Chapter 124 - Chapter 124 (1/2)

Right at that moment....

The light within the ant queen's chamber suddenly dimmed and brightened back up over and over again, as if it was being illuminated by a dying fluorescent light bulb.

Jin-Woo raised his head. The large ball of light that Choi Jong-In floated up on the ceiling to help with the ant queen raid was flickering noticeably now.

'Is the magic about to come undone?'

At first, he absentmindedly thought like that.

However, it hadn't even an hour since the Korean Hunters stepped foot inside this chamber. So, how could the spell be dissipating already? Not only that, wasn't it a spell cast by a rank S Mage so he and his colleagues could safely carry out this potentially deadly raid?

There was no way such a thing could be true. In that case....

'…..Could it be?'

Could the Shadow Extraction he performed on the mutated ant be the cause? Just as this thought entered his mind....

Paht-!

The surroundings became completely dark.

He'd still be able to see around him thanks to his Perception Stat if there had been a sliver, a trace of light coming in from somewhere. But this all-encompassing darkness didn't even permit that.

It must've been a second or two later.

The darkness lingered on only for a briefest of brief moments before receding away – to reveal the mutated ant standing right in front of his eyes.

'…..!!'

Jin-Woo flinched grandly and took a step back.

If it weren't for the System message saying "Shadow Extraction was a success" appearing almost at the same time, he might have lashed out while thinking that the ant had come back to life or some such.

"Whew.... That surprised me."

Jin-Woo spat out a sigh of relief.

Now that he calmly took another look at the creature from a step away, it sure did look a bit different from when it was still alive. From its body, streams of black smoke were continuously rising up.

'So, this is that ant monster's shadow....'

He couldn't tell just how much of its original Stats had changed, but at least, the ominous aura it gave off seemed to have gone up a few levels. Jin-Woo stood before the ant's shadow. He could clearly feel its enormous magic energy reserve.

The mutated ant becoming his soldier finally felt real to him now that he could stand right before the creature and sense its magical energy like this.

'Hmm....'

He wanted to remain calm, but the corners of his lips continued to curl upwards.

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump!

His heart was pounding away madly like a child who got his hands on a toy he so badly wished to own.

Soon, the shadow's information popped up in his view. Jin-Woo's eyes narrowed to a slit as he read the info floating above the shadow's head.

[?? Lv.1]

Commander grade

Jin-Woo began clenching his fists tightly after confirming its grade. A new one just made its appearance. Which could only mean this guy possessed the kind of power that was on another realm compared to his other soldiers.

'Well, that's obvious when considering its original abilities while it was still alive....'

Just the name of the new grade alone implied that this soldier was not your average, common soldier. This was the fruit of his labour for having worked so hard to own this shadow. It was then.

Shu-wook.

The shadow knelt down after meeting his gaze with Jin-Woo's. Without a doubt, the 'absolute loyalty' that affected all the other Shadow Soldiers also applied to this guy, as well.

'Nice.'

Next stop, the ant queen.

Jin-Woo formed a satisfied smile and turned around. But, then....

"Oh, my king...."

Jin-Woo's steps came to an abrupt halt after he heard that voice coming from behind him. He never thought that he'd got scared that easily, but at least in this moment, he did feel like his heart had taken a nasty tumble down to the pit of his stomach.

….Could it have been auditory hallucination?

Jin-Woo looked behind him. Even without doing that, he could tell with his acute senses that there was nothing there besides the ant's shadow. That shadow was still kneeling on the ground, his head deeply bowed.

'…....'

Jin-Woo studied the shadow as he slowly turned around.

"Was it you?"

The shadow opened its mouth as if he was waiting for this moment.

"Please grant me... a name....."

Although it sounded a little inarticulate, the ant's shadow was definitely speaking back to him.

***

The helicopter containing the Hunters headed straight back to the city of Seoul.

Tatatatatata-!

The Association President Goh Gun-Hui had been anxiously waiting for their arrival, so when the helicopter landed on the landing pad located on the Hunters Association, he quickly went over personally and opened the vehicle's door.

"How is Cha Hae-In Hunter-nim's condition?"

The gazes of the Hunters all shifted towards where Cha Hae-In was. She still hadn't recovered her consciousness yet, and was lying on top of a blanket laid out on the helicopter's floor.

"Hurry! This way!"

Two rank A Healers, waiting just outside the landing pad, hurriedly sprinted forward as soon as Goh Gun-Hui issued his order. But, when they began checking out her condition,

"...??"

"...??"

They exchanged puzzled glances with each other.

"What's going on?"

When Goh Gun-Hui asked them, they answered almost at the same time, making it hard to tell who was the first to open his mouth.

"She's not injured anywhere."

"She's perfectly normal."

"Are you saying that there's no need to treat Hunter Cha now?"

The Healers nodded their heads. They also explained themselves a bit further.

"Not sure who did it, but truly incredible healing magic was cast on her. Because of that, we don't need to do anything here, sir."

Goh Gun-Hui was feeling genuinely flustered now.

When he last confirmed Cha Hae-In's condition through the live broadcast, her injuries looked quite severe. And also from a report he received, her condition was so bad that she failed to regain her consciousness until now.

That was why he had urgently searched for and found a couple of rank A Healers, and had them on standby here. But now...

'There's no need to heal her?'

Goh Gun-Hui swept his gaze all over the unmoving Cha Hae-In. For sure, her complexion didn't look so bad. It was almost as if she was fast asleep.

Just what transpired after the camera was turned off?

Goh Gun-Hui tilted his head in confusion.

'They didn't have a Healer over there, too....'

After all, their sole Healer, Min Byung-Gu, met with a grisly fate, didn't he?

Goh Gun-Hui asked the team leader, Mah Dong-Wook.

"Just what happened back there, Hunter Mah?"

"That is...."

As Mah Dong-Wook fell into a dilemma, wondering how he should go about explain this situation, one of the Healers hurriedly shouted out.

"She's waking up!"

Everyone's attention was focused on her in an instant. Goh Gun-Hui carefully sat down near her head and asked her.

"Cha Hunter-nim, can you hear me?"

Cha Hae-In slowly opened her eyes.

"Where....?"

"You're inside the helicopter. Currently, it's landed on the Hunters Association, and we are planning to escort you to the hospital very soon."

"A hospital...."

Cha Hae-In briefly looked around her, before taking a deep breath. The scent of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo had permeated throughout her body. She stared at Goh Gun-Hui with unfocused eyes.

"....Did Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim show up there?"

She was supposed to be unconscious all this time, so when she mentioned Seong Jin-Woo's name, other Hunters were all inwardly taken by surprise. Instead of a verbal answer, Goh Gun-Hui slowly nodded his head.

A thin smile formed on Cha Hae-In's face.

'I knew it... it wasn't a dream.'

Cha Hae-In had briefly woken up, but she fell back into a deep slumber again. After confirming that her breathing was stable, Goh Gun-Hui ordered his subordinates to take her to the hospital, so she could get some much-needed rest.

Only then did he notice that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo wasn't in the helicopter. He shifted his gaze back to Mah Dong-Wook.

"By the way, where is Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim?"

Having heard that question from the side, Baek Yun-Ho quickly butted in to provide an answer.

"Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, he... chose to stay behind."

"What do you mean, stay behind?"

Goh Gun-Hui formed an expression of someone who couldn't understand. As far as he knew, this helicopter fitted with the magic energy engine flew non-stop from Jeju Island to get to this place.

It didn't make any pitstops in the middle of the trip, so exactly where did that man chose to stay behind? Goh Gun-Hui asked again.

"Where did he choose to stay behind?"