Moving Day and Monster Jerky
"...Why is it so quiet?"
That was the first thought that crossed his mind the moment he opened his eyes. It was morning, yet there wasn't a single sound. Only then did he notice the sunlight streaming in through the window.
[Hyung-nim.]
"Ah, Poppi. Sleep well?"
[Yes, thanks to you. Still... something's a little strange.]
[Poppi hyung-nim, it's true. The two of us stood watch all night.]
Watch duty?
At Ji-hoon's questioning, Poppi lowered his voice. [The mana in the area has been acting strange, so we stayed alert just in case.]
"Ah..."
Come to think of it, with what happened yesterday, it made sense that they'd be worried.
Ji-hoon scratched his head and checked his phone. Two text messages, plus a whole stack of emergency alerts.
"...Ha."
So it was real. A Gate had apparently opened nearby.
—Ji-hoon! Are you all right!
Baek Kang-hyun was shouting the moment he picked up the call.
"Yes, well. I'm fine. But you said it was D-Rank?"
—That's right. Still, we weren't sure whether the same thing as last time might happen again. But it looks like it'll be fine.
Apparently, Baekryeon and Titan — two of the 5 Great Guilds — had already arrived on the scene.
Well, then.
"Was that why you called?"
—Ah, yes. And also about the move. We're planning to move quickly after lunch today.
They'd originally intended to leave in the morning. But the Gate had spawned directly in front of Ji-hoon's old apartment. Practically right on its doorstep.
"If we'd stayed there, we wouldn't have gotten a wink of sleep."
It wasn't just about sleep, either. Because of how Gates worked, anyone lingering near the site of a fresh spawn risked getting caught in the aftershock. With Poppi and Choco there — and Woo-jae too — nothing catastrophic would have happened, most likely.
But you never knew.
"Woo-jae, you're coming along too, right?"
"Yeah. Gotta pack up your stuff, hyung."
Woo-jae, you...! If anything went wrong near that Gate, Ji-hoon could trust this man with his life.
He grabbed Woo-jae in a crushing hug.
"Hyung? What's gotten into you?"
"Our Woo-jae's all grown up! Your hyung is so proud!"
"Ugh, get off, you're creeping me out!"
[Th-this ungrateful wretch! Woo-jae, my junior! You must not reject hyung-nim's grace!]
[Truly a belly full of betrayal. A hug from hyung-nim is worth a year's worth of rewards, no less.]
It took an A-Rank tanker to finally pry Ji-hoon loose. Deciding to ignore whatever Poppi and Choco were saying, he headed with everyone to the old apartment to pack up his things.
Fortunately, the situation around the Gate had been wrapped up neatly. There wasn't even a chance of it mutating into a variant Gate.
And how did he know that?
"Damn, a bust."
Choi Ji-tae, Guild Master of Baekryeon, spat as he emerged from the Gate.
"And here I was hoping it might turn out to be S-Rank."
"Hence why the Guild Master himself graced us with his presence?"
"You're one to talk, Han Ji-sung."
Han Ji-sung, Guild Master of Titan, shrugged his broad shoulders. "Couldn't just let the Administration Bureau walk away with it."
"...Hmph."
That was how things stood — the guild masters themselves were conducting these little exchanges on-site.
Of course, I had no idea who any of these people were.
"Wow, Hunter Choi Ji-tae and Hunter Han Ji-sung, here of all places...!"
"You know them?"
"How could anyone NOT know these guys! Well, I mean, I guess someone could. But still..."
Apparently, Choi Ji-tae was an S-Rank hunter, Guild Master of Baekryeon, and an attacker. Han Ji-sung was an S-Rank hunter, Guild Master of Titan, and a tanker.
And the moment the Gate looked like it might turn S-Rank, they'd both come sprinting to claim the Gate management rights first.
"Simple creatures, aren't they?"
"That's part of their charm."
"Yeah, yeah."
The world of fandom was truly beyond comprehension.
"Anyway, let's get the stuff loaded. Poppi, Choco, you two help too."
[Yes, hyung-nim!]
[When's dinner?]
"After we move."
[Then I shall work hard!]
And with the Administration Bureau staff lending a hand, the move was wrapped up in the blink of an eye.
Around the time Ji-hoon and his group were moving houses, the emergency-alert commotion over the D-Rank Gate was officially reported as resolved.
"Two S-Rank hunters going into a D-Rank Gate. Tsk tsk."
Commissioner Lee Kyung-moon clicked his tongue as he reviewed the report. "And Hunter Lee Ji-hoon? Did the move go smoothly?"
"Yes. He should be unpacking as we speak."
"Good work. I heard he didn't even sleep at home last night — stayed at a motel instead?"
"Yes. Which, come to think of it, might mean he predicted the Gate's appearance through some extraordinary mana sensitivity."
At Baek Kang-hyun's words, Lee Kyung-moon nodded. "There's no telling the extent of that man's abilities. That griffin of his — Poppi, was it — doesn't he already measure up to you?"
Measure up to him?
Could you really call it that?
Compare the Poppi he'd met at the Gate — the one who'd lost his mind — with the Poppi of today: sanity restored, placing Ji-hoon's commands and Ji-hoon's safety above everything else.
If you asked which of the two was stronger, the answer was obvious.
The Poppi that charged at Jin Seo-yoon back then...
had wrapped his whole body in mana to reinforce it, split his beak open to form a sphere of mana, and slammed it home like driving a baseball bat straight through her.
It was because the strike came in the form of a blunt, rounded rod that Jin Seo-yoon had managed to block it.
But what if the beak had been honed to a point, and the mana sharpened into a drill?
It would have run her clean through.
A surprise attack or not, he'd retired an S-Rank hunter. If he and the Poppi of today ever crossed blades...
Baek Kang-hyun shook his head, shaking off the thought.
"Something on your mind?"
"No, sir. It's simply... I don't believe we can fathom the full extent of Hunter Ji-hoon's power."
And so they would keep a close watch going forward. Not so much surveillance as protection — guarding a hidden-card hunter who belonged to the nation, just as he did.
"Tighten the security detail. And spread some publicity for Ji-hoon's parents' fried chicken place, without him finding out. Tell the staff to hold their team dinners there from now on, too."
"Understood, Commissioner."
"Also, let's draw up a list of what we'll be requesting from Hunter Ji-hoon in return. Put some effort into making this a genuinely mutually beneficial arrangement. I'm leaving it all in your hands."
"Yes. Actually, that's what I wanted to mention, Commissioner. I'll be heading out on a field visit."
"A field visit? Where?"
"To support Hunter Lee Ji-hoon."
He's going to help with the move, is he?
The Commissioner tilted his head in puzzlement, then gave the OK sign.
And so, while the Administration Bureau's special management operation quietly got underway, Ji-hoon — blissfully unaware of all of it — was humming to himself in his new home.
"Done!"
[We're finished!]
[FINISHED!!!!]
Huraaah—! THUMP—!
Ji-hoon, Poppi, and Choco let out a victory cry and collapsed in a heap onto the freshly tidied living room floor.
[Hyung-nim, this 'moving' business is no small undertaking. It's not my body that's failing me — it's my head that aches.]
"Right? Deciding what goes where is a puzzle game. A genuine puzzle game."
[Choco is so tired... food... jerky...]
A stomach-rumbling gurgle rose from the Giant Bear's belly. Ji-hoon flashed a grin and pulled the meat he'd just stashed in the fridge back out.
"Heh heh. Turns out I bought some meat from the Hunter Market!"
◈ Meat so tough the monster itself gave up on processing it. Restores a tiny amount of HP and mana.
He'd paid a whopping 25 million won for it at the Hunter Market. It wasn't quite what they'd eaten back at Hell Farm — but for now, this meat was the best thing going!
Ji-hoon held the meat aloft and channeled mana into it.
Magic Beast Feed Production (S)
WHOOOSH—
Mana enveloped the meat. Under the bright glow, it slowly dried and shriveled, transforming into a beautifully deep-red treat.
"Done!"
B-Rank
Meat snack crafted by infusing mana. Monsters love it.
As Poppi and Choco stared at the finished jerky, drool came streaming down from beak and maw alike.
"Want some?"
Nod, nod.
"Sit."
Thump!
"Poppi, Choco — paw, both at once!"
Thump-thump!
"That's it! Now then... waaaait for it."
Poppi and Choco focused with everything they had.
"Good boys — eat!"
The instant the words left his mouth, both of them snapped up a piece of jerky each, chomp, chomp-chomp.
Nom nom, munch munch.
He'd trained these two the exact same way back at Hell Farm. He was just thinking they really were no different from puppies when—
Ding-dong—
"Coming."
Baek Kang-hyun stood at the intercom screen. And behind him were Ji-hoon's parents.
They're finally here!
"Yes, coming right out! Welcome, Mr. Kang-hyun!"
"Good to see you, Ji-hoon."
Baek Kang-hyun addressed him even more warmly than before, and Ji-hoon matched the energy — throwing an arm around the man's shoulder and ushering him inside.
"You two, come on in!"
His parents wore the expressions of people wondering whether they were dreaming or sleepwalking.
And fair enough.
This was an apartment complex just a stone's throw from central Seoul. Built exclusively for hunters, it was reinforced against external shocks and came with ironclad insurance coverage. The hunters living here were, at absolute minimum, B-Rank and above.
And their son was F-Rank. And he lived here?
How?
How on earth did he crawl his way into—
"Mr. Kang-hyun owes me a great deal."
"He kept insisting we live here together. Says it makes going into Gates together easier. Suits me fine, honestly."
The foundation of every good lie: half fact, half fabrication.
His parents' jaws simply hung open.
"Our son... is..."
"Friends... with the S-Rank... Korea's Number One...?"
That's exactly what I'm telling you.
Their F-Rank son was, believe it or not, close(?) friends with an S-Rank hunter of the state-certified Administration Bureau.
"Y-you! I told you never to owe anyone anything!"
"No matter how hard life gets, you don't take on debt, son! Is that how I raised you?!"
"I'm not in debt! This is mutual benefit, okay?!"
Baek Kang-hyun diligently talked them down, downplaying all of Ji-hoon's exploits.
He was F-Rank, but possessed exceptional mana sensitivity. (Given the Golden Compass, that was no lie.)
He could commune with monsters, opening new frontiers in Gate strategy. (Also no lie.)
And then there was everything he'd done in the Gate incidents up to now.
His parents still looked dubious — but this was Baek Kang-hyun speaking. And speaking with tremendous eloquence, at that.
In the end, they had no choice but to believe him.
"Phew... All right. Just don't do anything too dangerous out there."
"Health first, health second. Got it?"
With both parents' advice and encouragement ringing in their ears — Poppi, Choco, and even Woo-jae, who'd ducked out mid-visit for a work errand.
That evening, they shared a rather delicious dinner and drinks together.
And then, the next day.
"Why on earth would I go there?"
Gate Anomaly Incident Investigation Team — Formed
Thanks to Baek Kang-hyun's early-morning visit, Ji-hoon let out a long, deep sigh.
"This isn't just any investigation. It'll be a joint operation — Eden and Orpheus from the 5 Great Guilds, plus Baekryeon, the Number One guild."
"Then shouldn't you be sending S-Ranks, or at least A-Ranks and up? Why am I going?"
"I can't give you a perfect answer. But we do have a theory."
Baek Kang-hyun leaned in close, careful that Poppi and Choco couldn't hear.
"The recent surge in returnees. Analyses have concluded that the cause of the Gate anomalies likely lies with them."
"Returnees, you say..."
"Yes. Hunters like yourself, Ji-hoon."
The simple common denominator: the mana of returnees was unstable in the early stages after their return. If that instability kept repeating and accumulating, it could well explain the phenomena they were seeing now.
"We've decided we have no choice but to run this project in order to properly analyze the exact cause of the current situation."
"And if we can identify what's causing the Gate anomalies quickly..."
If only they could manage that.
Ji-hoon needed to enter that Gate more urgently than anyone.
"Because... my family will be in there."
...He had to go.
Because they might be inside.
The rest of his family from Hell Farm.