Obtained End-Game Gear for a Bowl of Ramen - Chapter 21

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Chapter 21. Natural Enemy
Korea Hunter Management Bureau Detention Facility.
The elevator doors to the seventeenth basement level opened—a facility constructed specifically to confine criminal Hunters.
“So this is the detention facility I’ve only heard rumors about?”
A-rank Hunter Baek Mina’s eyes rolled with curiosity more than anxiety.
“Yes. This is the end of the line for criminal Hunters. Escape is impossible as a matter of protocol, and any attempt will result in immediate termination.”
O Seung-woo, a department head at the Management Bureau, answered. Mina turned to look at him directly.
“Prison breaks must be pretty impossible then. But why did you bring me here? Are you going to lock me up?”
It was Baek Mina’s attempt at humor. Fortunately, O Seung-woo understood and let out a quiet laugh.
“The truth is, escapes have been happening too frequently. We brought you here to ask your advice. Would you be willing to go inside the prison itself and check for vulnerabilities?”
“I’ll think about that in about two hundred years.”
O Seung-woo gestured for her to step out. Solitary cells were immediately visible across the narrow, desolate corridor. Baek Mina approached the one-way glass that revealed the opposite side.
Inside the cell, a man in a restraint suit stared into empty space, drool dribbling from his mouth. At a glance, he seemed far from normal.
“Who is that?”
“Jack the Ripper. He was an assassin for the Welcomers. He attacked the Baekdam Guild and was defeated by an EX-rank Hunter, after which the Management Bureau took custody of him.”
“He looks in bad condition.”
“That’s the problem. Jack the Ripper became a vegetative state due to acute Mana Contamination aftereffects. We haven’t been able to extract any meaningful information.”
“Now I understand why you called me. You brought me here to treat him, didn’t you?”
“You catch on quickly. Aren’t you the strongest healer in Korea’s Hunter society? Is it possible?”
Baek Mina turned her gaze to the imprisoned Jack the Ripper.
“I can’t tell just from looking, but acute Mana Contamination aftereffects… I don’t have a solution either. After all, I was forced to retire because of Mana Contamination myself.”
“Even Korea’s strongest healer can’t help.”
O Seung-woo murmured. Baek Mina pretended not to hear.
“Why not use another Hunter instead? Isn’t there someone named Chang Yao from the Black Dragon Guild held here who has the Psychometry Skill?”
“How would you know that?”
Baek Mina’s eyes narrowed.
“There’s something like the International Healer Association. Healers are valuable commodities wherever we go, right?”
Psychometry. It was a method O Seung-woo had also considered. But using a prisoner’s ability to interrogate a prisoner? It risked destabilizing the facility’s order.
“Still, it’s frightening. He’s just barely breathing—a walking corpse halfway to the grave. Just how powerful was the Mana he was exposed to?”
“All I can say is that Jack the Ripper fought an EX-rank Hunter and became what he is. Thank you for your time, Hunter.”
O Seung-woo escorted Baek Mina out of the detention facility and returned.
“Jack the Ripper. Stop the act. You’re awake.”
The imprisoned Jack the Ripper’s eyes held no focus and showed no response.
“What are the Welcomers’ objectives? Why did you attack Baekdam?”
Jack the Ripper remained unresponsive. It felt like talking to a dead man.
‘Is he using a Transformation Skill to deceive me? A dangerous one. I can’t let my guard down.’
Blue light flashed in O Seung-woo’s right eye.
[Skill Activated: Counter Skill]
[Cancels the effects and usage of skills visible to the eye.]
Counter Skill. It was O Seung-woo’s unique ability—one that could forcibly cancel another Hunter’s skills.
No matter how powerful a criminal Hunter was, before O Seung-woo they were helpless.
Flash!
The Counter Skill activated, yet Jack the Ripper remained a vegetable. No deception, no pretense. Jack the Ripper had truly become a living husk. All from the aftereffects of fighting an EX-rank.
“One last question. Is the EX-rank strong?”
“Weak……”
Jack the Ripper turned his head. He made direct eye contact with O Seung-woo, obscured behind the frosted glass.
“EX is……weak……lost……khe-khe-khe……Yellow Sea……EX-rank……Gate……can’t be stopped……!”
“The EX-rank is weak? Then how did you lose to a weak Hunter?”
“Khe-khe-khe. Khi-hi-hi. When that Gate opens! You’ll die too. All will die! Uhi-hi-hi!”
Jack the Ripper began convulsing. Interrogation was pointless now. O Seung-woo pressed the sedative button and boarded the elevator.
‘Fragments, but meaningful information. An EX-rank Gate is opening in the Yellow Sea.’
The puzzle pieces fell into place in O Seung-woo’s mind. The Welcomers were a terrorist organization seeking the world’s destruction through Gate explosions.
If an EX-rank Gate exploded, at minimum East Asia and the Pacific region would be annihilated. For them, it was tempting prey.
‘So they eliminated obstacles beforehand. China’s number one, Li Wei, and the Baekdam Guild that produces High Potions. But they failed upon encountering the EX-rank?’
O Seung-woo shook his head in thought. The Welcomers were not the type to back down so easily. The EX-rank could very well have been their target as well.
‘But they lost. I’ve grasped the rough situation. What the Management Bureau must do now is——’
Apprehend all the Welcomers and throw them into detention.
O Seung-woo thought the detention facility would need an expansion.
* * *
Late that night, a text message arrived on Jung-ho’s smartphone.
—Son Jung-ho. It’s Min-ki. I’m sorry I’m only reaching out now; there’s been so much to handle. First, my apologies for the trouble…….
The message had to be over a thousand characters. Seung-woo grimaced at the text that nearly filled an entire phone screen.
—Don’t worry about it. How’s Hunter Kwon doing?
—Lucky to be alive. Seems an EX-rank Hunter happened to be nearby. They smashed through the door, got you out of there, and gave Jack the Ripper a thorough beating!
‘That was me.’
Seung-woo decided not to mention it. He’d have to pay for the door he’d destroyed.
—Anyway, things got complicated and I’m sorry again. Son Jung-ho, I’d like to set a better day soon to apologize and thank you properly. What do you think?
An invitation from Hunter Kwon Min-ki. Seung-woo didn’t answer hastily; he considered it.
‘Strange. Every time I get tangled up with Hunter Kwon, something goes wrong.’
The very first C-rank Gate happened to spawn the strongest C-rank monster possible. He’d caught a glimpse of Hunter Kwon in Myeongdong too, and that’s when Li Wei’s diversion operation blew up.
The same thing happened when he handed over the High Potion recipe. It went fine at first, but Li Wei immediately summoned an EX-rank. And now this whole Baekdam Guild factory incident.
‘Is he the type who brings bad luck wherever he goes?’
After much deliberation, Seung-woo replied.
—Your goodwill is thanks enough.
His timing with Hunter Kwon just didn’t seem to align. It seemed better for both of them to keep a bit of distance.
Leaving the disappointed Hunter Kwon behind, Seung-woo turned off his phone.
‘The Baekdam Guild seems to have escaped unscathed, at least. Looking at that thousand-character text, High Potion production will be suspended for a while.’
Seung-woo recalled something Jack the Ripper had said directly.
—A huge Gate is going to open soon off Shanghai. A very large one.
Li Wei had said something similar much earlier.
—Two months from now. A record-breaking Gate will open over Asia. At minimum S+ Rank, possibly EX-rank.
Every time Seung-woo opened Dimensional Sight using his Gate Guide ability, he could see that Gate.
Massive and silent like a sleeping dragon. It was quietly growing, waiting for the moment to awaken. Even now, if he looked…….
[Ability Activated: Gate Guide]
[Opening Dimensional Sight!]
A bright flash—Seung-woo’s consciousness rose skyward, and a globe unfolded beneath him. Gates of all kinds appeared like a weather forecast. There was the colossal Shanghai Gate about to open……wait?

‘What? Why is the time dropping like this all of a sudden? And the location changed too. Incheon Waters?’
A Gate with two months remaining had suddenly become a Gate opening in twenty-five hours. Why? How? Was such a thing even possible?
‘There’s nothing wrong with my ability. What in the world is this? I need to ask Dae-young about it.’
[Entering Hero’s Tower, 0th Floor.]
“Dae-young! I need to ask you something……?”
Slurrrp—
Dae-young’s mouth, along with the ramen noodles being sucked into the shadow, flinched and froze awkwardly.
“Were you eating ramen alone?”
……Slurrrp!
Yellow noodles vanished into Dae-young’s mouth. Crimson broth. Dae-young finished the ramen as if hiding a crime and pretended nothing had happened.

“Ramen must have really pleased you, huh?”

Dae-young grumbled unnecessarily.

“Dae-young, can a Gate that’s supposed to open in two months suddenly open nine hours from now?”
The Great Shadow’s eyes flashed a pale blue for an instant, then returned to their original crimson.

“How? Did someone use the Gate Guide ability?”

A soft sucking sound came from inside Dae-young’s hood.

“Why would such an item even exist?”

A Hero’s Seed—would that be someone like Kang Tae-gong, Asclepius, or Hephaestus? What on earth were they thinking?