'What is this?'
What was about to happen? A cold draft, impossible in a deep underground tunnel where wind shouldn’t pass, brushed against his back.
'Come to think of it...'
Just as he began to question why it was so unnaturally quiet, a series of heavy screams echoed—*Kieeek!*—and black hands shot up from the floor in unison. *Thud. Thud.* The hands gripped the ground and hauled their bodies upward.
"Huh!"
The cameraman let out an involuntary gasp. Eyes wide, his breathing grew ragged. If this was an unbelievable sight even for an A-rank Hunter like him, what must the viewers watching this be feeling? While the cameraman was still frozen in shock, the owners of the black hands had already risen completely from the floor.
'Ant monsters?'
At a glance, they seemed to take the form of ant monsters, but black smoke perpetually rose from their bodies. They were grotesque creatures, impossible to tell if they were solid or gas. If one were to carve a statue out of black dry ice in the shape of an ant monster, wouldn’t it look something like this? Hundreds of them had erupted from the floor. The cameraman’s heart was pounding so hard he could barely breathe. Baek Yoon-Ho, who had seen the scene, also drew a sharp breath. He was calmer than the cameraman, but he was equally speechless.
'Those are... all his summoned beasts?'
Unlike the two men who were at a loss for words, Jin-Woo’s expression became one of satisfaction as he looked at his newly added shadow soldiers.
'Good.'
Now, his shadow soldiers outnumbered the ant monsters.
'At this level, I won’t even need to step in.'
Jin-Woo returned the Demon King’s daggers to his inventory. He then issued his first order to the new soldiers.
*‘Go. Don’t leave a single one alive!’*
*Kieeek!* Just as the ants had swarmed in before, this time Jin-Woo’s new monster soldiers surged forward like a tide. The seemingly endless procession of ant monsters began to be swept away by a black wave.
***
Waaaah—! A huge cheer erupted from the broadcasting station’s situation room. The director stood up and clapped his hands.
"That’s it! That’s it!"
Seeing the disgusting ant monsters being mowed down felt like unclogging a long-blocked passage. It was like a decade-old indigestion finally passing. If no one were watching, he would have asked the PD to extract and send him just this scene. He wanted to be able to watch it for months, for years, to relieve stress. The news of Hunter Min Byeong-Gu’s death was undoubtedly tragic. Seeing the team’s only healer taken down by a monster had felt like the sky was falling. But what if, thanks to this mysterious Hunter, the Korean team could escape the ant nest safely?
'It couldn’t be better!'
The Korean team had already eliminated the queen, achieving their original goal. It went without saying that the ants, having lost their means to reproduce, would soon vanish from the island. And then there was the Japanese team. What about them? They had abandoned their crucial mission and fled, so naturally, there was no need to pay them the promised reward, and they could even be held accountable later. Of course, the raid footage selling like hotcakes was just the icing on the cake. The director’s face brightened.
'Where on earth did this bundle of luck fall from?'
His gaze, fixed on Jin-Woo on the screen, was unusually intense. Just then, a staff member came running in.
"Director!"
The director jolted in his seat and jumped up.
"What now?"
The director’s face hardened. Just as he was basking in a brief, happy dream, another mishap had occurred? His heart was already pounding. At this point, he was even starting to resent the staff members reporting to him. If he could silence their mouths and make the bad news disappear, that’s what he wanted to do.
'I’m slowly going crazy...'
Whether the staff member knew his superior’s feelings or not, he spoke with a flushed face.
"We found out who that man is!"
The director’s eyes widened.
"What?!"
***
Hunter’s Association, Association Chairman’s office. *Kwa-jaek!* Go Geon-Hui hastily pulled his hand away from the sofa armrest. The doctor sitting beside him turned to look at him.
"Chairman." "...I got a bit excited."
He had squeezed without thinking, and this was the result. But how could he not be excited after seeing that scene? Watching Jin-Woo’s performance on the large screen, his own chest had grown hot. If his body allowed it, he wanted to be there with them.
"Excitement isn’t good for your heart."
Go Geon-Hui nodded. The reason he, the chairman, hadn’t gone to the operations command room was simple. Whether this extermination mission succeeded or failed, it could strain his weakened heart. Even watching it on broadcast wasn’t entirely reassuring, which was why his doctor was by his side.
'Perhaps it was right to prevent me from watching at all.'
The doctor briefly worried about his judgment, but upon seeing the chairman’s expression, he shook his head. Ever since the Hunter named Sung Jin-Woo appeared, a smile never seemed to leave the chairman’s face.
"That’s Sung Jin-Woo!"
The shout the chairman had let out in that moment of crisis, when despair had turned to cheers, still seemed to ring in his ears. Go Geon-Ho smiled.
'I can’t believe it.'
Then he carefully gripped the armrest of the sofa again. If he didn’t hold onto something, his body felt jittery, and it was hard to endure.
'How could Sung Jin-Woo be there?'
At first, he was deeply curious. With ants crawling all over the island, how could he have appeared without anyone noticing? But that wasn’t what was important now. What mattered was that Sung Jin-Woo was here, right now. Because of that, the Hunters had hope. Those were the only two things. Just then, Go Geon-Ho’s eyes widened as he watched Jin-Woo extract shadows from the ant monster carcasses to create soldiers.
'That boy lied to me.'
Where were the hundred summoned beasts he’d mentioned? At a rough glance, there were at least three hundred. But Go Geon-Ho’s expression wasn’t that of a deceived man. It was full of a delighted smile.
'He said he wanted to fight monsters.'
Now he could sort of understand why Jin-Woo had said that. With such power, what monster could frighten him? Indeed, Jin-Woo fighting the monsters looked exciting. So exciting it made his own heart race. However... why had Sung Jin-Woo, who so clearly wanted to fight monsters, declined the offer to join the Korean team?
'There must have been something even more important.'
Go Geon-Ho nodded. Otherwise, a man who could face monsters with such an expression wouldn’t have dropped out of the raid team. When his thoughts reached that point, a sudden curiosity about Jin-Woo’s reason for leaving struck him.
***
*Tak, tak.* Jin-A, who had been studying in her room, heard the noise and came out to the living room.
"Mom?" "Sorry. Was it too loud?"
Jin-A shook her head. She didn’t want to add any more burden to her mother, who already kept the TV volume so low while Jin-A was studying that it was almost inaudible.
"No, that’s fine. What’s wrong? Is the TV broken?" "It just suddenly stopped working." "Where’s Oppa?" "Oppa is here."
Her mother, who had been looking around, was startled.
"Oh my, where did he go? He was just here a moment ago."
Jin-A tilted her head and opened Jin-Woo’s bedroom door.
"Oppa?"
He wasn’t in the bathroom either. After searching every corner of the house, Jin-A turned back to her mother and asked.
"What were you watching together?" "The Jeju-do raid." "..."
A vague, inexplicable unease suddenly brushed past her. Come to think of it, the entire apartment complex had seemed strangely noisy for a while now.
'Don't tell me...?'
Jin-A rushed into her room and turned on her phone. Just then—*Waaaaah!*—cheers erupted violently from the floors above and below, and at the same time, the pupils of Jin-A’s eyes, fixed on the phone screen, trembled.
"Oppa?"
***
After eliminating all the ant monsters that had entered the queen’s chamber, Jin-Woo returned the soldiers to the shadows. Many ants, still scattered across the island, were returning to the ant nest. He judged that getting the Hunters here to safety before encountering them was the top priority.
'Since there are wounded.'
Jin-Woo approached the Hunters. Apart from Baek Yoon-Ho and the cameraman, none of them were in good shape. Cha Hae-In was still unconscious, and the other three were also seriously injured. Jin-Woo asked.
"Where is Hunter Min Byeong-Gu?"
Baek Yoon-Ho shook his head with a stiff expression.
"..."
Jin-Woo took out potions and healed the Hunters one by one. Since potions became useless once they left his hand, he had to administer them personally to each person.
"Mmm..."
The Hunters who had taken the potions began to regain consciousness one by one.
"What’s going on?"
Im Tae-Gyu, who had abruptly propped himself up, looked down at his body and let out an exclamation.
"No way..."
Choi Jong-In and Ma Dong-Uk had also regained their former physical states.
"Hmm." *Cough.*
Choi Jong-In had no idea what had happened, so he looked at Jin-Woo with wide eyes.
"Mr. Sung Jin-Woo, how are you here?" "Let’s talk outside." "Ah..."
Choi Jong-In looked around and nodded. They were in the deepest part of the ant nest. Not a place for casual conversation.
"Master Sung!"
Ma Dong-Uk, who had regained his sight, grabbed Jin-Woo’s hand firmly.
"You fought those ants, didn’t you? Thank you, thank you so much!"
Jin-Woo gave the same answer to Ma Dong-Uk.
"Let’s talk outside." "Alright."
Finally, Cha Hae-In. Jin-Woo’s face creased as he stood before her.
'Something’s wrong... Her vital signs are too faint.'
Feeling a sense of foreboding, he carefully poured a potion into her mouth. Sure enough, a message quickly appeared. *Ting.*
[Health cannot be restored with a Healing Potion when remaining health is below 10%.]
Jin-Woo’s brow furrowed. When he pulled away the hand that had been supporting her head, it was covered in blood.
'...'
That ant. It had inflicted a fatal wound on Cha Hae-In, who was among the elite of Korean Hunters, with a single blow. The other Hunters here hadn’t survived because they were strong. The creature had simply toyed with them. Jin-Woo’s expression hardened.
'But first...'
Cha Hae-In’s injuries were critical. If a potion couldn’t heal the wound, they had to leave the island as soon as possible to find a healing-type Hunter.
"Let’s hurry."
Jin-Woo lifted her into his arms and stood up. The Hunters also got up. Everyone was about to hastily leave the queen’s chamber when Jin-Woo, who was leading the way, let out a deep sigh.
'...'
Baek Yoon-Ho could guess why. Jin-Woo entrusted Cha Hae-In to Baek Yoon-Ho. Baek Yoon-Ho, now holding her instead of Jin-Woo, spoke with a flustered expression.
"I’ll help too."
Jin-Woo looked around at the Hunters, including Baek Yoon-Ho, and made his stance clear.
"Absolutely do not step forward in front of me. That will be faster." "Mr. Sung Jin-Woo, that means—"
As Choi Jong-In, still unaware of the situation, tried to speak, Ma Dong-Uk stopped him with a look and a shake of the head. Though Ma Dong-Uk couldn’t see with his eyes, he had perceived with his senses exactly how Jin-Woo had created the ants, from start to finish. Jin-Woo was right. But Baek Yoon-Ho interjected.
"Hunter Sung Jin-Woo."
Jin-Woo turned to him.
"I know you are strong. Perhaps no one knows that better than I do. But."
Baek Yoon-Ho’s expression turned serious.
"Haven’t you already summoned too many beasts?"
What was the problem with that? When Jin-Woo looked at him questioningly, the flustered Baek Yoon-Ho explained further.
"You must have expended a great deal of mana already. What will you do if your mana runs dry?"
Ah, so that was it. Judging by his words, it seemed other Hunters who used summoning magic consumed a large amount of mana for their summons.
'There’s no need to reveal that my shadow soldiers don’t cost mana, is there?'
As if their appearance wasn’t already unlike any normal summon. So Jin-Woo slightly rephrased.
"My summoned beasts don’t consume much mana. So you don’t need to worry." "What?"
Baek Yoon-Ho and the cameraman answered in unison. They didn’t consume much mana to summon that many? Then what on earth was his weakness?
'...'
Jin-Woo, thinking an explanation would take too long, simply turned toward the cave. As if on cue, a horde of ants was pouring in.
'There are so many.'
There were wounded here. There was no time to hold back. For maximum efficiency, Jin-Woo cast the skill ‘Domain of the Monarch.’ The ground beneath his feet began to turn black. Just as he was almost ready to summon the soldiers, a chilling wind blew from the other end of the cave.
'...?'
Jin-Woo turned his head toward the source of the sinister energy. Among them, one. Mixed in with the ants was a creature that looked similar to them, yet was entirely different.
'That’s him.'
Jin-Woo recognized the Ant King at a glance. The Ant King also recognized Jin-Woo. The Ant King approached Jin-Woo slowly, without hurry.
"Human... You have a rather sharp aura."
Mimicking an archaic speech pattern. The Hunters, reminded of the nightmare just past by the sight of the creature, flinched and stepped back. In contrast, Jin-Woo stood perfectly still, quietly fixing the creature with his gaze. The Ant King stopped in front of him.
"Are you the king of these humans?" "...Even insects can talk."
When Jin-Woo spoke calmly, the Ant King’s face twisted into a vicious scowl. The power inherited from the queen. The power accumulated through preying on others. Upon unleashing all his mana in an instant, the Ant King’s body swelled enormously. His height, once similar to Jin-Woo’s, grew to nearly 1.5 times the size. The Ant King unleashed a full-throated roar right in Jin-Woo’s face. *Kieeeeeeeeeeeek—!* Jin-Woo, who hadn’t so much as blinked, finally let a smirk play on his lips.
"Now you look the part of an insect."
And then he released his own mana.
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