Eyes

Hsup, Phusshh--

Ji-woo smoked cigarettes on an emergency and evacuation exit staircase with a window opened to let the smoke out.

Creek, Bam--

The sound of the door to the staircase drew Ji-woo's attention. He was surprised to find mister Lee was the one that was coming.

Mister Lee smiled, "I already asked one of the Demigod guild members. He said this group was the last one to visit the funeral. That's why I can come here for a short time, and you can rest easy about your mother too."

"Mister Lee can talk with them." Ji-woo meant mister Lee could chat with the Demigod guild hunters while sitting and eating various delicacies and soju.

"Nah, I'm just a porter. They wouldn't mind me that much."

Mister Lee took out his cigarette pack and smoked like Ji-woo. He then opened his mouth again.

"Although it's an unfortunate thing. It's better to die outside the Portal Gate. There is a chance the body wouldn't come out, even after the Portal Gate is closed."

Ji-woo puzzled. "Didn't mister Lee say everything that came from outside the Portal Gate will come back after the dungeon owner dies?"

"That only works if you have Dungeon Bead. Sometimes the dungeon owner didn't drop that thing when you go to a higher Portal Gate, and the hunters didn't have a choice to only leave with the remaining people that we're alive."

Ji-woo knew that they could still leave the dungeons without Dungeon Bead. But, it was the first time he knew there were some different rules between the two options.

"What if the one that kills the dungeon owner and Dungeon Bead choices are not available?"

"You will be forced out without having time to look around and have no time to get the belongings of the dead person to bring back to our world. In other words, you have no control or whatsoever.

"Well, to put it simply. Leaving with the Dungeon Bead far better than any other way."

Ji-woo became more suspicious on the Portal Gate. Dungeons that might get created from Mana; Portal Gate have a restriction on hunters. Also, the rules to leave and close the Portal Gate.

Ji-woo then shook his head, putting the problem on hold. Currently, he didn't have much evidence to prove his theory. He wanted to take it easy since he had priority over the Portal Gate concern. He stopped his thought and continued listening to mister Lee.

"They had always lived their life dancing on death's edge. It isn't unusual for them to die inside the dungeon without getting back to our world or die outside because of the Red Gate. That is the fate of the hunters since they got Mana blessings. We, humanity, can survive thanks to their effort in closing the Portal Gate and Red Gate. And I want to help them with whatever I can, even though it's only a little."

It was fascinating seeing someone so passionate about hunters when that person itself was just an ordinary person. Ji-woo admired that part from mister Lee.

Mister Lee then smiled at Ji-woo. He knew Ji-woo must be interested in the Portal Gate, especially after mister Lee knew about Eun-bi's matter. 

Mister Lee was sure Ji-woo would stay in the circle of the hunter's world. Thus, he decided to help Ji-woo if needed later on.

Mister Lee didn't think that Ji-woo would become a hunter. But, Ji-woo had a different plan. He wanted to recover his true strength so that later he could face the unknown. He might as well become a hunter, though he didn't know how since he had no Mana at all, and also, it was the only job that suited him to make money.

"I know a lot about that stuff, more than the internet. After all, this old man is a survivor from the first year of Portal Gate."

"First year of Portal Gate?"

Mister Lee was silent for a moment, then began to talk about the issue.

"It was the year of the Catastrophe. That year had the highest total casualties in the whole world, including South Korea. At that time, there were only have tens of hunters."

Ji-woo listened intently after seeing mister Lee turn gloomy.

"There is no Portal Gate. Instead, Red Gate is the one that appears countlessly.

"Creatures come out from there, scattered all over the place.

"My family is also the victim of the incident. My wife and son died before my eyes.

"I was angry and tried everything to kill them, but it was all in vain. I ran away, feeling hopeless. I thought the world would end, and no one had hope.

"Until the hunters who were deemed useless became heroes who saved humankind and the world. I envy their courage and strength to eradicate those creatures.

"Hunters who have passed the first year, almost all of them are still alive today, and some become the strongest hunters. Mostly, all of the Guild's headmasters in South Korea are hunters from that incident.

"Meanwhile, only a few people like me are still around, the ordinary one that chose to work with the hunters. The other, they are either scared or already dying because of the trauma."

Mister Lee closed his eyes after talking about the bitter experience that he had.

"I'm sorry, and also for your loss, sir."

Ji-woo felt guilty after hearing the story. It must be hard for mister Lee to overcome all of that. He knew, too, how difficult to move on when he first encountered the place called war.

A place where bloodshed, the dead, the surrounding destruction, and the loss of precious people were natural.

"It's okay. It happened years ago. We only need to close all of the Portal Gate to bring peace for this world."

Mister Lee patted Ji-woo on his back.

"I go back and check the funeral hall."

"Yes, sir. I will follow shortly."

Ji-woo was delighted to get to know mister Lee. It was better to get help from someone he knew than a stranger. After all, he was a poor man who had limited resources.

The beggars couldn't choose their food.

---- ----

All of the visitors left the funeral place.

Seol In-ah asked about Ji-woo to Jung Hyun-don on their way back.

"I'm curious about that young man."

"Pardon?"

Hyun-don was confused by his vice headmaster.

"Didn't the report say he was working as a porter with us previously?"

"Ah, that..."

Hyun-don shifted his face toward Im Taek-won.

"Huh? That young man? He's just a porter and not good at work. There's nothing strange about him."

Seol In-ah didn't inquire more from Jung Hyun-don and Im Taek-won. Those both hunters only thought of Ji-woo as an ordinary person.

It was different for Seol In-ah. She had an eye for judging people's character. She's sure Ji-woo wasn't simple, through his eyes. The eyes were familiar with bloodshed.

Now, the biggest mystery was, Seol In-ah didn't feel a tiny bit of Mana from Ji-woo.

Was it possible to have those eyes without being strong?

Impossible!

Even the serial killer that Seol In-ah saw before didn't have that kind of eyes. She remembered, only some hunters have those kinds of gazes. A hunter that already killed hundreds of thousands of creatures. A hunter, not an ordinary person.

"Do the background check on him."

"Huh!?"

"Pardon?!"

Both Hyun-don and Taek-won were shocked by their vice headmaster's request.

"That's an order.

"Do it secretly and only report directly to me. Also, don't make a mistake!"

Hyun-don and Taek-won look at each other, gulped. They then nodded at Seol In-ah, agreed with the order.

Seol In-ah left with a car, leaving behind those two hunters.

Both of the hunters still think it was not necessary to check on Ji-woo. They were confident, nothing special would come out from digging the young man's information.

Well, an order was an order, especially if it came from their Guild superiors.

---- ----

---- ----

One week has passed since the Mapo-gu incident.

Somewhere in the United Kingdom, Edinburgh. In an abandoned factory. There was a little light that lit up the room. Also, at the long table, some people were sitting like they were waiting for something.

"What's our mission next?"

"How long will we stay in the UK?"

Some of them made a fuss about their situation.

"Be quiet. Let the boss finish the phone call."

One person sat at the opposite side of them that complaining pointed at the end of the room. There was a man that seemed to have a conversation over the phone.

"Tsk!"

"Tch. So much pain in the *ss!"

After a while, there was a woman's voice speaking in the midst of silence.

"Hey, did you know South Korea has had an incident recently?"

It piqued the interest of the other people inside the room.

"What happened?"

"There is no news about that. How did you know?"

"I don't know the details. That's why I'm asking."

Everyone around the long table turned their eyes to the man standing at the end of the room.

That person turned around and walked toward the long table, then made a speech.

"The time has come.

"From now on, we don't need to move together anymore and wait until that Portal Gate appears.

"Of course, you can do whatever you want and wait for my command. Just don't die before our task is complete."

The man's icy cold gaze was similar to Kim Ji-woo's eyes. The Existence and the Obedience that walked upon the bloodshed of hundreds of thousands of massacres.

"Finally!"

"You guys heard that? He told us not to die."

Hahaha--

Gagaga--

"Stay connected to each other."

"Bye, see ya."

All of the other people around the long table get up and look at the man that just spoke. They didn't feel scared and intimidated by the man's eyes.

It was because they, too, have the same kind of eyes. The eyes that prove the hundreds of thousands living being dead in their hands.