With the arrival of the Deputy Director, all misunderstandings were cleared up. The Hunter Team Leader who had issued the attack orders approached Jong-sik. By his side was the Deputy Director.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Hunter Baek Gyeong.”
“Ah, yes. Nice to meet you too.”
“Now that I hear your name, I feel like I should’ve recognized you earlier. Jong-sik Hunter. I’ve actually seen an interview you did before, but I didn’t recognize you then.”
Baek Gyeong introduced himself, stealing a glance at Jong-sik as he spoke, perhaps out of concern that it might cause trouble later.
“Anyway, I almost made a huge mistake. If you had just mentioned your name during the standoff, things wouldn’t have escalated to this point. There wouldn’t have been any need to issue attack orders.”
“What? ‘I am Jong-sik’ would have completely changed the situation. How could you think that? Hunter Baek Gyeong.”
“Deputy Director!”
“I’m not deaf, so there’s nothing to yell at.”
“…A mistake in judgment, you say?”
“You were too early to conclude that Hunter Dok Jong-sik was a terrorist. It’s probably because the person confronting the Hunter Dok Jong-sik was from our side. But in that situation, would you have believed him even if Hunter Dok Jong-sik had revealed his name?”
“I would have. Even with just a simple explanation of the situation, to issue attack orders…”
“Look at this. People always want more when given something. You said that if you had known his name earlier, things wouldn’t have ended up like this. But now you’re asking for an explanation of the situation?”
“….”
“And on top of that, would you be able to explain everything that happened in a life-and-death situation like yours? Why don’t you give it a try?”
‘Life and death. It was as if they were playing with a mouse like a cat. However, Baek Gyeong couldn’t retort like that.’
Suspicion had crept into the Deputy Director’s eyes in an instant.
“It seems my words aren’t entirely baseless. But let me ask you something, Hunter Baek Gyeong.”
“Yes, Deputy Director.”
“I’ve come to learn something while speaking. Did you really not know that a receptionist was the terrorist?”
“I really didn’t know.”
“Is that so? That’s quite strange. Even I, who arrived late, knew that a receptionist was a terrorist. Your lack of information on the scene is worrying. Or did you know and still proceeded with the attack?”
“N-no, absolutely not!”
The atmosphere soured in an instant. It was understandable, given that some of the terrorists were receptionists affiliated with the Association. That meant there was a high likelihood of impure elements among the government hunters.
The Deputy Director seized on that. Initially, he hadn’t harbored such suspicions, but as he spoke, he realized it wasn’t a simple issue to overlook.
Hunter Baek Gyeong also sensed the shifting atmosphere and hurriedly defended himself.
“I can unequivocally say that I had no malicious intent. I simply didn’t have the presence of mind to assess the situation due to acting hastily.”
“Hmm.”
“Survivors were pouring out, and the injured were panicking and screaming. In that situation, my only thought was to save them. So, I repeatedly escorted them out. Then, while entering, I witnessed the battle between Hunter Jong-sik and the receptionist.”
Baek Gyeong tightly closed his eyes. As he spoke, he keenly felt his own mistake. He acknowledged the Deputy Director’s words.
“Yes. You’re right, Deputy Director. I made a wrong judgment of the situation. Without information about the terrorists, I focused only on what was visible. I concluded that the receptionist was a victim. And after the fight ended, I learned that Receptionist Bae Takcheon was part of the terrorists. But by then, the situation had already been resolved. The hunter who said the receptionist was a terrorist had come in with the Deputy Director.”
Baek Gyeong wore a defeated expression. He regretted speaking out of turn, which led to this situation.
Just then, his colleagues, who had finished the rescue operation for the injured, approached and lent strength to Baek Gyeong’s defense.
“That’s right. We also learned about the receptionist being one of the terrorists later on. Without that information, anyone would have thought of him as a terrorist when facing Hunter Jong-sik’s battle.”
“I’m sorry. I heard it vaguely, but I didn’t relay it because the scene was chaotic with screams. It was my fault.”
“Baek Gyeong Hunter didn’t issue attack orders with ill intentions.”
Yet, the Deputy Director didn’t dispel his suspicions. Instead, he widened the scope of doubt.
“Seeing everyone defending you together seems genuine. But an investigation is still necessary. And not just for you. Every hunter here. And I’ll be under investigation too. You know why, even if I don’t say it, right?”
He raised his voice, addressing all the government hunters in Block A. The hunters didn’t show any resentment. After all, it was what it was.
“…Yes.”
“I’ll undergo an investigation after rectifying my mistakes.”
“Understood!”
However, Jong-sik intervened at that moment.
“It seems like things got blown out of proportion because of me.”
“That’s not true. It’s not because of Jong-sik Hunter. It’s to root out the terrorists who haven’t been exposed yet. So, don’t worry about that.”
The Deputy Director clapped his hands, and Jong-sik got straight to the point. He should’ve spoken up a little earlier, but it was delayed due to the confrontation between the Deputy Director and Hunter Baek Gyeong.
“Hmm. But if that’s the case, I might be able to help.”
Upon hearing that, the Deputy Director and the hunters focused their attention on Jong-sik.
“Others might not know, but Deputy Director, you do, right? That I participated in national operations.”
“Um, yes. Of course. Although it’s highly classified, so I can’t disclose the details of the operation.”
“I’m not trying to disclose the details of the operation. What I want to say is that the enemies we faced there and the terrorists who attacked this association share the same abilities.”
“…!”
“I can explain at least to the extent already reported in the news. They are using the power that serves as the origin of undead monsters. The receptionist I just faced. His ability is exactly that. And I’m sure all of you here have witnessed the ability he used.”
It’s like the ability of a phoenix.
“Um, um. I actually wanted to ask about that.”
“You were using abilities similar to a healer’s. But is that ability really the same as that of undead monsters?”
“But regarding the receptionist hunter, I heard he has combat and physical enhancement abilities. Where did he get those abilities?”
Several answers came to Jong-sik’s question. It’s endless. He shook his head firmly and said,
“I want to talk about those abilities from now on. Just listen for now.”
Eventually, explanations related to “magic” began pouring out of his mouth. Including Baron Baefum’s unique abilities.
As Jong-sik’s words continued, the expressions of the hunters, including the Deputy Director, began to darken.
But at the last words uttered by Jong-sik, they could find relief.
“Lastly, I can discern the power they possess. Fortunately, it seems there’s no one among the government hunters gathered here, including the Deputy Director, who possesses such abilities.”
It was the moment when Jong-sik became a terrorist detector.
***
Thirty minutes later.
“Hey, that person over there.”
The government hunters who were summoned without hesitation launched an Attack.
Among them, the performance of elementalists stood out. They activated their skills one step ahead of the inspectors. It was because of Jong-sik’s instructions.
“We need to restrain their bodies with elemental attacks instead of physical attacks. As you all saw, the terrorists have the ability to regenerate damaged bodies. So, inflicting physical damage would be meaningless as they would recover in no time.”
So the elementalists took the initiative, while the physical dealers took over for the follow-up to slaughter the terrorists.
In this way, they subdued the terrorists.
“Aaaargh!”
Even now, it’s the same tactic. A terrorist whose whole body is frozen by magical attacks. A dealer who turns the limbs of such individuals into minced meat.
They cleanly dealt with the terrorists so they couldn’t recover.
Of course, it wasn’t always as coordinated from the beginning.
“Hey, that guy is also a member of the terrorist group.”
Without evidence or testimony, they had to attack a former colleague based solely onJomg-sik’s word.
At first, they hesitated. So they didn’t give it their all. But it was a mistake.
They were confident they had subdued them until a moment when the terrorists, using magic, restored their bodies and retaliated.
During this process, several comrades were injured.
Eventually, these individuals, whether man or women, came to trust Dok Jong-sik completely.
Now, they would attack without hesitation when he pointed out a comrade beside them.
Anyway, as they continued the battle in this manner, they suddenly found themselves outside of A-block and reached Block D, where dimensionals resided.
And then it happened.
Beep-beep-beep!
An unmistakable alarm sounded.
From Block D, accommodating dimensionals, to Block H, housing villains in custody.
Emergency situations were announced in many buildings except Block A, warning of spreading fires caused by terrorists.
At this point, Jong-sik became anxious. He should have come here in the first place.
Stopping in front of Block D, Jong-sik casually cleared his throat.
“I think we should part ways here, shouldn’t we? I have something to do in this building.”
Upon hearing this, the government hunters showed regretful expressions. Why wouldn’t they?
Block H, where villains were detained, had a much higher level of danger compared to other buildings.
However, with Jong-sik Hunter present, there was a sense of expectation that the risk would significantly decrease.
But now, to part ways here? It felt like everything was going dark before their eyes.
In the end, Baek-gyeong, who read the mood of his colleagues, halted his gun.
“There are many individuals among the dimensionals with exceptional abilities. Some even have abilities comparable to A-rank hunters. Even if we manage Block H and return here, the dimensionals will be unharmed. But for now, the urgency is Block H, so can’t we move together like we have been?”
Jong-sik was about to firmly shake his head. He understood the feelings of the government hunters, but his friends’ families took precedence.
But there was no longer a need for that. Vibrations were felt from the ground.
“No. I’m not going.”
“…What can we…”
“But it seems like you all don’t have to go to Block H either.”
“Pardon?”
“Didn’t you say Block H is the villain detention block? Unfortunately, it seems the villains have already succeeded in escaping.”
With that statement, Jong-sik extended his finger. The figures that were blurry even when squinting gradually became clear.
They were villains wearing prisoner uniforms. They were charging towards Block D with a formidable momentum. Despite being connected to Block H through a rear gate.
In other words, their goal wasn’t to escape. It was clear they were targeting dimensionals.
