Chapter 1101 - 204 - 208

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 205: Chapter 205

[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 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 207: Chapter 207

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 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."