“Hey! Chief Secretary, long time no see.”
Jeong Woo-yeon, Guild Master of the Myth Guild.
He was one of the few S-rank Hunters in South Korea.
“Welcome, Guild Master Jeong Woo-yeon.”
Choi Tae-woo greeted Jeong Woo-yeon warmly.
“I was about to ask if you have been well… but I suppose this is not the time for that, is it?”
“Please hurry.”
Jeong Woo-yeon gave the Gate an awkward look, then gestured to his Guild members and began investigating it.
‘This is an opportunity.’
Jeong Woo-yeon saw the current situation as an opportunity.
It was unfortunate that the Yuseong twins were in danger, but—
‘How long has it been since we got a commission from Yuseong?’
A commission from Yuseong, and one to rescue the twins after they caused an accident, was practically winning the lottery.
The upfront fee alone was ten billion won, and they had not even begun negotiating the success fee yet.
Normally, a higher-ranking Guild with deeper ties to Yuseong should have come.
‘But they are all laid up because of that Ultra-Anomalous Gate.’
They could not come.
The Rankers from the top Guilds who had been deployed to the Ultra-Anomalous Gate that appeared not long ago were all bedridden with injuries.
In truth, the fact that the Ultra-Anomalous Gate had been cleared at all was nothing short of a miracle.
The fact that there had been no deaths, only injuries, was just as miraculous.
‘I heard even their injuries were not that serious. I guess Rankers really are different.’
In any case, those injuries had created an opening.
For the Myth Guild, which had been unable to participate in the Ultra-Anomalous Gate subjugation, it was fair to say that this had given them an opportunity.
“Chief Secretary, do not worry. We are the Myth Guild.”
Jeong Woo-yeon made the confident declaration, only to receive an unexpected reply from Choi Tae-woo.
“The Special Division will be here soon as well.”
Jeong Woo-yeon froze at Choi Tae-woo's words.
“…The Special Division?”
The Korea Hunter Association's Special Division.
Jeong Woo-yeon was well aware of their ‘infamy.’
“Why did you call those murderers?”
After the Hunter criminal organization known as the Destruction Society, the Special Division was infamous as one of the most vicious groups of Hunters in the country.
Hunters without blood or tears.
On top of that, thanks to their extensive combat experience, their strength far exceeded what their ranks suggested.
But such strength did not come for free.
Their humanity and social skills had been warped from repeatedly walking the line between life and death.
Even an ordinary S-rank Hunter found the Korea Hunter Association's Special Division unpleasant to deal with.
“…We need to hurry.”
Then again, whenever an Anomalous Gate appeared, the Association's Special Division was notified.
If he wanted to avoid running into them, his only choice was to enter the Gate before they arrived.
“The Special Division is coming. Hurry up, everyone. We need to enter before they get here.”
“Understood, Guild Master.”
More than anything, one major reason Jeong Woo-yeon felt uncomfortable around the Special Division was that he had not participated in the previous Ultra-Anomalous Gate operation.
In fact, as the Myth Guild's only S-rank Hunter, he had received an individual request for cooperation, but he had refused because he believed it was beyond what he could handle.
‘How many of them are coming?’
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that the Special Division was always suffering from a manpower shortage, so they were unlikely to deploy many people.
Even if rescuing Yuseong's bloodline was an important mission, there was no reason to send several of the Special Division's elites into what was merely an A-rank Anomalous Gate.
TICK. TOCK.
Choi Tae-woo anxiously checked his wristwatch.
TICK. TOCK.
Jeong Woo-yeon did the same.
“How much longer until we can enter the Gate?”
“We are almost done!”
“Phew.”
Everyone was staring anxiously at their watches when—
CLATTER! RATTLE!
A van appeared with a tremendous racket.
Compared to the Myth Guild's flashy transport vehicle, it looked utterly shabby.
But the Korea Hunter Association emblem on the front of the van—
No, the Special Division emblem changed the atmosphere instantly.
“…They are already here.”
How the hell did they even get this far into the mountains in that piece-of-junk van?
SCREECH!
The van stopped.
And the person who stepped out was—
“……! Director Park Min-ho…?”
The elite of the Korea Hunter Association.
No, Special Division Director Park Min-ho could be called a legend of South Korea's Hunter world.
Jeong Woo-yeon looked at Choi Tae-woo in bewilderment.
‘How much money did Yuseong offer the Association?’
No.
The amount did not matter.
Those monsters—
“Jeong Woo-yeon?”
—were not moved by money.
“I-it has been a while, Director Park Min-ho.”
“…….”
Park Min-ho stepped out of the van, frowned at Jeong Woo-yeon, and then walked straight toward Choi Tae-woo.
“Please report the current situation.”
While Park Min-ho received an update from Choi Tae-woo, Hunters began stepping out of the van one after another.
Jeong Woo-yeon knew the Association's budget for the Special Division was not exactly small, so he could not imagine what they spent their money on if they were riding around in trash like that.
But then—
“……?”
There were too many of them.
People were still getting out of the van.
“How many of you came?”
Unless it was an Ultra-Anomalous Gate, the Special Division usually operated in teams of three or fewer.
They were always suffering from a manpower shortage.
That was only natural.
S-rank Hunters were exceptional, but even A-rank Hunters could already be considered elite Hunters.
A-rank Hunters made up only one percent of all Hunters worldwide.
And the value of A-rank Hunters with military backgrounds was beyond imagination.
They were talents who could receive the best treatment at any Guild.
If they joined almost any Guild right now, they could receive an annual salary of at least three billion won along with endless forms of support.
The Association, on the other hand—
‘Does not offer nearly enough incentive.’
In the end, it was still a government institution. Even Special Division Hunters were Civil Servants.
Their annual salary was high for Civil Servants, but it was still only around one hundred million won, and the other benefits were pitiful compared to what Guilds offered.
Worst of all was their work-life balance.
Fewer than thirty people worked in three shifts while intervening in the countless incidents that occurred across South Korea.
Whenever an incident broke out, the concept of going home from work practically ceased to exist for them.
And yet the Special Division had brought—
“T-twelve?”
Twelve people.
“…Do not tell me this is not merely an ordinary Anomalous Gate?”
Even Choi Tae-woo could not hide his fear as he asked Park Min-ho.
“Ah, it is nothing like that.”
Park Min-ho answered while examining the Gate.
“…There are simply circumstances.”
“Circumstances?”
What kind of circumstances could possibly make this many Special Division members move together?
Even Jeong Woo-yeon found himself watching the Special Division with an uneasy expression.
“We have finished analyzing the Gate.”
‘Already?! My people are still investigating it…!’
As expected of the Special Division.
When it came to Anomalous Gates, they were South Korea's foremost experts.
It seemed they had already discovered the route for entering it.
“What is it?”
“Well…….”
The Special Division member giving the report did not look pleased.
“It is an A-rank Sacrificial Gate.”
“……!”
Everyone's expression hardened instantly at the words Sacrificial Gate.
“What sacrifice does it require?”
“…A human.”
“Fuck.”
A curse finally escaped Park Min-ho's mouth.
When an ordinary Gate transformed into an Anomalous Gate, special conditions had to be met before anyone could enter or leave it.
And of all things, it had become a Sacrificial Gate.
A Sacrificial Gate that required a human?
No matter how important the Yuseong twins were, there was no way human sacrifice could be accepted in modern South Korea.
“There is another condition.”
“What is it?”
“…Waiting thirty-six hours.”
In other words, even without offering a sacrifice, they could enter the Gate after waiting thirty-six hours.
“That is impossible!”
Choi Tae-woo shouted as though in desperation.
“…They will not survive that long.”
The ones inside the Gate were the Yuseong twins.
They had hired a Mercenary, but from what had been discovered, he was only a C-rank Hunter.
They had probably brought in a Hunter whose rank was lower than the Gate's because they would not be able to experience true fear if they entered with someone stronger.
‘How long can one C-rank Hunter and two ordinary people survive inside an A-rank Anomalous Gate……?’
At most—
“Five hours if they are lucky. Three if they are not.”
Jeong Woo-yeon stepped in and answered.
“Nearly two hours have already passed.”
That meant they had only about an hour left.
At this rate, the Yuseong twins would die inside.
But where were they supposed to find a sacrifice now?
“…Yuseong will provide the sacrifice.”
Choi Tae-woo stepped forward and spoke.
Park Min-ho's expression hardened instantly.
Something similar had happened abroad before.
The child of a prominent politician had become trapped inside an Anomalous Gate, only for it to turn out to be a Sacrificial Gate.
At the time, the politician had purchased a human sacrifice with money and offered them up.
“…Chief Secretary Choi Tae-woo, that is unquestionably illegal….”
Park Min-ho was about to warn Choi Tae-woo when—
“I will be the sacrifice.”
The words that came from Choi Tae-woo's mouth were entirely unexpected.
—Uncle.
The Yuseong twins.
“We may not share blood, but those children are like family to me.”
It was not because they were the blood relatives of the superior he served.
Choi Tae-woo had treated the twins, who had grown up after losing their mother at a young age, as though they were his real family.
If it meant saving them—
“I will do it. I will be the sacrifice. We do not have time. Let us hurry.”
Choi Tae-woo was saying that he would give up his life.
This was not a situation where they could reach a decision easily.
Of all the possibilities, they had drawn the worst one.
Choi Tae-woo seemed to have already made up his mind. He took off his suit jacket and began preparing himself to become the sacrifice.
Even Jeong Woo-yeon of the Myth Guild, who had come with ambitions of properly establishing ties with Yuseong, could not bring himself to speak.
The same was true of Park Min-ho and the Special Division.
“I am ready.”
With less than an hour remaining, this seemed to be the only option available.
Choi Tae-woo stood in front of the Gate with a grim expression, his upper body bare.
“Please hurry!”
The Myth Guild and the Special Division Hunters.
Once the door was open, rescuing the twins would probably be easy for them.
Even so, there was no way they could casually decide to sacrifice a person, especially Yuseong's Chief Secretary.
“Please!”
Just as Choi Tae-woo shouted urgently—
SLIDE.
A new figure emerged from the Special Division van, even though everyone had thought it was already empty.
At that moment—
“Uh… um… well… y-you should not come out right now….”
Park Min-ho, the ruthless commander and Monster Killer who was said not to have wavered even once during the Ultra-Anomalous Gate operation, began stammering.
He was even speaking to a fellow Special Division member with extreme deference.
“…….”
The other Special Division Hunters were the same.
They all froze like broken robots.
STEP.
They stared at the man slowly approaching them.
Even Jeong Woo-yeon, who knew most of the Special Division Hunters by sight, had never seen him before.
‘A rookie?’
Had the Special Division finally gotten a new recruit?
PRICKLE.
Yet the instant Jeong Woo-yeon saw the man, it felt as though electricity ran through his entire body.
‘What is this?’
He had never felt anything like this before.
It was an unpleasant sensation, as though needles were repeatedly pricking his heart.
The problem was that he had no idea why he felt that way.
His reason began to numb.
‘Do not tell me this is….’
Jeong Woo-yeon gradually realized what the sensation was.
‘Am I afraid? Of that rookie?’
He could not understand it.
This was the first time since becoming an S-rank Hunter that he had felt fear.
And he was feeling it from an unfamiliar Hunter.
A Special Division rookie from whom he could not sense even a trace of mana.
“…What the hell is that?”
Jeong Woo-yeon asked Park Min-ho before he even realized what he was saying.
It was an incredibly rude question, one that did not even assume the other party was human.
Then he suddenly noticed something.
CLINK.
His hand had moved to the hilt of his sword without him realizing it.
“…H-he is our rookie! Hunter Kim Si-hyeon, our new recruit!”
A rookie?
That strange man really was a rookie in the Special Division?
No, but….
‘“Hunter Kim Si-hyeon, sir”? He is a rookie, yet Park Min-ho is acting that deferential toward him?’
Something was wrong.
A lot of things were wrong.
But Jeong Woo-yeon was too unsettled by the inexplicable fear gripping him to ask.
Then—
“…Huh? The Gate's response is strange!”
An unbelievable shout came from the Hunter investigating the Gate.
“Some of the Gate's entry conditions… have been lifted! It looks like someone can enter now! But…….”
Impossible things were happening one after another.
The investigator's eyes turned toward the man named Kim Si-hyeon.
“…It appears that only Hunter Kim Si-hyeon can enter. No, it has to be Hunter Kim Si-hyeon.”