Hyung-niiiim!
Jin-Woo lightly evaded the tearful Yu Jin-Hos attempt to bear-hug him. Then, he coolly addressed Woo Jin-Cheol in the sa hospital room, who had volunteered to look after the kid during the conference itself.
Whats gotten into him?
Well, I showed him this when he woke up, and now.
The Chief of the Monitoring Division picked up the newspaper he was reading.
The front page of the folded newspaper was plastered with the photographs of Jin-Woos beatdown victims, the utterly wrecked Scavenger Guilds mbers, and that of the bloodied and unconscious Thomas Andres face.
It might have been sothing obvious to him, but the sa couldnt be said about Yu Jin-Ho who now had seen the article in its full glory.
Just who in this world would clash head-on against the worlds most powerful Guild in order to rescue him? Not only that, when that Guilds Master, Goliath Thomas Andre was involved in the shenanigans, too?
Yu Jin-Ho was shedding thick tears of heartfelt emotion after reading the article, so when Jin-Woo arrived in the hospital, he began expressing his happiness with his entire being.
Hyung-niiiiim!!
Unfortunately.
Jin-Woos agility had surpassed far beyond what rank S Hunters were capable of by now. In spite of Yu Jin-Ho concerted efforts, the target for his manly affection kept slipping out of his heartfelt hug.
Jin-Woo slipped past yet another attempt of the kid trying to embrace him, and pointed a thumb at the stumbling Yu Jin-Hos back.
Are you telling he read an article written in English?
Oh, that. I figured that its really uncool to let our employee get paid without doing a single thing, so I told her to translate the article for him.
Aha.
The end of Yu Jin-Hos nose reddened as if he found Jin-Woo constantly dodging his attempt at skinship rather cold-hearted.
Hyung-nim!
Here.
Yu Jin-Ho took the tissues Jin-Woo handed over and blew his nose on them.
Sniffle~.
Of course, Jin-Woo knew how the kid felt. Even then, he couldnt walk around with a snot stain on the expensive suit he especially picked for the International Conference, now could he?
Wiping his tears away seed to have done the trick and cald Yu Jin-Ho down. He asked in a more even-sounding voice.
By the way, hyung-nim, since when did you learn to speak English?
It seed that the kid mustve heard Jin-Woo conversing with Thomas Andre back inside the disused factory, even though his consciousness was wavering in and out.
Well, you have a lot of free ti as a low-ranked Hunter, you know.
A Hunter without a raid to go to was basically an unemployed bum. Jin-Woo studied English whenever he had ti, trying to prepare for the eventuality of him quitting the life of a Hunter soday.
I didnt know itd co in handy in that sort of situation, though.
He felt a bit reminiscent of the tis back when he was studying the language. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that the first ti he used the language he self-taught to converse was during the fight against Thomas Andre.
Oh
Yu Jin-Ho recalled that Jin-Woo was a low ranked Hunter once upon a ti and nodded his head in understanding.
When he thought about his hyung-nims past in relation to yesterdays events, he beca even more moved by Jin-Woos loyalty that propelled him to confront the Scavenger Guild and its entire catalogue of elite Hunters just for his sake.
Yu Jin-Ho began tearing up again as he emotionally declared his intentions.
Hyung-nim! Ill definitely trust you and follow you till the ends of the earth!
His eyes reddened again and snot once more drooped out from his nose tip, which was cleaned barely a minute ago.
Jin-Woo was grinning outwardly, but too bad
.Having a high Perception Stat isnt always useful, is it?
Thanks to his supernatural-level of senses that allowed him to read every little minutiae of Yu Jin-Hos emotions, even Jin-Woos nose began stinging a little bit now. He deliberately avoided eting the kids gaze and shifted his attention over to Woo Jin-Cheol.
Looks like theres no problem for him to get discharged, doesnt it?
Agreed. As a matter of fact, the doctor in charge was quite surprised that Mister Jin-Ho had completely recovered from his injuries in just one night.
In that case, lets just go through with the discharge process and return to the hotel. We even have transportation lent to us by the Hunter Bureau, so might as well.
Understood.
Ill get ready too, hyung-nim.
Jin-Woo quietly stared at the still-swollen-eyed Yu Jin-Ho packing up his stuff to leave and felt grateful for the fact that the kid was safe now. And at the sa ti, his anger towards the culprit responsible for this whole chaos ballooned up in an instant.
Greed, when we get back to the hotel, you know what you have to do, right?
[.I understand, oh, my king.]
As he was leaving the hospital room, Jin-Woo inwardly comforted Greed with an assurance that all the forr rank S Hunter would have to do was to plant his head on the floor for around two hours, which was neither too long or too short in his opinion.
***
There were two vehicles prepared by the Hunter Bureau.
Since Jin-Woo had sothing private to discuss with Adam White, he got in the car in front where the Arican agent was waiting for him, while Yu Jin-Ho and the two Korean Association employees climbed into the vehicle at the back.
When Jin-Woo opened the rear passenger door with a loud clunk, Adam White flinched awake from his short nap taken while leaning against the window fra and urgently shook his head to chase away the drowsiness.V/\\IssT n0(v)eL/b(i)(n)./ for the b/est novel reading experi/en/ce
Youre here, Hunter-nim.
The Aricans face was haggard, to say the least.
Unmistakable dark circles thickly coated the spots below his eyes. He was utterly exhausted from the breakneck-pace of all the events taking place, as well as the packed itinerary, of the past couple of days.
Jin-Woo looked on at him with pitying eyes, but Adam White didnt even notice that and simply ordered the driver to start the vehicle.
Now that they were moving again, Jin-Woo got down to the main topic.
Can you get the list of the Hunters you people wanted to protect?
Those words seed to have chased away all traces of sleep from Adam Whites mind because his expression brightened in an instant.
Have you changed your mind?
No, but Im curious about sothing else.
Oh.
Adam White struggled to hide his disappointnt.
He got his hopes raised up before being shot down. Still, he didnt think this was all bad news. Because it indicated that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was still interested in this problem one way or the other.
Adam ford a smile and replied back.
I shall draw up a list as soon as I get back to the Bureau.
As soon as he got back, he said. Jin-Woo snuck a glance at the ti. It was already nine in the evening.
He briefly wondered whether he made a mistake or not when he saw Adam Whites complexion waning just a little bit more after the poor man was asked to perform yet another task.
Not surprisingly, the Arican agent tried hard to keep his sleepy eyes wide open to make sure hed not drift away to dreamland in front of the Hunter he was supposed to escort.
Tsk, tsk.
Jin-Woo couldnt watch on any longer and reached out toward him.
Uh? Uhh?
Adam Whites panicky voice cracked up a little when Jin-Woos left hand covered his eyes.
H-Hunter-nim?!
Too bad for him, though, just a couple of words from Jin-Woo and he was petrified in the spot.
Will you just stay still?
A normal person doing sothing similar would send creeping chills down the hapless victims spine. However, the one doing it right now was Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, arguably the man most far removed from a normal person.
He even beat the living crap out of Thomas Andre until the latter was almost dead.
Gulp.
Suddenly having his vision blocked by the hand of a rank S Hunter, Adam White could only swallow dried up saliva of nervousness.
Jin-Woo leaned the Arican agents head back with his left hand and with his right hand, poured the healing potion he just bought from the Store down the now-open mouth.
W-what is this?!
Adam White was obviously very tense from forcibly swallowing the unidentifiable liquid while his vision had been blocked. But even he was able to feel that, as more and more of this liquid slid down his throat, his stamina seed to recover more and more.
But, how can sothing like this.?!
By the ti Seong Jin-Woo withdrew his hands, Adam White realised that the deluge of drowsiness plaguing him was completely gone.
No, hang on. Was that all?
He felt so refreshed and airy as if he had been asleep in a comfy bed the whole night and was roused from his slumber by the gentle warmth of the morning sun.
As if his fatigue had been a lie, he couldnt feel a single trace of it anywhere on his body.
H-Hunter nim?
.How did you do that??
That was the question Adam Whites look seed to be asking, but Jin-Woo simply shrugged his shoulders as a reply.
Its a trade secret, so.
Oh. I see.
Since it was such a mystifying event, Adam White found it sowhat easier to accept. He moved his body this way and that to confirm and expressed his admiration in a shocked-sounding voice.
You are well, how should I phrase this. It feels like, youd have greatly succeeded regardless of what you chose to do, even if that was unrelated to being a Hunter.
Although this praise seed a bit excessive when coming from a special agent of the Hunter Bureau, soone so highly educated that he was capable of speaking ten different languages according to himself, Jin-Woo still ford a content smile regardless, after seeing that look of satisfaction on Adam Whites face.
With this, itd be easier to ask for the next part of the favour. Indeed, asking for the list of the Hunters was just the beginning of his plan.
And also, can you organise an opportunity where I can et the ones found on that list?
Now was his chance.
Since all the powerful Hunters from around the world had gathered in one place, just by him inserting his Shadow Soldiers in their shadows would allow him to respond quickly to the attacks of the Sovereigns when they happened.
However, Adam White began shaking his head, instead.
This was what Jin-Woo was worried about. Even if the Hunter Bureau was a powerful, influential organisation, it should still be quite difficult to mobilise that many top-ranked Hunters of the world.
Jin-Woos expression hardened gradually.
As I thought I guess its too difficult.
No, not at all. On the contrary, I ant to say that theres no reason to organise such an occasion in the first place, Hunter-nim.
Adam White grinned refreshingly and explained the itinerary for the final day of the International Guild Conference.
Dont forget, there is the Night of the Hunters still left.
He suddenly spoke of a combination of words that wouldve worked well for a video gas title. For so reason, he seed quite hyped up over it, too.
There is a big party organised by the Bureau. All the Hunters attending the Conference are invited. If you wish to et them, you can most likely do that there, Hunter-nim.
A party, was it?
Was there a better occasion to et the Hunters naturally and attach Shadow Soldiers on them than a party? Jin-Woo clenched his fist tightly.
This is good.
Through other Hunters, hed get to et these mysterious Sovereigns. And from that encounter, hed get to learn who his real enemies and allies were, and also, how he should go about fighting them, too.
I will do that, then.
Jin-Woo smiled and leaned against the back seat.
The night sky of Arica was getting darker beyond the window of the speeding vehicle.
The Night of the Hunters.
The worlds top Hunters and related parties began flocking towards a gigantic banquet hall, capable of housing nearly 1,500 people.
Wow.
Yu Jin-Hos eyes threatened to pop out of their sockets as he soaked in the sight of the legendary gathering of Hunters that he only got to see through TV screens.
Funnily enough, though, the gazes of other Hunters staring at Jin-Woo were quite similar in nature to Yu Jin-Hos reaction. The mont he stepped into the banquet hall, everyones attention was laser-focused on him in an instant.
Look, isnt that.
Yes, I saw.
Hes right in front of us, but I cant even feel his presence.
Hes on a completely different level.
And with all the attention being poured on him, it was only natural that even Yu Jin-Ho would be subjected to their intense scrutiny, as well.
In that case, the Hunter next to him must be.
He fought Thomas Andre in order to rescue that young fella?
The situation had settled down sowhat by now after the Hunter Bureau had released the public statent.
On one hand, every Hunter in here was deeply shocked by the fact that Jin-Woo was willing to clash against the entirety of the Scavenger Guild for the sake of his rank D Hunter comrade.
But on the flip side, they were also getting a heavy case of goosebumps, knowing that the declaration he made towards the end of the conferences first day was not a bluff at all.
[I shall protect my family, even if that ans every single Hunter in the world becos my enemy.]
The photographs accompanying the article clearly demonstrated what had happened to the Scavenger Guild. No wonder everyone in this room was dearly praying that what he said wouldnt co true.
In any case now that the Bureau had cleared up the air, lots of Hunters were beginning to seek out a chance to engage Jin-Woo in a conversation, busy waiting for the right mont to strike.
This was the result of his public image going through a revamp of sorts, going from a monster capable of pumlling the freakishly strong Goliath, to that of a monster whod not hesitate at anything to protect his comrades.
The thing was, though the very first person to pluck up his courage and made his approach was not a Hunter, but a chairman of a very famous global corporation specialising in dealing with monster remains.
Its my honour to et you like this, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim.
The businessman introduced himself first, and then
Wed like to purchase the remains of all the Giant-type monsters you have hunted down in Japan. Do you have so ti to discuss this matter in greater detail?
Giant-type monsters most of the ti appeared as bosses in rank A Gates, so it was very rare to find a completely intact corpse of such creatures.
This mans desire and acute business acun led him to make his move a step faster than anyone else present in the banquet hall.
This is a good opportunity.
Jin-Woo grinned affably and introduced Yu Jin-Ho next to him to the businessman.
Im in charge of the raid aspect of the Guild. I usually leave all the business-related discussions to my trusted Vice-Master over here.
Ah, is that so?
Yu Jin-Ho beca far bolder than ever before from Jin-Woo propping him up like that. He straightened his back proudly and extended his hand out.
Im Yu Jin-Ho, Vice-Chairman of the Ah-Jin Guild.
Ahh, yes. Hello. Its a pleasure.
I dont usually discuss business-related matters in occasions such as this one, but if its you, Mister Chairman.
Jin-Woo watched on as Yu Jin-Ho expertly guided the businessman to sowhere better suited for a conversation like the one they were about to have, and ford a satisfied smile.
This kid. Hes finally acting like a proper Vice Chair now.
But, Jin-Woos eyes sharpened almost instantly afterwards. Now that the pair of potential obstructions went away, the real thing would begin now.
Adam White got close to Jin-Woo.
Here is the list you asked for.
The screen of the tablet PC he handed over displayed the ten nas of the Hunters who could all legitimately be called the worlds best in nurical order.
We at the Bureau had taken all the feats each Hunter had achieved and converted them into points so we can assign them numbered rankings. These ten people are the ones with the highest amount of Hunter points in the world.
The Hunter points, he said.
Jin-Woo was intrigued by the fact that the feats and achievents of a Hunter were represented through a points system. He then realised that his na wasnt on the list and asked Adam White.
Where am I on this list?
If we were to include your feat in hunting down the Giant-type monsters in the points tally, then you should be around here.
The Arican agent pointed in the spot between 3rd and 4th. The nas of Liu Zhigeng, Thomas Andre, and Christopher Reid occupied the spots above.
The re fact that he was already located beneath those three when he hadnt been a rank S Hunter for long attested to all the incredible feats he managed to achieve so far.
The 4th place is Indias Siddharth Bachchan. And the 5th spot is.
The first five spots naturally belonged to the five surviving Special Authority-rank Hunters. As for the spots below, they were also occupied by so of the most decorated, celebrated Hunters in the world.
It was then, Jin-Woo stopped reading the list and raised his head after he heard a bit of commotion rising up.
Noisy, noisy.
An unexpected appearance of a certain guest had thrown the party goers into confusion and chaos. Confirming who this guest was, Jin-Woo handed the tablet back to Adam White.
H-Hunter-nim.
You dont need to worry.
As he expected, this guest displayed not one hint of hesitation as he strode straight towards Jin-Woo.
He even proceeded to step aside Liu Zhigeng trying to dissuade him in the middle of the way and stopped right in front of the Korean Hunter, before removing his sunglasses.
Jin-Woo mouthed the mans na.
Thomas Andre.
Jin-Woo didnt lose his relaxed deanour even when Thomas Andre was standing before him. However, the sa couldnt be said about pretty much all of the onlookers staring at him, and the Arican with his arm wrapped in bandages. They were getting properly freaked out now.
The burly Arican looked at his Korean counterpart, who was at least a good head shorter than he was.
Hunter Seong Jin-Woo I want to ask you a question.
< Chapter 198 > Fin.
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