2

THE KOREA-JAPAN ALLIANCE

“What?!”

Dr. Sungchool Lee, chief physician of Seoul Ilshin Hospital, was stunned by the incredible news: A patient with Eternal Sleep Disease had awoken.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Dr. Lee. I’ve confirmed it myself.”

This news would’ve piqued the doctor’s interest even if it had occurred at another hospital, but to think it had happened to a patient in their own hospital…

I can’t believe my luck!

The highly intelligent Dr. Lee started mentally crunching some numbers.

“This is completely unprecedented, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

Kyunghye’s attending physician nodded.

Dr. Lee’s smile was so wide, it seemed his face was about to split. “Good job, Dr. Choi!”

“I beg your pardon? Dr. Lee, I didn’t do any—”

“Oh, come now!” Dr. Lee gave Dr. Choi a knowing look. “It doesn’t matter how it happened. If a patient is cured, then of course the physician should be praised!”

And naturally, the hospital that employed the doctor should as well!

“Oh, yes… Thank you, Dr. Lee.”

The attending physician reluctantly bowed, but the lukewarm reaction did nothing to quell Dr. Lee’s huge grin from this unanticipated but excellent news.

If I play my cards right, I can have the eyes of the whole world on Ilshin Hospital!

If he got some buzz going and people started talking, it would be free publicity. The hospital would have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Once word got out, the hospital would be crawling with reporters from around the world looking for a scoop. This was a golden opportunity to advertise the hospital’s name without expending any money or energy.

Reporters are going to want to know about the treatment……

He and his team could carefully examine the patient and piece things together. That shouldn’t be a problem at all—or so he thought. But Dr. Choi glanced awkwardly at him and carefully spoke up.

“The patient’s guardian has asked for the patient to be discharged.”

“What?”

No, that couldn’t happen! Reporters would only come if the patient was in the hospital.

No, never mind the reporters. They needed her to remain in their care in order to figure out how she’d been cured.

Dr. Lee’s eyebrows twitched. “How is the patient doing?”

“Everything is normal.”

“She’s physically okay after being bedridden and asleep for four years?”

“Perhaps it’s thanks to the life-support system?”

“Hmm……”

He had always thought that having such high-performance machines might be an issue.

“Postpone her release for as long as possible. Tell them we still need to monitor the patient.”

We can’t exactly force her to stay without a reason if she wants to leave…

They were left with one move: announce the news before the patient was discharged.

“Let’s send out a press release while she’s still here.”

Dr. Choi shook his head. “That…would be difficult, Dr. Lee.”

“Why?”

“We’re not at liberty to disclose the patient’s identity. If we mishandle this situation, we could be in big trouble.”

The chief physician was taken aback by the unexpected words from his colleague, but something in Dr. Choi’s eyes told Dr. Lee it wasn’t an empty warning.

Dr. Lee discreetly asked, “Is the patient some kind of VIP?”

“It’s not the patient but her guardian… He was also the one who asked us to keep her identity under wraps.”

Dr. Lee picked up on how respectful Dr. Choi was being while talking about this guardian.

“Just who is this person anyway?”

How incredible was he for his family to have their identities protected and for Dr. Choi to be so mindful of how he spoke about him?

“Do you know of Mr. Jinwoo Sung?”

“Jinwoo Sung?”

Was he a powerful politician or the CEO of some big company? The name sounded familiar, but Dr. Lee couldn’t quite place it. He shook his head, and Dr. Choi promptly explained.

“He’s the hunter who was recently evaluated as an S rank.”

“An S rank…!”

So this was why Dr. Choi was being so wary. To think the guardian would be an S-rank hunter of all things…

If I made any hasty decisions and something went wrong, I’d be toast.

Not only did S-rank hunters have a tremendous influence on society, if someone incurred their wrath…

Dr. Lee’s mouth went dry from this bolt out of the blue.

That was close.

He thawed his stunned expression and adopted a light smile.

“Discharge the patient immediately.”

“You agree with that, then?”

“Yes, of course.” Dr. Lee chuckled, maintaining a pleasant grin.

Of course they needed to discharge her. What would they get out of irritating an S-rank hunter?

He said so in not so many words.

“We can’t force a healthy patient to stay, now, can we?”

“Understood, Dr. Lee.”

Dr. Choi left right away, and once Dr. Lee was alone…

“Phew…”

He let out a sigh of relief as he stared at the closed door to his office.

Jinah dropped everything and rushed to the hospital as soon as she received the call.

Jinwoo stood at his mother’s bedside when he felt his sister’s presence rapidly approaching.

Kerchak.

The door opened.

“Mom? Mom?”

Jinah’s face was drenched in tears even before she entered the room.

“My dear, you’ve grown so much.”

Jinah had been in middle school when their mother had last seen her, so Kyunghye’s surprise was evident as she took in her daughter as a fully grown young adult. She quickly recovered, though, and threw her arms open wide with the warmest smile on her face, and as she did…

“Mom!” Jinah threw herself into her mother’s embrace.

Jinwoo paused. It wasn’t the best way to treat a patient who’d just woken up from a four-year-long coma, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop his sobbing sister.

“Mom……”

Jinah usually presented herself as mature for her age, so it was easy to forget that she was still technically a child. Jinwoo’s heart ached, seeing his usually cheerful sister like this.

“All right—”

Jinwoo was about to pull Jinah back, but Kyunghye shook her head and brought a finger to her lips. Her other hand never once stopped patting her daughter’s back.

Jinwoo sighed quietly and stepped back. As he watched his sister in their mother’s arms and the gentle expression on their mother’s face, he couldn’t help but smile.

It was all worth it.

He felt like his efforts had been rewarded in this moment, like a block of ice in a corner of his heart had melted away. So he’d let them be for a while longer, at least until Jinah was able to compose herself. She was a smart kid and definitely knew she shouldn’t tire her mother; she just needed a little time.

Jinwoo turned his head toward the window, still grinning. The sun was out, as if to celebrate the family’s reunion.

He absentmindedly stared out the window awhile before pulling out his cell phone.

……

He couldn’t even begin to attempt to reply to the countless missed calls and messages blowing up his phone. He scrolled through the notifications for a while before finally giving up and clearing them.

I’m sure they’ll try again if they really need me.

He pulled up an Internet browser instead. That was when…

Ack!

He casually went to a news site, and what he saw made his brow furrow.

Photos of Kaisel were all over the news. Despite the distance between Jinwoo’s neighborhood and the hospital, he hadn’t thought anyone would notice because he’d arrived in an instant.

So many pictures in such a short period of time.

Fortunately, none of the photos clearly showed him riding Kaisel. When he’d called forth Kaisel yesterday, he’d decided not to care about what others might think, but as he looked through all the news chatter, he wasn’t as sure of himself anymore.

Now that I think about it……

Whose heart wouldn’t sink at the sight of a giant magic beast flying through the sky? As he read through the anxiety-laden articles, Jinwoo resolved to be more careful going forward.

No need to intentionally freak people out.

Thinking back, he hadn’t initially wanted the job of necromancer precisely because he didn’t think he could handle the way others would look at him.

Though if this is how people react to an overgrown lizard with wings, imagine the uproar if they ever laid eyes on Fang when he has the Sphere of Avarice.

While he pondered this…

Vrrr, vrrr.

His phone started vibrating.

Who could this be?

Jinwoo stepped outside the hospital room to answer the unknown number.

“Hello?”

“Hunter Sung.”

It was an old man with a low but cheery voice. Jinwoo put a name to the voice right away.

“President Go?”

“Yes, it’s Gunhee Go of the Hunter’s Association.”

A call from the association president?

Why would the esteemed President Go of the Hunter’s Association be calling Jinwoo?

Jinwoo moved away from the busy hallway to a more secluded area.

“May I ask why you’re calling me?”

“You’ve probably heard already.”

Heard what?

Jinwoo cocked his head, unsure of what President Go meant.

“I don’t believe I know what you’re talking about…?”

“Haven’t you watched the news?”

Wow, word really did travel fast.

Jinwoo easily admitted, “No. I’m so sorry about that. I’ll be careful from now on.”

“Pardon?”

At the president’s confused tone, Jinwoo suddenly realized they weren’t talking about the same thing.

This isn’t about Kaisel?

What else would be on the news…? The double dungeon, the red gate, clearing an A-rank dungeon, the Sphere of Avarice…? The more he thought about it, the more Jinwoo realized how much of his adventures would be newsworthy.

“…What’s going on?”

“I guess you really haven’t heard yet.”

“I’ve been somewhere a little hard to reach and just got back.”

This wasn’t a lie per se.

President Go’s voice went even deeper than usual.

“Hunter Sung.”

From Jinwoo’s experience, this change in tone usually meant the caller was getting to the point of the conversation.

“May we speak in person?”

Jinwoo was even more curious now than when he’d first picked up the phone.

Not only is the president of the association personally calling me, but he also wants to see me?

How serious could this matter be? Nonetheless…Jinwoo looked back toward his mother’s room.

I can’t meet him here.

He’d hate to get his mother mixed up in anything unnecessarily.

“I can go to you.”

“Would you please?”

“Of course.”

That would be more convenient for Jinwoo.

After wrapping up the phone call, Jinwoo told his mother he had an important errand to run and hurried off.

The sunlight irritated his eyes after having spent so much time within the sunless Demon’s Castle. He squinted up.

Ugh, should I just ride Kaisel there?

He thought about it for a second, snickered to himself, and went to flag down a taxi.

The video, recorded by a CCTV camera, was shocking.

It showed a quiet road, so quiet that very few cars appeared on it even when fast-forwarded. It looked like a suburban area, possibly rural.

The video stopped fast-forwarding and continued in slow motion. Just then…a car entered the scene. Even in slow motion, it was apparent that the car was speeding along.

After a split second, a black object materialized before the oncoming car. It was a living creature that stood on two feet like a human. The car didn’t have time to decelerate or brake at the speed it was traveling, yet there was no collision.

Right before the point of impact, the car was lifted into the air. The dark creature threw the oncoming midsize sedan to the ground with one hand, pulled the unconscious driver out of the wreckage, and proceeded to devour him headfirst.

Crunch, crunch!

Had the CCTV also been capable of recording audio, that would’ve been the sound coming through the speakers. The video ended there.

Jinwoo turned away from the huge monitor that took up an entire wall of the president’s office and looked at President Go, who was seated across from him.

President Go quietly placed the remote control down on the table.

“Three hundred.”

Unlike others, he didn’t speak glibly about another country’s tragedies.

“That’s the number of people killed by that single ant.”

“Were the Japanese hunters late to respond?”

“No, not at all.” President Go shook his head. “I was told it took less than thirty minutes for hunters to arrive on the scene. In that short period of time, a whole village was razed to the ground.”

Japan had one of the best networks of hunters in all of Asia, so if a country like that could suffer such losses, what would happen if one of those ants flew into mainland Korea?

President Go had watched the video several times but still got chills with every viewing.

We absolutely need to exterminate them before it’s too late.

The operation would be underway in four days. Japan had been demanding all week to see a list of the participating Korean hunters. As the representative of the Korean side, President Go had been putting off giving them that list. There was only one reason why: He hadn’t been able to contact Jinwoo until now.

The moment he could finalize the list had arrived at long last. President Go’s heart started racing as he addressed Jinwoo.

“We are going to Jeju Island to get rid of the ants once and for all.” His desperation shone in his eyes. “But in order to do that, we need your help, Hunter Sung.”

President Go tensed. If Jinwoo turned him down, there was nothing he could do. Jinwoo didn’t belong to a guild, nor was he duty bound to help the association. The decision rested solely on his own will.

After agonizing over it, Jinwoo spoke up.

“I—”

After the meeting with the president wrapped up, Jinwoo was standing to leave but suddenly whipped around when he sensed something strange.

What’s that?

He sensed clashes of mana nearby.

A dungeon break?

That was his first thought, but he quickly dismissed it. He could clearly discern that the emanating mana belonged to multiple hunters rather than a magic beast.

“Is something the matter?” President Go stood by the door to see Jinwoo out.

“It’s nothing, but…I think hunters are fighting nearby.”

“That can’t be.” President Go chuckled.

What kind of brazen hunters would dare brawl near the Hunter’s Association Headquarters? That would never happen.

Wait… The direction Hunter Sung is looking is…?

He abruptly recalled, “S-rank hunters are currently training in the gymnasium. Is that what you’re picking up by any chance?”

Training?

That would certainly explain the continuous yet restrained bursts of magic power.

Jinwoo nodded. “I see.”

The president looked at Jinwoo with amazement.

He can sense them from this distance?

The association’s gym was built to contain magic power and keep it from leaking outside. President Go himself couldn’t feel a thing. However, not only could Jinwoo detect magic power coming from the gym but also that they were fighting.

Just how sharp is his perception…?

The president couldn’t begin to hazard a guess.

“Oh, would you like to go to the gym yourself?” the president asked mildly.

It wasn’t every day that all these S ranks gathered together like this. Plus, as a newly minted S rank, Jinwoo wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity to see what the other S ranks could do.

“Mr. Ryuji Goto is there as well.”

Jinwoo had been mulling over the offer but now froze at this new information.

“By Ryuji Goto, you mean…?”

“Indeed.”

Every hunter—heck, every person—knew the name of the most powerful hunter from Japan.

“Yes, the Ryuji Goto. He’s here to help train the Korean and Japanese hunters to work together. But he’s leaving tomorrow, so this would be your only chance to meet him.”

The best Korean hunters and Japan’s most powerful hunter all in the same place?

I can’t miss this.

Jinwoo excitedly accepted President Go’s invitation.

Meanwhile, Ryuji was fighting back a yawn.

These are the best Korea has to offer?

They were terrible—no, they were pathetic. Terrible was an objective evaluation while pathetic had some sympathy mixed in.

If Korea’s safety is in their hands, wouldn’t it be better to have Japan protect them?

Ryuji smirked as he watched the hunters.

There was one, though—a single decent candidate among the Korean S ranks.

I believe her name is Haein Cha, right?

Still, she was only comparable to Japan’s high-rank hunters. She couldn’t hold a candle to the Japanese elite.

Well, I guess that’s expected.

Korea was a country that was small in both size and population. For their most powerful awakened being to be an old man who could no longer fight and whose days were numbered…

Gunhee Go is on par with our strongest hunters, but…

This was unfortunate for Korea.

He’d finished assessing the abilities of the Korean hunters, which had been his real reason for staying in Korea.

If we withdraw during the attack, they won’t even last five minutes.

Ryuji concluded that he’d seen enough and turned to leave when he noticed someone entering the gym.

Hmm……?

His eyebrows twitched. He hadn’t realized someone was approaching until they were this close. In fact, he still couldn’t sense the person’s presence despite looking straight at him.

Is this an assassin-class hunter?

He turned to the translator assigned to him by the Hunter’s Association.

“Who’s that person?”

The employee adjusted their glasses and stared at the newcomer for a while before finally recognizing the face and smiling.

“Oh, he’s the newly registered S-rank hunter.”

“Ah…”

The reawakened being with the mysterious background. Ryuji had intended to dig up information on this person while he was in Korea, so this was an excellent turn of events.

He offered a wide grin to the translator.

“I assume he’s quite an excellent assassin.”

“Pardon?”

He wondered why the translator was looking at him funny.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“No, I mean…”

The translator gestured at the man standing in the entryway.

“He’s a mage-class hunter.”

How’s that possible?

Ryuji pulled up the Hunter’s Association website and looked through the list of S-rank hunters in disbelief. The browser automatically translated the text for him.

It was true. The picture on the profile matched the man’s face.

He’s really a mage?

Shocked, Ryuji looked up from the screen.

The hunter had approached the group.

That’s Ryuji Goto?

Jinwoo recognized the strongest hunter from Japan at once. He was tall and smartly dressed, with a neatly trimmed mustache. At a glance, he could be mistaken for an actor.

But why is he staring at me?

Just as Jinwoo began to feel uncomfortable from the piercing gaze, Ryuji nodded at Jinwoo. Perhaps it was because they’d never met before? Jinwoo returned the nod, then looked around the gym.

In the center of the room, a shirtless Yoonho Baek was sparring with a massive middle-aged man. Everyone except Ryuji was watching the fight intently.

Whoosh!

Yoonho batted away the other’s hand, twisted his lower body, and delivered a powerful, low kick.

Whak!

And yet, it was Yoonho who grimaced.

Oh…

Jinwoo could tell why. The larger man had instantly protected his leg using a Reinforcement skill. Based on his body type and abilities, the man appeared to be a tank, but his agility stat was way above average—as expected of an S rank.

The man snorted.

“Come, Master Baek! How come a young man such as yourself is so weak?”

“I’m not a master, Master Ma.”

The larger man, Master Ma, guffawed and tightened his uniform belt. The sight of someone with the body of a sumo wrestler wearing a judo uniform looked quite strange.

“In that case…”

After fixing his uniform, he quickly lunged at Yoonho, who in turn unleashed his magic power to counter him.

The two men appeared to be having fun. Both Master Ma on the offensive and Yoonho on the defensive seemed to be enjoying themselves. They were relishing the rare opportunity to cut loose and spar with a fellow S rank.

“If Yoonho unleashed his full power, Master Ma wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Jongin approached Jinwoo and struck up a conversation. The two exchanged nods in greeting, and Jongin continued.

“The man in the judogi is Dongwook Ma from the Fame Guild.”

Ah… Jinwoo thought he’d heard the name before, and sure enough, the man was a guild master of one of the top guilds.

Curious, Jinwoo asked, “It’s not like he has to go easy on him, so why is President Baek holding back?”

“He doesn’t like using his full power with so many people watching. He transforms into a real monster when he goes all out.”

Back at the red gate, Jinwoo had seen Yoonho’s beast-like eyes.

I guess it’s not just his eyes that transform.

Some of the highest-rank hunters had unique abilities, similar to Baek’s transformation ability—in other words, monstrous abilities. Jinwoo’s would probably be described in the same terms.

What’s the difference between a person who transforms into a monster and a person who summons monsters?

Jinwoo laughed in spite of himself, thinking how other people would find him fascinating the same way he considered President Baek. But that’s all he thought of President Baek’s power: fascinating. There wasn’t much else to see during the battle between President Baek and Master Ma.

They’re slow.

Jinwoo was able to track their blows without even trying.

Right then…

“Huh?”

Yoonho spotted something and came to a halt. At the same time, Master Ma froze. Both their eyes simultaneously fixed on Jinwoo, as if they had choreographed it.

Was it that obvious he was bored?

……?

But too many people were looking at him for that to be the case. Jinwoo soon realized why.

It’s not me. It’s something behind me…

He turned his head to see Ryuji Goto there, staring at him intensely. The translator spoke to Jinwoo in his stead.

“Sir, Mr. Goto has a request.”

Jinwoo had known that Ryuji was approaching him slowly, but he hadn’t expected the man to want to address him directly. He raised an eyebrow.

He’s been looking at me strangely for a while…

Was Jinwoo telegraphing his discomfort?

Ryuji softly asked, “Will you spar with me?”