"O-of course, Hunters should do what Hunters do. My thinking was short-sighted. I misspoke."
As he watched the blood-drained President repeatedly nod his head, Woo Jin-Cheol rose from his seat. However, even after Woo Jin-Cheol left, the President and the high-ranking officials couldn't stand up for a long time, their legs having gone completely weak.
"..."
"..."
They had been reminded anew of just how terrifying a being a Hunter was.
* * *
"Did something good happen, sir?"
In the departing car, the aide sitting in the driver's seat asked Woo Jin-Cheol.
"Do I look that way?" "You do, sir. Chairman."
The aide was also a staff member of the Surveillance Division. Woo Jin-Cheol looked at the young junior from the division, recalled his own days as a rookie, and let a fond smile spread across his face.
"For the first time, I feel like I've done what I need to do as Chairman."
Woo Jin-Cheol leaned back against the rear seat where Chairman Go Geon-Hui used to sit. And he reminisced about the man who, out of the public eye, had endured so much hatred for the sake of Hunters.
'...What a relief.'
With his fierce-looking eyes and large frame, he was no stranger to being disliked. If that was part of the job of Chairman, he would accept it willingly. When he had resolved to take this seat in place of Chairman Go Geon-Hui, he had already steeled himself to some degree.
"Where shall I take you, sir?" "...To the Association."
He wanted nothing more than to go home, but he had abandoned his work to rush here. There was still a mountain of things left to do.
"Then we'll be on our way."
As if he knew what was on Woo Jin-Cheol's mind, the aide stepped on the accelerator. The car carrying the two swept smoothly out of the Blue House. How much time had passed? Woo Jin-Cheol had gazed out the window and dozed off, only to open his eyes to an endless line of cars packed tightly on the road. Seoul's roads were congested, sure, but to be this gridlocked on a weekday?
'Has another Gate appeared in the middle of the road?'
Woo Jin-Cheol's worried gaze swept the surroundings. But something about the atmosphere on the road felt off—it wasn't that simple. Every single driver had stopped their car, stepped out onto the road, and was looking up at the sky. Not just the drivers. Pedestrians on the sidewalk, people in the middle of crossing at crosswalks—all of them had stopped in their tracks, staring up at the sky. Even the aide in the front seat was leaning his head forward, gazing upward.
'What on earth is happening...?'
The startled Woo Jin-Cheol grabbed the aide's shoulder and shook it.
"Hey, what's going on?" "Ch-Chairman."
The aide spoke in a trembling voice, leaning his upper body aside and pointing toward the top of the windshield.
"L-look..."
Woo Jin-Cheol's face went rigid. Could he be seeing things? No—if that were the case, there would be no reason for everyone to be looking at the sky with the same expression. But unwilling to believe what he had seen, Woo Jin-Cheol jumped out onto the road just as the other drivers had done. His eyes weren't lying. As he stared blankly up at the sky, a look of shock washed over Woo Jin-Cheol's face.
"How... how can this be happening?"
* * *
The test results were deeply satisfying. Jin-Woo's footsteps on the way back couldn't have been lighter. Beru had grown stronger. Much more than expected. Unfortunately, Igrit had not yet advanced, but Beru's advancement alone was an excellent result. The Hunters of Hunters would surely have their mouths hanging open at the sight inside the Dungeon by now. Imagining Cha Hae-In with her eyes wide open, Jin-Woo let out a soft chuckle. He would have liked to catch up since it had been a while, but unfortunately, he had prior guests waiting. Jin-Woo deliberated between Thomas and Renat, then reached out to Thomas first. He could fairly well guess what Renat wanted, but he couldn't figure out what the world's second-ranked Hunter was thinking by showing up in Korea without a word. The call connected quickly.
-Mr. Sung!
Thomas, worried he might get cut off by Jin-Woo again, spilled his words in a rush this time.
-I've brought a fantastic gift just for you.
A gift? If he had something like that, he should have said so first. When Jin-Woo said that half-jokingly, the voice on the other end of the line fell quiet for a moment. A short while later, Thomas continued in a voice that sounded like he was holding something back.
-...I'm glad you're looking forward to it. So where should we meet? I'd like to hand it over first, though. "Anywhere convenient for you." -Could you come to me? It's a bit too risky to carry them around.
Dangerous? Jin-Woo was puzzled for a moment, then said he'd be right there and hung up.
'Could it be... a bomb?'
Of course not. For a national-power-level Hunter, charging in directly was far more effective than detonating a bomb. Still, Jin-Woo regretted not at least asking what kind of gift it was. Beru spoke to him.
[My King.] 'Hm?' [May I fight that foreign man once?] '...'
Jin-Woo hesitated for a moment, then shook his head quickly as if to shake off the thought. What am I even deliberating about? He was curious how much Beru had grown, but he couldn't pit him against Thomas. He didn't want Thomas hurt, and he didn't want Beru destroyed either. Given both their personalities, if they clashed, there was no way it would end with just a few scratches.
'Even so...'
Being able to have this kind of worry was itself proof of how much Beru had grown. Beru's tone practically oozed with eagerness to test his newfound strength.
'Beru.' [Speak, My King.] [A chance to test your strength will come soon, so don't be too hasty.] [I shall keep that in mind.] 'And cut back on those historical dramas. Your speech is getting more and more affected by the day.' [As my Lord commands—] 'Just say "yes." Yes. Yes, I understand.' [Yes.]
Good. Having said what he wanted to say to Beru, Jin-Woo headed to the meeting place with Thomas in high spirits.
* * *
"Oh, Mr. Sung! You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment."
Thomas gave Jin-Woo, who had come to his guest room, an enthusiastic welcome. After all, receiving a gift is a joy, but giving one is no less so. From the moment he had heard Jin-Woo say he needed daggers until now. Thomas had eagerly waited to place the finest weapons gathering dust in the guild's storeroom into Jin-Woo's hands. He hadn't rushed all the way to this distant foreign land for nothing. What reaction would the world's greatest Hunter—the one he personally recognized—show when he saw those two? With great anticipation, Thomas snapped his fingers, and his bodyguards brought out a box draped in cloth. Jin-Woo, who didn't particularly need a gift, glanced at the box without much interest—until the bodyguards drew closer, and his gaze grew increasingly sharp.
'What is this...?'
Hummm, hmmm. Something inside the box was resonating with his mana. Catching the change in Jin-Woo's expression, Thomas clenched his fist in his mind.
'Yes!'
Hunter Sung Jin-Woo recognized weapons, and weapons recognized their master. The moment Thomas's hunch—that they would know each other at first sight—proved correct. Perhaps those two had been holding their breath in Scavenger's dark warehouse, where not a single ray of light entered, dreaming of this very moment. Thud. The box was set down on the table between Thomas and Jin-Woo.
"This is my repayment for the grace you've shown me and my guild members."
Thomas grasped the edge of the cloth covering the box and carefully pulled it away. Sssss. The cloth slid off, revealing what was inside. A transparent case, its interior fully visible. Inside were two daggers embedded in a massive scale. Or—could those even be called daggers? Jin-Woo was skeptical. The two daggers had blades shorter than longswords but far longer than ordinary daggers. However, it wasn't the length that captured his attention. Blades white as snow. Made of a material that wasn't metal, the daggers were not unfamiliar to Jin-Woo. He remembered 'Kasaka's Purple Fang,' the very first weapon he had ever obtained inside an Instance Dungeon. From that memory, Jin-Woo realized what kind of magical beast's fangs these daggers were made from. And there was only one beast whose carcass could emanate such an aura.
"Kamish..."
The name of the magical beast slipped from his lips unconsciously, and Thomas shook his head in admiration and applauded.
"You identified the materials just by looking at them once."
Jin-Woo's guess was correct. But precisely because the guess was right, a question arose.
"Kamish's carcass should be in the possession of the Hunter Bureau...?" "Following the wishes of the U.S. government, which wanted the full transfer of the carcass, we decided to give it up cleanly. We were able to get more than money in return."
Thomas smiled as he recalled the time of the raid.
"But one of Kamish's largest and sharpest fangs—the fang I pulled out with all my strength when the bastard bit me—was given to me as a souvenir."
The problem, however, was that there were no Awakened who could forge weapons from the byproducts of a dragon's carcass. Only one. And the very artisan who had created these two masterpieces had passed away from old age, so Thomas added that no more weapons from dragon byproducts would ever be produced.
"That fang's length was a bit short for a longsword, so I had daggers made instead. Who knew they'd end up being this useful."
Thomas's face was bright as he shared the story from back then. Slowly removing the case, Thomas slid the dragon scale—with the daggers embedded blade-down—toward Jin-Woo.
"Now they're yours."
The finest weapons had met their finest master. Thomas steadied his trembling heart and watched Jin-Woo's reaction. Jin-Woo drew one of the daggers. Sssk. The dagger came free as if it had been waiting, impossibly light. Ding. The moment the dagger was drawn, a mechanical chime rang out, and Jin-Woo swallowed hard. Soon, the dagger's detailed stats appeared before his eyes.
'Seriously?'
Jin-Woo couldn't believe what he was seeing. Impossible. Startled by the absurd stats, he summoned the 'Demon King's Daggers' he had been using as his primary weapon up to now, for comparison.
[Item: Demon King's Daggers] Acquisition Difficulty: S Type: Dagger Attack Power: +220 A dagger obtained from the Demon King Baran. Using two 'Demon King's Daggers' activates a set effect. Set Effect — 'Two as One': Attack power equal to the Strength stat is added to each dagger.
With a Strength stat of over 300, the attack power would far exceed 500. The set effect alone made them more than usable in his eyes. But the stats of the dagger currently in his hand were… As Jin-Woo compared the stats of the two daggers, he let out a silent cry of shock.
'...Does this make any sense?'