Chapter 15: Come Back

The meeting, which lasted nearly three hours, continued in a sluggish stalemate.

“This is a blatant violation of international law! What could possibly justify such illegal actions? The Korean side’s high-level hunters were too tempting! They knew they could use them to obtain high-level mana stones!”

“Do you have any evidence of this? Evidence that the U.S. intentionally mobilized hunters within a gate to invade foreign territories and ordered them to abduct hunters from other countries?”

“Even without evidence, the situation clearly unfolded this way! What humanitarian aid? This is akin to industrial espionage aimed at seizing foreign talent!”

“Do you understand the psychological burden these hunters have expressed? While you keep repeating your unfounded suspicions, we have testimonies from hunters who naturalized to the U.S. They claim that South Korea exploited them.”

“That’s nonsense! Utter nonsense! Those are fabricated claims made to suit their own interests!”

“And they also testified about the numerous mutant wyverns that attacked their base. Not just one or two, but dozens of testimonies are consistent. Even after hearing this, do you think I’m lying?”

“They must have conspired! They were disgruntled from the start!”

President Joo Cheolwoo of the association was desperate.

But he was gradually running out of arguments against the U.S. side, which had clear evidence in the form of testimonies from naturalized hunters.

“I didn’t realize South Korea was such a country that exploits its soldiers. I cannot agree to force people back into a country that doesn’t respect human rights.”

Meanwhile, the EU also chimed in.

“Are you holding their families hostage and threatening them? Are you terrorists, South Korea?”

And Russia too.

“The devotees of the divine should be respected. This fact will not be forgotten by many devotees in India.”

India was also pressuring China and South Korea.

It was hopeless.

To exert any pressure, more than half of the participants in this meeting needed to agree on something, but now it seemed more likely that China might betray them.

‘Why all of a sudden? Why!!!!’

Joo Cheolwoo was overwhelmed with a strong urge to beat up the representatives from Russia, the EU, and India.

‘We agreed to apply pressure together! And why is India, known for its neutrality, suddenly acting like this?’

He screamed inwardly, but no answer came.

Of course, Joo Cheolwoo had no way of knowing that Kim Sungho had tamed 200 wyverns.

Just yesterday.

Upon receiving a call from President Volkov, the heads of the associations who entered the gate saw a fleet of wyverns filling the sky in perfect formation.

Upon hearing that these wyverns could help them, they immediately sided with the U.S.

Russia, with its vast territory and small population, had many cracks to deal with, and needed wyverns badly enough to set aside its enmity with the U.S.

India had no reason to refuse wyverns that could make their devotees stronger.

The EU also wanted to side with the U.S. in the meeting to receive wyvern riders capable of transporting supplies, troops, and providing aerial support.

Because of this covert maneuver, South Korea was thoroughly isolated in the meeting.

“I think that’s enough. We can’t continue to listen to your unreasonable arguments. This meeting is over.”

Finally, President Volkov, who had been enduring three hours of meaningless bickering, ended the meeting as he stood up, appearing exhausted.

The EU, India, and Russia representatives also stood up.

But China and South Korea couldn’t.

China was glaring at Joo Cheolwoo as if he wanted to eat him alive.

Being humiliated in front of everyone, China was understandably furious.

And President Joo Cheolwoo looked as if he might faint at any moment.

‘It’s over. Damn it!!! It’s over!!!’

They had to be brought back somehow.

It would be best if they could bring back Kim Sungho and Lee Younghak, but if not, even the re-enlisted ones would do.

In a situation where every hunter was needed for gate duties, losing over 200 hunters was too painful.

He had to consider his title as president of the association gone along with the hunters.

Leaving the meeting with nothing to show for it, President Joo Cheolwoo got into a limousine.

‘From now on, I’ll focus on conscripting domestic hunters.’

He decided to quickly find and conscript people with high mana affinity.

If he managed this well, there was a chance the president wouldn’t dismiss him.

‘There’s still a chance. I can keep my position!!’

As he clung to a thread of hope and tried to calm himself, his phone rang loudly.

He immediately picked it up.

Seeing that it was a call from a Hunter Association staff member, it was likely about the families of the detained hunters.

“Hello…”

But it wasn’t.

It was something much bigger.

It wasn’t just his career at stake; it was an event that could upend the entire nation.

Joo Cheolwoo’s face turned whiter than snow.

“What? A crack has opened again in Apgujeong?”

A shocking piece of news slipped from his lips.

***

“Did you bring them?”

“Yes, boss!”

“Put the slimes over there.”

Lee Younghak smiled with satisfaction as he watched a swarm of slimes, which had immediately moved towards the crack upon being unloaded from the basket.

Slimes.

Level 1 monsters.

They were barely even considered monsters.

Their main purpose was to exist in large numbers.

And to serve as food for many low-level monsters.

Following Kim Sungho’s instructions, Lee Younghak discreetly flew with several hunters to the Korean territory while the meeting was taking place.

There, they collected a large number of slimes and released them near the Korean base.

Gathering around 1,000 slimes, which were wandering aimlessly, the slimes instinctively grouped together and began to gather mana to create a crack.

Then, Lee Younghak and the hunters fed them large quantities of mana potions they had received from President Volkov.

Under normal circumstances, a rift that would have taken weeks to form due to low mana concentration in the body was created in an instant, exactly where Kim Sungho intended—in Apgujeong.

As the rift opened, slimes poured into Korea, and Lee Younghak and the hunters were bringing in more slimes to make them cross the rift.

“Hyung-nim, people won’t get hurt, right?”

“Have you ever seen anyone get hurt by a slime? They take three days to digest a piece of meat. They’ll just slither around in groups, get spotted by soldiers, and get gunned down.”

Hearing Lee Younghak’s words, the hunter carrying slimes laughed at the small rift that had formed in midair.

“Yeah, with a rift that small, the impact range is minimal. As long as no one gets too close, there won’t be any explosions. A 10-meter distance would be enough for bullets.”

“Exactly.”

Tired from transporting hundreds of slimes with wyverns, the hunter lit a cigarette and approached Lee Younghak.

“Hyung-nim, why are we doing this?”

“Isn’t it obvious? To scare South Korea. Make them bow to us.”

“But slimes are level 1 monsters. All they do is hide in corners and eat moss, mold, and rotten corpses. Wouldn’t it be better to send something stronger for intimidation?”

“Sungho said not to because innocent civilians and soldiers might die. And according to him, even slimes are enough to scare them.”

“Will they really be scared by that?”

Lee Younghak smiled wryly at the hunter’s words.

“Korean citizens don’t know anything about the monsters in the gates, the situation, the characteristics of Eldorado, or how hunters hunt.”

“That’s true.”

“They’re not interested in hunters at all. They don’t know what slimes are or how dangerous they can be. What’s important to them is that a rift opened in Apgujeong.”

The first rift to open on South Korean soil.

An incident that resulted in 34 civilian deaths.

Among the victims were a pregnant woman and a child, a shocking tragedy.

Even ten years later, the Apgujeong Incident remained a vivid nightmare for South Koreans.

“When a rift opens in Apgujeong and unfamiliar creatures pour out, people will panic. What’s scarier is that the base inside the gate is gone, and the hunters who should defend it are missing.”

Lee Younghak laughed.

He wanted to stick his head through the small rift and see people’s reactions but held back.

“I’m curious. In a world where the guard dogs are gone, how will the homeowners react?”

***

President Yoo Myunghak stared blankly at the sky.

All sorts of people had come to see him in a short time.

Ruling party, opposition members, journalists, so-called experts, businessmen, and so on.

They frantically shouted that a rift had opened in Apgujeong and monsters were pouring into Korea.

-Why didn’t he stop this?

-What if people died?

-Would he take responsibility?

It had only been a day since the rift opened, but so much had changed in South Korea.

He had become the worst person in the world.

The internet was full of sharp ridicule against him, and his approval rating was practically non-existent.

All the projects he had been urgently pushing were halted.

The task of recording mana-affinity men in the database and recalling discharged hunters was paralyzed.

As soon as they heard about the rift in Apgujeong, the discharged hunters hid so well that finding them was harder than dealing with the rift.

The issue of mana-affinity checks among men in their teens, twenties, and thirties, which had already faced backlash, was criticized as sending untrained people to their deaths.

A perfect dilemma.

The phrase aptly described his situation.

“Damn it.”

Though his plummeting approval rating had kept him off cigarettes for years, he had no choice now.

Only one option remained.

The choice he absolutely didn’t want to make.

“This is selling the nation’s pride! Bowing to traitors!”

It was a choice that required Korea to lower its head to a few individuals, sacrificing all pride and honour.

He shouted, but there was no reply.

President Yoo Myunghak finished his cigarette.

He considered lighting another but decided against it.

There was only one option left, and the knife at his throat was quickly closing in.

Smoking more wouldn’t bring a new solution; he knew that better than anyone.

The president picked up the phone.

“Contact the head of the Hunter Association in the US.”

He said in a sombre voice.

“Tell him I want to meet Hunter Kim Sungho and Hunter Lee Younghak.”