𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎𝟕: 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐥
「Breaking News! At approximately 2:00 AM, the Korean Hunters who entered the Gate have emerged after clearing the S-Rank Gate!」
「This S-Rank Gate is the tenth of its kind to occur worldwide, with South Korea being the tenth country to experience such an event.」
News anchors and Hunter Tube BJs excitedly reported on the news, which quickly became headlines in newspapers and news broadcasts around the world.
「President Choi Dae-soo expressed his deepest gratitude to the Hunters who participated in the Gate and promised to provide generous funeral services and compensation to the families of the deceased Hunters.」
「This unfortunate incident, known as the “Gangwon S-Rank Gate,” involved Guild Leaders and Guild members from Heptagram, HSIU Hunters, and Hunters from the Hunter Association. The only foreign assistance came from Hunters of the German Hunter Association.」
It took 20 hours to enter and clear the Gate.
The world was once again plunged into darkness.
The Hunters who emerged from the Gate were exhausted, slumping down or lying on the ground wherever they could find space.
Government-dispatched Healers and Hunters from various agencies responsible for investigating the incident surrounded them and began their respective tasks.
“We should go inside and collect the magic stones first.”
“Shouldn’t we recover the bodies and search for any missing persons first?”
When Army Chief of Staff Hunter Yang Jun-mo brought up the topic of magic stones, Baek Geon-ho, who was listening nearby, countered.
“Hunter Baek, the reason their noble lives were lost was due to the ‘power shortage’ in South Korea. I believe it is right to collect the magic stones first in order to strengthen our power grid before the Gate disappears.”
“Then how about we take care of those who sacrificed their noble lives first? I believe magic stones can be bought with money.”
Chief of Staff Yang Jun-mo was irritated.
He was angered that someone of a lower rank than a Vice Minister would dare to contradict him.
“This matter has been approved by the Minister of National Defense, the Minister of Government Administration and Home Affairs, the Minister of Justice, and finally, the Prime Minister. We, the military, are in charge of the aftermath of the S-Rank Gate.”
“I apologize for saying this, but when it comes to places where Awakener crimes occur, HSIU has priority under international law.”
Veins bulged on Yang Jun-mo’s forehead.
“We have no knowledge of such an incident. We will enter with the local police station chief, so why don’t you HSIU Hunters go catch some petty thieves?”
“. . .Chief of Staff, your words are a bit harsh.”
“I apologize. Soldiers are usually very disciplined.”
Yang Jun-mo had two reasons for asserting the authority of the Ministry of National Defense to such an extent.
One was to monopolize various vested interests, including magic stones.
The other was simply because he disliked Baek Geon-ho.
In fact, the perception of HSIU within the high ranks of the Ministry of National Defense was not good.
The reason was that HSIU had arrested military officers on bribery charges during the last raid on <Narak>.
With the person who had tarnished the image of the military standing right before him, he couldn’t just meekly back down as the head of the army.
“Anyway, we will investigate the magic stones and the monsters’ bodies first. I trust you will cooperate for the sake of the national interest.”
“Then cooperate with the other agencies. . .”
“We can’t cooperate.”
At that moment, a languid voice interrupted their conversation.
A cold-looking young man in his early to mid-20s.
Yang Jun-mo glared at the man.
“Who are you? What business do you have interrupting the conversation of adults and speaking informally?!”
He shouted at Siwoo in a fit of rage.
In an instant, countless gazes from the surrounding area turned towards them.
Siwoo let out an exaggerated sigh.
He had been the last to come out while dealing with the Gate Heart in the temple, and he was exhausted.
On top of that, he had fought a lot inside and consumed a lot of magic power, so he was on the verge of a complete burnout.
“You don’t have to yell, I can hear you just fine. Do whatever you want.”
Siwoo spat out his words without any honorifics or formality, and waved his hand dismissively.
Normally, he would have shown at least some basic courtesy, but Yang Jun-mo’s words had rubbed him the wrong way, so he didn’t show him any respect.
“This crazy bastard, do you think the Chief of Staff of the Army is a joke?!”
“Whoa, whoa, let’s calm down!”
As Yang Jun-mo flared up and tried to charge forward, Baek Geon-ho hurriedly raised his arms to stop him.
“What the hell?! Is he your subordinate?! You need to fix that arrogant attitude right now, that son of a. . .”
“I’ll take care of it, so please calm down first!”
Siwoo ignored him, his hands in his pockets.
At that moment, Kang Yeo-hwa, Min Si-joon, Gi Il-yeon, and Chu Ha-min, who had been waiting outside the Gate after exiting earlier, noticed Siwoo amidst the commotion and hurriedly approached him.
“Master, are you hurt anywhere?”
“Why did you come out so late, hyung?”
“——♪♪!”
“Good work, Master!”
Siwoo smiled wryly at them.
It was embarrassing to be greeted by everyone like this.
“Hey, not you. . . Ah, never mind.”
Siwoo wanted to go wash up and sleep as soon as possible.
But before that, he had to take care of this problem.
Bam!
At that moment, something hit the back of Siwoo’s head with a dull thud.
“M-Master!!”
“What the hell are you doing?!”
Yang Jun-mo continued to pound on Siwoo’s head with his fists, seething with anger.
He couldn’t calm down at the thought of being ignored by a mere brat.
Smack.
At that moment, Siwoo grabbed Yang Jun-mo’s fist.
“Ha. . . Let’s settle this now.”
“What? What is this brat. . . Aaagh!!”
Crack, crack, crack.
The bones in Yang Jun-mo’s fingers were crushed with the sound of breaking crackers.
Siwoo then moved on to his wrist, elbow, and shoulder, breaking the bones one by one.
“A-Agh! Aaagh!!”
“You’re so noisy. Everyone else is staring.”
“Hey, you!! What do you think you’re doing?!”
Government Hunters and Hunters from the Ministry of National Defense approached and tried to stop Siwoo.
Siwoo took out a notebook from his pocket and showed it to them.
“I am a high-ranking agent of the HSIU International Headquarters. You are currently under arrest for assaulting an HSIU Hunter. Are you also accomplices?”
“W-We. . . No, we’re not.”
“H-However, even for an HSIU Hunter, excessive use of magic power to suppress. . .”
“I didn’t use any magic power.”
“Huh??”
Siwoo grabbed the collar of Yang Jun-mo, who was lying on the ground, wailing, and lifted him up.
“Branch Chief Baek Geon-ho.”
“Oh? Ah, yes.”
Siwoo suddenly called out to him with a change in tone.
“I am placing Chief of Staff Yang Jun-mo under arrest for assault. I also order an investigation into the Ministry of National Defense for their failure to comply with international law.”
“No, that’s. . . .”
“That’s enough.”
At that moment, another voice interjected, stopping them.
“Whew. . . You really are a troublemaker.”
“The pot calling the kettle black.”
Siwoo dropped Yang Jun-mo, who was on the verge of fainting, back to the ground.
“Your Excellency!”
“You have arrived, Your Excellency!”
Several people who recognized Choi Dae-soo greeted him.
He held a lit cigar in his mouth and nodded slightly at the people.
“I hope you’ll just let it slide, even if it’s just for my sake.”
“With your bare word?”
“Whew, he’s not a mad dog, but a cunning fox.”
Choi Dae-soo gestured to his chief secretary.
“HSIU has priority over the Gate. Contact the relevant departments.”
“Yes.”
“Are we done here?”
“Yes.”
Siwoo was about to turn around when he scratched his head and added.
“Hey, blockhead.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. This mad dog.”
“We need to hold an emergency meeting first.”
“What nonsense. . .”
Choi Dae-soo stopped his sarcastic remark.
The look in Siwoo’s eyes was not a joke.
“. . .Prepare a meeting place immediately.”
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
“How is it? Can you make an arm?”
“Are you crazy? Do you think an arm is like chicken soup? That you can just whip one up?”
The doctor clicked his tongue in annoyance.
He flipped through a grimoire while looking at the body of Ryu Ji-hwan lying on the bed.
Dozens of wires were connected to Ryu Ji-hwan’s body and the machine, and there were rows of unidentified potions next to it.
It looked more like something for an experiment than for treatment.
The doctor drew liquid from the potions with a syringe and injected it into various parts of Ryu Ji-hwan’s body.
Every time he did, Ryu Ji-hwan, even though he was unconscious, twitched or let out a pained groan.
“But this ‘thing’ is pretty messed up. Did you pick the wrong one?”
The doctor said, recalling the gruesome cross-section of the severed arm.
“I didn’t know the opponent would be that strong. Who would have thought that he’d half-kill a ranker within the top 100 in the world?”
“This loser is ranked within the top 100?”
The doctor asked with surprise, looking at Ryu Ji-hwan.
He had thought he was just another low-level Hunter.
If he was ranked within the top 100, he could certainly be a useful asset to the organization.
“Oh, the experiment was quite successful. ‘They’ were very pleased as well. I didn’t know an artificial Gate could have such great power.”
Up until now, all they had done was to read the flow of the Gate that was about to occur naturally, artificially increase its intensity, or advance the timing of its occurrence.
However, with this experiment, everything became possible.
“Kukuk. Of course it would. The problem wasn’t the Gate’s power, but probably you. Didn’t you get scolded?”
The doctor asked as if he had seen it all.
Crowel leaned back in his chair and let out a soft sigh.
“I did get scolded. They asked me why I had to go through the trouble of making a deal and closing the Gate when I could have just killed the enemy.”
“I would have said the same thing. I wanted to see how far the Gate could rampage.”
“Do you know how strong the enemy was? It’s easy for you to say since you didn’t fight.”
Crowel kicked the trash can in frustration.
“Damn it. It’s not like you intended to fight properly anyway.”
As the doctor muttered something under his breath, Crowel smirked and raised the corners of his lips.
This old doctor had a habit of piercing through his intentions like this.
“Anyway, we have to keep this guy alive. He’s someone I worked hard to acquire through a deal.”
“I’m not a doctor.”
“You still worked with people a bit when you were young, right?”
“. . . . . .”
“I’ll trust you~”
Crowel closed the door to the doctor’s lab and walked out with quick steps.
The desert area of Nevada was still as desolate and dry as ever.
The evening wind carried the sound of coyotes howling, and it felt warm.
Crowel pulled his hood down low and walked diligently over the rocks.
After some time, an unidentified presence approached him.
One thing was clear: it had no killing intent.
Crowel stopped walking and waited for the figure to approach.
“I didn’t expect to meet someone in the middle of this vast desert.”
The figure who arrived removed the mask that had been hiding their face.
A face that was even whiter and more beautiful under the moonlight.
“Long time no see, Crowel.”
“Long time no see. . . Crow.”
Crow, a member of IZIZ, flicked her bobbed hair and smiled coldly.
“You didn’t come all the way out to the middle of the desert just to see me, did you?”
“Ahahaha. That’s right.”
“You’re still as strange as ever.”
Crowel nodded.
“So. . . What business does IZIZ have with me?”
“Ahahaha, nothing much. I came to give you a warning.”
“A warning. . .?”
Crowel narrowed his eyes and asked back.
“What warning could IZIZ possibly have for me—”
“No. I came to give you a warning personally.”
“. . .What are you talking about?”
Crowel flicked her bobbed hair, which was blowing in the desert wind, behind her ear.
“The organization doesn’t approve of this recent Gate incident. That’s why there’s talk of taking action against Pandemonium.”
“Is that so?”
“I came to advise you because I have a personal connection with you.”
“I’ve already forgotten. You don’t have to worry about it.”
Crow smiled faintly and nodded.
“I understand. And ‘Older Sister’ is worried about you.”
“. . . . . .”
She left as abruptly as she had arrived.
Crowel stood there for a long time, staring at the ground.
