Chapter 77
While the world was abuzz over the appearance of a Legendary Title holder, the South Korean government found itself with a fire at its feet.
Despite the late hour, an emergency response meeting was convened by presidential decree, and numerous important figures began to crowd the main conference hall of the Hunters Association.
[Emergency Response Meeting for the Legendary Title Holder Incident]
“Are the preparations going well?”
“President, you’ve arrived.”
At the appearance of Kang Doo-hyuk, the head of the South Korean Hunters Association, the people preparing for the meeting bowed their heads.
“You were all probably happy to have gone home for the day, but please bear with it a little longer. Wait—can I borrow Chief Jang for a moment?”
“Of course. We’ve long been prepared for a situation like this, so the setup shouldn’t take much longer.”
“Then I’ll leave you to it. Chief Jang, follow me.”
“Yes, sir!”
Inside the main conference hall, seating for over a hundred people was being arranged around a central podium.
President Kang Doo-hyuk took his seat closest to the podium, where a name card marked the spot with “President.”
“Chief Jang, did you bring everything you have on the fellow named Bang Hyuk-min?”
“Yes. It’s right here.”
“That was fast, considering the interview just ended.”
“Just in case, I already had data on everyone in South Korea with the name Bang Hyuk-min, so it didn’t take long.”
“The Association is full of competent people. I trusted you would handle it well.”
President Kang Doo-hyuk carefully read through the file on Bang Hyuk-min, the newly minted Legendary Title holder.
He was a man of venerable age, nearing seventy, with an endlessly warm impression.
However, contrary to that impression, an indescribable aura emanated from him.
In particular, the long scar on his cheek made Chief Jang bow his head even lower.
“Are you scared?”
“Ah, no, sir.”
On top of that, the president’s comment—like it could see straight through a person’s heart—made him even harder to face.
“How many times have you and I met alone?”
“This is the second time, sir.”
“I see. Don’t be afraid. I’m just a very cautious person.”
“Yes, sir.”
The document he’d been reading so intently was already nearing its final page.
The detailed personal information on that last page made President Kang Doo-hyuk click his tongue.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. So that’s why.”
“Is there some kind of problem, sir?”
“A problem? Yes. A very big one.”
Closing the file, President Kang Doo-hyuk looked around the conference hall.
The room was already more than half full.
He quietly gestured to Chief Jang, then pointed to someone sitting at the very back of the hall.
“The problem might just disappear if we kick that person out.”
“Who are you referring to, sir…?”
“That person over there, in military uniform.”
It wasn’t difficult to spot him. He was the only one in a Republic of Korea Army uniform among a sea of suits.
After checking the seating chart and personnel list, Chief Jang looked at President Kang Doo-hyuk with a horrified expression.
“Th-that person over there is…”
“The commander of the Divine Power Unit, Wi Gwakdu, correct?”
“It’s not that. That person is—”
“I’m joking. How could I kick him out? He’s the commander of the Divine Power Unit, of all things.”
In that moment, Chief Jang recalled what the president had said earlier.
His eyes widened.
President Kang Doo-hyuk, having read his mind, sighed and shook his head.
“It seems we’ll have to drastically change our plans. The moment it was confirmed he hasn’t completed his military service, the game was already lost.”
“Then the plan to forcibly register him for the advancement of the Hunters Association is…”
“Impossible, I’d say.”
“It’s, it’s alright, sir. Two years will fly by. After just two years, he’ll eventually—”
Chief Jang trailed off.
Letting out a snort, President Kang Doo-hyuk patted his shoulder.
“Do you really think the Minister of National Defense and Wi Gwakdu will use him for just two years and then hand him over? They’ll do whatever it takes to make him sign on for good.”
Chief Jang flinched as President Kang Doo-hyuk rose from his seat.
“Sir, the meeting is about to start…”
“It’s a lost game anyway. Is there any need for me to sit here? The vice president will take my place.”
“But…”
“If I’m not here, who will handle the Jeonsin problem?”
“Ah…”
Chief Jang was well aware of the Jeonsin incident—how a dignitary had visited South Korea, only to turn back for some reason.
If one looked into the details, it was unequivocally South Korea’s fault.
It might have seemed like overkill for President Kang Doo-hyuk to handle it personally, but it was also the surest way.
“At times like this, I wish I had two bodies.”
He rose with a bitter expression, disappointed that he couldn’t participate in the meeting.
Then he struck the floor with the steel staff he carried daily, and a small door materialized before his eyes.
“Well then, good luck.”
The small door opened, revealing the interior of the president’s private office.
As he stepped inside, the door shut firmly.
Right before everyone’s eyes, the small door vanished as if it had never been there.
Chief Jang stood there with slumped shoulders, and the president was gone.
“Hmph.”
A smile crept onto the lips of Wi Gwakdu, who had watched the entire scene.
= = =
Back at the lodging where Bang Hyuk-min’s party was staying.
Ding.
Hyuk-min’s phone chimed, and the information Hwang Ji-young had sent about Wi Gwakdu and the Divine Power Unit appeared for all to see.
“It’s here!”
The Divine Power Unit.
A special forces unit based in South Korea—a secret unit that belonged to no official command structure.
Battalion, regiment, brigade, division.
It wasn’t placed under any of them. It was an independent unit directly under the President and the Minister of National Defense, taking orders only from them.
That was the Divine Power Unit.
Their reason for existence—their primary mission—was solely to clear Dungeons.
“Huh? What kind of special forces unit only clears Dungeons? You can just have hunters do that.”
One might think so, but to be precise, their job was to clear and eliminate the most dangerous Dungeons—those that posed a direct threat to the nation or its civilians.
To date, among the Dungeons they had handled, none were below S-rank.
They were a special Dungeon-clearing unit that only took on Dungeons with the highest casualty rates and worst difficulty levels—each one tantamount to a national crisis.
But the truly frightening thing about the Divine Power Unit was something else.
They had participated in wars, in one form or another, a total of three times.
Three wartime deployments.
In this day and age, it was an insane record.
And an additional, astonishing fact.
Wi Gwakdu, who was serving consecutive terms as the commander of the Divine Power Unit, had been through two of those wars and survived both.
Just then, as if a terrible thought had struck him, No Death’s jaw dropped as he looked at Hyuk-min.
“You haven’t done your military service, have you?”
When Hyuk-min silently nodded, No Death spoke with a dazed expression, as if he’d figured something out.
“They’re planning to stick you in the Divine Power Unit. They’re going to work you to the bone because you’re a Legendary Title holder.”
“I know.”
“And you’re this calm? Wi Gwakdu is coming here himself to grab you, you know. Don’t take this lightly. That monster Wi Gwakdu is a veteran of veterans who survived two wars. He’s on a completely different level from us. The fights we’ve had are nothing but child’s play to him.”
“I suppose so.”
“Your voice sounds a little strange. I’m telling you, he’s a man who’s been through war.”
“What’s with you? Acting like you’ve never been in a war.”
“No, what’s with you? Acting like you have been in a war.”
No Death’s expression turned serious at the winner’s smile that subtly formed on Hyuk-min’s lips.
“What’s with that look? When have you ever been in a war? You were just a student during the last one, weren’t you?”
‘War? I’ve been through it.’
‘Countless times, at the end of my previous life.’
‘That stele is still vivid in my mind.’
After that stele appeared, disputes erupted all over the world for no clear reason, and those emotional rifts eventually led to war.
Hyuk-min survived in the midst of that war, and in the process of surviving again and again, he was betrayed and met his death.
But right now, that wasn’t what mattered.
“But something’s strange.”
“What’s strange? The war?”
“The first war Wi Gwakdu supposedly experienced.”
The Australian Desert Demon Wave.
“The Divine Power Unit hadn’t been founded at the time of that war, so why is it listed as part of their deployment history?”
It was the worst of wars—a conflict that lasted six years and killed some forty thousand people.
But it had happened twenty-two years ago, long before the Divine Power Unit was founded fifteen years ago. It was from before the unit even existed.
When Hyuk-min voiced the question, No Death’s expression grew grave.
“Ah, now I get it. You guys didn’t feel how serious this was because you didn’t know this, did you? The Divine Power Unit originally had a different name.”
“You’re saying it’s not a fifteen-year-old unit?”
“Fifteen years? Hell no, it’s over fifty years old. Its original name was the Karma Unit.”
At the words “Karma Unit,” Hyuk-min’s eyes widened.
“The Karma Unit!?”
“I knew you’d know, Hyuk-min. The Karma Unit should get this kind of reaction. Now do you feel the gravity of the situation? You know the international dungeon defense organization, GOPC (Global Organization for the Protection of Countries), right? The world’s top unit, created by them. The Divine Power Unit is a derivative of that Karma Unit, officially recognized by the GOPC. And Wi Gwakdu is the commander of that Divine Power Unit. Are you starting to get it now?”
If someone was said to have been a member of the Karma Unit, they were respected all over the world.
The wars they fought were all disaster-level events, and without them, this world wouldn’t be in such good shape.
Their emblem—a blue Earth pin—was so influential that even now, merely possessing one granted benefits anywhere in the world. The Karma Unit’s impact was truly immense.
And now, Wi Gwakdu, who was on his way here, was not only a former Karma Unit member—he also commanded a unit derived from it.
Ding.
The timing couldn’t have been worse.
Just as everyone stared at Hyuk-min’s phone, a text from Hwang Ji-young arrived.
[Wi Gwakdu. 3 hours until arrival at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport.]
[Confirmed that he knows your current location is Leshan.]
“Shit… Bang Hyuk-min, what are you going to do now?”
No Death’s face turned pale.
Even if he was South Korea’s top agent, Wi Gwakdu had played on the world stage.
He operated on a completely different scale. Even in No Death’s eyes, he was a true monster.
“But wait a minute.”
As he searched for an answer from Hyuk-min, No Death recalled the monstrous power he’d felt from him the previous night.
‘Those two will really go.’
“You’re not planning on knocking him out, are you?”
“And would that be a problem?”
“Wi Gwakdu might not be the absolute strongest in South Korea, but his experience and personality aren’t to be taken lightly.”
“You think I’ll lose?”
Recalling last night’s unbelievable power and mana, even thinking of Wi Gwakdu’s record, it didn’t feel like Hyuk-min would lose easily.
No Death could only swallow hard, unable to answer.
Hyuk-min chuckled and asked, “I have a question. If he was in the Karma Unit, can he recognize other Karma Unit members?”
“Too much time has passed, so probably not. Unless he was famous within the Karma Unit, or maybe in the same platoon.”
“Is that so. Perfect.”
Hyuk-min stood up, his face bright as if he’d found the answer in No Death’s information.
Grabbing his phone, he spoke to the dazed No Death and Hyun-jung.
“What are you doing? We have to go settle this.”
“What…!? Did you hear a single word I just said!?”
Unlike No Death, who stared at him like he was crazy, Hyun-jung had already finished preparing and stood up.
“Hey, kid!”
“What’s wrong? Aren’t you coming, mister?”
“Did you hear what I just said?”
“I heard. But so what? If my uncle is going, I’ll go anywhere he goes. Even if it turns out to be the wrong choice.”
No Death’s shoulders slumped.
With a twisted expression, he thumped his chest in frustration.
“You really picked a fine fanatic follower.”
“Uncle! That mister says he’s not coming. Let’s go by ourselves.”
“See you later, then.”
Watching Hyuk-min and Hyun-jung actually start to leave, No Death gritted his teeth.
“I’m coming, you bastards! I swear, I’m going to die young because of you!”
As he ran out, No Death tilted his head.
“Wait, then that’s a good thing.”
“I’m going!”
“Aish, wait up!”
= = =
Early evening, as the sun began to set.
A man in a Republic of Korea Army uniform emerged from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport.
“The days seem to be getting longer. Summer must be coming.”
On the left breast of the man, who wore a beret and sunglasses, was a blue pin beside the South Korean flag.
It was the Earth-shaped pin that proved he was a member of the Karma Unit.
And on the opposite breast, above his name and rank, it read:
[Major]
[Wi Gwakdu]
As if the weather was hot, he rolled up his sleeves, revealing the skin underneath.
But before his firm, well-built forearms drew the eye, something else stood out.
Numerous scars covered his forearms, as if to lay bare a life as rough as his intimidating impression.
Beneath those scars was a tattoo that read “BRAVE.”
“Great Buddha Temple in Leshan, was it?”
A grin.
A savage smile spread across Wi Gwakdu’s lips, flashing white teeth.
“Let’s see if that face of yours matches the photo, khuhuhu.”