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It was a shocking piece of news—so much so that the other people in the lounge were staring at the TV screen in sheer disbelief. The fact that our domestic media was reporting on it with such gravity, despite it happening in another country, spoke volumes about the severity of the situation.
"Namu Amitabha..."
"Sigh, what on earth is going on?"
I nudged the bald monk sitting next to me.
"What do you think happened?"
"Quite literally, a failed raid. But seeing how extensively they are broadcasting it, the scale of the disaster must be immense."
"Is it really that big of a deal? I mean, it's a neighboring country, but still."
At my words, he offered a gentle smile.
"Yes, it is incredibly serious. What do you think will happen if China deploys another raid team and fails again?"
His question made me realize the gravity of the situation.
What if the raid failed and a Dungeon Break occurred? What if the monsters poured out of the Gate and began slaughtering everyone in the vicinity? And... what if their territory expanded?
Mongolia, Taiwan, India, and even South Korea—all of China's neighbors—could find monsters encroaching on their borders.
On top of that, it would trigger a domino effect. If they failed to contain a single Gate and ceded the land, monsters from neighboring Gates would break out as well. As the monster-infested territory grew, clearing those Gates would become impossible, leading to a continuous expansion of their domain.
By that point, they would probably resort to dropping nuclear bombs to wipe them out. The problem was that even if they did, there would still be remnants left to deal with.
"Damn, that's dangerous."
"Indeed. We can only hope that China handles it well."
He stared at the television with a sorrowful expression. "It is truly tragic that so many innocent souls are losing their lives."
He had a point. I wasn't exactly a fan of China, but the civilians living there hadn't done anything wrong...
"So, Ddaengjung, what do you think will happen next?"
"The information on the news is too sparse to make an accurate prediction, but... won't they assemble a secondary raid team?"
And if that secondary raid failed as well, that was when the real nightmare would begin.
"If worst comes to worst, they will have no choice but to request aid from other nations."
Foreign hunters...
"Does that actually happen?"
"It is rare, but it does happen."
Some countries lacked S-class hunters entirely, while others only had one. In those cases, clearing high-rank Gates was nearly impossible.
"And when they do invite foreign hunters..."
He explained that they usually requested aid from neighboring countries first.
"Given our landmass and population, South Korea has an unusually high number of S-class hunters. There is a very strong chance they will turn to us for help."
"Is that so? Thanks."
Ddaengjung's explanation was quite helpful. For now, it seemed best to just wait and see how things unfolded.
I walked into Jegal Cheon's office.
"What brings you here?"
"Have you heard the news about China?"
Jegal Cheon scowled slightly, clearly annoyed by my casual tone. However, he didn't dare complain to me and quietly pulled out his phone to look up the news.
"Hmm..."
His expression darkened as he read about China's failed Gate raid. "This is indeed a major crisis."
"Can you dig up some more details?"
"Well, our Guild Master will probably ask for the exact same thing once he hears about it, so I shall look into it."
Leaving the information gathering to Jegal Cheon, I went to find my younger sister.
Seohui was relaxing peacefully. Well, since it wasn't our country's problem, I suppose that was only natural. When I told her about the situation in China, her reaction was predictably lukewarm.
"Do you actually want to go help them?"
"Not exactly."
Or did I?
"What I'm actually worried about is the Gate they failed to clear."
Up until now, Gate raids had generally gone smoothly. But recently, new Gates had been appearing, and reports of raid teams struggling to clear them were on the rise. No one knew the exact reason. What bothered me, though, was the fact that some of these new Gates were connected to the Other World I had spent ten years in.
"Are you worried that this Gate might be connected to the Other World you were summoned to?"
"Exactly."
If that was indeed the reason for their failure, then as the Saintess of the Other World, I felt a lingering sense of responsibility to tear that Gate down myself.
"You don't really need to go out of your way to help them, though," Seohui muttered, looking rather sullen.
"You really don't like China, do you?"
"Who does?"
True enough... For now, I decided to wait for more news to trickle in. But since it didn't look like any updates would be released today, I headed back home.
The moment I got home, I took a refreshing shower. Even though I spent most of my day in air-conditioned rooms, the summer heat and humidity still left me feeling sticky and gross.
Once I finished and stepped out, Seohui went in to wash up, and I grabbed an ice cream bar from the freezer.
Nibbling on the cold treat, I picked up the remote, turned on the TV, and immediately flipped to a news channel.
The news covered various topics, but... there was no mention of the situation in China, which was what I was looking for.
"What's going on..."
Wasn't this a major crisis? Was it because it happened in another country? Did we really have to wait until their secondary raid failed, just like Ddaengjung had suggested?
Keeping the ice cream bar in my mouth, I quickly unlocked my phone to search for any updates on China. I browsed through various hunter forums and online communities known to have a large population of ethnic Koreans from China, but reliable information was hard to come by.
"Unni? You're eating ice cream all by yourself? That's so cheap."
"What do you mean? It's not like we share them anyway."
It wasn't like I was hogging a giant tub of ice cream; it was just a single popsicle.
"Hmph."
Seohui pouted, but she quickly grabbed a popsicle of her own and bit into it.
"Watching the news?"
"Yeah, I wanted to see if there were any updates on China."
"Oh, come on. That kind of news takes time to get out."
Even if the primary raid had failed, a Dungeon Break hadn't occurred yet. Naturally, they would attempt a second and third raid.
"I'm just curious."
"Besides, most Gates can be cleared easily once you throw an S-class hunter at them."
Was that really the case?
Still, I couldn't shake my anxiety. If I hadn't been there during the Great Forest raid, the hunters would have suffered near-total annihilation. Something similar had probably happened in China. Which meant...
"Seohui, do you remember the Great Forest?"
"Of course I do. It's only been a few months."
"Do you think the Guild Master could have cleared that place all by himself?"
Predictably, my sister couldn't find an immediate answer.
"Well, that's..."
"Exactly."
Being an S-class hunter didn't make someone invincible. There were bound to be Gates with extreme difficulty, just like the Great Forest or the Millennium Ancient City.
"And if that Gate is indeed connected to the Other World... then as the Saintess, I have a duty to fulfill."
"Unni..."
It wasn't out of some grand sense of justice, but I did feel a certain level of responsibility. Sometimes, I couldn't help but wonder if my return to Earth had somehow triggered these events. Why else would these anomalies start popping up right after I came back? It might just be a coincidence, but the nagging thought that I might be the cause wouldn't leave me...
"Anyway, that's how it is."
"If you end up going, will you take me with you?"
I wondered what was going through her mind to make her ask that. But my answer was already set in stone.
"Not if it's dangerous."
If it was a place where I could easily protect her, that would be one thing. But if it was so hazardous that I couldn't afford to look after her? I had no intention of dragging my sister into harm's way. I could handle myself, but if something happened to Seohui, how would our parents cope?
"You know I'm strong too, right?"
I knew that, but... I recalled the numerous times I had nearly died in the Other World. No matter how strong you were, a single moment of carelessness or falling into a trap could prove fatal. And if a powerful entity like the Demon King were to appear... then...
It was highly unlikely, of course, but I couldn't help but worry.
The next day, as soon as I arrived at the guild, Jegal Cheon called me over. He had received updates regarding China. Ddaengjung and the Guild Master were already gathered in his office.
"Oh, you're here too, Ddaengjung?"
He let out a hearty laugh. Was calling an actual monk "Ddaengjung" a bit too much?
"Anyway, calling all of us here must mean..."
"I have gathered information regarding China. I called you all to share my findings."
Jegal Cheon began to lay out the details he had compiled. First, regarding the Gate itself...
"It was the Dark Elf Forest?"
"Yes. It is the exact same type of Gate that we cleared previously—the one where Nix played a pivotal role."
My brow furrowed instantly. The Great Forest...
The mere mention of it made me want to grind my teeth, but I held back.
"The raid force consisted of fifteen hundred personnel: five hundred hunters and one thousand soldiers."
Apparently, they had referenced our raid report, which mentioned using firearms to suppress the monsters, and decided to copy our tactics.
"Despite deploying such a massive force, including an S-class hunter, the outcome was catastrophic."
It seemed they had struggled immensely against the Dark Elves' exceptional sniping and magic. The hunters' skills were apparently mediocre, failing to properly defend against the incoming spells, which led to heavy casualties. And as the hunters fell, the regular soldiers were left completely exposed, resulting in even greater losses.
"The decisive blow was the long-range magic bombardment, the very same tactic we faced."
They had suffered casualties but were slowly making progress by burning down the forest, just as we had. However, the Dark Elves unleashed the exact same devastating bombardment.
"In our case, we were saved by Nix's barrier, but..."
"Well, it's not like they have anyone with my abilities over there."
"Exactly. Unable to counter the magic, they took the full brunt of the bombardment. The entire raid force was virtually annihilated."
But the deaths of regular soldiers and low-rank hunters weren't the only issue.
"We have confirmed that the S-class hunter, who fought desperately until the end, was also killed in action."
"What?!"
This time, even Namgung Min gasped in shock.
"I do not know the exact details of the battle, only the final outcome of his demise," Jegal Cheon said with a sigh.
The only survivors were a handful of A-class hunters who had managed to flee.
"Currently, China is in utter chaos."
They had tried to cover up the disaster, but the news of the S-class hunter's death had leaked, throwing their leadership into a frenzy of finger-pointing.
"And in the midst of it all, they actually had the audacity to complain to South Korea."
Apparently, their Ministry of Foreign Affairs had contacted ours, accusing us of providing a falsified raid report.
"Well, our diplomats will handle that nonsense on their own."
The real issue was clearing the Gate. Although a secondary raid team was currently being assembled...
"The chances of success must be dreadfully low, then?"
At Namgung Min's grim observation, Jegal Cheon nodded.
"Indeed. Their only real options are to deploy a massive squad of S-class hunters or recruit Nix. But the Chinese government seems highly reluctant to do either. After all, requesting foreign aid would be tantamount to admitting their own incompetence."
"Instead, they plan to form an elite, small-scale force for the secondary raid, deploying three S-class hunters."
Apparently, the team would consist of only about a hundred high-ranking hunters.
"For now, there has been no official request for aid, but..."
If this secondary raid failed as well, there was a very high probability that they would swallow their pride and beg Namgung Min and me for assistance.
"Amitabha..." Ddaengjung sighed, deeply saddened by the massive loss of life.
"Thanks for looking into this," I said.
Jegal Cheon simply replied that he was merely doing his job.
"Hmm..."
"What's with the long face, Guild Master? Are you not keen on helping China?"
"No, how could that be? It is the very birthplace of martial arts; I hold no ill will toward it."
However, he admitted that he had just recalled a rather annoying encounter he'd had with them in the past.
"I heard the S-class hunter who perished this time was that fellow."
"Oh, really?"
Could it be the arrogant bastard who had picked a fight with us before? I felt a complicated mix of pity and a smug sense of poetic justice.
In any case, we decided to wait and see how the secondary raid turned out.