Japan

"Chief Ahn."

"Yes, sir."

"I'd like to know Mister Seong Jin-Woo's contact details and information about the kids."

"Guild Master, that is…."

Ahn Sahng-Min decided to tell everything regarding on why he had to conceal the matters regarding Jin-Woo until now.

Baek Yun-Ho wordlessly listened to it and gravely nodded his head.

"It's understandable that they wish to remain anonymous, what with him possessing such incredible abilities. After all, there are enough people in this world who wish to stay out of the limelight, too."

"We should start with Mister Seong Jin-Woo, we couldn't track the location of the kids."

But then, they did reveal their powers in front of quite a few eyewitnesses. Sure, the situation back then might have been urgent, but it was also likely that they felt more or less okay about letting the world know of his powers.

"As long as the matter isn't blown out of proportion, I'm sure Mister Seong Jin-Woo won't blame you, Chief Ahn."

As long as the matter isn't blown out of proportion, I'm sure Mister Seong Jin-Woo won't blame you, Chief Ahn."

Ahn Sahng-Min nodded his head.

Of course, no one present in this room wished to leak this story beyond these walls. Never mind for Seong Jin-Woo, it would not be a good thing for both the Association and the White Tiger, as well.

"That's that, but…."

Ahn Sahng-Min was worried about something else, though.

And that would be his boss rushing things and ending up screwing everything up because he didn't know of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's rather decisive character.

He dearly wanted to prevent that, at least.

"Sir. I think… you directly contacting him is a bit…."

"Ahh, don't worry. I'm not trying to contact him in regards to the recruitment."

"Pardon me? But then, why….?"

"It's as Mister Seong Jin-Woo said last night."

Baek Yun-Ho realised something after listening to Park Hui-Jin's debriefing. Seong Jin-Woo was the White Tiger Guild's benefactor.

He had saved three new recruits of the Guild. Not only that, but he also took care of the Red Gate, thereby ensuring that the honour of the White Tiger wasn't tarnished.

Even though the Association's people made the blunder, just how bad would the impact on the Guild's public image have been if this news got out, and everyone learned of them losing almost all of their new recruits?

Just imagining it gave Baek Yun-Ho nightmares – enough to have a total freak out, almost, right here.

"As the representative of the White Tiger Guild, I'd like to officially express my gratitude to Mister Seong Jin-Woo. And to properly apologise for yesterday's incident, as well."

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Inside the number one Guild in Korea, the Hunters.

A rather interesting piece of news found its way to the owner of the Hunters and the currently-active rank S Hunter, Choi Jong-In.

"This… has this been confirmed?"

Would anyone knock on their bosses' doors with unconfirmed information?

Chief of the recruitment department, Joh Myoung-Ki, nodded his head.

"Yes, Sir. We received this info earlier today from the Association."

Every major Guild had one or two informants inside the Association.

It might not be a kosher thing to do, but this was the only way to stay one step ahead of the competition, contacting an exciting new talent first if one were to emerge out of nowhere.

However, earlier today, the Hunters' informant had leaked a pretty strange story. And after lengthy deliberation, Joh Myoung-Ki decided to come to his boss's office with this news.

'Why? Because, the White Tiger Guild is on a roll nowadays, and they are large enough to threaten us, the Hunters.'

So, he figured that this information was worth reporting to the boss man. Exactly as Joh Myoung-Ki had suspected, Choi Jong-In displayed great interest in the matter right away.

"From a Red Gate that killed one rank A and six rank Bs, two rank Cs returned alive? Not only that, but they also managed to clear the dungeon, too? That is pure nonsense."

….Even if there was one rank B among them, there was no way that this was true.

Choi Jong-In shook his head as he continued to read the memo.

"Without a doubt, there was someone else helping them out. Someone not mentioned in here."

Choi Jong-In was certain of this. His extensive experiences in raiding dungeons told him as so.

Joh Myoung-Ki replied.

"Looks like the Association also suspects that, Sir. However…."

"However?"

"It seems that the White Tiger isn't saying anything."

"So, is the Association planning to overlook it, then?"

"I heard that they don't want to conflate the matters any further, since their fault in this incident is already too significant, Sir."

"H-mm…."

Choi Jong-In rested his hand against his chin. It was a habit of his whenever he fell into deep thought.

It was understandable from the Association's point of view, but why was the White Tiger keeping quiet on this matter? There could be only one reason.

"The White Tiger must've received help from someone they don't want others to know about."

"I also thought the same thing, sir."

The opinions of the two people present matched.

Choi Jong-In's brain rapidly kicked into gear.

'A nameless helper who can rescue lower-ranked Hunters from a dungeon that's difficult enough to kill most of the higher-ranked Hunters….'

"What should we do?"

"Set them on fire."

"You want to burn their organisation?"

"Are you crazy?! We leak this to the media."

'That is…!'

Joh Myoung-Ki's eyes widened.

"The big mistake of the Hunters' Association, a massacre of the large Guild's members, and finally, the ensuing mystery that got buried underfoot. The media just loves that kind of stuff. Wouldn't you agree?"

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Back at the mansion, Baron was preparing a portal a dungeon. Gil and Izayoi were bored, and low-level dungeons could not satisfy them anymore. They needed something much more difficult.

Izayoi already told Baron about Jin-Woo, it was obvious that he was the vessel or successor for Shadow Monarch.

Gil and Izayoi stepped through the portal. Baron could track their movement, and whenever they want; he could open a portal to earth for them.

The next moment, they were in a destroyed city, flames everywhere, the city was infested with demons.

Izayoi: "Let the hunt began."

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Inside the office of the White Tiger Guild's Guild Master.

Baek Yun-Ho was browsing through several documents he had been neglecting in the past few days because of his busy schedule.

Beep-!

He picked the phone up after hearing that beep.

"Master, Min Byung-Gu Hunter-nim wishes to speak to you. What should I do, sir?"

"Let him through."

"Yes, sir."

A short while later, a familiar voice came from the phone's speaker.

"Baek Hyung, why did you switch your mobile off?"

Baek Yun-Ho spat out a long sigh.

"Because of the d*mn reporters. I was thinking of being out of the public's eye until this whole thing dies down."

"Ahh, that! The Red Gate incident! Yeah, I saw the news here in Japan, too. Hyung, I had no idea that you were that photogenic, you know?"

"Stop riling me up, man. I'm not in the mood to kid around. If I find out just who leaked it to the media, I'm gonna…"

"Hyung, don't sweat over it too much. The whole thing's gonna get buried soon, anyway. You see, there is going to be bigger news, soon."

"Big news, is it? From Japan?"

"Yes. This is going to be a bigger issue than you can imagine. You'll most likely hear about it soon in Korea, too."

"What happened?"

About a week ago, the Japanese Hunter's Association secretly contacted several of Korea's large Guilds. They said that they needed advice from the Korean Hunters.

And so, two days after that, a few of Korea's elite Hunters travelled to Japan. The Hunter Min Byung-Gu was one of them.

Baek Yun-Ho had been curious about that matter for a while now.

"Stop building up the suspense and tell me what happened already. This was the first time the Japs have asked for advice from us. What made them do that? What did those prideful b*stards want?"

"Baek hyung….. I'm sure you still remember the ants of Jeju Island, yes?"

Four years ago, a rank S Gate opened up on the island of Jeju. Ants came out of there.

There had been three separate subjugation operations since then, and all of them ended in failure.

In the end, the Korean government gave up on the island, and it was now a barren land ruled by monsters.

"How could I forget? I nearly died back then."

"Well, looks like there's been some kind of a mutation."

"A mutation, is it? But, what does it matter to us? Aren't they just going to fight among themselves while being confined to that island?"

"Well, the thing is…."

The voice coming from the phone sounded rather troubled.

"The Japs found a corpse of a winged ant on the coast of Japan, actually."