'Done.'
Jin-Woo hung up the phone. At first, Manager Ahn Sang-Min had been flustered, but after hearing the situation, he readily agreed. Thanks to that, he was able to watch the Baekho Guild recruits' raid.
'Car borrowed, too.'
Yoo Jin-Ho had made time to come out despite being busy. He'd bowed politely, saying he'd only stepped out briefly, and seeing him rush off made Jin-Woo think he was quite admirable. And so, preparations were complete. Right now, Jin-Woo was standing in front of the apartment complex where that problem student lived.
'It's close to my place?'
Two minutes on foot. Close enough to trip over. He looked around. A narrow neighborhood of old apartments packed tightly together. Which meant the kid's family wasn't exactly well-off. He could understand the excitement of becoming a Hunter. Jin-Woo had been the same way once.
'But those are the ones who die first.'
He himself had been injured countless times. There had been more than a few moments where he'd nearly died. He would never have done it if his mother hadn't been suffering from that rare disease. Dungeons were far too cruel a place for an E-rank Hunter. If left alone, this kid would definitely end up regretting becoming a Hunter. Or maybe they wouldn't even live long enough to regret it.
'Of course, that's not exactly uncommon.'
Hunter deaths and injuries happened dozens of times a day. He couldn't stop all of them, nor did he have any reason to. They'd each chosen their own path.
'But.'
If they were complete strangers, maybe he could look the other way. But the moment he heard that troublemaker's name, he couldn't just let it go. It was a name Jin-Woo recognized. He sensed a presence, looked up, and sure enough, that troublemaker was walking toward him. Hair tied up in a round bun, slightly sharp eyes. Definitely someone he knew.
"Huh?"
The high school girl spotted Jin-Woo and tilted her head.
"Why are you here, mister?"
Just like Jin-Woo, the girl recognized him instantly.
'What a small world.'
Jin-Woo scratched the side of his head with his index finger. The high school girl who wanted to become a Hunter. The only female member and the only minor on Yoo Jin-Ho's strike team, the one they'd worried about letting into the team because of her age.
-Is it okay to bring her along? -I consulted on it, and legally there's no issue. It's just that if something happens, the fallout is enormous, so most people don't use minors.
'Han Song-i.'
When he'd first heard the name from Jin-A's homeroom teacher, he'd felt a flood of emotions. Just in case, he'd checked. The timing of Han Song-i skipping school matched up with when Yoo Jin-Ho's strike team started raiding. At this point, dismissing it as someone else's problem felt a bit ambiguous. It was a kind of responsibility. He wondered if he'd helped feed the girl's unrealistic ambitions by handing a naive student a large sum of money for nothing.
'At least one thing was certain.'
That someday, when he heard the news that Han Song-i had died in a Dungeon, he'd feel uneasy regardless of the reason. There was no reason to have a troubled conscience over something he hadn't done wrong, was there? So he'd decided to set aside just one day—today. It wasn't like it was a difficult thing to do.
"What's going on?"
Han Song-i looked up at Jin-Woo with wide eyes. Then she made a dumbfounded face.
"Don't tell me—you're the Hunter my teacher wanted to introduce me to?"
While the constant use of "mister" was a bit annoying, Jin-Woo smiled and nodded. Then—
"I don't know what the teacher told you, but I'm not interested in school anymore. And I have no intention of quitting being a Hunter."
Han Song-i said flatly. She'd been a quiet kid in the strike team, but her attitude changed the moment she was the topic. You could say she had a strong sense of self, like kids these days?
'Though we happen to have one of those strong-willed kids at home too.'
Jin-Woo grinned. Having tried her best to come on strong, Han Song-i looked flustered by Jin-Woo's completely unexpected reaction. Jin-Woo said calmly.
"I'm not here to tell you to quit, either."
Han Song-i's eyes widened.
"What?"
Tell kids like this not to do something, and they'll only want to do it more. He'd never planned on talking her out of anything in the first place. He just needed to show her reality once. That was all.
'Because he'd been the same way.'
He'd realized it during his first raid. That reality was far more cruel and unforgiving than anyone imagined. Han Song-i tried her best not to look shaken as she asked.
"Th-then why did you come here?"
Jin-Woo took a step closer. Han Song-i nearly jumped back but forced herself to hold still, not wanting to look scared. Jin-Woo stood before Han Song-i. He hadn't planned it, and no one was watching, but Jin-Woo found himself smiling a sly grin.
"To make you a great Hunter."
***
He didn't even have to convince her to go to a Dungeon. The moment he asked if she wanted to watch the 'Baekho Guild' recruits' training up close, she said yes and tagged along. She seemed to believe every word Jin-Woo said without question. It had helped a lot that when she asked how he knew her teacher, he'd shown her a photo of himself and Jin-A together.
"You're Jin-A's brother?"
"..."
One word had been bugging him for a while now, but since things were going according to plan, he let it slide.
"Hop in."
"Thank you!"
Jin-Woo drove Han Song-i to the location of the Baekho Guild's evening training. They'd said training started at nine, so there was plenty of time. Vroom. A black van far too large for just two people glided along the road. Was it because his Agility and Perception had gone up? He'd only gotten his license and never actually driven, but driving wasn't difficult. With even a little concentration, other cars felt as slow as slugs.
'Ability stats sure are convenient in many ways.'
Han Song-i asked from the passenger seat.
"Does Jin-A really just study all day even at home? There's a rumor that she tears pages out of a dictionary and sticks them on the walls instead of wallpaper, memorizing vocabulary even while sleeping."
There were rumors like that about Jin-A? At home she was just a sleep-loving chicken fiend.
"Jin-A's just like you guys. When she comes home, she plays, eats, and sleeps."
Mostly sleeps, though.
"Nah... no way. And she still gets those grades?"
"I know, right? When she was in middle school, she was the type who'd go to arcades with me."
Before long, chatting about this and that, they arrived near the Gate. Jin-Woo parked the car. Screech. It was a neighborhood designated as a Gate-concentrated spawning zone. Almost nobody lived there, so parking was easy. He'd heard eighty percent of the houses were abandoned. There were rumors that once the last residents left, the entire zone would be sealed off. Thud, thud. Jin-Woo and Han Song-i stepped out of the car. Looking around, a gloomy atmosphere hung over everything. Woo woo woo—he could've sworn he heard cheering coming from the shadows at his feet. Just his imagination, surely. Even Han Song-i, who seemed a bit frightened by the desolate atmosphere, perked right up when she saw the Hunters gathered in the distance. Her eyes sparkled like she was looking at celebrities.
'Well, they were Hunters from the mega-guild Baekho, after all.'
Were Hunters just like celebrities to students who admired them? When you thought about how Hunters were portrayed on TV, it wasn't so strange.
"Oh, you actually came."
Hyun Ki-Cheol ran over.
"You remember me, right?"
Jin-Woo gave a light nod. Jin-Woo could feel that Hyun Ki-Cheol's smile wasn't put on for show but genuine happiness, and couldn't help but smile himself. They hadn't met many times, but he seemed like a really nice guy.
"I heard from the section chief. Ah, this student is the one?"
"Hello."
Han Song-i bowed her head. As they were exchanging casual greetings, a muscular brute came over and snapped at them irritably.
"Enough chitchat, let's get started. This isn't a field trip, and it's almost nine."
He didn't wait for a reply and turned back toward the Gate. An unusual presence. Jin-Woo asked Hyun Ki-Cheol.
"Who is that?"
"Ah, he's a new A-rank rookie who just joined. He seemed a bit upset when I asked for understanding—he's asking if we're just going on a field trip to the Dungeon."
"A-rank?"
Hyun Ki-Cheol nodded. For a high-and-mighty A-ranker, that reaction was understandable. Jin-Woo asked again.
"What's the composition of this strike team?"
"One A-rank, seven B-ranks, and four C-ranks. Twelve in total."
"An A-rank and B-ranks for a C-rank Gate...?"
"They may be high-ranked, but they're still rookies. The point is to give them Dungeon experience first."
Hyun Ki-Cheol said proudly. He added that after just one day of training today, they'd be immediately deployed as ready combat power to higher-level Dungeons.
'Still, one A-rank and seven B-ranks.'
Jin-Woo's eyes changed. In fact, this was exactly why Manager Ahn Sang-Min had said yes. They wanted to show off the Baekho Guild's impressive recruits and try to win Jin-Woo over to their side. But contrary to Ahn Sang-Min's and Hyun Ki-Cheol's expectations, Jin-Woo gazed at the Gate with a disappointed look. The Gate was rated C-rank. Compared to that, the team composition was more than dazzling—it was blinding.
'If the raid was too easy, the effect would be lost.'
That was his concern. But he quickly shook his head.
'No, she'd still feel it when she saw it in person.'
Just how powerless an E-rank Hunter became inside a Dungeon. That should be enough.
"When do we go in?"
Completely unaware of Jin-Woo's real intentions, Han Song-i whined about going in already. He looked over to see her face flushed with excitement.
'Let's see how long that excitement lasts.'
Jin-Woo swallowed a laugh inside and spoke to Hyun Ki-Cheol.
"We'll be heading in as well."
"Ah, sure."
Hyun Ki-Cheol looked around and whispered to Jin-Woo. Whisper whisper.
"Look, if Hunter Sung Jin-Woo steps in, the raid will be too easy, so just watch today, please."
Since observing was the whole point, this went without saying.
"Understood."
Starting tomorrow, he'd be running C-rank instanced Dungeons with Yoo Jin-Ho anyway, so there was no reason to interfere with the Baekho Guild's training. He'd planned to use his shadow soldiers to clear Dungeons while with Yoo Jin-Ho, which was why he'd brought Han Song-i here instead.
'He didn't particularly want to reveal his shadow soldiers for something like this.'
If he showed her how easily the shadows could tear through monsters, it might only make Han Song-i's fantasies worse. Jin-Woo and Han Song-i. The two of them headed toward the Gate. Unlike the A-rank Hunter from earlier, some people were surprisingly welcoming.
"Hello."
"Nice to meet you."
Since this wasn't a profit-driven raid anyway, the more people, the better. They introduced themselves to each other as was customary. When it was the A-rank Hunter's turn—
"Skip me."
He'd already gone through the Gate.
"Let's go in too."
The Baekho Guild recruits entered the Gate one by one. Right before going in, Han Song-i turned back to Jin-Woo.
"What about you, mister?"
Jin-Woo crossed his arms and answered.
"I'll watch you go in first."
Han Song-i nodded with a tense face and jumped inside.
'Hm.'
Jin-Woo let out a short sigh and stood before the Gate. He felt eyes on him and looked back—Hyun Ki-Cheol was waving, sending encouragement.
'...'
He turned his gaze back to the Gate. But then.
'...?'
The rippling on the Gate's surface hadn't stopped.
'After people enter, it should freeze back into a black curtain-like surface.'
Right now, it was undulating like waves. Something was wrong. Jin-Woo poked the surface with his fingertip. Squeeak. The surface clung to his fingertip like a sticky liquid and pulled upward.
'Could it be...?'
Jin-Woo turned his head. His eyes met Hyun Ki-Cheol's. Hyun Ki-Cheol had only just realized something was off. Jin-Woo shouted.
"Call the main strike team—now!"
Before those words had even finished, Jin-Woo was sucked into the Gate.
"Wh-what is that?"
"D-Deputy Hyun!"
Hyun Ki-Cheol rushed to the Gate. Three Baekho Guild staff members hurriedly followed. Hyun Ki-Cheol, standing before the Gate, was horrified.
"Th-this can't be!"
It wasn't just the Hunters who were new. The staff members were also new recruits brought in for training. Naturally, this kind of situation was unfamiliar to them. The staff members turned to Hyun Ki-Cheol with wide, rabbit-like eyes.
"S-Sir! The Gate's surface is turning red!"
As if drops of blood had been spilled, red was spreading across the Gate's surface. Hyun Ki-Cheol ignored the staff and urgently made a phone call somewhere. Click.
"Yeah, Ki-Cheol."
"Section Chief! It's a Red Gate! The Gate the kids just entered—it's turned into a Red Gate!"
"What?"
Ahn Sang-Min's voice turned rough.
"What are you talking about? How does a Red Gate show up in a C-rank?!"
Hyun Ki-Cheol looked up at the Gate, now completely transformed to red. The undulation on the surface had already stopped. Hyun Ki-Cheol swallowed dryly.
"I don't know either... but it's definitely a Red Gate."
"What!?"