Vortex #005
Seoul, Jongno.
The Chinese Embassy office.
A murderous chill hung in the air.
Counselor Zhang Quen, who had just returned, slammed his fist down on the desk.
“How dare she! That petty little minister from a tiny country!”
His face was flushed crimson. He had already changed his pants, yet the humiliation refused to wash away. Beside him, Wang Lian stood pale and rigid.
“Hunter Wang! Speak! Who the hell was that man?!”
Wang Lian could not open his mouth. The pride of a Dragon-rank hunter? It already lay smashed into the dirt of Yeoncheon.
“……He was a monster. Not human.”
“A monster? Hah! As if Korea could possess power like that.”
The counselor snorted. Arrogance filled his eyes. To him, Korea was nothing more than a border province of the continent—an old tributary state that once paid tribute.
“Kang Eunha, that bitch has lost her mind. Trusting some returnee and trampling on the authority of a great nation?”
Zhang Quen snatched up his smartphone. Time to activate the unofficial channels.
Koreans are easy to handle. A few coins and they’ll sell their own country’s gallbladder.
“Deputy Prime Minister, this is Counselor Zhang.”
“Oh my, Counselor Zhang! What brings you to call?”
“I just met with Minister Kang Eunha. And right there she staged a show of force against me! This is a declaration of war against our government.”
“H-Huk, what?!”
Flustered stammering came through the receiver. A thrill raced down the counselor’s spine. Zhang Quen’s lips twisted into a vile smile.
“Crush Minister Kang. Impeach her, fabricate corruption charges—whatever it takes. Drag that bitch down immediately.”
“But that girl has the president wrapping her in cotton wool……”
“So you’re saying you can’t?”
“Oh no, not at all! I understand. I’ll take measures at once.”
Next came the major Korean guilds under Chinese influence. One of the veteran guilds received the first call.
“Listen, Guildmaster Park! Our members were slaughtered on Korean soil. I went to protest and that little girl sitting as Minister of the Dungeon Management Department completely ignored me!”
“We already found that little girl an eyesore ourselves. Are you planning to bury her?”
“Damn right. This time she crossed the line for real. I’ll contact you again—be ready to move. We could act ourselves, but that might give the Americans, Japanese, and Russians an excuse to interfere. You understand what I’m saying?”
“Of course! Loud and clear.”
The conspiracy proceeded smoothly. They no longer regarded Korea as a nation at all—merely insects that could be crushed whenever convenient.
“The politicians of this country are so convenient. Filling their own pockets always comes first.”
As everything fell into place, Counselor Zhang Quen laughed nastily. Wang Lian, however, stared uneasily out the window. Something felt ominous.
“Counselor, we still need to be careful. That man’s power……”
“Shut up! This is the Chinese Embassy! International law protects us, and the continental legions stand behind us!”
The counselor roared. His petty pride soared to the heavens.
“A country like Korea would never dare touch us. Kang Eunha will soon be licking my boots.”
That was when it happened.
The embassy lights flickered.
“……What? A blackout?”
Zzzt, zzzt!
The office lights blinked madly. Mana in the air screamed at a piercing high frequency.
“W-What? What’s going on……!”
Counselor Zhang shot to his feet. An employee looking out the window screamed.
“C-Counselor! Look outside!”
A massive purple vortex blanketed the sky above the embassy. Clouds tore apart; the dimension itself shrieked. Through the spatial rifts, sticky demonic energy poured down like a waterfall.
Beeeeeep—!
The mana detectors inside the embassy overloaded and exploded. An urgent report came up from the situation room.
“It’s a Dungeon Impact! It formed directly above the embassy!”
“What?!”
Counselor Zhang Quen’s eyes bulged. Impossible. Dungeon Impacts always gave warning signs. Yet now? Neither the Korean government’s prediction systems nor the embassy’s own equipment had issued a single alert.
“That’s absurd! Someone must have misread something!”
“This feeling…… it’s the same. Exactly the same as the Yeoncheon dungeon!”
Wang Lian had already collapsed onto the floor. This was no natural occurrence. It was that man’s doing. Certainty turned into terror that crushed his heart.
KRAAAAAASH!
A colossal bolt of mana lightning struck the embassy garden dead-on. The shockwave shattered every pane of reinforced glass at once.
Crash-crash-crash—tinkle!
A purple fissure ripped open the embassy ceiling. Through the gap, pitch-black shadows poured down.
THUD! THUD!
Bodies over two meters tall. Grotesque black goat heads. Muscular bipedal demons. A legion of Goat Demons.
They smashed through walls and punched through ceilings as they stormed in.
“Damn it, monsters in the embassy!”
Embassy security officers raised their weapons in panic. Military attaché Li Wei of the Chinese Embassy took the lead. A former Black Dragon Guild hunter and a veteran in his own right.
“Don’t panic! They’re only Rank-3 Goat Demons!”
His voice rang through the corridor. His subordinate hunters snorted as well.
“Just a lot of them. Let’s clean them up and grab the magic stones.”
“We’ll show them the power of a great nation!”
“Wang Lian! How long are you going to keep shaking? What a waste of a Dragon-rank!”
The hunters confidently released their mana. Flames and sword aura filled the narrow hallway—firepower that should have reduced Rank-3 monsters to ash long ago.
But.
The Goat Demons that walked out of the dust were completely unharmed. Layers of purple demonic energy coated their skin. These were elite troops Hanul had drawn directly from the Demon Realm through Hatchery. Ordinary Rank-3 common sense no longer applied.
“W-What? Why are they fine?!”
Li Wei’s face changed. His sword aura struck a Goat Demon’s shoulder and only sparked. Instead, the demon’s massive foreleg kicked him square in the chest.
BOOM!
Li Wei’s body smashed through the wall and slammed into the wrecked office.
“Gyaaaaah!”
“Help me! These things—their strength is wrong!”
Screams blanketed the embassy. It was overwhelming. The demons violently ravaged the hunters. The Black Dragon Guild elites fell like autumn leaves.
Yet there was something strange.
The floor was soaked in blood, but not a single person was dead.
“Krrrrraaaaah”
The demons stabbed with sharp spears, deliberately missing the heart. They crushed bones in their massive fists yet left the thread of life intact. After dealing fatal wounds and rendering their prey helpless, they simply moved on to the next target.
“Eek! Stay away! Stay away!”
The counselor screamed from the corner. Right before his eyes, Attaché Li Wei’s arms and legs were snapped. Of course, he did not die.
“Meeeeeh.”
One Goat Demon seized the counselor by the hair. Then, without ceremony, it hurled him toward the window.
Crash!
Glass shattered as the counselor’s body plummeted into the embassy garden.
“Uuugh……”
The other Chinese hunters fared no better. And in the garden? Dozens of Goat Demons already waited, surrounding them. It looked as though they would be butchered on the spot—yet unexpectedly the Goat Demons stepped back and opened a path.
Whoooosh—
Trailing purple demonic energy, a young girl strolled forward at a leisurely pace.
“……!”
The counselor’s gaze locked onto Hatchery. Pale skin. An eerie pressure. At her feet the Goat Demons bowed their heads.
A boss monster?
A monster in human form. Intelligence enough to command subordinates.
“P-Please…… spare us.”
The counselor begged. The pride of a great nation? Already erased.
“We are embassy personnel! If you kill us it means war! What do you want? Magic stones? Money?”
Hatchery smiled coldly.
“Money? What would I do with trash like that?”
She turned her head to look at Hanul walking up behind her.
“They’re begging for their lives, Master. What should we do?”
Master.
At that single word the counselor’s heart nearly stopped.
“Y-You……!”
Hanul took one step forward. His purple eyes pierced the counselor’s. Overwhelming presence! The counselor seemed to forget even how to breathe.
“Did you think begging would save you?”
Hanul’s voice was ice-cold.
“N-No! It’s a misunderstanding! You’re Minister Kang’s uncle, right? We’ll compensate you!”
“Compensation? Let’s hear it. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I can give you enough funds to buy the entire country of Korea!”
“Ridiculous. The only compensation you can offer is writhing in agony.”
Hanul flicked his hand lightly.
Tssshaaah—
A black vortex bloomed in midair.
“This is the mana-rich land you love so much. Go there and indulge your greed to your heart’s content.”
From beyond the gate came the howls of starving demonic beasts. Just hearing them sent chills down the spine.
“K-Kyaaaaah! What is that?!”
“S-Save me! No!”
The faces of the counselor and the hunters turned corpse-pale. A terror greater than simple death crashed over them.
Hanul’s fingertip pointed at them.
Black Holic.
Shadows became tentacles that bound the counselor and the Black Dragon hunters.
“No! Please! Kill me! Just kill me!”
The counselor’s scream was sucked into the vortex. The thrashing Black Dragon Guild hunters and the once-arrogant attachés were thrown one after another into the abyss.
Thunk.
The vortex sealed shut. Silence settled over the office that had been a living hell.
“Hatchery.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Clean up the rest. Leave no traces that would trouble my niece.”
“As you command.”
Hotel lounge café.
Beyond the floor-to-ceiling glass, Seoul’s morning unfolded. Hanul gazed at his toast and coffee.
Clink.
The sound of a cup being set down. Across from him sat Hatchery. She had not returned to the Demon Realm. She had decided to plant herself on Earth.
“Master, this is way too bitter.”
A doll-like girl in a frilled dress. Hatchery pushed the espresso cup away. In its place she had already polished off no fewer than three plates of cake slices.
At a glance? They might have looked like a doting uncle and his niece.
“Just add some sugar.”
“Ah, that was an option, yong!”
Hatchery stabbed a strawberry cake with her fork. Her eyes sparkled.
“By the way, Master, when is your niece coming?”
“She’ll contact us. Being a minister keeps her ridiculously busy—we have to understand.”
Hanul sipped his coffee. People kept glancing their way. It was because of Hatchery’s beauty.
“Their stares are prickly. Shall I pluck their eyeballs out?”
Hatchery whispered with a bright smile. If not for the whipped cream on her lips, the killing intent would have been bone-chilling.
“Endure it. This isn’t the Demon Realm.”
“Yes!”
Hanul stopped her with a short word. A peaceful morning wasn’t bad at all.
Meanwhile, from the large TV in the corner of the café, an emergency news bulletin began to play. An anchor and an expert were discussing the matter with grave expressions.