Chapter 123 - Chapter 123 (1/2)
The video clip finally finished playing on the phone.
"...."
The footage of a raid taking place in a small nation to the Far East left a pretty hefty mental shock to David Brennan, the director of America's Hunter Bureau.
"What do you think?"
The deputy director cautiously asked his boss. And the director was quick with his reply.
"Never mind what I think, aren't you here in these early hours because you already know what I'm about to say? Am I right?"
That was indeed true.
It was already an uncommon occurrence for the director of the mighty Hunter Bureau and his deputy to have a meeting at four in the morning, but then, their meeting place also happened to be the kitchen of the director's private residence, as well.
A heavy silence descended between two men sitting opposite side of the dining table.
Puff, puff....
The director replayed the video one more time as he sucked on his cigarette. He was still getting shocked by what he was watching. Especially when he got to the part where the Hunter summoned out black 'soldiers' to sweep away the swarm of ants, the director's entire body shuddered noticeably.
'…....'
What could anyone say after viewing this crazy video?
And so, as he continued sucking on another cigarette in silence....
The director's wife came down from the upstairs bedroom in search of her missing husband, and called out his name after spotting the light in the kitchen.
"Dave? Is everything alright?"
When the director wordlessly gestured with his hand, the wife looked at him worriedly for a moment or two before going back to the bedroom.
Exactly three cigarettes later, the director quietly opened his mouth.
"What a waste of talent to be confined in a small country like South Korea."
"I agree."
"What do we know about him?"
The deputy director readily brought out a file containing all the pertinent information related to Seong Jin-Woo. The director scanned the files and formed a satisfied smile.
"Very good."
It had been less than an hour since the raid came to an end on the island of Jeju in the country far, far east, yet the related data was already in his hands. Not only that, the file contained everything from that Hunter's type as well as his close associates and relatives, too.
Now, this was the power of the United States, the Hunter 'superpower' in the world.
On the other side of the table, the deputy was smiling inwardly to himself.
'We got lucky on this one.'
Sure, the swiftness of the American intelligence network was one thing, but luck played a big part, as well. To be more precise, the 'Seong Il-Hwan' incident.
An existence that could either be a human or a monster in disguise exited from a dungeon and claimed that he was a Korean Hunter. The data compiled back then still remained in the database of the Hunter Bureau.
In the current situation where no other nation even knew what his name was – with the exception of South Korea, of course – the Americans were able to get two steps ahead of everyone else.
'God bless America.'
Indeed, if this wasn't the heavens helping them out, then what was?
However, it wouldn't do to get all worked up over a minor lucky coincidence like this one. No, it all depended on the abilities of the individuals involved when it came to turning a lucky coincidence into a genuine opportunity.
The deputy formed a pretty serious expression.
"His father went missing in a Gate, but he still hasn't received any proper compensation until now."
"H-mm...."
"And also, before he went through a Re-Awakening process, he risked death countless times to pay for his mother's hospital fees."
"....What an inconceivable tale that is."
How could they treat the wife and the son of a hero this badly, when he lost his life fighting against monsters all for the sake of his nation? Such a thing was completely unimaginable in the US.
"And well, this isn't confirmed information, but..."
The director lifted his gaze off from the files. The deputy took his time to build suspense and finally murmured out.
"Apparently, he hasn't signed up with any Guilds yet."
".....!!"
Now that piece of news managed to perk up the director's ears even more. He closed the file with a sombre expression on his face.
"This is a different matter altogether from Hwang Dong-Su's case."
When that familiar name was mentioned, the glint in the deputy's eyes changed.
"Taking away two rank S Hunters from a single country.... That'd be akin to declaring that we are turning our backs on that particular nation."
South Korea and America had been allied nations for a very long time. What the director was implying here was that the impact of this matter would mushroom into something rather substantial in the near future.
However, the deputy replied with a confident tone of voice.
"Even still..... Don't you think he's a talent worth all that trouble?"
"..."
Of course.
The director couldn't deny that. So, he answered with a question, instead.
"Can you do it?"
The deputy answered with the exact same words he used back during the Hwang Dong-Su's case.
"I'll do my best."
Because of those four words, the deputy was able to quickly climb the career ladder to get to where he was now. As for the man that the deputy director had locked his sights on...
The United States of America already boasted two of the most powerful Hunters in the world, the so-called 'Special Authority-ranks' in their roster, but even then, the director David Brennan wanted to naturalise that youth as an American citizen.
The director placed his fourth cigarette of the morning in his lips and spoke in a grave tone of voice.
"Regardless of what conditions he puts forth, you will bring him over to this side."
***
Jin-Woo rode on the back of Kaisel to hunt down and kill every single ant monster his Shadow Soldiers missed the first time around.
Kiieeehhk!!
Yet another ant fell after getting struck by the skill, Dagger Throw. Jin-Woo didn't bother to step down from Kaisel and simply used the skill, Ruler's Reach, to easily retrieve his shortsword.
'I must be pretty close to levelling up now.'
There weren't that many ants left to be found on the island. Jin-Woo really preferred that he'd get to level up by killing the remaining ants in this place.
First of all, just a single level up would take him to level 100. For Jin-Woo, who loved to see numbers ending in the multiples of five, 100 was such a fantastic level that he simply had to get there as soon as possible.
Since he hadn't booked any Gates, once he leaves Jeju Island he wouldn't have any other avenues to earn experience points for a while. As long as he didn't get lucky and another key to an instant dungeon popped out of the random boxes, or a dungeon break occurred near where he lived, of course.
'Wait, it's not cool to think of a dungeon break as being lucky, is it.'
If a dungeon break occurred, then that meant one or more teams had failed in their raids. So, to him, it was far more preferable to get to level 100 in this place.
And, if there was another reason for doing so, then....
He ended up recalling a painful memory while trying to extract Hunter Min Byung-Gu's shadow.
The leader of the White Phantoms, Baruka.
After failing three times to extract his shadow, Jin-Woo couldn't convert him into his Shadow Soldier.
When he failed in his first attempt earlier in the day, his heart fell to the pit of his stomach, as the thoughts of 'Am I going to have another episode like that' filled his head.
'Well, I did manage somehow to succeed on my second try, but still...'
Wasn't this the case of 'A burnt child fears fire'?
There was no guarantee that the same thing as Baruka wouldn't happen later when trying to extract the ant king's shadow. That guy's Stat values were so high that comparing Hunter Min Byung-Gu to that monster was a time-wasting gesture.
Even if it was by a small margin, Jin-Woo wanted to increase his odds of successfully extracting that guy's shadow by raising his level. He was sure that, although there was only one level difference, it would definitely help out his cause.
'….Uh?'
After discovering something on the ground, Jin-Woo ordered Kaisel to land.