The Japanese government provided Jin-Woo with a five-star luxury hotel so he could rest comfortably before his flight. Jin-Woo had intended to refuse their hospitality, planning to return via "Shadow Exchange" instead of waiting for a plane. However. "Please don't let it be said that we failed to properly honor a savior of our nation. I'm asking you this earnestly, Hunter." Japan's sincere request changed his mind. Stepping into the luxury suite for the first time, with its price tag of four million won per night, his first impression was: 'Is it really okay for me to use this huge, beautiful room all by myself?' Jin-Woo walked to the window and stood there, surveying the freshly polished furnishings that gleamed as if they had just been installed. From the window, the entire cityscape spread out before him. He'd heard that the better the view, the higher the price of a house, and indeed, the dazzling night view was more than worth the hefty price tag. 'This city nearly burned to the ground at the hands of magical beasts.' Jin-Woo clicked his tongue at the thought of a devastated Tokyo. He couldn't help but feel relieved that he'd arrived in Japan before things got worse. '...Time to sleep.' After his long stretch of camping, spending a night in a hotel was sweeter than honey.
The next day. As the flight time approached, staff from the Hunter's Association came to see him. "Good morning, Hunter." The male staff member in charge of guiding him greeted him in fluent Korean. "A car is ready to take you to the airport." Jin-Woo had been getting bored out of his mind cooped up in the hotel room anyway. He retrieved the bag he'd tossed into a corner and headed back. "Let's leave right now." "Oh!" The staff member's face went flustered when he saw Jin-Woo about to walk out the door. "H-Hunter... Do you perhaps not have any spare clothes?" Jin-Woo could understand the staff's reaction. His top and bottom were still caked in blood and sweat, bearing the full scars of his fierce battle. 'I tried to be as careful as I could...' Dodging the massive quantities of blood that giants splattered all over their bodies was simply impossible from the start. His other clothes were all in the same condition, so Jin-Woo just shrugged in place of an answer. The staff member smiled and asked politely, "Well, if it's alright with you, Hunter, would it be acceptable for us to prepare an outfit for you today?" It was a welcome offer. There was no reason to keep walking around in bloodstained clothes, and he didn't want to skulk about as though he'd done something wrong. Reading the answer from Jin-Woo's expression, the staff member smiled and said, "I'll prepare it right away. Please wait just a moment." They must have already had things ready, because within ten minutes of the staff member making a call, a group of men came streaming in holding suits in various colors and styles. 'Already?' To Jin-Woo's surprised look, the staff member answered brightly, "We had a few on standby just in case something like this might come up." As he quickly scanned the suits lined up by color and size, Jin-Woo swallowed a gasp that threatened to escape. The preparation was truly remarkable for something supposedly done "just in case." "If there's anything else you need besides clothes—" Jin-Woo waved his hand. "No, that's fine." The service so far had been more than satisfactory. He could feel the effort the Hunter's Association was putting in. Jin-Woo picked out a suit in his size, changed into it, and stood before a mirror. Maybe it was because all the clothes provided were high-end suits, but he looked like a completely different person. 'Looks pretty good, I think?' A smile spread across his face on its own. After straightening his outfit and turning around, the very staff member who had been flustered just moments ago about whether he had spare clothes let out an exclamation. "It suits you perfectly, Hunter." "Let's head out now." "Understood. We'll have our staff carry your luggage." The moment he said that, two burly staff members who had been waiting rushed into the room and picked up Jin-Woo's bags. Japan's Hunter's Association was treating him with the utmost hospitality, making sure he wouldn't have to lift a finger, as Jin-Woo walked out the doors of the five-star luxury hotel. Soon, the black sedan carrying Jin-Woo set off toward the airport.
* * *
Walking into the airport, he began to understand why Japan's Hunter's Association had been so meticulous about his appearance. Outside the car window, there were people, people, and more people. "..." Speechless, Jin-Woo gazed out the window in silence as the staff member spoke to him in an impassioned voice. "Every single person here has gathered because they wanted to catch even just one glimpse of you, Hunter." The crowd didn't look like something that could be forcibly rounded up no matter how hard you tried. "How many people are here, exactly?" "We're not certain, but it's estimated to be over a hundred thousand." "That many..." The car carrying Jin-Woo glided silently along the controlled roads. As it rounded a curve, another crowd—equal to or even larger than those he'd seen so far—greeted his vehicle. "You are already the hero who saved Japan, Sung Jin-Woo Hunter." "..." From Jin-Woo's perspective, he had simply done what he could. But it was something only he could have done. The Japanese people who had watched on broadcast, on social media, or with their own eyes as they encountered the giant-type magical beasts had been forced to tremble in despair. No one had stepped forward to deal with the national disaster unfolding in Japan. Everyone was declaring in unison that Japan was finished. But then, from neighboring Korea, came an announcement from Goh Gun-Hyoo, president of the Korean Hunter's Association—perhaps even more famous than the Korean president himself.
-One man. There is a Hunter who wants to destroy Japan's giant-type magical beasts.
Countless Japanese people watching the press conference in real-time held their breath, their eyes fixed on the screen.
-Who is this Hunter?
After the reporter's question, President Goh brought his lips as close to the microphone as possible and said.
-It is Hunter Sung Jin-Woo.
It was widely known that Jin-Woo had single-handedly eliminated all the S-rank ant magical beasts that had seized Jeju Island. The moment the three syllables Sung Jin-Woo left President Goh's lips, all of Japan stirred. To them, Jin-Woo was the sole ray of hope. And one week later, true to his announcement before leaving Korea, Jin-Woo cleanly purged the giants throughout Japan and set off on the journey home. That so many Japanese citizens had gathered to see him was, in a sense, the natural result. The staff member added that if the situation wasn't so chaotic due to the aftermath of the disaster, the crowd would have easily been several times larger. And then he said, "Actually, the Prime Minister also desperately wishes to meet Hunter Sung Jin-Woo. Could you possibly make time, just this once?" The staff member's expression was more serious than Jin-Woo had ever seen. He could easily gauge the amount of pressure the man was under. But no meant no. Jin-Woo gave the same answer he had given the first time the offer was made. "I don't want to waste my time on unnecessary things." The staff member couldn't help but laugh at Jin-Woo's straightforward attitude, then swallowed the laughter and nodded. "Haha... Understood." As they exchanged small talk, the car arrived in front of the airport entrance. Jin-Woo stepped out of the car as calmly as always. And then. Without anyone signaling first, a wave of enthusiastic applause erupted. Jin-Woo looked at the people. "Hunter!" "Sung Jin-Woo Hunter!" He couldn't understand a word they were saying, but their eyes, their voices, their gestures—every single one spoke volumes. A deep sense of gratitude and reverence reached him through the very air. Beru, who had been watching from within the shadows, spoke to him. 'Your Majesty, many of your subjects are sending you their sincere awe and respect.' 'That's not what this is.' 'Perhaps Your Majesty should raise a hand to acknowledge your subjects...' 'No, I said that's not what this is.' Where did he keep picking up all these strange ideas? Jin-Woo ignored Beru's words and was about to turn away, but he paused and asked, 'But do the other ants actually like it when you do that?' Beru answered with tremendous pride, in a voice that would have carried an expression of triumphant dignity if he had been standing outside. 'Of course they do, Your Majesty.' Come to think of it, Beru even had a skill that boosted the morale of his ant soldiers with a single roar. Jin-Woo nodded. So many people had come to see him—there was no reason he couldn't do the greeting that even an ant could do. Turning back toward the crowd, Jin-Woo hesitantly raised his hand and waved it side to side. The applause intensified and cheers erupted. Clap-clap-clap-clap! Upon closer look, even the guiding staff member was clapping vigorously at his side, his eyes reddened. "Thank you!" "Thank you, Hunter!" "Thank you!" The staff member, his nose tip flushed, wiped his eyes with his sleeve and said, "Let's go, Hunter. The plane will be departing soon." Jin-Woo lowered his hand. Yet the applause didn't stop. It continued until his figure disappeared from sight, until the very moment he could no longer be seen. The plane carrying Jin-Woo took off amid the send-off of a crowd of a hundred thousand. The very next day, a prominent Japanese columnist wrote this: If the head of a state had to be chosen solely by the will of the people, that day we would have seen our first foreign-born prime minister.
* * *
One of the five nation-power-level Hunters, Christopher Reed. His eyes snapped open in the middle of the night. The cause was the noise around him. If he—the greatest of Hunters—had bothered to pay attention to every stray sound that reached his ears, he would never have had a single day of rest. But that was just it. He hadn't woken up because it was noisy. Quite the opposite. 'Why is it so quiet?' The cacophony of sounds that should have been audible with even the slightest concentration had vanished as if by magic. He threw off the covers, stood up, and opened the bedroom door. He couldn't sense a single trace of the servants stationed throughout the mansion. A dreary atmosphere hung over the place, as if he had wandered into an abandoned house. Staring silently down the empty hallway, Chris picked up the wine glass from the table and stood in front of the door again. Then he hurled the wine glass down the corridor. The glass left his fingertips, traced an arc through the air, and shattered against the floor. But. Not a single sound came through. In that instant, a chill raced up his spine. He realized something that should never have happened had occurred. His razor-sharp senses were screaming a warning of danger. A kind of danger he had never once experienced before. Instinct compelled Chris into action. He moved quickly. He rushed to the nightstand beside his bed, grabbed his phone, and simultaneously pulled open the drawer. Inside was a single crumpled note. The message on the front read:
-If you need help, contact this number. Goh Gun-Hyoo, president of the Korean Hunter's Association, will connect you.
The deputy director of the Hunter Management Bureau had left a note with the servant before departing. Chris, learning of this belatedly, had been about to throw the note away in anger after reading it, but Mrs. Selner's face kept haunting him strangely, and he couldn't bring himself to dispose of it. 'Could the madam have foreseen this situation?' He would never know the answer. But if he wanted to hear it, he had to survive first. Chris flipped the note over. On the back was President Goh's phone number. They said President Goh was fluent in English. There would be no communication problem. If he contacted him, he could receive Mr. Sung's help. '...' When he had seen that fool go off to Japan, Chris had expected to hear of his obituary within days. But after witnessing his shadow soldiers and their exploits, his opinion had changed. Mr. Sung's power was real. Mrs. Selner had told him so.
-Hunter Sung Jin-Woo. He might be able to protect you.
If she had said that, it might not have been wrong. Chris hurriedly began to dial the number. No—he was about to. But the presence he felt behind his back made his fingers freeze. "..." It was already too late to request help or relay his situation. Chris set down the phone and the note, then rose quietly. He turned around slowly and saw a blond-haired man grinning from ear to ear. One hand in his pocket. This was no ordinary intruder to be found in the estate of an S-rank Hunter—the highest-level Hunter in the world. The ease in the man's posture was impossible to reconcile with that of a trespasser. Chris spoke. "Who are you?" One in front of him. Two more behind the wall at his back. Three in all. He wasn't even certain he could handle the one in front, and now there were two more of equal strength. Cold sweat broke out on Chris's forehead. The bead of moisture tracing a path over his eyebrow, past his temple, and gathering beneath his chin—just as it reached there, a voice drifted from the man's lips. "If you keep trying to fight while going easy on these creatures, you'll lose everything, Fragment of Radiance." It was an uncanny voice, as if it belonged to no being of this world. 'Beast language?' Chris's eyes flew open and he roared, "What in the devil are you blabbering about?!" Before the agitated Chris, the man raised his index finger and pressed it to his own lips. "Shh. I wasn't talking to you." Chris's eyes widened at the man's fluent English. A person who could speak both human language and beast language with ease. As far as Chris knew, no such person existed. The man's index finger left his lips and pointed upward. "I was talking about the one connected to you up there." Chris couldn't understand a single word the man was saying. But one thing was abundantly clear: the man was looking down on him completely. Chris's voice began to thunder. "You think I'm a joke, do you?" A red flash erupted from his eyes, and in an instant flames surged from his entire body. His reddening form kept growing, pushing aside the surrounding furnishings. Fwoom! Enveloped head to toe in fire, his appearance was that of a literal fire god—no, a monster standing at least four meters tall, sparks flying from his eyes. "At least one of you dies by my hand!" Chris swung his fist behind him, and it collided with the wall, detonating in an explosion. Boom! The two men behind him leapt back to avoid the bursting wall and revealed themselves. "Soul Manifestation...?" "A human performing Soul Manifestation?" They regarded Chris's transformed form with expressions of intrigue. The ground beneath Chris's feet bubbled and melted away. For the first time since the 'Kamish Raid,' the worst disaster in human history, Chris accepted the possibility of death. Fwoosh—! The flames surrounding him erupted into a violent maelstrom, beginning to devour everything around him. As all directions were swept away by the raging inferno, his roar from the eye of the firestorm shook the very earth. "Die, you wretched beasts—!"