Chapter 21: Casualty Notification

We handled the merchants in the surrounding area and spent a few days slowly working to make the Stray Dog Guild worthy of its name.

“Younghak hyung, please take charge of training the new recruits. You’ve always been good at teaching, and you know how to handle wyverns, right?”

“Of course. I’ve been riding wyverns since you were a rookie.”

Younghak hyung went inside the gate to oversee the training of the guild members.

Meanwhile, I summoned wyverns inside the gate but spent most of my time outside the guild.

“Cement company has arrived!”

“Thank you, President Volkov. What about the restaurants wanting to open?”

“They should be here by next week!”

“Thank you. And I’ve selected a place for the U.S. military personnel to stay. How about this area?”

“Tanbang-dong, huh? This looks good. I’ll tell them to move there.”

There was never a moment of rest.

I spent my time running around with President Volkov to organize Daejeon City.

Meanwhile, Younghak hyung trained the new guild members and sent wyverns to the rifts in the U.S., Japan, Russia, India, and Europe for material transport and fire support.

After about a week, Daejeon City wasn’t perfect, but it had become liveable.

With the help of wyverns, superhuman awakened individuals, and support from American hunters, the base inside the gate was quickly established, and Daejeon City began to support basic living needs with the arrival of U.S. military and various companies.

Once the foundation was set, the first thing we did was call our families.

“Mom, how’s your health?”

“Dad, I’m in Daejeon now. It’s hard to explain over the phone. Do you want to come here?”

“Yes, Father. I’m safe. Please come down. There’s much to discuss.”

We arranged buses to bring our families, who had been detained by the Hunter Association.

The buses, carrying the families of 200 hunters, arrived in Daejeon the next day.

As soon as the families got off the buses, the parking lot was filled with tears.

“Mom!”

“Oh, Donghyun! Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Mothers cried, worrying about their children.

“You idiot! If something happened, you should have contacted us! People suddenly came and took us to the Hunter Association and locked us up! What on earth is going on?”

“I couldn’t call because I was inside the gate. I’ll explain everything.”

Fathers scolded and worried.

The family reunion was an emotional moment.

Younghak hyung and I stood at a distance, watching the scene.

“Younghak hyung, didn’t you call your father?”

“I didn’t. My mother raised me alone after that bastard left when I was five. He’s not my family anymore. What about you?”

“I don’t have a family.”

“You don’t?”

I hadn’t told Younghak hyung about my family before.

It wasn’t something worth discussing, and I’d been too busy with raids.

“I’m an orphan.”

“I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t know because I never mentioned it.”

“But aren’t orphans exempt from military service? How did you end up here?”

I smiled bitterly at his question.

“Unless you become an orphan before the age of 13, you’re still drafted.”

“That’s messed up.”

“Yeah, it is.”

Watching the hunters embrace their parents and cry gave me a strange feeling.

What does it feel like to have parents?

What is it like to be protected and receive absolute support from someone?

I don’t know.

But at least I know what it feels like to have people who will watch my back in life-or-death battles.

These hunters are my responsibility.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Please, give me your attention!”

I turned on the megaphone and addressed the families gathered in the parking lot.

“Please move to the drill ground. We have prepared some refreshments and seating. We will also discuss your future here!”

Murmurs spread through the crowd.

Future?

What do they mean?

“What do you mean by ‘future’?”

One of the hunter’s family members asked me.

I answered.

“It’s not mandatory, but I strongly recommend it.”

Thinking of the revenge I needed to carry out, I knew I had to say this.

“Would you consider moving to Daejeon?”

The wide sports field, once used for drills, was now packed with people.

The families of the hunters were reacting differently to my words.

“Well, Korea has its problems, but we’ve lived our whole lives here… Moving to Daejeon all of a sudden…”

Some were reluctant to move.

“I’ll move. I’m close to retirement anyway, and it seems like being near hunters offers better long-term prospects.”

Others were willing to move without hesitation.

“I have a business to run, so it’s hard to just close shop and move.”

Some flatly refused.

The reactions were mixed.

But I didn’t stop persuading them.

“You’ve heard about the development of Elixir. The gate industry will continue to grow, not decline. Daejeon will become the new center of South Korea. Elixir is a field that requires much more research and development. This means its value will only increase over time.”

Even those who initially refused started to waver at my passionate speech.

“Daejeon needs many hands. More businesses and more people need to move in for things to progress. We want you to be the first residents. Help us lead the gate industry.”

There were murmurs, debates, and discussions among couples.

After a brief pause, I continued.

“I’m not asking for an immediate decision. Think it over, and if you change your mind, you can come anytime. Daejeon will always welcome you.”

“What’s happened, anyway?”

“Yeah! Why did our sons suddenly become American citizens, and what about these magic stones and Elixirs and rifts… What is all this?”

The parents’ questions silenced the hunters.

Thanks to Younghak hyung’s thorough training, the hunters had been instructed not to say anything beyond what we had agreed on.

Only Younghak hyung and I would speak.

I took a sip of water to prepare for the long explanation ahead.

I planned to tell the story we had crafted with President Volkov, a mix of truth and lies, but ultimately favourable to our side.

What could they do?

If we kept our mouths shut, no one would know what happened inside the gate.

I began to speak, explaining why things had turned out this way, why we had to rebel.

And it all started with the death of Lee Sangmin.

“There may be some who find this hard to hear, but it’s a necessary story, and you deserve to know. First, I must talk about the incident involving Hunter Lee Sangmin’s death.”

From the death of Sangmin, the discovery of Elixir’s use, to how the Korean government treated the hunters, I explained everything.

Even though some parts were lies, the story was 99% true, allowing me to speak without hesitation about our circumstances.

As they listened, the expressions of the hunters’ families began to change dramatically.

And finally, due to the death of Hunter Seo Youngchul, the hunters who had completely lost trust in South Korea did not stop the mutant wyverns when they attacked bases and military units in Daejeon.

Instead, they conveniently flew to the United States on a wyvern that appeared just in time, piloted by Younghak.

“You bastards! Do you even value human lives?!”

“They announced that he collapsed due to a heat illness? What kind of nonsense is that?!”

“Well done, son. Well done! Did they really think hunters would risk their lives to protect the base when treated like that?!”

It was only natural that all the hunter parents were furious.

“That’s how we became Americans. And the U.S. doesn’t want South Korea to collapse. So, they brought us back to Korea in exchange for the rift handling fees. And that’s why you are all here.”

I waved my hand to calm the families who were venting their anger.

“Everyone, let me be honest with you. The Korean government probably doesn’t like us. They used to exploit us cheaply, and now they think we’ve turned against them for higher pay. And the citizens won’t like us either. They’ll resent the sudden huge rift handling costs coming out of their taxes.”

I continued speaking with a hint of bitterness.

“Many will call us selfish and accuse us of selling out our country.”

The anger began to subside at the heavy words.

I had no choice but to tell the hunter families the harsh reality.

“That’s why I’m asking you to come into Daejeon City. We can’t protect you outside of Daejeon City. Please come in and live with us. We will take care of your basic needs.”

Some of the hunter families, after deliberating, decided to move into Daejeon City.

However, there were those who ultimately refused.

“I’ve lived in Seongnam my whole life, and it’s hard to suddenly leave everything behind. My home and connections are all there…”

“As I mentioned, I run a business. Hunter Kim Sungho, I can’t just abandon all my employees. That would be irresponsible.”

Those who couldn’t come had their own reasons.

I didn’t want to force them.

“Do as you wish. But Daejeon City will always be open to you. If South Korea oppresses you, please come here anytime.”

It was getting late.

It was time to end this meeting.

“Those who wish to return, please take the bus. If you want to stay with the hunters for the night, you’re welcome to do so. If you want to settle here, please talk to Chairman Volkov over there. He will arrange a place for you. Thank you for coming. We will always be here, so please rest assured.”

As I finished speaking, people began to disperse one by one.

“Donghyun, son. I’ll visit often. I can’t quit my job…”

“No, I understand. Come often, mom.”

“Okay. My son, please don’t get hurt.”

Families saying their goodbyes.

“What is this money?”

“It’s the settlement from handling the rift, dad. You can pay off the loan with this.”

“I can’t just take your blood money. Keep it. I can handle my own problems.”

Parents refusing the money their sons offered, and so on.

People were parting in various ways.

If it had ended there, it would have been an ordinary day.

Younghak would have taken some hunters back into the gate to hunt and train, and I would have been running around with Chairman Volkov to organize Daejeon City.

But.

The appearance of one person disrupted that normality.

“Guild Leader Kim.”

“Major Hagen? What’s the matter?”

Major Hagen, having worked in Korea for a long time, spoke Korean quite fluently.

Therefore, we could communicate without an interpreter.

“Just now, my unit urgently brought in an elderly woman. She was busy working in the restaurant and didn’t receive the call. She claims to be a hunter’s family member.”

“A hunter’s family member? Whose family member?”

Then, Major Hagen’s words left me breathless.

“She is Hunter Seo Youngchul’s mother.”

Major Hagen hesitated for a moment before delivering even more brutal news.

“She still doesn’t know that Hunter Seo Youngchul is dead.”

“Please bring her to me. I will speak to her personally.”

Major Hagen nodded with a heavy expression, and Younghak and I instructed him to bring Hunter Seo Youngchul’s mother to the cleanest building nearby.

And when she finally arrived.

“Are you Hunter Kim Sungho? Where is my Youngchul? Where is he?”

She was an incredibly ordinary woman wearing an apron with the logo “Youngchul Gukbap.”

Her eyes were filled with a strange mix of anxiety, anticipation, and hope as she looked at me.

‘Should I lie?’

Say he’s missing.

That he went missing inside the gate.

That we don’t know where he is.

So she could hold on to some hope.

Should I create that for her?

But no matter how much I deliberated.

She deserved to know the truth.

“Mother, please sit down.”

I respectfully seated her on the sofa.

And I sat across from her.

I couldn’t bring myself to speak.

But I had to tell her.

With great difficulty.

Much more difficult than hunting a level 1200 boss monster.

I opened my mouth and told her the truth.

And when all the stories were finally told.

A cry burst from her lips.

It was a cry not of a human, but like a beast’s wail, so desperate and horrifying.

It was so sorrowful that it was almost frightening.