Chapter 187
Chapter 187
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 187
Chapter Title: Monsters with Traits
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 187
Hunter Association Basement Level 6, Gate Management Department.
It was a place that normally saw no traffic except for the department's own staff, but today the atmosphere was completely different.
"Several reports have already come in?"
"Yes... But up until now, they weren't anything major—"
"Does that even make sense right now!"
Gate Management Section Chief Kim Pan-su stood at a loss before Min-seok, who was venting his fury with a frame at least twice his own size.
He had previously dismissed a few reports suggesting monsters might possess traits.
Even though the frequency was gradually increasing, it was still negligible compared to the overall number of hunts.
Even when high-level boss monsters showed unusual reactions that led to hunter deaths, distinguishing whether it was a variant boss or a monster truly possessing a trait wasn't easy.
'Even when I sent investigation teams multiple times, there were no anomalies—what was I supposed to do!'
Moreover, early on, he had taken it seriously enough to dispatch investigation teams on his own authority.
But every time, the reports came back saying only ordinary monsters were present, so he had his own justifications.
Monsters possessing traits?
Reporting such an absurd story to his superiors would have only gotten him in trouble.
But this time, the situation was different.
It had been witnessed directly by the Investigation Bureau Chief and an S-Rank party.
A group of trait-bearing centaurs slaughtering another herd, no less.
"Director Go. Let's wait a bit first. I don't doubt Section Chief Cha's word, but this is just too unbelievable."
Fortunately, Woo Sang-ho, the Gate Management Bureau Director, who had been watching Min-seok press Pan-su, stepped in to mediate.
Sang-ho was also quite angry.
However, his anger stemmed from Pan-su's negligent attitude in not reporting a potentially major threat, even if unproven—not quite the same as Min-seok's.
'You idiot Pan-su, you should've at least mentioned it, instead of burying it like this?'
If he was reluctant to file an official report, he should have at least said something about the incoming reports.
"...Understood. Results should come in soon."
Though they held the same rank as directors, Sang-ho was a much more senior figure, so Min-seok couldn't ignore his mediation. He let out a deep sigh and put the scolding on hold for now.
It wasn't polite to berate staff from another department anyway, and as Sang-ho had pointed out, this incident was far more incredulous than any prior reports.
"Could I see the records of those reports?"
"Of course. Print out a few copies and pass them around."
At Sang-ho's order, the report logs were soon printed and distributed.
'These kinds of things have already happened?'
Jeong-hyeon skimmed through them, feeling a bit puzzled.
Truth be told, while this was the first time he'd witnessed it on such a large scale, he had seen monsters using traits a few times before.
For example, in the King's Playground they cleared with Jeongjin Guild, puppets mimicking the party's traits had appeared.
In the Dragon's Tomb cleared with Sea Guild, an undead demi drake had used fire magic resembling breath.
And even Grand Mantis and Ashurek.
But those were all from mission gates, where anything could happen.
Plus, with the abnormal difficulty applied to Jeong-hyeon during Ashurek proving to be real, he chalked it up to that context.
'But other people have encountered them too?'
The number of cases was higher than Jeong-hyeon expected.
Starting a few months ago, two or three reports came in steadily each month.
The frequency was increasing over time, and they were even appearing in low-level gates.
Of course, most were from high-level gates with scarce hunt data.
The reports themselves were vague too, like "A specific individual's evasion rate is exceptionally high compared to other monsters, trait suspected," offering no solid proof.
The one case with significant casualties was from Twilight Cyclops Island, where an Oroga Guild party was wiped out except for one member.
- Confirmed boss monster using fire magic. Clearing team succeeded in the hunt, but unable to confirm if variant boss or trait.
The follow-up actions succinctly explained why Pan-su had dismissed prior reports.
'The boss, of all things...'
Verifying traits in boss monsters was nearly impossible.
Variant bosses already existed as rare variants, and with bosses' long respawn cycles, distinguishing them definitively was out of the question.
The same went for regular monsters.
Low-rank traits might be harder to kill than others, but still killable, making post-mortem verification even tougher.
In the end, it was just hunters' feelings—no way to confirm actual trait usage.
His response was negligent, but anyone in Pan-su's position likely wouldn't have handled it much differently.
"This confirmation will be key, then."
Jeong-hyeon set down the reports and said to Ye-rin.
She nodded, evidently thinking the same.
Though from a different department, she dealt with countless reports in her role.
She could sense this wasn't enough to diagnose a clear anomaly.
It had been quite some time since they returned to the association, gave their statements, and visited Gate Management.
Results should be coming in soon.
That said, with the vast plains and the centaurs' wide range, he worried the S-Ranks sent for scouting might come up empty.
- Rrring.
At that moment, Min-seok's phone rang.
"..."
Everyone in the office couldn't help focusing on Min-seok and his phone.
Min-seok checked the caller and answered immediately.
"Yes. I've got the call."
They couldn't hear the full conversation, but after a few exchanges, it ended abruptly.
"The insertion team? What'd they say, Director Go?"
Sang-ho pressed Min-seok the moment the call cut off.
Min-seok, who had blankly stared at his phone and around, soon composed himself and addressed Sang-ho.
"Convene an emergency meeting right now."
***
"They're in the meeting now, so some countermeasures will come out of it."
"Man... weird stuff just keeps happening."
Jeong-hyeon shook his head, still dazed as he recalled the earlier scene.
Not long after Min-seok called for the emergency meeting, sirens blared throughout the association basement.
It was supposed to be just for director-level and above—why make such a racket?
Meanwhile, with nothing left to do, Jeong-hyeon and Ye-rin were strolling the association grounds.
The other party members, not having witnessed it themselves, had been sent home early.
"Whenever I'm around Hunter Han Jeong-hyeon, trouble always brews."
"?"
That's my line.
Jeong-hyeon gave Ye-rin an incredulous look as she shamelessly said what he was thinking.
Who was dragging whom into trouble?
'Whatever, arguing won't get me anywhere.'
But Jeong-hyeon had a decent read on Ye-rin by now.
Best to just lightly ignore that kind of thing.
"Ah, Section Chief Cha. Got something to ask while we've got time."
"Sorry. I'm not ready to accept your feelings yet."
"..."
Tough luck, tough luck.
It was just Ye-rin being Ye-rin.
'Calm down... Han Jeong-hyeon.'
Who'd believe she'd just reported hordes of trait-bearing monsters, seeing her like this?
"Haha, just kidding..."
"Sometimes I think that."
Somehow, the conversation felt like it was bouncing all over today.
Ye-rin suddenly turned serious, unlike her earlier nonsense.
"What do you mean?"
Even so, he couldn't trust that facade.
Jeong-hyeon steeled himself to weather whatever she said next, calmly awaiting her words.
"I've worked so hard not to be swayed by others and climbed high, but in the end, in the grand scheme, there's nothing I can do alone."
But Ye-rin's words sounded like genuine turmoil, startling Jeong-hyeon for a different reason.
She didn't seem the type to share her inner thoughts easily.
"Have you never thought that, Hunter Han Jeong-hyeon?"
Ye-rin glanced back at him as she asked.
Facing a weighty topic he'd never expected from her, Jeong-hyeon pondered before answering.
"Well... That's why people band together, right? Because some things can't be done alone."
"..."
"No need to fret over what you can't do solo. Even gates require parties."
True enough.
Ye-rin nodded slightly.
Then asked again.
"So, what were you going to say earlier?"
"Ah."
Jeong-hyeon snapped back to his original point.
"You said you'd explain why we absolutely must catch Kim Du-yeol's gang, but I haven't heard it yet."
"Oh, right."
Ye-rin nodded as if just remembering.
"Have you heard of White Face?"
"I got the gist from Team Leader Seok-woong last time."
"You shouldn't go around asking others about my business."
"...My bad."
Fair point, no room to argue.
As Jeong-hyeon apologized, Ye-rin gave a slight smile.
"It's fine."
He knew it, but she really had an infuriating way with words.
'If you're gonna coolly say it's fine, don't make me feel guilty in the first place!'
But Ye-rin never tossed words around lightly.
"Instead, since you messed up, I won't go into details. To me, White Face is just the big picture."
"Huh?"
"I'm trying to challenge it once, but it's not going my way."
Something was behind it, but Ye-rin seemed done talking.
"That's it. I've got work to do."
Timing didn't help either.
In their wandering chat, they'd reached the association's main gate.
Ye-rin stopped, turned on her heel as if mid-conversation, and left.
"Everyone's got so many backstories?"
Jeong-hyeon watched her back a moment, then grumbled and walked off.
She hadn't spelled it out, but he got the gist.
'The big picture...'
And when he got home and turned on the TV news, it was already covering the story swiftly—along with info Jeong-hyeon hadn't anticipated.