58. The Returner
The moment a Gate appeared, the surrounding downtown area fell under lockdown.
Police had thrown up barricades to establish a control line, and inside it, Bureau personnel stood watching the situation unfold. As non-awakened, they were hardly a fighting force, but they were the ones dispatched to deal with the unpredictable variables that Gates so reliably produced. When it came to a Gate of this scale, they weren't a choice — they were a necessity.
"That Gate... isn't it way too big?"
The man stared up at it, dazed. A colossal Gate had materialized between two high-rises, walling off an entire face of the buildings. At that size, it ranked among the upper echelon of S-Rank Gates even by their standards. The larger a Gate, the stronger the wavelength it spewed out — and a stronger wavelength meant far more powerful beings waiting inside. No wonder unease gnawed at him.
"Even for Aegis hunters, this one might be rough."
"Oh, stop being so dramatic. Did you not read the roster of hunters who went in? Their CEO walked in personally, and you're worried about what?"
A fellow employee jabbed at him. S-Rank Gates, by protocol, only admitted high-tier hunters of Grade 10 or above — and even then, the site remained dangerous enough that any variable could erupt without warning. And yet worrying even now, with this lineup on the scene, was absurd to the point of comedy.
"Huh...? Wait, what's that?"
Kuuuuung!
In that instant, a violent wavelength erupted from the Gate. Even to the eyes of the non-awakened, a crimson pulse swept across the area in a single, unmistakable wave. It carried no direct physical force, but the shape of the Gate warped and transformed before their eyes.
"What the hell—!"
"The Gate's mutated!"
The horrified Bureau staff sprang from their posts. A hidden pattern had revealed itself.
Ordinarily, special Gates were identified in advance. But there existed Gates like this one, whose true nature manifested only after the hunters had already entered. Space distorting. Abilities sealed. Gravity inverted. Any impossible thing could happen within, and to those standing outside, there was no way to know what variable had just been unleashed inside.
"Report it to HQ, now!"
They scrambled to contact headquarters. When a special pattern erupted from an S-Rank Gate, protocol demanded an immediate report. A failed containment meant catastrophe for the entire surrounding area, so preparation against any and all variables was paramount.
But the answer that came back from headquarters was anything but expected.
"Th-they're telling us to stand by?"
"What? Why?"
The two employees, who had been moving in frantic urgency, froze where they stood. In all their experience, headquarters had never once failed to act on a variable this severe in an S-Rank Gate.
Yet the reason behind the Bureau's decision was simple. It came down to a single name on the roster.
A 12th Grade hunter — a national-level strategic asset standing two full tiers above Grade 10, the threshold of high-tier. For one name, and one name only: Choi Jeong-il.
Pajijik!
Barely minutes after they'd taken their standby positions, the Gate opened. Given the mutation, an early monster surge was entirely possible, and the staff tensed as they stared — but what emerged from the rift between dimensions was human.
Cheoeok.
Choi Jeong-il stepped out, immaculate, flicking dust from his hair. Ever since the Gate's special pattern had activated, waves of monsters had poured in from every direction. He had cut down every last one of them — and not a single drop of blood marred his clothes.
"Good work in there."
"I... I learned a lot, sir."
The hunter who followed him out answered in a daze. Unlike Choi Jeong-il, the man was caked head to toe in dirt and bloodstains — yet the monsters he had personally slain didn't amount to even a tenth of the total. He stood there, panting, staring at Choi Jeong-il's back — unruffled, not the least bit winded.
'As... as expected of a living legend of the hunter world.'
The man swallowed hard. Years ago, as a rising prospect with a bright future ahead of him, he had turned down preferential offers from other agencies without hesitation and joined Aegis. It hadn't been simply because of the company's stature.
The decisive reason had been that he wanted to follow Choi Jeong-il — the industry legend he had always looked up to. He'd forgotten it, since they'd never run the same operations in ordinary times, but standing on a battlefield beside the man, that old awe surged through him anew.
A style of combat so clean and efficient that it had earned him the nickname of the hunter world's living textbook and professor. Above all, that unshakable composure in the thick of a brutal engagement. The old legend he remembered was still there, unchanged. Even now, as a Grade 10 hunter himself, he could sense a depth in the man whose end he still couldn't fathom.
Tteoeok!
Meanwhile, Choi Jeong-il dropped into a chair and gulped down some water. Then, gazing down at his own two hands, he let out a hollow laugh.
'That should have been a brutal job by any measure... I had no idea my body would move this well.'
A month ago, this Gate's caliber would have left him soaked in blood and struggling for every inch. But as his spotless appearance made plain, he was genuinely startled by how freely his body had responded.
He had spent an entire month staying in Changyeong-ri, sharing three meals a day and living alongside the spirits. He'd known the neutralized turbid energy would do him some good — but the effect had been so dramatic he could hardly believe it.
And then, a strange sensation flickered across his eyes.
A tingling, alien feeling.
Choi Jeong-il absentmindedly pulled off his eyepatch. And in that moment, he went pale with shock.
"My... my eye...?"
Light flooded in, and his whole body flinched. The pitch-black darkness that had claimed half his vision was lifting. It was still impossibly blurry and dim — but unmistakably, his eye was receiving light and forming an image.
'Is it... is it really coming back?'
It had already been years since his left eye last saw light. Caught off guard by a change he had never dared hope for, he blinked again and again, unable to believe it.
"Haha... this is impossible, this is..."
"CEO! CEO, sir!"
An unprecedented dizziness spun through his head, and he crumpled sideways to the floor.
"Hmm-hmm~"
Ju Ji-hye strolled down the street, humming a tune. Wrapped up tight in a fur hat and scarf, fully armored against the cold, she glanced this way and that at the sky and the streets. For someone who usually kept close tabs on fashion trends, it was an outfit she'd never normally wear — but today, for the sake of the mood, she gladly made the sacrifice.
"Winter really does need snow."
Flakes tumbled thick and heavy from the sky. The streets, too, lay buried under a blanket of pristine white. According to the forecast, snow bombs would be hammering the whole country for days, and she was thoroughly satisfied. There was a reason she was walking a route she'd normally ride with her manager summoned and a car ordered.
And to match such a delightful day, wonderful news had just broken.
'The CEO opened his eye. No way!'
The moment she heard Choi Jeong-il had regained sight in his lost left eye, she'd headed straight for the hospital where he'd been admitted. Officially it was a get-well visit, but in truth, she was going to celebrate. He'd only been hospitalized briefly for the dizziness — nothing serious — which meant this was the perfect occasion to congratulate him to her heart's content.
'How should I do it? Maybe smash a cake right into his face? No... knowing my luck, he'd dodge and I'd be the one wearing it, just like last time...'
Thud!
"Oof?"
Ju Ji-hye, walking through a narrow alley, collided with someone at the corner. To pop out with no presence at all like that — was the person a ghost or something? She turned her head, and an involuntary gasp escaped her.
'Wow, she's gorgeous. Who is she?'
Ju Ji-hye stared at the woman she'd bumped into. Normally she'd have hurried past, wary of being recognized — but the stranger didn't look ordinary either. There was something pale and hollow about her, yet her base features were so striking that it only seemed to stir a fragile, delicate beauty. Her proportions were superb on top of that. She could have been an actress, or a hunter-turned-celebrity.
And yet her face was completely unfamiliar — unfamiliar enough that even Ju Ji-hye, who walked in both industries, drew a total blank.
'At that level, she'd be famous on her face alone. Strange. Ahem, of course, she's still a bit below me!'
Lost in idle thoughts, Ju Ji-hye stepped aside to let her pass. But the woman with the long, straight black hair staggered and caught herself against the wall.
"Ah... a-are you okay?"
Ju Ji-hye hastily reached out a hand, kicking herself. She'd certainly held back her strength — but a hunter colliding with a civilian meant the impact might have been far worse for the other side.
But at that moment—
Hwaaaak!
"Urgh...?!"
A wave of concentrated killing intent crashed over her without warning, and Ju Ji-hye stumbled backward. It lasted only an instant, but it was killing intent of absolute sincerity — enough to make her neck prickle. Every hair on her body stood on end as she rapidly raised her mana.
But the woman had already vanished from her sight.
"...She's gone?"
Gone in the blink of an eye. Ju Ji-hye whipped her head around frantically, but there wasn't even a trace of her anywhere. Only the thundering of her own heartbeat filled her ears.
'D-did I just... get scared?'
Ju Ji-hye looked down at her trembling hands. For one instant, she had been utterly overwhelmed. A foreign kind of fear she had never once experienced before — and yet, at the same time, it felt like something she'd felt somewhere before.
It was the exact same crushing sensation she'd felt witnessing the skill of Oh Hyeon-seong and Choi Jeong-il, the living legends of the past.
'But she definitely looked Korean...'
Ju Ji-hye now stood at the realm of a Grade 11 hunter. Even counting every awakened person in this country — one of the handful of premier hunter nations — fewer than thirty hunters ranked Grade 11 or above. And someone who could overwhelm her had just appeared out of nowhere.
"Wh... what the hell was that woman?"
Oh Hyeon-seong had come to Seoul for the first time in a while. A long drive through snow falling this hard was hardly welcome — but given the matter at hand, he'd driven straight here without a second thought. Officially it was a visit to a sick junior, but the atmosphere had been bright, full of celebration.
"Your sight really came back... I suppose the effects just accumulated slowly before showing up all at once. I'm glad. Truly."
"It's all thanks to you, Sunbae-nim. Thank you."
Choi Jeong-il spoke with a dazed expression. He had believed he would never see light through his left eye again; he had fully accepted it, given up entirely. Even when Oh Hyeon-seong had taken an active hand, he hadn't truly believed he'd be cured. No matter how much he trusted his senior without question, he'd assumed even Oh Hyeon-seong was wrestling an unsolvable problem this time.
Which was why, even now, dazed disbelief dominated his emotions more than anything — an event he'd never imagined, never dared to hope for.
Oh Hyeon-seong simply smiled, watching the man with quiet pride.
"Give me a moment, I'm going to wash my hands."
He stepped out of the hospital room. His fingers had gone sticky peeling fruit, and he was on his way to find a restroom — when, unexpectedly, he ran into Han Su-yeon standing in the corridor.
"Hmm? What are you doing out here instead of going in?"
"Sunbae, take a look at me for a second."
"I'm looking at you right now."
"No — not here."
Han Su-yeon stole a glance inside the hospital room, then pulled him away. At her sudden behavior, Oh Hyeon-seong racked his brain for what it could possibly be about, but nothing came to mind. She led him all the way up to the rooftop, checked that no one was around, and finally spoke.
"Sunbae... you haven't heard anything yet, have you?"
"Heard what? Isn't that why I'm here — for Choi Jeong-il?"
"...That's why I came, at first."
"What is it, then?"
He asked, reading the grave expression on her face. It was not a look that belonged on a day this good. After a long silence, Han Su-yeon forced the words out.
"Yoon Seol-ha has appeared."
"...What?"
A comrade from the past who should have been dead. The one name Choi Jeong-il should never have heard.
Oh Hyeon-seong's expression hardened in an instant.