The Interview (1)
While Park Jihun was busy mixing his body with his familiars inside the subspace, the hunters who had joined him in the vampire gate were filing reports about the incident with their respective guilds and national associations.
“(A tamer?)”
“Yes.”
And the focus of those reports wasn’t so much on the battle against the vampires. Most of it centered on Park Jihun himself. His absurd combat power that far exceeded anyone’s imagination. And the fact that he had tamed the Vampire Queen as a familiar.
“(A B-rank with S-rank level combat ability? That doesn’t even make sense…)”
Of course, the people receiving the reports didn’t believe it at first. But the sincerity of the reporters, combined with the fact that there was no reason to lie about something like this, left them with no choice but to accept it.
“(On top of that, he turned the boss of a near-S-rank gate into his familiar… That’s too much for mere personal combat strength.)”
“Yes. According to the kids who were on site when he fought her subordinates, the moment the Vampire Queen submitted, about half the vampires vanished. Probably…”
“(…They were bound to the Vampire Queen and became his familiars as well?)”
“…Yes.”
The fact that every last one of those vanished vampires had been female didn’t seem like particularly important information, so they left it out.
Anyway, news of Park Jihun’s military prowess spread like this to the international mercenary guild Peace, the famous Italian guild Nerito, and even to Japan.
“(Come on, does that even make sense? It’s gotta be exaggeration.)”
“But it is true that he tamed the Vampire Queen.”
“(Well, with the other hunters helping him, he probably managed it somehow, right? No one actually saw it properly anyway.)”
“…Yes. The two people who made direct contact with the Vampire Queen are both dead.”
“(Then whatever. They’re just a bunch of empty-headed mercenaries and those arrogant Italian mafia bastards. They’re probably just inflating the story because they’re embarrassed they couldn’t handle it themselves.)”
“……”
Of course, because Japan didn’t have anyone in the raid party who had witnessed Park Jihun’s abilities firsthand, their assessment was slightly off the mark.
“(Still, he tamed the boss of a near-S-rank gate… We should definitely stay on guard about that part. Or ask if he’s interested in joining our Susanoo. Tell him we’ll treat him with the absolute best conditions.)”
“(We need to bring him into Nerito. He’s a talent Italy absolutely requires.)”
“(Honestly, I doubt he’d want to join any particular guild. For now, let’s just build a good relationship. Even if he doesn’t become one of our guild members, he’ll definitely be helpful to the guild later.)”
And so, the raid leaders who were still in Vietnam began searching for Park Jihun according to their guild masters’ orders.
There was also one more person looking for him.
“Ughhh… Where the hell is that guy at a time like this!”
It was Chien Bao, President of the Vietnam Hunter Association.
Gratitude for clearing the near-S-rank gate. An investigation into the circumstances. Questions about the relationship between this gate and the mass gate outbreak. Things he wanted to ask the Vampire Queen he had turned into a familiar.
There was a mountain of things he needed to hear, yet Park Jihun had vanished without a trace.
He had put out feelers across all of Vietnam trying to find him. He even checked airport records and, suspecting he might have returned to Korea, asked the Korean embassy to look up entry records.
Of course, since Park Jihun was inside the subspace that only he and his familiars could enter, there was no way they could find him.
“…Sigh. Can’t be helped. For now… I’ll contact the International Hunter Association first.”
After spending an entire day without locating Park Jihun, Chien Bao decided to reach out to the International Hunter Association with the information he had so far.
What he delivered to them was information about otherworldly monsters utilizing gates. And the resulting problem of mass gate outbreaks.
Since there had never been a precedent before, Vietnam’s case would be treated as extremely important by hunter associations around the world.
‘And in exchange for this data, Vietnam requests international assistance should a mass outbreak occur in the future.’
In simple terms, he was selling the information.
Nearly half of all gates above B-rank had been left to foreign mercenaries, but the frequency, timing, and comprehensive data on the gates were still stored in Vietnam. That much could be considered their own.
‘We have to do at least this much. It’s the only way a weak hunter nation like ours can survive.’
In truth, the most reliable option would have been to get a detailed explanation from the Vampire Queen who had become Park Jihun’s familiar. But there was no time to wait.
Other countries’ hunters might have already noticed something and could pass the information elsewhere first.
‘Information like this is best released as quickly and as first as possible.’
With that thought, Chien Bao dialed the phone connected to the International Hunter Association.
Connection to the International Hunter Association has been established.
“Haa… Why does this always happen to me? I clearly came here on vacation to have fun.”
Park Jihun let out a deep sigh as if lamenting his fate.
It really was like that. Whenever he tried to go somewhere to play or just wanted to rest, something always blew up. Some might say he could just ignore it, but if there was even the slightest chance of meeting a beautiful monster girl, how could he possibly ignore that?
“Aww, but we still had a great time for three days and two nights, didn’t we?”
“And you even gained a new familiar.”
Shin Jiyeon and Sira pressed their voluptuous breasts against both of his arms, hugging him tightly as they comforted him.
“Well, that’s true. We had fun at the beach too.”
Park Jihun recalled his familiars in their swimsuits, then stripping them off and pounding them senseless.
“New place, new outfits. It was fresh stimulation.”
And thanks to working hard like that, he had even gotten his hands on the Vampire Queen, Trene.
“Wow, then how many familiars do you have now?”
Park Jihun opened the familiar window once.
“Whoa, that’s a lot.”
A total of eight. Of course, since each of them could summon their own subordinates, the actual number exceeded a hundred. But when looking at just the representatives, there were eight in total.
‘…Chen Mei.’
Park Jihun found a name he hadn’t seen in quite a while in the middle of the list.
‘Come to think of it, she wasn’t my first A-rank familiar.’
Chen Mei was the A-rank hunter who had been the secretary for China’s Heixiaohui. She had come before the others.
‘I was originally planning to eat her and throw her away… but I completely forgot about her. I wonder what she’s doing right now?’
China was currently in the middle of a nationwide hunter war. Various factions were fighting to see who would take control. Because of that, not only were there political struggles between hunters inside China, but secret direct battles were breaking out as well.
In fact, quite a few hunters had died under suspicious circumstances because of it.
‘She hasn’t died, has she?’
Since she was still listed in the familiar window, she probably wasn’t dead. But because he hadn’t heard from her at all, he was starting to get a little worried.
‘Even though I was just going to use her, I’m still a bit concerned now that she’s my familiar.’
He had originally planned to discard her after using her, but it seemed that after an intense night of passion, some feelings had taken root. He was starting to worry about her safety.
‘China… China, huh.’
He honestly hadn’t been interested. But for some reason, Park Jihun had a strong feeling that this time, he would end up getting involved with them.
Somewhere on a desolate plateau in China.
Crack…
In that place, spaces tore open simultaneously, and three gray vortices appeared.
Three special gates.
It was two days after they had appeared that the three special gates lined up side by side were discovered.
“…What the hell is this?”
The Chinese Hunter Association was thrown into great panic by this unprecedented situation. Three special gates appearing simultaneously in the same area.
There had been a recent mass gate outbreak in Vietnam, and rumors said it was similar to an invasion by a single monster faction. But that had just been hearsay.
However, three special gates—cracks intentionally opened from the other side—lined up like this…
What this meant was clear.
“They’re coming as a group.”
Three different forces capable of creating gates. They had intentionally joined forces to cross over into this world.
“…First, measure the mana.”
What mattered was the mana the gates were emitting. The severity of this situation would change depending on their ranks.
“Damn it, why did something like this have to happen at a time like this…”
While measuring the mana, the association staff spat out curses.
Right now, China was in chaos as hunters fought among themselves. Of course, gate handling was still being done quickly and efficiently. They had to maintain their public image so they could win over public opinion once they seized power as hunter guilds.
In other words, it was a power struggle. They needed achievements like clearing more and higher-ranked gates.
Because of that, there had been a sharp increase in reckless gate clears. On top of that, with hunters secretly dying from behind-the-scenes schemes, each hunter’s workload had increased dramatically. Naturally, everyone was exhausted and overworked.
That raised the chance of accidents occurring. In such a situation, the appearance of three special gates at once was both a golden opportunity for hunters seeking notable achievements and a terrifying trap that could cause a massive loss of important hunter forces in one catastrophic incident.
“…All three are A-rank.”
And unfortunately, their ranks were terrifyingly high.
“Fuck… We’re screwed…”
Upon hearing the report, the investigation team leader let out a deep sigh, thinking that China’s crisis might truly be approaching.