Chapter 147 - Chapter 147 (2/2)

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Standing before a rank A Gate for the first time ever in his life, Yu Jin-Ho's bulging eyes were trying to look up at the top of this enormously tall Gate.

"Heok..."

He needed to look really high up just to barely spot it.

Seeing how Yu Jin-Ho couldn't close his mouth for the last 20 minutes or so, Jin-Woo began thinking that his own reaction of seeing the rank A Gate back then was perhaps too reserved for a first timer.

"Hey, Jin-Ho? Your jaw will come loose if you keep doing that."

"Sorry? Ah, yes. My bad, hyung-nim. It's just that, I've never seen a Gate this big before."

How would he even react if he saw the Gwang-an-ri Gate, then? Jin-Woo smirked softly to himself.

Yu Jin-Ho scratched his head as if he felt embarrassed for being so shocked by the Gate's size.

"Hyung-nim, will it be really okay to not hire any retrieval teams or mining teams?"

"Nah, it'll be fine."

Jin-Woo summoned 30 of the elite grade Shadow Soldiers that had been with him the longest.

"These guys will carry out those jobs."

Yu Jin-Ho flinched just a little after all those Shadow Soldiers suddenly appeared behind Jin-Woo, but eventually, he began nodding his head.

"Aha!!"

These guys with black armours and their black eyes. They always seemed to be overflowing with dense pressure whenever Yu Jin-Ho looked at them.

With excellent timing, the employees dispatched from the Association approached them from afar. One of them happened to be a rather familiar face, as well.

"Good day, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."

"Hello, Section Chief Woo."

The Chief of the Monitoring Division, Woo Jin-Cheol received the portable magic energy measuring device shaped like a speed gun from one of his subordinates.

"Will it be okay if I go ahead and measure them?"

"Please do."

Jin-Woo moved aside and the Shadow Soldiers all uniformly took a step forward. Woo Jin-Cheol began measuring the magic energy emission of each of the soldiers.

'Oh my god....'

His eyes were opening wider and wider as he checked every each one of these so-called soldiers. He thanked his lucky stars that no one got to see the look of sheer shock on his face due to the sunglasses he was currently wearing.

'All of his summons are either rank As or rank Bs.'

Indeed, Jin-Woo had easily exceeded the criteria for earning the raid permit for a rank A Gate such as this one. But then, these weren't all the summons Hunter Seong Jin-Woo could call out, were they?

If the remaining summons all possessed similar levels of magic energy, then...

The corners of Woo Jin-Cheol's lips arched up.

'All those people arguing over the preferential treatment or not are simply idiots.'

He smiled and lightly shook his head, before turning around to face Jin-Woo.

"I'm finished with the confirmation. There are no issues."

Nod.

Jin-Woo nodded his head with a smile, as well. And now, there should be nothing else that would get in his way of starting this raid. That's what he thought, but then....

"Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim!! Please look this way!"

"Please tell us how you feel regarding the very first raid of your Guild, Ah-Jin!"

"Was there a special reason for naming your Guild as Ah-Jin?"

"What is your relationship with the fellow founding member, Miss Yu Soo-Hyun?"

From just beyond the police line, the proverbial torrent of questions from countless reporters were barrelling down on Jin-Woo.

This was the first raid Jin-Woo's Guild was about to embark on. So, countless reporters camped out here since early morning to capture this historic moment with their cameras, and inevitably, there was no more space to even stand around near the Gate's vicinity.

If there was one thing different from other Guilds and their raids, then that would be the employees from the Association holding the reporters back, instead of a Guild's own personnel doing that job.

Jin-Woo pointed to the reporters with his chin.

"I thought you were protecting my information?"

"Yes, we are indeed protecting your private information, but regretfully, there's not much we can do about the locations of Gates, Seong Hunter-nim."

Woo Jin-Cheol grinned and made his reply.

"We will hold the reporters back, so you can ignore them and simply focus on the raid, Hunter-nim."

"...."

Watching the Association employees giving their all to fight off the frenzied reporters, Jin-Woo thought that he could momentarily feel the considerate hands of the Association President patting him on the back.

"Please, express my gratitude to the President."

"Yes, I will definitely do so."

Woo Jin-Cheol bowed deeply and turned around to leave. And soon, all those uninvolved had left and the only people remaining in front of the Gate were Jin-Woo and Yu Jin-Ho. The former asked the latter.

"Are you really sure about this?"

"Yes, hyung-nim."

Yu Jin-Ho gritted his teeth and replied.

"Even if it's the ends of hell itself, I shall follow you wherever you go, hyung-nim."

Yu Jin-Ho sounded so gravely determined that Jin-Woo couldn't help but let a smirk escape from his lips.

"Alright."

Yu Jin-Ho was only a rank D Hunter. It was the same thing as committing suicide for a rank D to step inside a rank A dungeon.

Jin-Woo tried very hard to change Yu Jin-Ho's mind, but the kid insisted that he'd stay as his hyung-nim's porter. In the end, it was Jin-Woo who gave up first.

'Well, I can definitely protect this one guy, so it's not a problem.'

He was thinking that the kid would give up on his own volition after having a taste of a rank A dungeon. And also, he figured that it wouldn't be so bad to have someone to talk to inside the dungeon as well.

"Okay, so. Shall we get going, then?"

"Yes, hyung-nim."

"Indeed, let's get going."

The heads of Jin-Woo and Yu Jin-Ho simultaneously swivelled back after hearing that voice coming from behind them. And that's where they spotted Woo Jin-Cheol, his usual black business suit now replaced by various armours covering from head to toe.

"I thought you already left?"

Jin-Woo asked, puzzled.

"The Association President ordered me to find out if it is really safe during Seong Hunter-nim's raid."

Goh Gun-Hui was planning to use Woo Jin-Cheol as a witness if the issue with Jin-Woo going on solo raids was raised up again in the future.

"Is that why you want to come with us??"

Woo Jin-Cheol replied as his face reddened slightly. It was unknown whether that was due to him not being used to the armour or he was embarrassed by the current situation.

"....Will it be a problem for me to accompany you?"

Well, the guy was just doing his job, so was there reason not to let him tag along?

"It'll be fine as long as you don't try to hunt monsters."

"My department isn't called the Monitoring Division for nothing, Hunter-nim. I'll only monitor the situation quietly from the back."

"That'll be fine."

Jin-Woo easily agreed to it and Woo Jin-Cheol bowed his head again.

"Thank you very much, Hunter-nim."

"Well, in that case... let's get going."

Along with that declaration, Yu Jin-Ho and Woo Jin-Cheol stepped inside the Gate, Jin-Woo following closely behind them.

When he did, the System message welcomed him again along with the familiar mechanical beep.

Tti-ring.

[You have entered a dungeon.]

< Chapter 147 > Fin.