Shurike's Arrival
Waaaaah—!
A crowd packed Gimpo Airport, waving welcome signs high above their heads.
They were all members of the International Cultural Exchange Group—star Hunters beloved and celebrated across the world.
And among them, stepping through with the rest, was one particular figure.
"……."
Shurike smiled and waved.
He had come as a member of the International Cultural Exchange Group, serving as the lead escort for this schedule of events.
A hand extended.
"A pleasure. I'm Han Jeong-soo, Manager of the Hunter Association Dispatch Team of the Republic of Korea."
"A pleasure. I'm Shurike—I'll be overseeing this event."
They shook hands and exchanged greetings as if nothing in the world were amiss.
But behind that composed smile, Han Jeong-soo was reeling.
He actually came in through the airport.
Shurike had said he would make contact tomorrow—then, first thing in the morning, a message had arrived ordering Han Jeong-soo to the airport. He had assumed he was being sent to receive some collaborator for the mission. Instead, Shurike himself had walked straight through arrivals.
I never expected him to enter Korea like this…
He had figured Shurike would cross the border by some other means. An open, official entry had never crossed his mind.
And for good reason—this way, the constraints on his movements would be severe.
Right now the airport was crawling with reporters. Shurike's presence had been fully exposed. Of course, when the time came to trigger the wave he would wear a mask or alter his face—but if a guest who had arrived under official auspices simply vanished, the Association would have every reason to grow suspicious.
Ah. So that's why the Busan event was slotted into the exchange group's itinerary.
That explained it. That morning, reading the Association's circular, he had wondered why their schedule had them bouncing around so much.
A faint crackle of magic brushed his mind.
Come meet me this afternoon.
Yes, sir.
Shurike's voice arrived through telepathic magic. Han Jeong-soo answered at once, his expression never changing.
This afternoon…
Which meant that until then, Shurike intended to run the official program exactly as advertised.
Don't tell me New Age has people inside the exchange group as well?
Even he couldn't know every Awakened affiliated with New Age.
By afternoon, every official engagement had concluded.
Knock. Knock.
"Come in."
The door creaked open.
Han Jeong-soo stepped into the hotel suite where Shurike was staying.
A soft motion of a hand—
Whoooosh—!
Magic—without an incantation?!
The moment the door shut, magic bloomed from Shurike's hand, and Han Jeong-soo's eyes went wide.
He was no mage himself, but he knew well enough how magic was supposed to work. Which meant he understood exactly how extraordinary what Shurike had just done truly was.
"Well. This is the first time we've met face-to-face."
"It's an honor."
Keeping his expression under tight control, Han Jeong-soo bowed his head.
The truth was that even inside New Age, Shurike was infamous as a madman. Just standing in front of him was enough to send cold sweat sliding down Han Jeong-soo's spine.
"Introduce yourself. He's one of ours."
"Ah…"
Han Jeong-soo lifted his head—and a massive presence stepped out of the shadows.
Alex Jayden looked down at him.
So this man was New Age as well.
A participant in the International Cultural Exchange Group, one of the Divine 200, and a Hunter with considerable name recognition in the United States. He acted in films, poured money into charity work, and—tall and handsome—commanded no small amount of popularity.
Looking down on me like it's the most natural thing in the world.
It wasn't just the height. His chin was tilted slightly up, his pupils angled downward. In short, he was looking down on him.
"A pleasure. I'm—"
"I know who you are."
"……."
Alex cut him off mid-sentence. Han Jeong-soo's brow twitched.
Slowly, he slid a hand into his pocket and cocked his stance at a deliberate slant.
"Hey… for a first meeting, your attitude and your mouth are seriously getting on my nerves."
Killing intent rolled off Han Jeong-soo's body.
Alex was an A-Rank Hunter, same as him. So why the hell was he carrying himself like that?
"And if you're New Age personnel, doesn't that make me your superior? You got a death wish? Who the hell do you think you're looking down on?"
That man was nothing more than a New Age operative Shurike dragged around. Han Jeong-soo was the Korea Manager. New Age wasn't a military, but rank still existed—and it mattered.
"……."
A low, grinding pressure filled the air.
Whether Han Jeong-soo's words had struck a nerve or not, killing intent erupted from Alex's body in answer. If Shurike hadn't already layered the suite in magic, every Hunter in the vicinity would have come running.
"Ha. So that's how you want to play it?"
Alex's provocation only made Han Jeong-soo's aura surge harder.
And then—
"Heh. Enough."
A soft rush of power.
Shurike, who had been chuckling to himself, lifted a hand. Alex immediately reined in his energy and bowed his head—killing intent that had been ready to tear Han Jeong-soo apart one second, gone the next.
"My apologies… I lost my temper…"
Han Jeong-soo also withdrew his killing intent and lowered his head.
"Don't be. I told him to test you, actually."
"Me, sir?"
"That's right. First impression—how should I put it—you looked like the venom had drained out of you. Too soft. Not worth much. Our organization has no use for that kind of man."
"……."
"So I told him to put you through a little trial."
"If I had just taken it…"
"You'd be dead by my hand right about now. And I'd have put this one in the Korea Manager's seat instead."
Han Jeong-soo swallowed hard.
Even allowing for the double life, he was a section manager on the Association Dispatch Team—and Shurike had been ready to kill him that casually. It wasn't about throwing his weight around as a manager. If someone of his rank simply disappeared, the exchange-group Hunters would inevitably come under investigation.
Shurike was acting as if that kind of scrutiny meant nothing to him at all.
A low thrum of power.
Thud.
Shurike moved his hand. A magic circle formed, and a single document dropped onto the desk.
"When the wave hits, you follow what's written there. Memorize it now."
"This is…"
As he read the plan, Han Jeong-soo's eyes trembled slightly.
The site for the wave is exactly what I expected—the Gate on Manri Mountain.
But the contents themselves were a little more shocking.
Once the wave began, three Hunters participating in the event were to be killed.
It says to make it look like they died as casualties of the wave.
Among those "casualties": Hunters from other countries, Association personnel—
And the Association President himself.
Damn it. No. Absolutely not.
He had to stop the Association President from dying—and he had to stop the foreign Hunters from dying as well.
As he'd already noted, every Hunter visiting Korea was a star. Not quite national-power-level, but each of them carried enough recognition to stand as a face of their country.
More than anything, if the Association President dies, we're finished.
There had been disputes large and small with other nations over the years, and every time, the Association President had stepped forward first to mediate. Inside the Association, countless people leaned on him. In any ranking of public trust, he always sat near the top—a man with a genuinely good image among the people.
If the Association President dies… they'll probably try to put me in the seat.
Easier to control that way.
This had to be stopped. No question.
And yet something still didn't add up.
What exactly were they trying to gain from this incident?
Blowing everything this wide open just to kill one Association President made no sense. They were even planning to kill foreign Hunters on top of it.
No matter how he turned it over, the pieces refused to connect.
Was this because the vampire hunt had raised Korea's standing?
"Have you memorized it?"
"Yes. I've memorized it."
"Good."
Snap!
Whoosh—!
Shurike flicked his fingers, and the paper in Han Jeong-soo's hands went up in flames.
"As I told you yesterday—delay Hunter deployments toward Busan as long as you can."
"I can slow down the Hunters inside the Association. But the guild Hunters are beyond my—"
A crushing pressure slammed down.
"Ghk—!"
Thud.
In an instant an overwhelming force pressed in, and Han Jeong-soo dropped to his knees, trembling.
"That talking back of yours keeps getting on my nerves."
"I—I'm sorry."
"I am not interested in your excuses or your explanations. All you need to do is answer. Do I look like I'm making a request?"
"I'm sorry."
"When I give an order, you say yes. That is all."
"Yes. Understood."
"Get out."
The pressure bled away. Han Jeong-soo dragged in a ragged breath.
Just releasing aura—and the weight of it had been that absolute.
With every step up the Awakened ranks, the wall rose exponentially. And among those walls, the gap between A and S was something beyond imagination. From A-Rank to S-Rank wasn't a wall. It was a mountain range.
So this is S-Rank…
Han Jeong-soo bowed, offered his farewell, and left the suite.
He had to get this information to Baek Do-ha at once.
He clenched his phone. The dial tone hummed. A soft click.
"Hello?"
"Are you free to talk right n—"
And then—
"Who are you on the phone with?"
The voice came from behind him, right in front of the elevators.
"……What do you want?"
Keeping his face carefully blank, Han Jeong-soo turned and looked at Alex standing behind him.
He hadn't sensed a thing.
"I asked who you're calling."
"Ha… this bastard, seriously."
A vein stood out on Han Jeong-soo's forehead at Alex's tone.
Just because he'd bowed and scraped in front of Shurike, did this guy think he could treat him like a joke?
"You are really starting to piss me off. Do I have to report every little thing to you?"
"You keep dodging. I asked who you were talking to."
"An Association employee."
"Hand over the phone."
"Don't cross the line."
A hand clamped down.
"I said hand it over."
Alex reached out and seized Han Jeong-soo's wrist.
"Hey. I told you not to cross the line."
Grip.
Crrrk—!
Han Jeong-soo shoved the phone into his pocket, caught the wrist holding his own, and squeezed.
"Kh—!"
A pained groan tore out of Alex as his wrist was crushed.
"You think I don't know what your ability is?"
Crrrk!
Grind.
"Khhhk—!"
"Did I look like a pushover to you?"
Crrrack.
Han Jeong-soo applied force, and a sound no bone should ever make came from Alex's arm.
Alex was an American Hunter, and his ability was assassination—which meant speed was his gift. His body was tough enough to withstand that speed, yes, but trying to play strength games with Han Jeong-soo on that basis alone was pure stupidity.
"Don't walk around in front of me with your chin in the air. Not unless you want me to snap your neck clean off."
He shoved Alex hard.
He had bowed in front of Shurike because he had to. That didn't change the fact that Han Jeong-soo was strong enough to match any A-Rank Awakened. In practice, he was a man who could crumple a dump truck like a sheet of paper.
Ding!
"Kh… you son of a—"
Clutching his wrist, Alex glared daggers. Han Jeong-soo, already stepping into the elevator, gave a short snort of a laugh and raised his fist—
—then flipped him off.
"Asshole."
The doors slid shut. A howl of rage echoed from above. Han Jeong-soo paid it no mind at all, pulled the phone back out of his pocket, and spoke.
"Do-ha-nim."
"Whoa. Our Manager's looking pretty cool."
"Ah… I—I'm sorry."
At Do-ha's praise, Han Jeong-soo's ears went scarlet.
Of all things… flexing in front of a Cheon-oe-cheon…
The embarrassment was unbearable.
"Hey, Canteas—you heard that too, right? 'Don't walk around in front of me with your chin in the air. Not unless you want me to snap your neck clean off.' Khhh."
A burst of wild laughter came through the line—Canteas, losing it on the other end.
"Please… just forget that."
Hearing the laughter, Han Jeong-soo let out a long sigh.
He should have just hung up…
Why had he left the call connected and shoved the phone in his pocket?
A tidal wave of regret crashed over him.
"It's not about that. I've found out how Shurike intends to move."
He relayed everything he had seen in the hotel suite, exactly as written—that Shurike was targeting the Manri Mountain Gate, just as Han Jeong-soo had predicted; the timing of the outbreak; and the plan to kill the Association President and the Hunters. All of it.
"We have to stop it. The wave, yes—but more than that, we have to stop those Hunters from dying."
"Don't worry. Things aren't going to go the way that bastard planned."
Click.
Do-ha ended the call and smiled as he looked at a Gate.
"Do-ha, they say there's a famous milmyeon place over that way. Let's go after this."
"I'd rather try the mul-tteok, honestly."
"That can be dessert."
Trading idle chatter, Do-ha and Canteas stepped into the A-Rank Gate on Manri Mountain.
Over the course of the day they had cleaned out nearly every Gate in Busan. This was the last one left.
Manri Mountain alone.