The Seoul Headquarters of the Hunter Association.
On the artificial island where a thunderous roar had burst out, everything looked no different from usual.
However, inside, the staff were moving as one and preparing for an attack.
WEE-OOO-WEE-OOO—
[Emergency— Emergency— Villain attack, Villain attack.]
“Eraser, you merciless bastard! To think you would charge in again so quickly.”
Jo Gyeong-uk, Operations Director of Korea’s Hunter Association, quickly headed to the situation room.
The terrorist attack he had caused at the Ansan Branch had happened only two days ago.
They had still been trying to determine the reason behind that completely unexpected attack.
And now, another large-scale skill had occurred.
At the Seoul Headquarters, no less, which served as the central pillar of Korea’s Hunter community.
On the other hand, he could not help but admire the aggressive decisiveness he had heard about.
Had they not prepared in advance, who knew what might have happened…….
“Director Kim Kang-hoon’s guess was right this time.”
Kim Kang-hoon, Director of the Hunter Intelligence Agency, was rather sharp.
According to his information, Eraser’s purpose was to find a certain Awakened person in Korea.
That was why he was targeting the Hunter Association.
He had warned them that Eraser would target the Seoul Headquarters within a week.
“Thanks to him, countless staff members saved their lives.”
Moreover, because he had quickly connected them with Interpol, they had been able to prepare for the terrorist attack.
As a result, even though an enormous roar had undoubtedly sounded outside, the building itself was intact, and not a single person had been injured.
Had it not been for the advanced equipment from an international Hunter agency, the Proximity Barrier System, a disaster would have occurred.
Of course, the situation was not completely over.
“Is anything being detected outside?”
“Nothing unusual is currently being observed!”
The monitors in the situation room showed the sky outside and moved this way and that.
Every second was urgent.
He had not expected them to block Eraser’s skill this well, but the Magic Stones serving as the energy source were not especially plentiful.
Therefore, they had to find Eraser as quickly as possible.
Yet no equipment could confirm any object in the surrounding sky.
Then, in the middle of that,
“Here! Something appears to be embedded in the middle of the open ground in Area A1!”
“Hey, there is no way a terrorist would just sit there in the middle of an open area…….”
One of the observation staff urgently reported what had been detected.
Something was embedded in the open ground…….
Another staff member, who had been observing from a different angle beside him, scolded him.
He was looking at the man as though he had made a report that did not suit the situation.
Of course, in a situation like this, reporting all observed information was the right thing to do.
In fact, the staff member scolding him was the one in the wrong.
‘Still, reporting something stuck in the ground is a little…….’
At the moment, Jo Gyeong-uk agreed with that thought as well.
Given the circumstances.
However, the thoughts of both the scolding staff member and Jo Gyeong-uk could not reach their conclusion.
When the detected image was displayed on the monitor,
it revealed the figure of a person truly stuck upside down in the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.
He looked just like a character from an old martial arts comic who had been struck by a self-destruct attack and died pointlessly.
“……What on earth is that? Approach carefully and confirm it!”
At Jo Gyeong-uk’s order, the Operations Department staff wearing protective equipment quickly formed up.
***
At present, with the threat of terrorism lurking over Korea,
the Hunter Intelligence Agency had also been under a standby order for several days.
That applied equally to Director Kim Kang-hoon.
Under ordinary circumstances, he could have assigned staff and simply received reports.
But Kim Kang-hoon did not do that.
While he was handling personal work, his secretary hurried into the office.
“Director! The Hunter Association Seoul Headquarters is under attack.”
“What? This quickly?”
Even though he had already predicted it and made them prepare, the tension rose.
They had prepared as much as possible, but a direct strike could still be dangerous.
After all, the Proximity Barrier System provided by Interpol was not that strong.
Their opponent was even the S-Rank Villain Eraser.
If it was his attack, they would have to be prepared for at least partial destruction of the building or a certain number of casualties.
Moreover, the greatest problem was whether they could catch him at all…….
Kim Kang-hoon quickly got into the prepared car.
It would take thirty minutes to reach the Association headquarters. Since the roads had been controlled, they would arrive in ten.
‘Please, do not let there have been a disaster.’
With that worry in mind, Kim Kang-hoon grew increasingly impatient.
Then his car entered the artificial island.
“……?”
People were walking around the Hunter Association without issue.
All the buildings were intact as well.
There was nothing strange visible that would suggest it had been damaged.
“Did you not say it was an attack?”
“Ah…… That is the report I received.”
It was strange.
If this was Eraser’s attack, there was no way everything would be this fine.
Some part of the place should have been destroyed for it to make sense.
Just like in Ansan last time.
“But can it really be this intact?”
“That is what I am wondering. I have no idea…….”
Of course.
The secretary would not know the reason either.
He had also come along after hearing the information that they had been attacked.
Kim Kang-hoon could not understand the current situation in his head, but there was nothing he could do about it.
“Let us go in first. We did send them the attack information.”
With that, the car entered the Association building.
***
“What happened with the attack?”
It was fortunate that there was no damage to the Association.
However, Kim Kang-hoon still could not understand the situation.
Even more so after meeting Jo Gyeong-uk.
“We have captured Eraser!”
His triumphant attitude was like that of a hunter who had hunted down a “slightly” difficult animal.
It was the exact level of pride one felt from accomplishing something difficult, but not something impossible.
In the first place, was this peaceful atmosphere really one that had received an attack?
Just as doubts began to creep into Kim Kang-hoon’s mind,
Jo Gyeong-uk led him to the deepest area of the building.
The Serious Crimes Interrogation Room.
“Now, take a look.”
When Jo Gyeong-uk pressed a button, one wall turned into a transparent window.
And in the space below, a man was bound.
He looked shabby for someone said to be a merciless S-Rank Villain.
He was a man one could not imagine as the vicious criminal Eraser.
Kim Kang-hoon immediately took out the terrorism report and compared his face with the composite sketch.
“It is him, is it not?”
“I told you so.”
Judging by the information they had received from Interpol, Eraser was absolutely not a Villain who could be stopped this easily.
Then what was that man before his eyes?
Kim Kang-hoon felt that something still did not fit clearly.
And an ominous premonition occurred to him.
“Director Jo, how did you say you captured Eraser?”
“Well, after a loud sound rang out outside, we found him embedded in the ground.”
“Just lying there in the ground?”
It was certainly suspicious.
Hunter powerhouses incomparable to Korea had reportedly been helpless against him.
Was it really right to simply accept the fact that he had been captured quietly here?
Kim Kang-hoon began to think that Eraser might be plotting something.
‘But why……?’
All kinds of guesses tangled together in Kim Kang-hoon’s mind.
It was a situation that could not be easily understood from any clue.
However, whatever the case, what they had to do now was clear.
They had captured him, so they could uncover the truth through interrogation.
“Then let us begin the joint interrogation.”
“Shall we?”
Kim Kang-hoon decided to ease his mind.
In any case, a major headache had fallen into their hands.
He was confident in detecting intentions that were clumsily hidden.
***
Before long, Eraser regained consciousness.
The end of an S-Rank Villain was, in the end, no different from that of other Villains.
Of course, no one had expected him to be captured this easily.
[Eraser, why not stop pretending to sleep now?]
When a voice came through the speaker, Eraser flinched and opened his eyes.
After sharply assessing the situation for a moment, he thrashed about to escape his restraints.
However, even when he resisted the restraints with the body of an S-Rank Awakened, the chains showed no reaction.
“What the hell are you people? Untie me!”
[Why? A Villain of S-Rank cannot even undo restraints like those?]
“Why will my strength not work!”
[Obviously. What is restraining you is Mana-Absorbing Stone, an Awakened-suppression material made from dungeon by-products. Right now, your abilities are being suppressed to the level of an ordinary person.]
“Why the hell are you doing this to me?”
Eraser was visibly flustered.
With his abilities, there was no way he had ever been captured by anyone until now.
This must have been his first time experiencing such a powerless situation.
After attempting to resist several times, Eraser became quiet again.
[What was your purpose in coming to Korea?]
“……I cannot say.”
[If you do not tell the truth, your punishment will only grow heavier.]
“……Even so, I cannot say.”
As expected of an S-Rank Villain.
Eraser’s lips were sealed.
But Kim Kang-hoon had sufficiently anticipated this much.
And this was also his area of expertise.
“Come in.”
At Kim Kang-hoon’s instruction, one of the Hunter Intelligence Agency’s staff members entered.
He was an agent personally trained by Kim Kang-hoon, Sa-hyeon.
The reason Kim Kang-hoon had been able to enter the interrogation with confidence was precisely this Sa-hyeon.
Sa-hyeon, who was also active as an A-Rank Hunter, possessed the skill of Poison Creation.
And a truth serum was one of the poisons he could easily make.
Following the order, Sa-hyeon used the [Virulent Poison Mist] skill.
Soon, pale smoke spread out and thickly covered the confinement room.
“Guuugh…….”
A short while later, the smoke cleared, revealing Eraser with a spite-filled look.
Even with his abilities limited, he was resisting viciously.
Befitting his infamy as an S-Rank Villain, his mental strength was truly extraordinary.
In the end, however, he would speak the truth…….
[Tell us properly what you were trying to do with the terrorist attack!]
“Ugh…… It was not me. I did not do it.”
[Are you saying you were not the one who committed the terrorist attack in Korea?]
“Yes, guugh…… It was not me.”
At Eraser’s answer, Kim Kang-hoon paused for a moment.
Was he trying to resist the poison?
That reaction was understandable enough.
There had been a few Villains who tried to grit their teeth and endure.
However, that was resistance in order to keep their mouths shut.
A brain under the effect of truth serum could not be helped.
In other words, there could be no lies in what Eraser was able to say.
[Then why did you appear at the Korean Hunter Association?]
“……Kugh, to think I would fall into a trap.”
‘A trap? This is starting to look…….’
Only now did Kim Kang-hoon realize that he had been fitting the puzzle pieces together incorrectly.
And he recalled a puzzle piece he had failed to check.
He urgently summoned No Da-bin.
Soon, No Da-bin hurriedly ran into the interrogation room.
“Team Leader No, did you check the Skill Tracing Device?”
What Kim Kang-hoon had thought of was the Skill Tracing Device.
When they had passed along the fact that Eraser had entered Korea, Interpol had handed it over together with the terrorism report.
It was a device capable of analyzing and tracking skill traces.
Since they had to write an arrest report, he had entrusted No Da-bin with collecting the tracking data.
[Skill Trace. H.C]
I Am Meteor 97.2% (1)
Eraser 2% (4)
H.C 1.8% (1)
“……Meteor Lord?”
An entirely unexpected person, Meteor Lord’s Hunter name, was displayed on the tracking device.
[Have you already drawn Meteor Lord in?]
“Meteor……? Who is that?”
‘They are not on the same side? Then why?’
Kim Kang-hoon began reconstructing the incident.
If they assumed that Eraser truly had known nothing, then Meteor Lord must have known in advance that Eraser had infiltrated Korea.
He must have anticipated the Villain’s attempt to recruit him and refrained from registering with the Association.
Until Eraser appeared at the Association.
‘Then the Ansan terrorist attack too?’
Kim Kang-hoon quickly picked up his phone and checked the incident data from the Ansan Branch.
They had sent a tracing device to the Ansan Branch as well, so by now it should have been updated.
Then.
DING—
[Incident Case: Hunter Association Ansan Branch (Terrorist Attack)]
……
Skill Trace Data
I Am Meteor 91.7% (1)
……
Association System 0.5% (1)
……
……As expected, it was Meteor Lord’s skill.
There was not even a trace of Eraser to be found.
No wonder it had been strange that there were no casualties despite damage of that scale.
‘Only now are the puzzle pieces finally fitting together.’
The true culprit behind the terrorist attack was Meteor Lord.
And perhaps this had been an advanced operation meant to draw Eraser out.
Kim Kang-hoon began to feel awe.
It was a level of design that even the Hunter Intelligence Agency could not easily plan.
That must be why Meteor Lord had needed to deceive not only Eraser, but even the Hunter Association.
‘He must have known that if he framed Eraser, Eraser would surface.’
And the moment Eraser was detected, one shot of his skill.
From a position perfect for subduing only Eraser without harming anyone else, Meteor Lord did not hesitate.
If things had gone this far, it would be difficult to see Meteor Lord as an ordinary person who had simply awakened.
Perhaps Korea did have one after all.
A secret weapon being raised even more covertly than by the Hunter Intelligence Agency.
“Is something…… strange?”
Jo Gyeong-uk, sensing something odd from Kim Kang-hoon, who had suddenly fallen deep into thought, asked.
“It seems Eraser was not captured by us.”
“Then……?”
“Meteor Lord…… He truly is a terrifying Hunter.”
Moreover, to think he would hand over the entire credit.
Cold sweat trickled down Kim Kang-hoon’s temple.
Perhaps revealing the truth to the world would also interfere with him.
The Hunter Intelligence Agency would have to align itself with his intentions as much as possible.
The interrogation at the Hunter Association concluded in that manner.