The Invisible Cheonwaecheon
Screech.
A black sports car rolled to a stop on the airport runway, and a figure in sunglasses stepped out.
"Yo~"
"You're here?"
The man climbing from the car was Kang Ji-hwan of the Yuseong Guild. He waved at the person waiting for him.
"You actually showed up for the dinner party... Looks like even our Doksa Guild Leader is curious about the Cheonwaecheon, huh?"
Han Se-ah, standing opposite him, merely shrugged.
Every hunter representing Korea had gathered in one place for the dinner party.
No—more precisely, everyone except the Cheonwaecheon had gathered.
"Aren't you the same?"
Han Se-ah gave a dry little laugh as she looked at Kang Ji-hwan.
He had never shown much interest in the dinner party either. The fact that he had come at all made it obvious they shared the same curiosity.
"True. Honestly, I'm in the same boat as you."
Both of them had spent years stuck against the wall of SS-Rank. Then, out of nowhere, an SSS-Rank had appeared. How could they not be curious?
Even when they asked the Association to arrange a meeting with the Cheonwaecheon, nothing had come of it. The moment they heard that A would be attending the dinner party, they accepted the invitation without a second thought.
"Who do you think it'll be?"
"What?"
"The first hunter to pick a fight with A."
It wouldn't be either of them. Right now A was riding a massive wave of popularity across South Korea. Anyone who tried to start something with a figure like that would get hit by a vicious backlash.
"Heracles is the most likely. He probably feels like his seat got stolen out from under him."
Around the world, people had been saying the next Cheonwaecheon would be Heracles. It made sense—he had ranked eighteenth overall and sat at number one among the Divine 200.
Then A appeared, snatching the Cheonwaecheon title and shoving Heracles down to nineteenth.
"Or maybe one of the other Cheonwaecheon will start something."
"Hmm... I doubt it. The odds on that are pretty low."
Most people imagined the Cheonwaecheon constantly locked in staring contests and ready to throw down the second their eyes met. Reality was different. They possessed so much fame, power, and wealth that they mostly just watched one another carefully. Actual fights were rare.
Lose, and you stood to lose far too much.
That didn't mean they would sit quietly if someone else started something—but they almost never threw the first punch themselves.
"Han Se-ah."
"?"
"There's something I've been wanting to ask you whenever I saw you next..."
"What is it?"
"Has the Cheonwaecheon ever visited any of the S-Rank or higher Gates your guild owns?"
Kang Ji-hwan finally voiced the question that had been bothering him.
"No. Never... What about your side? Has he visited any of yours?"
"I'm not the guild leader, so I don't know everything, but as far as I'm aware, he's never set foot in any of ours either."
"So that means he's only ever entered Association-owned Gates?"
"Exactly. Which means he's only been clearing low-rank Gates..."
The Association didn't own a single S-Rank Gate or higher. They held a few A-Rank ones, but every high-rank Gate belonged to the guilds.
And A had never visited any of those high-rank Gates. They had even quietly pulled information from other guilds just to check. He had never shown up at any of theirs either.
"......"
"......"
Both of them seemed to be thinking the same thing. Neither spoke.
Why would an SSS-Rank hunter deliberately stick to low-rank Gates?
"...There's no way the SSS-Rank thing is a lie, right?"
"No chance. Pulling a scam like that would blow up into a massive problem, and the Association President would never do that. You know his personality."
"Yeah, I know it well."
Both of them knew the man once called the Crimson Slaughterer better than almost anyone. He hated lies, hated taking the long way around, and always charged straight ahead.
Sitting in the Association President's chair had added a sly edge to him, but he was still a long way from fraud or deception.
"Besides, he retook Paju. He's not weak."
"I'm curious what kind of person he is."
"If you're that curious, why don't you fight him yourself?"
Han Se-ah smiled as she looked at Kang Ji-hwan.
She knew his personality better than anyone. If the opponent was strong, he would throw himself at them even if it meant losing.
"And while you're at it, you'll map out his attack patterns and power, won't you?"
"Bingo."
"You never change. Always figure out your opponent first, then fight."
Kang Ji-hwan let out a short laugh.
Han Se-ah never charged in from the start. She always studied habits and weaknesses before she ever threw a punch.
"But even with all that, you still can't beat me. You really think you can take a Cheonwaecheon?"
"Get the facts straight. Our record is six to four. I won four of those."
She pouted, pride clearly stung.
Their last match had been six months ago. If they fought again now, she was certain she would win.
"If you think I'm the same as I was six months ago, you're in for a rude awakening."
A low thrum of energy began to leak from her body.
"You're not seriously planning to fight here, are you?"
Kang Ji-hwan gestured around them.
This was a runway. Airport staff were everywhere—workers loading luggage onto planes, others sitting and resting. Even a playful scrap would leave a lot of civilians hurt.
"Of course not."
Just then—
"Same as ever. You two get along so well."
The Association President and his secretary, Roseina, approached from the direction of the plane.
Han Se-ah and Kang Ji-hwan were the same age, friends who had gone through elementary, middle, and high school together. Whenever they stood side by side, bickering was simply part of the routine.
"You're here?"
"Why are you so late?"
"I grabbed a meal first. And we've still got twenty minutes. You two just got here early."
"Back in the day you used to lecture us that hunters should always move early instead of arriving right on time..."
"Exactly. The old guild-leader version of you disappeared a long time ago."
"And you've changed too, noona, hanging around hyung all the time."
"I'm the same as always. Master is the one who changed."
"You brats..."
The Association President looked at the three of them and let out a helpless laugh.
Kang Ji-hwan, Han Se-ah, and Roseina had all once been hunters under him. The four of them had even formed a guild together. When he took the Association President's seat, the guild had been disbanded.
Roseina had followed him into the Association. Han Se-ah had founded her own guild. Kang Ji-hwan had joined a guild he was close with and was still active there.
"Hyung, by the way—when is that Cheonwaecheon getting here? Planning to arrive right on time?"
"Huh? He's not here yet? I got a message saying he arrived ages ago..."
The Association President tilted his head at Kang Ji-hwan's question.
More than an hour earlier he had been told the man had already reached the runway where the plane was waiting.
So where had he gone?
"I'll just give him a call..."
Rustle.
"Yaaawn."
"Do—no, A-nim!"
On the roof of a ramp bus—the vehicle that connected the terminal to the boarding gates—Do-ha stretched and sat up. The Association President nearly jumped out of his skin.
Why was he lying up there?!
"Wh-why are you lying there?! The sun is blazing..."
"I cast a cold-air spell. It wasn't hot."
Do-ha dispelled the magic and dropped down from the bus.
There hadn't been any particularly good place to rest nearby, so he had simply climbed onto the bus. He had considered just lying on the ground, but that would have made things awkward for the airline staff.
"If a Cheonwaecheon is sprawled out in a place like this, people will talk..."
"Eh, resting wherever is fine."
Do-ha's gaze slid over to the stunned Kang Ji-hwan and Han Se-ah.
This was the first time he had seen either of them in person.
"Nice to meet you. I'm A."
"Ah... yes... I... I'm Kang Ji-hwan."
"I'm Han Se-ah, Guild Leader of Doksa Guild..."
Both of them stammered for a moment.
And for good reason—the Cheonwaecheon had been right beside them, and neither had sensed a single trace of his presence.
The ramp bus hadn't been far away. It had been close. Han Se-ah had even drawn up her energy earlier as a joke.
Yet none of them had felt Do-ha's presence at all.
Four meters at most... and I still didn't notice.
Kang Ji-hwan swallowed hard.
If the Cheonwaecheon had wanted him dead, he would have died without even reacting.
This was a runway, far from any battlefield, but he had never fully dropped his senses or let his guard down. Even with friends like Han Se-ah and the Association President nearby, he had kept his energy sharp and ready.
So this is a Cheonwaecheon.
He had wondered whether this suddenly appeared Cheonwaecheon might be inflated hype. That thought had just been completely wrong.
"Wait... have we met before?"
Han Se-ah narrowed her eyes, recognizing him.
He was wearing the mask he was known for, but she had seen those eyes before.
"What, are you hitting on the Cheonwaecheon right now? That line is way too old-school—"
Thud.
Kang Ji-hwan took a solid hit from her and trembled.
"We met in front of my guild before, remember? When Wei Chen visited."
"Ah, right. We did meet once."
The memory finally clicked for Do-ha, and he nodded.
Back then he had been so focused on Un-jeop-bi-jang that he had completely forgotten seeing Han Se-ah.
"Senior. What is this about...?"
She looked at the Association President.
The Cheonwaecheon had been there that day—why had he told her the man was just a staff member?
And before that—why had the Cheonwaecheon been bowing and scraping to Wei Chen, calling himself a fan?
"...Don't tell me?"
As the thoughts connected, her eyes widened slightly and fixed on the Association President.
She had heard that Wei Chen had gone missing after visiting Korea.
Was that somehow connected to the Cheonwaecheon?
The Association President met her gaze and gave a small, quiet shake of his head.
It looked very much like a warning not to dig any further.
Thump.
"That's enough small talk. Let's get going."
Do-ha clapped the Association President once on the shoulder and headed for the plane.
The Association had prepared a private jet, so the trip would be comfortable.
Normally, registering as a hunter under an alias meant you couldn't use a private jet—but an exception had been made for Do-ha, the Cheonwaecheon.
Even the phone he used was a hunter-exclusive model issued by the Association.
"We should head out too."
"Yes."
As Do-ha moved, the rest of the group followed.