The Thriving Ghost Town

"Sorry, boss. But we can't proceed past this point."

The limousine driver spoke apologetically.

Kim Hwang-je stirred from his light doze and glanced out the window.

Bald mountains stretched out endlessly.

And right in front, bold letters warned:

"We're already here?"

The car had been faster than expected. Kim Hwang-je stretched, opened the door, and stepped out.

The air still carried a faint trace of gunpowder. Burnt leaves mixed with soil created a strange, acrid stench.

Long ago the government had obliterated a colossal sea serpent called Manta here with a tactical nuke. Not content with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that, they had followed up with thermobaric bombs to wipe out every last one of its offspring. The entire mountain had burned to ash in the process.

Even so, the cold air felt refreshing.

"Whoa, that warning is pretty brutal."

Kim Hwang-je read the sign, then turned back toward the car.

"Mr. Seo Jun-seo. Driver, thanks for your hard work. You can head back now. I'll contact you later."

"Understood. Do you have any instructions for us until then?"

"Not really... Oh, wait. Can you look into how much one of these goes for?"

He had forgotten to ask Jung Da-yeon. Kim Hwang-je handed over one of the three vials of Arbocil.

Seo Jun-seo accepted the red potion with careful hands.

"It looks quite valuable. I'll look into it, boss."

Once the limousine pulled away, Kim Hwang-je turned and headed into the barren hills.

Even after all this time, almost no trees had regrown.

"All right, I need a guide."

Kim Hwang-je chose the Dim-Eyed Hunter.

He braced himself.

"Ten thousa—!"

"Stop right there!"

"Yessir."

Perfect. He had successfully cut the guy off after a single word.

Having summoned each of them before, Kim Hwang-je already knew their opening lines. But out of basic decency, he couldn't let the hunter finish that particular sentence.

"Your Majesty. What would you have this humble servant do?"

The Dim-Eyed Hunter carried a massive longbow on his back and wore an eyepatch across his face. Though his poor vision kept him from seeing straight ahead, he ironically possessed the Mind's Eye skill, making him a master of navigation, tracking, and evasion.

"I need to reach my destination without being noticed. Can you guide me there?"

"Well, Your Majesty... what about the ones watching from above?"

"Above?"

Kim Hwang-je looked up at the sky. Nothing was visible. Just clear blue expanse—the kind of perfect autumn sky people attached to thank-you messages. What was supposed to be up there?

"Shall I bring them down?"

"Uh... yeah. Spying is a bad habit."

"Understood."

The hunter drew his longbow and fired three arrows skyward.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Three crisp sounds rang out like plucked strings. The arrows seemed to whisper like a baby's breath before vanishing from sight entirely.

"All taken care of."

"I don't see anything, though?"

Kim Hwang-je rubbed his eyes. Thanks to that, far away at the Monster Security Agency, Lee Min-ah was losing her mind.

Inside the Monster Security Agency's monitoring facility on Seoul's outskirts, every image on the central situation room's main screen had gone dark.

Lee Min-ah shot to her feet.

"What the hell? Did every surveillance drone just get destroyed?"

"Yes. All signals cut out moments ago. Video feeds are gone too."

"Replay the last footage."

"Playing final recording at slow speed on main screen."

The last video began. From a great distance, something like a pure white beam streaked in, and the screen simply died. Various interference patterns flickered across it.

"This was a beam attack!" the monitor agent declared.

"Don't talk nonsense. Do you think we're at war with the United States?"

Lee Min-ah pressed hard on her temples.

A beam attack? At that altitude a sniper rifle would struggle to reach, yet something had taken the drone out? And it hadn't even been a large, conspicuous reconnaissance craft. Finding and destroying it was like locating a rowboat in the middle of the Pacific.

It was a monster that defied common sense at every turn.

"This is serious. Do you think we've been detected?"

The agent chewed her nails until they glistened with saliva. Seeing that, Lee Min-ah ran her hands through her already messy hair, making it even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠more chaotic. Static turned it into a wild halo. She bit her lower lip, pulled out a hair tie, and yanked her hair into a ponytail.

"I felt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it when we handled the Howling incident. That man is capable of this."

In truth she had no idea how, but Lee Min-ah didn't know that.

"He might be showing off his power to us..."

"A hunter could easily do something like that."

"What if he gets offended and comes to kill us...?"

Several monitor agents murmured nervously.

Lee Min-ah slammed her fist on the desk.

"Have you all lost your minds? Even if we die, we cannot fear hunters' violence. If public servants cower, who will protect the citizens?"

"Ohhh, well said."

Jung Jin-woo, listening from behind, clapped.

"His soul definitely isn't a bad color. If we explain our cause properly, I'm sure he'll work for the country."

Lee Min-ah pretended not to hear him.

She knew the violent tendencies of hunters all too well. How could anyone trust thugs with power? One of the Agency's duties was mediating between hunter guilds—basically soothing greedy beasts. After dealing with them so often, her eyes had grown sharp and cold.

Once they seized hunting grounds or mines, they built fences and made sure no one else could trespass. Any attempt to infringe on their privileges was met with brutality that would never be tolerated in normal society. The resources they monopolized and hoarded that way were staggering. Then they bribed law firms and slipped away by citing the "special nature" of hunters.

If not for that disgusting shamelessness, half her resentment would have vanished.

"Use the satellites. They can't possibly shoot those down."

The agent checked the monitors and reported back.

"The nearest satellite can be repositioned in eight hours. Until then we have a complete blackout."

Lee Min-ah stood.

"This won't do. I'll go myself. Don't call the SWAT team. Team Leader Jung Jin-woo, please stay and guard headquarters."

"The deputy leader is going alone?"

She nodded at his question, then pulled on a black jacket.

"Well, even if SWAT arrives, do they have any way to control that monster? Since I have stealth abilities, it's better if I go alone."

She kicked the door open.

"And everyone—listen. No matter how strong the opponent, we must at least understand what they're doing. That's the only way we can protect citizens from both those hunter hyenas and the monsters. Don't be afraid. Let's get to work."

Kim Hwang-je narrowed his eyes and scanned the sky again. It was just blue. Refreshingly so.

"You really destroyed them?"

"Yes, it's true. They were right there, but now they're gone."

The hunter bowed repeatedly. What was this guy even saying? Could he be trusted? He had shot three arrows into the sky and claimed to have taken something out?

"Poyu?"

"Uung— I don't know either. I don't really get things that aren't threats."

"Got it. Let's move."

If Poyu said so, it was probably fine. Kim Hwang-je handed the hunter a tablet marked with the steel mill's location.

Based on their track record and abilities so far, the residents from the other world had all proven trustworthy. Even the slime.

"Yes, Your Majesty. This humble one will guide you. There are definitely no more pursuers."

The hunter skillfully read the contour map, then formed hand signs and chanted.

"Come forth, hot dogs!"

Two enormous dogs appeared—saddled bulldogs the size of lions.

"Whine...! Woof woof!"

One of them licked Kim Hwang-je with a tongue as big as a human face.

"Ugh..."

Wet dog saliva coated his entire face. Poyu burst into laughter.

"Emperor ahjussi is covered in drool! Yucky~"

You usually cover everyone else with your saliva, kid.

Kim Hwang-je frantically wiped his face with his sleeve.

"Your Majesty, this is a hunting dog's secret technique to mask scent."

If he applied that secret two more times he'd end up taking a full saliva bath.

"Ugh... to think a hot dog would lick me."

It felt worse than pouring ketchup on his wrist. Then he noticed the hunter had thrown himself flat on the ground in a full kowtow.

Why did stopping them from talking always lead to this? They were all like this, so even when he wanted to speak formally he couldn't.

"Your Majesty, please forgive this humble—"

"It's fine. Let's hurry. You're doing well."

The short praise seemed to brighten the hunter's mood; he grinned from ear to ear.

In the end Kim Hwang-je stayed silent, mounted the bulldog, and raced across the mountain. The hunter didn't utter another word as they pushed through the barren forest. Yet the bulldog's astonishing speed soon let Kim Hwang-je glimpse the edge of the city from a ridge.

It was supposed to be a horribly abandoned, unspeakably hideous ruin.

"Huh?"

But what was this?

The city nestled in the basin looked pleasant and new. People were bustling about energetically.

What on earth was going on?

Kim Hwang-je rubbed his eyes again.

"Poyu, any idea what's happening here?"

"I don't know— but I might figure it out if we get closer?"

Poyu tilted her head.

"Your Majesty. The destination is this way."

He was curious about those lively people, but he had no desire to walk into the city itself. Following the hunter's guidance, he moved to a ridge overlooking the steel factory.

"This is insane. It's all clean?"

Dump trucks loaded with broken hunter weapons and armor were rolling into the mill. The factory belched hot smoke as it melted iron and forged new material. Molten metal poured out in rivers, forming steel plates that flowed straight into the adjacent forge. Local blacksmiths were using machines to refine the stamped iron into weapons.

Clang! Clang!

The ringing of hammers sounded crisp and satisfying. The freshly made weapons were loaded back onto trucks and sent to the nearby hunter market.

There were no problems at all—except for the excessive vitality everywhere.

"This shouldn't be possible."

Kim Hwang-je pulled out his phone and checked the latest satellite image. According to the photo, this place was a complete ghost town.

"The government buys up all the food anyway. Even ghosts wouldn't have seeds to eat."

If there were seeds, he would have bought them and sent them to the royal castle already. So what was happening here?

Could there be no evil spirit after all, and Jung Da-yeon had simply been mistaken? Or had he somehow entered some strange pocket space?

"Hmm, maybe..."

Kim Hwang-je opened World Observation and rapidly clicked through the mages and priests within the castle walls until he found the right skill.

He purchased and cast the spell, but there was no reaction. The priests' and mages' skills proved equally useless.

That was to be expected. Even the hunter with Mind's Eye had sensed nothing strange.

Jung Da-yeon's information is probably correct. No matter what that evil spirit is doing, nothing would be surprising. In that case...

Kim Hwang-je touched a nearby pillar and attempted a Tribute Trade with the royal castle.

The target doesn't exist here? What did that mean?

If things continued this way he would fail to secure the steel mill. Obtaining it would likely grant him the second note as well. With an endless unidentified wave pouring in, he couldn't afford to lose the chance to become the Oil King.

"Poyu, do you think you'll understand the situation better if we get closer?"

"Yeah— talking to the people over there might help."

"Hunter, let's head back to the city entrance."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Kim Hwang-je rode the bulldog back toward the city. He spotted a quiet restaurant on the roadside.

"If anything strange happens, provide support. I'm going in undercover."

"Understood, Your Majesty!"

He left the hunter on the hill and approached the restaurant.

"Damn it all! Who comes to eat at this hour!"

A foul-mouthed grandmother greeted him. Thank goodness the hunter wasn't here. He suddenly remembered how the bandit would have reacted—he probably would have grabbed the old woman by the collar.

"Grandma! I'm hungry. Got anything?"

"Ugh, just eat some bean sprout soup then."

"Sure, that works."

He had zero intention of actually eating in this suspicious place, but the atmosphere suggested he needed to order something before she would talk.

The grandmother brought out a steaming bowl of soup. It bubbled vigorously and looked scalding hot.

"Eat up, kid. I don't know where you're from, but you look just like my grandson. Work hard and live well."

"Aigoo, thank you, Grandma. Have you lived here a long time?"

"Of course I have, you rascal."

She cracked an egg and stirred it into the soup.

Huh?

His mouth watered. His hand moved on its own; he could practically imagine himself lifting the entire earthenware pot and gulping it down. His arm trembled.

Why am I imagining myself drinking straight from the pot? It's not even soda.

At that moment a vibration came from his chest. The golden necklace trembled softly. The Emperor's Talisman that Gemini had given him floated up, pulsing gently.