Chapter 226: Chapter 225

All S-rank Hunters in Korea received a sudden call from the Association and showed similar reactions.

– A new S-rank Hunter has appeared?

– Who is it?"

They were all curious.

This person's information was currently confidential, and it was stated that they could only find out their exact identity by going to the Association in person. But the brief explanation that followed was quite eye-catching.

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

– What? Reawakening?

– A C-rank Hunter reawakened as an S-rank? Did they save the country in a past life or something?

However, what came next was the problem. The request for the right to conquer North Korea.

– What? They demanded the right to enter North Korea right off the bat?

– Tsk tsk. How naive.

All the S-rank Hunters couldn't help but scoff or click their tongues at this. It was certainly a curious thing for a lower-mid rank Hunter to reawaken as an S-rank, but it was understandable. Reawakening wasn't common, but it did happen occasionally. However, declaring that they would go to North Korea right after becoming an S-rank was a completely different matter.

– Pfft. How immature.

– Does he think he's something special?

– There are always guys like this among those who win the lottery."

– Well, I don't blame him for feeling that way. It's natural to get a big head after a sudden rise in status.

– He probably feels like he's some chosen hero."

You didn't even need to be an S-rank. Regardless of strength, all Hunters experienced a similar feeling the moment they awakened their abilities. That thrilling sensation of being chosen by God! The noble sense of mission to protect this world with your own hands they all felt it.

– Kya. Good times. But it's all fleeting.

– It's like a kind of eighth-grader syndrome.

Reality wasn't so rosy...

– Sigh. North Korea, my foot. We're busy enough just protecting our own country.

Even when you became an S-rank, the difficulty of the dungeons you conquered and the amount of money earned were the only things that changed; in the grand scheme of things, what Hunters did was all the same. In fact, higher ranked ones had to work even harder than their weaker colleagues. Dangerous dungeons were occurring here and there at this very moment, and the number of S-ranks was insufficient. Even if they left mining and small-scale hunting to lower ranks, it was ultimately the S-rank Hunters' responsibility to deal with the boss monsters directly. Otherwise, the lives of innocent guild members would be endangered, and the number of useful subordinates would gradually decrease. You didn't even have to consider the preciousness of life; just thinking about the cost of Hunters, the damage that even one death would cause to the guild was incalculable. So who was the busiest? Obviously the mere nine S-rank Hunters who were running themselves ragged across the country, catching magical beasts that others couldn't handle.

– If he knew how busy we were, he wouldn't even mention North Korea.

– This is why newbies are so cute.

– That's why there's a procedure to get the approval of five S-rank Hunters for the conquest of North Korea.

– As expected, Association President Woo Jinchul made the law really well.

There was a reason why people praised Woo Jinchul. The Hunter-related regulations he created all had legitimate reasons and were effectively used for the stability and peace of South Korea.

"Well then, shall we go see him?"

"I need to see the face of this naive kid who's so full of himself."

The S-rank Hunters, putting aside their busy schedules, started to gather at the Association one by one. But among them, there were those who immediately realized the identity of the newbie as soon as they received the call. It was Baek Miho and Lim Tae-Gyu.

Baek Miho wasn't an S-rank Hunter, but she happened to be next to her father, Baek Yoonho, so she checked the information with him and couldn't help but widen her eyes.

"D-Dad! I think this is Hunter Sung Suho."

Baek Miho and Lim Tae-Gyu had already recognized him in the Loktak Field broadcast from China. It was curious how Sung Suho, who was in Korea until recently, suddenly went to India and was doing all that, but they were even more startled after witnessing his true power shown in the video. People were surprised to see Suho blowing up a giant magical beast like a balloon with one punch, but the truly shocking part was something else. The last scene...

Countless shadow magical beasts that filled the screen and beyond! The public mistakenly thought it was a dungeon break, but those who had fought alongside Suho at least once all knew what his summons looked like.

'Oh my god. How did he become able to summon so many...? Since when...?'

'Could it be that he was always able to do this, but he was hiding it...? But why?!'

Baek Miho and Lim Tae-Gyu couldn't get over the shock for a while. As far as they knew, the number of shadow soldiers Suho could summon until now was only about ten. But suddenly, that number had increased a hundredfold.

"Th-that's right! It makes sense if he reawakened!" They didn't know when he returned to Korea and even got re-measured, but Sung Suho was an elusive person.

"Dad! Can I go with you?"

"...Why?"

"I want to see with my own eyes if this person is really Hunter Sung Suho."

"..." Baek Yoonho felt uneasy as Baek Miho hurriedly followed him.

"Miho, don't tell me..." A father's vague anxiety about his daughter... The realization that Sung Suho was the only grandson of his respected senior, Sung Il-hwan... Baek Yoonho suppressed his complicated feelings and asked Baek Miho as calmly as possible,

"...Do you have a thing for younger men?"

"What are you talking about...? Anyway, let's hurry before it's too late."

"W-wait!" Baek Yoonho hurriedly followed his daughter, who was already heading to the Association, and asked,

"Why are you in such a hurry?!"

"Why are you asking? The Association must have contacted the Black Tortoise Guild too. Don't you know how much Representative Hyeonmoo Gang has been grinding his teeth at Hunter Sung Suho?"

"...!" Baek Yoonho's eyes suddenly turned serious.

"We need to hurry." He couldn't predict what S-rank Hunter Hyeonmoo Gang would do if he met Suho.

* * *

In retrospect, the bad blood between the Black Tortoise Guild and Suho ran deep. At the beginning and end of that long history was a man named 'Lee Young-ho,' who was now dead. Once Section Chief of the Black Tortoise Guild's 2nd Management Division' He was the one who tried to recruit Suho and failed.

And as a result, he was targeted by Suho's uncle Yoo Jinho, the CEO of Korea's top game company, Ahjin Soft. Because of that, the Black Tortoise Guild, which wanted to form a business partnership with Ahjin Soft, was rejected. And he was the one who tried to kill Suho in a dungeon as revenge for all that... and failed miserably. The root cause of all those incidents was Section Chief Lee Young-ho. But the biggest problem here was that the person involved couldn't take responsibility because died recklessly in the dungeon. In the end, it was Guild Master Hyeonmoo Gang who had to clean up the mess.

'...CEO Yoo Jinho is a really tenacious man.' Hyeonmoo Gang shuddered as he recalled that time.

When Suho went missing in the Pyeongtaek dungeon after getting entangled with Section Chief Lee Young-ho. CEO Yoo Jinho, enraged, called the Black Tortoise Guild and demanded,

– Get me the Guild Master!

S-rank Hunter's authority?

Overwhelming power?

So what. That meant nothing to the enraged CEO Yoo Jinho. Even if Hyeonmoo Gang was a superhuman with S-rank power, that power was only needed when dealing with magical beasts. The moment he used it against a civilian outside the dungeon, he would become a wanted criminal. As long as Hyeonmoo Gang didn't want to become an S-rank villain himself, it was absolutely impossible for him to pressure Yoo Jinho with force in Korea, a law-abiding country.

Then what was left?

Money.

Yoo Jinho happened to be the CEO of the most famous game company in Korea and a leading tycoon who developed the world's first virtual reality game. Before him, the Black Tortoise Guild was nothing more than a newly established company that had only been around for two years. And the only strength that this new company had was the CEO's incredibly high value. Then it was just like a dispute with a large individual contractor. A company against a company. Magic power or whatever, outside the dungeon, it was a large corporation that was the bully.

"Get me the Guild Master right now."

"Yes? I-I'll connect you to the Guild Master..."

Fortunately just before Yoo Jinho, who was growling ferociously like a beast that lost its family, started his sword dance, news arrived that Suho had returned safely. After that, everything went smoothly.

What Section Chief Lee Young-ho did was revealed. And as compensation, the Black Tortoise Guild had no choice but to hand over 10 dungeons they owned to Suho. They weren't much individually, but it was quite a painful expense for them. However at the time no one knew that it was just the tip of the iceberg.

'...He holds grudges.' Hyeonmoo Gang clenched his eyes shut as he recalled the tenacity of CEO Yoo Jinho he had experienced.

Although Sung Suho himself had completely forgotten about the Black Tortoise Guild while dealing with the Foreign Religion, Yoo Jinho's revenge had just begun.

'How dare they try to kill Suho?' Yoo Jinho indeed held a grudge for a very long time.

– The CEO is an S-rank Hunter?

– A large guild?

'So what.' From Yoo Jinho's perspective, the Black Tortoise Guild was nothing more than a company with an incredibly valuable CEO.

To give an example based on Yoo Jinho's younger days, each guild was like a part of an MCN (Multi-Channel Network) company established by a super-large internet broadcaster with a huge number of subscribers, just doing things a little differently. Of course, in about 10 years, the influence of Hunter guilds would increase significantly, but that time hasn't come yet.

On the other hand, Ahjin Soft was a leading large corporation. And as the difference in company size was enormous. There were countless ways Yoo Jinho could 'legally' pressure the Black Tortoise Guild. As a result...

The Black Tortoise Guild was on the verge of collapse these days. All the processes and results were extremely just and legal. Hunter or whatever, there was no company dirt could not be dug up on.

"...Haha. Well, now that we're both S-rank Hunters, let's forget about the trivial things that happened between us. So, how much do you want?" Because of that, Hyeonmoo Gang was more desperate than ever.

From the moment he arrived at the Association to recruit a new S-rank Hunter and realized that he was 'Sung Suho,' the cause of all those incidents. Hyeonmoo Gang made up his mind.

'Yes. It's rather fortunate that he's an S-rank. There's only one way for our guild to escape from that tenacious Yoo Jinho and make a comeback. To have Sung Suho in my hands and control him!' He decided to recruit Sung Suho into the Black Tortoise Guild no matter what.

Woojin Guild?

Ahjin Soft backing them?

So what if it was Yoo Jinho?

If Sung Suho decided to join the Black Tortoise Guild on his own, what could he do? Hyeonmoo Gang had a rune stone that allowed a hunter to have two additional summons!

'An S-rank summoner wouldn't dare refuse my offer. This kind of rune is something you can't buy with money.' Those were Hyeonmoo Gang's thoughts while shaking hands with Suho with a meaningful smile.

And at that moment. Other S-rank Hunters started arriving at the Association.

Lim Tae-Gyu of the Reaper Guild.

Baek Yoonho of the White Tiger Guild.

Seo Jiwoo of the Blue Dragon Guild.

Ma Dongwook of the Fame Guild.

And even Baek Miho, who followed Baek Yoonho.

"Hyeonmoo Gang! Step away from Hunter Sung Suho right now!"

"...Baek Miho?" Hyeonmoo Gang's expression distorted as he saw Baek Miho suddenly blocking Suho with a determined look.