Chapter 159 (2/2)

“What about the hunters who entered?”

“They sent a total of eighty-six people. Of those, eighty-five were existing hunters who were deployed after the creation of the rift. The other one…”

Yoo-seong nodded and finished her sentence. “The other one was a special force sent after those eighty-five people.”

Chae Shin-young’s eyebrow raised a little, but she continued speaking. “Action cams and communicators don’t work inside the gray area. Fourteen hours after all eighty-five hunters failed to return, the National Guard dispatched another hunter.”

“Of course, he would have been carrying different communication equipment that should have worked?”

Chae Shin-young nodded. “It’s said that he came in with different types of equipment, but the only one that worked was the most basic. A beeper that used Morse code.”

But that hadn’t lasted long either.

“He reported that the village was empty. Then the signal got cut off. They haven’t heard from him since.” Chae Shin-young leaned in closer. “Your special mission is to rescue that person. Bring him back no matter what state he’s in.”

Then Chae Shin-young leaned back and narrowed her eyes as if she thought it was a little strange.

“Certainly… something is weird,” she muttered. “They didn’t even talk about the eighty-five people who went in first. I feel that the focus is on the one missing person rather than the gray curtain covering the village right now…” she added.

“Wouldn’t that be natural?”

“Yes?”

“The one in there is version two of Miracle Boy.”

Yoo-seong, with a matter-of-fact tone, began telling Chae Shin-young what he’d been through after leaving Korea. The trouble in Hawaii and what happened when he arrived in California.

Of course, he left out some personal details, but…

Even the gist of the story was enough to make Chae Shin-young exclaim in surprise.

“This is too, too…”

“…big, yes,” Yoo-seong helped her.

It was definitely something huge, even in her experience. She was a sheriff in the Special Defense Agency. More than capturing dangerous hunters who committed crimes, she’d also had to undertake various forms of dirty work to stop foreign entities from trying to use or take out domestic hunters.

“But this scale, my… God damn it! I don’t know what to say! Do you know what you’ve done?”

“I always know what I’m doing.”

“Well, such a person…! It’s Alvin Hawkins! The US Vice President’s son!” Chae Shin-young exclaimed. “This isn’t something you can take responsibility for yourself. No, no matter what you think, you shouldn’t even try!”

This was an entirely different story. It was a high-level problem far beyond simply hunting monsters and closing rifts. The situation involved foreign companies, and there were astronomical amounts at stake.

Yoo-seong shouldn’t have intervened in Hawaii in the first place. If he had quietly contacted Chae Shin-young once he arrived in California, the terrible situation would have been avoided.

“If anything goes wrong… How many ramifications will come as a result of your actions?!”

“Hmm.”

“Really, who do you think you are to…”

“I’m a hunter.” Yoo-seong’s firm voice cut off Chae Shin-young’s words.

“What?! For a man calling himself a hunter…”

“Why wouldn’t I get involved in such a situation, regardless of the scale?”

Politicians and entrepreneurs had the same choices as hunters. To make society better for its citizens or to keep creating more wealth for themselves. Every word they said or action they took could affect the lives of countless others.

“They have power, and they take for granted the fact that their actions can have consequences for other people’s lives,” Yoo-seong stated.

Weren’t they here because they were trying to avoid the eyes of those in power in Korea?

“But I, as a hunter… I have power, too, and a lot of it. Why can’t I do something that will affect other people?”

“Well, do you think that makes sense?” Chae Shin-young challenged him.

“I’m not saying it makes sense. But it is the reality.”

Yoo-seong was firmly convinced that he was right.

“Anyway, even if I choose not to get involved, another person will use their power to make waves around the world. What I want is to decide the direction of the waves at my disposal.”

“You consider yourself the world’s justice. You think you’re always right and can never be wrong,” Chae Shin-young scoffed.

“Not at all!” Yoo-seong laughed.

Justice.

“I don’t want to make everything right in the world,” he explained. “But I can’t just keep still while something is going wrong around me. It’s my personality.”

‘And I desperately want this personality to change,’ he wanted to add. ‘As I told Alvin, everything is a matter of luck and probability. I don’t know what’s waiting for me, but I eagerly hope that I can find something that will make me feel satisfied enough to take my weary body out of this battle.’

“I… I… I don’t know.” Chae Shin-young shook her head. “Why would the Director like a person like you? He trusts you so much… You just…”

“It’s probably because I’m a risky ball, and he doesn’t know where I’ll bounce next,” Yoo-seong agreed.

Then Yoo-seong turned around and started walking toward Natsville, the operation area.

“Please tell the colonel one thing for sure,” he said. “I haven’t stamped the contract yet. What I will receive in return for this operation, I will negotiate after the hunt.”

“Do you think they will accept those ridiculous terms?!”

“They will,” Yoo-seong affirmed without even looking back.