The Gathering Storm

The news that Jeon Jaewoo had cleared the Legendary-grade ruin Freezing Cold dominated headlines across the globe.

Under ordinary circumstances, the raid would have received significant coverage on its own, but with the world teetering on the edge of catastrophe, public attention was magnified to a fever pitch.

Every corner of the internet echoed with admiration. To the public, it was simply proof of what Jeon Jaewoo was capable of. In Brazil, favorable opinion toward him surged to astronomical heights, with some political circles even floating proposals on how they might ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠permanently entice him to relocate to their country.

Outraged by the suggestion, domestic Korean forums erupted with pseudo-intellectual treatises arguing that the government should place Jaewoo under protective custody—strictly to prevent him from ever stepping foot outside the country.

The ironic twist in all of this was that information regarding Jeon Jaewoo was kept under total state surveillance and secrecy. Outside of an elite inner circle, not a soul among the general public had the faintest idea what his face even looked like.

Since nobody recognizes me, it almost feels like everyone is fawning over some completely different hunter, Jaewoo mused.

Still, he far preferred the anonymity. Being able to walk the streets without being swarmed was a blessing he had no intention of forfeiting.

True to their word, the Brazilian government handed over the promised Extra Clear Ticket. Factoring in the one he had claimed as a direct raid reward for conquering the ruin, Jaewoo had walked away with two tickets in total.

Their formal transaction was concluded, yet the Brazilian delegation showed no inclination to depart.

"Pardon the intrusion, Hunter Jeon Jaewoo," one of the Brazilian envoys began smoothly. "May we inquire as to what spoils dropped as the completion reward for the ruin?"

"Excuse me? Why do you ask?"

"We were hoping you might be open to parting with the loot. Whatever price you desire, we are prepared to pay the absolute maximum."

Before Jaewoo could even consider answering, the deputy commissioner of the Korean Hunter Administration bristled and shoved his way forward.

"What utter nonsense is this?! First right of refusal for any trade with Hunter Jeon Jaewoo belongs exclusively to the Republic of Korea's Hunter Administration!"

The Brazilian diplomat raised his voice in turn, refusing to give an inch. "That Legendary-grade ruin was allocated to our nation!"

"You dump an uncleared disaster onto our laps because you couldn't handle it, and now you have the gall to claim rights over the spoils?!"

Officials from both sides piled in one after another, and the shouting match rapidly escalated toward a full-blown physical altercation. Jaewoo intervened before fists could start flying.

"Excuse me. Hate to interrupt, but you're wasting your breath. I'm keeping the reward for myself. I have no intention of parting with it to anyone."

The Brazilian representative blinked. "Pardon?"

"As it turns out, the reward that dropped happened to be an Extra Clear Ticket."

Naturally, thanks to Novum's innate sense for ruin cores, Jaewoo had known what the reward would be long before he even cleared it. But the gathered bureaucrats were left gaping in shock.

Of all things, the reward for Freezing Cold had been an Extra Clear Ticket.

A sudden wave of hollow regret washed over the Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

If we had known that would drop, we wouldn't have needed to part with our own ticket…

Regardless of their private lamentations, the acquisition of two tickets bumped Jaewoo's total remaining raid quota up to thirteen. Even after their negotiations fell through, the Brazilian envoys lingered, subtly trying to cozy up to him, but Commissioner Yoo Jeongtae caught wind of their maneuvering and personally had them escorted out. The Korean government wasted no time packing the entire foreign delegation onto a chartered flight home the moment official business was done.

With that, Brazil's impending ruin catastrophe was averted.

The neighboring South American nations, however, were not so fortunate. Despite substantial international aid, their joint strike teams failed to breach their allocated ruins. In the end, the cruel countdown expired.

Just as anticipated, absolute hell broke loose across the territories that suffered a Ruin Break.

Inside the Blue House, in the presidential executive office.

President Lee Hoe-chan was in the middle of presiding over a tense cabinet meeting.

"So the Brazilian envoys have departed?"

"Yes, Mr. President," an aide replied. "Every last one has been sent back. They were voicing considerable dissatisfaction right up until boarding, however."

The president let out a dry, incredulous scoff. "Audacious fools. If the global situation weren't so precarious, I wouldn't have permitted them an audience in the first place."

Lee Hoe-chan cleared his throat, steering the room back to order. "Very well. What is the next item on the agenda?"

"We have received an official situation report regarding the current crisis in South America."

The president and his assembled cabinet turned toward the screen to watch a briefing reel. The footage captured the living nightmare unfolding across the failed South American territories. Silent dread settled over the chamber as the president, prime minister, and senior ministers bore witness to the slaughter of defenseless civilians.

When the feed cut to black, the room lingered in grim silence before Lee Hoe-chan finally spoke.

"The devastation… It is no less harrowing than what occurred in Mexico and Canada."

The prime minister chimed in, his tone grave and unyielding. "Mr. President, we must establish foolproof contingencies to ensure a Ruin Break never strikes the Korean Peninsula."

"And you propose to clear the Legendary-grade ruins we have failed to conquer for decades?"

"……"

The prime minister had no answer. Instead, Minister of Disaster Administration Lee Cheolsoo bowed his head in deference.

"My apologies, Mr. President. We will devise a solution as swiftly as possible."

The words sounded dutiful, but everyone in the room knew there was no miraculous strategy waiting to be discovered.

First North America, then South America. The next target continent for the ruins would almost certainly be Oceania or Asia. Or perhaps Africa, given its geographic proximity. And if Asia were selected, would the designation encompass only East Asia as colloquially understood, or would it stretch across the Eurasian landmass to swallow Europe as well?

The cold truth was inescapable: South Korea would soon enter the crosshairs of a Ruin Break. Worse, surviving a single cycle offered no salvation. The countdowns would repeat relentlessly until every last uncleared ruin on Earth was conquered.

Granted, the Republic of Korea had an overwhelming trump card residing within its borders in the form of Jeon Jaewoo. Compared to other nations, their existential dread was somewhat tempered. Yet the government's inability to dictate his actions remained a massive vulnerability.

Even now, the state was desperately courting him, promising boundless privileges and resources if he would align directly with national policy. Jaewoo had treated their overtures with complete indifference.

"Minister Lee Cheolsoo. Is Hunter Jeon Jaewoo still uncooperative?"

"He simply isn't the type to bend to state directives… It presents considerable difficulty."

In truth, the problem went beyond Jaewoo. Almost no awakened hunter possessing Transcendent-grade power willingly bowed to national authority. Even those who weren't psychopathic serial killers often treated standard laws as mild suggestions, committing egregious crimes purely out of fleeting boredom. Others carved out vast spheres of influence, ruling their respective territories like modern feudal kings while maintaining only a veneer of legality.

Ever since the Great Cataclysm, humanity had been violently disabused of the notion that law and morality were sacred, divinely ordained absolutes. They were merely fragile social contracts forged so that ordinary mortals could survive alongside one another. That harsh reality had never faded.

Of course, there were exceptions where a Transcendent-grade hunter was entirely cooperative with their government—namely, when the hunter made themselves the supreme dictator of the nation. In those cases, the state was their personal property, so "cooperation" was merely ruling by whim.

By comparison, Jeon Jaewoo was remarkably docile for someone who wielded Transcendent power. Aside from his secretive ruin excursions, he lived an astonishingly quiet life.

From the administration's perspective, it was only natural to covet such an asset for political, military, and diplomatic leverage. A single photograph of Jaewoo shaking hands with the president would send approval ratings skyrocketing, and having him present in the presidential delegation during overseas summits would drastically shift the balance of any negotiation.

Yet leaning entirely on the shoulders of a single awakened individual carried catastrophic risks.

When the Ruin Break crisis first surfaced, the president and cabinet had boldly declared that South Korea would weather the storm through the strength of democratic institutions and the nation's premier hunter management system. Yet when stripped of political rhetoric, the system meant nothing. Without Jeon Jaewoo's intervention, South Korea possessed no viable means to conquer a Legendary-grade ruin.

Even the United States, a global hunter superpower, had been forced to expend its absolute full might just to clear an unassigned Legendary ruin during the initial crisis. For a mere regional power like South Korea, throwing everything into the meat grinder would yield the exact same slaughter seen in South America.

If they refused to rely on Jaewoo, their only alternative was begging foreign nations for aid.

And how exactly would that count as overcoming the crisis through our own strength? the president thought bitterly.

At that exact moment, Jeon Jaewoo was lounging comfortably in his living room, cracking open a cold beer while watching a live international broadcast.

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠program covered the unfolding nightmare across the South American nations that had suffered Ruin Breaks. Gathered around him were Myeolgeop, the Lich King, Novum, and the Homunculus in its glass flask.

"Whoa, it looks like a real living hell, Master," Novum remarked in a soft, cheerful voice.

Hearing such horrific destruction described in an airy, unbothered tone made the spirit sound chillingly callous. Novum showed no emotional distress beyond mild curiosity. Jaewoo had assumed that as an elemental spirit born of nature, Novum would be sensitive to the snuffing out of mortal lives, but perhaps pure, primal beings simply lacked human empathy.

Regardless, the ruin beasts had once again materialized dead center within the primary metropolitan cores of each fallen country. Without exception, the hordes dropped directly onto the most densely populated coordinates.

At this point, coincidence was out of the question. The ruin mechanism was deliberately selecting urban population centers to maximize slaughter.

Whoever designed these ruins is one sick bastard.

Until recently, the entity responsible for creating the ruins had been revered as an ancient savior who brought mana and prosperity to a dying world. Now, that same architect was viewed as the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ultimate global villain.

Fortunately, Brazil, bolstered by its superior national power and elite hunter corps, had deployed massive expeditionary forces to aid its neighbors, gradually bringing the disaster under control. In truth, Brazil had been backed into a corner; the surrounding nations had subtly threatened that if Brazil refused to render aid, they would deliberately lure the stampeding monsters across the Brazilian border. Left with no alternative, Brazil had intervened.

Come to think of it, what would have happened to Brazil if I hadn't cleared Freezing Cold? Jaewoo wondered.

Inside that ruin, there hadn't been a single monster—only an incomprehensible, deadly chill. If the timer had expired, would a planetary cold snap have descended upon the Brazilian capital instead of beast hordes?

…Honestly, if it had just been freezing cold, people might have frozen their asses off, but fewer would have been torn to shreds.

Jaewoo switched the television channel. While he was far from a selfless humanitarian, watching countless civilians being slaughtered in real time was hardly enjoyable entertainment.

Can they even broadcast graphic footage like that on public television without censorship?

Even as thousands continued to perish, the attention of the international community was already drifting away from South America. A week had passed, and only one question truly mattered now.

Which continent would be targeted next?

The answer arrived swiftly for the third week: Oceania.

In other words, the nation assigned an uncleared ruin for the coming cycle was Australia—and Australia alone.