The air of late September, as autumn deepened, was brisk indeed, but Jina's steps were lighter than ever. Like someone who had shed a heavy burden from her shoulders, she hummed a tune as she climbed the gentle slope toward the dungeon entrance.
"Oppa, the weather's really nice today, isn't it?"
Jina looked back at Somyeong following behind her and beamed. Somyeong, carrying a huge bag on his back, nodded while putting on a show of slightly labored breathing.
"It really is. Blue skies, cool breeze."
"Ever since the Blue Dragon Guild incident, the Association hasn't laid a finger on our guild—they've actually increased our funding. Divine punishment really does exist, huh?"
Jina clenched her fists with excitement and chattered on. Somyeong simply followed behind her with a gentle brotherly smile. But his senses were already combing every meter within a radius of several hundred.
'One rat tailing us.'
Somyeong's eyes sharpened for the briefest instant. Along the forest path toward the dungeon entrance, a meticulously concealed presence lurked among the dense undergrowth. The infiltration technique was so covert that an ordinary hunter would never have detected it.
The pursuer had suppressed their magical energy to the extreme and was wearing specially fabricated tactical equipment. Undoubtedly a specialist operative from the Hunter Association's Special Investigation Team. It seemed the investigation into the Blue Dragon Guild branch collapse had led them to start tailing Kang Jina and Kang Somyeong as the only points of contact.
'Trying to even erase his breathing—he has put in some effort.'
Somyeong let out a quiet internal snort. Having spent a hundred years in the martial world enduring every kind of ambush and trap, modern infiltration techniques were child's play compared to reading the subtlest shifts in the air.
"Oppa, there it is! That's where we're raiding today!"
Where Jina pointed, a blue-glowing C-rank Gate rippled. Four other members of their White Tiger Guild team had already arrived and were checking their gear.
"Hey, Jina's here! And the porter hyung, too."
The burly tanker waved in greeting. Somyeong hunched slightly and smiled in his usual simple way.
"Hello. Looking forward to working with you again today."
"Come on, hyung. Last time I saw you, your stamina was something else. Give it your all again today!"
The team treated Somyeong as nothing more than a strong civilian porter. Somyeong organized their equipment without a word and adjusted the load.
Far away beneath the shade of a tree, the Association investigator was watching the entire scene through a high-performance telephoto lens. He reported quietly into his communicator.
"Targets preparing to enter the dungeon. Nothing unusual about Kang Somyeong. He is displaying the typical physical responses of a sub-F-rank individual."
- Keep watching. The destruction traces at the Blue Dragon branch were absolutely not caused by magical energy. If they are hiding something, it will inevitably surface during combat.
"Understood, Team Leader."
The investigator repositioned to a blind spot near the dungeon entrance. Just before stepping into the Gate, Somyeong tilted his head ever so slightly and gazed toward the direction where the investigator was hiding. His expression was as blank as ever, but inside his mind, a perfect plan to shake off this troublesome watcher was already complete.
***
The dungeon interior was a labyrinth of moss-covered stone walls. Through the damp air, the acrid scent of demonic beasts mingled in.
"Stay alert, everyone! I've heard this dungeon has a lot of unexpected variables."
Under Jina's command, the party members formed up and advanced. Jina took the lead, dispatching goblins blocking the path with swift sword strokes. Her movements were far sharper and more refined than before—the energy Somyeong had been gradually channeling into her was steadily elevating her physical abilities.
The investigator pursued close behind the party using a cloaking skill. His eyes were fixed on the compact magical energy detector in his hand, recording the surrounding readings in real time, waiting for any anomalous reaction.
That was when it happened.
RUMBLE—!
The dungeon's interior walls shook violently and began to collapse. The party members grabbed their weapons in alarm. Through the dust cloud, an unidentified beast revealed itself.
"Wh-what? There was nothing about this in the intel!"
The tanker's voice trembled. What had appeared was a mutant Bearwolf, its entire body covered in metallic spines. A powerful demonic beast that would never be found in an ordinary C-rank dungeon—B-rank upper tier at minimum.
"Everyone get back! I'll hold it off!"
Jina stepped forward and projected sword energy. But a single roar from the Bearwolf sent vibrations through the air that disrupted her stance. The beast raised its massive forepaw to crush her.
'Now.'
Somyeong, huddled in the corner clutching the luggage, moved. Outwardly, it looked as though he had fallen to the floor in terror. But through the palm he planted on the ground, dense true energy burrowed into the earth.
An invisible crimson current spread like capillaries, reaching the ground beneath the Bearwolf's feet.
'I will sever its heart meridian.'
When Somyeong applied the faintest pressure to his fingertip, the energy coursing underground erupted upward. It was a force fundamentally different in nature from magical energy.
The energy climbed up through the Bearwolf's slender ankles and tore its internal organs to shreds in an instant. On the surface, there appeared to be no injury, but the beast's eyes lost focus and clouded over immediately.
Simultaneously, Somyeong forcibly scrambled the surrounding magical energy flow. The minute magical particles drifting in the air were caught in his internal energy and began swirling wildly.
"AAAGH! The detector—!"
A small cry escaped from the investigator hiding in the rear. The cutting-edge magical energy detector he was holding had overloaded and shattered in a shower of sparks.
"HYAAAH!"
Timed to that exact moment, Jina's sword cleaved the Bearwolf's chest. A strike that should have been blocked by its metallic hide—but the beast's interior had already crumbled, and its body parted as softly as tofu.
CRASH—!
The massive beast slumped lifelessly to the ground.
"D-Did we do it?"
The team stared in disbelief at the fallen creature. Jina, too, wore a bewildered expression as she looked down at her own hand. Something about the sensation just now had been off. It had felt as though the beast's life force had already been extinguished before her blade even touched it.
But before she could dwell on the thought, the entire dungeon was gripped by a massive tremor.
RRRUMBLE—!
"Magical energy surge! A dungeon break is happening!"
At someone's cry, cracks spread through the corridors. Somyeong had intentionally amplified the magical energy fluctuations to plunge the dungeon interior into chaos. The design ensured that all data the investigator had collected became worthless, and that every phenomenon would appear to be a natural magical anomaly.
"Oppa! Grab my hand, quick!"
Jina seized Somyeong's arm urgently. Somyeong played the part of the terrified civilian and let her pull him along.
"W-Whoa! Jina, be careful!"
The party dashed desperately toward the entrance, dodging collapsing debris. The investigator likewise scooped up his destroyed equipment and fled in a panic, joining the evacuation. All he had left was a recording full of meaningless noise.
***
Having escaped the dungeon, the group collapsed to the ground, gasping. Shortly after, the Gate vanished with a boom.
"God, I nearly died. What was that—a sudden magical energy surge?"
The team members patted their chests and grumbled. From deep in the forest, the hidden investigator urgently radioed headquarters.
"Reporting in. An unexpected magical energy anomaly occurred during the targets' combat. The waveform was ultra-high-density—enough to completely destroy the measuring equipment. It is highly likely that the Blue Dragon Guild incident was also caused by this kind of natural magical fluctuation."
A long silence followed from Team Leader Han Minwoo on the other end.
- ......Enough to destroy the equipment?
"Yes. It was at a level impossible to produce artificially. Kang Somyeong was simply panicking and scrambling to escape. I recommend removing him from the surveillance list."
- Understood. Withdraw for now.
When the transmission ended, Somyeong brushed off his bag and let the corner of his mouth curl up. The nuisance of surveillance would be gone for a while.
"Oppa, are you hurt? Let me see!"
Jina checked Somyeong over with a worried face. Somyeong dusted off his dirt-covered clothes and grinned.
"Yeah, I'm fine. How could I get hurt when our Jina was protecting me?"
"Tch, it was really dangerous back there. But today's strike somehow felt like it landed harder than usual. Do you think I might actually have talent?"
"Obviously. Who do you think my little sister is?"
Somyeong stroked his sister's head and gathered the remaining gear. He had disrupted the investigation and confirmed his sister's growth—not a bad haul for the day.
But while they descended the mountain in peace, the atmosphere inside the Hunter Association headquarters in the heart of Seoul was freezing over at breakneck speed.
Every monitor in the Central Control Room was flashing red warnings. On the massive central screen, real-time footage of the S-rank Gate near Seoul's Jamsil district was displayed.
"Team Leader! The magical energy readings have breached the critical threshold!"
Han Minwoo swallowed hard, hardly believing the sight before him. Enormous cracks were spreading across the exterior wall of the S-rank Gate—a Gate that had remained dormant for years—as though a glass window were shattering.
"This was reported right after the nationwide magical energy anomaly. Could this be connected?"
"Emergency! An unidentified high-energy reaction has been detected inside the Gate! This is...... on an entirely different level from any dungeon break we've seen!"
Han Minwoo's face went white. Instinct told him. The curtain on their peaceful daily life was falling, and a storm unlike anything they had ever experienced was approaching.
He picked up the situation room phone with a trembling hand.
"Issue an emergency mobilization order to every available S-rank hunter. This is not a drill."
Beyond the cracking Gate, an ominous shadow that no modern weapon could contend with was slowly descending.
"A real war is about to begin."
Han Minwoo's quiet murmur filled the cold situation room.