Emergency Summoning of Korea's Six S-Ranks
Japan's Tokyo Crisis Management Center. The faces of the high-ranking officials gathered around the massive oak table were flushed red and purple with anger.
"We need to request support from other countries right now! It's an immeasurable-grade gate right in the heart of downtown Osaka. We can't handle it with our own forces!"
"We can't do that! The whole world is watching. If we bow our heads because we can't close a single gate, do you have any idea how much we'll pay for it in the international landscape going forward?!"
Watching the shouting match between principle and pragmatism, a man slouched casually at the end of the table eyed them with pitying disdain. Kenji, an S-rank hunter from the Japan Hunter Association. He plopped both feet up on the table and snapped irritably.
"Shut up already. We don't need any foreign support. Our elites can clear it just fine."
"But Kenji, if we fail, the whole of Osaka could be wiped out..."
"No chance of failure. If you can't trust us, just put the defense forces behind us or something."
With that arrogant declaration, Kenji hopped out of his seat. No one dared stop him as he roughly shoved open the conference room door and stormed out, as if there was no point in further talk.
Downtown Osaka, in front of the immeasurable gate. Inside the massive dome-shaped barricade, hundreds of Japan's proud elite hunters stood armed and ready in formation. Kenji mounted the platform, gripped the mic with bloodshot eyes glaring down at them.
"Today, we write a new history that all the world's hunters will admire! No need to fear this puny hole. Go in, sweep them all away, and prove our power!"
Blind fervor filled the hunters' eyes. The moment the speech ended, hundreds charged in after Kenji, hurling themselves without hesitation into the bizarrely swirling blue rift.
The twisting sensation of spatial transfer distorted their vision. When Kenji opened his eyes, his face froze. Beyond the gate was no hellish demonic landscape as they'd expected. Sun-dappled dense foliage, crisp air thick with pure mana that cleansed the lungs. And far off, an grotesquely enormous World Tree piercing the heavens, reaching toward the stars.
"What... the hell..."
As Kenji advanced cautiously through the forest, wariness prickling his spine, a chill raced up his back. Overwhelming presences closed in from the trees above and the underbrush, encircling them. His beastly instincts screamed danger.
"Everyone, battle ready!!"
The moment Kenji roared and drew his sword, the forest's silence shattered.
Standing at my desk, I slowly extended my arm into empty air. The forms from the Martial Arts Manual translated from Hongryeon's ancient tome. Midway through, the trajectories broke off in gaps from omissions, so I was forcing them together using mental simulations and my body's instincts.
Twisting my body on my right foot as a pivot, slashing downward diagonally with an imaginary sword. The footwork linking to the next form was missing here. I forcibly twisted my center of gravity and stepped out, but my muscles locked up, creating an awkward disconnect.
'Forcing it like this feels wrong. The balance floats away.'
I halted the motion, stroking my chin in thought. The sensation when I'd infused a ballpoint pen tip with faint mana to manifest a petal. In that instant, the mana filling my body quivered subtly, instinctively pointing the way for the missing trajectory. It wasn't my brain—it was my fully core-ified body groping out the martial flow on its own.
—Clunk.
Deep in concentration, the door burst open without a knock.
"What're you up to, my little puppy?"
Mom poked her head in, then suddenly sniffed the air, nosing around the room's scent.
"Oh my. Did you spray perfume in here? Smells amazing—like sweet, cool spring blossoms."
The lingering afterscent of yesterday's dispersed mana from the pen tip. Even that fleeting manifestation had infused the room with a faint floral aroma. Internally marveling at the physical details when martial arts fused with mana, I relaxed my stance and replied nonchalantly.
"What's up? Something wrong?"
"Gotta feed my son-daughter. Weather's nice today—let's eat out for lunch. What do you want?"
"Hm..."
Choosing an eat-out menu is always a hassle. I thought of the greasiest, safest bet with the lowest failure rate.
"Jajangmyeon."
"Sure? I'll order some kung pao chicken too, since you like it. Get ready to head out quick."
Mom strode over, slipped her hands under my armpits, and hoisted me up effortlessly. Feet dangling off the floor, I couldn't even resist as she dragged me to the dressing room.
A fancy Chinese place in Gangnam. We sat across from each other at the round table in a private room, digging in. I shoveled down glossy black bean noodles and crammed in crispy kung pao chicken slicked with spicy-sweet sauce. This place's kung pao is the best, hands down. Only downside: no delivery.
As we finished and patted our full bellies leaving the restaurant, my pocket smartphone buzzed irritably. Caller: Choi Director from the government special response team. Calls from the government on a holiday? A hundred out of a hundred meant headaches. Frowning, I hit accept.
"Haa... What is it."
-Kang Hunter. I'm truly sorry. But we need you to come right now—it's extremely urgent.
Choi Director's voice trembled through the receiver. This wasn't your standard gate break or dungeon rampage panic. It was bone-deep tension tied straight to national security.
I stopped walking and turned to Mom. She'd caught the vibe from my tone, looking at me worriedly.
"Mom. Gotta head out for a bit."
"Work emergency? Be careful. You just ate—don't push yourself before it digests."
I put Mom in a taxi first, then slipped into a quiet back alley. I rocketed into the sky. Destination: the special bunker under the Blue House.
Passing through the thick steel doors into the underground briefing room, Korea's pinnacle of military might—the six S-rank hunters dubbed "off-spec monsters"—were already assembled.
Park Jin-cheol, Hunter Association President, pinching his brow at the head of the table. Next to him, Park So-jin, Hongryeon Guild Master, arms crossed with sharp eyes. Ryu Ji-hwan, Nakwon Guild Master, leaning by the window casually chewing gum. And even the two S-ranks who rarely stepped up.
Baek Ho-young, the beast-type apex with his massive frame and shaggy beard, able to transform into a wolf-man. Seo Ji-hoon, possessor of the appraisal eye that pierced objects' essence and weaknesses behind thick glasses.
Including me, it was the first time since the Gate Shock that all six Korean S-rank hunters were in one room. I quietly took an empty seat. Confirming my arrival, the pale-faced Choi Director stepped to the podium.
"Thank you all for coming. The situation's so urgent I apologize for the late greetings. Straight to the point."
Choi Director clicked the remote, and footage played on the wall-sized screen.
"This morning, Japan's elite hunters—three hundred strong—entered the immeasurable gate in Osaka. But just one hour in, all contact cut off... and Japan immediately requested survivor rescue and support from foreign nations."
The footage was bodycam recovery from a follow-up search team barely escaping the site.
A lush, towering forest. As the search team advanced cautiously, beams of light rained from all sides—mana-infused arrows. Japanese hunters raised barriers and swung weapons, but their attacks fizzled against invisible walls. Then, from the trees and underbrush, unidentified beings poured out at unreal speeds.
The bodycam shook, focusing sharply on them. Long pointed ears, sparkling golden hair in the sunlight, beauty far beyond human standards. With minimal motion, they pierced the hunters' limbs precisely, deploying bizarre magic circles to bind them.
"......"
A heavy silence blanketed the briefing room. Their combat style wasn't bestial. Overwhelming suppression focused purely on non-lethal takedowns. They directed the fallen hunters in an unknown tongue, hauling them off like luggage.
The footage ended, screen going black.
Park Jin-cheol rubbed his dry face and spoke gravely.
"Fantasy world, huh."
The dimensional connection hypothesis I'd shared with him over the Martial Arts Manual had come true. Propping my chin, I muttered dryly.
"Elves? Real pointy-eared elves popping out. Like it's not a comic."
Intelligent beings from another dimension with advanced civilization and intellect—not monsters or beasts. Having witnessed their overwhelming force on screen, Park So-jin scowled at Choi Director.
"You don't seriously expect us to go into that monster-infested place and rescue the Japanese hunters?"
All S-rank eyes snapped to Choi Director at her sharp question. He wiped cold sweat, pleading desperately.
"Of course it's dangerous! But as you saw, not a single fatality. They're clearly avoiding kills, aiming for captures."
Seo Ji-hoon adjusted his glasses, adding calmly.
"Director Choi's right. From my eye, there's no killing intent in their attacks. More like a highly trained capture squad. Low chance they're blindly hostile to humanity."
"So, survivors confirmed—time to shove our precious S-rank blood into Japanese turf?"
Baek Ho-young cut in with a crooked grin.
Choi Director bowed deeply.
"Japan promised unprecedented diplomatic concessions and astronomical rewards. And... if they're friendly intelligences, this rescue could be humanity's first official contact with another-dimensional civilization. Our government can't let go of that initiative."
A "rescue operation" masking a race to claim first contact. I leaned deep into the chairback.
"So, raid their front yard to save the captured hostages?"
The briefing room air grew even heavier at my bored mutter. My plans for a peaceful day researching Martial Arts Manual forms were utterly derailed by those damn long-eared aliens.