Chapter 45: The Meeting (1)

The hour was close to dawn, but at the Hunters Association, staff were being called back in a hurry due to a sudden flurry of texts and phone calls.

The only Hunters Association department that usually operated twenty-four hours a day—in four shifts of six hours each—was the Gate Management Department.

A man wearing a hoodie and a padded jacket over a tracksuit walked in through the wide-open doors of the department and immediately questioned Team Four's shift manager who was in charge of that shift.

"Explain in detail. What's going on?"

The shift manager handed the man a sheaf of printed documents and began to give his report on the situation.

"At around 12:30 a.m., the Guildmaster of DG Guild, Hunter Kim Ki-Rok, reported the discovery of several new Gates. According to his report, all three Gates are estimated to have appeared shortly after midnight on the tenth of December."

So three Gates had appeared in a single day. On top of that, their arrivals were less than thirty minutes apart.

The shift manager continued, "I sensed the abnormality of this report, contacted the other branches of the Association, and had them dispatch any of their Hunter teams working overtime to investigate areas where high mana densities were detected. We've confirmed that a total of fifteen Gates have appeared."

The man frowned. "Thirteen more Gates appeared in the span of just a few hours?"

Indeed, this wasn't something that they could just overlook.

The man nodded. "Thanks for your hard work. You made a sharp decision. In that case, continue to stay in contact with each branch until we fully grasp the current situation."

"Understood."

"And what about Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok?" the man asked.

The shift manager shook his head. "I wasn't able to contact him, so I left him a message."

"Okay. In that case, I'll head on up."

"Yes, sir."

The man in the hoodie left the call center and took the elevator up to the conference room on the third floor.

Ding.

When the elevator doors opened, the first thing that he saw people standing around the vending machine drinking coffee. They were dressed in a variety of casual to professional clothes, including suits, tracksuits, padded jackets, jeans, and even pajamas.

"Yo, you're here," a middle-aged man in pajamas called out.

"Yes. We need to figure out what's causing all this, after all." The man in the hoodie sighed.

"Have you been to the call center?"

"Just now," the hooded man replied, stepping forward to retrieve a coffee from the vending machine. After taking a sip of his coffee, he asked, "So everyone is getting called in then?"

The pajama-clad man nodded. "Yep. Even those who were on holiday are now quietly making their way back."

"

Haaah...

" the hooded man let out a sigh of resignation.

"It can't be helped." the pajama-clad man shrugged. "I mean, thirteen Gates did suddenly appear all at once. What's more, the number of Hunters on duty tonight is relatively small, yet they managed to confirm at least thirteen even with reduced search capabilities. I think it's safe to assume that there are more still undiscovered."

That was certainly the safe decision to make, and it was proven to be so shortly afterward in the form of a new report.

A man in shorts and a T-shirt walked into the room while still on the phone with someone. As he hung up, he relayed the report he had just received to the rest of the room. "A call just arrived at the call center. They said that three more Gates have been found."

"That makes it sixteen then," the man in pajamas frowned. "By the way, there's something I have to ask."

The short-sleeved man snapped to attention, "Yes, sir."

"Aren't you cold?"

The short-sleeved man awkwardly tried to explain, "Well, I usually wear short-sleeved shirts and shorts when I'm at home, so..."

"

Brrr.

I'm getting cold just looking at you," the man said despite only wearing a layer of pajamas himself.

At that moment, the elevator doors slid open with a chime.

Everyone who was standing around the vending machine straightened their backs as they addressed the latest arrival, "Good morning, sir."

"Mhm, carry on. Thanks for your hard work all of you," said a middle-aged man wearing a tracksuit as he walked out of the elevator.

Judging from the sweat-soaked towel around his neck and the thermos in one hand, it looked as if he had received the urgent news in the middle of a run.

Kang Man-Ki, the President of the Hunters Association, clicked his tongue as he saw all of his employees gathered in groups of threes and fours, drinking their cans of coffee.

"Look at all that sugar, you're all going to get diabetes, you know," Kang Man-Ki chided. "You should have gotten some iced Americanos from the cafe downstairs instead."

"Vending machine coffee is still coffee," the pajama-clad man retorted.

"

Hmph.

" Kang Man-Ki shook his head in disgust as he headed into the conference room.

The employees of the Hunters Association followed him in.

***

Notice to all Guilds operating in Seoul that are C-Class and above: Each guild is requested to send a representative to attend a meeting in the conference room on the third floor of the Hunters Association by 1 p.m. on the tenth of December.

This was the contents of the official text message sent out by the Association. It was obvious what topic they were going to address in the meeting.

"Was it around thirty-nine?" Kim Ki-Rok mused.

During his many Attempts, the Hunters Association usually managed to confirm the appearance of thirty-nine Gates in total. Even if there were a slight margin of error, it would only be by one or two Gates.

"Let's start by accepting those three," Kim Ki-Rok decided.

He intended to claim responsibility for the three Gates that the DG Guild had reported. In previous Attempts, these Gates were usually managed by them, and in some cases, even destroyed.

"With those Gates, we should be able to raise our levels quickly," Kim Ki-Rok muttered as he got up from his seat and headed to the Spirit Lounge on the fifth floor.

When he woke up this morning, he had switched on the TV to see news channels covering the multiple Gates which had appeared across Korea. Because of that, he had already sent a message to all of his guild members.

—Get ready to run some Gates and be prepared for instructions to be handed down from above.

He was sure that his guild members were flustered by the sudden order, but after hearing about the situation from the news, they would immediately begin to prepare.

Knock, knock, knock.

After knocking lightly on the door to the lounge, Kim Ki-Rok stepped inside and walked over to Kim Ji-Hee, who was watching TV along with the spirits.

Kim Ki-Rok called out to her, "Ji-Hee."

Kim Ji-Hee turned to greet him with a smile, "Mister!"

Kim Ki-Rok explained why he was here, "Something came up and I need to head out for a short while. Would you like to stay here or go out together?"

Kim Ji-Hee immediately responded, "Go out together!"

He was worried that it wouldn't be all that fun for her to accompany him out at all, because all he would be doing is participating in a tiresome meeting weighed down by conflicting adult interests.

"It won't be much fun," Kim Ki-Rok prefaced.

"Still, let's go together!"

"Well... alright. Let's go together."

Kim Ji-Hee held her arms up so that she could be picked up.

Holding Kim Ji-Hee carefully in his arms, Kim Ki-Rok left the lounge and walked out over to the elevators.

"Mister, mister. Where are we going?" Kim Ji-Hee excitedly asked.

"To the Hunters Association," Kim Ki-Rok answered.

It took Kim Ji-Hee a few moments to remember what she could about the Hunters Association.

She had been to the Hunters Association twice before: once to report that she had Awakened and once to have a meal at its cafeteria.

"The place with the delicious sausages!" Kim Ji-Hee happily recalled.

Kim Ki-Rok nodded. "That's right. Those sausages were delicious."

It was no exaggeration that the sausages served in the Association cafeteria had truly been delicious. Just those sausages alone were enough of a reason to visit the Association.

Unconsciously licking his lips, Kim Ki-Rok set Kim Ji-Hee down in the passenger seat of his van and fastened the seatbelt around her.

"Shall we get something to eat there once the meeting is over?" Kim Ki-Rok suggested.

Kim Ji-Hee's face lit up as she asked, "Can we get sausages?"

"Who knows." Kim Ki-Rok shrugged. "We'll have to check to see if it's on today's menu."

The only standard menu item that was always served at the employee cafeteria there was plain rice. Those not part of the Association could never know for sure whether sausages would be served that day, or whether it was something else like beans in soy sauce.

Still, the two of them couldn't help but get their hopes up.

Kim Ki-Rok gently stepped on the accelerator as he pulled out onto the road.

Humming along and shaking her legs in time to the snappy song playing on the stereo, Kim Ji-Hee suddenly turned and looked up at Kim Ki-Rok.

"Mister," Kim Ji-Hee called out.

"

Hm?

" Kim Ki-Rok

"Can Ji-Hee go along too?" she asked.

Kim Ki-Rok frowned in confusion. "Ji-Hee... go along where?"

"The Gates," Kim Ji-Hee piped up.

"Ah, the Gates..."

She had probably overheard the Hunters or office workers in their guild discussing the latest news.

"Ji-Hee, do you want to go to a Gate?" Kim Ki-Rok asked her.

"Yesh," Kim Ji-Hee replied with a lisp.

With her low levels, she was still only an E-Class Hunter, but as long as she had some spirits with her, venturing inside a Gate wouldn't be particularly dangerous for her. Despite the risks other Hunters would face, for Kim Ji-Hee, it might just feel like taking a vacation to visit an interesting location.

Although, rather than a request for a vacation, this felt more like a child insisting on following her father on one of his work trips.

"In that case, let's go together this time," Kim Ki-Rok finally agreed.

Kim Ji-Hee let out a cheer. "Yeah!"

Kim Ki-Rok sighed. "Well, the entire Guild will be busy with attacking the Gates in any case."

These words left Kim Ji-Hee tilting her head in confusion for a few moments, but as Kim Ki-Rok continued speaking, Kim Ji-Hee raised her arms up with a joyful cheer.

"That means we'll all be going on a trip together."

"Yeeeah!"

***

The headquarters of the Hunters Association, which was located in Seoul, had been bustling with noise from the early hours of the morning.

Reporters who were lined up around the entrance craned their heads and raised their cameras as they checked to see who the guilds had sent to attend the meeting.

"How on earth did the reporters find out about the meeting?" Jang Baek-San, the guild leader of the Baekdusan Guild[1], one of the A-Class guilds located in Seoul, asked himself this question.

A female Hunter known as Lee Mi-So had been walking along beside him and nonchalantly responded, "Someone must have leaked the information. It might have been for the money, but if not that, then..."

As they continued walking forward toward the main entrance of the Hunters Association, Lee Mi-So and Jang Baek-San both refused the constant shouts from the press out front who were demanding for an interview. Suddenly, she turned her head at something behind them.

A new vehicle had come to a stop in the driveway in front of the main entrance. The man and woman who got out of the vehicle eagerly reacted to the media attention that shifted toward them like fish in water. They responded to each reporter's request for an interview, all while carefully shifting their postures little by little, going through a sequence of various poses to make sure that all of their photographs came out perfectly.

"Someone might have deliberately leaked the information in order to create a spectacle," Lee Mi-So expressed her suspicions in a low voice.

"A spectacle,

hm...

After seeing those young'uns acting like that, it's hard to argue otherwise," Jang Baek-San admitted with a sigh.

Thirty-seven Gates had already been discovered—actually, someone had

just

reported that another one had been discovered, bringing the total to thirty-eight Gates. In a way, it was enviable that those two could be so relaxed despite the sudden crisis.

After exchanging greetings with the Hunters who were guarding the entrance to the building, Guildmaster Jang Baek-San and Hunter Lee Mi-So came to a temporary stop in front of the elevators.

Fortunately, an elevator was already on its way up from the underground parking lot.

Ding.

The elevator doors slid open to reveal a pair of welcoming faces.

"Oh!" Jang Baek-San exclaimed in surprise.

"Guildmaster, it's been a while," Lee Mi-So greeted the man who was standing in the elevator with a slight smile before turning to the young girl holding his hand. "Hello there, you must be Ji-Hee, right?"

"

Hm?

" Kim Ji-Hee cocked her head, trying to recall if she had ever met the woman in front of her.

This was actually their first meeting, However, they were both so famous that it didn't really feel like this was the first time that they had met.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Hello." Kim Ji-Hee politely lowered her head and bowed at the waist.

For some reason, the irritation that Jang Baek-San and Lee Mi-So had both been feeling instantly dissipated, as if it had become someone else's problem. They quickly stepped into the elevator.

"Did the DG Guild receive a summons as well?" Lee Mi-So inquired.

"That's right." Kim Ki-Rok nodded. "Our guild might only be ranked as a C-Class, but in terms of actual strength, we'd technically be B-Class."

Guildmaster Jang Baek-San was taken aback. "B-Class? Already?"

"We've recruited a lot of Elementalists," Kim Ki-Rok casually explained.

"Ah, the group called F. Flower?" Lee Mi-So recalled.

"They've changed their name. They're now the Fairy Flowers," Kim Ki-Rok informed her.

"Why would they do that?" Lee Mi-So asked.

Kim Ki-Rok gave a wry grin. "There was some opposition from the other Elementals. They questioned why should the Fire Elementals be the only ones to receive name recognition."

"

Hahaha.

"

Such nonsensical behind-the-scenes lore prompted skeptical laughter.

"Well, there was one other thing," Kim Ki-Rok added. "We were the first guild to confirm the appearance of multiple Gates, which was the first sign of the current crisis, so they may have called us because they wanted to hear our first-hand account."

"You were the first?" Jang Baek-San and Lee Mi-So both looked at Kim Ki-Rok with interest.

Ding.

They quickly arrived on the third floor where the conference room was located.

"Let's see now," Kim Ki-Rok said as he checked the time.

There were still about thirty minutes left until the start of the meeting.

Kim Ki-Rok came to a stop in front of the vending machine located just outside the conference room and took out some coins.

"What would you like to drink, Ji-Hee? Yulmu Tea[2]? Or perhaps Yuzu Tea? If those don't suit your taste, how about some hot cocoa?" Kim Ki-Rok suggested.

"Yulmu Tea," Kim Ji-Hee quickly decided.

Kim Ki-Rok got the tea for her and a can of white coffee for himself. He then offered to buy drinks for Jang Baek-San and Lee Mi-So, "What would you two like to drink?"

Jang Baek-San happily accepted the offer. "I'll take a sweet coffee."

"Hot cocoa for me, please," Lee Mi-So added.

Kim Ki-Rok retrieved another can of coffee, then the can of cocoa.

Seeing that the surprise from his earlier admission seemed to have faded from their expressions, Kim Ki-Rok began to give his explanation while sipping his white coffee. "The DG Guild was the first to confirm the appearance of multiple Gates and immediately report to the Hunters Association."

"Where were the Gates located?" Jang Baek-San asked.

"One in Gyeonggi Province, and two in Chungcheong Province," Kim Ki-Rok revealed.

Jang Baek-San raised an eyebrow. "In the north or the south of Chungcheong Province?"

Kim Ki-Rok replied, "One in the north and the other in the south."

After checking a text message that had arrived on his smartphone, Jang Baek-San said with a frown, "Another one has just been added to the list. What do you think about all of this, Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok?"

"What are you speaking of exactly?" Kim Ki-Rok carefully replied.

"This speed," Jang Baek-San specified. "Do you think that the rate of new Gates appearing will stay like this?"

Kim Ki-Rok shrugged. "I'm afraid I don't know."

"Isn't there any way to check using your Discernment?" Jang Baek-San asked hopefully.

Kim Ki-Rok shook his head. "My Skill, Discernment, only allows me to confirm the conditions needed to destroy a Gate."

To be more exact, Discernment showed him a Gate's name, its difficulty, the reward for clearing it, and the conditions to clear it.

"Does that mean you can't check how much time they have left until they Break?" Jang Baek-San said disappointedly.

"Unfortunately, that is the case," Kim Ki-Rok admitted. "However, aren't there still other signs that can be detected before a Break does occur? Like a sudden increase in mana, or the entrance growing larger..."

Jang Baek-San sighed. "Still, it would be easier to plan a strategy if we knew the exact time..."

Kim Ki-Rok nodded. "I have to agree with that sentiment. If a Gate that grants wishes as a reward for clearing it does show up later, I'll have to ask them to patch the Discernment system."

Taken aback by this sudden comment, Jang Baek-San did a spit take, "

Pffftt! Cough, cough, cough!

"

Lee Mi-So gently patted Jang Baek-San on his back.

After wiping his mouth and chin with his sleeve, Jang Baek-San repeated in disbelief, "You would ask for a 'patch'?"

Kim Ki-Rok just shrugged. "Don't you think that it would at least be worth an attempt?"

1. The guild is named after the tallest mountain in Korea. ☜

2.

Yulmu tea

(also known as Job's Tear tea) has a slightly thick consistency and tastes nutty. It's usually drank warm ☜