Association Chairman Matsumoto's face turned the color of clay. The staff member handed him the receiver and asked, "Would you like to hear it yourself?"
Matsumoto snatched the receiver, put on the headset, and nodded. Soon, a recording began to play.
*"...Ants... quite a sharp aura, aren't you?"* *"...Are you the King?"* *"...Yes, I am the King."* *"...Mr. Goto!"* *"...Gyaaah!"* *"...Gack!"* *"...Ugh..."* *"...You... what the hell are you?!"*
BEEP.
"The connection cuts off here."
Matsumoto took off the headset, his face frozen rigid. The eerie noises and monstrous sounds heard throughout the recording left no other possibility to consider.
'Ants using human speech? And Goto was taken out by that thing?'
This was not part of the plan. Surely their preparations had been flawless, so why... The tips of Matsumoto's fingers trembled slightly.
"...Chairman?"
He noticed the staff's eyes darting toward his hand and subtly hid it. Then he changed the subject.
"The thing that killed Goto—no, the speaking monster—where is it?"
He couldn't bring himself to say 'the monster that killed Goto.'
"It vanished." "Vanished?"
If this was the thing that killed Goto, how could the magic power detection camera on the satellite monitoring Jeju Island have missed such a monster? The staff pointed to the monitor as if anticipating the Chairman's reaction.
"That light is the magic power of the monster that appeared then."
The magic power detection camera recognized magic power as light. The larger and brighter the white dot on the screen, the more powerful the being. After the dots for Goto and the surrounding Hunters vanished, the large, bright dot quickly disappeared as well.
"Oh god..."
Matsumoto groaned. The enemy had perfect control over their magic power.
'No wonder... no wonder the research team couldn't catch it.'
It was a complete failure. The price Japan paid was the loss of ten top-tier Hunters. Among them was the strongest Hunter in the country. It was a devastating cost for a single mistake. And the price might not yet be finished.
'If such an impossible monster were to cross the ocean...'
Try as he might to shake the thought off, harrowing imaginations filled his mind. But just then.
"Found it! It's appeared again!"
Matsumoto's eyes snapped open.
"Where is it?" "In the Queen's chamber." "..."
There, the Korean Hunters were still engaged in battle with the ants that had begun returning to their colony. They seemed to be fighting hard, but their opponent was a monster that defied common sense.
'In the end, the Koreans are finished too.'
That was what Matsumoto had thought. Now, his eyes widened.
'...?'
A light had suddenly appeared right in front of that terrifying monster.
"This... what is this?"
Matsumoto stared at the staff member, startled. The staff member, from the research team, quickly shook his head.
"I-I've never seen anything like this either."
The dot of light was as large and bright as the monster itself. No, perhaps even brighter. But what was more astonishing was that hundreds of smaller lights were circling around that large one. It was a sight the lead analyst of the research team, who had been studying detection footage for years, had never once seen.
'Ah...'
Awe spontaneously escaped his lips at the beautiful cluster of lights, endlessly splitting and recombining. But Matsumoto had no time for admiration.
"The Korean team. They were definitely recording their attack process, right?"
The fact that the Korean team was still moving around meant the broadcast might still be live. Matsumoto was burning with curiosity about how things were unfolding.
"Put the Korean team's broadcast on the main screen!"
When he shouted, the image of a man facing off against an ant instantly appeared on the giant screen on the wall of the control center. Matsumoto swallowed hard at the sight of the man's face. Sweat beaded on his temples and dripped down his chin.
'That man... is that man the owner of these clusters of light?'
And the giant ant monster standing before him. It was 1.5 times larger than a regular ant. Even just watching on screen, its oppressive presence quickened his heartbeat.
'...'
Matsumoto's face grew even more rigid. Just then, the ant moved first.
***
The Ant King's fist came smashing down toward Jin-Woo's face. BAM! Jin-Woo, whose upper body nearly buckled, braced himself and held his ground by digging his toes in.
'...!'
The Ant King, who had put its full strength into the punch, was secretly startled.
"You withstood... my power?"
It had swung with the intent to sever his windpipe, yet the guy didn't fall—he only tilted his head slightly? But there was no time to be surprised. Jin-Woo's fist flew out. WHOOSH— BAM! Struck squarely in the face, the Ant King was embedded into the opposite wall. BOOM—! The wall caved in like a meteor had struck. The impact was so intense it made the entire ant hill seem to shake for a moment.
"Why does an ant talk so much?"
***
When the broadcast suddenly cut to a technical difficulties screen, many viewers were dismayed.
"What about the Hunters... what's going to happen to the Hunters?" "What was that ant?" "You can't just cut the broadcast here!"
The Hunters were being utterly overpowered by the newly appeared ant monster. For viewers who had been celebrating the Queen's defeat, it was like a bucket of ice water had been thrown over them. Soon the error screen ended, and an announcer appeared.
*"...Ah, we've just received some news."*
In a somber voice, he reported the obituary for Hunter Min Byung-Gu. He added that the safety of the other Hunters still inside the ant hill could not be guaranteed.
"Dammit!" "They killed the Queen, so why are the Hunters dying?" "What about Japan?" "It's a joint team, so what the hell is Japan doing?"
Some were furious, some worried, and some saddened. The news that the Hunters who had risked their lives to fight might meet a wretched end spread quickly. As a result, the ratings for the interrupted raid broadcast rose higher than when the broadcast had been running smoothly—a strange phenomenon.
*"-Ah!"*
The announcer's face brightened upon receiving an urgent message.
*"-We've just been informed that a Hunter of unidentified affiliation has appeared at the scene! We will resume the broadcast now."*
That single sentence was enough to inject a jolt of energy into the weary eyes of those watching TV. Then the live feed returned.
"What the heck?" "No way!"
People watching TV jumped to their feet as the screen was filled with black soldiers. The black soldiers were locked in fierce combat with the ant monsters pouring endlessly into the Queen's chamber. The camera, which had been panning the scene, fixed on one man. His face was hard to make out from a distance.
*"-The armored soldiers are reported to be the summons of the Hunter on screen. Also, we have news that most of the other Hunters are safe."*
The viewers who had been watching anxiously cheered at the news. They began cheering for the unknown Hunter.
"Smash 'em all!" "Nice! Push them back!" "Go!"
And finally. When the unknown Hunter summoned a vast number of new soldiers and they began slaughtering the ants, the crowd erupted in a roar. People threw their fists into the air in exhilaration. Those who had lost family or friends and craved revenge against the ants were moved to tears by the satisfying scene. As if timing it perfectly, the announcer raised his voice at that crucial moment.
*"-Ah, the Hunter's identity has just been confirmed!"*
Everyone's eyes and ears turned to the screen. Who was this man? What was the identity of a Hunter with the power to rescue S-rank Hunters from a place swarming with S-rank monsters?
*"-From the Republic of Korea, the tenth Hunter, Sung Jin-Woo! A magic-type Hunter whose specialty is summoning magic!"*
People were even happier to learn that such an outstanding Hunter was not Japanese. The vast number of ants had been cleared out in an instant. Just as escape seemed within reach, they faced yet another swarm.
"Huh? Huh?" "That's..."
The winged ant monster they had seen before the broadcast cut out was now pushing through the swarm and striding out leisurely. Winged ants were extremely rare, and its distinct face made it easy to identify. The viewers were thrown into confusion.
"What the? Isn't that thing dead?" "Didn't the Hunters all get taken out by that monster earlier?" "Why is it appearing here again?!"
The winged ant stood before Hunter Sung Jin-Woo. People who had some understanding of combat affinities saw the two facing off and stamped their feet in dismay.
"Oh no, he's dead, he's dead." "A magic-type shouldn't give up distance so easily like that!" "Run away, now!"
It was the monster that had taken out combat-type Hunter Cha Hae-In with a single blow. How things would unfold was as clear as looking at fire. Just standing there facing each other was nerve-wracking, but then the ant monster's size suddenly swelled even larger. The people watching gasped in horror. And then. WHACK! Some viewers with weak nerves squeezed their eyes shut, thinking the Hunter's head would burst when the monster's fist hit him. Yet, surprisingly, he was fine.
'Huh?' 'He tanked the punch that one-shot the tank-class Hunter Ma Dong-Wo?'
People's eyes widened. Just then. BAM! The ant was smashed into the wall.
"..." "..."
It took viewers a moment to register what had happened. But the instant the camera showed the Ant King embedded in the wall, a massive cheer erupted again.
***
"Gah!"
The cameraman's jaw dropped. When Hunter Sung Jin-Woo took a hit from the ant's fist, he had been terrified. After all, Hunter Cha Hae-In had been knocked unconscious by that same blow. But Hunter Sung Jin-Woo had instead sent the ant flying. The very creature that had been toying with six S-rank Hunters. A gasp escaped his lips involuntarily.
'Were the S-rank Hunters just weak?'
No, that couldn't be it. The valiantly fighting Korean team had successfully eliminated the S-rank boss, the Ant Queen. It was that variant ant that was bizarre for treating such Hunters lightly, and Hunter Sung Jin-Woo was even more bizarre for sending it flying. Gulp. The cameraman swallowed hard, trying to contain his excitement. The other Hunters' reactions were not much different. While everyone watched Jin-Woo with excited eyes, Choi Jong-In suddenly looked around. The area was littered with ant corpses. He had assumed the other Hunters had teamed up to eliminate them while he was unconscious. But after seeing Jin-Woo just now, his thinking changed.
'Could it be that... Mr. Sung Jin-Woo did this alone?'
Choi Jong-In's pupils trembled slightly as he roughly counted the number of ants. KRAAACK—! A sudden, piercing shriek made Choi Jong-In whip his head around. The Ant King, having pulled itself from the wall, was expressing its fury. The air inside trembled.
'Oh?'
Jin-Woo regarded the Ant King with a look of surprise. It seemed to have taken less damage than he'd expected.
'The exoskeleton... maybe?'
The hard, black shell covering its entire body had already surpassed the level of ordinary organic matter. In that case, he'd have to break it with brute force. The weapon to shatter armor wasn't a sword or spear, but a giant hammer. The muscles in Jin-Woo's shoulders and arms swelled, and veins bulged. A heavy atmosphere settled around him. The Ant King also stopped roaring and turned its grotesquely twisted face toward Jin-Woo.
"How dare you!"
The distance between them closed rapidly as they walked toward each other. Soon, Jin-Woo and the Ant King stood face to face. The two began exchanging full-force attacks, each holding nothing back. BAM! CRASH! KRAKOOM! The Hunters were stunned. The shockwaves from the magic power colliding when Jin-Woo and the Ant King struck each other made the entire cave tremble. It was so intense that even top-tier Hunters, who were well-versed in handling magic power, felt nauseous.
"Ugh..." "Are you okay?" "I-I'm fine."
The cameraman, only an A-rank, kept forcibly suppressing the rising bile. He was even starting to feel dizzy.
'Ugh.'
But the reason he could still smile, despite his face turning pale, was— BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
'How can one Hunter stand up to such a monster alone...'
Because he had seen hope. BAM! Clearly, Hunter Sung Jin-Woo was also taking damage, but the Ant King's shell was definitely cracking apart.
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