He closed the Skill Windows with a satisfied grin on his face.
There was no doubt that his growth had slowed down recently. Even then, he still managed to keep moving forward, and when he thought about the fact that there was still more room for him to grow, his heart began pounding even harder.
He wanted to climb even higher and higher.
‘I don’t know where the summit is, but….’
Every time he managed to reach and exceed his goals, his heart was filled with this indescribable happiness, a powerful bliss.
Ba-thump, ba-thump!!
Jongryeo returned the weapons to Inventory and placed his hand quietly on his chest.
Ba-thump, ba-thump.
His heart issued pleasant noises as it continued to beat steadily.
It was then, that he abruptly remembered something else that happened days ago
‘Doctor said it was a terrifying power, didn’t he?’
He recalled the diagnostic he heard from Doctor Baizhu a few days ago.
Baizhu left a warning for him. He said that Jongryeo owned two unknown powers, and he needed to be circumspect about it.
‘Was he talking about the System?’
Jongryeo also was scared of the things happening to him initially as well. He felt fearful of the System capable of creating all these unexplainable phenomena around him.
However, his fears didn’t last for long.
He adapted to the ways of the System in no time at all. And the System quickly became the single greatest tool he possessed.
Sure, there were still far too many mysteries left unanswered, but that was about it, really.
‘…..’
Jongryeo’s gaze drifted towards the mirror in front of him where two dark figures stood behind him. One has glowing gold eyes while the other is cyan.
“Just what are you?”
Of course, he didn’t get an answer in return.
“I mean, isn’t it okay to tell me what’s going on already?”
He quietly stared into the dark figures as if he were expecting an answer to arrive, but rather obviously, nothing came.
‘Notification.’
Jongryeo opened his inbox.
[ Quest: The Karutenon temple]
Rarity….
….has been reached.
Remaining time: 249:25:07
Here it was, the invitation sent out by the System.
A week’s worth of time had flown by already, and only around 250 hours remained.
‘What kind of answers will I find in that place?’
Half of him was filled with expectations. And the other half, deep curiosity. His heart rate which quietened down for a bit began beating faster again. Jongryeo lifted his hand off his chest.
His thoughts of doing everything he could during the remaining time hadn’t changed at all.
“You seem tired. Would you like some tea? I’ll brew you some. Do you take sugar? One cube, or two?”
The young woman’s voice made him turn around and face her. Her olive-green eyes were filled with concern.
Jongryeo smiles at her while he shakes his head.
“I’m quite alright, Noelle. Is the bath ready though?”
She was dressed in her usual maid dress with a metal headdress, a breastplate, a pauldron on her left shoulder, and a cravat. Her attire is adorned with fuchsia roses and bows. Her dress has one bow at her hip and a second at her rear. She wears black tights beneath her armored boots.
Noelle’s outfit. Heavy clothing made of durable velvet and metal plates.
Jongryeo long gives up on telling the maid that it’s okay to wear a more casual clothes. But she has a very high standard of work ethic.
“Yes.”
“I appreciate your hard work, Noelle. Thank you for looking out the house.”
“Please get some rest, you must be tired from today’s job. I should head back to the castle now.”
She gives me one last smile before disappearing.
Jongryeo enters the bathroom. He started stripping down until he was fully naked. He chuckled as he saw the petals floating in the bathtub.
‘She’s very diligent.’
He steps inside the tub and slowly sinks his body into the warm water. He leaned his head back and sighed.
“Why do I get the weird feeling that someone is watching me?”
He turned his head to the side and saw a glimpse of movement on the floor.
‘Did that shadow just move?’
_______
Woo Jinchul was among the very best within the A-ranked Hunters and could be considered the core fighting force of the Monitoring Division.
There was no one within the Association, save for Go Gunhee, who could win against him in a fight. He was that strong.
However, Hunter Sung Jin Woo was capable of controlling not just one or two summoned creatures, but several hundreds of them at the same time, each one of them strong enough to shock someone of Woo Jinchul’s caliber. In that case, a schedule like this one shouldn’t be seen as strange at all.
However, why was he in such a hurry like this?
‘H-mm.’
Deep frowns formed on Go Gunhee’s forehead.
If it were someone else, a different Hunter, then he’d pack his lunch and follow them around to dissuade them. He was even prepared to whip them until they changed their minds, but now….
‘But, I can’t imagine Hunter Sung Jin Woo getting hurt inside measly rank A and B Gates at all.’
If he were to borrow Woo Jinchul’s description from earlier, then wouldn’t it be ‘pitying the monsters’, instead? Go Gunhee smirked softly and nodded his head.
“If there isn’t any serious problem, do as he wishes, please.”
From the perspective of the Association President, he was thankful for the fact that there was a Hunter taking the lead in subjugating monsters all on his own. Especially when that person was a powerful being who’d not get injured during the process, too.
However, Woo Jinchul apparently didn’t agree.
“Sir, I believe it could lead to problems.”
“You mean, his activity will overlap with the jurisdictions of other large Guilds, is that it?”
“Yes, sir.”
There were three major Guilds operating within the Seoul Capital Area: the White Tiger, the Hunters, and the Reapers.
These three Guilds took care of high-ranking Gates that appeared within the districts they were in charge of.
But, if Ah-Jin suddenly butted their heads in among them without notice and start expanding rapidly like this, then the three Guilds would obviously grow unhappy rather quickly. It’d be basically the same thing as old nails being driven out by a new one.
‘They might end up in a conflict.’
That was Woo Jinchul’s opinion and Go Gunhee certainly agreed with that. Still, a smile floated up on the Association President’s lips.
‘I thought President was on Sung Hunter-nim’s side?’
Woo Jinchul formed a puzzled expression as he asked.
“…..Did you come up with a good idea, sir?”
“No, not that. It’s just that, I can’t stop smiling when I think about how a newly established Guild with only three members and one combatant on their roster, has managed to exceed the major Guilds and is already coveting their territories like this.”
“Ah…..”
Only then did Woo Jinchul understand.
“I agree, sir.”
It was Go Gunhee’s turn to ask, that smile still etched on his lips.
“Did Ah-Jin provide an explanation on why they want to do this?”
“They said that they have a personal reason and want us to entrust them with the Gates nearby only for the next week or so, sir.”
“A week, is it….”
During the Jeju Island raid, the Masters of the three major Guilds ended up owing their lives to Hunter Seong. It’d not be hard to get their understanding if it were only for a week.
‘If there’s one thing that I’m still puzzled about, then it’d be….’
That would have to be ‘why Hunter Sung Jin Woo was willing to put himself under such a strenuous schedule’ – or, at least, when viewed from someone else’s perspective.
‘It can’t be… about money.’
If he wanted wealth, then there were other ways. If he negotiated with either the United States or China, he’d have gotten his hands on astronomical sums of wealth.
However, Hunter Sung Jin Woo decided to remain in South Korea, and he didn’t even bother to bargain with any of the Guilds, either.
‘Then, just why….?’
Go Gunhee’s gaze was soon directed to Woo Jinchul guarding his side. The former asked as if it was in passing.
“In your opinion, why do you think Hunter Seong is trying to clear this many Gates in such a short time?”
Woo Jinchul thought about it for a moment, before answering his boss.
“There is one thing I can think of, sir.”
Go Gunhee expected an answer along the lines of “I don’t know” or “Can’t be sure”, so he couldn’t help but pay more attention to this somewhat surprising reply.
“What would that be?”
“I remember seeing how delighted he was during the process of hunting down the monsters.”
“He was ‘happy’ hunting down monsters?”
“Yes, sir.”
Jinchul dragged out the memories of the recent past to the fore.
Even back when Jin Woo was helping out the Hunters Guild by fighting the High Orcs, he was carrying an expression of delight as he cheerfully moved around.
“And he was especially elated when taking down the boss-level monster, sir.”
“He feels delight at hunting down powerful monsters, is it….”
Go Gunhee remembered listening to Jin Woo saying something similar in the past.
[“I wish to fight against the monsters.”]
And ever since he made that declaration, he had been diligently keeping his promise.
‘What an interesting fellow he is.’
…
That man was certainly a lot more exceptional than being merely interesting, too.
It was then, that the office of the Association President was suddenly filled with the noisy ring of the telephone.
– “President, sir.”
It was a call from one of his adjutants.
“What’s going on?”
– “There’s a call from the American Hunter Bureau waiting for you, sir.”
“From America?”
Not only that, from the Hunter Bureau, too? Go Gunhee tilted his head slightly.
‘Why would the Hunter Bureau contact me, the President of the Korean Hunter’s Association?’
A country like the United States wouldn’t request South Korea for cooperation, so what could this possibly be about?
“Connect me through.”
_______
Jin Woo wanted to test something.
The newly added effect to the skill ‘Shadow Storage’ was called ‘Sensory Sharing’. It was a rather unique ability that let the summoner, him, feel what a Shadow Soldier was sensing.
Since it was possible to choose a Shadow Soldier far away from him and see what was going on around there, he ended up using it rather often in the last couple of days. Such as now.
Jin Woo quietly closed his eyes.
‘Sensory Sharing.’
He picked up on the signal sent out by the Shadow Soldiers spread all over outside the dungeon, within the nation of South Korea.
‘I sure have spread around quite a few, haven’t I?’
Without worrying about it too much, he selected one of them to see. Quite coincidentally, it just so happened to be a soldier hidden within Jongryeo’s shadow. And when he connected with that soldier…
Splash…..
….He heard the sounds of water falling on the floor.
‘It shouldn’t be raining today, so what’s up with all the water noi…..?!’
His confusion lasted only for a brief second.
Jin Woo’s eyelids shot open in haste as soon as he saw the fair-skinned nude figure in the bathtub.
Yu Jin-Ho was taken by surprise alongside him.
“Hyung-nim?? What happened? Were you taking a nap just now?”
“….No, it’s nothing.”
Jin Woo shook his head.
He inwardly told himself to buy Jongryeo a hearty meal as soon as possible as a gesture of apology.
Comment