“Excuse me? The camera?”
“Yes.”
The cameraman looked at Jin Woo with a flustered expression. But, Jin Woo’s face was solemn, deeply serious, and unmoving.
“But, why the camera, all of a sudden…?”
Jin Woo remained silent at the flustered cameraman’s question.
“….”
The cameraman couldn’t come to a decision here. Hunter Sung Jin Woo was indeed his savior. He’d gladly heed that man’s request, especially when he was also saving the lives of others here, too.
‘However, to ask me to switch the camera off….’
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that every South Korean citizen must be watching this broadcast, right now. As a broadcaster, he found it hard to press the ‘off’ button on his camera under the current situation.
When he began hesitating like that, Jin Woo chose to not waste any more time and spoke up.
“If you don’t. I’ll just break it.”
Hearing Jin Woo’s icy tone of voice, the cameraman flinched grandly.
If Hunter Sung Jin Woo decided to break the camera, then would the combined efforts of the Hunters present here even be enough to stop him?
The ‘why’ no longer mattered as he was left with no choice in the matter anymore.
“I-I understand. Hold on.”
The cameraman removed the head-mounted camera and switched the device off. After confirming the ‘power’ light of the camera was gone, Jin Woo gently took Park Jongryeo back from Baek Yoonho.
‘I didn’t want to scare the cameraman, but….’
It couldn’t be helped if he wanted to save Jongryeo.
While holding him, Jin Woo quickly scanned his vicinity. He then took a couple of deep breaths and closed his eyes.
‘What is he trying to do now?’
The attention of the Hunters was all gathered on him now. Soon, he opened his eyes. Finding the location of what he was searching for, Jin Woo suddenly turned around and headed deeper into the ant tunnel.
His steps were brisk, but he never broke into a full-blown sprint in consideration of his omega’s current condition. Others dazedly stared at his back, before quickly recovering their wits to run after him.
Finally, Jin Woo came to a stop and cautiously put Jongryeo down. He then began removing the pile of ant corpses from around him.
“Heok!!”
Discovering something rather unexpected, the cameraman was the first one to gasp out in surprise.
“Mm….”
Other Hunters also let a stunned gasp leak out from their mouths. Because, the cold, headless body of Min Byung Gyu was there. It was a gruesome sight to behold, where there was literally nothing above his neck area.
Only then did they venture to guess why Hunter Sung Jin Woo demanded for the camera to be cut off. No one out there would want to witness that horrible scene, after all.
“Keuk.”
The closest person to Min Byung Gyu out of everyone present here, Baek Yoonho, squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away.
But then…
‘Wait a minute…’
He suddenly thought of something.
‘How did Hunter Sung Jin Woo find where Byung Gyu was among all these dead monsters?’
The answer arrived soon enough in his mind.
Without the aid of a special skill, such a thing wouldn’t have been possible. The magic energy emissions coming from humans and monsters were minutely different, but Jin Woo was able to differentiate between the two and managed to locate Min Byung Gyu’s corpse before the emission from him completely dissipated.
If true, then that could only be described as an astonishing sensory perception. Such a task would be impossible even for Baek Yoonho’s ‘Eyes of the Beast’, which was supposed to be a specialized trait meant for that kind of job.
After his thoughts reached up to this point, Baek Yoonho shifted his head back in the direction of Jin Woo.
Even at the risk of the final appearance of Byung-Gyu being deeply etched in his nightmares, Baek Yoonho wanted to witness with his own two eyes just what would happen next.
‘Hunter Sung Jin Woo…. Just what are you trying to do?’
Cold sweat drops formed on his forehead as he alternated his gaze between Jin Woo, Min Byung-Gyu, and Jongryeo.
In the meantime, Jin Woo took a closer look at the status of Min Byung-Gyu. The black smoke was rising up from the corpse.
Meaning, it was possible to perform the ‘Shadow Extraction’ on it.
And, sure enough….
[It is possible to perform Shadow Extraction on the selected target.]
The familiar mechanical beep and the System’s message informed him in such a ‘friendly’ way that what he wanted to do was, well, doable.
Of course, Jin Woo was cognisant of the fact that Hunter Min Byung-Gyu could be turned into a Shadow Soldier the moment he heard of the latter meeting an unfortunate fate.
Only that he didn’t feel like doing it.
To turn a blameless guy into an undead and use him as a soldier…. Even if the corpse belonged to an S-rank Hunter, he’d still reject the idea outright. That was not something a human being should do.
However…
Jin Woo stared at Jongryeo’s gradually paling face.
‘….This is the best way.’
What if, in a situation where every second counted, he could entrust the gravely injured to the best Healer in South Korea? What was there to even think about here?
If the decision was left up to Min Byung Gyu himself, he’d have made the same call 100 times out of 100. Jin Woo formed a solemn expression and issued an order to the shadow.
“Arise.”
However, the end result was different from what he expected.
[The Shadow Extraction has failed.]
Confusion and anxiety began entering Jin Woo’s expression.
…
Was this because the skill level was too low compared to the target’s Stat values? Or, was it because he wasn’t really feeling it with this particular Shadow Extraction?
Jin Woo quickly shook off all distracting thoughts. And then, spoke up once more, his voice now containing his will.
“Arise.”
The desirable changes took place, then.
Uaaaaahhhh-!
A low, heavy sound that could be described as either a victorious roar or a scream resounded out from the distance somewhere, and an eerie wind suddenly swept past everyone.
The eyes of the Hunters were shot open in shock as the creeping chill crawled down their spines.
“What the!”
“That isn’t that…?!”
From Min Byung-Gyu’s shadow, a black hand rose up. As if it didn’t want to go back inside the shadow again, the black hand powerfully grabbed the ground. And then, it began pulling itself out from the darkness.
‘How, how can this be?!’
Baek Yoonho felt as if his heart would explode from what he was seeing right now. Other people might not see it, but his eyes clearly captured everything.
…
Min Byung-Gyu’s magic energy rising up from his shadow was slowly solidifying into the shape of a person. More specifically, a soldier decked out in jet-black armor.
And soon, the so-called ‘summoned’ creature finally revealed itself.
“….”
The Hunters were rendered utterly speechless and dazedly stared at the newly summoned creature of Jin Woo. And from this creature, they could sense the kind of magical energy that could only be felt by a top-ranked Hunter.
‘No, wait a minute…?’
The quick-witted Choi Jong-In flinched grandly in realization as his brows shot up.
As everyone watched with bated breaths, Jin Woo’s calm eyes were studying the shadow of Min Byung-Gyu. When their gazes met, the new Shadow Soldier nodded his head.
The moment a shadow was transformed into one of his soldiers, it would immediately form a mental link with Jin Woo. They would know what their sovereign wanted from them. Without needing any further orders, Min Byung-Gyu’s shadow knelt down and began casting healing magic on Jongryeo.
Wuuoonngg…
As soon as the warm rays of light escaped from the Shadow Soldier’s hands, Jongryeo’s pale complexion began recovering gradually. This was the top-level healing magic at work.
‘I knew it!!’
Choi Jong-In was properly freaking out now. He was completely sure of his guesses, now that he had seen those lights heal Jongryeo.
The identity of that black ‘soldier’ was none other than Min Byung-Gyu!
By then, other Hunters were also beginning to realize what was going on here.
Ma Dong Wook hadn’t been able to shut his slack jaw from the moment that black hand rose up from Min Byung-Gyu’s shadow, but now, he was able to collect himself enough to finally express his astonishment.
“Instructor Sung, you… weren’t an ordinary Summoner, I see.”
Jin Woo neither agreed nor denied it.
However, just what kind of people were they, to begin with? Every single one of them was an excellent Hunter who each represented the largest Guilds in South Korea. They didn’t need to hear a confirmation to understand the gist of it.
“By any chance… Sung Jin Woo Hunter-nim, you can utilize the powers of the deceased?”
Choi Jong-In asked with a nervous tension writ large on his face.
Jin Woo simply nodded his head, once.
Now that he found himself here, there was no more reason to hide his powers, nor did he want to mask it with lies, either.
‘Well, it’s not like these folks will fall for some random lies I cook up on the spot, anyway.’
Actually, he felt as if a load was taken off his shoulders now that he had revealed his powers to someone else.
Other people might fear it, but to Jin Woo, he feels eternally grateful for this power for helping him get to where he was. He was proud of the power of the Shadow Lord.
Seeing that confident look on Jin Woo’s face, other Hunters began to fear the extent of his powers.
‘He can summon creatures using the powers of the deceased?’
‘Wouldn’t he become stronger and stronger as the battle becomes fiercer? What a scary ability this is….’
‘I don’t even know what to say anymore.’
To these Hunters, having bore witness to Jin Woo’s ability today, this revelation left different types of impressions.
However, Baek Yoonho was privy to one more piece of secret info that others didn’t know.
‘Not only can his own powers continue to grow stronger, but he can also even control his vanquished enemies as his own summoned creatures. Wouldn’t that mean…..’
Hunter Sung Jin Woo’s current level of power had already reached an unfathomable degree. But when Baek Yoonho thought about the kind of strength the youth would possess in the future, his entire body began shuddering uncontrollably.
Suddenly, the cameraman spoke up as if he remembered something just then.
“Ah! Then the reason why you requested the camera to be turned off was because….”
This power was capable of making the nation’s top Hunters scared. Anyone could’ve easily guessed the reason why Jin Woo didn’t want to reveal such power to the rest of the country.
It was around then that Min Byung-Gyu’s shadow stood back up.
The treatment process must’ve been finished, because there was a hint of crimson color gently glowing on Hunter Jongryeo’s face.
‘Whew-woo….’
After confirming his status, Jin Woo sighed out in relief.
Although Jongryeo was still unconscious, his breathing and his heartbeat had returned to normal. As a matter of fact, his wounds were completely healed now.
Jin Woo patted the shoulder of Min Byung-Gyu’s shadow. That was a gesture of appreciation for the job well done.
‘……’
Jin Woo guessed what kind of person Min Byung-Gyu must’ve been when he was still alive, from the gentle eyes of the Shadow Soldier looking back at him.
Jin Woo slowly took his hand away from the shoulder, and then…
‘Extraction cancellation.’
With a slight smile on his lips, he let the shadow return to the abyss.
No matter what, he didn’t possess the right to lord over this man as one of his soldiers when Min Byung-Gu even sacrificed his life to fight against the monster threats. Indeed, he thought that such an act was not fitting for a fallen hero.
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