Chapter 164

Many people gathered around Haeundae beach. A lot of them were citizens and reporters who came to watch the unexpected outbreak of the undead monsters.

"Please refrain from accessing past this point!"

"It's dangerous!" said the police and the Hunter Association's staff from the Busan branch as they were struggling to set up and barricade the access of the citizens. Somehow, the rushing footsteps did not diminish at all.

"How frightening! I've heard that even an S-rank hunter from Soul had to come!" After the cataclysm, the position of hunters became one of the most popular professions. If you were to enter the dungeon by yourself, you would soon find that there aren't as many dangerous things inside as they would have you think. Because of this, it was natural for everyone to envy the hunters who could earn a lot of money, and among them, a few S-class hunters in the world gained popularity that was comparable to that of celebrities.

Once a dungeon break broke out in an open place such as this, the reactions of the citizens divided themselves in two. Either run away or come to watch.

Most of them chose the former, yet there were still surprisingly many people who flocked to see the gates for themselves without fear.

One example of this category was:

"Are you seeing these viewers? I ventured out to explore the skeletons you see in the movies! If you send donations, we will launch the drone right away!"

"Guys! The Guildmaster of the Reapers, Lim Tae-Gyu, said he has applied for support on this raid, shouldn't it be obvious to see him here? Thank you for the Moon balloon [1]!" Amongst the citizens, there were quite a few personal broadcasting Streamers who proclaimed themselves to be reporters. Some even came out with their expensive drones to relay the situation of the battle. These were the cases that exposed themselves to a bigger danger by taking more provocative actions solely to increase their donations.

"Senior." The female employee of the association who had been hit by the crowd in the front, asked with a tearful expression. "Do we have to repeat this protocol every time there is a dungeon break?"

The senior pressed down his throbbing brow with a tired expression. "What else is there to do? This is the largest dungeon break ever in Busan." At the same time, the sight of the senior looking back at her made the fatigue even thicker. Had the gate been discovered earlier, the situation wouldn't have escalated to this extent. Not to mention the sight of the skeleton soldiers from the sea off Busan. It made you feel as though you entered the scene from the classic movie, Pirates of the Caribbean. In addition, this time the S-class hunter who recently attracted the news, appeared directly in front of them, so the interest and stimulation were indescribable to say the least.

"Isn't this good material for aggro? If i were a Streamer I would have come out with my camera as well." Sasu, who was also a fan of broadcasting, sighed at the irony. "Although it's really cool to see him up close."

"Who? Lim Tae-Gyu?"

"Yes, who else? You know he can shoot ten arrows at once and they all hit."

"Well, even if controversies surround him, he is still an S-class hunter." As he said this, the senior's eyes were also following Lim Tae-Gyu and giving out small exclamations. I heard that Lim Tae-Gyu was also put on the scouting team rather than fighting directly.

Unlike every other archer, he didn't just shoot from a safe place. Instead, he used his agility to run directly between the skeletons whilst tracking the traces of where the gate was located. Whenever he was surrounded by skeletons from time to time, he would shoot his bow and penetrate the road ahead.

[I'm donating 10,000 won [3] for every 10 kills that Lim Tae-Gyu does!]

[I'm donating 50,000 won [4] for every 100 kills Lim Tae-Gyu does!]

"Kya! Thank you for the donations!"

"Viewers, I'll be counting the skeletons that Lim Tae-Gyu kills in real time!"

What the–?

Unlike the hunters who risked their lives fighting, something absurd suddenly appeared on the outskirts of the beach. There was an amount of huge donations pouring that was proportionate to the beasts dying. All of this happened in less than a minute since the scouting team and Lim Tae-Gyu had gone out to fight.

Does the entire country suddenly come out when I fight? He wondered if this was the reason for that proverb 'Bears do tricks while the bear owners get money'. Although the reality was that the hunters who played as bears earned far more money than personal broadcasting Streamer, so there was no reason to be mad at them. Besides, isn't this also kind of creative in this economy?

Anyways, from the Association's point of view, they just hoped that the situation would be solved safely without anyone getting hurt.

"Uh?"

All of a sudden, a new oddity appeared.

Whoo oh oh~

A wave of cold air hit them.

"Huh?"

All the eyes that had been looking at Lim Tae-Gyu suddenly turned in one direction.

His eyes went wide. "W-what is that?!" Said Lim Tae-Gyu while he and the scouting team scattered in different directions.

Several hunters were gathered in Busan at the time, including A-class hunters such as the famous guildmaster of the Knights Guild. Among them were also a few unknown faces, one of them, the most powerful, reached out his hand.

The sea off Busan turned into an arctic landscape.

!

!?

Skeletons that were crawling out of the sandy beach, as well as the waves leaping behind them, became frozen solid in such a wonderful sight.

Even the expressions of everyone who saw the scene also temporarily froze.

"Who- who is that person!?"

"Fellow viewers! Does anyone have information about that hunter?" Astonishment began to burst out here and there. Haeundae Beach was covered with tremendous cheers.

"Papa, search quickly! Just who were the people that volunteered for the scouting team!"

"I'm doing it now!" Even the reporters from broadcasting stations quickly started asking for information from the Knights Guild.

Some reckless Streamers started grabbing the association staff who were controlling them and began to beg. "Who the hell is that hunter? Please give us some info!"

"That's a blizzard, right? Even among the advanced magic hunters, only a few can pull it off to this extent!"

"As far as I know, it would take a lot of mana to use such a wide range of magic, so who the hell…"

[1 million won [5] to the person who finds the Hunter's identity the fastest!]

"I will share the donations with you so please let me know!"

"Stop coming! You can't access this place!"

"Please refrain from crossing the safety line…"

The reactions of the maddening civilians were quite natural considering no one had expected to see such a wide-range magic, that was capable of causing extreme weather, in their lives. This cold blizzard suddenly blew into the sunny skies and froze hundreds of skeletons all at once!

"It's the first time that this kind of hunter has ever appeared in our country!"

"I found it!"

!!

Everyone suddenly turned their attention to the cry of the stranger. There, a Streamer who had connections to the Knights Guild, held up his cellphone like it was the World Cup trophy while shouting triumphantly. "Woojin Guild! It's from Woojin Guild! His name is Sung Suho, a hunter from the Woojin Guild!"

"Huh? Woojin Guild?"

"This is my first time hearing of that guild."

"Is it a new guild?"

Once they finally acknowledged the identity of the hunter who used blizzard magic, people began to be confused. There was no information about the Woojin guild at all in the public, except for some who had good memories.

"Wait a minute! Could it be Sung Suho?!"

They frantically started searching the internet for some articles that they had seen before.

"Sung Suho, isn't that the hunter who solved Lee Minsung's case?"

"Yeah, that's right! There is also a picture of Baek Miho and Lim Tae-Gyu side by side!"

The collective intelligence of people was truly astonishing.

After Suho used his skill, he smiled knowing the people had managed to figure out his identity in an instant. Just as planned. He quietly thought while watching the commotion from afar. Thank goodness I created a guild, there are rarely good situations like this where I can publicize our guild. During the various cases he was solving, Suho had continued to hide his identity, half for his own sake, half because of others. The purpose was just to avoid revealing the use of the Shadow Monarch's powers to the apostles of the Itarims, who, of course, were hiding in plain sight.

But he could afford to show off other skills in public that didn't come from the Shadow Monarch. It's for the best, actually. The reputation of the guild was now more important to Suho's plan than anything else.

For what reason did he create a guild in the first place? To level up, of course. He planned to make a guild in order to enter higher-ranked dungeons and level up more. However, those gates could be bought off with money, money that was scheduled to come from the Scavenger guild next month. And with such circumstances why would he try to increase his guild's reputation then?

In order to go to North Korea, the guild's reputation is important.

Advanced dungeons are important, yes, but Suho's ultimate objective was to travel to North Korea so he could hunt.

After the cataclysm, North Korea was turned into a monster field in all directions, becoming an inaccessible demonic realm. To put it bluntly, the Chairman of the association Woo Jin-Chul who went out to aid North Korea with Choi Jong-In, wasn't even able to come back. If they didn't wipe out the monsters that swarmed in North Korea at the time then they would come down to invade South Korea afterwards. Supposedly they were meant to 'aid' but their actions seemed close to a conquest of the north.

But for Suho, the worst environment in North Korea was a different world all together, filled with chunks of experience all over the place. The problem came to be that North Korea was not a place anyone could go to even if they wanted to. Even if it collapsed completely, it still wouldn't be a unified peninsula between the two Koreas. Moreover, hunters who committed crimes like the villains at Jisan prison would also follow. Because in this situation, if anyone was going to cross the country without any standards, then the criminals would be the first to run away to a place where their skills would be wanted. This would mean they would have a strong chance to relentlessly commit crimes against the survivors of North Korea still alive everywhere.

It would become a lawless place.

So, the Korean government and the Hunter Association were legally blocking unqualified guilds from ever stepping foot on North Korean soil. The most important of these qualifications was awareness. A guild had to be recognized by the public, and one of the most effective ways to do so was to perform a prominent role where citizens would pay attention.

Issues like Jisan prison were ambiguous. Wiping out 500 villains was a respectable thing to do, but the public opinion divided itself more than he thought.

—He is a person who slaughtered 500 people in one day. That isn't normal.

—He's a killer at minimum.

—BUT isn't it okay since he killed the villains and not the people?

His identity was blocked by the White Tiger guild following his cooperation within Jisan Prison, but if it ever came to light that he was the one to have killed all of them, it would be difficult for Suho to access North Korea.

But with this…

As part of the scouting team, Suho jumped into the middle of the skeletons and showed his strength without hesitation.

"That kid is the real deal! I sent you out to scout for the gate, but you are annihilating the skeletons instead!" Lim Tae-Gyu said, Suho's splendid debut, making him embarrassed. Did you have a skill like that before, or did you receive a skill runestone as a gift from Thomas Andre?

The power of it was truly an unbelievable sight. A cold snowstorm is unstoppable in the coastal waters of Haeundae. A white icy road spread out like a carpet with Suho in the center of it running out without hesitation while skeletons statues were frozen solid next to him. He wondered just what kind of nickname people would give him during the live broadcast that was showing such a tremendous sight.

Stop.

"Huh?" Suho, who was still rushing forward without hesitation, suddenly stopped walking and listened to Sillad's words.

[The Frost Monarch, King of Snowfolk, listens to Sirka's prayer]

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[1]Moon Balloons: Sort of like a donation in webcam streaming videos.

[3]7,56 dollars

[4] around 38 dollars

[5] 758 dollars