209 - 213

Chapter 209: Chapter 209

The biggest Gate ever to open up on Earth so far had been the one in the United States of America, where Kamish came out of. However, the one in front of everyone's eyes was easily over ten times that.

Was there a need to even measure its rank in such a case?

Unfortunately, someone had to do the job and so, the Hunter's Association had to dispatch a helicopter up there.

The aircraft was being populated by employees who were also Hunters. This was done out of fear that the bodies of the regular employees would not be able to endure against the magical energy emitted by the 'Super-massive Gate' and break down if they got too close.

Tatatatatata….

Pilot and co-pilot, as well as two Association employees, were riding on the helicopter as it flew ever closer to the Gate.

Would being sucked into a black hole feel like this?

Within this shaking hunk of metal flying in the sky, one of the employees stared intently at the gigantic black circle drawing ever closer and asked.

"Senior, have you ever seen anything like that before?"

The sun had set already, and they had to rely on the spotlights attached to the helicopter, but the sheer massive scale of this terrifying Gate still entered their sights with no problem.

The senior employee shook his head.

"No, never. I'm sure no one in this world has seen a Gate this big before."

The entire world was in a great upheaval over this single Gate. Such a thing wouldn't happen just because this particular one appeared in mid-air.

Actually, the world was freaking out by the unbelievable scale of the Gate along with its unique location of being in the air.

If only these employees knew that even Thomas Andre had to doubt his own eyes – they wouldn't even have shared the dumb conversation about anyone seeing a Gate like that before.

Gulp.

While the two men's gazes were stolen away by the Gate and dry saliva continued to slide down their throats, the helicopter arrived near the destination and gradually slowed its rate of ascent.

The co-pilot informed his passengers.

"Getting any nearer than this will endanger the helicopter."

The employees mouthed their understandings and finished getting ready to measure the Gate. Now originally, one would have to stand right next to a Gate in order to measure its rank. However, doing that wasn't necessary this time around.

As soon as the switch was turned on, the measuring device went 'Pop!' and stopped functioning immediately. It was proof that the device couldn't handle the level of magic energy leaking out from the Gate.

It was also an expected result, too.

"Senior?"

The employee trying to manipulate the device looked up at the senior employee. The latter nodded his head to express his agreement. The junior employee opened the communication line in order to report the findings to the Association.

It was at that moment that the senior employee staring outside suddenly cried out.

"Be careful!"

The junior employee jumped up in fright and quickly scanned his surroundings.

"W-what was that?!"

"I, I thought I saw something resembling a monster outside…."

"Eh? A monster came out already??"

A monster emerged from a Gate that had appeared less than a day ago?

Such a thing couldn't happen, but the senior employee witnessing this phenomenon was one of the high-ranked Hunters in the country. Neither the pilots nor the junior employee were in a position to criticise him and ask him if he was sure of what he saw.

But then, sure enough….

"Over there!"

The senior employee accurately pointed out again what he saw earlier.

It was also around this time that the urgent voice of the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol came out from the headset the junior employee was wearing.

– "What's going on? What are you saying? Agent Sahng-Won! Hey, Yu Sahng-Won!! Tell me what's going on up there!"

"S-sir, it's a monster! We spotted a large monster near the helicopter!"

– "What?!"

"But, uh… I don't think it's an ordinary monster, sir."

– "Don't you know that you're utterly helpless when encountering a monster in the air? I didn't send you guys up there to find that out, so get back down here right now!"

"N-no, sir. The thing is, Association President, uh… There's a person riding on top of the monster."

– "What are you even talking about?? Hey, how can a person be riding on a mon….."

It was then, an image of a certain man that really rode around on the back of a monster entered Woo Jin-Cheol's head and his voice got cut off for a moment there.

– "Hey, Sahng-Won….? Can you see the face of the man riding on the monster?"

"Hold on, sir. Yes, I can just about make it out."

– "Could he be Hunter Seong Jin-Woo?"

"Excuse me?"

The junior employee opened his eyes wider and pressed his face tightly against the window to take a closer look at the monster, before crying out in surprise and asking back.

"H-how did you know that, sir?"

***

Kkkiiiieehk-!

Jin-Woo riding on the back of the Sky Dragon Kaisel drew closer to the Gate. Once he got near its bottom, the d*mn thing looked more like an endlessly-stretching lake rather than an actual Gate.

What a near-overwhelming size it was.

A regular Hunter wouldn't have been able to endure this extraordinary amount of magical energy leaking out from the Gate itself, but Jin-Woo remained unaffected and aloof, starting from the moment he decided to check this thing out personally, all the way up to this point in time.

He could see that the Association's helicopter far below had begun descending to the ground, perhaps assessing that it was too dangerous for them now.

Jin-Woo watched the aircraft for a little while before he got even closer to the Gate itself.

Above his head, in the distance where his hand could reach, the Gate, with its maws wide open towards the ground below, floated in eerie silence.

Of course, the portal's surface was still blocked off by the black screen so he couldn't see what its inside looked like.

'…..'

If he reached out to touch it, would he be able to enter it, or would he get sucked in like a Red Gate, or…?

Jin-Woo cautiously extended his hand out.

'I most likely need to enter it and solve the problem before this Gate breaks open and monsters start pouring out.'

With a little bit of expectation bubbling noisily in his heart, he pressed the tip of his hand against the Gate's screen.

'What the…?'

For the first time ever since becoming an Awakened, he encountered a rather strange situation. He couldn't enter the Gate.

His hand couldn't enter the Gate as it got blocked off by the black screen. It was as hard as a solid wall.

'If it was a regular wall, I could've broken it down, but….'

He pushed with everything he had, but this 'wall' didn't even budge.

Knock, knock….

Jin-Woo knocked on the screen next, and his lips closed shut in a straight line.

'It's different.'

A Gate where Awakened couldn't pass through. Indeed, this one was different from all the other Gates that preceded it. If so, would the things waiting inside be different from everything else that had emerged before?

'Whatever the case may be….'

Whatever came out – his family and friends were below this Gate. He had no plan of letting them easily get past him.

'I now possess the Stats I've raised up until now and the brave soldiers that will fight alongside me.'

When his thoughts reached there…

Waaaaaah-!!

He thought he could hear the uproarious cheers of the soldiers hidden in his shadows echo in his ears.

Ba-thump-!

Anxiety and anticipation alternated in his heart. Ever since he became the 'Player' and received the powers of the System, Jin-Woo believed that there was a reason, a purpose, for his existence.

If that was the case, then could it be that he was meant to stop this calamity?

'What rubbish am I even thinking about now….?'

Jin-Woo chuckled and brushed aside his needlessly grim determination before pulling his hand back from the Gate.

It was then. The Hunter-issue smartphone, which he left on in the vibrate-only mode, suddenly began writhing around inside his pocket. The caller was from the Japanese Hunter's Association.

Jin-Woo had asked them for a favour earlier, so he quickly answered the call.

– "Hello? Seong Hunter-nim?"

"Please speak."

– "Ah, my apologies. I can hardly hear your voice. Should I call you some other time?"

Jin-Woo glanced down at Seoul's skyscrapers, now small enough to resemble toy building blocks, and grinned to himself.

"There's no need for that. Actually, I'm somewhere pretty high up at the moment. Anyway, have you found out what I asked you about?"

– "Ah, yes. We scanned the entire territory of Japan with our satellite just now, but…."

Unlike how he usually was, the employee from the Japanese Hunter's Association blurred the ends of his sentence. Could something have happened in Japan on a day like this?

The answer from the employee was completely out of Jin-Woo's expectation, however.

– "We couldn't locate a single Gate, Hunter-nim. There isn't a single new Gate being generated in the entirity of Japan."

'….!!'

After he killed off the Giants, he had been spending most of his time raiding dungeons in Japan, so this news came across as a bolt from the blue.

"Not one new Gate has appeared?"

– "Yes, that's correct. We couldn't be sure if this was a phenomenon unique to us or not, so we contacted Hunter agencies in other countries, but…."

The employee hesitated before continuing on with a voice thickly laden with his own vexation.

– "All the new Gates suddenly vanished from the world when the super-massive Gate appeared above the skies of Seoul."

It had been about three hours since this super-massive Gate had appeared in the air. What were the odds of every Gate in the entire world all 'coincidentally' vanishing at the same time?

'….It's not a coincidence, obviously.'

Jin-Woo's expression hardened. His stiffened face looked up at the Gate again, and in the meantime, the Japanese Association employee asked him again.

– "Excuse me…. May I ask why you wished for us to find the locations of the highest-ranking Gates?"

"…."

It was a bit troubling to honestly answer that.

Well, he couldn't really come out and say that he just wanted to test the shortswords boasting 1,500 attack damage he got from Thomas Andre as gifts before this uselessly huge Gate opened up, now could he?

In that case…

"We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow so someone needs to plant an apple tree, don't you agree?"

– "Oh…. an apple tree. I see. It's a wonderful saying."

Jin-Woo gave out an evasive answer and left the guy on the other side of the line to interpret it in any way he liked, before trying to end the call there.

– "Uhm, excuse me, Seong Hunter-nim?"

"Yes?"

As if he was feeling embarrassed, the employee hesitated greatly before continuing on.

– "Honestly speaking, I've never looked at Korea in a favourable light in the past. As you may well know, the Japanese Hunter's Association had been suffering a major headache from the ant monsters on Jeju Island for the last four years. As an employee of the Association, and as a Japanese, I disliked Koreans as a result."

Jin-Woo quietly listened on to his confession.

– "However, I had to change my mindset all because of you, Hunter-nim. Korea has become the country of our saviour. I'm truly grateful for your help and I wish to thank Korea, your home country."

As his story got longer and longer, his voice became more and more tearful as well.

– "That is why I pray that Korea won't ever experience the horrors that my country had to endure."

People who got trampled by the Giants. Cities were burned down. Screams echoed around in the air. The despair that couldn't be forgotten.

Those nightmares happened only a few weeks ago.

The employee had witnessed the calamity from up close and that was why he knew; he knew that such things should happen to no one.

Jin-Woo heard his pleas and confidently replied back.

"That will not happen."

He wasn't making a promise. No, it was much closer to him making a resolution. The reason for him diligently maintaining his growth up until this moment was the same.

It was now time to show the results of his hard work.

The employee heard Jin-Woo's reply and quietly laughed.

– "Haha. I never guessed that I'd stop hating Korea and feel envious of them instead. I'm really envious of Korea that has you, Seong Hunter-nim."

"You don't have to praise me that much. I don't have any other hobbies besides hunting down monsters, so I was planning to continue to visit Japan as long as there are monsters still running loose in this world."

– "Ahh, you saw straight through me. As expected, it's impossible to fool you when you're a top-ranked Hunter. I really wanted to earn some brownie points with you, too."

The employee thanked Jin-Woo for ably improving the atmosphere that threatened to get untenably heavy, before saying his 'heartfelt' goodbye.

– "In that case, please, don't hesitate to call us 'again'."

"Of course."

Jin-Woo pocketed the Hunter-issue smartphone. He then quietly stared at the Gate that was preternaturally quiet as if this was the calm before the storm.

'If this thing's duration is the same as dungeon breaks from other Gates, then…'

There were around six days left. Jin-Woo's two eyes glowed softly within this darkness.

"….Let's go down."

Kiiiahk-!!

The Sky Dragon carrying Jin-Woo energetically flapped its wings and made its descent.

***

About a day later, other people also detected the changes; Gates had disappeared.

New Gates stopped being generated right after the super-massive portal appeared in the skies above Seoul! There was no way to tell whether this was a good or a bad thing, but still, those welcoming this change did exist.

And that would be the Hunter's Association, currently being led by Woo Jin-Cheol.

With a deeply tense expression, he read the report being handed in and made a decision.

"Call every Hunter in our country to Seoul."

"Sir? But, that will be too dangerous."

"If we do that and a Gate we failed to discover goes to become a full-on dungeon break, then…"

"How about we summon only around half of the Hunters and leave the rest to….."

Woo Jin-Cheol heard the incoming rush of objections and angrily slammed down on the conference table.

SLAM!

The shoulders of the people attending the emergency meeting flinched from this display of a high-ranked Hunter's anger.

Woo Jin-Cheol shouted out loudly.

"Do you all believe we have the necessary leeway to worry about unseen dangers right now?"

With that, everyone inside the conference room stopped talking at once. Woo Jin-Cheol pointed to somewhere beyond the walls of the room.

"We're facing an unprecedented calamity right now. We don't know whether we can stop that d*mn thing or not even after we pour out everything we have at our disposal!"

Woo Jin-Cheol roared out and scanned the faces of the attendees.

"I shall take full responsibilities if incidents take place in other districts. Even if you tell me to give up my entire wealth, I will. If you tell me to put my life on the line and fight, I'll gladly do so."

No one could argue against Woo Jin-Cheol's grim determination.

In a case where the opinions differed during the life-threatening situations inside dungeons, the leader of the raid team would even resort to killing the insubordinate team member.

It was because the incorrect decision made by a few could drag everyone else to their doom. In the outside world, such an action would be seen as a crime, but it was a different story altogether when inside a dungeon.

Raids weren't a kids' garden tea party, but true warfare where everyone involved had to put their lives on the line to win, And right now, that war was about to spill outside the dungeon and onto the world.

Woo Jin-Cheol wasn't a slack Hunter who would entertain opposing arguments when every second counted.

"Summon every Hunter in the country to Seoul immediately, please. As long as they can fight, do not leave anyone behind."

And so, under the direct order of the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol, the Hunters of the Republic of Korea began heading to the city of Seoul.

Chapter 210: Chapter 210

An unusual scene was playing out; the roads had become a confused mess as the citizens tried to evacuate from Seoul, while the Hunters were trying to enter the city in order to protect it.

People living in the districts directly below the super-massive Gate, the ones predicted to bear the brunt of the damage, heeded the warnings issued by the Hunter's Association and the government, or even their own logical reasoning, and escaped from the city in droves.

Jin-Woo watched the TV news, busy covering the evacuation efforts and spoke to his mom.

"Mom, don't you think it'll be for the best if you and Jin-Ah go somewhere else?"

"Our area isn't even one of the evacuation zones, you know."

Mom had no thoughts of leaving Seoul at all, it seemed.

Jin-Woo's home, the old apartment, was located far, far away from the centre of Seoul. If monsters invaded this place, then that meant the defensive line of the Hunters had crumbled, and that would also signify Jin-Woo's failure to defend the frontline, too.

Mom believed that the flames of danger would never reach here.

Jin-Woo also grinned but didn't say anything else.

Unlike him and his mom sitting around a low coffee table located in front of the couch, Jin-Ah was sitting on the couch itself with her knees drawn up. She glanced at her older brother and asked him.

"Don't you have to go, too?"

She was talking about the nationwide Hunter summons. However, Jin-Woo was a Seoul resident, to begin with. He wasn't really included in that summons.

"The Hunters on TV are from other regions and they are trying to report to the Association that they have arrived in Seoul."

"Ohh."

Jin-Ah nodded her head while receiving a plate of sliced apples from her mom.

In reality, Jin-Woo had been feeling frustrated by the fact that he had no choice but to dazedly spend his time at home under the current circumstances.

He wanted to raise his level, but there were no monsters to fight. He wanted to enter the instant dungeon, but he hadn't seen a single special key as his reward ever since the architect of the System died.

His family certainly enjoyed him spending more time at home, but Jin-Woo really wanted to strengthen himself even further in order to prepare for any and all eventualities.

'Should I not do the daily quests and enter the penalty zone or something?'

It sounded like a good idea, but at the same time, not really.

First of all, he had no clue what might come out from that Gate in front of his eyes, yet he was thinking of entering the penalty zone where unknown monsters were lying in wait?

'Even if the odds are low….'

If there was one in ten thousand, no, one in ten million chance that something could happen to him during the penalty quest, then he wouldn't be able to deal with what might happen on this side.

He had no reason to take on two different types of risks right now. And so, that idea was dismissed.

In the end, he'd have to look for another way to test out the 'Kamish's Wrath' shortswords somehow.

What should he do?

As Jin-Woo pondered his options, a certain scene fleeted in and out of the TV screen. It was of the Hunter's Association HQ building, as shot from a flying helicopter.

That's right.

'Should I use 'that'?'

The corners of Jin-Woo's lips arched up, his eyes gleaming rather suspiciously. He pulled his smartphone out and tapped one of the saved numbers.

Ringgg…. Ringggg….

As usual, the call was promptly answered only after a couple of ringtones.

– "Hello, Seong Hunter-nim. It's Woo Jin-Cheol speaking."

"Looks like I should start referring to you as the Association President from now on, don't I?"

Woo Jin-Cheol chuckled sheepishly on the other side of the line before brushing past the issue.

– "You can call me with whatever is convenient for you. Even I'm still feeling weirded out by stumbling into a job that I wasn't ready for."

After sharing simple greetings, Woo Jin-Cheol figured that now would be a good time and his voice instantly became serious.

– "Did something happen on your end? I can't help but get worried with you giving me a call quite unexpectedly like this."

With the current situation being what it was, all of Woo Jin-Cheol's nerves had been sharpened to a noticeable degree. How could he be not tense when the country's most influential Hunter suddenly gave him a call?

"Well, it's nothing serious, actually…."

Woo Jin-Cheol, still very tense, audibly swallowed his saliva.

'Even if it's not a serious matter to Hunter Seong, it might be a grave one for us. No, because he doesn't sound that concerned, it could very well be incredibly bad news for us.'

As this short bout of silence drifted in between the two men, Woo Jin-Cheol did his best to calm his frayed nerves and paid closer attention.

Jin-Woo nonchalantly asked for a favour, since it really was nothing serious.

"Can I borrow the Association's gymnasium for a little while?"

***

Even though he was really busy, Woo Jin-Cheol personally came out to greet Jin-Woo.

"As you can see…. This is the situation of our gymnasium."

Jin-Woo scratched the side of his head.

In his quest to find a quiet place that was also out of people's prying eyes, he thought that using the Association's gymnasium would be a good idea, but it was currently housing the Hunters that had gathered in the city.

He saw the stuff being carried by their hands and belatedly remembered what was hidden within the storage of the gymnasium.

"Are you giving weapons to the Hunters that lack proper equipment?"

"Yes. The late Association President Goh Gun-Hui had prepared them for a rainy day like this."

Jin-Woo's head nodded by itself.

This was a sight he wanted to show to those detractors who pointed fingers and criticised the Association for storing all this expensive equipment in a dark corner and letting them rot away.

These Hunters came across as grimly determined as they equipped their handed-out weapons and armours.

It was then.

A physically-imposing Hunter struggling to push his arms and legs into a set of armour coated in magic energy raised his head and by chance, met Jin-Woo's gaze.

"Uh?"

He was taken by surprise after witnessing the presence of the greatest Hunter, a man he only got to see on TV screens until then.

"Hunter Seong Jin-Woo??"

"What was that?"

"Hunter Seong is here?"

Hunters filling up the gymnasium all simultaneously looked behind them. And sure enough – just like what that big Hunter had said, there he was, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo in his full glory, standing alongside the Association President and studying them without saying anything.

The noisy interior was suddenly enveloped in silence. The atmosphere became deeply heavy in no time at all. The overwhelming presence that couldn't be transmitted through TV screens flooded out from this Hunter at the top of his game.

It was only natural that one's heart would start palpitating when doing nothing but staring at a person who was standing at a realm that one couldn't even hope to reach.

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump!

The expressions of the Hunters facing Jin-Woo all began to glow. Gazes filled with envy and respect flew in from everywhere. Only now did he realise the reason why Woo Jin-Cheol wanted to show him this sight when explaining it over the phone would've been sufficient.

Everyone gathered here were lower-ranked Hunters who found it hard to prepare their own expensive magic energy-infused equipment.

The new Association President was hoping to rally the lower-ranked Hunters, who should have been mentally strained by the sudden summons, by showing them the single greatest ally they had on their side right now.

His calculation was proven true since renewed vigour seemed to have seeped into the eyes of these Hunters.

Jin-Woo couldn't help but chuckle softly at Woo Jin-Cheol's smart thinking. Well, the latter had been leading the Monitoring Division for quite a while, after all.

Meanwhile, Woo Jin-Cheol had been scratching the back of his neck as if he was embarrassed about his intentions being seen through. He suddenly asked a probing little question.

"By the way, Hunter-nim. Why did you want to borrow the gymnasium?"

Jin-Woo pretended to pull something out from his pocket, when he was actually taking it out from his Inventory.

"I want to use this."

Woo Jin-Cheol tilted his head in confusion as he looked at the plum-sized seed resting on Jin-Woo's palm.

"This… What is it, exactly?"

"When you plant this on the ground, a monster resembling a tree will pop up. I wanted to test something with it."

"A monster will pop up?!"

Jin-Woo looked at Woo Jin-Cheol's wide-open eyes and nodded his head.

The tree-type monster would spit out a seed in its death throes. Failing to destroy this little seed meant that a new monster would sprout in the same spot again.

He figured that it was inefficient to repeatedly hunt these monsters since their defences and vitality was so tenaciously high, so he proceeded to destroy all the seeds. However, he stored this particular seed from the boss tree monster in his Inventory, thinking that maybe, he'd find a use for it later.

Jin-Woo took to calling these monsters 'Armoured Tree', trying to imply that they were as sturdy as if they were wearing metal armour.

'If it's that guy, wouldn't it be the best target to test out these new blades of mine?'

The problem was…

"Under the current atmosphere of unease, many people will freak out from the sight of a moving monster out in the open."

Woo Jin-Cheol spoke up in a worried voice. Jin-Woo agreed with him.

"That's why I was looking for a quiet, reinforced location out of people's eyes, but this…."

Civilians had no access to the Association's gymnasium, and its hardiness was second to none, but it was impossible to use it now in this situation.

Jin-Woo shifted his gaze back over to the Hunters.

Even now, many Hunters holding tightly the weapons given to them by the Association and were glancing in his direction while trying to psych themselves up.

"Well, what with the situation like this…."

He could go to one of the uninhabited areas in Japan and use the seed there, but then again, the distance he had to fly was quite far, and as for using the skill, 'Shadow Exchange', he thought it'd be a waste.

Who could say what might happen in Korea during the two hours of cooldown time? That was why Jin-Woo was about to turn around to leave, but Woo Jin-Cheol had come to a decision by then, so he spoke up with a resolute voice.

"Very well."

"Excuse me?"

"The afternoon schedule for the gymnasium today will be cleared out for you, Hunter-nim. Compared to everything you've done, something like this doesn't even qualify as a special privilege."

The late Association President Goh Gun-Hui even went as far as to change the related laws for Hunter Seong Jin-Woo. He argued that no one would be able to ask an excellent Hunter to put his life on the line to fight for them when they were unwilling to even do such small favours.

And now, as he was the new Association President, how could it make any sort of sense if he couldn't even lend out a measly gymnasium for a few hours?

"Will that really be fine?"

Jin-Woo worriedly asked, but Woo Jin-Cheol simply grinned.

"I may not look it, but I am still the man in charge of this place. I get to decide when to open or close this building, you see."

Woo Jin-Cheol clapped his hands and gathered the attention of the Hunters, before speaking out loudly.

"Who's in charge here?"

"I-it's me, sir!"

Jin-Woo watched an Association employee hurriedly run over here from the far end of the gymnasium and thought to himself that, didn't matter whether a job title sounded awkward or if it suited a person, the job itself needed to be a high enough position at the end of the day first.

***

In a certain top luxury hotel in Seol.

There was a man wordlessly looking down at the cars trying to escape the city clogging the streets below from his suite's window. He was Thomas Andre. Laura quietly approached him from behind.

Her hands were grabbing onto the travel case filled with her luggage.

"Master, will you still not leave with us?"

"That's right."

Thomas Andre lightly tapped the window with his finger. He was pointing at the Gate.

"How can I leave behind something that big and beautiful and run away?"

"It is big, but…. beautiful, sir?"

Thomas Andre's eccentricity was well-documented by now, but for him to say that horrifyingly huge and ominous Gate was beautiful….

Just as Laura, his manager, was feeling puzzled by his declaration, he turned around to look at her.

"Anything that makes your heart palpitate is beautiful."

He placed his hand on his own chest to confirm his heart pulsating there. Ever since he saw the Gate, his heart had been racing non-stop with nary a sign of fatigue.

"From the Dragon spitting out flames, that massive Gate, and even the power of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, all of them are beautiful things to me."

He couldn't be understood by normal logic. Laura shook her head helplessly, but still, couldn't hide her smile, either. Thomas Andre lowered his hand away from his chest and grinned brightly.

"Besides, all Gates have disappeared, so what's the point of going back now?"

"However…. the Hunter Bureau is getting worried, sir."

Worried, she said.

Thomas Andre began chuckling at the notion of someone being worried about his well-being.

"What a funny notion that is, worrying about me. Is there any place safer than right next to Hunter Seong Jin-Woo?"

Even Laura forgot what she wanted to say after hearing Thomas Andre's words. It was no secret that the Hunter Bureau had asked Seong Jin-Woo to protect the world's top-ranked Hunters.

Thomas Andre smiled back at the clearly-speechless Laura and turned away from her. He stared at the Gate that had exceeded the classification of 'huge' and entered the realm of 'super-massive'. It floated high up in the skies above Seoul, its surface quietly rippling.

"If that thing's not stopped here, then there will be no future for us, anyway."

A calamity that even Seong Jin-Woo may not be able to stop would occur eight more times around the world.

Who would be able to stop them? Thomas Andre himself? Or, China's Liu Zhigeng? Maybe other Special Authority-rank Hunters?

What an absurd notion that was.

"That's why I wish to witness everything."

Thomas Andre's gaze drifted off towards Laura's reflection on the glass and a smile floated onto his lips again as he spoke.

"I wish to witness whether this will be the curtain call of human history, or the beginning of a new chapter."

***

Inside the empty gymnasium.

Jin-Woo walked to the middle of this large structure.

'Okay, this should be good enough.'

Jin-Woo put the seed down on the floor and poured some water on it.

A seed and water – these two were the only things needed for a monster to sprout even without soil or sunlight. He had confirmed this many times already.

Wududuk, Wudududuk…

Accompanied by the sounds akin to bones twisting around, the seed rapidly expanded and became a tree.

"Huh."

No matter how many times he saw it, this process remained a spectacle, that's for sure.

What an outrageous vitality this was, one so strong that the number of these tree monsters would never decrease even if the surrounding environments were barren and infertile.

Jin-Woo leisurely stepped back to the distance he thought was safe.

"Kiiieehk! Kiiehk!"

The 'baby' tree continued to grow larger until it regained its original appearance. Eventually, the seed had transformed into a monster so big that its head nearly touched the gymnasium's ceiling in less than five minutes.

"Kiiieehkk!"

Jin-Woo didn't pay any mind to the screech of the monster tree reverberating around within the interior and calmly summoned the newly-upgraded Beru.

'Come out.'

Beru's figure smoothly emerged from the ground.

[Oh, my king!]

Beru's new and improved appearance was indeed eye-catching; rather than the usual insect-like exoskeleton, his entire body was now outfitted with the snug-fitting black armour, which made him look even more 'substantial' than before.

Was that all?

The black smoke rising up from his body became even more noticeable as well, and now, rather than looking like a haze, it looked like black flames burning up, instead.

That overflowing power!

Jin-Woo confirmed Beru's information window one more time.

[Beru Lv. MAX]

Marshal Grade

This grade is equivalent to the head of the army and only one such being can exist. If another Shadow Soldier also reaches this grade, the hierarchy must be decided.

'So, the only ones that can potentially challenge the Marshal Grade right now is Greed, who is currently a Commander Grade, and Igrit, who's only a step away from entering the Commander Grade himself….'

Jin-Woo inwardly thought that the competition between the three of them for the grade of 'Marshal' should be quite entertaining, before gesturing at Beru with his chin.

"Beru, attack that creature with everything you have."

Everything he had – Beru increased his physical size as per the command given to him by his liege.

Kiiiiiiieeehk!

Screech of the genuine beast!

The armours also naturally transformed to match the enlarged body. Beru soon became twice his original size and began striding forward with loud, thudding footsteps.

His steps gradually picked up speed until he broke into a full-on sprint and he pounced on the Armoured Tree.

Ka-boom!!

Beru's eyes widened in surprise.

The attack he poured in his entire being couldn't sever the tree monster in half, only managing to dig in as deep as his wrist, instead. For Beru, capable of ripping rank S monsters into pieces as if they were jokes, this was one hell of a fluster-inducing event.

But then again, such a sight was befitting of the 'Armoured Tree' specialising in defence against pretty much all physical damage, barring the magic attacks.

That was enough of a warm-up. Jin-Woo recalled Beru after achieving a satisfactory result.

"Step aside."

Beru quickly moved aside.

Meanwhile, Jin-Woo summoned the pair of 'Kamish's Wrath' from the Inventory.

Shuwuk…

Two shortswords as long as regular swords appeared in the grips of his hands.

'Nice.'

Kuueehhk!

The Armoured Tree was searching for the culprit responsible for the hole in its tummy, before inadvertently discovering Jin-Woo's presence and began to slowly run towards him.

So, so slow….

Seriously speaking, this thing had no other redeeming qualities other than its high defence.

Indeed, there was no doubt about its defensive capability. But, how well would these two shortswords work against that stupefying defence?

The blackish aura starting to spread out from the ends of his hands instantly enveloped the blades.

'What I need is the destructive power, right?'

When his thoughts arrived there, the two weapons suddenly became rather heavy as if there were thousands of weights attached to them. They were so heavy, in fact, veins began bulging on Jin-Woo's shoulder muscles as he tried to endure against this increase in weight.

'The attack damage of 1,500…. Let's see what it feels like.'

Jin-Woo made up his mind to fight, and the blades of the two Wraths began to shiver in unison.

Chapter 211

The Armoured Tree's 'roots' zealously shook around as it approached Jin-Woo. He watched the monster as he reverse-gripped the pair of 'Kamish's Wraths'.

'For the time being, just a light little nudge.'

The shortsword in his right hand drew a diagonal line upwards.

Swish-!

Along with a sharp air-splitting noise, something fell to the ground with a thud.

"…..M-mm?"

The Armoured Tree looked down. One of the thick branches it used as its arm had been severed cleanly and was rolling around on the floor.

Then, the monster discovered the cut wounds with tree sap oozing out like blood next. Its 'facial expression' became tearful and it shrieked out a screech that kind of sounded like a scream.

"Kuueeehk!!"

The thing was, though, someone's pain could also be someone else's enjoyment, too. After slicing off the concrete pillar-like branch/arm of the Armoured Tree in one hit, Jin-Woo's surprised eyes were now locked onto his shortsword.

'Wowsers.'

He only swung it lightly once, yet the end result was already this amazing. No matter how many times he stabbed with the Demon King's Shortsword, he couldn't properly damage the Armoured Trees. But now, he sliced off the 'arm' of the boss Armoured Tree as if it was made out of tofu?

Should he say it felt terrific in his hand just now?

Buzzzz….

His heart began racing again after sensing the vibration of the ultra-sharp blades, something he hadn't felt for a long time.

[Oh, my king!]

Beru, standing and watching quietly from the far back, urgently called out.

'Don't worry, I know.'

Jin-Woo relaxedly answered before his head shot up.

The Armoured Tree's expression had changed from tearful to hatred in the meantime, its eyes wide open and glaring as it raised its left arm, no, its left branch up high.

It was as if the monster wanted to slam down as hard as it could and squash him to death, but unfortunately, its opponent today was a really bad match-up.

Jin-Woo quickly swung the 'Kamish's Wrath' one more time before the branch moved.

Slice!

"Ku-uuuhuhk!"

Suddenly losing both of its arms, the Armoured Tree looked up into the sky and screeched out.

'Very good.'

Jin-Woo lightly nodded his head.

He was now done with confirming the destructive power of the two shortswords when swung lightly. And now, time to confirm what would happen when they were swung with all his power.

'These things supposedly have excellent compatibility to magical energy because they are made out of a Dragon's bone, right?'

Jin-Woo's right hand began gripping the hilt of the shortsword even harder.

Just a little bit more.

A bit more, a bit harder.

Jin-Woo's eyes narrowed down to a slit. When he focused the magical energy in his entire body to his right hand, the blackish aura subtly billowing around the blade became even more violent until it began to almost go out of control.

To Beru's eyes, it looked as if the aura was utterly distorting the surrounding space.

'How could this be!'

The former ant king unconsciously took a step back before catching himself doing that. Even though he knew that the intent to battle wasn't directed at him, this magical energy was so chill-inducing that it forced him into a retreat.

Beru looked down at both of his trembling hands.

'Oh, my liege….'

Beru had never felt any other emotion beside absolute loyalty for his Sovereign until now, but for the first time ever, he felt sorry for the tree-shaped monster.

Meanwhile, the Armoured Tree had no idea what was in store for itself and simply screeched out in pure rage.

"Kuuuuueeeeeh-!!"

The bloodshot eyes of the tree monster were, of course, locked in the direction of Jin-Woo's face. The Armoured Tree's maw suddenly widened like an entrance to a building.

Just as the b*stard tottered unsteadily and leapt towards Jin-Woo's location in order to swallow him up, he released his magical energy gathered at the tip of the shortsword held in his right hand.

'Go!'

Just like his command given to Beru, with everything it had!

From the tip of his toes, his legs, his waist, his shoulder, and even his wrist – his entire body was used to slash out with all his might.

And the end result was….

'….Uh?!'

The man who swung the shortsword himself realised that something had gone very wrong just then.

'Ehhh?!'

Kagagagagagahk!!

The black aura shooting out from the tip of the blade split into several thick strands, and as if a gigantic, terrifying beast took a swipe with its claws, everything in front of him was swept away in one go.

Jin-Woo's dynamic vision that could split a second into dozens, hundreds of smaller units and detect the change within, clearly caught the moments of the aura utterly ripping the Armoured Tree to shreds.

'Oh, my god!'

The destructive power didn't stop there and continued on forward to leave behind horrifying scars on the wall and the floor of the gymnasium.

"Huh-uh….."

Jin-Woo was rendered completely speechless.

Tumble, drop….

Thud.

Bits and pieces of rubble began falling from the gymnasium's wall, now scarred by what looked like claw marks, and eventually, it couldn't endure the weight and began crumbling at the same time.

Creak, crumble…

Boom!

The gymnasium's wall, reinforced with magic energy in order to facilitate unhindered activities of Hunters, couldn't endure against one single attack and ended up crumbling apart.

Jin-Woo looked at the piled-up debris of the wall as sheer astonishment filled his heart.

"It's supposed to get stronger depending on the wielder, so this is what it can do?!"

The weapon to wield magical energy, crafted from the Dragon's remains. This claim was for real.

"Oh, my king!!"

Beru was so moved by the display of his king's power that he urgently dashed out to kneel in front of Jin-Woo.

"This humble and weak servant can't hide his deep, heartfelt emotions from his liege's bottomless, limitless power!"

"….."

It seemed that Jin-Woo really needed to block the historical drama channel on TV for the time being. It'd be sad news for his mother, who enjoyed watching those dramas, but still.

Of course, it wasn't as if he couldn't understand the reason for Beru's overexcitement. Jin-Woo's own heart was pounding away from this power that exceeded his wildest imagination, after all.

The scale of destruction the 'Kamish's Wrath' left behind – would a Dragon large enough to cover the sky attacking at full power cause such annihilation?

Jin-Woo clicked his tongue while studying the ripped-to-shreds remains of the Armoured Tree, the ghastly pile of debris that was once a wall, as well as the floor with deep gouges in it.

'Do I need to change the name of the shortswords from Kamish's Wrath to Dragon's Claws or something?'

Of course, this level of destruction was only possible because it was him wielding the weapon, but still.

It was then. Along with the rather pleasant mechanical beep of 'Tti-ring!' a new System message suddenly popped up.

[Will you change the name of 'Item: Kamish's Wrath' to 'Item: Dragon's Claws'?]

Jin-Woo was taken greatly by surprise by this unexpected response from the System.

'I can also change the name?'

He hurriedly retracted his command, and only got to breathe a sigh of relief after confirming that the name of the shortswords wasn't changed.

"Whew…."

That might have been a big problem!

If the original crafter learned that his artefact's name was swapped from 'Kamish's Wrath' to 'Dragon's Claws', he'd be spinning his grave non-stop.

Just from hearing it, both his hands and feet were curling up from all that cringeyness.

Jin-Woo couldn't help but chuckle at the ever-unchanging unfriendliness of the System.

In any case, he was satisfied by the power of the new weapon. Both in terms of sharpness or destructiveness, these shortswords easily exceeded his previous weapons by a great deal.

A pleased smile formed on his lips as he alternated his gaze between the two 'Kamish's Wrath' shortswords before storing them in his Inventory.

'Well, now that the testing is over….'

….It was time to take care of the aftermaths.

Jin-Woo had been drunk on the power of his new weapons, but he eventually came back down to earth. And after he saw the crumbled wall of the gymnasium, he felt his own heart crumble to pieces as well.

He borrowed this place for a little while, yet he messed it up to such a degree.

….What was he supposed to do now?

Jin-Woo deeply deliberated on his options before contacting the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol on the phone.

"Uhm, Association President? Please, I want you to stay calm and listen to what I have to say. You see, I have around three hundred ants that do really fantastic work, and….."

***

Three days since the Gates had disappeared.

Jin-Woo, who used to allocate a lot of his time to raiding dungeons, was spending his recent days at home with nothing much to do.

While he lay on top of his bed, he continued to spin around 'Kamish's Wrath' just above him.

Exactly like how a fidgety student would spin around a pen, Jin-Woo had been using 'Ruler's Authority' to deal with his boredom.

Of course, there would always be a disruptor to any given situation. His little sister was heading to the bathroom, but then, she suddenly swerved in her direction and yanked open the door to his room. Jin-Woo instantly stored his shortsword in the Inventory and pretended that nothing was amiss.

"Oppa, you were playing with your knife again, weren't you?"

Technically speaking, he was refining his control over the skill, 'Ruler��s Authority', but well….

But, to the worried eyes of his sister, it looked like nothing more than a dangerous fooling around of a bored guy.

"Nope."

Jin-Woo denied everything as he had already hidden all the evidence away. Jin-Ah's eyes narrowed down to a slit. She was unconvinced, but there was nothing she could do.

If her oppa, the best rank S Hunter there was, decided to really, really hide the evidence, how could she, a powerless regular person, ever find out the truth?

She glared at Jin-Woo with suspicious eyes for a very long time, before letting a groan escape from her mouth.

"Oppa?"

"Yeah?"

"If you're that bored, how about going out for a while? I mean, it's been such a long time since you've been resting at home like this, right?"

His little sister suddenly began saying stuff that their mother should be saying, instead. Jin-Woo smirked and closed his eyes as if he wanted to go to sleep.

"I don't have anywhere to go, you know."

"Don't you have someone to meet? Like, your friends?"

Friends, she said. His eyes opened again after hearing those words that vaguely resonated with him. Many faces fleeted in and out of his mind, but only one remained particularly vivid among them.

Since all Hunters were forced to take a break, for the time being, her situation wouldn't be so different from his own, right about now.

Besides, didn't he tell himself to treat her to a hearty meal to atone for his sin? That thing, when he inadvertently took a peek at her naked form after unwisely using 'Sensory Sharing' through the Shadow Soldier inserted into her shadow?

In normal times, not only him, but even she too would've been far too busy to meet up, but the story was different now. She might even be twirling around a sword or something out of this sheer boredom seemingly no one could overcome, just like how it was like for him.

This would be a good opportunity to get rid of that debt in his mind.

"Good thinking, sis."

Jin-Woo suddenly leapt up from the bed and stood before her, prompting Jin-Ah to flinch and take a hasty step back.

"W-what the heck?"

"Excuse me."

Jin-Woo expertly slid past her and headed straight into the bathroom.

Jin-Ah quickly detected that her oppa's expression was now rather suspicious and quickly asked him as he was about to enter the bathroom to wash himself.

"What now? Where are you planning to go?"

He grinned brightly and replied back to her.

"On a date."

***

"That's enough for today."

Cha Hae-In's hands stopped swinging the wooden sword.

She had been training so hard that her white 'dobok' had been soaked through with her sweat and clung onto her figure. She turned around to face her instructor.

He was an elderly man wearing an aged dobok. This man, who was missing an arm, gestured to her that she should take a seat.

Cha Hae-In wordlessly nodded before politely kneeling down on both knees and placed the wooden sword beside her.

This old man was her teacher.

As she was a rank S Hunter, there were very few people who could catch up to her physical abilities, but she still needed corresponding techniques that could maximise her physical status.

That's why she chose this out-of-the-way kendo dojo, and whenever she found herself with some free time, she came here to polish her ways with the sword.

Her teacher, Song Chi-Yeol, found her drive to never waste a single day quite praiseworthy. He settled down in front of her and spoke.

"I can't help but sense that, lately, Lady Hae-In's blade contains a trace of hesitation."

Cha Hae-In heard her teacher's voice and raised her head. Her expression was stiff. As their gazes remain locked in this position, Song Chi-Yeol quietly carried on.

"I'm worried that, by chance, you have developed a sense of fear in your heart."

Cha Hae-In couldn't answer.

Song Chi-Yeol was a Hunter like her and, even though he operated a dojo, he still went out to hunt down monsters whenever the Association requested his participation. And so, he could very well understand where her fear was coming from.

The Gate that none had seen before. And no one also could tell just what kind of unimaginably terrifying monstrosities would emerge from there.

Just because one was strong, that didn't mean they couldn't get scared.

No, on the contrary. They felt to their bones the kind of fear that normal, powerless people couldn't feel precisely because they were strong.

Song Chi-Yeol closed his eyes as if he was reflecting back on his past and slowly nodded his head.

"I'm sure you're scared. Indeed, why shouldn't you be? I also felt the same way. Of course, the monsters that I fought can't be compared to those you have fought, but when I lost my arm….."

It was then.

Cha Hae-In's Hunter-issue smartphone, the one tucked away in the corner of the dojo so it wouldn't get in the way, began ringing loudly.

"A Hunter should answer her phone, yes?���

"Forgive me, instructor."

Cha Hae-In briefly bowed her head before running over there to pick up the phone. And then….

Song Chi-Yeol had been waiting for her to end the call so he could continue on with his story, only to see that Cha Hae-In's expression was getting brighter and brighter with every passing second.

'Mm….?'

She was definitely trying to hide it, but since she was usually so expressionless in her everyday life, even Song Chi-Yeol could easily spot the changes in her expression.

She ended the call and cautiously walked over to his location.

"Uhm, instructor-nim, I…. There's an appointment I need to get to, so I should go."

Her cheeks were flushed warm. Seeing her eyes now filled with vitality, Song Chi-Yeol realised that his thoughts were off the mark. The hesitation evident in her sword wasn't born from fear.

"Indeed, you should. Of course, you need to."

Song Chi-Yeol dazedly nodded his head and gave her his permission.

"Well, then…."

Cha Hae-In's goodbye was kept brief and she left the dojo in light, cheery steps. He stared at her departing back and belatedly, a gentle smile floated up on his lips.

"Ah, so that's what it was…. Indeed, that was the reason."

Huhuh….

While wondering who the lucky fella receiving the love of such a wonderful and fine young woman could be, an expression of contentment floated up on Song Chi-Yeol's face, one that was just as happy as his valued disciple had shown.

Chapter 212: Chapter 212

"Hey, isn't that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo?"

"Where? Where??"

"Hul…. It really is Seong Jin-Woo."

It was the weekend and many people came to visit a certain theme park. They all recognised Jin-Woo's face among the visitors and stared at him with eyes filled with amazement.

"Who's the lady next to him? Is she his girlfriend?"

"Hold up…. Isn't she Hunter Cha Hae-In from the Hunters Guild??"

"Hul! This is huge!"

"What the heck? Are the two of them dating now?"

There was a woman next to Jin-Woo. She was famed for always maintaining a clean short hairstyle to ensure that nothing would hinder her movements.

She was Cha Hae-In, of course. She slightly lowered her head as if she couldn't really get used to all the attention from the people surrounding them, and whispered in a small voice.

"Do you enjoy going to places like this theme park?"

Jin-Woo replied with a grin.

"It's not that I enjoy it, but I wanted to come here at least once in my life, you see."

Cha Hae-In stared at Jin-Woo's current child-like expression with his previous ice-cold demeanour when slicing up monsters nowhere to be seen. Only then did she realise how fast her heart was racing right now.

Too bad for her, the man walking alongside her just so happened to be truly exceptional among the rank S Hunters. Cha Hae-In's cheeks flushed red by a lot after realising that he must've heard her pounding heart as well.

She tried to divert Jin-Woo's attention, even if only by a little, by changing the topic of the conversation.

"If you wanted to come here, then why me…."

"Miss Hae-In is the only friend I have."

"Pardon?"

Since when did she become friends with Hunter Seong Jin-Woo?

She racked her brain trying to recall the memory she clearly didn't possess before she unconsciously looked up. That's when her eyes locked onto Jin-Woo's rather mischievous grin.

"You know, in front of that strange stone statue…."

'Ah, that day.'

Back on that day when she and her colleagues entered the dual dungeon to rescue Jin-Woo, that angel statue asked her the question, didn't it?

– "What is your relationship with Seong Jin-Woo?"

– "….A friend."

It seemed that Jin-Woo remembered that brief exchange.

"You were listening back then?"

"Well, yeah. Somehow, I could hear you. I have better-than-average hearing, you see."

She felt a tiny bit wronged here somehow, but she knew that even back then, she ended up being saved by him rather than saving him, instead.

It was then she became conscious once more of just how many times Jin-Woo had saved her life.

"By the way…. What was the identity of that strange dungeon?"

She had been waiting to hear his explanation on this one ever since that day. Unfortunately, he figured that now wasn't the right time to tell her.

"Can I tell you later when I've managed to properly sort out my own thoughts first? Even I can't tell what's what at the moment."

Cha Hae-In nodded her head to say that she understood.

When their conversation entered a bit of a lull, Jin-Woo began taking a look around their surroundings.

"Excuse me! Please look over here!"

"I'm your biggest fan!"

Just like when a celebrity was walking on a busy street, people crowded around the two like a swarm of bees and were busily snapping away with their smartphones.

Jin-Woo's face was far more well-known to regular people than some superstars nowadays. That was because, regardless of which TV channel they tuned into, they would always play clips containing Jin-Woo's face ever since that super-massive Gate appeared in the air.

If this was any other day, he'd simply smile and let it slide. However, he didn't feel like having his day off being disrupted like this, especially when he had a company.

'Come out.'

The moment Jin-Woo issued his command, his own retinue of bodyguards willing to work their butts off for absolutely nothing revealed themselves.

They were none other than Igrit and the elite knights.

Around thirty or so knights emerged from his shadow and surrounded both him and Cha Hae-In in a protective cordon. They walked in perfect synch with their boss's pace, too.

Igrit was especially proactive as he personally went around wherever cameras flashed and wagged his finger to warn the would-be paparazzo.

Meanwhile, Cha Hae-In became even more flustered by the fact that they were now being escorted by a cordon of well-armed knights.

"Wouldn't doing this be even more eye-catching?"

"Well, as long as we aren't bothered, isn't it fine?"

His words carried this inexplicable persuasive power and Cha Hae-In found her head nodding all by itself. Truth be told, she really did feel somewhat better now that all those gazes pouring down on her had disappeared.

When she thought about it, she couldn't remember the last time she went out for fun with a relaxed mindset.

It had already been almost two years since she became a Hunter. During this period, not even once did she take a day off to relax.

She always remained tense and wasted each hour feeling nervous – on days she wasn't participating in raids, she'd be worried about her colleagues, and when she was in the raid, then she'd be worried about making mistakes.

But for today….

'….It's a different story when I'm with him.'

A man she can depend on.

When she was with Jin-Woo, it felt as if she no longer had to meet the expectations of her comrades that depended on her and could go back to being just a regular woman living her life.

She took one step closer. Her cheeks blushed a little more as her body grew closer to Jin-Woo even before she had noticed it.

'His scent…. I can smell it.'

Jin-Woo watched her complexion get so much brighter and belatedly reflected on his shortcomings.

'I should've done this earlier.'

He scanned the theme park's various rides, before pointing at the roller coaster falling at a scary speed from a dizzying height and asked her.

"Should we get on that one?"

"Okay."

Since she answered too easily, Jin-Woo felt unconvinced and pointed at another ride.

"How about that one?"

"It's okay, too."

"In that case, how about the one next to it?"

"That's also okay."

"Everything's okay??"

"Yes. They are all okay."

Jin-Woo stared at the excited face she made during her answers and simply chuckled to himself.

'What the heck. I guess I wasn't the only one who wanted to come here.'

Since she didn't seem to hate this place, Jin-Woo's mind could relax even further now. He lightly grasped her wrist and led her to the nearest ride.

"Well, then. Why don't we ride all of them?"

***

Unfortunately….

It wasn't as fun as he imagined.

"Kyaaahk! Kyahk!"

"Whoa-!!"

As luck would have it, Jin-Woo got to sit on the very front of the roller coaster. While the people behind were screaming their heads off, he spectated on the passing scenery without feeling much of an excitement.

'Huh? That kid's gonna drop his ice cream pretty soon. Oopsie, I knew it. Hold on, the food court was over that side? But, it's still too early to buy dinner, so….'

Hmm….

Even though the roller coaster was rushing forward at full tilt, everything seemed to have come to a crawl, like extreme slow motion, to Jin-Woo and he was feeling really bored right now.

If he was allowed to, then he thought that he could stand up straight until the ride was over and he'd be unaffected in the slightest.

'…..'

He did his very best to suppress a yawn trying to break out and sneaked a glance behind him. Beyond Igrit and a couple of knights sitting immediately behind him – they wanted to ride on the roller coaster for some reason – he could see the regular people screaming and enjoying themselves.

From every single muscle on their faces, he could feel the sensation of thrill and joy they were experiencing right now. He also heard their racing hearts, pounding away hard enough to seemingly explode at any second.

On the other hand…

Jin-Woo placed his hand on the chest to feel his heart beating as normal and broke into a slight grin.

Honestly, it was a lot more exciting to jump up high in the sky with everything he had so he could punch that titanic god statue in the face.

'What about back then when I was being chased around by those centipedes in the penalty zone?'

It was hundreds, no, ten thousand times scarier than right now.

'Oops.'

Jin-Woo quickly shook his head in order to get rid of the useless thoughts.

'I came here to relax, yet here I am, thinking about monsters.'

He began wondering if this was an illness or something. Around at the same time, he discovered his companion with a similar sort of expression on her face sitting next to him.

Smirk.

He couldn't help but chuckle here. Jin-Woo asked Cha Hae-In as she continued to swim in her dazed thoughts.

"Is it not fun playing around here?"

"Ah…. No, it's fun."

Since her conversation partner possessed sharp hearing, she found it convenient that she didn't have to shout at him.

"Then, why haven't you screamed at least once so far?"

They had already ridden on five different attractions so far. All of them could be described as top thrill rides to normal people, but she hadn't even muttered out the common "Ah!" once yet.

She too was a rank S Hunter. Maybe not as extreme as Jin-Woo, but she had also surpassed the realms of normal people by a wide margin as well. Suddenly, he felt rather relieved by the fact that he wasn't the only one so far removed from the other people here.

It was then.

He was tempted to show her the world that he saw.

Beru sensed Jin-Woo's desire and hurriedly began dissuading him.

[Oh, my king… It might be too dangerous for this woman.]

'It'll be fine. Besides, I'll put you in charge of catching her if she falls off. If you fail to do so…. You know already, right?'

[….Your wish is my command, my liege.]

Now that the voice of dissent had been suppressed, Jin-Woo spoke to Cha Hae-In next.

"Instead of this, do you want to ride on something really exciting?"

"Something…. really exciting?"

After the roller coaster came to an end, Jin-Woo led the still-puzzled Cha Hae-In out to a large plaza.

Whoa-!!

The theme park goers saw the cordon of black knights guarding the two of them and gasped out in sheer amazement. But then, their gasps soon turned into shocked screams.

"Heok!!"

"What is that thing?!"

The crowd was pushed back by the Shadow Soldiers. And on the now-created open space, a large, black monster suddenly rose up from the ground. It flapped its massive wings and screeched loudly towards the sky.

Kiiiaaaahhkk-!

It was also Cha Hae-In's first time seeing the Sky Dragon up close, so her response wasn't all that much different from the regular spectators.

"O-oh my god…."

Jin-Woo gestured towards Cha Hae-In, her eyes still resembling round dots from sheer amazement.

"Hurry, come on up."

She realised that Jin-Woo had already climbed up on the back of the Sky Dragon and became utterly flabbergasted.

"You… you want me to ride that creature??"

"I told you, didn't I?"

Unable to watch on any longer, Jin-Woo activated the skill 'Ruler's Authority' to pull her in.

"Ah?!"

She gasped out in shock again as this unseen force dragged her in. However, that reaction wasn't what Jin-Woo was hoping to see from her. Indeed, this was merely the beginning.

Even though her lips hadn't closed from the shock yet, he made her settle down right behind him and issued a command to Kaisel.

"Go up."

Kiiaahk-!

As if it was waiting for that, the Sky Dragon flapped its huge wings and began rising up in the air.

Cha Hae-In looked down as the crowd below gradually grew distant and swallowed her saliva. For sure, the sense of tension she felt right now was on another dimension when compared to being on those theme park rides.

Almost instinctively, her arms went around Jin-Woo's waist. Once they got high enough that the spectators below couldn't be seen anymore, her voice grew louder as well.

"E-excuse me?"

"Yes?"

"Why is that ant following us?"

Jin-Woo craned his neck to the side and looked down to spot Beru rising up just below Kaisel's belly. Seeing how determined the former ant king's expression was right now, he couldn't help but break out in a soft chuckle.

"He's the lifeguard!"

"Eh??"

"Hold on to me tight. We're going to fly now."

"Ehhhh??"

Was there a reason for more explanation now? Because he definitely could feel an incredible amount of pressure being exerted by Cha Hae-In's arms wrapped around his waist.

'What the heck. A regular guy would've been folded in half!'

But, this showed how scared she must've been feeling right now. Jin-Woo had half succeeded in his mission and spoke loudly with an excited voice.

"Kaisel, go faster! Faster!"

Kiiahk!

As Kaisel began flying at its fastest speed, Cha Hae-In's screams, heard for the very first time today, resounded out right behind him.

***

A smaller-scale Dragon was splitting the air as it speedily flew forward.

Swish-!

Riding on top of Kaisel, Jin-Woo and Cha Hae-In were able to fly into places where one wouldn't normally survive unless one was a rank S Hunter.

They entered the storm clouds where rain and wind wildly lashed out; they flew so close to a mountain range that they could almost touch it; they even flew past the seemingly-endless field of snow.

But the most beautiful sight still had to be watching the setting sun on top of the ocean.

Kaisel gradually slowed down.

Accompanied by the chilly wind brushing past their cheeks, the two of them watched the sun slowly disappear below the distant horizon, the skies being dyed in the amber-orange hue.

Just like the coloured sky, Cha Hae-In's eyes as she took in the spectacular sight also gently glowed in that orange hue. Abruptly, she felt curious and just had to ask him.

"Mister Jin-Woo."

"Yes?"

"Even though you can experience stuff like this, why did we go to that theme park first?"

"That theme park, well…."

Jin-Woo fell into reminiscence and slowly told her the reason.

"That's where the Gate my dad went missing opened up."

"Oh…"

If his father failed and the dungeon break really happened back then, the theme park would have ceased to exist. Yet, it was full of people today.

At first, he resented his old man for leaving behind his family in that manner, but now, he felt as if something warm had filled up the void in his heart after he witnessed all those smiling families having a fun day out in the theme park.

That was enough for him.

"That's why I always wanted to go there at least once."

Jin-Woo's voice sounded lonely for some reason and Cha Hae-In wordlessly hugged him from behind. Her warmth was transmitted through his back.

She spoke to him again.

"Thank you."

Her sudden thanks prompted him to look behind him, but since she was pressing up close to his back, there was no way he could see the expression on her face.

"Pardon me?"

"I wanted to…. say thank you for everything. You've been helping me out all this time, so…."

Through their bodies pressing against each other, through her warm breaths tickling his neck, and from her powerfully beating heart, he sensed from her what she wanted to say.

Indeed.

This was enough for him.

Jin-Woo smiled softly and commanded Kaisel to head in the opposite direction.

"Where are we going now?"

Cha Hae-In sounded somewhat rueful as she asked him. Jin-Woo replied with a smile.

"There's something I want to show you."

***

The destination they got to after a lengthy flight wasn't Korea, but Japan.

More specifically, an area designated as a restricted zone. Which meant that there was not one soul to be found here. Even the wild animals were driven away by the horrible auras oozing off from the monsters and thus no one lived in this area.

In this expansive forest where not even the breathing of a small animal could be heard, Kaisel slowly made its descent.

Kiiahk-!

The Sky Dragon lay flat on the ground and Jin-Woo climbed off first. He turned around to assist Cha Hae-In next.

"Be careful…."

Even before he could reach out, though, she jumped lightly and easily landed on the ground, before shrugging her shoulders. Jin-Woo had momentarily forgotten what her job was and could only chuckle again.

"Where are we….?"

She had been experiencing some extraordinary sights for almost the whole day today, and so, she expectantly began scanning her new surroundings with curious eyes.

However, besides the near-endless sea of trees, she couldn't see anything particularly interesting out here.

Jin-Woo sneakily bought a blanket from the System's Store and laid it down on the ground before opening his mouth.

"There's no fun if I let you in on the secret already, so why don't we lie down first?"

"Ehh?"

Did she hear him wrong??

Unfortunately, there was no way that a rank S Hunter's hearing would hear such a clear enunciation of words incorrectly. Besides, Jin-Woo was already getting ready to lay down on the blanket, anyway.

"Please, hurry."

Seeing how nonchalant he was in his invitation, Cha Hae-In's heart began pounding as if it was about to explode.

"Are, are you…. being serious?"

She simply had to confirm his intentions one more time.

Too bad for her, perhaps, he didn't show not one bit of hesitation as he nodded his head in a determined way.

It was her turn to hesitate, but in the end, she approached the blanket. Jin-Woo confirmed this and slowly laid down first. Soon, she too lied down next to him, and as if she had made a big decision about something, she straightened her legs.

"I'm… ready."

Jin-Woo looked at Cha Hae-In murmuring with tightly closed eyes and replied to her.

"In that case, please open your eyes."

When her eyes creaked open just a bit, he wordlessly pointed at the night sky above.

….Towards the cascading light of the stars.

"Ah….."

Cha Hae-In gasped out inadvertently after looking at the stunning parade of the starlight filling up the heavens.

Beautiful.

Could she be able to describe this spectacle with any other words besides 'beautiful'?

Jin-Woo was pleased by her response and smiled in satisfaction.

"I arrived here to deal with a dungeon break and ended up looking at the night sky."

Back then, he felt just too fatigued and wanted to lay his weary body down and close his eyes to rest. But, because the surroundings were so bright, he couldn't go to sleep.

He got irritated and opened his eyes and that's when he got to see this brilliant echo of stars enveloping the sky.

Just seeing them made his heart melt down that night.

"I thought that it'd be wonderful to share this night sky with someone else, you see."

The only thing filling up this still forest with nary a squeak of sound was the endless river of starlight.

Jin-Woo wanted to share this feeling, this moment, with someone else.

Fortunately, the result of his desire was this strong sense of relief. He felt relieved by the fact that there was someone close by who could also feel what he had felt then.

And his heart, once hardened and lumpy, seemed to soften and become untangled now.

But then, this happened.

'Uh….?'

He felt the warmth of Cha Hae-In's hand climbing up on top of his own.

"Can I… hold your hand?"

But, she was already holding it, though?

Jin-Woo smiled before shifting his hand to interlock his fingers with hers. The cold yet smooth hand of a woman filled his palm up.

So still, so quiet….

Countless starlight sparkled and rained down, as the heads of two young people slowly became one.

Chapter 213

Next day.

The news of various Hunters had taken over the sports newspapers from the likes of actual athletes or celebrities a long time ago. And on this particular day, a rather sensational headline found itself on one such publication's front page.

[Seong Jin-Woo and Cha Hae-In go to a theme park; birth of the strongest couple?]

The articles contained many large photos of the two people in question visiting a theme park, taken by various smartphones. The last image was of them riding on a large monster to fly off to elsewhere.

The personal affairs of these two Hunters were supposed to be protected and couldn't be reported to the public, but the boss of this particular newspaper went mad from this massive breaking news and, even under the threat of sanctions, decided to release the article nonetheless.

Of course, the response had been tremendous.

The 'scandal' concerning two rank S Hunters whose names everyone could recognise brought about renewed vitality to the psyches of everyone who was fatigued by the constant stream of articles related to the super-massive Gate in the sky.

The world's greatest Hunter and Korea's best female Hunter were dating. Obviously, people would display an incredible amount of interest in this matter.

Especially online, where the story of the two Hunters was spreading out with an even more rabid intensity.

– Hang on, if Seong Jin-Woo and Cha Hae-In marry and have a kid together, wouldn't Seong Jin-Woo Junior go around killing every single monster in the entire world?

└ Seong Jin-Woo Junior LOL

└ It's not official that they are dating, yet look at all these idiots jumping to conclusions. Tsk, tsk.

└ Going by that example, you think we got Seong Jin-Woo because his parents were both super duper top Hunters? You sound like a little kid who don't know how Hunters awaken their powers.

└ Even then, doesn't those two dating make you feel excited?

└ I wish it was true. Them having a marriage argument will be an epic encounter that flattens their surroundings. LOL

– I live in the outskirts of Seoul, and when I saw that Gate floating in the sky while travelling near Gangnam, I thought the world was coming to an end. But now that I see the Hunters going on a date like this and enjoying their lives, I feel like there's hope left for us still and I'm relieved by that.

└ This. ㅇㅈ

└ I hope TV stations will stop playing special reports on the Gate now.

└ Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim, Cha Hae-In Hunter-nim, whether it's a super-massive Gate or a super-duper-massive Gate, please stop it for us!

"Tsk, tsk."

The Chairman of the White Tiger Guild, Baek Yun-Ho, clicked his tongue and folded close the newspaper in his hand.

He wondered why Hunter Cha Hae-In's eyes were gleaming suspiciously whenever she looked at Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, and so, this here was the reason.

However, he wasn���t clicking his tongue because the two of them were going on a date.

"Look at this headline. It's complete rubbish. What do they even mean, strongest couple?"

Section Chief Ahn Sahng-Min, sitting near his boss and his rather displeased expression, asked him while sounding puzzled.

"What's the matter, sir? The way I see it, Hunters Seong Jin-Woo and Cha Hae-In would definitely be worthy of the title of 'strongest couple'."

"Doesn't matter who Hunter Seong Jin-Woo dates, we'll still get the 'birth of the strongest couple' anyways, so what's the point of attaching this sort of a headline?"

'Eh?'

Now that it was said out loud, that certainly sounded logical.

Ahn Sahng-Min began placing all the female Hunters he knew next to Jin-Woo in his mind, and began nodding his head at Baek Yun-Ho's opinion.

Even if Hunter Seong was dating that high school girl Hunter, he just couldn't think of anyone capable of winning against them. None at all.

The female high school Hunter might be not much to write home about, but well, her partner would be too much of a cheat, after all.

"You're completely correct, Chairman."

"Yes, I'm telling you."

Ahn Sahng-Min nodded his head again and began sipping the coffee he bought from the vending machine not too long ago. He slowly shifted his gaze outside the window.

"By the way, this issue with fine dust is really getting serious, sir. I'm actually scared of opening the windows nowadays."

Ahn Sahng-Min frowned and got up to close the half-open window. However, Baek Yun-Ho stopped him from doing so.

"Hang on."

"Sir?"

Baek Yun-Ho stood up from his seat and walked over to Ahn Sahng-Min, before opening the window wide to reach outside.

"This…. This isn't fine dust at all."

The feeling he got at the tips of his fingers was icy cold.

This was actually a fog. Not only that, a fog that carried this extreme coldness, bitter enough to make one's bones shiver.

"This is weird."

It was only around the middle of Autumn, but to think, there would be a wintery fog enveloping the entirety of Seoul. At that moment, he felt this creepy chilling sensation brushing past the back of his neck.

Baek Yun-Ho's eyes changed to that of the 'Eyes of the Beast' and he glared outside the window. He muttered to himself, his expression hardening gradually.

"Something… something feels really off."

***

Jin-Woo was the first one to open his eyes.

Hae-In must've been exhausted from yesterday as she hadn't woken up from her sweet slumber yet.

Just how long had it been since he greeted the morning together with someone else?

Jin-Woo cautiously got up to make sure not to rouse Hae-In and walked over to the nearby forest.

'It was definitely around here….'

He found the stream he used the last time he was here and washed up. After he was done, he walked back to where Hae-In was still asleep but then….

He discovered something strange and his steps came to an abrupt halt.

'What is this….?'

There was this small tree with new buds sprouting up. One might be tempted to say that it was a plant commonly seen anywhere, but the thing was, its leaves were gently shimmering in a silvery colour.

It was a tree never before seen on Earth, in other words.

And sure enough, this strange tree was emitting a very faint amount of magical energy, something only Jin-Woo's level of sensory perception could have picked up on.

'It's not from our world.'

The plant's magical energy emission was different from that of a monster's, so it clearly wasn't one. Jin-Woo observed the tree for a little while longer, before raising his head to discover more of the same silvery leaves here and there.

It was such a contrast to the sight of regular surrounding trees all drying up gradually.

'Even the ground… is changing.'

Was this also the part of the Rulers' plan? Or, was it more like the after-effects of monsters pillaging the land?

Jin-Woo scooped a little bit of soil and smelt it, before rubbing his hands together to scatter it away little by little. Even the falling soil contained a minute trace, a scent, of magic energy.

Maybe it was only the humans that hadn't noticed the truth yet. It might be that this world had become deeply mired in the magical energy already.

It was at this moment, he sensed Cha Hae-In's movement from afar as she slowly woke up from her slumber. Jin-Woo dusted his hands and stood back up.

It was indeed important to worry about the consequences of the transforming world, but there was something even more important than that right now.

And that would be to calm Hae-In down, when she'd no doubt start panicking after realising that he wasn't there. Jin-Woo deliberately made some noises as he approached her. She quickly discovered him and let out a soft sigh of relief.

He smiled and greeted her.

"Good morning. Did you rest well?"

Her complexion reddened for some reason. She replied while averting her gaze away from him.

"…..Yes."

Jin-Woo sent her a puzzled look, prompting her to sneakily raise her head.

"Where were you coming from?"

Hae-In's question sounded cautious. He used the towel around his neck to rub his still-moist hair and replied.

"I was washing myself, actually."

Now that he thought about it, she must've wanted to clean herself just as badly, too. Especially with all that ocean breeze – even a little bit of exposure would leave behind plenty of salt on one's skin.

'Still, I can't let a young lady wash herself in a place like this….'

Jin-Woo pondered his options for a bit, before a smile floated up on his lips. Going to 'that place' would solve the issues of both taking a bath and breakfast in one go.

"I know a hotel with a killer breakfast nearby, so how about going there for our meal?"

Although she didn't verbalise her answer, Hae-In must've felt really hungry, because she immediately nodded her head, her lips firmly closed shut.

Jin-Woo reached out to her and helped her to stand back up, before summoning Kaisel out again.

Kiiiaaahk!

Hae-In tilted her head while looking at the Sky Dragon unfurl its wings.

"But, didn't you say it was nearby?"

"Well, it's about a five-minute distance if I run with everything I have, so…. Would you like to run alongside me, then?"

Five minutes at Jin-Woo's top speed; Hae-In quickly calculated just how far that would be in her head, and without saying anything, she climbed on the back of Kaisel.

'Yup, it's great that she understands me so quickly.'

Jin-Woo grinned and took his place in front of her. Kaisel flapped its wings and flew up.

The Koreans had seen Kaisel fairly often on TV so their reactions were not as severe, but he wondered how the Japanese staff of the hotel would react after seeing his ride.

He prayed that the chef working this morning wouldn't be too frightened. Meanwhile, Kaisel slowly began heading in the direction of the hotel.

***

'It' suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

The first person to discover 'it' was a middle-aged man who got evaluated as a rank B Awakened in the Hunter's Association only a few moments ago.

Thud.

The man ended up bumping shoulders with 'it' appearing suddenly before him in the middle of the busy street and stopped walking right then.

"What the….?"

The man raised his head while chasing after the silhouette of the shadow. There was a big, hulking man of over two metres tall standing right before him.

This dangerous sense of wild beast oozed out from the man wearing some sort of leather clothing. No, rather than just some 'sense', this man was a wild beast personified.

Since the man's huge physique was so eye-catching, the gazes of the passersby quickly focused on this person, and the middle-aged man that had run into him.

"What's this? Are they going to fight?"

"Wow! Look at that man's size. He's no joke. Even Mah Dong-Wook would take a bow, man."

"By the way, that uncle must've lost his mind. He might end up in the hospital at this rate."

Even though the street was filled with people, there was this heavy silence descending on it. That's what the middle-aged man thought after becoming the centre of attention of the passersby.

Now normally, he'd have apologised and stepped aside, but he was a different person compared to the past.

He'd no longer suffer the ignominy of kowtowing before his superior or be ignored by his junior workers.

'I'm a rank B Awakened now.'

Not only that, among the upper tier of the rank B, too. There was no need to act subservient towards a 'regular' person like this who only relied on his massive frame.

The middle-aged man carefully put down the bag of documents on the ground and roared out at the top of his lungs.

"Oii! You're supposed to apologise when running into someone!"

Once his agitated heart began racing away, he felt his magical energy moving vigorously from within every inch of his body.

Cells in his flesh were telling him.

That he was alive.

That he was ready to start a new life as a Hunter.

Perhaps suppressed by his spirit, the beast-like man didn't say anything while standing rooted in the same spot. The middle-aged man saw this reaction and became even more excited.

"You think everything will be over just because you're standing still looking at me like that? If you made a mistake, you're supposed to admit to it and start begging for forgiveness to the person you've wronged…. Ah?! Ah, aaah!!"

When the huge man grabbed the middle-aged man by his head and lifted the poor man up, the passersby watching began screaming at the top of their lungs.

"Ah!! Ah, aaaaah!!"

Thick, reddish veins bulged on the head of the middle-aged man as he was being squeezed.

A bear. No, a tiger; a lion, a shark, a crocodile, a poisonous snake – which predator existing on this world was capable of frightening a human being to this degree?

The fear of the predator ingrained into humanity's DNA caused the middle-aged man to wet his pants.

"Ah….. Ah….."

And eventually…

CRACK!

Accompanied by the sounds of something shattering, blood and brain mass splattered to everywhere.

"Kyyyaaaaahhk!!"

The huge man didn't stop there; he began to voraciously devour the sagging, lifeless body of the middle-aged man on the ground.

"He, he's eating that man!"

"U-uwaaaah?!"

"Wha-what the hell is this?! What's going on?!"

The noisy meal time came to an end in an instant. The huge 'man' wiped the corners of his mouth, still dirty with bits of flesh, with his hand while slowly standing back up.

A wild beast.

Not even a hint of intelligence could be seen behind the eyes of the huge man. They definitely resembled a wild beast's eyes now.

While many people screamed and ran away, there were just as many who had failed to recognise the severity of the situation and continued to spectate on the next actions of this huge man.

This 'wild beast' roared out towards the humans around it.

[Listen well, you lowly humans! Starting from now, I will hunt all of you down!!]

The thunderclap-like roar paralysed all who listened. They stood there on the spot shivering, tears rolling down their cheeks.

Before anyone had noticed it, sharp fangs were jutting out gloriously from the huge man's mouth.

[My fangs and claws will mercilessly rip apart the flesh and skin of you weaklings!]

It was the King of Beasts. The roar from the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs baring its sharp canines reverberated loudly against the entirety of the streets.

[I dare you to come and stop me!]

***

The Association President Woo Jin-Cheol finally received the report on the 'horrifying being' that appeared in the middle of the city without any prior warning.

"How many victims so far?"

"At the moment, it's impossible to tally the number of the dead, sir."

The 'thing' was first spotted in the district of Myeong-dong and while moving in a straight line, the creature proceeded to kill every human it laid its eyes on.

"When taken into account the direction this creature has taken, its destination could be…"

"…..It's the Hunter's Association, isn't it?"

Woo Jin-Cheol bit his lower lip and clenched his fists.

"We've got our hands full worrying about the d*mn Gate right now, but just where did such a monster even….."

Unfortunately, there was no time to stew in his anger right now. No, he had to come up with a solution to stop that thing somehow.

"What about Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim?"

"We still can't contact him."

"God d*mn it…"

He cursed out involuntarily.

Only a few minutes ago, he heard the news that a Guild stepped forward to stop this monster only to be annihilated without being able to do anything.

The only consolation right now was that the creature moved at a slow pace as if it was waiting for someone to show up. But still, it didn't take a genius to figure out that, as long as it was not stopped soon, the total number of victims would end up being astronomical.

In such a situation, the fact that the country's most powerful combat force couldn't be reached was probably the worst news imaginable.

'If things go wrong, even the country can….'

Woo Jin-Cheol gritted his teeth as he kept his mouth shut, his determination firming up. It was then, a welcome piece of news came at his way.

"Association President!"

Woo Jin-Cheol shot up from his seat as an Association employee burst into his office without permission.

"Did you get in touch with Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim??"

"No, sir. That's not it. However, I just learned that a world-class Hunter staying nearby is getting ready to stop the monster!"

"What? Really? Who is it?"

"That is…."

***

Ranked as the number one in the German Hunter community, Lennart Niermann, could sense the aura of the monster approaching closer as it dyed the streets red with blood.

'Will I… be able to win?'

Even though he was doubtful, as a Hunter, there was no way he'd ignore the screams of terror coming from the innocent citizens.

And when he took a look at the brightening expressions of the escaping citizens as they recognised him, the Hunter ranked twelfth in the American Hunter Bureau's 'Hunter Point' list, Lennart Niermann was overcome with this great weight of responsibility bearing down on his shoulders.

Yes, it was not a matter of whether he could do it or not. No, he simply had to do it. That was the purpose, the duty, of a Hunter.

'Maybe….'

The reason why he ended up staying in Seoul was probably the trickery of fate so that he could stop that monstrosity with his own two hands.

Lennart Niermann formed a grave but determined expression and undid a couple of buttons on his shirt. Just as he was about to take his step towards the monster that finally revealed itself at the far end of the street….

A heavy voice came from behind him.

"Get out of the way."