The Helipad Descent and Shadowed Investigations
The blades of the hovering helicopter began their slow descent.
A powerful wind slammed into the deserted island.
Between the left and right flaps of hair, the government mark painted on the helicopter fuselage came into view.
“Eh?”
Why is the Rift Bureau helicopter on a deserted island?
*Creak.* The door slid open, and one person jumped off without any harness, leaping more than a hundred meters high.
The figure landed on the sandy beach.
Like an explosion, sand flew in every direction.
“Are you unharmed, Hunter Park Minho?”
“Huh… Director Jeong Seungil?”
“I came after hearing a report from Representative Baek Seonghyeon.”
Our boss.
Did he foresee this situation?
When he said they wouldn’t pull any reckless stunts from the Mir Guild, when was that?
I never thought he would mobilize even Director Jeong.
*Whoosh!*
A sharp aura like a blade honed to perfection covered the entire deserted island.
*Swallow.*
The lump in my throat slid down.
Impressive.
A chilling wave of mana.
Even while standing still, it felt like being sliced by razor-sharp flesh.
“It appears the matter has been resolved.”
“Yes, we managed it somehow.”
Director Jeong’s expression grew even sterner as he scanned the corpses of the masked hunters.
“An unknown East Asian… how coincidental.”
“Where do you think it is?”
“I suspect Turang, but I’m not sure we’ll find evidence.”
As Director Jeong let out a shallow sigh—
*Kyaaaargh!*
“Ah. There are survivors?”
“It’s because my subordinates were having honest conversations.”
Why the sudden caution?
There was an international law on the treatment of prisoners, wasn’t there?
“Ah. You need not worry.”
“Are you all right?”
“These people are not affiliated with any country. So, they’re not even human, and there’s no violation of international law to consider.”
Seeing them alive, screaming, he spoke as if they weren’t human.
When it’s time to act, he acts.
If I thought he was doing it for my sake, I didn’t feel any fear.
*Thud-thud-thud!*
The helicopter that had landed on the flat ground.
Businessman Baek Seonghyeon sprinted over barefoot and grabbed my hand.
“Are you okay, Hunter Park!”
“Ah. Yes.”
“You’re not injured anywhere, right?”
“I’m fine.”
*Ugh.*
How many hunters attacked, exactly?
“Seventeen. Ten of them were A-class hunters.”
“What?”
The response from Representative Baek left me stunned.
A strange feeling of pleasure made me want to laugh.
“A, how many A-class?”
“Ten. Ten.”
“Ha. What a cruel incident.”
“Since you’re unharmed, that’s good enough.”
“It’s not common to have a group capable of mobilizing ten A-class hunters.”
Representative Baek’s expression turned serious.
I immediately wiped the smile off my face.
“That’s right, isn’t it?”
“How many places can mobilize ten A-class and over a hundred B-class hunters?”
“How many in the country?”
“Four out of the five strongest guilds, excluding the Phoenix Guild.”
Guild Master Yang Seoryeon was immediately removed from the suspect list.
The Phoenix Guild aimed for a small, elite force, so I never considered them from the start.
“You think it’s domestic?”
“Zero possibility isn’t zero, but I don’t think it’s high.”
The group Businessman Baek suspects as the orchestrator of the attack.
I thought I knew where it was.
It was the answer I had already considered through my conversation with Director Jeong.
“China’s Superhuman Army.”
“Yes.”
It was too large a scale for an incident within our country’s guilds.
There was no guild in the country that could mobilize ten unknown A-class hunters.
“The scene still has evidence. I’ll investigate it right away.”
Director Jeong cut in with a stiff tone.
“Yes, please do.”
“Hunter Park Minho, return by helicopter.”
A moment.
Then how will Director Jeong get back to Seoul?
“You can swim.”
“No. You talk about the West Sea like it’s the Han River in front of my house.”
“I was joking.”
*Thud.*
I realized Director Jeong understood the joke.
The man who seemed like he wouldn’t bleed even if pricked with a needle had surprisingly human sides.
“If there’s even one thing to retrieve, it will take time. The ship will arrive to support you. You need not worry.”
The helicopter couldn’t stay in place for long, as it was prepared for emergency dispatches.
Since I had to return to the office anyway, he showed consideration by allowing me to return without burden.
“May I ask one more thing?”
“Speak.”
“I have an acquaintance among the friends in the Mir Guild’s attack force this time.”
“It’s Kim Yeondo, right?”
How did you know that?
“You’re the president of Hunter Park Minho’s fan club, the promising player of the Mir Guild, and Hunter’s neighbor.”
“You know quite a bit.”
“I made the fan club for the first number of the Rift Bureau Rangers, so I’m particularly careful.”
It wasn’t only that reason, though.
Since she’s the daughter of the landlord of my boarding house, I must have investigated quite thoroughly.
“I know you’re a victim entangled in this commotion.”
“Well, that’s right.”
“I’ll ask only a few questions as a witness. You need not be concerned.”
“Then I’ll return together later.”
The landlady’s wife requested.
Please take care of Yeondo.
The masked suspicious guys—who, it turned out, were hunters suspected of being Turang—had clearly targeted me.
I might be the reason we’re in this situation.
I couldn’t abandon Yeondo and leave.
“My subordinates had honest conversations.”
“Ah, I see.”
*Kyaaaargh—!*
The screams filling the empty space of the now quiet island.
Thanks to that, the atmosphere became a little more relaxed.
“I have one more request.”
“After our honest conversation, I’ll hand everyone over to you.”
“Ah. Thank you.”
I’ll do as I’m asked.
Unlike last time’s attack, this time I had secured survivors.
After our conversation with the subordinates, it was a second meeting with the Rift Bureau.
I might even die from happiness.
* * *
After hearing the general situation from Minho.
Director Jeong Seungil began on-site cleanup.
“Are all of you all right?”
“Yes, yes!”
“I thought I was really going to die. Waaah.”
“Hunter Park Minho saved me.”
The Mir Guild hunters spoke almost as if sobbing, as their tension completely eased.
Especially the team captain who had been tensing his shoulders was on the verge of tears.
“I thought I was really going to die!”
“It’s okay now.”
“It was too late! I’m a tax-paying person, you should have saved me faster!”
While addressing a typical complaint, Director Jeong Seungil’s expression didn’t change.
“I’ll only ask a few questions. Please cooperate.”
“Yes.”
“More importantly, when can we go home?”
“I don’t know why the Mir Guild isn’t sending support.”
The Mir Guild members were only speaking what they wanted to say.
Director Jeong comforted the anxious ones and had individual conversations with each.
‘No special issues.’
I wasn’t greatly disappointed.
It was an expected situation, suspected of being manipulated by the Superhuman Army.
The fact that the Mir Guild’s newbies possessed quite outstanding aptitude was true, but they weren’t worth enough names for this incident.
“Director. The first investigation is complete.”
“How was it?”
“It’s roughly similar to Hunter Park’s story.”
“Ten A-class hunters, you said?”
“The exact number requires verification, but based on the battle traces, it seems correct.”
A Rift Bureau hunter pointed to a wound left on the ground.
The traces of Aura released at maximum output.
A-rank, reaching the pinnacle, and the skill of an expert who could even look at S-rank.
“Traces of Aura collision?”
“Yes. At least over 90 Aura users clashed here.”
The location where the Death Warrior horde and Yang Qian collided.
The ground deeply pitted by and still had numerous holes the size of a needle.
The unique traces left by some of the Aura that collided at full power.
It was also the reason the Rift Bureau staff could estimate the numbers.
“Director! Over here!”
“The tank line seems quite solid.”
The Tempest Knight Order led by Sir Isra.
The tank line that opposed it, the place of their contest.
A trench formed by something being pulled.
The unique traces left by the shields pressed against the ground, pushed back by the shock.
“The undead cavalry seems to have suffered as well.”
Director Jeong muttered while looking at the footprints of something that wasn’t a human but a beast.
He had already received a report on the B+ ranked undead cavalry Tiger.
A powerful undead whose simple breakthrough power rivaled A-rank.
With such a tank line that could even withstand their fierce charges.
The conviction that the Superhuman Army was the culprit began to solidify.
Besides that, the remaining traces everywhere on the island clearly showed how outstanding the level of the attacking hunters was.
“Is this even possible, Director?”
“If it’s the Superhuman Army, deploying that kind of manpower isn’t difficult.”
“No. It’s not the Superhuman Army’s problem.”
A Rift Bureau hunter showed a disgusted expression.
“Ten A-class and a hundred B-class. Honestly, I have no confidence in facing them.”
The hunter who spoke those words was an A-class.
An A-class level that Korean’s leading guilds would welcome with open arms.
Someone who, even looking at foreign countries across the sea, could be head-hunted for a hefty sum.
In fact, the hunter who made that statement had received several offer letters from places after rising to A-rank.
Even such a capable person could not be compared to the overwhelming force deployed in this attack.
“Hunter Park Minho, you really are B-rank?”
“Yes.”
“Ha.”
The hunter who asked the question already knew the answer.
— A hunter who has been an E-rank for ten years.
— The weakest in the Hunter Recruitment Agency.
— A Necromancer who commands body-zombie.
As Minho became more famous.
His past actions were also increasingly illuminated.
Because he was a celebrity of the Hunter Recruitment Agency, there was no need for separate investigation; it spread quickly through SNS.
A hunter who slipped through four consecutive promotion reviews.
A strange hunter who carried corpses in a carrier, took them out, and assembled them.
Besides that, the various things Hunter Minho had done were revealed, and in this moment when everyone’s attention was focused, it was definite information that he was an S-rank hunter.
“It seems the force wasn’t enough to handle it unless you were an S-rank hunter.”
“Yes. I have no objection to that judgment either.”
Director Jeong Seungil’s words made an A-class hunter let out a long sigh.
“It seems your words about the next SS-rank weren’t exaggerated.”
“I’ve always been a serious person.”
“I know that.”
An A-class hunter retorted with a complaint.
This much made me feel not just jealousy but respect.
I didn’t show it, but Director Jeong was also surprised.
‘Even in the early days of the Great Cataclysm, no hunter showed such growth.’
To survive monsters.
To protect their living space.
In the early days of the Great Cataclysm, when they had to fight without a moment’s rest with weapons in hand.
Even though the concept of hunters wasn’t even established yet, due to the harsh environment, numerous great talents appeared.
Even those people.
Didn’t become strong in a short time like Minho.
‘I must protect him.’
While talking with his subordinates and the survivors honestly.
Director Jeong swore he would find the behind-the-scenes of this incident without regard to methods.
* * *