When the dispersed protesters looked to be regrouping, an even larger number of Seoul citizens turned out to denounce them.
The government, too, began ignoring the protesters' voices, committing a mass of skeletons to the damaged sites in Seoul and North Chungcheong.
In the end, the protesters were completely dispersed and could only swallow their outrage.
The civil servants deployed to the restoration sites marveled at the skeletons.
"The skeletons are handling all the simple tasks."
Skeletons hauling construction materials and tools — cement, bricks, sand.
Some cleaned up the surroundings or assisted the technicians.
The work progressed rapidly, and people slowly reclaimed their daily lives.
Yu-na's and Hye-in's families, who'd been staying at GH Guild headquarters, returned home as well.
In the end, the Raid crisis in Seoul and North Chungcheong left fifty thousand dead and a hundred and seventy thousand injured.
The crisis reminded the public anew of the importance of raising Hunters.
[GH Guild to focus even further on training its members......]
[GH Guild members who grew dramatically through this Raid......]
[30% of GH Guild members are S2-rank?!]
[The new otherworlders who've come to GH Guild......!]
Articles about GH Guild poured out day after day.
Likewise, the other massive guilds announced they would devote their full strength to training their members.
GH Guild received 72 billion won as its reward for this Raid.
In exchange, all the monster by-products GH Guild had recovered went into government warehouses.
"Sell them to Hanseong Group and they'd easily fetch over 100 billion......"
Well, nothing to be done about it.
Of course, Hanseong Group deposited a hefty sum as well.
It was payment for the by-products from clearing the A-grade dungeon earlier.
Beyond that, GH Guild received 4 billion won for leasing twenty thousand skeletons for the restoration work over two months.
That worked out to 200,000 won per skeleton.
200,000 won, for two months.
And they were on standby at all times, and simple labor could be done through the night, too.
That kind of labor force, leased for 200,000 won?
It was a preposterous sum, but Kang-hyeok accepted the government's terms for the sake of GH Guild's image.
[Government leases twenty thousand skeletons for 4 billion won...... lease term, two months?!]
[GH Guild Master Park Kang-hyeok to donate the entire lease fee for the skeletons sent as restoration support......]
[5 billion for leukemia, blood cancer, and childhood cancer patients; 9.4 billion won total to 47 orphanages; fire stations, the military, and more...... 40 billion won donated to countless facilities!]
[Hunter Park Kang-hyeok donates 10 billion won of his own money to damage restoration, on top of the skeleton lease fees!]
[GH Guild Vice Master Arbon follows Hunter Park Kang-hyeok's lead, donating 3 billion won for damage restoration.]
GH Guild reported the donations to the press, and public affection for the guild began to take shape.
Next, Kang-hyeok bought up a derelict building in Dongjak-gu to construct GH Guild's 1st Branch, and purchased a nearby officetel building, remodeling it into a dormitory.
The residents of Dongjak-gu felt reassured watching the construction of GH Guild's 1st Branch.
"I hear the Hunter who got promoted to S2-rank this time will be stationed at the 1st Branch here."
"Usually property values in a Raid-hit area drop...... but here, they might actually go up."
Real estate prices could soar for no other reason than a massive guild being stationed nearby.
Indeed, with Goguryeo Guild stationed in Gangnam-gu, even the surrounding areas had benefited.
Yongsan-gu, too, had seen property values rise thanks to Teinen Guild's headquarters, though lately it had shown a slight downward trend.
With Teinen's S-rank Hunters gone missing, concerns over security had cropped up.
Of course, since the Korea Hunter Association's Seoul headquarters sat in Yongsan, the drop wasn't large.
The universities that had declared closure over the Raid crisis gradually resumed lectures, and Yu-na, in a single stroke, became a celebrity.
"Yu-na!"
The friends who had evacuated to the cafeteria during the Raid gathered around Yu-na.
"I-I'm so glad you're safe."
"More to the point, is the rumor that you're Hunter Park Kang-hyeok's sister true?"
"Why did the GH Guild members take only you and Hye-in that time?"
Yu-na let out a small sigh.
"Yeah, my brother is Park Kang-hyeok."
"R-Really?!"
"Then why didn't you......"
"My brother doesn't like his face getting out either. That's why our family doesn't casually bring him up. The GH Guild members who came onto campus that day were bodyguards my brother had assigned to me without my knowing. And......"
Recalling the GH Guild members who'd died before her eyes, Yu-na found herself at a loss for words.
"A lot of them lost their lives."
"Ah......"
"I-If only you'd taken us along too......"
"You shut the cafeteria door like that — how could they? If anything, you survived because you were in the cafeteria. We were being chased by an S-rank monster, the Orc Chief! If my brother hadn't come——!"
Yu-na bit down on her lip.
"I-I'm sorry."
Just then, Hye-in came to Yu-na's side and patted her.
"Sorry, but Yu-na's not in a good place right now, so could you give her some space?"
"O-Okay."
As Hye-in comforted Yu-na, she recalled the events of a few days ago.
The GH Guild members who'd protected them had been mercilessly killed by the Orc Chief.
Thinking of them brought a wave of guilt.
And the fact that Yu-na's brother had been fighting monsters that dangerous had left her no small shock.
"Haah......"
Yu-na took a deep breath to calm herself.
"They say GH Guild is setting up a 1st Branch near our campus this time."
"......Yeah, I heard they tore down the old building and started construction."
"It's probably to protect you and your parents, isn't it?"
Yu-na nodded with a bitter face.
The 1st Branch was assigned Roiard, an S2-rank Hunter.
The Hunter who had once protected them.
His assignment alone made it easy to guess the 1st Branch was for their sake.
"They say about fifty Hunters will be on standby at the 1st Branch at all times, so don't worry too much. And the branch head is S2-rank Hunter Roiard, stationed there."
"When I think those people might die because of me, my chest keeps aching."
Hye-in could understand Yu-na's feelings.
She, too, had been protected, after all.
While the universities resumed lectures, Kang-hyeok went down to Jeolla and Gyeongsang and summoned an additional million Homunculi.
At the same time, he sent a hundred GH Guild members as reinforcements.
"Move them as temporary officers and strengthen the forces. And......"
"Yes, I'll make contact with the Korean government."
The 1st Legion Commander, Harian, bowed his head.
"For now, only the Legion Commanders come with me. I'll strengthen you lot first."
"Thank you."
Kang-hyeok took the twenty Legion Commanders and toured three A-grade dungeons in Jeolla.
Thanks to that, every Legion Commander reached the level of a high-grade Sword Master.
After that, Kang-hyeok took the Division and Brigade Commanders in turn and raised them to mid-grade Sword Master.
When Kang-hyeok went back up to Seoul, the officers helped the newly arrived Homunculi grow.
A full two million Homunculi now stationed in Korea's south.
'Ah, didn't the last Raid kill about a hundred thousand of them?'
Realistically, it was closer to 1.8 million.
The spirit race, expanding their territory outward from Jeju, confirmed the presence of Homunculi operating in Jeolla and Gyeongsang and showed their displeasure.
"Insolent creatures......"
Aren, the Spirit Race Grand General with golden hair and blue eyes, gritted his teeth.
"Korea is nothing but a breakwater holding off war with the beastman race. With the appearance of the State-Power-Class Hunter Park Kang-hyeok, that breakwater has grown all the more solid. But we cannot keep avoiding war with the beastmen forever. At the very least, to build a foundation for war, we need to fully seize Jeolla and Gyeongsang."
"And Japan?"
"We've seized Okinawa and the surrounding islands. China, too, has succeeded in occupying part of Yancheng, north of Shanghai. With a Raid breaking out in Shanghai, its defenses were weakened, they say."
Aren nodded once.
"It's about time we cleared away the breakwater."
"Then......"
"Jeolla and Gyeongsang come later. First, we throw every soldier on Jeju at the enemy's heart — Seoul. Prepare the fleet."
"Yes, understood!"
The spirit race's movements were being tracked by the Korean government too, via satellites and drones.
As anomalies were detected around the warships positioned off Jeju's coast, the Korean government grew anxious.
At the hour tensions climbed, with newly developed missiles and military equipment on the move—
Word of the spirit race reached the masters of the massive guilds as well.
"......"
Kang-hyeok immediately called the 1st Legion Commander, Harian.
"Word is the spirit race is preparing for war. Strengthen the forces quickly."
[The chance they'll strike Japan and China first......]
"That possibility exists too, which is why I haven't launched a preemptive strike. But if they cross onto the Korean Peninsula......"
[I'll make contact with the Korean government.]
The 1st Legion Commander, Harian, as the envoy representative of the 'Ryuhan Empire,' made contact with the Korean government with GH Guild's help.
Hearing that the Ryuhan Empire's army had established itself in Korea's south, the Korean government let out cries of shock and, at the same time, showed a positive stance toward an alliance with them.
The issue was the cession of territory.
"You're asking us to cede the western part of North Korea, around Pyongyang?"
The territory the Ryuhan Empire demanded was about 30% of North Korea.
By no means a small stretch of land.
And handing over Pyongyang on top of it was a demand rather difficult to approve.
If Korea absorbed North Korean territory, it stood to gain enormously.
And if the South held the western territory, the geographic conditions alone would bring immense economic benefit.
But that was a story for after the beastmen and monsters stationed in North Korea were driven out.
'If we take heavy damage in a war with the spirit race, the beastmen might come down from the North.'
In the end, the President decided to put the alliance with the Ryuhan Empire to a national referendum.
[Korean government makes contact with a nation of another world!]
[Ryuhan Empire demands 30% of North Korean territory in exchange for reclaiming the North......]
[Ryuhan Empire army to support the reclamation of Gyeongsang and Jeolla?!]
[Korean government to hold a national vote on August 3rd......]
The opposition party lambasted the ruling party and the government, calling it utter nonsense.
The ruling party, conversely, sided with the government, pointing to the possibility of reclaiming the North.
Anomalies from the spirit race had been detected, too.
At this rate, forget the North — they wouldn't even be able to reclaim Jeolla and Gyeongsang.
Public reactions were split as well, but most understood the situation well enough.
Because their very neighbors, Japan and China, had lost considerable territory to the demihuman races.