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Woo Jin-Cheol rubbed his scruffy, unkempt beard and apologised. On that day they returned from the United States, he was greeted with this out-of-nowhere news and had to rush straight back to the Hunter's Association.

The meeting of these two men was taking place exactly three days after that. Before they got down to business, though, Jin-Woo asked him a question.

"Why did you... hide the rest of the footage taken by the CCTV camera?"

The Association's footage went only as far as revealing the face of the Sovereign of Frost. As for Jin-Woo or Beru who entered the Association President's office afterwards, their footage was not revealed to the public.

Woo Jin-Cheol scratched his head and replied with a bitter expression on his face.

"We at the Association will always prioritise the safety of our Hunters. We decided that we can't carelessly reveal one of your hidden abilities to the public."

A Hunter's skills were like all the hidden trump cards he or she possessed. Publicly revealing a skill would be akin to unveiling one's hands. Quite obviously, the higher the one's Awakened rank was, the more likely it was for one to hide one's skills, as this act could save one's life in an unexpected situation.

Jin-Woo's skill that allowed him to travel in the blink of an eye from America to the Hunter's Association building in South Korea – the Association decided that they couldn't reveal a skill this monumental to the world without the consent of the Hunter in question.

"I'm sure that the Association President would have made the exact same decision if he was still with us."

Chief Woo Jin-Cheol respected Goh Gun-Hui greatly and one could even say that he was closer to his late boss than anybody else in this organisation. So, when he mentioned the term 'Association President', his eyes reddened automatically.

"Ah, I see. That was why your expression looked so scary and unforgiving before we got on the plane heading back home."

Jin-Woo admitted to Woo Jin-Cheol's guess with a simple nod.

The latter felt as if a mystery was solved the moment he watched the footage – the mystery regarding why Jin-Woo's atmosphere came across as so heavy on the day they were about to depart for South Korea.

"Was that monster so strong that you couldn't stop it, Hunter-nim?"

Jin-Woo shook his head.

"When I got here, it was already....."

Jin-Woo formed a gloomy expression again and Woo Jin-Cheol's head dropped lower in the end.

"I'm sorry.... I'm sure you're also feeling really bad right now. I was just frustrated and that ended up troubling you...."

Woo Jin-Cheol knew better than anyone that Jin-Woo was not responsible. That was perhaps why the latter's attempt at trying to console the former only made it worse.

"I still can't believe it."

Woo Jin-Cheol's gaze remained fixed on the floor as he carried on.

"How could he die.... He was urging me the day before to return as soon as possible because he wanted to hear about everything that happened in the U.S....."

Jin-Woo patiently waited for Woo Jin-Cheol as the latter struggled to finish his sentence.

"What did.... What did the Association President say to you? Before he closed his eyes?"

"He said that he felt relieved."

"Pardon?"

Woo Jin-Cheol raised his head, surprised.

"He felt relieved that the future could be entrusted to the young Hunters, like myself...."

"Ah."

That's what he meant.

Tears began falling from Woo Jin-Cheol's eyes as his emotions welled up. He felt moved by the generous heart of Association President Goh Gun-Hui, who worried for the future of his fellow men right up until the end.

He dabbed around his eyes with the back of his hand and hid the tears away before nodding his head.

"Thank you. Thank you for being there for the final moments of the Association President."

The thing about him being relieved couldn't have been a lie. If it was, how could he have formed such a serene expression as he passed on?

Woo Jin-Cheol's gratitude was genuine, it came from the depths of his heart.

"..."

Jin-Woo kept his mouth firmly shut, opting to not reply. He felt as if his complicated thoughts had been untangled somewhat by having this conversation with Woo Jin-Cheol.

"....I'll kill that b*stard."

"Excuse me?"

Jin-Woo's expression became extremely cold.

"The monster that murdered the Association President. I'll definitely hunt it down."

Not just for the sake of avenging Goh Gun-Hui, but to send the clear message to those b*stards threatening him.

Gulp.

Woo Jin-Cheol swallowed his dry saliva.

He knew that this killing aura wasn't even directed at him, yet he could hardly breathe right now from the intense pressure. As a matter of fact, this cold and heavy murderous intent was squashing down hard on his shoulders.

Jin-Woo spotted Woo Jin-Cheol's complexion becoming pale and quickly withdrew his aura.

"You can save your thanks until then."

"Oh...."

Woo Jin-Cheol did his best to calm the pounding heart in his chest and nodded his head.

"I understand."

Only then did he realise that Jin-Woo still hadn't told him about the purpose of his visit to the Association. A Hunter on his level wouldn't have come here to ask about the latter part of the security video footage.

So, Woo Jin-Cheol asked politely.

"I apologise for my inattentiveness.... I even forgot to ask you why you are paying us a visit, Hunter-nim."

Jin-Woo told him about the decision he had come to after a few days of deliberation.

"Can you organise me a press conference?"

***

Reporters descended on the press conference venue like a flock of vultures. Jin-Woo was being seen as a walking, talking bundle of big news waiting to happen to these reporters for a while now.

And such a man had called for a press conference, the first time ever that he did that, so which reporter worth his or her salt wouldn't be interested in that?

Noisy, noisy....

The conference venue became quite noisy, as befitting the large number of the gathered crowd. But, just like a lie, every single one of them shut their mouths as soon as Jin-Woo made his entrance.

Right away, the expectant silence filled up the venue.

Jin-Woo could feel each of the focused gazes from the reporters landing on his skin as he began addressing them.