Ch.52Chapter 52 – Airport

“Wow, it’s been years!”

Arriving at Gimpo Airport, Shin Jaehyuk looked around at the unfamiliar scenery he hadn’t seen since his high school field trip. Even to the eyes of a hikikomori who rarely had reason to visit airports, it was obvious there were far fewer people than before. According to the news, this was the result of the tourism industry shrinking due to monsters running rampant everywhere.

Shin Jaehyuk checked the time. Around 10:30 AM. His flight to New York was departing at 11:20 AM, so he still had plenty of time. After completing his smartphone roaming setup, he headed straight to the security screening area. He had no checked luggage since he had already sent his weapons through Mr. B, along with his clothes, laptop, work tools, and other personal belongings.

“They should already be waiting in the hotel room.”

Mr. B’s handling of matters was reliable. It was reassuring to know that all his equipment had been taken care of. Being prepared for combat at any time meant that even if an unexpected engagement occurred, he wouldn’t be caught off guard like he had been in Incheon.

The security checkpoint staff instructed people in line:

“Please place your belongings in the tray. Remove your belt and put all metal objects in the tray.”

As he passed through the metal detector, Shin Jaehyuk found himself thinking about Mr. B. Despite knowing him for over 20 years, he actually knew very little about the man.

Sometimes he wanted to meet him in person, but whether because he was the boss of Gehenna, a criminal organization that controlled more than half the underworld and was wary of information exposure, or simply because he was naturally secretive, Mr. B consistently refused to meet. The last time they had met face-to-face was when Shin Jaehyuk was very young, signing the fixer contract at the orphanage.

‘All this time, whether asking for help finding a place to live or requesting forged IDs, we’ve only communicated by phone or email…’

Shin Jaehyuk sometimes felt that Mr. B showed him excessive favor. Too much to be explained simply by his skills as a hacker. While it was appreciated, it was also behavior he couldn’t understand.

‘A businessman like him wouldn’t show kindness without reason. What is Mr. B’s goal? Complete control of the underworld? Becoming the world’s richest person? I know so little that I can’t even guess…’

While Shin Jaehyuk was pondering Mr. B’s intentions, the line at the immigration checkpoint shortened. Soon it was his turn.

“Next person, please come forward!”

The civil servant’s voice interrupted his thoughts. Shin Jaehyuk took out his passport and approached the checkpoint.

“Please hand over your passport and ticket, and place your hand on the scanner.”

It was a small mana detector. While it couldn’t calculate mana quantity, it could determine whether someone possessed mana. This was to identify whether awakened terrorists, whose bodies were essentially weapons, were trying to board planes under false pretenses, which could lead to catastrophe.

‘It seems they haven’t yet established measures to deal with holy power awakeners. Lucky for me.’

Holy power was such a unique energy that scientists hadn’t found a way to physically interfere with it, so no one had invented a detector for it. The only effective detection method was to bring in higher-ranked awakeners to directly sense it, but it was impossible to station high-level awakeners at every airport immigration checkpoint due to personnel and cost constraints.

‘Well, mana is energy stored in the body while holy power resides in the soul, so it makes sense they haven’t found a way to detect it.’

Whirrrr—

When Shin Jaehyuk placed his hand on the detector, the device activated. Since he possessed both mana and holy power, the detector registered his mana. His forged identity was that of a regeneration-type mana awakener, so he could pass through the checkpoint without issue. The checkpoint officer stamped his passport with a thud and called the next passenger.

“This is it.”

After moving to the boarding gate, Shin Jaehyuk found an empty seat. The electronic display in front of the waiting area showed flight information: 11:20 AM flight to John F. Kennedy International Airport. This was indeed the waiting area for his flight.

As Shin Jaehyuk wondered what to do while waiting for boarding time, the opening of a news program began playing on a large TV in the plaza. It seemed perfect for killing time. He leaned back comfortably in his chair and focused on the announcer’s words…

***

“…There’s been a lot of talk lately about Hunter Kim Jaemin being dispatched to the United States. To address our viewers’ curiosity, we’ve prepared a special segment! Here with us is reporter Lee Sangmin, who specializes in covering high-ranking hunters both domestically and internationally. Welcome!”

“Hello, this is reporter Lee Sangmin.”

“Let’s start with the question our viewers are most curious about. I understand that the United States has the S-rank hunter ‘Skyscraper,’ so why did they specifically hire Hunter Kim Jaemin?”

“Hunter Kim Jaemin will be handling two S-rank gates during this dispatch. Coincidentally, both cases are difficult for Skyscraper—that is, Hunter Henry Clark—to handle, which is why Hunter Kim Jaemin was called in.

One gate opened in Los Angeles on the far west coast of the continent, and it seems Henry Clark refused to go there because it’s too far from New York, where he resides. As you know, he rarely leaves New York.”

“Because of his PTSD from losing his wife… We covered that in our previous S-rank special. But why isn’t he handling the gate that opened in Brooklyn, which is part of New York City? Given the proximity, couldn’t Skyscraper handle it himself?”

“In the case of the Brooklyn gate, the monsters are flying types. Skyscraper is a strength-type awakener with no ranged attacks. If the monsters increase their altitude beyond his reach and attack only from the sky, even an S-rank hunter would have no way to respond.”

“So it’s an issue of compatibility. If the problem is simply ranged attacks, couldn’t they clear it with one of their own magic-type hunters? I don’t understand why the United States would give up the massive experience points that an S-rank gate provides.”

“There are apparently too many monsters, and even with a tight defensive formation, there’s a high probability that some would escape the gate. John F. Kennedy International Airport is not far from the gate, and they want to prevent the disaster of monsters escaping and disrupting aircraft takeoffs and landings, so they’ve entrusted the job to someone with proven capabilities.

As it happens, Hunter Kim Jaemin’s finishing move, ‘Storm of Death,’ is capable of ranged attacks, and it seems he agreed to handle the Brooklyn gate while he was already in the United States to deal with the Los Angeles gate.”

“Ah, you mean the technique famous for taking down an S-rank boss with a single strike during the first gate incident… But if they’re worried about monsters escaping, couldn’t they hire Brazil’s S-rank hunter ‘Teleporter’? Her spatial manipulation skills could seal off the area around the gate to prevent monsters from escaping.”

“Adriana Manoela did express interest, but the U.S. government declined. Not only was her asking price steep, but Adriana prefers to trap monsters inside the gate and push in a nuclear weapon to annihilate them all, which means they can’t obtain monster byproducts or artifacts. Plus, the client country has to provide the nuclear weapon.”

“So she literally just clears it and nothing more. That’s why, unless it’s an urgent or extreme case, people prefer Hunter Kim Jaemin over Adriana Manoela…”

“That’s right. From the U.S. perspective, if they’re spending that much money on a request, they at least want to collect the clearing rewards.”

“We’ve gone a bit off-topic. Let’s get back to the main subject—could you tell us about Hunter Kim Jaemin’s upcoming schedule?”

“He cleared the S-rank gate in Los Angeles around 11 PM last night, and should be heading to Brooklyn by now. After handling the Brooklyn gate, there’s apparently an event where he’ll socialize with Skyscraper at a party welcoming Hunter Kim Jaemin.”

“It’s amazing that he’s already cleared an S-rank gate that would take dozens of veteran hunters days to complete! And Hunter Kim Jaemin always enters gates alone, yet clears them at such a rapid pace—he’s truly Korea’s pride.

By the way, a meeting between two S-ranks is quite unexpected. I’m surprised the Hunter Association approved it. I thought they recommended keeping S-ranks apart to avoid potential conflicts.”

“Yes, it’s quite unusual. I suppose they judged that these two hunters, who rarely cause problems and focus solely on monster elimination, wouldn’t create issues if they met. The Association probably expects positive outcomes, such as sharing know-how and experiences. In any case, I hope this opportunity leads to more exchanges between S-rank hunters.”

“Yes, I feel the same way. Hoping that the friendship between these two hunters will strengthen Korean-American cooperation, we’ll conclude this segment…”

***

Slash!

A slender blade severed the demon’s neck. Blood sprayed roughly from the cross-section but was blocked by a translucent membrane, preventing it from staining his clothes. The hideous flying body plummeted to the ground, becoming part of the mountain of corpses.

“That’s the end of it.”

Inside Brooklyn’s S-rank gate, Kim Jaemin canceled his 5th-tier magic, Levitation. His body, which had been floating in midair, slowly descended to the ground. Some blood splashed onto his sneakers as he landed in a puddle.

“How filthy.”

Kim Jaemin frowned and released his holy power. A simple purification spell removed the dirty marks from his sneakers.

“These are sneakers my mother picked out for me, and some demon just…”

There was no one to hear him, and he himself couldn’t hear, but Kim Jaemin habitually talked to himself. It was a habit developed during a hundred years of enduring in Eden where no one understood Korean. To avoid forgetting how to speak aloud.

Kim Jaemin surveyed the rocky mountain littered with winged demon corpses. Even with his keen eyes, he could find no artifacts in the giant bird’s nest.

“Tsk. Nothing again…”

While Kim Jaemin’s primary reasons for clearing gates so diligently were to create a safe environment for his mother and to level up, he also had the secondary goal of finding a cure for his hearing disability.

He had tried to heal his ears with world-class healers and potions, but all had failed. This was to be expected. Even Aisha, Eden’s 2nd Holy Maiden and the greatest healer of her time, couldn’t accomplish it. Even when he reached the level of Swordmaster and Archmage, experiencing rebirth twice with all physical injuries healed and his appearance rejuvenated to his twenties, his hearing still didn’t return.

Scholars in Eden who studied his condition said he had suffered permanent damage to his soul during the hero summoning process, resulting in the loss of his auditory function. Thus, even with perfectly healthy ears, his mind couldn’t perceive sound at all.

Nevertheless, Kim Jaemin hadn’t given up on regaining his hearing. He wanted to hear his mother’s voice just once more. That beloved voice that had helped him endure a lonely century…

“Damn, another bust.”

In an era where all sorts of items emerged from gates, he had hoped to find a hearing aid artifact or an elixir like those in online games, but such things were as rare as winning the lottery. And lotteries, by their nature, were never won.

Kim Jaemin kicked the boss monster’s head in frustration. The giant pterosaur with severed wings, covered in blood on the ground, twitched after being struck. Its scaled body resembled a winged reptile—perhaps this was what dragons would have looked like if they hadn’t gone extinct in Eden.

However, unlike its fearsome appearance, the boss had completely lost not only the will to resist but even the will to flee. It was terrified by the unbelievable battle in which all its kin and subordinates had been slaughtered. While others might have been shocked by such a reaction, Kim Jaemin, who had seen it countless times, indifferently raised his holy sword.

“Damn dragon bastard. Just die already.”

As Kim Jaemin was about to end its life, he hesitated.

“…Didn’t they ask me not to kill the boss?”

Kim Jaemin recalled the U.S. government’s request. A polite plea to capture the boss alive if possible. They had attached a huge sum as compensation, making it difficult to refuse. Considering the possibility of future gate-clearing requests from the U.S., it was even more compelling.

After weighing the experience points from an S-rank boss against the money—equivalent to 100 million won—and his relationship with the U.S. government, Kim Jaemin dismissed his holy sword.

‘I can earn experience points quickly anyway… But what do they plan to do with a captured boss?’

Perhaps they wanted to research the S-rank boss. Or maybe they intended to keep the gate open by keeping the boss—the gate’s core—alive. There might be valuable underground resources hidden within the gate.

In any case, it was none of his business. Losing interest in the U.S. government’s intentions, Kim Jaemin began counting the monsters he had killed. When he entered the gate, his eyesight—sharp enough to see bullets in slow motion—had counted 383 living pterosaurs.

The demons that once densely filled the sky, obscured by gray fog, now covered the rocky mountain like eternal snow. Their unique camouflage ability seemed to apply even in death, making it difficult to distinguish their bodies from the ground.

“What an annoying stealth ability… No one told me they had this ability. The reconnaissance team didn’t do their job properly.”

The stealth ability, which hadn’t been mentioned during the briefing, made these creatures quite troublesome to deal with.

However, contrary to Kim Jaemin’s complaints, the demons’ ultimate cloaking ability only served to extend their miserable lives by a few minutes. Once they encountered Kim Jaemin, who had even slain a Demon King, their annihilation was a foregone conclusion.

Kim Jaemin squinted to better catch the subtle outlines as he counted each camouflaged corpse.

“Three hundred eighty-one, three hundred eighty-two… Huh?”

After counting the last corpse, Kim Jaemin expressed confusion. There were 382 corpses, but he had initially counted 383. One was missing.

“Did one escape while I was distracted with the boss?”

When Kim Jaemin slaughtered the minions with his holy sword, the frightened boss had spent hours just running away. During that time, it seemed one surviving minion had escaped from the gate.

It was a dangerous situation where civilians could be at risk due to a flying monster escaping the gate, but Kim Jaemin remained calm.

“It’s just one, should be fine.”

Kim Jaemin didn’t think much of it. As a precaution, the military was densely positioned outside the gate, and while they might not be able to handle all the demons inside the gate, they could surely intercept a single escaped demon.

But Kim Jaemin had underestimated the demon’s abilities. It wasn’t that the minions of an S-rank gate were weak—it was that he, who had slaughtered demons for a hundred years, was terrifyingly strong. Those lonely years of hunting had made him a dull man, somewhat lacking in common sense and abnormally attached to his mother.

Kim Jaemin descended the rocky mountain with a light heart, not realizing that the stealth ability he had so easily penetrated could render military radar useless…