Chapter 213 - Chapter 213 (1/2)

Next day.

The news of various Hunters had taken over the sports newspapers from the likes of actual athletes or celebrities a long time ago. And on this particular day, a rather sensational headline found itself on one such publication's front page.

[Seong Jin-Woo and Cha Hae-In go to a theme park; birth of the strongest couple?]

The articles contained many large photos of the two people in question visiting a theme park, taken by various smartphones. The last image was of them riding on a large monster to fly off to elsewhere.

The personal affairs of these two Hunters were supposed to be protected and couldn't be reported to the public, but the boss of this particular newspaper went mad from this massive breaking news and, even under the threat of sanctions, decided to release the article nonetheless.

Of course, the response had been tremendous.

The 'scandal' concerning two rank S Hunters whose names everyone could recognise brought about renewed vitality to the psyches of everyone who was fatigued by the constant stream of articles related to the super-massive Gate in the sky.

The world's greatest Hunter and Korea's best female Hunter were dating. Obviously, people would display an incredible amount of interest in this matter.

Especially online, where the story of the two Hunters was spreading out with an even more rabid intensity.

- Hang on, if Seong Jin-Woo and Cha Hae-In marry and have a kid together, wouldn't Seong Jin-Woo Junior go around killing every single monster in the entire world?

└ Seong Jin-Woo Junior LOL

└ It's not official that they are dating, yet look at all these idiots jumping to conclusions. Tsk, tsk.

└ Going by that example, you think we got Seong Jin-Woo because his parents were both super duper top Hunters? You sound like a little kid who don't know how Hunters awaken their powers.

└ Even then, doesn't those two dating make you feel excited?

└ I wish it was true. Them having a marriage argument will be an epic encounter that flattens their surroundings. LOL

- I live in the outskirts of Seoul, and when I saw that Gate floating in the sky while travelling near Gangnam, I thought the world was coming to an end. But now that I see the Hunters going on a date like this and enjoying their lives, I feel like there's hope left for us still and I'm relieved by that.

└ This. ㅇㅈ

└ I hope TV stations will stop playing special reports on the Gate now.

└ Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim, Cha Hae-In Hunter-nim, whether it's a super-massive Gate or a super-duper-massive Gate, please stop it for us!

"Tsk, tsk."

The Chairman of the White Tiger Guild, Baek Yun-Ho, clicked his tongue and folded close the newspaper in his hand.

He wondered why Hunter Cha Hae-In's eyes were gleaming suspiciously whenever she looked at Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, and so, this here was the reason.

However, he wasn't clicking his tongue because the two of them were going on a date.

"Look at this headline. It's complete rubbish. What do they even mean, strongest couple?"

Section Chief Ahn Sahng-Min, sitting near his boss and his rather displeased expression, asked him while sounding puzzled.

"What's the matter, sir? The way I see it, Hunters Seong Jin-Woo and Cha Hae-In would definitely be worthy of the title of 'strongest couple'."

"Doesn't matter who Hunter Seong Jin-Woo dates, we'll still get the 'birth of the strongest couple' anyways, so what's the point of attaching this sort of a headline?"

'Eh?'

Now that it was said out loud, that certainly sounded logical.

Ahn Sahng-Min began placing all the female Hunters he knew next to Jin-Woo in his mind, and began nodding his head at Baek Yun-Ho's opinion.

Even if Hunter Seong was dating that high school girl Hunter, he just couldn't think of anyone capable of winning against them. None at all.

The female high school Hunter might be not much to write home about, but well, her partner would be too much of a cheat, after all.

"You're completely correct, Chairman."

"Yes, I'm telling you."

Ahn Sahng-Min nodded his head again and began sipping the coffee he bought from the vending machine not too long ago. He slowly shifted his gaze outside the window.

"By the way, this issue with fine dust is really getting serious, sir. I'm actually scared of opening the windows nowadays."

Ahn Sahng-Min frowned and got up to close the half-open window. However, Baek Yun-Ho stopped him from doing so.

"Hang on."

"Sir?"

Baek Yun-Ho stood up from his seat and walked over to Ahn Sahng-Min, before opening the window wide to reach outside.

"This…. This isn't fine dust at all."

The feeling he got at the tips of his fingers was icy cold.

This was actually a fog. Not only that, a fog that carried this extreme coldness, bitter enough to make one's bones shiver.

"This is weird."

It was only around the middle of Autumn, but to think, there would be a wintery fog enveloping the entirety of Seoul. At that moment, he felt this creepy chilling sensation brushing past the back of his neck.

Baek Yun-Ho's eyes changed to that of the 'Eyes of the Beast' and he glared outside the window. He muttered to himself, his expression hardening gradually.

"Something… something feels really off."

***

Jin-Woo was the first one to open his eyes.

Hae-In must've been exhausted from yesterday as she hadn't woken up from her sweet slumber yet.

Just how long had it been since he greeted the morning together with someone else?

Jin-Woo cautiously got up to make sure not to rouse Hae-In and walked over to the nearby forest.

'It was definitely around here....'

He found the stream he used the last time he was here and washed up. After he was done, he walked back to where Hae-In was still asleep but then….

He discovered something strange and his steps came to an abrupt halt.

'What is this....?'

There was this small tree with new buds sprouting up. One might be tempted to say that it was a plant commonly seen anywhere, but the thing was, its leaves were gently shimmering in a silvery colour.

It was a tree never before seen on Earth, in other words.

And sure enough, this strange tree was emitting a very faint amount of magical energy, something only Jin-Woo's level of sensory perception could have picked up on.

'It's not from our world.'

The plant's magical energy emission was different from that of a monster's, so it clearly wasn't one. Jin-Woo observed the tree for a little while longer, before raising his head to discover more of the same silvery leaves here and there.

It was such a contrast to the sight of regular surrounding trees all drying up gradually.

'Even the ground... is changing.'

Was this also the part of the Rulers' plan? Or, was it more like the after-effects of monsters pillaging the land?

Jin-Woo scooped a little bit of soil and smelt it, before rubbing his hands together to scatter it away little by little. Even the falling soil contained a minute trace, a scent, of magic energy.

Maybe it was only the humans that hadn't noticed the truth yet. It might be that this world had become deeply mired in the magical energy already.

It was at this moment, he sensed Cha Hae-In's movement from afar as she slowly woke up from her slumber. Jin-Woo dusted his hands and stood back up.

It was indeed important to worry about the consequences of the transforming world, but there was something even more important than that right now.

And that would be to calm Hae-In down, when she'd no doubt start panicking after realising that he wasn't there. Jin-Woo deliberately made some noises as he approached her. She quickly discovered him and let out a soft sigh of relief.

He smiled and greeted her.

"Good morning. Did you rest well?"

Her complexion reddened for some reason. She replied while averting her gaze away from him.

".....Yes."

Jin-Woo sent her a puzzled look, prompting her to sneakily raise her head.

"Where were you coming from?"

Hae-In's question sounded cautious. He used the towel around his neck to rub his still-moist hair and replied.

"I was washing myself, actually."

Now that he thought about it, she must've wanted to clean herself just as badly, too. Especially with all that ocean breeze – even a little bit of exposure would leave behind plenty of salt on one's skin.

'Still, I can't let a young lady wash herself in a place like this....'

Jin-Woo pondered his options for a bit, before a smile floated up on his lips. Going to 'that place' would solve the issues of both taking a bath and breakfast in one go.

"I know a hotel with a killer breakfast nearby, so how about going there for our meal?"

Although she didn't verbalise her answer, Hae-In must've felt really hungry, because she immediately nodded her head, her lips firmly closed shut.

Jin-Woo reached out to her and helped her to stand back up, before summoning Kaisel out again.

Kiiiaaahk!

Hae-In tilted her head while looking at the Sky Dragon unfurl its wings.

"But, didn't you say it was nearby?"

"Well, it's about a five-minute distance if I run with everything I have, so…. Would you like to run alongside me, then?"

Five minutes at Jin-Woo's top speed; Hae-In quickly calculated just how far that would be in her head, and without saying anything, she climbed on the back of Kaisel.

'Yup, it's great that she understands me so quickly.'

Jin-Woo grinned and took his place in front of her. Kaisel flapped its wings and flew up.