Seneos took his phone out in what felt like not even half a second. He never clicked on one of those broadcasts faster in his entire life, as did most of the hunters who had previously ignored it. This time however they all heard the voice of an unknown man, most likely a replacement.
"It has come to our attention that two dungeons in the city of Seoul have seen accidents on this day. An A-Rank arena-type dungeon that recently appeared in Gangbuk, one that saw many high-ranked teams go in and out, was about to be conquered when an unknown group of monsters appeared and started to devour all the hunters inside. It is still too early to tell whether that group was part of a special condition unique to that very dungeon, fortunately, we will have more on that as soon as the KHG finishes its analysis of the dungeon. Our sources indicate that out of the fifty-six participants in the most recent raid, only a quarter made it back alive. However, that is still an early estimate. More information will most likely be available to us once-"
It appeared that the man was nothing more than an assistant, as the infamous news presenter made her presence known to all.
"ONCE THOSE FOOKIN BLOODSUCKERS FINALLY STOP HOGGIN' ALL THE DAMN INFO!" The voice was so loud Sen thought his eardrums were about to burst. He was tempted to laugh at how ridiculous she sounded with her heavy Irish accent but stopped himself due to how serious this was. That very foreign presenter had risen through the ranks extremely fast. She had gone on to become some sort of voice for all the people who were paranoid enough to question absolutely everything the KHG did but she could wait for the time being.
The other news dropped on all the hunters present, and those who lived in the area concerned were immediately sweating bullets.
"On another note," The assistant seemed to have taken the microphone away from his superior who could be heard screaming in the background "An anonymous source has provided information on the deployment of the Black Mamba clan's main forces in a fairly normal battle-type dungeon filled with goblins and located in the Guro district. It appears that the clan was called to action by the infamous officiate of the KHG, the White Fox, Gumiho. We cannot yet speak on why he could have deployed them, as there is no information on what this rather normal dungeon could even contain. Already the high spheres of the Hunter Society have gone into frenzy due to-"
The broadcast continued on as every single hunter and KHG agent in the area took hard gulps. One had to be dimwitted to not understand what exactly had brought on this reaction. Not only were the people scared of the implications of two incidents happening on the very same day, when there had been none in quite a few months, a select few were also stopped short in their discussions as the name of Gumiho was spoken.
Before he could ponder on that general reaction of pure fright and why some reacted that way to a simple name being spoken, Sen saw Tae-Yeong kneel in front of Hojosa. The healer put his senior right back on his feet and snapped his fingers in front of the fiery mage's eyes. They were unfocused and kept looking in the distance, searching for only he knew what.
"Hojosa-Hyung, those two are strong as hell, you know it! There is no way they got killed that easily! They could've never retreated and lived such dream lives if they weren't ruthlessly effective at their jobs!" Tae-Yeong exclaimed as he shook his teammate. A little colour came back to Hojosa's eyes as he looked down at Tae-Yeong.
"I...."
Tae-Yeong put on a brave smile and clasped his hands over his senior's shoulders.
"I am certain they are still somewhere, out there. The broadcast didn't mention exactly who was killed. Either they are among the survivors, or they are still inside the dungeon....I will go. I-I'll see if they are alright!"
Hojosa tried to stop him, yet he could only weakly lift his right arm, trying and failing to reach for his teammate who swiftly avoided everyone in the crowd and slowly disappeared into the sea of hunters.
A bit at a loss for words, Seneos frowned as Hojosa turned to look at him with half-lidded eyes, while Vodka hummed discreetly behind her Overlord.
"Seneos....My man...."
"Overlord...."
They both spoke at the same time, almost synchronised. Seneos knew not who to listen to, but somehow Vodka made herself loud enough for him to understand everything she said.
"I have received all the notifications regarding your...'rewards' for defeating the creatures of this dungeon. I have been waiting to lay down what I have learned for you, but I am afraid we will keep wasting time if you remain here." She said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. He had to keep reminding himself that she somehow had emotions even though she was a detached voice without a body.
He knew her point was a sensible one though, he was obviously being dragged in too many things at once and couldn't focus on the thing that mattered the most, his dungeon. He knew it was perhaps a bit too soon for it, but he would need to get some help from Jeol. If someone was good at managing everything, even the time spent daily, it was her.
Just as he finished his train of thoughts, Hojosa spoke once more. The man had been fumbling with his word but finally focused on what he had to say, what he knew he had to ask.
"I know this is selfish, oh fuck I know this is the most selfish shit I have asked for in years, but I need your help...Kinda."
Their eyes met, desperation met confusion. Seneos wanted to get away from the area, but at the same time a fairly simple lesson Jeol had once given him, came back to his mind.
'One can make friends when one seeks companionship, one can build a network of tools when one adapts to the complexity of society and seeks a way to gather power through civilized means.'
As much as Seneos admired what he saw as the hunter way, the way of his heroes, he knew Jeol had absolute mastery over most of the topics she spoke to him about. She was of those who didn't engage in conversations they couldn't dominate. It carried over to conversations with about everyone, even friends, and very early on.
It was simple however, Hojosa was a strong hunter that could be made into a connection and Seneos was sure he didn't dislike the man at all. In fact, he saw some of his old heroes in the fiery mage. He had grown into a man who hated admiring others but childishness was always a door away, to him at least.
"I don't really see how I can help you with anything.....I am not exactly a useful person. What could you possibly need anyway?" He asked Hojosa.
The red-haired man snorted. "Some soju, maybe even vodka, and the best you can find. I could do with a little ethylic coma anyway. Well in all seriousness...I need you to go with me to the slums of Seoul...I mean the little poor part of the city in-"
Seneos cut him off with a glare and some venom in his words.
"The Gangdong District. I know, I lived there for a few years. Didn't my entire demeanor already tell you I didn't exactly have the best of lives?"
Seneos could almost swear he heard Hojosa gasp as the man averted his eyes.
"You lived there?....Weird....Well anyway, I need you to come with me. It's..You know...Where jimin's family live and I can't go alone..." It took a lot out of the prideful mage to show more and more of that shameful display, but he knew now was not the time to act all tough. Tae-Yeong had other things to do and the rest of his team....He couldn't ask them.
'I shouldn't be angered...I really shouldn't....They did what they had to do, we had to run away or we would have died...Sung would have wanted us to live, at least so we could take care of....' He felt like punching himself as his thoughts once again became somber and somber, but he did not.
He awaited an answer from the weak little hunter who had been nothing more than his team's porter not a while ago and was now his only hope. He didn't quite expect what he got in return for his request.
"Uh...Well...I do have some stuff I could do in the slums. Whole lotta people, I didn't see in ages...Can you just....Wait a bit? I have a lot on my plate for now. I will contact you as soon as I am free though!" Seneos exclaimed while bowing to him.
Did...Did that random guy just accept to follow him to the slums of Seoul while asking for nothing in return? Hojosa almost felt like his time with that soul-sucking company had made him forget that people could indeed be nice to strangers, but he wouldn't voice those thoughts.
He missed the immense smirk on Seneos' face as he reached out for his phone and gave him his personal number. A handshake that felt almost a bit too nice later, the two parted ways.
All the while, Sen had only one thought.
'Thank you very much, Hojosa-Hyung! Hehehe, I can only hope for a fruitful relationship in the future.'