Chapter 6
[General POV]
- 7 am, Toneri's room -
*yawn~*
After losing his day off from a sudden gate appearance yesterday, Toneri went back home and eat barbecue ribs while thinking about his Solo Leveling notes. Because of not paying attention to the barbecue, a fire broke out but it was immediately put out.
He later then continued on his notes not even bothering on sleeping, thus he slammed down on his work desk at night. Fortunately, he managed to get up and continue his sleep on his bed.
And now, it's morning.
He just woke up and his eyes are still half-closed. He stood up exercised a bit and brewed coffee.
He went to the bathroom and washed himself as well as freshened up.
After taking a shower, he exited the bathroom and started his breakfast. This is his daily routine since he moved to this house. Of course, he would not neglect his chakra control and jutsu training, he would always train those in-between schedules and free times.
He opened his phone to check his social media to, as usual, see his notifications with the 99+ sign. Inside those notifications would always contain; Mentions, tags, repost, and private messaging.
And, as usual, he ignored them and continued eating.
"Ding~"
Toneri opened his phone to check the notification and saw that there was a message. It was a private message. Normally, he would ignore them, but the name of the person who sent the message caught his attention
__________
New Message
From: Liu Zhigang (√)
__________
"Liu... Zhigang? Wait a minute..." (Toneri)
Toneri sat up and ran upstairs to find his solo leveling notes. He entered his room and went to the location he hid the notes. He took it and flipped each page, finally landing on a certain page.
"China's national-level hunter... Liu Zhigang..." (Toneri)
Toneri continued to read his notes and remembered the general idea about Liu Zhigang. He continued to flip the notes and saw more information.
'Why would a ruler's vessel contact me?'
Odd. Everything doesn't line up. He had not been in contact with Liu Zhigang ever since he came to this world. So why would he take the initiative to contact him?
'It might be a fake account...'
Toneri opened his phone and checked the profile of the person who sent the message. But unsurprisingly, the name has a '✓' symbol next to his name as well as 74M+ followers, so it wasn't a fake account...
"So it was real..." (Toneri)
Toneri clicked on the message Liu Zhigang sent and read it. What could have he sent to him?
~~~~~
7:36 am
Liu: Hey.
Liu: You interest me.
Liu: If you have some free time, come to China and fight with me for fun.
~~~~~
"..."
What the fuck?
"What in the actual living fuck is this? Did someone hack his account and sent me this? No, who has the guts to hack an S-Ranker's account?"
But the most important question is how did Liu Zhigang know he was strong when he hasn't even met? Did they need somewhere he doesn't know?
Toneri didn't know what to reply. One side of him says that he should reply and the other side says he shouldn't and be wary about why and how did Liu Zhigang know his strength.
In the end, he just sent one message.
~~~~~
7:36 am
Liu: Hey.
Liu: You interest me.
Liu: If you have some free time, come to China and fight with me for fun.
7:40 am
You: I'll have to decline, sorry. Maybe if I have the time.
~~~~~
A neutral response. It won't anger him nor it would disappoint him.
Toneri didn't wait for a reply and closed his phone. He ran back upstairs again and stored his solo leveling notes somewhere he knows no one will find them.
He returned to the living room, tidied up the place, and left his house to go clear some gates.
Then, another message rang up. It was from Chairman Go
~~~~~
Chairman: Hunter Toneri, a meeting shall be held at the Korean Hunter's association main branch at exactly 8:30 am. If possible, you are required to attend the meeting.
~~~~~
It's so obvious that Chairman Go copy+pasted this message. He probably sent the same message with different names to the other S-Rank Hunters.
"Well, I guess I'll have to attend too. Although I already know the topic of the meeting, I still want to attend."
After that, Toneri went to his car and drive off to the Korean Hunters Association main branch located in Seoul.
- Korean Hunters Association Main Branch, 8:19 am -
[Toneri's POV]
Stopping my car, I went out and saw the same building where I was evaluated. Well, technically the KSA main branch has 4 other buildings, the evaluation building was located on the western side and the general building is the front.
After parking my car, I walked towards the entrance meeting some employees on the way. They greeted me and I did the same.
Entering inside, I was met with a female employee who told me to follow her to the meeting lounge. I didn't question anything and just told her to lead the way.
Upon arriving, I saw a door in front of me which the female employee said was the door leading to the meeting lounge. I opened the door and entered.
Entering, I was met with the gazes of 14 people.
Sitting on the left side, 10 people were sitting together. Their faces alone show that they're all Japanese.
Remembering the two people I met yesterday, I searched for their faces. I saw Kiyoko and Hisoka who were sitting. And sure enough, my suspicions were correct, they were S-Rankers!
Kiyoko noticed me and waved hello. As for Hisoka, well, he only glanced at me and looked away.
I waved back at them with a faint smile. But for some reason, after doing that, I felt like someone directed their killing intent on me.
I checked the other Japanese S-Rankers to locate the person who directed their killing intent on me. I looked at them but sadly, I wasn't able to find that person as the killing intent disappeared
"Hunter Toneri." (Choi Jong-In)
Hearing my name, I turned around to see the opposite side of the wall where four people were sitting. The person who called me was Choi Jong-In
He gestured his hands towards the seat and I immediately understood. I approached their side of the seat and day there.
The four people sitting were; Choi Jong-In, Baek Yoon-Ho, Cha Hae-in, and the last one umm... I know I saw the last guy in the manhwa before, but he was there! He was wearing a white dobok, a standard uniform for a judoka.
'God, I wish I have my notes right now...'
I looked at the rest of the S-Rankers.
Yoon-Ho was silently sitting with his eyes closed and arms folded
Cha Hae-in was using her phone and covering her nose with a handkerchief while she seems to be checking a picture of Jin-Woo
And the last guy looked like he was in deep thought.
Then, Choi Jong-In started a conversation with me
"You waved at one of the Japanese hunters, have you met one of them before?" (Jong-In)
"Uhh... Yeah. I accidentally met two of them when a gate opened in the middle of a road." (Toneri)
"Hm? That's quite the first-time encounter. How were they like?" (Jong-In)
"Well, the female one was good, strength-wise. I could see that she was holding back while fighting. The other one was also good, he was quite proficient magic-wise." (Toneri)
"Hm? Why did mention two genders?" (Jong-In)
"What do you mean?" (Toneri)
Choi Jong-In didn't answer my question and just straightened his posture while smiling.
'The hell?'
I didn't manage to ask any further questions as in the next moment, a female employee came out the door leading to the meeting room
"You can all now go in." (Finale employee)
We all stood up and the four of us first entered inside, me last.
And so, the meeting about the Jeju Island raid started.
- Back after Toneri entered the meeting lounge -
[???'s POV]
So... That's Korea's new S-Ranker, Otsutsuki Toneri. His name alone proves that he's Japanese, so why would he register as a hunter here?
Could the Korean Hunters Association already have their eyes on him and kept him in this country? Or did they bribe him? Regardless, we were given the task of bringing him to the Japanese side, this task was optional and some of us agreed on taking it.
But...
He's strong. Unlike the other S-Ranks in this room, he's the only one excluding an aura of a powerful person above the S-Rank, perhaps he's between the National-level rank and S-Rank. Normally, I would have stayed on his good side and stayed neutral, but he looked at Ishida with lustful eyes.
And for some reason, Ishida greeted him like it was nothing. That flower boy might have done something to her... But I won't move for now. I know can't beat him yet because he's powerful. I'll just stay low for a while
Without me knowing, I unconsciously released a small amount of killing intent towards him. And to my surprise, he turned his head in our direction and started looking for me!
I quickly took control of my killing intent, and it worked as he looked away at the next second
'To be able to sense that small amount... He has good instincts. I better not make that mistake again.'
The door leading to the meeting room opened and someone said that we can now enter.
The Korean hunters went in first and we followed.
- After the meeting -
[Toneri's POV]
The meeting ended with all of us agreeing that we will attend the Jeju Island raid.
I have to be honest, meetings are boring as hell. I mean, I know they're important and all but whenever I attend a meeting either here or in my past life, I would occasionally doze off resulting in me being pinched by the person next to me to wake up to reality.
Well anyways, Chairman Go said that we now have our free time. I don't know what to do so maybe I'll enter a gate—
"MASTER BAEK! LET US DUEL ONCE MORE!"
My plans were interrupted when that middle-aged guy wearing a dobok shouted at Baek Yoon-Ho. And to my surprise, Yoon-Ho, who was silent until now suddenly got a fire of passion in his eyes. He smiled and shouted back
"THEN LET US DUEL AGAIN, MASTER MA! LET'S GO TO THE GYM!"
"YEAH!'
Then, they invited us to join them. I looked at the other Hunters and they all agreed and said that this was a normal occurrence when these two's fighting spirits are unleashed.
I just silently followed them as they head to the gym with a dazed expression.
'Hold on a second... This feels a bit familiar...'
'...'
Oh.
Shit.
I forgot about Jin-Woo.
'Now that I think about it... Jin-Woo might have exited the demon dungeon by now, right? And if this is going where it's supposed to be... Then Jin-Woo would be called by Chairman Go and he would meet with us here in the gym...'
And not just that but us fighting the king of ants, Beru, is coming closer. According to the description of Beru, he's focused more on speed and agility. Can I still fight him with the Tenseigan Chakra Mode? I hope I will... I feel like I'm greatly underestimating the Tenseigan Chakra Mode... But I won't overestimate it too. After all, I am a pessimistic person.
- In the Gym -
We arrived at the gym quite fast as while we were walking, Baek and the so-called master Ma suddenly got hyped and started running. We too ran after them to watch their fight
And now, the two of them are fighting while the rest of us are either spectating them or speaking with the other S-Rankers
Then, someone tapped my shoulders, which I know was coming because of my enhanced senses.
"Toneri..."
===
I wanna clear up some things. Y'all notice that there are not that many S-Rank Hunters in Solo Leveling? Maybe because the original mc hasn't visited other countries yet or there really are few S-Rankers
So, in my fanfic, I decided to add more S-Rankers, but don't worry, I won't add too much!
The reason for this? Well, I might use some OC hunters so the mc can have fellow S-Rank friends :)
(As well as for other projects)
Also, the reason I upload 2 chapters per week is due to either of these or all of them:
1) homework
2) Other novels I'm writing
3) No motivation
4) Tight schedule