Hostage in a Five-Star Suite
A luxury bed.
Delicious meals.
Freedom to pursue whatever hobbies he pleased.
Ah, was there really any other heaven quite like this?
Ji-hoon lay sprawled across the bed, crunching through a bag of snacks with some streaming show playing on the TV.
Knock knock—
"Good day, Hunter. This is the room service you requested."
"Ooh, finally!"
"As requested, your meal features 1++ grade Hoengseong hanwoo beef, slow-braised royal-style galbijjim, alongside a clear soup made from fresh-caught goldthread sea bream from Jeju Island."
And that wasn't all — a full spread of desserts and drinks besides.
Drool gathered at the corner of Ji-hoon's mouth.
"Thank you for the meal."
He took a bite of the gorgeous-looking food. On the screen, a recently released variety show was playing — a dating program called You Could Be a Solo Hunter Too.
"This is the ultimate vacation."
One hundred years spent in Hell. And since his return, he hadn't managed a single day of rest.
—Lee Ji-hoon, you are precisely what I need.
The memory of the day he'd first fallen into Hell came flooding back. That was when Abel had said the same thing to him.
—Heh heh heh. So then, tell me what it is you desire.
At the time, the whole situation had been so surreal that Ji-hoon could only stammer. He hadn't managed to demand a single thing — not a shortened contract term, not an unlimited supply of Hell's currency for the duration of his service, nothing.
And truth be told, Abel had treated Ji-hoon rather well.
—This is a snack made from the worms of Hell. Eat.
Granted, everything he handed over "to look after" him was Hell's food — entirely inedible for a human.
—The Demon King from the neighboring Hell will be coming to inspect the farm soon. Show him the monsters you've raised, and I shall reward you.
He'd even handed over more monsters, wearing that demonic smile of his, as if to say that raising beasts was joy itself, wasn't it?
Anyway. Abel had, in his own way, genuinely tried to take care of him.
And now?
So the humans of Earth claim they need me, and they're planning to treat me like garbage?
"I've got a hundred years of Hell experience under my belt, you bastards."
Which was how he'd ended up here — the top-floor VVIP suite of the Jamsil L-Tower Hotel, a five-star luxury property with a sweeping view of the Han River and Jamsil Lake.
"Oh my, look at him flirting like that. Even I wouldn't stoop that low."
While Ji-hoon snickered and savored his life as a hostage, however—
"Haaah…."
A woman slumped on the living room sofa, sighing with her hand pressed to her forehead.
—What? You gave in to ALL of his demands?
"Well, otherwise he might've thrown a fit, y'know…."
—What's an F-rank going to do by throwing a fit?
"Buuut there are lots of witnesses saying Hunter Lee Ji-hoon caused a Mana Explosion at the gate, sooo."
Bae Yu-na said this as if there was nothing more she could do.
"I've done my part. The rest is on you."
—If you don't want your money, then quit.
We can just cut the tail off and be done with it.
At those words, Bae Yu-na fell silent for a moment. Then—
"…Understood."
Click—
Before the person on the other end could even answer, she switched off the phone entirely.
"Excuse me~ Hunter Lee Ji-hoon, siirr?"
"BWAHAHAHA! That idiot, look at him over there!"
"Huunterrr, siiirr?"
"Just talk, I can hear you. Good grief, even villains aren't usually THIS kind of villain."
Bae Yu-na's expression hardened. Then she leaned in, sliding her face right up in front of Ji-hoon's.
"Uh, what are you doing? I can't see the TV."
"You're a hostage, Hunter. Isn't that right?"
"That's right?"
"Then why are you so comfortable?"
"What, you wanted me to be miserable? You do know I'm Baek Kang-hyun's partner, right?"
Since he couldn't exactly pull out Poppy or Choco, this was the best card he could play — pure, undeniable fact.
At the mention of Baek Kang-hyun, Bae Yu-na's eyes narrowed.
"Oh, I know. I know very well. But the Branch Chief is busy right now, seee."
"Why?"
"He'll be in a meeting, you seee."
"And?"
"What do you mean, 'and'? That's not how—"
BANG—!
Apparently unable to hold back any longer, Bae Yu-na smashed the table with all the food on it.
"Aw, my dinner!"
"Listen here, Hunter Lee Ji-hoon. I'm asking you nicely. You have no idea what's going on, do you?"
Two short daggers materialized out of thin air with a shing—.
Snatch—
Bae Yu-na caught both daggers in a reversed grip. Their frost-white blades drifted toward the back of Ji-hoon's neck.
"Eek!"
"Did you really think an F-rank could beat a B-rank?"
"Okay, okay! What do you want? You'll have to tell me that, AAACK it touched me! I'm bleeding, I'm bleeding!"
The blade hadn't even touched his neck yet, but Ji-hoon reacted with theatrical flair, thrashing about.
"I'd rather not carve up an F-rank either."
"Of course, of course, yes, I completely understand!"
"Then talk. What happened in the S-rank gate."
Two S-rank gates had opened in quick succession recently. Every hunter who entered those gates—
—and the sole survivor to return, was Lee Ji-hoon.
Which meant that either he had some connection to the S-rank gates, or—
"—or he knows their secret. That's what they think."
"I see… but you did say I was a hostage, though."
Ji-hoon tilted his head.
"Who exactly are you planning to negotiate with?"
"Hunter Baek Kang-hyun."
Negotiating with Baek Kang-hyun, the nation's top hunter. Whoever the client was, they had some serious nerve.
"Those animals the Management Bureau showed off a while back. Monsters, right?"
"Yes. E-rank monsters I tamed myself. About on par with chickens and ducks."
"They didn't look like it to me."
"Sounds like you need new glasses. AAACK! Put the knife down and let's talk, please!"
Bae Yu-na's hand trembled, shaking with barely contained rage.
"So spill it all, right now. What was in there, what happened. Every last detail."
Not long before Ji-hoon had been kidnapped, a meeting was underway at the Management Bureau to discuss the recent S-rank gate.
"Thank you all, the heads of the Five Great Guilds, for coming at such short notice today."
Thud—
"This isn't a gathering for idle chit-chat, so let's get straight to business."
Choi Ji-tae of Baekryeon, one of the Five Great Guilds, scowled.
"Ji-tae, calm down. We need to discuss this rationally. Or were you planning to smash this place up too?"
"And what about you, Oh Se-ah? Isn't Valkyrie too busy shooting commercials overseas these days to bother with gates?"
Choi Ji-tae growled at Oh Se-ah, Guild Master of Valkyrie.
Watching the exchange, a mild-mannered man in glasses spoke up.
"Now, now, everyone — if not for your own sake, then at least calm down for mine."
"Yoon Do-ha, what's Eden been up to lately? Your gate management looks sloppy. You got robbed by hunter-hackers just the other day, didn't you?"
The man tossing that jab was Han Ji-sung of Titan Guild, his burly muscles on full display.
"While everyone else was off chasing high-rank gates abroad and filming commercials, you all know I was the only one who actually went into an S-rank gate, right?"
Seriously, is anyone in this country as hardworking as me?
So grumbled Jin Seo-yoon of Orpheus, bragging even as she complained.
The Guild Masters of Korea's Five Great Guilds had gathered in one place.
"First of all, this S-rank gate is not something to take lightly."
It had been ten years since the dawn of the hunter era. In all that time, only two S-rank gates had ever formed in South Korea — and each had been claimed by Baekryeon and Orpheus, respectively.
"Two in a short span. Not two in a year — two within a single week."
Yoon Do-ha of Eden pushed up his glasses.
"According to Eden's analysis, now that ten years have passed, we've concluded that a shift in the era itself is being heralded."
"Eden hunts with intellect and data, and you're spouting talk out of a fantasy novel?"
Choi Ji-tae scoffed, snorting through his nose.
"Believe it or don't, that's your choice. Just remember that the situation is unusual enough to warrant the claim."
"He's not wrong. Which brings me to this."
Every Guild Master's gaze turned toward one man.
"Hunter Baek Kang-hyun. What exactly happened in the S-rank gate?"
Baek Kang-hyun distributed the materials he had prepared. An F-rank gate that had transformed into an S-rank gate. And an S-rank gate that had formed beside a C-rank gate whose mana had been remarkably docile.
"The common factor is that both involved unstable mana."
Gates carry what's known as an instability rating, measured on a scale from 1 to 100. Ordinary gates rarely climb past 30.
Yet the C-rank gate's rating hadn't budged from 1 at all — while the S-rank gate that formed nearby had exceeded 70.
"It has settled down somewhat, for now. The Management Bureau is monitoring it, but…"
"But?"
"The gate's level could suddenly drop."
"Because of its instability, I see."
From behind Baek Kang-hyun, who nodded along, Commissioner Lee Kyung-moon murmured in a low voice.
"Or it could climb even higher."
"…"
"…"
"…"
He was saying an S-rank gate could become SS-rank.
"Not immediately, perhaps. But we'll need to prepare regardless."
At Oh Se-ah's words, everyone nodded.
The meeting then ran on for over five hours — contingency plans for future mutant gates, the division of roles among the Five Great Guilds, S-rank gate management protocols, shared intelligence on boss monster traits, and so on.
Baek Kang-hyun concealed what needed concealing and revealed what could be revealed.
"This is the first gate ever where a contract with the boss mob was possible."
"So you'll have to give up collecting the carcass, then?"
"Correct. We're in a contractual relationship now. What I received instead, as loot, was this."
Baek Kang-hyun held up the griffin feather Poppy had given him, and one of Choco's spikes.
"To think things like this actually exist!"
"Astonishing items."
"If only we could harvest materials straight from the corpse. But with a one-on-one contract like this, only a single person gets to enjoy the benefit."
How Baek Kang-hyun intended to use these items — and how the contract with the boss monsters had been forged in the first place — was on everyone's mind when—
"By the way, where did the Orpheus Guild Master go?"
"She stepped out to take a phone call just now, I believe?"
Oh Se-ah of Valkyrie said.
"Who stays on a call that long?"
And then—
Vmmm—
Baek Kang-hyun's phone let out a small vibration. And then—
FLASH, CRASH—!
A bolt of lightning blasted from Baek Kang-hyun's new-form weapon.
"B-Baek Hunter!?"
Commissioner Lee Kyung-moon, along with every one of the Five Great Guild Masters present, stared blankly at the hole punched clean through the window.
"And even if you asked me what happened."
Ji-hoon sniffled, insisting he truly knew nothing at all.
"I'm just an F-rank nobody, see. Hunter Baek Kang-hyun handled everything himself."
"Liar."
Sharp one, isn't she.
Clicking his tongue inwardly, Ji-hoon asked, "What exactly are you so curious about?"
"Everything."
From behind Bae Yu-na came another woman's voice. One he'd heard before — belonging to a woman of breathtaking beauty and a golden-ratio figure, a celebrity of the hunter world who grunted one advertisement after another.
"Hunter Jin Seo-yoon?"
"I'll be blunt."
Jin Seo-yoon's fingers cupped Ji-hoon's chin.
"Be mine, Hunter Lee Ji-hoon."