Later in the evening, Hae-in and Si-woo returned and met up with Jin-ah in her apartment after she had gotten ready to go out with her friends.
“What are you doing here?
You’re not invited,” Jin-ah asked Si-woo with crossed arms when she saw him standing beside Hae-in just outside their apartment door.
Si-woo clicked his tongue, raised his hand, and pulled her cheek.
“Learn some manners.
And we were on a date, so of course I’m with her.” Si-woo answered while she flailed her hands at his arm, trying to break his grip.
She punched his shoulder the moment he let go, not that the impact did anything to him.
“Well, take care,” he said, waving at her before turning his attention to Hae-in, who was blushing at his direct words.
He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss on her cheek before turning on his heel to leave.
“Details, Unnie.
All of them,” Jin-ah demanded with a wide grin the moment Si-woo walked away, making Hae-in instantly regret accepting the invitation in her mind.
| The Outerverse | In a place far outside the boundary of every known universe, where matter, space, and even simple physics did not exist, a meeting between impossible beings was taking place.
“I have discovered a complication with the conquering of the newly emptied universe,” a sharp hiss reverberated through the purple void.
“Are you talking of the divinity we sensed in Luminarch’s universe?” another voice asked before scoffing in contempt.
“Tis but a fledgling.
Accelerating our current plans would ensure he does not come between us and what shall be ours.” “This little universe became far more interesting than before,” a third voice whispered to themselves.
There were other monstrous figures lurking in the deep dark, impossible beings that would instantly shatter mortal minds with a mere glance.
They all possessed their own thoughts, their own intricate plans that they were now changing and contemplating in complete silence.
“Not interested,” one of the Itarim spoke out, exiting the outerverse without another word.
That sudden departure sent a wave through the crowd.
One by one, the Itarim who were not interested or were completely indifferent to the situation left the void without saying a word.
Soon, that left only six Itarim remaining in the void, watching the others vanish before turning their focus toward each other.
“I will not be partaking and will just observe,” a feminine voice spoke.
The voice belonged to a humanoid outer goddess with flowing hair the color of a wheat field.
A green-haired elf stood silently beside her in heavy knightly garb, maintaining a stoic demeanor.
The other five remaining entities did not mind her neutrality.
“I, Apephet, summon forth the leviathan and my apostles of predation and bridges,” a voice hissed.
The speaker took the form of an infinite black river flowing through the void, a river filled entirely with eyes that never blink while entire galaxies swirled within its depths.
“I, Ymirath, summon forth the beast of magic tome and the apostles of rage and light.” A second figure spoke.
From a distance, the figure looked humanoid with pale skin, but if observed closely, the flesh itself contained entire mountain ranges, deep oceans, vast forests, and complex ecosystems.
“I, Nyal’Karesh, summon forth the cannibal beast and my apostles of life and forest,” the third Itarim spoke.
This being was a floating coagulation of faces orbiting around a dark, hollow void.
“I, Mokosh-Va, summon forth my apostles of beasts, carapaces, and labyrinth.” This speaker was a colossal feminine figure woven entirely from golden threads, each of which connected directly to a burning star.
“I, Azath-Ra, summon forth my apostles of faith, craftsmanship, and runes.” The fifth figure spoke, resembling an impossibly colossal sun possessing massive wings made of pure fire.
With their grand declarations, streaks of red light manifested in their open palms, swirling around violently before each entity dismissively flicked their hands toward a dark portal resting beside them.
The five Itarim were bound by ancient laws that stopped them from entering a universe made by one of their own kind, forcing them to rely on these proxies.
“Let us send them into the past to give them some time and make certain they do not separate from each other,” Nyal’Karesh suggested as a calculative face on its mass spoke out.
The others agreed to the tactical suggestion and did just that.
| Material Universe | Fifteen streams of foreign light coalesced and revolved around each other as they moved through the material universe at great speeds.
The powers of the Itarim had intentionally sent them back in time and were doing their best to keep the entities together, though the outer gods could not exert anything close to their full powers within this specific universe.
Suddenly, one of the streaks of light divided itself into two.
One part stayed on the original predetermined course, while the smaller fragment moved in an entirely different direction.
The streak that had separated took two other streaks of light along with it, completely changing course to head straight toward Earth itself.
Because they had broken away from the collective powers of the Itarim, they were cast into the present day instead of being sent into the deep past.
The remaining twelve streaks were sent straight to a fledgling planet filled with primitive life that still lived entirely within the ocean.
| Seoul | Si-woo hummed a light tune to himself as he walked along the roof of a tall office building, his phone held in his hand as he searched the internet for some open gates to complete.
His scrolling was interrupted by an incoming phone call from the president of the Hunter’s Association himself, so he picked it up with a brief shrug.
“Hello.
How have you been, President Go?” Si-woo asked the old man.
“I’m good, thank you for asking,” Go Gunhee’s voice came through the speaker.
“The White Tiger Guild master is currently here.
They wish to request something off you, would you be willing to pass by the association?” “The White Tiger Guild?
I’ll be there in five minutes.” Si-woo nodded over the phone, even though Go Gunhee could not see the gesture, and hung up the call.
He rolled his shoulders once before leaping off the edge of the building he was on, moving through the city structures at blinding speeds.
As he had promised on the phone, it took him exactly five minutes to reach the front doors of the Hunter’s Association building, even accounting for a random mugging he had spotted and stopped along his route.
He walked straight up to the main reception desk and greeted the worker with a nod.
“I have an appointment with the president,” he stated, getting an immediate nod of recognition from the woman.
“Please follow me, Hunter Kang.
The president informed me to take you to his office the moment you arrived,” she said, stepping out from behind the reception counter before gesturing for Si-woo to follow her toward the elevators.
She paused directly in front of the door to Go Gunhee’s office before turning around to face Si-woo.
“I am grateful for your safe return from the red gate, and I wish to thank you for your hard work.” she said, giving him a formal, ninety-degree bow of respect and gratitude before straightening herself and opening the door.
“Thank you,” Si-woo said gently, stepping past her into the room as the door was quietly shut behind him.
In the head chair of the large office sat Go Gunhee, and in the seats front of him were Baek Yoonho, the Guild Master of the White Tiger Guild, and Baek Miho, the Vice Guild Master.
Everyone stood up the moment Si-woo entered the room, and Go Gunhee was the first one to extend a hand toward Si-woo in greeting.
“It is good to see you,” the old man greeted kindly before gesturing to the other two occupants of the room.
“Our friends from the White Tiger Guild have a proposition for you.
Please, take a sit.” Go Gunhee guided Si-woo to an empty seat resting beside the two high-ranking hunters.
Baek Yoonho extended his hand to Si-woo in greeting the moment he neared the chairs.
“It is relieving to see you in good health and back safely with us, Hunter Kang,” the redhead said with a genuine smile.
The magenta-haired girl beside him bowed to him in greeting and stood silently beside her father.
“It’s good to be back, Guild Master Baek.
How have you been?” Si-woo offered a brief nod to Baek Miho before taking his seat, and everyone else followed suit.
“I’ve been well.
And I apologize for the sudden inconvenience, but I am here to make a request of you,” Baek Yoonho said, his gaze turning intense.
Si-woo nodded for Yoonho to continue.
The Guild Master took a deep breath before speaking.
“The arrangement you currently have with the Hunters Guild.
Could we possibly start an agreement like that with our guild as well?” he asked first.
He was about to continue with a list of concessions and offers to entice Si-woo, but he was cut off by the young man.
“That’d be good.
I go on raids with the Hunters Guild on alternate days anyway,” Si-woo shrugged, making the red-haired man stumble over his prepared words for a moment in surprise.
“Thank you.
I will make sure you start with us right after your next scheduled raid with the Association.” Yoonho cleared his throat before speaking, recovering his composure.
“Hunter Kang, we know it may be dangerous to enter an A-rank dungeon every single day.
Please feel free to tell us if you ever need a break.” Baek Miho spoke up for the first time in the conversation.
“Thank you.” Si-woo simply smiled at her.
He knew his own limits; he could handle the workload easily and did not have any real need to take breaks.
“Well, it was nice meeting you all.
I have a raid with the Hunters Guild tomorrow and look forward to meeting you the day after,” Si-woo said, nodding to everyone in the room before taking his leave.
After his departure, Yoonho turned his head toward Go Gunhee, who had been smiling with clear amusement throughout the entire conversation.
“He comes like a storm and leaves like one as well,” the red-haired man sighed, leaning back into his chair.
Despite the sigh, there was a visible smile on his face at the prospect of Si-woo lending his strength to his guild.
A/n: Tell me your thoughts on the chapters and the introduction of the Itarim.