Chapter 475: Twilight and Dawn (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 475: Twilight and Dawn (1)
Cerberus.
The Guardian of Hell.
The three-headed hound.
A name familiar to the people of old as a creature of myth.
But to the people of the modern era, Cerberus was no longer a fiction confined to mythology, but a reality.
“Why in the world is the boss monster of Hellgate…!?”
Hellgate.
The name of a dungeon that appeared in southern Greece three years ago.
The rank assigned to it by the World Hunter Association was EX-rank.
An abbreviation for Extraordinary, the rank signified one thing:
‘Unconquerable.’
An impregnable dungeon that could not be cleared by any means with current forces.
Do you know what that means?
It meant the world had officially acknowledged it. They had hammered in the fact that this dungeon could not be conquered with the power of modern-day Hunters.
Cerberus was the boss monster of such a dungeon.
The one that had annihilated dozens of parties that had charged in with bravado, not letting a single person return.
The master of a place that made the people of Greece tremble in fear, never knowing when a Dungeon Break might occur.
And that very creature had manifested not in faraway Greece, but on the soil of the Republic of Korea.
Along with the colossal gate of hell it was meant to guard.
“How could this have happened?!”
Thanks to this, the government was in an uproar.
“That three-headed dog that appeared in the middle of Gwanghwamun—is it really the Cerberus from Greece?”
At the President's question, the Prime Minister nodded with a grim expression.
“It’s true. We contacted Greece to confirm… and they said the boss monster ‘Cerberus,’ which should have been guarding Hellgate, has vanished without a trace, along with the gate itself.”
“How could this be…!”
The President couldn't even finish his sentence, his breathing ragged.
It was understandable.
This was the boss monster of a dungeon located not in their own country, not even in a neighboring one, but in a distant foreign land.
How could he not be dumbfounded when such a monster had suddenly dropped into the heart of South Korea?
Struggling to catch his breath, the President finally managed to speak.
“What should we do now?”
After a moment of silence, the Prime Minister's eyes glinted sharply as he answered.
“I will organize an Emergency Response Committee.”
Diagnosis to the doctor, medicine to the pharmacist.
And monster disposal to the Hunters.
The Prime Minister, a former Hunter himself, convened the Emergency Response Committee on the President's behalf, gathering key figures.
As a result, the Republic of Korea's proud S-rank Hunters gathered in one place.
All except for two.
Noticing the two empty seats, the Prime Minister frowned.
“I expected one seat to be empty, of course… but who does the other one belong to?”
It was natural for one seat to be empty.
It belonged to someone who had vanished abruptly, claiming to go off for training, and whose whereabouts, let alone their life or death, were unknown.
But who on earth was the other one?
Hunter Association President Moon Cheol-jun answered with a troubled expression.
“It’s Hunter Kim Do-jin.”
“Is he on an overseas mission?”
“No, sir.”
“Then why is he absent?”
The Prime Minister's tone dropped a notch.
A sign of his displeasure.
Wasn't the very reason the nation treated S-rank Hunters like national treasures for times like these?
Yet here was one who received all the benefits but failed to show up when it mattered most. It was only natural to be annoyed.
Facing the sharp gaze of the Prime Minister, who had once been a renowned S-rank Hunter himself, Moon Cheol-jun spoke with difficulty.
“We are currently unable to contact him.”
“Did he run away?”
Startled by the even bolder accusation, Moon Cheol-jun waved his hands in denial.
“N-No, that’s absolutely not it. We’ve sent someone who knows Hunter Kim Do-jin well to his home, so please give us a little time until we hear back.”
“…Very well.”
He reined in the aura that had unconsciously leaked out with his shifting emotions and softened his expression.
His face now a neutral mask, he addressed those seated around the long table.
“Let’s begin the meeting.”
The emergency response meeting began.
* * *
[A Dungeon Break has occurred in the middle of Jongno. The monster that has appeared is Cerberus, reported to be the boss monster of an EX-rank dungeon in southern Greece, sending shockwaves….]
The sudden appearance of Cerberus turned not just Korea, but the entire world, upside down.
【Anomalous Phenomenon! Greek Dungeon Monster in Korea?】
【Disaster Befalls the Republic of Korea.】
The eyes of the world were once again focused on Korea.
The first reason for this attention was the anomaly of Greece's disaster appearing in Korea.
But their interest wasn't limited to that alone.
From the Leviathan in Gangnam and the Kraken in Haenam to the Cerberus in Jongno.
Korea, the ill-fated nation upon which the Hunter society's greatest disasters had fallen three times.
They were curious.
Would the people who had barely survived two disasters perform another miracle?
Or would they finally fail to overcome the calamity and fall to ruin?
“Y-Yu-jeong. What are we going to do?”
“…I know.”
Having grasped the situation through the TV and a message from the Association, she bit her lip.
Cerberus.
The boss monster of a dungeon the world had officially deemed unconquerable.
The number of Hunters torn apart by its fangs and claws numbered in the hundreds.
Among them were nine S-rank Hunters.
And the number of A-rank Hunters like herself was too high to easily count.
Such a disaster had landed in the middle of Jongno.
The announcer on TV continued speaking in a calm tone, yet her tension was palpable.
[Currently, Cerberus is showing no particular signs of movement….]
Right.
Unlike the world, which was in an uproar, Cerberus had yet to make a move.
But that was what made it even more terrifying.
That a monster which displayed unconditional killing intent toward humans would show no reaction despite manifesting in their world.
[Meanwhile, the government has announced that it has formed an Emergency Response Committee and is discussing methods to defeat Cerberus.]
The emergency response meeting.
She’d heard that all of South Korea’s famous Hunters and experts had gathered there.
Except for one person.
Kim Do-jin.
‘What the hell happened to him yesterday?’
She was scowling, recalling the state she’d found him in when she’d casually gone up to check on him that morning.
Ding-dong! Ding-dong!
The doorbell rang.
She immediately went and threw open the door to find a familiar face panting for breath.
“…Ji-an?”
It was Yoon Ji-an.
She took a deep breath, then snapped at Shin Yu-jeong in an irritated voice.
“Why the hell… huff, aren’t you answering your phone?”
“Ah… did you call? I was watching the news in the living room and didn’t check. Sorry.”
At the straightforward apology, she barely managed to suppress her irritation.
“Haa… Where’s Do-jin? He needs to attend the emergency meeting right away, but he’s been unreachable since last night….”
She shot Shin Yu-jeong a suspicious glance.
A small suspicion that perhaps they’d spent a passionate night together and hadn’t even noticed the call.
In response, Shin Yu-jeong shook her head with a heavy expression and left the house.
“…Follow me.”
“……”
Sensing that something was seriously wrong, she retracted her suspicious gaze.
And quietly followed Shin Yu-jeong to Kim Do-jin’s residence, the rooftop room.
Someone was already there.
“Professor, how is he?”
Baek Hyeon-a.
The beautiful woman who had been a professor at Korea University before suddenly disappearing and taking up residence here.
Standing at the door with a serious expression, she peered into the room before shaking her head.
“The same. He hasn’t changed at all.”
“…I see.”
Her curiosity grew at the cryptic conversation.
She moved past Shin Yu-jeong to see what Baek Hyeon-a was looking at inside the room.
And then she finally saw it.
Crack!
Crunch!
Pshhhhh…!
“D-Do-jin…?”
The sight of Kim Do-jin, sitting upright in the middle of the room with his eyes closed.
His body, covered in wounds large and small, was twisting and snapping back into place with grotesque sounds.
At the bizarre and seemingly excruciating sight, she asked.
“W-What’s happening to him?”
Shin Yu-jeong shook her head.
“I don’t know either. He didn’t come home late last night, so I came up early this morning to check, and he’s been like this ever since.”
Yoon Ji-an turned her head and asked Baek Hyeon-a.
“…Do you have any idea what’s causing this?”
“Well.”
She began vaguely, then continued.
“…I can guess at two possibilities.”
“Two possibilities?”
“The first is that there’s a serious problem with his body and he’s barely holding on. The second is… that his body is undergoing some kind of change and is in the process of adapting.”
It was a difficult situation.
The former meant his life was in danger, while the latter meant he was becoming even stronger.
With a troubled expression at the two extreme possibilities, she asked again.
“Is there anything we can do….”
“Nothing. Whether it’s the former or the latter, any outside interference could make things worse.”
“…Is that so.”
Yoon Ji-an lowered her head.
It was a pity.
That she could do nothing to help him when he was so clearly struggling.
But only for a moment.
She raised her head, her expression once again resolute.
‘Instead of grieving over what I can’t do, I’ll focus on what I can.’
Fortunately, there were things she could do for Kim Do-jin.
“Shin Yu-jeong.”
“Yeah, what?”
“I’ll make some excuse to the committee and buy us some time. You keep a close eye on Do-jin. Call me the moment he wakes up or if anything happens.”
Faced with her charismatic demeanor that brooked no argument, Shin Yu-jeong nodded, looking dazed.
“Huh? O-Okay, got it.”
“I’m counting on you, then.”
She left immediately.
To make excuses to the committee and the public, to prevent any negative talk about him from starting.
‘I’m his secretary.’
So she would do her best as his secretary.
Until he could make his grand entrance.
Arriving at the Blue House conference room where the emergency meeting was in full swing, she spoke in a bold tone.
“Hunter Kim Do-jin is currently at a critical juncture.”
“A critical juncture? What do you mean by that?”
The sharp question came from the former S-rank Hunter.
But she didn't flinch in the slightest, continuing confidently.
“I cannot tell you that.”
A stir went through the room.
Dumbfounded by an answer worse than none at all, he pressed on, his expression growing heavier.
“Am I to understand that Hunter Kim Do-jin’s personal affairs are more important than a crisis that threatens the nation’s survival?”
“I wonder.”
She calmly shook her head.
“But I can assure you of one thing.”
“And what is that?”
At the irritated question, she took a breath.
And then, backed by an aura that rivaled an S-rank Hunter’s, she unleashed a shocking statement.
“That the only person who can resolve this situation is Hunter Kim Do-jin.”
“……!”
Truth or lie.
It didn't matter which it was.
As long as a few mere words could block the arrows aimed at the man she loved.
And she truly believed it.
That the only person who could solve this crisis was Kim Do-jin.
No, perhaps she was just hoping it would be only him.
That didn't matter either.
Having decided to go mad for that one man, she had vowed over and over again that she would never waver.
“Hunter Kim Do-jin can do it.”
She would simply push forward with unwavering conviction.
Just as her declaration was shaking the people gathered in the face of a national crisis.
KWAKWAKWAKWANG!
A deafening roar that seemed to shake the entire building erupted, and at the same time, Kim Do-jin’s body began to tremble violently.