Woo Jin-Chul was a core operative of the Surveillance Division, ranking among the top of the A-rank Hunters. Within the Association, there was no one who could stand against him except for Ko Gun-Hee. Yet when it came to Sung Jin-Woo, a Hunter who commanded not just a handful but hundreds of shadow soldiers, a schedule like this might not seem like much at all. But why was he pushing himself in such a rush?
'Hmm.'
A furrow appeared between Ko Gun-Hee's brows. With any other Hunter, they'd pack a lunchbox and follow him around—or even drag him back by force if they had to...
'But I can't imagine Hunter Sung Jin-Woo getting hurt in some lowly A-rank or B-rank Dungeon.'
The words Woo Jin-Chul had used—something about 'feeling sorry for the monsters'—came to mind. Ko Gun-Hee let out a small chuckle and nodded.
"If there are no major issues, let him do as he pleases."
From the Association's perspective, having a Hunter who took the lead in slaying monsters was a blessing. Especially one so powerful there was no risk of injury. But Woo Jin-Chul spoke.
"There could be an issue." "He'd overlap with the territories of the other major guilds, right?" "Yes, Association President."
Currently, three major guilds operated in the Seoul metropolitan area: Baekho, Hunters, and Reaper. These three guilds each handled the upper-rank Gates generated in their designated zones. If Ajin suddenly wedged its way in and expanded its influence this rapidly, the three guilds—whose positions would be squeezed out by this rolling stone—were unlikely to sit back and watch with smiles on their faces.
'There could be friction.'
That was Woo Jin-Chul's assessment, and Ko Gun-Hee agreed. A faint smile crept onto Ko Gun-Hee's face.
'I thought the Association President was on Hunter Sung's side?'
Woo Jin-Chul asked with a puzzled look.
"...Is something good happening?" "No, it's not that. It's just—this is a brand-new guild with only three members, only one of whom is even a combatant, yet they've already surpassed the level of the major guilds and are now eyeing their territories. It's amusing, that's all." "Ah..."
Woo Jin-Chul conceded the point.
"I think so too."
Still wearing a smile, Ko Gun-Hee asked,
"Did Ajin provide any explanation?" "They said they had their reasons and asked us to let them handle the surrounding Gates for one week exactly." "One week, huh..."
During the recent Jeju Island raid, all three masters of the major guilds had owed their lives to Hunter Sung. A week's worth of concession would be easy enough to secure.
'But what's puzzling is...'
Why had Hunter Sung Jin-Woo set such an aggressive schedule—at least, one that looked reckless by anyone else's standards?
'Money... no, it can't be that.'
If he wanted money, there were other ways. Had he negotiated with the United States or China, he could have commanded an astronomical sum. But Hunter Sung Jin-Woo had ultimately chosen to stay in Korea and hadn't engaged in any bargaining with the guilds.
'Then what is it...'
Ko Gun-Hee's gaze drifted to Woo Jin-Chul, who stood beside him. He asked, almost offhandedly,
"What do you think is driving Hunter Sung to tackle so many Dungeons?"
Woo Jin-Chul thought for a moment and then spoke.
"I have a guess."
Ko Gun-Hee had expected a response like "I don't know" or "Well, I'm not sure," so the unexpected answer made him listen intently.
"What is it?" "Hunter Sung seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself while hunting monsters." "Enjoying killing monsters?" "Yes."
Woo Jin-Chul dug into memories from a while back. When Jin-Woo had helped the Hunters guild fight the High Orcs, he'd displayed a cheerful demeanor and lively movements.
"He was especially delighted when he killed the boss-level monsters." "Feeling ecstasy from defeating powerful monsters..."
Ko Gun-Hee recalled hearing something similar from Jin-Woo before.
—I want to fight monsters.
And he had been faithfully living up to those words ever since.
'What an interesting fellow he is.'
And more remarkable than that, at that moment, the phone in the Association President's office rang loudly.
—Association President.
It was an aide calling.
"What is it?" —A call from the United States Hunter Management Bureau. "The United States?"
And from the Hunter Management Bureau at that? Ko Gun-Hee tilted his head.
'The Hunter Management Bureau contacting me, the Hunter's Association president?'
A country like the United States would have no reason to request our cooperation. What could this be about?
"Put them through."
The call was connected immediately. It took less than a second or two for the voice on the other end to change.
—This is Adam White of the Hunter Management Bureau. "I'm Ko Gun-Hee, President of the Hunter's Association."
A businessman's basic skill was English. Fluent English pronunciation flowed from Ko Gun-Hee's mouth. He was far more confident in this than the Japanese he'd only had a taste of in his childhood.
"What business does the U.S. Hunter Management Bureau have with us?"
Adam White got straight to the point without hesitation.
—We at the Hunter Management Bureau are planning to host an event early next month, inviting renowned Hunters from around the world. "...And?" —We would love to have Hunter Sung Jin-Woo represent Korea at the event.
* * *
Before kicking off the full-scale raid, Jin-Woo first sought out a suitable guild. He needed a guild that could efficiently handle the various byproducts harvested from upper-rank Dungeons.
'If raids were just once every few days, maybe...'
To keep up with the tightly packed raid schedule, the inexperienced vice president alone couldn't manage. And from the guild's perspective too, rather than outsourcing to a middleman, it made far more sense to partner with a single guild and work together.
'The question is who to partner with.'
He thought of Baekho guild, with whom he'd had frequent dealings, and Hunters guild, where Cha Hae-In was a member, but the final choice came down to the Knights guild. For one reason: they'd worked together before. Another factor was that the two guilds were located in Seoul and Busan respectively, so their areas of operation didn't overlap at all. Jin-Woo made the call in the early evening. A Hunter without a raid was no different from a bum. Park Jong-Soo, the president of the Knights guild, was lying on his couch at home watching TV with a lazy grin. Vrrrm— vrrrm— He casually picked up his phone buzzing on the armrest beside him.
'Hm?'
_Hunter Sung Jin-Woo.
His eyes went wide when he checked the caller. He shot up and answered the phone.
"Hunter?" —This is Sung Jin-Woo from Ajin. "Ah, yes. This is Park Jong-Soo from the Knights."
As Jin-Woo explained, Park Jong-Soo's face brightened progressively. In truth, he'd been feeling deflated after regulations changed and his plan to build a close relationship with Jin-Woo fell apart. The Knights guild's know-how and Hunter Sung Jin-Woo's potential—all that had gone down the drain... Vice President Jung Yoon-Tae had also shown barely concealed disappointment. But now, what was this? The call he'd never even expected came to him first! Building ties with a strong guild—or rather, a strong Hunter—was the most important thing for a guild.
"Yes, yes. No problem at all."
The smile never left Park Jong-Soo's face throughout the entire call.
"Just leave it to us."
Handling Dungeon byproducts was no difficult task for the Knights guild, which had long-honed expertise in the field. Their processing team, which otherwise had nothing to do when there were no raids, could finally be put to use. Park Jong-Soo said with a face full of smiles.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow!"
* * *
The lunchbox his mother packed was delicious. Even if the place he was eating it happened to be a Dungeon crawling with monsters. Yoo Jin-Ho looked up, chewing away.
"Eating like this reminds me of when we used to clear C-rank Dungeons together, hyung-nim."
Jin-Woo answered with a chuckle instead of words.
"Finish your food first, then talk." "Ah, sorry, hyung-nim."
But he couldn't fail to understand how Jin-Ho felt. Every Gate in sight had been reserved, and their days were a blur of activity as they chained raid after raid. The only difference from back then was that the targets had shifted from C-rank and below to B-rank and above. If you really wanted to find anything else that had changed...
'...'
Igrit, who met Jin-Woo's eyes, politely bowed his head.
'The only difference is that there's now a guy who stands guard while we eat.'
Not that it was really necessary. Thanks to his Sensing stat, Jin-Woo could read movements within a Dungeon even without focusing. In other words, he could handle approaching monsters with his eyes closed. He just didn't want his meals interrupted, and to ease Jin-Ho's anxiety, he'd posted a sentry during mealtimes. Jin-Woo looked to the other side.
'...'
Iron, who likewise met Jin-Woo's gaze, thumped his broad chest vigorously as if to say "Leave it to me." Bang, bang. The metallic sound echoed through the cave. Jin-Woo shook his head.
'That one's problem is that his enthusiasm is way ahead of his restraint.'
Hearing the noise, Jin-Ho suddenly asked Jin-Woo.
"Hyung-nim." "Yeah?" "Your shadow soldiers can move on their own, right?" "More or less."
Min Byung-Gu had said that the shadow soldiers each possessed their own 'sense of self.'
'How much of that I should believe, I'm not sure...'
Anyway. Jin-Ho continued.
"Then when we can't participate in a raid like this, wouldn't it work to just leave everything to the shadow soldiers?" "That won't work."
If he stayed too far away, the experience points he could earn would decrease. But explaining experience points to Jin-Ho wasn't really an option, so Jin-Woo put on a stern and solemn expression.
"I never know what these guys will do when I'm not watching." "Eek!"
It sounded as though Jin-Ho's appetite died in real time. The jokes ended there.
'Shall I give this a try?'
Having finished his meal, Jin-Woo quietly set down his spoon.
[Skill: Shadow Storage Lv.2] A job-exclusive skill. Mana cost: None. Absorbs shadow soldiers into the caster's shadow for storage. Stored soldiers can be summoned or re-absorbed by the caster at will. Stored shadow count: 840 / 840 Lv.2 effect 'Sense Sharing': Designate one stored shadow soldier to share its senses.
The special effect attached to Shadow Storage—'Sense Sharing.' It was a unique ability that relayed the senses felt by a shadow soldier to the caster. It was even possible to select a shadow soldier stationed far away and observe the situation on their end, making it quite useful. For instance. He gently closed his eyes.
'Sense Sharing.'
Signals from shadow soldiers scattered across various locations in Korea, outside the Dungeon, came into focus.
'I really spread them around.'
Jin-Woo casually selected one of them. As it happened, it was the shadow soldier he'd left hidden near Hunter Cha. And then—Shhhhh—The sound of water dripping to the floor and splashing reached him.
'It's not raining, so where's the water coming from...?'
That confusion lasted only a moment. The instant their vision was shared, Jin-Woo's eyes snapped open.
"Hyung-nim? Did you fall asleep for even a moment?" "...No."
He thought he should treat Hunter Cha to a meal sometime, as an apology.
"Oh, hyung-nim, did you hear?" "What?" "The S-rank Gate that appeared in Shinjuku, Japan. The dungeon break is predicted to be tomorrow."
Had it already been that long? Jin-Woo nodded.
'It's already been six days since I started the upper-rank Dungeon raids.'
Over those six days, Jin-Woo hadn't exactly been standing still either. His experience points were accumulating slowly but surely. As a result, his level had risen from 101 to 103. The reward for clearing everything else from his schedule and focusing on Leveling Up. When Jin-Woo opened his palm, a black key appeared on it.
[Item: Key of Karteon Temple] Acquisition difficulty... ...will be revealed later. Remaining time: 26 hours 51 minutes 49 seconds.
'One more day.'
Jin-Woo quietly clenched the key. Every time he looked at it, his heart trembled.
"Don't move." "Huh?"
Jin-Ho, who had been darting glances at Iron and Igrit while scooping rice ever since hearing Jin-Woo's words, flinched and jerked his shoulders in surprise.
"I wasn't talking to you."
The shadow soldiers who had been about to move froze in place upon hearing Jin-Woo's command.
"Krrrrr..." "Krrrk."
From the far end of the cave, beasts wielding weapons—scythes, longswords, and the like—bared their teeth and stalked forward. Jin-Woo gazed at them and slowly rose from his seat. Still one day.
'I have one more day.'
Clutching the 'Demon King's Dagger' he'd summoned from storage, Jin-Woo smiled.
* * *
The night before the dungeon break. Per Yuri Orloff's instructions, a massive magic circle had been drawn in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It was of an unprecedented, staggering scale. The surrounding residents had all been evacuated, but Yuri remained on-site, inspecting the barrier down to the last detail. The Japanese officials watched him without daring to swallow, their eyes fixed on his every word and movement. Yuri, stroking his chin and furrowing his brow continuously, finally spoke.
"...Something's off."
The interpreter's eyes went wide.
"Excuse me? Is there some mistake?" "No, it's not that."
The magic circle was flawless. This work was sure to become the greatest masterpiece of his life. It wasn't the barrier that was strange.
"There's someone nearby." "What?"
Otherwise, why would his heart be pounding like this? Eyes wide open, Yuri spun around scanning the area and shouted.
"Who are you? Where are you?"
But no answer came. On the empty street, only his voice echoed back.
"..."
A Japanese official wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and forced a smile with visible effort on his face.
"On the night before a dungeon break, there's no way some reckless person would be lingering on the streets, right?"
At that, Yuri snorted derisively.
"I didn't say 'person.'" "Excuse me?"
Yuri looked at the official, whose face had gone pale, with an exasperated expression and tilted his head once more.
"Could it have been my imagination..."
But high atop a distant building, there stood a figure looking down at them.
'He's got good instincts.'
Then again. Considering where Yuri's power came from, that was hardly surprising. More importantly. The man's gaze shifted to the S-rank Gate. An oppressively silent aura lingered around it.
'...'
The man pulled down the hood that had been covering his face. The face of a man in his mid-thirties, East Asian. His unkempt, bushy beard told the world who he was. Sung Il-Hwan. He gazed at the giant Gate with a sorrowful expression, then pulled the hood back over his head.
'So it finally... begins.'
Everything was unfolding according to plan.