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 fences and restrict the access to that area. But somehow, the sound of rushing footsteps did not diminish at all. 

"This is so frightening! I've heard that even an S-rank hunter from Seoul had to come!" 

After the Cataclysm, being a hunter 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 believe. Because of this, it was natural for everyone to envy the hunters who could earn a lot of money. Among them, S-class hunters often gained popularity comparable to that of celebrities.

Once a dungeon break occurred 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. And one example of this category was: 

"Are you seeing these viewers? I ventured out to look with my own eyes at the skeletons you only see in movies ! If you send donations, we will launch the drone right away!" 

"Guys! The president of the Reaper guild, Lim Tae-Gyu has joined as support on this raid. We should see him any moment now. Thank you for the Moon balloon [1]!" 

Amongst the citizens, there were quite a few personal 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 lot of danger 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. 

"Does this happen every time there is a dungeon break?" 

"What did you expect? This is the largest dungeon break ever in Busan." The senior pressed down his throbbing brow with a tired expression.

The sight of the superior 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 excitement were indescribable to say the least. 

"Isn't this good content? If I were a reporter I would have come out with my camera as well." Sasu, who was also a fan of streaming, 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, despite the controversies surrounding 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 got surrounded, he would shoot his bow and clear 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–?"

In a sharp contrast to the hunters who risked their lives fighting, something absurd was happening on the outskirts of the Beach. There was a ridiculous amount of huge donations pouring in that was proportional to the number of 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 the bears here earned far more money than a personal Streamer could ever dream about, 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, the only thing that mattered was solving the situation safely and without anyone getting hurt. 

"Uh?" All of a sudden, a new oddity appeared. 

"Whoa oh oh~ " A wave of cold air hit them. 

"Huh?" All the eyes that had been looking at Lim Tae-Gyu went wide and suddenly turned in one direction. 

"W-what is that?!" Said Lim Tae-Gyu while he and the scouting team spread out around the area. 

Many hunters gathered in Busan to deal with the emergency, including A-classes such as the famous guildmaster of the Knights. Among them were also a few unknown faces. One of them reached out his hand and a part of the sea around them 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. 

"…!"

"…!?" 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. And Haeundae Beach was filled with the sound of cheers. 

"Papa, search quickly! Who are the people that volunteered for the scouting team!" 

"I'm doing it now!" 

Even the reporters from broadcasting stations quickly started asking the Knights Guild for information…

Some reckless Streamers started grabbing the association staff who were controlling the crowd and began to beg for answers. "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 off such spells to this extent!" 

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

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

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

"Stop coming! You can't go any further than this place!" 

"Please refrain from crossing the safety line…" 

The reactions of the maddening civilians were quite natural considering no one had ever expected to see such a wide-range magic that was capable of causing such extreme weather. 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! He'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 them." 

"Is it a new guild?" 

Once they finally found out the identity of the hunter who used blizzard magic, people began to be confused. There was nobody who had any information about the Woojin guild, except for one person who had a very good memory. 

"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 him with 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 spectators 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 get free publicity. 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 Itarim, who, of course, were hiding in plain sight. But he could afford to show off other skills in public like the ones similar to abilities other hunters possessed. 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 with money. Money that was scheduled to come from the Scavenger guild next month. Why would he try to increase his guild's reputation then…? 

The basic reason was: In order to go to North Korea. And the guild's reputation was crucial for that. Advanced dungeons are important, yes, but Suho's ultimate objective was to cross the border so he could hunt.

After the Cataclysm, North Korea was turned into a monster field, becoming an inaccessible demonic realm. To put things into perspective, the Chairman of the association Woo Jin-Chul who went out to aid them with Choi Jong-In, wasn't even able to come back yet. If they didn't wipe out the monsters swarming their neighbors territory in time, 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, even the worst environment in North Korea was like a paradise, filled with chunks of experience all over the place. The problem was that North Korea was not a place just anyone could go to. Even if the government collapsed completely, it still wouldn't unite the two Koreas. Moreover, hunters who committed crimes like the villains at Jisan prison would also want to go there. Because in this situation, if just anyone was allowed to cross the border without any restrictions, 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 mercilessly 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 gain recognition was to play an important role in helping with disasters that citizens paid attention to. 

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 protected by the White Tiger guild following his cooperation within them. If it ever came to light that he was the one to have killed all of the villains, 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, seeing Suho's splendid debut, making him embarrassed.

'Did he have a skill like that before, or did he receive a runestone as a gift from Thomas Andre?' The power of it was truly an unbelievable sight. A cold snowstorm was unstoppable in the coastal waters of Haeundae. A white icy road spread out like a carpet with Suho in the center of it running without hesitation past the skeletons frozen like statues. He wondered just what kind of nickname people would give him during the live broadcast, seeing such an impressive feat. 

[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