151 - 155

Chapter 151: Chapter 151

"Somewhere…. private??"

Embarrassment began dyeing Cha Hae-In's expression beet red as she took a look around where they were. Jin-Woo's own expression hardened as well.

'How come all the buildings around here are so….'

Indeed, they were now in a location where everything around them was ill-suited for a pair of young people to casually walk in.

Before this awkward situation could get any worse, Jin-Woo quickly came up with a solution.

"You need to get your car anyway, so why don't we go back to our Guild office?"

"Ah, yes."

Nod, nod.

He briefly thought that her nodding like that with a reddened face was rather adorable to look at. But still, he quickly turned around in the direction of the office.

"Shall we?"

"Okay."

Jin-Woo began retracing the path he and Cha Hae-In took and was reminded of the fact that she was indeed a rank S Hunter like him.

'Wow, we really did run far, didn't we?'

Although it felt like only a brief moment for him, they needed ten minutes of regular walking just get back to his office.

The Guild office was located on the third floor. Jin-Woo placed his thumb on the electronic lock, and the door clicked open to allow them inside.

He was about to head straight into the conference room, but then, he had to stop in his treks and take a look behind him, at Cha Hae-In still standing by the doorway.

"…..?"

Jin-Woo stared at her with eyes asking "Aren't you coming in?" which prompted her to ask back at him, instead.

"Isn't it too dark inside?"

"….Ah."

Only then did Jin-Woo realise that the interior of the office was pitch-black.

His vision wasn't hindered by regular levels of darkness, so stuff like this would happen every once in a while. As for Hunter Cha, maybe she wasn't as good with darkness as he was.

Click.

He flipped the switch and the interior was brightly lit up. She took a look inside the illuminated interior and cautiously asked him again.

"There is no one in the office?"

"The Vice-Chair wanted to remain behind in the Gate's location, you see."

"Could there be only two people in this Gui…"

Cha Hae-In stopped her words there and quickly shook her head when she saw Jin-Woo and his expression that said, "So, what's the problem with that?"

"…..No, it's nothing."

Cha Hae-In was very quickly coming to an understanding that the common sense of the world didn't seem to apply to the man in front of her eyes.

'Hold on.'

Her steps taking her into the Guild office suddenly came to an abrupt halt.

'Doesn't that mean there are only me and Mister Seong Jin-Woo inside this Guild building??'

The light of tension quickly filled up Cha Hae-In's eyes. At the same time, she also realised that it'd been a while since she felt this tense as well.

'Maybe, it's my first time since becoming an Awakened….'

How many men out there in this world were capable of making her feel this tense? Especially when she was acknowledged to be one of the highest levelled among the ranked S Hunters, at that?

For some reason, the words of 'somewhere private' kept repeating in her head and she became even more conscious of herself because of that. Her heart was palpitating faster and faster.

She began giggling then, suddenly thinking that she was no longer acting like a rank S Hunter, but like a regular girl now.

"Keuk, keuk."

Jin-Woo gazed at Cha Hae-In trying hard to suppress her giggles and tilted his head.

'Is it that funny to have only two employees in a Guild?'

But, then again, she was a part of the top Guild in South Korea, so from her perspective, this arrangement must've come across as totally inconceivable.

So, Jin-Woo stopped paying any mind to that and entered the conference suite. He made her sit close by and settled down on the opposing chair.

He started talking only after the air in the conference suite felt a bit more familiar to both of them.

"Please tell me. What happened?"

Just those simple words were enough to change the atmosphere within the suite completely.

"How is it possible for Hunter Min Byung-Gu to leave you with messages for me?"

Jin-Woo's expression was serious. He didn't know her all that well, but still, he got the impression that she wasn't a type to start spewing baseless lies just to get some attention.

That was why he became so much more serious now.

"…"

Either she needed some time to recall her sleeping memories, or didn't know where to begin her tale, because she needed a bit of time before she was ready to open lips.

"That day….."

Cha Hae-In finally raised her head and looked deeply into his eyes. Her gentle eyes were now filled to the brim with tears. When Jin-Woo saw her expression, he thought he could more or less tell where she'd start her story.

She quietly spoke.

"I heard his voice."

***

Cha Hae-In was getting sucked deeper into the unending darkness, but it was none other than the hand of Min Byung-Gu reaching down to stop her falling.

"Min Byung-Gu…. Hunter-nim?"

Min Byung-Gu slowly nodded his head.

Cha Hae-In had to confirm that it was him multiple times because he was currently decked out in unfamiliar black armour. If it weren't for his uncovered face, she'd never have figured out that it was him.

Cha Hae-In asked him in confusion.

"Where…. Where are we?"

"I don't know myself, but I do know what will happen if I let go of the hand holding you."

Cha Hae-In was about to take a look below her, but Min Byung-Gu hurriedly stopped her.

"Don't look!!"

"Excuse me??"

Cha Hae-In got startled and she quickly looked up at him. Min Byung-Gu explained to her with a sombre look on his face.

"If you look down there, you might not be able to come back up again."

As he said those words, she got to read a certain emotion that almost felt like a longing of some kind within his eyes.

'No, it can't be….'

She began recalling the scene taking place seconds before she lost consciousness.

The Jeju Island raid.

The ant queen.

And then, the sudden appearance of a truly terrifying mutated ant monster.

She sensed a scary something approaching her, and then, the darkness came over her.

"Did I… Am I dead?"

Min Byung-Gu shook his head.

"No, not yet."

"But then, what about you, Min Byung-Gu Hunter-nim?"

He didn't reply. Instead, Min Byung-Gu stopped her line of questioning there.

"We don't have much time left, so allow me to get to the point."

This was likely his one and only chance. If he missed it, then he'd never be able to get this message across. Min Byung-Gu's expression became urgent, pleading even, as he spoke to her.

"Please pass this message to Hunter Seong Jin-Woo."

'Seong Jin-Woo….?'

Cha Hae-In could only briefly stew in her confusion arising from that name unexpectedly being mentioned here. Min Byung-Gu carried on.

"You must tell him that he needs to be careful with the power he possesses."

"What, what do you mean by that?"

"You must've noticed it by now, but I've already died once. I fell to the bottom of this place, but someone pulled me back up. He pulled me back out of this endless darkness."

"Could it be that man is….?"

"Yes, it was Hunter Seong Jin-Woo."

Cha Hae-In's eyes began quaking powerfully now. Even if Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was ridiculously overpowered, was he really powerful enough to revive a dead person??

However, Min Byung-Gu continued to recount the experience he had gone through without holding anything back.

"Truth is, even though it was indeed I that got revived, that wasn't really me, either. I possessed my will and my consciousness, but I was also prepared to do anything for him…. It felt like I have become an unquestioning, unconditional slave only existing to serve him and nothing else."

There was no reason for Cha Hae-In to ask who this 'he' was in Min Byung-Gu's explanations. She swallowed her nervous saliva.

"I was scared as well, because the mere idea of serving him made me feel so happy."

Min Byung-Gu formed a bitter expression.

"You must let Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim know this."

His expression then hardened into a sombre one.

"His powers are absolute, and it was incredibly scary. He needs to know this, as well."

However, what was even more horrifying than that was…

His expression now shifted to the one of sheer terror as he recalled the memories of only a few moments ago.

As he stood up from the ground after becoming the new Shadow Soldier through Hunter Seong's command, he got to see the welcoming cheers of the countless black-armoured soldiers lining up behind Jin-Woo.

Their numbers were in the tens of thousands. No, millions.

As if they were faithfully waiting for the commands of their Sovereign, the innumerable number of soldiers were 'hiding' quietly behind Jin-Woo.

And when Min Byung-Gu's gaze met the eyes of their general standing before them, he lost all his sense of self and Cha Hae-In's lying body filled up his view, instead. He already knew what he needed to do by then.

Not only that, he also understood that there was something else he had to do on top of saving her. And that would be letting Hunter Seong Jin-Woo know of how terrifying the power sleeping within him was.

In that brief moment when his mind was connected to Jin-Woo's, Min Byung-Gu got to see the true identity of that power – as well as the extent of his true army.

He sensed that his time was rapidly running out and shouted at her.

"You must remember!! The real army of Hunter Seong is….."

It was then.

A blinding light came from somewhere above and enveloped Cha Hae-In. Min Byung-Gu's expression stiffened.

"His real army is….!!"

Unfortunately, his voice was buried within the empty echoes, and it flickered dimmer and dimmer, eventually sinking deep into the void below.

***

"…."

That was as far as Cha Hae-In could remember. Her memories had become faint and indistinct like a fading dream, but they somehow managed to return to her not too long ago.

Jin-Woo's expression was understandably heavy after hearing her tale.

'Her consciousness seconds before dying met with that of Hunter Min Byung-Gu's, who actually did die and became a Shadow Soldier??'

It was a truly hard-to-believe story.

Was it possible that her subconscious mind created a false memory with the stuff she picked up from the surroundings, all because she received a heavy mental trauma after facing the imminent threat of death?

Jin-Woo raised this point with her, and she replied with these following words.

"Yes, I also thought that could be a possibility."

Why wouldn't Cha Hae-In consider such a possibility? That was why she found herself in a deep dilemma over the last few days, before she finally worked up enough courage to tell him about the message.

Jin-Woo nodded his head in understanding. He then pushed forward his phone towards her.

"Let me give you my number. In case you remember anything else, please, can you give me a call right away?"

Cha Hae-In nodded her head.

"Yes. If I do, I'll contact you immediately."

Her complexion seemed to have brightened just a tad now.

***

Japan immediately sent out requests for help to the international community.

As they had lost over half of their combat force ranked S, this somewhat rapid decision had an air of inevitability to it.

Unfortunately, the international community's attitude was rather icy, to say the least.

Japan wilfully ignored the dangerous situation developing in the neighbouring nation of Korea. But then, the Japanese got all worked up about putting out the fire only after the flames landed on their feet.

The international community hadn't forgotten that.

The Japanese were left baffled and lost after the United States, already well known for never, ever letting their rank S Hunters work overseas, as well as the most powerful Hunter nation in Asia, China, abandoned them to their devices.

[The USA abandons Japan.]

[Will China do nothing and let the destruction of Japan happen?]

[The Tokyo Gate: two days since its appearance. The remaining time is….]

[What will Korea choose to do?]

The world's attention began focusing on Japan; sensational articles were being published every single day.

It was at precisely at this point that a lone Hunter extended his hands of salvation towards the Japanese public being overwhelmed by despair and terror.

His name was Yuri Orlov, a rank S Hunter of Russian nationality.

In order to negotiate the terms with the Japanese government, he invited over the related representatives to his place. The Japanese Hunter's Association President Matsumoto Shigeo jumped aboard a plane taking him to the Russian Federation at the first chance he got.

Yuri Orlov didn't even bother to greet the Japanese representatives at the airport and instead, received them in the living room of his palace-like mansion.

"My name is Matsumoto Shigeo."

A middle-aged blonde Caucasian man arrogantly greeted back.

"I'm Yuri Orlov. You should probably know this by now, but I'm called the best Support-type Hunter in the world."

After that brief introduction, the two men settled down on the opposite side.

Yuri Orlov had asked for all the related data concerning the Tokyo Gate before this meeting. After getting his hands on those files, he began to leisurely browse them.

And so, how much time passed by like this?

He kept nodding his head as he calculated the cost, and eventually opened his mouth to name his price.

"Ten million US Dollars per day. You pay me the money properly on time, and I will block the Gate for you for as long as you want." (TL note at the end)

Ten million per day??

The Japanese representatives almost flew into rage from that outrageous price, but Matsumoto Shigeo didn't. He raised his hands and gestured them to calm down, prompting the flinching Japanese Hunters to settle back down in their seats.

"Looks like I can hold a civilised conversation with you."

Yuri Orlov grinned, his gold-plated teeth now on full display.

"3.6 billion in a year. That money will save your nation. It's not even 36 billion, either. So, how about it? Will you save your country with 10 million per day, or will you give up on your country because you think that's a waste of money?"

Officially, the wealth of the richest man alive was supposed to be just over 100 billion US Dollars. So, 3.6 billion per year was definitely not a small sum by any stretch of the imagination.

'But, when compared to the nation of Japan, it truly is a negligible amount.'

Matsumoto Shigeo had come to a decision and opened his mouth.

"We are willing to pay you that amount."

"Very good. Then, let's sign the contract right now, and my signing fee…."

"But before we do that,"

Yuri Orlov was busy ordering his underling to bring along the contract, but he stopped and took a long hard look at Matsumoto Shigeo.

"….?"

Even though he was being subjected to that blatantly criticising glare, Matsumoto Shigeo remained collected as he carried on.

"Please, can you demonstrate your abilities to us, at least once."

Yuri Orlov heard the translation from the interpreter and began guffawing out right away.

"Euhahahahahahat!!"

He laughed his head off until tears came out of his eyes. He eventually collected himself enough to speak up.

"You think you're in any position to get picky here? When licking my boots and pleading on your knees might not even be enough?"

It was then – two Japanese rank S Hunters tasked with guarding Matsumoto Shigeo during this trip to Russia could no longer endure this insult and shot up from their seats.

"Stop, you two!!"

Matsumoto hurriedly shouted out, but it was too late; the eyes of the two rank S Hunters were burning in rage and they weren't backing down.

However….

Thud!

Thud, thud!!

The rank S Hunters did try to make their moves but, as if they were stuck behind invisible walls, couldn't even budge an inch from the spot. They were like rats trapped inside a glass bottle, only being able to exchange shocked glances with each other.

Yuri Orlov cackled again while looking at the two men.

"Free yourselves if you can, alright? But then, you won't be able to move a single foot without my permission."

Yuri Orlov was the 'master' of placing barriers. Not just the two trapped rank S Hunters, but even Matsumoto Shigeo couldn't hide their shock from this development. The corners of Yuri Orlov's lips arched up as he made his offer again.

"For the price of ten million per day, I'll block the Gate for you, plus I shall add the lives of these two morons on top, as well. So, how about it? Isn't this enough to satisfy you now?"

His teeth reflected the living room's light and glittered in gold.

He had just demonstrated the power of his restrictions that could tie up two rank S Hunters as if they were nothing much at all.

'Is trusting this man the best option we have at this point….?'

Matsumoto Shigeo's head slowly bobbed up and down.

"May I use the phone for a little while?"

"But, of course."

And on the following day.

The name of Yuri Orlov filled up the news broadcasts from all over the world.

Chapter 152: Chapter 152

The first thing Jin-Woo did after he got home was to bring up his Status Window.

'Stat Window.'

What he wanted to check out was the newly updated info on his Skills. His gaze scrolled past his current level, his Class and Title, and eventually arrived at the Skill Window.

[Skills]

Passive Skills

– (Unknown) Lv. MAX

– Tenacity Lv. 1

– Master of Shortsword Lv. MAX

Active Skills

– Quicksilver Lv. MAX

– Intimidation Lv. 2

– Violent Slash Lv. MAX

– Dagger Rush Lv. MAX

– Stealth Lv. 2

– Ruler's Reach Lv. MAX

Almost all of his bountiful skills displayed in the Skill Window had reached their level limit and evolved into their ultimate forms, or were about to evolve into one.

The level cap for a skill was 3. And when a skill reached the level cap, the number would change to 'MAX' and stopped rising any further than that. However, if he continued to increase his proficiency with the skills, they would eventually evolve into their ultimate versions. The gap between the skill's effectiveness before and after its evolution was noticeably huge.

The skill 'Dash' had evolved into 'Quicksilver'.

The skill 'Vital Points Targetting' had evolved into 'Violent Slash'.

And 'Dagger Throw' had morphed into 'Dagger Rush'.

Even the passive skill that aided with handling daggers and shortswords, 'High-Grade Dagger Technique', had evolved into 'Master of Shortsword'.

The result of that last evolution was something like this. Jin-Woo summoned 'Demon King's Shortsword' out and began manipulating it this way and that on his hand.

He spun the weapon seamlessly around his index finger before letting it glide up to the palm of his hand. It then smoothly slithered around to the back of his hand.

The near-acrobatic silky movements continued on for a little while, before he lightly tossed the weapon over his head and snatched it back in his grip. Jin-Woo slowly smacked his lips afterwards.

'What a pity that there is no one here to appreciate this.'

The shortsword felt like an extension of his own limb, and that was all due to the passive skill, 'Master of Shortsword'.

Jin-Woo shifted his gaze over to the Skill Window while repeatedly tossing the shortsword up and down.

'So, 'Intimidation' and 'Stealth' are the only two with realistic chances of getting stronger, huh.'

Regretfully, there didn't seem to be much room for the 'Tenacity' skill to improve beyond level 1, where it had been stuck ever since he got the skill. But, that was inevitable, really.

[Skill: Tenacity Lv.1]

Passive Skill.

Mana required to activate: None.

You possess untiring tenacity. When your stamina drops below 30%, this skill will automatically activate and reduce all damage received by 50%.

….Because, 'Tenacity' was a skill that only activated when his stamina dropped below 30%. Obviously, he wouldn't endanger his own life just to level up one of his skills, now would he?

Also, Jin-Woo had experienced a fair number of close shaves after that passive skill became part of his arsenal. Even then, it hadn't changed from being level 1, so that could only mean he'd need to go through an extraordinary situation just for a chance to upgrade this skill.

Besides, Jin-Woo becoming far too strong also played a factor here. Just how many enemies out there could realistically drive him to a desperate corner now?

All things considered, he had no choice but to forget about upgrading 'Tenacity' altogether.

He then decided to increase his proficiency with both 'Stealth' and 'Intimidation', the latter of which he hadn't had a lot of chances to utilise until now and was stuck at level 2 as a result.

Unlike 'Intimidation', which was rather difficult to activate willy-nilly anywhere as he pleased, he could activate 'Stealth' even when he was going through his daily routines.

But, right now, Jin-Woo's gaze was fixed to a spot up above those skills.

'Just what could this guy be?'

He was looking at the skill simply labelled as 'Unknown' found within the passive skill list.

This skill had been with him ever since he became the 'Player'. But up until now, not even its basic information had been revealed to him.

'I thought it'd eventually disclose its secrets after a while, but….'

Did this skill also require him to meet some kind of a condition to be unlocked as well? Because it was labelled 'MAX' from the very beginning, he was really looking forward to finding out just what kind of skill it was, but this….

A lot of time had passed since those days, but his curiosity only managed to grow larger and larger in the meantime.

'.....'

Jin-Woo continued to stare at the 'Unknown' skill until he almost bore a hole right through it, but in the end, he shook his head in defeat. Besides, what he really wanted to confirm couldn't be found within the regular Skill Window, anyway.

No, they were right below it.

Indeed, he wanted to check his Class-specific skills that had all gone up a level earlier in the day.

[Class-specific Skills]

Active Skill

– Shadow Extraction Lv. 2

– Shadow Storage Lv. 2

– Sovereign's Territory Lv. 2

– Shadow Exchange Lv. 2

'So, what changed, and by how much?'

Jin-Woo took a closer look at the information on the skills, excluding 'Shadow Exchange', which he had already taken a gander before.

[Skill: Shadow Extraction]

Class-specific skill.

Required Mana to activate: None

Creates a shadow soldier by extracting Mana from the recently deceased lifeform.

The odds of extraction failure will rise higher depending on the target's original Stat values, as well as the length of time since its death.

Number of shadows that can be extracted: 590/1,300

Level 2 effect 'Boost': Increases the odds of enhancing the Stats of the extracted shadow.

Perhaps as a reward for such a tough levelling up process, the number of shadows he could extract had shot up to a shocking degree.

'The maximum number of shadows is now 1,300?!'

As long as his surroundings were filled with targets for Shadow Extraction, he'd be able to increase the number of his allies by well over double the current size. Not only that, there was the special added effect to consider as well, which raised the odds of the extracted shadows starting off at higher levels.

'So, that's what it was….'

The reason for the boss-level Naga 'Jima' to start from level 13 was most likely due to this 'Boost' effect. It wasn't a coincidence at all.

'What would've happened if I possessed this Boost effect before I made Beru into a Shadow Soldier?'

Without a doubt, he might have gotten his hands on an even more terrifying monster.

'Heh, and the wise old 'they' say that a man's greed knows no bounds, didn't they?'

Jin-Woo smirked softly to himself and confirmed the details of his other Class-specific skills one by one. The other two skills had also received a lot of enhancements, and a new, never-before-seen effect was added to each of them, as well.

A wide grin settled on Jin-Woo's lips as he read the explanations of his upgraded skills, 'Shadow Storage' and 'Sovereign's Territory'.

'This is great.'

He closed the Skill Windows with a satisfied grin on his face.

There was no doubt that his growth had slowed down recently. Even then, he still managed to keep moving forward, and when he thought about the fact that there was still more room for him to grow, his heart began pounding even harder.

He wanted to climb even higher and higher.

'I don't know where the summit is, but….'

Every time he managed to reach and exceed his goals, his heart was filled with this indescribable happiness, a powerful bliss.

Ba-thump, ba-thump!!

Jin-Woo returned the shortsword back to Inventory and placed his hand quietly on his chest.

Ba-thump, ba-thump.

His heart issued pleasant noises as it continued to beat steadily.

It was then, he abruptly remembered something else that happened earlier in the day.

'…..She said it was a scary power, didn't she?'

He recalled the tale he heard from Cha Hae-In a few hours ago.

Min Byung-Gu left a warning for him. He said that Jin-Woo was in possession of a scary power, and he needed to be circumspect about it.

'Was he talking about the System?'

Jin-Woo also was scared of the things happening to him initially as well. He felt fearful towards the System capable of creating all these unexplainable phenomena around him.

However, his fears didn't last for long.

He adapted to the ways of the System in no time at all. And the System quickly became the single greatest tool he possessed.

Sure, there were still far too many mysteries left unanswered, but that was about it, really.

'…..'

Jin-Woo's gaze drifted towards the empty air in front of him.

"Just what are you?"

Of course, he didn't get an answer in return.

"I mean, isn't it okay to tell me what's going on already?"

He quietly stared into the empty air as if he was expecting an answer to arrive, but rather obviously, nothing came.

'Inventory.'

Jin-Woo opened his storage to extract the black key.

[Item: Key to the Karutenon temple]

Rarity….

….has been reached.

Remaining time: 249:25:07

Here it was, the invitation sent out by the System.

A week's worth of time had flown by already, and only around 250 hours remained.

'What kind of answers will I find in that place?'

Half of him was filled with expectations. And the other half, deep curiosity. His heart rate that quietened down for a bit began beating faster again. Jin-Woo lifted his hand off his chest.

His thoughts of doing everything he could during the remaining time hadn't changed at all. He picked his phone up and quickly made a call.

– "What can I do for you, hyung-nim?"

Yu Jin-Ho replied in a cheerful voice over the phone. Jin-Woo wasted no time and got straight into the main topic.

"Hey, Jin-Ho?"

– "Yes, hyung-nim?"

"You think we'll be able to book every single high-ranking Gate opening up in our area from tomorrow onwards?"

– "Just like back when we were booking all those rank C Gates, hyung-nim?"

"Yeah, like that."

Yu Jin-Ho thought for a little while, before replying back with a bright-sounding voice.

– "Got it, hyung-nim!"

***

A huge crowd had gathered in the Japanese airport where the Russian rank S Hunter, Yuri Orlov, made his landing, and there was hardly any space left to even set a foot inside.

The corners of Yuri Orlov's lips arched up as he took in the sight of the massive throng of Japanese people coming to see him.

On the other hand, the high-ranking members of the Japanese Hunter's Association bringing the Russian home walked around with their heads lowered as if they were criminals going on a trial.

'The country lacking enough talented Hunters to stop a calamity by themselves, so they must borrow the strength of Hunters from another nation.'

Those words were what Japan used to ridicule South Korea only a few weeks ago. Yet, the exact same situation was playing itself out within the Japanese border now.

The Association President Matsumoto Shigeo, as well as the Association's representatives, recalled their own past indiscretion and couldn't even dare to lift their heads up again.

'If only we didn't lose our Hunters on Jeju Island….'

Matsumoto Shigeo bit his lower lip.

"It's Yuri Orlov!!"

"It's him, Yuri!"

The reporters from all corners of the world discovered Yuri Orlov's triumphant figure and began madly snapping away with their cameras.

Click, click, click, click, click, click-!!

The Russian Hunter stood before them and formed a wide grin as if to proudly advertise his gold teeth.

His entry procedure was taken care of in a flash. The first request Yuri Orlov received from the Japanese government was to assuage the fears of the country's citizens. And he agreed to do the request easily enough.

His nickname was the 'Saviour'. This moniker came about because he had blocked up countless Gates on the brink of entering the dungeon break stage up until now.

As for Yuri Orlov himself, he definitely didn't shy away from this nickname which held the potential to earn him all the wealth and fame in the world.

"Are you ready, Mister Yuri Orlov?"

"Of course."

That evening, he was moved to a certain TV station for a live interview. It was quite obvious that the attention of the entire nation of Japan was focused on this broadcast.

Once the proceedings got underway, the interviewer asked the Russian.

"How will you block the Gate, Mister Yuri?"

"In the same way that I've been doing until now, obviously."

Yuri Orlov's expression was overflowing with relaxed, assured confidence. He raised both of his hands in the air and drew a large circle.

"I'll be creating a huge magic circle. Like so, around the Gate itself."

The screen changed for a brief moment to show the Gate in Shinjuku. And then, the 3D diagram of the magic circle was superimposed with the image of that massive Gate.

"And then, everything will be finished after I pour my magic energy into it. Whatever is inside that Gate, they won't be able to come out ever again."

Unfortunately, such a simple explanation wasn't enough to calm the fears of the Japanese people. The interviewer tilted his head, looking unconvinced.

"Pardon me, but… is that even possible?"

Yuri Orlov's brows twitched slightly.

"What is?"

The interviewer cautiously studied the Russian's mood as he asked again.

"Well, the claim of one rank S Hunter being able to block up an entire rank S Gate is…. Shall I say that, it's a bit hard to believe?"

Suddenly, Yuri Orlov began smirking derisively.

The Russian Hunter was famed for his short fuse. So, the interviewer felt quite relieved inside when Yuri Orlov chuckled instead of flying directly into an enraged state. But at the same time, the Japanese interviewer became even more unnerved then before, wondering if he had inadvertently touched that man's reverse scale.

Fortunately enough, Yuri Orlov kept his smile.

"If I were to continue spending my magic energy to maintain that barrier, then sure, even I wouldn't be able to pull that off."

He wouldn't be able to do it?

Gulp.

The interviewer swallowed his dry saliva.

With the Japanese rank S Hunters having effectively announced their intentions to give up on the raid, if Yuri Orlov himself also decided to forget about the Gate, then there were no other solutions left for the Japanese people.

The Russian took his time and enjoyed the sight of the stiff face of the interviewer before continuing on with his words.

"However, the thing with my ability is…. The barrier magic circle I use absorbs magic energy from its surroundings to maintain itself."

"….!!!"

In an instant, the interviewer's expression changed.

"If that's the case, then what did you mean when you said your own magic energy was needed….?"

"It's the same principal as switching on the ignition of a car. Once my barrier gets going, it will start absorbing the magic energy and become an even sturdier and bigger fortress wall."

A certain ray of light descended on the faces of the interviewer as well as the filming crew after they heard that explanation.

Yuri Orlov's leisurely voice was filled to the brim with undeniable self-confidence. And as if that confidence had begun spreading around like an infection, the Japanese TV crew felt their fears slowly melt away.

According to his explanation, wouldn't his barrier grow tougher and stronger when there was a great amount of magic energy present in the surroundings?

There was no need to even mention the simple fact that the magic energy being emitted by a rank S Gate was absolutely enormous. So, what would happen when such a barrier was to wrap around a Gate of that magnitude?

It'd get all tied up by its own power, that's what. Where would anyone find a situation that better fit the idea of one falling into the trap it made itself?

At this rate, the hardness of that barrier would become the greatest in the recorded history of mankind.

Yuri Orlov pointed to the camera. He was probably pointing at the unspecified number of viewers at home with his finger. Thick veins bulged in his neck as he shouted out.

"I will save all of you! So, all you have to do is to remember who is saving you!"

***

Beep.

The giant TV was switched off.

The President of Korean Hunter's Association, Goh Gun-Hui, put the TV remote down, but his expression wasn't very good at all. Woo Jin-Cheol standing next to him asked.

"What do you think, sir?"

"I can't be sure."

Goh Gun-Hui leaned against the couch, his expression now full of worry. He was different from his Japanese counterpart; he definitely wasn't some low-rent villain who'd deride the misfortune of his neighbouring nation.

Although, that didn't mean he was willing to help them out while taking on the harsh cost his own nation might have to bear. He deliberated for a short while, before opening his mouth again.

"I don't know whether Yuri Orlov will be successful in blocking up that rank S Gate or not, but…."

The eyes of the Association President Goh Gun-Hui became a lot sharper.

"….But, I am well aware of what will happen if he fails in his task."

"…..It's such a relief, sir."

"…..?"

Goh Gun-Hui looked up at Woo Jin-Cheol with a surprised face. Only then did the latter realise that his boss had misunderstood his words. Woo Jin-Cheol hurriedly waved around his hands.

"I wasn't referring to the situation in Japan, sir. But…."

Woo Jin-Cheol stopped for a second or two before finishing up his explanation.

"Unlike how it is with the Japanese, I'm relieved by the fact that we have a Hunter we can wholly place our trust in. That's what I meant, sir."

Nod, nod.

Goh Gun-Hui nodded his head greatly. There was no need for him to specifically ask who that Hunter was, either. That Hunter's presence alone imparted such a sense of security in him.

"Oh, by the way. How goes it with Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim nowadays?"

Woo Jin-Cheol wordlessly pushed forward a piece of printed document to his boss.

On it, one could find the listed locations of all the high-ranking Gates that had appeared recently around the city of Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi province.

"Why are you giving me this, all of a sudden….?"

"Sir, can you see how many of the locations have been circled in red?"

"Looks like it's about half of all the dungeons."

Woo Jin-Cheol quickly wiped the cold sweat streaking down his forehead and replied.

"Ah-Jin Guild wants the raid permits of all of the highlighted Gates, sir."

Goh Gun-Hui's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"These…. All of them?!"

"Yes, sir. That's correct."

Chapter 153: Chapter 153

Woo Jin-Cheol was among the very best within the Hunters ranked A, and could be considered the core fighting force of the Monitoring Division.

There was no one within the Association, save for Goh Gun-Hui, who could win against him in a fight. He was that strong.

However, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was capable of controlling not just one or two summoned creatures, but several hundreds of them at the same time, each one of them strong enough to shock someone of Woo Jin-Cheol's calibre. In that case, a schedule like this one shouldn't be seen as strange at all.

However, why was he in such a hurry like this?

'H-mm.'

Deep frowns formed on Goh Gun-Hui's forehead.

If it were someone else, a different Hunter, then he'd pack his lunch and follow them around to dissuade them. He was even prepared to whip them until they changed their minds, but now….

'But, I can't imagine Hunter Seong Jin-Woo getting hurt inside measly rank A and B Gates at all.'

If he were to borrow Woo Jin-Cheol's description from earlier, than wouldn't it be 'pitying the monsters', instead? Goh Gun-Hui smirked softly and nodded his head.

"If there isn't any serious problem, do as he wishes, please."

From the perspective of the Association President, he was thankful for the fact that there was a Hunter taking lead in subjugating monsters all on his own. Especially when that person was a powerful being who'd not get injured during the process, too.

However, Woo Jin-Cheol apparently didn't agree.

"Sir, I believe it could lead to problems."

"You mean, his activity will overlap with the jurisdictions of other large Guilds, is that it?"

"Yes, sir."

There were three major Guilds operating within the Seoul Capital Area: the White Tiger, the Hunters, and the Reapers.

These three Guilds took care of high-ranking Gates that appeared within the districts they were in charge of.

But, if Ah-Jin suddenly butted their heads in among them without notice and start expanding rapidly like this, then the three Guilds would obviously grow unhappy rather quickly. It'd be basically the same thing as old nails being driven out by a new one.

'They might end up in a conflict.'

That was Woo Jin-Cheol's opinion and Goh Gun-Hui certainly agreed with that. Still, a smile floated up on the Association President's lips.

'I thought President was on Seong Hunter-nim's side?'

Woo Jin-Cheol formed a puzzled expression as he asked.

"…..Did you come up with a good idea, sir?"

"No, not that. It's just that, I can't stop smiling when I think about how a newly established Guild with only three members and one combatant on their roster, have managed to exceed the major Guilds and are already coveting their territories like this."

"Ah….."

Only then did Woo Jin-Cheol understand.

"I agree, sir."

It was Goh Gun-Hui's turn to ask, that smile still etched on his lips.

"Did Ah-Jin provide an explanation on why they want to do this?"

"They said that they have a personal reason and wants us to entrust them with the Gates nearby only for the next week or so, sir."

"A week, is it…."

During the Jeju Island raid, the Masters of the three major Guilds ended up owing their lives to Hunter Seong. It'd not be hard to get their understandings if it were only for a week.

'If there's one thing that I'm still puzzled about, then it'd be….'

That would have to be 'why Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was willing to put himself under such a strenuous schedule' – or, at least, when viewed from someone else's perspective.

'It can't be… about money.'

If he wanted wealth, then there were other ways. If he negotiated with either the United States or China, he'd have gotten his hands on astronomical sums of wealth.

However, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo decided to remain in South Korea, and he didn't even bother to bargain with any of the Guilds, either.

'Then, just why….?'

Goh Gun-Hui's gaze was soon directed to Woo Jin-Cheol guarding his side. The former asked as if it was in passing.

"In your opinion, why do you think Hunter Seong is trying to clear this many Gates in such a short time?"

Woo Jin-Cheol thought about it for a moment, before answering his boss.

"There is one thing I can think of, sir."

Goh Gun-Hui expected an answer along the lines of "I don't know" or "Can't be sure", so he couldn't help but pay more attention to this somewhat surprising reply.

"What would that be?"

"I remember seeing how delighted he was during the process of hunting down the monsters."

"He was 'happy' hunting down monsters?"

"Yes, sir."

Woo Jin-Cheol dragged out the memories of the recent past to the fore.

Even back when Jin-Woo was helping out the Hunters Guild by fighting the High Orcs, he was carrying an expression of delight as he cheerfully moved around.

"And he was especially elated when taking down the boss-level monster, sir."

"He feels delight at hunting down powerful monsters, is it…."

Goh Gun-Hui remembered listening to Jin-Woo saying something similar in the past.

["I wish to fight against the monsters."]

And ever since he made that declaration, he had been diligently keeping his promise.

'What an interesting fellow he is.'

That man was certainly a lot exceptional than being merely interesting, too.

It was then, the office of the Association President was suddenly filled with the noisy ring of the telephone.

– "President, sir."

It was a call from one of his adjutants.

"What's going on?"

– "There's a call from the American Hunter Bureau waiting for you, sir."

"From America?"

Not only that, from the Hunter Bureau, too? Goh Gun-Hui tilted his head slightly.

'Why would the Hunter Bureau contact me, the President of the Korean Hunter's Association?'

A country like the United States wouldn't request South Korea for cooperation, so what could this possibly be about?

"Connect me through."

The call was connected right away. It didn't even take one, maybe two seconds for the voice coming out from the phone's receiver to change.

– "Hello, this is Adam White from the Hunter Bureau speaking."

"Hello. This is Goh Gun-Hui from the Korean Hunter's Association."

The basic language for any aspiring businessman was English. And unsurprisingly, fluent English flowed out from Goh Gun-Hui's mouth. He was far more confident of this language then he was with Japanese, the latter of which he only dabbled with when he was much younger.

"What business does America's Hunter Bureau have with us?"

Adam White didn't tarry and got right to the point.

– "We're planning to hold an event early next month and wish to invite some of the most prominent Hunters from throughout the world, Mister Goh."

"…..Okay, so?"

– "And we'd like to have Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim as Korea's representative."

***

Before he got going properly with his raids, Jin-Woo searched for the appropriate Guild first. He needed a Guild that could painlessly handle the disposal of various loot he'd get from the high ranking dungeons.

'I mean, it's not like I'm planning to clear a raid once every few days here, is it….?'

It'd be quite tough for a newbie Vice-Chair to get through the tightly-packed raid schedule all alone, after all. Besides, he thought that it'd be far more advantageous to form a partnership with another Guild and work together with them, rather than letting the middlemen deal with the loot every single time.

'The question is, who should I go with?'

He initially thought of the White Tiger, which he had interacted with often in the past, or with the Hunters Guild where Cha Hae-In was a member, but in the end, he settled on the Knight Order, instead.

He only had one reason for doing so. And that would be because they had worked together recently.

Also, some part of his decision was influenced by the fact that one was located in Seoul while the other one was in Busan, and therefore their activities wouldn't overlap with each other.

Jin-Woo made his call during the early evening that day.

Chairman of the Knight Order Guild Park Jong-Su was lying on the couch in his living room, busy giggling away while watching the TV.

Vrrr…. Vrrr…..

He picked up his vibrating phone resting on the couch's armrest without giving too much thought.

'Mm??'

[Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim]

But then, he confirmed who the caller was and his eyes rapidly grew wider. He shot up from his lying-down position and quickly answered his phone.

"Hunter-nim? Is that you?"

– "Hello, this is Seong Jin-Woo from Ah-Jin speaking."

"Ah, yes. It's Park Jong-Su from the Knight Order."

– "Do you have time to discuss something important?"

"Of course."

Park Jong-Su's complexion gradually brightened as he heard Jin-Woo's explanation.

To be honest, Park Jin-Su had been feeling dejected lately, after his plans of building a very close relationship with Jin-Woo went down the crapper after the regulation had changed overnight.

Combining the know-how of the Knight Order Guild and the strength of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo – what a dang waste of time….

Even his trusted Vice-Chair Jeong Yun-Tae looked severely disappointed when the whole thing went sideways pretty quickly.

But then, what kind of jackpot was this? A phone call he didn't even expect came his way all on its own volition?

Forming a tie with a strong Guild, nay, a Hunter, was probably one of the most important acts for any Guild out there.

"Yes, yes! There will be no problem at all."

A bright smile didn't want to leave Park Jong-Su's face as he continued to chat away on the phone.

"Leave everything to us."

The matter of processing various loot from a dungeon was not that hard for the Knight Order Guild and their extensive prior experience.

Normally, the Guild's processing team would be doing nothing but sucking on their thumbs when there was no raid in sight. So, how good would it be to utilise them in this situation?

The smile grew with wider as Park Jong-Su spoke up.

"We'll see you tomorrow!"

***

The lunch box Mom packed was indeed quite delicious. Even if the location for their meal turned out to be in the middle of a dungeon overflowing with monsters.

Yu Jin-Ho raised his head and spoke, his mouth still full of chow.

"With us being like this, I can't help but think back to how we were clearing all those rank C dungeons, hyung-nim."

Jin-Woo smirked and replied back.

"Hey, finish chewing your food first before talking, alright?"

"Ah, my bad, hyung-nim."

It wasn't as if Jin-Woo couldn't understand what Yu Jin-Ho was talking about, though.

In the past few days, they kept themselves real busy by raiding every single Gate they could book, one after the other, with barely any rest in between. The only thing that had changed since then would be that, rather than rank C dungeons, they were raiding rank B or higher dungeons this time.

And, if he were to think of yet another difference, then that would be….

'....'

Igrit met Jin-Woo's gaze and bowed slightly in a dignified manner.

'Well, I now have a lookout during the meal times? Is that about it?'

It didn't matter if he had one or not, though. Because of his Perception Stat, he didn't have to concentrate hard to sense all the movements within the interior of the dungeons. Meaning, he could deal with any monster daring to approach him, even with his eyes closed.

It was just that, he didn't want to be disturbed during his mealtime, and also, wanted to decrease Yu Jin-Ho's fears a bit so he had a lookout like this.

Jin-Woo shifted his gaze to the other side.

'...'

Iron also met his owner's gaze and powerfully pounded on his chest as if to say ���Leave everything to me!"

Thud, thud.

Metallic thuds filled the interior of the cavern. Jin-Woo wryly shook his head.

'It's a problem that this guy's enthusiasm still gets the better of him.'

Yu Jin-Ho looked in the direction of the noise, before asking Jin-Woo a question out of the blue.

"Hyung-nim?"

"Yeah?"

"Can't your summons act on their own?"

"Well, yeah. More or less."

Hunter Min Byung-Gu did say that, didn't he? He said that each of the Shadow Soldiers possessed their own 'ego'.

'Not sure how much of that story I can believe, though.'

Whatever the case may be – Yu Jin-Ho continued on with his question.

"Doesn't that mean it's fine to let the summons clear the raids by themselves during when we are having a meal, or otherwise can't move around for some reason, hyung-nim?"

"Nope, that I can't do."

The amount of experience points he'd earn decreased when the distance between himself and the soldiers increased. He couldn't really explain what the experience points were and all that to Yu Jin-Ho, though, so Jin-Woo simply formed a sombre, serious expression and replied.

"These guys, who knows what they will do when I'm not looking?"

"Hiiiick?!"

Jin-Woo thought that he could hear the noise of Yu Jin-Ho's falling appetite in real time. That's how far he was prepared to take that joke, however.

'Okay, should I try 'that' one more time?'

Jin-Woo finished his meal and quietly put the spoon down.

[Skill: Shadow Storage Lv. 2]

Class-specific skill.

Mana required to activate: None.

Stores the shadow soldiers inside the summoner's shadow.

The stored soldiers can be summoned back into the open or absorbed back at any time the summoner chooses to.

Number of stored shadow soldiers: 840/840

Level 2 effect 'Sensory Sharing': You can share your sensory perception with a single designated Shadow Soldier from your storage.

The newly added effect to the skill ��Shadow Storage' was called 'Sensory Sharing'. It was a rather unique ability that let the summoner, him, feel what a Shadow Soldier was sensing.

Since it was possible to choose a Shadow Soldier far away from him and see what was going on around there, he ended up using it rather often in the last couple of days. Such as now.

Jin-Woo quietly closed his eyes.

'Sensory Sharing.'

He picked up on the signal sent out by the Shadow Soldiers spread all over outside the dungeon, within the nation of South Korea.

'I sure have spread around quite a few, haven't I?'

Without worrying about it too much, he selected one of them to see. Quite coincidentally, it just so happened to be a soldier hidden with Hunter Cha's shadow. And when he connected with that soldier…

Splash…..

….He heard the sounds of water falling on the floor.

'It shouldn't be raining today, so what's up with all the water noi…..?!'

His confusion lasted only for a brief second.

Jin-Woo's eyelids shot up open in haste as soon as he saw the pale nude figure enshrouded in the rising steam.

Yu Jin-Ho was taken by surprise alongside him.

"Hyung-nim?? What happened? Were you taking a nap just now?"

"….No, it's nothing."

Jin-Woo shook his head.

He inwardly told himself to buy Hunter Cha a hearty meal as soon as possible as a gesture of apology.

"Oh, right. Hyung-nim, have you heard the news?"

"Which one?"

"About that massive rank S Gate in Japan's Shinjuku, hyung-nim. I heard that the dungeon break should be happening sometime around tomorrow."

Did the time move along that much already? Jin-Woo slowly nodded his head.

'That means, it's already been six days since we began clearing these high-ranking Gates.'

During these past six days, Jin-Woo hadn't been static at all. Although moving at a snail's pace, his experience points were steadily going up. The result of that being his level having moved to 103 from 101.

That was his reward for focusing on levelling up while forgetting about everything else.

Jin-Woo summoned the black key stored within his Inventory.

Shururuk…

The black key materialised on his palm.

[Item: Key to the Karutenon temple]

Rarity…..

….has been reached.

Remaining time: 26:51:49

'One more day left.'

Jin-Woo wordlessly grasped the key tightly. His heart began beating faster every time he looked at this thing.

"….Hey, don't make a move."

"Eh?"

Yu Jin-Ho had been sneaking glances at both Iron and Igrit more and more while barely managing to eat his meal, after Jin-Woo cracked that joke. However, he nearly jolted upwards after Jin-Woo suddenly issued that order.

"I wasn't talking to you, though."

Actually, Jin-Woo was giving an order to his soldiers. The Shadow Soldiers were about to make a move, but when they heard Jin-Woo's order, they all stopped at the same time.

"Kururururu…."

"Kururuk."

From the other side of the cavern, beasts baring their fangs walked out into the view while carrying weapons like sickles and longswords. Jin-Woo slowly stood up from his spot as he kept his gaze locked on these monsters.

There was still one more day to go.

'Right, I still have one more day to kill.'

He summoned the 'Demon King's Shortsword' from his Inventory and smiled as he gripped the weapon tightly.

***

The evening before the dungeon break.

A massive magic circle was drawn within Tokyo's Shinjuku district, according to Yuri Orlov's instructions. Its scale was truly enormous; completely unprecedented in history.

All the residents within the area had been evacuated by now. Yuri Orlov remained in the location to inspect the barrier's formation right up until the end.

The Japanese representatives quietly watched him, not even daring to swallow their saliva. Every single word the Russian said, every little action he took, all of them were under close scrutiny.

Yuri Orlov frowned and rubbed his chin over and over again, before finally opening his mouth.

"…..This is so weird, you know?"

The interpreter's eyes opened wider.

"I beg your pardon? Is there some kind of a problem with the formation?"

"No, it's not that."

The magic circle drawn was perfect. Without a doubt, he was confident of having laid down the greatest masterpiece of his life down here.

No, the barrier formation wasn't the weird one here.

"It's like, there's someone nearby, watching us."

"Ehh?"

If that weren't the case, why would Yuri Orlov's heart tremble non-stop like this? The Russian opened his eyes wider and scanned his vicinity, before angrily shouting out at the top of his voice.

"Who the hell are you? Where are you??"

Too bad, no one replied back to him. No, only the echoes of his voice reverberating within the deserted streets came back to haunt him.

"….."

One of the Japanese representatives wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and forced out a smile.

"Mister Orlov, the dungeon break is happening tomorrow so there shouldn't be any foolhardy person waiting around here. Wouldn't you agree?"

Yuri Orlov snorted out derisively.

"When did I say it was a person?"

"Pardon??"

Yuri Orlov looked at the Japanese representative getting paler by the second with disproving eyes, before tilting his head again.

"Was I mistaken….?"

Unfortunately for him, there indeed was the figure of a person staring at him from the roof of a tall building far away.

'He's got a pretty good perception.'

But, then again – when considering where Yuri Orlov drew his powers from, that wouldn't be such a strange thing.

'More importantly…..'

The mysterious man's gaze shifted over to the rank S Gate. The silence was so eerie that it induced a certain disgust in all who looked as it circulated around that giant Gate.

'...'

The man slowly pulled back the hood covering his face. It revealed the face of an Oriental man in his late thirties. The unkempt and bushy beard covering most of his face told the man's identity rather clearly.

He was none other than Seong Il-Hwan.

He continued to gaze at the massive Gate with a regretful expression, before pulling the hood back up.

'Finally… it's starting.'

Everything was moving according to the schedule.

Chapter 154: Chapter 154

The reporters from all over the world descended on Japan.

If there was one thing in particular about that, then it was that most of those reporters were war correspondents used to covering various conflicts happening across the globe.

This was as good a proof as any that the event about to unfold here was as dangerous as an actual war.

The security cordon built around the Gate was incredibly heavy. Reporters raised their cameras and pointed towards the building-sized Gate and the barrier formation drawn around it, as well as the army of men and women surrounding them both.

The whole location was chock-full with palpable tension only seen just before the outbreak of war.

The assistant reporter swallowed his nervous saliva and asked his boss, the famed English war correspondent William Bell.

"Modern firearms don't work against monsters, so why are the army present here?"

William Bell replied, while he continued to capture each and every determined face of the soldiers present today with his camera.

"To buy us more time."

"Excuse me?!"

"Their job is to draw the attention of the monsters so the Hunters can get ready for their counteroffensive. Also, to act as baits, so those higher-ups spectating from over there will find enough time to evacuate from this place, too"

Click.

The next person's face to be captured in William Bell's lens was the President of the Japanese Hunter's Association Matsumoto Shigeo, currently standing close to the barrier. He was conversing with several staff members, his expression hard and sombre.

'Sure, this is no time for him to crack a smile, isn't it.'

Click.

"Which means…."

The assistant reporter, who wasn't as experienced as William Bell was, spoke with a tense gleam in his eyes.

"They are… cannon fodder."

"Look, man. You're putting me in a spot here if you think that's someone else's fate."

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, if something were about to happen to me, it's your job to stand before me, right?"

"Ehhhh?!"

The young assistant reporter got startled and quickly looked back, prompting William Bell to lightly rib the kid with his elbow.

"If you remain tense like that, you won't even get a chance to run away before you are dead, okay? What I'm trying to say here is, loosen up a little."

The assistant reporter realised that it was just a joke from that knowing wink William Bell threw his way and patted his trembling chest down.

'Mister Bell…. He can still crack a joke in a situation like this.'

The relaxed air thickly laden with the seasoned reporter's commanding presence seeped into the younger reporter and that helped to soften the tension he felt.

However, the assistant was acutely aware of the truth. Whenever William Bell began smiling like that, that was when you should be most nervous as well.

The assistant shifted his gaze back to the Gate standing tall into the sky.

"Just what kind of monstrosity would come out from there, I wonder?"

William Bell stopped snapping pictures and looked up at the same spot as his assistant.

That thing sure as hell was huge. So huge, in fact, one could easily get overwhelmed just from its sheer size.

After Gates began appearing in the world, the second battlefield these war correspondents went to had become the locations of various Gates. Meaning, William Bell had come across his fair share of terrifying Gates before.

Hell, he even had the misfortune of reporting from the actual location of a dungeon break, too….

But then, the Gate floating before his eyes was on another realm altogether. Just looking up at that d*mn thing made him break out in cold sweat.

'This was probably why no advanced scout party got dispatched.'

Not one high-ranked Hunter volunteered to enter the Gate to see what was inside, so currently, no one knew what might jump out of that thing once it breaks open wide.

William Bell's lips, closed shut in a straight line until then, slowly parted ways.

"Not sure what'll come out of there, but…."

A bitter smile formed on his lips next.

"But, whatever comes out, let's just pray that Yuri Orlov's barrier is strong enough to hold them back."

The last place his camera headed to was Yuri Orlov's direction, busy inspecting the barrier's formation for one last time. The Russian Hunter was beaming from ear to ear at the moment.

"It's perfect. Very good."

Yuri Orlov was deeply confident of the resulting barrier now.

Because, well… his barriers had always been exceptional. Besides, that wasn't the only thing motivating him, either.

The Association President Matsumoto Shigeo was worried about the Japanese citizens strongly rebuking them for the deal, so he kept everything hush-hush, on the down low. As a result, the Japanese public was under the assumption that the Russian came here out of the goodness of his heart, and began showering him with lots of donations.

And so, he got to earn an even greater amount of wealth that way. Besides that, there was even more! Countless reporters had braved the dangers to come and snap his pictures.

Wealth and fame. The two things Yuri Orlov went crazy for had fallen into his lap in one fell swoop.

He emphasized himself one last time to the crowd.

"It's perfect!!"

After today, he'd go down in history books as the first man ever to block a rank S Gate all by himself.

'I'd much prefer to be remembered as a man clearing a rank S Gate all alone, though….'

Too bad, he couldn't get too greedy here, since another Hunter better suited for that title had appeared already. What could he do about that, realistically speaking? That guy was a melee-type Hunter, while he was a support-type, after all.

One only had to become the best in their chosen fields. That's all there was to it.

'Right, right!'

Slightly carried away by his own thoughts, Yuri Orlov pulled out a flask the size of his palm from his inner pocket. When he opened the lid, the pungent smell of vodka wafted out.

"M-Mister Yuri!! Alcohol…?!"

The Association employee in charge of minding the Russian freaked out and tried to stop him, but Yuri Orlov angrily glared at the hapless Japanese, instead.

"This is a celebratory toast, get it? A toast! So, let go of your tension, okay? Because I'm going to put on the greatest show on earth very soon."

"E-even then…."

"Hey, you want a sip? I'm telling you, your worries and tension just fly away in one shot."

Yuri Orlov wrapped his arm around the employee's shoulders and began offering up the vodka. The Association President Matsumoto Shigeo frowned deeply as he stared at that spectacle from afar.

'To think, the fate of Japan depends on such a man….'

He silently clicked his tongue and asked one of his entourage next to him.

"How many rank S Hunters are on standby?"

"It's a total of three, sir."

"Three, is it…."

Out of the ten still surviving rank S Hunters, only three responded to the summons of the Association. The frowns on Matsumoto Shigeo's face deepened by another level.

After the Jeju Island raid landed a calamitous blow to the community of Hunters in Japan, his influence had waned greatly until it hit rock bottom.

Some quarters were now loudly claiming that it was Matsumoto Shigeo who drove rank S Hunters to their deaths, having been blinded by his own greed. And, the majority of the remaining rank S Hunters had turned their backs on him.

They even left an ultimatum saying that, as long as he remained the Association President, they would not heed the orders of the Association again.

'If only Goto-kun was still here with me….'

Matsumoto Shigeo's clenched fists trembled hard. Goto Ryuji's death was far too painful a loss for the Japanese Association President, who used him as his right-hand man.

'But, that is why….'

….That was why today was doubly important for him.

If the concerted efforts of the Association resulted in the rank S Gate being blocked off, then he'd use that to aim towards the top once more.

'Goh Gun-Hui… and then, Seong Jin-Woo.'

Along the way, he might find a chance to pay back all the humiliation, with interest, to those men who had ruined his future.

'I shall, definitely…..'

Definitely, this had to work.

The Association President Matsumoto glared at the Gate again, his expression becoming even graver than before. One of his attendants looked at his watch and whispered to him.

"Sir, it's three minutes before the dungeon break."

"I see."

Matsumoto Shigeo nodded his head. Countless thoughts swirled within his gaze now taking in the sight of the massive Gate.

Two minutes, one minute, 59 seconds, 58…..

Time, filled with taut tension, ticked down seemingly at the rate of knots. And soon enough, the black 'wall' covering the giant Gate's surface began to get blurry.

The reporters all cried out in unison.

"Uh, uh?!"

"Hey, the Gate's opening up!!"

"They… they are coming out!"

***

"Son?"

Jin-Woo was about to sneakily get up, but sat back down quietly again when his mom called out to him.

"Yes, Mom?"

Mom took her eyes off the TV and looked at Jin-Woo. The TV news had been constantly showing the special broadcast related to the rank S Gate in Japan for a while now.

The story currently on was something about the dungeon break that would happen in a few minutes or so.

"You weren't trying to… go somewhere, were you?"

His mother's sixth sense could sometimes be even sharper than that of a high-ranking Hunter's, Jin-Woo mused inwardly. He flinched just a little, but replied as if nothing was amiss.

"I have a promise to keep, you see."

"A promise? On a day like this?"

"I made that promise a while ago, Mom. I thought that, since that Gate is opening in Japan anyway and it won't affect us, I didn't cancel it."

Mom was still staring at him with unconvinced eyes, though. However, he wasn't lying here, technically speaking.

'In a way, this is a promise I made with the System, isn't it?'

Mom continued to stare at Jin-Woo for a little while longer, before asking her son again.

"I don't have to worry about you, right?"

Jin-Woo replied confidently.

"Of course, Mom."

He worked hard to achieve this strength precisely for that purpose. Mom formed a gentle smile only after looking deeply into Jin-Woo's eyes overflowing with palpable confidence.

"Be careful on your way out, Son."

Jin-Woo smiled refreshingly as well.

"I'll be back soon, Mom."

Jin-Woo got up and left the house pretty soon afterwards.

His family's apartment was located on the ninth floor and, for the first time ever, he got to learn today how slow the elevator taking him to the ground floor was.

He felt anxiety creeping in as his expectation ballooned, wondering just what kind of a dungeon this black key of his would unlock.

Ting.

The elevator door to the ground floor slid open. An ahjussi he'd never seen before raised his head without thinking too much, and their gazes locked for a brief while.

He must've been one of the very few people who didn't know that a rank S Hunter was living in this building, because as soon as he recognised Jin-Woo's face, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"HUH???"

Jin-Woo quickly brushed past him and pulled up the hoodie attached to his top. His steps were quick, perhaps owing to the fact that his mind was also racing really fast, too.

Jin-Woo was able to leave the apartment complex in no time at all and while standing on the street, looked all around him.

'….Is this because of the Gate in Japan?'

For some reason, the streets were oddly deserted. But, thanks to that, Jin-Woo didn't have to mind the stares of the surroundings as he leisurely confirmed the information on the black key.

[Item: Key to the Karutenon temple]

Rarity: ??

Type: Key

'You have met the required conditions.'

A key allowing you entry into the Karutenon Temple. It can be used in the designated Gate.

The location of the designated Gate will be revealed after the predetermined time has been reached.

Remaining time: 00:01:02

Only one minute remained now.

'….It's almost here.'

His heart, calmly submerged deep below the cold surface, began to quietly pick up its pace now.

Ba-thump, ba-thump!!

Jin-Woo stood still and focused his hearing on the pulsing beat of his heart while waiting out the remaining minute. He didn't even need his watch, either. The biological clock within him, honed to the extreme, was more accurate than any time measuring device known to man in this world.

'….3, 2, 1.'

Exactly one minute later, Jin-Woo opened his closed eyes.

Click.

[Remaining time: 00:00:00]

[The location where the key can be used will now be made available.]

Jin-Woo's eyes widened greatly.

'Isn't this place….?'

The location of the Gate appearing within the System's message wasn't too far from here. As a matter of fact, he was rather familiar with that place.

Jin-Woo quickly used one of the features his Hunter-only phone possessed to log onto the website of the Hunter's Association, and checked the information on the Gate in question.

Sure enough, its location was exactly where the Association's warning notice, issued some time ago, said it'd be.

He didn't expect the location this key was supposed to 'unlock' would be there. As if someone had smacked him in the back of his head, Jin-Woo felt somewhat dizzy.

'I made a mistake.'

In reality, the key's description wasn't lying to him. The System said that the information on the Gate would be made available, but said nothing about a Gate appearing somewhere.

He got blindsided just now.

Jin-Woo's hands manipulating his phone became a lot busier. He checked the info on the Gate some more, and found out that there was a Guild already busy with clearing it right now. The rank of the Gate in question was 'C'.

'It's not a high rank, but….'

The real problem was with not really knowing what was hidden inside.

'It's a small relief that the location isn't far.'

It was about ten minutes away with a car. If he ran with everything he had, he'd get there in less than 60 seconds. Jin-Woo hid with 'Stealth' and began running at full tilt. He even activated the skill 'Quicksilver' for good measure, too.

His new destination was actually the athletics field of Jin-Ah's former high school. The school remained closed ever since the Orc incident, so there was no danger of unaware civilians getting hurt just in case, but….

'…But, it's the raid team clearing the dungeon in danger, instead.'

Jin-Woo recalled the moments he was visiting that underground temple.

He recalled all those close shaves. He clearly remembered several moments he almost got killed on that day.

But, what was the reason for this? Without a doubt, those were startlingly terrifying memories in his life, but when he looked back, his heart began racing quicker in excitement. Even now.

It probably had something to do with the fact that, inside that temple, Jin-Woo got to feel for the first time what it felt to be alive. Back then, he wasn't some useless, powerless rank E Hunter, but a challenger going up against impossible odds.

In the blink of an eye, he rounded up several streets and the sight of the familiar school was caught in his eyes. He really only needed a few dozens of seconds to arrive at the school.

He stepped through the front gate and spotted the Gate floating in the air just above the athletics field to the side. A handful of Association employees and staff members from the Guild doing the raid were standing around the Gate as if to guard its surroundings.

They were all carrying on in a quiet atmosphere, perhaps because they hadn't heard any news of something major happening inside yet. But that quietness was shattered immediately by Jin-Woo's sudden entrance. Because… he chose to undo his Stealth near the Gate.

"Uh, uh??"

One of the Guild's staff members belatedly discovered Jin-Woo's presence and tried to cut him off.

"You're not allowed in here."

Jin-Woo pulled back his hoodie and revealed himself. And that elicited a loud "Heok!!" from the side.

"It's you!!"

The Association employee immediately recognised Jin-Woo and cried out in surprise. It was the same bespectacled female employee he ran into back when he took care of the rank B Gate that popped up in the middle of the road.

Jin-Woo figured that it'd be quicker to talk to her instead of this Guild staff blocking his way, so he ignored the guy altogether and spoke directly to her.

"You need to stop this raid right now."

"Pardon me??"

She got flustered as she tried to make her reply.

"B-but, the measurement result came out as only C…."

Jin-Woo shook his head and told her in no uncertain terms.

"If you don't stop the raid now, they will all die."

"…..!!"

Jin-Woo raised his head and glared at the Gate.

Couldn't these people pick up on that?

An eerie aura so sickening that it gave him goosebumps, was slowly oozing out from the Gate.

Chapter 155: Chapter 155

"How long has it been since they went inside?"

Jin-Woo urgently asked the female Association employee. The longer it had been the deeper these Hunters would've gone inside, and that significantly decreased their odds of returning safely.

The female Association employee answered in her bewilderment.

"It's been about two hours."

Two hours, she said. It was one of those in-between time that could neither be called short nor too long. It was then.

"Who the hell are you? You from the Association??"

The Guild staff member grabbed Jin-Woo by his shoulder and tried to turn him around. It seemed that this guy wasn't happy with this newcomer's attitude. After all, this unknown youngster proceeded to not only ignore him, but he even went on to spew out some pretty abhorrent bullsh*t on top as well.

The strength gripping his shoulder was nothing to write home about, but Jin-Woo still turned around to face the Guild member, regardless.

He figured that, rather than starting a lengthy explanation of containing hundreds of words, simply showing his face once would be far more effective in a situation like this.

"You should answer back when people are ta…."

The Guild staff member's words came to an abrupt halt as soon as he locked gazes with Jin-Woo's eyes.

'Hold up. Haven't I seen this guy's face before, like, a lot?'

But, from where?

The staff member combed through his memories before finally recalling a certain name. He gasped out in disbelief and stuttered out a question.

"H-Hunter S-Seong Jin-Woo?!"

Who'd have thunk that he'd run into a rank S Hunter in front of rank C Gate? Not only that, but he also rudely grabbed the shoulder and glared at such a guy, too??

The Guild staff member was frightened out of his skull and reflexively took his hand away before taking two, three quick steps back.

"I-I'm truly sorry."

"…."

Even now, time continued to tick down. There was no time to waste on this Guild Staff; Jin-Woo shifted his gaze back to the female Association employee.

"I'm going inside to bring those people back."

The flustered female employee found herself in a bind now.

This very man walked out with a face full of smiles even when the rank B Gate he entered changed into a Red Gate. But such a person was now telling her in an urgent manner that people inside that seemingly-normal rank C Gate were in great danger.

"Just what is going on here that makes you say that? If you could just explain what…."

"There is no time."

Jin-Woo cut her off.

In all honesty, he could've just maintained 'Stealth' and strode right inside the Gate. In fact, there were many ways to distract these people and walk inside the Gate unnoticed.

The sole reason why he didn't do so was because he had no idea what might happen in there. He chose to cover his bases to some degree so he could avoid getting swept up in annoying problems later down the line.

The female employee's lips bobbed up and down several times. She was in a genuine dilemma now.

Would it be fine to let a Hunter waltz right into a Gate without any clear evidence, when another Guild had officially been sanctioned to raid it in the first place? Originally, something like that would have been unimaginable.

However, seeing the light in Jin-Woo's eyes, she couldn't bring herself to say no.

"….Please, go in."

"I'll see you later."

Jin-Woo nodded once to her and ran inside the Gate right away.

[You have entered a dungeon.]

He quickly located various corpses of monsters with their magic crystals removed, discarded here and there on the dungeon's floor.

The thing was, there wasn't that much loot to find in lower ranked dungeons. Which was quite different from higher ranked ones, where the remains of the monsters alone would fetch quite a sum of money.

The only real source of income found within low ranked dungeons was the magic crystals. And this scene was a rather familiar sight to him.

Jin-Woo closed his eyes and concentrated. For some reason, he couldn't sense the presence of the raid team.

'Could they already have been….?'

Jin-Woo quickly shook his head. Even if he was too late, magic energy still leaked out from the bodies of the freshly deceased. But he couldn't even pick up on that magic energy.

Jin-Woo quietly studied the interior of the dungeon, before a certain sense of deja vu hit him. Indeed, this place seemed familiar for some reason.

He had seen a dungeon like this one before.

'….Ah.'

If his memories served him right, then this dungeon was roughly the same in layout as the dual dungeon he got his powers from.

'If that's that case….'

Jin-Woo quickly made his way over to where the entrance of the dual dungeon was last time. And sure enough, there was another 'entrance' within the dungeon.

'It's the same as before.'

Only then did he realise why he couldn't sense the presence of the raid team's Hunters.

'This dungeon… it was nonsensically huge, wasn't it?'

That was the case back then. Sure, it was the walking speed of low-ranked Hunters, but still, they needed almost one hour to get to that strange doorway.

If this dungeon's structure was similar to the one he knew, then it'd not be all that surprising for the Hunters to be really far away now. And, it was also almost impossible to sense the presence of the Hunters who possessed only a negligible amount of magic energy individually.

Jin-Woo looked deeper into the cavern.

There was only one path. And, just like back then, it was enshrouded in total darkness.

But he wasn't worried. His Perception Stat he pushed to the extremes, showed him the path within that inky blackness. Jin-Woo's eyes glowed in a pale, cold hue like those animals of the night caught on camera.

'I can see it.'

His eyes rapidly got used to the lack of light and he could see one object after the other hidden within the darkness.

'Fuu-woo….'

Jin-Woo took a short but deep breath before shooting forward like a bullet. The background images fell back in an instant, over and over again.

It was indeed one long passageway. Even then, his speed was fast and he didn't need a lot of time to get to his destination.

'And we had to walk for one hour in this place back then…..'

What dramatic progress he made when compared to the first time he walked on this road.

Soon enough, he could sense the presence of people up ahead. They were the Hunters of the raiding party. They were also standing around in one spot.

Jin-Woo initially thought that they were involved in a battle or were all dead, but thankfully that wasn't it. When he got close enough, he could hear their voices.

"You wanna go back when we came this far??"

Taht.

When Jin-Woo stopped not too far from them, he heard some words that sounded oddly familiar and let a wry chuckle leak out of his mouth.

What a relief it was, though. It seemed that these people hadn't stepped foot inside yet. If they did, then they wouldn't even have enough time to waste their breaths on useless banter like this.

He heard a woman's voice next.

"So, what do you want to do, then? The door didn't budge even when we poured magic on it."

"Wouldn't it be better to go back outside and get the cooperation of a larger Guild?"

"Yeah, I think that might be for the better."

These people were busy arguing back and forth in front of the door that would not open regardless of their efforts.

Jin-Woo could understand where they were coming from. After discovering that this was actually a dual dungeon, they must've been dreaming of getting their hands on an untold amount of wealth. Meaning, they would never choose to go back empty-handed after walking non-stop for nearly one hour.

However, here was the surviving witness from that time. Jin-Woo could confidently say the truth out aloud without any reservation.

"This is a trap, everyone."

Hunters hadn't picked up on Jin-Woo's presence well until he was near their position. Understandably, they were jolted back to their senses from a sudden voice coming out from the darkness behind them.

"Oh my gosh!! That surprised me!"

"W-what the heck? Who are you?"

Jin-Woo pointed at the steel door he had seen before with his chin and replied.

"I'm a survivor of a dual dungeon incident."

A survivor of a dual dungeon incident?

Hunters exchanged glances and whispered softly among themselves. Because it was so dark inside, they needed a little bit of time to recognise Jin-Woo's face.

"…Uh?"

"What?"

"Isn't he Hunter Seong Jin-Woo??"

"What was that?"

The attention of the raid team members descended upon the Hunter who identified Jin-Woo. And the next direction their gazes shifted to was, naturally, Jin-Woo's face.

"N-now that you mention it…"

"It's really him??"

"But, but, why would a rank S Hunter even come here?"

Jin-Woo strode closer towards the doorway. Hunters surrounding the unknown door parted ways to make room for him. He lightly placed his palm on the door and spoke to the Hunters.

"I know what's behind this door."

Jin-Woo was overcome with a reminiscence of the past as he finally got to stand before this very doorway after what felt like a genuinely long, long time.

This place was the location the System had invited him to.

For the sake of these Hunters, as well as for himself, he couldn't have any uninvited guest loitering around. Jin-Woo turned around and looked at each of the Hunters present, before speaking up with a heavy voice.

"This place is incredibly dangerous. I'll take care of things from now on, so please, you must return outside."

Noisy, noisy….

The surroundings became rather chaotic.

If it weren't for the fact that Jin-Woo was a super-famous rank S Hunter, these people might have exploded in dissatisfaction right away, as the looks on their faces attested to that.

Out of all of them, the man who earlier stated that he couldn't go back empty-handed, just had to step forward to say something.

"Excuse me, Seong Hunter-nim."

He just so happened to be the Master of this small-to-medium Guild who had been pushing forward with this raid.

"We at the Bravery Guild bought the permit to raid this dungeon fair and square. You simply don't have any right to tell us to leave."

"T-that's right! Being a rank S isn't everything, you know!"

Jin-Woo closed his mouth in a straight line as his reply to the opposition coming from these Hunters.

'....'

They were behaving this way, even though he was doing them a favour and was trying to help them. However, that didn't mean he was planning to explain the situation to them one by one, either.

'I don't have the obligation to do that, anyway.'

He had done what he could do for these people. So, Jin-Woo decided to leave it for them to choose for themselves.

If he were honest, he wasn't so keen on that idea either, because he still remembered the terrible cost he and his fellow bottom-dwelling Association Hunters had to pay when they made the same decision as these people were about to make.

Jin-Woo wordlessly faced the door and tried to turn the doorknob.

Thunk!

Jin-Woo pushed down, but even with his Strength Stat, it didn't want to budge.

'Does it have some kind of restrictive magic?'

Without that, measly steel door like this would've moved already by now.

It was then – along with that familiar 'Tti-ring!', a new System message appeared before his eyes.

[The door to the Karutenon temple is currently locked.]

[Please use the key provided.]

'Ah, so that's why I needed the key.'

Jin-Woo took out the black key. Simply by him slotting it in the keyhole, the door slid open all on its own volition.

Clunk.

The raid team members of the Bravery Guild had already confirmed how tightly locked the door was before he got here. So, when such a stubbornly-locked door opened easily like that, their collective brows shot up in shock.

'Heok?!'

'What the heck? How did he open it?'

Jin-Woo ignored their whisperings and spoke to them in a cold voice.

"I won't try to stop you. If you want to follow me inside, then go ahead."

Of course, he didn't forget to warn them, too.

"However, you must remember that it'll be hard for you to come back out alive if you decide to do so."

That one sentence managed to freeze these Hunters to their spots. This was advice given by a rank S Hunter. Who'd scoff at that and ignore it?

However, the Master of the Bravery Guild still stepped forward as if he was trying to act according to the name of his organisation.

"I'll go in."

"…."

Jin-Woo didn't reply to that.

It was up to them to make the choice. He was going to let them bear the cost of their decision, as well.

The Guild Master looked back to his raid team members while walking towards the doorway, but none of them followed after him, only choosing to sheepishly look at each other's reactions. The Guild Master glared at his so-called comrades with disproving eyes and eventually stopped before the door.

In order to make it easier for him to enter, Jin-Woo opened the door slightly wider.

Rumble-!

The heavy-looking door moved without too much trouble.

There was a look of determination writ large on the Guild Master's face when Jin-Woo briefly met his gaze. His hesitation lasted only for a few moments; after mustering up enough courage, he took a step inside.

It was then.

Several messages cascaded up in front of Jin-Woo's view.

Tti-ring, tti-ring, tti-ring!!

[An individual not holding the key has entered the temple.]

[This entry has been disapproved.]

[Failure to comply will result in the immediate retaliation from the gatekeepers.]

Several dangerous-sounding, important messages popped up, but as these Hunters were not a 'Player', their eyes and ears failed to see or hear the warnings. Only Jin-Woo could hear the warnings of the System.

The completely-unaware Guild Master took yet another step forward, and then….

SWISH-!!

….A large hammer fell on top of his head.

Crash!!

The hammer smashed down to the ground and shattered the stone slab into pieces.

"Keok!!"

If it weren't for Jin-Woo hurriedly yanking at the scruff of the Guild Master's shirt and pulling him out, his head would've ended up in that state, instead.

"Uwa, uwaaahk?!"

The Guild Master freaked out as the gatekeepers reached out to him. Jin-Woo grabbed the hapless Hunter and tossed him outside the door before closing it quickly.

"Things found inside are all like that."

Jin-Woo turned around to face the other Hunters.

"So, you still want to go inside?"

The Guild Master on the ground shook his head like a madman. His fellow Guild members quickly helped him up and they escaped from there, double time.

Only after confirming that the Hunters had left for good, Jin-Woo made his way back inside.

Tti-ring.

[The holder of the key has entered.]

Slam.

The door closed shut behind him with a loud thud.

The massive scale of this chamber; stone statues filling up the walls; and then, the huge statue of a 'god' located in the deepest recess of this chamber.

Everything matched his memories.

'I've… returned.'

His heart began pounding really fast.

However, there was also a clear difference from back then, as well. That would be none other than himself. The current Jin-Woo, different from his past self, could easily decipher the truth of these stone statues now.

'These statues are not monsters, nor are they lifeforms to begin with.'

No, they were just puppets tied to strings, connected to something else.

There was only one creature emitting magic energy within this chamber. Even then, it was concealing its magic energy so expertly that, even Jin-Woo found it impossible to directly sense it. He could only trace the ominous and eerie aura, instead.

Jin-Woo slowly walked over to that b*stard in question.

"So, you were the real one, huh."

Jin-Woo tried to engage it in conversation, but the creature didn't display any reactions whatsoever.

"Oh, so you want to play it like that now, huh?"

The corners of Jin-Woo's lips arched up.

He suddenly raised his speed greatly and stabbed the shortsword into the chest of the 'creature'.

But then….

Crack!

His attack was stopped by the stone tablet the creature was holding.

The blade of the shortsword deeply stabbed into the tablet.

There was only one stone statue among many in here that held a stone tablet.

"….Finally."

The stone statue with six wings on its back looked at Jin-Woo over the stone tablet with a grin etched on its face and spoke.

"You've arrived."

***

Tokyo, Shinjuku.

Monsters began walking out one by one from the Gate, as tall as the high-rise skyscrapers.

Thud.

Thud.

"Heok…."

"W-what the hell are those?"

These monsters were Giants. Monsters often serving as bosses in many of the highest-difficulty rank A Gates were pouring out like common creatures now.

"Giants!!"

"It's the Giants!!"

While every observer watching this spectacle was freaking out and was taking hasty steps back, only Yuri Orlov remained calm as he took another swig from his flask.

'There's no problem if it's only this much.'

These monsters were scary enough to bring a chill down anyone's spine. However, Yuri Orlov was deeply confident of the barrier he had created.

"Come at me!"

And, his prediction proved to be right on the money.

Boom!

Bang!!

Giants began pounding on the invisible 'wall' surrounding the vicinity of the Gate, but it stood firm and didn't even budge an inch at all.

Boom!! Bang!!

They pushed with their shoulders, and even threw their entire bodies against the wall, but Yuri Orlov's barrier formation proved to be as perfect as he claimed earlier.

"Euhahahahaha!!"

Yuri Orlov exploded in a fit of laughter while ridiculing the Giants trapped behind the barrier. About 30 minutes passed by like that.

The Giants must've been tired out after going on a rampage to break the barrier, because they suddenly began walking back into the Gate. People witnessing that scene all cried out in pure shock.

"Oh, my god!!"

"Monsters coming out of the dungeon break are going back inside the Gate?!"

Such a thing was completely inconceivable. Not one person present here ever heard of anything like this before. These reporters with their countless years of experience were now operating their cameras non-stop, as if they were left feeling truly exhilarated by the unfolding spectacle.

And when the last Giant walked back inside the Gate, the Association President Matsumoto Shigeo stood up from his seat and hurriedly clapped his hands.

Clap, clap, clap, clap!

Not too long after that, the lone clapping sounds became many, and it morphed into excited cries, and eventually, transformed into loud cheers of joy.

Waaaaaah-!!!

Receiving the passionate adulations and cheers of everyone present, Yuri Orlov turned around to face the throng of the reporters.

"Only I can do this! I am the one blocking a rank S Gate!"

Thick veins bulged on his neck as he made his declaration.

"That guy who hunted down a couple of those measly ants, and this great me who shoved those giants back inside the Gate!! You don't need me to tell you who's even more amazing, right?"

He didn't even bother to hide his face now getting even redder from the influence of booze, and toothily grinned at the reporters, his gold-plated teeth fully on display for all to see.

But then, this happened.

THUD!

The ground rumbled hard quite suddenly.

THUD!!!

Even the tanks on standby bounced up and down.

'...??'

Only then did Yuri Orlov realise that the reporters were no longer looking at him. No, their gazes were unilaterally focused on the Gate. The Russian also slowly looked behind him.

And then…. the flask he held in his hand slipped out of his grasp.

'Oh, oh my god….."

Yuri Orlov's eyes grew wider and wider.

A truly humongous Giant that made the previous Giants small by comparison, stepped out of the Gate and stood straight up.

Indeed, it was standing upright after exiting from the huge rank S Gate.

Yuri Orlov blinked his eyes several times, unable to tell whether this scene playing out was real or not.

'How…. How could there be a monster so big that it needs to crouch to pass through such a humongous Gate???'

No one needed to explain anything, but everyone intuitively knew that they were now looking at the boss monster.

The Giant monster finished standing upright and took a long sweeping look around its surroundings, before slamming into the barrier's walls.

BOOM-!!

Far, far heavier noise than before resounded out and the earth itself began quaking rather precariously.

BOOM-!! BOOM!! BOOM-!!

Yuri Orlov's eyes could clearly see everything. And that would be the sight of the magic barrier only he could see, gaining spiderweb-like cracks.

'How can this be…..'

His legs began shaking uncontrollably.

The Giant monster pushed hard at the wall with its shoulder, before taking several steps back as if it realised that was enough. It sprinted at full tilt and threw its entire body at the barrier.

It was then!

KA-BOOM-!!!

The sound of an explosion filled up the air as the motes of light illuminating the magic circle on the ground dissipated away.

"Uwa-uwaaaahhk?!?!"

Yuri Orlov started screaming around at the same time.

The Giant monster, as soon as it destroyed the invisible wall, reached down and picked up the Russian still trying to send in his magic energy to the barrier.

Now caught within the Giant's hand, Yuri Orlov screamed out as bone-breaking pain wrecked his entire body. He desperately thrashed around.

"Uwaaaah!! Uwaaahahhk!!"

Gulp.

However, his screams could no longer be heard when the Giant monster opened its mouth again.

And then….

Behind the Giant monster that swallowed Yuri Orlov in one go, all those Giants that returned back to the Gate were pouring out again.