Association Chairman Ko Gun-Hee spoke hastily to Jin-Woo, who was about to stand up.
"Huh?"
Jin-Woo tilted his head.
"If you wait here for a moment, our staff will bring the car. How about you ride back in that?" "..."
Jin-Woo was well aware that the Hunter's Association and Chairman Ko Gun-Hee were grateful to him. But that didn't mean he wanted special treatment.
"No, it's fine."
Jin-Woo politely declined. But Ko Gun-Hee, as if it hadn't been an offhand remark, once again made the offer in all seriousness.
"Perhaps... it would be more convenient for you to ride." "What do you—"
Before Jin-Woo could even finish, Ko Gun-Hee stood up and walked to the window.
"Could you take a look out here for a moment?"
Jin-Woo approached the window as well. And then he saw it. Outside. Barely an hour ago, the entrance to the Association's main building had been quiet. Now a massive crowd had packed in so tightly there wasn't room to set foot.
"Everyone here has come out to see you after hearing that Sung Jin-Woo Hunter was at the Association."
How did they find out—he didn't even need to ask.
'I rode Kaisel in here.'
Nowadays, everyone had at least a camera in their hand. Jin-Woo's image of descending on Kaisel at the Hunter's Association spread rapidly across social media, and among those who caught the news were, of course, online journalists. Just a single line. The article wasn't long.
"Mysterious beast lands at the Hunter's Association—who is its master?"
People wanting to confirm the story's authenticity, combined with those who simply wanted to see Jin-Woo in person, had turned the area in front of the Association into a sea of humanity. Jin-Woo looked at the gathered crowd, a whirlwind of emotions crossing his mind. Beside him, Ko Gun-Hee gazed down quietly and then spoke in a calm tone.
"You're probably well aware, but... the people were starving for a victory."
The great disaster four years ago. After a Dungeon Break occurred on Jeju Island, South Korea became the only country in the world to have had land seized by monsters. Many nations outwardly expressed sympathy while inwardly mocking the incompetence of Korea's Hunters. When all three subjugation operations ended in failure, that criticism reached its peak. Two years of humiliation followed. Then word came that the fourth subjugation operation would be carried out alongside Japan. Skeptical voices arose wondering whether Korea couldn't even handle monsters without Japan's help. And yet—on that raid, the very one where Japan, with its more than twenty powerful S-rank Hunters, had turned tail and fled, Jin-Woo had appeared at the head of his black soldiers. In a way, people's fervor was only natural. Just as thirsty travelers quenched their thirst at an oasis, people cast off their sense of powerlessness by watching Jin-Woo's exploits. Overcome with joy, they had rushed out into the streets, and upon hearing the news about Jin-Woo, they had made their way here.
"Of course, there's always the option of flying out on a beast, the same way you arrived."
Ko Gun-Hee gave a soft chuckle.
"But for the sake of those people, and for the Association's image—would you mind going down to say hello?"
***
Jin-Woo pushed open the glass doors and stepped outside the Association. The moment he did, the clamor died in an instant. Every last person in the crowd fell silent, as if struck mute, and simply stared at Jin-Woo. Traces of battle clung to Jin-Woo's clothes here and there—spots splattered with the bodily fluids of the ant monsters, and tears in the fabric from the claws of the giant ants. But no one was laughing at the sight. The citizens felt something hot welling up from deep within their chests, and they simply gazed in silence. Just as a heavy silence was settling between Jin-Woo and the citizens, standing face to face—
"Hunter, over here."
Woo Jin-Cheol, the man in charge of Jin-Woo's escort, spoke up. The Monitoring Division staff moved ahead, apologizing one by one, and the citizens in front obligingly parted to make a path. But accidents never happen where you expect them. When the distance to the waiting car had grown short, an elderly man stepped forward toward Jin-Woo.
"Hunter..."
The Monitoring Division officer who moved to block the old man caught sight of the tears streaming down the man's face and hesitated—then stepped back. Jin-Woo had waved him off. The grandfather, finally able to stand before Jin-Woo, let fall heavy tears and called out to him in a choked voice, again and again.
"Hunter... it's thanks to you... that my son was able to close his eyes in peace."
His legs giving way beneath him, the old man nearly collapsed—and Jin-Woo hurriedly caught him. The grandfather gripped Jin-Woo's hand and arm and bowed his head over and over.
"Thank you, Hunter... truly... thank you..."
Woo Jin-Cheol, who had been helping support the old man, turned him over to a subordinate and leaned close to Jin-Woo's ear.
"Hunter. The crowd is growing. You really need to leave now." "Understood."
Jin-Woo nodded. Woo Jin-Cheol opened the rear door of the waiting car. Before getting in, Jin-Woo looked out over the gathered crowd one last time. Who started it first? The moment someone met Jin-Woo's gaze and bowed their head briefly in thanks, the rest began to follow suit. Wherever Jin-Woo's eyes traveled, a sincere bow was returned.
"Hunter."
Only after hearing the urgency in Woo Jin-Cheol's voice did Jin-Woo finally climb into the car. Thud, thud. Woo Jin-Cheol's subordinate took the driver's seat; Woo Jin-Cheol took the passenger seat. The engine running, the car pulled slowly away from the Association grounds. Jin-Woo gazed out the window in silence. The people did not turn away even after the car had completely left their sight. Jin-Woo straightened his head and placed a hand over his chest. Thump, thump, thump. A pleasant thrill made his heart pound. When the Association chairman had first suggested he meet the people, he'd been hesitant—but now he was glad he hadn't just walked away. Just then—
"Ah."
A sound escaped Jin-Woo's lips, and Woo Jin-Cheol quickly twisted around.
"What is it, Hunter?" "...It's nothing."
Jin-Woo recalled the TV he'd smashed to pieces without a word, hoping to soften at least a little of his mother's shock, and clutched his forehead.
'How am I going to explain this, and where do I even start?'
Sure enough. When he turned on his phone, the missed-call list showed thirteen calls from home.
***
The internet had gone absolutely wild. And for good reason. This Jeju subjugation operation was the first raid in which Jin-Woo had officially appeared since becoming S-rank. It was essentially his debut. And in that situation, he had overwhelmed the giant ants that had left everyone in shock, then summoned his soldiers to sweep away the thousands of ants pouring in through the escape routes. Just as people who grew excited watching a sports match rush out into the streets, everyone who had watched the raid broadcast flocked online.
'Wow... I'm speechless...' 'As far as I know, you're not supposed to be able to make that many summonses, are you?' 'Watching Sung Jin-Woo Hunter's summons attack cured my ten-year cancer.' 'If you've been carrying it for ten years, it can't have been that serious, can it?' 'Anyway, there are always people who can't read the room...' 'Incredible. That was the best.' 'I'm a father who lost his son four years ago. Sung Jin-Woo Hunter will probably never see this post, but...'
Since the operation had been the focus of the entire nation's attention, discussions about the raid flooded countless message boards, and Jin-Woo's name came up every time. Netizens, who loved ranking things by rank, engaged in heated debates over just how strong Jin-Woo really was.
'At that level, wouldn't he be national-grade by now in our country?' 'Nah, he's not there yet. Ease up on the kimchi soup drinking.' 'What do you mean? He basically cleared an S-rank Dungeon single-handedly, and the gap between him and other S-ranks was enormous.' 'Sung Jin-Woo Hunter doesn't have enough experience yet. If he's really that strong, people will naturally acknowledge him in time.' 'Anyway, that was sick.' 'I heard E-rank was only slightly better than an ordinary person—can someone really get that strong all of a sudden?' 'Was Sung Jin-Woo Hunter a re-awakener?' 'Surprisingly, there are still a lot of people who don't know Sung Jin-Woo is a re-awakener. He filed for information protection himself, so...'
Of course, there were also those who held complaints against Jin-Woo.
'But wait... if Sung Jin-Woo had been in the raid from the start, wouldn't Min Byeong-Gu have never died?' 'He said he was going to drop out at first—why did he join halfway through?' 'Didn't you guys see the explanation article the Association put out?' 'What article? Drop a link.'
The article read as follows: Rather than arbitrarily including Jin-Woo as a raid member despite his lack of experience in high-level Dungeons despite being S-rank, the Association had stationed him nearby as a precaution and decided to deploy him after assessing the situation. It was a hastily concocted story, but it was enough to satisfy people.
'This is the best I can do for Sung Jin-Woo Hunter.'
With that swift response, Ko Gun-Hee had managed to protect Jin-Woo's personal circumstances while deflecting the arrows of criticism that might otherwise have been aimed at him. Thanks to that, while there was criticism directed at the Association's incompetence for failing to properly gauge Jin-Woo's abilities, Jin-Woo himself was never singled out. In fact, Jin-Woo's reputation only rose further. At the worst possible moment, with the Japanese team stalling their withdrawal and the Korean team on the verge of total annihilation, he had charged into the ant nest alone without a word of complaint.
'If it were me, I'd be too scared even if they begged me and shoved me in.' 'Agreed.' 'How did he even think of going in there?' 'Isn't Sung Jin-Woo the very model of what a Hunter should be?' 'All those guys who trash-talked Sung Jin-Woo for dropping out of the raid earlier—shouldn't they be hanging their heads in shame right now?' 'lol for real, at least do some research before you run your mouth.'
Having already filed for information protection, Jin-Woo was bewildered to find that, thanks to this raid, he was becoming the most famous Hunter in all of Korea.
***
Two days later. Soldiers and Hunters came ashore to recover Min Byeong-Gu Hunter's remains. The Knights—one of the five major guilds, and the representative guild of the Yeongnam region, which had not participated in the raid due to lacking an S-rank Hunter—voluntarily stepped forward, having felt their diminishing standing. Thanks to them, the operation progressed quickly. When the specially trained soldiers hesitated, the Hunters took the lead.
"Ah, go on ahead, you lot." "There's no mana detectable at all. Ugh, have you all been living life getting fooled?"
When the Hunters who had gone far ahead gestured, the soldiers finally followed, cautiously scanning their surroundings. To the Hunters it was frustrating, but there was nothing to be done. Ordinary people couldn't sense mana, and they had no means of fighting monsters. All they could do was move as carefully as possible.
"Tsk, tsk."
The Master of the Knights clucked his tongue and looked around.
'Wha...'
His jaw dropped. The closer they got to the ant nest, the more corpses lay strewn about. No—they were piled high as mountains. The Vice-Master, a close younger brother and long-time fellow Hunter, shook his head.
"Brother... you seeing this? You're telling me Sung Jin-Woo did all this alone?" "..."
During the third subjugation operation, the Knights guild had also set foot on Jeju Island. That was why they knew better than anyone just how terrifying these ant creatures were.
"Completely torn apart." "Wow... this Sung Jin-Woo fellow—this guy's no ordinary one."
Looking around, the Vice-Master continued, sounding almost fed up.
"How do you even manage to wipe out every last ant on this entire island without leaving a single one?" "Exactly."
The elite members of the Knights, who knew a thing or two about monsters, clicked their tongues at the sight of the mounds upon mounds of corpses. Still murmuring in admiration as they walked, they soon arrived near the entrance to the ant nest.
"Brother, I see it." "Yeah, I see it."
The Hunters stopped at a slight distance in front of the ant nest, waiting to enter together with the soldiers following behind. The Vice-Master, with nothing else to do while waiting, put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. Then—flick—the cigarette fell lifelessly from his lips. The Master furrowed his brow.
"Hey, what's wrong?" "B-Brother!"
The Vice-Master hurriedly tapped the Master's shoulder, pointing ahead. Only then did the Master, sensing something was wrong, turn his gaze forward.
"Gasp!"
Startled, the Master's eyes went wide as he spoke.
"Wh-what... is that?"