213

Next day.

The news of various Hunters had taken over the sports newspapers from the likes of actual athletes or celebrities a long time ago. And on this particular day, a rather sensational headline found itself on one such publication's front page.

[Seong Jin-Woo and Cha Hae-In go to a theme park; birth of the strongest couple?]

The articles contained many large photos of the two people in question visiting a theme park, taken by various smartphones. The last image was of them riding on a large monster to fly off to elsewhere.

The personal affairs of these two Hunters were supposed to be protected and couldn't be reported to the public, but the boss of this particular newspaper went mad from this massive breaking news and, even under the threat of sanctions, decided to release the article nonetheless.

Of course, the response had been tremendous.

The 'scandal' concerning two rank S Hunters whose names everyone could recognise brought about renewed vitality to the psyches of everyone who was fatigued by the constant stream of articles related to the super-massive Gate in the sky.

The world's greatest Hunter and Korea's best female Hunter were dating. Obviously, people would display an incredible amount of interest in this matter.

Especially online, where the story of the two Hunters was spreading out with an even more rabid intensity.

- Hang on, if Seong Jin-Woo and Cha Hae-In marry and have a kid together, wouldn't Seong Jin-Woo Junior go around killing every single monster in the entire world?

└ Seong Jin-Woo Junior LOL

└ It's not official that they are dating, yet look at all these idiots jumping to conclusions. Tsk, tsk.

└ Going by that example, you think we got Seong Jin-Woo because his parents were both super duper top Hunters? You sound like a little kid who don't know how Hunters awaken their powers.

└ Even then, doesn't those two dating make you feel excited?

└ I wish it was true. Them having a marriage argument will be an epic encounter that flattens their surroundings. LOL

- I live in the outskirts of Seoul, and when I saw that Gate floating in the sky while travelling near Gangnam, I thought the world was coming to an end. But now that I see the Hunters going on a date like this and enjoying their lives, I feel like there's hope left for us still and I'm relieved by that.

└ This. ㅇㅈ

└ I hope TV stations will stop playing special reports on the Gate now.

└ Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim, Cha Hae-In Hunter-nim, whether it's a super-massive Gate or a super-duper-massive Gate, please stop it for us!

"Tsk, tsk."

The Chairman of the White Tiger Guild, Baek Yun-Ho, clicked his tongue and folded close the newspaper in his hand.

He wondered why Hunter Cha Hae-In's eyes were gleaming suspiciously whenever she looked at Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, and so, this here was the reason.

However, he wasn't clicking his tongue because the two of them were going on a date.

"Look at this headline. It's complete rubbish. What do they even mean, strongest couple?"

Section Chief Ahn Sahng-Min, sitting near his boss and his rather displeased expression, asked him while sounding puzzled.

"What's the matter, sir? The way I see it, Hunters Seong Jin-Woo and Cha Hae-In would definitely be worthy of the title of 'strongest couple'."

"Doesn't matter who Hunter Seong Jin-Woo dates, we'll still get the 'birth of the strongest couple' anyways, so what's the point of attaching this sort of a headline?"

'Eh?'

Now that it was said out loud, that certainly sounded logical.

Ahn Sahng-Min began placing all the female Hunters he knew next to Jin-Woo in his mind, and began nodding his head at Baek Yun-Ho's opinion.

Even if Hunter Seong was dating that high school girl Hunter, he just couldn't think of anyone capable of winning against them. None at all.

The female high school Hunter might be not much to write home about, but well, her partner would be too much of a cheat, after all.

"You're completely correct, Chairman."

"Yes, I'm telling you."

Ahn Sahng-Min nodded his head again and began sipping the coffee he bought from the vending machine not too long ago. He slowly shifted his gaze outside the window.

"By the way, this issue with fine dust is really getting serious, sir. I'm actually scared of opening the windows nowadays."

Ahn Sahng-Min frowned and got up to close the half-open window. However, Baek Yun-Ho stopped him from doing so.

"Hang on."

"Sir?"

Baek Yun-Ho stood up from his seat and walked over to Ahn Sahng-Min, before opening the window wide to reach outside.

"This.... This isn't fine dust at all."

The feeling he got at the tips of his fingers was icy cold.

This was actually a fog. Not only that, a fog that carried this extreme coldness, bitter enough to make one's bones shiver.

"This is weird."

It was only around the middle of Autumn, but to think, there would be a wintery fog enveloping the entirety of Seoul. At that moment, he felt this creepy chilling sensation brushing past the back of his neck.

Baek Yun-Ho's eyes changed to that of the 'Eyes of the Beast' and he glared outside the window. He muttered to himself, his expression hardening gradually.

"Something... something feels really off."

***

Jin-Woo was the first one to open his eyes.

Hae-In must've been exhausted from yesterday as she hadn't woken up from her sweet slumber yet.

Just how long had it been since he greeted the morning together with someone else?

Jin-Woo cautiously got up to make sure not to rouse Hae-In and walked over to the nearby forest.

'It was definitely around here....'

He found the stream he used the last time he was here and washed up. After he was done, he walked back to where Hae-In was still asleep but then....

He discovered something strange and his steps came to an abrupt halt.

'What is this....?'

There was this small tree with new buds sprouting up. One might be tempted to say that it was a plant commonly seen anywhere, but the thing was, its leaves were gently shimmering in a silvery colour.

It was a tree never before seen on Earth, in other words.

And sure enough, this strange tree was emitting a very faint amount of magical energy, something only Jin-Woo's level of sensory perception could have picked up on.

'It's not from our world.'

The plant's magical energy emission was different from that of a monster's, so it clearly wasn't one. Jin-Woo observed the tree for a little while longer, before raising his head to discover more of the same silvery leaves here and there.