The Aftermath
The darkness receded, revealing the devastated ruins of the area. I didn't unsummon Yugi and Arin; instead, I waited for the reporters. It was too late to hide anyway, and frankly, I had no intention of doing so anymore. Now that I had cleared a B-grade gate, what was left to hesitate about? This was more than enough proof of my power. It was time to take responsibility for that strength. Even if it meant dealing with some tedious complications, it was the least I could do to show respect for the companions who had contracted with me and fought by my side.
But first, I needed to tidy up the area. I gently lifted the sleeping Arin and placed her on Yugi's shell. Although sharp spikes protruded along the ridges of Yugi's carapace, he was so massive that the section where Arin lay was practically a flat, spacious platform. Leaving her there, I stepped back into the B-grade gate with Yugi to retrieve the overloaded magic core. While it was a shame we couldn't salvage the corpse of the 4th-grade kaiju, I had already received more than enough compensation.
His equivalent age had jumped by a whopping three years from that single battle. Yugi was now the same age as Arin—or rather, her Seiren form. Though I supposed such age calculations were entirely meaningless to mythical beasts like them.
After retrieving the core from the gate, I stepped back outside and positioned myself in a suitable spot. I took the opportunity to give Yugi a quick crash course in human culture. If we were going to be on camera, we might as well look good.
"Yugi, give me your friendliest face. Smile."
Yugi peeled back his lips, splitting his mouth into a massive grin. I had looked it up online a while ago, and the turtle that resembled Yugi the most was an alligator snapping turtle. He had grown to look quite magnificent. However, his neck was incredibly long, his tail resembled a serpent, and he was pitch-black from head to toe. But above all else, Yugi was just too damn big.
"...Actually, don't smile. You look even more terrifying."
Even I felt utterly overwhelmed by his sheer scale; I couldn't imagine how terrifying he would look to ordinary people. It was better to just go with a neutral expression. Yugi's face slumped into a pout, looking strangely dejected. Suppressing a chuckle, I turned my attention to Arin. Why had she suddenly fallen asleep? There were no visible wounds, but her voice had sounded incredibly strained earlier... Worried, I waited for her to wake up. But even as the reporters began to trickle in one by one, Arin remained fast asleep.
"Whoa, holy shit... I thought that was a building! What the hell is that?" a reporter gasped, stumbling backward in shock upon seeing Yugi. More journalists arrived in rapid succession, each reacting with their own brand of sheer terror. Some tripped over their own feet and fell flat on their backs, others froze solid for tens of seconds, and one—though it was gross to admit—actually wet his pants when Yugi made a slight movement.
But the panic was short-lived. Once they realized Yugi showed no signs of aggression, they swallowed hard and raised their cameras. Some broadcasting stations immediately went live. Since they were specialized hunter-industry reporters, they seemed to have a decent level of tolerance for monsters. Then again, this was the classic South Korean press corps for you—their professional dedication was truly something else.
Since they were too busy doing their jobs to pay attention to me, I was able to scan the crowd at my leisure. The main reason I had waited for the press was to find a specific person: Reporter Kim Myungho of the Hunter Daily. It didn't take long to spot him. I had to hand it to him—the guy had balls. Operating under his real name and face, what on earth was he thinking coming all the way out here? Did he honestly think I would fail the raid?
To be fair, that would have been the logical assumption for anyone. Judging by the endless stream of texts I was receiving, countless people believed I wouldn't even attempt the raid, let alone succeed. Even Kim Na-hyun had been so uncertain that she was practically praying for my success. Regardless, this worked out perfectly. If he hadn't shown up, I would have regretted waiting around for nothing. That's what you get for digging into people's private lives like a creep and leaking illegally recorded conversations without permission. It wasn't even like we were discussing anything bad.
Of course, despite my irritation, I didn't plan on doing anything too extreme. Just an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and manipulation for manipulation. Since I wasn't exactly a master orator, I planned to borrow Arin's power. Arin finally opened her eyes just as the reporters packed the area and news helicopters began circling overhead.
"...Yoo-cheon?"
Arin's voice, usually as beautiful as a sweet melody, sounded cracked and raspy.
"Hey, are you really okay?"
"...Yeah."
"How is that okay? Isn't recovery your specialty? If you can't even heal your own voice..."
But Arin only offered a weak smile. Seeing her expression, I decided not to pry any further.
"...More importantly, Arin, you haven't forgotten what we talked about before we left, right?"
"Ah, yeah."
"Let's do it now. It's that guy over there."
I pointed toward Kim Myungho. Arin narrowed her eyes and glared in his direction.
"...Target locked."
I watched Kim Myungho with a sense of anticipation. He was holding a microphone amidst the crowd of reporters, speaking rapidly. It looked like the cameraman next to him was filming a live broadcast. The timing was perfect. I had asked Arin to manipulate his emotions so that he would voluntarily confess his darkest, most embarrassing secrets. I wondered what it would be. A tearful confession about his malicious, fabricated articles? Or maybe, given his age, an affair? A confession like that would be enough to soothe my lingering anger.
The moment Arin gave the signal, Kim Myungho, who was actively reporting live into his microphone, suddenly froze. Then, without warning, he yanked his pants straight down to his ankles.
"Huh?"
"...Eh?"
Those were our respective reactions.
"I'M NOT WEARING ANY UNDERWEAR TODAY!!!"
"S-Senior! Have you lost your mind?!"
Kim Myungho proudly confessed his deepest, darkest secret. His voice carried absolutely zero shame. That crazy bastard. I pressed a hand to my forehead, utterly speechless.
"...Arin, I'm sorry. Please make him stop. Quickly."
"Okay..."
With his pants still bunched around his ankles, Kim Myungho skipped away merrily. The Hunter Daily cameraman holding the camera looked like he was having a full-blown panic attack, completely frozen in place. Sure, it was incredibly embarrassing, but the worst part was that they were currently broadcasting live.
"..."
Whatever. I had to endure his nonsense, so now it's his turn to endure. Shaking off the thought, I walked over to the shell-shocked cameraman.
"The Hunter Daily... I've heard rumors, but I didn't realize your company was quite this... wild."
"Ah..."
The employee hung his head in sheer mortification.
"I'm Park Yoo-cheon. You came here to interview me, right?"
The cameraman gasped and looked up. The moment he recognized my face, his eyes went wide.
"...Y-Yes! Absolutely!"
In an instant, the surrounding area erupted into absolute chaos. Throwing all basic manners out the window, a swarm of reporters rushed forward, thrusting their microphones in my face.
"Mr. Park Yoo-cheon! Are you really Park Yoo-cheon?"
"When do you plan to begin clearing the B-grade gate?"
"We heard a massive explosion occurred here a while ago. Do you know anything about it?"
"Could you explain what that giant creature behind you is?"
Questions bombarded me from all directions. But before I could even open my mouth, the reporters abruptly stopped talking. Moving with the stiff, awkward motions of wooden puppets, they all took several steps back in unison. It was Arin's doing. Controlling ordinary humans who possessed no mana was child's play for her, no matter how many there were.
"I will be conducting an exclusive interview," I said with a gentle smile.
The reporters nodded in perfect, orderly unison, standing rigidly in place. Only the Hunter Daily employee, who had been intentionally excluded from Arin's mental manipulation, stared at the bizarre, uncanny scene with goosebumps breaking out all over his arms.
"C-Can we... begin?" he asked, his voice trembling with extreme caution.
When I nodded, he raised his camera with shaking hands. Since Kim Myungho had run off, he had to handle both the filming and the interviewing all by himself.
"First, I would like to apologize on behalf of the Hunter Daily for the critical articles we published regarding you, Hunter Park Yoo-cheon."
"If you're sorry, you should take them down."
"Pardon? Ah, well, that is..."
"I'm joking."
I had already been dragged through the mud; taking the articles down now wasn't going to magically fix my mood. Flustered by my dry humor, the reporter struggled to find his footing.
"...Ahem. Moving on, you announced that you would be attempting a solo raid of the B-grade gate today. Do you truly plan to clear it entirely on your own?"
Was everyone so distracted by Yugi that they hadn't even looked at the B-grade gate?
"Yes, it was a solo raid. And I've already cleared it."
"...Excuse me?"
I had to admit, I was thoroughly enjoying this moment. Honestly, if this weren't an official interview that would be published, I probably would have beaten around the bush just to toy with him and savor his reaction. But since I didn't want to get dragged online again, I decided to cut straight to the chase. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a fragment of the magic core—the shattered, overloaded core from the gate.
"The raid was completed before any of you even arrived. This is the proof. As you can see, the magic core overloaded, triggering a dungeon break. The Hunter Association needs to provide a clear explanation as to why they failed to report this critical information properly."
"My god..."
I wasn't just saying this for show. If I hadn't summoned Arin before arriving... would my water barrier have been able to completely absorb the force of that explosion? Arin's current exhaustion was undoubtedly linked to shielding us from that blast. I had absolutely no intention of letting the Association sweep this under the rug.
"T-Then, where is the corpse of the kaiju? Is it related to that giant creature standing behind you?"
"...Before we get to that, do you mind if I say a few words directly to the camera?"
"Yes, yes! Of course, go ahead."
To be honest, dealing with Kim Myungho was just a side dish. This was the moment I had truly been waiting for. I pulled my phone out of my pocket. Though the frequency had died down compared to this morning, malicious text messages were still trickling in every few minutes. Most of them were filled with vile hate speech. I pointed my phone's screen directly at the camera lens.
"Gasp..."
The reporter gasped, visibly recoiling at my savage threat. A heavy, awkward silence fell over the interview. Seizing the moment, I stepped closer to him and whispered softly in his ear:
"By the way, did you happen to have a hand in writing those articles about me last time?"
The following day, the Hunter Association's Situation Analysis Room was gripped by a suffocating wave of fear and anxiety.
"...The gate collapsed around 3:00 PM yesterday, and the post-incident analysis officially confirms it was indeed a dungeon break."
"We are so incredibly fucked."
"Team Leader, we are in the middle of a meeting."
"If we're fucked, we're fucked. What else am I supposed to call it?"
The source of their terror was none other than Park Yoo-cheon's public warning. Because of his statement, quite a few heads were about to roll. First and foremost was the team leader who had initially suggested giving Yoo-cheon the priority raid rights for the B-grade gate out of pure malice toward Kim Na-hyun; he was currently undergoing a private, highly stressful interview with the Association President. While the fallout was spreading to multiple departments, the one facing the most critical crisis was undoubtedly the Situation Analysis Room.
"...There were no issues with the paperwork, and we even completed a triple-check. How on earth did we get the dungeon break timing so wrong?"
"Actually, about that..."
An analyst handed over a document. It contained the re-measured data taken just before the gate collapsed. As the Team Leader scanned the report, his face stiffened into a grim mask.
"This isn't fabricated, is it?"
"No, sir. I was so shocked myself that I re-measured it multiple times."
"An abnormal trace of mana was mixed into the gate... Judging by the sheer magnitude of the signature, it's at least on par with one of the 10 Great Powers."
"But that's a direct violation of international law. Who could have possibly done such a thing?"
Artificially accelerating a dungeon break was a heinous crime that would turn the entire international community against the perpetrator.
"This is going to cause a massive political storm," the Team Leader muttered.
The Korean Hunter Association's data management was leagues ahead of other nations. Cross-referencing the mana signature with registered hunters to identify the culprit would be child's play. However, the real problem was that the culprit might be one of the 10 Great Powers—a core pillar of South Korea's national defense. Poking that hornet's nest could blow up in their faces, and if the news leaked to the global stage, the diplomatic fallout would be catastrophic.
Nevertheless, the Team Leader resolved to disclose this information to Park Yoo-cheon. It was a matter of choosing the path that would result in the least painful beating. Besides, Yoo-cheon's current influence was so immense that even the 10 Great Powers couldn't compare to him anymore.
"More importantly, if that kind of mana was involved, the force of the magic explosion must have been beyond imagination. Did Park Yoo-cheon arrive at the scene after the blast had already occurred?"
"...Judging by how incredibly furious he was, that doesn't seem to be the case."
"Are you telling me he actually survived that? A man whose official mana measurement registered as an F-class? Is that even physically possible?"
"...Should we cross-reference Park Yoo-cheon's mana signature as well?"
Just as the Team Leader was about to nod, the meeting room door burst open.
"Team Leader! Park Yoo-cheon has just arrived at the Association headquarters! And..."
The staff member struggled to find his words, his face pale and utterly bewildered.
"And what? Spit it out!"
"Kim Hosung's body was just discovered at the B-grade gate site. The cause of death... is reportedly suicide."