The Hunter Association's Melancholy
The world's news outlets were in an uproar. The cause? A single entity that had appeared in Korea's internet broadcasting scene.
Out of the seven EX-rank gates that the world had all but given up on raiding, the boss monster from the one in the Baekdu Mountain Caldera in East Asia—known as the Baekdu Mountain Gate—had made its debut in the streaming world.
Of course, the majority opinion was skeptical. Even though fifty thousand viewers had witnessed her directly, opinions among those very viewers were divided about the Apocalypse Heavenly Dragon Grand Ragnar.
The reason was simple. Most monsters emerging from gates were hostile to humans. There were occasional non-hostile ones, but they were usually weaklings—or herbivores with no reason to be ferocious.
That said, few found it strange that a boss monster was streaming. It had long been public knowledge that gates were fragments of other dimensions. With races from those gates already blending into this world, a boss monster intelligent enough to stream wasn't all that shocking.
"But this is way beyond expectations!"
Bam!
The Crimson ArchmageKim Jaehong slammed both hands on the table.
"A boss monster... and a dragon-type at that! You're just going to let it mingle with civilians?!"
"Jaehong, calm down."
The woman across from him soothed the fuming Kim Jaehong. They were in the top-secret conference room one floor below the penthouse of the Korea Hunter Association headquarters in Seoul. Gathered here were Korea's three S-rank hunters, two hunter-company presidents who were former hunters, two civilian-company presidents, and finally, the current president of the Korea Hunter Association.
"Right. Lady Joryeong's got a point. You need to cool it, Jaehong."
"Lady? Don't make me sound old."
"...Tch."
Kim Jaehong clicked his tongue and sat at the words of fellow S-rank hunter Palm Shaman Hwang Joryeong and the civilian president of a hunter apparel company.
Kim Dusik, president of the Korea Hunter Association, nodded gratefully to the pair who had reined him in and spoke.
"As you all know, this incident is unprecedented worldwide."
There had been cases of monsters communicating with humans—like demons tricking people into corruption after escaping gates, vampires infiltrating and ruling the underworld, or liches subjugating humanity.
...Though the communication was pretty one-sided.
Since gates appeared, humans had encountered all sorts of monsters and accumulated various cases. But this one was exceptionally unique. It was the first time an EX-rank gate boss had revealed itself, it was surprisingly friendly to humans, and its chosen method of communication was a human invention—not newspapers or news, but internet broadcasting.
"Especially since it's the third dragon-type monster to appear worldwide."
Only two dragon-types were known on Earth so far. The first had claimed the Atlantic, barring all human access without a word. Any ship or plane venturing too close triggered its insane rampage: the Deep Sea Dragon Ena Belzetus.
The second differed starkly—it didn't shy from humans. A beautiful dragon with elegant white scales and wings, contracted to one human and fighting for humanity's sake: the White Wing Dragon Skatuya Blaze.
"With that in mind... Lee Hyun. Has the White Wing Dragon mentioned anything?"
"......"
All eyes in the room turned to the young man opposite the president. Korea's one-of-three S-rank hunters and the world's number-one ranked hunter. The Dragon Master, contractor of the mighty White Wing Dragon.
Lee Hyun, arms crossed, spoke quietly.
"Nothing in particular."
"Hm......"
"Then can't you ask? At least get some intel like with the Deep Sea Dragon..."
Even info on the human-rejecting Deep Sea Dragon had come via the White Wing Dragon—its name, personality, and advice, since they were both dragons. That minimized damage and led to the Atlantic access ban, wrapping things up neatly.
Expectations were high for info on this third dragon, the Apocalypse Heavenly Dragon Grand Ragnar, but...
"I already asked."
"??"
"And...?"
"It said there's almost nothing it can tell me."
A hollow expression crossed Lee Hyun's face. Ever since contracting with Skatuya Blaze, he'd thrown himself into training to be a partner worthy of pride. A training maniac who honed himself while others enjoyed drinks or games, he was a bit out of touch with the world.
But even he kept up with the news, so he'd asked his partner about the Apocalypse Heavenly Dragon.
= Apocalypse Heavenly Dragon Grand Ragnar?
His partner scratched its head awkwardly, a far cry from its sharp tone on the Deep Sea Dragon.
When asked what was wrong...
= It's not a problem, exactly... More like, it's hard for me to explain.
It seemed to have some unspoken circumstances. It had sneered at the Deep Sea Dragon—"Ha! That guy's still the same?"—even using honorifics it rarely bothered with for the Apocalypse Heavenly Dragon.
= There's not much I can say, really.
After a long pause, that was all it offered. Though it did give a few pointers...
"It called her a being so mighty even it can't handle."
"Whoa......"
"Ahem......"
The relayed words from the White Wing Dragon via Lee Hyun darkened the room further.
"And if we have to fight... it can't join."
"......"
"If we must fight, don't do it in the sky—lure her to the ground. That's the only shot, slim as a microbe's eyelash..."
"......"
The mood plummeted, drilling past the crust toward the core. Amid the frigid, deathly silence, Kim Jaehong muttered.
"Well... it did have that kind of presence."
"......"
You too?!
Hwang Joryeong smacked her forehead. What to do with these kids...
"...President. You have a plan, right?"
Stepping up to salvage the atmosphere, Hwang Joryeong took charge.
The president nodded.
"Yes. They're open to talk, so we'll respond in kind."
"...So that's why you caused that mess yesterday?"
"Ahem!"
Sis... weren't you trying to help?
The wrinkled middle-aged president shot a resentful glare at the 30-something Hwang Joryeong. Don't judge by appearances—she was over sixty. And yesterday's fiasco was unforeseen.
Who'd expect her to detect their probability-manipulating abilities and call them out? From across the internet, no less.
And even if caught, who knew she'd rage like that? It was just one Q&A chance...
"At least it ended well. She gave us one shot, and we compensated as promised."
"With one pizza each?"
"...They were premium brand pizzas. Not cheap."
Pizza prices these days... For a public tax-funded body like the Hunter Association, it was a painful hit. Over 30,000 won apiece for fifty thousand people...
"Pizza fixes this?"
"It'll be fine. The White Wing Dragon vouched for it."
Hwang Joryeong glanced at Lee Hyun, who nodded. If another dragon guaranteed it... probably okay?
"Alright, let's get started. Time's up."
"Understood."
A staffer tapped the laptop at the president's cue. The beam projector hummed to life, displaying the source of their woes.
The Apocalypse Heavenly Dragon's broadcast had begun.
[= Greetings, children. Did you sleep well last night?]