The Duty of a Hunter (1)
"Everyone, pay extra attention to the formation. Crimson Bats excel at hit-and-run tactics."
Raid Leader Paul Royce spoke from the front of the line, directing the team. The moment I identified the enemies and relayed the information, the formation shifted without a hitch, and we were on the move.
As expected of an American S-Rank strike team.
What actually surprised me more, though, was that despite clearly sensing wary, distrustful eyes on me at first, not a single one of them doubted the Raid Leader's acceptance of my assessment without question. I felt no resentment over it at all.
Maybe they simply went along with it out of respect for the Raid Leader's authority, or maybe they trusted that I possessed exceptional sensory abilities. Either way, it didn't matter.
I'm jealous.
Even after years of proving myself, every time I opened my mouth in Korea, sharp remarks came flying at me from every direction.
If raids had run like this back in Korea, I could have cleared them without a single headache.
Even while walking behind the Raid Leader, old memories kept surfacing.
"Five paces ahead of Mr. Royce. That's where the enemies' attack range begins."
"...I see. Everyone, prepare yourselves!"
Of course, I was an S-Rank Hunter of America now. The moment the Raid Leader shouted, everyone readied for battle.
The fight unfolded like any standard raid. The Tanker activated his abilities and taunted the enemies, while the dealers with strong wide-area attacks and the healer positioned themselves in the rear.
And in the middle of it all was a melee DPS like me.
It was the position that demanded the sharpest judgment for any given situation—because while fighting on the front line alongside the Raid Leader, I also had to guard our backs.
Even if this gate wasn't one with mana readings especially high for an S-Rank, it was still difficult for the S-Rank Tankers to draw the attention of every single enemy at this level.
"Aagh!"
Shraaaaak—!
"..."
"Th-thanks."
"Stay focused."
I stepped back in an instant, cut down the two bats attacking from the rear, said a word to the mage-type Hunter, and moved forward again.
It's not flawless by any means.
Still, everyone was fighting well. Not far below the level of the S-Rank strike teams I'd worked with back in Korea.
"Everyone, just a little more!"
As the enemies launched their offensive again, the Raid Leader rallied the team once more.
The bats were down to less than half their numbers now. At this rate, we'd clear the regular monster phase without any trouble.
Still, though.
Shraaaaak—!
My blade carved a diagonal line clean through a Crimson Bat's body.
Their bodies feel so light.
It was like shedding a weight vest I'd been wearing without realizing it.
I didn't feel even the slightest resistance cleaving through an S-Rank gate's monster. So I'd grown stronger than I'd thought. And this was without even channeling my mana at one hundred percent.
"..."
At this rate, how far could I go?
"Whew! Great work, everyone!"
The last Crimson Bat fell, and Raid Leader Paul Royce called out.
"Ugh, monsters are all disgusting, but these bats take the cake."
"They're ugly enough as it is, and the color of their blood makes it worse."
Now that the fight was over, everyone was grumbling.
Setting aside the risk of injury or death, the stress of fighting monsters as a Hunter was truly no joke. If it weren't for the mountains of money and glory, it would be a profession everyone avoided.
Now it was time to enter the boss chamber.
As with every raid, the boss room was far harder than the regular monsters.
Still, there shouldn't be a problem.
If the Crimson Bat was the regular monster, then the boss was the three-headed bat-type boss, the Cerberus Bat. Common knowledge for any S-Rank Hunter.
Through my mana detection, I confirmed the boss was, as expected, a Cerberus Bat. No variables whatsoever—it meant we could handle it comfortably.
Am I being paranoid?
Ever since I'd sensed far more of the boss's mana than anticipated at the Shanghai Gate, I kept worrying about some anomaly cropping up.
But at least this raid would be fine. Time to give my nerves a rest.
Grrrrk.
We entered the boss chamber.
The Cerberus Bat revealed itself.
People say if something's big enough, it's cute. Well, bosses—being big—are ugly enough to make you want to tear them apart.
"Everyone, ready!"
The battle began with Paul Royce's shout.
"Good, we're almost there!"
With seasoned S-Rank Hunters on the team, the raid proceeded smoothly.
Shraaaaak—!
In the middle of it all, my blade severed one of the arms of the three-headed bat.
"Grraaaagh!"
With a revolting shriek, the creature collapsed.
"We won!"
"See? Told you it was nothing."
"Hahahaha!"
Laughter rang out from all around the moment the clear was confirmed.
"Whew..."
Thank God.
My first raid in America ended just like that—without incident.
Whether in Korea or America, I always thought the same thing at moments like this.
Thank goodness no one died.
Cheongju, South Korea.
"God, this is driving me insane."
Korea's top Hunters had run a raid to clear the A-Rank Gate that appeared in Cheongju, and in the end, they managed to kill everything up to the boss.
But Kim Dae-ho, the S-Rank who'd served as the Tanker for this raid, heaved one sigh after another and grumbled openly in front of everyone.
An A-Rank raid on the lower end of the mana scale. Was a raid this weak supposed to be this hard to clear? Fine, it wasn't exactly a national strike team running it, but this was too much.
Even Kim Dae-ho, who wasn't one to complain much, was at his wit's end. Why on earth couldn't the dealers behind him keep their timing together?
"Haah."
Han Ye-won, the S-Rank healer among the Hunters in this raid, let out a sigh.
It had truly been an exhausting fight—but she was simply grateful it had ended safely.
However, the moment the problem in front of her was solved, a problem she'd only briefly managed to forget came rushing back.
Dohyeon.
The person she'd always relied on was gone.
He'd told her at the end—don't depend on others, make your own judgments. But she had no idea how.
She'd tried so many times, and she still couldn't do it. Facing horrifying monsters, and sometimes Hunters just as terrifying as the monsters themselves—how was anyone supposed to keep their sanity?
"We've collected the mana stones. Everyone, let's head back."
Kim Dae-ho, who'd led the raid, spoke up, and Han Ye-won began moving toward the exit.
But someone had no intention of letting her off that easily.
"Unni, could you maybe heal us when we actually need it? You're supposed to stay focused. How are you slower than an A-Rank healer?"
So Yu-mi, an A-Rank Hunter, snapped at Han Ye-won in a sharp voice.
Two years younger. Lower rank. Shorter, too.
Yet the blonde girl pushed back even harder, as if daring her: go ahead, try something.
"I'm sorry..."
Han Ye-won said briefly, avoiding her eyes.
Honestly, she felt wronged—but she simply hated arguing with anyone.
"God, so annoying. I don't even need to guess—Senior Lee Dohyeon probably couldn't talk you into anything either. You know this is all your fault he left, right?"
"No! That's... haah."
"Hmph!"
Han Ye-won's chest tightened for a moment, but she couldn't get a single word out.
So Yu-mi, whose aim had been nothing more than venting her frustration, didn't push further either.
What kind of relationship Lee Dohyeon and Han Ye-won actually had, or how they truly felt about each other—none of that mattered. Nobody around them believed the two who were always glued together were in some ordinary relationship.
Officially, no declaration or announcement had ever been made, but they were clearly close. That was the prevailing wisdom.
"..."
And of course, one of those who believed it was Yoon Sung-ah, the A-Rank Hunter, who also looked at Han Ye-won with undisguised disdain.
Seriously, that girl is a complete idiot. And honestly, so is Lee Dohyeon.
She shook her head thinking of the man who'd left Korea recently.
His face and physique were passable, sure, but falling head over heels for a woman who looked that stupid?
Birds of a feather, apparently.
Her mother had told her since she was little—the people around you matter. Surround yourself with low-class people, and you sink right down with them.
No doubt the reason Lee Dohyeon ruined himself despite all that talent and left Korea was because a woman like that had been at his side.
No—it was never anything more. His ceiling was just that low to begin with.
Yoon Sung-ah thought it was pathetic, imagining Lee Dohyeon suffering through hell in America right about now.
"Mr. Lee Dohyeon, that was incredible. You truly amazed me today."
"Oh, please. I barely did my share."
"Not at all. If you hadn't identified the Crimson Bats so quickly, we couldn't have reformed and moved the way we did. Someone might have been hurt otherwise."
As I was leaving after the raid, Raid Leader Paul Royce praised me.
The more I saw of him, the more genuinely good-natured he seemed.
"I look forward to working with you going forward."
"Likewise."
So far, since arriving in America, not a single person had given me grief.
And just like that, my first raid came to a safe end.
Things should stay quiet for a while, right? Even in America, S-Rank gates couldn't exactly spring up left and right.
But...
As expected, my time in America did not flow by peacefully.
"How is this even possible..."
"We were shocked as well."
Hannah Kapeltz, my secretary, shut her eyes tightly and drew a sharp breath.
Even that gesture alone would have made a stunning photoshoot—such was the breathtaking beauty standing before me—but I bit my lip, my chest heavy.
An S-Rank Gate had appeared in San Francisco, USA.
That alone might not have been a catastrophic problem. The problem was how it had come into being.
A-Rank Gates sometimes merge with nearby gates to become S-Rank Gates—and that was exactly what had happened to the one in San Francisco.
What made it a disaster was this: the A-Rank Gate had fused with another while hidden underground, escaping detection, and now the Dungeon Break was mere hours away.
"Has the gate's mana been fully measured on the S-Rank scale?"
"Yes—it registers as mid-tier among S-Ranks. The 2nd Strike Team could handle it without much difficulty."
"Not the 3rd Strike Team?"
"Correct."
"Unbelievable..."
I pieced the situation together hastily, my mind racing.
Apparently the 1st Strike Team was in Europe, and the 2nd had been dispatched to clear gates on the East Coast. Which meant the 3rd Strike Team—unlike last time—would have to walk into a considerably more dangerous fight.
"Hunter Lee Dohyeon, the Association says you are not obligated to involve yourself with this gate."
"...I didn't come to America on vacation."
"Still, to some extent, you're a guest here for now."
At Hannah Kapeltz's words, I started to argue back, then stopped myself.
Strictly speaking, this was goodwill they were extending to me.
"You said I don't have to be involved. You didn't say I can't participate, right?"
"...No, they didn't."
"Then please tell them I'll be joining this raid."
"...Understood. I wish you luck."
"Thank you, Hannah."
Her expression had grown a bit dark, so I forced a smile.
Isn't this exactly like Han Ye-won? Whenever I talked with her, there were so many moments like this—forcing a smile.
Because up until now, reassuring the other person regardless of my own feelings had always come naturally.
And so I conveyed my intent to join the raid.
With time so short, the assembly hour arrived quickly.
"Mr. Royce."
"Ah, there you are!"
The private jet came into view, and I met up with the comrades I'd fought alongside before.
Now we would fly to San Francisco and clear a gate on the verge of a Dungeon Break.
"They say you didn't have to join us this time..."
"Someone must have spread nonsense."
"Haha..."
Before boarding the plane, I loosened up my body.
No time to waste. We had to resolve this as fast as possible.
The reason I'd retreated from Shanghai was, in the first place, that the situation hadn't been pressed for a Dungeon Break—and a higher-probability option existed in the East Asia joint task force.
But this time was different. There was no option to sit around waiting for the 1st or 2nd Strike Teams. Which meant I had no choice but to hurry.
That's right.
Since coming to America, I'd decided to change. To give in more faithfully to my desires, and to stop doing things I thought were foolish.
But if there was one thing that hadn't changed one bit—
I am a Hunter who clears gates. And so, as a Hunter, I must fulfill my duty.
