Chapter 102
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: New Era (2)
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"How does it feel to be selected as the most promising next-generation hunter?"
"I..."
Ji Ye-eun had been one of the most highly touted prospects.
Even among those interviewed by major media outlets that came to film her.
She had planned to blossom her talents at the academy where all hunters were required to enlist and receive training, paving a smooth path ahead—and she truly believed it would happen that way.
"A, a transfer? Me!?"
She had joined a fairly prominent large corporation under a major Korean conglomerate, only to suddenly receive a transfer notice one day.
That was when she first learned that her superiors could arbitrarily decide her placement.
The contract she had signed with a pounding heart back at the academy clearly included a clause allowing her affiliation to be changed in the event of unavoidable circumstances.
"Why? Did I make a slight mistake on the last mission or something...?"
"It's not because of that. I never imagined such a decision would come down—I truly couldn't have dreamed it. I'm really sorry, but there's nothing I can do."
The scout who had brought her to the company bowed his head with a genuinely apologetic expression.
But he took no further action.
Because this decision came from a colossal order that dominated the world itself, far beyond the rice bowls they could even imagine.
'I've been sold off. And I don't even know for how much.'
In the end, she was transferred overnight from a well-known major corporation to a small-to-medium-sized company called Hankyeol.
How could she convince others when she couldn't even convince herself? Her family included, everyone around her was devastated.
Even on the day she first met Hankyeol's president, Baek Jin-seong, she was too dazed to pull herself together.
Since the contract period transferred over intact, she had no choice but to work there for several years without escape.
"You look quite disappointed."
"Ah, no. That's not..."
"Of course you are. Going from Onyx to our company is basically a vertical drop."
Baek Jin-seong gave a wry smile at Ji Ye-eun's reaction. She panicked, but he only lifted the corner of his mouth higher.
"But personally, I think it's actually for the best. You're probably thinking right now, This crazy old man's just messing with me. But... you'll find out soon enough. This company is small enough to be the perfect place for you to shine."
He ended with those meaningful words and threw her straight into missions.
Starting with B-rank from the get-go, she was evaluated as someone who could easily hit A-rank with just experience.
Becoming the company's ace in one leap, she had no choice but to carry out missions endlessly, waiting.
Waiting for that "spotlight" Baek Jin-seong had mentioned.
'Who the hell is supposed to notice me?'
Now, with interview requests that used to come periodically when she was with the big corporation completely dried up.
Ji Ye-eun could only trudge through her work with a sullen face.
"Let's go! Right now! He's waiting for you!"
And then, Baek Jin-seong came rushing to fetch her.
"Who exactly is looking for me?"
"Ah... I don't think I need to say it myself."
Baek Jin-seong personally drove her there.
Ji Ye-eun grew even more flustered. No matter how small the company, Baek Jin-seong was still a company president who hobnobbed with regional lawmakers and swordmasters over drinks.
The car he had her in was an expensive foreign import.
She couldn't imagine who could make a man like that grovel so.
'No way?'
At Baek Jin-seong's reticence, a sudden uneasy thought crossed her mind, and she glanced sideways.
It was extremely rare—headlined by media when it happened—but there were cases of physically robust hunters being forced into "entertainment" using their social status.
"Huh?"
But all her worries, anxieties, thoughts, and guesses shattered the moment they entered an utterly ordinary cafe.
The person waiting inside was a normal-looking young man. And a familiar face.
"Long time no see. I'm Choi Jin-hyuk."
"Yes..."
Ji Ye-eun blankly grasped the hand Jin-hyuk extended.
The mysterious hunter who had attacked the monster she missed, only to obliterate it in an instant.
That's how she remembered him.
"I pulled you out of Onyx and put you in our company."
"Pardon?"
But the secrets Jin-hyuk casually revealed afterward far exceeded her wildest imaginations.
The secrets of deities and the system. Monsters as creations of subordinates and the outer god Nezahel.
The fact that he himself wasn't a typical hunter, but one of those deities' agents.
If the atmosphere had been even a bit lighter, she might have laughed it off as absurd nonsense.
"It's hard to just believe it outright. Then why did he take me as his subordinate?"
"Well... to win the competition by giving more, I suppose."
Jin-hyuk confirmed no one was around and activated his power, Trait Bestowal.
'Copied and extracted from Asmodra—bestow the Hive Mind upon Ji Ye-eun.'
The authority of a deity, transcending mere created beings who use the Divine Net as a tool, activates.
Normally on Earth, direct subordinate enhancement like this was impossible because all deities had agreed to compete under the hunter system's control for new territory and mass subordinate recruitment.
But Jin-hyuk was the only deity currently residing directly on Earth, making it his home.
He could wield power directly, hunter system be damned.
'Trait bestowal itself succeeded, at least.'
Ji Ye-eun convulsed and collapsed to the floor from the intense shock before she could resist.
Baek Jin-seong squeezed his eyes shut at the sight, praying in awe of the deity's power.
If anyone else saw, it wouldn't be strange for them to freak out and call the cops immediately—a bizarre scene indeed.
'I feel like I'm gonna puke.'
The first sensation Ji Ye-eun felt upon snapping back to consciousness was a bizarre power roiling through her entire body.
Fortunately, she didn't actually vomit.
Slowly opening her eyes, she realized she was lying on a long bench and bolted upright.
"Do you believe it now?"
Jin-hyuk sat before her.
Unable to defy his words, she nodded with a trembling body.
"The power granted to you is Hive Mind. The version held by a legion's queen, no less. It's not just raw strength, but I've already seen how high its peak can reach."
'Good, she's not going insane or anything.'
Seeing Ji Ye-eun seem fine, he inwardly sighed in relief.
No one knew what the outcome would be.
It was a dangerous experiment, but she appeared to adapt well to the newly bestowed ability.
"It feels that way. My head's a bit weird right now... Urk!"
Her senses sharpened and clarified like polishing foggy glasses—staggering from it, Ji Ye-eun finally couldn't hold back and vomited a full stomach's worth right there.
But the nausea was just the beginning.
Even greatly weakened compared to the original, manifesting Hive Mind in a human body ventured into unknown territory no one could predict.
"Ugh... Aaaahhh!!"
Two days after the Hive Mind transplant, in a corner of the training grounds.
Ji Ye-eun's eyes bloodshot, clutching her disheveled long hair, screamed in agony as she unleashed crimson-black demonic power.
Surrounded by torn clothes she couldn't contain her power in, and cracked floors and walls, dozens of swords floated in the air around her, moving with independent will.
'Ji Ye-eun originally specialized in swords. The traits combined to awaken a new power.'
Jin-hyuk, sitting alone at home, quietly watched her awakening through the screen.
He pitied her suffering, yet excitement stirred in his heart as well.
It wouldn't stop at merely controlling multiple swords.
Depending on combination and use, this power could yield vastly different results.
"How are the test results? Does she look ready to pass the A-rank exam?"
"A... A-rank is a given. But this is just..."
Baek Jin-seong stammered at his words.
More than Ji Ye-eun's displayed power, Jin-hyuk's nonchalant attitude chilled him to the bone.
'As expected, not just anyone can be a deity's agent.'
Unable to grasp that Jin-hyuk even now oversaw a world where billions of lives hung in the balance, Baek Jin-seong swallowed his terror inwardly.
"Uwaaah... Her voice is echoing in my head right now. She's telling me to bring water quick—is this telepathy awakening or what...?"
"It'll be fine once she adjusts. Good work. Missions remain the same: secure more magistones. By any means necessary, of course."
'Human hive... Hunter hive, maybe?'
Gazing at the force forming around Ji Ye-eun, Jin-hyuk gave a wry smile and issued his command.
Ordinary words, but as a deity's order.
His subordinates could not defy it.
[Asmodra detects another ego felt somewhere and harbors great dissatisfaction.]
"You're impressive yourself."
Ending the call, Jin-hyuk smirked at Asmodra on the screen.
Strictly speaking, the "hunter hive" he created by extracting Asmodra's trait differed from the hordes under her grand hive control.
But all were Jin-hyuk's subordinates worshiping him as deity, and Asmodra—bearing his true name—was closer to him.
Moreover, since awakening ego, Asmodra was more familiar and adept with hive mind than anyone.
Thus, she faintly sensed Ji Ye-eun's presence.
[Asmodra feels anxious. She believes the Great Being is dissatisfied with her achievements and keeps reproducing.]
"It was necessary, no helping it."
He clicked his tongue in disbelief, but Asmodra—thinking Jin-hyuk's once-exclusive attention was being stolen by others—felt unease and hastened her actions.
She began rallying her forces and marching south toward the empire.
In the south, elves led forces purifying the ant-contaminated lands and advancing. With Karian's cooperation, the ants had expelled deity-worshiping subordinates from the empire, claiming the southern and northern regions—next target: the elves.
'Things are just getting tougher from here.'
Initially, all deities jumped into the competition eyeing new territories and mass subordinate recruitment, but as time passed, those suffering losses or quitting early would fall one by one, leaving only true powerhouses.
From that view, the southern elven forces—faced later than Lukadia Empire—were even fiercer foes.
The sight before his eyes was proof enough.