Christmas Eve (1)
_
The branch manager Ma Gi-Tae felt bitter, but the other manager, Choi Myung-soo was so happy that he laughed as if his mouth was tearing.
Seung-ho did his press conference in the Central Branch, not the Western one.
Reporters flooded him with questions.
“Why did you join the Hunter Association?”
“I’m tired of catching monsters, but there was no better place for me to find a stable job.”
Seung-ho smiled as he said it. He had prepared for these questions.
“Do you mean that you’re employed by the Association, but you won’t enter gates at all?”
“Yes. I won’t enter gates unless it’s really something special.”
Of course, he is lying. He knows that his parents will watch this from the news.
Starting today, he will be at the high-grade level 2 gates under the Association. He will also do Level 3 gates under the Iris Guild.
The Iris Guild was the top guild in South Korea. Its guild master, Choi Young-ho was infamous for condemning Drax 20 years ago, after the incident that took several D-class hunters’ lives.
The interview ended quicker than he expected, and when it was all over, and everyone left, Seung-ho felt strongly that he had forgotten something.
As he took out his phone, he remembered what he had forgotten.
He immediately called Choi Min-jong.
“Uh… Min-jong. Are you feeling okay?”
“Brother. Your dedicated reporter only found out the news about you on the internet…” Min-jong said, rather harshly.
“That… I was really busy and forgot. I’m really sorry.”
“If you’re really sorry, tell me the real reason you joined the Association.”
“Hey, look. I’ll go there this weekend, see you then.”
“Hyung, you said you would come over the weekend last week…”
“I’m busy! I’ll call you again later.”
Min-jong kept on grumbling that Seung-ho thought the call would take long, so he pretended to be busy and hung up.
He was about to insert his phone back to his pocket when he saw that there was another incoming call.
It was Se-hyun.
A deep sigh flowed from Seung-ho’s mouth before he took it.
“Hello.”
“Uh, Sehyuna… Did you see the news?”
“Yes. What happens now?”
“What happens… You can hunt by yourself now. If I knew this would happen, I wouldn’t have given you a mana stone.”
Seung-ho was sincerely sorry.
“…it’s too bad I didn’t get to learn more about monsters or about using magical powers. But, okay. Thank you.”
“Uh, yes. See you next time if we get the chance.”
“Yes, goodbye.”
Seung-ho ended the call, feeling a bit sad.
“Would you like to go home?”
Seung-ho turned. It was Choi Tae-ho. He was a driver and a porter from the Association, considered to be quiet and trustworthy.
“Just go home now. When we go to work tomorrow, just wait in the car in the morning and call me. No need to step out of the central heating.”
“If you tell me where you are going, I will take you there.”
“I just want to walk alone. Oh, it’s Christmas Eve, right? I will stay at home tomorrow unless something urgent comes up, so take a rest.”
Seung-ho raised his voice a little, and Choi Tae-ho finally resigned.
After leaving the Association, Seung-ho walked aimlessly as he thought about his future.
Yesterday, he told the Vice-Chairman that there are seven more monsters that are stronger than Drax, but there was no way that their numbers didn’t increase on the other side.
Monsters fight and devour each other continuously. It was inevitable that more will grow stronger.
And that’s only on the continent he stayed in. If there were other continents…
He shook his head. He didn’t want to imagine.
It would be a good thing if these monsters come out on a Level 2 gate, but if they appear on the same gate as Balrog’s, it will be quite a headache.
Seung-ho looked at the couples walking hand-in-hand across the streets.
He looked up at the sky and put both of his hands in his pockets.
* * *
Cheol-min smiled as he left the store.
He had a bottle of wine on the one hand and a cake on the other.
Christmas is for spending time with the family, but Christmas Eve is for lovers.
He will bring the wine and the cake to his girlfriend.
However –
Plop!
The wine and the cake fell to the ground.
Cheol-min’s eyes filled with fear as he stared at the sight in front of him.
A gate!
***
An Association staff member wearing simple equipment measured the gate gauge.
He came in after receiving a report from a concerned citizen.
Oh, my God.
The staff watched the gauge numbers exceed 10,000… 50,000… 100,000…
Finally, it ended at 150,000.
“Level 3…”
The staff member rubbed his eyes to see if he saw it correctly, but the results remained the same.
A Level 3 gate in a metropolitan area on Christmas Eve.
* * *
With a Level 3 gat, it is possible that monsters classified as the highest level to appear, so special attention was required.
A Level 3 monster was weaker than Dax, but if one of them eats another of a similar rank, they can get really strong.
Seung-ho received the notification as he was walking around. He immediately called Tae-ho.
After a little time, Tae-ho arrived and smiled at him as he got into the car.
Soon, they arrived at the gate. Seung-ho told Tae-ho to go home and immediately went in front of it and began observing.
However, he received another call from the Association.
“Seung-ho! Don’t go in yet! Come across the street; you’ll see five black vans in a line. Please come into the middle vehicle.”
The voice over the phone sounded familiar.
When he arrived at the middle vehicle, he saw who it was.
“Uh? Miss window 4?”
“Hey! I was moved to the Support Division. Come in.”
The lady reached her hand out when Seung-ho stepped in and closed the door.
“My name is Seo Miae. Please remember it. We’ll see each other in the future.”
“Are you in charge of transformation?”
“What transformation? It’s called ‘coordination’.”
A coordinator prepares the hunter with equipment. A hunter’s face will be protected; he will be covered with armor and helmets so that he would not be physically exposed.
There were no TV crews deployed to cover the gate, as it is high-level, but there were some reporters taking pictures.
He thought he didn’t need the armor, but Seung-ho was glad that his face won’t be displayed.
Seo Miae continued to make a conversation.
“How could a high-level gate appear just three hours after you announced your employment?”
“I’m guess I’m bad luck.” Seung-ho can’t help but laugh.
“Mr. Seung-ho, this can take a while. We’re still waiting for the other teams to arrive with the other equipment. I’ll tell you once everything is ready. Would you like to lie down and rest first?”
“No, I’ll just sit and wait. By the way, why is it taking so long? Is it always like this?”
“As you know, it’s Christmas Eve, so…”
Miae’s words weakened his confidence that it would only take a few minutes. It would seem that he had to wait for hours.
He decided to call his mother first.
A Level 3 gate could take days to subdue.
“Mother?”
“Your mother is washing dishes.”
“Oh, Father, I’m a bit busy because it’s my first day.”
“Okay… Are there a lot of things to do?”
“Yes, I have to go to Japan now, so I can’t go home today”
“Stay away from trouble, okay? You know what I mean. Be careful.”
“Yes, please tell your mother about it.”
“Yeah, okay, go on.”
Seung-ho dropped the call and looked at Miae, who seemed to be holding her breath, in case she would be heard over the phone.”
“Miae, please send me some messages asking me to bring you some items from Japan.”
“Ah, yes, okay! Anything else?”
“How long do I have to wait? It’s been hours!”
Miae sighed.
“Mr. Seung-ho, the gate has been open for less than an hour…”