EP5. Arena
Nariel snorted in disbelief.
“Fifty people.
Ha.”
“They’re all dead.
We shouldn’t have even come in here in the first place, damn it.”
“Don’t get down on yourself!
There’s always a way to solve any problem!
As long as we don’t give up, the hammer of the blacksmith god Hephaestus will be with us!”
“Bullshit!
Hey, you bastard!
You’re on Lord Lucifer’s team, and you’re looking for Hephaestus?
Did Hephaestus make that tiny body of yours even bigger?”
As the argument seemed about to escalate, Jae-jun stepped between them.
Elves were nothing like the graceful image he’d always imagined.
They were heavenly when they kept their mouths shut... but the moment they opened them...
“What’re you staring at, punk?”
...they turned into total street thugs.
Lucifer led the three of them toward the entrance with a stern expression.
It was time to head out.
“Is that guy going out too?”
Barik suddenly looked startled, as if something had just occurred to him, and glanced at Lucifer’s face.
Lucifer nodded once without a word.
“...Hah.”
“What’s wrong?”
“The orc team has a real lunatic on it.
You’ll know it the moment you see him, newbie.
I’m talking about the Orc Champion.”
The three of them stood at the entrance, each wearing their own grim expression.
Was it because the cheers from outside sounded like the wails of hell?
Barik and Nariel’s faces darkened completely.
But Jae-jun wasn’t particularly worried.
If it was an orc like Garrosh from just before, he was confident he could handle all fifty of them.
Lucifer placed his hand on the door handle.
Click.
But before opening it, he paused for a moment.
Then he closed the door again and turned back toward Jae-jun.
Lucifer seemed to wrestle with some inner conflict before letting out a deep sigh.
He drew the sword from his waist and handed it to Jae-jun.
It was a sword broken clean in half.
There wasn’t a single undamaged spot from hilt to blade.
“Lord Lucifer, I’m not using some busted sword like that.”
Nariel grumbled from the side, but Jae-jun was too stunned to respond.
He’d checked the item’s identity through the system window.
“...This is?”
Lucifer’s eyes shook as they met his.
His face still showed hesitation about handing it over.
Then, as if resolving himself, Lucifer abruptly turned away and opened the door.
WAAAAAAAAAH!
Nariel and Barik stepped out into the arena first.
As Jae-jun followed, Lucifer gripped his arm tightly for a moment before letting go.
“...”
Jae-jun understood exactly what Lucifer wanted to say.
I’ve given you this much—now win, somehow.
Jae-jun strode boldly into the arena.
As he stood tall between Barik and Nariel, the orcs came into view ahead.
“Orcs of every shape and size.”
No two were alike, from their builds to their types.
Who’s this Orc Champion guy?
There were too many to pick out the champion at a glance.
Gulp.
Barik swallowed hard beside him.
“Looks like today’s my final battle, as dwarf Barik.”
“Didn’t you say Hephaestus would show you the way, you bastard?”
“...”
“What?
Is he having trouble finding you ’cause you’re so damn small?”
Nariel’s sharp tongue was relentless.
Soon, the grating voice of the announcer rang out.
Incheon Airport.
Officials from the World Hunter Association had arrived in Korea to discuss the A-rank dungeon break in North Korea.
From nearby nations like Japan and China to distant ones like the United States, representatives affiliated with the World Hunter Association entered the arrivals hall.
Korean Association staff guided them to waiting cars.
What a joke.
Nakamura Shibashiki, president of the Japan Hunter Association, sneered as he looked around.
Unable to handle a single A-rank dungeon, they were begging the world for help?
Shibashiki scoffed lightly, and Kurata Shingo, the S-rank hunter seated beside him, glanced his way.
One of the world’s top three in strength.
“Korea’s hopeless as ever.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a backward country—that’s why they’re begging other nations like this, right?”
“What’s new about that?”
Shibashiki and Kurata badmouthed Korea openly, heedless of the Korean Hunter Association staff sitting in front.
The staffer’s face twisted, but he bit his lip and endured.
We’re the weak ones right now—nothing we can do.
But he couldn’t stop his hands from trembling with humiliation.
“...We’ve arrived.”
The grim-faced staffer opened the door.
There were more than a few cars parked in front of the Association building.
Jang Gil-san sat rigidly beneath the Korean flag.
The round table was surrounded by chairs, each with a national flag, all fully occupied.
“The dungeon in North Korea was estimated at A-rank, but the monsters that escaped are all judged to be S-rank.”
“Ha!
Ridiculous nonsense!”
Japan’s Hunter Association President Shibashiki laughed openly in mockery.
Jang Gil-san’s face hardened as he replied.
“This isn’t just my personal judgment.
It’s based on data from Korean hunters’ raid attempts.
Even S-rank hunters... were killed by those monsters.”
“Korean hunters, that is.
They’re weaker than other countries to begin with.
Shouldn’t we just treat your so-called S-ranks as A-rank?”
Jang Gil-san’s face flushed red with barely contained anger.
He couldn’t stand hearing Shibashiki constantly belittle Korean hunters.
At that moment, Gordon, the U.S. Hunter Association president, intervened to mediate.
“Alright, alright, let’s calm down.
So, what Korea wants is for us to subjugate those monsters from the North Korean incident, right?”
Gordon cut straight to the point.
“...Yes.
That’s correct.”
The other nations’ association presidents all wore thoughtful expressions.
With gates suddenly proliferating, it was hard to spare their own hunters for foreign duties.
As the stifling silence dragged on, an unexpected figure stepped up.
“No helping it, then.
Everyone’s busy, so our Japanese Association will handle Korea’s problem.”
“You mean that?”
“Of course.
Korea was almost part of Japan anyway, wasn’t it?
Hahaha, we’ll take care of them.”
“What kind of talk is that!”
Gordon quieted the heated conference room once more.
In truth, the other nations were glad Japan was taking on the troublesome burden.
The meeting ended with Japan taking responsibility for Korea’s monsters.
As Jang Gil-san’s face darkened, Shibashiki’s brightened.
As Shibashiki exited the conference room, Kurata approached.
“President, do you really plan to help Korea?”
“Me?
You think I’m crazy enough to help Korea at a time like this?”
“But in the meeting...”
“Hahaha.
Kurata, you’re skilled, but hopeless at politics.”
Shibashiki leaned close to Kurata’s ear.
“I said I’d help.
But I never said when.”
“Then?”
“When Korea’s completely collapsed.
That’s when we step in and claim this land.
We’ll achieve the conquest of Korea that even my father’s generation couldn’t!”
Shibashiki smirked vilely and strode out.
Kurata followed with an admiring look.
Jang Gil-san clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white.
As if he didn’t know Japan’s scheme.
“What’s the status on every hunter we can mobilize in Korea right now?”
“...Since the last raid, most guilds are refusing to participate.
It’ll be harder than before.”
Jang Gil-san squeezed his eyes shut.
The media only knew about the first raid, but the Association had attempted two more unofficially.
All ended in total annihilation.
Two S-rank hunters dead.
Fifty-one A-rank hunters gone, and hundreds below that.
Guilds were now shying away from further support.
We had to secure aid today, somehow!
To make matters worse, the sudden surge in gates had hunters running ragged.
Even soldiers not normally in combat were being deployed for gate suppression.
Hwang Dong-su gauged Jang Gil-san’s mood.
“...Should we at least contact the S-rank hunters?”
“Sigh.
Yeah.
We have to.
We’ll hold them off somehow.
The moment those things come down...
Seoul will be reduced to rubble in an instant.”
Hwang Dong-su bowed his head and headed for the door.
Then he stopped abruptly, as if remembering something.
“Oh.
Come to think of it.”
Hwang Dong-su pulled out his phone and showed it to Jang Gil-san.
A video was playing on the screen.
“What’s this?”
“...It’s footage from when the troll escaped during that last gate break.”
BOOM!
The troll smashed through buildings, mercilessly tearing people apart.
Screams and agonized groans filled the air.
Jang Gil-san frowned, but Hwang Dong-su didn’t stop the video.
Thud!
Thud!
Low-rank hunters who’d appeared out of nowhere desperately blocked the troll from reaching the school.
But it wasn’t enough.
They were as powerless as he felt.
Jang Gil-san’s eyes clenched shut involuntarily.
“...You need to watch till the end.”
Hwang Dong-su’s voice came through.
“Right.
Their suffering is mine to bear too.”
It wasn’t quite what Hwang meant, but he didn’t comment.
When one hunter was finally crushed under the troll’s club, a faint groan escaped Jang Gil-san.
But then, someone appeared and saved them.
A face familiar even to Jang Gil-san.
“Choi Jae-jun?”
The new S-rank hunter.
Choi Jae-jun took on the troll alone.
He wielded his sword and severed the troll’s ankle in a single swing.
Not only that—he incinerated it with overwhelming firepower.
Utter dominance.
“...Can we contact Hunter Choi Jae-jun?”
“We can’t reach him right now.”
“Find him somehow and make contact.
The Republic of Korea needs him now!”
Thank you.