I Alone Level Up

by S.H.A aifu

10 years ago, after “the Gate” that connected the real world with the monster world opened, some of the ordinary, everyday people received the power to hunt monsters within the Gate. They are known as “Hunters”. However, not all Hunters are powerful. My name is Sung Jin-Woo, an E-rank Hunter. I’m someone who has to risk his life in the lowliest of dungeons, the “World’s Weakest”. H

9. 177

Read I Alone Level-Up - Chapter 177 online free - Novel Full

[Level: 122]

'Heok!'

Jin-Woo confirmed his new level and swallowed back a huge gasp of shock.

His level reached 100 after hunting down all the ants on Jeju Island. However, his level stayed pretty much the same for a little while after that, probably because of the wide gap between him and the monsters he ran into.

After asking for other major Guilds' understandings, he got to sweep clean every single high-ranking dungeon in the vicinity for a week and only then did his level rise up to 103.

But now, his level had jumped past 120?

This was all thanks to the Giant-type monsters, each possessing a boss-level worth of experience points, as well as the King of Giants who gifted him with an enormous amount of experience points. Which was as much as eight levels' worth, no less.

'Very nice.'

Jin-Woo nodded his head. He had made the right call by killing the King. It was definitely not a coincidence that his level shot up by eight in one go.

This being was able to emit enough pressure to make breathing difficult for him even though its powers had been sealed away by these special chains. If this thing got freed and was allowed to roam freely in the outside world, then….

Jin-Woo shook his head left to right.

He should thank the lucky stars that he got to discover its true nature before that happened.

It was then – the King's corpse suddenly began splitting up like the ground suffering from drought, and soon, changed into sand-like dust and collapsed to the floor.

The words the King told him abruptly brushed past Jin-Woo's mind just then.

["Once such a spiritual body dies, it's destroyed and can't be turned into one of your Shadow Soldiers. Meaning, I can never become your soldier."]

The death of a 'spiritual body'.

For the first time in his life, he got to witness the death of a so-called spiritual body.

What the King said was right. Its corpse transformed into sand and no black smokes came up from it, nor did he see a message regarding Shadow Extraction pop up.

Jin-Woo dug out the black Magic Crystal from the pile of sand and lightly dusted its surface.

'It's a bit of a loss that I couldn't get me a new Shadow Soldier, but… I guess I should satisfy myself with this thing, then.'

Jin-Woo studied this large Magic Crystal.

Its mirror-like clear surface reflected his face. As he peered deeply into it, he felt the ends of his fingertips tingle from all the power contained within this thing.

'So, it's those Rulers that keep sending these things over here….'

Why did it happen? Back when he first heard the term 'Rulers', a scene automatically began replaying itself in his mind. And it was about four 'angels' descending from the heavens.

Even though it hadn't really happened to him, Jin-Woo felt a chill run down his backside simply from 'discovering' them in the playback.

Tumble.

He felt as if his heart fell to the pit of his stomach.

'Could those things be the Rulers?'

If those things were planning to invade Earth, then he definitely lacked enough power to stop them as he was right now. He gripped the Magic Crystal even tighter.

'I need to get much stronger.'

In that sense, it was an incredibly fortunate thing that he was bestowed with the powers of the Shadow Sovereign. He had gained an unimaginable power, and there was a very good possibility that he'd grow even stronger in the future.

What would have happened if he lacked enough points back during the Class quest and was not chosen by the System? Jin-Woo quietly engaged the yet-to-be closed Status Window with a bit of banter.

"Oii… Will you say something back already?"

Too bad, the System still didn't bother to reply back to him.

Jin-Woo told himself that one day, if he was left with no choice but to compile a bucket list then he'd definitely put 'have a serious chat with the System' somewhere in there. He stood up from the ground to leave.

But as he turned around, his foot touched something lying on the floor.

Tap.

'Mm?'

He took a look below and discovered that it was the black chain that used to be wrapped around the King of Giants. Immediately, curiosity filled Jin-Woo's eyes. And very soon, that curiosity morphed into full-on interest.

'Maybe these things…. might come in handy?'

He sneakily reached out and grasped onto one of the chains still attached to the dungeon wall.

And, sure enough, he could sense his strength being sucked away.

'Ohhh.'

Indeed, this chain was absorbing his magic energy.

Only one wouldn't be a problem, but if these chains were tightly wrapped around you in several layers, even the holder of an incredible power wouldn't be able to extricate themselves out any time soon.

Jin-Woo confirmed the MP reserve being steadily eaten away and grinned brightly.

'Isn't this an unexpected harvest?'

Feeling rather pleased, he summoned out a 'Demon King's Shortsword' and cut one of the chains off. However, he couldn't sense any magical effects taking place from the now-severed chain.

"Huh?"

It wasn't just this one, either. It was all of them.

'What's going on?'

Jin-Woo shifted his gaze over to the dungeon wall.

He grasped a chain still connected to the wall, and felt the same sealing effect as before. However, all the severed chains didn't display that magical effect at all.

He could venture a guess on what was going on here.

'….So, that's how it was.'

These chains were not some sort of artefacts. No, the sealing effect was simply the power of this dungeon. In other words, these chains were no better than some scrap metal when outside the dungeon.

'I can't use them.'

Jin-Woo lowered the chains that had become regular items to the floor.

Although he couldn't say for sure that he didn't feel a bit rueful here, he found some solace in the fact that he still had gained a lot on this trip already.

Through this expedition, the shadows of the Giants had been added to his Shadow Army, and his level had shot up to 122 after killing the oversized monsters and their King.

All these alone were results that already far exceeded his expectations.

Jin-Woo decisively gave up on the chains and turned around with a grin.

Beru courteously lowered his head at his Sovereign. He then raised his head back up and pointed to the exit with his finger. The Shadow Soldiers standing in front of Jin-Woo stepped aside at once and created a large pathway.

Jin-Woo saw that Beru's shoulder was all clean from unidentifiable substances and lightly patted him there, before walking over to the exit himself.

Beru felt moved by that gesture of his Sovereign and quietly followed after Jin-Woo as well. And right behind them, the near-thousand Shadow Soldiers who had contributed a great deal in the battle against the Giants, maintained the perfect formation and advanced out of the boss chamber.

Chut, chut, chut, chut.

The interior of the dungeon was soon filled up with the heavy footsteps of the marching Shadow Soldiers.

In the distance, the mouth of the dungeon could be seen.

Jin-Woo formed a smile as he looked at the sunlight permeating into the entrance. It was the moment that this seemingly endless raid had come to its conclusion.

The situation room of the Japanese Hunter's Association.

The inside of this situation room was draped in a deathly silence; not even a squeaking noise could be heard. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the staff members had forgotten to even breath right now.

All of their attention had been focused on the giant monitor located in front of the room.

Gulp.

Gulp…

Only the subtle noises of dry saliva being swallowed would sometimes murmur out from here and there.

The footage as displayed by the giant screen currently showed the image of Shinjuku, shot from the spy satellite's magic energy detection camera looking down on Earth from space.

This camera displayed the magic energy detected in terms of light spheres. The stronger the magic energy, the brighter the light would be. Weaker magical energy would naturally lead to a smaller light sphere.

There was not one person among everyone present in this situation room who didn't know what that gigantic light sphere making itself at home in the middle of Tokyo represented.

Almost a thousand smaller light spheres gathered and stood right before that large ball of light. Every Association staff member watching that enormous number turned pale from sheer fright.

"T-those, all of those are Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's summons?!"

"Oh, my god…."

"Even with a casual headcount, isn't that over five hundred?"

The Association President Matsumoto quietly leaned his head closer to the agent from the analysis department sitting next to him.

"How many of his summons are there exactly?"

"Because several lights are overlapping with one another, it's difficult to tell exactly, but at the least, I believe there are well more than eight hundred creatures, sir."

Eight hundred creatures, he said.

Since a member of the analysis department even bothered to mention 'well more than' in his sentence, the offered number should be seen as the absolute minimum value.

Even when looked that way, this was already twice the number of summons first seen back in Jeju Island.

Matsumoto was inwardly astonished.

'It hasn't even been that long ago, but just when did he double the number of his summons?!'

No, it was already not normal to increase the number of one's summons, to begin with.

His trembling hand wiped the area around his mouth.

If this man was considered an enemy, then without a doubt, Matsumoto wouldn't have been able to see a way out, but knowing that Seong Jin-Woo was an ally, his mind had never felt this comfortable before.

What a relief it was that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo had graced his mercy on Japan like this. The Association President Matsumoto barely recovered from the mental shock and shifted his gaze back to the large screen.

The smaller spots of lights advanced towards the single large light sphere. It was the beginning of the battle between Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's summons and the Giant guarding the Gate.

Their palms soaked in sweat, everyone present witnessed the spectacle of spots of lights endlessly tangle and writhe around against each other.

And eventually, the flickering large pillar of light…. vanished.

"Waaaaaahhh!!!"

As if waiting for that very moment, cheers loud enough to rock the entire situation room erupted out.

The employees embraced each other tearfully and rejoiced in their happiness. Finally, they were greeted by the momentous occasion of the Japanese mainland being freed from the menace of the Giant-type monsters.

All these had been the handiwork of a single Korean Hunter.

The Association President Matsumoto kept his mouth resolutely shut and watched the screen before nodding his head to himself.

He blamed the heavens for not gifting such a Hunter to Japan but to Korea back when Jin-Woo ended up foiling his scheme. But now, he was thankful that such a Hunter indeed was gifted to South Korea, instead.

'If he wasn't around, then by now, Japan would have been….'

The Association President Matsumoto shuddered from the horrifying imagery taking root in his head and picked up the phone in order to carry out the final duty he needed to perform.

The call got through quite quickly.

– "How did things go?"

The tense voice of the Japanese Prime Minister came out from the phone's speaker.

The Association President Matsumoto informed him of the results with a voice slightly choked up with emotions.

"Japan's…. Japan's crisis is over, sir."

Excited, loud yells could be heard from the phone's speaker next.

However, the Prime Minister spoke in a dignified voice, doing his very best to mask his sheer joy felt in his heart.

– "You worked hard, Association President Matsumoto. However, this does not mean the weight of the punishment reserved for you will be lessened, understood?"

"Of course, sir."

He had already made up his mind.

It was obvious that the general who failed to kill the enemy's leader would offer his neck up as compensation. And, what if that enemy's leader ended up saving your own country, too?

Faced with the perfect, utter defeat, Matsumoto Shigeo couldn't bring himself to mouth any excuses whatsoever.

He simply spoke in a soft voice.

"I shall gladly accept any punishment, sir. That is… the final duty I must carry out."

The news of the Giants all being hunted down quickly spread to the rest of the world. From the closest neighbour of Japan, South Korea, all the way to Brazil in South America, on the other side of the globe.

The entire world heard of Jin-Woo's feats.

– A single Hunter rescues an entire nation!

Various social media networking sites were in upheaval with suggestions of a brand new 'Special Authority-rank' Hunter making his appearance. The difference this time, compared to the Jeju Island raid, was that such suggestions were being made not only by the Koreans.

The state of Maryland, in the eastern half of the United States of America.

The American Hunters who had safely concluded the raid of the rank S Gate were supposed to be heading to the celebratory party organised by the U.S. government.

However, all these Hunters didn't enter the party venue and simply stood by the hotel's lounge watching the TV located there as it continued to transmit the news coming out of Japan. Their collective jaws were falling to the floor.

"What the hell??"

"No freaking way…. This doesn't make any sense, logically."

They just couldn't believe it.

The most famous Support-type rank S Hunter in the world, Yuri Orlov, couldn't do anything before he got killed in the blink of an eye.

The agile movements of the super-massive Giant captured by the TV cameras – calling that thing a monster was simply not enough when considering such a huge body was able to exhibit such speed.

But then, a single rank S Hunter managed to hunt down such a nonsensical creature by himself?!

[….Hunter Jin-Woo Seong, accompanied by another Hunter ranked D, Jin-Ho Yu, arrived in Japan and…..]

No, it'd actually be better if he had done it alone.

But then, to say he killed all the Giant-type monsters with a measly rank D in tow as well? It was simply too unbelievable.

Unfortunately, they had no choice but to believe, because the cameras continued to capture the scenes of Japanese citizens continuously shedding tears to express their unbridled joy.

And finally, the footage changed to display the corpse of the super-massive Giant, currently lying sprawled powerlessly on the ground.

"Keok!!"

The three rank S Hunters who made bets earlier spat out shocked gasps almost simultaneously, making it hard to tell who did it first. Only now could they truly believe that the monster had been killed for real.

It was then.

"Ah, everyone. So this was where you were."

The three men's heads snapped immediately in the direction of where that voice was coming from. And their eyes all widened as well.

"T-Thomas…."

Thomas Andre stood before them and with a grin, presented them with a single slip of paper.

"W-what is this?"

"The promissory note stating that all of you will uphold the result of the bet."

"Ehhh?!"

Thomas Andre didn't really give a d*mn about the stunned reactions of the three Hunters and began jotting down the items each of them had put forward in the bet.

"You said your yacht. You, your mansion. And you….."

Thomas Andre stared straight at the third Hunter and began scratching the side of his head with the end of his pen.

"What did you bet again?"

The singled-out Hunter gulped down his saliva and hurriedly raised his voice.

"I didn't bet anything, actually."

"Hey, your tie looks pretty cool, no?"

"I didn't…."

"Your tie."

"No, wait, I…."

Thomas Andre lowered his sunglasses just a little and quietly stared at him, causing the Hunter to shut his mouth.

….Because, this guy had witnessed the power of 'Goliath' capable of ripping rank S monsters apart with nothing but his bare hands. This Hunter had not one bit of desire to go up against Thomas Andre who waltzed around the rank S dungeon as if it was a low-rank dungeon commonly found everywhere.

"Your tie."

The Hunter undid his tie with a tearful face.

A short while later, Thomas Andre walked into the restaurant of the hotel while whistling to himself before discovering a familiar face there and stopped his leisurely stroll.

It was the manager in charge of managing the top Hunters of the Scavenger Guild, Laura. When she approached him, Thomas Andre showed off his new tie to her and asked.

"So, what do you think about my new tie?"

"It looks expensive, but it does not suit your Hawaiian shirt, sir."

"You think so?"

Thomas Andre undid the tie around his neck and chucked it inside a trash can nearby while replying nonchalantly to her.

"Yup, I thought as much."

Laura had seen how Thomas Andre operated from a close vantage point for a very long time now. So, she didn't display much of a reaction and simply stated the reason why she was here.

"We have a problem."

"A problem?"

Thomas Andre raised his head away from the trash can.

His experience told him that this problem couldn't have been a minor one since Laura didn't use the phone, but rather showed up here personally to inform him like this.

"What kind of a problem are we talking about here?"

Laura spoke with a worried voice.

"The list of Guilds invited by the Hunter Bureau for this year's International Guild Conference has been published. However, it includes South Korea's Ah-Jin Guild."

"Ah-Jin… Guild??"

Suddenly, he was overcome with an ominous feeling. Thomas Andre's voice sounded heavier as a result.

Laura nodded her head.

"It's as you suspect. It's Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's Guild."

As he thought. Why did all the ill omens he sensed never miss their marks?

Thomas Andre frowned deeply and spoke.

"So, I guess he's coming to America, then."

Chapter 177 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

A certain village located in Ishikawa Prefecture.

The entrance of the village had been bustling with so many people since early morning that there wasn't enough space to walk through.

"What's going on? What is everyone out here for?"

One of the villagers, who hadn't heard of the news yet, looked around and asked his neighbours.

They should be quite busy with rebuilding their village right now, but for all these people to come out here like this? For this villager who had been working hard to remove the debris of a collapsed building, he couldn't help but be flustered by this new development.

"You see, the thing is…."

A kind auntie was about to explain the matter to this man and parted her lips. However, she spotted a vehicle revealing itself at the far end of the road that led to the village and pointed to it instead.

"Oh, my goodness!! There they are! They're coming!"

Noisy, noisy….

The villagers discovered the vehicle and began raising a fuss.

Seeing the light of excitement gleaming brightly within their eyes, the whole atmosphere of the place came across as if they were here to welcome a long-lost relative living in a faraway land or some such to the confused male villager.

'But then again, there's no way that this many people would share the same relative, so….'

The man used the towel around his neck to wipe the sweat away and looked on with a puzzled expression.

"I'm asking you, just who is coming here today?"

An uncle on the side couldn't endure it any longer and spoke in clear frustration.

"The Hunter-nim is coming today."

"Hunter-nim? Which Hunter-nim are you talking about?"

"Which Hunter-nim do you think I'm talking about here?"

When the vehicle got closer, the villagers raised their hands and welcomed it with all of their hearts. Their expressions all contained genuine happiness and gratitude.

'Could it be….?'

Only then did this villager realise just who was coming to pay a visit to this village. His head reflexively swivelled behind him.

And that was where he saw the wretched state of his village, currently half destroyed at the hands of the Giant monsters. He could also see resting tools and unmoving construction equipment brought on to rebuild the village here and there as well.

If no one stepped up to stop those Giant monsters, would any traces of his dear hometown have even survived like this? His home, filled with countless memories of his life, could have been wiped out without a trace.

'The schools I went to, the roads I walked on, and even the place I work for.'

When he thought like that, a certain emotion surged up from the deepest part of his heart. The end of his nose stung, too.

'That person is really coming here?'

Swish-!

His head swivelled back to the road.

The villagers gathering like this to welcome the Hunter was not something the higher-ups had organised, nor were they putting up a facade for the sake of others to see.

No, they were here because their hearts told them to do so. It was the thoughts of gratitude that made their legs move.

Before long, the male villager had taken the towel off his neck and swung it around in the air as he yelled out a loud cheer at the approaching vehicle.

"Waaaaah-!!"

Even though the top-end black van driving on the empty road was definitely brand-new, it looked as if it had gone through hellish terrain from the way it was covered in a thick layer of dust and mud. It now looked like it had been in use for at least ten years or so.

The words 'Japanese Hunter's Association' written on the number plate instead of the actual numbers were covered in so much mud that they became almost impossible to read.

The van's rough condition seemed to tell the story of the bitter, bloody battles it had witnessed in the last few days, and that in turn warmed and softened the hearts of the villagers. Those overflowing with rich emotions even began shedding tears, as well.

A short while later, the van driven with expert skill came to a stop in front of the crowd.

Screech.

"Waaaah!!"

"Hunter-nim!"

As he received the adulations of the crowd, the sunglasses-wearing Yu Jin-Ho exited from the driver's side of the van.

Tap.

Yu Jin-Ho made sure to wave his hands at each of the villagers rushing in to greet him. It was around then.

"Hunter-nim!"

An employee of the Japanese Hunter's Association waiting for Jin-Woo's group to arrive somehow managed to push through the throngs of people and stood before Yu Jin-Ho.

Pant, pant.

He bent over and panted heavily to catch his breath before standing upright to ask a question.

"Are you Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim?"

The Association employee was speaking in Japanese, but thankfully, Yu Jin-Ho could recognise a few of the words spoken just now.

"No."

He leisurely shook his head, before raising his finger and pointed at the sky.

"De-eol." (TL note at the end)

When he did…

Kiiaaahak!

….The Sky Dragon Kaisel screeched out a cheerful roar as if responding to his calling.

"W-what on earth is that?!"

"What? What??"

Didn't the old saying go 'once bitten, twice shy'? The villagers who had been living in fear of the Giant-type monsters saw the large black lifeform flying in the air and their shoulders all flinched greatly.

Fortunately for them, Kaisel simply remained circling above their heads and did nothing else.

Kiiiaaahhk!

The villagers finally recognised that Kaisel didn't mean any harm. They continued to look up with mystified eyes, although their expressions still displayed how scared they were.

It was then – a dark humanoid shape jumped off from the back of Kaisel.

Boom!

The villagers watched Jin-Woo land lightly on the ground by using his 'Ruler's Authority' skill and their collective eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.

Especially for the Association employee closest to Jin-Woo – he stood motionless while tightly holding the ends of his glasses, utterly unable to mutter a single thing out right now. So, Yu Jin-Ho spoke to Jin-Woo on his behalf, instead.

"Hyung-nim, this gentleman here was looking for you just now."

"Oh, really?"

Jin-Woo turned around and stood before the Association employee.

The latter belatedly regained his wits after seeing Jin-Woo approach him and quickly shook his head left and right. The higher-ups told him in no uncertain terms that he must never make a 'mistake' with this Hunter-nim.

The employee managed to shake off all distracting thoughts and formed a sombre expression before bowing his head.

"It's an honour, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim. My name is Tanaka Hiroshi from the Japanese Hunter's Association, Kanazawa branch."

He raised his head and explained the purpose of him coming to greet the Korean duo like this.

"I am tasked with guiding you, Hunter-nim, during your visit here today. I'll be in your care."

Of course, every single word he spoke was in Japanese. Jin-Woo glanced at Yu Jin-Ho. The latter stared right back at the former without a word.

Jin-Woo saw the bright, happy-go-lucky smile on Yu Jin-Ho's face and spat out a long groan. He just realised that the kid had not one thought of wanting to understand a lick of Japanese.

Left with little choice, Jin-Woo summoned a Shadow Soldier who could act as a trusty Japanese interpreter.

'Oh, my king….'

Beru emerged out from the shadow and politely bowed his head. He finished greeting his Sovereign and turned around to face the Association employee.

'I shall take care of this man.'

'No, hang on. When you say that, it almost sounds like you meant something else and that kinda worries me….'

Jin-Woo must not be the only one thinking along that line, because not only the Association employee, even the gathered villagers saw Beru's imposing figure and their expressions were frozen solid right away.

"Human."

Beru walked over to the Association employee and addressed him while opening up his chest wide.

"What is it that you wish to convey to my liege?"

Gasps of astonishment simultaneously leaked out from the villagers watching on. Even Yu Jin-Ho was taken greatly by surprise as he also had never seen a Shadow Soldier talk before.

"Hyung-nim?? That guy could speak all along?!"

"Yeah."

Jin-Woo nodded his head.

The Japanese he spoke was so fluent that it wouldn't be a problem to think of Beru as a native speaker. As long as one discounted the monster-like, loud, ringing voice coming from him, that was.

'But, then again….'

Jin-Woo's head was suddenly filled with a thought that, as far as the number of people Beru had eaten was concerned, he had digested more Japanese than Koreans, so perhaps this should be seen as an inevitable result. For some reason, though, he felt a dull pulsing ache develop in his head and began slowly massaging his forehead.

Meanwhile, Beru exchanged a few words with the Association employee and turned around to address Jin-Woo next.

"Oh, my king. This human has been tasked with guiding you through this village. He swears to sincerely serve you to the best of his abilities, my liege."

"Okay, fine. By the way, just what did you tell him that the poor guy's face ended up completely white like that?"

"I warned him that, if he dares to resort to any underhanded schemes, I shall devour him in his entirety, from the tip of his toes all the way up to the ends of his hairs, oh, my king."

"…..Oh. I see."

What did it matter, anyway? As long as the intent had been communicated, it was fine.

The Association employee fearfully observed Beru now standing behind Jin-Woo and cautiously raised his voice.

"This way, please."

Jin-Woo found it rather unfortunate that the employee's complexion had paled to such a pitiable degree, and nodded his head.

"Alright."

Jin-Woo's group was led to an abandoned storage facility located somewhere within the village with the guidance of the employee.

There was no need for an entrance, as one of the walls in the storage facility had been blown cleanly away. The corpse of a Giant-type monster lying on its back could be seen within the ruined structure.

"It's over here."

The employee pointed to the corpse and stepped aside.

Jin-Woo walked closer and confirmed the status of the monster's remains.

The corpse was filled with clear signs of the bitter, harsh battle it went through with… And there were a countless number of bite marks which resulted in various wounds indicative of the monster having been eaten.

'Your boys…. Did they chow down on this thing?'

Jin-Woo looked back at Beru as his glare became a level sharper. The former ant king had bent his waist well before Jin-Woo even started looking back at him, his gaze firmly fixed to the ground.

Why was this? Why did Yu Jin-Ho picture a section chief stuck in his job seemingly forever kowtowing and currying favours with his department head when looking at the relationship between his hyung-nim and the ant creature?

Jin-Woo shifted his gaze back to the monster's corpse.

In all honesty, as long as some parts of the corpse remained intact, there was no problem with extracting the shadow.

'It's just that I feel a bit weird, that's all.'

Now that all living Giants within Japan had been eliminated, Jin-Woo was going around to find those remains of the monsters killed off by his soldiers so he could perform 'Shadow Extraction' on them.

As he immersed himself in this new task, he could easily tell which division had engaged which creature simply from the conditions of the monster corpses.

Pretty much all the monsters unlucky enough to run into the ant army couldn't avoid ending up in this pathetic sight.

"Fuu…"

Jin-Woo stared at the monster that probably had died while getting devoured by hundreds of ants and let a sigh leak out of his mouth. He then rolled his sleeves up.

He pointed towards the corpse. A dignified voice soon left Jin-Woo's lips.

"Rise up."

And then, this happened.

Didn't matter who it was, the tightly-packed gathering of villagers following after Jin-Woo gasped out in astonishment almost all at the same time.

Whoa-!!

Along with the distinctive scream, a Giant soldier, his body having recovered to full, emerged out from the shadow and knelt down on one knee before Jin-Woo.

Boom!

It was yet another success. As easy as they come. With this, he had gotten himself the 27th Giant soldier.

'I guess there are two left now, right?'

Jin-Woo looked up at the imposing-looking giant soldier and grinned brightly.

At the same time in South Korea.

Goh Gun-Hui was currently sifting through various TV channels with a remote inside his office, located in the Korean Hunter's Association.

No matter which broadcast he changed to, they were pretty much all dominated by the news of Jin-Woo's feat in Japan. However, this phenomenon wasn't happening only in Korea. It was the same story even with the international news channels, as well.

There was no doubt now that, through this incident, Hunter Seong had branded his name in the psyche of the entire world.

"Huhuh."

A bright smile remained etched on the face of the Association President Goh Gun-Hui as if he was the one experiencing this event.

What if he managed to dissuade Hunter Seong Jin-Woo that day when the young man declared his intentions of going to Japan….? Just thinking about that possibility made him shudder uncomfortably.

He almost ended up making the biggest mistake so late in his life.

The status of the Korean Hunter community had seen such a meteoric rise in fame through this incident that he simply had to thank Hunter Seong for willingly stepping forward like that.

All because of the actions of a single person, some are even openly saying that South Korea had become the new global Hunter superpower now.

That is why the Association President felt proud and happy at the feats Jin-Woo had achieved so far. However, there was one thing he felt quite worried about, and that would be….

"Association President, sir."

With good timing, Section Chief Woo Jin-Cheol knocked on the door and stepped into the president's office. He was a man who, by achieving back-to-back results early in his career, got to wear the title of the youngest-ever Section Chief.

He performed a light nod of his head as a greeting and made a report on the current situation.

"The monster has changed its course towards China, sir."

"Is that so?"

Now that was an unexpected change in the situation.

As Jin-Woo busied himself with killing the Giants in Japan, one of them escaped out into the sea. The creature had been heading into the Pacific, but the news of it completely changing course towards China was a bit of fresh shock to the Association President.

Goh Gun-Hui quickly asked.

"How are the Chinese responding to this situation?"

"We heard that Liu Zhigeng will personally step up, sir."

Goh Gun-Hui leaned his back against the couch.

"In that case, there should be no problems, then."

The Giant-type monster should be ripped to shreds even before setting a foot on the Chinese mainland now that Liu Zhigeng, one of the five most powerful Hunters in the world, had decided to get involved.

It was a big relief that the d*mn monster wasn't headed to South Korea when Hunter Seong was still absent from the country. Woo Jin-Cheol saw the relief in the Association President's face and also formed a smile as well, perhaps his own tense mind relaxing a little now.

His eyes then caught the TV screen.

The scenes of destroyed Japan, painfully sobbing and screaming Japanese people, as well as the ongoing rescue efforts and reconstruction work getting off the ground, were displayed one after the other.

"How unfortunate."

Woo Jin-Cheol clicked his tongue.

"Indeed, it is unfortunate….. Utterly so."

Goh Gun-Hui agreed with that simple but succinct assessment.

South Korea also had suffered similar pain four years ago back on Jeju Island. The wounds inflicted on that day still ran too deep to say that he had forgotten how painful it was. The reconstruction of Jeju Island was ongoing even as they spoke in this office, after all.

Goh Gun-Hui raised his voice again.

"However, someone's pain can also become someone else's ray of hope."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Do you know the reason why Japan, completely ruined after losing the war, had recovered to become the second most financially prosperous nation on Earth?"

"Wasn't that because of the Korean War?"

"That's right. Through wartime special procurement. And something similar is about to happen to our nation."

With a wry expression, Association President Goh Gun-Hui placed his hand on top of the thick pile of documents currently resting on the table.

"These are all quotation documents sent in by the local corporations wishing to get involved in Japan's restoration projects."

The Korean companies were quick to make their move. Some of them even sent in these documents as soon as Hunter Seong had left for Japan. All the other corporations should have finished with their preparations by now, as well.

'Someone's pain can become someone else's hope, is it….'

No, to be more correct, it'd be someone's profit, instead.

Having accurately understood what the Association President was implying just now, Woo Jin-Cheol also began forming a wry expression to mirror his boss.

Before long though, he quickly spoke as if he recalled something else just now.

"Ah, by the way, sir."

"Yeah?"

"The Japanese Association President Matsumoto has apparently handed himself over to police."

"He did what?"

Why would such a shameless man suddenly have a change of heart?

Goh Gun-Hui was about to discuss the details of that news, but then heard the ringing of the phone and reached out to it.

Ringgg… Ringgg…

He picked up the receiver only to be greeted by a rather urgent voice.

– "Association President, sir. It's me."

The voice belonged to his personal doctor. He should have been beyond busy dealing with patients rushing in at this time of the day, though.

Goh Gun-Hui could only tilt his head.

"My friend, what made you call me at this time of the day?"

– "I thought that the matter at hand was too important, so I was compelled to…."

"Too… important?"

Goh Gun-Hui's voice also became quite serious.

Several likely scenarios fleeted in and out of his head just then. However, his private doctor ended up mentioning a completely unexpected name, instead.

– "By any chance, were you aware of the condition Chairman Yu Myung-Han was in?"

Chairman Yu Myung-Han was one of the biggest contributors to the Korean Hunter's Association. He was even a personal acquaintance of Goh Gun-Hui, as well.

What had happened to him, then?

The Association President pressed for an answer, and the private doctor continued on with his explanation.

– "Chairman Yu Myung-Han has been admitted to our hospital earlier today, sir."

Goh Gun-Hui shot up from his seat.

"He's not in any critical danger, is he?"

– "It is truly unfortunate, but… there is not much we can do for him at this stage."

A heavy silence descended in the office.

The private doctor's voice, keeping silent for a moment or two, quietly continued on.

– "Chairman Yu Myung-Han, he has entered the 'final sleep' state."

Chapter 178 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 179: Chapter 179

The explosive flooding of phone calls from various TV stations and newspapers desperate for an interview with Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was so severe that it almost completely paralysed the Japanese Hunter's Association.

Ringgg…. ringgg…

"Hello, this is the Japanese Hunter's Associa…."

– "Excuse me, hi, I'm the guy who called you just now. How about this? Instead of an interview, just a couple of quick QA sessions with the Hunter?"

"Mister Director, that is the very definition of an interview!"

– "No, no, no! Hang on! How about, we don't show the face of the Hunter-nim and just the subtitles…."

"We already stated that the Hunter-nim has refused all filming and interview requests. I'm very sorry."

Click.

Ringgg…. ringgg…

"Yes, this is the Japanese Hunter's….."

– "This is the head of XX TV's news programming department speaking. I'm calling you about…."

"No means no, sir."

Click.

Such types of calls flooded in hundreds of times throughout the day, so it was only obvious that no normal work could get done under the circumstances.

The person in charge of the department tasked with answering calls began developing a migraine just from hearing the ringtones of a phone now.

However….

'This just goes to show that the interest of the mass media is focused on Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim currently.'

….It wasn't as if he couldn't understand their interest, either. Who'd not be interested in the story of one man solving a crisis that had destroyed almost 40% of the Japanese mainland?

Even he himself wanted to know more about who this Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was, and was also curious to hear what he had to say, too.

Still, that was that, and this was something else.

He was burdened with the immense weight of the duty that the title of employee of the Japanese Hunter's Association carried.

And currently, his duty was to respect and uphold the desire of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo who didn't want to do any interviews whatsoever, by shutting out in advance all forms of requests flooding in from the mass media companies.

'I can't let the saviour of my nation feel displeased, now can I?'

The manager nodded his head with a determined expression on his face. In the meantime, a hesitant newbie employee approached him to ask something.

"Excuse me…. Manager?"

Even before the newbie could say something, the man in charge cut him off right away.

"Just tell them no."

He didn't have to hear anything, really. Most likely, this newbie couldn't endure against the threats thrown around by some higher-ups in a TV station or a newspaper from somewhere and just wanted to get the manager's confirmation next.

Unfortunately, he was a bit off the mark this time.

"No, sir. It's not that, but we just got a call from South Korea."

"From Korea?"

"Yes, sir. A person calling himself Goh Gun-Hui from the Korean Hunter's Association wishes to speak to a person in charge."

The manager had been listening to the newbie with some amount of disinterest, but now, an expression of fluster quickly filled up his face.

"You sure it's Goh Gun-Hui?"

"Yes, sir."

There couldn't have been two different people with the name 'Goh Gun-Hui' in South Korea's Hunter's Association.

The whole world knew about the cordial cooperative relationship between Hunter Seong Jin-Woo and the Korean Hunter's Association. And wasn't it Goh Gun-Hui who announced Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's expedition to Japan live on TV?

The manager's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, before he hurriedly ran back to his desk while shouting at the top of his voice, thick veins now visibly bulging out on his neck.

"Let the call through!! Hurry up!"

"Ah, yes, sir."

"You're now speaking to the person in charge, Association President Goh Gun-Hui, sir."

The manager picked the receiver up half in doubt, but his expression gradually hardened as he listened to the fluent Japanese coming from the speaker.

"Yes, yes. I understand. Yes, I shall get in contact with them right away."

He'd never get tired of this sight no matter how many times he saw it.

"Hee-ya…."

Yu Jin-Ho was letting out yet another gasp of admiration today.

He felt deeply moved whenever he saw the scene of the giant black creature standing up from the Giant's corpse before kneeling down to swear his allegiance to his hyung-nim. It was like watching a scene from a movie or something.

'This is so cool, hyung-nim!'

Yu Jin-Ho's eyes sparkled in respect and admiration, but then, his ears picked up on the commotion raised by the shocked voices coming from behind.

"Whoa-!!"

"What the heck, how can something like that….?!"

"W-what's going on? What's this?"

Noisy, noisy….

He had seen this sight many times now and still couldn't get fully used to it, so how would these Japanese villagers seeing hyung-nim's ability for the first time feel right now?

He might not understand what they were talking about, but he could more or less guess the contents of their conversation. Yu Jin-Ho felt deeply flattered as if he was the one being talked about here.

"Ehem."

Yu Jin-Ho was standing around with a bit of a swollen ego for some reason, but then, an employee from the Japanese Association searching for the two Koreans approached closer and engaged him in a conversation.

"By any chance, are you Hunter-nim?"

"Ah, if you're looking for hyung-nim, he's over….."

When Yu Jin-Ho heard the word 'Hunter', he immediately pointed to Jin-Woo over yonder, but the employee quickly shook his head and pointed to the younger Korean man, instead.

"No, no. You."

Yu Jin-Ho blinked his eyes several times.

"Me?"

"Yes."

Yu Jin-Ho utilised his meagre English skills to reconfirm that it was indeed him the Japanese wanted, and quickly received a smartphone from the latter.

And then…. His expression gradually hardened as he listened to the call.

Until the call came to an end, Yu Jin-Ho simply repeated "Yes, yes" over and over again.

Jin-Woo finished up with storing the giant soldier in his shadow and left the damaged storage facility. Yu Jin-Ho quickly approached him as if waiting for this moment and lowered his head.

"I'm sorry, hyung-nim. Looks like I'll have to go back to Korea right away."

Seeing how serious Yu Jin-Ho's expression was, Jin-Woo couldn't help but ask.

"What happened?"

"I'm not too sure myself. It's just that, I've been told there's been an emergency at home and I need to go back immediately."

Jin-Woo shut his mouth. He could think of a reason already.

'Chairman Yu's illness….'

If his suspicion proved to be correct, then it was understandable why the caller was unable to provide much clarification over the phone to Yu Jin-Ho. How could anyone say to a son in another country that his father had fallen into a comatose state over a phone call?

So, Jin-Woo didn't inquire any further.

"Okay, got it. You worked hard until now."

"No, not at all, hyung-nim. I'm sorry about not sticking around until the end of this thing."

Yu Jin-Ho respectfully apologised one more time before climbing aboard the car the Japanese Association had provided. The driver turned the car around and set off towards the airport.

Jin-Woo wordlessly stared at the back of the departing car.

Yu Jin-Ho did his best to sound assured and relaxed in front of his hyung-nim, but in reality, he could barely keep his worries in check.

He could still recall his mom's voice on the phone. It was the first time that her warm and kind voice sounded so shaken like that.

'Just what had happened?'

His heart was pounding away madly right now.

Could it be, his father got really angry that his son hadn't asked for permission and blindly followed his hyung-nim to Japan, seemingly without a plan? Surely, no parent out there would welcome a foolish child willingly walking into a lion's den, now would there?

Yu Jin-Ho dazedly stared outside the car's window before shaking his head hard as if to clear out all the unnecessary stuff from his mind.

'No, I should not think about anything for the time being.'

He had no idea what was going on, so if he kept worrying about it right now, it'd only make his thoughts more complicated. As a matter of fact, it could be nothing serious, as well.

Until he landed back on the Incheon International Airport, he continued to carry such a hopeful thought, however tiny, in his heart.

Unfortunately for him…

"Yu Jin-Ho-gun." (TL note at the end)

….The moment he discovered the swollen eyes of Secretary Kim ahjussi coming to fetch him, he realised immediately that something really bad had happened.

"Ahjussi…."

"A car is waiting for you. For the time being, please come with me."

'….What's going on….'

Yu Jin-Ho so desperately wanted to ask that question. However, he was scared of the potential answer and couldn't mouth those three words.

"Please, hurry."

Secretary Kim pointed at the outside of the airport.

"Ah…."

For some reason, though, Yu Jin-Ho's feet didn't want to move from the spot. Perhaps understanding what was going through the young man's head, Secretary Kim placed his hand on Yu Jin-Ho's shoulder.

"Jin-Ho-gun…. You need to stay strong in times like these. I shall explain everything on our way."

Yu Jin-Ho's tears welled up from those words.

Secretary Kim explained Chairman Yu Myung-Han's current condition to Yu Jin-Ho as they rode on the car.

But, that couldn't be; Yu Jin-Ho desperately tried to reject Secretary Kim's explanations.

No, he didn't want to believe it.

Unfortunately, after arriving in the hospital – he had no choice but to believe when he saw his sleeping father's face through the glass wall partition. He remained still as if he was dead.

At the same time, it felt like something in his heart had shattered to pieces.

Seeing his father, who looked so mighty and imposing, lying there on the hospital bed looking so wane and weak, something hard and powerful welled up from deep within.

"Dad!!"

Yu Jin-Ho tried to rush into the hospital room, but the doctors quickly blocked his way.

The approach of a Hunter who couldn't control his magic energy leakage would only worsen the patient's condition. Hearing that explanation from the doctors, Yu Jin-Ho's expression became a person whose soul had abandoned him.

"So, that's how it was…."

He was a son who always disappointed his father. And now, he couldn't even hold his father's hand for one last time, too. Faced with such a fitting end for himself, he couldn't even shed a tear anymore.

"I see. I've been a completely useless son, even till the end."

Yu Jin-Ho turned on his heels in dejection. But then, Secretary Kim approached him and handed over a black leather-bound case file.

"What… is this?"

Yu Jin-Ho weakly raised his head up after receiving this unknown file. Secretary Kim calmly explained himself.

"This is the item the Chairman was working on before he collapsed, actually. I've kept it with me in case he searched for it after waking up, but…. But, I thought that you might need it more than I do, Jin-Ho-gun."

"This…. you think so?"

Yu Jin-Ho alternated his gaze between Secretary Kim and the file. Eventually, he cautiously opened it.

It was a scrapbook filled with newspaper clippings.

Every single page was packed full of articles from various newspapers containing either his older brother Yu Jin-Seong or his older sister Yu Jin-Hui.

'From father to son.'

Yu Jin-Ho wondered just from where he got this habit of cutting out and keeping the newspaper articles he liked, but it seemed that he got it from his father.

'To think, he had this kind of a hobby….'

Even when stewing in sorrow, a grin still managed to squeak out as he looked at his brother and sister when they were young kids.

Both of them were the pride of his father.

In all sorts of academic competitions, talent contests and concours – they were geniuses that made their names known throughout the country in their favourite subjects.

It was rather obvious that this scrapbook would be filled with articles related to the two of them. As he flipped through the pages, Yu Jin-Ho grew more and more embarrassed by the fact that not a single photo of him could be found within.

However, just as he flipped to the last page, his hands came to an abrupt stop.

[The Vice Chair of Ah-Jin Guild: Who is Yu Jin-Ho?]

[Two Hunters heading off to Japan.]

[The choice of a rank D Hunter: Is it bravery or foolhardiness?]

There were articles containing his name. Even those meaningless gossip pieces didn't escape his father's attention and found themselves cut out and pasted carefully within the page.

"Uh….."

No words wanted to come out of Yu Jin-Ho's mouth.

While he stood there like that, a newspaper article that hadn't been fully cropped out fell to the floor. He hurriedly bent down to the floor and picked it up, only for the tears to stream down from his eyes.

It was an article containing the photo of himself beaming brightly to the camera. That was taken when, after Jin-Woo killed the boss-level Giant monster, he refused all filming and interview requests from the countless reporters flooding into the location, so Yu Jin-Ho stepped up as the stand-in, instead.

The article was dated today.

Secretary Kim squeezed Yu Jin-Ho's shoulder and spoke.

"It's not true that Chairman Yu never loved you, Jin-Ho-gun. As great as his love for you, he also held equally great expectations of you."

Yu Jin-Ho wordlessly sat there, his shoulders shuddering uncontrollably as he cried. He somehow managed to calm his aching heart and stood back up.

"Dad… Is there any way to wake my father up?"

Secretary Kim shook his head with a darkened complexion.

There was no officially known case of patients opening their eyes again after entering the 'final sleep' state. With the sole exception of one person, that was.

Secretary Kim's thoughts arrived there and spoke up with some difficulty.

"By any chance… Yu Jin-Ho-gun?"

"Yes?"

"…..No, it's nothing. Don't mind me."

However, Secretary Kim couldn't bring himself to say what was on his mind.

Planting a seed of hope when things were uncertain could prove to be even crueler in some cases. And now would be such a time.

Yu Jin-Ho continued to shed long, hard tears as he looked at his father through the glass wall, while Secretary Kim silently swallowed back what he initially wanted to say.

And the conversation they shared was silently listened in on by Yu Jin-Ho's shadow.

Chapter 179 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

"For the time being, let me accompany you back to your home."

"…Alright."

Yu Jin-Ho left the hospital room of his father, Chairman Yu, with Secretary Kim a little while later.

But, just before the door to this special hospital room closed shut, a portion of the shadow beneath Yu Jin-Ho's feet separated away and slipped inside the room. No one witnessed this strange phenomenon happen.

Tak.

The door closed shut and the light within the room automatically switched off. And time continued to tick by like this.

When the hour became late and no more people came around to visit this room, a 'shadow' sneaked out from underneath Chairman Yu's bed.

Shururuk…

Then, an ant soldier emerged from this shadow. He quietly looked around the room and discovered the sleeping Chairman Yu.

What sort of delicious open buffet was this?

Kiieehk.

The ant soldier fixed his gaze on the Chairman Yu and began drooling avariciously, but too bad for him, he got rapidly sucked into the shadow and was replaced by Jin-Woo.

That was the effect of the skill 'Shadow Exchange'.

Jin-Woo already had cloaked himself with 'Stealth' even before activating the exchange. Now that he was here, he took a careful look around the hospital room.

There was no source of light to be found inside and, as a result, it was completely dark in the room, but with his Perception Stat having reached such an extreme peak, he could see just fine as if this was in the middle of the day.

Jin-Woo's eyes gleamed coldly in the darkness as he finished searching for the presence of security cameras in the room.

'Looks like it's clean.'

The only people nearby were four guards manning the door from the outside.

As long as there was no event of Chairman Yu Myung-Han suddenly waking up and start yelling at the top of his lungs, Jin-Woo's presence wouldn't be detected at all.

Feeling sure of this conclusion, he undid his 'Stealth'.

Shuuuk…

His once-transparent body revealed its faint outer line before gradually regaining its original colour.

There was a reason why Jin-Woo was being doubly, triply cautious like this. Because he should not carelessly reveal the existence of the item called 'Divine Water of Life' to anyone. That's what he thought.

Not too long ago, Chairman Yu presented him with a blank cheque. That was not all. He even promised to fulfil whatever Jin-Woo wished for as long as it was within his powers.

Did he offer all those juicy terms because he was a kind-hearted gentleman? Of course not.

No way such a thing was true.

He was a man who stood at the apex of the cutthroat corporate world where one could only survive by coldly calculating their gains and losses.

He was also a naturally-gifted businessman who even managed to turn a small corporation he inherited from his parents into one of the biggest conglomerates in the entire world.

He should be fully aware of the true worth of something that 'can heal the illness he's suffering from'. And that was his reason for offering up everything he could realistically put on the table.

However, not everyone in this world was as gentlemanly in conduct as Chairman Yu. Desperation could sometimes become a motive that caused one to make rash decisions.

Meaning, it was for the best not to create a potential source of trouble.

That was Jin-Woo's reason for concealing the existence of the 'Divine Water of Life' to the best of his abilities.

Even if he was the father of the kid he thought of as his little brother, Jin-Woo wasn't naïve enough to risk unknown dangers that may or may not occur in the future for the sake of Chairman Yu, someone whom he didn't know all that well, to begin with.

'Well, there wouldn't be that many naïve fools out there who bring out an item like 'Divine Water of Life' just because someone asked them to….'

So, he waited quietly for the best timing to make his move, and finally, that moment had arrived.

It wasn't as if Chairman Yu's life would negatively be affected or he'd suffer from some after-effects just because the treatment came about a little later.

If Jin-Woo were to think about those who might be getting a raw deal out of this, then it'd only be the shareholders who quickly got rid of all their shares related with Yujin Corporation after hearing about Chairman Yu's collapse.

'Is this why people say investing in stock markets is pretty much the case of 'all or nothing'?'

Jin-Woo smirked to himself and accessed his Inventory to retrieve one of the five remaining bottles of the 'Divine Water of Life'.

With the usage of this one bottle, he'd had four more left.

He knew exactly what it was like to lose one's parent through this illness. So, he felt that using this bottle for Yu Jin-Ho's sake was not a loss to him in the slightest.

'That kid, why did have to he go and cry like that? Making me feel all bad and stuff.'

Jin-Woo carefully raised the upper torso of Chairman Yu Myung-Han, opened his lips, and slowly poured in the 'Divine Water of Life'.

Very slowly, and only a small amount at a time.

However, Chairman Yu must've known that this item was the sole lifeline capable of saving him, because he gulped the Water down rather commendably well.

"Cough."

The bottle became empty in no time at all.

Jin-Woo lowered Chairman Yu's upper torso back on the bed and returned the empty bottle to his Inventory.

Just like how he remembered with his mother's case, the colour of vitality returned to Chairman Yu's complexion very quickly. Even his faint, weakly-beating heart gradually picked up pace, as well.

Jin-Woo nodded his head in satisfaction.

'It's done.'

The medicine was working perfectly.

The only remaining thing would be to escape from this room before Chairman Yu Myung-Han wakes up and leave not one trace of himself behind. Jin-Woo reactivated 'Stealth' and stood before the room's door.

Wuiiing…

"Huh?"

"What's this?"

The door could only be opened by pressing an electronic button either on the outside or inside, yet it automatically opened up by itself, so the guards quickly fell into a state of panic.

"Huh?!?!"

Before long, though, they spotted Chairman Yu through the glass wall.

An event dozens of times – no, make that hundreds and thousands of times – more shocking than the door opening up was unfolding inside the hospital room.

The guards all discovered Chairman Yu sitting upright on the bed and their eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"Huh? Uh??"

"C-Chairman has… woken up?!"

Guards stood there completely frozen as if they had seen a ghost, before one of them regained his wits and loudly yelled out, veins on his neck visibly bulging in the process.

"Doctor!! Where is a doctorrrrr!!"

Excluding one guard who ran to elsewhere in search of a doctor, the rest quickly rushed inside the hospital room.

"Mister Chairman!"

"Are you alright?"

Yu Myung-Han formed a refreshed expression of someone just waking up from a good, long rest and took a look at the guards.

"Why are you people raising such a fuss here? Besides all that, who are you people, anyway?"

"S-sir, we're…."

"No, wait."

Yu Myung-Han cut into the guard's reply, and took a good look around his surroundings first. And he found himself in the VIP hospital room designed to accommodate a victim of the Eternal Sleep.

He easily recognised this place, because it was he who had prepared this room soon after learning of his own terminal condition.

'Which means, I….'

Could he really have?

"….Did I collapse, but somehow woke up again?"

Wuuiiing…

Chairman Yu Myung-Han's head quickly swivelled in the direction of that sound. He watched through the glass wall the electronic door slowly closing shut by itself.

Ting!

The elevator's door slid open.

Jin-Woo wordlessly stared at the cordon of doctors rushing in from the other end of the corridor as if they were gathering storm clouds before climbing into the empty elevator.

Now that he thought about it, wasn't Yu Jin-Ho's birthday at the end of this month?

'I know it's a bit early, but well, happy birthday, Jin-Ho.'

His father's full recovery – Jin-Woo thought that it might prove to be the best birthday gift for Yu Jin-Ho as he pressed the button for the ground floor.

Click.

An ahjussi belatedly climbed into the elevator and was about to press the same button as well, but he stopped after seeing the light come on all by itself.

"What the…? That's spooky."

Jin-Woo was still cloaked with 'Stealth' so the interior of the elevator looked empty. The ahjussi gruntled out 'Urgh, dang it' after taking a look around and quickly left the elevator altogether.

'My bad, ahjussi.'

Jin-Woo apologised from deep within his heart and pressed the 'close door' button.

Clunk…

As the elevator began climbing down, he confirmed his skill window.

'Skill information.'

[Skill: Shadow Exchange Lv.2]

Class-specific skill.

Mana required to activate: None.

The summoner can switch locations with the designated Shadow Soldier.

Once activated, you must wait two hours of 'cooldown' time before being able to use the skill again. The 'cooldown' period will change according to the Skill's level.

Remaining cooldown time: 01:54:11

'Still one hour and 54 minutes left….'

Even if he disregarded the 11 seconds, he still had roughly two hours left to kill.

He hadn't finished with the task of extracting shadows yet. Meaning, he still needed to go back to Japan one more time if he were to seek out the remaining dead Giants and turn them into Shadow Soldiers.

He did leave a shadow on standby there, so the issue of travelling back would be resolved as soon as Shadow Exchange's cooldown time had elapsed. But his current problem would be with how he'd go about spending the next two hours of waiting.

'Going home…. is out of the question.'

Her son came back home after over a week spent in another country, so what kind of expression would his mom make if he had to leave again only a couple of hours later?

He didn't have to be there to know.

Ting!

The elevator stopped on the ground floor and opened its door.

Even as he stepped out of the Seoul Ilsin Hospital's front entrance, Jin-Woo continued to agonise over what he should next, but then, a rather nice idea popped up in his head.

'Okay, should I search for an ownerless dungeon or something?'

Jin-Woo undid 'Stealth' and greatly extended out his sensory perception.

His senses picked up four or five Gates near his location. He pulled out his Hunter-issued smartphone and accessed the Association's app to confirm the details on those Gates.

'….Found you.'

Jin-Woo found out that two of those Gates weren't reported to the Association yet. A meaningful smile formed on Jin-Woo's face right away.

"Miss. We've arrived."

"Thank you, driver."

Chairman Yu Myung-Han's eldest daughter, Yu Jin-Hui, was returning to the hospital after escorting her nearly-fainted mother back home. She stepped out from the chauffeur-driven car's back seat.

She felt as if the heavens were crashing down on her the day she learned of her father slowly dying from that illness.

Even then, she unreservedly believed her father's words.

["I'm still searching through all avenues for a cure. I seemed to have found a strand of hope, so do not worry about me too much."]

If someone else declared oh-so-proudly that he'd cure this incurable illness, Yu Jin-Hui would flat out not believe that man.

However, just who was her father?

Was he not the one and only Chairman Yu Myung-Han, the man who could legitimately be called the top dog in South Korea's financial world?

That was why she held on to that slim strand of hope, but in the end, things had become like this. If only she knew things would end up this way. She'd have thrown away all notions of studying abroad and spent more time with her father, instead.

She recalled him doing his best to hide his loneliness when she told him about her plans to study abroad and quietly wiped her tears away.

It was around then.

As she raised her head, her eyes briefly caught the sight of a rather familiar face walking past her.

'…Uh? This man….'

Hadn't she seen that face often before?

As she began wondering where she had seen him, the man also must've sensed her gaze, because he pulled the hood down even further and rapidly distanced himself from her.

She stared at the man's back and tilted her head just a little, before resuming her walk. The identity of that man was not an important issue to her, anyway.

Yu Jin-Hui anxiously waited for the elevator's door to open up. But then, her phone suddenly issued out loud ringtones.

Ringggg, ringgg…

With the hour being so late already, the corridors of the hospital were mostly empty now and the ringtone sounded especially loud to her ears.

She didn't recognise the number shown on the screen. She usually wouldn't answer a call from an unfamiliar number like this, but now….

'Who could this be….?'

Perhaps because she had been experiencing a storm of events for the whole day, she got this feeling that she should answer this call no matter what.

Yu Jin-Hui tapped the 'Answer' icon and pressed the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

– "Yes, hello. I'm calling from Seoul Ilsin Hospital, miss. I couldn't get in touch with your mother and had no choice but to contact you first."

Her mother had taken a shot of sedative and had fallen asleep at home, so she wouldn't be able to wake up and answer the phone now.

But, why was the hospital calling her like this? Yu Jin-Hui instantly became scared by this call made by the doctor in charge.

That was why she was extra cautious when asking back.

"Did something happen?"

– "Actually, Chairman Yu Myung-Han has…."

As she heard the ensuing explanation, her eyes grew as large and round as a rabbit's.

This had to be a lie.

'You, you expect me to believe that?!'

Her eyes were getting wetter and wetter but she still managed to ask that one last question.

"You… are you telling me the truth??"

– "We also would not have believed it's real if it weren't for confirming the fact with our own eyes. It's pretty much impossible to find any patient waking up from the 'final sleep' state, you see. In any case, please hurry and come to the hospital, miss. We do not know when the Chairman might fall back asleep again."

"H-hang on! I'm already there!"

Ting!

With excellent timing, the elevator opened its door and Yu Jin-Hui practically threw herself inside.

Oh my god.

'Really…. Truly??'

These few minutes the elevator took to climb up felt like the longest moments in her entire life so far.

Ting.

The moment the door opened, she rushed out and entered the hospital room – and was greeted by the sight of her father's face shifting towards her.

From the top of his head right down to the tip of his toes, he was definitely her father and there was no need to even suspect otherwise.

"Dad!!"

Yu Myung-Han, currently surrounded by a cordon of doctors, turned his head towards his little girl.

"Jin-Hui….?"

"Dad!"

She jumped into his embrace and as Yu Myung-Han gently patted her back, he finally realised that he had returned from death's doorstep somehow.

'I'm alive.'

However, could he really describe this as a coincidence?

While the cordon of doctors in charge responded with whispers of "It's a miracle", and with his daughter sobbing her eyes out as she clung to her dad, Yu Myung-Han began focusing on the sounds of his own beating heart.

'B-but…. How could this be??'

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump!!

He was already well past his fifties, yet his heart was pounding away vigorously as if he was still in his twenties, instead.

Chapter 180 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Sure enough….

One of the doctors in charge, who proceeded to check and observe Yu Myung-Han's condition throughout the night, continued to tilt his head this way and that while staring into the medical chart containing the good Chairman's test results.

"How can any of this make sense….."

Yu Myung-Han saw the expression on the doctor's face and cautiously asked.

"Are my results that bad?"

The doctor hurriedly waved his hand around.

"Ahh, no, it's not that, sir. It's the complete opposite, in fact."

He resumed staring back at the results as if to bore a hole through the paper and carefully asked his question some time later.

"Chairman, by any chance, have you taken your high blood pressure medication before taking these tests?"

Only up until last night, he was hanging precariously on the edge of death. He might be awake now, but that didn't mean Yu Myung-Han had the spare mental capacity to take his meds on time.

"No, I haven't."

Yu Myung-Han shook his head.

The doctor nodded his as if he knew that answer was coming. Then, he formed a troubled expression as he made his reply.

"Even without the medication, your blood pressure seems to have completely stabilised to a healthy level. No, wait. With your current level, you could even confidently say that you're even healthier than a regular person, sir."

Chairman Yu Myung-Han's eyes grew really large then.

'What on earth is he talking about??'

He thought that only death awaited him after entering the 'final sleep' state, but after waking up, even the chronic high blood pressure he'd been suffering from for a long time had all been cured away??

The doctor in charge continued to read the medical chart.

"And also, the rest of your bodily functions have reverted back to being perfectly healthy as well. Chairman, if I were to forget about your current age, then I'd have believed that I was looking at a test result from a young man in his early twenties."

How could such a thing even happen?

As great was Chairman Yu Myung-Han's surprise, the doctor's own astonishment was even greater and he struggled to hide that fact from showing up on his expression. His own two eyes definitely saw the results, yet he could hardly believe them even then.

Chairman Yu collapsed for the first time a few weeks ago and was brought to this hospital back then. The results of tests taken on that day were printed on a separate medical chart, and the ink on that thing barely had the chance to dry properly yet.

So, how could anyone go about explaining this completely befuddling test result coming out only a few weeks later?

Did he drastically change his lifestyle or some such during that time period? Not to forget, he was wasting away from an incurable illness only a night before, too.

The doctor in charge confessed what was in his mind without holding back.

"I've been a doctor for 30 years or so, but this would be my very first time something like this has happened. This… this can only be described as a miracle and nothing else."

A patient woke up from the 'final sleep' state of the Eternal Sleep disorder, and on top of that, his body had become even healthier than when he went to sleep, too.

Didn't the word 'miracle' exist precisely to describe a situation such as this one right here?

The doctor couldn't hide his astonishment anymore and let a soft gasp of admiration escape from his mouth before a bright smile bloomed on his face.

"Congratulations, Chairman Yu. Your Eternal Sleep disorder has been cured completely."

He then added that the Chairman was healthy enough to start running the length of a full marathon course right now if he wanted to.

However…

Instead of celebrating, Yu Myung-Han pondered something for a while before raising his head to look at the doctor.

"By any chance, are there cameras installed near the hospital room I've been staying at?"

"Pardon? I don't understand what….."

"There is something I'd like to confirm first. Are there any cameras installed inside the room or around the entrance itself?"

"There are none within the room, but there should be one by its entrance."

'Very good.'

Yu Myung-Han nodded his head.

'Something like this can not be a coincidence.'

Indeed, this matter had gone far beyond treating it as pure coincidence now. There was little doubt that someone possessing an unfathomable ability had intervened in this matter somehow.

And he had a fairly good hunch who that someone might be.

'I've ended up owing him a great deal.'

Yu Myung-Han had lived without owing anyone in his entire life. And he wasn't planning to start now. But then again, how was he supposed to go about paying the debt of saving his life?

No, more than that. Putting aside the idea of paying or not paying the debt, wouldn't it be a common sense to at least find out the name of his saviour first?

Yu Myung-Han wished to confirm that personally.

"I'd like to view the footage from the CCTV cameras taken last night."

Quite obviously, the cameras failed to capture anything.

"Right here. This is the only odd thing that happened, the doorway malfunctioning this one time."

The guard pointed at the screen and explained what happened back then. The windows were confirmed to be locked from the inside, so the sole exit left in that hospital room was the doorway.

However, all four guards manning the door said the same thing. They said that not even a single ant had entered the room during their watch. And since these guys were professionals hired from a dedicated security company, they wouldn't make mistakes regarding such things.

"H-mm…."

Yu Myung-Han couldn't have imagined that Jin-Woo possessed the skill 'Stealth' and so, his thoughts had become quite complicated as a result.

Around this time, Secretary Kim hurriedly entered the security room as well to bring some news.

"Chairman. I've found out what you asked for."

"Alright. What's the news?"

"That is…."

Secretary Kim became extra mindful of the surrounding eyes and ears, leaned in closer and cupped his hand on Yu Myung-Han's ear to whisper his findings.

"I lodged an inquiry to the Association, and they say Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim was in Japan the whole time. He's only scheduled to return to the country around tomorrow or so."

Here he was, thinking that no one else would be capable of making this event happen unless it was Hunter Seong Jin-Woo himself.

Yu Myung-Han finally admitted to making a wrong guess. He now realised that it couldn't have been that young rank S Hunter.

'If so, then why….'

Even though he had confirmed through all this evidence, why did a certain amount of suspicion remain rooted in the corner of his heart?

He just couldn't understand it at all.

However, there was one thing Chairman Yu Myung-Han and Jin-Woo had in common. And that would be – they were rather decisive in moving on when stuck with a quandary they couldn't solve just yet.

"I see."

Yu Myung-Han carried on.

"The doctor says I'm healthy enough to even run a marathon right now. I shall return to the company tomorrow so make the appropriate arrangements, please."

One could say that this was more like him.

Having realised that the attitude of Yu Myung-Han was still the same as before, Secretary Kim barely held back his laughter and replied.

"Sir. Do you know what the mass media is calling you right now?"

It was obvious that there would be quite a bit of chaos unfolding outside right about now, since a guy who was as good as dead only yesterday had gotten back up on his feet perfectly fine.

However, why would such a thing be treated as something big?

Yu Myung-Han asked without a single noticeable change in his expression.

"What are they calling me this time?"

"The Invincible, sir. They are calling you the Invincible."

"The Invincible, is it?"

Yu Myung-Han wouldn't break out into a smile that easily over anything but even then, the corners of his lips arched up ever so slightly after he heard that nickname.

'Invincible'.

Mass media had been calling him with useless labels like 'Hand of Midas' or even 'Pokerface' but rather surprisingly, they managed to cook up a somewhat okay-sounding nickname this time.

"Huhuh."

Yu Myung-Han slowly chewed on this new nickname and formed a satisfied smile.

"The Invincible, is it. The Invincible…."

Didn't this nickname suit him perfectly, when he had never bowed down regardless of the obstacle blocking his path and even managed to survive the threat of a deadly illness?

Yu Myung-Han gratefully accepted this second chance at life and smiled contentedly.

"I really like that one."

While Korea was set abuzz with the news of Chairman Yu Myung-Han…

Jin-Woo had sneaked back into Japan and eventually, succeeded in gathering all 29 Giant Shadow Soldiers.

'Finally….'

Feeling legit emotional right now, Jin-Woo made the giant soldiers line up starting from No.1 to No.29.

The process of searching for the remains of the giants to extract new soldiers reminded him of a certain video game. But the fruit of his hard labour so far was monumentally tastier than any video game's quests and he even kind of felt apologetic for thinking of comparing the two in the first place.

The Giant Shadow Soldier No.29.

Looking at the imposing figures of twenty-nine giants with black smokes constantly rising up from their bodies standing tall before him, Jin-Woo felt as if he had gained a whole new army of thousand troops and warhorses.

'It's a bit of a shame that one of them escaped from my grasp, but….'

Excluding the one guarding the Gate, the total of the Giant-type monsters emerging from there was thirty. One of them had escaped to the ocean and it was not possible to extract its shadow anymore.

Still, the sense of accomplishment welled up from deep within his heart now that he had successfully gathered up all 29 of them. And with them standing tall and proud in a single location like this, the ruined cityscape suddenly felt rather full all of a sudden.

Of course, Jin-Woo didn't summon all of his giant soldiers out just so he could decorate this empty city, nor was he admiring his new Giant soldier collection, either.

He scanned the Giant soldiers and addressed them.

"Who among you are the strongest?"

There was a need to find the one soldier among the giants that could serve as the leader to control the others, just like how Beru did with the ant battalion, Igrit with the elite soldier battalion, and Fangs with the High Orc battalion.

The Giant soldiers busily looked around at each other and didn't want to step up. Beru standing by the side couldn't endure this sight any longer, so he stepped forward and screeched out loudly.

Kiiiiiieeeehk-!!

The shoulders of the Giants all flinched greatly at that powerful screech seemingly vicious enough to rip the atmosphere in shreds.

But then again, there were a few of them who got killed by Beru, and even if others were lucky enough to avoid that fate, they should still sense the clear gap in power between him and them. It was quite understandable why they would be scared of him.

Kiieehk!

Only after receiving that hot, harsh scolding from Beru did one of the Giant soldiers hesitantly raise his hand.

Beru turned around and bowed to his Sovereign. Jin-Woo raised his thumb up high, feeling quite impressed.

"Nice work."

But then, this happened. Something both Jin-Woo and Beru didn't expect unfolded next.

Another Giant soldier watched the hand of his compatriot raise up and quickly raised his own, as well. The glint in his eyes even said, "Regardless of what, I'm better than that guy".

"Ohhh."

As it turned out, the soldiers weren't hesitating and waiting for others to make a move first but simply that, they didn't know who was the strongest among them until now.

Jin-Woo smirked a little at this unexpected situation and called those two out to the front.

"No.22 and No.6, to the front."

No.6 and his unusually large fists, and No.22 with an overall sturdier-looking frame strode forward valiantly.

Jin-Woo's eyes narrowed to a slit.

'H-mm…."

Just like the assertions of these two soldiers, their individual quantities of magic energy were quite similar to each other. Even Jin-Woo's excellent sensory perception had a hard time telling them apart.

Now that the matter had come to this, there was only one way to solve it. Jin-Woo grinned brightly.

"I'm sure both of you are ready, right?"

No.6 and No.22 stood facing each other. Their eyes were practically shooting out flames born from their powerful desires not to yield, no matter what.

"Start!"

As soon as Jin-Woo gave his signal, the two giant soldiers entered into a messy dogfight.

Boom! Thud!! Bang!!

At the end of a lengthy fight, No.6 and his big fist managed to beat No.22 down by a paper-thin margin of victory.

"Nice work. From here on, No.6 will be appointed as the leader of the Giant soldier battalion."

The big-fist Giant raised both of his fists high up in the air, prompting the other Shadow Soldiers watching to cheer on loudly as well.

'So, that's the issue of the Giants' leader all sorted out.'

With this, Jin-Woo had finally concluded all the business he had in Japan. He then summoned out his Status Window next.

'Stat Window.'

Along with the familiar mechanical beep of "Tti-ring", walls of texts and numbers rose up to fill his view.

Name: Seong Jin-Woo

Level: 122

Class: Shadow Sovereign

Title: Demon Hunter (extra 2)

HP: 65,230

MP: 115,160

Tiredness: 0

[Stat]

Strength: 292

Stamina: 281

Agility: 305

Intelligence: 310

Perception: 277

(Available points to distribute: 0)

Reduction in physical damage: 65%

[Skills]

Passive Skills

– (Unknown) Lv. MAX

– Tenacity Lv. 1

– Master of Shortsword Lv. MAX (TL: Changing this one from "Master of Dagger to Master of Shortsword)

Active Skills

– Quicksilver Lv. MAX

– Intimidation Lv. 2

– Violent Slash Lv. MAX

– Dagger Rush Lv. MAX

– Stealth Lv. 2

– Ruler's Authority Lv. MAX

[Class-specific Skills]

Active Skills

– Shadow Extraction Lv. 2

– Shadow Storage Lv. 2

– Sovereign's Territory Lv. 2

– Shadow Exchange Lv. 2

[Equipped Items]

Red Knight's Helm (S)

Demon Sovereign's Earrings (S)

Demon Sovereign's Necklace (S)

Demon Sovereign's Ring (S)

Truth Seeker's Shirt (A)

Truth Seeker's Gloves (A)

Truth Seeker's Pants (A)

Truth Seeker's Shoes (A)

The outcome of his Japanese expedition was all too easy to see. His Stat values that had gone through the roof like crazy were the first things to catch his gaze.

Every one of his Stats was now hovering near the 300 mark, while the Intelligence Stat had shot past that number a while ago after receiving his concerted investment for arguably the longest time out of the lot.

All these were the results of receiving the rewards from the Daily Quests he always made sure to complete every day, the level-ups he got after hunting down the Giant monsters, as well as from the defensive artefacts he bought from the Store after completely exhausting his stack of Gold.

'The Truth Seeker armament set.'

Up until now, he didn't care much for any of the available items in the Store. However, he had no clue how strong the other Sovereigns and the Rulers were – the ones the angel statue and the King of Giants mentioned.

And he figured that he might need some kind of tools to protect him in case he ran into them somewhere along the line.

'The King of Giants, almost half a corpse from his powers being sealed away like that, was already that powerful. So, it's more than likely others will also possess truly monstrous levels of strength.'

Jin-Woo recalled those six-winged angels he 'met' inside the memories of the Shadow Sovereign. If he were planning to fight them head-on as well, then he simply had to become much stronger.

His gaze shifted up from the list of equipped items back up to where his level was listed.

[Level: 122]

Just killing one Sovereign resulted in his level jumping up by eight in one go.

He couldn't even begin to imagine just how far he'd get to climb up once he started fighting against these Sovereigns or whatever they were called.

Ba-thump!

His chest was pounding.

It was from fear.

And hidden just beneath that fear – he also could pick up on the throbbing of his heart from excitement, too.

'I shall level up.'

And all the power earned through levelling up, it'd become the bedrock, the foundation, and the support in his effort to protect everything he held dear.

His heart pulsed powerfully once more.

Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump!

The symphony of two hearts powerfully beating at the same time was enough to cause a dull aching pain within his ear canals.

However, this pain felt pleasant to him, instead.

'Good.'

Jin-Woo sensed someone's approach and stored all of his Shadow Soldiers back into his shadow.

Tatatatatata-!!

In a spot not too far from where he was, the Japanese Association helicopter coming to fetch him was making its noisy landing.

For the time being, he'd go home first.

Feeling genuinely happy now, Jin-Woo climbed aboard the helicopter.

Chapter 181 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 182: Chapter 182

The Japanese government offered up a suite in a five-star luxury hotel for Jin-Woo so he could rest in comfort until his departure from the country.

He was planning to use 'Shadow Exchange' to go back rather than waste time waiting for a plane, so he was thinking of refusing their gesture of goodwill.

But then…

"Please, help us to avoid the fate of being labelled as people who had poorly received the saviour of their nation. We beg of you, Hunter-nim."

….But then, he ended up changing his mind after hearing the desperate plea of the Japanese government.

The very first impression he got after stepping into the hotel suite that reputedly cost over $3,500 per night was, 'Is it really okay for me to spend a night alone in such a huge and luxurious room?'

Jin-Woo studied the gleaming furniture that sparkled brightly as if they were purchased only yesterday, before walking over to the window to look outside.

This allowed him to take in the sight of the cityscape all at once.

He heard from somewhere that the better the view, the higher the real estate price would get. And as expected, the view of the city draped in the darkness of the night was as arresting as the exorbitant price the suite had alluded to.

'And to think, such a city was about to go up in flames by a bunch of monsters.'

Jin-Woo recalled the sight of the ruined city of Tokyo and tutted to himself. In fact, he felt relieved that he got here just in time before things could get even worse for Japan.

'….Let's just go to sleep.'

After a few nights spent camping outdoors, this one night spent in the hotel proved to be rather bloody fantastic.

Next morning.

His departure time neared and employees from the Japanese Hunter's Association came to escort him.

"Good day to you, Hunter-nim."

The Association employee tasked with guiding Jin-Woo greeted him using fluent Korean.

"We have readied the vehicle that will take you to the airport."

What excellent timing it was since he was beginning to feel bored, staying cooped up in the hotel room. Jin-Woo went and picked up his bag that had been discarded in the corner of the suite somewhere and returned to the door.

"Let's get going right away."

"Heok!"

Just as Jin-Woo was about to leave the suite, the employee saw the state he was in currently and formed a flustered expression.

"H-Hunter-nim…. By any chance, don't you have any other set of clothing with you?"

It wasn't as if Jin-Woo couldn't understand where this reaction of the employee was coming from. Blood and sweat stained both his shirts and pants, serving as clear evidence of the intense battles he had gone through during the last few days.

'I was trying to be as careful as possible, though….'

From the get-go, it was plainly impossible to evade every single drop of the massive quantity of blood spewing out from bodies of the Giants. Since the rest of his clothes were in a similarly sorry state, all he could do was to helplessly shrug his shoulders as his reply.

The employee suddenly broke out in a grin and politely made his inquiry.

"If it's alright with you, may we be permitted to prepare an extra set of clothing for you to wear?"

That was one of the better suggestions he heard the whole day.

There was no reason for him to walk around with blood-stained clothes like this, and also, he hadn't done anything wrong either so he was disinclined to sneak around like some kind of a criminal, too.

The employee figured out Jin-Woo's answer from his brightened expression and spoke up with a smile.

"We'll have them ready right away. Please wait here for a little while longer."

The extra clothing must've been prepared in advance, because it didn't even take ten minutes after the end of the employee's phone call for several men to hurriedly rush in to the suite carrying many business suits.

'Already?!'

Jin-Woo formed a bit of a suspicious expression, which prompted the employee to answer with a happy smile.

"We thought that something like this might happen, so we had them ready in advance."

Jin-Woo watched as the business suits were sorted into different colours and sizes in an instant, and somehow managed to keep the gasps of astonishment to himself.

For something that was prepared 'just in case', wasn't this just all too well organised?

"If you need anything else besides your clothes…."

Jin-Woo quickly shook his hands around.

"Nonono, it's alright."

The services he received so far had already been amply satisfactory. He could already see that the Japanese Hunter's Association was trying to do their utmost best here.

Jin-Woo scanned the displayed business suits before picking the one that seemed to fit his size. After swapping out his duds, he stood before the mirror to take a look.

Maybe because all the prepared suits were high-end items, he came across as a completely new person.

'Hey, don't I look pretty cool like this?'

A smile automatically bloomed on his face. He fixed the ends of the suit and turned around. The Association employee who panicked earlier about the lack of other apparels began gasping out in sighs of admiration.

"Those look very good on you, Hunter-nim."

"Let's be on our way now."

"Understood. Our staff members will carry your luggage for you, Hunter-nim."

Two burly Association employees strode in as if they were waiting for this moment and picked up Jin-Woo's stuff.

He could sense the Japanese Hunter's Association's desire to make sure that he wouldn't even need to lift a finger from their extremely considerate treatment. He was still treated like royalty even when walking out from the front entrance of the 5-star luxury hotel.

And soon, the black sedan carrying Jin-Woo headed off towards the airport.

When he got near the airport's vicinity, Jin-Woo began realising why the Japanese Association was so particularly mindful of taking care of his appearance.

Because he could see throngs upon throngs of people outside the moving car's window. And there were even more people beyond them.

Jin-Woo became utterly speechless and silently stared outside, while the Association employee spoke to him in a clearly excited voice.

"Everyone gathered here today all wanted to see you at least once before you depart, Hunter-nim."

One couldn't even argue that this sea of people was forcibly organised either, as there were simply too many of them for that.

"Just how many people have shown up here today?"

"It's not an exact amount, but we estimate over one hundred thousand, Hunter-nim."

"That many….?"

The vehicle carrying Jin-Woo quietly glided along the road that had been cordoned off tightly. When they went around a corner, there was just as big a crowd of people, no, maybe even bigger than before, waiting to greet Jin-Woo's car.

"Seong Hunter-nim, you're a hero that saved Japan."

From Jin-Woo's perspective, he simply did what he was capable of doing. However, what he did was not something anyone else could do. No, only he was capable of doing it.

The Japanese people had no choice but to shiver in despair after seeing the Giant-type monsters through TV broadcasts, from social media, or even with their own eyes.

No one wanted to help out with the national-level crisis unfolding in Japan. Instead, they all opined in one voice that the country was now doomed.

But then, from their neighbouring nation, South Korea – the man who could possibly be more famous than the country's own president, the leader of the Korean Hunter's Association, Goh Gun-Hui, made an announcement which reached the ears of the despairing Japanese people.

["There is one such person. There is one Hunter who wishes to go to Japan and get rid of the Giant monsters."]

Countless Japanese watching the press conference live held their breaths and focused on their TV screens.

["Just who is this Hunter?"]

After the reporter asked that question, Association President Goh Gun-Hui pressed his lips as close to the microphone and made his reply.

["It's Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."]

It was an already well-known fact that Jin-Woo had killed off every one of the rank S ant monsters occupying Jeju Island all by himself.

The three letters of 'Seong Jin-Woo' coming out from Association President Goh Gun-Hui's lips caused much upheaval within the entirety of Japan. For the Japanese people, Jin-Woo was their sole ray of hope.

And a week later.

Just as he promised before setting off from Korea, Jin-Woo had completely annihilated the Giant monsters from the Japanese mainland and was about to step on the road back home.

Perhaps it was inevitable that the countless Japanese had gathered to see him one last time.

The Association employee explained that, if it weren't for the country going through the chaos of cleaning up the affected areas, even more people would have turned up today.

He then added this bit at the end.

"Honestly speaking, our Prime Minister also dearly wishes to meet you to express his gratitude as well, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim. May we impose on you for that small matter for a little while?"

The expression of the Association employee was much more serious than ever before. Jin-Woo could easily guess the amount of pressure from the higher-ups this guy must be under.

Unfortunately, what he didn't want to do initially, he still wasn't interested in doing it, even now. Jin-Woo answered in the same way as he did when he was asked the first time.

"I don't want to waste my time doing something unnecessary."

The Association employee ended up laughing out after witnessing Jin-Woo's direct attitude and nodded his head in understanding.

"Haha… I understand."

As they continued to make small talk over this and that, the vehicle carrying them had eventually arrived at the airport's entrance. As usual, Jin-Woo calmly exited from the car and stepped on to the pavement.

But, in that exact moment, he was showered by the outpouring of passionate hand claps coming from everywhere.

Jin-Woo looked around at the gathered crowd.

"Hunter-nim!"

"Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim!"

He couldn't understand anything they were saying to him, but then again, every one of the lights gleaming in their eyes, their voices, and their gestures helped him to overcome the language barrier altogether.

Their bottomless gratitude and respect were transmitted in the air and he could sense them all.

Beru, watching this spectacle from within his shadow, quickly engaged him in a chat.

'Oh, my king. Your loyal subjects are expressing their genuine adulation and awe towards you, my liege.'

'It's not like that.'

'Oh my king, perhaps it is for the best that you wave your hand and acknowledge your subjects….'

'Hey. I said it's not like that.'

Where did this guy see and learn all this weird stuff from?

Jin-Woo was about to ignore Beru's advice and turn around, but then, he stopped in his treks to ask his ant soldier a question.

'By the way, do other ants enjoy it when you, you know, acknowledge them, as you said?'

Beru replied in a very proud voice. As a matter of fact, if he was standing outside the shadow right now, he'd definitely have formed a commanding, imposing expression, too.

'But, of course, my king.'

That was to be expected, though. Beru did possess a skill that raised up the morale of the ant soldiers with nothing but his screech, after all.

Jin-Woo nodded his head. All these people came to see him off, so was there a reason not to greet them back, which was something even an ant could do?

Jin-Woo stopped and turned around towards the crowd again. He hesitated and awkwardly raised his left hand, before waving it around at the people watching him.

The sounds of clapping became even more energetic and they were soon accompanied by the loud cheers, as well.

Clap, clap, clap, clap!

Only then did he notice that the Association employee tasked with guiding him vigorously clapping hands as well. The edges of the man's eyes were even reddening up with emotions, too.

"Thank you!"

"Thank you very much, Hunter-nim!"

"We're grateful for everything!"

The Association employee's nose had reddened by this point as well, and he addressed Jin-Woo as he wiped the edges of his eyes with the sleeves of his shirt.

"Let us get going, Hunter-nim. The plane should be leaving soon."

Jin-Woo slowly lowered his hand.

Even then, the sound of clapping didn't cease. They continued on and on, even as his back disappeared from the view of the gathered crowd.

The plane carrying Jin-Woo taxied off amidst the sending-off of over hundred thousand people.

Next day.

A certain well-known Japanese columnist wrote and published these words.

If the top leader of their nation were chosen through nothing but the support from its citizens, then they would have seen their very first non-native Prime Minister elected on that day.

In the opulent mansion owned by one of the five Special Authority-rank Hunters, Christopher Reid.

He suddenly woke up in the middle of the night.

The cause? The noises from the surroundings.

As one of the very best Hunters acknowledged by the world, he'd not be able to fall asleep even for a single day if he were to mind every little noise he could hear.

And that was precisely it. He didn't wake up because it was too noisy around him. No, it was the exact opposite.

'Why is it so quiet around here?'

All sorts of ambient noises he could hear if he concentrated just a little were gone as if they were all a lie, to begin with.

He kicked off from his bed and opened the bedroom door. He couldn't pick up on the presence of several hired help who should've been located in various spots of the mansion.

As if he had entered an abandoned house, there was this deeply creepy and eerie atmosphere permeating in the air.

Christopher Reid wordlessly stared at the empty corridor, before walking over to grab a wine glass left on the table and came back to the doorway. And then, he threw it in the corridor.

The wine glass left his hand and drew a gentle arc in the air, before hitting the floor to shatter into bits and pieces.

However, there were no sounds still. Not even one.

At that moment, a powerful chill crawled up his spine. He realised that something that could not happen had happened.

His sharpened senses were sending out warning bells. They were warning him that he was now facing the kind of danger he had never experienced before. His instincts strongly advised him to make a certain action, right now.

He quickly moved away from the doorway. He ran to the bedside bureau to pick up his mobile phone resting on top, and at the same time, he yanked open one of its drawers. There was a piece of crumpled paper resting silently within.

These words were written on its surface.

– If you need help, please call this number. The President of the Korean Hunter's Association Goh Gun-Hui will connect you to that man.

The deputy director of the Hunter Bureau left behind that note with the steward before leaving.

Christopher Reid learned of this fact a bit later and flew directly into a rage. He was thinking of disposing of the note right away, but then, he couldn't bring himself to do so after the worried face of Madam Selner kept lingering on in his mind for some reason.

'Did the Madam actually predict a moment like this would come?!'

He didn't know the answer to that. But, if he wanted to find out, he needed to survive first.

Christopher Reid quickly flipped the note over. The Association President Goh Gun-Hui's phone number was written on the back. Apparently, the Korean man was fluent in English. So, there shouldn't be an issue with the language barrier here.

As soon as Christopher Reid made this call, he'd get the help from Mister Seong.

He was rather certain of reading the obituary of that Korean Hunter a couple of days after the fool flew to Japan. After all, it did seem like the boy had overestimated himself a bit there.

However, Christopher Reid's thoughts went through a very quick change after watching the feats of the summoned creatures that guy controlled. The skillset possessed by Mister Seong was indeed all real.

Madam Selner did tell him this before.

["Hunter Seong Jin-Woo. If it's him, he might be able to protect you."]

Since she said those words, there could be some substance behind them, too.

Christopher Reid quickly dialled the number.

No, he tried to.

Unfortunately, his fingers had to stop moving once he felt the presence of people behind him.

It was too late now to ask for help or let someone else know of his situation. Christopher Reid put the phone and the note down and quietly stood back up again.

The first person he saw after slowly turning around was a blonde man with a bright smile etched on his face. One of this man's hands was even tucked in his pocket – a display of utter leisure.

Such a relaxed demeanour would be rather impossible to find from a normal person invading the residence of a rank S Hunter, and not only that, a Hunter boasting one of the highest levels in the entire world.

Christopher Reid asked.

"Who are you people?"

The blondie in front of his eyes, and two more behind this one. There were a total of three intruders.

It was already unknown whether he'd be able to fight off just the one in front, and to think, there were two enemies of similar calibre present, too.

A drop of cold sweat trickled down Christopher Reid's forehead. And just as this drop slid past his brow, past his temple, and all the way down his cheek until it reached the point of his chin….

The blondie began speaking up.

"If you keep trying to accommodate these humans during your struggles, you won't be able to save a single thing, oh Fragment of the Brilliant Light."

And worse still, his voice sounded truly bizarre as if it didn't even belong to this world in the first place.

'….Monster language?!'

Christopher Reid's brows shot up real high.

"Just what the f*ck are you saying here??"

The blondie watched the agitated Christopher Reid react and raised his finger to press it against his lips.

"Shh. I wasn't talking to you."

The blonde's fluent English this time caused the eyes of Christopher Reid to grow wider still.

A being that could speak both the language of man as well as the language of monsters as freely as he willed it – as far as Christopher Reid knew, no such person existed in this world.

The finger leaving the blondie's lips then pointed to the heavens above.

"Up there. I was talking to the dude up there connected to you."

Of course, Christopher Reid couldn't make heads nor tails of what this blonde man was talking about. But he was sure of one thing.

He was sure that this blonde was completely looking down on him right now. Christopher Reid's angry voice powerfully reverberated outward.

"Do I look like a d*mn pushover to you?!"

Crimson light exploded forth from his eyes and soon, vicious flames began whipping around all over his body. In fact, his figure became crimson in colour as well as he grew larger and larger in size. The furniture caught by his expansion were all knocked and shoved away.

Rumble-!!

His new appearance as the angry flames enveloped his entire body was that of the God of Fire! Now easily four metres tall, real flames were spitting out from the creature's eyes.

"At the bare minimum, I will take down one of you with me!"

Christopher Reid's punch collided with the wall and caused a massive explosion.

Ka-boom!!

The two men behind the blondie stepped aside to avoid the debris from the exploding wall and revealed themselves in full.

"Spiritual Body Manifestation….?"

"A human can manifest a Spiritual Body?"

They looked on at Christopher Reid's new appearance with some amount of interest. Meanwhile, the floor Christopher Reid stood on began boiling and melting down.

For the first time since the worst calamity ever to befall humanity, the 'Kamish raid', he prepared himself to die today.

Rumble-!!

The flames wrapped around him became even more violent as if they were about to explode and began swallowing up everything surrounding him.

And as the vicinity was being swept away by his vicious flames, he stood in the middle of this storm of destruction and roared out loudly enough to shake the earth itself.

"Die, you f*cking monster b*stards-!!"

Chapter 182 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 183: Chapter 183

What were the odds of finding a familiar face occupying a seat next to yours after boarding a plane?

Jin-Woo was guided to the first class cabin by the stewardess, but before he could take his seat, he could only stare vacantly at his temporary neighbour. He then spoke in a rather exasperated voice.

"I hope you aren't going to blame this one on coincidence."

"I'd be happy, very much so, if you did, but… yes, it does sound like a bit of stretch, doesn't it?"

Listening to a blue-eyed foreigner speak such fluent Korean still remained a rather disharmonious experience to Jin-Woo. He didn't take his eyes off the man as he settled down on his seat.

"We meet again, Mister Adam White."

"It's an honour to speak to you again, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."

The Senior Agent from America's Hunter Bureau, Adam White, still carried that amiable smile as he bowed his head, just like the first time they met.

Jin-Woo scanned the rest of the first-class cabin.

'Ah, so that was why….'

He was wondering why there were two pretty strong Hunters present in the first-class cabin, but now he could venture a guess and say that they were also affiliated with the Hunter Bureau.

Two men kitted out in black business suits met Jin-Woo's drifting gaze and silently nodded their heads as their greeting.

Here was the thing, though – including the people of the Monitoring Division from the Association as well as these two, why did these 'agents' of something or rather all walk around wearing black business suits as if that was their uniform?

Were they trying to show off the fact that they were agents of some organisation?

Jin-Woo studied those two men with such needless thoughts swirling in his head. In the meantime, though, Adam White was letting out a sigh of admiration.

"We've only met once briefly, yet you still remember my name. I'm honoured."

"Well, let's just say that our first meeting had been too memorable not to remember."

"I'd like to offer my apology about that day's events. We certainly didn't expect there would be a Hunter Madam Selner's abilities couldn't reach…."

Jin-Woo lightly waved his hand about.

Because, as far as apologies were concerned, he heard plenty from the deputy director himself until he felt almost fed up on that very day. He didn't feel like bringing that subject back up again.

However, he was still curious as to why the agents of the Hunter Bureau, who seemed to have cleanly given up on reeling him in, had appeared before him like this.

"I thought our negotiation had broken down completely?"

Jin-Woo's voice became lower. It was at that moment the amiable smile disappeared from Adam White's face.

"We're aware that seeking you out like this without a prior heads-up is quite rude, but an urgent situation had developed and we had no choice but to contact you."

Jin-Woo abruptly recalled the news of a rank S Gate appearing somewhere in the eastern US.

"Could it be that you guys also failed to handle that rank S Gate….?"

"Mm? Ah, no. Not that. We took care of that one, no problem."

If this wasn't about the rank S Gate, then what other problem could there be? Could this matter be somehow related to him killing the King of Giants?

When Jin-Woo displayed his clear interest, Adam White didn't waste any more time and pulled out a notebook PC.

A video clip came up on the computer's screen and it showed thick rising plumes of black smoke as if a wide-scale wildfire had broken out somewhere. Adam handed the laptop over to Jin-Woo so that the latter could watch the clip.

He could see that the firefighters were struggling mighty hard to rein in the flames that were clearly getting stronger and stronger. Those flames definitely contained magic energy.

– What is up with this fire? We can't put it out!

– They can't be a normal blaze!

– Heeey! Over there! Get away from there! You'll turn into charcoal if you get brushed by the flames!

The firefighters were clearly in a panicked state. They seemed to be trying all sorts of methods but the raging inferno showed no signs of weakening at all.

No, it was actually only getting stronger and began to slowly box them in, instead.

A scorched tree toppled over, hitting another tree in the process and transferring the flames; it was a chain reaction giving birth to the unending inferno.

The billowing flames crashed forward like an angry tidal wave.

– Oh, my god!!

– Where is our back-up?!

– When are they arriving?!

It was right then. A helicopter arrived in the nick of time and several Mage-type Hunters disembarked from the vehicle. And they proceeded to pour out water-type magic on the flames.

After magical water spray slammed into the fiery forest dozens upon dozens of times, the inferno gradually was brought under control.

Jin-Woo carefully studied the video.

'All these guys… are top-class Hunters.'

Judging from the strengths of the magic spells used, there was little doubt that they were top-ranked Hunters for sure.

Flames that could only be barely put under control after several top-ranked Hunters had to combine their forces together – this fact confirmed that the cause of the fire itself had to be one hell of a Hunter, as well.

– Oh, Mister Hunters!

– We, we're saved….

– Thanks for your help, Hunters!

The firefighters continued to express their admiration as they gradually killed off the fire that lost most of its power. If the Hunters had arrived only a second later, there could have been a costly human tragedy unfolding in that location.

– Let's go in deeper!

– The fire is dying out!

– We've done it! We've put out the fire!

The video clip was nearing its end. Seeing that there wasn't much time left in the video's duration, Jin-Woo felt it strange and had to ask.

"Why are you showing me this?"

Sure, it had been an interesting viewing experience, but people coming to see him because of some wildfire in the US didn't make much sense to him at all.

Adam White reached out and skipped forward to the last part of the clip.

"Here… please watch the end."

The guy shooting the video broke past the thick black smoke still rising up and continued to venture deeper into the scorched forest until the footage could capture the origin of the inferno.

There must have been an incredibly powerful explosion, judging from the radius of things being swept away.

And in the centre of that radius…..

A single corpse was lying face down there.

There was no need to confirm if the victim was still alive or not. There was a wide hole in his chest and that should have been the exact spot where his heart used to be.

"In order to put out the fire this man caused, over 1800 firefighters and 14 Mage-type Hunters had to be mobilised."

Not only that, they were all top-ranked Hunters, too.

14 high-ranking Hunters had to give their all just to put out a fire lingering around after the one activating it had died already? Just from that alone, Jin-Woo was able to make an educated guess at the identity of the corpse lying face down on the ground.

"Could it be, is he….?"

As Jin-Woo looked up at him, Adam White replied with a melancholic expression.

"As I thought, you have recognised him. Indeed, it was Christopher Reid Hunter-nim."

The previously-unsure Jin-Woo's eyes widened in shock.

But, this didn't make sense. A Special-Authority Hunter, one of the world's very best, had been murdered by someone else?

"We also don't want to believe it, but he had definitely been assassinated."

Right at the end of the video playback, one of the firefighters flipped Christopher Reid's body on its back. With that, one could see the state of the corpse far more clearly.

Not just a hole in his chest, no, there were several horrible wounds inflicted all over his body, too. They were definitely traces of an intense battle.

"And finally, these are…."

Adam White pulled out several photos from his inner pocket and spoke up.

"These are the photos of the being we at the Hunter Bureau strongly suspect to be the culprit in this case."

'….The being?'

Jin-Woo could only feel confused from the way Adam White said his words, as he didn't sound like he was talking about a man or a woman – as if he wasn't talking about a human but a 'thing', instead. Soon, though, the Korean's gaze lowered down to the photographs.

There was no need to even take them for a closer look. Jin-Woo simply stood up from his seat and beckoned with his finger, and that caused Adam White to rise up automatically from his seat, as well.

"Uh, uh?!"

Adam White's eyes opened up wide in surprise.

Jin-Woo used his 'Ruler's Authority' to drag the American agent in closer and grabbed hold of the latter's collars.

"Keo-heok!"

Now that they were close enough for their noses to touch, Jin-Woo spoke in a voice a few octaves lower than before.

"If this is your way of trying to play some kind of a trick… you, all of you, won't walk out of here alive."

He was not making an empty threat here, either.

Jin-Woo's cold eyes were gleaming like a wild, ferocious beast as he genuinely emitted a murderous intent.

Adam White, although his collars were held tight, still managed to cry out.

"Don't! Don't do it!"

Of course, he wasn't shouting at Jin-Woo.

His desperate dissuasion managed to stop just in time the movements of the two high-ranking Hunters about to descend on Jin-Woo.

Having successfully stopped the actions akin to pouring oil into the fire, Adam White then pleaded with Jin-Woo next.

"That being in the photo walked out from a dungeon! He's most likely not the person you know!"

"A dungeon….??"

Jin-Woo's grip on Adam White's collars relaxed just a tad. Being able to breathe just a bit easier now, the American hurriedly added more explanation.

"The magic energy emission from that guy was a match to that of monsters, and he suddenly began attacking our rank S Hunter, as well."

Jin-Woo's gaze lowered down to the photos that fell out of Adam White's hands. The person being photographed by the CCTV cameras was…

None other than Jin-Woo's father.

'My dad came out of a dungeon, and started attacking other Hunters?'

As Jin-Woo began falling into confusion, Adam White quickly clarified himself.

"Do you still remember the accident that happened a few months ago in the HQ of Hunter Bureau? That explosion?"

How could Jin-Woo forget? That incident caused quite a bit of clamour around the world, after all.

All sorts of wild conspiracy theories were flung about, such as – the explosion being the result of a secret experiment gone wrong, a high-ranking Hunter running amok, or even two rank S Awakened fighting each other, etc.

"Are you telling me that was the handiwork of my father?"

Adam White nodded his head.

"He beat down one of our Hunters and vanished into thin air. We at the Hunter Bureau continued to chase him in secrecy, but as if he had disappeared from this world, we couldn't find any traces of him.

Jin-Woo wordlessly listened to Adam White's explanation.

"I understand how you feel, Hunter-nim. However, that person fits the profile best for this particular crime."

For one, he had the precedence of attacking another Hunter, he was strong enough to easily exceed a rank S Awakened, and finally, his whereabouts were a complete mystery. It would not be all that strange to see the Hunter Bureau designate the 'being claiming to be Seong Il-Hwan' as one of the main suspects.

However, even if he took what Adam White said as 100% truth….

Jin-Woo's eyes narrowed down to a slit.

"What is your reason for showing me those pictures?"

"The International Guild Conference."

"During the International Guild Conference, where the representatives from the world's leading Guilds will gather in one spot, the higher-ups of the Hunter Bureau are planning to distribute that person's pictures."

Meaning, they would no longer keep the investigation a secret.

It also meant that the American government had become really enraged by the loss of an invaluable asset called a Special Authority-rank Hunter and they would fully mobilise every resource at their disposal in tracking down and apprehending the party responsible.

In that regard, there would be no better timing than the International Guild Conference.

The assassination of a Special Authority-rank Hunter – quite obviously, gathered Guilds would pay extra attention to this topic, and the announcement from the Hunter Bureau would certainly intensify their interest.

"We at the Hunter Bureau would like to continue maintaining our amicable relationship with you, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."

"So, you came to inform me first before the public announcement takes place, is that it?"

Adam White managed to move his still-restricted head up and down with some difficulty.

"I-if you attend the gathering only to be confronted by the images of your father, you'd no doubt become shocked and confused by it, wouldn't you agree?"

Even if it was unknown whether that thing was really his father returning from the dungeon or a fake that simply looked like him.

From the death of a Special Authority-rank Hunter, to the existence of a being calling itself Seong Il-Hwan, and finally, even about the warrant itself – these were the Hunter Bureau's way of showing consideration, as they had rated Jin-Woo's abilities very highly and didn't want to become his enemy.

Jin-Woo's silence continued on.

He could sense truthfulness from the pleading eyes and voice of Adam White. That came from an emotion borne out of friendly intentions.

Jin-Woo was thinking of not holding back the moment he sensed even a minute level of hostility here.

However, there was the photographic evidence of the being that resembled his father stepping on the neck of the Korean Hunter with American citizenship, Hwang Dong-Su.

He was unable to rebut the assertion of the Hunter Bureau that the person in these photographs couldn't be a human being at all.

"We'd like to ask you for your understanding on why we had no choice but to do this."

Only then did Jin-Woo let go of his collars. The red-faced Adam White coughed and wheezed heavily to the side.

Meanwhile, Jin-Woo picked up the photographs from the floor. No matter how hard he looked, the person in these pictures was definitely his father. His heart madly pounded away as he peered deeper.

Around at that time, the announcement from the pilots came out of the PA system.

[Ladies and gentlemen, the plane will land shortly.]

Even though a commotion broke out in its first-class cabin, the plane still managed to land without any further incident on the runaway of the Incheon International Airport.

Using the skill 'Stealth', Jin-Woo escaped from the eyes of all the reporters waiting for him there. The first thing he did after making his getaway was to call up Yu Jin-Ho.

– "Ah, hyung-nim! You arrived back in the country!"

Perhaps because his father had recovered fully, Yu Jin-Ho's voice sounded even happier than before as he welcomed his hyung-nim back.

However, Jin-Woo was in no mood to smile right now.

"Looks like I'll have to travel to the US next week, after all."

– "Pardon? Are you talking about that International Guild Conference thing? Didn't you say you weren't interested in going, hyung-nim?"

"Situation has changed."

He needed to find more information.

He needed to know more.

He needed some kind of proof so he could determine whether that being was really his father or something else.

In order to meet his goal, he had no choice but to attend this International Guild Conference.

"Can you book me the plane ticket, then?"

When he asked, an unhesitating reply came right back at him.

– "In that case, I shall book two return tickets immediately, hyung-nim!"

Adam White couldn't stand back up again for a long while even after Jin-Woo had left the plane. He tried to get up, only to stagger unsteadily on his feet. The Hunters escorting him quickly asked.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, more or less. Just that I'm a bit exhausted right now."

Adam White sounded more like he was trying to console himself, instead. The Hunters helped him to stand up straight again.

Because his major was in criminal psychology, he got to interrogate his fair share of rather horrible human beings so far. But still, this would be his first time being terrified of another person to this degree.

He could still recall Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's quiet yet cold eyes seemingly tightening around his neck like a noose.

Adam White knew full well that the Korean was not going to come back to harm him, yet just from remembering those eyes, he felt his bowels tighten.

Hunter Seong Jin-Woo before and after the photos was like two different people altogether.

'A person can switch that much, huh.'

However, the truly shocking thing was something else. Adam White asked the Hunters for the confirmation.

"I need to confirm with you both since it happened too quickly for me. Just now, didn't Hunter Seong Jin-Woo somehow move me without touching me at all, right?"

The two high-ranking Hunters, who wouldn't lose out to anyone on the matters of excellent eyesight, nodded their heads as their reply to Adam White's question.

'I thought as much…!'

The American agent was now properly freaking out now. He definitely hadn't seen it incorrectly. That Korean man, he could use psychokinesis.

Up until now, he was under the impression that the psychokinesis was the exclusive ability only available to the Special Authority-rank Hunters. However, Hunter Seong had used it without so much as batting an eyelid.

Adam White felt goosebumps breaking out all over his skin.

Seong Jin-Woo was the first one discovered to possess the psychokinesis skill outside the five Special Authority-rank Hunters.

'There is no time to waste.'

His trembling hand picked up his phone. The ringtone went for a little while before the deputy director answered the call.

Adam White did his best to calm his trembling voice.

"Deputy director… I just discovered the sixth one."

Chapter 183 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

The American Hunter Bureau released the list of the Guilds invited to the conference.

[Sicario Guild, Alron Diaz (Mexico)]

[Ah-Jin Guild, Seol Jin-Woo (South Korea)]

[Ira et Vitae Guild, Fabio Garco (Italy)]

The International Guild Conference.

It was an important event where Guilds representing their nations were invited over to discuss the current trends and future prospects of the Hunter community at large.

And 'Ah-Jin Guild' had been chosen to represent South Korea. Its participation in the conference became the hot topic of conversation for both the local and international mass media.

The thing was, Jin-Woo was the sole high-ranking Hunter affiliated with that Guild as well as its Master. This invitation was no different from the American Hunter Bureau publicly acknowledging that this single Hunter was in no way inferior to any of the very best Guilds in the world. Guilds that countless high-ranked Hunters worked for.

However – no, perhaps unsurprisingly – not one person raised a voice of discontent. Because, was there really a need to discuss whether that lone Hunter was qualified or not in this case?

Jin-Woo already possessed the records of solving two massive crises on the level of bringing their respective nations down to their knees in South Korea and Japan. Most importantly, all by himself, too.

Quite obviously, no one now dismissed the capabilities of the Ah-Jin Guild, or more precisely, the core of the Guild itself, Jin-Woo, and his abilities.

No, even more than that – quite a few people around the world were getting rather hyped up from the prospect of a brand new super-powerful Hunter participating in the gathering, where the strongest Awakened scattered throughout the world would stand on one stage.

Whenever the international mass media talked about the Japanese dungeon break incident, they also mentioned Ah-Jin Guild planning to participate in the International Guild Conference in the same breath as if it was the most obvious thing to do.

South Korea was no exception.

As the local interest in the International Guild Conference heated up, one of the TV stations requested the Master of the Hunters Guild, Choi Jong-In, for an interview.

He knew that the station couldn't ask Jin-Woo for one and had sought him out as an alternative, but still, he readily said yes.

And so, the interview being broadcast live to the nation took up the time slot of the eight in the evening, the one seen as the most important hour just before the watershed.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Choi Jong-In, and I'm the person in charge of the Hunters Guild."

His handsome visage and the inviting smile made sure to shake up the hearts of many ladies watching the broadcast.

Currently, the comments section of the TV station's website was inundated with complaints from the female viewers at home. They all said that it should've been the Hunters Guild getting the invite for the conference, instead.

"Thank you for coming, Chairman Choi."

The female interviewer lowered her head as a greeting and began asking the prepared questions.

"The news regarding Ah-Jin Guild has attracted a great deal of interest from many people around the country. But, what are your thoughts regarding this issue?"

Choi Jong-In didn't even hesitate for a second before he made his reply.

"I believe that the American Hunter Bureau made the right choice."

"It's not 'you understand the reason why', but you believe it was the right choice?"

"Yes. I definitely believe that's the case."

"But, it's not an exaggeration to say that the Ah-Jin Guild is basically a one-man show, is it not?"

"Let's not forget that that one-man show is currently being run by none other than Hunter Seong Jin-Woo."

Choi Jong-In replied with an amiable smile on his face, and the interviewer also broke out in a smile, as well.

Before her smile could end, though, Choi Jong-In smoothly continued on.

"If you define the Guild staff members as personnel that could be mobilised in a combat situation, then you could say that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo already possesses hundreds of Guild staff members."

"Are you referring to Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim's summons?"

"That's correct. I believe that Ah-Jin's overall combat potential won't lose out to anyone, even when compared to some of the very best Guilds around the world."

"Just because of Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim?"

"Yes, because of him."

Noisy, noisy….

Choi Jong-In's firm, unwavering reply caused an outbreak of low murmurings from the audience members in the studio, but the man himself remained calm in his demeanour.

He had witnessed Jin-Woo's feats both directly and indirectly, so he was absolutely certain of this. Even now, his feelings hadn't changed.

Every time he recalled Jin-Woo creating a path in that siege of ant monsters, all the back hair on Choi Jong-In's neck would stand up and goosebumps quickly enveloped his entire body.

'Just who out there would believe that, in the past, he used to be a rank E Hunter?'

Choi Jong-In didn't hold back and acknowledged the difference in strength between his Guild and that of the Ah-Jin Guild, and that elevated the atmosphere of the TV studio to an even hotter degree than ever before.

The interviewer smiled in satisfaction, before cautiously studying Choi Jong-In's response.

"Even still, the Hunters Guild can't be too happy about this situation. After all, It was your Guild that had been participating in the Conference for the last several years."

"Yes, it indeed hurts a little that our dream American trip had to be cancelled this year. I mean, we have all renewed our passports and been waiting for the invite to arrive in the mail, you see."

Choi Jong-In joked around good-heartedly and that prompted a burst of laughter from the audience members.

"However, the pride I feel easily trumps any pain in my gut."

Choi Jong-In's smile that had been constantly fixed on his face was suddenly replaced by something much more earnest. The laughter from the audience members died out gradually. Meanwhile, the light within the interviewer's eyes also became earnest, as well.

Words spoken from now on would be the main topic of this interview – such atmosphere emanated from the expression Choi Jong-In was making right now. Quite naturally, the gazes of the audience members were directed towards his lips next.

Choi Jong-In had appeared in TV shows quite often and knew how to play the crowd. He built up some suspense to get everyone psyched up first before opening his mouth.

"Please, think about it. Even if monsters my powers aren't good enough to deal with appear before us, we now have a Hunter we can completely place our faith in."

His words spoken from the depths of his heart carried a certain weight that no simple description could adequately convey. That weight from one man's opinion bore down on the studio, leading to the interviewer and the audience members to forget what they wanted to say and simply stare at Choi Jong-In.

As silence filled the once-noisy filming venue, he quietly spoke up.

"In all honesty, my Guild members and I, not to mention countless other people affiliated with other Guilds, managed to survive all thanks to Hunter Seong coming to lend his aid."

Choi Jong-In scanned the audience members. He wasn't trying to achieve this effect, but still, the atmosphere had become quite sombre somehow.

In order to brighten up the mood, he formed a warm smile and finished what he wanted to say.

"I am genuinely proud of the fact that Hunter Seong has been chosen to represent South Korea."

When he did, thunderous clapping exploded out from the audience members.

Choi Jong-In successfully concluded the interview and was about to leave the TV station when he received a call on his mobile phone.

Vrrr…. Vrrr….

'Mm?'

He lifted up his vibrating phone to find the number belonging to his advisor in the Guild, manager Joh Myoung-Ki.

"Hello, this is Choi Jong-In."

– "Sir, we got the raid permit for the Gate that appeared this morning in the suburb of Suseo-dong. It's a rank A, but the actual measurement value apparently isn't that high, sir."

"That's good news."

Choi Jong-In formed a smile after hearing that piece of good news before tilting his head a little.

"By the way, did Ah-Jin Guild not apply for the raid permit again?"

– "Yes, sir. Now that you mention it, it's been spookily quiet from them lately."

It had been four days since Hunter Seong Jin-Woo had returned from Japan. And during that time, four high ranking Gates had opened up. Basically, it was at the rate of one a day.

The rate of high-ranked Gates being generated had gone up quite rapidly, yet the Ah-Jin Guild – or, more specifically, the entirety of Ah-Jin Guild itself, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, hadn't shown any signs of movement at all.

But well, the major Guilds located in the Capital had been in a constant state of celebration day after day due to these events.

All because the destroyer of the monsters, the god of destroying dungeons who rushed in like crazy whenever a new Gate appeared so he could completely root out all monsters within, had not shown himself for the last few days.

However, Choi Jong-In felt a certain strange sense of discord whenever Seong Jin-Woo wasn't there at the location of a Gate, and that made him feel a bit concerned.

'I'm different from Baek Yun-Ho of the White Tiger or Im Tae-Gyu.'

If you didn't care about anything else and simply felt happy about an apple suddenly falling from a tree, then what made you any different from a simple-minded ape?

Some would begin drooling at the prospect of free apples, while some others would start thinking about the laws of gravity.

Choi Jong-In thought that his class hadn't fallen low enough to simply celebrate this sudden slice of good fortune. It was at that moment he got to hear the bright, innocent-sounding voice of manager Joh Myoung-Ki coming from the phone.

– "Nevertheless, our profit has gone up by nearly 40% after not experiencing any competition from Ah-Jin Guild, sir!"

"Well, here's an ape….."

– "Excuse me?"

"Ahh, never mind. It's nothing."

Choi Jong-In quickly changed the topic.

"Did the Association say they know what's going on here?"

– "They believe that he's at home, resting. The way I hear it, he hasn't even shown up all that much in the Guild offices, either."

"H-mm…."

– "Sir, I don't think there's a need to overcomplicate this. Couldn't he be taking a bit of break in preparation for the International Guild Conference?"

Choi Jong-In shook his head.

"I don't think that's the case."

Just what kind of a person was Hunter Seong Jin-Woo? Choi Jong-In spoke up his explanation.

"Before his ranking reassignment test, he cleared three to four lower-ranked Gates in a day. And after he became a rank S, he began intruding into the territory of other Guilds, and only a few days ago, he went to Japan and sorted out a rank S dungeon break all by himself. That's who Hunter Seong Jin-Woo is."

Having heard all heard that, even Joh Myoung-Ki became curious as to why Ah-Jin Guild had suddenly gone quiet recently. Didn't Hunter Seong always show up in a place crawling with lots of monsters? He couldn't have been fatigued from the Giant monster raid, right?

He now thought that his boss getting puzzled by the Ah-Jin Guild's lack of activity was not so strange anymore.

– "Now that you mention it, sir, it does sound odd."

"Oh, by the way. Wasn't the Ah-Jin Guild supposed to interview the prospective employees today? But, he still didn't show up there?"

– "Yes, sir. Seong Hunter-nim was nowhere to be found in the interview location. It was just that Vice Master, Yu Jin-Ho doing everything by himself."

A short bout of silence flowed between the two men. Choi Jong-In eventually broke the silence first and spoke in a relatively calm voice.

"And how do you know that, manger Joh?"

– "I might really die at this rate, hyung-nim."

The moment Jin-Woo answered the phone, Yu Jin-Ho began bitterly complaining. He couldn't help but grin a little.

It must've indeed been tough staring at the faces of the applicants the whole day. Although the number of hopefuls had been carefully filtered and trimmed down, didn't it still shoot past several hundred?

The kid might have been young, but he was doing his job as the Vice-Master of a Guild and the proxy of Jin-Woo admirably well.

'Is this why the wise elders say you are your father's child?'

Sure, his 'dongsaeng' might come across as a bit naïve and dopey, but within Yu Jin-Ho's body flowed the blood of the natural-born business tycoon Chairman Yu Myung-Han.

And thanks to that, Jin-Woo could simply leave the running of the Guild to Yu Jin-Ho and freely pursue what he wanted to do.

"Thanks. You worked hard."

– "No, not at all, hyung-nim. By the way, how are things on your side?"

"Here?"

Jin-Woo looked behind him. The JSDF soldiers on standby sent him a signal as if the preparations had been completed. Seeing that, a smile floated back up on his lips.

"Well, it's the same old story. I guess things could get delayed a bit here, so close up shop without me."

– "Got it, hyung-nim."

Yu Jin-Ho's polite goodbye signalled the end of the phone call.

An employee working for the Japanese Hunter's Association hurriedly ran towards Jin-Woo and received the phone as well as his luggage. Having handed over his stuff for safekeeping, he slowly loosened his neck and shoulder muscles.

This state of heightened feelings he'd get while lightly stretching his muscles before a raid always served to relax his mind.

As if to provide a conversation partner while Jin-Woo was stretching his body, or maybe he was just curious about something, the Japanese Association employee suddenly asked a question.

"If you let the world know that you're busy closing the Gates being generated in the disaster areas, your fame would skyrocket even further, so if I may ask, why are you keeping it a secret?"

Jin-Woo's reply to that was pretty simple. He finished his light stretching exercise and grinned brightly.

"I like peace and quiet, you see."

Humility was one of the highest praised qualities in Japanese society.

Tears began welling up in the eyes of the Association employee as he took Jin-Woo's "peace and quiet" answer as the latter being modest in his actions.

"If you need anything, please let me know immediately! I shall absolutely do everything in my power to make it come true, even if that means I must die!!"

….Well, this guy seemed to be clearly mistaken about something, but as long as the end result was good, all's well. Jin-Woo could only smile awkwardly and lightly patted the Japanese man on the shoulders before walking nearer to the Gate.

The JSDF soldiers stepped aside to create a path and saluted Jin-Woo.

This Gate was ranked at 'A'. Jin-Woo had been travelling from Korea and Japan every day to monopolise all the high-ranking Gates the Japanese couldn't handle by themselves.

He should thank the Japanese spy satellite that could detect magical energy, as well as his movement skill, 'Shadow Exchange', for this venture.

Jin-Woo stood before the Gate and looked up. Indeed, it was a pretty d*mn big thing that totally fit its rank A status.

He didn't need to spend a heap of cash trying to book high-ranking Gates here, and the Japanese government even promised to waiver all related taxes.

However, the financial side of the things was not the biggest merit for him – no, it'd be the fact that he got to monopolise every single high-ranked Gates appearing within the breadth of Japan, a large country that had lost the functionality of Guilds after the dungeon break disaster.

'Demon King's Shortsword.'

Shururuk….

"Heok."

A young soldier witnessed a pair of shortswords suddenly materialising in Jin-Woo's hands and reflexively gasped out in surprise. And then, as if he got embarrassed by that outburst, he quickly bowed towards Jin-Woo.

He simply smirked as a reply and began walking towards the Gate.

'Four days left until the International Guild Conference.'

Jin-Woo told himself that he couldn't afford to waste a single day and jumped straight into the Gate. Along with the mechanical beep, he was also greeted by the familiar voice in his ears.

Tti-ring.

[You have entered a dungeon.]

"Will this be fine, sir?"

Woo Jin-Cheol cautiously asked his question. The Association President Goh Gun-Hui showed no signs of agitation as he received a report.

"Regarding?"

"Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim…. Recently, he has been frequently visiting Japan."

The Hunter's Association could use the Hunter-issue smartphones to trace the current whereabouts of individual Hunters. And they had been feeding disinformation to those asking for Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's whereabouts as ordered by the Association President Goh Gun-Hui.

"What if Seong Hunter-nim decides to simply stay put in Japan…."

South Korea would be losing the greatest Hunter ever while sucking on their thumbs doing nothing. This would be Woo Jin-Cheol's worry in a nutshell.

For some reason, though, President Goh Gun-Hui didn't seem to be all that concerned regarding this event, even though he probably held the highest evaluation of Jin-Woo out of anyone alive.

That appearance certainly caused some amount of frustration in Woo Jin-Cheol's heart.

Perhaps finding the anxiety-ridden expression of his younger subordinate a bit pitiable, Goh Gun-Hui chuckled gently and finally spoke up.

"You don't need to worry."

"By any chance, do you know something, sir?"

"You see, he came to see me before he went over to Japan to hunt down those Giant-type monsters."

That sounded quite logical. After all, it was precisely the Association President Goh Gun-Hui who announced the story of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo planning to hunt those Giants to the world.

Goh Gun-Hui recalled the memories of that meeting.

"I, of course, tried to dissuade him. I told him that, compared to the risk, he'd be earning far too little from this venture. It wasn't as if he was promised a huge amount of cash like Yuri Orlov in the first place."

Woo Jin-Cheol nodded his head.

Jin-Woo demanded the rights to the corpses of the monsters and that was all. For the price of saving an entire country, that was far, far too small.

'Of course, that didn't mean there was enough spare time to negotiate a deal with a country busy losing several cities in a day….'

One should say that the matters couldn't be helped back then.

The Association President should be protecting the Hunters of his own nation, so it was already an odd thing for him to let Hunter Seong go this easily.

"But then, he told me this."

Goh Gun-Hui recalled the conversation back then and formed a deep grin. Woo Jin-Cheol couldn't win against his curiosity and asked back first.

"What… did he say?"

Goh Gun-Hui happily replied to that.

"He said, he wanted the Ah-Jin Guild's territory to also include Japan."

"Keo-heok!"

A shocked gasp jumped out from Woo Jin-Cheol's mouth. Goh Gun-Hui's initial reaction after hearing that declaration from Jin-Woo himself wasn't all that different, either.

"Japan's major Guilds lost most of their strength from the losses incurred on Jeju Island, as well as from the attacks of the Giants. He told me straight that his Ah-Jin Guild will fill the void left behind by them."

"Huh-uh…."

Woo Jin-Cheol couldn't shut his slack mouth.

Was it the young man's confidence or simply an excellent head on his shoulders that allowed him to think that far ahead, even before he got to hunt down a single Giant? Regardless of what it was, Jin-Woo still got to achieve his objective.

After all, wasn't this story something the Japanese would welcome with wide open arms?

"After hearing that, how could I not permit him going there?"

While the major Guilds were busy bickering among themselves over the comparatively small territory of Seoul, he'd go and make the entirety of Japan his own.

One of the qualifications to become a true Hunter was the talent to choose his own hunting spot. And as he even possessed the necessary power to handle whatever his prey turned out to be, one could definitely call Seong Jin-Woo as someone born to become a Hunter.

Goh Gun-Hui let the opinion stewing in his mind, as well as a sigh of admiration, escape from his mouth.

"He sure is one incredible fellow."

"….I agree wholeheartedly, sir."

Woo Jin-Cheol definitely agreed with that sentiment.

Putting aside the incredible power of travelling between Korea and Japan in an instant without the aid of an aeroplane, the fact that he also possessed enough abilities to make that nonsensical goal into reality, could only bring about a sigh of admiration from both men.

With excellent timing, the TV that was left switched on began showing the clip from Choi Jong-In's interview.

["I am genuinely proud of the fact that Hunter Seong has been chosen to represent South Korea."]

The Association President Goh Gun-Hui leaned against the couch as a genuine chuckle left his mouth, and spoke back to Choi Jong-In on the screen.

"I also think the same as you."

Chapter 184 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 185: Chapter 185

Goh Gun-Hui switched the TV off. As it turned out, it was already nine in the evening, a bit too late to say that now's a good time to get off work for the day. However, it seemed that Woo Jin-Cheol still had something else to say.

"The Chinese have requested for information on Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."

"Information? You mean, his personal information?"

"No, sir. It's not that."

"What do they want, then?"

"The requested information is Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim's raid records as well as any official reports related to them."

That seemed about right; unless the Chinese were truly dumb, they probably knew they wouldn't be receiving any personal information of a rank S Hunter – no, someone who may greatly exceed that category altogether.

The question was, why were the Chinese showing their interest in Hunter Seong Jin-Woo at this belated stage? After all, they must've heard his decision not to entertain any love calls or scouting offers from other countries, which included China.

"The one requesting the information wasn't the Chinese government, sir."

"Really?"

"It's actually from a single individual."

"An individual?"

The Hunter's Association representing a country would never release information to any individual Hunters. But to think, this request was made by a person?

Goh Gun-Hui thought it'd be the obvious thing to refuse that request outright, so he was puzzled by the fact that the issue had been brought up at all. Woo Jin-Cheol quickly added some additional explanation.

"It seems that China's Seven Star-ranked Hunter, Liu Zhigeng, has taken interest in Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."

Liu Zhigeng!

With the mentioning of that unexpected name, Goh Gun-Hui became somewhat lost for words.

China didn't accept the global standard in ranking Hunters and used its own unique ranking system. The higher the number of 'stars' in front of your ranking, the better Hunter you were. And for them, 'Five Star' was the highest attainable rank.

However, only one person was separated from that ranking system. Only Liu Zhigeng was ranked as the Seven Star. And rather obviously, the treatment he received was on another realm compared to the ordinary Five Stars.

Of course, not one person was brave enough to raise a fuss regarding the fact that he, a well-known 'Special Authority-rank' Hunter, was receiving preferential treatment.

He possessed abilities that deserved such recognition, and China herself respected that fact greatly as well.

'That Liu Zhigeng has taken an interest in Hunter Seong Jin-Woo?'

The thirst of Goh Gun-Hui's curiosity was then quenched by Woo Jin-Cheol's reply.

"Sir, didn't Liu Zhigeng fight the Giant-type monster? I'm quite sure that's why he's interested in knowing more about Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim, who had hunted down every other Giant."

That sounded logical. Goh Gun-Hui nodded his head.

Not too long ago, a single Giant-type monster escaped from Japan and swam towards China. And it had been reported that the creature was ably dealt with by Liu Zhigeng at the Chinese coastline.

"The truly strong can recognise another strong being, is that it?"

Goh Gun-Hui formed a slightly mischievous grin.

The American Hunter Bureau that invited the Ah-Jin Guild. And China's greatest Hunter Liu Zhigeng, beginning to show his interest in Jin-Woo.

Both America and China had finally recognised the true worth of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo. For someone like Goh Gun-Hui, who knew that man's true value from the very beginning, this development certainly made him feel rather good about himself.

Even then…

'Even then, that doesn't mean I'll hand over any information, just like that.'

Was there a need to advertise how excellent Korea's genius was to those craving after other people's geniuses?

Sure, a Special Authority-rank Hunter would get quite annoyed by it, but so what?

'We have Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, after all.'

Goh Gun-Hui made up his mind and let out a genial, hearty chuckle.

"That request? Deny it, please."

Dungeons had changed.

That was Jin-Woo's overriding impression as he cleared all the high-ranked dungeons being generated throughout Japan.

As he scanned the interior of this particular dungeon, his glare became even sharper than before. He could definitely sense the presence of monsters, but his eyes couldn't detect them.

If his sensory perception or experience had been lacking somehow, this situation would've been enough to cause some consternation. Fortunately, Jin-Woo lacked neither of those.

'Is it up, this time?'

Jin-Woo stopped walking and raised his head up. Sure enough, some type of thick liquid dropped in the spot just a bit up ahead and began melting the ground.

Chi-jiiiiek…..

Thick smoke rose up from the ground as it melted down by what was clearly an acidic substance. Perhaps inevitably, the stink was rather atrocious, as well.

Naturally, Jin-Woo's expression crumpled unsightly.

When he showed no inclination to come forward anymore, the large blobs of something attached to the ceiling dropped down to the ground, instead.

Thud, thud, plop….

These blobs then began assuming humanoid shapes next.

He was now confronted by a strange type of monster whose face was covered in a white mask, while the rest of its body was made up of blackish liquid. These bizarre creatures had never been seen before up until now.

Twelve of them were blocking his path. Jin-Woo quietly called out the name of his old pal.

'Knight Killer.'

Then, a single dagger suddenly appeared in his hand.

In the not too distant past, this guy used to be his main combat weapon alongside 'Baruka's Dagger', but it had been collecting dust in the corner of the Inventory after he got his hands on the pair of 'Demon King's Shortswords'.

However, he found a good place to use it for the first time in a while. Jin-Woo briefly felt nostalgic from the familiar grip, before throwing the 'Knight Killer' at one of the monsters approaching him.

'Dagger Rush!'

Swiiiish-!

The dagger flew in a straight line while issuing a hair-raising screech and landed directly in the chest of the monster. Unfortunately, it simply flew right through as if to mock his accuracy and stabbed deeply into the wall behind the creature.

That wasn't all, either.

The black liquid coated the dagger as it went through the body of the monster and began melting the weapon down.

Chiii-eeek- Chiiieeek….

The dagger soon turned soft and malleable in no time, before transforming into an unrecognisable substance and slid down from the wall.

'I thought as much.'

His expectation of regular physical attacks not working against this monster was on the money.

It was then. The monsters didn't even give him enough time to eulogise the passing of his old comrade, 'Knight Killer', and pounced on him at the same time. They were surprisingly nimble, as well.

However, Jin-Woo simply greeted them back with 'Ruler's Authority'.

Ka-boom!!

The monsters were attacked by the unseen hands and were immediately flung away all at the same time.

Tumble!

The bodies of the creatures were ripped to shreds as they tumbled back down to the ground, but then, they coagulated back again and returned to their previous state.

"Huh."

Jin-Woo chuckled wryly at that gob-smacking level of regeneration. He was almost tempted to summon out his Shadow Soldiers and start a competition of who possessed better regenerative powers, but….

'….Be patient.'

Physical damage, whether it be tangible or not, didn't seem to work. So, then. What should he do next?

Jin-Woo relaxedly dodged the outpouring of monsters' attacks and pondered this quandary for a bit, before realising that a particular creature among them was moving around unnaturally compared to the others.

'Mm?'

Jin-Woo's eyes narrowed to a slit.

Now that he took a closer look, one of that particular creature's arms wasn't regenerated, and also, the corner of the white mask covering its face had been cracked to a noticeable degree. It must've been broken off when the monster was flung away by the 'Ruler's Authority' earlier.

'Oh, so that was your weak point?'

A smirk floated up on Jin-Woo's face. As long as he knew how to attack these things, killing them would be a piece of cake.

Swish, swish!

Jin-Woo continued to easily evade all the punches thrown desperately by the monsters and summoned out his current comrades.

'Demon King's Shortswords.'

Once he got to tightly grasp the shortswords in each of his hands, cold glint flashed in his eyes.

Crack!

A monster powerlessly crumbled to the ground as the 'Demon King's Shortsword' stabbed its forehead.

Plop.

That was just the beginning. Jin-Woo moved as if he was performing a slick dance routine and in no time at all, destroyed the white masks of all the monsters present.

Crack!

Kwahck!

And eventually…

Crack!

The mask of the sole remaining monster was split in half. The creature reverted to being pure liquid and lost its overall shape as it crumbled to the floor.

Easily taking care of all twelve of them, Jin-Woo returned the 'Demon King's Shortswords' back to his Inventory.

If it wasn't him, but some other people finding themselves in this situation, what would've happened?

Without a doubt, several of them would've met their end before someone finally figured out that regular attacks didn't work. And then, a few more would have been sacrificed until they figured out the monster's weakness.

Or, even worse – the whole raiding party could have lost their lives before finding out the weakness. Even if that party happened to be made up of elite Hunters.

That was how strong, nimble, and dangerous these d*mn things were. Unfortunately, this was not his first time running into creatures this strong.

'For sure…. dungeons have changed.'

On that day, after the King of Giants was killed by his hands, Mana Stones had disappeared from the dungeons appearing throughout the world.

The ores that used to suck up most of the magical energy leaking out from the dungeon itself were now all gone and so, that magic energy with nowhere to go had all become part of the monsters, instead.

Meaning, even if the ranking of a dungeon remained the same as in the past, the conditions had become far more dangerous.

'And on top of that, monsters as dangerous as these ones have begun showing up, too….'

Jin-Woo's frown grew deeper.

If a run-of-the-mill raid party entered a high-ranked dungeon willy-nilly, then they would not be able to avoid running into a serious accident inside.

As a matter of fact, he had been hearing some news of several 'accidents' happening from all over the world lately. He already assigned the protection of his family to Beru, as he was feeling anxious about these developments.

If it was Beru, then he'd be able to resolve most crises by himself even if a dungeon break happened nearby.

'But, then again…'

It wasn't all necessarily a bad thing for the rate of Gate generation to go up, as well as the monsters in the dungeons to become stronger. At least, for Jin-Woo, that was.

Because, it'd be easier to raise his level this way. For instance, this dungeon was still full of monsters he hadn't disposed of yet. He could feel on his skin a large number of monsters hiding deeper in the dungeon while emitting overwhelming magical energy.

A smile now floated up on Jin-Woo's face.

'Well, I'm now familiar with how to deal with these strange monsters. I guess it's time to start the hunt properly, isn't it?'

The warm-up exercises were now over. And the proper subjugation was about to begin.

"Come out."

Shururuk….

The Shadow Soldiers stopped hiding in Jin-Woo's shadow and appeared behind him in full force. He told them how to deal with the monsters, so they shouldn't be experiencing any difficulty in dealing with the enemy.

Jin-Woo sent out the signal with his eyes. Igrit was now entrusted with the command of the entire army, since Beru had become the guard dog protecting his home, instead. The black knight issued the order for the troops to advance.

Dududududu-!!

The entirety of the huge cavern began rocking loudly from the marching footsteps of the Shadow Soldiers.

The world's best Hunters began landing on US soil one by one before the International Guild Conference began. Among them were, of course, the Special Authority-rank Hunters.

However, Thomas Andre's interest was solely fixated on one single person.

'Tomorrow's the day Seong Jin-Woo enters the US….'

He had confirmed Jin-Woo's arrival schedule earlier, and on the day before that fateful date, he summoned Hwang Dong-Su into his office.

"Did you call for me, sir?"

Hwang Dong-Su cautiously studied Thomas Andre's atmosphere. It had been a few years since he started working in the Scavenger Guild, but even now, he found it rather difficult to speak to its Master.

Because, that man wielded incredible strength, was cursed with a hard-to-fathom personality, and finally, was even beset with an extreme case of possessiveness, as well.

Hwang Dong-Su might be a rank S Hunter, but before Thomas Andre, he became an utterly insignificant being.

"Mister Hwang."

Thomas Andre went to the main topic right away.

"Do not ever provoke Seong Jin-Woo."

Hwang Dong-Su's eyes grew larger. He formed an expression that seemed to ask 'How did you know' before his gaze drifted towards Laura, standing behind Thomas Andre.

She simply responded with her eyes that said, she only did what she had to do.

"Che."

Hwang Dong-Su let a dissatisfied grunt escape from his mouth. Meanwhile, Thomas Andre continued on.

"I know about your brother and Hunter Seong Jin-Woo. I'm sure you feel suspicious of some things, and also want to know what happened back then."

Hwang Dong-Su's older brother, Hwang Dong-Seok had entered a dungeon along with Seong Jin-Woo, only to go 'missing' and never came back out.

The eight fixed members of Hwang Dong-Seok's raid party were all dead, yet the two people who walked out from that dungeon alive had formed a Guild together.

So, quite obviously, he had plenty of things to ask Seong Jin-Woo. Naturally, his dissatisfaction seeped into his expression.

"But…."

Before he could properly say something, though, Thomas Andre raised his finger up and waved it around. His lips below the sunglasses arched up. He was actually smiling.

"I don't remember giving you permission to speak, Mister Hwang?"

Keep your mouth shut and just listen – that was the message of a clear threat.

There wouldn't be all that many people capable of issuing a true warning to a top-ranked Hunter in this world. One of them just so happened to be Thomas Andre.

Hwang Dong-Su was well aware of the gap between himself and his boss, so he obediently kept his mouth shut.

Thomas emphasized his point again.

"Do not ever provoke Seong Jin-Woo. During the duration of the Guild Conference, take some time off and relax at the Guild's getaway villa in the countryside. So, how about it? Are you willing to humour my earnest plea?"

"Mister Hwang?"

Hwang Dong-Su nodded his head, unable to hold out any longer.

"…..I shall do as you say."

"Good to hear. You can go now."

Hwang Dong-Su's expression stiffened hard as he quickly made his escape from the Guild Master's office. Meanwhile, Laura asked her boss in a worried voice.

"Will this be enough, sir?"

Thomas Andre's own expression had hardened as well as he shook his head.

"No."

He definitely read the signs of ill intent flickering within Hwang Dong-Su's expression just now. That fool still couldn't let go of this matter, it seemed.

"Laura?"

"Yes, sir."

"Until Seong Jin-Woo leaves US soil, place Mister Hwang under strict surveillance."

"Will he…. take that lying down?"

Although he had been suppressed by the aura of Thomas Andre, Hwang Dong-Su's original personality was as stubborn as it could get, as well.

However, Thomas wasn't worried. No, rather, he knew that this matter wasn't simple enough to sweat over something as minor as Hwang Dong-Su's disgruntlement.

Thomas Andre scratched his chin before making a nonchalant reply.

"Well… being frustrated should be better than being dead, right?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

"Why are there so many reporters here?"

Germany's best Hunter, Lennart Niermann, set foot inside the American airport after disembarking from his plane. He immediately let a surprised gasp escape from his mouth from the view greeting him.

As befitting the Master of the 'Richter' Guild representing Germany, he got to attend the International Guild Conference every single year, but even then, he had never seen this many reporters camping out in the airport before.

As he stood there in shock, the Vice-Master of the Richter Guild tried to solve the riddle for him.

"Well, that Korean Hunter everyone's been talking about is scheduled to arrive today."

"Aha."

Lennart understood it right away.

Even if you were a rank S Hunter, it was incredibly difficult to resolve a dungeon break from a rank S Gate. And, what if the creatures popping out from that rank S dungeon just so happened to be Giant-type monsters?

The Hunter capable of solo-clearing a dungeon break that no one else wanted any part of, was about to step on the U.S. soil for the first time in his life. So, how could the mass media remain silent on this momentous occasion?

Perhaps he too got infected by the enthusiasm from all the reporters here, as even Lennart himself grew interested in this matter now.

'So, he's coming today?'

With excellent timing, the passengers of the plane inbound from South Korea began pouring out into the airport. The Vice-Master pointed to the side over yonder.

"Ah! There he is!"

The Vice-Master was also a rank S Hunter. He may not be as good as Lennart, his boss, but still, his perception was capable enough to easily suss out Jin-Woo's face among the crowd of people.

Lennart Niermann's eyes gleamed brightly just then.

"Should we go and say hi?"

"Pardon?"

"We've got nothing to lose by being acquaintances with a strong Hunter, right?"

"Well, yes. That's true."

The Vice-Master agreed with that idea.

The personal connections built up in such a manner would prove to be rather beneficial if an event requiring international cooperation or the aid of another Guild happened in the future.

This was, in essence, what the whole International Guild Conference was originally conceived for, where the best Hunters from the world were asked to come and exchange pointers, as it were. Especially when it was quite difficult for these Hunters to actually meet one another like this.

Lennart tidied his attire and approached Jin-Woo's travelling group. No, he tried to.

However, he came to an abrupt halt after taking only a couple of steps. Even his complexion was gradually paling, too. The Vice-Master ended up walking a step ahead because of his boss's sudden stop. He turned around and asked in confusion.

"Aren't you going to speak to him?"

Lennart's expression hardened instantly as he replied.

"That… can't you see that??"

"Excuse me?"

It seemed that the Vice-Master could not see it at all. However, Lennart was one of the very best Hunters in the entire world and he could clearly sense it. He muttered to himself in complete disbelief.

"Instead of summoning his creatures from some other dimension, he's been going around with them all this time?"

"Eh?"

What was he even talking about?

The Vice-Master was taken aback with surprise from Lennart's reaction and quickly took a look in the direction Jin-Woo was walking in from. But, let alone a single summon, he couldn't even spot a hair of the summoned creature anywhere near the Korean man.

"He's with his summons?"

"That's right! So many of them, too!"

Lennart could pick up on the presence of the Shadow Soldiers hiding within Jin-Woo's shadow. One hundred. Two hundred. Three…

No, could he even finish counting them all?

He hurriedly swallowed his saliva.

'From that number alone, I'd have believed it if someone told me that man came here to wage war against America.'

He stood there shivering while thinking that, if he were tasked with the role of inviting people over to his nation, he'd never, ever invite someone like 'that'.

There could be one of two reasons. Either the American Hunter Bureau had no clue the true depths of that Korean Hunter's power, or they were completely sure that such a power would never be used against them.

The incredible pressure Jin-Woo emanated grew stronger and stronger as he got nearer the German Hunter. Such a sensation could only be felt from those Hunters labelled Special Authority-rank, such as Thomas Andre or Christopher Reid.

Lennart's head faltered lower even before he realised it just as Jin-Woo walked right past by him. He simply didn't have enough courage to meet that man's eyes at all. His instincts had dictated his actions.

After Jin-Woo's group had completely walked past them, the Vice-Master shot a quizzical look at his boss acting strangely and asked a question of concern.

"Master? Are you feeling unwell somehow? Your complexion…."

"N-no… it's not that."

Lennart Niermann wiped the cold sweat off his brows.

You could only see as much as you know; being able to decipher the gap between yourself and the opponent was also a part of one's abilities.

But, at least right in this moment, he felt quite envious of his Vice-Master, or for that matter, the throng of reporters, who weren't scared off by the presence of a truly, nonsensically powerful Hunter.

Jin-Woo tilted his head this way and that, prompting Yu Jin-Ho to take a look behind him and ask.

"Did you spot someone you know, hyung-nim?"

"No. It's just that, some foreigner was looking at me over and over again."

Yu Jin-Ho chuckled as if such a thing was nothing to fret about.

"Hyung-nim, your stories have spread out far and wide to the rest of the world, so surely, you must have lots of fans by now. Maybe he wanted your autograph, hyung-nim."

Well, that guy seemed to be too exceptional a Hunter for someone 'hunting' around for autographs, though.

Jin-Woo smirked and continued on with his steps.

Beside himself and Yu Jin-Ho, two more people were accompanying them during this overseas trip – Section Chief Woo Jin-Cheol coming along as the show of support from the Korean Hunter's Association, as well as a female Association employee tagging along as an interpreter.

"Uh! There he is!!"

"It's Seong Jin-Woo!"

The reporters finally discovered Jin-Woo and his gang.

Click, click, click, click, click, click, click-!!

Bright flashes of light exploded from the cameras wielded by the throng of reporters. Woo Jin-Cheol quickly yanked out his sunglasses from his inner pocket and put them on, before scanning the crowd with a pair of very sharp eyes. Seeing how tense he was, Yu Jin-Ho decided that now would be a good time to ask him.

"Now that I think about it some more…. Why are you even here, Chief Woo?"

Without a doubt, the Chief of a department located in the Seoul branch of the Korean Hunter's Association was not exactly what you'd call an ordinary job.

It was pretty much the same thing as you being responsible for an entire department.

Sure, Yu Jin-Ho felt grateful that the Association helped them out with an interpreter situation. His question, though, was with why someone as important as Woo Jin-Cheol would be accompanying them like this.

Woo Jin-Cheol briefly studied Jin-Woo's reactions and replied, his face reddening slightly.

"I am tasked with… providing security to Seong Hunter-nim."

He worked up lots of courage to make that reply, but regretfully, his words were drowned out by the noise within the airport itself and couldn't reach Yu Jin-Ho's ears. So, the latter cupped his ear and asked again.

"What did you say?"

"….Bodyguard…. of him…."

"Who did you say you're guarding now?"

Jin-Woo could see that even Woo Jin-Cheol's ears were getting red now. So, he wrapped his arm around Yu Jin-Ho's shoulders and put an end to that conversation.

"Hyung-nim?"

Jin-Woo pointed with his chin to a rather familiar face over yonder.

"Over there. Looks like they are here to escort us."

Adam White was standing near the entrance of the airport sporting a cool business suit with his blonde hair slicked back, his face full of a bright, welcoming smile. As if to prove that Jin-Woo's guess was correct, the American agent quickly made his way over to the group.

The two burly guys following after him were the same men from the plane back then. These two met Jin-Woo's gaze and quickly lowered their heads in apparent embarrassment almost simultaneously.

It seemed that they ended up remembering the time inside the plane when they tried to protect Adam White by attacking Jin-Woo, having completely forgotten about the differences in their strengths.

And well, they were carrying expressions of someone who might really ask for some autographs given half a chance. Jin-Woo hurriedly swallowed back his laughter. He greeted the two burly guys with a simple nod and grasped the extended hand of Adam White.

The American agent spoke with a cheery voice.

"We were waiting for your arrival, Seong Hunter-nim."

"I seem to remember hearing that you were responsible for the Asia branch of the Bureau. Was I wrong, Mister White?"

"Ahaha."

Adam White scratched the back of his head and continued on.

"I was, until recently. Now, I'm responsible for matters involving you, Seong Hunter-nim."

Adam White used his good-natured smile to greet the others and guided Jin-Woo's group outside the airport.

"Let's get going, shall we? We have cars waiting for us outside."

There were two vehicles prepared for them. The two Korean Association people were guided to the vehicle in the back, while Yu Jin-Ho naturally headed towards the car in front. However, Adam White blocked his path.

Jin-Woo and Yu Jin-Ho both were puzzled by this. Adam White spoke in a serious tone of voice.

"Excluding Seong Hunter-nim, the remainder of your group will be guided to your hotel."

Adam White then shifted his gaze over to Jin-Woo.

"And, do you mind accompanying us to a different location for a little while, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim?"

Was this about his father?

Jin-Woo's glare became icy cold in an instant. Adam White must've felt the temperature suddenly drop, because he quickly waved his hand around.

"It's definitely a story that'll benefit you, Seong Hunter-nim. Haven't we already clarified what the Hunter Bureau's opinion regarding you is?"

They wanted to maintain a good relationship with him. That's what he said in the past.

They did try to help him out, and even now, Jin-Woo couldn't sense any malice from the other party. If they were thinking of doing something dodgy, then his ultra-sharp Perception Stat would definitely catch onto that.

Didn't he discover the loophole in the proposed alliance with the King of Giants that way?

Jin-Woo calmly asked his question.

"Are the topics we'll be discussing a secret?"

Adam White glanced at Yu Jin-Ho watching and listening to this conversation with bated breath and formed a somewhat awkward smile.

"A few topics to be discussed indeed fall under the 'top secret' category, yes."

Yu Jin-Ho heard that and backed off without complaining.

"Hyung-nim? I'll see you later at the hotel."

"Alright."

Jin-Woo confirmed that Yu Jin-Ho had entered the waiting vehicle in the back, and climbed into the car in front along with Adam White. The driver didn't need any other commands and he got the vehicle moving as soon as Jin-Woo settled down on his seat.

As if their destination was not the same, the two vehicles went off on different directions from the word go. Before long, the other car couldn't even be seen anymore. Deciding that he had been waiting long enough, Jin-Woo began asking his questions.

"So, where are we going now?"

"We're heading straight to the Hunter Bureau's HQ."

The Hunter Bureau?

Everyone knew that the International Guild Conference would be held at a rented venue near the hotel. So, that could only mean that this car had a different purpose than the Conference itself.

Jin-Woo asked again.

"Isn't it fine to tell me already?"

Adam White pressed a certain button inside the vehicle as if he was waiting for this moment.

Click.

When he did….

Shuwiik….

A clear pane of window rose up behind the two front seats and proceeded to completely separate the front and rear cabin. And just above the clear window, the English word 'Soundproofed' appeared as a hologram and blinked constantly. The words were actually floating in thin air.

When Jin-Woo didn't display much of a reaction from that hologram message, Adam White felt incredibly awkward and sheepishly asked a question.

"This is the latest available technology, but… You aren't surprised?"

"Well, I've been seeing something similar every day, so…."

Adam White must've been looking forward to this moment because he instantly began pouting ever-so-slightly in disappointment. Soon, though, his original smile popped back up again on his face.

"Please hold on for a second."

Knock, knock.

He leaned forward to knock on the divider to confirm before picking up on the conversation where they left off.

"In all honesty, we're currently under serious pressure at the moment."

One of the two American citizenship-carrying Special Authority-rank Hunters had been met with an untimely, grisly death – Christopher Reid.

The American Hunter Bureau had been hurting far greater than Jin-Woo could ever imagine.

"Christopher Reid Hunter-nim was one of the pillars of the United States' strongest combat potential. Because of this, the Hunter Bureau has become even more desperate to fill the void in our fighting power. For now, things are calm on the surface because we haven't publicly announced the murder of Christopher Reid yet. But soon, we'll start the process of securing other Hunters who can substitute for him. And spare no efforts in doing so."

"Am I one of the candidates you're thinking of?"

Adam White nodded his head.

Jin-Woo liked the fact the other party was being open and honest here. Of course, that didn't mean he'd entertain the once-refused offer one more time. He displayed a rather uninterested reaction.

"I thought that part of the conversation has concluded for good?"

"Yes, of course."

However, the light in Adam White's eyes showed that it was far from over. In fact, he pulled his mobile phone out and began showing Jin-Woo several of the stored images on it.

"This is a completely different offer, however."

In the photos, there was…

The worst calamity in the history of mankind.

The raid that no one wished to remember in history.

The Dragon, 'Kamish'.

Indeed, these photos documented the process of the raid of the first and the last Dragon ever to appear on this planet.

The world's best Hunters had gathered and fought a battle to their death, and only five managed to survive until the end. Those survivors were now referred to as the Special Authority-rank.

Adam White stopped flipping through the photos. The photo he stopped at showed several first-class Mage-type Hunters extracting a Rune Stone from the corpse of Kamish.

"As you know, the value of a Rune Stone is proportional to the power of the monster the stone was extracted from."

He tapped on his phone's screen one more time to bring up the next photo. And it showed a Rune Stone sleeping quietly inside a glass case surrounded by layers upon layers of walls and security.

It was none other than Kamish's Rune Stone.

Rather obviously, that was an item where its value couldn't even be imagined in monetary terms, never mind getting one's hands on it, regardless of the price one was willing to pay.

It might possess possibly the greatest skill ever to exist!

"We're currently searching for a new owner of this Rune Stone."

Magic energy, skills, or even magic – Adam White didn't possess any of those, yet even he felt his heart palpitate when he saw that Rune Stone.

He was already feeling this excited, so how would Hunter Seong Jin-Woo feel when he was a Mage-type, to begin with?

Adam White sneaked a glance at Jin-Woo's direction.

Sure enough, the tense expression was clearly visible on Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's face. He was someone who didn't even blink an eye when the latest technology the American Hunter Bureau possessed was displayed before him, but now…

'We did it!'

Adam White clenched his fists tightly. But then, Jin-Woo's demand proved to be somewhat off his expectation.

"The photo… can you go back, please?"

"Excuse me?"

"I want to see the photos before this one."

Adam White tilted his head slightly, but still, he scrolled back to the previous photos as per Jin-Woo's request.

"Right there."

Adam White's flipping hands came to a stop over a certain photo. Jin-Woo pointed to the corner of this particular image and spoke in a low, hushed voice.

"Where is this?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 187: Chapter 187

The 'thing' Jin-Woo pointed to was a pillar of a building. More specifically, several pillars being constructed alongside the body of Kamish.

It was evidence as good as any that they were building a structure to house the dead body of the Dragon.

His eyes shot open incredibly wide after seeing that.

Sure, the monster had died eight years ago. The higher the ranking of a dungeon, the greater the value of the monsters that came out of it. The monster corpses would be dismantled into pieces and be used up where they would be deemed most needed.

That was why he didn't hold any hopes of Kamish's corpse remaining intact until now. Because, various countries, corporations and/or laboratories willing to buy the Dragon's corpse would've formed a proverbial long-a*s queue around the corner all those years ago, or so he thought to himself.

But then, the remains of Kamish, as seen on the photograph, were in an utterly pristine state. There were traces of the intense battle it had been involved in, yes, but the corpse was pretty much free of any artificial, after-the-fact damage.

The moment he thought of the possibility that Kamish's corpse could still be around…

….Jin-Woo's heart began madly pounding away.

"Could it be that America has been storing Kamish's intact corpse until now?"

"W-well, yes. We have, but…."

Adam White couldn't really understand Jin-Woo's current reaction at all.

They were talking about a Rune Stone that all Hunters alive in this world would drool over non-stop, yet he didn't show any interest in such a valuable article and began talking about a dead monster, instead.

However, Jin-Woo's attitude was far too serious to steer the topic of this conversation back on the right course.

Jin-Woo pointed at the photo again.

"Where is this place? Let's go there right away."

"Pardon me?"

"I've been willing to humour the requests of the Hunter Bureau until now. I'm pretty sure that I have the right to demand this much from you."

"Ah…."

Adam White didn't expect the situation to go down in this direction and couldn't hide his fluster anymore. However, he also realised that strictly speaking, this was not a bad result at all.

Between Hunter Seong Jin-Woo and the Hunter Bureau that Adam was working for, anyone could figure out that the party desperately needing the other side's cooperation was, of course, the latter.

The Hunter Bureau was trying to attract Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's interest. That's why they tried with Madam Selner's ability initially. And when that fell through, they resorted to using Kamish's Rune Stone to rouse the young Korean Hunter's interest.

But then, the spark was lit from an unlikely source, instead. This was at once a crisis and an opportunity for Adam White.

'….They said I was free to use any method, didn't they?'

Adam White quickly recalled what the director and his deputy said after they had gathered the agents working for the Hunter Bureau.

They said – 'do whatever it takes to get on Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's good side.'

In order to increase the odds of him moving to the States, even if only by a little. If the Hunter Bureau was in possession of something Jin-Woo wanted, then for the sake of the relationship between them, that thing should be offered up immediately regardless of what it was.

….So they could get into this young man's good books.

Adam White remembered this incredibly important end goal and cleared his throat so he could speak up.

"Actually, even I do not know where Kamish's corpse is being stored at the moment. The extent of my knowledge is what the higher-ups are prepared to let me know, unfortunately."

Jin-Woo nodded his head.

For sure, Adam White seemed a bit too 'young' to know every single secret the organisation he worked for might keep. But, he sounded far more confident as he spoke, which seemed to contradict the contents of his words from a second ago.

"However, if it's you making this demand, then I believe the higher-ups will give the go-ahead pretty easily. I'll have to make a report anyway, so do you mind waiting for their reply for a little while?"

Jin-Woo's expression brightened instantly.

The odds of the skill 'Shadow Extraction' failing would increase proportionally to how long the target had been dead for. And Kamish was killed off eight years ago. The odds of failure were just simply too high.

The possibility of bothering a lot of people, not to mention wasting their precious time for what could ultimately turn out to be nothing was pretty high, too.

However, how should he know without giving it a shot in the first place?

Even if the odds were extremely low, even if there was only a chance of ten thousand in one, no, ten million in one, the moment he somehow succeeds in extracting the Dragon's shadow, he'd end up with possibly the most powerful Shadow Soldier ever in history.

Just thinking about it made his heart madly pound away.

Even if he failed, the only thing he'd lose would be his time. When compared to what he stood to gain if he succeeded, well, this was one gamble worth taking, that's for sure.

As long as the Americans permitted it in the first place, of course.

Jin-Woo quickly asked Adam White.

"We're on our way to the Hunter Bureau, right?"

"That's correct."

"Since I'm going to wait anyway, why don't I go there and wait, instead?"

"Huh…."

Jin-Woo's overly passionate interest caused Adam White to form an expression of a man not knowing whether to rejoice or be saddened.

The Director of the Hunter Bureau also formed a similar expression, as well.

He shifted his head to the side just in case, and sure enough, his deputy right next to him was also forming the same sort of an expression. So much so that the director couldn't help but wonder, if he were to look into a mirror now, wouldn't his face look like that?

"Okay, so. Seong Hunter-nim is in the building with us?"

The director had to confirm it one last time. Adam White wordlessly nodded his head.

"But, what about the Rune Stone? Didn't he say anything about it?"

They decided that using up Kamish's Rune Stone was worth it if it meant they got to reel Seong Jin-Woo into the US of A.

Well, a Hunter with an American passport getting stronger was pretty much the same thing as America getting stronger, at the end of the day. But, now…

"No, sir. During our trip, he almost never spoke about the Rune Stone once."

"Huh-uh… this is troublesome."

The director could only rub his chin after hearing Adam White's answer.

Both Thomas Andre, as well as Seong Jin-Woo – it always proved to be so difficult to predict how these Hunters standing at the apex would behave next.

He even thought that possibly, one's way of thinking would undergo a drastic change after becoming a top-ranked Hunter in the world.

"So, what he really wants is to view the Dragon's corpse?"

"Yes, sir."

Adam White nodded his head, his expression full of confidence.

He wasn't feeling bad at all at the moment. From the get-go, his role was to bring Jin-Woo to the negotiating table and have him take part in it.

And with Jin-Woo willingly walking into the Hunter Bureau HQ, Adam White had pretty much fulfilled the role he was tasked with. As for the rest, it'd be up to the higher-ups holding the deck full of negotiable items at the ready.

The person with the final say in the matter, the director carefully pondered this quandary, before speaking to Adam White.

"I wish to discuss this matter with the deputy director first. Please leave the office for a little while."

"Understood, sir."

Adam White stood up to leave from the office; once he left, the director turned around and spoke to his deputy with an awkward expression.

"This… What do you think is the reason for that man wanting to see Kamish's remains?"

"I wonder…. Well, one thing we can be sure of is that he's not a tourist. It's likely that Kamish's remains possess a greater value than its Rune Stone to him."

The value of a skill was truly unimaginable. Many Hunters at the top flight would not hold back on their cash reserves in order to purchase a Rune Stone they needed.

Even if it cost tens of thousands, hundreds, even millions of dollars.

It wasn't as if they had too much money and didn't know where to spend it, so they were walking around showering their surroundings with cash.

No, a skill was basically the strength a Hunter possessed, and that strength was directly linked to said Hunter's survival.

'Even then, seeing that corpse once is much more beneficial than getting his hands on a Rune Stone, is that it….?'

The thoughts forming inside the director's head was then articulated into words by his deputy.

"It seems likely that it's related somehow to Seong Hunter-nim's ability."

The Hunter Bureau proudly boasted the best information-gathering network of any organisation on Earth. So, rather obviously, they had gathered quite a hefty amount of info on Jin-Woo.

And that was the reason why they could leverage both Madam Selner's ability and now, even Kamish's Rune Stone. That was why they thought that….

"Wasn't his ability only applicable to monsters he killed himself?"

After he killed ant monsters, ant soldiers were added to his arsenal, and after he hunted down the Giant-type monsters, Giant soldiers made their appearance next.

The more battles he fought, the stronger Hunter Seong Jin-Woo would become. That was precisely the reason why the Hunter Bureau wished to make Jin-Woo an American Hunter at any cost.

However – what if he could create summons out of corpses of monsters that had died a long time ago, and more importantly, the ones he didn't even kill in the first place?

"Oh, my god…."

The deputy director's eyes grew extremely large.

"He's planning to make Kamish into one of his summons!"

His voice trembled uncontrollably.

That man was thinking of turning the worst calamity humanity had faced into his summoned creature. No wonder he couldn't care any less about a Rune Stone.

The director resolutely shook his head.

"That cannot be allowed. We simply can't let one individual wield that much power."

"But, sir, if we refuse to accept his demand this time, it'd become far harder to maintain an amicable relationship with him moving forward."

Jin-Woo being in the Hunter Bureau's HQ to wait for an answer easily showed how high his expectation was.

It was simple logic, really – if one refused the other's request because one couldn't trust the other party, then the relationship of trust would break down completely.

"H-mm."

The director's forehead creased up greatly as he fell into deep contemplation.

If their guesses were correct and Hunter Seong Jin-Woo did really make Kamish into one of his summons, then his powers would become impossible to control for any one nation or organisation.

His summons revived right away even after getting destroyed, didn't they? What if Kamish possessing the infinite regenerative power appeared as an enemy?

Indeed, the associated risk was simply too heavy for a chance to maintain a good relationship with a lone Hunter. The director asked one more question before he could make his decision.

"We have Thomas Andre, a Special Authority-rank Hunter, as well as nearly fifty rank S Hunters recruited from various parts of the globe. Is there really a reason why we should continue pursuing Seong Jin-Woo?"

"Actually, sir…"

The deputy hesitated for a little bit before making up his mind. He had been delaying making a report because its content was not verified yet, but he decided to bring it up anyway.

"There is a good chance that Seong Jin-Woo is a brand new Special Authority-rank Hunter. Sir."

"What was that?"

The director shot up from his seat.

"Agent White made a report about a week ago. Hunter Seong Jin-Woo can use psychokinesis."

With the sole exception of the lone Healer-type, four of the five Special Authority-rank Hunters all possessed an ability to exert physical change to objects without actual physical interaction.

Many strong people had appeared before and after those five had entered the world stage, but even until now, only four people possessed that power.

The Hunter Bureau was the only one to have figured out that similarity among the Special Authority-rank Hunters, and the organisation had even designated that power as the prerequisite for being labelled as one of the Hunters exercising rights equalling a nation.

But now, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was discovered to possess that power, too?

A certain thought suddenly fleeted in and out of the director's brain. He wondered if Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was a gift from God to America, now that she had lost one of her strongest weapon, Christopher Reid.

'God bless America.'

God's blessing always seemed to accompany the United States of America.

Soon, the director's expression changed.

"Do you see him as someone worthy of our trust?"

One's abilities could be assessed subjectively, but the issue of trust would always be viewed from an objective perspective. The deputy spoke up of his opinion on Jin-Woo, which was formed from what he had witnessed so far.

"Can you imagine what would've happened if someone pointed a gun at China's Liu Zhigeng or Thomas Andre?"

"It'd be horrific."

Both Thomas Andre and Liu Zhigeng showed no mercy towards their perceived enemies.

That someone in the hypothetical situation would either die or, at a bare minimum, lose the arm holding the gun if luck was on their side.

"However, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo wasn't like that. He was someone you could still talk to and defuse a tricky situation without violence."

The director lowered his gaze a little and nodded his head. Meanwhile, the deputy carried on with his explanation.

"Also, let's not forget about the matter of Japan. Didn't he solve the dungeon break crisis that no one wanted any part of, all by himself, while not making much of a demand from the Japanese?"

It was a complete contrast to Russian Hunter Yuri Orlov, who demanded an exorbitant sum of ten million dollars a day from the Japanese government.

The director's decision-making process didn't last for long.

His lips remained tightly shut in a straight line for a bit longer, but he stood up from his seat.

"I shall guide him personally. This could be a very good opportunity to witness and observe his ability from up close."

The deputy's expression brightened up a notch as he also stood up from his seat.

"By the way, where exactly is Kamish's remains stored, Director?"

Hearing that question, the smirk formed on the director's lips.

"Have you ever wondered why our HQ has twenty underground floors?"

Jin-Woo climbed aboard the special elevator with the guidance of the Bureau's director.

"I wished to speak to you in a more relaxing environment, but… I'm sure this is what you want, yes?"

Adam White translated the director's words into Korean almost at the same time. Jin-Woo nodded his head to say yes.

The elevator carrying the director, his deputy, Adam White, and finally Jin-Woo himself speedily climbed down to the basement floors.

'To think, they'd build the Hunter Bureau's HQ on the very spot where Kamish had been killed….'

Should Jin-Woo chalk this one up to America being, well, America?

In any case, he was told that the remains of the Dragon Kamish would be stored intact forever in order to honour and remember the lives of every Hunter who valiantly sacrificed themselves to stop the worst calamity in human history.

Ting.

The elevator finally opened its door on the 24th basement floor. The staff members waiting for their arrival greeted the four guests to this floor.

"Director."

"Sir."

They must've been soldiers originally, judging from the dignified manner of their salutes. The director nodded his head to greet them back and continued to guide Jin-Woo further in.

"Please, this way."

Jin-Woo inwardly swallowed his saliva.

When the door with several layers of strict security finally opened up, a chilling breeze brushed past his cheeks.

'No, that wasn't a cold breeze.'

Although faint, he could feel magical energy infused in the air. There was no need to even wonder just who this magic energy belonged to.

Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump!

His heart palpitated hard upon realising that his odds were not zero, after all.

Even though it had been eight years, the remains still emitted some amount of magic energy. So, just how incredible would its power be after turning into a Shadow Soldier?

Jin-Woo calmed his heart that was racing fast enough to explode and wordlessly followed after the Director.

"It's here."

Eventually, his steps came to a halt in front of the truly massive open dome brightly illuminated by countless spotlights overhead.

And there it was, the remains of Kamish.

The body was perfectly preserved as it were – exactly as it was from that day it managed to kill several hundreds of elite Hunters before also getting killed off by the five remaining Special Authority-rank Hunters.

The Red Dragon!

Even Jin-Woo momentarily forgot to breathe at the creature's truly overwhelming presence.

"Actually, all electricity used in the Hunter Bureau's HQ comes from Kamish's Magic Crystal."

The director proudly explained where all the energy used to preserve Kamish's remains came from.

However, Jin-Woo's ears were not picking up on any of his words. His gaze was already firmly fixed on one spot.

Seeing that fervent gaze, the Director realised that the moment had come.

"….Hunter-nim. Are you satisfied now?"

"Everyone, back away."

Jin-Woo spoke to the people behind him, causing the staff members to raise a noisy fuss.

"Director, what is that man trying to do?"

"Kamish's remains is our country's national treasure!"

Too bad for them, though, the director loudly reprimanded them right away.

"I already gave my permission!"

In that instant, all unnecessary noises disappeared.

Before they came down here, they had concluded their conversation. Jin-Woo made a promise that nothing would happen to the remains. And just like how the deputy had done, the director decided to trust Jin-Woo's words, as well.

"Let us observe what will happen next."

As Jin-Woo had instructed, the crowd retreated to a far away distance. In the meantime, he extended his hands out towards Kamish. And then, he quietly spoke up.

"Rise up."

As if it was waiting for that, a message popped up in his view along with a 'Ting!'

[Shadow extraction has failed.]

[Two more attempts remaining.]

Jin-Woo's expression didn't change. He calmly moved on and attempted the extraction for the second time.

"Rise up."

He wished to take control of the greatest monster there ever was. His voice, now containing his desire, echoed and reverberated throughout the interior of the underground dome.

Rise up…

When that happened, all the spotlights located on the ceiling suddenly began flickering. And from somewhere unknown, a streak of brilliantly chilling wind blew in.

Kuwaaaaaahh-!!

Screams of a Dragon roared out from some place that was impossible to locate and caused almost everyone present in the dome to cover their ears in a hurry.

The only person who didn't lose his cool in this chaos was Jin-Woo, and no one else. He quickly spotted Kamish's shadow spreading wide on the floor.

'Did I…. Did I succeed?'

It was then – his eyes opened super-wide.

A certain something was slowly rising up from the shadow. The rising shape enveloped in the rising plumes of black smoke was…. undeniably a Dragon.

"Uh?! Uh, uh!!"

"What, what the… What the hell is that?!"

The staff members freaked out and took several steps back. Even the director and his deputy, who already had a pretty good idea on what Jin-Woo's ability was like, forgot to breathe in that moment.

Kuwaaaah-!!

The Dragon loudly roared into the air before discovering the human by its feet and stopped its bellowing.

[Were you the one summoning me? Oh, King of the Dead, Shadow Sovereign.]

Chapter 187 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 188: Chapter 188

The Shadow Sovereign was the sole existence capable of dragging back a soul that had fallen to the pits of the abyss. That was why the Dragon needed only one glance to recognise Jin-Woo's identity.

The King of the Dead, in the body of a human, was staring right back at the creature with dignified eyes. The authority of a Sovereign that he possessed sent a powerful chill through the Dragon's body.

But, that only lasted for a brief moment.

The creature's eyes shifted to a location a bit further away. And that's when it discovered the stupid-looking humans and their jaws agape as they stared right back at the gigantic creature.

'Humans…. Humans?'

It immediately recalled the bottomless malice it held against humanity right up until its death. And that also helped the Dragon to remember the terrible pain it felt as it drew its very last breath.

'Humans… must be killed.'

Snap.

That's where its rationality got cut off. The Dragon raised its body up as crimson light filled its eyes.

[Every single one of you… I shall kill all of you.]

The air of the underground storage area began boiling right up.

"Oh, my god…."

The Director of the Hunter Bureau spat out a shocked gasp.

This dome had been designed to accommodate the Dragon's sleeping figure. So, the whole space seemed wholly inadequate the moment the creature raised his head high.

Crack!!

The Dragon's head pushed against the ceiling and destroyed the concrete there.

"W-what the hell?!"

"No, could it be….?"

They could now see the blood-red light gather within the open maw of the Dragon.

A mass of red light – both the director and his deputy had seen the video footage countless times and they knew what that red light cluster was supposed to do.

Adam White urgently grabbed the director's shoulder and shouted out.

"Sir! You need to evacuate…."

"That's Kamish's Breath! You think we'll be safe because we escaped somewhere?!"

It was rather clear that, once the red light exploded out, then forget about the underground storage area, the entire Hunter Bureau building would completely be obliterated in the blink of an eye. There was no place safe from the Dragon's attack, in other words.

Rumble-!!

One of the stationed staff members collapsed to the floor as if his legs lost all strength from the fright. The other two, meanwhile, were urgently punching the security code to open the electronic door-lock in order to escape from the dome.

The director and his deputy knew full well that was simply a waste of time. They could only alternate their gazes between Jin-Woo and the revived Kamish with dazed expressions etched on their faces.

Kuwaaaaah-!!

The red glow created out of pure magic energy finally transformed into a sphere of blinding flames. The Dragon was finally finished with its preparation to erase all 'humans' standing before it. Just before it could spit out its ultra-high temperature Breath, though…

[Die!]

….Jin-Woo roared out at the top of his lungs.

"That's enough!"

The director and his entourage all raised their arms reflexively to shield their eyes from the bright, blinding light. However, after hearing Jin-Woo's call, they all slowly lowered their arms.

They thought that everything was over once that light filled up the inside of the dome. As it turned out, they were far too hasty in making that judgement, however.

"But, but…. How can this even be possible?"

The flames within the jaw of the enraged Kamish were dying out gradually.

Did the Dragon that melted away the lives of several hundred elite Hunters with a single Breath, stop its attack because of just one command issued by Hunter Seong Jin-Woo?

Gulp.

The director stared at Jin-Woo with eyes that were clearly still swimming in unbridled shock. And then, those eyes nearly popped out of their sockets from an even more incredulous sight.

Jin-Woo actually began talking to Kamish, that was what.

"The Magic Crystal embedded in your head has been removed a long time ago. You have no more reason to follow the orders of the Rulers."

The deputy director standing right next to his boss shuddered from a nasty shock and hurriedly asked.

"Is, is Hunter Seong Jin-Woo actually speaking in the monster language right now?!"

"….Even though I'm looking at it, I can't figure out how to interpret this situation."

While everyone else was still stuck in their pit of pure astonishment, Jin-Woo was too busy spitting out a sigh of relief in his mind.

'Whew-woo….'

He was worried about what he needed to do for a brief moment there, but the end result turned out to be rather good. What a relief that was.

Even then, Jin-Woo was honestly almost scared out of his wits the moment he felt the unchecked rage gushing out from the Dragon.

'What kind of a Shadow Soldier possesses this powerful an ego?!'

It seemed that the thing about higher existences possessing stronger egos, as proclaimed by the King of Giants, could be true after all. Meanwhile, the Dragon was quite surprised by the fact that it willingly obeyed the new Sovereign's order.

[So, this is how it feels to submit to the Shadow Sovereign….]

The Dragon then lowered its tall posture and paid its respect to Jin-Woo. The humans flinching constantly from each and every movement of the oversized creature finally spat out lengthy sighs of relief.

The Dragon lowered its head, as if to kiss the floor, and spoke.

[This lowly servant who once used to serve the Dragon Emperor pays respects to the new Sovereign.]

There was a great deal of respect in the creature's voice that still growled like that of most monsters. Jin-Woo slowly approached the Dragon and placed his hand on the nose of the creature. It silently closed its eyes and enjoyed the warmth of its new lord.

The sensation that couldn't be described in mere words travelled from its nose tip to the rest of its body.

Jin-Woo also sensed that the Dragon's mood was lifting up. He had barely managed to calm his pounding heart by then, but now, it was racing hard again.

BA-THUMP, BA-THUMP!!

'Kamish…. The Dragon Kamish has really become my Shadow Soldier….'

A broad smile automatically floated up on his face.

Adam White's jaw, meanwhile, had been hanging slack from this unbelievable scene right before his eyes. But then, he discovered something even more incredulous and hurriedly confirmed it with the deputy director.

"S-sir. Is the Dragon really wagging its tail??"

'What the heck, the worst calamity in history isn't some puppy, so what kind of rubbish is he even talking about?'

The deputy director thought such a thing would be completely illogical and shifted his eyes to where Kamish's tail was, only for a pained groan to escape from his mouth.

"Jesus H. Christ…."

Jin-Woo lifted his hand away and the Dragon's tail stopped wagging, as well. It then raised his head up again.

The name 'Kamish' was given to the Dragon for the convenience of humans. Jin-Woo was pondering what new name he should give to his latest addition to the ranks of his Shadow Soldiers, before abruptly recalling the words it used to greet him just now.

"You said you used to serve the Dragon Emperor, right?"

[That is indeed correct, oh, my king.]

The Dragon continued using a polite tone of voice.

[I served the King of Berserk Dragons, the Sovereign of Destruction.]

'I'm the King of the Dead, the Shadow Sovereign….'

And then, there was the King of the Giants, the Sovereign of the Beginning.

Jin-Woo realised that the former owner the Dragon served had to be one of the nine Sovereigns the System mentioned before.

However, that wasn't important right now. No, what he wanted to know was the creature's real name, so he could use that one, too.

"Alright, then. What was your original na…."

Jin-Woo couldn't continue his words, though. His eyes looking up at the creature began quaking rather violently. Like a sand castle being scattered away by a gust of wind, the Dragon's body was slowly disintegrating right before him.

[Regrettably, my king… I must bid you farewell.]

"What?!"

Jin-Woo's Perception Stat communicated with the Dragon's current emotion. And it was one of pure sorrow, not even a hint of falsehood contained within.

The Dragon was truly lamenting this moment.

[It seems that our meeting came about far too late, my Sovereign.]

Even if it was the power of a Shadow Sovereign, the gap of eight years proved to be far too wide to bridge. The Dragon had been trapped for too long within the bottom of the abyss and as a result, its magical energy had become too weak and began scattering away in the air.

"System?! Systeeeem!"

Jin-Woo couldn't accept this and desperately cried out to the System, but the d*mn thing remained utterly silent, as always.

Just like how he could sense the Dragon's emotions, the creature could sense his, as well.

[I am truly envious of Your Majesty's soldiers, as they are now tasked with serving you for all eternity.]

It spoke from the depths of its heart. To the king who didn't want to lose his soldier, the Dragon left behind one final advice.

[Oh, my king. There are four humans who have borrowed the powers of the Rulers. Please, you need to be wary of them.]

As the Dragon's body became completely blurry and indistinct, even its voice grew further and further away.

[I was honoured to be in the presence of a new king…..]

And then, deathly silence descended on the dome.

Like a shifting mirage, the Dragon's shadow disappeared. All the spotlights flickering precariously above all reverted back to working normally again.

The director had been holding his breath as he witnessed this spectacle. Once the Dragon was gone, he quickly looked at the corpse of the creature.

Absolutely nothing had happened to Kamish's remains.

He felt as if he had been dreaming until now and that left him utterly dazed and confused.

But, then again, if what happened was simply a bad dream, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo wouldn't be standing around making such an empty, despondent expression right now.

Jin-Woo couldn't rip his gaze away from the spot where the Dragon's shadow used to stand. Eventually, the System message popped up in his view alongside with the familiar 'Tti-ring!'

[Shadow Extraction has failed.]

[Too much time has elapsed since the target's death and therefore, any further attempt at Extraction holds no meaning.]

[The target's shadow has returned to the emptiness of the void.]

Mechanical beeps continued to go off in his head.

Today would be his first time hating the sounds of continuous 'Tti-ring, tti-ring' going off in his head. Jin-Woo's tightly clenched fists trembled ever so slightly.

Ka-boom!

In his rage, he punched the ground hard. For a brief moment there, the entire building shook around just a little.

Jin-Woo returned to the hotel.

Because he was in such a gloomy mood, Adam White was unable to say a single thing during the trip, even though he was tasked with 'escorting' him here.

The American agent checked in for Jin-Woo at the front desk and that finally presented him with an opportunity to talk.

"I'm in charge of accommodating your needs during your stay in the U.S., so if you want something, please, don't hesitate and give me a call."

Adam White spoke with a bright expression, but the reply remained frigid and disinterested.

"….Got it."

The smile on Adam White's face hardened instantly.

'S-scary….'

He learned that standing in front of a very upset top-level Hunter could be a quite scary experience for the first time in his life today.

The negotiation had been postponed to a later date. Which wasn't surprising, considering Jin-Woo's current mood. And well, both the director and his deputy hadn't regained their lost spirits so even they didn't show any signs of disappointment, either.

Jin-Woo figured that he might as well sleep today's events off and was about to head towards his assigned room, but then….

"Uh?"

Woo Jin-Cheol was coming down to the hotel's lobby just then and discovered Jin-Woo here. The Chief of the Monitoring Division quickly made his way.

"Seong Hunter-nim, why couldn't we get a hold of you?"

"Oh, that… I was temporarily in a place where no calls could get through."

Outsiders were not permitted to carry their personal phones when inside the HQ of the Hunter Bureau. There was no exception to this rule even if you were an important guest. It was a necessity in order to protect the organisation's many secrets.

If an important person such as Madam Selner got her face photographed, the entire Hunter Bureau would be turned upside down, that was why.

Woo Jin-Cheol scratched the side of his head and asked.

"Did you get to meet Yu Jin-Ho Hunter-nim, then?"

"Eh?"

Almost right away, an expression of confusion formed on Woo Jin-Cheol's face.

"But, I thought Yu Hunter-nim received a message from you and that's why he went out? The message said that you were waiting for him at the Hunter Bureau's building."

"That's where I'm coming from right now, so what are you even talking about here?"

Adam White was listening to this conversation from the side and quickly confirmed the fact for them.

"There was no Yu Jin-Ho Hunter-nim in the visitor's log."

"Excuse me? But, how can that be? About two hours ago, a rank S Hunter came here to fetch him personally."

Jin-Woo quickly butted in there.

"Which rank S Hunter are you talking about?"

"It was Hunter Hwang Dong-Su. He actually came to the hotel."

Jin-Woo couldn't understand why he suddenly felt this ominous sensation the moment he heard the name Hwang Dong-Su, which was in stark contrast to the other two men who didn't seem to know what was going on here.

'Is this because of the Perception Stat?'

Seeing that the light in Jin-Woo's eyes had become unusually tense, Adam White quickly pulled his phone out again.

"I shall call Hwang Dong-Su Hunter-nim's Guild right now."

Several ringtones later, the manager in charge of Scavenger Guild's high-ranking Hunters, a woman named Laura answered Adam White's call. He briefly introduced himself and explained the current situation.

Surprisingly, though – the voice coming from the phone's speaker was calm and collected, which went completely against Adam White's expectations. He thought that she might be as flustered as he'd be, but no.

– "Has Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim learned of this situation yet?"

Adam White only said that Hunter Hwang Dong-Su had taken Yu Jin-Ho away, yet Seong Jin-Woo's name suddenly popped out of nowhere. He tilted his head slightly, before sneaking a glance at Jin-Woo.

The Korean Hunter shook his head briefly. Adam White nodded his head in acknowledgement and came up with a suitable reply.

"Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim hasn't learned of the news yet as he's still stuck in the Hunter Bureau. However, Yu Jin-Ho Hunter-nim's travelling party had called us to find out what was going on earlier, you see."

– "In that case, we'll find out as quickly as possible."

And that's where the call came to an abrupt end.

Jin-Woo listened to the conversation without saying a single word and when the call ended, headed straight to the hotel's exit.

"Seong Hunter-nim?! The Scavenger Guild said they will find out, so we should wait for….."

Adam White hurriedly chased after Jin-Woo and came out of the hotel's exit, but the Korean Hunter was long gone by then.

"What the hell…? Where did he go?"

Adam White stared at the street with a troubled expression on his face, not knowing what to do next.

Jin-Woo sought out a deserted back alley away from the crowded main street and undid 'Stealth'.

A rank S Hunter using his name showed up and took Yu Jin-Ho away. But then, the Guild this guy worked for didn't even try to get a detailed explanation of what happened and simply stated that they would find out before one-sidedly ending the call.

'Something bad is happening….'

And that thing should be related somehow to why that Guild staff member on the phone mentioned his name right away.

Jin-Woo's expression hardened as he issued a new command. If that guy was looking for trouble, then he certainly picked a very bad day for it.

'Find him.'

If his thousand-plus soldiers dispersed throughout the city and searched for Yu Jin-Ho's magic energy signature, then finding him shouldn't take that long.

Shashashak, shashashashak…

A thousand shadows breaking off from below Jin-Woo's feet quickly scattered in all directions.

Thomas Andre scanned the interior of the apartment with a hardened face.

Inside this luxurious apartment where Hwang Dong-Su should have been staying, the two Hunters assigned to keep an eye on him were lying face down with foam bubbling out of their mouths.

"Tsk."

He clicked his tongue and removed his trademark sunglasses.

His deeply crumpled expression was finally revealed for all to see, and the complexions of his subordinates searching through the apartment paled instantly.

Thomas Andre gnashed his teeth and issued a new order in a low, growling voice.

"Hwang Dong-Su….. Find him, before Seong Jin-Woo does. No matter what, we must find him first."

Chapter 188 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 189: Chapter 189

Jin-Woo now stood on top of a skyscraper that afforded him a view of the entire city. His eyesight, enhanced to extreme heights through his Perception Stat, began scanning the city from the streets right below the skyscraper all the way to the residential homes located in the far-off distance.

While doing that, his hearing was focused on the noises his Shadow Soldiers picked up.

[Hey, Smith! How have you been?]

[Dear customer, our store doesn't accept returns based on a customer's sudden change of mind….]

[C'mon, man. Why didn't you come to the party last night?]

Pretty much all of them were useless idle talks.

Aside from those, the horns of passing cars, noises from TV speakers, cats meowing, splashes of water from bathrooms, etc. – all sorts of sounds made by a living city entered Jin-Woo's ears.

Sweat drops formed on his forehead as he utilised his five senses, plus the sixth one to detect magic energy, to their fullest extent.

'I wouldn't be going through this much trouble if I just left the Shadow Soldier in Jin-Ho's shadow….'

Didn't someone say this before? It was already too late the moment you start regretting it.

The ant soldier he had inserted in Yu Jin-Ho's shadow just in case had been used to get to Chairman Yu Myung-Han's hospital room. Jin-Woo became really busy after that, and since he was planning to accompany the kid during their trip to the US, he had forgotten about inserting a replacement.

And the end result from all of that is him working his a*s off like this.

'Kamish's shadow is gone, and Jin-Ho's whereabouts are unknown….'

Veins popped up one at a time on Jin-Woo's forehead. His already gloomy mood had now hit rock bottom and was about to convert into a storm cloud.

His knife-like glare, sharp enough to almost shoot bolts of lightning, darted this way and that as if he didn't want to miss a single movement happening down below.

Unfortunately, never mind Yu Jin-Ho, it proved very difficult to find an Asian youth that resembled him in this city.

'Could it be…. they are not in the city at all?'

To Jin-Woo, Yu Jin-Ho might be a cute little brother, but the truth was, the kid was still a melee-type rank D Hunter. Any ol' group of regular people trying to jump him wouldn't work at all.

If the car supposedly heading for the Hunter Bureau's HQ suddenly drove out of the city limits, Yu Jin-Ho would have realised something was amiss and started resisting his kidnappers.

The sole problem was…

'The b*stard kidnapping Jin-Ho was a rank S Hunter.'

Jin-Woo immediately widened the scope of his shadows' movements.

'His name was Hwang Dong-Su, wasn't it?'

Jin-Woo didn't know why that man faked his name and took Yu Jin-Ho away. However, this was about 'Give and Take'. He was determined to ask for suitable compensation for provoking him like this.

And, if something untoward happened to Jin-Ho for some reason…

A dangerous gleam flashed eerily within Jin-Woo's eyes.

Not too long after, the Shadow Soldiers expanding their search range sent in countless bits of information that encompassed the entirety of the city.

In the end, Hwang Dong-Su really went for it and caused an incident.

An emergency situation descended on the Scavenger Guild once that fact was revealed to its members. Their opponent this time was Seong Jin-Woo.

Just one misstep and Hwang Dong-Su's life could be forfeited.

He was one of the top aces within the Scavenger Guild and should be considered as one of the core pillars of its combat force, too.

Thomas Andre couldn't afford to lose someone like that. But all he could do for the time being was to sit in his office and anxiously wait for any news.

"Anything new?"

His subordinate shook his head with a darkened complexion.

"No, sir."

The frowns on Thomas Andre's forehead grew deeper by a level.

Tracking Hwang Dong-Su through his phone was impossible since he had switched the device off. The places he frequented had been searched thoroughly by the Guild's members, but unfortunately, nothing worthy of note had been uncovered so far. It seemed that Mister Hwang had been planning for this day for quite some time.

'Isn't he scared of dying?'

No, Mister Hwang was also a rank S Hunter. He should be aware of the differences in strengths between himself and Seong Jin-Woo, at the bare minimum.

Even then, he still went ahead and did something so monumentally stupid. Because he probably had something he could place his bets on.

'He knows that I'll step up on his behalf.'

Well, that fool wasn't wrong with his calculation. Regardless of whether that man would cause another incident in the future or not, he'd still remain as Scavenger Guild's asset until the contract duration expired.

The Guild saw potential in Hwang Dong-Su's skills and had invested a ton of money on him. He bravely started this crap with no care for the aftermath because he knew that Thomas Andre would never willingly give up on his assets.

'….Did I treat my Hunters too nicely until now?'

Thomas Andre repeatedly told himself to strictly discipline his underlings as soon as this issue had been sorted out so they wouldn't cause another problem like this one in the future.

The Guild employees in the near vicinity had to stay extra cautious, even with their breathing, as Thomas Andre's upset mood continued to stew quietly.

It was then, his phone suddenly began ringing. Thomas Andre had been waiting too anxiously for news, regardless of what nature it took, and hurriedly yanked the receiver up.

– "We might be able to track down Mister Hwang's location, sir."

The voice on the line belonged to Laura. Thomas Andre shot up from his chair.

"How?"

She knew what he was feeling right now, so Laura didn't pause for a second before she quickly carried on with her explanation.

– "I asked for assistance from the Hunter Bureau and was able to analyse Mister Hwang's movement patterns for the last three months. I found out that there were a total of three times when he broke away from his usual area of activity and moved to an unknown location."

'Very good!'

Thomas Andre nodded his head. Rather unexpectedly, they were able to find a clue sooner than he thought.

"Send everyone to that location. I'll be on my way there, as well."

– "Understood, sir."

Thomas Andre was about to end the call there but hesitated slightly, before raising the receiver up again.

"By the way… how did you convince the old codgers in the Hunter Bureau, Laura?"

The Hunter Bureau had a habit of recording the locations and movement patterns of all the Hunters via GPS attached to the Hunter-issue smartphones.

Of course, they were not an organisation known for giving away their information willy-nilly. Even if it was the Scavenger Guild making the request, the approval process should take several hours at a bare minimum. But to think, they spat out Hwang Dong-Su's records, just like that.

This didn't sound logical at all. Thomas Andre couldn't help but get curious about the methods Laura employed here to convince them.

However, her answer was rather simple in nature.

– "I only told them that if we don't locate Hunter Hwang Dong-Su as quickly as possible, then there's a chance that Mister Seong Jin-Woo and you, Master, might collide against each other."

"Every single Guild member has begun moving, sir!"

Adam White, currently observing the behaviour of the Scavenger Guild, cried out in an urgent voice at his smartphone. The deputy director on the other side of the line quickly asked back.

– "All 100 of them?!"

"I just found out that the raid they were getting ready for has been cancelled as well, sir. All of their Hunters are being mobilised to go somewhere."

– "What on earth…. Just what is going on here?"

Adam White couldn't easily open his mouth here.

A rank S Hunter from the Scavenger Guild used Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's name and kidnapped Yu Jin-Ho. And then, both Seong Jin-Woo and the Scavenger Guild had begun mobilising.

This couldn't have been something simple at all.

Not to mention, with the entirety of the Scavenger Guild being mobilised like that, it could only mean that Thomas Andre was behind the move. The ominous foreboding crept up on Adam White and he quickly wiped the sweat off his face.

Sure enough – Adam froze up on the spot after discovering Thomas Andre walk out of the Guild building's entrance.

'Heok….'

The American Hunter took a sweeping look around once before climbing into a waiting car. The vehicle then hurriedly set off to an unknown destination.

And it just so happened to be in the same direction where the Hunters of the Scavenger Guild had disappeared to, as well. Adam White did his best to calm his trembling voice and described what he saw to the deputy director.

"S-sir… The Goliath… Thomas Andre has made his move as well. Sir."

"Is this really alright?"

A man looked at Yu Jin-Ho lying unconscious on the ground and worriedly asked. Hwang Dong-Su to his side nodded his head.

"Look, I'm not gonna do anything bad to him, alright? I just want to ask him about this one thing, that's all."

The Guild Master Thomas Andre warned him. He said not to provoke Seong Jin-Woo.

However, Hwang Dong-Su never planned to provoke that man from the get-go, anyway. Why? Because there was one other person beside Seong Jin-Woo that could answer the question burning a hole in his head. That was why.

The question of what happened on that day – the events that took place within the dungeon where his older brother Hwang Dong-Seok, Seong Jin-Woo, and Yu Jin-Ho entered together. Hwang Dong-Su promised Yu Jin-Ho that he'd be freed as soon as he answered that question truthfully.

Unfortunately, Yu Jin-Ho didn't squeak a word out right until he ended up in such a pathetic, wretched state. The longer Yu Jin-Ho kept his mouth shut, the stronger Hwang Dong-Su's convictions became, though.

All he wanted to hear was one thing.

["Seong Jin-Woo killed your brother."]

If he could just hear that one sentence, he'd no longer have any business with Yu Jin-Ho. But then, with what balls was a punk with a small physique and a naive-looking face keeping his mouth shut against a rank S Hunter? His courage alone was worth praising him for.

'Of course, his foolhardiness won't get him off the hook here.'

Hwang Dong-Su lightly kicked the waist of Yu Jin-Ho's heavily-wounded-all-over body.

"Oii. Wake up."

Would this be the fourth time the kid fainted and was woken back up again? Hwang Dong-Su's irritation grew somewhat at Yu Jin-Ho's tenacious endurance and his kick became a little more vicious than before.

"I said, get the hell up!"

Pow!

"Keo-heok!"

Yu Jin-Ho curled up on the floor as he spat out the pooled blood in his mouth. The third man of Hwang Dong-Su's group began cackling out.

"Still, this kid's supposed to be a tanker, wasn't he? He sure can withstand some punishment, can't he? A regular person would've died by now."

Hwang Dong-Su's face now reflected no emotion whatsoever as he grabbed the back of Yu Jin-Ho's head to yank it up.

"Listen here. I don't want to kill you. You see this guy over here laughing his a*s off? Let me tell you, he's a Healer with some considerable skill. He'll bring you back just before you are about to die."

Yu Jin-Ho's blurry gaze was directed to the cackling man, and the Hunter grinned brightly and wagged his finger around as if to greet the kid.

Hwang Dong-Su's viciously moved his hand.

"Keo-heok!"

Yu Jin-Ho's head, still grabbed by that hand, also had to viciously swing to the side. He now could see the dust-filled interior of a decrepit building. Hwang Dong-Su continued on.

"This here is a factory that closed down over five years ago. You can scream all you want, but no one's gonna hear you."

After grabbing and fixing Yu Jin-Ho's head in the place, Hwang Dong-Su brought his own face right up against the kid's nose. Their locked gazes grew closer and closer.

"Which means, you will suffer from intense pain forever. That is, until you tell me what I want to hear."

When they got close enough for their noses to touch, Hwang Dong-Su formed a toothy grin.

"So, how about it? Do you feel like talking now?"

Yu Jin-Ho's busted lips bobbed up and down but his voice was too small and even Hwang Dong-Su couldn't hear it.

"What did you say?"

Hwang Dong-Su tilted his head slightly in confusion and brought his ear near the kid. When the ear was only a few millimetres away from his lips, Yu Jin-Ho whispered softly.

"…..F*ck off."

Hwang Dong-Su's expression crumpled instantly.

Ka-boom!

He slammed the side of Yu Jin-Ho's head on the ground and panted like an angry bull.

"Oii! Did you just kill him?"

The Healer's brows shot up and he quickly checked for Yu Jin-Ho's pulse.

"Whew-woo."

After confirming that the kid's heart was still beating, the Healer spat out a sigh of relief. Still, there was no doubt that this young and weak Hunter's life would've been cut short if Hwang Dong-Su had used a little more of his strength.

"Mister Hwang, be more careful, will ya? I don't want to become an accomplice to a murderer just because of money, alright?"

"…I'll be more careful."

Hwang Dong-Su acknowledged his mistake.

Was it because of the precariousness of the situation? The man who couldn't hide his worries from the get-go decided to persuade Hwang Dong-Su.

"Let's just call it a day and move on. Haven't you found out all you can by now?"

"What are you talking about? We're only getting started."

The corners of Hwang Dong-Su's lips arched to form a sinister smile. His vicious, cruel nature was pretty much the carbon-copy of his older brother.

The man knew he failed to change Hwang Dong-Su's mind. Still feeling worried and anxious, he continued to scan his surroundings. And it happened at that moment. He discovered something standing over on the other side of the disused factory.

What could it be?

The man's eyes narrowed to a slit.

And then…

"Uh? Huh, uh??"

He became surprised by his discovery and pointed in that direction. Hwang Dong-Su and the Healer both raised their heads to take a look. There it was, a High Orc kitted out in black armour standing over yonder.

"….An Orc?"

Hwang Dong-Su stood up. The Healer checking Yu Jin-Ho's condition also got up from the ground.

"Is there a dungeon break happening nearby?"

Hwang Dong-Su shook his head. If that was the case, their surroundings should've become a pandemonium by now.

He extended out his sensory perception just in case and searched for other presence in the vicinity, but he couldn't sense any other monsters at all. This High Orc was all alone.

"Now that's pretty bizarre."

That wasn't the only bizarre thing, though.

The High Orc was actually shivering.

As a matter of fact, its facial expression contained terror. It looked as if the creature was barely holding back tears threatening to burst out at any moment. And all four of its limbs were quivering from pure fright, too.

"Mister Hwang. I think that thing is terrified of you."

"….I don't have time to fool around like this."

White rays of light began coagulating on Hwang Dong-Su's clenched fist. He didn't know where this Orc came from, but now that he had discovered it, of course, he wouldn't let it just walk away.

Hwang Dong-Su strode right up to the Orc and raised his fist so he could blow the monster's head clean off. Before he could do that, though…

….The heavy voice of a man suddenly called out from somewhere.

– "Exchange."

Chapter 189 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 190: Chapter 190

The TV in the living room was showing the scenes of yet another accident that took place within a dungeon. Those seemed to happen frequently nowadays.

Although no events that could be called truly enormous happened so far, the number of Hunters dying during the raids was on the rise lately, according to the news broadcast.

"I wonder, will my boy be okay?"

His mother, watching the news, recalled Jin-Woo and whispered to herself in a worried voice.

Didn't matter how excellent a Hunter her son was, there was no helping with a mother worrying about her child's safety.

Beru, hiding within the shadows to protect this home as per Jin-Woo's instruction, heard her whispers.

'Oh, the mother of my king. If my liege meets with an accident that even he can't survive, then no one in this world can.'

Beru did his best to suppress the words trying to jump out of his mouth. Obviously, he couldn't surprise the mother of his liege needlessly, now could he? As his reward, he'd have to suffer in silent frustration all by himself.

He also found the liege's mother, currently equating his liege against those low-class monsters shown on the TV screen, rather cruel and unkind for doing that. However, he roused up a super-human level of endurance and suppressed his desire to preach the incomparable might of his dear liege to her.

[Next up. We bring you the news on the conference organised by America's Hunter Bureau….]

The scene shown on TV changed yet again to that of a certain American airport as the news related to the International Guild Conference played out. And then, Jin-Woo appeared on the screen as he stepped foot into the airport.

She saw her son walking forward as he was swarmed by the constant explosions of camera flashes. The worried look on her face was soon replaced by a contented smile.

"Jin-Ah? Your brother's on TV."

"Really?"

Jin-Ah abandoned her studies and quickly trotted out of her room. This wouldn't be the first time, but regardless, seeing her oppa on the TV screen remained a mystifying and welcoming viewing experience to her, even now.

But the thing was – both Jin-Ah and her mom had no idea.

They simply had no idea that there was someone very close, cheering on even more passionately then they did while watching the TV screen.

'Oh, my king….!'

Beru's deeply-moved eyes were firmly fixed on the screen as he watched the clip being played out.

But then, a powerful chill began invading his body out of the blue. Literally, without warning, his body hidden in the shadows began trembling non-stop.

This sensation, hadn't he felt something similar to this in the past?

When was that?

Beru combed through his memories and finally recalled that moment. Back then, right when the king's gaze filled with killing intent was looking down on him. It was at that moment.

A feeling of death that could not be avoided. The warning bells rang out loudly via his instincts after detecting the unmistakable stench of death.

The king's rage he felt for the first time since becoming his Shadow Soldier was so great that Beru's entire thought process froze up. However, he was still his king's loyal soldier!

He regained his wits quite quickly.

'….My king has been truly enraged.'

Now that he realised something had happened to his king, he couldn't just sit around quivering in fear like this. Beru quickly sent a signal to Jin-Woo and tried to engage him conversation.

'Oh, my king. Please compose yourself. I shall get to your side immediately.'

The response arrived immediately.

[You…. Don't make a move.]

Beru heard the king's voice which sounded like unchecked rage being compressed into a volatile mass. He could only tremble like a leaf against stormy winds.

'I shall obey.'

He could only say that he'd submit to the command, that was all. But at the same time, he became also curious about the moron who managed to earn his king's wrath.

'Why would anyone do something so reckless and ill-advised….'

To numb the fear, even if only by a little, Beru hid his still-trembling body ever deeper into the shadow.

In the city of Busan.

The Knight Order Guild was in the middle of preparing for a raid.

The Master of the Guild, Park Jong-Su, was confirming the raid party members and their current conditions one last time, as the will to make this raid a success burned fiercely within his heart.

"There's been a lot of accidents happening in dungeons lately. So, everyone – keep your wits about you at all times! Let's make sure that not a single person gets injured today!"

"Yes, sir!"

The Guild members had become rather docile after experiencing a raid together with Jin-Woo's summoned creatures. And now, they even sounded properly disciplined, as well.

It was at that moment something strange happened.

The Vice-Master of the Guild, Jeong Yun-Tae, was standing behind Park Jong-Su to nod his head and provide suitable reactions to his boss's words. But, he discovered something and his eyes nearly popped out of his sockets.

"Heok?!"

Park Jong-Su hurriedly looked behind him.

"What?! What happened?"

Jeong Yun-Tae pointed to the ground and alternated his gaze between Park Jong-Su and the shadow beneath his boss's feet.

"H-hyung-nim!! Your, your shadow! The shadow on the ground was vibrating…."

Jeong Yun-Tae discovered that Park Jong-Su was glaring at him with narrowed eyes and stopped talking right there and then.

"Hey, Yun-Tae? How many times have I told you not to touch booze before a raid?"

"N-no, hyung-nim! I haven't had a drop of the stuff today! But your shadow, it really did vibrate! Like it was alive!"

Park Jong-Su stared at Jeong Yun-Tae with criticising eyes and spat out a long groan.

"This won't do. Take a day off today."

"Hyung-nim! I'm telling you the truth!"

"Okay, everyone! Time to go inside. The Knight Order Guild, let's do our best today, too! Fighting!"

"Ahh! B-but, hyung-nim…!"

Just as Jeong Yun-Tae's voice that protested his innocence resounded in the air…

Unbelievable sightings of shadows trembling streamed in from all the spots where Jin-Woo had left behind his Shadow Soldiers. Shadows trembled noticeably as if they didn't care for the presence of witnesses or not.

But then again, the Shadow Soldiers had no choice but to shiver from the emotion of pure rage their lord was feeling at that moment.

– Exchange.

The High Orc soldier disappeared, only to be replaced by Jin-Woo.

Hwang Dong-Su's group froze up like a mouse confronted by a snake the moment this unexpected intruder entered the stage completely unannounced. Especially for Hwang Dong-Su himself, he nearly even forgot to breathe after recognising Jin-Woo's face.

Meanwhile, Jin-Woo simply strode past the stunned rank S Hunter, as if the latter didn't even exist, and stopped before Yu Jin-Ho. No one said anything, yet the two Americans standing near the unconscious kid quickly stepped back at the same time, as if they agreed to do so beforehand.

After summoning out a healing potion, Jin-Woo began easing a little bit of liquid down into Yu Jin-Ho's mouth.

Unfortunately…

[When the remaining HP is less than 10%, it is impossible to recover HP with healing potions.]

….The message saying it was impossible to heal the kid's wounds popped up in his view along with the familiar 'Tti-ring'.

Crack.

The empty vial of healing potion shattered in Jin-Woo's hand.

The 'Divine Water of Life' was meant to heal diseases and illnesses. It couldn't help in matters of physical injuries like this. It was the same principle of healing magic not being able to cure illnesses.

'I need healing magic.'

Too bad, the only Shadow Soldier capable of using healing magic, Beru, was currently back in Korea house-sitting. Even if Jin-Woo recalled him now, who knows just how long he'd take to get here…

….It was around this time that Hwang Dong-Su finally regained his wits and tried to engage Jin-Woo in conversation.

"You… You, what the hell? That Orc, just now… What the hell did you do?"

Jin-Woo didn't respond to that and simply asked the two men before him, instead.

"Is either one of you a Healer?"

Hearing the word 'Healer', the Healer-type Hunter ended up reflexively nodding his head. Jin-Woo pointed to Yu Jin-Ho.

"Heal him. Now."

The Healer's gaze shifted over to Hwang Dong-Su. The latter shook his head. Jin-Woo carefully lowered Yu Jin-Ho's upper torso back down and stood up.

"Final warning. Heal him."

The Healer's gaze shifted back to Hwang Dong-Su again, but the answer remained the same. So, the Healer stared straight at Jin-Woo and the corners of his lips arched up.

"You see, dude, you should talk to the boss first before…"

He didn't get to finish his sentence.

Ka-boom!!

Just like how Hwang Dong-Su had done to Yu Jin-Ho, Jin-Woo slammed the Healer's head on the ground. It happened so fast that no one saw his movements.

Hwang Dong-Su might have been a rank S himself, but he simply failed to even sense Jin-Woo's attack and only belatedly discovered the Healer lying face down on the ground.

Jin-Woo shifted his gaze to the second of the Americans.

"Are you a Healer?"

This man finally confirmed the face of Jin-Woo walking closer to him and his jaw began trembling in shock.

"S-Seong Jin-Woo?! Hunter Seong Jin-Woo??"

He back-pedalled in panic and began glaring at Hwang Dong-Su before shouting out.

"Mister Hwang Dong-Su! You promised that this matter had nothing to do with Seong Jin-Woo! What the f*ck is this?! Ah?? What is this sh*t?!"

"I asked you if you are a Healer or not."

"N-no, I, I'm not. I'm just…."

His answer was also abruptly cut off there.

Ka-boom!

Struck by an unseen hand, the man's head crashed to the ground like his friend's before him. In the blink of an eye, two high-ranked Hunters had lost their consciousness.

Finally getting to witness Jin-Woo's real strength with his own two eyes, Hwang Dong-Su felt his heart pounding away like crazy.

It was then.

"H-hyung-nim…"

Perhaps because the ground rumbled loudly twice in a row? Yu Jin-Ho had regained his consciousness somehow.

"Hyung…. nim…."

Jin-Woo lowered his body and listened closely to the kid's voice.

"Hey, Jin-Ho. I'm here."

Yu Jin-Ho managed to crack open his swollen eyelids. He barely managed to move the muscles on his bloodied and messed-up face, his words clearly being formed with great difficulty.

"Hwang Dong-Su… little brother… Hwang Dong-Seok…. Be careful…"

Jin-Woo looked at Yu Jin-Ho breathing weakly with a helpless expression before stopping the kid's words.

"Shh. It's fine. Don't speak anymore."

"Hyung-nim…."

Yu Jin-Ho grabbed Jin-Woo's hand as tears pooled on the edges of his eyes.

Jin-Woo quietly asked.

"Can you hold on for a little longer?"

Nod, nod.

It became harder to speak so Yu Jin-Ho made do with a nod to answer the question.

Jin-Woo carefully let go of his dongsaeng's hand and slowly got back up to his feet, before shifting his gaze back over to Hwang Dong-Su.

However, Hwang Dong-Su didn't back down and shot a glare right back. His legs were weakly trembling from the pressure of Jin-Woo's murderous eyes, but he was not someone who'd cower and run away.

In the meantime, Jin-Woo's coldly-flickering eyes were getting closer and closer. Hwang Dong-Su did his best to look unruffled and raised his voice.

"It was you, wasn't it? You killed my older brother, Hwang Dong-Seok. Am I right?"

Hwang Dong-Su's scared face grew closer with every step taken. And then, a certain someone's face who enjoyed being strong against the weak, but remained weak against someone stronger, overlapped with his face in Jin-Woo's view.

That caused his glare to become even colder.

Meanwhile, Hwang Dong-Su cried out.

"Answer me!! Seong Jin-Woo, didn't you murder my brother and his team?!"

Jin-Woo stopped right in front of Hwang Dong-Su's nose and replied.

"Ask him after you meet him again."

Grit.

Hwang Dong-Su punched with his fist wrapped in bright light. He was aiming for Jin-Woo's face. Unfortunately for him, the latter simply ducked lower to evade that and shoved his own fist deep into the former's stomach.

"Keo-Heok!"

Just one hit and Hwang Dong-Su vomited out a mouthful of blood.

"Stop the car!"

"Sir?"

"I said, stop the d*mn car!"

Thomas Andre roared out and the car he was riding in came to a sudden halt. As the vehicle in front carrying their Guild Master came to an abrupt halt, the chasing cars ferrying the Guild members all hurriedly came to a stop as well.

Screech, screeech….

Loud noises resounded out from everywhere. Completely disregarding that…

Boom!

….Thomas Andre kicked the car's door away and climbed out in a hurry so he could glare in a certain direction. His expression crumpled into a vicious scowl.

"D*mn it…."

The elites of the Scavenger Guild, often referred to as the world's best, jumped out from all the halted vehicles.

"Master, what is it?"

"Did something happen?"

Thomas Andre answered briefly to all the hurried questions from the Guild members.

"It has already begun. I'll go ahead, so hurry and follow after me."

"Sir??"

What had already begun?

Before anyone could ask him for an explanation, though, Thomas Andre bent his knees. The muscles on his legs expanded powerfully and the asphalt on the ground began melting down. Other Hunters naturally took two, three steps away from him.

Ka-boom!!

Thomas Andre exploded up from the ground and in an instant, disappeared from their view.

'Something is…. coming.'

Something strong, that was.

Just as Thomas Andre had sensed Jin-Woo's powers, the latter also sensed the former's presence. So, he stopped moving his punching hand.

His other hand was still grabbing onto the collar of Hwang Dong-Su, who now was suffering from just as many grievous wounds as Yu Jin-Ho.

Ka-boom!

A part of the disused factory's ceiling caved in and through the open gap, one of the four remaining Special Authority-rank Hunters in the world, Thomas Andre, flew in and landed on the ground.

Since he knew that a guest was arriving anyway, Jin-Woo wasn't surprised in the slightest as he calmly took a look at the landing zone.

Thomas Andre stood up straight and quickly confirmed the situation.

He first saw Yu Jin-Ho, then Jin-Woo, and finally, the end of Jin-Woo's hand. His gaze moved in that order, until stopping at Hwang Dong-Su.

Right away, Thomas Andre's forehead creased up. Jin-Woo's incredible magical energy emission had completely masked Hwang Dong-Su's presence and he couldn't initially sense it.

Thomas Andre took off and discarded his sunglasses.

"Hwang Dong-Su… Is he still alive?"

"For now."

Thomas Andre resorted to using simple English and enunciated each word loudly so that Jin-Woo, someone who might be not familiar with the language, could hear him clearly.

"Let him go. If you do that, we'll forget that today's event had ever happened. I'm asking you for a favour."

Jin-Woo strengthened his grip on Hwang Dong-Su's collar and asked.

"What if I don't want to?"

"Then, well. A favour won't be a favour anymore."

One of the most powerful Hunters in the world bared his fangs.

A regular Hunter would start p*ssing their pants right about now. However, Jin-Woo's own aura didn't lose out to Thomas Andre's.

"Come, then."

Chapter 190 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Thomas Andre's brows quivered slightly.

If some insignificant Hunter said that to him, he'd have ripped that fool into tiny bits and shreds immediately.

After all, the United States government wouldn't be able to prosecute him, a Special Authority-rank Hunter, that easily. He was someone possessing rights equal to that of a country.

As the reward for rescuing 300 million American lives from the worst calamity in human history, Thomas Andre got to wield absolute power. This power allowed him to do whatever he pleased.

However, even if that was the case, he couldn't immediately make his move. Because his opponent this time was none other than 'Seong Jin-Woo'.

Thomas Andre couldn't completely suppress his temper and his hands moved for a blink of an eye. He managed to reel himself back in, though. He glared at Hwang Dong-Su and gritted his teeth.

'And I told him not to provoke that man….'

As expected, Seong Jin-Woo was not an easy opponent to face. Seeing him personally confirmed this fact. If Thomas Andre had to describe this feeling into words, then it was like trying to step into a quagmire.

Dark and ominous magical energy oozed out from Seong Jin-Woo's entire body, and Thomas Andre felt as if he'd not be able to escape once he took a wrong step forward here.

Unfortunately, even he could not back away now. An ace Hunter of the Scavenger Guild was currently being manhandled by that man, and most importantly, his pride as a Special Authority-rank Hunter was at stake, too.

With his expression viciously crumpled, Thomas Andre threw out a question.

"….You, by any chance, don't you know who I am?"

Jin-Woo curtly responded.

"Doesn't matter who you are."

It was then – Hwang Dong-Su somehow regained his consciousness and shouted out after discovering Thomas Andre.

"Master! Kill this son of a b*tch! Hurry!"

Boom!

Jin-Woo's fist struck Hwang Dong-Su, causing the man to black out and go limp again. Meanwhile, veins bulged on Thomas Andre's forehead.

"You dare…."

'….You know who I am, yet you dare to do something like that in my presence?'

His expression was already crumpled into something unsightly before, but now, it distorted even more to resemble a devil's face.

Through personal experience, his body knew how one should deal with an opponent who didn't want to submit.

'White trash; a low-class white man.'

Thomas Andre grew up in a poor immigrant family.

The school located in the poorest ghetto filled with African youths proved to be a hostile place for a lone white kid who knew no one and had no friends or acquaintances.

Everywhere was filled with enemies. Just from meeting eyes did the fights break out. And often, his opponents carried around dangerous weapons, too. The moments when he had to fight off multiple enemies happened frequently, as well.

However, the heavens saw fit to bestow a certain gift that could only be described as unprecedented unto this white kid who seemingly possessed nothing.

The overwhelming talent for physical power – the power that allowed him to trample on others!

Paradoxically, the boy's surroundings became just about a perfect playground for him to confirm his own talents. Through the endless, continuous fights, the boy got to confirm the heaven-gifted talent he possessed.

He clearly witnessed how his powers would change all those holding hostile feeling towards him. And so, he reigned like a king.

Power – the authoritative power, financial power, and physical power. He got to learn quite early on that the many types of power existing in this world could turn a man into either a king or a slave.

And when a completely different type of 'power' manifested into this world, he grasped the opportunity and ascended to the status of a true king.

If an opponent was unwilling to listen, then he'd use power to make them submit. Someone blocking his path would be destroyed without mercy.

And he'd make all those looking down on him kneel on the ground, defeated. Physical power was the truth!

Thomas Andre stayed true to what he knew, to what he was familiar with.

Time seemed to freeze up. Thomas Andre, now full of malice and a destructive desire, pounced forward. The distance between the two men disappeared in an instant.

His eyes met Jin-Woo's, as they closed in enough for their noses to touch.

'Blame your own ignorance!'

Thomas Andre reached out with his hand. He was planning to grab Jin-Woo's head.

His incomprehensible gripping power was one of his many hidden talents. Even if his opponent happened to be a top-ranked Hunter, he'd easily shatter that person's skull.

Now that the fool was within his attacking range, victory was as good as his. The corners of Thomas Andre's lips curled up.

Too bad, though…

'Wha….?!'

In that instant, there was a flash of light before his eyes.

With fortunate timing, the Hunters of the Scavenger Guild arrived at the location. And they all got to witness something peculiar. They got to witness 'something' breaking past a wall of the disused factory at an alarming speed.

Boooom-!!

That 'something' destroyed the wall and crash-landed on the ground. Even then, it continued to slide away for a long, long time.

Chuwuuuuk…

And when that 'something' finally stopped sliding right before their eyes, the Hunters recognised its identity and couldn't hide their extreme astonishment from exploding out. No one could tell who cried out first.

"Thomas Andre?!"

"Master, are you alright?!"

Just who managed to blow away the Goliath like this?

They simply couldn't believe it.

The force of the impact was so great that hot steam was still rising up from Thomas Andre's entire body.

But then again, the skin on a regular person would've been torn to shreds as he slid on the ground like that. No, before that, his body would've broken into many pieces after slamming into the wall, instead.

However, Thomas Andre was perfectly fine. Should one say, as befitting of a tanker who managed to survive Kamish's Breath with nothing but his bare body?

It was just that the expression he was making as he stood back up was not perfectly fine at all. His face hardened like a surface of a boulder as he stood up. He then took a sweeping look at his Hunters.

Even though they were on the same side, these Hunters paled instantly after being subjected to the murderous glare of a Special Authority-rank Hunter.

Without saying anything else, Thomas Andre walked back into the abandoned factory he flew out from. A dizzying amount of killing intent erupted out from his entire body.

Step, step.

The Vice-Master staring at that sight in a daze hurriedly regained his wits and urged the Guild's Hunters.

"What are you all doing? Get a move on, now!"

One hundred or so top-ranked Hunters all rushed into the abandoned factory at once.

After blowing Thomas Andre away, Jin-Woo clenched his fist tighter.

Just a second later, and Yu Jin-Ho's life would have been in grave danger. It felt like his blood would boil over when he saw Hwang Dong-Su slamming the kid's head to the floor through the eyes of the High Orc soldier.

But, that man wanted what now?

He'd pretend that none of this happened if Hwang Dong-Su was released? What a stupid suggestion that was.

Jin-Woo pushed himself to the absolute limit and continued to grow further and further so he'd not get pushed around by powerful beings. So, such a dumb demand wasn't even worth his time to consider.

But then, the response from Thomas Andre was an attack filled to the brim with the intent to kill.

This battle was far from over.

Thomas Andre might have been flung away to a far off distance, but he made his way back with an even stronger intent to kill than before. Jin-Woo discarded the still-unconscious Hwang Dong-Su to a corner of the factory. And then, summoned Kaisel and Igrit out.

Shururuk…

A black Sky Dragon and a black knight revealed themselves. Jin-Woo carefully lifted up Yu Jin-Ho and handed the kid over to Igrit.

"Take Jin-Ho to the nearest hospital. Make sure he gets the necessary treatment. Got it?"

Igrit bowed to display his understanding and jumped on the back of Kaisel to fly out of the factory.

Kii-ahk!

Thomas Andre didn't give a d*mn about the escaping Sky Dragon. No, his glare was firmly locked on Jin-Woo and Jin-Woo alone. Likewise, Jin-Woo's glare was redirected to the American, as well.

And he got to see the crumpled expression of Thomas Andre and top-ranked Hunters rushing inside beyond his shoulders. Their number was around one hundred.

It seemed that this guy mobilised and brought along all the elites of the Scavenger Guild, often referred to as the best Guild in the world.

The thing was, though….

'…If you want to compare the number of soldiers, then I too have more than enough.'

Jin-Woo immediately called out his Shadow Soldiers hiding within his shadow and waiting for his commands. The darkness slowly spread out from beneath his feet, and one by one, the Shadow Soldiers rose up from the ground.

Thomas Andre's steps came to a halt after he discovered all those soldiers. The number was somewhere near one thousand. The abandoned factory was completely filled up in an instant, but even then, the columns of soldiers extended well beyond to the back as well.

Thomas Andre narrowed his eyes.

'It's not just the incredible numbers, either.'

He even spotted several summoned creatures that were easily on a similar level as rank S Hunters. Such as the knight holding a massive shield, or the Mage wearing a black robe, and even those Giants occupying the backline, too.

Their magical energy emission didn't lose out to some of the highest-ranked Hunters out there.

Indeed, these were truly excellent summoned creatures that even the entirety of the Scavenger Guild participating could not guarantee a victory against.

Shiver, shiver….

Seeing Seong Jin-Woo's common sense-breaking summons in the flesh, Thomas Andre felt this powerful shudder run up through his entire body. At the same time, he was feeling genuinely happy.

'That's right.'

Wouldn't he truly get to enjoy the fight now that the level of his opponent was this high?

A smile broke out on Thomas Andre's face as he licked his lips. That fool Hwang Dong-Su no longer mattered in this fight.

There was only one way to restore his damaged pride. And that would be to…

'….Kill that impudent b*stard….'

But, before he did that, Thomas Andre made his final offer of mercy.

"If you admit to your mistakes and back off, I promise I'll spare your life."

Instead of a verbal answer, Jin-Woo simply flipped him a bird.

Thick veins bulged all over on Thomas Andre's forehead.

"You f*cker, right until the end…."

Riiip!

Thomas Andre ripped his shirt off – a shirt made out of top-class material extracted from the monsters was ripped into pieces like a sheet of cheap paper.

And then….

Wududuk-!

Wuduk!

The muscles in his entire torso ballooned up and hardened like armour covering his whole body. Magic energy so vast that it raised goosebumps from the people nearby leaked out from beneath his feet. It was so vast and powerful, in fact, it looked as if gold-coloured steam was slowly rising up from his shoulders.

The world's greatest Tanker had released his full might once more.

Jin-Woo wordlessly watched Thomas Andre's transformation before unleashing his own magical energy as well.

Shuwahaahk-!!

The magic energy emitted from two monsters occupying wholly different realms forced the surrounding elite Hunters to hold their breaths.

'Heok!'

'I was wondering just who it was that blew away the Goliath, but now….'

Their gazes were directed to one location – to Seong Jin-Woo.

For sure, that feat sounded plausible if it was Seong Jin-Woo, who managed to hunt down all those Giant monsters in Japan.

The Hunters of the Scavenger Guild nervously swallowed their saliva as they stared at Jin-Woo.

Unlike them and their heightened state of tension, though, Jin-Woo was completely calm and collected. He felt that this was the perfect opportunity to test out his growth up until now. He was now facing an opponent that he could definitely go all out against.

Abruptly, Jin-Woo recalled what Kamish the Dragon had told him.

'There are four people borrowing the Rulers' powers, right?'

Could it be that those four were among the five survivors of the Kamish raid – the four of the Special Authority-rank Hunters?

If that was true, then the odds of Thomas Andre being a human borrowing the Rulers' powers were very high.

Jin-Woo made the first move.

"Advance."

Almost immediately after their Sovereign issued that command, the Shadow Soldiers rushed forward with rather scary vigour.

Thomas Andre also cried out loudly.

"They are coming!"

One man versus one Guild; nearly one thousand 'summons' and almost one hundred elite Hunters collided violently on this day.

Boom-!!

Thomas Andre blew away Iron standing at the front of the pack and quickly searched for Jin-Woo's whereabouts as a bright glare shot out from his eyes.

He spotted someone rushing towards him at an incredible pace.

'Over there-!!'

Thomas Andre turned around, but Jin-Woo was faster. The latter dug into the former's defence in an instant and stabbed at the waist with the 'Demon King's Shortsword'.

Unfortunately, the blade failed to break past the hardened skin of Thomas Andre.

Jin-Woo's eyes widened.

Pow!

The American blew his opponent away with his elbow as a smirk formed on his face.

This was the true power of the Special Authority-rank Hunter. Jin-Woo might possess a pretty decent turn of speed, but there was no way he'd be able to exceed Thomas Andre's defences.

'Feel my power and taste what true despair is like!'

Thomas Andre judged that the advantage was now with him. He didn't stop his attacks there and reached out with his hand.

Wuuonng-!

When he did, a powerful pulling force was generated from his hand and quickly reeled back the flung-away Jin-Woo.

The 'invisible hand'.

This was Thomas Andre's ability that managed to drag Kamish the Dragon from the air to the ground.

Jin-Woo was brought back closer to Thomas Andre at a frightening turn of speed, but then, his eyes shot open again.

'Ruler's Authority!'

Koo-woong!

Thomas Andre's shoulders quivered from the unseen force slamming down from above.

'What?!'

He was left utterly stunned after confirming with his entire body that his opponent also possessed the power only the Special Authority-rank Hunters possessed.

Jin-Woo didn't miss that opening; his punch slammed into Thomas Andre's face for the second time today.

Ka-boom!!

And for the first time ever after becoming a Hunter, the man nicknamed Goliath spat out blood from his mouth.

"Keo-heok!!"

The Hunter Bureau wasn't sitting back sucking on its fingers either. Dozens of vehicles belonging to the Bureau carrying Hunters were on their way to the same destination as the members of the Scavenger Guild.

However, the two cars right in front of the pack suddenly came to a halt not too far from their destination.

The deeply-anxious Adam White had been watching the passing scenery and was caught unprepared from the sudden stop.

"Wha-what is going on?"

The vehicle's driver looked back at Adam White. He was the sole rank S Hunter affiliated with the Hunter Bureau.

"Agent White. I think it's time you explained to us what's going on here."

"We don't have time for me to explain everything in…."

Adam White couldn't finish his sentence.

Because he saw the complexion of the rank S Hunter growing pale rather quickly at that moment. It was the first time seeing such an expression forming on the face of a man who famously possessed a steely heart, formed after experiencing all sorts of close shaves in his life.

Realising that something quite serious had happened, Adam White quickly asked.

"Did…. something happen up ahead?"

The rank S Hunter replied with a frozen-stiff face.

"If we continue on, all of us will have to risk our lives."

Chapter 191 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

The corners of his lips bust open from that hit.

While being forced away from the impact, Thomas Andre was reeling from the shock of the freakish power that smacked him in the face.

'How could… how could such a power be…?!'

That punch was heavy enough for his head to shake around. But, that wasn't all.

That man also possessed the ability to apply physical power with nothing but his thoughts. Even then, he didn't resist against the pulling force and willingly got himself dragged in.

Who'd have thought of such a thing?

Unexpectedly, not only did he not use his version of the 'invisible hand' to resist the pull, he instead used it as a distraction to divert the attention of his opponent, and then threw the real attack that couldn't be easily avoided.

The acceleration from the pull became the double-edged blade cutting into the one activating the ability and ended up causing even bigger damage. Now that was a shockingly well-tuned instinct for battle.

'Just how many fights did he go through to even come up with a tactic like that?'

Thomas Andre had been looking down on Jin-Woo as some random kid even though he willingly acknowledged the Korean's powers. But now, having been struck twice in the face, his thoughts had gone through a rapid change.

Thomas Andre stopped bouncing away and landed back on his feet.

Kwa-jeeeek, kwa-jeek!!

The friction destroyed the cement floor below and threw up pieces of broken-off pebble and a dust cloud into the air.

As expected, Jin-Woo didn't give the American time to recover and dashed towards him. That was the sight of an experienced hunter. It seemed as if he had aimed for that moment before his target had regained the balance. However, his prey was the quicker of the two to react this time.

Thomas Andre discarded all arrogant thoughts from his head. He also realised that he might lose today if he continued to fight while being considerate towards his surroundings.

His opponent this time was far, far tougher than his initial expectation.

"Reinforcement."

When he muttered out those words, his body, armed with muscles that had transformed into solid armour, suddenly ballooned up explosively.

Shu-wahck!

His near two-metre-tall physique transformed into a monster over three metres tall in the blink of an eye.

"Uwaaaaah-!!"

Thomas Andre roared out like an angry beast and raised both of his arms, now as thick as a marble pillar, high above his head. All of this happened way too fast!

Jin-Woo, in the middle of his sprint, sensed danger up ahead.

'What could it be?'

His brain fell into a dilemma. The thing was, not once did his instincts lie to him in moments of great peril. Jin-Woo hurriedly stopped his forward movement and almost at the same time, jumped backwards.

With the difference of a millisecond, Thomas Andre's massive fists pounded on the ground below.

Kwa-kwang!!

Everything caught within the radius disintegrated from the horrifying shock wave.

His skill, 'Demolition'.

That incredible might forced Jin-Woo to take several more steps backwards, even though he had already escaped to a safe zone.

Tumble….

Debris flung up into the air fell down like raindrops.

As befitting a Hunter who subjugated a Dragon, his sturdiness and destructive power were second to none. But, there was no time to remain stunned. Another loud roar exploded out from Thomas Andre's mouth.

"Capture!"

A powerful gravitational pulling force with Thomas Andre as the centre began yanking everything within the range towards him. It was as if he had become a black hole. Shadow Soldiers and Hunters all got into a messy tangle and flew towards his position.

Jin-Woo might have been one of the targets of this skill, 'Capture', but he used 'Ruler's Authority' to repel away the pulling force.

And when he finally managed to break free from that powerful force and jumped rearward one more time….

….Thomas Andre's 'Demolition' skill burst forth yet again.

KWA-JEECK!!

Not just the Shadow Soldiers, but even the Hunters of the Scavenger got swept away by the shock wave.

"Uwaahk!!"

"Euh, euh…."

Screams rose up from here and there.

The Vice-Master had discovered this horrifying situation rather late and yelled out at the top of his lungs.

"Get away from the Master! Now!!"

Three, four fleet-footed Hunters quickly retrieved their injured colleagues and escaped to the back. Meanwhile, Thomas Andre and his emotionless face viciously dashed towards Jin-Woo's location.

A rank of 'Special Authority' implied one was afforded the same level of rights as an independent nation. That was why he needed to demonstrate what the punishment for disobeying the king was like.

Thomas Andre arrived in Jin-Woo's location in no time at all and threw a powerful punch forward.

Vuuoowoong-!!

His fist scythed the air.

He already knew it all too well.

He knew better than anyone that he was too slow to land a punch on this b*stard possessing the nimbleness of a wild beast. Especially so, when he was in his reinforced state.

His strength and defence would be enhanced to an unimaginable degree, but at the same time, his speed would drop proportionally. Fortunately enough for Thomas Andre, though, he possessed a skill that could easily cover for that drawback.

He extended his hand out to Jin-Woo who was rapidly creating distance between them.

'Capture!'

Once more, a powerful, incredibly attractive force activated between the two men. The American knew he'd not miss his prey now.

With his body fortified through the 'Reinforcement' skill, his attention wouldn't be stolen away from some measly diversionary tricks.

As expected, Seong Jin-Woo was yanked back in with ease.

Leaving his extended left hand as it was, Thomas Andre pulled his right hand back and clenched it into a tight fist. An enormous amount of magical energy, enough to smash the torso of a top-ranked Hunter apart into a gory mess, gathered into his right fist.

Skill, 'Power Smash'.

Thomas Andre's fist, carrying a gob-smacking level of destructive power, slowly moved forward. But then, it happened.

His eyes opened wider. He saw Jin-Woo's own right arm muscles suddenly expanding greatly in size.

'Could he be… thinking of directly confronting me?'

Finding this incredulous, Thomas Andre increased the pulling power. However, Jin-Woo didn't try to evade it but actually used his 'Ruler's Authority' to further increase his momentum, instead.

The American cried out in shock.

"D*mn it!"

Jin-Woo approached far quicker than Thomas Andre had anticipated and threw a punch a little quicker than his counterpart could. At the same time, he lowered his head and lightly evaded the American's own belated punch.

Kwa-boom!!

Thomas Andre saw a flash of light before his eyes and finally realised it.

'The first attack he hit me with was….'

The attack he failed to see back then was precisely this one.

BOOM!!

Thomas Andre flew away like a rocket, demolished the wall of the disused factory and rolled around on the dirt for quite some time. The deep and lengthy pit left behind on the ground by his sliding body resembled furrows on a field.

"Keu-heuk."

He hurriedly pushed himself off the ground, but Jin-Woo was already standing before him by then. Thomas Andre roared out and threw countless punches.

"Uwaaaah!!"

Every time his fists flew past, the ground exploded and the air was split seemingly into pieces. Each hit was ferocious enough to utterly destroy a person's body from just a light touch.

Unfortunately, none of those could actually touch Jin-Woo.

He simply dodged all of Thomas Andre's fists and accurately landed every one of his counters on the American's vital spots.

Kwang!! Ka-boom!! Kwahng!!

Little by little, blood pooled in Thomas Andre's mouth.

"Keo-heok!"

How could this be….?

'How can a Mage-type Hunter be this powerful and this fast?'

The more confused he got, the greater the physical damage he suffered.

'Am I… Am I losing?'

But, that couldn't be happening.

No, that must not happen.

His ability to overwhelm his enemies with pure physical violence was the sole reason for his existence, the only thing proving that he was him and not someone else.

Thomas Andre gritted his blood-soaked teeth. His eyes under the arched-up brows emitted a maddened glow.

"Uwaaahh-!!"

He punched with everything he had, but Jin-Woo evaded that again and smacked the American's chin.

Puh-geok!

Thomas Andre shook his head hard to get rid of the impact force ringing in his head. But, in that brief gap, Jin-Woo had dug in until he was right below the American's nose and attacked consecutively and without mercy.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!

"Keo-heok!!"

Thomas Andre, who once resembled a towering fortress, now began faltering around.

He unsteadily tottered about as he backed away. He somehow managed to regain his balance and cried out venomously.

"I am none other than Thomas Andre!! You think you can bring me down with only that much?!"

"That's why I told you before."

Kwa-boom!!

Jin-Woo punched Thomas Andre's chin upwards and spoke.

"It doesn't matter who you are."

Thomas Andre's head was shot up towards the sky, but he stopped it from going any further. Enraged beyond himself now, the Goliath raised his tightly interlocked fists up high above his head.

"Demolition!!"

BOOM!!

The ground exploded and quaked violently as he slammed down with all his might. Too bad, Jin-Woo was no longer there.

"Where…?!"

Thomas Andre's glare hurriedly wandered around to find Jin-Woo.

It was then.

He belatedly realised that a lump of incredible magical energy was falling from above him.

He quickly looked up.

Jin-Woo had leapt up before the skill 'Demolition' was activated and now, he was descending towards his American target.

His elbow powerfully slammed down on Thomas Andre's face.

KWA-BOOM!!

Dozens of vehicles stopped almost all at once in a location fairly far away from the abandoned factory. It was decided that getting any closer would be dangerous for them.

The folks climbing out of the vehicles were elite Hunters affiliated with the Hunter Bureau. Every single one of them was a distinguished, excellent Hunter in their own right.

However, despite being with such great Hunters, Adam White couldn't feel reassured at all right now. But, that was understandable when these people were being compared to Hunters Seong Jin-Woo and Thomas Andre, plus the entirety of the Scavenger Guild's elites.

The rank S Hunter tasked with commanding the Bureau's own Hunter forces, a man named Brent, could only shake his head with a stiff facial expression.

"Oh, my god….."

Just what kind of monsters were fighting right now to emit this much magical energy?

His feet didn't want to budge from the spot, but Adam White was right behind him, waiting to be guided forward with a pair of pleading eyes. Brent had no choice but to give up and spoke in a resigned voice.

"It's over there. However, it truly is dangerous, so my advice is, you need to be dead sure about this."

Adam White nodded his head.

KWA-BOOM!!

It was at that moment something shot up high in the air along with a loud, explosive noise, before crashing back down to the ground.

Adam White looked in the direction of that noise, before quickly shifting his gaze back to Brent. The rank S Hunter couldn't bring himself to close shut his slack jaw.

Adam White urgently asked him.

"W-what was that just now?"

"If, If I haven't made a mistake, then that was….."

How could Brent, a rank S Hunter, make a mistake with his identification? Even then, he hesitated greatly before carrying on.

"It was Mister Thomas Andre falling from the air."

"What was that?!"

"Even I can't be sure…."

Adam White's eyes grew incredibly large as he hurriedly shouted out.

"Hurry! We need to go there right now!"

Brent watched Adam White run over there and gestured to other Hunters to follow them.

The Hunter Bureau's group soon arrived at the location where two gigantic masses of magic energy were colliding against each other. And then, they all saw it.

"Heok."

They saw the scene of the one and only Thomas Andre being pummelled into a rag by a lone Asian Hunter.

Pow! Pooow! Powww!

Brent freaked out and pointed at that sight.

"T-Thomas… Mister Thomas Andre is being beaten up by Hunter Seong Jin-Woo!!"

"I can also see that!"

Adam White repeatedly stamped his feet on the ground in pure vexation. Even from this far, he could tell that Thomas Andre's condition as he was getting beaten to a pulp by Jin-Woo didn't look so good.

Brent hurriedly asked with an expression of someone not knowing what to do.

"What should we do now?"

"We need to stop them! Are you planning to stay back and watch a Special Authority-rank Hunter get beaten to death?!"

"You want us to stop that?? You mean, stop that man?!"

Brent stared dumbfoundedly at the Asian Hunter emitting a truly nonsensical amount of magic power – it was so enormous, in fact, he didn't even want to go anywhere near that maelstrom if he could help it.

But, before he had a chance to say those words out loud, Adam White dashed forward.

He might be a Hunter Bureau agent, but still, he was a regular person. He could lose his life simply by coming into contact with magical energy being emitted from a top-ranked Hunter.

Brent's expression crumpled as he weighed options, but eventually, he spat out a pained groan and chased after Adam to run towards Jin-Woo.

"Agent White!"

Thomas Andre's face was stomped on by the elbow and he knelt down to the ground. Both of his hands dug deep into the earth below.

"Euh, euh….Uwaaaah!!"

He somehow managed to raise his upper torso up and continued with his attacks. Unfortunately, he had sustained too much damage to his physical body and his fists couldn't attack with the same level of destructive force anymore.

Jin-Woo saw those now-sluggish punches and re-confirmed the tide of battle turning towards his favour. These powerless flailing arms of Thomas Andre now only contained the losing man's ultimately meaningless rage and desire to kill Jin-Woo.

The Korean Hunter smoothly and easily evaded those punches and counter-attacked once more.

Kwang!! Ka-boom!!

Unlike Thomas Andre's attacks, Jin-Woo's hits constantly raining down aimed precisely at the American's vital spots and as a result, the poor man couldn't even regain his wits anymore.

"Keo-heok!"

Every time Thomas Andre's head snapped in one direction or to the other side, blood spat out from his face. He lost his balance and tottered around unsteadily. Jin-Woo remained merciless as he kicked the American man.

Ka-boom!!

"Keok!"

The colliding magic energy exploded and Thomas Andre's body rocketed up into the sky.

'Ruler's Authority.'

He yanked at the American man flying up endlessly into the air, causing his victim to crash-land back down to Earth with no resistance whatsoever.

BOOM-!!

"Cough!"

Thomas Andre lay sprawled on the ground and vomited out a mouthful of blood. Jin-Woo mounted on top of him.

And just like when he was fighting against the demon king Baran back in the Demon's Castle, he grasped Thomas Andre's neck and slammed down with his other fist.

Pow! Slam!! Boom!

He could sense Thomas Andre's resistance weaken gradually.

Pow! Boom! Pow!

And finally – just as Jin-Woo raised his fist high up to land the finisher, he heard a certain someone's desperate cry.

"Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim! Please, stop! I beg you, stay your hand, please!"

Jin-Woo disinterestedly stared at Adam White running towards him before clenching his fist tightly again. A horrifying amount of magical energy roiled around his greatly-expanded shoulder muscles and his fist.

"N-no! Stop!"

Just before the fist could slam down on the target…

As Adam White cried out, his hand reaching out in desperation…

….Thomas Andre finally opened his mouth.

"….I lost."

Whoosh-!

Jin-Woo's fist stopped millimetres away from the American's nose.

As if he had used up all of his energy just to surrender, Thomas Andre lost his consciousness right afterwards and went limp.

Only then did Jin-Woo withdraw his fist and wordlessly got back up.

Soon afterwards, Hunters affiliated with the Bureau cautiously filed in around him and Thomas Andre on the ground.

"What the f*ck… What the hell is this? Did this really happen? Seriously?!"

A certain reporter was muttering to himself as he continuously snapped one photo after another.

Originally, he planned to snap a few shots of the Scavenger Guild Hunters getting ready for a raid. But now…

All he did was to simply follow after the Hunters who inexplicably cancelled the raid and began moving to somewhere. So, how on earth could he explain this?

The reporter initially thought that there was a dungeon break happening somewhere. But the spectacle unfolding before his eyes easily exceeded his wildest imaginations.

He used the zoom function to confirm the face of the man lying sprawled on the ground once more time.

That was a rather familiar face, that's for sure.

Without a doubt, that face belonged to the Special Authority-rank Hunter, Thomas Andre.

'Oh, my god…. Just who can beat Thomas Andre up like that?!'

The reporter spat out a shocked gasp as he scrolled through the images he had taken so far.

And at the same time, his heart trembled in excitement after realising that the photos contained within this little camera would net him a huge wad of cash.

Chapter 192 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Adam White urgently confirmed the signs of life on Thomas Andre.

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump….

He pressed his ear to the chest of the unmoving man and heard the faint beating of the heart. He even brought his hand near Thomas Andre's nose and felt for his breathing, too. Fortunately enough, he was still alive.

However, he was barely hanging on. He might be alive but, he didn't resemble a living man right now. That's how bad his condition was.

'To think, he's capable of reducing the one and only Thomas Andre to this state….'

Just how many Hunters in the world would be capable of doing this? No, was there anyone even remotely capable of doing that, to begin with?

If this news got out, then the entire world would be turned on its head almost instantly. Adam White even felt an emotion similar to awe at Jin-Woo's strength that had easily exceeded the Hunter Bureau's expectations.

Unfortunately, now wasn't the time to stand around in awe.

"Hurry!"

Adam White gestured towards the Hunter Bureau's Healers.

One of the top-rated Healers quickly ran over and settled down next to the patient on the ground. After confirming Thomas Andre's condition before the healing could properly commence, the Healer clicked his tongue and spoke up.

"Every bone in his body is broken. Haemorrhaging is quite serious, as well. I alone won't be able to heal him. It'll be better for everyone to participate at once."

Following the Healer's suggestion, more of his colleagues were added to the process of healing Thomas Andre.

But then, could anyone fill up a lake with water from a tap? Because of how vast Thomas Andre's overall health reserve was, one needed to expend a great deal of effort in order to heal him.

As the Healers sweated profusely and focused on healing the American Hunter, Adam White stood back up from the ground to survey the landscape. He saw the Hunters from the Bureau keeping themselves busy by pulling out the injured from the abandoned factory.

"Euh, euh…."

"My leg, my leg!!"

The state of the Scavenger's elite Hunters were wretched, to say the least. It was unknown how they ended up in such a miserable state, but it was not that hard to guess just who was responsible for them looking like that.

One man versus one Guild.

Just one Hunter managed to utterly destroy one of the top Guilds in the entire world.

'Seriously…'

Adam White was utterly flabbergasted by the incredibleness of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, and his abilities that played a key role in this display of incredibleness.

'…Uh?'

Now that he took another look, he couldn't see Hunter Seong Jin-Woo anywhere. Adam White searched around to locate the Korean Hunter, but before he could locate his query, a rather familiar 'song' entered his ears, instead.

It was the ringtone coming from his phone.

"This is White."

– "Agent White, we discovered Yu Jin-Ho Hunter-nim's current whereabouts."

The call came from the Hunter Bureau. Out of all the stories he heard today, this had to be the best one so far. Adam White's gloomy-looking expression brightened up once more.

"Really? Where is he now?"

The caller informed him that the grievously-injured Hunter Yu Jin-Ho was discovered in front of a major hospital nearby, and his life was no longer in danger after having received a timely emergency medical treatment.

"I'll head there right away as soon as the matters this side are sorted out."

– "Understood."

Adam White ended the call and sighed in relief.

"Whew…"

He had no idea how he'd go about dealing with Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's wrath if something really bad happened to Yu Jin-Ho. Just thinking about it made him dizzy.

Spilt milk couldn't be saved, anyway. Should he say that the glass holding the milk not breaking was a silver lining among the sea of storm clouds?

A small load was taken off his mind and soon, he got to hear yet another piece of good news.

"We're finished."

The Healers tasked with mending Thomas Andre stood up from the ground. Adam White asked them for a status update.

"How is he? Is he alright?"

"For now."

"For now…? What does that mean?"

"His injured body has been healed, but he did suffer many grievous wounds and it will take some time before he regains consciousness."

"Oh."

Magic from the Healers might be able to restore one's physical wounds, but they were unable to lighten one's psychological trauma.

And since Thomas Andre no doubt suffered a huge mental setback this time 'round, his hospital room would have to be closely monitored. Adam White could only look on at the unconscious face of the Special Authority-rank Hunter with a look of pity. Still, the Healer did find words that provided a bit of comfort and delivered them.

"Even then, it was because it was Special Authority-rank Hunter Thomas Andre that he got to survive this long. If it was any other Hunter being on the receiving end of this much punishment, that person would have died ten times over by now."

"What a reli…."

Adam White nodded and was about to say something suitable as a reply, but then, his words came to a stop.

Only because it was the Special Authority-rank Hunter Thomas Andre, he could survive this event?

If so, what about Hunter Hwang Dong-Su who must've been subjected to the one-sided outpouring of Seong Jin-Woo's rage?

Was that man around here, as well?

Carrying a hardened expression, Adam White quickly made his way into the abandoned factory as more injured were carted out. Once inside, he took a look around and heard someone call out to him.

"Agent White! Over here!"

That urgent voice quickened Adam White's thought process. He tried to calm his pounding heart and ran towards where that call came from.

One of the Bureau's Hunters with a serious expression on his face was standing in front of a person lying on the floor. Adam White recognised who it was and whispered out the name of the man like a groan.

"Hwang Dong-Su…."

That prompted the Hunter next to him to speak his findings.

"This man is not breathing, sir. His heart is not beating anymore."

"I hope you ain't gonna waste my time by telling me some bullsh*t story about you kidding around or making a mistake here."

It was already getting pretty late. The editor of a certain publication had come out to meet a freelance reporter after the latter gave him a call. Understandably, the editor's glare was icy.

Just who was he?

He was none other than the editor of the newspaper boasting the highest circulation figures in the eastern United States.

Originally, someone like a freelancer wouldn't be able to summon him out for an impromptu meeting like this. But then, he had no choice but to make this trip after hearing the contents of the phone call.

The editor told himself that, if this freelancer was going to waste his time with a fairy tale, then he'd make d*mn sure that this guy ended up in jail with a fake crime he came up with. That was his thought process as he hurriedly put back on the clothes he wore during the day at work for this meeting in the dark.

The reporter quickly waved his hands around after being subjected to the editor's suspicious glare.

"It's d-definitely nothing like that. This thing is 100% real. I thought you only liked stories that are real?"

"Hmph…."

"So, how much are you willing to offer?"

"Let me see the photos first."

The reporter looked around his vicinity as if he was scared of something and began pulling out one photograph after another from his bag. The editor took them with an expressionless face and began flipping through them, but then, his hands came to an abrupt halt.

And an almighty earthquake erupted in his eyes next.

'H-how can this be?!'

The editor's astonished gaze naturally shifted over to the reporter's face next.

His expression clearly was asking, 'Where did you get these pictures?' and that made the reporter feel like he was on the top of the world. He quickly shrugged his shoulders as his reply.

The editor continued to flip through the pictures with trembling hands.

They were exactly as the reporter had described over the phone.

'Thomas Andre passes out after getting beaten to a pulp a day before the International Guild Conference?'

Not only that – the face of the man leisurely turning around to leave after defeating the American was captured within these pictures.

Wasn't that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo??

This was a huge scoop.

No, hang on – that word 'scoop' wasn't adequate enough to fully describe this incredible jackpot. The editor's breathing became really rough and heavy now.

Meanwhile, the reporter peered at the picture the editor was looking at and added some of his explanation.

"That's the man who beat up Thomas Andre. If you can investigate and uncover that guy's identity in an expose, I think you're going to create one hell of a firestorm, Mister Editor."

What a moron this guy was!

Allegedly, Westerners had a problem telling Asian faces apart. Maybe because of that, the reporter had failed to recognise Seong Jin-Woo's face.

In times like these, the editor felt rather thankful for being an Asian American. And at the same time, he began cooking up the headlines that would dominate the front page of tomorrow's paper.

[The man who brought down the Dragon, bitten brought back to earth by an Asian dragon.]

[The Hunter of Giants, Seong Jin-Woo – now even hunting down the Goliath?]

[The stronghold of a Special Authority-rank Hunter, collapsing under the new rising star of South Korea?]

Didn't matter what headlines he decided to use, this news would attract the attention of the entire world. Most importantly, his paper would have the exclusive.

There were dozens of real photographic proof prepared as well, so how could there not be a huge commotion rising up in the world come tomorrow?

The actual worth of these pictures could not be estimated at all. The editor felt his heart quiver.

Having discovered the trembling light within the editor's eyes, the reporter quickly snatched the pictures back.

The editor could only lick his lips in wistfulness.

"Now that you have confirmed the veracity of these pictures, let's talk about my price. How much are you willing to pay me?"

"This…. Well, it's a bit difficult for me to come out with a price for these pictures."

The editor hesitated greatly before asking the reporter as he carefully studied the other party.

"Why don't you quote me a price you think is fair? So, how much do you want for them?"

The reporter pondered his options for a while, before unfurling all five of his fingers on his hand. The editor nodded his head.

"Fifty grand? Good. We'll go with that."

"No."

The reporter immediately corrected the editor on the price.

"It's five million dollars."

"F-five million?!"

Five million U.S. Dollars is a huge amount of money equalling as much as 6,000,000,000 Korean Won.

Quite obviously, the expression on the editor's face hardened instantly.

"If you think the price isn't right, then I'll just go somewhere else."

The reporter shoved the pictures back inside the bag and tried to turn around. However, the editor hurriedly stopped him.

"No, hold on!"

Images of a celebrity couple's baby would sell for millions of dollars nowadays, so was there a reason not to spend five million on a scoop of this magnitude?

Once this news gets out, all the TV stations and other newspapers would be talking about this story non-stop for the next few days. He simply couldn't let this opportunity slip through his fingers!

Having arrived at his decision with some difficulty, the editor opened his mouth.

"Fine, you got a deal. However, I want not just the pictures but the originals, too. And you'll have to swear never to leak this out to anyone else. How about it?"

With that, the deal was made.

The reporter had been working as a freelancer and had to wallow at the bottom of society all this time. He thought about being able to see his parents again for the first time since leaving his hometown. His voice trembled slightly as he made his reply.

"….Let's do it."

The hospital room where Yu Jin-Ho was currently admitted to.

He had made it out from death's doorstep, but he still hadn't regained his consciousness.

Yu Jin-Ho was still breathing out heavily in pain. The pain-suppressing morphine didn't seem to be all that effective for him.

A little bit of time later, after the doctor doing the rounds confirmed Yu Jin-Ho's current status and left….

….A humanoid shape rose up from the blob of shadow sneaking into the hospital room.

Shururuk….

It was Beru, who swapped locations with Jin-Woo via 'Shadow Exchange'.

He reached out to heal Yu Jin-Ho, as ordered by his liege. From the tip of his hands, gentle blue light slowly spread out in this darkened room.

Yu Jin-Ho's expression, scrunched up from pain and discomfort, softened in no time at all.

Beru already possessed powers incomparable to regular rank S Hunters, so it was quite obvious that his healing magic would be unmatched, as well. The former ant king diligently healed his target's wounds so he could also mend Yu Jin-Ho's psychological trauma at the same time.

Wuuonng….

Yu Jin-Ho stopped tossing around in the bed after sensing the warmth wrap up his entire body, and eventually, creaked open his heavy eyelids.

"Uh….?"

The first thing he saw was a giant ant head right in front of his face. On top of that, that giant ant head placed a finger to its mouth and went "Shh." as if to tell him to keep quiet.

"….Oh, so I'm still dreaming."

Yu Jin-Ho closed his eyes shut and went back to sleep with a happy expression etched on his face.

In the meantime, Beru wordlessly concentrated on healing the kid.

The night wore on.

Seoul, the capital city of South Korea.

There was a 14-hour difference between here and the eastern United States. It may have been in the middle of the night over there, but it was in the morning in Korea.

The current location was a deserted children's playground.

A black knight with his head pressed tightly on the ground next to a swing set asked.

"Oh, my king. How long should I stay in this position?"

Jin-Woo, currently sitting quietly on the swing and waiting for Beru's signal, replied disinterestedly.

"I guess…. Until Beru reports back to me that he's done with Jin-Ho's treatment?"

Perhaps the knight recognised his faults in this matter because he kept his mouth shut and maintained the 'Wonsan bombing raid' posture. (TL note at the end)

Jin-Woo wordlessly stared at the knight before his gaze abruptly landed on his hands.

The back of his hands were all messed up. There were several bruises and he could spot traces of blood as well.

That Thomas Andre, he was truly one nonsensically sturdy dude. Just from Jin-Woo beating the living crap out of him, his hands ended up getting bruised to this degree.

Of course, such wounds would be gone without a trace after a good night's rest all thanks to the passive buff, 'Good Health and Long Life', but still.

'….I'm sleepy.'

He felt a bit of fatigue rush in. A chaotic day was finally drawing to a rather subdued close.

The knight, staying quiet for a while, suddenly addressed Jin-Woo again.

"Oh, my king…."

"What is it?"

"Please, bestow unto me a new name, my king."

Jin-Woo shifted his gaze over to his brand-new Shadow Soldier.

[?? Lv.1]

Knight Commander grade

'Right, I guess you also need a name, don't you?'

Jin-Woo pondered this dilemma for a little bit before forming a wry smile as he spoke.

"Since you died because of your greed, how about I call you 'Greed'?"

Chapter 193 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Next day.

Almost every TV station and newspaper under the sun was talking about the Hunters arriving in the United States before the International Guild Conference began. However, only one newspaper from the east of the country dared to carry a rather different sort of headline on its front page.

[Thomas Andre loses consciousness!]

There was not one American who didn't know the name of Thomas Andre. So, they couldn't quite believe that their Special Authority-rank Hunter had lost consciousness.

Did he contract some kind of illness?

The passersby were immediately drawn in by that simple-yet-attention-grabbing headline. They reached out to grab their copies of the paper and gladly paid the asking price.

But then, steps of the curious buyers came to a stuttering halt after they unfurled their papers and read the article within. That rather boring headline didn't prepare the readers adequately enough for the bombshell hiding within the article itself.

It was unknown why the fight happened, but regardless, the article went to detail the event of a lone Hunter clashing against Thomas Andre and his Scavenger Guild the night before.

And the aftermath was laid bare for all to see with several pages' worth of large photographs.

They showed bloodied and battered Thomas Andre, as well as many injured Hunters being carried out from a disused factory.

If someone who didn't know any of these people saw the images, that person might have said that they were victims of a terror attack. That's how severe the scenes depicted were.

However, weren't these people all top-ranked Hunters in this nation?

Especially for Thomas Andre – he was the Special Authority-rank Hunter who survived the 'Kamish' raid, referred to as the worst calamity in human history.

Every single person reading the article couldn't hide how shocked they felt. Their breathing became rough and heavy, just like the editor back when he first laid his eyes on these images.

And when the identity of the man who drove the Hunters of the Scavenger Guild to this wretched state was revealed, the readers focusing on the article cried out in pure shock and astonishment.

"What in the world…."

"Jesus Christ!"

Why was there an image of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo in this article? Wasn't he the current darling of the international media after he stopped a massive-scale crisis taking place in Japan not too long ago?

The contrast between Thomas Andre lying sprawled on the ground, and Jin-Woo turning around to leave with an emotionless face, was so great that it left the readers with an indescribable level of mental shock.

As almost all of the mass media was focused on the International Guild Conference, the ripple caused by the article was even greater than it might have been otherwise.

Rather than traditional media outlets breaking the news, though, the story first gained traction in South Korea through social media, instead.

[ROFLOL. Thomas Andre beaten to a pulp by Seong Jin-Woo was real? Link to the article.]

[Holy cow, it's real. LOL Thomas Andre showed up with Guild members and still got ransacked like nobody's business?]

[Bullsh*t. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Makes no sense. One guy wrecked a Special Authority-rank Hunter super-top-number one Guild?]

[Go read the linked article. All true.]

[Why did they fight, tho?]

[No one knows. No reason provided.]

[LOLOL Yankee bros yapping on about Special Authority this and that, but now, boom! Maybe, these fools were nothing but hot air?]

[It's not Thomas Andre being useless, it's Seong Jin-Woo being incredible.]

[Yup, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim is the pride of South Korea.]

[Kyah~! Barmaid! Time to get drunk! Bring me a tall glass of patriotism!]

Most of the Korean commenters expressed their surprise at this event, but on the other hand, the comments filled with pride quickly appeared on various Japanese social media accounts.

[It's only obvious that even Thomas Andre was no match for Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim.]

[Maybe the U.S. didn't help us because they were afraid of exposing the truth behind their Special Authority-ranked Hunters…]

[We need to be grateful that such a Hunter came to lend us his aid.]

[I've been trying to send a thank you gift to Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim for a little while now. Where should I send it so he can receive it?]

[You can send it here. The address is….]

[Hey, dude, why U writing your own address?]

[wwwwww What a crazy b*stard.]

Jin-Woo was already the hero of Japan.

The wounded pride of the Japanese people was restored when Jin-Woo, a man who rescued their country from the brink of destruction, defeated the hero of America.

Perhaps inevitably, the attention of the world – not just America's, where the incident took place – was laser-focused on Jin-Woo once more, after a short period of peace since the Giant subjugation.

Why did he do it?

Why did Hunter Seong Jin-Woo pummel Thomas Andre and his Guild members into near-oblivion?

Did something irreconcilable happen between the two men?

Public opinion and mass media were burning up from the flames of speculation. Everyone that learnt of this incident could only wait in desperation for some clarity on the situation.

Jin-Woo woke up in the assigned hotel room. He took a look outside the window and saw the sea of reporters camping outside the hotel's entrance and clicked his tongue.

"Where did all these people show up from?"

Sure, it wasn't as if he had no clue why these reporters had gathered outside the hotel. No, he simply got surprised by the fact that the news had spread out this fast, that was all.

Even then, he had no plans to shy away from them. Wasn't this a good opportunity to let the world know what would happen if someone tried to mess him?

It was not against the law to shoot down someone aiming a gun at you in America. Especially more so, with laws being amended recently, after the appearance of the Hunters.

The issue might have gotten out of hand if he kept attacking the unconscious Thomas Andre. But, he wisely stopped right away the moment his opponent lost the will to fight.

It should be a similar story with Hwang Dong-Su, too. Once people learn about what he did to Yu Jin-Ho, not many would point their fingers at Jin-Woo.

So, he stayed calm and waited for Agent Adam White to contact him. Sure enough…

Knock, knock.

He opened the door after hearing the knock to find Agent Adam White standing on the corridor with two other Bureau-affiliated Hunters.

Jin-Woo asked with absolutely no nervousness in his voice.

"Are you here to arrest me?"

"No, not at all."

The American agent shook his head and hurriedly continued on.

"We're here to escort you to the Guild Conference venue because we are expecting quite a big fuss to develop during the day. And also…."

Adam White quickly fixed his attire and politely bent his waist 90 degrees forward, totally out of the blue.

Feeling puzzled by that gesture, Jin-Woo looked on. However, Adam White showed no signs of straightening himself and spoke while maintaining the current posture.

"Also, I'd like to express my gratitude, as well."

Jin-Woo combed through his memories briefly just then, but he failed to recall any moments that warranted a thank-you from the Hunter Bureau.

All he did yesterday was – he lost Kamish's shadow, wandered around searching for the kidnapped Yu Jin-Ho, encountered Thomas Andre coincidentally and beat his a*s down to the ground. That was all.

Recalling the events of yesterday managed to sour his mood by a notch.

The American agent probably wasn't expressing his gratitude to Jin-Woo for showing him the process of extracting a shadow. So, why was he saying his thanks for?

Fortunately enough, Adam White opened his mouth just in time, right before Jin-Woo's confusion had the chance to grow any bigger.

"If you hadn't stopped right then, the United States of America would have lost both of her Special Authority-rank Hunters."

'Ahh, so that's what he was talking about.'

Jin-Woo nodded his head as he recalled the scene of Adam White crying out and trying to dissuade him the night before.

For sure, yesterday's result might have been entirely different if the American agent didn't show up and Thomas Andre remained stubborn right until the end.

The U.S. had already lost one of her Special Authority-rank Hunters. So, the government would've done everything in order to prevent the loss of her second, regardless of the cost.

Jin-Woo could more or less understand now where Adam White and his bowed head was coming from.

Meanwhile, the American agent carried on.

"We at the Hunter Bureau will do our best to ensure that you're not unduly troubled by this incident, Seong Hunter-nim."

With those words, Adam White stood upright again. He looked dead tired, though.

The Hunter Bureau held a night-long emergency meeting on how to deal with this event. Naturally, Adam White had to attend the meeting, seeing that he was in charge of chaperoning Jin-Woo around.

The conclusion of that meeting was….

– Do not provoke him.

The higher-ups decided to do everything in their power to make Jin-Woo's stay in the country that much more comfortable. His feat of defeating Thomas Andre only served to improve the Hunter Bureau's evaluation of him.

The organisation definitely didn't want to see their relationship with Jin-Woo souring because of the Scavenger Guild's wrongdoings. Most importantly, Thomas Andre wasn't dead, now was he?

Adam White was ordered to carry on as scheduled and so, he came here to escort Jin-Woo. He stared at his charge for a little while before swallowing dry saliva.

Gulp.

'This man alone managed to defeat the Scavenger Guild….'

The normal image of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was a man of power for whom common sense still prevailed.

But then, Adam White got to personally witness the kind of spectacle the Korean Hunter's wrath could bring about. And so, he was genuinely envious of Yu Jin-Ho after realising that such wrath was solely reserved to protect the people close to Jin-Woo.

"Oops. It's already this late."

Adam White confirmed the time and formed a smile.

"Well, then… Shall we get going?"

"Sure. Let's go."

Jin-Woo was escorted out of the hotel with the guidance of Adam White and his fellow agents. The group broke past the wall of the fervent reporters and climbed aboard the waiting Bureau-supplied vehicle.

Click, click, click, click, click-!!

Meanwhile, the reporters continuously and tirelessly took photos even as the vehicle carrying their query gradually disappeared from their views.

On their way to the conference venue, Adam White explained the current situation.

"We have secured the testimonies of Hunter Hwang Dong-Su's accomplices. The Bureau will soon release a statement containing the full account of what happened."

He then went and strongly emphasized that 'Hunter-nim' would not be inconvenienced in any shape or form. It was a welcome piece of news for Jin-Woo, of course.

The reason why he decided to travel to the States had to do with the 'monster' possessing the appearance of his father. He wished to gather information through the International Guild Conference.

He asked the newly Shadow Soldier-ified Hwang Dong-Su, but even that guy didn't know much about this creature who could possibly be his father.

According to the former rank S Hunter, that creature came out of a dungeon all alone, and its magic energy emission was identical to other monsters. When the issue with the being's son was brought up, it became hostile and a fight broke out afterwards.

That was all.

'Just what was its real identity….?'

There was a good chance that it might not be his father, after all. If that thing was really him, then quite obviously, the first thing he'd do was to come and see his family.

The more Jin-Woo looked into this matter, the greater his questions became. To confound the matters even further, several more questions were added on top of the already-existing ones.

It all started off with the final words of Kamish, just before the Dragon disappeared for good.

[Oh, my king. There are four humans who have borrowed the powers of the Rulers. Please, you need to be wary of them.]

Five Hunters survived the Kamish raid. Which meant that the odds of the four among the five Special Authority-rank Hunters borrowing the powers of the Rulers were very high.

'But then… one of the Special Authority-rank Hunters was killed by someone recently.'

That man's name was Christopher Reid.

Just who was he fighting that a Hunter as powerful as he was had to resort to burning down his mansion and the surrounding forest?

Could it be possible that the Sovereigns mentioned by the King of Giants were finally making their move?

If that wasn't it, did the sudden changes dungeons went through recently have anything to do with it?

As several thoughts fleeted in and out of Jin-Woo's head, he could see the venue for the conference getting nearer and nearer.

The moment Jin-Woo stepped into the lobby of the venue, the conversations and welcoming greetings being shared among the crowd all came to a sudden halt.

Gazes of curiosity and fear came flying at him from pretty much all directions.

He was that Asian Hunter responsible for utterly destroying Thomas Andre, who had been reigning over other Hunters like a king.

Noisy, noisy….

Quite a few Hunters kept whispering the stories related to Jin-Woo even now, but none of them dared to approach him. Because they still didn't know why he went and wrecked the Scavenger Guild to that extent.

Seriously now, what if the reason for that unholy mass beat-down turned out to be nothing more than Thomas Andre staring at him for too long? If so, wouldn't one get marked for death simply by trying to say hello to Jin-Woo?

Even though all these people were ace Hunters that subjugated scary monsters for a living, they found it hard to meet Jin-Woo's gaze right now.

After the cordial lunch prepared by the Hunter Bureau came to an end, the participating Hunters began filling up the seats facing the rostrum in the conference venue.

Afterwards, the conference got going, and several topics were discussed.

Unfortunately, none of those really warranted Jin-Woo's complete attention nor his sustained interest. Most of the things being talked about were similar in nature to status updates and so on.

'If only Jin-Ho was here. I'd not be this bored….'

All Jin-Woo could do was to wake up his super-human patience and wait until the topic he might be interested in came around.

Quite a while later…

Although it was not the information he was waiting for, a topic did manage to grab his attention.

"Everyone, you should be aware of the fact that the number of Gates being generated has shot up recently, and the fact that stronger monsters have made their appearances, too."

Initially, it sounded like something everyone knew only too well.

Since quite a few scientists had appeared before this man to speak their theories regarding this topic already, the atmosphere in the venue came across as lukewarm at best.

"However, there should be almost none of you who have realised that unusual activity has been detected in the skies above us."

The scientist named Belzer emphasized the word 'skies' and the Hunters finally began showing signs of interest. Of course, Jin-Woo was included among those Hunters, as well.

"The truth of the magical energy concentration found in the planet's atmosphere getting greater – we all know of this fact since it has been widely reported."

Now that he was being showered with the interested gazes of the Hunters, the clearly-happy scientist carried on.

"I'd like to use a different term to denote the magic energy found in our atmosphere. Until another more suitable word is invented, how about we use the term, 'magisphere'?"

The scientist gestured with his hand, and a huge map was displayed on the screen behind him. It was the atlas of the world that contained all of the continents – no, all of the countries existing on this planet.

The scientist used a laser pointer to highlight several spots on the map.

"Did you know that the magisphere has begun gathering and concentrating on the skies of several nations at present?"

Noisy, noisy….

The noise level among the Hunters gradually rose up. The scientist implored his audience to quieten down and listen to him for a little bit longer, before continuing on with his explanations.

"There are a total of nine spots in the world where the magisphere has begun gathering into a large mass. My purpose today is to reveal the locations of the nine spots."

Doctor Belzer then calmly read off the names of the nine countries on his list.

"….Province of Alberta, Canada. And finally, this is the spot with the highest magisphere concentration. City of Seoul, South Korea."

The moment those translated words of the scientist came out from the earpiece Jin-Woo wore – for some reason, every single Hunter sitting inside the venue shifted their gazes in his direction all at once.

Chapter 194 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

---

Read I Alone Level-Up - Chapter 195 online free - Novel Full

Jin-Woo had read the article featuring his feat on his way here.

After seeing the gazes of other Hunters locking onto him because of a completely unrelated matter, though, he had to concede that the ripples created from that article were far greater than he anticipated.

Jin-Woo scanned the Hunters and they quickly withdrew their gazes.

'Come on now. This is just….'

He discovered palpable fear within their eyes and could only let out a helpless sigh in his heart.

'Looks like these people are really, seriously mistaken about something here.'

All he could do now was to wait for the Hunter Bureau to release that promised statement.

And so – just as the atmosphere within the venue was getting a bit weird, Doctor Belzer looked in Jin-Woo's direction and cracked a joke.

"I've also read this morning's article. But folks, you shouldn't be looking at Seong Hunter-nim that way. If he was capable of causing all this magisphere in the air like that, then obviously, he's no longer a Hunter, is he?"

Hahaha….

Awkward laughter came from here and there. Doctor Belzer smiled refreshingly and carried on with his explanations.

"As you might have guessed, we couldn't discover any tangible similarities between the locations I have mentioned."

Since there were no similarities, it was hard to figure out the cause for this change. And since there was also no precedence, it was equally as hard to tell what might happen next.

The scientist then brought up another image on the giant screen.

"This here is a shot of the skies above the aforementioned nine spots."

He then added that his team had enhanced the footage with special effects so that the image taken by the magic energy detection camera on the spy satellite could be deciphered far more easily for the audience members.

Just as the scientist had explained, large magisphere lumps could be seen gathered above, in the skies of the nine spots, like some kind of storm clouds.

Since 'special effects' had been added to the image, the reality might not be as severe, but still, those things didn't look like natural phenomena, all things considered.

"Huh…."

"Mm."

Hunters began leaking out shocked groans after confirming the contents of the giant screen. It was definitely bad news that no one could figure out the reason for this suspicious phenomenon, or what would come out of it.

The skies above Seoul looked to be especially bad.

Jin-Woo studied the satellite image of Seoul, which seemed to have become the eye of the storm made up entirely of magisphere, and wondered why there were nine spots in the world, to begin with.

'Is it related somehow to the number of the Sovereigns? Because there are nine of them?'

To call it a mere coincidence, it just left that vague uncool aftertaste in his mouth. And also, now that the King of Giants was slain by him, that number nine should not hold significance anymore.

It was then – Doctor Belzer shot him a very quick and sneaky glance. Their gazes met in the air. Unlike the last time this happened, though, there was not a hint of a smile on the good scientist's face.

"Our current situation is that, since we don't know the cause, we also don't know how to respond to this phenomenon."

The scientist's lengthy presentation was about to come to its conclusion.

"However, let me make it clear. The assertion of being unable to respond does not mean there is no need to make plans. It's eminently possible that our world will experience yet another seismic shift soon."

As the conference was drawing to a close, the director of the Hunter Bureau took to the stage. His reason? To make an important announcement.

Since this wasn't in the schedule, Hunters naturally became noisy from his unexpected entrance.

Noisy, noisy….

Was the Hunter Bureau about to make an official statement related to the events of the night before?

While being showered by the curious, interested gazes of the Hunters, the director politely requested his audience to quieten down before he could proceed.

"I have something important I must inform you about, everyone."

Every single Hunter gathered here today were the elites of the elite within their respective nations. The citizens of those nations would recognise who they were just from their names alone.

Indeed, these people were not some unruly immature kids or a ragtag bunch of misfit soldiers.

Just one sentence from the director, and in an instant, the venue was enveloped in an eerie silence.

This was their superhuman-level ability to focus in full display; the high degree of concentration that no regular human could ever possess was deeply ingrained like instinct within the highest-ranked Hunters present in this venue.

The director nodded his head as he found the current atmosphere much to his liking and scanned the faces of the Hunters. Eventually, his gaze met Jin-Woo's.

'Hunter Seong Jin-Woo….'

The director had been fully informed of everything that transpired yesterday. He sent his acknowledgement in Jin-Woo's direction with a brief nod.

He was expressing his gratitude for letting Thomas Andre live.

Unfortunately, other Hunters had no clue on the ins and outs of that situation, so they could only begin murmuring their theories to each other when the director of the Bureau shared that greeting with Jin-Woo.

After a short while of unease later, the director finally addressed the crowd.

"My heart is heavy as I deliver this unfortunate news to you all."

Finally….

Jin-Woo sensed that the moment he was waiting for had finally arrived. The director spoke in a low, gloomy voice.

"About two weeks ago, Hunter Christopher Reid was murdered by unidentified assailants."

The gathered Hunters were all astonished by the revelation.

One of the top Hunters in the world was murdered by someone?

Their level of shock transcended what Jin-Woo felt when he heard the news first. This issue was well beyond the realm of who won the fight between two powerful Hunters.

The director brought up the relevant information on the giant screen behind him.

First, the remnants of flames that didn't want to die out; the ashes of the mansion; and then, Christopher Reid's dead body with a hole in his chest.

Hunters confirmed the death of the Special Authority-rank Awakened via the provided video footage as well as the several still images on the screen, and reacted by gasping out in shocked moans.

Not one person present was able to dispute the fact of that man being dead now.

As expected, the surprised Hunters began their outpouring of questions, but the director firmly shook his head, instead.

"I'm sorry, but I'll answer your questions only after this presentation comes to an end."

There was a far more important matter still to be carried out instead of answering the questions. The director glanced at Jin-Woo from the corner of his eyes. The young Korean Hunter and his gleaming eyes displayed no reaction as he sat quietly in the corner of the conference venue.

His calm attitude managed to rouse up several complicated emotions in the director's heart.

However, there was no more time to hesitate. He pressed a button on the remote controller and the image on the screen behind him changed again.

"We strongly suspect this man as the perpetrator of this crime."

A man's face now filled up the entirety of that giant screen. Almost immediately, the gathered Hunters realised that something was amiss.

That Asian man's face, wasn't it uncannily similar to someone else sitting inside this conference venue?

But then, these Hunters also recalled what happened to Thomas Andre, and none of them could voice the thoughts bubbling up inside their minds.

Jin-Woo too, closed shut his mouth.

The photograph must've been taken moments after 'he' had arrived at the Hunter Bureau for identification purposes. That face definitely belonged to his old man from his memories no matter how many times he took a look.

Jin-Woo eventually bit his lower lip.

'How come it's my father….'

Dungeons were supposedly the territory of the Rulers.

He couldn't tell why they sent a monster with the outer appearance of his father. Regardless of what their intentions were, though – Jin-Woo could still feel the bubbling pit of rage slowly building up its intensity deep within his heart.

Too bad, Hunters nearby completely mistook that rage for something else and they did their absolute best to not look at his way.

'Do not look back. Do not look back!!'

'They just look similar, that's all! Just similar, and nothing else!'

'Asians all look alike, right? Right??'

'But still, that is just so….'

The director branded 'Seong Il-Hwan' as 'Suspect S' and began explaining who this man was. From where he was discovered, what happened during that discovery, and finally, what transpired afterwards.

Hunters were taken by yet another surprise from the revelation that this person actually defeated Hwang Dong-Su during the interrogation to make his escape.

Just who was Hwang Dong-Su?

The Hunter Bureau acknowledged his powers early on and offered him a sweet deal, prompting him to emigrate to the States right away. Moreover, he was also one of the aces in what many believed to be the best Guild in the world, the Scavenger Guild.

The shock these Hunters felt was great, perhaps because the news of his demise hadn't been publicised yet.

They were now thinking that, if multiple assailants possessing similar levels of strength pounced on their target simultaneously, even a Special Authority-rank Hunter wouldn't be able to hold out for long.

They understood the reason for the Hunter Bureau suspecting this mysterious 'Suspect S' for this crime.

"Several human-type monsters possessing that level of power escaped from dungeons and attacked Hunter Christopher Reid at the same time – we at the Hunter Bureau feel that this is the likeliest explanation."

As the director continued on, the image of 'Suspect S' pressing down on Hwang Dong-Su's neck with his foot popped up on the giant screen next.

The scene clearly exhibited the extraordinary power of the creature capable of subduing Hwang Dong-Su like some kind of an insect – even though he was a Hunter easily exceeding the regular rank S classification.

Hints of pure astonishment flashed past within the eyes of the Hunters watching the footage on-screen. For Jin-Woo, though, that video clip didn't come across as all that surprising.

This 'Suspect S' was an existence the Rulers had created for some unknown purpose. And they possessed unimaginable powers, enough to generate dungeons, didn't they?

'So, obviously, it's not weird to see Hwang Dong-Su getting defeated by that creature.'

No, besides that – Jin-Woo was more concerned with what that 'Suspect S' was trying to do. It was engaging Hwang Dong-Su in a conversation.

'It's trying to… talk to him?'

Jin-Woo's brows shot up. He concentrated hard, like when he would do during battles, and time slowed down instantly. His sharpened senses began reading the lip movements of the Suspect S.

– "….in the country. This isn't for my son, but for your sake. Even after death, you'll not be able to close your eyes."

Ba-thump!

Jin-Woo's heart pulsed powerfully just then.

Those last words….

'….Even in death, not being able to close his eyes?!'

If his lip-reading proved to be correct, then that meant that 'Suspect S' knew about his existence. Thankfully, he knew of a way to easily confirm the contents of that little chat those two had shared.

Jin-Woo suppressed his wildly-pounding heart and called out the name of the brand-new addition to his Shadow Army.

'Greed!'

Greed already knew what Jin-Woo wanted to know through their shared mental link, so he immediately made his reply.

[It is as you suspect, my liege.]

While the thoughts in Jin-Woo's head were getting more and more complicated and confused, the lengthy explanation of the director was coming to an end.

"We're planning to ask you, the Guilds of the world, to help us track down and apprehend this 'Suspect S'. If you discover this man's whereabouts, please, give us a call immediately. That is all."

The end of the director's words signalled the incoming flood of questions that the Hunters had been holding back until then. They impatiently raised their hands into the air.

"Yes, the sir over there."

The director pointed to one of the raised hands, prompting that Hunter to throw his question out, as if he couldn't wait anymore.

"Do you have any proof that this 'Suspect S' isn't a human?"

"We have perfectly matched his magic energy emission to that of monsters. Next question."

"That creature insisted that he was someone who went missing inside a dungeon. However, did a Hunter like that really exist?"

"Yes, that Hunter did really exist. Next."

"If that's the case, why haven't you revealed the identity of that Hunter?"

"Oh…."

The director hesitated greatly, but eventually replied while doing his very best to avoid looking in Jin-Woo's general direction.

"We've decided not to reveal that information because the suspect is related to one of the Hunters currently attending this conference."

That brought about a prompt and sudden end to the barrage of questions. The 'maybe' changed into 'as expected' in that instant.

The director scanned the suddenly-silent conference venue and decided he'd wrap up things here.

"Are there any other questions?"

It was then – someone sitting at the end of the audience seats at the back raised his hand. Even before the director could call out his name, this guy opened his mouth first.

"Even then, don't you think it'll be better to release the identity of that person, if you really want to arrest 'them'?"

Hunters didn't have to turn around to see who asked that question in that weighty voice. It was spoken in Chinese, and it came from a certain middle-aged man.

He was none other than China's Seven Star-rank Hunter, Liu Zhigeng.

One of the Special Authority-rank Hunters was looking straight at the director with a sombre expression on his face. Dozens upon dozens of China's top Hunters, including his own Guild members, sat to his right, left, and front.

The director seemed to be at a loss, but Liu Zhigeng continued to press on.

"Don't you agree, Mister Director?"

Although it had been urgently decided earlier in the day to seal the information on the identity of 'Suspect S', the director realised that he didn't have much of a choice now and begrudgingly brought up it on the screen behind him.

Beep.

One press of the remote button and the information on Seong Il-Hwan filled up the giant screen. Soon, surprised gasps came out from several of the audience members.

To think, the very first human-shaped monster to appear in dungeons possessed the exact same countenance as Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's missing father!

How could there be such a coincidence?

The once-quiet interior of the conference venue was buzzing with the hushed voices of the Hunters.

Liu Zhigeng quietly stared at the screen before raising his hand again. The director had to point to the Chinese Hunter once more.

"….Hunter Liu."

"This time, I have a question I want to ask Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."

The director shifted his gaze to Jin-Woo. The latter lightly nodded his head at the former and turned around in his seat to stare at Liu Zhigeng in the distance.

Shortly thereafter, the Chinese Hunter's heavy, bassy voice resounded out within the interior.

"What will you do if this 'Suspect S' really turned out to be your long-lost father, and the Hunters of the world were trying to hunt him down?"

Jin-Woo pondered that for a little bit before making his reply.

"If that creature is nothing but a monster, then I'll kill it with my own hands. However, if it's not a monster, but really is my father, then…."

If it was really his father?

The gathered Hunters became intensely curious as to what he might say next and began swallowing their saliva. Disregarding them all, Jin-Woo firmly declared his intentions for all to hear.

"I shall protect my family, even if that means every single Hunter in the world becomes my enemy."

Chapter 195 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

"What you said in there – were you being serious?"

Adam White, waiting outside the conference hall, threw that question out.

Even though Jin-Woo wanted to ask back, "What are you talking about?" he said only one thing inside the conference hall, didn't he?

So, he simply grinned as his reply.

"Yup."

"Haha…."

Although this was no time to laugh, Adam White ended up chuckling after seeing Jin-Woo's grin, anyway.

Just who were the folks inside the conference hall?

They were 500 or so of the top-ranked Hunters from around 120 countries, who were invited by the Hunter Bureau to attend this conference. In other words, they were the top elites humanity had to offer.

But then, this man went and said to them, 'Even if it means every Hunter in the world becomes my enemy'.

Any ol' tough guy wouldn't even dare to imitate what Jin-Woo had done. What's more surprising was the fact that not one person ridiculed him for making that claim.

Even Liu Zhigeng, renowned for his vicious personality, simply kept silent and stared at Hunter Seong Jin-Woo. He made no complaints whatsoever towards the Korean's declaration.

Not just the Hunters inside the conference hall, but even the agents watching the proceedings through various monitors couldn't shut their agape mouths. Adam White was among those agents, obviously.

He sighed in admiration and spoke up.

"Most likely, there should be only two people in this whole wide world, including you, who could say something like that in there, Hunter-nim."

Jin-Woo became slightly curious about who the other guy might be.

"Who is this other person….?"

"Well, he's in the hospital right now."

Jin-Woo saw Adam White's wry smile and immediately realised who that mystery 'other guy' could be. It could only be Thomas Andre.

For sure, that guy would do something just as crazy, what with that arrogant personality of his.

'But, it's unknown whether he'll still behave that way or not.'

Jin-Woo recalled the last expression Thomas Andre made as he admitted to his defeat, and formed his own wry smile.

In the meantime, Adam White quickly explained the itinerary for the rest of the day.

"A dinner party has been scheduled to take place this evening. Since we at the Bureau went all out to prepare this grand feast, how about sharing a cordial meal with other Hunters if you don't have anything urgent to…."

Jin-Woo shook his head right away.

"I'm planning to stop by at a hospital."

"Excuse me?"

Adam White's brows shot up.

Did he get injured somewhere last night? No, hang on. Maybe that was an inevitable result. The Special Authority-rank Hunter Thomas Andre suffered such grievous wounds that he still couldn't recover properly after receiving concentrated healing from several top-class Healers. That attested to how violent and fierce the fight was.

So, even if it was Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, he must have suffered one or two injuries….

"I'm worried about Yu Jin-Ho, you see."

"Oh…."

So, he was talking about 'that'.

Having realised that it was unnecessary to worry about Jin-Woo, even for a little bit, Adam White could only reflect on his hastiness in silence. Still, he couldn't let go and asked one more time, just in case.

"Uh, maybe your shoulder or wrists have been aching since last night….?"

"Pardon?"

"Ah, no. It's nothing…"

While Adam White was getting more flustered than ever before…

….Hunters that had been gathered in small groups of two and three to chat among themselves suddenly parted ways and stood to either side of the hallway. Naturally, both Jin-Woo's and Adam White's attention shifted over there, as well.

And that's where they spotted Liu Zhigeng.

China's Seven Star-rank Hunter was flanked by the 'Liu Zhigeng Squadron' – made up entirely of his direct subordinates – as he made his way towards Jin-Woo.

As if he already had a destination in mind a long time ago, the Chinese Hunter walked in a straight line until he was standing right before Jin-Woo's nose.

'Heok…!'

'W-what are those two up to now?'

Hunters all stopped talking right there and then.

The taut tension flowing between Jin-Woo and Liu Zhigeng managed to utterly silence the surroundings. The palpable feeling of unease rapidly filled this place up.

Hunters hurriedly looked around in anxiety.

'Why is Liu Zhigeng behaving that way?'

'Is it because of what Hunter Seong Jin-Woo said back in there?'

'Yup, I was wondering why he was keeping quiet back then….'

Without a doubt, what Jin-Woo said could be interpreted as a provocation towards other Hunters. And the person who asked him the question even happened to be none other than Liu Zhigeng.

First, it was Thomas Andre. And now, it was the turn of Liu Zhigeng?

Hunters paid close attention to the changing expressions of these two men, as even more anxiety clouded their own faces, wondering what would happen next.

In the meantime, Adam White found himself stuck between these two titans by sheer bad luck and his own expression paled almost instantly.

"E-excuse me, Hunters…."

Before he could finish saying something, Liu Zhigeng took another step forward and opened his mouth first. His weighty voice flowed out next. Jin-Woo listened to him and a sombre expression gradually formed on his face.

'…….What on earth is he saying? I can't understand a single word.'

He had never even gone anywhere remotely close to China before, so there was no way he'd know a lick of Chinese.

Since the other guy was speaking in a serious expression, he too decided to form a similarly serious one, but as it turned out, listening to words he couldn't understand proved to be a rather uncomfortable and arduous task.

Just as he began thinking that the Chinese Hunter probably wasn't making fun of him with such a grave expression on his face, Adam White whispered something in his ear.

"He's saying that he hunted down the Giant monster you missed during your trip to Japan on the Chinese coast recently, Seong Hunter-nim."

A look of surprise spread all over Jin-Woo's face.

"You even know Chinese?"

"Well, I was in charge of the Asia branch, after all. I can speak a few Asian languages. Ah, also, I can speak a little bit of Russian, Spanish, Arabic, as well as German…."

Jin-Woo very briefly thought that it'd become a whole lot more convenient for him if Agent Adam White became one of his Shadow Soldiers. Of course, he quickly admonished himself for even entertaining such a thought.

Maybe he still had lots more things to say? Liu Zhigeng continued on with his words in the meantime.

"Please, keep translating for me."

"Alright."

Adam White nodded his head and, with a determined expression, began his temporary role as an interpreter.

"He says that he got surprised from how unexpectedly strong the Giant monster was. And he also says that it was a difficult battle as he had to fight the monster on the ocean's surface."

Jin-Woo remembered being surprised himself by the strength of those Giant monsters, back when he was hunting them down. They had such huge bodies yet they also moved around nimbly like wild beasts, too.

Since Liu Zhigeng said he fought the monster over the water, which imposed a greater restriction on one's movements, his surprise should have been greater when compared to fighting the creature on dry land.

As a fellow Hunter, Jin-Woo could pretty much understand where the Chinese man's fluster stemmed from.

The longer Liu Zhigeng's words got, the brighter Adam White's expression became.

"Ever since that encounter, he says, he's been meaning to meet you. He has been really curious to learn more about the person capable of easily hunting down all those powerful monsters. That's what he said."

In the same breath that Adam White finished translating, Liu Zhigeng formed a bright smile and reached his hand out for a shake.

It seemed that the previous serious expression came from his nervousness.

Jin-Woo looked at that offered hand for a bit, before shaking it with a smile of his own. He had absolutely no reason to refuse a greeting offered up first by one of the best Hunters in the world.

Adam White had figured out what was going on here and could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Whew…."

Forming a bond between fellow Hunters – this encounter certainly stayed true to the original intention of the International Guild Conference.

As they shook hands, Liu Zhigeng said some other things with a smile. Jin-Woo looked at Adam White again.

"Sounds like he's making a joke, so what is he saying?"

"Ah…"

Adam White briefly formed a lost expression, before the corners of his lips arched up.

"He says that he's really happy about you teaching Thomas Andre Hunter-nim a lesson. He doesn't even have to take a look to know that it was Thomas who instigated the whole thing first…."

Jin-Woo grinned at that one.

The Chinese Hunter initially came across as an irritable and rude uncle, but he turned out to be a rather interesting person. Now that the greeting was over, their hands parted ways.

But then, Liu Zhigeng's complexion darkened somewhat.

Likewise, the smile on Adam White's face was wiped off as well. He quickly translated what the Chinese Hunter was saying.

"That is why he will now pray even harder that 'Suspect S' isn't actually your family member. He says that he doesn't want to fight against you, no matter what."

Jin-Woo wordlessly nodded his head.

"Both of you are here."

Jin-Woo and Liu Zhigeng shifted their gazes in the direction of that voice. Although they felt this person's presence, they knew he wasn't a Hunter since he didn't emit any magic energy.

Sure enough, that voice belonged to the Hunter Bureau's Director. He alternated his gaze between Jin-Woo and Liu Zhigeng before asking both men. He sounded rather tense as he did so for some reason.

"Can both of you clear some time in your schedule, please?"

Jin-Woo looked at Adam White for confirmation, but the latter man shook his head. Meaning, this wasn't in their itinerary.

What did he want from them, then?

Before making his reply, Jin-Woo pushed his Perception Stat to the extreme first and analysed the movements of every single Hunter within the conference venue.

'Two people with a huge concentration of magical energy….'

Two very powerful Hunters were heading towards the same destination under the guidance of several escorts. Seeing that both he and Liu Zhigeng had been called upon like this, that event couldn't be chalked up to being a coincidence.

'Did something happen somewhere?'

When Jin-Woo looked as if he was hesitating somewhat, Adam White remembered something and quickly answered for him.

"Ah, that's right. Sir, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim said earlier that he'd go visit Yu Jin-Ho Hunter-nim at the hospital…."

However, Jin-Woo placed his hand on the American agent's shoulder to stop him. When their gazes met, he shook his head before turning around to face the director.

"Alright, I will."

The director's expression brightened immediately and he looked at Liu Zhigeng next.

"How about you, Hunter Liu Zhigeng?"

"I'm in."

"Very good. In that case, please, follow me."

The director's expression was as bright as a salaryman who managed to pull off a difficult negotiation. He then took the lead and guided the two Hunters away.

Funnily enough, the destinations for the two were not the same.

Liu Zhigeng was guided by other agents and went down the corridor on the left, while Jin-Woo followed the director and continued down their original path.

'Isn't this strange….?'

With the addition of Liu Zhigeng to the ranks of those two powerful Hunters he sensed earlier, three beings with rather enormous magic energy had gathered in one spot now.

Jin-Woo thought he'd be escorted to that place as well, but seeing that he was being led to a different destination altogether, he began cooking up several likely reasons for this. He gave up in the end, though, and asked the director.

"Why am I the only one going to the different room?"

"Ah…."

The director pondered his answer for a little bit before deciding to delay it altogether.

"There is someone waiting for you, actually. She will explain everything to you once we get there."

As a matter of fact, Jin-Woo could sense a certain person's aura coming from a room located at the end of this corridor.

'Uh? Doesn't this magic energy belong to that….?'

Jin-Woo's eyes grew wider since the person waiting for him was someone he didn't expect to see here. As a matter of fact, he never thought they would meet each other again any time soon.

"Looks like you have figured out who she is."

He must've been feeling really nervous because cold sweat drops were visibly forming on the director's forehead.

"We do our best to not to expose her location if we can help it. But then, this issue being what it is, we didn't have much of a choice…."

"Does that mean the Hunter Bureau demanded her to come?"

"No, not at all. It was she that demanded to be here. She specifically wishes to meet you."

Clunk….

The director opened the door to the room and Jin-Woo got to meet the gaze of a certain African-American woman waiting patiently for him there.

"It's been a while, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."

"Likewise, Madam Selner."

It was none other than the 'Upgrader', Norma Selner, the Awakened possessing a unique ability.

He wondered if she had calmed down now that a bit of time had passed since their last encounter, but unfortunately, the light shining in her eyes was the same as before. She still looked quite terrified of him.

He definitely sensed her strong fear of him from the way she stared at him. Despite that, she wanted to meet him for some reason. Just what could make her move in spite of her fears? Jin-Woo's curiosity had definitely been stoked now.

"I didn't expect you to seek me out first, ma'am, so…."

Jin-Woo settled down on the seat opposite hers. Adam White, once more assigned as an interpreter, stuck close to Jin-Woo's side.

Madam Selner politely bowed her head.

"I'd like to apologise for that day. Back then, my mind wasn't in the right place to…."

Jin-Woo raised his hands and stopped her.

He wasn't planning to talk about back then just so he could hear her apologise. She sneaked a glance at the director, only to see him nod his head with a hardened expression.

Madam Selner hesitated greatly before her lips parted with some difficulty.

"I've been having the exact same dream every day."

Jin-Woo was not confident about reading people's dreams. And even he could tell that they didn't ask for him to be here for that purpose, either. Still, he asked her so he could get some clarification on the topic.

"What kind of a dream was it?"

"In my dream, I watch the scenes of top Hunters being hunted down by a group of unknown people."

A group of unknown people hunting down powerful Hunters, she said. Almost immediately, Jin-Woo realised that this matter had to be related to him in some capacity.

"And a few days later, that dream becomes reality."

"Could you be talking about… Christopher Reid?"

Madam Selner nodded her head.

The director took over the explanation from there on.

"We had warned Mister Reid ahead of time, but he wasn't interested in hearing us out. The end result was… well, you know what happened already."

Indeed, Jin-Woo had seen and heard enough of Christopher Reid's fate.

Madam Selner continued on with a trembling voice.

"Powerful Hunters supporting this world will continue to die. Those hunting the Hunters will not stop what they are doing."

"So, what you're saying is…."

Jin-Woo collected his thoughts and cautiously opened his mouth.

"….You also wish to warn me of the dangers….?"

"No, that's not it."

She resolutely shook her head.

If she didn't want to warn him, what did she want then? Jin-Woo looked at her with a puzzled expression. Madam Selner then spoke with desperately-pleading tone of voice.

"Please, I beg of you. Protect these Hunters."

Chapter 196 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

'I lost.'

Thomas Andre slowly opened his eyes as his head kept repeating those two words he never thought he'd say ever again.

He found himself inside a hospital room.

'When was the last time I stopped by at a hospital?'

Jin-Woo might have frequented hospitals as if they were his second home during his early years as a Hunter. However, Thomas Andre didn't, and he couldn't recall a single instance of staying in a hospital even once, ever since becoming a Hunter.

Just who would've expected to see this kind of a result from a fight between a Hunter who used to be the worst even among the rank Es, and a man who started his career at the very top?

Of course, Thomas Andre didn't care about Jin-Woo's past. He was still deeply flustered with this result, though.

'I really… did lose.'

Thomas Andre slowly sat up with a dazed face of a man whose soul had abandoned him.

Tap, tap….

The sound of someone lightly tapping on a keyboard came to a halt. He shifted his gaze in that direction and found the main manager of the Scavenger Guild, Laura, sitting in a location not too far, but not too close, either.

Perhaps she was in the middle of her work because her slender fingers were still hovering above the laptop's keyboard.

"You've woken up."

"….Looks like it."

Thomas Andre withdrew his gaze and rubbed his chin.

One could estimate just how much time had passed, with the length of one's beard. Should he say he felt relieved, then? Because… his beard wasn't as long as he feared.

"About… one day, is it?'

"Yes."

Laura affirmed it for him with a short answer, before continuing on.

"The first doctor to examine you suggested that I should prepare for the worst case of you waking up several weeks later."

That was how terrible Thomas Andre's conditions were last night.

But then….

….She found it bit difficult to decide whether him waking up after only one day was rather befitting of Thomas Andre's capabilities, or the fact that he even blacked out in the first place was unbecoming of him, instead.

Laura felt this conflict of emotion as she stood next to her boss's bed.

"Should I call for a doctor?"

"No, not yet."

Thomas Andre massaged his aching temples and shook his head.

The impact force he felt when that man punched him in the head still remained vivid even now. What a horrible pain this was. So much so, he no longer wanted to recall yesterday's event if he could help it.

A doctor wouldn't be able to do much anyway, even if one was summoned here. Besides all that, though – wasn't there something else he should confirm first?

Thomas Andre quickly asked.

"What about Mister Hwang?"

Laura's lips parted for a moment, but she couldn't verbalise her answer and simply shook her head.

"….Is that so."

He pondered for a little while longer, before asking a different question with an unconcerned tone of voice.

"What about other losses?"

"We have incurred many injured personnel, but thanks to the timely response from the Hunter Bureau, everyone has fully recovered."

Thomas Andre had been maintaining his calm until then, but he couldn't stop his voice from going up an octave.

"There were no other casualties?"

"Yes, sir."

His shock soon morphed into astonishment. He began gasping out inwardly.

Even though the fight had been truly intense, not one person was killed. It could only mean that his opponent went easy on them.

This was a clear sign of an overwhelming defeat.

When a person tastes such a complete defeat, one would often lose any notion of getting angry at the result. That's how Thomas Andre felt right about now.

He was also awestruck, as well. Jin-Woo had defeated not just Thomas Andre, but all the elite Hunters the American had gathered, all by himself. That made Thomas somewhat fearful of the young Korean Hunter. No, his emotion had gone beyond that and almost into the territory of pure respect.

Thomas Andre always told himself that being powerful was justice, so the mental shock he felt right now was rather immense.

However…

However, why was he being like this?

He tasted an ignoble defeat yet he didn't feel so bad at all. Maybe, he had no regrets because he got to confirm the gap between him and his opponent?

He didn't feel like getting angry at the person who defeated him. Nor was he thinking of avenging his loss, either.

'Instead, it's more like….'

As several thoughts began crisscrossing in his head, Laura suddenly presented him with a small but lengthy box. It was a case for glasses.

Thomas Andre accepted this case while sending her a puzzled stare. She solved his curiosity right away.

"Your sunglasses were recovered from the location, but they were too damaged to be repaired."

Click.

He opened the case to find a new pair of sunglasses with the same design as before that he liked to wear. Thomas Andre broke into a smirk and put them on.

"Looks like I keep ending up owing people."

Laura was inwardly worried that her boss would start going off on a rampage the moment he woke up, but his response brought about a sense of relief in her and she sighed inwardly, before forming a gentle smile.

"It's my job, sir."

Thomas Andre wordlessly stared into the distance, before quietly opening his mouth.

"Mister Hwang…. Make sure you hold a proper funeral for him. He was still one of our own, after all."

"Understood."

"Oh, and also…."

And also?

Laura stopped jotting down Thomas Andre's orders in her memo pad and raised her head.

"Tell Hunter Seong Jin-Woo that the Scavenger Guild will…. No, wait. Scratch that. Send him a message that I, Thomas Andre, will offer an official apology."

Protect the Hunters.

Why did Madam Selner say something like this? Jin-Woo formed a puzzled expression.

"….Why me?"

She seemed to be unsure of where to start her story but eventually, opened her mouth rather laboriously.

"While the dream kept repeating itself, I tried my best to memorise the faces of those hunting down the Hunters. However, it was all for nought."

She explained that all she could remember after waking up were faces covered in veils of darkness.

"And so, I decided to use another method. Even if it was just a dream, I'd use my ability to look into their true nature, their true form."

"Was that why you looked into my eyes last time?"

"Yes, correct."

Madam Selner readily admitted to how her ability worked.

Ba-thump.

Jin-Woo's heart began racing again.

Back then, what did Madam Selner discover inside him that made her shiver in fear like that? Unfortunately, her story hadn't finished yet, so he had to suppress the rising tide of curiosity and concentrated on her voice.

"What I found within those people was limitless power. But, when I locked gazes with 'that thing', I had no choice but to wake up from my dream."

Jin-Woo's gaze momentarily drifted lower and saw her fingertips tremble imperceptibly.

"When my eyes looked into it… I can still clearly remember the words and voice of 'that thing' even now."

Jin-Woo slightly raised his head back up again. Both the director listening in, as well as Adam White translating from the side, carried deeply tense expressions.

Jin-Woo asked her in a calm voice.

"What did that thing say to you?"

"It said that I should… quietly go back and wait for the war."

Madam Selner began shuddering in horror after finally recalling that memory. The voice she heard in her dream was far more vivid than any other sound she heard in reality.

Unlike the frightened woman, though, Jin-Woo was focused on the word 'war', instead. That was his clue.

'It's similar to what the King of Giants told me, isn't it?'

The battle between the Rulers and the Sovereigns – didn't the King of Giants say it? That 'they' were gearing up for war? Most likely, the Rulers weren't the only ones preparing for this upcoming battle.

If that was the case, then, just which side did the b*stards hunting the Hunters belong to?

Although he felt curious about this, he still hadn't heard a reply to his original question. So, he asked again.

"How does that relate to you asking me to protect other Hunters?"

"….Because, I saw the same power sleeping within you."

Her cautiously-mouthed words slapped wide awake Jin-Woo and in the face. The power of the Shadow Sovereign – that's what she saw on that day, hiding deep inside of him.

Since she saw the same type of power from the assassins in her dreams, their identity had to be….

'….Sovereigns.'

Jin-Woo's expression hardened.

Madam Selner detected the rapid shift in Jin-Woo's expression and quickly added more explanation.

"They are existences above the Hunters, and in order to stop them, we need you who possess the power that equals theirs, Hunter-nim."

The director quietly listened up to here and finally entered the conversation.

"In all honesty, I wasn't convinced by the claim that no one can protect the Hunters besides you, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim, but, well…."

The reason why this meeting had been hastily arranged was…

"….My fight with Thomas Andre yesterday changed the way the Hunter Bureau thinks, am I correct?"

The director replied awkwardly after the truth was accurately pointed out.

"Yes, you're correct."

Thanks to the matters of the day before, the Hunter Bureau finally learned of the difference between Jin-Woo and other Hunters. That event might have been a big incident, yes, but it also helped the organisation to discover a new ray of hope.

Beings capable of murdering Special Authority-rank Hunters, and a lone Hunter possessing powers equal to those beings.

The Hunter Bureau was in desperate need of Jin-Woo's help more than ever. The United States had already lost one of her Special Authority-rank Hunters. And from their perspective, Thomas Andre had to be protected at any cost.

"Of course, we don't expect a Hunter as excellent as you to help us without any suitable compensation."

Anything he wanted, it'd be made available. And that included the greatest treasure Kamish had left behind, its Rune Stone.

The new proposal coming from the Hunter Bureau wasn't about scouting him. Rather than annoy Jin-Woo by pushing forward the already-rejected offer, they'd rather borrow his power to protect America's greatest combat force. That was the response the Bureau had decided to go with regarding the current events, post-Christopher Reid's death.

Jin-Woo shut his mouth and fell into a bit of a dilemma.

Madam Selner came clean on what she saw in order to help him make up his mind.

"There are Hunters enjoying powerful blessings in this world. They have supported this world with their powers. If they are gone, this world will not be able to hold on for much longer."

Jin-Woo finally replied to them after his lengthy deliberation.

"….I'm sorry."

His firm refusal that didn't leave any room for reconsideration caused the director's brows to shoot up high.

"I-is it because of some unresolved emotion towards Thomas Andre Hunter-nim….??"

Jin-Woo quickly shook his head before people jumped to wrong conclusions.

"No, not at all."

There was only one reason why he made this decision.

"It's only because I don't know anything about the enemies I'll be facing."

Even if he had a rough idea about what their identities were, he hadn't encountered them once yet. It was only obvious that he'd not make any promises on protecting someone else when he had no clue on the enemy's capabilities.

Jin-Woo wasn't some amateur who'd readily make promises when he wasn't sure whether he could keep them in the first place.

'I'll observe the situation for the time being.'

And then, he'd take care of those things he could handle, first.

His collected ways of thinking hadn't changed at all from that day he entered the dual dungeon for the first time all those months ago.

Thankfully, Jin-Woo possessed several Shadow Soldiers who'd accurately convey information to him in real time. By leaving behind his boys in the shadows of all the Hunters the Bureau was concerned about, he'd be able to respond to those b*stards in time if they made a move.

"Well, then…."

Jin-Woo began thinking up a suitable response when the time comes as he stood up from his seat to leave.

In the president's office of the Korean Hunter's Association.

The Association President Goh Gun-Hui was spending yet another busy day.

Why, of all possible things under the heavens, did Hunter Seong and Thomas Andre have to fight a day before the International Guild Conference?

He was worried about things going wrong on the other side so he sent inquiries through all available channels and finally, received a reply from the Hunter Bureau not too long ago.

Their investigation had found that the Scavenger Guild was at fault for the incident and that Jin-Woo wouldn't be unduly inconvenienced in any shape or form moving forward, according to the message from the United States.

"Whew…."

Association President Goh Gun-Hui finally could get this load off his shoulders and plopped down on his chair like a man feeling greatly relieved. No one could imagine how worried to death he was as he thought about Hunter Seong getting locked up in an American prison.

But then again…

'Hang on a minute.'

….Just who would be capable of locking Hunter Seong up?

Even Thomas Andre had lost consciousness, didn't he?

Goh Gun-Hui broke into a chuckle after his thoughts finally reached there, long after the dust on the matter had settled down.

'In a way… I was worried about something totally unnecessary.'

"Huhuh…."

Goh Gun-Hui chuckled for a while before feeling a bit of thirst creeping in. He searched for something to drink and found a bottle of water located on top of the coffee table a bit of distance away from the President's desk.

Goh Gun-Hui wordlessly stared at the water bottle before extending his hand out. That prompted the bottle to fly into his hand.

Grab.

He expertly snatched the bottle up and while unscrewing the cap, formed a thin smile.

'Looks like I've got yet another story to hear from Chief Woo once he comes back.'

Huhuh….

Goh Gun-Hui felt quite pleased, knowing that he made the right choice to forcibly send Section Chief Woo Jin-Cheol to the U.S.

Chapter 197 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

"Hyung-niiiim!"

Jin-Woo lightly evaded the tearful Yu Jin-Ho's attempt to bear-hug him. Then, he coolly addressed Woo Jin-Cheol in the same hospital room, who had volunteered to look after the kid during the conference itself.

"What's gotten into him?"

"Well, I showed him this when he woke up, and now…."

The Chief of the Monitoring Division picked up the newspaper he was reading.

The front page of the folded newspaper was plastered with the photographs of Jin-Woo's beatdown victims, the utterly wrecked Scavenger Guild's members, and that of the bloodied and unconscious Thomas Andre's face.

It might have been something obvious to him, but the same couldn't be said about Yu Jin-Ho who now had seen the article in its full glory.

Just who in this world would clash head-on against the world's most powerful Guild in order to rescue him? Not only that, when that Guild's Master, 'Goliath' Thomas Andre was involved in the shenanigans, too?

Yu Jin-Ho was shedding thick tears of heartfelt emotion after reading the article, so when Jin-Woo arrived in the hospital, he began expressing his happiness with his entire being.

"Hyung-niiiiim!!"

Unfortunately….

Jin-Woo's agility had surpassed far beyond what rank S Hunters were capable of by now. In spite of Yu Jin-Ho concerted efforts, the target for his manly affection kept slipping out of his heartfelt hug.

Jin-Woo slipped past yet another attempt of the kid trying to embrace him, and pointed a thumb at the stumbling Yu Jin-Ho's back.

"Are you telling me he read an article written in English?"

"Oh, that. I figured that it's really uncool to let our employee get paid without doing a single thing, so I told her to translate the article for him."

"Aha."

The end of Yu Jin-Ho's nose reddened as if he found Jin-Woo constantly dodging his attempt at skinship rather cold-hearted.

"Hyung-nim!"

"Here."

Yu Jin-Ho took the tissues Jin-Woo handed over and blew his nose on them.

Sniffle~.

Of course, Jin-Woo knew how the kid felt. Even then, he couldn't walk around with a snot stain on the expensive suit he especially picked for the International Conference, now could he?

Wiping his tears away seemed to have done the trick and calmed Yu Jin-Ho down. He asked in a more even-sounding voice.

"By the way, hyung-nim, since when did you learn to speak English?"

It seemed that the kid must've heard Jin-Woo conversing with Thomas Andre back inside the disused factory, even though his consciousness was wavering in and out.

"Well, you have a lot of free time as a low-ranked Hunter, you know."

A Hunter without a raid to go to was basically an unemployed bum. Jin-Woo studied English whenever he had time, trying to prepare for the eventuality of him quitting the life of a Hunter someday.

'I didn't know it'd come in handy in that sort of situation, though.'

He felt a bit reminiscent of the times back when he was studying the language. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that the first time he used the language he self-taught to converse was during the fight against Thomas Andre.

"Oh…"

Yu Jin-Ho recalled that Jin-Woo was a low ranked Hunter once upon a time and nodded his head in understanding.

When he thought about his hyung-nim's past in relation to yesterday's events, he became even more moved by Jin-Woo's loyalty that propelled him to confront the Scavenger Guild and its entire catalogue of elite Hunters just for his sake.

Yu Jin-Ho began tearing up again as he emotionally declared his intentions.

"Hyung-nim! I'll definitely trust you and follow you till the ends of the earth!"

His eyes reddened again and snot once more drooped out from his nose tip, which was cleaned barely a minute ago.

Jin-Woo was grinning outwardly, but too bad…

'….Having a high Perception Stat isn't always useful, is it?'

Thanks to his supernatural-level of senses that allowed him to read every little minutiae of Yu Jin-Ho's emotions, even Jin-Woo's nose began stinging a little bit now. He deliberately avoided meeting the kid's gaze and shifted his attention over to Woo Jin-Cheol.

"Looks like there's no problem for him to get discharged, doesn't it?"

"Agreed. As a matter of fact, the doctor in charge was quite surprised that Mister Jin-Ho had completely recovered from his injuries in just one night."

"In that case, let's just go through with the discharge process and return to the hotel. We even have transportation lent to us by the Hunter Bureau, so might as well."

"Understood."

"I'll get ready too, hyung-nim."

Jin-Woo quietly stared at the still-swollen-eyed Yu Jin-Ho packing up his stuff to leave and felt grateful for the fact that the kid was safe now. And at the same time, his anger towards the culprit responsible for this whole chaos ballooned up in an instant.

'Greed, when we get back to the hotel, you know what you have to do, right?'

[….I understand, oh, my king.]

As he was leaving the hospital room, Jin-Woo inwardly 'comforted' Greed with an assurance that all the former rank S Hunter would have to do was to plant his head on the floor for around two hours, which was neither too long or too short in his opinion.

There were two vehicles prepared by the Hunter Bureau.

Since Jin-Woo had something private to discuss with Adam White, he got in the car in front where the American agent was waiting for him, while Yu Jin-Ho and the two Korean Association employees climbed into the vehicle at the back.

When Jin-Woo opened the rear passenger door with a loud clunk, Adam White flinched awake from his short nap taken while leaning against the window frame and urgently shook his head to chase away the drowsiness.

"You're here, Hunter-nim."

The American's face was haggard, to say the least.

Unmistakable dark circles thickly coated the spots below his eyes. He was utterly exhausted from the breakneck-pace of all the events taking place, as well as the packed itinerary, of the past couple of days.

Jin-Woo looked on at him with pitying eyes, but Adam White didn't even notice that and simply ordered the driver to start the vehicle.

Now that they were moving again, Jin-Woo got down to the main topic.

"Can you get me the list of the Hunters you people wanted me to protect?"

Those words seemed to have chased away all traces of sleep from Adam White's mind because his expression brightened in an instant.

"Have you changed your mind?"

"No, but I'm curious about something else."

"Oh…."

Adam White struggled to hide his disappointment.

He got his hopes raised up before being shot down. Still, he didn't think this was all bad news. Because it indicated that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was still interested in this problem one way or the other.

Adam formed a smile and replied back.

"I shall draw up a list as soon as I get back to the Bureau."

As soon as he got back, he said. Jin-Woo snuck a glance at the time. It was already nine in the evening.

He briefly wondered whether he made a mistake or not when he saw Adam White's complexion waning just a little bit more after the poor man was asked to perform yet another task.

Not surprisingly, the American agent tried hard to keep his sleepy eyes wide open to make sure he'd not drift away to dreamland in front of the Hunter he was supposed to escort.

'Tsk, tsk.'

Jin-Woo couldn't watch on any longer and reached out toward him.

"Uh? Uhh?"

Adam White's panicky voice cracked up a little when Jin-Woo's left hand covered his eyes.

"H-Hunter-nim?!"

Too bad for him, though, just a couple of words from Jin-Woo and he was petrified in the spot.

"Will you just stay still?"

A normal person doing something similar would send creeping chills down the hapless victim's spine. However, the one doing it right now was Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, arguably the man most far removed from a 'normal' person.

He even beat the living crap out of Thomas Andre until the latter was almost dead.

Gulp.

Suddenly having his vision blocked by the hand of a rank S Hunter, Adam White could only swallow dried up saliva of nervousness.

Jin-Woo leaned the American agent's head back with his left hand and with his right hand, poured the healing potion he just bought from the Store down the now-open mouth.

'W-what is this?!'

Adam White was obviously very tense from forcibly swallowing the unidentifiable liquid while his vision had been blocked. But even he was able to feel that, as more and more of this liquid slid down his throat, his stamina seemed to recover more and more.

'But, how can something like this….?!'

By the time Seong Jin-Woo withdrew his hands, Adam White realised that the deluge of drowsiness plaguing him was completely gone.

No, hang on. Was that all?

He felt so refreshed and airy as if he had been asleep in a comfy bed the whole night and was roused from his slumber by the gentle warmth of the morning sun.

As if his fatigue had been a lie, he couldn't feel a single trace of it anywhere on his body.

"H-Hunter… nim?"

'….How did you do that??'

That was the question Adam White's look seemed to be asking, but Jin-Woo simply shrugged his shoulders as a reply.

"It's a trade secret, so…."

"Oh. I see."

Since it was such a mystifying event, Adam White found it somewhat easier to accept. He moved his body this way and that to confirm and expressed his admiration in a shocked-sounding voice.

"You are… well, how should I phrase this…. It feels like, you'd have greatly succeeded regardless of what you chose to do, even if that was unrelated to being a Hunter."

Although this praise seemed a bit excessive when coming from a 'special agent' of the Hunter Bureau, someone so highly educated that he was capable of speaking ten different languages according to himself, Jin-Woo still formed a content smile regardless, after seeing that look of satisfaction on Adam White's face.

With this, it'd be easier to ask for the next part of the favour. Indeed, asking for the list of the Hunters was just the beginning of his plan.

"And also, can you organise an opportunity where I can meet the ones found on that list?"

Now was his chance.

Since all the powerful Hunters from around the world had gathered in one place, just by him inserting his Shadow Soldiers in their shadows would allow him to respond quickly to the attacks of the Sovereigns when they happened.

However, Adam White began shaking his head, instead.

This was what Jin-Woo was worried about. Even if the Hunter Bureau was a powerful, influential organisation, it should still be quite difficult to mobilise that many top-ranked Hunters of the world.

Jin-Woo's expression hardened gradually.

"As I thought… I guess it's too difficult."

"No, not at all. On the contrary, I meant to say that there's no reason to organise such an occasion in the first place, Hunter-nim."

Adam White grinned refreshingly and explained the itinerary for the final day of the International Guild Conference.

"Don't forget, there is the 'Night of the Hunters' still left.'

He suddenly spoke of a combination of words that would've worked well for a video game's title. For some reason, he seemed quite hyped up over it, too.

"There is a big party organised by the Bureau. All the Hunters attending the Conference are invited. If you wish to meet them, you can most likely do that there, Hunter-nim."

A party, was it?

Was there a better occasion to meet the Hunters 'naturally' and attach Shadow Soldiers on them than a party? Jin-Woo clenched his fist tightly.

'This is good.'

Through other Hunters, he'd get to meet these mysterious Sovereigns. And from that encounter, he'd get to learn who his real enemies and allies were, and also, how he should go about fighting them, too.

"I will do that, then."

Jin-Woo smiled and leaned against the back seat.

The night sky of America was getting darker beyond the window of the speeding vehicle.

The 'Night of the Hunters'.

The world's top Hunters and related parties began flocking towards a gigantic banquet hall, capable of housing nearly 1,500 people.

"Wow…."

Yu Jin-Ho's eyes threatened to pop out of their sockets as he soaked in the sight of the legendary gathering of Hunters that he only got to see through TV screens.

Funnily enough, though, the gazes of other Hunters staring at Jin-Woo were quite similar in nature to Yu Jin-Ho's reaction. The moment he stepped into the banquet hall, everyone's attention was laser-focused on him in an instant.

"Look, isn't that…."

"Yes, I saw."

"He's right in front of us, but I can't even feel his presence."

"He's on a completely different level."

And with all the attention being poured on him, it was only natural that even Yu Jin-Ho would be subjected to their intense scrutiny, as well.

"In that case, the Hunter next to him must be…."

"He fought Thomas Andre in order to rescue that young fella?"

The situation had settled down somewhat by now after the Hunter Bureau had released the public statement.

On one hand, every Hunter in here was deeply shocked by the fact that Jin-Woo was willing to clash against the entirety of the Scavenger Guild for the sake of his rank D Hunter comrade. But on the flip side, they were also getting a heavy case of goosebumps, knowing that the declaration he made towards the end of the conference's first day was not a bluff at all.

["I shall protect my family, even if that means every single Hunter in the world becomes my enemy."]

The photographs accompanying the article clearly demonstrated what had happened to the Scavenger Guild. No wonder everyone in this room was dearly praying that what he said wouldn't come true.

In any case – now that the Bureau had cleared up the air, lots of Hunters were beginning to seek out a chance to engage Jin-Woo in a conversation, busy waiting for the right moment to strike.

This was the result of his public image going through a revamp of sorts, going from a monster capable of pummelling the freakishly strong Goliath, to that of a monster who'd not hesitate at anything to protect his comrades.

The thing was, though – the very first person to pluck up his courage and made his approach was not a Hunter, but a chairman of a very famous global corporation specialising in dealing with monster remains.

"It's my honour to meet you like this, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."

The businessman introduced himself first, and then…

"We'd like to purchase the remains of all the Giant-type monsters you have hunted down in Japan. Do you have some time to discuss this matter in greater detail?"

Giant-type monsters most of the time appeared as bosses in rank A Gates, so it was very rare to find a completely intact corpse of such creatures.

This man's desire and acute business acumen led him to make his move a step faster than anyone else present in the banquet hall.

'This is a good opportunity.'

Jin-Woo grinned affably and introduced Yu Jin-Ho next to him to the businessman.

"I'm in charge of the raid aspect of the Guild. I usually leave all the business-related discussions to my trusted Vice-Master over here."

"Ah, is that so?"

Yu Jin-Ho became far bolder than ever before from Jin-Woo propping him up like that. He straightened his back proudly and extended his hand out.

"I'm Yu Jin-Ho, Vice-Chairman of the Ah-Jin Guild."

"Ahh, yes. Hello. It's a pleasure."

"I don't usually discuss business-related matters in occasions such as this one, but if it's you, Mister Chairman…."

Jin-Woo watched on as Yu Jin-Ho expertly guided the businessman to somewhere better suited for a conversation like the one they were about to have, and formed a satisfied smile.

'This kid. He's finally acting like a proper Vice Chair now.'

But, Jin-Woo's eyes sharpened almost instantly afterwards. Now that the pair of potential obstructions went away, the real thing would begin now.

Adam White got close to Jin-Woo.

"Here is the list you asked for."

The screen of the tablet PC he handed over displayed the ten names of the Hunters who could all legitimately be called the world's best in numerical order.

"We at the Bureau had taken all the feats each Hunter had achieved and converted them into points so we can assign them numbered rankings. These ten people are the ones with the highest amount of 'Hunter points' in the world."

The 'Hunter points', he said.

Jin-Woo was intrigued by the fact that the feats and achievements of a Hunter were represented through a points system. He then realised that his name wasn't on the list and asked Adam White.

"Where am I on this list?"

"If we were to include your feat in hunting down the Giant-type monsters in the points tally, then… you should be around here."

The American agent pointed in the spot between 3rd and 4th. The names of Liu Zhigeng, Thomas Andre, and Christopher Reid occupied the spots above.

The mere fact that he was already located beneath those three when he hadn't been a rank S Hunter for long attested to all the incredible feats he managed to achieve so far.

'The 4th place is… India's Siddharth Bachchan. And the 5th spot is….'

The first five spots naturally belonged to the five surviving Special Authority-rank Hunters. As for the spots below, they were also occupied by some of the most decorated, celebrated Hunters in the world.

It was then, Jin-Woo stopped reading the list and raised his head after he heard a bit of commotion rising up.

Noisy, noisy….

An unexpected appearance of a certain guest had thrown the party goers into confusion and chaos. Confirming who this guest was, Jin-Woo handed the tablet back to Adam White.

"H-Hunter-nim…."

"You don't need to worry."

As he expected, this guest displayed not one hint of hesitation as he strode straight towards Jin-Woo.

He even proceeded to step aside Liu Zhigeng trying to dissuade him in the middle of the way and stopped right in front of the Korean Hunter, before removing his sunglasses.

Jin-Woo mouthed the man's name.

"Thomas Andre."

Jin-Woo didn't lose his relaxed demeanour even when Thomas Andre was standing before him. However, the same couldn't be said about pretty much all of the onlookers staring at him, and the American with his arm wrapped in bandages. They were getting properly freaked out now.

The burly American looked at his Korean counterpart, who was at least a good head shorter than he was.

"Hunter Seong Jin-Woo… I want to ask you a question."

Chapter 198 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

He wanted to ask a question?

Jin-Woo was puzzled by that, but he didn't pick up any ill intent within the light gleaming from Thomas Andre's eyes so he nodded his head to say yes.

As soon as the answer was given…

"My arm…."

….Thomas Andre raised his left arm, currently wrapped tightly in bandages.

"I heard that the damage from the magic energy attack left behind on this arm was so great that Healers were unable to fix it. Doctors told me the same thing. They said that, although it's healing bit by bit, it'll take a long time before I can use my arm properly again."

He used his left arm to block Jin-Woo's fist lugging around a considerable amount of magic energy. Right after the fight ended, the bones in the arm disintegrated into a fine powder and there was a chance that he'd never get to use his left arm ever again.

Healers and their immediate response, as well as his own excellent regenerative power, had significantly improved his chances, but even then, his condition was still this bad.

That attack was truly, nonsensically powerful.

Traces of bitter battle left behind all over his body gifted him with all sorts of aches and dull pains. However, the pain also gave him the clarity of mind to think about what happened, and then, think some more.

But he failed to arrive at an answer, and having no choice, he decided to seek Jin-Woo out like this.

Even though the Korean Hunter was staring back at him with a look that more or less implied, 'Is he here to boast about his injuries or something?' Thomas Andre still asked him the question in his mind.

"If it was you, you'd have no problem finishing me off, or any of my Guild members."

The ones who kidnapped the Korean's comrade in this foreign land, and proceeded to attack him when he came to rescue the captive, were Thomas Andre and his underlings.

Just as the statement released by the Hunter Bureau had alluded to, even if Jin-Woo decided to kill every single Scavenger Guild member, he would have escaped any punishment from the U.S. government.

'Of course, they wouldn't have any means to prosecute him in the first place….'

However, Seong Jin-Woo took the lives of no one, save for Hwang Dong-Su.

What if Thomas Andre found himself in a similar situation? He'd not let anyone walk away alive. He possessed enough power to do so, and he'd even be backed up by a clear pretext, too.

So, why did Seong Jin-Woo choose to not kill anyone? For the past two days, this thought occupied a big chunk of space inside Thomas Andre's mind and didn't want to leave him alone.

"Back then… why did you let us all live?"

Of course, he knew that he was the one who admitted to his defeat and begged for mercy in his own way. However, Jin-Woo was the one who made the final decision in the end.

Not to forget, none of the Guild members had been killed even after being schooled by his summoned creatures. Thomas Andre was really dying to know the 'why' of it all.

Too bad for him, Jin-Woo's answer was so simple that it instantly rendered his deep pondering of the past few days utterly pointless.

"Because none of you committed a crime worthy of death."

Jin-Woo found it hard to overlook Thomas Andre's arrogant attitude, but still, the American only showed up back then to protect one of his own Guild members, Hwang Dong-Su.

It was the same story for the rest of the Scavenger Guild members, too. They were in the wrong to start attacking him, but they had fully paid for their indiscretions.

That was what Jin-Woo thought as he withdrew the final attack aimed at Thomas Andre's head that evening.

Once the American Hunter heard that answer, though, his eyes quaked greatly for a second there.

"….So, that's how it was."

Thinking back to the final fate of Hwang Dong-Su who had committed a crime worthy of death as punishment, that answer didn't seem like a lie.

To think, the reason was a pretty simple one all along.

Thomas Andre's thoughts were even more complicated than before he heard the answer, but on the flip side, he felt much more refreshed and could form a relaxed smile now.

"I'd like to treat you to a good meal after my arm heals up. Can you leave your contact detail with my manager lady over here, so I can call you later?"

Thomas Andre sounded cautious as he bade goodbye and turned around to leave. Laura was on standby behind him until then and lightly bowed her head.

Her boss didn't even take a second look behind him and exited from the banquet hall. Every time he took a step forward, the partygoers parted to the side as if he was Moses and they were the Red Sea.

Laura watched his distancing back before shifting her gaze over to Jin-Woo.

"My Guild Master was expressing his gratitude towards you not killing any of his Guild members just now, Hunter-nim."

Jin-Woo was instantly struck speechless from those words. Just how should he go about interpreting what that man said to arrive at that conclusion??

As if she found Jin-Woo's confusion not that surprising, Laura quickly added further explanation.

"He might look that way, but in reality, he is far shier than you think."

"Oh, uh… I see."

Well, if she said so, that must be it, then.

Thanks to the other side showing up like this first, Jin-Woo got to save time on searching for Thomas Andre and sticking one of his soldiers in the guy's shadow. So, he just nodded his head to say everything was cool.

Laura, now that her job of interpreting her boss's particular way of saying goodbyes was complete, pulled out her memo pad and got ready to jot the information down.

"Hunter-nim, if it's not too much trouble, may I ask you for your contact details? Ah, and also…."

The blonde beauty with her hair tucked up neatly into a bun formed an arresting smile.

"Guild Master wishes to express his gratitude with a gift of some kind. If there is anything you need or want, please tell me."

"Oh. Thank you, but I don't need any."

Jin-Woo politely declined the offer.

Laura quickly formed an awkward smile as if she was troubled by that reply and asked him to reconsider his decision.

"My Guild Master is…. Well, his desire to emerge on top is quite strong, so if he thinks he's owing someone, he will probably go crazy before long. It really doesn't matter at all what the item is, so please, tell me what you'd like to have."

Jin-Woo was about to decline again but stopped resisting after listening to Laura's recommendation.

He figured that, although he didn't really need anything, it was against etiquette to reject the other side's show of goodwill again when they were willing to go this far.

His sole problem remained the same, though.

'….I can't think of anything I need right now.'

Money? He already had a considerable amount of that after the last few successful raids.

Besides, the Ah-Jin Guild had made more than what a decently-sized major Guild would make in a year simply by selling off all the remains of the Giant-type monsters. And Jin-Woo was the boss of that Ah-Jin Guild, too.

He knew that the financial might of his Guild would be incomparably small next to the Scavenger's, but he wasn't cheap enough to ask for a handout from the American, either.

'I'm pretty sure there won't be a moment in the future where I need to ask for help from Thomas Andre or the Scavenger Guild….'

He changed his mind again, thinking that he should probably decline this offer. But then, an idea flashed by in his head.

'Wait a minute. If it's the Scavenger….'

This Guild was the gathering of the world's top elites who continued to work tirelessly every single day.

It was impossible to count all the dungeons they had cleared so far, and perhaps unsurprisingly, the wealth of artefacts they had recovered from those dungeons should be rather sizeable, too.

There was a chance that a useful 'item' might be tucked away within the storage facility of the Scavenger Guild. Jin-Woo forced himself to make his reply.

"If it's a useful shortsword or a dagger…."

He had run into quite a few opponents with incredible defences recently, and the pair of 'Demon King's Shortswords' was proving to be ineffective against them.

He thought that it might not be a bad idea to swap his weapons for something else with the aid of the Scavenger Guild. Even if no useful item came out from this deal, he'd have nothing to lose, anyway.

"Shortswords or daggers… I see. Thank you, Hunter-nim."

Laura smiled brightly after hearing his reply. She finished jotting down on her memo pad and also left the banquet hall.

Adam White was scared sh*tless with worry, wondering whether the Goliath's unexpected visit might lead to yet another incident or not. But now that everything ended without a problem, he breathed out a long, long sigh of relief and approached Jin-Woo.

"Hunter-nim. Are you going to meet the Hunters on the list now?"

"Yes, I am."

"In that case, allow me to be your guide. Our agents are positioned in several places within the hall, so we should be able to locate them very quickly."

"No need," replied Jin-Woo with a grin. "You don't have to do that."

He had already instructed his Shadow Soldiers to roam around the party venue. He knew pretty much where all the Hunters were by now. All he had to do was to meet them one by one.

Adam White didn't know what was going on, obviously, and could only stand there with his eyes going round from confusion.

"Excuse me?"

Instead of a reply, Jin-Woo asked him a question.

"By the way, there's one person missing, isn't there? I don't see the 6th person on the list in here."

"But, how did you….?!"

Jin-Woo shrugged his shoulders, and Adam White nodded his head as if he understood.

'Ah, right. Trade secret, was it…'

The American agent continued on.

"We lost all contact with that person a few days prior to the conference, unfortunately. The Brazilian government is searching for that person's whereabouts in secret, but they haven't found any concrete leads yet."

Jin-Woo nodded his head.

He got to attach a shadow on the no.2 of the list, Thomas Andre, just now. The 3rd place Christopher Reid and the 6th Brazilian Hunter were not around.

'Which means there are seven people left.'

Jin-Woo spoke to Adam White.

"Okay, let's go."

"Alright."

The two of them walked around the banquet hall and greeted the Hunters on the list one by one.

He did ask Adam White to organise opportunities to meet them earlier on, because he wanted to learn a bit more about these people he was about to attach the shadows onto. He started off from the first on the list, Liu Zhigeng, and moved on down to the tenth.

'Uh??'

'Is Hunter Seong Jin-Woo networking using this occasion?'

'But, aren't the Hunters he's talking to….?'

The Hunters scanned the faces of those people Jin-Woo approached first to share greetings with, and began hoping that just maybe, he'd also stop by and say hello to them as well.

'He's coming this way….!'

'I knew it. Of course, I'm the next one he wants to talk to.'

Hunters waiting anxiously to talk to Jin-Woo would drop their heads in disappointment and wistfulness once he walked right past them.

In no time at all, his 'operation' came to an end. Jin-Woo successfully stuck Shadow Soldiers on the Hunters found on the list before leaving the banquet hall along with his entourage.

"Ah…."

The tenth Hunter on the list cleared his throat and began talking in a louder voice, his back straightening even more. On the other hand, the 11th and below could only knock back their glasses of booze without saying another word.

On that day.

The Hunter Bureau, the organiser of the 'Night of the Hunters' banquet, had to work extra hard in order to find out the reason for a sudden, unprecedented spike in the consumption of alcohol during the party.

"So, tomorrow's the last day, isn't it?"

The deputy director pushed forward a cup of coffee over to Agent Adam White, currently slouched in an office chair. The younger man sat upright immediately and cautiously took the cup.

"Thank you, sir."

The deputy director lightly tapped Adam White's shoulder and settled down next to him.

"I thought I'd faint when I heard the news of Goliath clashing against Hunter Seong, but… it's a relief that you worked hard to avoid a catastrophe. You did excellent work there."

"You're praising me too much, sir…."

He might be saying something like that, but who on this planet would continue to disagree with his superior officer when he was genuinely being praised?

A bright expression formed on Adam White's face.

The deputy director looked on in contentment at his junior officer's earnest response and took a sip of his coffee, before asking a question.

"So. What is your opinion on Hunter Seong, now that you had opportunities to observe him from close by?"

Adam White thoughts for a little while, before making his reply.

"Deputy director. Did you know that Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim still exercises every single day, without rest?"

"Exercise?"

"Yes, I confirmed it personally. Every morning, he runs ten kilometres, does 100 push-ups, and also, never forgets to perform sit-ups as well as squats, too."

"Really??"

The deputy director's brows arched up.

Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, who could legitimately be called the world's most powerful Hunter, was still performing such basic exercise routines every single day?

Just what kind of an effect would jogging in the morning have on a physique that had surpassed the limitations of the human body by an unimaginable degree?

Adam White saw how confused the deputy director looked and quickly continued on with his thoughts on the matter.

"Sir, I think his exercise routine isn't about improving his physique, but more to do with his mental discipline."

"Training his mind, is it…."

Adam White nodded his head.

From his cool-headedness at not being surprised by the technology exceeding what the current level of science could offer, to his diligence of not even missing out on a single day of training – and not to forget, his mysterious ability to recover a fatigued body and mind in an instant.

From Adam White's perspective, Jin-Woo was a walking, talking bundle of surprises.

The deputy director listening to those tales with a sombre expression wholeheartedly agreed with that assessment.

"Indeed, he… he is truly an amazing fellow."

How wonderful would it have been if such a man was an American Hunter? He was envious of South Korea for having a Hunter like that as one of their own.

'Mm? Did coffee taste like this before?'

The coffee the deputy director was drinking alongside his envy and admiration suddenly tasted quite bitter for some reason. In the end, he couldn't finish it and left behind about half a cup.

There was a well-known saying in Korea.

If you wanted to know where the President's office was located in the Korean Hunter's Association building, just look for the very last window with the lights switching off.

Even today, Goh Gun-Hui was staying behind in his office till late hours to finish up the remainder of his work.

The cases of accidents and incidents were happening more frequently lately as the monsters got stronger, and the number of newbie Awakened increased.

From the perspective of the Hunter's Association charged with managing such situations, it had been a constant parade of one headache after another.

"Hmm."

Goh Gun-Hui put the document down on his desk and rubbed his tired eyes.

'….This is strange.'

For some reason, his heart didn't want to stop trembling for the last few days.

Ba-dump, ba-dump!

His problematic heart had been plaguing him for the last couple of years, so he wasn't too bothered by this, but still, his condition didn't feel right even compared to the past.

'Is this…. the limit?'

His personal physician warned him that, if he didn't stop working right away, he'd die within the next half-year or so. But, time continued to tick on for another year. Then, the second year came and went, too.

And he still found himself in this office after all this time.

'If this is as far as I can go, then there's nothing much I can do about it. It's already something else that I managed to carry on this far.'

Goh Gun-Hui formed a thin smile.

"Huhuh."

Why did he feel like this, anyway? In the past, he'd try to push himself even further, wanting to endure for a little while longer. But nowadays, he didn't feel as anxious as back then.

'What has changed?'

What was different now compared to the past couple of years?

Goh Gun-Hui intently deliberated on this subject matter, before a smirk leaked out of his lips after realising how obvious the answer was.

'Hunter Seong Jin-Woo.'

Finally, South Korea possessed the power to combat a rank S calamity. Just his presence alone, and the status of this country transformed for the better.

'Right. That's why my heart's probably….'

Did his body carry on so he could meet that young man? A bitter and lonely chuckle escaped from Goh Gun-Hui's lips.

"Look at me, busy talking about some nonsense…."

The Association President's lonely muttering echoed around the empty office.

'Now that I think about it, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo is scheduled to return tomorrow, isn't it?'

Just thinking about how he'd get to hear the eyewitness account of Hunter Seong's feats from the mouth of Chief Woo Jin-Cheol, Goh Gun-Hui's anticipation began shooting up through the roof.

It was then.

Ringggg…. Ringgg….

His phone suddenly went off unexpectedly.

'Who's calling me at this late hour?'

Hopefully, there hadn't been yet another big scale incident taking place somewhere. Feeling quite anxious, Goh Gun-Hui quickly picked up his phone.

– "Dear, nothing bad happened today, yes?"

The call was actually from his wife.

"….Oh. Hi, dear."

The wife was calling to find out her husband's status since he hadn't come back home yet, even though it was already so late into the night. Her voice managed to gradually soften the stiff face of Goh Gun-Hui.

"What do you mean, something bad? I was on my home anywa…"

It was then.

Along with a soft 'chijeek!' the phone suddenly lost its signal.

"….Hello? Hello?"

Obviously, he could no longer hear his wife's voice.

Did something happen? Goh Gun-Hui tilted his head and put the phone down, before shifting his attention to the outside of the window unconsciously.

He forgot to breathe, then.

Everything that should be visible through the window was all gone. Various buildings, the roads, even people – all of them.

The only thing remaining was the pitch-black darkness that defied all attempt to decipher how deep it was. Only a blink of an eye later, the scenery outside his window had changed to something else entirely.

An event like this couldn't happen.

"But… But, how can this be?"

The Association President Goh Gun-Hui gasped out in pure shock and was about to get up from his chair, but then…

….But then, he realised that there was someone else in the office right this moment. Someone he had never even seen before.

That man was sitting on the couch as if he had been there for a very long time, too.

'A human….? No, this isn't the aura of a human being.'

It wasn't just the aura, either.

A face as pale as a corpse; long, silvery-white hair; pointy ears, and silver eyes gleaming brightly like a pair of gemstones.

It was an Ice Elf. Also known as the White Phantom.

Somehow, Goh Gun-Hui had failed to sense its approach, as well as its entrance into the office.

He slowly placed the phone's receiver back into its cradle and quietly threw out a question.

"Who…. are you?"

Chapter 199 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Would talking to 'it' work?

The Association President Goh Gun-Hui quietly observed the uninvited guest.

However, the creature didn't say anything.

Different from other monsters, though, it didn't immediately bare its fangs. No, it just sat there in silence while ignoring the owner of this office altogether.

As this uncomfortable silence persisted for a brief period, Goh Gun-Hui found himself with an opportunity to study his new opponent in detail.

'It looks exactly like an Ice Elf.'

An Ice Elf, often referred to as the White Phantom, was a monster commonly seen within upper-ranked dungeons. The unique appearances of these creatures were well known among the Hunters by now.

Strangely enough, although this uninvited guest's countenance did possess all the general features of an Ice Elf, there were a few clear differences present as well. That made him question whether this creature was actually from the same Ice Elf race or not.

'It's as if….'

….If the Ice Elves were trees that formed part of a forest, then this silent guest of his was like an aged tree guarding a desiccated forest all by itself.

Its skin was cracking up like the bark of a tree; its fingers were bony; a tangled, messy beard on its chin and two deeply-sunken, hollow-looking eyes.

If an Ice Elf managed to live for hundreds, no, thousands of years, then it might look like this guy. It was that kind of face.

The unusual points didn't end at the creature's face, though.

Gulp.

Goh Gun-Hui swallowed his dry saliva, unbeknownst to even himself.

'Its presence… I couldn't sense its presence at all.'

An uninvited guest had entered in complete silence and settled down on the couch, yet he had failed to sense its approach until he got to confirm the truth with his own two eyes.

His ultra-sharp senses wouldn't have missed this creature's arrival if it was nothing but an ordinary monster.

'….This is not an opponent that I can deal with.'

Goh Gun-Hui quickly assessed his situation, and then, very softly flipped his smartphone up to glance at the screen in order to signal for help.

When he did that, the monster shifted its gaze over to him.

[All contacts with the outside world have been cut off in this space.]

Flinch.

Goh Gun-Hui confirmed that the smartphone had no signal, just as the creature had said, and put the device down.

"Am I dreaming a bad dream right now?"

Not only did a monster intrude into the HQ of Korea's Hunter's Association right in the middle of Seoul, it even began speaking in Korean, too. If this wasn't the very definition of a bad dream, then what else could be?

It was then.

"Keuk!"

Goh Gun-Hui felt a sharp pain brush past his left shoulder and quickly grabbed it tight.

'Something' happened the moment this monster pointed at him. He cautiously lifted his hand away to discover a cut wound on the shoulder, as if something sharp had sliced him up.

The truly mystifying thing was, even though his flesh had been sliced open, not a drop of blood came from the wound. Instead, the area around the cut had been frozen solid and white frost had settled around it.

'Just… how??'

Goh Gun-Hui dazedly stared at his wound before raising his head back up. The monster was still sitting relaxedly on the same spot in the couch.

[Do you think that pain is also a part of your dream?]

Goh Gun-Hui nodded his head.

"I see. So, this is reality. In that case, let me ask you again. Just what are you?"

[I wanted you to recognise me first, but, in the end, you were just a simple human.]

"Just a human….??"

The monster slowly stood up from the couch.

At the same time, couches, the coffee table, and other furniture nearby the creature were shoved violently away and crashed into the walls.

Kwa-du-duk!!

The furniture froze up in an instant and got stuck on the walls.

'Oh, my god….'

Goh Gun-Hui's eyes opened wider.

The goosebumps-inducing chill slowly permeated into the office of the Association President.

[I don't have a habit of toying around with a weakling. Reveal yourself, Fragment of the Brilliant Light.]

Just who would dare to label Goh Gun-Hui as a weakling in this world?

However, he realised that he couldn't dispute that claim. The creature before his eyes possessed this Mt. Tai-like authoritative power, and whenever it opened its mouth, its voice reverberated and exploded like a thunderclap.

[Hurry up!]

This thing was on another realm compared to him.

He possessed incomparably excellent senses, so he could instantly figure out the differences between his and his opponent's power level.

Cold perspiration soaked his forehead.

[Are you worried about your vessel breaking? Even if it was not you, your vessel's lifespan is almost over, anyway.]

The monster then added, [But, if you're hiding away because you're scared, then…] before flipping both of his palms up to face the ceiling. Right away, spine-chilling cold air began condensing there.

[….Then, there is no point in talking to you anymore.]

Goh Gun-Hui fell into an extreme case of confusion from the indecipherable utterance of his opponent, but in the meantime, that incredibly cold air flew out from one of the monster's hands.

KWA-BOOM!!

A powerful explosion swept away the spot where Goh Gun-Hui had been standing on.

White smoke created from the extreme coldness rose up like a veil of fog and covered the surroundings until it was impossible to see anything.

But then, a pair of flames emitting pure light began burning brightly within this smoke. Those were a pair of eyes glowing in a golden hue.

The monster confirmed the colour of the light oozing out from the screen of whiteness and formed an eerie smile, before throwing the remaining clump of cold air in its other hand.

"Hmph!"

Goh Gun-Hui swung his arm and swiped that cold air away. It was flung away and crashed heavily against the wall.

Boom!!

The cold air exploded and the entirety of the wall was blown away. Through the gaping opening, one could see a space filled with endless pitch-black darkness.

The white smoke obscuring the view slowly dissipated, and the unhurt Association President Goh Gun-Hui was revealed in full. Not just his two eyes, but his whole body was enveloped in this stupendous golden aura that wavered around gently in the air.

"You separated the President's office and hid it in between dimensions. Quite impressive."

A completely different voice than how he normally sounded came out from Goh Gun-Hui's mouth. The monster began speaking again.

[Finally… finally, we get to meet each other. Oh, Fragment of the most Brilliant Light. I've wandered around for a long time to locate you. But, who'd have thought that you were confined in a broken vessel and couldn't even wield your own powers.]

Unlike the tone of voice that sounded emotional, the monster's expression remained unchanging. With a frozen-stiff face, it continued to speak.

[We have already located the whereabouts of your other seven comrades. And we have destroyed two fragments by now.]

This time, it was Goh Gun-Hui's expression's turn to harden. Not only him, but the locations of all the Rulers had been exposed, and two had already lost their vessels, as well?

Such a counterattack was out of the Rulers' expectations.

[That look on your face.]

The monster formed a creepy smile.

[I always wished to see the panic and fluster in that arrogant, haughty expression of yours. And now, I can destroy your vessel with no regret.]

"Do your worst, Sovereign of Frost!!"

Goh Gun-Hui roared out thunderously!

The wavering golden aura surrounding his body intensified by a step, before transforming into a figure emitting this bright light from his entire body. The darkness filling up the space beyond was illuminated brightly in an instant.

However, even though it was being subjected to this incredible power, the Sovereign of Frost didn't bother to wipe that ridiculing smile off its lips.

[Are you planning to resist me? How foolish.]

Ice-cold white light oozed out from the Sovereign's eyes. At the same time, the floor beneath its feet began freezing up.

Just like how the bright golden light was enveloping Goh Gun-Hui, the intense and bitterly cold air surrounded the Sovereign's entire figure. And then, the creature bared its fangs.

[You merely borrow a human's body, while I have taken over mine. Do you believe that you can even touch a hair on my body?]

At this moment, when the Sovereign had let down its guard – Goh Gun-Hui instinctively realised that this could be his only chance and dashed forward like an arrow to pounce on the Sovereign.

Unfortunately, the opponent's reaction was definitely not slow, either.

KWANG!!

The golden light and the cold air got into a messy tangle and caused a series of intense explosions.

Boom!! Kwahng! Kwa-Boom!!

But, as the battle became protracted, Goh Gun-Hui's movements visibly dulled. Compared to his enemy, the injuries on his body continued to accumulate. As his actions got harsher and heavier, more and more white steam leaked out from his panting mouth.

"Hah-ahk."

The length of time a patient at death's doorstep could fight while stuck in such coldness was at best, two minutes tops. Just as the Sovereign had alluded to, the result of this fight was already set in stone.

His stamina had already reached its limit.

Goh Gun-Hui had already expended more than the permitted amount of magical energy his body could handle. His eyes became bloodshot, and blood began leaking out from the corner of his lips.

Too bad, all of his efforts were for naught.

Stab!

A sharp ice spike stabbed directly into his chest and emerged out his back.

"Keo-heok!"

Goh Gun-Hui spat out a mouthful of blood.

The Sovereign of Frost inflicted a mortal wound on its opponent with an ice spike shooting out from the tip of its hand. Seeing the status of its victim, the creature clicked its tongue as if to lament this situation.

[Is that as far your vessel can go? How pathetic, oh, Fragment of the Brilliant Light.]

Goh Gun-Hui's head was lowered as he breathed and wheezed painfully. The Sovereign of Frost looked down on him.

[How long will you take to find new vessels? One year? Two years? Unfortunately for you, our armies have already arrived in this world.]

Everything in this world would be destroyed and gone well before the arrival of the Rulers' soldiers.

[It was your mistake trying to save the denizens of this world. Did we look like such weak opponents that you thought you could win even when diverting your attention to something else?]

The Sovereign of Frost formed a victorious smile.

[Well, then….]

To put the icing on this cake, the Sovereign raised its other hand and got ready. Cold aura began condensing in this raised hand.

The final attack to end the life of the human acting as a Ruler's vessel was taking its shape. But, then….

"Ku-hot. Ahahaha-!!"

Out of the blue, Goh Gun-Hui's blood-soaked lips broke out into hoarse laughter. The Sovereign's hand stopped moving.

Goh Gun-Hui panted heavily as he intensely glared at his enemy.

"You think I, cough, fought you without a plan?"

His left hand powerfully and tightly grasped the Sovereign's wrist just beneath his chest.

"Just like how we didn't expect you to imitate our ways, a huge variable has occurred that exceeds your expectation."

[….A variable?]

The eyes of the Sovereign grew wider as it studied the expression of confidence on Goh Gun-Hui's face.

A bluff? No, it couldn't be – his expression was too loaded with hidden meanings for that. Just as the Sovereign's thoughts arrived at that point…

….The creature had to hurriedly tilt its head to the side.

Truly by a paper-thin margin, an incredible amount of magical energy shot past the location where its head was only a millisecond ago. The attack was so powerful that it even burnt away Goh Gun-Hui's right arm after firing it.

The magic energy crashed into the opposite wall of the separated space and caused a ginormous explosion.

KWA-BOOM!!

The entirety of the separated space trembled from the sheer power.

If such an attack found its intended target, just what might have happened?

'….That was dangerous.'

Too bad for the human, the Sovereign had sensed the enemy's intention in that instant and as a result, was able to dodge it at the very last possible moment. The Sovereign stared at Goh Gun-Hui, who must've exhausted all of his remaining energy from that attack, and formed a smile.

[Was that your final hidden card?]

That smile was clearly one of ridicule. However, Goh Gun-Hui was smiling along, as well.

"That's right."

The Sovereign discovered that smile floating up on the pale, waning face of the human and began feeling this puzzling sense of encroaching ill omen.

How come…

How come it was being overwhelmed by this creeping chill, even though victory was at hand? Its puzzlement didn't last for long, though.

Crack-!

The Sovereign's gaze quickly shifted to its rear.

The barrier separating this space from the outside was crumbling into pieces after that enormous magical energy slammed into it.

'Was this his original intention?'

Even then, didn't this act ultimately a meaningless resistance?

[Nothing would change just because the wall between the dimensions break down.]

It was then, the consciousness of the Ruler dwelling within the old man's body raised the corner of his lips.

"Will it… really be that way?"

Crash-!!

Soon, the barrier shattered completely and the space regained its original appearance.

Lights from the other buildings; cars on the streets below those buildings; and the President's office, too. Everything returned to their original place.

Which meant…

Goh Gun-Hui summoned up the last of his strength and shouted at the ground beneath him.

"Now!"

From beneath his feet, a blob separated from his shadow and rapidly transformed into that of a certain ant. This creature avoided the Sovereign altogether and, while screeching out loudly, jumped outside the window.

Kiiehhk-!!

The Sovereign quickly shifted its gaze over to that creature. It couldn't understand why a denizen of the chaos world suddenly appeared here.

However, it was just that, a lone denizen. It was just a weakling of a soldier that submitted to the King of Insects. That was all.

Even then – the Sovereign couldn't rip its eyes away from that ant getting further and further away.

'…Could it be??'

Eventually, the Sovereign's brows shot up higher.

'Ah, ah!'

It should have realised the truth from the beginning.

It should have realised that the reason why the Fragment of the Brilliant Light poured out enough power to shatter the barrier even at the heavy cost to the human's body, when the Ruler always chose to conserve its strength, worried that the vessel would break sooner if it went all out.

Indeed, the b*stard hadn't been resisting so bitterly in order to escape from the barrier. There was yet another reason behind his actions.

'No!'

The Sovereign of Frost belatedly realised the identity of that ant and its eyes grew even wider than before.

Pah-bahk!

The Sovereign hurriedly discarded Goh Gun-Hui and leapt in the direction where that ant had run off to. Cold air coalesced in its hand and froze up to create an ice sickle.

The creature instantly arrived at the ant's location and slammed down with its ice sickle. But then…

Grab!

The wrist wielding the sickle was immediately grabbed by someone's hand. The grasping power was so great that the Sovereign couldn't retract its arm at all, no matter what.

But, even before the creature had any time to be surprised by that power, its neck was grabbed hard, too.

[Keok!]

The Sovereign of Frost confirmed just who appeared in the spot where the ant had disappeared from and felt its heart tumble to the pit of its stomach. And then, it asked in a disbelieving tone of voice.

[But, you… Why?]

Meanwhile, Jin-Woo grasped the neck of this Sovereign of Frost tightly so it wouldn't be able to escape, and shot it a puzzled look.

"An Ice Elf?"

Chapter 200 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Jin-Woo had a bit of history with the monsters called Ice Elves.

Didn't he encounter these creatures when he stumbled into a Red Gate for the first time in his life? How rueful did he feel back then, after seeing the boss mob 'Baruka' slipping out of his hands while leaving only a dagger behind?

Just remembering that event brought back all the bad emotions he felt then after failing to extract that monster's shadow.

'And here I was, having just barely forgotten about it….'

Naturally, his strength while gripping this creature's wrist and neck increased.

Wuduk!

[Keok!]

In any case, why was a high-ranking monster that should have been confined to a dungeon roaming freely around here?

Jin-Woo got here by switching his position with his Shadow Soldier. Next up, he used 'Ruler's Authority' to keep his balance and float in the air about 7 or 8 stories high. While gripping the monster tightly, he asked this mysterious Ice Elf a question.

"What the hell are you?"

Seeing those pointy ears, or the long whitish hair, or even its pair of silvery eyes, this thing seemed to be a White Phantom alright, but then again, he could also sense the trace of an unfathomably lengthy passage of time from this creature, too.

Not only that….

[Kuwuaaahk!]

The monster gritted its teeth and shook off Jin-Woo's hands.

What an incredible physical strength!

Even before he had the chance to get surprised from the monster slipping out of his grasp, Jin-Woo picked up on this chilling aura coagulating around the creature's mouth.

Inexplicably, the image of Demon King Baran shooting lightning out of its mouth overlapped with this b*stard. By sheer instinct, Jin-Woo tilted his torso away.

Kawahh-!!

The bitterly cold air shot out from the monster's mouth, sped past Jin-Woo's original position, and poured out into the air behind him.

After confirming the scary amount of magical energy being poured out by the monster with his two eyes, Jin-Woo quickly retreated an adequate-enough distance away.

He lightly dusted the particles of ice clinging onto his shoulder and stared intently at the Ice Elf – no, the Sovereign of Frost.

That thing was no ordinary monster. His ultra-sharp senses were warning him that this thing was much stronger than any monster he had faced off against so far.

Jin-Woo wasn't the only one getting surprised, though.

[But, how can you….??]

The Sovereign hurriedly looked at Jin-Woo's shadow and, after confirming the number of soldiers hiding in there, couldn't hide the fact that it was feeling deeply surprised right now.

[You have managed to amass that many soldiers, so why haven't you contacted us already?]

When Jin-Woo made no effort to reply, the Sovereign began looking into his eyes. And then, a pained gasp leaked out from the creature's mouth.

[So, that's how it was…. You're the variable he talked about, aren't you?]

What was this fool talking about?

Jin-Woo was getting rather curious about the meaning behind this monster's constant babbling, but too bad, he didn't have enough leeway to hold a cordial QA session with this creature.

Just one moment of carelessness and the enemy's blade would reach him. And that blade wasn't dull enough for him to ignore it and hope for the best. As a matter of fact, his shoulder that got frozen for a moment just a few seconds ago was still aching even now.

Jin-Woo took a glance at the hurting shoulder and quietly summoned the 'Demon King's Shortswords' from his Inventory.

Weapons silently appeared in his hands.

'Is it a Mage-type creature?'

Judging from how it barely managed to get out of his grasp, its physical strength or defences didn't seem to be as high as its magical energy reserve suggested.

Which was a relief, actually.

He knew from his vast experiences in fighting many different types of monsters up until now that the Mage-type enemies were the easiest to deal with since they could be killed in an instant.

Just one hit would be enough to determine the winner.

If they both possessed a similar level of magical energy reserves, then the one needing to dodge the magic attacks would hold an advantage.

His opponent must've known that too because it didn't immediately try to go on the offensive, even though it had clearly sensed Jin-Woo's hostility.

The Sovereign of Frost deliberated on its options very seriously – but, only for a brief time – before deciding on what it would do next.

[….We shall stop here. I didn't come here today to hold a life-or-death struggle with you.]

"What was that??"

Jin-Woo frowned deeply. He had no desire to let this guy leave, so just who decided when they would stop fighting?

Besides, this creature wielded a massive amount of magic energy. Jin-Woo couldn't even begin to imagine just how many experience points he'd earn if he successfully killed this monster. His level might even jump up by another ten, just like back when he killed the King of Giants.

'….Hang on.'

When his thoughts arrived there, Jin-Woo finally deduced the identity of the monster.

'Could that thing be….??'

Meanwhile, the Sovereign pointed towards the broken wall of the Hunter's Association building.

[Did you not come here to save that human?]

Technically speaking, he came here because the ant soldier he left behind in the Association President's shadow sent him an urgent alert, that was all.

Jin-Woo's gaze shifted towards the location the Sovereign's outstretched finger was pointing at. And he found Goh Gun-Hui lying on the floor there.

The unconscious Association President was covered in blood from head to toe, and even at a casual glance, he could tell that the man's life was hanging precariously on the edge.

It was then.

[Now, choose.]

A large, incredibly sharp ice lance suddenly formed on the left hand of the Sovereign.

[Choose between fighting me or saving that human.]

The moment the creature's words came to an end, the lance flew towards Goh Gun-Hui.

Jin-Woo's eyes widened. He pushed his concentration to the absolute max, causing the flow of time to slow down greatly. He watched the lance fly agonisingly slowly, but accurately, towards the unmoving Association President.

'Ruler's Authority!'

He tried to use his invisible hand to stop the ice lance, but the magical energy of the one who threw it easily thwarted his attempts. Enraged, Jin-Woo shifted his glare at the Sovereign of Frost.

The b*stard was waiting. For Jin-Woo's answer, that was.

He bit his lower lip before dashing towards the spot where the Association President Goh Gun-Hui had collapsed on.

Wuuwung-!!

The air where Jin-Woo used to be wavered and tumbled about from the explosive power. Just before the lance landed, he arrived by Goh Gun-Hui's side first with almost no time to spare and dragged the unmoving man away from the weapon's trajectory.

Kwajeeck!!

The lance stabbed straight through the floor and the bitter coldness rapidly flooded out to freeze up the surroundings in an instant.

Kwa-du-duk, kwa-duk!!

In the blink of an eye, the entire floor of the President's office froze up solid from the extremely low temperature.

'D*mn it!'

Jin-Woo picked Goh Gun-Hui up and lightly jumped up in the air to avoid the freeze, and once this incredible biting coldness stopped spreading around, he settled back down on the floor.

Further enraged by this cheap tactic, Jin-Woo raised his head to look, but the b*stard was already jumping into a small Gate to escape from this battle.

In a rush, he quickly summoned 'Baruka's Dagger' from the Inventory and threw it.

'Dagger Rush!'

Swishhhh-!

The dagger flew in a dead-straight line and accurately stabbed into the Sovereign's shoulder.

[Kuwahk!!]

The Sovereign of Frost glared at the dagger in its shoulder, then glared at the one who threw it next – at Jin-Woo – and gnashed its teeth. It soon disappeared into the depth of the Gate.

Jin-Woo was thinking of chasing after the creature, but seeing the Gate's gradually shrink in size, he gave up on that idea. Besides, Goh Gun-Hui's current condition wasn't good enough for him to focus his attention elsewhere.

"Euh-euhk…."

The older man gasped out a pained moan.

Jin-Woo's lips closed shut in a straight line as he watched the Association President Goh Gun-Hui teeter precariously on the edge of life and death.

'This can't be healed with a healing potion.'

In that case, the best response he could come up with was to….

….Jin-Woo yelled out at the top of his lungs.

"Beru!"

Right away, he sensed the familiar aura hurriedly fly out from his apartment from a far away.

Kwa-boom!!

Beru smashed past several walls after flying in with all his might and entered the President's office, before kneeling down in front of Jin-Woo.

"Have you called for me, oh, my king?"

Jin-Woo cautiously lowered Goh Gun-Hui's upper torso on the floor and took a step back.

There was so much blood dripping out from the Association President that Jin-Woo's hands were now painted crimson just from supporting the older man's torso for a few seconds.

Drip, drip….

Jin-Woo's complexion grew gloomier as he stared at the droplets of blood fall to the floor from his fingertips.

Beru did as his master willed it and approached Goh Gun-Hui. He began using up all of his magical energy healing the gravely injured man.

Wuuonng… Wuuwuong…

Unfortunately, the complexion of the dying man didn't want to improve at all even with such a concerted healing effort. Beru panicked and opened his mouth.

"M-my king…."

Beru's scared eyes shifted over to Jin-Woo as he spoke.

"My healing magic… isn't working on him. I can't heal this man."

"What??"

He didn't seem to be exaggerating, because Beru's hands were shuddering as he continued on with his healing magic. Even Jin-Woo could sense the enormous amount of Beru's magic energy being spent right now. At this rate, even the former ant king would keel over from exhaustion.

Jin-Woo halted the healing effort and sat down next to Goh Gun-Hui to take a closer look at the man's current condition. Despite Beru's near-selfless efforts, the Association President's vitality had weakened even further than before.

Whatever that attack was, the hole in Goh Gun-Hui's chest didn't want to close up even after Jin-Woo poured in a whole bottle of the most expensive healing potion sold in the Store.

'D*mn it!'

Jin-Woo's breathing became urgent as the critical moment for Goh Gun-Hui approached closer and closer. The man who did his best for Jin-Woo's sake was slipping away and he couldn't do anything.

Out of sheer desperation, he even summoned out the bottle of 'Divine Water of Life', but before he could use it, someone grasped his wrist.

"Please…. stop."

It was Goh Gun-Hui. He managed somehow to force his eyes open.

"Association President!"

His breathing remained heavy as if it was on the brink of cutting out. He still got to confirm the faces of Jin-Woo and Beru next to him, though.

"….You did come for me. Thank you."

A weak smile spread on Goh Gun-Hui's face.

"Please, hold on for a little bit longer. I'll take you to a hospital right now."

Jin-Woo's urgent voice only managed to earn a shake of Goh Gun-Hui's head.

"It's useless… the attack that got me far exceeds the level of being curable with medicine or magic."

"But, sir!"

Jin-Woo was about to get angry after hearing those words of weakness from the Association President, but he had to stop. Goh Gun-Hui's trembling hand was grasping his, that was why.

"Listen to me!"

As if he was spurring on the dying embers of life for one last hurrah, Goh Gun-Hui's brows rose up high, his eyes opening up wide.

"I was able to get in touch with the will of the great beings. I saw their plans, who our common enemies are, and the things that we must do…."

The blood pooling in Goh Gun-Hui mouth gurgled and welled up.

"What a relief that you're here with us… to think, you'd possess that kind of power…. Thank you, God…."

Tears began welling up in Goh Gun-Hui's eyes as he stared at Jin-Woo. He then grasped the young Hunter's hand with both of his own and spoke with a trembling voice.

"Gates and dungeons weren't for them. In order to protect us, they chose this method, and…. Cough…."

At that moment, Goh Gun-Hui coughed and reddish-black blood spluttered out from his mouth.

Jin-Woo hurriedly tried to use the Divine Water, but Goh Gun-Hui shook his head. He knew the condition of his own body better than anyone.

"Sometime in the future… there will come a time when you must make a decision. When you do… I pray that you remain on the side of mankind."

Hearing the pained gasping voice of Goh Gun-Hui, Jin-Woo felt as if his heart was being ripped to pieces. But, all he could do right now was to quietly listen to his words. That's all he could do.

"Cough. I always wished I could fight alongside young people like you. But…. This body of mine made sure that would never happen."

For the first time ever, Goh Gun-Hui poured out what was in his heart without holding back.

Some people pointed their disapproving fingers at him, accusing him of establishing the Association to rake in more money. Some even insulted him as a senile old fool who was blinded by the allure of power.

The thing was, the man they were criticising was feeling angry that, even though he was blessed with this incredible power, he couldn't even use it properly.

He sought out other avenues to use his powers and, after spending every cent to his name, created the Hunter's Association. And through this organisation, he got to be near other Hunters and fulfilled his calling to its fullest.

"Even then, cough, I don't regret anything. I can now entrust the future to young people like you. That's all I ask for."

Drop….

Goh Gun-Hui's hands holding onto Jin-Woo's powerlessly fell to the floor. And he was no longer staring at the young man, but at the ceiling of his office.

Was it because his tears had spread out? The lights hanging on the ceiling, the ones he always thought were a bit too dim for his liking, seemed excessively blinding today.

Goh Gun-Hui shielded his eyes to block those lights.

"I'm truly relieved…. Thank you, thank you…."

At the end of those words, the Association President Goh Gun-Hui stopped murmuring altogether.

Confirming that he was no longer breathing now, Jin-Woo wordlessly closed the deceased man's unmoving eyes shut. Like his final words of gratitude, the expression on his face was one of peace.

Jin-Woo raised his head above to stare outside.

Drip, drip…

He saw through the destroyed wall the raindrops falling from the cloudy sky. The sky that had been gloomy since the early morning.

Next day. Several headlines dominated the front pages of countless newspapers.

The first news item was about Brazil's greatest Hunter, 'Jonas' being found on the vicinity of a river – as a corpse. The second one was about the grisly murder of the Korean Hunter's Association President after his chest was stabbed through by an unidentified assailant.

And finally, the news of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo returning to South Korea.

Chapter 201 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

First, it was Christopher Reid.

Next, Brazil's top Hunter, Jonas.

And finally, the Korean Hunter's Association President, Goh Gun-Hui.

The news of these Hunters dying, thought to be some of the world's best, was revealed to the public one after the other and caused substantial chaos in their wake.

If the enemies were capable of murdering the Hunters who stood at the apex when it came to fighting power, then just who would be able to catch them?

The world's mass media continued to talk about nothing else other than the deaths of these three Hunters for several days and nights. America's own Hunter Bureau even issued an official statement regarding these events, too.

And it said that the Bureau had gotten in contact with various Guilds from other nations to focus their resources in tracking down the culprits responsible.

Unfortunately, the public's fears couldn't be assuaged with a simple statement like that. It was obvious why – the trusty walls that defended them like an impregnable fortress from the dire threats of monsters had been breached, after all.

As the Hunter communities and the mass media around the world were going through an upheaval, the Korean Hunter's Association suddenly released video footage to the public. It contained scenes recorded from Association President Goh Gun-Hui's office at the time of his death.

"Oh, my god!"

"Heok!"

Everyone who clapped their eyes on the footage in question couldn't hide their shocks and astonishments.

Two men were shown on the captured footage.

One of them was, without a doubt, the Association President Goh Gun-Hui. As for the other 'man' stabbing the former's chest with something very sharp, he was… no matter how one looked, that thing was not human.

It was a monster.

'An Ice Elf!!'

The shocking sight of a monster that should've been confined in a dungeon murdering a top-ranked Hunter was captured so vividly in the video. The creature's face in a close-up soon spread out to the rest of the world.

The shockwave from that video was massive.

People finally realised that, although Hunters existed to hunt down monsters, they too could be hunted down in turn by their supposed prey, just like everyone else. This only served to create yet another layer of terror in the people's hearts.

Regular folks were being protected by the Hunters, but then, who was protecting these Hunters?

Things got bad enough to the point where some people began saying that the nation's best Hunters shouldn't be let outside their own borders, citing that Jin-Woo was not in Korea at the time of the Association President Goh Gun-Hui's murder.

And so – as the chaotic atmosphere ruled supreme, the focus of the general public quickly shifted over to Jin-Woo. Everyone knew the close-knit relationship he had with the Association President, so people naturally became curious as to what his response would be.

However, Jin-Woo didn't say anything to the media.

A few days went by like that.

By this time, the investigation into the Association President Goh Gun-Hui's cause of death was complete. The day before the funeral, Jin-Woo paid an unannounced visit to the Hunter's Association.

Woo Jin-Cheol, looking wane and exhausted, came to receive Jin-Woo at the waiting area.

"I'm sorry about the wait, Hunter-nim. It's been really hectic for the last few days…."

Woo Jin-Cheol rubbed his scruffy, unkempt beard and apologised. On that day they returned from the United States, he was greeted with this out-of-nowhere news and had to rush straight back to the Hunter's Association.

The meeting of these two men was taking place exactly three days after that. Before they got down to business, though, Jin-Woo asked him a question.

"Why did you… hide the rest of the footage taken by the CCTV camera?"

The Association's footage went only as far as revealing the face of the Sovereign of Frost. As for Jin-Woo or Beru who entered the Association President's office afterwards, their footage was not revealed to the public.

Woo Jin-Cheol scratched his head and replied with a bitter expression on his face.

"We at the Association will always prioritise the safety of our Hunters. We decided that we can't carelessly reveal one of your hidden abilities to the public."

A Hunter's skills were like all the hidden trump cards he or she possessed. Publicly revealing a skill would be akin to unveiling one's hands. Quite obviously, the higher the one's Awakened rank was, the more likely it was for one to hide one's skills, as this act could save one's life in an unexpected situation.

Jin-Woo's skill that allowed him to travel in the blink of an eye from America to the Hunter's Association building in South Korea – the Association decided that they couldn't reveal a skill this monumental to the world without the consent of the Hunter in question.

"I'm sure that the Association President would have made the exact same decision if he was still with us."

Chief Woo Jin-Cheol respected Goh Gun-Hui greatly and one could even say that he was closer to his late boss than anybody else in this organisation. So, when he mentioned the term 'Association President', his eyes reddened automatically.

"Ah, I see. That was why your expression looked so scary and unforgiving before we got on the plane heading back home."

Jin-Woo admitted to Woo Jin-Cheol's guess with a simple nod.

The latter felt as if a mystery was solved the moment he watched the footage – the mystery regarding why Jin-Woo's atmosphere came across as so heavy on the day they were about to depart for South Korea.

"Was that monster so strong that you couldn't stop it, Hunter-nim?"

Jin-Woo shook his head.

"When I got here, it was already….."

Jin-Woo formed a gloomy expression again and Woo Jin-Cheol's head dropped lower in the end.

"I'm sorry…. I'm sure you're also feeling really bad right now. I was just frustrated and that ended up troubling you…."

Woo Jin-Cheol knew better than anyone that Jin-Woo was not responsible. That was perhaps why the latter's attempt at trying to console the former only made it worse.

"I still can't believe it."

Woo Jin-Cheol's gaze remained fixed on the floor as he carried on.

"How could he die…. He was urging me the day before to return as soon as possible because he wanted to hear about everything that happened in the U.S….."

Jin-Woo patiently waited for Woo Jin-Cheol as the latter struggled to finish his sentence.

"What did…. What did the Association President say to you? Before he closed his eyes?"

"He said that he felt relieved."

"Pardon?"

Woo Jin-Cheol raised his head, surprised.

"He felt relieved that the future could be entrusted to the young Hunters, like myself…."

"Ah."

That's what he meant.

Tears began falling from Woo Jin-Cheol's eyes as his emotions welled up. He felt moved by the generous heart of Association President Goh Gun-Hui, who worried for the future of his fellow men right up until the end.

He dabbed around his eyes with the back of his hand and hid the tears away before nodding his head.

"Thank you. Thank you for being there for the final moments of the Association President."

The thing about him being relieved couldn't have been a lie. If it was, how could he have formed such a serene expression as he passed on?

Woo Jin-Cheol's gratitude was genuine, it came from the depths of his heart.

Jin-Woo kept his mouth firmly shut, opting to not reply. He felt as if his complicated thoughts had been untangled somewhat by having this conversation with Woo Jin-Cheol.

"….I'll kill that b*stard."

"Excuse me?"

Jin-Woo's expression became extremely cold.

"The monster that murdered the Association President. I'll definitely hunt it down."

Not just for the sake of avenging Goh Gun-Hui, but to send the clear message to those b*stards threatening him.

Gulp.

Woo Jin-Cheol swallowed his dry saliva.

He knew that this killing aura wasn't even directed at him, yet he could hardly breathe right now from the intense pressure. As a matter of fact, this cold and heavy murderous intent was squashing down hard on his shoulders.

Jin-Woo spotted Woo Jin-Cheol's complexion becoming pale and quickly withdrew his aura.

"You can save your thanks until then."

"Oh…."

Woo Jin-Cheol did his best to calm the pounding heart in his chest and nodded his head.

"I understand."

Only then did he realise that Jin-Woo still hadn't told him about the purpose of his visit to the Association. A Hunter on his level wouldn't have come here to ask about the latter part of the security video footage.

So, Woo Jin-Cheol asked politely.

"I apologise for my inattentiveness…. I even forgot to ask you why you are paying us a visit, Hunter-nim."

Jin-Woo told him about the decision he had come to after a few days of deliberation.

"Can you organise me a press conference?"

Reporters descended on the press conference venue like a flock of vultures. Jin-Woo was being seen as a walking, talking bundle of big news waiting to happen to these reporters for a while now.

And such a man had called for a press conference, the first time ever that he did that, so which reporter worth his or her salt wouldn't be interested in that?

Noisy, noisy….

The conference venue became quite noisy, as befitting the large number of the gathered crowd. But, just like a lie, every single one of them shut their mouths as soon as Jin-Woo made his entrance.

Right away, the expectant silence filled up the venue.

Jin-Woo could feel each of the focused gazes from the reporters landing on his skin as he began addressing them.

"A group of monsters possessing a high level of intelligence is currently hunting down humanity's top-ranked Hunters. They are stronger than any Hunters out there, and they also employ all sorts of means to get to their targets."

A group of monsters?

There was more than one monster that murdered the Association President Goh Gun-Hui?

The reporters were immediately thrown into confusion.

However, Jin-Woo got his information straight from the mouth of the King of Giants, the Sovereign of the Beginning. There were nine Sovereigns, and he said that soon, a battle between them and the so-called 'Rulers' would commence.

The Sovereigns were prioritising targetting the Hunters at the top of the pile who were borrowing the powers of the Rulers. Three Hunters had been killed already. And it was unknown how many more victims would arise in the near future.

For the time being, he did attach his boys to those Hunters that the Hunter Bureau had pointed out, but realistically speaking, he couldn't keep his eyes on every single Hunter in the world who was called 'strong'.

For instance, there could be another victim from an unexpected quarter like Goh Gun-Hui.

Jin-Woo's sudden press conference was meant to serve as a message of warning to the potential victims who were fighting against monsters in some parts of the world.

"These monsters employ special magic that separates the targetted space from the surroundings. That's how they isolate their targets."

This was incredible information. He could reveal this without hesitation because he had met a Sovereign already.

"That is why, if you fear that you might be their next target, please, stay as close as humanly possible to your comrades that could protect you. However, just in case….."

'Just in case', he said.

Jin-Woo finally revealed the reason why he wanted to hold this press conference in the first place.

"If you don't have a comrade that can fulfil that role, contact the Korean Hunter's Association. They will put you through to me."

"Oh, oh!"

Exclamations of admiration came out from the lips of the reporters.

Such unwavering confidence!

The Hunter responsible for beating Thomas Andre to a pulp was emitting a confidence-inspiring aura as if such monsters were a trifling matter to him. This sure was a surprising announcement capable of blowing away the fog of anxiety from the public's hearts.

The thing was, though – Jin-Woo was actually aiming for something else.

'I'll lay a trap using all the Hunters that might be targetted by those b*stards.'

With this, he'd be able to trace the movements of the Sovereigns even if they targetted the retired or inactive Hunters like the Association President Goh Gun-Hui. He had no doubt that at least one of them would fall into his trap sooner or later.

When Jin-Woo was about to end his announcement, a barrage of questions descended on him almost immediately.

"I'm a reporter working for the X Daily! How do you know so much about this group of monsters, Hunter-nim?"

"I've encountered them before."

To be more specific, he had run into them twice already. He met the King of Giants in Japan, while the other one in Korea.

Noisy, noisy….

Reporters couldn't immediately recover from their surprises but still, they didn't forget to jot down what Jin-Woo had said.

"Does that mean you were unscathed even after encountering them, Hunter-nim??"

Jin-Woo replied concisely, his eyes burning with the flames of confidence.

"Yes."

Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was unhurt even after encountering those creatures! Reporters hurriedly operated their cameras as the expected scoop happened yet again.

Click, click, click, click-!!

It was then, a certain reporter sitting a bit away from the front row raised his hand up high. He was none other than the same reporter who accompanied Chief Woo Jin-Cheol to document the sacrifices the Hunters had made trying to battle the angel statue. Jin-Woo shifted his gaze over to him.

Reporter Kim slowly lowered his hand and, quite unlike his frenzied peers, voiced his question clearly and concisely.

"What will you do when you meet the monster responsible for the murder of the Association President Goh Gun-Hui?"

Jin-Woo studied the still-furious expression etched on the face of Reporter Kim without saying anything, before switching the mic off.

"….That will be all."

Reporter Kim stared for a long time at Jin-Woo's departing back as the latter descended from the platform. He thought that, even though there was no verbal answer, he could still hear the young Hunter's determined voice somehow.

"Guild Master."

"Master!"

The two security guards on duty jumped up from their seats in surprise after seeing Thomas Andre walking towards their guard station, but he simply signalled at them, telling them to settle back down.

Beep.

He pressed his thumb on the fingerprint scanner, and the automated door slid open. He and the top manager of the Guild, Laura, stepped into the underground storage facility located below the Guild's building.

The two guards who got spooked by Thomas Andre's presence were rank A Hunters in reality.

Since he stayed in the building's penthouse suite and would be informed immediately if something happened, the number of people who could step into this storage facility were extremely few.

Thomas Andre didn't hesitate for a second and headed straight into the deepest part of the underground facility.

"Are you really planning to gift him with 'those', sir?"

Beep.

They finally gained access to the chamber housing 'those' after another round of fingerprint scanning.

"What's the matter? Do you believe this is too much for the price of my Guild members, as well as my life?"

"No, sir. That's not it, but…."

"Well, you think he's not good enough as a Hunter to wield these guys, then?"

Laura knew that talking to him now was a waste of time. Since she knew retorting to him wouldn't work anyway, she decided to close her mouth shut for now.

Meanwhile, Thomas Andre stood before the items he was searching for. These weapons didn't even suit him at all, yet he couldn't help but feel his heart tremble every time he stood before them.

"….No matter how many times I look at them, they still look cool."

Thomas Andre murmured in admiration, and Laura tried to dissuade him one last time, her voice sounding slightly unwilling.

"Sir, there are only two of these in the entire world."

"Yup, that's true."

"And it'll stay that way."

"I'm sure it will."

"Even then, will you still give them away?"

"That's why I'm giving them to him."

Thomas Andre formed a smirk.

It had been almost eight years since these guys were crafted, but the searing light coming off of them hadn't diminished by a single bit.

"The best Hunter needs the best weapons. Don't you think it's too much of a waste to let them rot in here?"

As if to answer him, a pair of shortswords resting within the metal case reflected the spotlight, the glare of the blades remaining sharp and cold.

Chapter 202 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Streets were filled with the gloomy atmosphere of a funeral.

Someone had to perform that role, but no one wanted to step forward to do it – that was the position of the first President of the Hunter's Association.

Goh Gun-Hui.

When the nation needed someone to rally the powerful Hunters, he unhesitatingly closed up his own successful business and rolled up his sleeves to get to work.

And under the command of its President Goh Gun-Hui, the Korean Hunter's Association was able to achieve so many things.

The organisation controlled and protected various Hunters; at the same time, it took the lead in compensating the victims of the monster attacks, while also silently aiding the families of the deceased Hunters, as well.

Many victims who had received Goh Gun-Hui's aid in the past gathered at his memorial service and cried their hearts out in genuine sorrow.

Citizens filled up the venue until there was no room to even stand; the people paying their respects remained until deep into the night, burning their candles and grieving for the life lost.

Even the various TV stations interrupted their regular broadcasting schedules to play the video packages summarising the life of the late Association President and his various accomplishments.

One of the gigantic electronic advertising boards hung up in the middle of the city played the scene of Goh Gun-Hui taking shots at Assemblyman Nam Joon-Wook during the parliamentary hearing.

["I'd like to urge you to think about this carefully. If and when another rank S Gate appears in our land, just who will step up to protect your life? You will not be able to buy back your life even if you are willing to pay hundreds of times, no, make that thousands of times the price you paid for your new residence."]

The pedestrian lights changed colour to green, but no one moved from their spot. They stood still, unable to rip their eyes away from the electronic boards or from their smartphones.

Next up was a clip of an interview featuring the longtime personal physician of Goh Gun-Hui.

["Back when Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim was fighting against the ant monsters on Jeju Island, I was watching the raid broadcast by the Association President's side. He turned around to tell me that his biggest wish had now come true, and he had no more regrets left. But to think, he'd really leave us like this…."]

His eyes were red and swollen even before the interview began, and the good doctor eventually broke down and cried.

The viewers watching all became lost for words. They began recalling the sight of the Association President Goh Gun-Hui standing before the families of the victims and wordlessly shedding tears after the previous three attempts to take Jeju Island back all ended in failures.

Just as the number of people who respected and admired him was great, the number of those who hated him and were jealous of him was quite high, as well. However, even these people paid their respects to him on this day, their hearts all feeling the same sort of emotion.

Late at night.

Jin-Woo stood on the rooftop of the 100-stories-tall Daesung Tower. Powerful gusts of wind constantly blew at him as he stood at this dizzying height, but his body didn't even sway for one second.

His eyes were fixated on the cityscape below. He could see the streets of Seoul filled with the palpable air of grief.

One of the electronic advertisement boards was playing a documentary detailing the life of the Association President Goh Gun-Hui.

Jin-Woo's sharp glare scanned every corner of the city like a hawk searching for prey.

Meanwhile, his Shadow Soldiers were searching through Seoul with greater efficiency than before, perhaps owing to the fact that they felt familiar with the order as it was similar to the one he issued in America.

A great deal of information flowed into Jin-Woo's mind, but none of them was what he wanted to know. No matter how much of the city was searched, no traces of that ancient White Phantom could be detected.

'As expected, this method isn't going to work.'

Jin-Woo knew all too well that using a method like this to catch a monster who was capable of freely entering and exiting a dimension through Gates was not the answer.

Back then, he tried to stick a Shadow Soldier on the b*stard before it made its escape so he could chase after it later. But that ended in failure. Because… that creature didn't have that one little thing that all existences possessed. It didn't have a shadow.

'It's supposed to be a spiritual body or some such, right?'

The King of Giants did say that both the Sovereigns and the Rulers were made up of the 'spiritual bodies' so they couldn't be turned into Shadow Soldiers.

If that was the reason why that Sovereign didn't possess a shadow, then Jin-Woo no longer enjoyed the benefit of having the greatest method of tracking someone down.

However….

'….It doesn't matter.'

The King of Giants warned him back then – once Jin-Woo's existence was known to the remaining Sovereigns, they would not sit back idly and suck on their thumbs. That's what he said.

Meaning, these Sovereigns would come knocking on his doorstep sooner rather than later. Not to target the Association President Goh Gun-Hui, but him, as their sole target.

But when that happens, he would…..

The heavy and intense killing intent spread out from Jin-Woo.

Ever since he got the System, his reward for surviving the terrors of the first dual dungeon, he had never missed his enemy. The only one to buck this trend was that 'Ice Elf'.

Jin-Woo had ensured that his enemies would meet their ends, regardless of whether they were monsters or humans. And he wasn't planning on letting that thing become the only exception.

But then….

'Uh….?'

He had to take a pause there.

Jin-Woo was going through all the enemies he fought until now and realised that something was a bit odd.

Now that he thought about it…

'….Wait, when I was fighting Hwang Dong-Su or Thomas Andre, I didn't see any messages from the System, did I?'

In the past, the System always warned him with messages if someone nearby directed murderous intent towards him, and soon after that, issued emergency quests.

It happened with Hwang Dong-Seok, Kahng Tae-Sik, and finally, with Kim Cheol. There was no exception.

Hell, he even received a warning message during that sparring session with Goto Ryuji just because, for the briefest moment, the Japanese Hunter attacked him with the intent to cause real harm.

'But then, no messages popped up when Hwang Dong-Su was trying to get revenge for his brother, or when Thomas Andre declared that he'd kill me. Why?'

What a strange development this was.

No matter how he dissected it, it didn't sound right. Jin-Woo pondered this mystery for a second or two, then pulled out his phone in order to confirm a theory of his.

Thankfully, he still had the contact number he got from that American's blonde lady manager.

It was 1 AM in Korea, but when thinking about the time difference to the Eastern United States, he shouldn't be unduly inconveniencing them.

Ringgg….

As he expected, the ringtone didn't last long before the other side answered the call.

– "Hey, Mister Seong. I didn't expect you to give me a call first."

Perhaps puzzled by the phone call, Thomas Andre's voice sounded a bit surprised.

"Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you about."

– "You have a question? Not a problem. I'll try to answer it as truthfully as I can."

"That day, when we were fighting…."

– "….When we were fighting?"

"Did you attack me with the intent to kill?"

Since Thomas Andre was rather unwilling to recall the events of that day, Jin-Woo quickly explained that he simply wanted to satisfy his curiosity and nothing more.

There was no reason to hide anything, though. Thomas Andre took his time before answering as truthfully as he promised earlier.

– "Well, when I get angry, I can't really control myself, so…. Yeah, I was thinking of really killing you that day."

As expected – the murderous intent the American carried was all for real. Even then, the System maintained silence.

Something definitely….

'….Has changed.'

His hypothesis that started off from suspicion was quickly morphing into a sure thing.

– "Mister Seong?"

Thomas Andre must've felt the ensuing silence from his answer a wee bit uncomfortable because he tried to change the topic with an excited voice.

– "How about we change the subject from this uninteresting story to the fantastic thing I prepared for you….."

Ttuk….

Jin-Woo wasn't really in the mood to share a jokey banter with Thomas Andre right now, so he mumbled a quick goodbye and ended the call right there.

That answer confirmed it for him. The System didn't react to the presence of enemies with hostile intentions against him. This was totally different from before. What a big change this was, considering that in the beginning, it tried to make him protect himself no matter what.

'This is not a problem that I can take lightly.'

When it happened for the first time – when he saw the overtly-threatening quest telling him to kill his enemies or his own heart would stop beating, he began to hold a vague notion on just what the end game of the System could be.

It was likely that the System was trying to goad him down a certain path – that's what he thought.

So, now that there were no emergency quests being issued, this could signal a change in the goal of the System.

Thanks to this, he now enjoyed the luxury of having more choices, and he also got to spare Thomas Andre even though the American had bared his fangs like that.

'If another emergency quest was issued, then well, such a thing wouldn't have happened.'

It sure was a welcome piece of news that he now had a wider variety of options available, but still, he couldn't help but be curious as to what the real reason for this change might be.

Did it have something to with the original owner of this power supposedly betraying the other Sovereigns? Or, did the death of the 'architect' of the System throw a wrench in their plan, whatever it was, and everything had gone down the crapper?

Jin-Woo continued to dissect each guess and hypothesis that popped up one after the other in his mind before ruefully shaking his head.

'I should clear my mind.'

There was a need to set a clear goal for the time being. And that would be to kill that ancient White Phantom, as well as to get as much information on other Sovereigns from the b*stard while he was at it.

If the creature came for him first, that would be good. But, even if it targetted other Hunters instead, he was in the midst of increasing his traps, anyway.

As long as that thing fell for it, then he'd be able to catch two birds with one stone.

The problem was with time.

Since he didn't know when the Sovereigns might appear again, he needed to adequately prepare himself for the battle against the unknown enemies who were, no doubt, incredibly powerful.

Thankfully, he had already got himself a perfect place to keep earning more experience points.

That would be none other than Japan. It had not recovered fully from all the destruction caused by the Giants. Several parts of the country were still left abandoned in ruin.

While Jin-Woo was in America, countless Gates went on to become full-on dungeon breaks, and monsters emerging from them settled down and began increasing their territories.

To the Japanese people, those monsters might be the source of terror, but for Jin-Woo, they were nothing more than juicy prey just waiting to be converted into experience points.

One by one…

His heart began pounding hard just from imagining his level climbing up by pushing back the monsters occupying the land there.

It was then, his phone vibrated for a short moment and alerted him to the incoming message. He looked at the screen to find a text message from Thomas Andre.

[Mister Seong? Can you give me another call? There was something I still wanna tell you about….]

The old saying went along the lines of 'the ground will harden after a rainfall'; it seemed that Thomas Andre wanted to form a friendship on the basis of them having fought against each other.

Jin-Woo welcomed the idea, obviously. His social skill wasn't poor enough for him to refuse the hand of friendship the other side was offering first.

Still, they could chat at any time they wanted to, no? He liked Thomas Andre and his lack of ulterior motives, but it was a bit too late in the evening to share banter with him, he thought.

Jin-Woo quickly typed his reply and sent it on its way.

[OK. But later. I've got this urgent thing to take care of.]

Beep.

A smile spread on Jin-Woo's face after he tapped 'Send' icon.

'Nothing will change.'

Indeed, he'd continue to raise his level in preparation for the days ahead. It was the same story back then or now.

'Good.'

He felt better than when he was climbing up here. His steps now taking him back down the Daesung Tower were lighter than ever before.

However, Jin-Woo wasn't the only one getting ready for a battle.

The Sovereign of Frost, after successfully escaping to the hideout, summoned other Sovereigns who had already descended on this planet.

Three men and one woman appeared within this frozen cave. The Sovereign of Frost addressed these four 'kings'.

[The Shadow Sovereign is in this world.]

And then, it proceeded to explain what it saw and heard to its new guests.

The Sovereigns weren't even bothered in the slightest by the coldness of the cave capable of freezing a person's flesh and blood, but after hearing the story, their atmosphere became incredibly frosty in mere seconds.

[I thought there was no vessel good enough to contain his power?]

Also, wasn't that the reason why the Dragon Emperor couldn't descend to this world, too?

The Sovereign of Frost resolutely shook its head.

[I saw it clearly with my own two eyes. That being was real.]

Two of the Sovereigns who had sensed the lingering power of the Shadow Sovereign back in Jeju Island could only agree with their comrade at this point. The atmosphere remained frosty as the Sovereign of Frost continued on.

[He will prove to be an even bigger threat to us than the Fragments of the Brilliant Light. I shall dispose of him. Are any of you willing to lend me your aid?]

Too bad, the response to its request for aid was indifferent, to say the least. This made some sense. Their opponent this time was seen as one of the most powerful 'kings' among the nine kings that ruled over the Chaos World.

A battle against him was the same as killing yourself. It was only obvious that these Sovereigns would become extra hesitant by the prospect.

One of the Sovereigns spoke up.

[How about we wait for the Dragon Emperor?]

The Sovereign of Destruction. If it was 'him', then the betrayer would be dealt with quite swiftly.

However, the Sovereign of Frost growled angrily at its comrades.

[We might be on the run, but do not forget that we're kings of our own armies. How long will you cry out for the Dragon Emperor to come and save you?]

The dagger that stabbed into its shoulder – the wound inflicted from that encounter was no ordinary physical injury, but one that directly bruised its ego. The Sovereign of Frost had a score to settle with the Shadow Sovereign.

[If we wish to remove him from the picture, then now is the chance as he is still a human. Lend me your aid. I shall make sure to send him back to the void.]

Even though its resolution was unwavering, one of the Sovereigns still stepped away.

[I shall not partake in this venture.]

Another Sovereign brought up the incident of the King of the Demons, Baran, who unwisely went up against the Shadow Sovereign and disappeared from the spot, as well.

[I do not wish to end up like the Sovereign of the White Flames.]

[….Cowards.]

The Sovereign of Frost clicked its tongue as two of its comrades disappeared from the view. Out of the five kings that had gathered, only three remained. A muscular giant of a figure threw a question at the Sovereign of Frost.

[Where's the proof that he's still a human being?]

As if it was waiting for this chance, the ancient White Phantom showed the dagger that used to be stabbed into its shoulder. Its tip was gleaming in a greenish hue.

[Poison has been applied to the blade.]

More precisely, it was the poison of a Manticore. It might not be effective against Sovereigns, but it was still a fatal substance powerful enough to rot away the flesh of the regular denizens of the Chaos World just from simple, innocuous contact.

That man had coated his blade with the poison in preparation of the future events. It was indeed a meticulous and smart thing to do, but it was also not the Shadow Sovereign's original style. This was the clear evidence that the human was in charge of that body.

The Sovereign of Frost respectfully asked the two remaining comrades.

[Are you with me on this one?]

Its powers were about the same compared to the Shadow Sovereign, who was still a mere human. However, if two other Sovereigns supported its cause, then it was sure of subjugating the human Shadow Sovereign.

The two remaining 'kings' exchanged glances between each other before nodding their heads.

[I shall aid you.]

[We shall kill the Shadow Sovereign.]

The Sovereign of Frost swore in its heart that it'd teach the true meaning of terror to that puny little human responsible for wounding its shoulder with a dagger.

The corner of the ancient White Phantom's lips curled upwards.

Chapter 203 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 204: Chapter 204

To fill the vacant Association President's position, an executive-level meeting was held among the Vice-President and the chiefs of various departments, as well as directors from the regional branch offices.

Over thirty members filled up the large conference room.

Even though these people boasted societal authority exceeding the directors and managers of regular parastatal entities or large corporations, all thanks to the Hunter's Association, the complexions of every single one present today were clouded by deep anxiety.

As this heavy atmosphere bubbled on, a couple of unimportant topics were discussed to bring everyone up to speed on what was happening around the globe.

"….Looks like it's time to decide on who'll follow in the footsteps of our late President."

Finally, the time had come. Along with that declaration from the Vice-President, nervous tension brushed past the expressions of all the attending staff members.

Gulp.

Even the sounds of saliva being swallowed could be heard here and there. This moment could decide the fate of the Hunter's Association, after all.

The number of Hunters were increasing, while the Gates appeared more frequently now. All these people forming the core of the Association's command structure knew full well that the instability of their organisation could lead to the nation itself becoming unstable as well.

"Well, then…."

The Vice-President, in charge of leading the proceedings, closed the documents in front of him before the topic could get on the way. This gesture signalled that the words written on these pages were insignificant compared to what was about to be discussed.

"After a lengthy, in-depth discussion between the board of directors and myself, we decided to nominate Chief Woo Jin-Cheol as the new Association President."

The person in question, Woo Jin-Cheol, hadn't been told before the meeting, so rather understandably, he raised his head up in great surprise. He quickly looked at the Vice-President.

'But, why me….?'

His eyes were silently asking this question, and as a reply, the Vice-President stared straight back while pulling the head of the microphone closer.

"Chief Woo has learned what the job entails by serving our late Association President from the closest vantage point. Not to mention, he possesses more than adequate power to make other Hunters acquiesce, as well."

Those were all undeniable facts.

The late Association President Goh Gun-Hui deeply appreciated Woo Jin-Cheol, the man who willingly chose to work for the Association despite receiving many scouting offers from major Guilds. And the Chief of the Monitoring Division was rank A, infinitely close to the threshold of 'S'.

If only his magic energy evaluation numbers were a bit higher, the Association would've been blessed with its second rank S Hunter alongside Goh Gun-Hui.

He possessed four years of on-field job experience and also possessed powerful abilities that easily exceeded regular rank A Awakened, too.

There were no opposing voices on whether or not he was fit to command countless other Hunters affiliated with the Association.

The staff members initially began murmuring to each other after the nomination of Woo Jin-Cheol was made, but soon, they grew calmer from the Vice-President explaining the executives' decision.

Unfortunately, the man in the spotlight still couldn't really accept this outcome.

"I'm lacking in several key areas to take on that role. Not only are there executives holding higher offices than mine, aren't I too young to hold such an important office?"

He was only in his mid-thirties. No one here would disregard his four years of experience in the Monitoring Division, but still, he was far, far too young to lead an organisation of this magnitude as its leader.

At least, that's what Woo Jin-Cheol believed.

"We have you, the Vice-President. What about the directors of the executive board? Directors from the various regional branch offices?"

Woo Jin-Cheol looked at the faces of all these powerful men and asked the Vice-President once more.

"There are this many excellent candidates present, so why am I being nominated as the replacement for the late Association President, sir?"

"Fuu…."

The Vice-President turned his head away to his side and sighed out softly under his breath. He did expect to run into this sort of resistance. However, he didn't count on that resistance to come from Woo Jin-Cheol himself.

The Vice-President switched his mic off. The official stance of the board of the directors had been communicated in full by now. So, it was time to get to the meat of the matter, the unofficial stance.

The mic being switched off prompted the attending staff members to pay even greater attention. The Vice-President opened his mouth.

"No personnel within the Association, including myself, possesses the ability to persuade South Korea's greatest combat potential."

The greatest combat potential 'affiliated' with the Hunter's Association – there was no need to mention that person's name as everyone present could already picture his face.

"He has clearly demonstrated the extent of his powers in Korea, Japan, as well in the United States. It's already happened, but well, without a doubt, the Hunter's Association would not be able to function properly without his presence."

The 'Special Authority-rank' Hunter, capable of shifting a country with his individual power, had to kneel before Seong Jin-Woo. How could a measly little Association demand anything from someone like that?

The only thing they could do was to politely make a request and wait patiently for a reply. That was all.

Just like how the Association President Goh Gun-Hui was able to rescue the Jeju Island raid team by borrowing Hunter Seong's power, the organisation needed someone, a line of communication as it were, to request for his aid once more in the future.

And the closest person to Hunter Seong Jin-Woo currently working for the Association was Woo Jin-Cheol. That alone was enough of a qualification.

The Vice-President had spoken his opinion on the subject matter to the board of directors, and they, in turn, agreed with his analysis. And now, the staff members sitting inside the conference room were also nodding along as well.

"Just like how it is with Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim, we can't force you to make this decision, Chief Woo."

The power was with the Hunters. The Vice-President declared that he wanted to make that distinction crystal clear.

"That is why, will you not accept our nomination in good faith and be our leader moving forward?"

Everyone was now looking at Woo Jin-Cheol. A brief bout of silence later, he finally opened his mouth, still aware of the expectant gazes prickling his skin.

"I….."

"Hul….."

Jin-Woo was unaware that he just muttered out a gasp that his little sister used to make rather often. He was flipping through the articles found online through his phone, and his hand movements became faster.

[The new master of the Hunter's Association, following in the footsteps of the late President Goh Gun-Hui, is President Woo Jin-Cheol!]

He was momentarily surprised and worried after seeing that Chief Woo's name appeared as the number one real-time search result, but now that the confusion was cleared up, his racing heart began to slowly calm down.

It was a welcome piece of news, after all. To think that Chief Woo, a personal friend, would climb up to the position of the Association President.

Jin-Woo formed a smile and congratulated the man in his mind before shutting the device's power off and chucked it lightly behind him. An ant Shadow Soldier standing there just barely caught it.

Jin-Woo watched the ant stuff the phone in a bag and warned the creature.

"Your predecessor was much better at stuff like this than you. You gotta bring your A game from now on, okay?"

Yu Jin-Ho was too busy performing the role of the Vice-Chairman of the Guild and couldn't accompany him this time, so this ant Shadow Solder was elected to replace him as the luggage carrier. As if the creature was feeling sheepish about his new role, he continuously bowed while scratching the back of his head.

"Okay, good."

Jin-Woo chuckled and lightly tapped the soldier on his shoulder before turning around to leave. He had finished eating lunch, so it was now time to recommence with the hunt.

But then…

"Hah-ah…. It's these guys again?"

Jin-Woo scratched his forehead as he scanned the dense forest of trees dyeing his view a sea of green.

Only a short while ago, there used to be a village right here before it got trampled on by the Giants. But to think, it now resembled the Amazon rainforest….

One didn't even need to be able to sense magical energy to realise that something was very wrong with this sight, indeed.

However, it seemed that regular animals weren't suspicious of this forest, as various traces of them being devoured could be seen here and there. Jin-Woo stared at the bones of the dead animals and the flies buzzing around them before clicking his tongue.

He then picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at the forest.

Swish-!!

It was no longer a plain stone, though. No, it was a stone thrown by a rank S Hunter – no, by Jin-Woo of all people.

Smack!!

The stone accurately struck where the face of the tree-type monster was. The creature's closed eyes shot wide open. It began frowning angrily and stood up from the spot to run straight at him.

"Kiiiieeehk!!"

It seemed that you'd get p*ssed off after getting hit by a rock whether you were a person or a plant.

Jin-Woo summoned out the 'Demon King's Shortswords' and rushed forward. The huge tree creature swung its thick branches at the approaching human.

'So slow….'

This monster was indeed, far too slow. Jin-Woo leisurely slid past the two branches currently being used like fists and took a closer look at the tree's 'face'.

The tree monster was struggling to spot him with its eyes.

'Even its reactions are poor.'

Whenever the branches smashed the ground, the earth was deeply gouged out, but even then, Jin-Woo was still clicking his tongue.

'Compared to how big it is, its power is nothing to write home about.'

The monster looked tough and powerful because of how large it was, but when compared to the Giant-type creatures of similar size, its power simply lagged far behind. But then again, maybe this was the trade-off for it being very sturdy.

Jin-Woo gripped the shortswords tightly as the blades sliced and diced past the trunk of the tree monster.

"Kiiiechk, kiieeehk!"

The monster kept screaming in pain but it didn't want to go down at all.

'Violent Slash!'

Sword slashes pouring out at once like a buckshot stabbed and sliced and ripped into the tree monster.

Dududududududu!!

"Kiiiiieeehk!!"

The monster actually squeezed its eyes shut at the continuous barrage of attacks and flailed its 'fists' around in a frenzy. Jin-Woo evaded those attacks and approached the body of the monster again before sending his shortswords back into his 'Inventory'. He then clenched his fist tightly.

The muscles of his right arm expanded in an instant as magical energy flooded there in a great quantity. And then, he punched out just once.

WOO-JEECK!!

The tree was folded in half as it got flung away.

"Kiiiehck?!?!"

The creature tumbled around on the ground as a painful scream exploded out from its mouth. Even then, it began dragging its broken body back towards Jin-Woo again.

"Huh…."

This thing possessed truly shocking durability, that's for sure. These tree monsters, spotted for the very first time here in Japan, boasted a frightening level of endurance. Only after Jin-Woo beat the living daylights out of the creature for the umpteenth time did it stop moving altogether.

"K-kiechk…"

The dying tree moaned out a short gasp of death and spat out some kind of a liquid possessing an unbearable stink.

"Euhk."

Jin-Woo covered his nose up.

What irritated him more than the monster's tenacious vitality was this atrocious stink.

While the 'Yu Jin-Ho replacement' ant soldier diligently dug through the monster's remains to find it's Magic Crystal, Jin-Woo shifted his glare towards the forest where the same type of monsters were in hiding.

'And I'm supposed to repeat the same thing over and over again…..'

Just how long ago was it since the dungeon break occurred nearby? A deep frown etched on his forehead as he stared at the monsters that had already formed a dense forest.

The thing was, though – humans were intelligent creatures.

Jin-Woo had fought against these monsters and now knew what their weaknesses were. So, he came up with a plan.

'I knew something like this would happen. Good thing that I had them on standby.'

Jin-Woo grinned and summoned out a few Shadow Soldiers.

"Hey, come out."

As if they were waiting for that summons, Fangs and the three Magic Soldiers emerged from the shadow. As it turned out, Jin-Woo made the correct call to have these guys on standby even though he sent others out on their own expeditions.

"Okay, begin!"

As soon as Jin-Woo issued his order, Fangs quickly grew into his usual massive size and spat out his trademark pillar of flames, while the remaining three Magic Soldiers also began their spectacular fire magic show.

Kuwaaaah!!

Boom!! Ka-boom! Bang!!

Flames rapidly spread out, causing the tree monsters to twist around and scream out in pain.

"Kiiieeehk!"

"Kiiehk!"

"Kiiiiiaaaahk!"

These flames were ripe with magical energy and easily burned their targets into ashes, even though these trees weren't dry, to begin with. Even that liquid with the terrible smell was quickly evaporated by the heat, so Jin-Woo standing at an adequate-enough distance could spectate on this sight in a relaxed manner.

Jin-Woo smiled as his plan came together rather perfectly. In the meantime, the System's messages kept on piling up in his vision.

[You have defeated the enemy.]

[You have…]

[You have…]

Countless messages climbed up non-stop in his view.

The monster's rapid rate of reproduction might sound like bad news to some, but actually, it was a good thing for him. It meant that his experience points earned would be higher.

And sure enough, a cheerier-than-usual mechanical beep went off in his head.

Tti-ring.

[Level up!]

'That's what I'm talking about!'

Jin-Woo tightly clenched his fist. To confirm the increases in his Stats, he quickly summoned up his Status Window.

'Stat Window.'

Tti-ring.

Name: Seong Jin-Woo

Level: 133

Class: Shadow Sovereign

Title: Demon Hunter (extra 2)

HP: 78,230

MP: 136,160

Tiredness: 3

[Stats]

Strength: 308

Endurance: 307

Agility: 316

Intelligence: 321

Perception: 298

(Available points to distribute: 0)

His level was now sitting on 133.

Thanks to his soldiers currently doing their things throughout the whole of Japan, the quest to raise his level was progressing rather quickly. All those countless monsters pouring out from the Gates were proving to be a boon for Jin-Woo.

Almost all of his Stats had exceeded 300, with the sole exception of Perception, which still required two more points to reach that mark.

'I'm going to spend all the points from tomorrow's Daily Quest on Perception.'

Jin-Woo grinned brightly as he closed the Stat Window.

The war that the King of Giants had spoken of, as well as the scheme 'they' had cooked up as mentioned by the late Association President Goh Gun-Hui – Jin-Woo had no clear idea what any of them could be.

However, it didn't matter, did it?

All he had to do was to prepare as much as he could so he'd be ready for any and all eventualities. Meaning, he should focus on diligently raising his levels.

But then – Beru was supposed to lead the ant battalion and kill the monsters in a location far from where Jin-Woo was, but he suddenly got in contact with his master.

[Oh, my king…. May I be permitted to address you regarding a certain matter?]

"Mm?"

Why was Beru calling him up all of a sudden?

Jin-Woo was puzzled by this occurrence and quickly sent Beru a response.

'What's the matter?'

["….Contact the Korean Hunter's Association. They will put you through to me."]

After Jin-Woo's press conference was broadcast to the rest of the world, countless requests and inquiries began inundating the Hunter's Association.

Most of them belonged to the top Hunters from other countries. Some of them even came to visit Korea in secret just so they could speak to Jin-Woo and get his advice.

Germany's best Hunter, Lennart Niermann, was one of those.

'Even the Special Authority-rank and a top-ranked Hunter got done in by those things. How can I be safe from them, then?'

He possessed an outstanding sensory perception as well as a good deal of modesty. He thought that, rather than shivering away in fear, he'd place his faith in Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's declaration, the one about him possessing a way to defeat the unknown monsters.

And that was why he decided to travel to South Korea.

Stepping foot into the Incheon International Airport, he breathed in the Korean air that had this different flavour to it compared to that of Germany's or America's.

'So, this is what Korea smells like….'

Feeling somewhat excited by his first trip to Asia, he spoke to the clerk manning the immigration checkpoint in a clearly-eager voice.

"Is this Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's country?"

"Pardon? Ah, y-yes, it is."

The clerk got flustered and nodded his head. Lennart Niermann formed a satisfied smile. He'd soon be able to have a chat with the world's strongest Hunter.

He ended up missing Jin-Woo by a hair's breadth during the banquet at the end of the International Guild Conference. But to get another opportunity like this! Just thinking about it made his heart flutter in excitement.

He took a deep, deep breath to rein in his wildly-racing emotions, but then, a huge, hulking man standing close behind him spoke up in irritation.

"Hey, if you're planning to waste time here, get out of my way."

Thick veins suddenly popped up in Lennart Niermann's once-peaceful face.

Who dares to…!

How could anyone speak so rudely to him, one of the best Hunters in the entire world??

'I shall fix your attitude for good today!'

The German Hunter took off the sunglasses he wore to hide his identity and turned around.

"Look here, friend! What you said just now, you think you can repeat word for word straight to my face?"

Lennart Niermann stood with a heavy frown etched on his face. The man in front of him, taller than the German by at least a head, took off his own sunglasses and growled menacingly.

"Get. The. F*ck. Out. Of. My. Way."

Lennart Niermann immediately recognised who this burly man was and his expression hardened like a rock right there and then. He hesitated before opening his mouth.

"P-please, go ahead first."

Thomas Andre used his wide shoulders to brush past the German Hunter and stepped into immigration control. The act of apologising was the job reserved for Laura following him from close behind.

That was a bona fide Special Authority-rank Hunter. The airport's workers felt their breathing becoming much heavier and harder after seeing the actual Thomas Andre, often referred to as the world's top Hunter.

What a giant he was; it was not for nothing that people attached the nickname of 'Goliath' to him.

Thomas Andre discovered the face of the immigration officer rapidly turning pale and put the sunglasses back on before forming a genial smile.

"Is this Mister Seong's country?"

Chapter 204 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

[Oh, my king…. May I be permitted to address you regarding a certain matter?]

Beru contacted Jin-Woo out of the blue.

What did the most powerful Shadow Soldier, tasked with leading the ant battalion to kill monsters far away, want to say to his master?

'What's going on?'

Jin-Woo inwardly asked him. Beru then cautiously sought out permission from his master.

[May you be gracious enough to drive the prey to this servant's location?]

Drive the prey to his location?

The 'prey' Beru was talking about was, of course, monsters that roamed outside of the Gates after the various dungeon breaks took place. It implied that the former ant king wished to take care of all the monsters by himself.

Even Greed couldn't compare to Beru in terms of power, although they were supposed to be in the same Commander-grade. So, it was unlikely that his subordinates started a rebellion or some such and he wanted to do things alone now.

Jin-Woo pondered the reason for this request for a bit, but then, a certain possibility quickly entered his head.

'Could it be….??'

[Every time I defeat a prey, I can feel a sensation similar to 'moulting' throughout my entire body, my king.]

As he thought! His guess turned out to correct.

'Moulting', Beru said. Meaning, he was about to break through to the next stage.

Ever since his inclusion into the Shadow Army, Beru stood at the forefront, always, and fought off more enemies than anyone else. And finally, he was being rewarded with an opportunity to advance to a higher grade.

When recalling how much stronger high-grade soldiers like Igrit and Iron became after the advancement…..

'….This is wonderful news.'

Beru was already strong enough to toy with rank S Hunters even before he became a part of the Shadow Army. His current grade, too, was the highest among all of his existing Shadow Soldiers.

'Does this mean I finally get to see the grade above 'Commander'?'

Jin-Woo was getting really curious about just what kind of changes Beru would go through after his stats jump up greatly via his advancement. He quickly replied to his ant soldier, no doubt anxiously waiting for his king's answer.

'Alright. Let's do it.'

[Oh, I thank thee, my king. I shall send back the ant battalion to your side right away.]

'No, there's no need.'

Jin-Woo smirked to himself. Of course, Beru wouldn't be able to see the expression his Sovereign was making, since they were dozens upon dozens of kilometres away.

'Shadow Army.'

Jin-Woo called out, and his soldiers, almost 1200-strong, responded back to him simultaneously.

From Igrit, in charge of leading the knights, Fangs leading the High Orcs, Jima leading the Nagas, No.6 leading the giants, Tank leading the Ice Bears, and even Greed leading the leftover soldiers.

He thought he could hear their loud roars. Every single one of them began focusing all of their attention on Jin-Woo's summons. He sensed their tension oh-so-clearly, even this far away.

While enjoying this feeling of satisfaction, Jin-Woo issued his new command.

'Everyone, withdraw.'

'I want you guys back.'

The moment his order was given, the entirety of the Shadow Army began moving again. Soldiers all reverted back to their shadow state and rapidly headed in the direction where Jin-Woo was waiting for them.

[Oh, my king…. Why have you recalled your loyal soldiers?]

Jin-Woo replied with a chuckle at the surprised-sounding Beru.

'From here onwards, only you and I will defeat the remaining monsters.'

This seemed to be the best option available in order to speed up Beru's advancement.

Just like how a high-levelled player helped out the lower-levelled friend in a game, he was planning to fight alongside Beru and greatly speed up their hunting speed, gifting a whole bunch of experience points to his subordinate in the process.

He was going to 'power level' Beru, in other words.

There were still quite a few areas where dungeon breaks had occurred, so if the two of them went around clearing them, the required level cap would be met pretty soon.

Of course, as the ground they had to cover was vast, the efficiency of this method fell far behind the one with sending out his soldiers to sweep the enemies clean, but Beru's advancement was the priority here.

[Oh, my king….]

Beru couldn't finish his sentence, his voice overflowing with emotions.

'Hah. This guy.'

Seeing that his emotions had become richer as time went on, there was little doubt that he had been hiding in the shadows watching TV the whole day when he was supposed to protect his mother and Jin-Ah at home.

As the recalling of his shadows was just about complete, Jin-Woo asked the question to his soldiers.

"Is there anyone else beside Beru who feels that their advancement is just around the corner?"

Perhaps inevitably, there was no reply. It wasn't easy to advance to the next grade, after all. And one would need an excellent perception to sense the approaching advancement, too.

There was a reason why only Beru could sense his own advancement out of all his Shadow Soldiers.

Just as his thoughts arrived at this point…

Shururuk….

As Beru stood there, itching to go on the intimate solo hunting with his liege, yet another Shadow Soldier emerged from the ground next to him.

While a look of disappointment flashed on Beru's face, Jin-Woo's own expression brightened up even more.

"Nice."

As he would do normally, Igrit politely knelt down on one knee.

Jin-Woo always felt kinda uncomfortable with Igrit's unyielding dedication to the formalities, but still, seeing the gesture again after a long while made him happy regardless.

Igrit's advancement – that too, was something he had been looking forward to, wasn't it?

"Alright. Let's get started."

Jin-Woo summoned the 'Demon King's Shortswords' and smiled deeply.

What an amazing rate of reproduction this was – it hadn't been that long, yet new sprouts were rising up from the scorched-black remains of the tree monsters.

"Kiiieehk!"

"Kiiehk!"

There were around 40 or so dungeon break locations left to clear in Japan beside this one.

Every second and every minute was precious if these three were to clear them all.

Within the Ah-Jin Guild office.

For Yu Jin-Ho, this office had become far more comfortable than his own place. But right this moment, it felt as if every passing minute was as agonisingly long as an hour. He sneaked a glance at the clock hanging on the wall.

It said, '16:10 PM'.

It had been over two hours since 'that man' had shown up here.

Gulp.

Worried that his unconscious saliva swallowing had made too much noise, Yu Jin-Ho quickly sneaked a glance at the unannounced guest to the side. Unfortunately, his gaze ended up meeting the guest's eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. The big man replied with a refreshing grin.

Yu Jin-Ho forced his stiff facial muscles to form a grin of his own, or something that roughly resembled one, and hurriedly averted his gaze elsewhere.

Thick sweatdrops formed on his forehead. He then hurriedly pulled out his poor phone and tried to call his dear hyung-nim, but it was a waste of time.

Ring…. Ringgg….

It had been two days since the last communication with hyung-nim. For some reason, he wasn't picking up his phone at all. Even today.

Yu Jin-Ho lowered his phone and closed his mouth real tightly. It was the same story for other employees of the Guild.

These talented individuals who chose to work for the Ah-Jin Guild after seeing its potential were all overwhelmed by this awkward atmosphere and, as if they had made a promise to do so, resolutely maintained this heavy silence.

Of course, none of this was their fault. No, anyone who found themselves in a similar situation would react in the same manner.

Especially so, when the man sitting on a chair by the corner of the office happened to be one of the most powerful Hunters in the entire world, who also was happened to be known as the man with one of the shortest fuse in the world.

Not only that, the owner of this office was the very man who beat this Hunter to a pulp and sent him to the hospital. So, how could anyone be able to smile and jovially chat amongst themselves in front of this man?

He was, of course, Thomas Andre.

The Hunter standing on top of the world had come to visit Ah-Jin Guild to meet Jin-Woo. All thanks to that, the Vice Guild Chairman Yu Jin-Ho and his employees had no choice but to deal with this unannounced guest and consequently, felt like they were dying a little bit with every passing second right now.

Yu Jin-Ho began wondering whether he should attempt contacting hyung-nim one more time or not, but then…

Shururuk…

The automated door to the Guild slid open.

The heads of every single employee, including Yu Jin-Ho, instantly snapped in that direction.

Right away, his eyes grew wide. Yu Jin-Ho jumped up from his seat in sheer joy and spoke in a voice that contained the desperate pleading hearts of everyone working for this Guild.

"Hyung-niiiim!!"

'I was wondering why there were so many reporters camping outside, but this….'

Jin-Woo helplessly stared at Thomas Andre grinning back at him.

Looking at that expression, the American didn't seem to be hung up over what happened before, so what brought him all the way out here? Funnily enough, though, it was Yu Jin-Ho who welcomed Jin-Woo way before Thomas Andre could.

"Hyung-nim!! Why couldn't I get a hold of you for so long?!"

"Well, uh, I was busy."

"Hang on a minute, now that I see your clothes….."

Yu Jin-Ho faltered and stopped moving. Jin-Woo's clothing bore countless pieces of evidence of the harsh battles he must've gone through. It was like looking at hyung-nim after he concluded his Giant monster hunting trip.

'If hyung-nim was fighting non-stop, to the point he couldn't contact anyone for two days straight, then…..'

Just how many monsters were sent back to hell by hyung-nim's shortswords? Trying to imagine the carnage brought up a nasty case of goosebumps on his skin.

It was at this point in time that Thomas Andre stood up leisurely from the chair to walk up to Jin-Woo. Since he was such a big dude, to begin with, he didn't need to take that many steps to close the distance between him and his target.

Soon, the American stood before Jin-Woo.

'Heok….'

'No, hang on. They aren't going to fight again in here, right?'

The Guild employees were unaware of these two's current relationship, so understandably, they were busy swallowing nervous saliva as their eyes locked onto the two men standing before each other.

The sounds of their racing hearts were so loud that Jin-Woo's ears were actually aching right now from the noise assaulting him.

"Mister Seong."

Thomas Andre extended his hand first. Jin-Woo grinned and held the offered hand to shake it. The two men shared a brief greeting that way.

But then, the smile on Thomas Andre's face was wiped off in an instant.

How….

'How could this be??'

For some reason, the American felt that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was different from before. It was only by a little bit, but this Seong Jin-Woo was different than the one he met back in America.

Was it because the impression had changed?

For sure, Jin-Woo's attire back when they first met, or when they were in the banquet, was remarkably different from his current duds, which were in a really sorry state.

However, a certain sense of 'sturdiness' unrelated to clothing could be felt from him right now.

In a word, it was 'strong'. Back then, he was strong, but now, he came across as even stronger. However….

'Can something like that even happen….?'

No, it couldn't – at least not according to his common sense.

Thomas Andre's ultra-sharp senses allowed him to detect Jin-Woo's change that came about from levelling up, but he lacked the knowledge to decipher just what he was sensing here.

As the American was swimming within his confusion, their handshake came to an end and Jin-Woo asked him the question.

"What brings you to Korea?"

"Oh, that."

Thomas Andre recovered his wits and formed another smile.

"Didn't I promise you before? I told you that I'll buy a meal once my arm heals up."

He raised his completely-healed left arm and waved it around.

"And, also…."

Jin-Woo sneaked a glance at the clock on the wall. It was almost half past four in the afternoon. The time was obviously too late for lunch, but it was also a bit too early for supper.

"There's still a lot of time left before dinner time, so…. Hang on."

Jin-Woo asked for Thomas Andre's understanding and hurriedly walked over to Yu Jin-Ho. Now that he knew the American's business with him wasn't as urgent, he decided to prioritise on the matter that required his greater attention first.

"Can you find out for me the biggest Gate currently opening up in Seoul?"

Yu Jin-Ho's eyes went extra round after hearing Jin-Woo's request.

"Hyung-nim, will it be fine as long as it's a big one?"

"It's fine if someone has booked it already, so find one that's a high-enough rank."

"Got it, hyung-nim."

Yu Jin-Ho typed away on the keyboard at the speed of light and searched for the relevant information before a bright expression formed on his face.

"Hyung-nim, I found a particularly dangerous rank A Gate."

"Oh, really?"

"However, the Hunters Guild has called dibs on it already."

Contrary to Yu Jin-Ho's expectation, though, Jin-Woo didn't look disappointed at all.

"It's fine."

He didn't care who had the raid permit or not.

As a matter of fact, Jin-Woo thought that explaining himself would be easier now since he knew someone from the Hunters Guild, and that brought about a smile to his face.

Jin-Woo prepared to leave the office with cheery, airy steps, before turning around to address Thomas Andre.

"Ah, I've got an errand to run so I'll be going out for a little while. As for the promised meal, let's talk about it after I return."

Jin-Woo left the flustered American behind and disappeared from the office like a passing breeze. Thomas Andre dazedly stared at the doorway the Korean Hunter had disappeared through, before loudly bursting out with laughter.

"Ahahaha. Isn't this…."

What else could he do?

What Jin-Woo was doing might come across as inconsiderate, but then again, it was Thomas Andre who showed up totally unannounced, to begin with. In fact, he should have expected that a Hunter on the level of Seong Jin-Woo would be even busier than himself.

"In that case…. I'll be staying here."

Thomas Andre left behind the contact details of the hotel he was staying at with Yu Jin-Ho before vacating from the office himself.

"Whew….."

Yu Jin-Ho spat out a sigh of relief as he stared at the empty space once occupied by the American's hulking figure, but then, nearly jumped in fright after sensing another presence right next to him.

"Heok?! You were still here, too??"

It was rather lamentable that Lennart Niermann, who had arrived in the Guild office long before Thomas Andre did, had no grasp on the Korean language. Even then, he was pretty sure of Ah-Jin Guild's Vice-Chair completely forgetting about his presence until now.

"I even made a prior appointment, too….."

Realising that even someone like himself, used to being treated like a VVIP back in Germany, could end up being forgotten to this extent, his head slowly drooped towards the floor.

Unfortunately, what else can he do now when even the one and only Thomas Andre left the office without any complaints?

Whether it be a monster or a Hunter, you only had one life, after all.

Lennart Niermann stood up with no energy whatsoever in his body and jotted down his own contact details on the small corner of the memo Thomas Andre left behind.

The elite assault team members of the Hunters Guild were in the middle of getting ready for the raid, but Jin-Woo's sudden entrance stole away their focus and they could only concentrate on him now.

Noisy, noisy….

Cha Hae-In was the only one to get a heads-up from him, so she was able to remain collected, at least compared to her colleagues.

"You want to borrow our dungeon? Did something happen?"

"It's as I said before. I'd like to borrow the dungeon if it's at all possible."

Having seen another familiar face after what felt like forever, Jin-Woo formed a bright smile of genuine happiness.

On the other hand – he hadn't contacted her for a long time and yet the first thing he said after abruptly appearing before her, was about borrowing a dungeon that her team was about to raid.

Cha Hae-In was about to get angry, but seeing how happy Jin-Woo was, she ended up averting her gaze elsewhere, instead.

While she stood there in hesitation, unable to think of something to say, Choi Jong-In quickly ran in and addressed Jin-Woo. The Master of the Hunters Guild was waiting for the latter's arrival, actually.

"Seong Hunter-nim!"

The explanation had been concluded quickly enough.

Jin-Woo was proposing to kill every single monster inside the dungeon, barring the boss itself, and he even promised not to touch anything else. There would be no Guild Master worth his salt who'd reject this deal.

The thing was, Choi Jong-In had been greatly worried about his people getting injured inside this high-ranking Gate, so he welcomed this offer with both of his arms raised up high.

Of course, the members of the raid team themselves were also welcoming this development, although they were careful not to show it outwardly.

Jin-Woo immediately headed towards the Gate.

Before he could go far, though, someone tugged at his sleeve so he turned around to see who it was. He found Cha Hae-In and her blushing cheeks there, asking him in a hushed voice.

"What will you do inside the dungeon?"

"There's something I need to test inside. One of my summons has gone through a change, you see."

One of his summons, he said.

Cha Hae-In recalled the two summons she fought against in the Association's gymnasium – Igrit and Beru. They were far too strong to be labelled as mere summons. She was supposed to be a rank S Hunter, yet those two could easily threaten her life.

Did something change regarding those two and he wanted to test them out now? Cha Hae-In became really curious and whispered in an even more hushed voice.

"In that case…. Can I go inside with you and take a look, too?"

Jin-Woo heard that question containing just a tiny bit of ulterior motive and resolutely shook his head.

"It'll get far too dangerous. I'm planning to let him run amok, you see."

Jin-Woo cut her off, his expression one of seriousness. Cha Hae-In nodded her head and didn't press any further.

Jin-Woo left behind her longing gaze and jumped into the Gate.

[You have entered a dungeon.]

The same message he saw so many times popped up again. Jin-Woo hurriedly summoned Beru, on standby within his shadow.

'Come out.'

Chapter 205 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 206: Chapter 206

After Jin-Woo left, the elite members of the Hunters Guild fought against each other to become the first one to enter the dungeon.

"H-hey! Stop pushing me!"

"This dungeon ain't gonna run away, so there's no need for all this craziness!"

Rumble, tumble-!

Just what did the one and only Hunter Seong Jin-Woo want to test out that he even resorted to borrowing a rank A Gate someone else had already booked? Not only that, a Gate with a difficulty that had clearly gone up drastically?

Hunters quickly stepped on the dungeon's floor and scanned every corner with their curious eyes. But soon, their expressions turned into ones of pure shock and astonishment.

Literally, they were facing a river of blood!

The corpses of monsters, ripped to almost unrecognisable shreds, formed a road of blood. And this 'road' seemed to continue on forever into the darkness on the far side.

The Hunters were all rendered speechless and couldn't even dare to go in any deeper.

"Look…. Look over there."

One of the Hunters ribbed the person next to him with his elbow.

The victim of the elbowing attempt shifted his dazed gaze towards the location being pointed out and gradually, his jaw almost hit the floor at the unbelievable sight waiting for him there.

Just what kind of force could make a monster get embedded in the ceiling of the dungeon in such a grotesque fashion?

Considering that the walls of these dungeons were made up of materials incomparably harder than any regular caves, that was one seriously shocking sight to behold, indeed.

"That's all for my dinner plan tonight, I guess…."

Hunters with weaker stomachs saw this scene of utter slaughter and their complexions turned paler than a sheet of paper. What surprised them even more, was the fact that monsters of the dungeon measured to be at the top end of rank A had been killed off in such a state in less than ten minutes.

A female Hunter muttered to herself, her expression still one of pure shock.

"Hunter Seong Jin-Woo…. He didn't even look like the type, but this is just…."

The deeper the group entered, the clearer and clearer for them to spot the signs of the overwhelming violence; she had been a Hunter for almost five years now, but never once did she witness the walls of a dungeon destroyed to such an extent before.

Another male Hunter scanning the interior of the dungeon responded to her muttering.

"What do other people call this? Unleashing the inner beast? Or something like that?"

Cha Hae-In slowly shook her head after hearing that. None of this was the handiwork of Hunter Seong. She had witnessed his fights from up close several times already, so she was pretty certain of this.

The Jin-Woo she knew was a Hunter who preferred to end his enemies as cleanly as possible. It was artistic, even.

She was enthralled by the beauty in the way he controlled his skills the first time she saw him fight.

If that was the case….

'….The one capable of doing this among Hunter Seong's summons is…'

It was right then – she recalled the head of the ant monster screeching at her with its mandibles wide open, causing a chill to run down her spine.

That creature was the peak existence of vicious cruelty!

Didn't Jin-Woo say it? That one of his summons had gone through a change. Just what kind of a change did that ant monster go through, then?

Cha Hae-In left behind her colleagues still being shocked by the remaining traces of Beru's activity found throughout the dungeon, and quickly exited from the Gate. However, Jin-Woo was nowhere to be seen by then, even though he left only a few minutes ago.

"Why does he have to be so fast…."

Cha Hae-In scanned her surroundings and murmured with a cheeky pout. And she had so many things to ask him, too….

'I'm sure there will be another chance.'

She sighed so softly that it wouldn't even frighten a butterfly settling down in front of her. A subtle smile formed on her face as she slowly turned around to re-enter the Gate.

Jin-Ah killed her footsteps and sneaked like a crafty little cat to close in her mom busying washing dishes.

Clink, clink….

Either mom didn't hear her daughter's footsteps, or maybe she did hear them but decided to pretend that she didn't, she didn't react to Jin-Ah closing the distance. And then, in the end…

Jin-Ah got close enough to hear her mom's breathing before hugging her tightly.

"Mom!"

Too bad for all of her efforts, though, her mother didn't seem to be surprised at all. She simply responded with a gentle voice.

"Are you feeling bored?"

"Ng, I am. Oppa doesn't want to come home, and Mom doesn't want to play with me~."

While mom was sleeping in the hospital, Jin-Woo performed the role of the substitute mother to his sister. To help Jin-Ah focus on her studies, he did his best to act as the sole breadwinner and took care of all the chores around the family home.

To her, he was her sibling, her parent, and at the same time, her friend.

That was why Jin-Ah often missed her oppa's presence around the family home as he grew busier and busier every day.

Every single one of her fellow countrymen knew her oppa's face and his name by now, but what was the point if she couldn't really get to see him anymore?

And so, here she was, trying to fill the hole Jin-Woo had left behind with her mom and her warm words of encouragements.

"Still, it's great to have you around, Mom."

Jin-Ah buried her face in her mom's back and formed a happy smile. Although she couldn't see her back, the mother carried a similar expression as the daughter and continued cleaning the dishes.

Jin-Ah clung to her mom's back like a cicada holding onto a tree for a while before opening her mouth.

"Mom? Let's move house."

Flinch.

Mom's hands momentarily stopped moving before resuming their actions. A smile formed on her lips again.

"Do you want to move to somewhere else?"

"Yeah."

"But, what will we do? Mom really likes this place, you know."

"Why do you like such an old apartment?"

Jin-Ah lightly rebuked her, but mom simply smiled back and her hands continued to move briskly.

Actually, Jin-Ah knew why her mom didn't want to leave this old apartment. She knew the reason why her mom still persisted in staying here while paying the monthly rent, when her oppa was making the kind of money that regular people would never get to touch in their lifetime.

She was still waiting for her missing husband, her children's father. She was hoping that, maybe one day, he'd stumble back here.

Jin-Ah couldn't remember much about her father now and felt that waiting for him was a waste of time. But, her brother hadn't mentioned moving house again after he heard mom's reasoning.

"Still, I like this apartment."

Mom gently persuaded her daughter again, prompting Jin-Ah to spin on her heels to leave, her cheeks puffing up unhappily.

"Che."

"Don't be like…. Ah!"

Mom quickly turned around and looked at Jin-Ah with a face that said, 'I forgot!'; she had just remembered that the weather forecast warned of rainfall later in the evenings.

"Sweetie, can you take the washing from the veranda and bring them in?"

"Mom, you only call me sweetie when you need me to do stuff."

Still, she didn't mind being called that, as evidenced by her happy humming as she made her way to the veranda.

As befitting of Jin-Ah, who was more or less an expert at performing chores like this, she quickly took down the washings and placed them in the basket.

But then….

Her rapid hands suddenly stuttered to a halt. She realised that the sky above had darkened even before she noticed it.

"…Uh?"

Did the rain clouds arrive already?

Naturally, she raised her head up to look above. And her eyes opened incredibly wide next.

The basket filled with washed clothes fell out of her hands.

"M-Moooom!!"

His hands were soaked with sweat.

The Association President Woo Jin-Cheol looked down on his wet palms before hurriedly rubbing them against his blameless pants.

How long had it been since he felt this nervous? He'd actually prefer to enter a Gate on the brink of a dungeon break. That would be easier on his stress level.

"You don't have to be that tense, Association President Woo Jin-Cheol."

A certain high-ranking official who had invited Woo Jin-Cheol to the Korean Presidential residence – the Blue House – formed a rather slimy grin.

How could a proper conversation be held when the guy supposed to meet the holder of the highest office in the country was this nervous?

The official understood full well that climbing up to such a high office at a young age must've been quite burdensome, but even then, he prayed that there wouldn't be any 'mistakes' committed during the meeting itself.

"My apologies."

Woo Jin-Cheol's smile was just a tad stiff but he still nodded his head. As a gesture of encouragement, the official patted his back a couple of times.

Soon, the door to the special guest room opened and the president of the country these two men were waiting for strode in while flanked by several of his retinues.

"Mister President!"

"Sir!"

Woo Jin-Cheol and the government official both stood up from their seats.

"Ah, ah. It's fine. Please, take a seat. I'm okay either way. It's not like I'm someone that impressive, anyway."

The President of Korea, Kim Myung-Cheol, cracked a light joke to disperse the nervous atmosphere and settled down on his seat.

Once the president of the nation found his seat, the government official and Woo Jin-Cheol settled down as well, in that order.

The president's gaze shifted immediately in Woo Jin-Cheol's direction.

"I'm sure you're really busy with the matters of the Association right about now, Mister Association President."

"Well, uh… not as much, sir."

His lips might have denied it, but the dark circles beneath Woo Jin-Cheol's eyes were expanding their territories every single day.

He began wondering how did the late Association President Goh Gun-Hui manage to survive all this workload with his unhealthy body. Woo Jin-Cheol's level of respect for him had deepened even further after his passing.

But that was probably why he really wanted this uncomfortable get-together to end as quickly as possible.

"Excuse me, sir…. Why did you ask me to come by today, sir?"

"Uh-huh, this guy!"

The high-ranking government official tried to warn Woo Jin-Cheol as the latter tried to jump straight into the meat of the story, but then, the President stopped him.

"Indeed, it's not right to keep the Association President here for too long when he took time out of his busy schedule to come and see me."

Not beating around the bush, and keeping it simple when it comes to the main topic; President Kim Myung-Cheol didn't mind the speedy progress of discussions at all.

"In that case, allow me to get to the topic right away. The reason why I asked you, the Association President, to come here is because…."

For the briefest time then, Woo Jin-Cheol's senses of a high-ranked Hunter caught on to the fact that the country's president was trying to read his current mood.

This led to him having a certain premonition. No doubt, the other man was getting ready to ask him for a rather troublesome favour.

Sure enough – as if he also felt a bit sheepish about this, President Kim smiled awkwardly and began explaining himself.

"I heard that you and Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim enjoy a particularly close relationship."

Woo Jin-Cheol immediately corrected that faulty rumour.

"I am indeed an acquaintance with Seong Hunter-nim, but our relationship is not as close as you think, sir."

"Huhuh, is that so."

"Yes. It was actually the late Association President Goh Gun-Hui who enjoyed a close-knit relationship with Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."

Woo Jin-Cheol nodded by himself, recalling the moment when Goh Gun-Hui expressed his desire to knock back a few cold ones with Hunter Seong.

President Kim pondered something in silence for a bit, before carrying on.

"Even still, you are in a position to communicate readily with Seong Hunter-nim, yes?"

"Oh…. Yes, I am."

"In that case, may we ask you for a favour, Association President Woo?"

As expected…

Woo Jin-Cheol inwardly thought, "Here it comes," and replied with a begrudging tone of voice.

"What kind of a favour are we talking about, sir?"

"Because of Seong Hunter-nim's sky-high acclaim, we were wondering if we could use him as a public relations ambassador for the country. With a slogan similar to, 'Hunter Seong Jin-Woo makes the Republic of Korea safe'."

President Kim ended his words there and grinned brightly.

Here was a proudly Korean Hunter strong enough to teach the American Special Authority-rank Hunter a lesson, not to mention important enough to make the Hunter Bureau be at his beck and call, too.

There was no way that the financial and the political world wouldn't take notice of such a person's actions.

Kim Myung-Cheol was planning to use his position as the country's president to reel Jin-Woo in to his side before anyone else could.

In the beginning, as the public relations ambassador of the nation, and then, gradually build up a friendship with him over time.

As his fame as the world's strongest Hunter soared higher, being his 'friend' would prove to be one of the most powerful cards anyone could possess.

As for the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol, his role was to become the bridgehead to facilitate that purpose.

Of course, Woo Jin-Cheol wasn't naïve enough to not realise what the ulterior motive of President Kim was.

'You called me here to talk about something like that?'

Woo Jin-Cheol felt all his nervous tension dissipate. And then, he began to get angry, wondering about why he had to get involved in this kind of crap as soon as he occupied the position of the Association President.

'….So, he thinks I'm easier to push around.'

Indeed, he wasn't Goh Gun-Hui. The late Association President performed the role of a breakwater of the Association, but with him gone, the figures of the financial and political world were now focusing their attention on him, instead.

They were telling him to serve their interests.

The funny thing was, though – Woo Jin-Cheol was getting angry, sure, but at the same time, he also felt rather relieved, as well.

In the past, the late Association President Goh Gun-Hui often mentioned this – the Hunter's Association needed to create the right kind of atmosphere for the Hunters to do their jobs.

And this incredibly important role wasn't just for the sake of the Hunters, but for the sake of everyone else, as well.

When his thoughts reached up to that point, Woo Jin-Cheol became much more relaxed than before. A natural smile even crept up on his face, too.

Unfortunately for President Kim, though, he misinterpreted that smile and began laughing alongside as well.

"Huhuhuh. It seems that Association President Woo is quite a sensible man, unlike a certain someone. Very good. I'd be very appreciative if you do us this small favour. This isn't just for my benefit, wouldn't you say?"

He said 'unlike a certain someone'. It didn't take a genius to figure out just who the president was talking about. Woo Jin-Cheol soundlessly gritted his teeth and spoke up.

"Indeed, the late Association President was an amazing gentleman."

"That's right. Very true. He was a great gentleman, but also just as stubborn and inflexible, too."

"I'm very different from the late Association President."

"Huhuhuh! Indeed, you are. The Hunter's Association should change accordingly with the times. It's no good to be tied to the ideals of the past forever."

A cold grin floated up on Woo Jin-Cheol's lips as he began glaring at President Kim.

"How long do you think it'll take me to kill every single person in this building, including all of your bodyguards?"

"W-what was that?!"

The high-ranking official jumped up from his seat, but he was frozen stiff immediately from the dense killing intent emitted by Woo Jin-Cheol.

Never mind low ranked Hunters, a rank A Awakened would prove to be an existence even more lethal than any known savage beasts to a normal civilian.

Regular people would be utterly powerless when facing against a tiger or a bear out in the wilderness, so how could the same people be able to deal with a rank A Hunter?

"A few hours? No. I think it won't even take a few minutes."

Woo Jin-Cheol watched the complexions of the two men listening turn paler and paler with every passing second and calmly addressed them.

"In that case, how many men do you think you'll need to stop me when I start rampaging around? I wonder. If you were to mobilise every single police officer and soldier stationed within Seoul and defend until my magical energy reserve bottoms out, then, well, I think you can somehow save yourselves."

Woo Jin-Cheol drawing this incredibly horrifying picture with a calm expression only served to heighten President Kim's terror even further.

"Y-you…. But, but, why…."

The politician wanted to say something, but this dense killing intent constantly weighed down on his lips and he couldn't utter anything that resembled words.

"However, what if it was Hunter Seong going on a rampage, instead of me? How many men do you have to mobilise to defend against him?"

Was it because of all this murderous intent emitted by Woo Jin-Cheol?

President Kim was instantly overcome with a nasty case of goosebumps spreading all over his body after imagining Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, capable of hunting down those Giant monsters alone, suddenly starting to hunt down people, instead.

Woo Jin-Cheol figured that this was enough of terrorising the two men and withdrew his killing intent.

"Such a thing doesn't happen, because every Hunter out there focuses solely on what a Hunter must do."

Hunters needed to operate in the sphere of Hunters. Meanwhile, politicians needed to stay within their bubbles.

Making the world go around the correct way – that was the creed of the Hunter's Association, nay, of the late Association President Goh Gun-Hui.

Woo Jin-Cheol stared straight into the frightened eyes of President Kim and firmly warned him.

"I have no thoughts of sullying the ideals of the Hunter's Association as established by the late President Goh Gun-Hui, sir. And of course, I expect you to cooperate with us fully."

Chapter 206 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Was there any reason to doubt him?

President Kim confirmed that Woo Jin-Cheol was being dead serious and hurriedly muttered out an answer, not even giving himself enough time to spin this situation to his advantage.

"O-of course. A Hunter needs to do a Hunter's job. My thoughts were too rash. It was a slip of the tongue on my part."

Woo Jin-Cheol watched the pale-faced president nodding his head non-stop, and stood up from his seat to leave. Even after he was long gone, though, both the president and the high-ranking government official couldn't get up from their seats, their legs having turned to jelly a long time ago.

Only now did they awake to the reality of how scary the existences called Hunters could be.

"Did something good happen in there, sir?"

As the car was about to drive away, the escort driving the vehicle asked Woo Jin-Cheol sitting in the backseat.

"Does it look that way to you?"

"Yes, sir. It does."

His escort was also an agent of the Monitoring Division.

Woo Jin-Cheol glanced at the baby-faced newbie, effectively his junior from the same department, and ended up recalling his own newbie days and he let a content smile sneak up on his lips.

"Well, it feels like I've performed the duty of the Association President for the first time since I got the job, that's all."

Woo Jin-Cheol reclined against the back of the seat that Goh Gun-Hui used to occupy. He then looked back fondly at the late Association President, who would've been sitting in places like this, out of everyone's gazes and earning the ire and hatred of many powerful men in high places, all for the sake of other Hunters.

'….What a relief.'

Thanks to Woo Jin-Cheol's angry-looking eyes and his large frame, he was used to being hated and feared already. If that was part of being the Association's President, then he'd gladly accept it.

The moment he decided to take over from Goh Gun-Hui, he had prepared himself to a certain extent for this kind of rubbish, anyway.

"Where should we go next, sir?"

"….To the Association."

He dearly wanted to go home and take a break, but he actually came running here after abandoning his job back in the office. He still had a mountain of work to go through.

"Then, we'll get going, sir."

The escort seemed to understand Woo Jin-Cheol's mind as he stepped on the accelerator. The vehicle carrying the two men easily slipped out of the Blue House's grounds.

How long had passed by like that?

Woo Jin-Cheol drifted off to sleep while staring at the passing scenery, only to abruptly wake up again. He could see an endless ocean of cars filling up the road, not going anywhere fast.

Even though Seoul was infamous for its clogged roadways, such a traffic jam seemed improbable in the middle of a weekday.

'Did another Gate pop up in the middle of the road again?'

Feeling a bit worried now, Woo Jin-Cheol scanned his surroundings. Unfortunately, the overall atmosphere of the road seemed far too suspicious for something as simple as that. In fact, all the drivers had stopped their cars and stepped outside to look up into the sky.

It wasn't just the drivers, either.

Even the pedestrians on the sidewalks, people on the zebra crossings, every single one had come to a dead stop and was looking up at the sky above their heads. That included the escort in the driver's seat, who was also craning his neck forward to look at the sky.

'What on earth is going on here….?'

Now feeling genuinely alarmed, Woo Jin-Cheol quickly grabbed the escort's shoulder and shook him around.

"Hey. What's going on?"

"A-Association President…"

The escort spoke with a trembling voice, leaned out of the way and pointed up at the top of the windscreen.

"T-there, sir…."

In an instant, Woo Jin-Cheol's expression stiffened.

Were his eyes playing tricks on him?

No, if that was the case, then everyone shouldn't be looking at the sky with the exact same expression etched on their faces. He didn't want to believe what he just saw, but just like with everyone else on the road, he leapt out of the car.

His eyes weren't lying to him.

Woo Jin-Cheol dazedly stared at the sky before a look of pure, unadulterated shock took over his face.

"How… how can something like that be….?!"

The result of the test proved to be very satisfying. Jin-Woo's steps taking him back home were cheerier than ever before.

Beru had become really strong. A lot stronger than his initial expectation, even.

It was unfortunate that Igrit couldn't advance, but Beru's advancement alone was already an excellent result. Without a doubt, the elites of the Hunters Guild should be unable to shut their slack jaws from the spectacle laid out within that dungeon by now.

Jin-Woo imagined Cha Hae-In and her wide-open eyes, and a smirk formed on his lips.

It had been a while since they saw each other and he wanted to talk to her for a bit longer, but regrettably, he still had guests waiting for him. Jin-Woo pondered his options between Thomas Andre and Lennart Niermann before giving the American the call first.

He could pretty much guess what the German was here for, but he simply couldn't figure out what the Hunter ranked No.2 in the world was thinking of by showing up unannounced like this.

The call got through in no time at all.

– "Mister Seong!"

Worried that Jin-Woo would cut him off again, Thomas Andre was quick to pour out what he wanted to say.

– "I came bearing a fantastic gift for you, Mister Seong."

A gift?

"What the heck. If you had something like that, you should've told me earlier."

Jin-Woo spoke to the American half-jokingly and half-seriously, but then, he was suddenly faced with silence from the other side of the line.

A short while later, Thomas Andre spoke with a kind of voice belonging to someone suppressing his swelling emotions.

– "….I'm really happy to hear that you're looking forward to my gift. Okay, then. Where will we meet? I want to hand over the gift as soon as possible."

"Wherever it's convenient for you."

– "Can you come to where I am? These guys are a bit too dangerous to walk around in the open, you see."

Too dangerous?

Jin-Woo was left puzzled for a moment then, but still, told Thomas Andre that he'd be there soon and ended the call.

'Hang on… It really can't be a bomb, right?'

Of course, it couldn't be. It'd be far more effective than an explosive to attack personally if you were a Special Authority-rank Hunter.

Jin-Woo began regretting a bit at the fact that he forgot to ask what kind of a gift it was. It was then, Beru suddenly began addressing him.

[Oh, my king.]

'Mm?'

[May I be permitted to fight against that foreigner?]

Jin-Woo pondered that for a little while, before shaking his head as if to get rid of the distracting thoughts.

What was he even wondering about here?

Sure, he was really curious as to find out just how far Beru's powers had been enhanced, but there was no way he'd let his Shadow Soldier fight against Thomas Andre.

He didn't want to see either the American get hurt or see Beru get destroyed. Their personalities meant that the fight would definitely not end with someone getting a bit bruised.

'Even then….'

Still, being able to ponder such a possibility attested to how much Beru had grown compared to before. In fact, the former ant king's desire to test his own enhanced body could be heard so clearly in his voice.

'Beru?'

[Please bestow unto this lowly servant your wisdom, oh, my king.]

'There should come a time when you'll be free to test your limits as much as you want. So, there's no need to be rash.'

[This servant shall take it to heart, my king.]

'And also, you gotta stop watching those historical dramas on TV. Your speech has become really weird lately, you know?'

[This servant shall heed my liege's….]

'Just say 'Yes, I will', okay? Say, 'Yes'. Just 'Yes', nothing more.'

[Yes.]

Very good.

Now that he finally told Beru what was on his mind, Jin-Woo happily headed off to the meeting location with Thomas Andre.

"Oh, Mister Seong! You probably have no idea how long I waited for this moment."

Thomas Andre welcomed Jin-Woo into his hotel suite with open arms.

It was true that you'd feel great about receiving gifts, but the joy of giving itself shouldn't be underestimated, as well.

From the time Jin-Woo mentioned that he needed new shortswords to up until now – Thomas Andre had been counting the days he'd get to hand over the greatest weapons ever made, sleeping within his Guild's storage, to his new friend.

He didn't simply fly all the way to this distant foreign land for no reason at all.

How would the guy Thomas Andre personally acknowledged as the world's best Hunter react when he sees these two bad boys?

Along with a big bout of anticipation bubbling in his heart…

Snap!

…Thomas Andre snapped his fingers, prompting his 'bodyguards' to bring out a large box covered in a sheet of fabric.

Even if it was ostensibly a gift, Jin-Woo didn't really want anything, to begin with, so he stared at the box with disinterest, but then, as the bodyguards got closer and closer, his eyes became equally sharper and sharper as well.

'What's this….?'

Wuoong…. Wuuuuong…

Something inside that box was resonating with his magical energy.

Thomas Andre easily caught the changes in Jin-Woo's expression and inwardly punched the air.

'That's what I'm talking about!'

Hunter Seong Jin-Woo would recognise the weapons, while said weapons would recognise their new owner; Thomas Andre predicted that they would naturally recognise each other, and as expected, he was proven right, at this moment.

It was possible that these weapons had been hiding inside the Scavenger Guild's storage unit where not even a strand of outside light entered, biding their time just for this very moment.

Tack!

The box was placed on the coffee table between Thomas Andre and Jin-Woo.

"This here is my repayment for the favour you've shown to my Guild members and to myself."

Thomas Andre grasped the corner of the fabric and carefully pulled it away.

Shururuk….

The sheet slid off smoothly and revealed what it had been hiding all this time. It was a see-through case underneath. And within it were a pair of shortswords stabbed into a large reptilian scale.

No, hang on – could they even be called shortswords?

Jin-Woo grew doubtful almost immediately.

The blades of these weapons were definitely shorter than a longsword's, yes, but then again, they were so much longer than a regular shortsword's, too.

However, what caught his attention wasn't the puzzling length of the shortswords themselves. No, it was actually their ice-white blades.

Jin-Woo was familiar with the concept of crafting blades out of non-metallic materials. As a matter of fact, the very first weapon he acquired inside the first instant dungeon was the 'Poison Fang of Kasaka'.

Thanks to the memories of that time, Jin-Woo could guess just which monster's fang was used as raw material to craft this pair of shortswords. Besides, there was only one creature capable of emitting this kind of aura from a part of its remains.

"Kamish…."

Jin-Woo involuntarily whispered that name out, prompting Thomas Andre to shake his head while clapping his hands, feeling impressed.

"To think, you'd correctly guess the base material used for these guys just from one look."

Jin-Woo's guess was correct. But then, because he was right, he became puzzled about something else.

"Hang on, I thought Kamish's remains were in safekeeping with the Hunter Bureau….?"

"Because the American government wanted the intact corpse, we gave up on that monster completely. We got something else even more valuable than money from that deal, anyway."

Thomas Andre recalled the raid back then and grinned meaningfully.

"However, Kamish's biggest and sharpest fang…. When that thing tried to bite me, I yanked out one such fang, and it was given to me as a souvenir."

The problem was, there were no Awakened capable of crafting weapons out of stripped materials from a d*mn Dragon.

….Besides one single man, that was.

Thomas Andre added that, with the master craftsman responsible for the creation of these two genuine masterpieces having passed away due to old age, there would never be another weapon crafted out of the Dragon corpse in this world again.

"The fang's length wasn't nearly long enough to make a proper longsword, so they were made into shortswords back then. Who knew that decision would pay off now?"

Thomas Andre recounted the situation of all those years ago, his expression remaining bright and cheerful. He then leisurely took away the clear case and pushed the scale with the shortswords stabbed into it in Jin-Woo's direction.

"And now, these are yours."

Finally, the best weapons in the world had met the best owner in the world. Thomas Andre did his darnedest to calm his fluttering heart and studied Jin-Woo's response.

The latter pulled one of the shortswords out.

Shuwuk.

As if the weapon was waiting for it, it came off without any resistance whatsoever.

Tti-ring.

The mechanical beep went off in Jin-Woo's head as soon as he grasped the shortsword and he quickly swallowed his saliva. Shortly afterwards, the detailed explanations on the weapon popped up in his view.

'WHAT?!'

Jin-Woo doubted his own eyes right away.

This couldn't be real.

He was completely taken aback by the nonsensical attack value of this weapon and hurriedly summoned out his current main weapon, the 'Demon King's Shortsword'.

[Item: Demon King's Shortsword]

Rarity: S

Type: Shortsword

Attack: 220

A shortsword taken from the Demon King, Baran. Using two 'Demon King's Shortswords' will activate a set effect.

Set effect 'Two Becomes One': Extra attack power equal to the current Strength Stat will be added to each shortsword.

This blade's attack power would shoot way past the 500 mark when his current Strength Stat of over 300 was added on top. He had always thought that such a set effect would make this shortsword plenty useful for his cause.

But then, the attack value of the new shortsword in his hand was…..?!

Jin-Woo compared the stats for both shortswords and began freaking out inwardly.

'….How can this even be possible?!'

Chapter 207 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 208: Chapter 208

Jin-Woo's gaze was fixed to the shortsword crafted out of Kamish's fang. Its utterly unbelievable attack power could be seen floating above the weapon.

[Item: Kamish's Wrath]

Rarity: ??

Type: Shortsword

Attack: 1,500

Top quality shortsword fashioned from the sharpest fang among the Dragon's teeth by the expert's hands.

The blade's sharpness has no equal in this world; it also boasts excellent sensitivity towards Mana, and can become greatly strengthened depending on the wielder's capability.

The explanation seemed to go on forever. However, nothing besides the attack damage entered his eyes.

'1,500?! Just the pure attack damage??'

Never mind any added options, just the base damage dealt was 1,500.

As much as 1,500!

After recalling that the higher attack damage would make it easier to slice up the enemy, Jin-Woo couldn't even begin to imagine just how scarily effective this shortsword was going to be.

'N-no, hang on. Was there any weapon with 1,500 attack damage in the Store, to begin with?!'

Jin-Woo was so excited by the shortsword's attack damage, he hurriedly summoned the Store's interface without paying any mind to all those eyes studying his every move.

Obviously, it was quite a bit embarrassing to compare this bad boy to the shortswords being sold there, so he went straight to the section with broadswords, which boasted the highest attacking power among the blade-type weapons.

'Huh….'

The most expensive broadsword's attack damage barely cracked past the 1,000 mark. Even if this weapon was sold in the Store, it was still a broadsword boasting 1,000 damage, but a measly little shortsword was 1,500.

'Hang on. Just purely from the perspective of the attack damage, won't it be the same thing as me wielding two broadswords in each of my hands?'

The weightiness of the shortsword could still be felt through his palm.

He raised his head, his desire to cut something up with this thing powerfully stimulating him. That's when he spotted Thomas Andre forming an awkward smile after having read Jin-Woo's mind. The American shook his head.

"Whoa there, Mister Seong. Even if I activate my reinforcement skill to increase my defence, that blade will still cut me down. I hope you ain't thinking of killing me with my own gift, right?"

Of course, Jin-Woo wasn't thinking of doing that. He replied to Thomas Andre's OTT exaggeration with a chuckle and focused back on the shortsword.

'It's got excellent sensitivity towards Mana, is it?'

Mana was another name for magical energy. To find out what the 'excellent sensitivity towards Mana' could even mean, Jin-Woo poured a tiny little amount of his magic energy into the blade.

And when he did….

"Heok…."

The bodyguards were supposed to refrain from making needless noises, but one of them couldn't hold back and gasped out in pure astonishment. He quickly covered his mouth, but no matter – no one scolded him, anyway.

Because, everyone else's attention had been stolen away by Jin-Woo's shortsword to such an extent that they failed to notice his faux pas just now.

"Oh, my god….."

Thomas Andre had experienced all sorts of craziness in his life, but even he couldn't hold back his shocked gasp from leaking out of his mouth. From Jin-Woo's hand, from the entirety of the shortsword itself, a blackish aura was slowly rising up, that was why.

'This shortsword is…. It's responding to my magic energy.'

It wasn't just the aura rising up from the weapon; that weightiness of the shortsword seemingly filling up his palm had also vanished in an instant. As if it was all a lie from the very start.

The weapon had become lighter than a feather.

'Holy cow….'

This weapon even allowed its wielder to control its weight as he willed it.

Wuuong, wuuong…

The shortsword 'Kamish's Wrath' began vibrating as if to greet its new owner. Jin-Woo's heart began pounding even harder as he grasped its hilt.

Ba-thump, ba-thump!!

He really wanted to fight with this weapon. He really, really wanted to use it right now. Although, he couldn't really figure out whether this was the shortsword's will, or his own desire speaking.

Jin-Woo calmed his palpitating heart down and stabbed the shortsword back to where it used to be.

Stab.

That brought about the end to the blade's vibration.

The black aura had been oppressing Laura and the bodyguards to the extent that they couldn't even breathe properly, but now that the overwhelming aura was gone, they were able to finally gasp for fresh air.

Thomas Andre stopped looking at Jin-Woo and shifted his gaze over to her.

'You still think I made a mistake?'

Thomas Andre's meaningful gaze prompted Laura to shake her head quickly. As long as these shortswords were to be pointed in the direction of the monsters and not other humans, Thomas Andre's decision should be seen as irrefutable.

The weapon would find its rightful owner. Even as a regular person who couldn't sense any magical energy, Laura understood what was going on here in an instant.

Now that his judgement was proven correct, Thomas Andre began grinning quite refreshingly.

"So, how do you like my present, Mister Seong?"

The most extreme of all emotions would always be expressed not in words, but through one's actions. Jin-Woo quietly lifted his thumb up real high.

"Hahaha-!!"

Thomas Andre felt pleased as punch and leisurely clapped his hands to express his joy.

These shortswords were the proof of their friendship. He didn't feel a shred of regret for using them if he was able to get on Jin-Woo's good books.

Rather, it was Jin-Woo who was feeling burdened by this gift.

"Is it really okay for me to receive something like this for free?"

"What do you mean, for free?"

Thomas Andre erased that semi-permanent smile off his face and formed a serious expression next.

"Actually, I think it's a cheap price to pay for the lives of my Guild members as well as myself."

This was how Thomas Andre expressed his plea of "Don't refuse my gift and just say yes."

Since Jin-Woo had already heard the particular way Thomas Andre expressed himself from Laura, he simply chuckled and replied to the American.

"In that case, thank you. I'll gladly accept them."

"If you're willing to do that, well, I'm happy, too."

As the atmosphere between the two Hunters standing at the very apex of the world grew warmer and more cordial…

….Jin-Woo and Thomas Andre both stopped moving at the same time.

Laura and the bodyguards didn't even have the chance to panic at the sudden stiffness in the two men's expression, because Thomas Andre opened his mouth before they could.

"Mister Seong, just now, that…"

Jin-Woo briefly nodded his head. That ominous sensation that brushed past his backside – Thomas Andre must've felt something quite similar to that.

It came from the sky. As if they had a prior agreement, both men shot up from their seats and quickly stood next to the window.

Jin-Woo spat out a gasp. Thomas Andre discovered the same thing and his eyes visibly quaked. Just how could a thing like that appear in the middle of the sky?!

The American Hunter stared at the massive Gate floating up high in the sky and muttered loudly.

"I can hardly believe this. I've never seen a Gate that huge before."

Even the Gate that spat out Kamish wasn't as big as that b*stard up there. The thing was, though, Jin-Woo had seen a Gate with similar dimensions before – within the 'data' the stone angel statue played for him back then.

He saw winged soldiers pour out in their droves from a Gate high up in the sky.

The massive size of the Gate covering the heavens above the city of Seoul was almost an exact match to the Gate he saw within the data. Just from recalling the sight of all those soldiers painting the sky silver, Jin-Woo felt this shudder, a jolt, buzzing from the back of his neck.

'Hang on. Could it be that the identity of the massive amount of magisphere pooling in Seoul's sky is that thing?'

Jin-Woo became utterly speechless. Even Thomas Andre, even Laura, and even their bodyguards, all of them failed to close their slack jaws.

And as a heavy, powerful silence descended on everyone in the room, the gigantic Gate that suddenly manifested itself in the sky continued to gently ripple about, as if to swallow everything that was down below.

Right below the airborne Gate.

The residents of the city formed a literal sea of people below it, knowing that there was no danger of a dungeon break as the Gate had been generated not too long ago. They raised their smartphones and busily snapped shots of the portal dyeing the heavens black.

It was the first-ever Gate to form in the middle of the sky. And its gigantic size was unprecedented, too.

Although no one knew what would come out from there and should all be terrified as a result, people still couldn't rein in their curiosity.

There were quite a few members of foreign press mixed among the crowd. Their cameras were working at full capacity to capture the scenes of this packed gathering of people

[Yes, I'm currently standing right below the giant Gate that has covered the entirety of Seoul's skies, and….]

[The Gate you see before you is the biggest one ever recorded since monsters began appearing….]

[As you can see behind me, the crowd spectating on the Gate itself are carrying bright expressions, but….]

[….This is Nick Powell from BBN News.]

Reporters from various nations carried serious, even grave, expressions and spoke their mother tongue towards the camera lenses.

Japanese people had been interested in the ongoings of South Korea for a while now, so a certain TV station even scheduled a special program to report extensively on the 'Gate above Seoul's skies'.

As for the expert invited to share his insight on the program, it was none other than Doctor Norman Belzer who had been studying the irregular phenomenon in the sky for a long time.

After the brief introduction by the emcee, Doctor Belzer grasped his microphone.

"I have been warning the relevant authorities about the unknown mass of energy gathering in the various spots in the atmosphere for a while now. The giant Gate appearing in the skies of Seoul is merely the beginning, I fear. We will be seeing Gates just as horrifying as that one over the skies of many other countries in the future."

The emcee's shoulders flinched greatly.

"Ehhh?! What you're implying there is, Doctor, there are more than one or two places with such ominous phenomena in the world?"

"That's what I'd like to emphasize today."

The scientist then went on to explain again what he told the Hunters participating in the International Guild Conference. He had a duty to inform the public of the dangers, now that his subject of research had bared its fangs for real.

Indeed, Seoul was just the beginning.

The magisphere was still being amassed above the skies of the remaining eight spots even now.

The scientist proceeded to reveal the nine locations with the help of the satellite images, leading to many gasps of shock and pained moans to leak out from the audience seats.

Some felt relieved by the fact that Japan was not among the list, while some were left deeply shocked by the imminent threat the neighbouring nations had to face.

The emcee listened to Doctor Belzer's explanations with a gloomy, heavy expression, before asking the scientist.

"Doctor, you have been researching the Gates and monsters for a very long time, am I correct?"

"You're correct."

"In that case, can you tell us your opinion on what would be the smartest response we can come up with in this situation?"

Not just the audience members present, but even all the viewers at home watching their TV sets, leaned forward to pay closer attention to the good scientist's next words.

Unfortunately for them, what he said was something everyone could say, too.

"We can only pray."

He shifted his gaze over to the audience members and continued on.

"We can only pray that this unprecedented event doesn't end in tragedy."

Even as the expressions of the audience members became graver, the scientist carried on with his explanation.

"However, there is this one thing. One piece of news that can't be considered bad."

Doctor Belzer's words, coming in just before the broadcast was about to end, managed to change the emcee's expression. Hoping to brighten the sorrowful, gloomy mood of the studio even by a little bit, the emcee quickly asked the scientist with an expectant face.

"What could that news be, doctor?"

"It's rather fortunate that the location of the Gate just so happens to be South Korea."

Did this doctor hold some sort of personal grudge against Korea or something?

Noisy, noisy…

Doctor Belzer's shocking declaration left the audience members in noisy confusion.

The expression of the Chief Producer of this program hardened in an instant, fearful that one wrong move now and he might end up with a broadcasting accident big enough to cause a serious diplomatic incident.

Fortunately enough, the feared event didn't materialise. The scientist quickly added more explanation before the misunderstanding could get any deeper.

"South Korea is the home of one of the greatest Hunters, someone who has already stopped a couple of world-ending calamities all by himself."

Everyone present here definitely knew who that Hunter was.

"Yes, I'm talking about Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, who has removed every single ant monster from Jeju Island, and then killed all the Giants in Japan."

The spot where the most amount of magisphere concentration could be found also happened to be where the world's best Hunter lived. Doctor Belzer felt that this was no simple coincidence.

"If he can't stop that Gate, then no Hunter alive will be able to do so, either. And that is why, when viewed from the world's perspective, we should be thankful that the first Gate to open up is in South Korea."

Should they feel glad, or console their neighbours, instead?

As the Japanese audience members couldn't decide what to feel, the scientist emphasized his point once more.

"What I'm saying might come across as cold-hearted ans callous, especially when Korea is facing a grave crisis, but the truth is, the world doesn't need to feel pity for the Korean people."

Ah, so the broadcasting accident had finally happened!

The Chief Producer began tearing his hair out, but then, as if to mock the poor man, Doctor Norman Belzer formed a deeply meaningful expression and ended his explanations.

"If we ever come to the situation where we must pity the Koreans, then that means there will be no humans left on this planet to console each other anymore."

Chapter 208 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 209: Chapter 209

The biggest Gate ever to open up on Earth so far had been the one in the United States of America, where Kamish came out of. However, the one in front of everyone's eyes was easily over ten times that.

Was there a need to even measure its rank in such a case?

Unfortunately, someone had to do the job and so, the Hunter's Association had to dispatch a helicopter up there.

The aircraft was being populated by employees who were also Hunters. This was done out of fear that the bodies of the regular employees would not be able to endure against the magical energy emitted by the 'Super-massive Gate' and break down if they got too close.

Tatatatatata….

Pilot and co-pilot, as well as two Association employees, were riding on the helicopter as it flew ever closer to the Gate.

Would being sucked into a black hole feel like this?

Within this shaking hunk of metal flying in the sky, one of the employees stared intently at the gigantic black circle drawing ever closer and asked.

"Senior, have you ever seen anything like that before?"

The sun had set already, and they had to rely on the spotlights attached to the helicopter, but the sheer massive scale of this terrifying Gate still entered their sights with no problem.

The senior employee shook his head.

"No, never. I'm sure no one in this world has seen a Gate this big before."

The entire world was in a great upheaval over this single Gate. Such a thing wouldn't happen just because this particular one appeared in mid-air.

Actually, the world was freaking out by the unbelievable scale of the Gate along with its unique location of being in the air.

If only these employees knew that even Thomas Andre had to doubt his own eyes – they wouldn't even have shared the dumb conversation about anyone seeing a Gate like that before.

Gulp.

While the two men's gazes were stolen away by the Gate and dry saliva continued to slide down their throats, the helicopter arrived near the destination and gradually slowed its rate of ascent.

The co-pilot informed his passengers.

"Getting any nearer than this will endanger the helicopter."

The employees mouthed their understandings and finished getting ready to measure the Gate. Now originally, one would have to stand right next to a Gate in order to measure its rank. However, doing that wasn't necessary this time around.

As soon as the switch was turned on, the measuring device went 'Pop!' and stopped functioning immediately. It was proof that the device couldn't handle the level of magic energy leaking out from the Gate.

It was also an expected result, too.

"Senior?"

The employee trying to manipulate the device looked up at the senior employee. The latter nodded his head to express his agreement. The junior employee opened the communication line in order to report the findings to the Association.

It was at that moment that the senior employee staring outside suddenly cried out.

"Be careful!"

The junior employee jumped up in fright and quickly scanned his surroundings.

"W-what was that?!"

"I, I thought I saw something resembling a monster outside…."

"Eh? A monster came out already??"

A monster emerged from a Gate that had appeared less than a day ago?

Such a thing couldn't happen, but the senior employee witnessing this phenomenon was one of the high-ranked Hunters in the country. Neither the pilots nor the junior employee were in a position to criticise him and ask him if he was sure of what he saw.

But then, sure enough….

"Over there!"

The senior employee accurately pointed out again what he saw earlier.

It was also around this time that the urgent voice of the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol came out from the headset the junior employee was wearing.

– "What's going on? What are you saying? Agent Sahng-Won! Hey, Yu Sahng-Won!! Tell me what's going on up there!"

"S-sir, it's a monster! We spotted a large monster near the helicopter!"

– "What?!"

"But, uh… I don't think it's an ordinary monster, sir."

– "Don't you know that you're utterly helpless when encountering a monster in the air? I didn't send you guys up there to find that out, so get back down here right now!"

"N-no, sir. The thing is, Association President, uh… There's a person riding on top of the monster."

– "What are you even talking about?? Hey, how can a person be riding on a mon….."

It was then, an image of a certain man that really rode around on the back of a monster entered Woo Jin-Cheol's head and his voice got cut off for a moment there.

– "Hey, Sahng-Won….? Can you see the face of the man riding on the monster?"

"Hold on, sir. Yes, I can just about make it out."

– "Could he be Hunter Seong Jin-Woo?"

"Excuse me?"

The junior employee opened his eyes wider and pressed his face tightly against the window to take a closer look at the monster, before crying out in surprise and asking back.

"H-how did you know that, sir?"

Kkkiiiieehk-!

Jin-Woo riding on the back of the Sky Dragon Kaisel drew closer to the Gate. Once he got near its bottom, the d*mn thing looked more like an endlessly-stretching lake rather than an actual Gate.

What a near-overwhelming size it was.

A regular Hunter wouldn't have been able to endure this extraordinary amount of magical energy leaking out from the Gate itself, but Jin-Woo remained unaffected and aloof, starting from the moment he decided to check this thing out personally, all the way up to this point in time.

He could see that the Association's helicopter far below had begun descending to the ground, perhaps assessing that it was too dangerous for them now.

Jin-Woo watched the aircraft for a little while before he got even closer to the Gate itself.

Above his head, in the distance where his hand could reach, the Gate, with its maws wide open towards the ground below, floated in eerie silence.

Of course, the portal's surface was still blocked off by the black screen so he couldn't see what its inside looked like.

If he reached out to touch it, would he be able to enter it, or would he get sucked in like a Red Gate, or…?

Jin-Woo cautiously extended his hand out.

'I most likely need to enter it and solve the problem before this Gate breaks open and monsters start pouring out.'

With a little bit of expectation bubbling noisily in his heart, he pressed the tip of his hand against the Gate's screen.

'What the…?'

For the first time ever since becoming an Awakened, he encountered a rather strange situation. He couldn't enter the Gate.

His hand couldn't enter the Gate as it got blocked off by the black screen. It was as hard as a solid wall.

'If it was a regular wall, I could've broken it down, but….'

He pushed with everything he had, but this 'wall' didn't even budge.

Knock, knock….

Jin-Woo knocked on the screen next, and his lips closed shut in a straight line.

'It's different.'

A Gate where Awakened couldn't pass through. Indeed, this one was different from all the other Gates that preceded it. If so, would the things waiting inside be different from everything else that had emerged before?

'Whatever the case may be….'

Whatever came out – his family and friends were below this Gate. He had no plan of letting them easily get past him.

'I now possess the Stats I've raised up until now and the brave soldiers that will fight alongside me.'

When his thoughts reached there…

Waaaaaah-!!

He thought he could hear the uproarious cheers of the soldiers hidden in his shadows echo in his ears.

Ba-thump-!

Anxiety and anticipation alternated in his heart. Ever since he became the 'Player' and received the powers of the System, Jin-Woo believed that there was a reason, a purpose, for his existence.

If that was the case, then could it be that he was meant to stop this calamity?

'What rubbish am I even thinking about now….?'

Jin-Woo chuckled and brushed aside his needlessly grim determination before pulling his hand back from the Gate.

It was then. The Hunter-issue smartphone, which he left on in the vibrate-only mode, suddenly began writhing around inside his pocket. The caller was from the Japanese Hunter's Association.

Jin-Woo had asked them for a favour earlier, so he quickly answered the call.

– "Hello? Seong Hunter-nim?"

"Please speak."

– "Ah, my apologies. I can hardly hear your voice. Should I call you some other time?"

Jin-Woo glanced down at Seoul's skyscrapers, now small enough to resemble toy building blocks, and grinned to himself.

"There's no need for that. Actually, I'm somewhere pretty high up at the moment. Anyway, have you found out what I asked you about?"

– "Ah, yes. We scanned the entire territory of Japan with our satellite just now, but…."

Unlike how he usually was, the employee from the Japanese Hunter's Association blurred the ends of his sentence. Could something have happened in Japan on a day like this?

The answer from the employee was completely out of Jin-Woo's expectation, however.

– "We couldn't locate a single Gate, Hunter-nim. There isn't a single new Gate being generated in the entirity of Japan."

After he killed off the Giants, he had been spending most of his time raiding dungeons in Japan, so this news came across as a bolt from the blue.

"Not one new Gate has appeared?"

– "Yes, that's correct. We couldn't be sure if this was a phenomenon unique to us or not, so we contacted Hunter agencies in other countries, but…."

The employee hesitated before continuing on with a voice thickly laden with his own vexation.

– "All the new Gates suddenly vanished from the world when the super-massive Gate appeared above the skies of Seoul."

It had been about three hours since this super-massive Gate had appeared in the air. What were the odds of every Gate in the entire world all 'coincidentally' vanishing at the same time?

'….It's not a coincidence, obviously.'

Jin-Woo's expression hardened. His stiffened face looked up at the Gate again, and in the meantime, the Japanese Association employee asked him again.

– "Excuse me…. May I ask why you wished for us to find the locations of the highest-ranking Gates?"

It was a bit troubling to honestly answer that.

Well, he couldn't really come out and say that he just wanted to test the shortswords boasting 1,500 attack damage he got from Thomas Andre as gifts before this uselessly huge Gate opened up, now could he?

In that case…

"We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow so someone needs to plant an apple tree, don't you agree?"

– "Oh…. an apple tree. I see. It's a wonderful saying."

Jin-Woo gave out an evasive answer and left the guy on the other side of the line to interpret it in any way he liked, before trying to end the call there.

– "Uhm, excuse me, Seong Hunter-nim?"

"Yes?"

As if he was feeling embarrassed, the employee hesitated greatly before continuing on.

– "Honestly speaking, I've never looked at Korea in a favourable light in the past. As you may well know, the Japanese Hunter's Association had been suffering a major headache from the ant monsters on Jeju Island for the last four years. As an employee of the Association, and as a Japanese, I disliked Koreans as a result."

Jin-Woo quietly listened on to his confession.

– "However, I had to change my mindset all because of you, Hunter-nim. Korea has become the country of our saviour. I'm truly grateful for your help and I wish to thank Korea, your home country."

As his story got longer and longer, his voice became more and more tearful as well.

– "That is why I pray that Korea won't ever experience the horrors that my country had to endure."

People who got trampled by the Giants. Cities were burned down. Screams echoed around in the air. The despair that couldn't be forgotten.

Those nightmares happened only a few weeks ago.

The employee had witnessed the calamity from up close and that was why he knew; he knew that such things should happen to no one.

Jin-Woo heard his pleas and confidently replied back.

"That will not happen."

He wasn't making a promise. No, it was much closer to him making a resolution. The reason for him diligently maintaining his growth up until this moment was the same.

It was now time to show the results of his hard work.

The employee heard Jin-Woo's reply and quietly laughed.

– "Haha. I never guessed that I'd stop hating Korea and feel envious of them instead. I'm really envious of Korea that has you, Seong Hunter-nim."

"You don't have to praise me that much. I don't have any other hobbies besides hunting down monsters, so I was planning to continue to visit Japan as long as there are monsters still running loose in this world."

– "Ahh, you saw straight through me. As expected, it's impossible to fool you when you're a top-ranked Hunter. I really wanted to earn some brownie points with you, too."

The employee thanked Jin-Woo for ably improving the atmosphere that threatened to get untenably heavy, before saying his 'heartfelt' goodbye.

– "In that case, please, don't hesitate to call us 'again'."

"Of course."

Jin-Woo pocketed the Hunter-issue smartphone. He then quietly stared at the Gate that was preternaturally quiet as if this was the calm before the storm.

'If this thing's duration is the same as dungeon breaks from other Gates, then…'

There were around six days left. Jin-Woo's two eyes glowed softly within this darkness.

"….Let's go down."

Kiiiahk-!!

The Sky Dragon carrying Jin-Woo energetically flapped its wings and made its descent.

About a day later, other people also detected the changes; Gates had disappeared.

New Gates stopped being generated right after the super-massive portal appeared in the skies above Seoul! There was no way to tell whether this was a good or a bad thing, but still, those welcoming this change did exist.

And that would be the Hunter's Association, currently being led by Woo Jin-Cheol.

With a deeply tense expression, he read the report being handed in and made a decision.

"Call every Hunter in our country to Seoul."

"Sir? But, that will be too dangerous."

"If we do that and a Gate we failed to discover goes to become a full-on dungeon break, then…"

"How about we summon only around half of the Hunters and leave the rest to….."

Woo Jin-Cheol heard the incoming rush of objections and angrily slammed down on the conference table.

SLAM!

The shoulders of the people attending the emergency meeting flinched from this display of a high-ranked Hunter's anger.

Woo Jin-Cheol shouted out loudly.

"Do you all believe we have the necessary leeway to worry about unseen dangers right now?"

With that, everyone inside the conference room stopped talking at once. Woo Jin-Cheol pointed to somewhere beyond the walls of the room.

"We're facing an unprecedented calamity right now. We don't know whether we can stop that d*mn thing or not even after we pour out everything we have at our disposal!"

Woo Jin-Cheol roared out and scanned the faces of the attendees.

"I shall take full responsibilities if incidents take place in other districts. Even if you tell me to give up my entire wealth, I will. If you tell me to put my life on the line and fight, I'll gladly do so."

No one could argue against Woo Jin-Cheol's grim determination.

In a case where the opinions differed during the life-threatening situations inside dungeons, the leader of the raid team would even resort to killing the insubordinate team member.

It was because the incorrect decision made by a few could drag everyone else to their doom. In the outside world, such an action would be seen as a crime, but it was a different story altogether when inside a dungeon.

Raids weren't a kids' garden tea party, but true warfare where everyone involved had to put their lives on the line to win, And right now, that war was about to spill outside the dungeon and onto the world.

Woo Jin-Cheol wasn't a slack Hunter who would entertain opposing arguments when every second counted.

"Summon every Hunter in the country to Seoul immediately, please. As long as they can fight, do not leave anyone behind."

And so, under the direct order of the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol, the Hunters of the Republic of Korea began heading to the city of Seoul.

Chapter 209 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 210: Chapter 210

An unusual scene was playing out; the roads had become a confused mess as the citizens tried to evacuate from Seoul, while the Hunters were trying to enter the city in order to protect it.

People living in the districts directly below the super-massive Gate, the ones predicted to bear the brunt of the damage, heeded the warnings issued by the Hunter's Association and the government, or even their own logical reasoning, and escaped from the city in droves.

Jin-Woo watched the TV news, busy covering the evacuation efforts and spoke to his mom.

"Mom, don't you think it'll be for the best if you and Jin-Ah go somewhere else?"

"Our area isn't even one of the evacuation zones, you know."

Mom had no thoughts of leaving Seoul at all, it seemed.

Jin-Woo's home, the old apartment, was located far, far away from the centre of Seoul. If monsters invaded this place, then that meant the defensive line of the Hunters had crumbled, and that would also signify Jin-Woo's failure to defend the frontline, too.

Mom believed that the flames of danger would never reach here.

Jin-Woo also grinned but didn't say anything else.

Unlike him and his mom sitting around a low coffee table located in front of the couch, Jin-Ah was sitting on the couch itself with her knees drawn up. She glanced at her older brother and asked him.

"Don't you have to go, too?"

She was talking about the nationwide Hunter summons. However, Jin-Woo was a Seoul resident, to begin with. He wasn't really included in that summons.

"The Hunters on TV are from other regions and they are trying to report to the Association that they have arrived in Seoul."

"Ohh."

Jin-Ah nodded her head while receiving a plate of sliced apples from her mom.

In reality, Jin-Woo had been feeling frustrated by the fact that he had no choice but to dazedly spend his time at home under the current circumstances.

He wanted to raise his level, but there were no monsters to fight. He wanted to enter the instant dungeon, but he hadn't seen a single special key as his reward ever since the architect of the System died.

His family certainly enjoyed him spending more time at home, but Jin-Woo really wanted to strengthen himself even further in order to prepare for any and all eventualities.

'Should I not do the daily quests and enter the penalty zone or something?'

It sounded like a good idea, but at the same time, not really.

First of all, he had no clue what might come out from that Gate in front of his eyes, yet he was thinking of entering the penalty zone where unknown monsters were lying in wait?

'Even if the odds are low….'

If there was one in ten thousand, no, one in ten million chance that something could happen to him during the penalty quest, then he wouldn't be able to deal with what might happen on this side.

He had no reason to take on two different types of risks right now. And so, that idea was dismissed.

In the end, he'd have to look for another way to test out the 'Kamish's Wrath' shortswords somehow.

What should he do?

As Jin-Woo pondered his options, a certain scene fleeted in and out of the TV screen. It was of the Hunter's Association HQ building, as shot from a flying helicopter.

That's right.

'Should I use 'that'?'

The corners of Jin-Woo's lips arched up, his eyes gleaming rather suspiciously. He pulled his smartphone out and tapped one of the saved numbers.

Ringgg…. Ringggg….

As usual, the call was promptly answered only after a couple of ringtones.

– "Hello, Seong Hunter-nim. It's Woo Jin-Cheol speaking."

"Looks like I should start referring to you as the Association President from now on, don't I?"

Woo Jin-Cheol chuckled sheepishly on the other side of the line before brushing past the issue.

– "You can call me with whatever is convenient for you. Even I'm still feeling weirded out by stumbling into a job that I wasn't ready for."

After sharing simple greetings, Woo Jin-Cheol figured that now would be a good time and his voice instantly became serious.

– "Did something happen on your end? I can't help but get worried with you giving me a call quite unexpectedly like this."

With the current situation being what it was, all of Woo Jin-Cheol's nerves had been sharpened to a noticeable degree. How could he be not tense when the country's most influential Hunter suddenly gave him a call?

"Well, it's nothing serious, actually…."

Woo Jin-Cheol, still very tense, audibly swallowed his saliva.

'Even if it's not a serious matter to Hunter Seong, it might be a grave one for us. No, because he doesn't sound that concerned, it could very well be incredibly bad news for us.'

As this short bout of silence drifted in between the two men, Woo Jin-Cheol did his best to calm his frayed nerves and paid closer attention.

Jin-Woo nonchalantly asked for a favour, since it really was nothing serious.

"Can I borrow the Association's gymnasium for a little while?"

Even though he was really busy, Woo Jin-Cheol personally came out to greet Jin-Woo.

"As you can see…. This is the situation of our gymnasium."

Jin-Woo scratched the side of his head.

In his quest to find a quiet place that was also out of people's prying eyes, he thought that using the Association's gymnasium would be a good idea, but it was currently housing the Hunters that had gathered in the city.

He saw the stuff being carried by their hands and belatedly remembered what was hidden within the storage of the gymnasium.

"Are you giving weapons to the Hunters that lack proper equipment?"

"Yes. The late Association President Goh Gun-Hui had prepared them for a rainy day like this."

Jin-Woo's head nodded by itself.

This was a sight he wanted to show to those detractors who pointed fingers and criticised the Association for storing all this expensive equipment in a dark corner and letting them rot away.

These Hunters came across as grimly determined as they equipped their handed-out weapons and armours.

It was then.

A physically-imposing Hunter struggling to push his arms and legs into a set of armour coated in magic energy raised his head and by chance, met Jin-Woo's gaze.

"Uh?"

He was taken by surprise after witnessing the presence of the greatest Hunter, a man he only got to see on TV screens until then.

"Hunter Seong Jin-Woo??"

"What was that?"

"Hunter Seong is here?"

Hunters filling up the gymnasium all simultaneously looked behind them. And sure enough – just like what that big Hunter had said, there he was, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo in his full glory, standing alongside the Association President and studying them without saying anything.

The noisy interior was suddenly enveloped in silence. The atmosphere became deeply heavy in no time at all. The overwhelming presence that couldn't be transmitted through TV screens flooded out from this Hunter at the top of his game.

It was only natural that one's heart would start palpitating when doing nothing but staring at a person who was standing at a realm that one couldn't even hope to reach.

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump!

The expressions of the Hunters facing Jin-Woo all began to glow. Gazes filled with envy and respect flew in from everywhere. Only now did he realise the reason why Woo Jin-Cheol wanted to show him this sight when explaining it over the phone would've been sufficient.

Everyone gathered here were lower-ranked Hunters who found it hard to prepare their own expensive magic energy-infused equipment.

The new Association President was hoping to rally the lower-ranked Hunters, who should have been mentally strained by the sudden summons, by showing them the single greatest ally they had on their side right now.

His calculation was proven true since renewed vigour seemed to have seeped into the eyes of these Hunters.

Jin-Woo couldn't help but chuckle softly at Woo Jin-Cheol's smart thinking. Well, the latter had been leading the Monitoring Division for quite a while, after all.

Meanwhile, Woo Jin-Cheol had been scratching the back of his neck as if he was embarrassed about his intentions being seen through. He suddenly asked a probing little question.

"By the way, Hunter-nim. Why did you want to borrow the gymnasium?"

Jin-Woo pretended to pull something out from his pocket, when he was actually taking it out from his Inventory.

"I want to use this."

Woo Jin-Cheol tilted his head in confusion as he looked at the plum-sized seed resting on Jin-Woo's palm.

"This… What is it, exactly?"

"When you plant this on the ground, a monster resembling a tree will pop up. I wanted to test something with it."

"A monster will pop up?!"

Jin-Woo looked at Woo Jin-Cheol's wide-open eyes and nodded his head.

The tree-type monster would spit out a seed in its death throes. Failing to destroy this little seed meant that a new monster would sprout in the same spot again.

He figured that it was inefficient to repeatedly hunt these monsters since their defences and vitality was so tenaciously high, so he proceeded to destroy all the seeds. However, he stored this particular seed from the boss tree monster in his Inventory, thinking that maybe, he'd find a use for it later.

Jin-Woo took to calling these monsters 'Armoured Tree', trying to imply that they were as sturdy as if they were wearing metal armour.

'If it's that guy, wouldn't it be the best target to test out these new blades of mine?'

The problem was…

"Under the current atmosphere of unease, many people will freak out from the sight of a moving monster out in the open."

Woo Jin-Cheol spoke up in a worried voice. Jin-Woo agreed with him.

"That's why I was looking for a quiet, reinforced location out of people's eyes, but this…."

Civilians had no access to the Association's gymnasium, and its hardiness was second to none, but it was impossible to use it now in this situation.

Jin-Woo shifted his gaze back over to the Hunters.

Even now, many Hunters holding tightly the weapons given to them by the Association and were glancing in his direction while trying to psych themselves up.

"Well, what with the situation like this…."

He could go to one of the uninhabited areas in Japan and use the seed there, but then again, the distance he had to fly was quite far, and as for using the skill, 'Shadow Exchange', he thought it'd be a waste.

Who could say what might happen in Korea during the two hours of cooldown time? That was why Jin-Woo was about to turn around to leave, but Woo Jin-Cheol had come to a decision by then, so he spoke up with a resolute voice.

"Very well."

"Excuse me?"

"The afternoon schedule for the gymnasium today will be cleared out for you, Hunter-nim. Compared to everything you've done, something like this doesn't even qualify as a special privilege."

The late Association President Goh Gun-Hui even went as far as to change the related laws for Hunter Seong Jin-Woo. He argued that no one would be able to ask an excellent Hunter to put his life on the line to fight for them when they were unwilling to even do such small favours.

And now, as he was the new Association President, how could it make any sort of sense if he couldn't even lend out a measly gymnasium for a few hours?

"Will that really be fine?"

Jin-Woo worriedly asked, but Woo Jin-Cheol simply grinned.

"I may not look it, but I am still the man in charge of this place. I get to decide when to open or close this building, you see."

Woo Jin-Cheol clapped his hands and gathered the attention of the Hunters, before speaking out loudly.

"Who's in charge here?"

"I-it's me, sir!"

Jin-Woo watched an Association employee hurriedly run over here from the far end of the gymnasium and thought to himself that, didn't matter whether a job title sounded awkward or if it suited a person, the job itself needed to be a high enough position at the end of the day first.

In a certain top luxury hotel in Seol.

There was a man wordlessly looking down at the cars trying to escape the city clogging the streets below from his suite's window. He was Thomas Andre. Laura quietly approached him from behind.

Her hands were grabbing onto the travel case filled with her luggage.

"Master, will you still not leave with us?"

"That's right."

Thomas Andre lightly tapped the window with his finger. He was pointing at the Gate.

"How can I leave behind something that big and beautiful and run away?"

"It is big, but…. beautiful, sir?"

Thomas Andre's eccentricity was well-documented by now, but for him to say that horrifyingly huge and ominous Gate was beautiful….

Just as Laura, his manager, was feeling puzzled by his declaration, he turned around to look at her.

"Anything that makes your heart palpitate is beautiful."

He placed his hand on his own chest to confirm his heart pulsating there. Ever since he saw the Gate, his heart had been racing non-stop with nary a sign of fatigue.

"From the Dragon spitting out flames, that massive Gate, and even the power of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, all of them are beautiful things to me."

He couldn't be understood by normal logic. Laura shook her head helplessly, but still, couldn't hide her smile, either. Thomas Andre lowered his hand away from his chest and grinned brightly.

"Besides, all Gates have disappeared, so what's the point of going back now?"

"However…. the Hunter Bureau is getting worried, sir."

Worried, she said.

Thomas Andre began chuckling at the notion of someone being worried about his well-being.

"What a funny notion that is, worrying about me. Is there any place safer than right next to Hunter Seong Jin-Woo?"

Even Laura forgot what she wanted to say after hearing Thomas Andre's words. It was no secret that the Hunter Bureau had asked Seong Jin-Woo to protect the world's top-ranked Hunters.

Thomas Andre smiled back at the clearly-speechless Laura and turned away from her. He stared at the Gate that had exceeded the classification of 'huge' and entered the realm of 'super-massive'. It floated high up in the skies above Seoul, its surface quietly rippling.

"If that thing's not stopped here, then there will be no future for us, anyway."

A calamity that even Seong Jin-Woo may not be able to stop would occur eight more times around the world.

Who would be able to stop them? Thomas Andre himself? Or, China's Liu Zhigeng? Maybe other Special Authority-rank Hunters?

What an absurd notion that was.

"That's why I wish to witness everything."

Thomas Andre's gaze drifted off towards Laura's reflection on the glass and a smile floated onto his lips again as he spoke.

"I wish to witness whether this will be the curtain call of human history, or the beginning of a new chapter."

Inside the empty gymnasium.

Jin-Woo walked to the middle of this large structure.

'Okay, this should be good enough.'

Jin-Woo put the seed down on the floor and poured some water on it.

A seed and water – these two were the only things needed for a monster to sprout even without soil or sunlight. He had confirmed this many times already.

Wududuk, Wudududuk…

Accompanied by the sounds akin to bones twisting around, the seed rapidly expanded and became a tree.

"Huh."

No matter how many times he saw it, this process remained a spectacle, that's for sure.

What an outrageous vitality this was, one so strong that the number of these tree monsters would never decrease even if the surrounding environments were barren and infertile.

Jin-Woo leisurely stepped back to the distance he thought was safe.

"Kiiieehk! Kiiehk!"

The 'baby' tree continued to grow larger until it regained its original appearance. Eventually, the seed had transformed into a monster so big that its head nearly touched the gymnasium's ceiling in less than five minutes.

"Kiiieehkk!"

Jin-Woo didn't pay any mind to the screech of the monster tree reverberating around within the interior and calmly summoned the newly-upgraded Beru.

'Come out.'

Beru's figure smoothly emerged from the ground.

[Oh, my king!]

Beru's new and improved appearance was indeed eye-catching; rather than the usual insect-like exoskeleton, his entire body was now outfitted with the snug-fitting black armour, which made him look even more 'substantial' than before.

Was that all?

The black smoke rising up from his body became even more noticeable as well, and now, rather than looking like a haze, it looked like black flames burning up, instead.

That overflowing power!

Jin-Woo confirmed Beru's information window one more time.

[Beru Lv. MAX]

Marshal Grade

This grade is equivalent to the head of the army and only one such being can exist. If another Shadow Soldier also reaches this grade, the hierarchy must be decided.

'So, the only ones that can potentially challenge the Marshal Grade right now is Greed, who is currently a Commander Grade, and Igrit, who's only a step away from entering the Commander Grade himself….'

Jin-Woo inwardly thought that the competition between the three of them for the grade of 'Marshal' should be quite entertaining, before gesturing at Beru with his chin.

"Beru, attack that creature with everything you have."

Everything he had – Beru increased his physical size as per the command given to him by his liege.

Kiiiiiiieeehk!

Screech of the genuine beast!

The armours also naturally transformed to match the enlarged body. Beru soon became twice his original size and began striding forward with loud, thudding footsteps.

His steps gradually picked up speed until he broke into a full-on sprint and he pounced on the Armoured Tree.

Ka-boom!!

Beru's eyes widened in surprise.

The attack he poured in his entire being couldn't sever the tree monster in half, only managing to dig in as deep as his wrist, instead. For Beru, capable of ripping rank S monsters into pieces as if they were jokes, this was one hell of a fluster-inducing event.

But then again, such a sight was befitting of the 'Armoured Tree' specialising in defence against pretty much all physical damage, barring the magic attacks.

That was enough of a warm-up. Jin-Woo recalled Beru after achieving a satisfactory result.

"Step aside."

Beru quickly moved aside.

Meanwhile, Jin-Woo summoned the pair of 'Kamish's Wrath' from the Inventory.

Shuwuk…

Two shortswords as long as regular swords appeared in the grips of his hands.

'Nice.'

Kuueehhk!

The Armoured Tree was searching for the culprit responsible for the hole in its tummy, before inadvertently discovering Jin-Woo's presence and began to slowly run towards him.

So, so slow….

Seriously speaking, this thing had no other redeeming qualities other than its high defence.

Indeed, there was no doubt about its defensive capability. But, how well would these two shortswords work against that stupefying defence?

The blackish aura starting to spread out from the ends of his hands instantly enveloped the blades.

'What I need is the destructive power, right?'

When his thoughts arrived there, the two weapons suddenly became rather heavy as if there were thousands of weights attached to them. They were so heavy, in fact, veins began bulging on Jin-Woo's shoulder muscles as he tried to endure against this increase in weight.

'The attack damage of 1,500…. Let's see what it feels like.'

Jin-Woo made up his mind to fight, and the blades of the two Wraths began to shiver in unison.

Chapter 210 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 211

The Armoured Tree's 'roots' zealously shook around as it approached Jin-Woo. He watched the monster as he reverse-gripped the pair of 'Kamish's Wraths'.

'For the time being, just a light little nudge.'

The shortsword in his right hand drew a diagonal line upwards.

Swish-!

Along with a sharp air-splitting noise, something fell to the ground with a thud.

"…..M-mm?"

The Armoured Tree looked down. One of the thick branches it used as its arm had been severed cleanly and was rolling around on the floor.

Then, the monster discovered the cut wounds with tree sap oozing out like blood next. Its 'facial expression' became tearful and it shrieked out a screech that kind of sounded like a scream.

"Kuueeehk!!"

The thing was, though, someone's pain could also be someone else's enjoyment, too. After slicing off the concrete pillar-like branch/arm of the Armoured Tree in one hit, Jin-Woo's surprised eyes were now locked onto his shortsword.

'Wowsers.'

He only swung it lightly once, yet the end result was already this amazing. No matter how many times he stabbed with the Demon King's Shortsword, he couldn't properly damage the Armoured Trees. But now, he sliced off the 'arm' of the boss Armoured Tree as if it was made out of tofu?

Should he say it felt terrific in his hand just now?

Buzzzz….

His heart began racing again after sensing the vibration of the ultra-sharp blades, something he hadn't felt for a long time.

[Oh, my king!]

Beru, standing and watching quietly from the far back, urgently called out.

'Don't worry, I know.'

Jin-Woo relaxedly answered before his head shot up.

The Armoured Tree's expression had changed from tearful to hatred in the meantime, its eyes wide open and glaring as it raised its left arm, no, its left branch up high.

It was as if the monster wanted to slam down as hard as it could and squash him to death, but unfortunately, its opponent today was a really bad match-up.

Jin-Woo quickly swung the 'Kamish's Wrath' one more time before the branch moved.

Slice!

"Ku-uuuhuhk!"

Suddenly losing both of its arms, the Armoured Tree looked up into the sky and screeched out.

'Very good.'

Jin-Woo lightly nodded his head.

He was now done with confirming the destructive power of the two shortswords when swung lightly. And now, time to confirm what would happen when they were swung with all his power.

'These things supposedly have excellent compatibility to magical energy because they are made out of a Dragon's bone, right?'

Jin-Woo's right hand began gripping the hilt of the shortsword even harder.

Just a little bit more.

A bit more, a bit harder.

Jin-Woo's eyes narrowed down to a slit. When he focused the magical energy in his entire body to his right hand, the blackish aura subtly billowing around the blade became even more violent until it began to almost go out of control.

To Beru's eyes, it looked as if the aura was utterly distorting the surrounding space.

'How could this be!'

The former ant king unconsciously took a step back before catching himself doing that. Even though he knew that the intent to battle wasn't directed at him, this magical energy was so chill-inducing that it forced him into a retreat.

Beru looked down at both of his trembling hands.

'Oh, my liege….'

Beru had never felt any other emotion beside absolute loyalty for his Sovereign until now, but for the first time ever, he felt sorry for the tree-shaped monster.

Meanwhile, the Armoured Tree had no idea what was in store for itself and simply screeched out in pure rage.

"Kuuuuueeeeeh-!!"

The bloodshot eyes of the tree monster were, of course, locked in the direction of Jin-Woo's face. The Armoured Tree's maw suddenly widened like an entrance to a building.

Just as the b*stard tottered unsteadily and leapt towards Jin-Woo's location in order to swallow him up, he released his magical energy gathered at the tip of the shortsword held in his right hand.

'Go!'

Just like his command given to Beru, with everything it had!

From the tip of his toes, his legs, his waist, his shoulder, and even his wrist – his entire body was used to slash out with all his might.

And the end result was….

'….Uh?!'

The man who swung the shortsword himself realised that something had gone very wrong just then.

'Ehhh?!'

Kagagagagagahk!!

The black aura shooting out from the tip of the blade split into several thick strands, and as if a gigantic, terrifying beast took a swipe with its claws, everything in front of him was swept away in one go.

Jin-Woo's dynamic vision that could split a second into dozens, hundreds of smaller units and detect the change within, clearly caught the moments of the aura utterly ripping the Armoured Tree to shreds.

'Oh, my god!'

The destructive power didn't stop there and continued on forward to leave behind horrifying scars on the wall and the floor of the gymnasium.

"Huh-uh….."

Jin-Woo was rendered completely speechless.

Tumble, drop….

Thud.

Bits and pieces of rubble began falling from the gymnasium's wall, now scarred by what looked like claw marks, and eventually, it couldn't endure the weight and began crumbling at the same time.

Creak, crumble…

Boom!

The gymnasium's wall, reinforced with magic energy in order to facilitate unhindered activities of Hunters, couldn't endure against one single attack and ended up crumbling apart.

Jin-Woo looked at the piled-up debris of the wall as sheer astonishment filled his heart.

"It's supposed to get stronger depending on the wielder, so this is what it can do?!"

The weapon to wield magical energy, crafted from the Dragon's remains. This claim was for real.

"Oh, my king!!"

Beru was so moved by the display of his king's power that he urgently dashed out to kneel in front of Jin-Woo.

"This humble and weak servant can't hide his deep, heartfelt emotions from his liege's bottomless, limitless power!"

It seemed that Jin-Woo really needed to block the historical drama channel on TV for the time being. It'd be sad news for his mother, who enjoyed watching those dramas, but still.

Of course, it wasn't as if he couldn't understand the reason for Beru's overexcitement. Jin-Woo's own heart was pounding away from this power that exceeded his wildest imagination, after all.

The scale of destruction the 'Kamish's Wrath' left behind – would a Dragon large enough to cover the sky attacking at full power cause such annihilation?

Jin-Woo clicked his tongue while studying the ripped-to-shreds remains of the Armoured Tree, the ghastly pile of debris that was once a wall, as well as the floor with deep gouges in it.

'Do I need to change the name of the shortswords from Kamish's Wrath to Dragon's Claws or something?'

Of course, this level of destruction was only possible because it was him wielding the weapon, but still.

It was then. Along with the rather pleasant mechanical beep of 'Tti-ring!' a new System message suddenly popped up.

[Will you change the name of 'Item: Kamish's Wrath' to 'Item: Dragon's Claws'?]

Jin-Woo was taken greatly by surprise by this unexpected response from the System.

'I can also change the name?'

He hurriedly retracted his command, and only got to breathe a sigh of relief after confirming that the name of the shortswords wasn't changed.

"Whew…."

That might have been a big problem!

If the original crafter learned that his artefact's name was swapped from 'Kamish's Wrath' to 'Dragon's Claws', he'd be spinning his grave non-stop.

Just from hearing it, both his hands and feet were curling up from all that cringeyness.

Jin-Woo couldn't help but chuckle at the ever-unchanging unfriendliness of the System.

In any case, he was satisfied by the power of the new weapon. Both in terms of sharpness or destructiveness, these shortswords easily exceeded his previous weapons by a great deal.

A pleased smile formed on his lips as he alternated his gaze between the two 'Kamish's Wrath' shortswords before storing them in his Inventory.

'Well, now that the testing is over….'

….It was time to take care of the aftermaths.

Jin-Woo had been drunk on the power of his new weapons, but he eventually came back down to earth. And after he saw the crumbled wall of the gymnasium, he felt his own heart crumble to pieces as well.

He borrowed this place for a little while, yet he messed it up to such a degree.

….What was he supposed to do now?

Jin-Woo deeply deliberated on his options before contacting the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol on the phone.

"Uhm, Association President? Please, I want you to stay calm and listen to what I have to say. You see, I have around three hundred ants that do really fantastic work, and….."

Three days since the Gates had disappeared.

Jin-Woo, who used to allocate a lot of his time to raiding dungeons, was spending his recent days at home with nothing much to do.

While he lay on top of his bed, he continued to spin around 'Kamish's Wrath' just above him.

Exactly like how a fidgety student would spin around a pen, Jin-Woo had been using 'Ruler's Authority' to deal with his boredom.

Of course, there would always be a disruptor to any given situation. His little sister was heading to the bathroom, but then, she suddenly swerved in her direction and yanked open the door to his room. Jin-Woo instantly stored his shortsword in the Inventory and pretended that nothing was amiss.

"Oppa, you were playing with your knife again, weren't you?"

Technically speaking, he was refining his control over the skill, 'Ruler's Authority', but well….

But, to the worried eyes of his sister, it looked like nothing more than a dangerous fooling around of a bored guy.

"Nope."

Jin-Woo denied everything as he had already hidden all the evidence away. Jin-Ah's eyes narrowed down to a slit. She was unconvinced, but there was nothing she could do.

If her oppa, the best rank S Hunter there was, decided to really, really hide the evidence, how could she, a powerless regular person, ever find out the truth?

She glared at Jin-Woo with suspicious eyes for a very long time, before letting a groan escape from her mouth.

"Oppa?"

"Yeah?"

"If you're that bored, how about going out for a while? I mean, it's been such a long time since you've been resting at home like this, right?"

His little sister suddenly began saying stuff that their mother should be saying, instead. Jin-Woo smirked and closed his eyes as if he wanted to go to sleep.

"I don't have anywhere to go, you know."

"Don't you have someone to meet? Like, your friends?"

Friends, she said. His eyes opened again after hearing those words that vaguely resonated with him. Many faces fleeted in and out of his mind, but only one remained particularly vivid among them.

Since all Hunters were forced to take a break, for the time being, her situation wouldn't be so different from his own, right about now.

Besides, didn't he tell himself to treat her to a hearty meal to atone for his sin? That thing, when he inadvertently took a peek at her naked form after unwisely using 'Sensory Sharing' through the Shadow Soldier inserted into her shadow?

In normal times, not only him, but even she too would've been far too busy to meet up, but the story was different now. She might even be twirling around a sword or something out of this sheer boredom seemingly no one could overcome, just like how it was like for him.

This would be a good opportunity to get rid of that debt in his mind.

"Good thinking, sis."

Jin-Woo suddenly leapt up from the bed and stood before her, prompting Jin-Ah to flinch and take a hasty step back.

"W-what the heck?"

"Excuse me."

Jin-Woo expertly slid past her and headed straight into the bathroom.

Jin-Ah quickly detected that her oppa's expression was now rather suspicious and quickly asked him as he was about to enter the bathroom to wash himself.

"What now? Where are you planning to go?"

He grinned brightly and replied back to her.

"On a date."

"That's enough for today."

Cha Hae-In's hands stopped swinging the wooden sword.

She had been training so hard that her white 'dobok' had been soaked through with her sweat and clung onto her figure. She turned around to face her instructor.

He was an elderly man wearing an aged dobok. This man, who was missing an arm, gestured to her that she should take a seat.

Cha Hae-In wordlessly nodded before politely kneeling down on both knees and placed the wooden sword beside her.

This old man was her teacher.

As she was a rank S Hunter, there were very few people who could catch up to her physical abilities, but she still needed corresponding techniques that could maximise her physical status.

That's why she chose this out-of-the-way kendo dojo, and whenever she found herself with some free time, she came here to polish her ways with the sword.

Her teacher, Song Chi-Yeol, found her drive to never waste a single day quite praiseworthy. He settled down in front of her and spoke.

"I can't help but sense that, lately, Lady Hae-In's blade contains a trace of hesitation."

Cha Hae-In heard her teacher's voice and raised her head. Her expression was stiff. As their gazes remain locked in this position, Song Chi-Yeol quietly carried on.

"I'm worried that, by chance, you have developed a sense of fear in your heart."

Cha Hae-In couldn't answer.

Song Chi-Yeol was a Hunter like her and, even though he operated a dojo, he still went out to hunt down monsters whenever the Association requested his participation. And so, he could very well understand where her fear was coming from.

The Gate that none had seen before. And no one also could tell just what kind of unimaginably terrifying monstrosities would emerge from there.

Just because one was strong, that didn't mean they couldn't get scared.

No, on the contrary. They felt to their bones the kind of fear that normal, powerless people couldn't feel precisely because they were strong.

Song Chi-Yeol closed his eyes as if he was reflecting back on his past and slowly nodded his head.

"I'm sure you're scared. Indeed, why shouldn't you be? I also felt the same way. Of course, the monsters that I fought can't be compared to those you have fought, but when I lost my arm….."

It was then.

Cha Hae-In's Hunter-issue smartphone, the one tucked away in the corner of the dojo so it wouldn't get in the way, began ringing loudly.

"A Hunter should answer her phone, yes?"

"Forgive me, instructor."

Cha Hae-In briefly bowed her head before running over there to pick up the phone. And then….

Song Chi-Yeol had been waiting for her to end the call so he could continue on with his story, only to see that Cha Hae-In's expression was getting brighter and brighter with every passing second.

'Mm….?'

She was definitely trying to hide it, but since she was usually so expressionless in her everyday life, even Song Chi-Yeol could easily spot the changes in her expression.

She ended the call and cautiously walked over to his location.

"Uhm, instructor-nim, I…. There's an appointment I need to get to, so I should go."

Her cheeks were flushed warm. Seeing her eyes now filled with vitality, Song Chi-Yeol realised that his thoughts were off the mark. The hesitation evident in her sword wasn't born from fear.

"Indeed, you should. Of course, you need to."

Song Chi-Yeol dazedly nodded his head and gave her his permission.

"Well, then…."

Cha Hae-In's goodbye was kept brief and she left the dojo in light, cheery steps. He stared at her departing back and belatedly, a gentle smile floated up on his lips.

"Ah, so that's what it was…. Indeed, that was the reason."

Huhuh….

While wondering who the lucky fella receiving the love of such a wonderful and fine young woman could be, an expression of contentment floated up on Song Chi-Yeol's face, one that was just as happy as his valued disciple had shown.

Chapter 211 Fin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter