How was he supposed to take this? As Jin-Woo's lengthy explanation came to an end, an irrepressible sense of bewilderment spread across the faces of the representatives. Even the carefully selected journalists had completely forgotten their duties and were busy exchanging uneasy glances. Murmurs filled the air. The lecture hall, which had been quiet moments before, erupted into chaos in an instant. Finally, someone who could no longer contain their fear-laced curiosity shouted toward Jin-Woo.
"A-Are you telling us to believe that right now?"
How could anyone believe that horrifying beings capable of destroying everything on the planet were on their way? There was desperation in the elderly man's voice.
"Show us… show us proof! Until then, we cannot believe a word you say!" "Hear, hear!" "Isn't this completely absurd!" "You expect us to believe that hundreds of creatures like Kamish could just pop out of nowhere? Does that even make sense?"
It was human nature to deny reality or fly into anger when confronted with an overwhelming truth. The angry voices of the world's representatives—who had deliberately erased from their minds the many miracles Jin-Woo had shown them until now—directed themselves at him on the podium. But Jin-Woo silenced them all with a single gesture of his hand.
"Gasp!" "…!"
Dozens of Gates appeared behind Jin-Woo. Using the power of a Monarch, he had opened dozens upon dozens of gates—doors that connected one space to another.
'I'm faster moving through the shadows, so there's no real need for me to create Gates…'
But there was no more effective proof for convincing people. Gates of about a human's size were easy enough for Jin-Woo to create at will now. Jin-Woo looked at the Gates, then turned his gaze back to the audience. Sure enough—representatives, journalists, and even the staff of the Korean Hunter's Association, who had placed their full trust in Jin-Woo, all stood with their mouths wide open, unable to tear their eyes away from the Gates.
"Are those… are those all Gates?" "H-How is this possible?" 'Hunter Sung Jin-Woo just created Gates—multiple at once—right in front of everyone?'
Every pair of eyes in the room shook violently, as though the ground were trembling in an earthquake. Even David Brennan, director of the Hunter Bureau, who had witnessed the dragon's first step onto the surface during the Dungeon Break, kept rubbing his eyes in disbelief.
'As expected, it works.'
Satisfied by their reaction to witnessing the power of a Monarch, Jin-Woo closed the Gates. As if everything that had just happened had been a lie, every single Gate vanished before anyone could even blink.
"Ah!"
At the same moment, one reporter felt his heart plunge and hurriedly turned to the reporters standing beside him.
"Did… did anyone get a shot of those Gates? Camera, phone, anything—I need a recording!" "Ah!"
Reporters clutched their heads or let out groans of despair. It had all happened in the blink of an eye, and they had been too shaken to think of keeping a visual record. The reporters' agitation seemed to set off a chain reaction, and exclamations of shock burst out like a flood from all directions. Murmurs surged. The roar of noise rattled eardrums and filled the great hall. But then—
"Hunter Sung Jin-Woo!"
The British representative shot to his feet, his shrill voice cutting through the crowd and drawing every eye.
"Might you not be in league with them as well? Those soldiers that came out of the first Gate—did you not summon them to kill us? Is that what you're saying?"
His words froze everyone in place. The worst-case scenario they could conceivably imagine had suddenly loomed into view. A vague, creeping fear—that Hunter Sung Jin-Woo himself might be working with them—spread through people's chests like a plague. And who could blame them? Hadn't they just witnessed, with their own eyes, the Gate—the power of another world that had driven so many to death and terror?
"…"
Jin-Woo stared at the British representative in silence for a long moment. Only then did the representative realize he had made a mistake. If Hunter Sung was on their side, he had just committed a grave slip of the tongue. And if he wasn't… would he even make it out of here alive?
"Ah, of course, I have complete confidence in Hunter Sung Jin-Woo, but…"
As the British representative's face went deathly pale and his voice trailed off, Jin-Woo, who had been watching him, let out a sigh of exasperation.
"Hah."
He had already fulfilled his duty. Jin-Woo felt no further need to plead with them to trust him.
"Whether you believe me or not, whether you accept my words or not—those are your choices. I've said everything I need to say. Make of it what you will."
The reporters, barely emerging from their shock, sensed the presentation was drawing to a close and hurriedly raised their cameras. Flash after flash erupted. Just as Jin-Woo, who had been looking out at the audience, turned to leave—David Brennan, the director of the U.S. Hunter Bureau, who had not uttered a single word until then, thrust his hand high into the air. Jin-Woo, who knew the director personally, pointed toward him.
"Director Brennan?"
The director rose slowly from his seat, his expression grave. No one in the hall did not know the name of the head of the Hunter Bureau, and the great hall fell silent once more.
"It's been a while, Hunter Sung Jin-Woo."
He bowed his head politely, and Jin-Woo returned the gesture with a nod of his own. The director then continued.
"I understand now what will come out of that Gate."
The hundreds of thousands of dark beasts he had seen pouring out of the first Gate. Fortunately, those ones happened to be the subordinates of Hunter Sung Jin-Woo, who had 'coincidentally' obtained the power of a Monarch, and they had submitted to him immediately. But the ones who would appear next time, he had learned today, would not be remotely friendly toward humanity. Then how was humanity supposed to deal with that? The director steadied his trembling heart and asked cautiously.
"What are we supposed to do now?"
Jin-Woo regarded the director for a moment, then shifted his gaze and slowly scanned the people filling the lecture hall. Worry, unease, anxiety, terror, shock, confusion—every emotion played plainly across their faces and in their stares. Having senses that far surpassed human limits was not always a blessing. A moment later.
"…"
Having made up his mind, Jin-Woo gave them the best advice he could.
"Stay as far away from the Gates as possible. I want you all to run as far as you possibly can."
* * *
The impact of the information Jin-Woo had disclosed was enormous. It was none other than Jin-Woo. The man who had stunned the world with an unbelievable sight at the first Extreme Large-Rank Gate, delivering a warning that a number of magical beasts beyond humanity's capacity to handle was about to pour out—his words sent terrified people scrambling to get away from the Gates. Every road became choked with gridlock, and the streets blared with ear-splitting horns. No matter which newspaper one picked up, six large letters were stamped beneath Jin-Woo's face on the front page.
—RUN AS FAR AWAY AS YOU CAN.
That single line was enough to move the entire world. But the greater the movement, the greater the counterforce. Not everyone trusted Jin-Woo's words. In particular, Hunter Jay Mills, a Canadian national operating near the largest of the eight Gates, issued a confident rebuttal.
"Tell him to stop spouting horseshit."
The top Hunter in Canada, invited onto the 'Hunter Channel,' directly insulted Jin-Woo in front of multiple panelists.
"If I had Hunter Sung Jin-Woo's contact info, I'd have told him the same thing to his face. If anyone watching this broadcast happens to know him, pass that along for me."
The host flashed a broadcast smile to ease the heated atmosphere.
"Whoa, whoa—calm down. But Hunter Sung is one of the world's top Hunters, isn't he? You can't just dismiss a warning from someone like that, can you?"
Jay Mills's Hunter ranking was, at best, 17th. Even accounting for the fact that he was a rookie with barely three years of experience, the gap between him and Jin-Woo was not even worth comparing. That said, he acknowledged the difference.
"Yes. Of course, Sung Jin-Woo is an extraordinary Hunter. The power to knock down Thomas, countless summoned creatures… But no matter how amazing the man is, not everything he says is amazing." "Then do you, Hunter, have any evidence that can refute Hunter Sung Jin-Woo's claims?"
Jay smirked.
"Well, what about Sung Jin-Woo? What evidence does he have?"
While the host struggled to find a proper response, Jay looked straight into the camera and spoke.
"Here's what I think. Sung Jin-Woo was at the front of the Seoul Gate. That's why those terrifying black things knelt before him. If anyone else had been in his place, the subject of their submission might have been different."
As if Jin-Woo were watching through the screen, Jay pointed at the camera, veins bulging in his neck.
"Hunter Sung Jin-Woo, you can spew whatever horseshit you want to scare people, but you won't be able to hog every Gate for yourself. I'm not scared of you, not even one little bit."
Beep—Woo Jin-Cheol, the Association chairman, switched off the television. He quietly set the remote down and turned to where Jin-Woo was sitting.
"In Canada, Hunters are gathering around Jay Mills as their leader. Besides that, several other countries known for strong Hunter forces, such as India, appear to be preparing their own raids independently."
Jin-Woo simply gave a quiet nod. The choice was theirs to make. Now was the time for him to focus on fighting the Monarchs.
"The United States is watching your every move, Hunter. No—it would not be an exaggeration to say that the entire world is watching what you do in a time like this."
Having carefully broached the subject, Woo Jin-Cheol then said what he truly wanted to ask.
"What do you intend to do now, Hunter?"
Woo Jin-Cheol watched Jin-Woo's expression carefully, trying to calm his racing heart.
'I must not become an obstacle to Hunter Sung's decision.'
In truth, there was one thing he had kept from Jin-Woo. It was that SOS messages from around the world were pouring in to him constantly. In fact, the volume of requests was so overwhelming that the Association was struggling to carry out its normal duties. Among all of them, the United States, which bordered Canada, was practically begging for Jin-Woo's help in a way that was painful even for those watching from the sidelines. Helping Hunters focus solely on hunting monsters—that was the role of the Hunter's Association. Staying true to the conviction that former Association Chairman Go Geon-Hee had emphasized, Woo Jin-Cheol waited in silence for Jin-Woo's decision. But contrary to Woo Jin-Cheol's anxious expectations, Jin-Woo had already made up his mind from the start.
'Taking on all eight legions head-on is impossible.'
Then he had to eliminate the threat to Korea—where his family was—first. The other Monarchs would come after. The more battles were fought, the better their odds would become.
'First…'
Jin-Woo lifted his head and spoke to Woo Jin-Cheol.
"I'm going to China."