Chapter 93: Even the Absolute Being Is a First-Time Dad
Absolute One, First-Time Fatherhood - Chapter 93
"My name is Jung Yoon-chan."
The first to speak was Jung Yoon-chan, who was fluent in Japanese.
"It's an honor to meet you."
After politely greeting Genji, he subtly turned his head and addressed Nuclear Samurai, Japan's top-ranked hunter.
"It's been a while."
Nuclear Samurai, who had been staring at Jung Yoon-chan with wide eyes, finally managed to speak, still looking dazed.
"I did hear through the media that you had miraculously survived..."
Reports had also mentioned that due to post-Gate recovery complications, he would be focusing solely on treatment and rehabilitation for the time being.
Because of this, rumors had circulated that Korea's S-rank No. 1 hunter, "Time Reaper Jung Yoon-chan," was effectively unable to return to active duty...
Upon hearing such reports, Nuclear Samurai had felt a mix of joy and an overwhelming sense of guilt.
"As you can see, I'm perfectly fine."
At those words, Nuclear Samurai suddenly bowed his head deeply and spoke cautiously.
"Back then..."
Jung Yoon-chan cut him off with a firm "No," then immediately continued.
"If you're about to apologize for what happened at the New Delhi Gate, I'd like to say it's unnecessary."
He added,
"It was an unavoidable situation, wasn't it?"
Top-tier hunters representing their nations often had not only met before but also formed close bonds.
They were frequently deployed together in life-or-death battles for large-scale projects led by the World Awakened Association.
These two were no exception.
They had teamed up multiple times to suppress Gates that had appeared across the globe...
Even during the suppression of the Calamity-grade Gate in New Delhi, India—where Jung Yoon-chan had gone missing—they had been part of the same team.
At the time, Nuclear Samurai, who had slightly more experience in Gate suppression, had taken on the role of team leader.
'We must retreat.'
Amid the chaotic battle, Nuclear Samurai had given the order to withdraw, leaving Jung Yoon-chan behind after he was separated from the formation.
"I'm sorry..."
Jung Yoon-chan responded again.
"Really, it's fine."
With a faint smile, he spoke candidly.
"Honestly, at first, I couldn't help but resent it. But upon reflection, if I had been the team leader, I would've made the same decision..."
In the heat of battle, with a team member missing and their survival uncertain, risking the entire team for one person was unthinkable.
For that reason, Jung Yoon-chan believed Nuclear Samurai's retreat order had been the most rational choice.
Besides, hadn't being left behind in the Gate allowed him to meet his master and inherit his swordsmanship?
"At any rate..."
Jung Yoon-chan got to the point.
"We should focus on the crisis at hand."
Genji, who had been silently listening to their exchange, shook his head a few times and muttered under his breath.
"You're all insane..."
As Korea's top S-rank hunter, Jung Yoon-chan could have enjoyed unimaginable wealth and prestige.
That was the way of the world.
In this era of chaos, strength equaled power, and the strong reaped all the riches and glory.
'Instead of clawing their way to survival and seizing every advantage, why...?'
How long had it even been since he barely escaped that Gate alive? And yet here he was, crawling back into what could very well become his grave.
Genji, lost in thought trying to understand their mindset, let out a dry chuckle.
What was the point of trying to comprehend people who would soon be cold corpses at the hands of him and his guild members?
'If you love playing hero so damn much, you can do it to your heart's content after you've fallen into hell...'
Then, Jung Yoon-chan spoke up.
"Could you brief us on the operation?"
Nuclear Samurai nodded and began politely.
"Given the urgency, I'll keep the explanation as concise as possible. I appreciate your understanding."
He then laid out the situation.
"As you've likely experienced on your way here, the typhoon surging from the Gate has delayed reinforcements from allied nations."
Jung Yoon-chan and the other Korean S-rank hunters nodded in agreement.
The straight-line distance from Seoul to Shimane Prefecture was only about 500 kilometers.
Yet, due to the typhoon's effects, it had taken them several hours just to cover that distance.
Under these conditions, hunters from other allied nations would undoubtedly take much longer to arrive.
"However, we've determined that we're on the brink of a Wave Phenomenon at any moment..."
Jung Yoon-chan, who had participated in multiple large-scale Gate suppression operations, cautiously interjected based on his experience.
"Then wouldn't it be better to deploy a portion of our forces now to delay the Wave Phenomenon, even if it means taking risks...?"
Nuclear Samurai replied with a short "Correct," then glanced at the hunters from the Shogun Guild before continuing.
"As you suggested, we've decided to deploy a vanguard to buy as much time as possible."
"In that case..."
"Myself and the hunters under my command in the Shogun Guild will form part of the vanguard."
He paused, then added while glancing at Shadow Genji,
"Additionally, our nation's No. 3 ranked hunter, Shadow Genji, and his Shadow Corps have also volunteered for the vanguard."
Both the Shogun Guild, led by Nuclear Samurai, and the Shadow Corps, led by Genji, were renowned guilds of exceptional prestige.
Had this not been a Calamity-grade Gate, this force alone might have been enough to guarantee suppression...
"Even with those numbers, buying time won't be easy."
Given that this was no ordinary Gate but a Calamity-grade one, the current numbers still seemed insufficient.
At this, Shadow Genji licked his lower lip and abruptly asked, as if he'd been waiting for the right moment,
"By any chance, would the Korean hunters...?"
Jung Yoon-chan let out a thoughtful "Hmm," then glanced at his fellow hunters—who were still unaware of the discussion's details—before answering quietly.
"I'd need to gather opinions to give a definitive answer, but personally..."
A brief silence followed.
"If permitted, I'll join the vanguard and contribute however I can."
If they hesitated, waiting for reinforcements, and a monster wave erupted in the meantime?
The resulting secondary damage spreading to Korea would be inevitable—merely a matter of time.
Someone had to take the risk, and Jung Yoon-chan had no reservations about being that someone.
"Would you share your thoughts?"
After briefly translating the exchange, Jung Yoon-chan asked for the Korean hunters' opinions...
"I'll go too."
Go Du-yeol was the first to answer, pounding his chest with a fierce thump-thump and adding in his trademark combative tone,
"Acting like a coward once was enough..."
Back when the Calamity-grade Gate had appeared in Seoul's Insa-dong, Go Du-yeol had frozen in place, crushed by its overwhelming presence.
Hadn't he pushed himself through grueling training in the guild's training room to ensure he'd never repeat that mistake?
"A real man charges forward without hesitation..."
Starting with Go Du-yeol, one hunter after another expressed their intent to join the vanguard team...
Then Nuclear Samurai suddenly cut in with a grave expression and dissuaded the Korean hunters.
"This isn't a decision to be made lightly."
Without hesitation, he grabbed the remote from the side table and pressed a button.
A beam projector immediately lit up the wall, displaying footage—none other than the bizarre behavior of the miraculously recovered "Ghost Minami."
"The boss monster of a Calamity-grade Gate is presumed to possess not only overwhelming combat power but also intelligence."
Yet the Korean S-rank hunters showed no surprise, their expressions unreadable. They had already encountered an intelligent boss monster once before—inside the Calamity-grade Gate in New Delhi, India.
However...
The moment Ghost Minami suddenly spoke in a voice not her own, ordering someone to come, everyone flinched.
"■■■, where are you...?"
Though the subject of her words was distorted beyond recognition, as if drowned in static...
A similar phenomenon had occurred when Hela, the boss monster of the New Delhi Calamity-grade Gate, had called for Kang-jun.
"Th-this is just like last time—"
Before Seol Eun-bin could finish her trembling whisper, Kang Sung-hyun sharply hissed, "Shh," cutting her off.
"He has no intention of revealing himself."
Recalling how Kang-jun seemed to loathe making his presence known to the world, he acted immediately.
Meanwhile, Nuclear Samurai, misinterpreting the Korean S-ranks' exchanged glances as fear, pressed on.
"You must be prepared for death."
Jung Yoon-chan answered without hesitation.
"That won't be a problem."
If the boss monster of the newly spawned Calamity-grade Gate in Oda City, Shimane, was indeed searching for Kang-jun...
Then perhaps he's already on his way here.
When Nuclear Samurai tried to gauge their resolve again, their unwavering responses left him speechless. He clamped his mouth shut.
"Then there's no time to waste."
He cut to the chase.
"Let's enter immediately."
The time had come for someone to do what had to be done.
The relentless typhoon made the assault team's advance difficult from the start.
Then Seol Eun-bin exhaled deeply, surveyed the group, and spoke with solemn determination.
"I'll make a path."
She drew out her mana in full, then suddenly plunged both hands deep into the raging sea.
"Absolute Zero!"
The moment the spell activated, a sharp crackling echoed as the seawater instantly froze.
In seconds, she had carved a narrow, precarious ice path—just wide enough for single file—before gasping out:
"It won't last long... hurry."
Her path stretched from the northwestern coast of Oda City all the way to the Gate kilometers away.
The Japanese hunters gaped at the spectacle, unable to hide their awe.
Go Du-yeol clicked his tongue at her visibly pale complexion and chided, "Kid, you should stay behind."
"No, I can still help—"
"You're already drained. What nonsense is this?"
True to his words, Seol Eun-bin showed clear signs of mana overload—burst capillaries, trembling limbs—the toll of flash-freezing seawater, which required exponentially more mana due to its salinity.
And the sheer volume she'd frozen had nearly depleted her reserves.
"But—"
As she protested, Jung Yoon-chan stepped in.
"Stay here."
His tone brooked no argument.
"Maintaining this path will drain you further. You know a mana-exhausted hunter is dead weight inside a Gate."
She bit her lip.
"Your duty is to hold the path until the vanguard enters."
Reluctantly, she nodded. "Fine..."
Jung Yoon-chan turned to Nuclear Samurai. "Move fast. We don't know how long the ice will hold."
The vanguard hurried across the ice path, vanishing one by one into the Calamity-grade Gate.
Seol Eun-bin exhaled shakily, watching them go.
"Knocked out before it even starts..."
Her whisper carried equal parts frustration and worry.
"Come back alive..."
Then chaos erupted at the emergency command post.
"The Gate's mana output is rising post-entry!"
The Minister of Internal Affairs, Taketa, blanched. "H-how?!"
Mana output—the total energy emitted by a Gate—was a key metric for threat classification. Normally, it dropped as hunters cleared monsters.
Yet here, it was climbing.
"Dear god..."
The monitoring equipment's numbers skyrocketed uncontrollably as thunder split the sky, rain lashing harder.
Seol Eun-bin chewed her lip, staring at the distant Gate.
"What the hell is happening—?"
A government official sprinted to her, frantic. "Tsunami warning! Evacuate now!"
She numbly obeyed, though nothing made sense.
One thing was clear: Everything was going wrong.
Then—
An eclipse.
Darkness swallowed the land.
Everyone looked up.
"That's... not the sun—"
The shadow blotting out the light wasn't the moon.
Because this wasn't an eclipse.
It was a warship—too massive to comprehend.
Seol Eun-bin's breath caught.
At this distance, she could barely make out its silhouette, but—
"That's his ship..."
Kang-jun's flagship, Naglfar, tore through the storm, heading straight for the Calamity-grade Gate.