Chapter 137
“The Once Icy Lands of Facade”
—At one point, our Facade Republic was on the brink of turning into one massive Gate.
The Facade Republic President’s speech was broadcasted worldwide, reaching the Facade citizens who had fled to safety.
—But people of Facade! You can rest assured now. The Ice Age has ended!
Just as the speech declared, the moment the Apostle of the Itarim was eradicated, the countless Gates riddling Facade like tattered holes began closing at an astonishing rate.
As a result, the bitter cold that had seeped through those openings vanished without a trace.
The field-type dungeons that had been eroded by mana also started to shrink rapidly.
—The Ice Age has ended!
As the President proclaimed, Facade was now safe.
However, not all the Gates had closed.
Just one remained.
Even after dimensional stability was restored, a single Gate leading to the Glacier Dungeon was still intact.
To close that Gate, the monsters within the Glacier Dungeon had to be eradicated.
But now that Suho had acquired exclusive ownership of the dungeon, no one could enter without his permission.
In other words, from this point forward, the Glacier Dungeon would be an autonomous territory solely for the Ice Elves.
Even so, the people of Facade remained uneasy.
They were still forced to live with a ticking time bomb, never knowing when another dungeon break might occur.
That was precisely why the Scavenger Guild’s involvement was necessary.
The largest guild in America, the Scavenger Guild, officially announced that they would guard the entrance to the Glacier Dungeon while also conducting excavation operations.
With this, the Facade citizens who had taken refuge overseas could finally return home in peace.
—On behalf of the entire nation, we express our deepest gratitude to the Scavenger Guild for saving the Facade Republic.
[Kieeek! What a bunch of ignorant fools!]
Beru had been grinding his teeth the entire way to the airport, clearly displeased with the Facade President’s speech.
[This is absolutely outrageous!]
[Indeed, Master! They don’t even know who truly saved them and are giving all the credit to the wrong people!]
“Well, that was the deal, after all. Besides, this outcome benefits us too.”
Even though he fully understood the contract’s terms, Beru and Quay continued their tirade, their frustrations in sync. Suho could only smirk in amusement.
Shortly after, the Scavenger Guild officially declared that they had successfully conquered the Glacier Dungeon, reaping substantial intangible benefits from their claim.
As planned by Laura, the Scavenger Guild took on the burdensome duties of managing the dungeon, while simultaneously elevating their brand value.
Meanwhile, the true contributors to the dungeon’s resolution—Cha Hae-In and Suho, the rightful sole proprietor of the Glacier Dungeon—remained hidden from the public eye.
This was entirely by their own request.
Neither of them enjoyed being the center of attention, and at the moment, diverting focus away from themselves was a strategic necessity.
“Don’t complain too much. If another Apostle of the Itarim is lurking somewhere, we need to ensure their attention is drawn toward the Scavenger Guild instead.”
Thomas Andre, who had come to see Suho off at the airport, grinned as he tried to placate Beru and Quay.
Then, gesturing toward Suho with his thumb, he said,
“Leave it to me. Until this brat grows as strong as his old man, I’ll be his shield. I may have been a burden this time, but don’t forget—I was once the strongest tank of humanity.”
And indeed, Thomas Andre had once endured even the breath attack of Kamish, the Red Dragon, a monster hailed as the mightiest of all. He was worthy of the title humanity’s strongest tank.
[Strongest of humanity, my foot.]
[Just don’t go getting yourself bewitched somewhere again.]
“Hah! You little punks… What’s with the constant disrespect? Do Shadow Soldiers not know how to respect their elders these days?”
Beru and Quay immediately shot back, but Thomas Andre merely chuckled.
And then—
“Suho.”
A large, calloused hand extended toward him for a handshake.
It belonged to Thomas Andre.
“…Thanks.”
The simple words held a depth of emotion.
Suho looked up, meeting the gaze of the muscular, silver-haired man.
There was a relieved expression on his face.
It was the look of a man who had resolved an old burden and had finally found the path he needed to walk.
Suho smirked and firmly grasped the enormous hand.
“Same here.”
The hand was as solid as stone, surprising Suho slightly.
The rough texture, hardened with calluses, was proof of years of relentless training—a badge of honor earned through sheer perseverance.
At the same time, those calluses were also a lethal weapon, enabling him to hold onto his enemy and his weapon no matter the situation.
But that wasn’t what truly shocked Suho.
‘…Father’s hands were just like this.’
No, if anything, his father’s hands had been even rougher.
Suho glanced at his own hands, still too soft in comparison.
Then, Laura adjusted her glasses and spoke.
“Hunter Sung Suho, as soon as you return to Korea, please establish your guild as quickly as possible.”
“…Ah, yes.”
“We sincerely ask for your cooperation. As you know, our contract is between guilds. Hunter Sung Suho must establish a guild for the agreement to take full effect.”
By law, dungeon ownership rights could not be purchased by an individual.
For now, the Scavenger Guild was temporarily handling it, but unless Suho formed an official guild, complications would arise.
“I heard that forming a guild in Korea requires at least twenty dungeon raids worth of experience. If there’s anything we can do to help with that…”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I have another way.”
“…?”
At Suho’s words, Laura momentarily furrowed her brows in confusion.
Then, as she thought about it, a particular piece of information surfaced in her mind.
There was, in fact, a lesser-known alternative method to satisfy Korea’s guild formation requirements—one that wasn’t commonly used.
“Villain Hunting”
“Are you seriously planning to fulfill the experience requirement through villain hunting?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
At Suho’s response, Laura’s expression grew even more perplexed.
“Wouldn’t that take even longer? It’s not like high-bounty villains are just roaming the streets…”
“Oh, but they are. These days.”
“……?”
—
Back in Korea.
The moment Suho stepped off Yoo Jinho’s private jet, he could feel the shift in Korea’s atmosphere.
—Next up, we have news on Jisan Prison.
Screens throughout the airport were broadcasting a breaking news report with an anchor speaking in a grave tone.
—Jisan Prison, established two years ago by the Hunter Association, was a facility dedicated to villain containment, created under the strict policies of Chairman Woo Jin-Cheol…
“Tsk. The whole country is in an uproar because of that mess right now.”
Walking beside Suho, Yoo Jinho clicked his tongue as he glanced at the news.
Korea had long been known for its excellent public safety, a reputation largely owed to Woo Jin-Cheol’s aggressive anti-villain policies when he took charge of the Hunter Association.
One of his most prominent achievements was the establishment of Jisan Prison.
“Suho, you might not have paid much attention to this kind of stuff, but Jisan Prison wasn’t originally a facility exclusively for villains.”
As the head of a major corporation, Yoo Jinho naturally had to stay informed about national affairs, and he was well aware of the prison’s history.
“Our country’s prisons are categorized into security levels ranging from S1 to S5. Jisan Prison was designated for S5 criminals—the ones with the longest sentences.”
“So it wasn’t originally meant just for villains?”
“Exactly. But strangely enough, the criminals Woo Jin-Cheol sent there started awakening as Hunters, one by one.”
At first, people dismissed it as mere coincidence.
After all, there was no rule saying that prisoners couldn’t awaken.
But the pattern kept repeating.
Soon, the majority of the inmates at Jisan Prison had awakened.
“That led to all sorts of wild theories—people claimed the land itself had some kind of mystical property, or that the prison secretly housed a method to artificially awaken Hunters…”
At one point, criminals desperate to awaken as Hunters even voluntarily surrendered just to be incarcerated in Jisan Prison.
However, once the initial batch of inmates—those personally captured by Woo Jin-Cheol—finished awakening, the later arrivals found themselves waiting in vain.
They had willingly walked into prison, only to realize they would never awaken.
Instead, they ended up trapped among actual villains, trembling in fear as they served their sentences.
That absurd turn of events led to another theory:
Maybe it wasn’t the prison that turned people into Hunters, but rather, Woo Jin-Cheol himself had the ability to recognize those who were destined to awaken.
“Turns out, it wasn’t just that he could recognize them—he already knew who would awaken.”
Yoo Jinho let out a smirk.
It wasn’t difficult to cross-check who would become a Hunter.
Those who had awakened in the lost timeline were awakening again in the current timeline.
Even their Hunter Ranks remained the same—S-Rank Hunters were once again S-Rank, E-Ranks remained E-Rank.
So Woo Jin-Cheol had simply rounded up all the criminals who were destined to awaken and imprisoned them together.
That way, when they did awaken, they would already be in a controlled environment.
“The problem is, he couldn’t predict exactly what kind of abilities these villains would awaken with.”
And that…
led to the current disaster.
—Two days ago, a mass riot broke out at Jisan Prison, and all awakened inmates escaped. Their whereabouts remain unknown.
—The Association has formally classified them as Villains and issued an emergency cooperation request to all Hunters nationwide.
“…You’re telling me all the villains from Jisan Prison escaped?”
“It’s possible that word got out about Chairman Woo Jin-Cheol’s deployment to North Korea. Not only him, but several S-Rank Hunters from the Association were sent there as well. The villains probably saw this as their golden opportunity.”
Jisan Prison had always been strictly guarded, and the information regarding its security was highly classified.
But since no one knew exactly what abilities those criminals had awakened, there was no way to completely prevent leaks.
If they had found a way to learn about Woo Jin-Cheol’s absence, then…
The villains must have decided this was the perfect time to break out.
“We’ve come to the same conclusion, Hunter Sung Suho.”
A familiar voice called out from behind.
When Suho and Yoo Jinho turned around, they found Team Leader Han Jaehyuk of the Hunter Association waiting for them.
“It’s a relief that you made it back safely.”
The moment Han Jaehyuk saw Suho, he let out a sigh of relief.
Lately, overseas mega-guilds had been actively poaching talented Korean Hunters.
And considering that Suho had been practically abducted by Thomas Andre, Han Jaehyuk had been terrified that Suho might actually join the Scavenger Guild.
That would have been a major loss for Korea.
Especially since he had personally witnessed Suho matching Thomas Andre in a contest of strength.
A Hunter of Suho’s caliber being taken by an American guild would have been devastating.
‘They must have offered him insane benefits… and yet he still turned them down to return home.’
Han Jaehyuk misunderstood the situation completely.
In his mind, Suho had refused America’s temptations out of patriotic loyalty.
“You returned at just the right time.”
“Of course. I couldn’t miss an opportunity like this—Hunter Sung Suho is now officially participating in the villain hunt.”
Han Jaehyuk looked relieved.
The news broadcast continued, providing more details about the prison break.
—The mastermind behind this mass escape has been identified as C-Rank Villain ‘Hwang Dongseok.’
At that moment—
“Now, then.”
Standing with his back to the screen, Suho locked eyes with Han Jaehyuk.
His gaze had already shifted.
Gone was the calm observer—his eyes now gleamed with the thrill of the hunt.
“So tell me…”
His lips curled into a smirk.
“How many do I have to catch to become a Guild Master?”
