Seoul's Monster Tsunami! (1)
Who should I call?
This is really on my mind lately.
I slipped out of my seat and dialed Han Yejin first. But she didn't pick up.
Hmph.
Something must've broken inside me after the massive fight on the 4th basement floor.
I had no choice but to call Jang Sara instead.
Before the second ring, she answered.
"Yes, Gilma-nim?"
"Ha. I'm glad you're not down there."
"Trying to get all the equipment for the 4th floor research lab by myself with the office manager is way too much outside work, right?"
"Oh, that won't do."
"What, what? Are you seriously... asking me out on a date?"
"No, it's not that."
"Then just say it already!"
I decided to be bold.
"See, explaining everything over the phone is tough... I'm at a friend gathering right now. Could you maybe pretend to be my girlfriend for a few hours?"
"Pretend to be your girlfriend? No way."
"Why not?"
"I just want to be your real girlfriend."
"Hey, don't mess with me."
"Hehe. Okay. I'm leaving the YESCO Absolute right now. Where are you?"
What?
The Konigsegg YESCO Absolute.
Top speed 531 km/h.
One of the hyper cars in the world that costs billions.
Why the hell is she driving that here?!
At that exact moment, a call from Han Yejin came in.
"Wait a sec. Urgent call coming through. I'll call back later."
"Just call me now. You already have the engine started?"
I hung up on Jang Sara and picked up Han Yejin's call.
"Yes, Sara!"
"What? Sara?"
"Ah! Sorry! I mean Yejin! Yejin!"
"Everything in your head is only about Jang Chairman, huh? Call him. Hang up."
"No, seriously, I made a mistake! I have something super important to say to real Yejin!"
"...What is it?"
Han Yejin's voice sounded cold.
"See, I'm at the friend gathering. It's a couples thing. But I don't have a girlfriend..."
"You want me to pretend to be your girlfriend right now?"
"Yes."
"What do you get if I do?"
"I'll do whatever you want!"
"No backing out, no backing down. Honor on the line."
I knew Yejin wasn't the type to make unreasonable demands. So I agreed.
"Alright. I'll do it with my honor on the line."
But I was wrong.
It turned out Yejin was exactly the kind of woman who made unreasonable demands.
Really unreasonable.
"Where should I go?"
"This place is... right in front of XX University main gate..."
I gave her the exact address. She said she was already nearby and would be there in no time, then hung up.
Yes!
If it was really Yejin, she'd be a hundred times better than Jang Sara.
Jang Sara was the unpredictable type—dangerous.
I immediately texted Jang Sara.
"Sorry. The friend gathering was canceled right away. See you next time!"
I returned to my seat. But I noticed a guy already sitting right in the middle of our table.
Right next to Yoo Ji-min.
Tall.
Shoulders spread wide.
Wearing an expensive designer coat that didn't match our student vibe.
A bit greasy, but still a good-looking face.
When I lowered my head a little, he just nodded while sitting.
Yoo Ji-min spoke up.
"This is our oppa. Never seen him before? C-class hunter, full of arrogance. Oppa, I told you a lot about him. This friend is Hwang Geumpa."
I bowed my head again. But this arrogant guy just stared at me and opened his mouth.
"Ah! So you're the guy who sent that letter from the military back then?"
"Ah, yeah."
I was flustered.
Shit, why is he bringing that up here?
As expected, the story exploded among the others.
"Hey! Did you send a letter to Ji-min from the army?"
"Not even one to us?"
"Uwo. So you're a 'Ji-min fanboy' too?"
"Add one more here!"
I panicked.
"I, I just sent it by chance. They told me to write to anyone on weekends at the base."
The arrogant guy chuckled.
"Not true? I heard you sent one every month. Steady. Hahaha."
As soon as he said that, everyone burst out laughing.
Whoa.
Look at this guy.
Crossing the line with a complete stranger?
At that moment I read Yoo Ji-min's expression.
She looked sorry and whispered,
"Please, just ignore it. I beg you."
I smiled.
"Haha. Yeah, actually I sent a few. But I didn't after I got a boyfriend. I heard from my boyfriend that I get Ji-min's tastes now."
Jang Omano nodded with a slight smile.
"Ji-min's tastes are pretty high-class. Good thing he quit. Brother, you two don't really match. Haha."
Then a sweet woman's voice rang out.
"That's right. Gold Pa oppa is perfect for me."
Every person's eyes in the whole bar turned to one direction.
Tall, perfectly built, overwhelmingly beautiful Han Yejin was standing there, breathing hard.
I checked Omano's face.
He had a creepy grin, scanning her entire face and body. He clearly liked what he saw.
She brushed her long hair back, came over, and sat right next to me.
"The mask is a bit awkward, but please understand. I had a slight wound on my face and decided to wear it until it heals with doctor's orders."
She said it vaguely.
I looked around.
The women were fine, but the male friends, especially Omano, looked super excited by Yejin's arrival.
By beauty contest standards, Yejin outshone even Yoo Ji-min.
Without the background aura, even Jang Sara, who was pretty, couldn't compare.
The only flaw was the mask covering half her face, but since it was only temporary for the wound, it actually added mystery for the guys.
"Wow, you're so beautiful... Excuse me, but are you a mage?"
I knew none of them would fall for that. Mages wore masks over half their faces. Horizontal masks like hers didn't count.
"R-really your girlfriend? This guy?"
"Can't believe it?"
"How did you... I mean, how did you get together?"
At that moment Yoo Ji-min looked at me.
Yejin hugged my arm tightly and said,
"I was the one begging him to date me. Right? Oppa?"
Suddenly the TV flashed breaking news.
A report about a 'random gate' opening in the center of Brasília downtown, killing over 12,000 people.
Random gate.
Something the tower had produced and that hadn't happened until recently.
But a few months ago, random gates started opening in capitals all over the world.
"Tsk tsk. Chaos. Total chaos."
"But they stopped it fast. Cambodia lost over 100,000. If the Thai and Vietnamese hunters hadn't rushed in, who knows how many more?"
"Before long, Seoul might get one too?"
"I'm scared. Every region has had one already. But the Far East hasn't."
Omano laughed.
"Don't worry about the kids today! We're with a C-class hunter. Even if the gate opens at XX University, you all will be safe! Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
"Yes, hyung, I'll believe it!"
"To the future!"
I raised my glass for a toast and thought to myself.
This is bullshit.
How am I supposed to save all these people?
From what I've seen of previous random gates, even a C-class like me would struggle to save myself.
No matter how weak the monsters, thousands coming at once would overwhelm me.
The area would turn into a monster graveyard until S-class or A-class hunters arrived.
At that moment Yoo Ji-min asked Yejin,
"You two... how did you meet?"
One male friend said,
"Ah! That girl from the Apheida-man incident!"
"What Apheida-man incident?"
"You know! It was all over TV when Golden Pa appeared!"
The news made the ones who didn't know rush to pull out their phones and watch YouTube.
"Wow, something like this happened?"
"Golden Pa made it big? Appeared on TV too?"
"That explains it. If there was that kind of connection, of course he got a beauty like her."
Yoo Ji-min looked surprised at her phone, having no idea.
"Wow. So you were a hunter? I had no idea."
"Hunter? What."
Omano said that and asked me.
"Little brother, what's the highest floor?"
"1st floor."
"See? People like you aren't even hunters. They're called 'farmers.' In Korean, tower scavengers."
Yoo Ji-min scolded her boyfriend.
"Oppa, that's a bit harsh."
"No, I was just stating the facts. Little brother, among all the monsters you've fought, what was the strongest?"
I answered honestly.
"A grasshopper."
"See? You took on a mere 30 cm tower grasshopper?"
30 cm?
It was a 100-meter praying mantis.
Then...
Zzzzzzzzzzzzz~ Boing boing~
A machine wolf howl echoed. It made every guy's heart pound.
But the sound was so unique that not only the guys turned their heads.
Every single customer in the bar stared at the yellow car that had appeared in front of the glass wall.
"What is that?"
"Is that a Lamborghini?"
"No, doesn't look like one."
"Never seen one before?"
"The engine sound is insane!"
Omano pretended to know.
"That's a Konigsegg YESCO."
"Wow, it's so expensive?"
"No. Only 3.4 billion."
" 'Only' 3.4 billion..."
The Konigsegg YESCO parked right next to Omano's super fast car. The moment YESCO appeared, even a Ferrari looked shabby.
The car door swung up beautifully. A slim girl in sunglasses stepped out. Stepping out of a hyper car, she looked even more stunning.
"Wow!"
"That woman is so cool."
The girl who got out was, as expected, Jang Sara.
I had been on edge since the Konigsegg appeared.
I definitely hadn't told her the location. How did she find it?
She walked into the bar, looked around, spotted me, waved, and came over with quick steps.
Our whole table froze in shock.
Jang Sara leaned in, bowed, and gave me a light kiss on the cheek.
Smack.
Whoa, what?
"My boyfriend? Having fun with your friends?"
She wrapped her snake-like arms around my waist and sat right beside me.
I was flustered and a bit annoyed, so I pushed her away a little.
Everyone's jaws dropped.
One male friend asked Sara.
"H-hey, who are you? What's your relationship with Golden Pa?"
Sara answered calmly.
"I'm his girlfriend."
Every eye turned to Yejin.
Yejin said casually,
"That's right. I'm his girlfriend too. My sister is too."
Everyone looked confused. Yejin added,
"The three of us right now... we're polyamorous."
Yoo Ji-min blinked.
"Polyamorous?"
"Yes, one man shared by multiple women. New York does it a lot these days, right?"
Suddenly both Jang Sara and Han Yejin hugged my arms from both sides.
Only then did I realize I had been tricked.
When I called, they were together.
They had planned this to mess with me.
Omano laughed.
"Haha. So you recruited two models in front of your friends just to show off?"
Yoo Ji-min whispered quietly,
"Oppa, a 3.4 billion hyper car? How did a model rent that?"
Omano chuckled.
"Hahaha. That's just a replica."
"What?"
"A fake car with a hyper car skin. Used mostly for movies... I guess she got it from somewhere."
"Really?"
"Good imitation. But one fatal mistake. YESCO has a huge rear wing. This doesn't. It's fake."
Sara said,
"The one with the canard and rear wing is just a normal YESCO. This one is the YESCO Absolute, focused on top speed. Limited production. Way more expensive than a normal YESCO."
Omano kept mocking.
"Then how did the young lady buy that? Nobody sells them."
"Ah, one of my Harvard friends is the granddaughter of the YESCO president. That's how we got connected."
Omano pulled out his phone and searched for a long time.
Then he read aloud with a smirk.
"Ha, where's this woman selling drugs? Here's one. 'The Konigsegg YESCO Absolute is known to have only one imported to the country... The owner is reportedly Jang Sara, the youngest daughter of Jeguk Group Chairman Jang Cho-baek...' Hahaha? Are you going to fake yourself as the youngest daughter of the Jeguk Group now?"