The car window rolled down and his mother leaned her face out.
"B-Be careful! If it gets dangerous, you run, no matter what!"
"Yes, I understand."
The Hunter in the driver's seat gave a wry smile.
Run if it gets dangerous?
The man standing outside the window was Korea's strongest Hunter.
Would there ever be an occasion for a man who cut down S-rank monsters with ease to run?
'Well, all parents feel the same, I suppose.'
No matter how mighty a Hunter their child was, a parent's worry couldn't be helped.
"Be careful, Oppa!"
"Don't ever push yourself too hard!"
"S-Stay safe!"
After Yu-na, Jin-o and Hye-in each added a word.
Kang-hyeok waved and turned on his heel at once.
Fwip!
As Kang-hyeok vanished from the spot, his family let out small, dazed laughs.
Hunters were beings who possessed powers beyond the human.
And among them, Kang-hyeok was called the nation's strongest swordsman.
"We'll be off now."
"Yes, please take care of them."
The Association Hunter slowly drove the car across the Hangang Bridge.
Meanwhile, Kang-hyeok moved with Roiard.
The Orc Warriors were slaughtered by Kang-hyeok's hand.
-Chiiiik......!
As for the Orc Generals and Shamans, he flung them to the ground with only their limbs severed.
Roiard, following behind Kang-hyeok, finished off the Orc Generals and Shamans.
Roiard rose in a single leap to the level of a low-grade Sword Master.
"We keep going! Follow me!"
"Yes, understood!"
Kang-hyeok intended to assign Roiard as his family's bodyguard.
Bark, the former leader of the 19th Team, had been a low-grade Sword Master swordsman.
Kang-hyeok was grateful for his sacrifice, but to protect his family, he needed stronger strength.
Following behind Kang-hyeok, Roiard managed to cut down a full thirty Generals and Shamans.
"Hah...... hah...... hah......"
Roiard drew ragged breaths and looked at his own blade.
In less than an hour, his cultivation had reached mid-grade Sword Master.
"The 19th Team will be reorganized, and you'll take command as its leader."
"Y-Yes, understood."
"I intend to make you a high-grade Sword Master. So rest for a bit, then follow me right after."
"Y-You can move right now if you wish."
Roiard poured all the AP he'd gained from leveling up into vitality.
Thanks to that, the legs that had been shaking a moment ago returned to normal.
"Please, lead on."
Kang-hyeok gave a small smile and nodded.
Kang-hyeok and Roiard's orc-hunting resumed.
Kang-hyeok cut down some two thousand Orc Warriors on his own, and disabled a hundred-odd Generals and Shamans.
An Orc General was a B-rank monster wielding battle aura on par with a lowest- to low-grade Sword Master, and an Orc Shaman was an A-rank monster that could use 5th Circle dark magic.
Cutting them down, Roiard soon reached the level of a high-grade Sword Master.
"Well done."
"Hah...... hah...... hah...... n-not at all."
Roiard drew ragged breaths and bowed his head toward Kang-hyeok.
"Th-Thank you. I will lay down this one life to protect your family without fail."
"I'm counting on you."
"Leave it to me."
Kang-hyeok crossed over to Gwanak-gu with Roiard.
After that, once he'd linked up with the GH Guild members, he took the new leader of the 20th Team and set out to hunt monsters.
He, too, a low-grade Sword Master, rose in a single leap to the level of high-grade Sword Master.
"Well done."
"Thank you. I will carve the Master's grace into my heart."
Kang-hyeok patted the 20th Team leader's shoulder.
The vice-leaders reached the level of mid-grade Sword Master as well, and the rest of the members, fighting monsters all day long, reached the peak of the lowest-grade Sword Master realm.
Kang-hyeok summoned a hundred new Homunculi.
And the existing guild members helped the new members grow.
Kang-hyeok himself disabled a mass of monsters and then moved his skeletons to raise the level of his 'Lowest-Grade Skeleton Summon' skill.
One more level, and he'd be able to summon ten thousand skeletons.
'Skeletons will be a huge help developing cities in North Korean territory.'
For now, though, he planned to use them restoring the damage in Seoul and North Chungcheong.
The skeletons gripped the blades GH Guild had prepared and ran at the limb-severed Ogres and Trolls, driving their blades into the wounds.
Squelch! Squelch-squelch!
-Khhh......
Next, Kang-hyeok spotted an orc pack and disabled all the C-rank Orc Warriors and Orc Archers.
A hundred skeletons bustled to work.
The sight was caught on the news helicopters too.
The citizens of Seoul expressed relief at GH Guild's efforts.
-Over forty thousand dead — the worst catastrophe.
└Because the capital region's finest Hunters were pulled off to North Chungcheong......
└More to the point, does it even make sense for three Dungeon Gates to rupture simultaneously in Seoul?
└Other countries had multiple Gates rupture too, but Seoul's the only city where three ruptured at once.
└Too many people died.
└It only got wrapped up at this level thanks to GH Guild.
-Park Kang-hyeok cut down the North Chungcheong monsters, then came straight to Dongjak-gu and took down the S-rank monster, the Orc Chief. And with his guild members, he brought down hundreds of Orc Generals and Shamans.
└Basically Park Kang-hyeok wiped out the whole orc legion. Word is he only severed the Generals' and Shamans' limbs so he could feed the experience to his guild members.
└It's a lot to put the whole burden on Park Kang-hyeok alone. Helping his guild members grow is the right call, I think.
└Still, I hope Park Kang-hyeok surpasses Lucas one day.
└I'd love to watch that bastard's face get smashed in.
└With Park Kang-hyeok as he is now, it might be tough......
The United States held three State-Power-Class Hunters.
Among them was America's strongest Hunter, known as a racist — Lucas Howard.
Every time he visited Korea, China, or Japan, he'd demean Asians as monkeys and commit acts of violence.
The problem was there was no way to punish him for his crimes.
Even in America, he reigned like a king and wrung budget money out of the government.
Because of such atrocities, Lucas's image was the worst, but his power alone the whole world was forced to acknowledge.
He'd easily cut down a Beastman Grand General who had killed numerous S-rank Hunters.
Among the S-rank Hunters that Beastman Grand General had slain were three S1-rank Hunters, no less.
-No matter how strong Park Kang-hyeok is, Lucas is on a different level.
└That's exactly why people are hoping Park Kang-hyeok gets a bit stronger.
└It hasn't even been a year since Park Kang-hyeok became a State-Power-Class Hunter. Forget Lucas — he couldn't even beat Japan's Masaomi Ryusuke.
└And that Masaomi Ryusuke got wrecked by Lucas in a matter of seconds.
└Park Kang-hyeok as he is now would rank 13th out of the world's 13 State-Power-Class Hunters.
└If Park Kang-hyeok just stopped handing off experience to his guild members, he could take on someone like Masaomi Ryusuke.
└You think Masaomi Ryusuke is small fry? Kim Min-chan got wrecked too lolllll
On social media, praise for Park Kang-hyeok's exploits mixed with comments comparing him to other nations' State-Power-Class Hunters.
Of course, Kang-hyeok didn't mind the reactions on social media.
There was no need to draw attention, after all.
Kang-hyeok took the family who had crossed the Hangang Bridge to GH Guild headquarters in Gwanak-gu.
"S-So this is GH Guild's......"
Yu-na stared blankly at the building.
Her father Jin-o and mother Su-yeon also gazed at it, dazed.
For reference, Hye-in, who had evacuated with Yu-na, and her family, had come to shelter at the GH Guild building as well.
"I-Is it really all right for us to be here too......"
"It may be a bit cramped for the four of you, but headquarters always has guild members on standby, so you can feel a little more at ease."
"Thank you so much."
Hye-in's parents bowed their heads to Kang-hyeok.
Hye-in's family numbered four in all — her parents and an older sister.
Kang-hyeok took the group up to the top floor.
The residential space attached to the office held a living room, kitchen, utility room, and terrace, along with four bedrooms and three combined bath-and-toilets.
"The staff will bring bedding from the night-duty room. You can use two of the bedrooms. And......"
Kang-hyeok turned to look at his own family.
"You two take this bedroom. Yu-na, you use the one right next door."
"Got it."
"Kang-hyeok, where will you sleep?"
"I'll just sleep in the office next door. Or in the night-duty room with the guild members — either's fine. Anyway, there's a separate cafeteria down on the second floor. There's ramen in the cupboard and frozen food in the freezer, but...... you're better off just going to the second-floor cafeteria. The staff will bring you cafeteria cards, so tap them and eat with those."
No sooner had he spoken than the staff brought blankets and pillows from the night-duty room.
At the same time, they handed Kang-hyeok seven cafeteria cards.
"Thank you."
"Not at all. Well then, we'll take our leave......"
As the staff withdrew, Kang-hyeok handed out the cafeteria cards.
"I'll be off now. There are still quite a few monsters left......"
And once Dongjak-gu was wrapped up, he might have to head to Jungnang-gu and Gangdong-gu.
Of course, with the Hunters who'd gone to North Chungcheong returning, the situations in both districts were reportedly improving.
"Be careful."
"Don't worry."
GH Guild kept thirty members permanently stationed at all times.
Every one of them was an S-rank Hunter.
On top of that, Roiard, the 19th Team leader now assigned to guard Kang-hyeok's family, was a high-grade Sword Master.
Even if an S-rank monster appeared, at least a minimal response would be possible.
Kang-hyeok took the newly enlisted members and threw himself into hunting monsters.
His Lowest-Grade Skeleton Summon skill reached level 9.
For now, this was enough.
He could move a full thirty thousand skeletons.
The skeletons all wore slips of paper on their foreheads reading 'GH Guild,' and they began recovering Mana Stones from the monsters the guild members had slain.
And so, five thousand skeletons were committed as porters, and ten thousand to rescue work.
The remaining ten thousand were committed to moving the monsters' corpses.
"......A monster?!"
Victims pinned under building rubble were startled at the sight of Kang-hyeok's skeletons, but at the 'GH Guild' text on their foreheads, their fear subsided.
Klik.
Five skeletons began rescuing a victim buried in the rubble.
"Th-Thank you."
The injured were carried off on stretchers.
The people being carried by skeletons felt a strange mix of emotions.
'To think I'd be carried by a monster......'
The skeletons committed to rescue work even threw themselves in front of danger to protect people.
-Chiiik!
CRASH!
Five skeletons were destroyed in an instant by a greatsword an Orc Warrior swung.
While the skeletons blocked the monster, the people fled in a panic.
"Load the monsters over here onto the freight trucks too!"
Klik!
Association Hunters, too, naturally accepted the skeletons' help.