelancer. Now that was an unimaginable offer for a regular Hunter.

Now typically, a rank S Hunter would only commend around ten percent of the overall revenue when a large Guild raided a dungeon. But the Knight Order was offering up double of that norm. As Park Jong-Su had said, this certainly wasn't a 'poor' treatment by any stretch of the imagination.

Unfortunately, Jin-Woo's thoughts were a bit different.

"Fifty-fifty split."

Park Jong-Su's hand flinched momentarily as it was about to pull out a pen that was supposed to help Jin-Woo sign the contract.

"If you agree to consider me not as a freelancer but as a Guild, then I shall cooperate with you."

Jin-Woo made sure that declaration was heard loud and clear.

An earthquake erupted within Park Jong-Su's eyes at the suggestion of splitting the revenue in half.

'Keu-heuk…!'

However, he didn't have any means to come out as strongly as Jin-Woo here. It was not an exaggeration to say that the fate of his Knight Order Guild depended on this raid.

Meanwhile, Jin-Woo was inwardly clicking his tongue.

'I mean, twenty percent is just not on, don't you think so?'

He wasn't trying to exploit the urgent situation the Knight Order Guild found themselves in. But, when calculated from all possible angles, the most sensible ratio of splitting the loot was 50:50.

'Even if they are the elites of the Knight Order, are they as good as my Shadow Soldiers?'

Either in number or even in quality, they were incomparable. Not only that, his side even included a rank S Hunter, too. If the commission received for all that potential was measly 20%, then that was as good as working for free.

Was there a reason why he should give up on what was rightfully his when both sides were making a straightforward deal in the name of mutual benefit? Besides, Jin-Woo also didn't want to lower his own worth, as well.

"In that case, how about 40 to 60….."

"Apologies, but I'm not trying to negotiate with the Knight Order Guild here."

"Does that mean you won't accept anything less than 50:50 split?"

Instead of a verbal answer, Jin-Woo nodded once as his reply.

'Groan….'

Park Jong-Su fell into deep thought.

'I thought things would work out easily enough because he's still young and looks friendly, but I see now that he is no pushover.'

But, that made sense. He was someone that not even the combined might of South Korea's rank S Hunters could defeat.

Park Jong-Su was trying to add such a Hunter to his assault team. He suddenly realised that this young man's demand might not be as outlandish as it sounded initially.

'No, that's not right.'

Park Jong-Su shook his head.

An outlandish demand?

If the other party decided to come out hard and unforgiving, then forget about 50:50, he'd have demanded 80% of the loot for himself, instead. Regardless of what, the one in the bind was not Hunter Seong Jin-Woo in this situation.

The losses to the Knight Order after giving up on this raid would be too enormous to even properly take a guess. But, what would this young man lose in return?

Absolutely nothing at all.

Actually, this was the same thing as this young man unwillingly being dragged into the negotiation table by the other party. But then, he was only demanding half of the share, so wasn't he being quite considerate here?

'Is that all?'

If this deal does go through, then the Knight Order would be taking out the most trustworthy insurance policy in South Korea, otherwise known as Seong Jin-Woo.

Inexplicably, Park Jong-Su recalled what Jeong Yun-Tae told him yesterday.

["Hyung-nim. If that thing turns out to be a Red Gate, then we'll all die for sure."]

However, what if Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was accompanying them? This young man didn't even bet an eyelid as he faced off against thousands of rank S monsters.

And, didn't Park Jong-Su personally confirm how the ants of Jeju all ended up?

'Right, that happened, didn't it?'

Only now did he remember that the man responsible for wiping all those ants out was sitting right in front of him.

Gulp.

Dry saliva painfully slid down Park Jong-Su's throat.

He witnessed with his own two eyes the killing field filled with massacred ants, but here he was, busy yapping on about 20 to 80 split with the man responsible.

'Yup, the rude one was actually me, wasn't it?'

Park Jong-Su finally admitted to his oversight. And then, he became deeply grateful for Jin-Woo's gracious counteroffer.

However, being grateful would have to wait.

The offer from the other side meant that he'd be taking a step back, so in return, he needed to take something away as well if the fairness of the deal was to be reached.

So, then. What should he do now?

After a lengthy bout of deep deliberation, Park Jong-Su cautiously raised his voice.

"Alright, we will accept. In return…."

"In return?"

"Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim, can you take on the boss monster by yourself?"

Chapter 138: Chapter 138

Park Jong-Su's expression became sombre as he resolved himself to at least get this much out of the negotiation.

The boss-level monsters were responsible for the majority of losses suffered in dungeons. And to minimise the potential losses to his raid team, Park Jong-Su made an aggressive move and asked Jin-Woo to deal with the boss monster, instead.

'With the strength Hunter Seong Jin-Woo displayed back inside the ant tunnel, he should be able to deal with the boss monster all by himself.'

Feeling nervous that this offer would be rejected, Park Jong-Su kept his mouth shut and waited for Jin-Woo's answer. However, in a complete contrast to Park Jong-Su and his gradually-stiffening face as time ticked by….

'Keu-heuph….'

In order to hide a smirk trying to break out of his lips, Jin-Woo lifted the hand previously supporting his chin right up below his nose and covered the entirety of his mouth. Then, formed an impressive frown.

He wanted to look as if he was giving it a very serious consideration here. And it worked wonders.

Park Jong-Su forgot all about the passage of time and solely concentrated on Jin-Woo's decision, as his hands were soaked in sweat.

After a long while, Jin-Woo let out a soft sigh, and then….

"Alright."

….Continued on with what he wanted to say.

"We'll do it that way."

Park Jung-Ho's two hands, hidden under the table, clenched into tight fists.

'Yes! It's done!'

Just from hearing Jin-Woo's consent, Park Jong-Su felt that all his worries and burdens weighing down on his shoulders were being washed away.

Why did he even waste his time worrying about this problem until now? He should've done this from the very beginning.

For the first time since leaving Busan, the frozen-stiff face of Park Jong-Su broke out into a bright smile.

The only remaining thing now was to contact the Association and get the raid permit. What with Hunter Seong Jin-Woo agreeing to cooperate, there was no point in hesitating anymore.

"It's been some time since the Gate first appeared, so at the latest, we need to start the raid tomorrow."

"Then, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ah."

Park Jong-Su stopped packing his stuff and hurriedly made a suggestion.

"Instead of that, how about we travel south together in our car?"

Since they were going to meet again tomorrow anyway, wouldn't it be more efficient to move around together, instead of making a promise like this? Park Jong-Su made his suggestion with that in mind.

"We'll guide you to the best hotel in the city, and we will also pay for your lodging."

However, there was no reason for Jin-Woo to travel a long distance inside a cramped car. All he had to do was to insert one of his Shadow Soldiers inside Park Jong-Su's shadow, and that'd be it.

With that, he'd never get lost and would never be late, either.

He sneaked a glance at the circular-shaped shadow crawling away on the floor and came up with a suitable excuse.

"I already made a prior arrangement for this evening, so it'll be difficult for me to go with you."

"Aha!"

"But, don't worry. I'll definitely make it in time."

There was no way a Master of a Guild like himself would be late to a party, after all!

It was then.

Jeong Yun-Tae, the Vice-Chair of the Knight Order, had to leave the conference suite briefly to take care of some "personal business" earlier on. He was just about to walk back inside, but he stopped and screamed at the top of his lungs.

"H-hyung-nim!!"

Park Jong-Su panicked and jumped up to take a wild look around him.

"What?! What now?!"

"The shadow! It just moved! From that side to this side!"

Park Jong-Su froze up for a second, before he stood straight back up and glared at Jeong Yun-Tae.

"Hey, Yun-Tae…. Are you drunk right now?"

"…."

Sensing the atmosphere had suddenly gotten a bit chilly all of a sudden, Jeong Yun-Tae forgot what he wanted to say and rubbed below his nose with his index finger.

"I said, are you drunk right now?"

"Uhm, I had a couple of beer as an appetizer back in the motorway service station, hyung-nim."

"Didn't I say that you gotta be more mindful when we're trying to conduct official business?"

"I'm sorry, hyung-nim."

Jeong Yun-Tae bowed to Park Jong-Su, before bowing to Jin-Woo as well.

"I'm sorry, Hunter-nim."

Park Jong-Su proceeded to push the back of Jeong Yun-Tae's head further down and bowed himself as well.

"This guy here, he means well, but he also sometimes spews out nonsense with a couple of drinks in him. I apologise if we ended up making a fuss."

"No, it's fine. I mean, shadows can move around sometimes."

And so, as the meeting was coming to an end in a friendly atmosphere, Jin-Woo's phone resting on the conference table suddenly vibrated.

Vrrrrr….

'Who's this?'

He took a look at the caller, but he couldn't recognise the number.

"Excuse me. I'll have to answer this call."

"Ah, yes."

Jin-Woo asked for his guests' understanding like a gentleman and made his exit from the conference suite. Both Jeong Yun-Tae, responsible for making a bit of racket just now, and Park Jong-Su with his nervous heart, spat out a long, long sigh of relief.

Soon after that, though, Jeong Yun-Tae tilted his head and softly muttered to himself.

"Argh, but the shadow really moved…."

"Imma just…. You!"

Jeong Yun-Tae finally shut his mouth up over this matter after being subjected to Park Jong-Su's fierce glare.

After a short silence….

Jeong Yun-Tae grew curious about the result of the negotiation and opened his mouth again.

"Hyung-nim, so, like, what happened?"

"What do you mean, what happened? He agreed to cooperate."

"Now that's great news!"

The previously-tense face of Jeong Yun-Tae brightened up immediately. A wide grin still attached to his face, he asked some more.

"By the way, did you ask him about joining our Guild?"

"Don't even bring that up. He shows me this, saying that he's making a Guild for himself."

Just like what Jin-Woo did earlier, Park Jong-Su picked up the file [List of applicants for the Guild founding member spot] and showed it to his companion.

Jeong Yun-Tae cackled to himself.

"The Guild situation in Korea has more or less been stabilised by now, so how big would his Guild get by making one at this stage? If he just joined up with ours, he'd be treated like a king, yet he's willing to go through so much pain for nothing here."

"Yeah, what a shame that is."

Park Jong-Su licked his lips in regret over the missed opportunity and tried to put the file back in its original position, but then, an application form slipped out of there. He got startled and quickly picked it back up only for his expression to freeze up right there.

"Huh?"

A photo of a rather familiar-looking woman was attached to the application form.

"Keok!"

Even Jeong Yun-Tae's expression froze up as well.

"H-hyung-nim, isn't she…..??"

Jeong Yun-Tae couldn't believe it even though he saw it with his own two eyes. Park Jong-Su nodded his head as a confirmation.

"Uh, you're right. That's the Vice-Chair of the Hunters Guild."

Jeong Yun-Tae silently observed Cha Hae-In's photo for a bit, before sneakily checking out Park Jong-Su's mood.

"Hyung-nim. Shouldn't we also do stuff like mergers and acquisitions?"

Right away, Park Jong-Su's expression crumpled.

"You dang idiot…."

After making his way out of the conference suite, Jin-Woo tapped on the 'Answer' icon. Then, a familiar voice came out of the phone's speaker.

"Son?"

After confirming who it was, Jin-Woo felt rather relieved but at the same time, felt a bit rueful as well.

"Mom, did you buy a new phone?"

"Ng. I wanted to hear your voice as soon as I got it, so I called you abruptly like this. I hope that I didn't interrupt you while you were doing something important."

Jin-Woo glanced at the conference suite with two people from the Knight Order Guild still inside and smirked slightly.

"Nah, it's fine, Mom."

"That's a relief. By the way, I don't know if I bought the right phone. I'm just not used to this sort of things."

"Did you go to the store alone? Why didn't you take Jin-Ah along with you?"

"She's busy with her studies, so I shouldn't disturb her."

It'd been nice if Mom thought of herself instead of her children every once in a while. Jin-Woo ended the call with his mom and sighed softly under his breath.

However, why did he feel a bit disappointed when he found out that the call was from his mom?

'What was I waiting for?'

Jin-Woo smirked to himself and pocketed the phone, before raising his head up. Renewed vigour was gleaming brightly in his eyes.

He was about to breathe in the dungeon air again tomorrow, all thanks to the nice guys of the Knight Order coming to visit him like this.

'A rank A Gate that's close to being a rank S, is it?'

It felt as if he hadn't cut loose and went all out in a long while now. Hadn't it been a week already since the end of the Jeju Island raid? Besides entering that rank B Gate, he hadn't done anything worthy of mention lately.

Ba-dump, ba-dump….

His heart began pounding away again after a long while of nothing much happening, and Jin-Woo hyped himself up for tomorrow's raid.

The cream of the Knight Order's crop had gathered in one place. They were all in a buzz right now from anticipation and excitement. It couldn't be helped, though.

They would probably have had to take a big gamble with their lives by going on this raid. And if it turned into a Red Gate, then avoiding a complete annihilation would have been impossible.

But then, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo agreed to join them on such a raid.

"Kyahhk!"

The one to come up with this idea, Jeong Ye-Rim, cried out in happiness when she first heard the news of Seong Jin-Woo's participation. Other Hunters also rejoiced in their own ways at the knowledge that a powerful safety net was about to cast below them.

There was only one person among them feeling mighty nervous at the moment. And that would be the Master of the Knight Order Guild, Park Jong-Su. He couldn't stay still and paced up and down in nervousness as he waited for Jin-Woo to show up.

'Aww…. I should've just brought him along with us yesterday.'

Park Jong-Su confirmed the time through his watch. It was five minutes before eleven in the morning. According to their schedule, the raid was supposed to get underway in five minutes.

It was a little wonder that he was suffocating from anxiety, since the promised person hadn't shown up yet. Without him, this raid couldn't even get underway.

The Hunter's Association immediately issued the raid permit as soon as the Knight Order let them know of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's participation. It was as if they were waiting for this chance all along.

There was little doubt that Seong Jin-Woo's name had proven its worth there. But then, to start a raid without him around?

'Even if I put that aside…..'

Park Jong-Su took a look at the faces of the raid team members. Would you look at those eyes filled with anticipation? This raid might not get underway not because of the Association, but because of his own Guild members, instead!

'There are three minutes remaining…'

Park Jong-Su pulled his phone out of sheer anxiousness, but he pocketed it again after mustering up a superhuman-level of patience. It'd be a bit rude to call someone who said he'd be here shortly about ten minutes ago, now wouldn't it?

However, he couldn't sense anyone possessing great aura approaching this location, nor did he receive the call from Jin-Woo saying that he arrived at the vicinity.

Park Jong-Su looked for something else to chew on instead of his innards, and eventually settled on a cigarette.

'Just where are you, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-niiiim….!'

Around the same time….

Jin-Woo was stepping outside his apartment. He was kitted out in easy-to-move clothing and a pair of sneakers. He looked at his watch, and it said one minute before eleven AM. He raised his head up to see an overcast, gloomy sky.

'I wonder, did Jin-Ah take an umbrella with her in the morning?'

Such thoughts only lasted for a short while.

'Okay, time to make my way there, then.'

Jin-Woo pulled up the hood to hide his face as a smile crept up on his lips. First of all, he activated 'Stealth', and then….

'Shadow Exchange.'

He immediately swapped his position with the soldier currently in the shadow state.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Jin-Ah's high school….

Three male students and their faces were currently full of unhappiness at being asked to run an errand for their art teacher.

"Isn't this clearly exploitation of labour force?"

"Yeah, I wonder about that myself."

"I mean, why are we doing something that guy was supposed to do it himself in the first place?"

The male students continued to complain bitterly as they unlatched the bulky lock of the second art classroom, currently serving as their school's storage unit.

"Argh, look at all this dust."

"Bleurgh~."

The thick coating of dust befitting a disused, forgotten storage greeted the trio of students.

Several worn art supplies, pieces of paintings thrown away by their original owners, and plaster statues once used for sketch exercises lay discarded in this place.

"Hey, how many of these plaster statues were we supposed to take with us?"

"There are six of them here, so it must be six."

"Argh, come on…. That means we have to come back here again."

"Why don't you carry four of them at the same time, then?"

The male students rolled their sleeves up in order to carry the plaster figures away. But then, the student picking up the dusty figure tucked away at the deepest corner ended up discovering 'something' else.

"Uh?"

After hearing his surprised-sounding voice, his friends quickly walked over to take a look.

"Uh? Isn't this….?"

There was a large 'hole' in the wall. It was a Gate about the size of an adult human. The biggest student among the trio smirked after taking a look at the Gate.

"And here I was, wondering what was up."

The male student pressed his hand on the surface of the Gate and carried on.

"A closed Gate like this one is safe. Only Hunters can go inside, and the things inside can't come out, either."

It was then.

Crack.

A crack suddenly formed on the surface of the Gate and at the same time, a 'hand' shot out to grab the head of the male student.

"Huh?"

The male student struggled fiercely to get out of the grip, but the hand didn't even budge an inch.

And then…

Kwajeeck-!!

Accompanying the sound of a hard surface of a fruit shattering into pieces, blood splattered all over the dust-filled storage.

"Euh, euwaaaahk?!"

"Joon-Seok-ah!!"

And, as the two blood-soaked male students screamed out, the black 'curtain' covering up the entrance of the Gate shattered like glass, and the monsters trapped inside began pouring out.

Chapter 139: Chapter 139

Orcs were natural-born hunters.

Their level of intelligence fell some way short of that of humans, but they easily exceeded humanity when it came to tracking and hunting prey weaker than they were.

And now, the doorway had been shattered. The 'wall' blocking the dungeon from the rest of the world was gone, and these hunters began pouring out from the Gate.

"Kururuk."

"Keuk."

The Orcs shoved away the annoying corpses of the high school boys and scanned their surroundings.

"Sniff, sniff."

"Kuruk."

These hunters had been trapped inside the dark dungeon for the whole week, quietly waiting for this day. It was rather obvious that they would get excited from all the smell of blood and flesh coming from their surroundings.

However, this group was merely advanced scouts. Even if their blood was boiling, they weren't supposed to act as they pleased. Dozens of their brethren were waiting impatiently for their reports just beyond the roundish doorway.

These Orcs looked around and spotted straight walls with many doors and windows.

The Orc in charge of the advanced scouts immediately realised that they were standing inside a complicated artificial structure like a castle.

"Kururuk."

Its nostrils twitched.

There were two choices here to make. One, leave this 'castle' and kill every prey they could find with utter impunity.

Or, kill every human found within this 'castle' and turn it into a fortress – and then, commence with their hunting in earnest. There was no need to even consider which one was the safer choice.

The leader Orc ordered its underling.

"Summon our brothers."

And then, it raised its head to glare at the ceiling above. The monster's ears twitched and caught onto the noises coming down from upper floors.

Above, and then, more above that, still; this structure was seemingly filled with prey.

Its head was currently ringing painfully with a voice that kept telling the creature to kill every single one of those prey.

"Good."

The monster's maw parted and its yellowing fangs were revealed to the world.

"First, we cleanse this place completely."

There was a sizeable crowd of people gathered in the coastline of Gwang-An-ri. Even though the weather was overcast and gloomy, there was this one thing that made these people show up here in morbid fascination.

And that would be the gigantic Gate floating above the beach.

The members of the local police force, whose assistance had been requested, and the employees of the Hunter's Association, Busan branch, had cordoned off the area and strictly prohibited civilians from approaching the location.

But, for some reason, the number of folks gathering around hadn't lessened at all.

"Senior?"

A newbie female employee, who enjoyed the misfortune of being knocked around by the waves of people, formed a tearful expression and asked her senior as she sought shelter from the storm of curious humans.

"Do we have to repeat this same thing every time a Gate appears?"

The senior employee was also feeling flustered over this matter as well. This would be his first time seeing a commotion of this level around a Gate.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped, since this Gate is the biggest one ever to open up in Busan."

He then sneaked a glance behind him. There it was, the ginormous hole, silently floating in the air.

Just looking at it made him feel like he was being sucked inside, so he was consciously trying to ignore its presence.

But, of course….

'I know that thing can't harm people unless there's dungeon break, but still…..'

Even then, he still disliked these Gates just like how some people irrationally feared outer space or the depths of oceans.

That was why he always prayed in his mind that Hunters would quickly take care of the ominous hole every time he was dispatched to a Gate's location.

In a way, though, there was this thing that made him feel a lot more reassured about this raid. The newbie must've remembered the reason too, because she suddenly began talking to him.

"Ahh! Senior, did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"A rank S Hunter from Seoul is supposed to come today, right?"

Was anyone here who didn't know that already? Probably, half out of everyone here came solely to see the rank S Hunter with their own eyes while the other half, to spectate on the Gate itself.

"You mean, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo?"

"Yes, him!"

"Why are you so happy? You personally know him or something?"

"N-no, not really."

The newbie quickly shook her hands around and began writhing her body with a hyped-up expression on her face.

"Actually, it'll be my first time seeing a rank S Hunter, so….."

The senior employee formed a disappointed expression, instead.

"Hunter Seong Jin-Woo is a newbie, and you're also a noob, yet how come the two you could be this different??"

"S-senior?!"

"If you still have this much energy left to fool around, then why don't you go over that side and lend them some help?"

"But, I came here to take a short break, you know? I've been standing around since the early morning and my legs are killing me, you know!"

The senior agent tutted unhappily.

Seeing her narrow her eyes angrily like that, she must've felt that he was being unfair to her, but he couldn't quite trust what she was trying to sell here.

Still, it wasn't as if he couldn't understand where she was coming from, either.

"Well, yeah. I'm also a little bit curious, too. Everyone's been talking about him lately and all."

"See? Even you too, senior."

"I mean, he solo hunted a boss from the rank S Gate, didn't he?"

Originally, the true boss monster of the rank S Gate appearing on Jeju Island was the queen ant. However, many of those who watched the broadcast thought that the mutated ant monster was the boss instead, all thanks to the visceral visual impact that creature had left behind.

Killing the boss-level monster meant that the Gate itself would close up soon. And that young man was a Hunter who could close shut a rank S Gate.

It wasn't for nothing that the noises of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo being a potential 'Special Authority-rank' were gaining momentum recently. It was only natural that the attention of the public was focused on him.

"A rank S Hunter, of all people! I wonder, what will be like seeing one for real?"

The senior employee looked at the sparkling eyes of his junior and his thoughts became complicated in an instant.

'This kid, maybe she applied for a job in the Association not because she likes the work, but because she hankers after Hunters or something??'

The newbie employee didn't care how her senior was looking at her. Her eyes continued to sparkle brightly and her voice remained all giddy from anticipation.

"Senior, senior!"

"What now?"

"I hear that you can't even look the really strong Hunters in their eyes. Right, I hear you once saw a rank S Hunter in the past? Is that true?"

The senior employee recalled his business trip to Gwang-Ju last year.

"….Yeah, I have."

"Wow-!"

Suddenly, the senior employee felt his shoulders straightening up a bit after seeing his junior display her admiration like that.

"So? What was it like, senior? Was it really scary?"

"Hey, hey. Don't even mention it, okay? Last year, I had a chance to meet Hunter Mah Dong-Wook of the Shining Star Guild because of the work from the Association, and….."

"….Excuse me, coming through."

"Ah, sure."

The two Association employees quickly stepped aside to create a path for a young man, and came back together again. But, then….

"….Uh?"

The senior agent looked behind him at the youth wearing a hoodie.

"What's wrong, senior?"

"No, well, I thought that guy kind of looked familiar."

"Uh? Really? That's so weird. I was thinking the exact same thing."

"Is he also a staff member from the Association?"

"H-mm…."

"Hold on, where was I with my story?"

"That was…. Ah, Hunter Mah Dong-Wook from the Shining Star!"

"Ahh, right. I had a chance to meet Hunter Mah Dong-Wook in person, and well, that guy was so huge that his shoulders were thiiiis wide."

"Wow-!"

These two senior and junior employees sure got along so fabulously well, it seemed.

"Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-niiiim!"

Park Jong-Su welcomed Jin-Woo with a tearful voice that certainly didn't suit his late-thirties age group. That just went to show how much was riding on this particular raid.

Jin-Woo quietly confirmed the time even as he was subjected to Park Jong-Su's passionate reaction. The numbers as indicated on the phone's screen switched from 10:59 to 11:00.

'Very good.'

Jin-Woo grinned brightly.

In order to avoid raising chaos, he remained in 'Stealth' and got to somewhere a bit away, before walking back here, but he still managed to make it in time nonetheless.

The raid was yet to start, but he was feeling good about it already. And when he raised his head to look….

'….Looking at it for real now, it kinda looks bigger, doesn't it?'

He could see the Gate right in front of his eyes that looked way bigger than the one from the video clips. The amount of magic energy leaking out of that thing was as serious as what the Association had told the Knight Order Guild, too.

'What kind of monsters will I find inside?'

A smile unconsciously bloomed on his lips.

Besides that nonsensically huge Gate, though – everything else looked the same, more or less. Just like how it'd be with raids being taken on by other Guilds, there were two groups of low-ranked Hunters nearby.

'That's the retrieval team, and that's the mining team.'

And the old saying said that you'd see as much as you knew. He could easily tell apart their roles through the attire and their equipment. This was indeed all thanks to 'participating' in the raids of the Hunters Guild in the past.

'Annnd, back then or now, the Guild's officials are running around and keeping themselves busy, too.'

He felt more relaxed now compared to back then, when he was still clueless and didn't know which end was up. Indeed, experience proved to be the best teacher there was.

"Huh??"

"He really came!"

"It's Mister Seong Jin-Woo?!"

The elite Hunters began gathering around after hearing Park Jong-Su's call sign, and began forming bright expression after they recognised Jin-Woo.

He shared simple greetings with them and observed each and everyone present here.

30 high-ranked Hunters had gathered for today's raid. Like Park Jong-Su's confident declaration, the numbers and quality alone didn't lose out to the Hunters Guild at all.

'As expected….'

Should he say, as expected of a Guild representing this part of the country?

And they were all kitted out in proper metal armours or special defensive equipment imbued with magical effects, so they certainly fit the bill of 'Knight Order' rather well.

To think, such a Guild would be underestimated solely because they lacked a rank S Hunter. What a regretful thing that was.

Jin-Woo could now understand a little bit of the mindset of Park Jong-Su who asked him out of nowhere if he was interested in joining the Knight Order.

While he was thinking of this and that, it didn't take long for the Hunters to gather all around him.

"Excuse me…."

"Hm."

They sneaked glances at each other before engaging in a competition to see who could start talking first.

"Hunter-nim! The Jeju Island raid was really amazing!"

"How do you summon those black soldiers? Wait a sec, are they even summons?"

"Will you be taking the lead in today's raid, Mister Seong Jin-Woo??"

Just as Jin-Woo was feeling progressively lost from the outpouring of all these questions….

"Argh, stop! Will you just stop?!"

Healer Jeong He-Rim, responsible for coming up with the idea of bringing Jin-Woo in the first place, pushed aside other Hunters and stepped up to the front.

"Why are you trying to trouble Seong Hunter-nim to this degree?? You aren't some country bumpkins either, so why?"

Her eyes glaring at her wayward colleagues were as sharp as a pair of blades.

A high-ranked Healer was comparable to one's own mother in a way; because, she was responsible for the raid team's overall well-being. The team members had to swallow their dissatisfaction and keep their mouths shut, as if they were being scolded by their mother.

'Fut.'

Jeong Ye-Rim formed a grin. She then airily spun around and extended her hand to Jin-Woo for a handshake.

"I'm the main Healer of the Knight Order's elite assault team, Jeong. Ye. Rim. It's a pleasure to meet you."

She formed a soft smile with her eyes and continued on.

"I don't know about others, but seeing that you're about to lead the team, and the fact that I'm the main Healer, we should be at least on the same page before we start, yes?"

Jin-Woo avoided meeting her ulterior motive-filled eyes and looked at Park Jong-Su, instead.

"You haven't explained to them already?"

"Oh, that. Well….."

Park Jong-Su scratched the back of his head as if he was embarrassed about something.

"My schedule had been just too tight, you see. I was so busy with going through all the formalities and summoning these guys out here that I've ended up forgetting about it. Sorry about that."

He sheepishly smiled and swept his gaze over the Hunters.

Well, it was certainly nice that he didn't have to repeat himself over and over again, what with the members of the assault team having gathered in one spot already.

"I, Park Jong-Su, will take the lead for today's raid."

Team members began murmuring to themselves after Park Jong-Su declared himself to be the leader of this raid.

"Chairman, it's you again?"

"But, we have Hunter Seong Jin-Woo here, so why….?"

"Is it okay to even do that?"

Park Jong-Su was a tanker at the very top of the rank A, so it was definitely not a strange occurrence to have him lead a team. Excluding those times that he couldn't participate due to his condition being less than ideal, the majority of the raids happened under Park Jong-Su's leadership.

However, didn't they have a rank S Hunter among the team now?

The strongest Hunter present taking up the lead – this was one of the commonly-accepted rules in raiding a dungeon.

Park Jong-Su quickly offered up an explanation for the sake of his confused teammates.

"Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim will take up the role of guarding our rear, and will ensure our safety during the raid itself."

Watch the assault team from the back and take care of the safety of the team members – this was Park Jong-Su's demand. This was for the safety of the team, of course, but also for the sake of the Guild's honour, as well.

It was true that the Hunters with high physical combat abilities stood in the front of the team. The rear of the formation would usually be taken up by the Hunters ill-equipped to deal against ambushes, such as Mage-types, Healers, or support-types.

Knight Order was finding it hard to recruit new blood to their roster recently, so the survival of these Hunters was essential to the fate of the Guild itself. And, by placing Hunter Seong Jin-Woo there?

The assault team could commit to a speedy raid of the dungeon without worrying about their rear being attacked.

No, hold on!

If enemies did show up from the rear, now that would be a cause for celebration, instead.

Just who was this man standing there for them?

It was none other than Seong Jin-Woo, who forcibly broke through thousands of rank S monsters without so much as batting an eyelid once. If enemies kept appearing behind the team all the time, then well, they could even aim to end this raid early and go home.

That was Park Jong-Su's first reason.

And, the much-more-important second reason was….

Gulp.

Park Jong-Su looked at the throng of reporters gathered just beyond the police line and swallowed down his dry saliva with some effort.

That was proof that a lot of people were interested in this raid. If he wasn't careful here, then all those people might end up thinking that the Knight Order Guild was leeching off on Hunter Seong Jin-Woo.

'Well… that might be true, but….'

Whatever the case may be, he couldn't allow others to see the situation that way. To the Knight Order, the true aim of this raid was to let the world know that the Guild was still going strong, that it was still at its peak.

That was why Park Jong-Su desperately pleaded with Jin-Woo.

And this was the result.

"I've already discussed the matter with Seong Hunter-nim and agreed to do the raid this way, so if you have any complaints, save it until we finish the raid."

Park Jong-Su finally got to tell the rest of the team members the result of the negotiation. However, this happened then.

"Yo, hold up. I really don't get something here, so I gotta ask."

A rank A Hunter suddenly stepped forward. He was a rookie who hadn't been working for the Knight Order Guild for long.

"Since when did we become such weak Hunters that we need protection from someone else?"

That one sentence caused the complexions of the senior Hunters to go utterly pale.

'Keok…..!!'

'N-no, junior, don't!'

The young Hunter, who looked to be around the same age as Jin-Woo, formed an expression overflowing with confidence.

"Don't you agree with me? Hyung-nim? Noo-nim?" (TL: Noo-nim – a respectful way to call an older female)

Because… this rookie just so happened to receive the second-most attention from the potential suitors after 'Kim Cheol' in this year's crop of new Hunters. Indeed, he had a reason to be confident of himself.

Unfortunately, there was a problem, and that would be the guy he was talking to.

"Do the elites of our Knight Order look that weak to your eyes, Mister Seong Jin-Woo?"

'...'

Jin-Woo suppressed the rising fit of laughter to the best of his abilities and silently stared at this newbie rank A Hunter. It was the task of other Hunters to feel their blood all dry up, not him, so it was fine.

'What the hell, with what idiotic confidence is that kid trying to….?'

'No, wait. That punk… I knew that he's a country bumpkin from Busan, but could it be that he has never even seen a rank S in action?'

'Someone, please stop that guy!'

'But, you can only stop someone who knows when to spew nonsense in the right time and at right place….'

Seeing that his seniors were all rendered speechless, and that Jin-Woo was maintaining his silence, the newbie Hunter's confidence swelled up even more.

"Besides that, Chairman, you went too far, you know!"

"What, me?"

'Why is it me this time?!'

Park Jong-Su dumbfoundedly pointed to himself.

"Even if the name value of a rank S Hunter is high, how can you agree that easily to the condition of a freelancer taking away a Guild's worth of the loot?"

"…."

A migraine had developed in Park Jong-Su's head by now, and he sent a quick glance to Jin-Woo.

'Seong Hunter-nim… I leave our junior in your capable hands.'

Jin-Woo nodded briefly.

"Whatever the case may be, I simply can't understand this nonsensical contra…."

It was then.

Right in front of the rookie making his passionate speech, Igrit was summoned.

'Heok!'

The rank A newbie flinched from the massive magical energy emanating from the black knight and hastily took a step back. However, he ran into something hard on his back even before he could take a second step.

Stunned silly now, he quickly turned around only to find another knight, several heads taller than the one before, looking down on him. It was Iron, of course.

"Heok!!"

The gasp he tried to hide jumped out of his throat all on its own.

And then, 'it' came from the side.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder, and the newbie slowly turned his sweat-soaked face to find a figure draped in black robes standing there this time.

"U-uwahhk?!"

The newbie lost all of his leg strength from the ominous magic energy oozing out from Fangs, and plopped down on to his butt.

'He looks way too pitiful, so I shouldn't summon out Beru, no?'

Jin-Woo flicked his hand once and the three knight-grade soldiers surrounding the newbie Hunter quickly returned to their shadow state.

Jin-Woo walked over to the pale-faced newbie and reached out with his hand.

"You still can't understand anything yet?"

The rank A newbie took his hand and unsteadily stood back up, before nodding at the speed of light.