IDSTD 10

Chapter 10

Gate Shock (2)

An S-rank Hunter is strong.

Their level of combat power is comparable to a strategic weapon, which is why they are called walking nuclear warheads.

This was a well-known fact to the public, but if someone asked, “So, exactly how strong are they?” there were not many people who could answer.

Of course.

‘This strong?’

How often would anyone get the chance to watch an S-rank Hunter fight from up close?

Until now, South Korea had only five of them.

One of them was still missing, while the other four were people who rarely had any reason to go out into the field anymore.

So it was only natural that experiencing the power of an S-rank Hunter in the present era was not easy.

And now, they were watching it clearly with their own eyes.

How could they not be shocked?

Go Young-gyun, an executive of the Dongjak District management guild [Cham-mae], felt the hair all over his body stand on end.

Without using any special technique, simply by firing pure energy, an army that had looked utterly hopeless was erased all at once.

Only hundreds of magic stones remained scattered across the ground like bones, proving that those creatures had really existed.

Everything felt like a dream.

“Hmm, I finished it.”

Jung-woo smiled warmly.

There was a hint of awkwardness in his smile, as if he felt sorry for ending things too easily.

But that only sent chills down Young-gyun’s spine.

‘This is the power of one person.’

And on top of that, this was the power of someone who had only just awakened and still had limitless potential for growth.

Could something like this really exist?

As that thought crossed his mind, he finally understood it with his whole body.

‘A natural-born S-rank…….’

Why they had been called beings from beyond the heavens.

---

The Gate Shock was safely stabilized.

It was a great harvest for Jung-woo.

He had understood the mechanics of several skills.

‘The All-Ages Filter changes the monsters within its range. It simplifies their attack methods and lowers the difficulty of defeating them. And the range of the filter is based on the summoned creature, not me.’

He had only realized this after watching the boundary of the area move one step forward when Gomdori took a step forward.

And as for Gomdori itself—

‘It uses a sword, but it’s actually an artillery-type.’

A summon specialized in bombardment from the front.

Its close-combat abilities still needed to be tested, but from its appearance, its abilities seemed to focus on delivering a single powerful attack.

After firing once, its sword became heated, and it swung the sword around to cool it down. It seemed there was a delay before it could fire again.

Of course, even considering that, its abilities were still astonishing enough that it could hardly be called a weakness.

‘Most importantly, it hasn’t even grown yet.’

Jung-woo read the interface alerts floating before his eyes.

【Stabilizing the Gate Overload!】

【The aptitude of Perfect Caretaker (L) has increased!】

【[All-Ages Filter] proficiency has increased!】

【[Hero Gomdori (S)] proficiency has increased!】

The mechanics on this side seemed to be no different from those of ordinary Hunters.

A system-based growth bonus through Gate purification.

Separate from growth through effort, it was a system-based stat growth factor that applied to Hunters.

‘Will the skill change once the proficiency is full?’

Normally, when proficiency reached its maximum, the skill’s rank increased.

But Jung-woo still had no idea what would happen when an already S-rank skill became even stronger.

Aside from that question, there was something else.

【The Gate is stabilizing. The environment is being reset!】

Krrrrr―!

When he closed the interface, the world began collapsing and being rewritten from far away.

With the A-rank Champion that had ruled the area gone, the black and red earth turned back to its normal brown color, and the sky cleared into blue.

That was one of the characteristics of a Third Gate.

After the inside of the Gate returned to a normal environment, it would remain like this for a while. Then, depending on what the next dominant species was, its appearance would change again.

The guild Hunters collected the magic stones, sorted them by rank, and packed them.

After watching the cleanup process, Jung-woo left the Gate.

And what greeted him was countless gazes fixed on him.

No one dared to say a word.

Reporters were shouting from far away, but their voices could not be understood from the top of the building.

Jung-woo spoke to Ho-jong.

“My work is finished. I also confirmed the Gate stabilization alert.”

“Indeed. It ended so easily that it’s almost ridiculous.”

“Could that become a problem?”

“I like it. I can write a shorter report.”

His casual words made it difficult to judge the distance between them.

For someone who had arranged this entire situation, he was surprisingly calm.

‘I don’t want to drag out this kind of mind game.’

He wanted to know what Ho-jong was thinking.

So, after a short moment of thought, Jung-woo quietly asked,

“I don’t know if I worked the way Director intended.”

“What? You’re suddenly making me nervous.”

“This is a workplace. I think it’s important to understand what my superior is thinking.”

“There was no such thing. I just wanted to spread the word here and there about how amazing our three-billion-won employee is.”

Their conversation kept slightly missing the point.

And because of that, Jung-woo’s certainty only grew stronger.

‘The Director wants to keep the Management Bureau in check. No matter how I look at it, that makes the most sense.’

Think about why he wanted to make his strength known to the public.

Although there was some goodwill involved, it wasn’t as if Ho-jong had nothing to gain.

If you guessed what the result would be, it was obvious.

The overwhelming combat power of one of his members would ultimately lead to the Countermeasures Bureau gaining more influence.

Combat power and influence would strengthen its independence from the Management Bureau.

This is a relationship I can use.

But at the same time, Ho-jong had already drawn a line by establishing what each side would gain from their relationship.

So there was something Jung-woo began to think.

‘I think it would be better if we became closer.’

Jung-woo wanted to strengthen their shared goal of opposing the Management Bureau.

If the reason Ho-jong had created this distance was because Jung-woo’s own objective was unclear, then showing him that objective would be one way to solve it.

So he spoke directly.

“Then.”

“Hmm?”

“What would you think if I really worked as much as three billion won?”

“Specifically?”

“Like defeating villains who summon monsters because of their greed?”

They both already knew who he was referring to.

A short silence followed.

At the end of it, Ho-jong’s lips moved.

“Mr. Shin Jung-woo, you’re saying something pretty scary. Where did you hear about something like that?”

As the conversation began to match his intentions, Jung-woo smiled.

“I’m a man with a dark side, after all. So of course I have some secrets.”

He had returned the words Ho-jong had once said to him.

A faint sharpness passed through Ho-jong’s eyes.

Then came the words that confirmed all of Jung-woo’s guesses as fact.

“It would be good if villains disappeared. Yeah, I suppose so.”

“I’ll take that as permission.”

“I don’t think you’re the kind of person who needs my permission, Mr. Shin Jung-woo.”

“I do. You’re my superior.”

“It’s nice being treated with respect. Are you the type who keeps promises like that?”

“I suppose I am.”

As expected, this man strongly opposed the Management Bureau and needed a means to keep them in check.

As long as his objective could be achieved, he did not care much about the inner thoughts of a cooperative partner who respected the line between them.

It was amusing.

“I think I get along well with you, Director.”

“Funny coincidence. I was thinking the same thing.”

A very clean business partner.

That was the kind of description that suited the Director.

---

Gate Shock was the disaster that modern society feared the most.

It was a disaster with such severe physical damage that it made earthquakes, tsunamis, and typhoons seem insignificant.

Because of that, the shock the public felt when they witnessed a scene that completely denied that fear was bound to be dramatic.

[Is this really Gate Shock? LOL, he literally hit them once and everything exploded.]

└ It really didn’t make sense….

└ Are all S-ranks like that? Or is Shin Jung-woo special because he’s a natural-born S-rank?

└ I don’t know for sure, but not all S-ranks are like that. More importantly, that’s his starting point… Looking at the Hunter growth curve, he’ll obviously become several times stronger from there, right?

└ America’s Savior was like that too. Didn’t he reach the top of American Hunters in just three years? No one can mess with him anymore, right?

[Gomdori suddenly feels kind of unfamiliar….]

└ Watching that neighborhood idiot who used to walk around with a sign around his neck going “thump thump” suddenly chew through monsters is giving me some serious cognitive dissonance LOL.

└ ???: Why the fuck am I your friend? LOL

[At least, I know that as long as Shin Jung-woo stays in Korea, I don’t have to worry about Gate Shock LOL.]

└ We don’t know yet. If an S-rank Champion appears, he might have a hard time.

└ Then he’ll cooperate with other S-ranks. Whatever happens, isn’t it good that national security is guaranteed?

[It’s really the Countermeasures Bureau… Did he actually decide to move entirely for the public good?]

└ It’s fucking fortunate. My family lives around Noryangjin, and I still get dizzy thinking about what would have happened if that thing had exploded there.

[So what the hell is his ability? Seeing all those monsters turn into dolls was more creepy than funny.]

└ Watch what you say. You might get ‘dollified’ too….

└ From what we’ve seen so far, it seems he can only turn monsters into dolls?

Even though it had happened early in the morning, the people who had to go through their day kept talking about it all day long.

Jung-woo’s future, his combat power, and how stable the response to Gate Shock had become.

As all of this happened, more and more people began to wonder what he was thinking.

And because of that, there were people who became busier than anyone else.

“Please, just one interview!”

“Please say just one thing!!!”

“We’ll really leave after hearing just one sentence!!!”

“Someone’s going to die like this!!!”

For the past few days, the human meerkats who had been wasting away in front of the Countermeasures Bureau’s walls screamed almost as if they were about to cry.

The joy of knowing the information was true.

The hope of meeting Jung-woo in person and hearing even a single word from him.

And the hope that they could finally go home after solving this story.

These reporters were probably the people with the most desperate wishes in the world right now.

Their shouting soon became complaints and curses.

Perhaps their wishes had finally reached the heavens.

That day, after some time had passed since the incident, it was getting close to evening.

“Ah! There! That car over there!!!”

A white, boxy used compact car came out of the Countermeasures Bureau.

It looked like the car of an employee leaving work, and the reporters were prepared to stop whoever it was, begging them to bring Shin Jung-woo out.

But then—

Click.

When the person stepped out of the car, the reporters froze after seeing his face.

“Now, could everyone please calm down?”

A tall man with a friendly appearance was smiling awkwardly.

Hunter Shin Jung-woo.

The face that had begun appearing in their dreams every time they took a short nap was right there.

Then, when he gave another awkward smile and added,

“First, the road is dangerous, so everyone, please come over here….”

Flash-flash-flash-flash!

Camera flashes exploded like crazy.

---

Gaining recognition as a Hunter meant being prepared to become a hero to the public as a public figure.

Whether you wanted it or not, that fact did not change.

The concept of a superhuman who had transcended the limits of mankind naturally had an irresistible ability to attract public attention.

Of course, someone could use that power to behave badly, but history had taught them something through the fact that such people rarely survived for long and were eventually weeded out.

This was not a world where one could live alone.

No matter how unreachable an individual’s power became, unless they intended to establish a one-person dictatorship and enjoy absolute power, they needed to know how to coexist with the public.

Before his regression, Jung-woo had never personally been in such a position, but he had learned how to create such a public image.

It could be called a kind of producing experience.

He had helped with the image-making of Hunters that companies promoted as their public faces.

This was simply an extension of that experience.

The only difference was that this time, he was the one being produced.

Jung-woo knew that the public was becoming obsessed with him.

However, they were not obsessed with the human being Shin Jung-woo.

They were obsessed with the character called ‘S-rank Hunter Shin Jung-woo.’

Once you understood that difference, you could use it.

And right now, such a thing was necessary.

“I’ll answer just a few short questions.”

“Why did you join the Countermeasures Bureau?”

Jung-woo smiled.

“First, I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t have some great purpose for joining the Countermeasures Bureau.”

He smiled humbly, just as he had always done when he had been born with nothing and developed the habit of smiling constantly to gain people’s favor.

“My awakening was caused by an unexpected Gate accident, and I was lucky enough to survive and gain this power. So I thought this power should be used to prevent the same kind of accident from happening to others. I decided that an organization like the Countermeasures Bureau, which specializes in disaster response, was the right place for me.”

“Why the Countermeasures Bureau instead of the Management Bureau?!”

“Because it is closer to the field.”

And so, he created his character.

A young and sincere Hunter who possessed ordinary, common people’s thoughts but extraordinary power, and who was still young enough to dream of ideals rather than profits.

Those things would become his justification.

“The sight of you resolving this Gate Shock in an instant has spread throughout the country! We’d like to ask how you plan to respond to incidents like this in the future.”

The Management Bureau had to be dismantled.

He had to cut open the stomach of that corrupt organization and take the interests they had been holding tightly for himself.

But the enemy was large.

The interests they controlled were enormous.

So how could he shake them?

What kind of picture could naturally lead to such an outcome without appearing overly aggressive?

After thinking about it, Jung-woo came to a conclusion.

“Regarding that, I made a decision after meeting with the Director today. I think it’s something I can speak about publicly.”

Flash-flash-flash-flash!

The flashes exploded like crazy.

Dozens of camera lenses and microphones filled Jung-woo’s field of vision.

As he looked at his own reflection in those lenses,

and also toward whoever might be watching him from beyond them,

he spoke while hoping that the meaning would be conveyed properly.

“This Gate Shock happened because of insufficient density management. The Countermeasures Bureau recognizes the seriousness of the situation. To prevent it from happening again, starting today, we plan to inspect all Third Gates within Seoul one by one.”

It was a statement wrapped in youth, passion, and a greater cause.

And in truth, there was enough justification for it.

However, there were also people who would not hear those words kindly.

The leadership of the Management Bureau.

He hoped they were watching.

“For Gates that exceed the standard density, we will reset their density. Just as we did today.”

In other words, it basically meant:

‘From now on, I’m going to cut off your source of funding.’

“That concludes the interview.”

Jung-woo smiled brightly and bowed his head.

“My daughter is leaving kindergarten now, so I have to go. Everyone, please get home safely.”

And with that, he turned around.

It was exactly three days later that the public finally understood what those words meant.

[This is the third day of Hunter Shin Jung-woo’s tour of Seoul’s Third Gates! Today, starting with Dobong District, a total of 11 Gates have been reset, and…….]

[About 30% of Seoul’s 35 Third Gates across its 25 districts have been reset! This unprecedented move by Hunter Shin Jung-woo……!]

[Breaking news! Hunter Shin Jung-woo has…….]

Jung-woo began moving through Seoul like a storm, as if he intended to sweep away every monster that came within his sight.