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Sometime roughly between ten minutes and fifteen minutes later, Jin-Woo's Shadows were done. Before him, Fanzer, and Ichigo, was an absolutely massive pile of mana crystals and Lucentials. And beyond that, the bodies of hundreds upon hundreds of Constructs were strewn about. All in all, it was roughly 600 mana crystals and a thousand Lucentials.

Jin-Woo noticed Fanzer and Ichigo slowly rising from their sleep. Fanzer was the first to leap up, abruptly surprised by the remaining treasures before him.

"Holy hell, we'll be rich forever! Wahoo, this is more than enough to—"

Jin-Woo peeked open an eye, smiling. "It isn't just for us. A lot of Hunters have been hurt by Yogumunt's actions. We can't take 100% of this."

Fanzer suddenly deflated. "Aww, so you just left this huge pile of riches to tease us. You're a monster, a monster! That's just messed—"

Jin-Woo's smile grew larger, "But you can take this." The Shadow Sovereign tossed Longshen's mana crystal towards Fanzer. The Thief scrambled to catch the mana crystal, holding it tight within his grasp when he did. He slowly opened his hand and stared at the crimson red crystal.

Fanzer looked at Jin-Woo with wide eyes, his gaze glistening. "You'll really give this to me?! But…."

Jin-Woo shrugged, "You took Longshen out, so that should be rightfully yours. Ichigo."

The Gourmet glanced towards Jin-Woo, who then tossed her Kali and Nyx's mana crystals. She caught both in a single swipe, giving Jin-Woo a somber look. "Did they…?"

Jin-Woo shook his head. "They chose to join Yogumunt — Yama, now — in the Shadow army."

Fanzer blinked at Jin-Woo. "Wait, the Shadow army…? Doesn't that mean…."

Jin-Woo grinned, feeling a bit proud, "You're both looking at the new Shadow Sovereign, given the personal blessing of Ashborn himself."

Fanzer's mouth hung open. Ichigo seemed more confused than anything, but even she could notice the importance of Jin-Woo's statement.

"You're… but… how… I just…." Fanzer stumbled for a moment before closing his mouth and just simply staring.

Jin-Woo simply shrugged, rising from his spot with a small stretch. "I'll be giving Uriel's to Cha, and Beelzebub's to Goto."

Ichigo nodded, raising her fingers to follow along. "So, you'll probably keep Yogumunt's?"

Jin-Woo confirmed her question with a nod.

"But then, what about Enkidu and Lilith's?"

Jin-Woo was quiet for a moment before shaking his head with a small smile. "Those two are now being living their own lives, amongst humanity."

Ichigo's eyes widened. "What?! What do you mean?!"

Jin-Woo scratched the side of his head. "I could sense humanity rising within them, and I didn't feel much like killing them. So, we gave them a warning, and they were released. Even I don't know where they are now."

Ichigo slowly nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. "I'm… glad. I didn't want those two to be killed."

Fanzer shrugged at the words, holding up Longshen's mana crystal. "More importantly, what's happening with all of these corpses?"

Jin-Woo walked to Fanzer's side, looking out at numerous monster corpses. They could be used to make armor, weapons, or other valuables if they were within the right hands. Jin-Woo had little doubt that he could eventually use all the corpses efficiently, but he doubted whether he should, rather than if he could.

"Honestly, I don't know what to do. If at all possible, I'll just dump the bodies at the Headhunter's Headquarters and say it was from the Shadow Sovereign. Or I'll give it to Miyoung, or something. I'll think about it later," Jin-Woo shrugged. "More importantly, the Hunters Guild and the Draw Sword Guild both succeeded in defeating this raid. They deserve some mana crystals for it."

Without moving, Jin-Woo's shadow expanded out from underneath him.

Fanzer yelped at the sudden darkening of the ground. Ichigo simply looked at it with wide, bright eyes.

Suddenly, the massive pile of mana crystals and Lucentials lowered into the shadows.

"H-Huh?!" Fanzer reached out, trying to grasp even one of the crystals. However, he couldn't reach them in time, all of them being sucked into the darky expanse. Fanzer's eyes shot up towards Jin-Woo, wide and shocked, "H-How'd you do that?!"

Jin-Woo grinned, whistling coyly, "After you stole Legacy, I didn't just sit and twiddle my thumbs."

Fanzer groaned at Jin-Woo's lack of explanation, but Jin-Woo just looked away, glancing at the screen before him.

[Inventory has been fused with Mana of Death. The user's shadow is now connected to their Inventory.]

Ichigo launched a detailed investigation of the ground before Jin-Woo's shadow reverted to normal.

Fanzer let out a cry of disbelief, but Jin-Woo just sighed. He nodded his head, looking at his friends for a moment. After a moment, they returned his gaze. With synchronized nods, a swirling portal opened where they originally entered.

"We're finally done, so let's go back," Jin-Woo smiled.

And then they left Sunjeon behind, returning to Earth.

-----

On the other side of the Gate, the moon hung beautifully within the sky. The streets were covered with festive decorations. Snowmen, and candy canes, and lights of all sorts.

It wasn't a different sight from before, rather, it was just a sight Jin-Woo had ignored beforehand. In the festive spirit, everything was beautiful and snow-white.

The moon was also high in the sky. When the group entered the Gate, the sun was still up, and it was around noon. Now, it was clearly somewhere between midnight and 1 am. A quick check of Jin-Woo's phone confirmed that it was ten minutes past midnight.

But that passage of time didn't logically make much sense. Jin-Woo was positive no more than two hours passed since they entered the Gate. With the 1-to-24-time distortion, the Hunters should've been able to leave the Gate as if they'd only entered it less than ten minutes prior. Even if that distortion was ignored, twelve hours has passed when only two should've.

That just didn't make—

Jin-Woo sighed.

He was moving on the assumption that time could only be slowed in Gates, not sped up. He mentally called out to Yama, posing him a question.

The scientist responded abruptly, "Before my death, I was asked by Pandora to speed up time drastically. I didn't ask why, but I assume it was because of this festive day you humans call 'Christmas.'"

Jin-Woo pursed his lips.

Yama continued, "So, while time flowed slowly at first, it flowed much faster in the moments before I attacked you all in the castle."

Jin-Woo tried to find a reason for Pandora's action. She wanted him to become stronger, that he knew, but why? Was this connected to that? If it was, how?

Then, a different, nicer thought came to his mind. When Pandora left, she was not Pandora. Rather, she was Julie. As such, when Yogumunt talked to Pandora, it may've been Julie instead.

Julie may've been restricted by Pandora, but she was also up there. With that in mind, Jin-Woo viewed the situation a bit differently.

For Julie, who seemed restricted in what she could say or do, bringing Christmas day a step closer may've been the closest thing to a gift she could give him.

Jin-Woo wondered if that was even remotely the case but felt something telling him that he was right. The thought brought a small smile to his face.

Pulling himself from his thoughts, Jin-Woo's attention fell to what was before him.

Cha sat on a bench, looking like she was beginning to dose off. She was wearing a large coat, keeping her cool in the freezing winds. Fanzer and Ichigo coated their bodies in mana, defending themselves against the cold weather.

Despite their comfortability, they looked to Jin-Woo, expressions worried. Fanzer took a deep breath and prepared to expand his mana further, but Jin-Woo just held his hand up, halting the Thief's actions.

To put it into scientific terms, Mana of Life was exothermic. It often canceled the environment's weather or conditions to bring the user into their top condition. As such, any Hunter who could manipulate their mana could stand up in several different environments.

On the other hand, Mana of Death was endothermic. It absorbed the environment's condition, often cursing the user in a worse state than they started in. Because of that, Jin-Woo was very susceptible to the elements.

So, it would be expected that he'd be cold, standing in nothing more than a severely torn shirt and pants that were barely holding themselves together, in the middle of winter.

However, he stood straight and tall, unbothered and unflinching.

He blinked, expecting to be cold, but feeling no such thing. Rather, he felt like it was a perfectly relaxed fall evening, with a smooth breeze that only barely gave him a soothing whisper of coolness.

"Huh. Not cold anymore, that's neat," Jin-Woo blinked. He didn't know if that shift was a result of Shadow's Body, his Class Promotion, or something else, but the result of the change was more than satisfying for the young man.

Fanzer opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Cha shuffled, opening her eyes and sort of jumping, like she just realized where she was. She took a heavy breath, breathing out slowly. She rose from her spot with a small, professional smile.

Her frizzy hair and her undereye bags didn't help the image, but that seemed unimportant after the massive event that was Yogumunt's Gate. Cha took a moment glancing between the three. Her eyes scanned over them very methodically, ending on Jin-Woo.

"So, you three are okay," she mentioned after a few minutes. "That's good."

Jin-Woo nodded, a gentle smile on his face. "Yeah, we're alright."

Cha let out a small huff, digging into the jacket pocket and taking some papers out. She handed one to Jin-Woo, one to Ichigo, and one to Fanzer.

Jin-Woo checked the paper, noting the few phone numbers on the paper. Ichigo and Fanzer did the same, looking confused. Jin-Woo put the pieces together, looking up to Cha with a small nod.

Sensing the others' confusion, Cha explained. "They're my, Choi, and Goto's phone numbers. It's Christmas Day, and while a lot of us don't care to celebrate, we won't force you all to come in for that. These numbers are to stay in contact. We'll meet back on the 26th, at the Draw Sword Guild."

Ichigo oohed and Fanzer nodded.

Cha gave them a satisfied grunt before turning and beginning to stroll away. She stopped about ten feet away, looking over her shoulder with a small smile. The slight red of her cheeks made her look gorgeous. "Oh, Merry Christmas, Jin-Woo."

The Necromancer's brain took a second to catch up before he laughed and gave the woman a smile back, "Merry Christmas, Cha."

Then, the woman turned around and left, a small additional pep in her step.

Fanzer oohed dramatically, raising his eyebrows. "So, when did that happen, hm?"

Jin-Woo tsked, looking away with a roll of his eyes, "Nothing happened, dumbass."

Fanzer raised his eyebrows even higher, nestling up against Jin-Woo, "Sure, boss. Nothing at all. Just a super attractive woman looking at our resident Greek God and telling him 'Merry Christmas, Jin-Woo.'"

Jin-Woo grunted, "Greek God, what the hell are you—"

Fanzer gasped, taking a hand and slapping it against Jin-Woo's stomach. Or rather, the hand just hit Jin-Woo's abs. "Come on, man! No way you've just ignored how atrociously attractive you are! That's a goddamn travesty, I'll tell you!"

Jin-Woo rolled his eyes, glancing over at Ichigo, who was being oddly silent. "What's up?"

Ichigo slowly blinked, "What present are you gonna get your little sister?"

Fanzer suddenly stopped ribbing into Jin-Woo, blinking. "Oh shoot, yeah. I don't have to think about a present for Lolikiano since we don't ever celebrate Christmas together. But you've gotta get a present for Jino, right?"

Jin-Woo was quiet for a minute, and his friends saw that as an opportunity to continue. Fanzer spoke first, tapping his chin inquisitively.

"Jin-Woo, what kind of present would your little sister like anyway? Money's always a good option, right?"

"No, no, she's gotta like food! We've gotta get her some Japanese exclusives!"

"And how would we get those foods to her in time? Besides, it's like 1 am, what good food places are even open right about now, right, Jin-Woo?"

As Ichigo and Fanzer went back and forth, Jin-Woo laughed awkwardly, "I guess, I don't really know. It's been years since we even celebrated Christmas together, and all that time ago, it was my mother who thought of the gifts."

Ichigo and Fanzer traded looks. Fanzer shrugged.

"Well, I guess it's time to go with ye ol' faithful. When all else fails…." Fanzer began.

"Buy everything!" Ichigo cheered, pumping her fist into the air.

Jin-Woo sighed, but he couldn't ignore the smile rising to his face. "Alright, let's go with that plan. Let's make this Jino's best Christmas ever!"

""Right!""

The three Hunters got to work immediately, splitting up their jobs to become machines of efficiency. Tokyo was still alive even in the wee hours of the morning, and they abused that. Fanzer traded in some Lucentials, and they didn't have to worry even the slightest bit about money.

Money wasn't an issue, and because of Yama's incredible Gate Manipulation, even transportation was of no concern. A few hours later, the group had a volley of gifts together. It was enough to completely block Jin-Woo and Ichigo's faces, who were actually carrying the presents.

Jin-Woo could've had Shion, Beelzebub, Yama, or any of his other Shadows carry the presents, but he wanted to do it on his own. It wasn't just the act of getting Jino gifts that he wanted to participate in, but he also wanted to deal with a bit of the inconvenience.

It was an illogical thought process, especially when he had an Inventory where he could store the objects. Still, it wasn't like the objects were ridiculously hard to carry either way, his supernatural strength helping him immensely.

"Yama, if you will," Jin-Woo huffed, carefully balancing the totem pole of gifts he was carrying.

A swirling portal of purple appeared before them. Jin-Woo spent a second Observing the portal. In the past, any attempts to Observe a Gate came up with question marks, but now….

[Gate]

[Created By: Yama]

[A stationary portal created by carefully manipulating an abundance of mana and creating a tunnel between two differing locations. This process can bridge two continents or two planets in an instant, if the user can manage to manipulate enough mana to accomplish such a feat. It becomes more difficult to create a Gate as the mana of other beings interferes with the process. In order to pass through a Gate, one must forfeit themselves to the Gate's mana, making it impossible to attack whilst traveling through a Gate.]

Now it was possible for Jin-Woo to see the information. And that information was incredibly intriguing.

Yama's ability to create Gates was incredible. Jin-Woo's first thoughts when finding such an ability were how it would affect his combat, especially when added to Shadow Teleportation. However, this confirmation rained on his parade.

It was new information to him, but it was also something he'd just never paid attention to before. His consistent skills — like Umbra Aura — were canceled when crossing one of Yama's Gates. It was a fairly easy thing for him to ignore, just because he could reactivate the skills easily enough.

However, this information more importantly meant that Jin-Woo couldn't just open a Gate on his enemies and rain down attacks as an opening move. That was more than a bit disappointing, but he shrugged it off.

He shrugged a shoulder towards the Gate, "It'll lead straight to my family's apartment. On we go."

Jin-Woo led the three, walking through the Gate with a special pep in his step. A blink later, he emerged in his apartment, that was still… absolutely destroyed by Yogumunt's attack. That was a disappointing reality to suddenly face after all he'd gone through.

Fanzer and Ichigo stepped through a few seconds after and had a similar reaction to Jin-Woo's, wincing.

The three just stood for a moment, not speaking. Shion and Yama rose from the shadows, the former taking Jin-Woo's load of gifts while the latter kneeled silently. The latter Shadow's self-placed frustration was palpable, but Jin-Woo laid a hand on his shoulder, and the Shadow fell away.

Jin-Woo slowly stepped over the debris sitting around the room, stopping at a table leaned up against one of the walls. He carefully brushed aside loose glass as he picked up a family portrait.

It was his family on a vacation to an amusement park, smiling. More importantly, it was his entire family. His mother and father were in the back, their arms wrapped around his and his younger sister's shoulders.

He spent a moment just admiring the picture in silence. He took a deep breath before taking the picture from its broken frame and storing it in his Inventory. He carefully walked around and stored any other valuables he could find. Pictures, family cookbooks, a handcrafted chess set, things like that.

He even found a box that was… not something he'd ever seen before. He opened it, carefully Observed what was inside, and stored it in his Inventory. A small smile rose to his face as he had a sudden shift in plans.

He turned back to Fanzer, Ichigo, and Shion.

"Okay, so, we obviously can't do this here. Any options come to your minds?" Jin-Woo asked.

Fanzer and Ichigo glanced between one another before the former spoke. "Well, if funds aren't an issue, and if distance isn't an issue, we could basically go… anywhere, right?"

Jin-Woo opened his mouth before closing it. His first reaction was to say that money was obviously a problem, but that just… wasn't true. With so many mana crystals, Lucentials, equipment, and more to spare, Jin-Woo could be as frivolous with his money as he desired.

That didn't mean frivolousness was suddenly easy.

So, he turned to what he knew. Or more specifically, who he knew. Namely, an extremely powerful woman who Jin-Woo had a feeling would be on his side.

The Chairwoman of the Korean Hunters Association, Goh Miyoung.