The TV in the living room was playing news about the increasing number of incidents related to Dungeons lately. No major disaster had occurred yet, but the report was about the rising number of Hunters losing their lives during raids.
"I hope our boy is alright..."
Watching the news, Mother spoke with a worried voice, thinking of Jin-Woo. No matter how exceptional a hunter her son might be, could a parent's worry for their child ever be eased? Beru, who had been hiding among the shadows and guarding the house at Jin-Woo's command, heard those words.
'Mother of the King. If it were an accident that my lord could not overcome, no one would survive it either.'
Beru swallowed the words that rose to his throat with great difficulty. He absolutely could not startle the King's mother for no reason. As a result, the frustration was his to bear. He felt resentment toward the King's mother for comparing his lord to those lowly monsters shown on screen, but Beru added patience upon patience and suppressed his desire to extol his lord's might.
'Next up is a report on the International Guild Conference currently hosted by the U.S. Hunter Administration Bureau...'
The screen changed, showing footage of an American airport as news about the International Guild Conference came on. Jin-Woo appeared on screen, entering the airport. Seeing her son walking through a barrage of camera flashes, Mother forgot all her earlier worries and broke into a pleased smile.
"Jin-Ah, your brother's on TV." "Really?"
Jin-Ah abandoned her studies mid-session and came scampering out of her room. Even though she had already seen him on screen a couple of times, meeting her brother this way was still wondrous and delightful. But. Jin-Ah and Mother had no idea. That someone nearby was watching the screen even more fervently than they were, cheering with far greater passion.
'Your Majesty...!'
Beru fixed his gaze on the screen with tears of emotion brimming in his eyes. But then. A sudden chill began to spread through his entire body. Without any warning, his body began to tremble. This feeling. He had experienced a similar feeling once before. When was that? As he dug through his memory, Beru finally recalled that moment. It was the very instant the King's gaze, brimming with killing intent, had looked down upon him. Inescapable death. The instinct awakened by the scent of that death, issuing its warning. For the first time since becoming a shadow soldier, Beru was so overwhelmed by the King's wrath that his thoughts began to shut down from sheer terror. But he was the King's soldier! His mind snapped back to clarity.
'...The King is enraged.'
Now that he knew something had happened to the King, he could not simply stand here frozen in fear. Beru immediately sent a signal to Jin-Woo, attempting to communicate.
'Your Majesty, stay put. I shall come to you at once.'
The answer came back swiftly.
[You... do not move.]
Feeling the King's voice, condensed with fury, Beru trembled like an aspen tree.
'I will obey your command.'
That was all he could say—just his pledge of obedience. And at the same time, he grew curious about just what kind of idiot had managed to incur the King's wrath.
'What could possibly have been so foolish...'
Beru, his body still trembling with fear, retreated deeper into the shadows in hopes of forgetting his dread even slightly.
* * *
Busan. The Knights Guild was in the middle of raid preparations. Guild Master Park Jong-Soo was doing a final check on the attack squad's condition, burning with determination for a successful raid.
"I've been hearing there have been a lot of accidents in Dungeons lately, so everyone keep your heads on straight. We are not allowing a single injury." "Yes, sir!"
Ever since the guild members had participated in a raid alongside Jin-Woo's summoned soldiers, they had become strangely humble. Their spirited response showed they were fired up. But. Vice President Jung Yun-Tae, who had been nodding along behind Park Jong-Soo giving reactions, suddenly noticed something and his eyes went wide.
"Wha—!"
Park Jong-Soo quickly turned around.
"What? What's wrong?"
Jung Yun-Tae pointed at the ground, glancing between the shadow and Park Jong-Soo.
"Hyung! The shadow, hyung, the shadow at your feet just went all fluttery—"
Jung Yun-Tae noticed Park Jong-Soo's narrowing eyes and stopped talking.
"Yun-Tae, how many times have I told you not to drink before a raid?" "No, hyung, I haven't had a single drop today! I'm telling you, the shadow really trembled like it was alive!"
Park Jong-Soo stared at Jung Yun-Tae with a disappointed look and let out a heavy sigh.
"Can't be helped. You're sitting out today." "Hyung! I'm telling the truth!" "Alright, everyone let's head in. Knights, let's go!" "Ah, hyyung—!"
As Jung Yun-Tae's aggrieved voice echoed through the air, reports of trembling shadows seen wherever Jin-Woo had dispatched his soldiers continued to pour in, one after another. The shadow soldiers were shuddering with the genuine fury of their lord's emotions—not caring in the least about the onlookers.
* * *
-Swap
The High Orc soldier vanished, and Jin-Woo appeared.
'...!'
Hwang Dong-Su and his group were frozen like mice facing a snake at the unexpected arrival of an uninvited guest. Hwang Dong-Su, who recognized Jin-Woo, nearly stopped breathing on the spot. Paying no attention whatsoever to Hwang Dong-Su, Jin-Woo strode past him and walked toward Yoo Jin-Ho. Without having said a word, the two men standing beside Yoo Jin-Ho parted simultaneously as though they had coordinated in advance. Jin-Woo took a healing potion from storage and trickled it into Yoo Jin-Ho's mouth little by little. However.
[You cannot restore health with a healing potion when remaining HP is below 10%.]
A 'ding' sound rang out, and a message appeared before his eyes saying the injury could not be treated. Crack. The healing potion bottle shattered in Jin-Woo's hand. The 'Potion of Vitality' was an item that cured ailments. It was of no use against physical injuries. Just as healing magic would not help in restoring an item.
'I need healing magic.'
But the only shadow soldier capable of healing was Beru, and he was back in Korea. Even if he called him now, who knew how long it would take... Just then, Hwang Dong-Su, who had regained his senses, spoke to Jin-Woo.
"You... what are you? That orc just now... what did you do?"
Jin-Woo ignored him completely and asked the two men nearby.
"Is either one of you a healer?"
At the word 'healer,' the man who was a healing-type Hunter nodded reflexively. Jin-Woo pointed at Yoo Jin-Ho.
"Heal him."
The healer's gaze shifted to Hwang Dong-Su. Hwang Dong-Su shook his head. Jin-Woo carefully laid Yoo Jin-Ho's upper body down and stood up.
"I'll say it one last time. Heal him."
The healer's gaze turned to Hwang Dong-Su once again. Hwang Dong-Su gave the same answer, and the healer, who had nodded, looked at Jin-Woo and raised the corner of his mouth in a smirk.
"You're going to have to convince my boss befo—"
He never finished the sentence. Wham! Jin-Woo slammed the healer's head into the floor just as Hwang Dong-Su had done to Yoo Jin-Ho. It was so instantaneous that no one saw Jin-Woo move. Even Hwang Dong-Su, an S-rank Hunter, had not caught a single hint that Jin-Woo was about to attack—he simply found the healer collapsed on the ground. Jin-Woo turned to the remaining man.
"Are you a healer too?"
The man saw Jin-Woo's face approaching him and his jaw began to tremble.
"S-Sung Jin-Woo? Sung Jin-Woo, the Hunter?"
Backing away, he glared at Hwang Dong-Su and screamed.
"Hwang Dong-Su! You never said this was connected to Sung Jin-Woo! What is this? What the hell is this?!" "I asked if you could cast healing magic." "N-No, I can't. I'm—"
The man's answer cut off there as well. Wham! Struck by an invisible blow, the man's head crashed into the floor. In an instant, two high-ranking Hunters had lost consciousness. Hwang Dong-Su, who had witnessed Jin-Woo's power firsthand, felt his heart hammering wildly. It was then.
"H-Hyung-nim."
Perhaps because the floor had boomed loudly twice, Yoo Jin-Ho's consciousness returned.
"Hyung... nim."
Jin-Woo leaned down, pressing his ear close to Yoo Jin-Ho's voice.
"Jin-Ho."
Yoo Jin-Ho, his swollen eyes narrowed to slits, shifted his blood-covered face and forced his mouth open with great effort.
"Hwang Dong-Su... Hwang Dong-Seok... brother... be careful..."
Looking down at Yoo Jin-Ho, whose breathing came in ragged gasps, with pained eyes, Jin-Woo cut him off.
"Shh. Don't say any more." "Hyung-nim..."
Yoo Jin-Ho gripped the hand Jin-Woo extended, his eyes brimming with tears. Jin-Woo asked.
"Can you hold on just a little longer?"
Nod, nod. Yoo Jin-Ho, now too weak even to speak, answered with a movement of his head instead. Jin-Woo let go of his brother's hand and slowly stood up. His gaze locked onto Hwang Dong-Su. Hwang Dong-Su glared right back at Jin-Woo. His legs trembled under the murderous look in Jin-Woo's eyes, but he had no interest in running. Jin-Woo's blazing eyes drew ever closer. Hwang Dong-Su tried his best to look unaffected and steadied his voice.
"You did it, didn't you? You're the one who killed my brother, Hwang Dong-Seok. Right?"
Hwang Dong-Su's terrified face drew nearer. The face of someone who had been strong against the weak and weak against the strong automatically overlaid itself. Jin-Woo's gaze was colder than ever. Hwang Dong-Su screamed.
"Answer me! Sung Jin-Woo, did you kill my brother and his team?!"
Jin-Woo, now standing right in front of Hwang Dong-Su, said.
"Go ask your brother."
Crunch. Hwang Dong-Su threw a fist wrapped in light. He was aiming for Jin-Woo's face. But Jin-Woo ducked his head to dodge and immediately drove his own fist into Hwang Dong-Su's abdomen.
"Guh!"
In a single blow, Hwang Dong-Su vomited a torrent of blood.
* * *
"Stop the car!" "What?" "I said stop the car!"
When Thomas shouted, the driver slammed on the brakes. Because the lead car had stopped without warning, the guild vehicles following behind all braked hard as well. Screech, screech— The sound of skidding echoed from every direction. Not that it mattered. Bang! Thomas kicked the car door off its hinges and stepped out, his head turned toward something in the distance. His face twisted into a savage grimace.
"Damn it..."
From within the stopped vehicles, elite Hunters of the Scavenger Guild—considered among the finest in the world—leaped out.
"Master, what is it?" "What's going on?"
To their urgent questions, Thomas gave a short reply.
"It's already started. I'm going ahead. Follow me immediately." "What?"
What had started? But before they could even ask for an explanation, Thomas crouched down. The muscles in his legs bulged taut, and the asphalt beneath his feet began to melt. The Hunters naturally took two or three steps back from Thomas. BOOM! Launching himself off the ground, Thomas rocketed forward and was gone in an instant.
* * *
'Something... is coming.'
Something powerful. Just as Thomas had felt Jin-Woo's strength, Jin-Woo felt Thomas's presence as well. Jin-Woo stopped his hand. In his other hand, he still held the throat of Hwang Dong-Su, who was badly wounded, no less so than Yoo Jin-Ho. Crash! A section of the factory roof collapsed as Thomas Andre—one of the nation-level Hunters—descended. Having sensed Thomas's approach, Jin-Woo turned to look without so much as blinking an eye. Thomas rose to his feet and surveyed his surroundings. His gaze moved in order: Yoo Jin-Ho, then Jin-Woo, then Jin-Woo's hand—and fixed on Hwang Dong-Su. Thomas's brow furrowed. Hwang Dong-Su's presence was masked by Jin-Woo's powerful mana. Thomas tossed aside his sunglasses and asked.
"Hwang Dong-Su... is he still alive?" "For now."
Speaking in simple words so Jin-Woo, who might not be fluent in English, could understand, Thomas addressed him clearly.
"Let him go. If you release him, I will pretend none of this happened. I'm asking you nicely."
Jin-Woo tightened his grip on Hwang Dong-Su's throat and asked.
"And if I don't?" "Then it won't be a request anymore."
One of the strongest Hunters in the world bared his teeth. A situation that would have made any ordinary Hunter's knees buckle. But Jin-Woo's own pressure did not yield an inch.
"Bring it on."