Storm Before the Tempest
The air felt heavy, like the uneasy quiet before a tempest.
The past few months had been anything but calm in the Korean hunter world. There had been one major incident after another.
It started with the Red Gate dungeon clear, followed by the assassination attempt on Park Nam-hee, the master of the Black Chain Guild.
The Red Circle Guild vehemently denied any involvement, but they remained the most likely suspects. There was no escaping that.
What came after was even more unusual. The Red Circle Guild began launching aggressive raids on dungeons that served as the Firebird Guild’s primary source of revenue, forcibly dismantling them.
It was a direct clash between guilds.
The Hunter Association had done everything in its power to mediate, but it couldn’t force either side to stop. After all, the hunter world had always operated on the law of the strong.
As the conflict dragged on, the Firebird Guild could no longer afford to sit idle.
“Master, we can’t maintain our defense any longer.”
“They’re swarming into our dungeons at all hours. We can’t even collect byproducts or mine mana stones anymore.”
An emergency meeting was underway. Inside the Firebird Guild’s conference room, only grim reports filled the air.
Hye-jin listened with a hardened expression as the current crisis was laid out before her.
One problem was solved, only for two more to erupt. If they tried to cover those up, fresh issues would arise from places they had already handled.
Just as her people said, simply defending themselves would never resolve this.
That was why…
“We’re switching to a counterattack strategy.”
“A counterattack?”
“Yes. The Red Circle’s business holdings have already shrunk considerably. It’s time we showed them what it feels like when their own dungeons get torn down.”
“But…”
“So far, the Red Circle has only targeted our dungeons. They’ve avoided direct attacks. But if we start dismantling theirs… armed conflict will become inevitable.”
Even the Red Circle had been careful not to cross the final line. Their interference was calculated to avoid direct casualties.
But if the situation reversed…
“They’ll have the perfect excuse: they were forced to attack us while defending their own assets.”
The faces around the table darkened. Yet Hye-jin continued without hesitation.
“War always carries the risk that someone will get seriously hurt.”
The war had already begun.
If they simply took the hits and lost all their businesses, the guild would collapse anyway. If death was the end result either way…
“Then it’s better to die fighting.”
Hye-jin rose from her seat.
She looked at everyone gathered and spoke with firm resolve.
“From this moment on, I will fight alongside you. I will lead the vanguard myself and dismantle the Red Circle’s dungeons.”
She would no longer sit back and observe.
She would not avoid a direct clash out of fear.
“Now we are the ones on the offensive.”
She would make them understand exactly how it felt to be attacked.
At Hye-jin’s resolute expression, the others nodded, steeling themselves for what was to come.
“Haa…”
It had already been forty days since the Red Gate had appeared.
The time they could afford to wait was…
“At most two weeks.”
If they couldn’t resolve it by then, they would have no choice but to evacuate everyone in the surrounding area.
Though there was still some time left, the anxiety was becoming unbearable.
Wannee Thammarat, president of Thailand’s Hunter Association, let out yet another heavy sigh as she stared at the Red Gate.
Her secretary, standing beside her, spoke up.
“Madam President, why don’t you go inside and wait for the results?”
“No. I can’t do that. Not when I think of the hunters who are struggling to clear this gate right now.”
“President…”
“I keep wondering… is it truly impossible for us to clear a Red Gate with our own strength?”
At Wannee’s words, the secretary shook her head.
“But we do have that one hunter from Korea. He cleared a 13,000 mah gate. Maybe he’ll be of help?”
“One person. That’s all he is. Forty hunters entered the Korean Red Gate. Ten of them died.”
And on top of that, they had even brought in Hao Chen, the main dealer from China’s Hwangryong Guild, as a mercenary.
Compared to their current forces, the difference was overwhelming.
Of course, the difficulty of the Red Gates had been different, but still…
Even taking that into account… this is no easy task for us.
That was why Wannee had already half-made up her mind.
She would soon order the evacuation of everyone in the area.
When a Red Gate caused a dungeon break, the initial explosion alone would turn the entire region into ruins.
The closer she came to that decision, the heavier her sighs grew.
But at that very moment—
Vrrrrrrrrrrrr.
“……?”
“……!”
“Uwoooooooooooooooo!”
“The—the Red Gate!”
“The Red Gate has been cleared!”
The crimson hue of the Red Gate slowly began to fade as it was cleared.
And from within emerged a single figure.
He wore a hood pulled low and a mask that hid his face, but there was no mistaking him.
“P-President! It’s the Korean hunter!”
“……Oh my god.”
Everyone around stared at Dojin in utter disbelief.
But then—
“Ugh!”
“The—the smell of blood.”
The thick stench of blood wafting from his body made them flinch and step back.
How many monsters had he slaughtered for such a horrifying smell to cling to him when there wasn’t even any visible blood on his clothes?
Yet Wannee approached Dojin without hesitation.
“Are you injured anywhere?”
It was a courtesy question.
He looked far too composed. In fact, Wannee was the one who felt flustered.
After hearing her words, Dojin glanced briefly behind him before asking again.
“By the way… where are the other raid members…?”
Surely they hadn’t all died?
As that anxious thought crossed her mind—
“They should be coming out soon. We moved separately.”
“Pardon?”
But Wannee never got a proper answer.
After that short reply, he quickly turned to leave.
She tried to stop him, but Dojin simply shook his head.
“The contract is over. I’ll be on my way now.”
With those brief parting words, the Korean hunter departed.
Wannee stared after him with a slightly dumbfounded expression, but—
“P-President! The hunters are coming out!”
The Thai raid team began to emerge, and the crowd surged toward them.
At the sight of her countrymen returning safely, Wannee momentarily forgot about Dojin and rushed to congratulate them.
“You’ve all been through so much. Truly, well done.”
However, the raid leader, Phakon, wore a grim expression.
With a stiff face, he asked Wannee,
“President.”
“Yes?”
“Which raid team entered? Where did they come from, and how many were there?”
“……Excuse me?”
Wannee looked puzzled.
What kind of question was that?
But it was her secretary who answered.
“One hunter came from Korea as support. Did he prove helpful?”
“One person?”
“Just one?!”
“Hah…”
The other hunters nearby couldn’t hide their shock.
A few even let out sighs of disbelief.
Wannee asked, confused,
“Why are you all reacting like this?”
“We didn’t even see his face, President,” Ekachai answered. Then Phakon spoke in a low voice.
“This Red Gate… that man cleared it alone.”
“What did you say?”
“By himself.”
Phakon turned and pointed at the now-cleared gate.
“That one man cleared this entire Red Gate dungeon by himself.”
“……!”
At those words, Wannee whipped her head around to look in the direction Dojin had gone.
He was already out of sight.
A strange, almost ghostly feeling washed over her.
“……Just who is that man?”
Phakon’s question barely registered.
Because at this very moment, no one needed the answer more desperately than Wannee herself.
“……Inu-rak.”
“Yes, Madam President.”
“Contact the Prime Minister immediately. Find out who that hunter is. No matter what it takes.”
“U-understood.”
Just who was he?
Wannee’s eyes trembled more violently than they ever had before.
“Huu…”
Seung-ho couldn’t even remember the last time he had entered a dungeon and lost himself so completely in hunting.
He sat atop a mountain of monster corpses piled like a hill and let out a small breath.
“Level 249…”
If he exaggerated a little, he had been sleeping only about two hours a day. Aside from those brief moments of rest, he had spent every single second inside the dungeon.
Almost all of that time had been dedicated to hunting for levels, and the results showed.
After receiving the level 200 special reward, leveling up had become drastically slower.
Because of that, the vast majority—over ninety-nine percent—of hunters gave up on raising their level any further once they hit that milestone.
Ordinary monsters no longer gave experience, and the risk of death was far too high.
This wasn’t a game. It was reality.
No matter how high your level was, once you died, it was all over.
Even for hunters with iron nerves, continuing this grind was no easy feat.
Over the past month, Seung-ho had climbed four levels from where he had been stuck at 245.
Of course, it hadn’t been easy.
The countless scars covering his body were proof of that.
Chiiiiiiiiiiik!
He poured a high potion worth over a hundred million won onto his wounds. White smoke rose as the injuries began to heal rapidly.
Chain Scythe Mantis.
A monster capable of launching its forelegs like chain scythes.
They were level 200 monsters, and the clear condition had required him to kill five hundred of them.
Instead of clearing the dungeon, Seung-ho had used the respawn system to cycle through five different dungeons.
The accumulated fatigue from fighting in groups had finally caught up to him.
Just moments ago, he had nearly lost an arm to one of their attacks.
After barely managing first aid with the potion, Seung-ho frowned and tested the movement of his arm.
“Still… only one level left.”
What was driving him with such desperate urgency?
Whenever the exhaustion threatened to break his spirit, Seung-ho would recall the look in Dojin’s eyes.
“Wait. Just like you said… I’ll come for your neck with a blade soon enough.”
Those words.
The promise that it wouldn’t take long.
They were burned so clearly into his mind that he couldn’t forget them.
The strongest killing intent he had ever felt in his life.
That was the driving force pushing Seung-ho forward now.
But there was one thing he still couldn’t understand.
“…Just like you said.”
When had he ever said anything like that to Dojin?
This was the first time they had even met.
“I guess I’ll find out once I catch him.”
He didn’t have the luxury to think too deeply about it.
Only one level remained.
Seung-ho forced his blood-soaked body to stand.
Even though he had practically showered in potions more expensive than gold, the pain was still excruciating.
He popped a handful of powerful painkillers into his mouth and chewed them before looking down.
A freshly respawned Chain Scythe Mantis was already glaring at him.
The eyes of a predator eyeing its prey.
But that was nothing more than their delusion.
“Time to teach you which one of us is actually the prey.”
Vrrrrrr.
A blue sword aura flickered along Seung-ho’s blade.
A blade of death that could cut through anything.
“Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!”
As if that scream were the signal to begin the battle,
Swish!
Seung-ho and the Chain Scythe Mantises charged toward each other.