Chapter 121

Retaliation (2)

The shocking news horrified all the people around the world.

– Including SSS-Class hunter Klaus Boorman of the U.S., the ace hunters gathered in China have all gone missing.

The media had no choice but to choose the words’ missing’ because nobody had confirmed their death themselves.

However, people had already sensed that those elite hunters already drew their last breath.

Their Awakened colleagues answered the interviews in black clothes as a symbol of grief.

-The number of survivors indicated by the Gate has never been wrong. It is unfortunate, but… They crossed a river they can’t turn back from.

The official announcement of the Chinese government was as follows:

It was said that the hunters that proceeded to the second stage had handled the wave well and had completed the Clear superbly. However, due to the failure of hunters that stayed behind in the first stage, the Gate closed.

In that manner, they focused on advertising and propaganda, praising the expedition team that they had performed a precious sacrifice for humanity.

-Ah… I really can’t believe this. Seo Jin-Wook died just like that?

↳ How can we trust the words of Chinese? They should dispatch an investigation team soon.

↳ Doesn’t it seem suspicious in every aspect of the case? According to reports, they Cleared the dungeon once more using only the survivors of the second stage, then mysteriously disappeared.

↳ I felt so sorry when I saw that…. Wouldn’t they have Cleared it with a sense of grasping onto the straws? They must’ve hoped that maybe a dimensional transportation item would come out since there would be no other choice to find their way out from dimensionally being lost.

↳ Where in the world would that kind of item be? They had known it beforehand, but they still did the hellish Clear once more. Sigh….

The situation made the whole world dive deep into an extremely depressing atmosphere.

Especially in Korea, the whole country was a mourner’s house.

The citizens expressed their grief. They also poured out resentment and anger.

– Those Chinese bastards should have supported them properly when they were the ones who invited the international aces! Where in the world would it make sense that they had neglected the second stage portal without being able to handle the first stage wave? There truly on the extremes of incompetence. Sigh… It makes me want to curse.

↳ I see all of this as a giant conspiracy. I’m certain that China locked up Seo Jin-Wook and other hunters somewhere.

↳ Can a legend like Seo Jin-Wook be born in Korea again? He was a man who had more things ahead of him than the things he had done until now… ;_;

↳ This is insane. The government should have stopped this from happening! Why would they send Seo Jin-Wook to China? Why?!

The countries were in a panic since they were unsure if they could continue trading with the aliens in the Australian dungeon without Seo Jin-Wook.

The joint-venture-driven business between the Celestial Dragon and Danton Corporation had been determined to be dangerous, so the so-called ‘Seo-Jin-Wook-related stocks’ had been crushed synchronously.

While every country was in big shock and chaos…

– By the way, why is the U.S. so quiet?

Somebody raised a question.

Korea had lost Seo Jin-Wook, but U.S., Russia, and India had lost one of their SSS-Class hunters.

If they did lose them, the countries would have requested more detailed situation reports and protested even harder. Yet they were unusually quiet.

In that strange atmosphere, 24 hours had gone by.

In the cover of the darkness, a series of Awakened hid in various parts of China.

*

Klaus Boorman couldn’t help but admit that he had made a critical mistake that time.

‘The Chinese had left their traps wide open for us to come in, and it is as if I had dug my own grave.’

That mistake was, of course, to accept the invitation.

It was because the SSS-Class item that they placed out as a reward, [Scepter of Ishad], was indeed a desirable target.

‘It was fortunate enough that Seo Jin-wook was in that dungeon.’

Moving through the night, he thought about what happened while crossing the quiet buildings.

Seo Jin-Wook alerted the U.S. government about the situation, and Klaus had testified the plot of China through the video conference.

From their perspectives, they wouldn’t let the kidnapping and murder attempts of their hunter just pass. Hence, Seo Jin-Wook asked for their cooperation in his plot for revenge.

The names that Nate’s zombified subordinate spoke of were handed over to the U.S., and their locations were identified right away. The non-Awakened among them were scheduled to be discreetly visited by a military drone that night.

But the issue was the case wherein the opponent had already Awakened.

‘It’s here!’

Klaus tore the scroll that Seo Jin-Wook gave him.

Woong!

A barrier was formed around and enveloped the entire mansion. The house owner was in a deep sleep, considering they hadn’t noticed the intruder.

After blocking the retreat path in that manner, Klaus activated a skill.

[Lightning Spirit Summon(Rank: SSS)]!

The red Mana coagulated, and his unique skill was performed.

Tsssss!

A blue wolf, whose entire body was blazing with electricity, appeared.

“Gasp! Who is that?!”

In a state where the others in the house were failed to respond, the first to run outside was the mansion owner.

The man, who recognized an anomaly with heightened hearing, was an SS-Class Awakened. He belonged to the same special unit as Ray Chen, and he was one of the commanders that planned the previous operation.

“Y-you are–!”

Klaus’s real face was hidden with a disguise. He must have assumed his identity through the unique skill.

“Klaus!”

His face was dyed with horror.

Klaus raised his hand without a response.

There was a reason why he performed it despite it being a skill that revealed his identity.

“Go!”

It was because that skill had the highest probability of ending a life with a single blow. It was his most powerful attack!

Rumblee!

The spirit that received the order rushed towards the soldier.

“Argh!”

Even though he ran out right after being woken up, it was commendable that he held a sword in his hand.

But when he swung it, the blade could only pass through the wolf’s body since it was formed by electricity.

Buzzz!

“Arrgh!”

Piercing the barrier that protected his body, a powerful current spread out.

“Grrrrrr!”

A high-voltage current burned the soldier’s flesh and melted his bones.

Yet even though he was in unimaginable pain, the soldier continued to hold on.

Finally, after a few moments, his Mana had been completely depleted.

Tsssss!

Thud!

The corpse collapsed, having become a charred lump.

Looking down at it, Klaus once again tore a scroll.

Woong!

The people gathered and murmured, but as he had unleashed the highest class of stealth magic, they couldn’t find any trace of him.

Even if they checked surveillance records like CCTVs later on, they wouldn’t be able to find any clues. In the recorded video, the scenery would suddenly seem to distort. What would appear after a few minutes would only be traces of burns, mutilations, and a devastating battle.

Nowhere in the vicinity could they find Klaus’s appearance.

‘Anyways, where did Seo Jin-Wook gather all these top-class magic scrolls?’

It was a high-class scroll that even Matap guild, before they shattered into pieces, could not produce.

Of course, it wasn’t acquired for free, and the U.S. government agreed to pay Mana cores equivalent to it. Cores could never be exported, but they gave an exception for that time. It was because Seo Jin-Wook declared that he wouldn’t give it to them with money.

As the U.S. government had to gain Seo Jin-Wook’s favor to get their hands on some of the new materials supplied by the Australian aliens anyway, they made a big decision.

‘The Chinese bastards chose the wrong opponent this time.’

Klaus kicked his tongue inside, blaming China’s stupidity, which was as foolish as he was.

‘They touched an opponent that they should have never messed with.’

As he was silently escaping the mansion, while he was moving towards a discreet place where he could tear the teleport scroll…

“…!”

A possibility passed through Klaus’ mind.

‘Perhaps from the beginning…?’

He thought Seo Jin-Wook might have deliberately joined the expedition when he already knew that the Chinese government was plotting such things.

He looked down at the teleport scroll held in his hand. It was also a rare artifact that could not be acquired from the black market.

There was only one reason why he would play along when he knew it in advance.

In the first place, he had absolute confidence that he would remain unshaken while getting himself involved.

‘If that’s true, Where the hell do the limits of Seo Jin-Wook’s capabilities lie?’

His actual body could just be hiding under the water, waiting for the right time to emerge, and it could be incomparable to what was revealed above the surface.

He was a beast that could not be measured by the previous classification standards like SS-Class or SSS-Class.

‘On top of that… That contract!’

Seo Jin-Wook provided them a more detailed explanation regarding the contract in Seoul.

The thing to be careful about after having completed the assassination was only the promise not to mention any secrets that Seo Jin-Wook himself didn’t want to be let known.

Hearing the story at his house, Klaus felt a surge of curiosity.

‘What would happen if I told someone?’

The moment a fragment of that thought crossed his mind…

‘…!’

Like a frog standing in front of a snake, Klaus felt extreme fear rising all over his body. He didn’t know what it was, but it was the unconscious fear of ceasing to exist. He experienced a chill that made him feel like every single drop of blood in his body froze all at once.

‘Even just the thought of breaking the contract is enough to make this happen. If I go beyond that and speak up…’

It was guaranteed that he wouldn’t die in one piece.

Rip!

He tore the teleport scroll.

Several Awakened would be performing the same act China. What they had in common was that they were able to return safely with Seo Jin-Wook’s help.

‘I wonder what kind of change of wind will blow in the morning.’

[Wide-Range Teleport (Rank: SSS)]!

Looking at the golden flash that covered his body, Klaus had another thought.

The shock that the people would face the day after would only be a precursor, and a giant wave would sweep the world clean in the future.

He had a hunch that the structure of the Hunter system, which had been maintained for decades after the Cataclysm, would be completely overturned from there on out.

*

The next day, another news that got the world shaking once again was released.

-Seven survivors who were locked up in stage two of the dungeon have safely returned!

-Seo Jin-Wook and six others are believed to be staying in Korea…

-The survivors decided to hold a press conference right away!

The number of official survivors was announced to be seven.

Not long after that, in the press conference that took place, people heard a shocking story.

Among those that returned, there was only one Chinese. As he hid in a safe place for the protection of his identity, instead of showing himself in the conference hall, he had testified through a video in a separate location about the nasty secret that no one had expected.

“My name is Tien Wu Wang. I am a member of the 188th Special Brigade of the People’s Liberation Army of China, and I am an SS-Class Awakened. I carried out the mission with six invited foreign hunters in the recent dungeon exploration.”

He then told them what happened in there.

“Our mission was to capture and suppress three SSS-Class hunters and Seo Jin-Wook after the second stage of the Clear has been completed. With the Mana toxin manufactured by the exploration Team Leader Ray Chen’s unique skill, we poisoned them for several days. The other two S-Class foreign Hunters were planned to be killed at the scene.”

At the moment…

Some of the reporters froze up, even forgetting to take the pictures.

In that manner, the silence of few seconds passed.

Click-click-click-click!

The camera shutters’ sounds blasted.

It was a series of deafening noises.

“What did I… just hear?”

Their fingers stopped. Even those who sat typing in the press room stared at the hologram with pale faces.

The soldier on the screen calmly continued his testimony.

“After the dungeon Clear, Ray Chen threatened the poisoned hunters. But thanks to the items and skills prepared by Seo Jin-Wook, they were able to avoid being incapacitated, and the battle between the two forces took place.”

It was a piece of unimaginably massive news.

Even during the live broadcast, artificial intelligence programs continuously produced short articles and distributed them on the web. The number of viewers increased exponentially because people around the world accessed the news when they weren’t watching the broadcast before.

With that many people paying attention, the survivor in the video spoke.

“But as their defeat became certain, Ray Chen decided not to leave any evidence. They closed the portal on purpose, even though there were survivors left in the second stage of the dungeon.”

People gasped in shock.

It was a completely different story from the announcement made by the Chinese government.

If what he was saying was right, the reason why the foreign hunters were isolated was not because of an accident but rather because of an intentional act by the Chinese army.

“While I survived alone among my allies, Seo Jin-Wook and the other foreign hunters not only treated me but also helped me return to Earth. To pay my debt to the savior of my life… I decided to reveal everything here. From now on, I will not be able to return to my country, and I will suffer constant threats. I will have to live in hiding for the rest of my life, but I want to live in self-reflection, considering that I am being punished for my sins.”

When the video ended, other hunters, including Klaus, also testified what they had experienced in unison.

The reaction was explosive.

-I knew it! Chinese motherfuckers!

-Ahh… Thank you… God, Buddha, System!!! Thank you for saving Seo Jin-Wook… I’m teary-eyed, and my hands are shaking ;_;

-Wait, then the numbers don’t add up. The Chinese government said that there were six left in the second phase…

-That must be lies as well! I won’t trust anything that China says from now on. No matter what comes out of their mouth, it’s all lies. Those fuckers!

Criticism from the international community poured out, but China desperately denied it.

Instead, they had the audacity to dismiss it as an ugly attempt by other countries to bury China’s national power because of envy.

They also accused Seo Jin-Wook of being suspicious of not revealing how he came back from the dungeon. Actually, it was a suspicion that seemed to point out like he might have come from another place then returned.

-LMAO. Look at how they denied what the hunters said. They said that the portal closed when there were survivors there! What’s the correlation of importance of how Seo Jin-Wook returned from the dungeon? Why are they blurring the issue? LOL.

-But it makes me really curious. How could they have escaped?

-It’s not the time to argue about that. Our priority should be to avenge them.

-So it goes for Korea, but what are the other countries doing? They almost got their SSS-Class stolen as well! Are they satisfied with only protesting by words?

The public could not even imagine what happened the night before.

Just yesterday, dozens of people died quietly throughout China.

The cause of death was relatively simple for non-Awakened. Approaching them, the latest type of U.S. drones fired deadly toxic substances. Most of the targets died whining in sleep without any room for resistance.

On the other hand, the deaths of Awakened could not help but leave large and small traces, which China did not disclose to the media.

“If they did, that would chip off on the reputation of China as well.”

On Hibiki’s question, Seo Jin-Wook explained it for her.

“They still consider their reputation in this situation as well?”

“Think about it. Dozens of the hunters, intelligence agents, and soldiers that China is proud of died off without being able to resist. It’s a piece of news that smears shit to the face of China, so it should never leak to their citizens.”

“Then…”

Nate hesitated but followed through with his question anyway.

“Is there going to be a war now? Are other countries going to team up and fight China?”

I shook my head.

“No, that wouldn’t be the case. I don’t know if it was before the tutorial had started, but they can’t start an all-out war at this point when if they let their guard down a little bit, dungeons would collapse.”

Instead, another form of war would start.

There was a reason why I deliberately processed everything while cooperating with the U.S. government.

In a fight between a country and an individual, no matter how strong we may be as Awakened, it was inevitable for disadvantages to follow.

At that point, I wanted to solidify the situation as a frame of fierce fighting between the states, and I was going to take a step back behind their bloody war.

“There’s a bloody war of words going on between diplomats in Washington and Beijing. The goal is to tear everything that can be ripped off from China.”

Secretary Kim asked while listening to the story.

“But will those scumbags… listen up and cooperate?”

“They’re going to have to listen.”

I looked at one side while smiling so. As I did that, Secretary Kim also made an expression that seemed to say “ah!”

There was the dungeon key that I received after the second Clear.

That was the only way to close the already opened Gate.