Countless red dots appeared in the dark night sky. They lit up the darkness, leaving long, dark-red trails as they descended diagonally. The sight of the falling, burning teors struck fear into the hearts of monsters and humans alike.
Clad in his blue robes, Yusin turned around and said, "If you don’t want to get caught in it, co stand next to ."
At his words, the hunters scrambled to his side. Even the great Hong Yeon quickly moved to Yusin’s side, grabbing the edge of his sleeve and darting her eyes around nervously.
Then, the final onslaught began.
The earth shook from all directions with the impact of explosions, as mountains of fire rose one after another. In an instant, their vision was filled with flas in every direction. Yusin and the hunters were now standing in the very center of a mountain range of fire. The monsters were incinerated without a trace. It was a truly avant-garde spectacle. If the area-of-effect fifth-order spells had the power to destroy a city, the seventh-order Armageddon was on a scale capable of annihilating a country or a continent.
’...Sunbae.’
Yusin calmly watched as the dungeon’s monsters lted away.
He turned his head, and their eyes t. Yusin grinned. "Do I still seem like a fake?"
She was too stunned to speak.
Finally regaining her composure, Hong Yeon’s mind raced to process the situation. His skill, his aura, and his knack for effortlessly resolving any crisis—her intuition scread that this man was, without a doubt, Kim Yusin.
"Ah."
If that was true, then that embarrassing mont earlier...
"Ah... Aaaah...!"
...hadn’t been a fignt of her imagination. The realization sent a scorching blush across Hong Yeon’s face.
"What’s wrong? Are you okay—"
"I don’t know! I don’t know! I don’t know! Don’t co near !" she shrieked, flailing her arms in a visible panic. She wanted to die. If there was a hole, she wanted to crawl into it and hide.
’I must have been crazy. Utterly insane!’
Her heart pounded wildly. Heat flooded her body, and her lips trembled. Of course, her flustered state was the perfect opening for Yusin.
"You started it, so why are you the one getting embarrassed? You little kiss thief..."
"Aaaargh! Nooo!"
"Your tongue..."
"Please, stop! Don’t say another word!"
The hunters watching the two squabble could only stare in disbelief. They wondered if this was truly the Hong Yeon they knew. The always-frigid, ruthlessly composed woman who would kill traitors without hesitation and even beat up the president—it was hard to believe the person before them was the sa Association President.
anwhile, Oh Hoseung, Kim Seunghyun, and a few other male hunters felt a strange sense of loss.
’I once loved her.’
They were swallowing their tears, letting go of the last lingering traces of affection that remained in their hearts.
"Let’s talk later," Yusin said, his gaze fixed forward. "The master of this dungeon seems pretty angry."
"I see that," Hong Yeon agreed, looking in the sa direction.
After more than a hundred thousand monsters had been vaporized in an instant, the ground trembled and the sky vibrated.
As if the very tectonic plates were shifting, the ground split wide open.
’It’s coming.’
From the crimson chasm, two withered, violet arms shot out and gripped the edge of the earth.
BOOM!
Veins bulged on the two slender arms as they strained. Soon, the monster pulled itself up, revealing the face of a colossal demon. Its face was as white as if it had been powdered, with features unnervingly human, right down to the black lips stretched into a grin that reached its ears.
An Irregular, rank-9 nicknad the ’White-Faced Demon’.
Just its upper body, erging from the fissure, was imnse.
"Wooooooooooh!"
As the demon roared, monsters began pouring out from the cracks all over the ground.
"Ugh!" One of the hunters who peered into the pit retched. The fissures were swarming with monsters, a writhing mass of grotesque flesh. Their real stronghold wasn’t the desert, but underground.
"...I don’t even have the energy to be surprised anymore," soone muttered. It was a sentint that spoke for all the hunters whose fighting spirit had been crushed.
All except for two.
"Yeon, can you still fight?"
"Of course."
Yusin and Hong Yeon were already loosening up, more than ready for another round. Hong Yeon, having reverted to her usual self, was testing the feel of her sword. In that short ti, her exhausted stamina seed to have recovered, and a sharp light had returned to her eyes.
Just then, the demon stretched out its arms. Its slender fingers danced in the air as if casting a spell.
"Watch out!"
"An attack is coming!"
The hunters gripped their weapons, preparing to scatter. But the attack never ca for them. Instead, a hole tore open in the empty air so distance away.
A voice crackled through their comms. "P-President! We’ve re-established communication with Korea!"
"What did you say?" Hong Yeon asked, stunned. The words could only an one thing: that hole led outside—directly to Korea. "Damn it!"
More fissures opened in front of the portal, and hundreds, then thousands of monsters began scrambling through.
"...We’re screwed," soone whispered.
It was an unforeseen disaster, but Hong Yeon remained calm and keyed her mic. "This is the Association President. Monsters from the Red Gate are pouring through a rift above the Republic of Korea. Prepare for engagent. All hunters inside the Red Gate block the area around the exit by any ans necessary."
"Yes, ma’am!"
It had finally happened. From the rift that opened in the skies of Seoul, countless high-ranking monsters from the Red Gate cascaded down like a waterfall.
Grrrrr!
Kyaa!
The monsters, ordered to carry out an indiscriminate slaughter of humans, landed on the ground. Seoul, where the majority of the nation’s population was concentrated, was on the verge of a massacre.
Graaah?
The monsters looked around, bewildered. They had expected to see humans fleeing in terror, but all that surrounded them was a desolate, empty plain. The other monsters that landed also roared in frustration at the absence of any humans.
"That’s Seoul, all right."
The monsters’ gazes shifted upward. Floating on a throne of sand, a woman rested her chin on her hand, looking down at them.
At that sa mont, the people of Seoul were chattering about the strange phenonon. The clear sky had suddenly been blanketed by a hazy layer of sand.
"What is this... like yellow dust?"
"That’s not just sand blowing in the wind, it’s a whole pile of it."
It was true. A vast sheet of sand covered the skies of downtown Seoul like a ceiling. The monsters had fallen into Seoul, but instead of landing in the city streets, they had set foot on a bed of sand suspended in the air.
"Haaah."
The woman on the throne looked at the hole in the sky with a complicated expression. "That bastard really just left without a word..."
The ruler of Africa and the head of a World Guild. Official rank-1, Pharaoh nes.
At her gesture, mountains and hills rose from the ground. The monsters shrieked and retreated.
A torrent of water began to pour through the valleys between the newly ford peaks. In an instant, a river ford, sweeping away the monsters at the foot of the hills.
"I knew a day like this would co." A woman with a crisp stride appeared, pushing up her sunglasses with a grin. "Our Representative is back! How wonderful! I can sll the money already."
Official rank-3. One of the aces of the international hunter guild ’Crow.’ The Water Mage, Kim Sarang.
Hiss!
The river Kim Sarang had created turned a murky color, and a foul stench rose with grotesque bubbles. The monsters caught in the river scread in agony.
"More... poison..."
There was another man subrged in the river. Official rank-3. Guild Master of ’Shadow Hand.’ The Poison Mage, Jo Yonghee.
This ti, a colossal dragon was soaring through the sky. The sudden roar of a dragon made the citizens of Seoul tense up, but Kim Sarang just smiled brightly. "Looks like Shimhee is here, too!"
That dragon was the final evolution of Andras. An Official rank-2 and one of the aces of the world’s top global guild, ’Guardian.’ The Transformation Mage, Gold Dragon Seo Shimhee.
When she opened her mouth, a golden flash erupted, incinerating the monsters in a matter of seconds. It was the iconic Dragon’s Breath.
Their appearance sent the communication channels into a frenzy.
"Th-This is N-47! Pharaoh nes and Seo Shimhee, along with Mages Kim Sarang and Jo Yonghee! Four top-tier hunters have joined the battlefield!"
"What? Why are they in Korea...? And what’s the Pharaoh doing here all of a sudden?"
The news reached the inside of the Red Gate connected to Seoul. Hong Yeon and the other hunters couldn’t hide their astonishnt at the nas of their powerful reinforcents.
"...No way." Hong Yeon stared intently at Yusin.
He just shrugged. "All I did was send a ssage saying I was back."
"What?"
"I didn’t think they’d co to help this quickly."
"It’s only natural that we’d co to help."
Yusin felt a ripple of mana beside him. It was the familiar sensation of a teleport. He smiled. "It’s been a while, Samia."
Samia appeared, standing firmly on her own two feet without a wheelchair. Her legs didn’t seem fully recovered, but she appeared to be supported by a special suit. Her skin tone was a little brighter than before, and her expression was more radiant.
"I’ve waited anxiously for five years, hunter Kim Yusin."
The two of them bead and embraced.
"No wonder you got here so fast. Did you bring the others, too?" Yusin asked.
"Yes. As soon as they heard you were in Korea, they imdiately inford of their intent to move."
"Graaaaaah!"
The demon roared, unleashing a vast amount of mana. The monsters guarding it all headed for the hole in the sky.
Yusin’s expression turned serious. "Samia, please focus on defense. We’ll take care of the boss."
"You’re working hard the mont you get back."
"I guess it’s just my fate," he said with a wry smile.
She smiled back, a hint of bitterness in it. "Please, be safe. Our greatest fear now is losing you again."
"Don’t worry. I won’t be as reckless as last ti."
With a nod, she vanished in a warp.
"Sunbae, it’s coming!" Hong Yeon shouted as the demon stretched out a massive, demonic hand.
They both lowered their stances simultaneously.
"It’s been a while since we fought together," Yusin said.
"Yes!" she replied with a smile, readying her sword.
Yusin crouched even lower, placing his palm on the ground. "I’m going first."
A corner of his mouth lifted. This seed like a fitting opponent for the finale of his debut.
* * *
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