231

The Director of America's Hunter Bureau, David Brennan, was about to go insane with frustration at the moment.

"What did the Korean Hunter's Association say??"

"They haven't made any official announcements yet, sir."

"Then, what the hell are you here for?!"

"....S-sir?"

But, didn't the director summon him into the office? The subordinate could only stand there and blink his eyes. The director's irritation shot up to the top of his head and he loudly yelled out.

"Aren't you supposed to get a reply from the Korean Association President, even if you resort to wringing his neck?! Isn't that your godd*mn job?!"

"I, I'm sorry, sir!"

"Get the hell out of here and find out what the f*ck is going on! Right now!!"

The director chased the Chief of the Intelligence Department out of his office, but, as if his anger hadn't cooled down at all, he continued to seethe for a long time.

The super-massive Gate, judged to be much bigger than the one that appeared in Seoul's skies, had shown up in Canada, an allied nation that shared a border with the United States of America.

It'd not take much time for the flames of destruction spreading from Canada to reach American soil.

In the best possible scenario that he could think of, this Gate crisis would also end in a similar fashion to the one in Seoul's sky. And if the monsters Hunter Seong Jin-Woo commanded fell out from there, then that would be even better.

'However, the real problem is....'

The one holding all the answers, Hunter Seong himself, as well as the Korean Hunter's Association, had been keeping mum until now.

Three hours passed by since the super-massive Gates appeared in various parts of the world. Meanwhile, the American government was demanding an answer from the Hunter Bureau.

'To think, one of the greatest intelligence agencies in America, the Hunter Bureau, has no choice but wait for a reply from the Korean Hunter's Association....'

Just who'd have imagined that such a thing could happen? No wonder the director was anxiously jumping up and down on his spot.

Beep.

The director continued to spew out one sigh after another before noticing that there was a bleeping light on the phone. He snatched the receiver up and barked at it.

"What is it?!"

- "Sir, Mister President is looking for you."

"Tell him I'm not here."

- "B-but, sir??"

SLAM!

The director slammed the receiver down as if he was throwing it away and dazedly stared at the ceiling. But then, the Chief of the Intelligence Department, the guy he just chased out, breathlessly rushed back inside the office.

"Director!"

"How dare you crawl back into my office already!!"

The director yanked the receiver up in order to throw it, prompting the chief to quickly raise his arms up.

"T-the Korean Hunter's Association has sent us a communique!"

Almost instantly, the director's expression did a 180, with a bright smile now etched on his face.

"You see!! All you had to do was just do it!"

The director put the receiver down and approached the chief.

"Okay, so. What did they say?"

"Ah, well, the thing is.... They said that, if we want to learn more about the super-massive Gates, we should go to Korea right away."

"..."

Both the director and the Chief of the Intelligence Department wordlessly stared at each other. They remained standing face to face like that for a bit.

Finally managing to grasp hold of the thin thread of his reasoning, the director muttered out a question.

"Who? Who should go there?"

"They say it doesn't matter, as long as it's a representative designated by the government."

"....."

At that moment...

Beeeep.

The director noticed yet another light blinking on his phone and picked the receiver up.

- "Director, if you keep avoiding Mister President's call...."

Click.

He quickly put the receiver down and addressed the Chief of the Intelligence Department with a determined expression.

"Tell them I'll be there."

"Sir?"

Since the chief seemed to be confused by something, the director began enunciating every single word so his subordinate could understand him just a bit better.

"I. Will. Go. To. Korea. As. America's. Representative!"

***

Representatives from every country that received the summons issued by the Korean Hunter's Association quickly climbed aboard the waiting planes.

What an astonishing change this was.

Less than two years ago, Korea's overall Hunter strength was so pathetic that they even lost a newbie rank S Hunter to America. But now, they were summoning the leaders of the world to their doorsteps.

No, only a year ago, they couldn't even take care of the dungeon break on their own territory, Jeju Island, and became a laughing stock in Japan.

But then, with the entrance of a Hunter who had far surpassed the classifications of upper, top, elite, or whatever, and stepped into the ranks of transcendence, everything changed.

The man who made every monster pouring out from one of the super-massive Gates obey him; if it was that man, then he might be able to explain the identity of these super-massive Gates covering up the skies all over the globe.

With that, understanding what happened a few days ago would also come about naturally as well.

The keys to everything were held by just one person. The problem here was, they couldn't use force or concessions to coax the keys out from their opponent this time.

Just who would be able to use force to make him talk, for instance?

Even if you could do something about his individual combat power that defeated a Special Authority-rank Hunter, there was the small matter of a hundred thousand-plus summons right behind him waiting for their turn.

It was an impossible task, in other words.

That was why bigshots perfectly suited for representing their countries such as presidents, prime ministers, premiers, ministers, directors of Hunter-related government bodies, as well as leaders of various Hunter's Associations, were making a move after the Korean Association requested them to come.