The Mad Demon, Park Jinho

Thanks to Kim Eunji's sensational exploits, the name of Saebit Guild was soaring straight through the heavens. The news and online communities spent practically every hour of the day plastered with headlines about her.

And yet.

"Why aren't there any commissions?"

I sat in Saebit Guild's rundown office, muttering aloud with a thoroughly hollow expression. The torrential storm of calls and messages had dried up completely quite some time ago.

Gates were opening left and right across the nation, yet ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the number of commissions officially assigned to Saebit Guild stood at a flat zero.

Requests for television appearances were still flooding in, but Eunji had turned every single one down, insisting she wanted to stay true to her duties as a hunter.

Which is fine by me, honestly.

I also believed that a hunter's true calling lay in conquering gates rather than smiling on variety shows, so I fully respected her decision. Even so, the fact remained that Saebit Guild hadn't received a single gate-clearing request.

"Just why?"

I couldn't help asking the question aloud as I looked across at Kim Eunji, who sat quietly on the opposite sofa.

A girl that young and pretty had just become the first person in the world to slay a demon. So why on earth was the hunter industry this quiet?

Don't tell me...

Did that old geezer, the Sword Saint, pull some strings behind the scenes? No, that made no sense. Could a retired fossil really wield that much influence?

Besides, even the Sword Saint couldn't take down a demon.

It didn't add up. There had to be another reason entirely. But deciphering that puzzle wasn't what mattered right now. We couldn't afford to waste time idling like this.

"Guildmaster."

"...Yes?"

Lee Miseon, slumping in her desk chair with a gloomy face, looked over at me. With a firm expression, I posed a blunt question.

"You kept a kid with this much talent tied down for two whole years, didn't you?"

Miseon cast an apologetic glance toward Eunji and gave a sheepish nod.

"Then it's time for you to step up, Guildmaster. For the sake of our guild, and for Eunji's career."

"...I've been calling around everywhere, but everyone keeps turning us down."

"There's still one place left."

Knowing Miseon's temperament, she almost certainly hadn't reached out to them. But we weren't in any position to be picky beggars.

"The Hunter Association. Any gate that private guilds can't handle ends up dumped on their plate anyway. Call them up and ask for a few, whether they're emergency dispatches or whatever."

"Ah..."

Upright to a fault, utterly lacking flexibility. In truth, Lee Miseon had the worst temperament imaginable for the CEO of a private business. Still, she possessed one undeniable virtue.

"If I want to feed my people, I have to do whatever it takes. Understood!"

She had an overwhelming sense of responsibility.

"Eunji. Get ready."

"...Already?"

Sitting on the sofa, Kim Eunji turned her quiet gaze toward me. When she spaced out like that, you could easily mistake her for an idol rather than an active hunter.

"The Association will probably be grateful, honestly. They're already drowning in gates that regular guilds drop, so if someone steps forward to take work off their hands, they'll welcome us with open arms."

"Hmm."

Even though she was in her second year, Eunji was functionally still a rookie. I, on the other hand, was a battle-hardened veteran of a full decade.

For a guildmaster with an Association background, bringing in work this way should have been standard procedure. Miseon had probably just hesitated to make the call out of pride or embarrassment. While thinking that over, we began gearing up for dispatch.

"Yes, thank you! Another one like that? Um, we'll take care of this one first! Yes!"

Miseon hung up the phone with a radiant smile and turned toward us.

"A C-rank gate mutation! It sounds like an incident broke out during the filming of Beyond the Gate. The Argyle Guild dispatched first, but civilians are caught in the middle, so they asked if we could mobilize as well!"

"Hmm..."

"I'll text you the coordinates right now! If I'd known landing work was this easy, I would've called sooner! Thank you, Siwoo!"

Next time, I really needed to teach her the difference between a sweet, lucrative gate and a living nightmare. Well, not that we could afford to complain right now.

"We'll be on our way."

"Be careful out there!"

The office door creaked as if ready to crumble off its hinges. Stepping outside, we climbed into the company vehicle—which was nothing more than a beat-up compact car on the verge of the scrap yard.

"Do people really film broadcasts inside gates?"

Hearing Eunji's curious question from the passenger seat, I offered a wry smile. Times had changed drastically from the old days. Gates were no longer sheer terror incarnate, and hunters were no longer seen as grim anomaly-fighting freaks.

Gates were view counts, and hunters were a brand-new breed of celebrity. That was modern society in a nutshell.

Consequently, filming inside active gates happened far more often than one might think.

"It pops up on TV and YouTube all the time. You've really never seen it?"

It was almost baffling that someone younger than me had never stumbled across a single clip.

"Getting stronger is my priority. That's all that matters for a hunter."

Her answer drew genuine admiration from me. She was that rare breed nowadays: someone devoted purely to hard work and improvement.

Most others chased flashy skills, higher popularity, and the mountain of cash that came with them.

"Admirable. Anyway, it happens occasionally. They take high-rank escort teams into low-rank gates, so the accident rate isn't that high. But danger is always there, just like right now."

The Argyle Guild's first strike team consisted of at least C-rank hunters—a fairly elite squad. And if a gate had been officially approved for broadcast filming, it couldn't have been higher than D-rank at most.

Even if a mutation occurred, it shouldn't have posed an insurmountable crisis, but...

"Why are they dispatching us as well, then?"

"Because civilians are trapped. The Association is notoriously sensitive about ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that sort of thing."

"Everyone, hold your ground until backup arrives!"

Park Jihyeok, leader of the Argyle Guild's first strike team, roared at the trembling crew of Beyond the Gate.

"Hey! Don't lose your heads! Reinforcements are coming!"

Jihyeok glared at the surrounding horde of B-rank ogres that had manifested after the sudden mutation. One or two would have been well within their capabilities, but the beasts swarming them now numbered in the hundreds.

"Stay calm. Don't panic, just do exactly as you're told."

Standing alongside them, the show's main host and first-generation veteran hunter, Park Jinho, reassured the crew while calmly surveying their surroundings. Panic was fatal in moments like this.

That ironclad rule, carved into his soul through blood and agony decades ago, remained etched within Park Jinho.

"Even with a mutation, the jump should only be one or two ranks..."

A gate mutation typically bumped the dungeon's rating by one or two grades. Outbreaks were what scrambled ranks at random.

This had been logged as a mutation. Yet the monstrous mana storm churning in the atmosphere felt far too overwhelming to have originated from a humble D-rank gate.

What is going on here?

It definitely wasn't an Outbreak. Judging by the altered terrain and atmospheric conditions, it was undeniably a mutation. But the surge in power was terrifyingly abnormal.

"Backup's here!"

Park Jihyeok's shout cut through the roar of the frenzied beasts.

Thank god.

Park Jinho exhaled in relief. With gate occurrences spiking across the country recently, he had been privately worried that help might not come in time.

BOOOOOM!!!

A thunderous explosion tore through the distance, heralding the arrival of a single hunter. He stepped into Park Jinho's field of vision amidst billowing smoke.

The man hailed as South Korea's next supreme powerhouse—S-rank Hunter Kwon Dohyeok.

He was their backup.

"They sent an S-rank for this?"

Park Jinho's eyes widened in disbelief. Behind him, the broadcast crew raised their hands and erupted into tearful cheers.

"We're saved!"

"An S-rank hunter?! That means we're definitely getting out alive!"

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Kwon Dohyeok obliterated the monsters in his path with casual ease, strolling until he stood inches from Park Jinho.

"Well, well, Senior. Look at the pathetic state you're in, huh?"

A sneering smirk spread across Dohyeok's lips as he locked eyes with him. Park Jinho could only muster a bitter smile in return.

"Thank you for coming."

"...Yeah. Leave it to me and step aside, you washed-up old fossil."

With an expression laced with open disdain and smug satisfaction, Kwon Dohyeok turned around and began raining skills upon the surrounding horde.

KABOOOOOOM!!

A-rank Explosion. A-rank Mana Amplification. S-rank Fire Affinity. Ranked among the top thirty hunters in the entire world, Kwon Dohyeok's raw destructive prowess was undeniably overwhelming.

The flames erupting from his fingertips instantly incinerated entire packs of ogres, reducing beasts that ranked at least B-grade to smoking ash in the blink of an eye.

"Incredible..."

One of the Argyle Guild's strike team members stared slack-jawed at the display. It was the realm of a superhuman, operating on an entirely different plane from ordinary hunters.

"I'm glad he showed up, but his attitude is utterly rotten. Don't let it get to you, sir."

The youngest production assistant whispered softly into Park Jinho's ear. She clearly couldn't stomach the way Kwon Dohyeok had treated the veteran.

Park Jinho appreciated the sentiment, but a troubled smile crossed his lips.

"Hey! What did you just say, you little bitch?!"

An S-rank hunter's physical senses defied all human limits. A whisper at this distance sounded like someone shouting right in his ear.

"Dohyeok. I apologize on her behalf. Please, let it go."

"Shut your mouth, old man! Hey! You! Say that to my face again!"

Still blasting waves of fire into the horde, Kwon Dohyeok twisted his neck around, glaring murderously at the young assistant.

Barely twenty years old, the terrified woman bowed her head frantically, trembling from head to toe.

"...I-I'm sorry!"

"I came all the way out here to save your worthless life, and you've got the nerve to run your mouth? Huh? How about I just leave you behind to rot? I can do that, you know! Who the hell do you think has the rotten attitude here, you little parasite?!"

It was understandable that his pride had been stung. But this was an active combat zone. Losing focus like this in the middle of a battle was unforgivable.

Knowing that better than ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠anyone, Park Jinho stepped forward to intercede.

"Dohyeok. Let's clear the gate first, then sort this out. Please."

"I told you to back off! You think I can't clear a trash dungeon like this with my eyes closed?! Hey! Bitch! Lift your head! Say it again right now!!"

In this dire situation, Kwon Dohyeok was their sole savior. Because of that, both the Argyle Guild team and the production crew could only avert their eyes and maintain a suffocating silence.

Park Jinho, however, could not stand by. That wasn't who he was. A hunter's power was never meant to belong solely to the individual.

It was meant to shield the weak and powerless.

And so—

"Kwon Dohyeok! That's enough! What do you think you're doing right now?!"

As a senior. As a first-generation hunter who had clawed his way through the darkest days of the cataclysm, he could not let this disgrace pass.

Yet.

"Ha! I show you a sliver of respect as an elder, and you really think you can crawl all over me?"

Kwon Dohyeok was an active S-rank. Park Jinho was a retired B-rank—and one whose mana core was crippled by a horrific curse, at that.

"You can't even circulate mana properly anymore, can you? Huh? What makes you any different from a regular civilian? Oh, what, are you gonna run crying to the Association President? You think that gives you the right to lecture me?"

Lowering the hands he had aimed at the monsters, Kwon Dohyeok turned on his heel and marched directly toward Park Jinho.

The Argyle Guild frantically scrambled to hold back the encroaching monsters, but not a single soul dared step in Dohyeok's path.

SLAP!

The crack echoed sharply through the cavern. Park Jinho's cheek, weathered by over fifty years of life, flushed a furious crimson. The staff gasped in horror, but under Kwon Dohyeok's chilling glare, they quickly bowed their heads in terror.

"Listen up. When you get old and retire, you need to learn when to fade into the background. Who the hell do you think you are? You get a little fame on TV and suddenly think you're hot shit? You were only ever a mediocre B-rank back in your prime, so what makes you think you can bark at me?"

To an outsider, the scene was monstrous, but this was the hunter industry. Age was nothing more than an irrelevant number. The rank etched onto your card dictated your worth.

Park Jinho could say nothing. He merely clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. But this was fine. He had succeeded in dragging Kwon Dohyeok's wrath away from the young writer and onto himself.

"Old geezers really don't come to their senses until they get beat down."

Sneering, Kwon Dohyeok patted Park Jinho's head condescendingly. He turned his back, raising both hands toward the vaulted ceiling of the gate.

BANG!

A colossal mass of fire erupted from his palms, bathing the cavern in blistering light like a newly birthed sun.

ROOOOOAAAR!!!

Hovering overhead like a solar flare, the flames moved as though endowed with sentience, sweeping through the cavern to obliterate the heads of every remaining ogre.

"Let's move."

Having wiped out the surrounding horde, Kwon Dohyeok barked his order. But just as the crowd prepared to follow—

A sound that had no right to exist here tore through the air.

"What...?"

An aura so suffocating that it drew cold sweat even from Kwon Dohyeok erupted across the cavern floor.

"What the fuck? You things can talk?!"

Kwon Dohyeok tensed violently, glaring at the grotesque entity that had suddenly materialized before them. Never in recorded history had there been reports of demons speaking human tongue.

Yet that wasn't what truly mattered.

"Like hell I'd know, you ugly bastard!"

One of the baseline criteria for reaching S-rank was whether an individual could engage a demon alone. That didn't mean slaying it, but surviving long enough to stall for time.

Kwon Dohyeok was an S-rank. Stalling a demon should have been well within his capabilities, but—

A demon has never ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spawned inside a gate before...!

This wasn't the surface world; this was the interior of an isolated dungeon. Stalling for time in hopes that the entity would naturally dissipate was utterly meaningless.

Demons only manifested at random during catastrophic Gate Outbreaks. That universal law of reality was shattering right before their eyes.

BOOOOM!!

"Guh-khoff...!"

Worse still, unlike encounters on the surface, the demon's raw might inside the dungeon overwhelmingly outclassed the S-rank hunter.

Kwon Dohyeok was blasted through the air, vomiting a spray of crimson blood. The sight instantly plunged Park Jinho and the rest of the survivors into sheer despair.

"Ah...?!"

"Please, no!!"

"What do we do?! Somebody save us!!"

Even the desperate inferno Dohyeok hurled as a counterattack had been casually deflected. And the creature standing before them wasn't alone.

"Crazy..."

A curse slipped past Park Jinho's lips as he watched two distinct demons close in around the battered Kwon Dohyeok.

Even having survived the apocalypse era, this was a nightmare Park Jinho had never witnessed in all his years.

Right then, two figures sprinting at breakneck speed caught his eye from the far distance.

"Wait...?"

As he strained his vision, the familiar figures of Lee Siwoo and Kim Eunji came into clear view.

KABOOOOM!!

A torrent of violet mana surpassing the scale of an S-rank surged forth, slamming violently into the fiends. Kim Eunji charged fearlessly to intercept both demons at once.

Meanwhile, Lee Siwoo sprinted straight toward Park Jinho with an urgent look on his face.

"Senior!"

"Kwon Dohyeok is out of the fight! Don't worry about us, just—"

"Not that! Target Designation: Park Jinho!"

A brilliant status window materialized before Park Jinho's eyes, displaying a skill he had never laid eyes on in his entire life.

"Eunji can't handle two demons on her own! I need your help, Senior!"

Ten long years after his forced retirement under the crushing weight of a demonic curse—the reawakening of the Mad Demon, Park Jinho, had begun.