Danger

On the next day, in the morning. At the top floor of the Demigod guild building. There were four hunters sitting in the room opposite the middle-aged man, the headmaster of the Demigod guild, Cho Gang-ho.

"How are the situations?"

Seol In-ah answered quickly. "Many have asked about the commotion, wanting to know what happened to us since the Godly Doctor himself was moving in a public place in broad daylight. But, I managed to put down their pressure. So there's no need to worry, sir."

"What do you guys think?"

Gang-ho asked the other hunters in the room about the knowledge of the Dungeon's Dual Owners.

"It's not worth it. After all, we can't know what kind of dungeon is in the Portal Gate."

In-ah interjected before the other hunters gave their opinion. However, Gang-ho did not immediately change the topic and patiently waited for the others.

Dal-soo didn't open his mouth while only Tae-hyun and Do-cheol gave their opinion on the matter.

"Agreed with In-ah~nim. It doesn't deserve to get classified as important information. For the guilds below us, it might mean something. Meanwhile, big guilds like Shadow and Artates would only think of this as a piece of junk."

"But, with this intelligence, at least everyone will be able to reorganize their hunters who will enter the Portal Gate above tier-2. It's not completely in vain. Information about the type of beast, environment, and dungeon owner is also useful."

Based on Do-cheol observation, Team 3 needed more than 50 hunters with only B-rank and C-rank hunters in it, excluding E-rank and D-rank hunters. It was the only formation that was safe enough to face a dungeon with the possibility of a Dual owner.

Gang-ho shook his head. "As Tae-hyun said, Shadow and Artates probably won't need it. Those two guilds aren't short on manpower. Their member ratio of high-ranking hunters exceeds ours.

"In-ah, you can manage matters regarding Dual owners. If anyone asks, try to make a deal with them. Otherwise, leave it on our guild repository server."

"Alright, sir," In-ah replied and stood up, left the room.

"You and Do-cheol can make new arrangements for Team 2 and Team 3. We can't let our Portal Gates idle in the meantime."

"Yes, sir." Tae-hyun and Do-cheol also left the room.

Only Dal-soo and Gang-ho remained in the room.

"Dal-soo~ya. We have to assemble the Vanguard team as soon as possible."

"Hyung~nim!? What's this all of a sudden?"

Dal-soo was taken aback by the statement. The Demigod Vanguard Team had been out of operation for a long time. As time went on, the strength and ranking of the founding guild hunters increased more and more. So, there were fewer Portal Gates they could enter. As well as with many hunters joined and took care of the lower Portal Gate. They forgot about the existence of a team under the headmaster's leadership. And they also were busy taking care of the guild's affairs.

"It's been a year since we got the tier-5 Portal Gate. It's time to reap what we bought. And strengthen the guild with the harvest we'll get from that place."

Dal-soo put on a doubtful face. "We don't have a high chance of closing that Portal Gate. We only have 3 S-rank hunters!"

"Then how long are you willing to wait!? We can't go on like this. We have to take the risk. You, you know how abundant the resources of higher tier Portal Gates are, right?"

Dal-soo contemplated. He knew what they would get from a high-level Portal Gate if they succeeded. It was a shortcut to increase the strength of the talented hunters and the overall strength of the guild.

High-quality weapons and items. Magic Stones and possibly Mana Cores could also leapfrog their wealth twice as much as they had.

High risk. High return.

Dal-soo helplessly agrees with Gang-ho. What could he do? The headmaster seemed to have been planning this for a while.

"When?"

"Two or three weeks later."

Dal-soo nodded and left, leaving Gang-ho alone in the room. In that span of time, he should be able to carefully select the hunters who would be able to survive and fight in the tier-5 Portal Gate under the lead of the Demigod headmaster.

Outside the room, Dal-soo wasn't surprised to see In-ah already waiting for him.

"What did you know about Kim Ji-woo?"

"I don't know anything about him. That's why I'm asking you." Dal-soo replied casually.

In-ah then crossed her arms and said, "Jeez! There's nothing strange about him. His daily activities are monotonous. Only between his mother's food stall and this place. So, I told Hyun-don and Taek-won to stop following him."

Dal-soo stared at In-ah for a moment, then nodded his head.

"Why are you interested in him?"

"I told you when I get something about him later." Said Dal-soo while walking away from In-ah.

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"Good morning, Ji-woo~ya and Ji-won~ah." Elijah was glad that her children didn't quarrel since they woke up.

It was the first time Ji-woo, Ji-won, and their mother had eaten together at the same table. Though Ji-won still hadn't had much to say with them.

Ji-woo started to talk about his job as he promised some time ago. "I work as a hunter now. Here's the proof." He spoke while taking out his hunter ID and placing it on the table next to his plate.

There was no response from Elijah and Ji-won. They just stopped eating and stared at Ji-woo's hunter ID.

Thud--

Ji-won was the first to react. She stood up after hitting the table and went straight to school without saying anything.

Ji-woo was speechless by his sister's antics. However, he didn't go after her and decided to talk to her later.

Meanwhile, Elijah still didn't give any reaction. After a moment of silence, she said, "Eomma doesn't like your job." And continue with breakfast.

Ji-woo smiled wryly and followed to finish his breakfast too. Even on the way to the food stall, Elijah didn't say a word at all.

When Elijah and Ji-woo arrived, they were surprised to see someone was waiting.

"Hello, who are you? Why are you standing here?"

"Ah, hyung eommonim? I'm Ji-woo hyung Junior. My name is Lee Dong-hyun. Nice to meet you, eommonim."

Dong-hyun bowed and greeted Elijah politely while shaking her hand with both of his hands.

"Ah, yes. Nice to meet you too. Don't be so formal. You're Ji-woo's co-worker. So, calling aunty is enough."

"No, I can't do it, eommonim. I feel bad if that's the case. Ah, right. Let me help prepare the food stall."

Today, Ji-woo became speechless two…, no, three times in a row. First because of his mother and sister earlier. Now, it was Dong-hyun's turn to make him like that.

Even though Ji-woo didn't know why Dong-hyun was coming, he was pleased that Dong-hyun chose to go to the food stall instead of his house.

Elijah, Ji-woo, and Dong-hyun had finished tidying up the food stall. And then Ji-woo pulled Dong-hyun away from his mother.

"Why are you coming here?"

"I just happened to be passing by. Oh, yeah. Want to go to the guild with me, hyung~nim?"

Ji-woo chuckled. 'It turns out that this nonsense about coincidences was just to make me accompany him to report.' But, he refused the invitation. He had to ease his mother about the hunter matter first. How could he go to the Demigod guild in this situation?

"I'm busy. You'll be fine alone. Don't worry."

"Okay," Dong-hyun answered languidly and left the food stall after bidding Elijah farewell.

Ji-woo tried to talk with his mother. But to no avail. He decided to take a break and go to his father's cemetery. He told his mother about it. He then saw his mother not say anything and just sighed at him. He reassured his mother that he was not going anywhere related to the hunter.

Ji-woo had promised to visit his father's graveyard whenever he had time. Since he thought he might not be able to do it again in the future.

On the way to his father's graveyard, Ji-woo saw a person of the same height as him heading out of the cemetery's inner area while walking lazily. The man was a bit bulky and wore sunglasses.

However, the closer the distance between Ji-woo and the man. The more Ji-woo became anxious. He felt something was amiss.

When Ji-woo passed the man, he suddenly sensed time flowed at a different speed. He felt sluggish and short of breath. Out of nowhere, he subconsciously made a small leap forward like he was dodging an attack.

The jump made the man stop in his tracks. He looked back and lowered his sunglasses slightly with his finger.

"What's wrong, brat!?"

Ji-woo woke up after hearing the voice and perceived danger from the man's gaze. He had sweat on his forehead, and his hands were shaking.

'Darn it! If I fight him now. To take a limb alone from that man will undoubtedly put my life on the line for it.'