Ch.47Chapter 47 – Test (1)

# Hunter Association and Military

The Hunter Association and the military are indispensable organizations for confronting monsters. They form the best symbiotic system, complementing each other’s weaknesses.

Hunters possess strong individual combat abilities but have limited stamina, making them vulnerable against large numbers. The military has powerful collective firepower but lacks flexible defense, making them weak against boss monsters.

Therefore, the military handles numerous but weak common monsters, while hunter strike teams take down agile, regenerative bosses.

This is the foundation of the hunting system.

However, this system wasn’t always recognized as standard. Before hunters proved their effectiveness during the early Gate crisis, some militaristic nations believed they could clear Gates with military force alone, without hunters. They arrogantly attempted to control their own awakened individuals without joining the Hunter Association.

Russia was a prime example.

Long ruled by a military dictator, Russia quelled the early Gate chaos with powerful military force. There seemed no place for awakened individuals.

But Russia’s vast territory proved impossible to cover with military alone. As time passed, flaws in their system emerged. A decision was needed: should they guarantee freedom and rights to awakened individuals and employ hunters? The dictator thought otherwise.

Instead, he recalled the Beijing Disaster in China, where undead flowed back after military forces entered a Gate. This gave the Russian dictator the wrong lesson: instead of foolishly sending troops into Gates, why not attack from outside?

Russia’s ruler was confident in possessing the ultimate weapon. With it, clearing Gates would be simple.

He decided to use “the weapon.” As a demonstration of national power and to declare his position on awakened individuals to the world, he initiated a weapons demonstration in the capital, planning to expand usage throughout the country. Thus, humanity’s ultimate weapon of war was deployed against an A-rank Gate in Moscow.

A nuclear bomb.

Some expressed concerns, but the arrogant dictator was confident. He had reason to believe it would work—there were many cases where Gates disappeared after being bombarded. Bullets passing through Gates had taken down bosses before. He firmly believed a bomb more powerful than bullets would achieve the same result.

Indeed, the Gate allowed the nuclear missile to pass through. Gates are impartial—mere passages that don’t discriminate against nuclear missiles.

The problem was that this impartiality extended to the aftermath as well.

The explosion equivalent to 50 million tons of TNT and heat exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius that melted the A-rank boss was released through the Gate without restriction. Moscow was devastated without time to respond. Citizens, ministers, soldiers, and even the dictator himself were reduced to ashes at the national event.

The next day, photos of the 360-degree mushroom cloud made headlines. The world was shocked. Leaders condemned Russia’s rash action without proper Gate research. Even aid organizations hesitated to enter the radiation-contaminated city. Moscow became a land of death, following Chernobyl.

On the third day, Russia designated St. Petersburg as its temporary capital. Deputy Prime Minister Vyacheslav Ivanov, who survived by not attending the Moscow event for diplomatic reasons, became acting president.

On the fourth day, Russia completely reversed its stance and immediately joined the Hunter Association. Having lost its capital’s power and military strength, Russia had only the Association to rely on. Ironically, the country that had most actively rejected the Association now had to stake its national fate on awakened individuals.

Russia actively sent funds to the Association and built Association buildings in every city. Thanks to Vyacheslav’s extensive support and behind-the-scenes maneuvering, after Jean Woo stepped down as Association President due to his busy duties as Chairman, Russia’s A-rank hunter Viktor Andreyev became the next Association President.

The “Moscow Nuclear Incident” became the catalyst for the Hunter Association’s rise with the full support of Russia as a major power. When Russia, the largest anti-Association country, changed sides, other fence-sitting nations followed suit. S-rank countries like the United States, United Kingdom, China, Korea, Japan, Brazil, and Egypt supported the Association, while major powers like Russia, India, Germany, France, and Italy provided backing.

Thus, the Hunter Association became the world order.

***

===

[Web Message] [Hunter Association Korea Headquarters]

Hello, Potential Awakened Shin Jaehyuk,

We are notifying you that your mandatory awakened individual test has been scheduled.

Please attend the Hunter Association Korea Central Headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on May 5th at 10:00 AM.

Thank you.

===

===

[Web Message] [Hunter Association Korea Headquarters]

To those scheduled for awakened individual testing at the Hunter Association Korea Central Headquarters on May 5th:

In celebration of Children’s Day, the Association has prepared events in collaboration with entertainment companies including YJ Entertainment and GAP Entertainment.

Please refrain from inappropriate behavior unsuitable for broadcast and conduct yourselves in a manner befitting proud Korean potential awakened individuals…

===

“Sigh.”

Shin Jaehyuk turned off his phone screen. He didn’t need to read further to know what tedious lecture would follow. It was well known that the Hunter Association was extremely concerned about the image of awakened individuals.

“So the date is finally set.”

Almost a month had passed since he defeated Belial and made a secret deal with President Park Jugwan. Thanks to President Park, the commotion about finding the S-rank had subsided. Thanks to the National Intelligence Service’s agents and comment teams, public opinion seemed to believe the new S-rank belonged to a secret special forces unit classified as national security.

“That’s good. But why is this taking so long?”

It seemed they were only now working on his request for a hunter ID.

According to Hong Harin, who contacted him a few days ago, he even needed to visit the Association. Apparently, he needed to pretend to take the test to avoid leaving suspicious traces while forging a B-rank license under his real identity.

“Hmm. Not very reliable…”

He had secretly hoped that, like Mr. B, they would produce a license within days, but it seemed that level of efficiency was beyond the National Intelligence Service. Or rather, in this case, Mr. B was exceptionally skilled. He was an unrivaled professional when it came to forgery.

Instead, Jaehyuk decided to think about his schedule after receiving the license. His immediate goal was simple: clear Gates to level up and accumulate magical power. With a B-rank hunter identity, he could display his strength appropriately without drawing too much attention.

“Building up magical power is the priority.”

Although his level was quite high due to the influence of divine power, his mana amount was embarrassingly low in comparison.

Since his awakening skill was “Insight” which allowed him to check the status windows of himself and others, Jaehyuk’s means of using mana was limited to physical enhancement—something any awakened individual could do. However, that alone was reason enough for Jaehyuk to level up.

Surprisingly, physical enhancement using mana and physical enhancement using divine power could be applied simultaneously.

Whether it was synergy or some kind of multiplicative effect, applying both types of enhancement simultaneously produced dramatically increased results compared to applying each separately. Though he wasn’t sure of the principle, he suspected it might be due to the influence of the achievement <Chaos Origin>.

“The more mana I have, the higher my output and duration will be…”

I need to build my strength quickly, Jaehyuk reminded himself.

Through training and internet research, Jaehyuk had deduced several facts. The “Civilization Military Power” stat in the status window seemed to fill up when awakened individuals worldwide leveled up or defeated bosses. When the experience bar approached 100%, the Four Heavenly Kings would be summoned, and by defeating them and leveling up, some system functions would be unlocked as a reward. This was almost certain.

Indeed, after he defeated Belial, awakened individuals who could use divine power began to appear. These individuals who used divine power instead of mana—a new type of awakened—could use skills similar to Eden’s divine spells, summoning blessed weapons or healing wounds. Just like himself or Kim Jaemin…

“Status window.”

Recognizing his voice, a surreal window appeared before Jaehyuk’s eyes. He checked the bottom of the window. The current Civilization Military Power was Level 1. With a maximum of Level 5, there were four level-ups remaining. The implication was clear.

“Three Heavenly Kings left, and counting the Demon King, that’s four in total…”

Years? Months? Or weeks? No one knew when the next Heavenly King would be summoned. And next time, they likely wouldn’t discover the summoning in advance. The next Heavenly King would surely come prepared to avenge the previous defeat.

“I need power…”

To face unrestricted Heavenly Kings, he needed to build his strength. Power to not lose himself in the currents of fate singing of destruction, to protect those dear to him, and ultimately to kill the Demon King…

***

“Director, we have a call from the VIP.”

“Park Jugwan? What does he want?”

Director Hwang Heejong picked up the phone.

“What can I do for you, Your Excellency? I’m a bit busy with an upcoming schedule.”

-Hwang Heejong. What are you thinking? Bringing broadcast cameras to the day when NIS agents are being tested? Are you joking-?!

A roar burst from the speaker. Hwang Heejong frowned and lowered the volume.

Ah, so that’s it. The President had received a report about the event. It was interesting that the complaint came only on the day itself. The interference he had arranged to delay the report had worked better than expected. Inwardly mocking him, Hwang made his excuse.

“How can you complain about this now? We’ve already scheduled everything with the celebrities. Since you didn’t say anything until now, I naturally assumed it was fine to proceed.”

It’s your responsibility that the report was ‘omitted’ due to ‘administrative error,’ not mine.

“Besides, being next to celebrities will actually draw less attention. Isn’t there a saying about hiding a tree in a forest?”

Just like how you hid the S-rank among your agents.

“Don’t worry. I’ll handle it well.”

*cough*

President Park Jugwan fell silent at this cunning wordplay. He couldn’t refute. Hwang’s words weren’t wrong—it was an oversight due to a secretary’s mistake, so the responsibility lay with him.

‘This bastard…’

Park thought. This sharp bastard must have noticed that an S-rank was among the candidates and was trying to discover their identity. But stopping the event outright would only confirm his suspicions. Pushing too hard could backfire. Park was a politician who knew when to retreat, even when angry.

-If this causes any problems for the NIS’s plans later… I won’t forget today’s incident.

…And I’ll cut your funding.

Beep- Beep- Beep-

“What a petty bastard.”

Hwang cursed as he handed the phone back to his secretary. But contrary to his words, he was grinning. He felt good about finally getting one over on him. He must be quite upset! Just as I’ve been all this time. Hwang turned to his secretary.

“Did you prepare the list of investigations?”

“Yes. Here it is.”

He received a thick stack of documents from his secretary. These were background checks on the individuals Park had reported as NIS agents. He carefully scanned the list.

“So one of these people is an S-rank…”

Hwang’s eyes gleamed cunningly.

Today’s event was a trap. An opportunity to expose the identity of the S-rank that Park had so carefully hidden.

“According to video evidence, the new S-rank is estimated to be a divine power awakened like Hunter Kim Jaemin. Can we identify who it is?”

Unlike mana, there were no testing devices invented that could measure divine power. In other words, divine power awakened individuals couldn’t be identified unless they revealed themselves or were detected by another’s spiritual sense. The secretary carefully expressed this concern.

Of course, Hwang had already calculated that far.

“It doesn’t matter! No matter how powerful an S-rank is, they can’t hide their identity among high-rank hunters.”

The celebrity invitation event was a masterstroke because it could catch two rabbits at once.

The first rabbit was to have broadcast cameras capture the moment the S-rank’s identity was revealed live, bringing the new S-rank under his influence before Park could respond.

The second rabbit was to place high-rank awakened security guards throughout the building to identify the S-rank.

“How thorough… As expected of you, Director. Hehe.”

The secretary admired and flattered him. For once, Hwang didn’t find the transparent flattery unpleasant. Even he thought it was a brilliant plan.

“Park Jugwan has been holding Kim Jaemin tightly, making me bow so much until now…”

Finally, a chance to redefine their relationship had come! Of course, exposing their identity wouldn’t immediately make the new S-rank his ally, but he could use their status as an unregistered awakened individual as leverage for threats and persuasion.

So the purpose of this event was nothing more or less than getting the other party to the negotiating table. From there, it was purely the realm of politics, and Hwang prided himself on being quite a skilled politician.

Even if persuasion failed, it would be fine. Exposing the new S-rank’s identity would be half a success even if he couldn’t bring them to his side. While recruiting them would be best, at the very least he needed to prevent them from falling into Park Jugwan’s grasp.

“Let me see the opening speech draft. I should read it in the remaining time…”

With a satisfied smirk, Hwang began reading the speech.