Unease (1)
Whoa... that's incredible.
"Right?"
Park Jihun and Shin Jiyeon stood there in awe, watching Briana, Kar, and Serina darting in and out of the rift floating in midair. Surprisingly, it wasn't a Gate at all. It was the entrance to the familiar subspace that Jihun had created.
"This is fascinating."
"Master! Nothing inside! Absolutely nothing!"
"Huuu... what is this thing?"
Each of them shared their own impressions of the subspace.
"When you say familiar... does that mean I could go in there too?"
"Oh, you probably could."
Jihun wanted to let Shin Jiyeon try entering it once, but—
"Let's head out first. The Gate's about to close soon."
"Ah, yes!"
Since Serina, the core of the Gate, had become Jihun's familiar, the dungeon had begun collapsing. They needed to get out quickly.
Whether Shin Jiyeon could enter the subspace and how to control it were questions they could figure out once they were safely outside. So they hurried out of the Gate.
"Oh, before that."
Jihun seemed to remember something and turned to Serina.
"Serina. You stay inside the subspace for now."
"Huh? Oh, got it."
Her tone was casual, but that was just her personality. Aside from the blunt speech, she was perfectly obedient to Jihun's words. Of course, that was only natural since she was a familiar who had completely submitted to him.
Anyway, following his order, she slipped into the subspace alone.
"I figured it'd be better to keep Serina hidden for the time being."
"Mm, that's a smart call."
Originally, even if he gained a D-rank familiar, he'd planned to slip away quickly without getting caught. But with the subspace, he could hide his familiars without needing the Association's help at all.
If he had familiars above D-rank, people might start questioning Jihun's rank and abilities. In that sense, the subspace was an incredibly useful skill.
"Alright, let's go."
Even though their numbers had increased by one, the four of them exited the Gate the same way they'd entered.
"Hm. No one's here."
"Looks that way."
They'd come outside, but the area around the Gate was still completely deserted. Of course, since the Association had blocked access, it made sense that no one was around. Still, there were always a few reporters chasing scoops who somehow slipped through the cracks to get close to Gates. Not to mention guild scouts and individual hunters who were personally curious about Park Jihun. Plenty of people could have shown up if they'd wanted to.
Fortunately, it seemed everyone had been lured away by the fake bait in Uijeongbu. No one had caught on to their real movements yet.
"Let's hurry, Sunbae."
As Jihun let out a sigh of relief, Shin Jiyeon gently tugged at his sleeve.
"......"
Her face was slightly flushed, and she kept twisting her legs together. She looked like a kid who desperately needed to pee.
"Master..."
"Owner, Kar can't hold it anymore."
Briana and Kar were in the same state. All of them seemed to be craving something from him.
"Yeah. Let's head home."
Jihun knew exactly what they wanted.
He'd been so caught up in the subspace and Kar's evolution that he'd completely forgotten, but these girls were in full heat right now. And since he'd only cum once while taming Serina, his own desires hadn't been satisfied at all.
"We're gonna fuck like crazy once we get back."
At Jihun's words, the familiars nodded eagerly. They rushed straight home, and including Serina, the five of them spent a night filled with endless feminine moans that never seemed to stop.
While Jihun's group was busy clearing the Lizardman's Swamp...
"...What the hell? Is this the wrong place?"
"There's literally no one outside the Gate?"
The reporters and guild scouts who had rushed over after hearing that Park Jihun was heading to an E-rank Gate in Uijeongbu were completely flustered. The leaked information had clearly said he was coming here. But when they arrived, there wasn't a single soul.
Well, there was one person. A Hunter Association employee standing guard at the Gate entrance.
"...Was it all bullshit?"
"Looks like it."
"Goddamn it... do you know how long it took to get to Uijeongbu...?"
As the crowd realized they'd been tricked by fake information and started grumbling in annoyance...
"Chāo nǐ mā...!!"
A beautiful woman spat out a sharp Chinese curse in a clear voice. The one grinding her teeth in fury was a woman in her mid-twenties with sleek black hair tied back, wearing a crisp suit and sharp angular glasses. She gave off an extremely rigid, intimidating impression.
It was Chen Mei, Lung Xiao's secretary from the Black Society.
Her face already looked cold and unapproachable, but with that irritated scowl, she radiated an aura that made people want to stay far away. On top of that, as an A-rank hunter, the pressure she naturally emitted was no joke.
"What's with that Chinese woman...?"
"She's pretty, but kinda scary..."
A few nearby reporters broke into a cold sweat and slowly backed away from her.
These pathetic Korean bastards. How dare they trick me?
According to the information from the Hunter Association, Park Jihun was definitely supposed to be here. Seeing all these reporters and guild scouts gathered, she'd been even more certain. But Park Jihun was nowhere to be found. It had been a decoy all along.
In the end, this man had wasted her time and made her fail twice—first with Gu Mansik of the Yongmun Guild, and now this. Chen Mei felt genuine killing intent rising within her.
Should I just kill him?
The Black Society's boss, Lung Xiao, had said to either bring him back or kill him.
For a moment, the cool and competent secretary persona vanished. The thought of simply killing Park Jihun—who had humiliated her twice—and returning home crossed her mind.
She had almost never failed before. That was exactly why this situation twisted her true nature so violently.
No. Calm down. That wouldn't look good at all.
Of course, bringing him back alive would create a much better picture than killing him. The world’s first and only hunter joining the Chinese Black Society. Wasn't that the perfect way to raise both China's glory and the Black Society's prestige at the same time?
If she killed him, it would only create annoying international issues. No matter how they defended it, the Black Society's reputation would inevitably take a hit.
That's right. I can't lose my cool just because I failed. I am the secretary to the boss of the Black Society. I must always remain composed.
Having regained her composure, Chen Mei was about to leave before the reporters noticed her identity when—
"What business does the Black Society have here?"
A deep male voice came from behind her. It was fluent, native-level English.
"...?"
When Chen Mei turned her head, she saw—
"You're... Michael Gordon..."
A Caucasian man in his mid-thirties with striking blond hair and blue eyes, boasting an impressively massive build. Chen Mei knew exactly who he was.
He was the man who had once pushed the so-called AM Project—the plan to train monsters and build an army with them. An S-rank hunter affiliated with the United States. Michael Gordon himself.
Even though the project had been scrapped as impossible, she'd heard he still hadn't given up and was continuing to search for ways to tame monsters.
Don't tell me... he's here to meet Park Jihun because of that.
Turning monsters into a military force naturally required the ability to tame them first. But after countless failures, the Tamer Park Jihun had appeared. It was obvious that Michael Gordon hadn't abandoned the project and had come to meet Jihun in order to find a breakthrough through him.
Then he's a competitor.
There was no doubt he had come here looking for Park Jihun as well. In that case, there was no point in playing dumb.
In times like this, I should face him head-on.
Having reached that conclusion, Chen Mei immediately put on her usual rigid secretary expression and spoke in fluent English.
"I came to meet Hunter Park Jihun. He's quite famous worldwide, after all."
At her words, Michael Gordon's face twisted into a scowl.
"Here we go again. You Chinese are always the same."
It was easy to understand why he sounded so fed up. Whenever something good came out of another country, they would flip out, claim it as their own, and insist they were the original inventors. He had experienced the crude tendencies of the Chinese people far too many times.
"During the AM Project, you people also—"
"...Tsk."
When Michael Gordon tried to continue, Chen Mei frowned deeply and clicked her tongue.
This sweaty-smelling Western bastard dares to insult our Republic? Does he have a death wish?
She wanted to curse him out right then and there, but as a capable secretary, she didn't let any more of her displeasure show. Of course, a truly capable secretary wouldn't have shown any at all. Still, among the Black Society, she was considered one of the more rational and level-headed members. So this much could be considered holding back quite well.
"...Hm."
Just as the atmosphere between Chen Mei and Michael Gordon was growing increasingly hostile—
"Huh? Isn't that guy... Michael? Michael Gordon?"
"Whoa! It's really him! And next to him is Chen Mei from the Black Society!"
"What? Why are those two here?"
A few of the reporters recognized the pair and began swarming toward them.
"E-excuse me, did you both come here to meet Hunter Park Jihun?"
"Mr. Michael Gordon! Does your meeting with Hunter Park Jihun have anything to do with the AM Project?"
"Why is the Black Society trying to meet Hunter Park Jihun? Just one comment, please..."
The reporters, who had missed out on a huge scoop by failing to meet Park Jihun, rushed at them like a swarm of bees, hurling questions. But the two of them instantly slipped away from the onslaught.
Being an A-rank and S-rank hunter respectively, there was no way ordinary reporters could catch them. They couldn't even get them on camera. The pair had already vanished before anyone could snap a single photo.
"...Ugh, damn it. Without pictures, this won't get any traction."
Since they couldn't get photos of Michael Gordon and Chen Mei, the reporters tried to write articles that would at least generate some clicks with text alone. But these days, stories without pictures just didn't catch on with the public. People's standards had risen quite a bit—if there were no on-site photos, they wouldn't believe it was real.
Reluctantly, they searched for existing photos of Chen Mei and Michael Gordon online, slapped them into the articles, and wrote sensational headlines to go with them.
...Tsk. Because of that filthy Western bastard, only weird articles are going to spread. Korean reporters are famous for their fake news skills, after all.
Chen Mei anticipated that provocative articles would be published and decided to prepare counter-statements in advance.
Hunter Park Jihun... where the hell is he? He's not at home either. Should I check the guild he's affiliated with?
Michael Gordon, on the other hand, didn't seem particularly bothered by any of that. He was simply lost in thought about how to find Park Jihun.