Chapter 184 - Chapter 184 (2/2)

- "Now that you mention it, sir, it does sound odd."

"Oh, by the way. Wasn't the Ah-Jin Guild supposed to interview the prospective employees today? But, he still didn't show up there?"

- "Yes, sir. Seong Hunter-nim was nowhere to be found in the interview location. It was just that Vice Master, Yu Jin-Ho doing everything by himself."

"...."

A short bout of silence flowed between the two men. Choi Jong-In eventually broke the silence first and spoke in a relatively calm voice.

"And how do you know that, manger Joh?"

***

- "I might really die at this rate, hyung-nim."

The moment Jin-Woo answered the phone, Yu Jin-Ho began bitterly complaining. He couldn't help but grin a little.

It must've indeed been tough staring at the faces of the applicants the whole day. Although the number of hopefuls had been carefully filtered and trimmed down, didn't it still shoot past several hundred?

The kid might have been young, but he was doing his job as the Vice-Master of a Guild and the proxy of Jin-Woo admirably well.

'Is this why the wise elders say you are your father's child?'

Sure, his 'dongsaeng' might come across as a bit naïve and dopey, but within Yu Jin-Ho's body flowed the blood of the natural-born business tycoon Chairman Yu Myung-Han.

And thanks to that, Jin-Woo could simply leave the running of the Guild to Yu Jin-Ho and freely pursue what he wanted to do.

"Thanks. You worked hard."

- "No, not at all, hyung-nim. By the way, how are things on your side?"

"Here?"

Jin-Woo looked behind him. The JSDF soldiers on standby sent him a signal as if the preparations had been completed. Seeing that, a smile floated back up on his lips.

"Well, it's the same old story. I guess things could get delayed a bit here, so close up shop without me."

- "Got it, hyung-nim."

Yu Jin-Ho's polite goodbye signalled the end of the phone call.

An employee working for the Japanese Hunter's Association hurriedly ran towards Jin-Woo and received the phone as well as his luggage. Having handed over his stuff for safekeeping, he slowly loosened his neck and shoulder muscles.

This state of heightened feelings he'd get while lightly stretching his muscles before a raid always served to relax his mind.

As if to provide a conversation partner while Jin-Woo was stretching his body, or maybe he was just curious about something, the Japanese Association employee suddenly asked a question.

"If you let the world know that you're busy closing the Gates being generated in the disaster areas, your fame would skyrocket even further, so if I may ask, why are you keeping it a secret?"

Jin-Woo's reply to that was pretty simple. He finished his light stretching exercise and grinned brightly.

"I like peace and quiet, you see."

Humility was one of the highest praised qualities in Japanese society.

Tears began welling up in the eyes of the Association employee as he took Jin-Woo's "peace and quiet" answer as the latter being modest in his actions.

"If you need anything, please let me know immediately! I shall absolutely do everything in my power to make it come true, even if that means I must die!!"

….Well, this guy seemed to be clearly mistaken about something, but as long as the end result was good, all's well. Jin-Woo could only smile awkwardly and lightly patted the Japanese man on the shoulders before walking nearer to the Gate.

The JSDF soldiers stepped aside to create a path and saluted Jin-Woo.

This Gate was ranked at 'A'. Jin-Woo had been travelling from Korea and Japan every day to monopolise all the high-ranking Gates the Japanese couldn't handle by themselves.

He should thank the Japanese spy satellite that could detect magical energy, as well as his movement skill, 'Shadow Exchange', for this venture.

Jin-Woo stood before the Gate and looked up. Indeed, it was a pretty d*mn big thing that totally fit its rank A status.

He didn't need to spend a heap of cash trying to book high-ranking Gates here, and the Japanese government even promised to waiver all related taxes.

However, the financial side of the things was not the biggest merit for him – no, it'd be the fact that he got to monopolise every single high-ranked Gates appearing within the breadth of Japan, a large country that had lost the functionality of Guilds after the dungeon break disaster.

'Demon King's Shortsword.'

Shururuk....

"Heok."

A young soldier witnessed a pair of shortswords suddenly materialising in Jin-Woo's hands and reflexively gasped out in surprise. And then, as if he got embarrassed by that outburst, he quickly bowed towards Jin-Woo.

He simply smirked as a reply and began walking towards the Gate.

'Four days left until the International Guild Conference.'

Jin-Woo told himself that he couldn't afford to waste a single day and jumped straight into the Gate. Along with the mechanical beep, he was also greeted by the familiar voice in his ears.

Tti-ring.

[You have entered a dungeon.]

***

"Will this be fine, sir?"

Woo Jin-Cheol cautiously asked his question. The Association President Goh Gun-Hui showed no signs of agitation as he received a report.

"Regarding?"

"Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim.... Recently, he has been frequently visiting Japan."

The Hunter's Association could use the Hunter-issue smartphones to trace the current whereabouts of individual Hunters. And they had been feeding disinformation to those asking for Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's whereabouts as ordered by the Association President Goh Gun-Hui.

"What if Seong Hunter-nim decides to simply stay put in Japan...."

South Korea would be losing the greatest Hunter ever while sucking on their thumbs doing nothing. This would be Woo Jin-Cheol's worry in a nutshell.

For some reason, though, President Goh Gun-Hui didn't seem to be all that concerned regarding this event, even though he probably held the highest evaluation of Jin-Woo out of anyone alive.

That appearance certainly caused some amount of frustration in Woo Jin-Cheol's heart.

Perhaps finding the anxiety-ridden expression of his younger subordinate a bit pitiable, Goh Gun-Hui chuckled gently and finally spoke up.

"You don't need to worry."

"By any chance, do you know something, sir?"

"You see, he came to see me before he went over to Japan to hunt down those Giant-type monsters."

That sounded quite logical. After all, it was precisely the Association President Goh Gun-Hui who announced the story of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo planning to hunt those Giants to the world.

Goh Gun-Hui recalled the memories of that meeting.

"I, of course, tried to dissuade him. I told him that, compared to the risk, he'd be earning far too little from this venture. It wasn't as if he was promised a huge amount of cash like Yuri Orlov in the first place."

Woo Jin-Cheol nodded his head.

Jin-Woo demanded the rights to the corpses of the monsters and that was all. For the price of saving an entire country, that was far, far too small.

'Of course, that didn't mean there was enough spare time to negotiate a deal with a country busy losing several cities in a day....'

One should say that the matters couldn't be helped back then.

The Association President should be protecting the Hunters of his own nation, so it was already an odd thing for him to let Hunter Seong go this easily.

"But then, he told me this."

Goh Gun-Hui recalled the conversation back then and formed a deep grin. Woo Jin-Cheol couldn't win against his curiosity and asked back first.

"What... did he say?"

Goh Gun-Hui happily replied to that.

"He said, he wanted the Ah-Jin Guild's territory to also include Japan."

"Keo-heok!"

A shocked gasp jumped out from Woo Jin-Cheol's mouth. Goh Gun-Hui's initial reaction after hearing that declaration from Jin-Woo himself wasn't all that different, either.

"Japan's major Guilds lost most of their strength from the losses incurred on Jeju Island, as well as from the attacks of the Giants. He told me straight that his Ah-Jin Guild will fill the void left behind by them."

"Huh-uh...."

Woo Jin-Cheol couldn't shut his slack mouth.

Was it the young man's confidence or simply an excellent head on his shoulders that allowed him to think that far ahead, even before he got to hunt down a single Giant? Regardless of what it was, Jin-Woo still got to achieve his objective.

After all, wasn't this story something the Japanese would welcome with wide open arms?

"After hearing that, how could I not permit him going there?"

While the major Guilds were busy bickering among themselves over the comparatively small territory of Seoul, he'd go and make the entirety of Japan his own.

One of the qualifications to become a true Hunter was the talent to choose his own hunting spot. And as he even possessed the necessary power to handle whatever his prey turned out to be, one could definitely call Seong Jin-Woo as someone born to become a Hunter.

Goh Gun-Hui let the opinion stewing in his mind, as well as a sigh of admiration, escape from his mouth.

"He sure is one incredible fellow."

"....I agree wholeheartedly, sir."

Woo Jin-Cheol definitely agreed with that sentiment.

Putting aside the incredible power of travelling between Korea and Japan in an instant without the aid of an aeroplane, the fact that he also possessed enough abilities to make that nonsensical goal into reality, could only bring about a sigh of admiration from both men.

With excellent timing, the TV that was left switched on began showing the clip from Choi Jong-In's interview.

["I am genuinely proud of the fact that Hunter Seong has been chosen to represent South Korea."]

The Association President Goh Gun-Hui leaned against the couch as a genuine chuckle left his mouth, and spoke back to Choi Jong-In on the screen.

"I also think the same as you."

< Chapter 184 > Fin.