No, Demon King!
Waiting for Cheon Ji-hoo as he emerged from the S-rank rift was Hong Ji-hwa, covered in wounds and using two bloodied men like cushions to sit on.
The two men stared at each other strangely.
Using people as chairs... these are the end times...
What the... why's he riding a deer out of there?
He hopped down from Nok, stroked its fluffy neck, and patted it twice. Nok's form gradually faded until it vanished completely.
Parading around with Nok out in the open would make it an internet sensation for sure. And deploying Presence Concealment and Perception Impairment everywhere was a hassle.
So he unsummoned it for now and asked Hong Ji-hwa,
"One monster must've come out of the rift."
"I was so exhausted that just holding onto this guy was tough, so I let it go for the time being. Ah, was that a problem? With your skills, Mr. Cheon, I figured you wouldn't let it escape."
"Yes. Good call. You let it go on purpose."
"Then we're good. But what are these guys? They didn't seem like DF."
"They called themselves the Liberation Front. Something about aiming to free people from the status window."
Hong Ji-hwa's face went blank for a moment at the words "Liberation Front." It was like she was searching her mental database for the term.
After a brief wait, she slammed the head of one of the men sprawled on the ground and said,
"These must be them. There's so little known that it was hard to remember."
"They hide that well?"
"Hiding's their one true talent."
"Hm."
Then it had to be a barrier. Completely vanishing in a modern society full of CCTV was no easy feat—unless they holed up in some monster-infested backwoods.
The escaped guy had said their leader, called the captain of the Liberation Front, was a mage. High chance they were hiding behind a barrier.
Suddenly curious, Cheon Ji-hoo asked,
"Why are there so many crazies in Korea?"
"Who knows. Maybe we smeared honey on ourselves or something."
She changed her tune quick when he shot her a slightly contemptuous look.
"...From what we've analyzed so far, it's probably because a singularity appeared in Korea."
"Singularity?"
"You, Mr. Cheon. That unprecedented massive rift at Hongdae Entrance Station. It's been kept top secret, but every S-rank saw it, and the hostile groups and villains must've noticed the weird movements too."
"So because I'm in Korea."
"Yeah, pretty much... DF's main base is in the US anyway, and we suspect Liberation Front came from Russia, though it's not confirmed. Didn't expect them to take root here."
"Hm."
That just gave him more reason to hunt down the Demon King fast. Wasting time on annoyances would only buy the Demon King more prep time.
Humans could be cleaned up anytime. But not the Demon King or demons.
You had to hunt them decisively when the chance came—or they'd grow stronger if you missed.
"Stay still."
Hong Ji-hwa whacked the back of the man's head again as he started stirring, knocking him out cold. Cheon Ji-hoo, fed up, cast a spell to keep them unconscious until later.
"Fun."
"Oh, and one thing I'm curious about—when does that S-rank rift disappear?"
Confirming the two wouldn't wake, she turned to look at the rift. The massive S-rank rift was still holding its shape.
Cheon Ji-hoo glanced at it and snapped his fingers. The rift's entrance slid shut smoothly, vanishing completely.
As if at his command.
"It just closed."
"Ah... yeah. I'll report it then."
"I'll head out first. Good luck."
With that, Cheon Ji-hoo vanished in an instant.
Space Transfer back to Hunter Way from Cheonan in a blink.
Left alone, Hong Ji-hwa handed over the Liberation Front remnants to the now-arriving HCU hunters and called the association president.
"S-rank rift cleared."
-Got it.
* * *
Back home, Cheon Ji-hoo checked what he'd gained from conquering the S-rank rift.
First, Nok.
He'd brought it along expecting a capable guide, but got a bonus.
The S-rank rift's core was still inside Nok's body. It had sucked up a ton of power from the parasites, but with its mana still intact, the rift recognized Nok as the 'core monster.'
And since that core monster became his familiar through the contract, the S-rank rift fell under him too.
He realized it thanks to Hong Ji-hwa's question.
Sitting on the living room sofa, he snapped his fingers. The S-rank rift's entrance appeared before him.
How to make use of this? Pondering its utility briefly, he closed it again.
Handy for locking someone up later.
And info on the Liberation Front. Their captain was a returner like him—a mage.
One skilled enough in barriers to avoid detection.
Not on his level, of course.
DF's Korea branch is smashed, so no issues there for a while.
Right, then. A few things to think about.
How did the forest where Nok lived become a rift?
He'd been mulling it since returning to Earth.
He'd visited several rifts so far. The goblin cave was a common spot from other worlds, but the S-rank one he'd just cleared and the A-rank with the weird black mage weren't normal.
They held stories.
The black mage had built a labyrinth for some reason, perfected a homunculus, and endlessly self-improved with self-replication magic.
Nok's place was as he'd seen in its memories.
Both were locations from some dimension's world.
"Hm..."
Deep thought yielded just two hypotheses.
First: That dimension was shattering from destruction, and whoever granted the 'status window' opened a 'rift' passage to Earth.
Second: It copied the place wholesale.
Either way, impossible with normal powers.
Lost in thought, his head suddenly throbbed like it might split.
Only one cause for that.
His ironclad mental barrier was under attack.
Frowning at the sudden pain, something appeared before his eyes.
[■YST■EM : You are the retur■ner.]
A translucent, bluish rectangle covered in garbled text.
Cheon Ji-hoo realized it was the 'status window' hunters talked about.
Hunters' interface. It told you which rift you'd entered.
Shout 'status window' and it showed objective body stats.
An alien power.
[SY■TE■M : Calling up sta■us wi■dow.]
[S■STEM : S-rank rift No■ conq■ered, arch■mage.]
[SYST■M : Rift con■est co■plete, multi■le con■irmed.]
The alien status window kept hammering his mental barrier.
Like it was trying to etch something into his soul.
Cheon Ji-hoo ground his teeth and unleashed mana.
Did it think this flimsy blessing could breach his barrier?
Blessings weakened the more recipients. Hunters worldwide numbered in the tens of thousands, all granted 'awakening' and 'System' blessings.
No way it was at full strength.
"Unyielding Mind, Steel Will, Neural Acceleration, Amplify."
He multi-cast spells. They instantly fortified his mind, shoving the blessing back.
Like antibodies hunting a virus, his magic swept away the blessing's remnants invading his mind and soul.
The headache faded, and the system window vanished.
Success.
Tsking, Cheon Ji-hoo muttered,
"I haven't even awakened, and this pops up..."
The S-rank rift might be the issue.
No problems before, but an S-rank rift becoming someone's possession—its power was immense. Might've reached the System's creator.
No second wave came, though. Looked like it gave up.
Exhaling deeply, he leaned back and murmured,
"...Gotta tell Ji-yoon no S-rank rifts."
Stick to villain hunts like before.
"Oppa! Oppa!!"
Then Cheon Ji-yoon burst from her room into the living room, calling urgently.
Wondering what was up, he looked over as she shoved her phone screen at him.
"Is this really you?"
"What's that."
Peering at the screen, articles flooded in.
[The First SS-Rank Hunter!]
[Solo Clears S-Rank Rift]
[S-Rank Hunter Lee Woo-joo: 'SS-Rank Hunter? I Already Knew.']
[Uijeongbu Monster Wave Ends Without Casualties Thanks to SS-Rank]
[SS-Rank Hunter—Who Is He?]
[Unknown Ability, Unknown Identity! The Hero of the Monster Wave, SS-Rank Hunter]
[Hunter Association Declares 'Full Support for SS-Rank Hunter']
[The 'White Draft Rift' at Hunter Way's Center Was Also Handled by SS-Rank Hunter]
The moment he cleared the S-rank rift, the association blasted news of a new SS-rank. Other outlets piled on, and the internet was ablaze.
"Articles exploding outta nowhere, and that pic—blurry, but long white hair? That's you, oppa."
"Well... yeah, it's me."
She practically jumped for joy at his words, scrolled a few more, then suddenly yelled.
Wondering again, he stared as she thrust the phone back with one article.
[New S-Rank? The White Knight!]
An article buried under the SS-rank hype. A photo of Cheon Ji-yoon in white armor, taken from afar.
"Me too!"
"Good job. Keep it up."
"Duh! I'm basically a swordmaster now."
"Still a ways off. Don't get cocky. Swordmaster starts when you can cleave a mountain with one blade—Taesan Danil Sword."
"...That possible?"
It was. In crazy fantasy worlds, yeah.
Cheon Ji-hoo nodded with a faint smile. Cheon Ji-yoon clenched her fists, burning with resolve.
Like she'd reach that realm someday. A great sight.
"Oh, and stick out your right hand."
"Huh?"
As she extended it, he opened his subspace, rummaged, and pulled out a ring.
Similar design to the last artifact ring, but different magic inside.
After the System attack, he figured she needed mental defense too.
Fine in the white armor, but just in case without it.
Two rings on the ring finger was much, so he put this on her middle finger. It locked snugly.
"Never take this off."
"What is it? Got it! Off to train!"
"Yeah. Don't overdo it."
He sent her off.
Alone, he snapped his fingers to resummon Nok. The massive green stag appeared in the living room.
-Hi!
"Hey. Time to work."
-What do I do? Fire mana blasts? That's fun!
"Yeah... soon enough."
This time at a demon's head.