Jin-Woo's smartphone began ringing off the hook as soon as he entered the reception range.
'From the Hunter's Association?'
His expression hardened when he confirmed who the caller was. Could something bad have happened while he was away for a bit?
He quickly answered the call.
- "H-Hunter-nim?!"
"Yes, it's me, Seong Jin-Woo."
He sensed that something was definitely wrong after hearing the urgency in the Association employee's voice. Feeling suspicious, he quickly asked.
"What happened?"
- "That, that, the thing is, no, hang on, the Association President will explain it to you. Let me patch you through to him right away."
A problem serious enough to make the leader of the Association personally step up?
Jin-Woo realised that the matter at hand couldn't be a simple one and wordlessly waited for the reply. The distinct connecting signal tone soon ended, and as if he had been desperately waiting for the call, Woo Jin-Cheol hurriedly answered the phone, his anxious voice leaking out from the speaker.
- "Seong Hunter-nim!! Why couldn't we get a hold of you?"
"I was outside the reception range until a moment ago."
Perhaps because of being contaminated by the frequent dungeon breaks, it was almost impossible to contact outside when within that vast ocean of trees.
However, he thought it was more than sufficient enough to leave behind his Shadow Soldiers with those whom he wanted to protect. That's what he believed.
'Could the super-massive Gate have opened up while I was in the forest?'
But, there should have been at least two more days left still?
All manners of hypotheses bubbled up in Jin-Woo's mind and just before he could urge Woo Jin-Cheol to spit out the truth, the latter told him the greatly simplified version of the current crisis.
- "A monster has appeared in the middle of Seoul and is going on a rampage!"
Tumble.
Jin-Woo had been feeling energised after enjoying a rare break from the action. But now, he felt as if his heart had fallen to the pit of his stomach.
"How big is the size of the monster horde??"
- "No, there's no horde. It's just one creature."
'Just one?'
Currently, all Korean Hunters had gathered in Seoul.
They were summoned to the city in order to fight against the potential dungeon break from the super-massive Gate, so they should be on their toes, getting ready to move at a moment's notice.
On top of that, the Association was even supplying weapons to those Hunters lacking in proper equipment, too.
'But then, they are getting destroyed by a monster that suddenly appeared out of nowhere?'
As Jin-Woo fell ever deeper into confusion, Woo Jin-Cheol hurriedly continued on with his explanation.
- "A Guild that tried to fight the creature was annihilated in an instant. It looks like the monster is no ordinary creature at all."
"What about its current location?"
- "We believe it's currently near Seoul Grand Hotel."
Could this be chalked up to being mere coincidence?