69 Chapter 68 (1/2)
An event of an unprecedented scale!
A trapped person walked out of a dungeon, alive!
The US Hunter Bureau went into overdrive right away.
The deputy director of the Bureau personally came down to the interview room after hearing this news. Beyond the one-way mirror, he could see an Oriental man quietly sitting on a chair, with a pair of handcuffs on his wrists.
”Is he that man?”
”That's correct, sir.”
”He looks like a regular civilian, doesn't he?”
”Yes, sir.”
It was as he said; once that man's unkempt hair and the messy beard were taken care of, his facial features would be that of an average middle-aged Oriental male commonly found everywhere.
”Have you found out his identity yet?”
”He has repeatedly stated that he's a Korean Hunter.”
”South Korea?”
”Yes, sir.”
”How can a South Korean Hunter come out of a dungeon on the other side of the world?”
”He says that he was trapped inside the dungeon for the past ten years after the Gate closed on him.”
”And when he reopened his eyes, he's in America? Is that it?”
”That's what he'd been saying until now, sir.”
The deputy director massaged his forehead. How was he to explain this to the director? He felt a migraine beginning its vicious assault on his head.
”If that's the case, then what are you guys waiting for? Why aren't you in there, trying to get more information out of him?”
Never mind his director, the deputy was worried about having to report directly to someone even higher than that. Or worse, someone much, much higher up the food chain.
In other words, there was no time to wait around sucking on thumbs like this.
Too bad, the section chief in charge of information did not share his sentiment.
”Sir, we're currently focusing on the possibility of this man being a monster who possesses a human's memories, instead.”
”Okay, so?”
”If it suddenly reveals its true intentions during the interview process, the entirety of Washington could be in danger.”
That made sense.
A raid team consisting of several rank A Hunters proved to be utterly helpless against that man, after all. They could not afford to be careless here.
”Looks like we'll have to get a powerful Hunter to continue on with the investigation, then.”
Preferably, a rank S, too.
The section chief nodded his head in agreement.
”There is a rank S Hunter who can converse in Korean residing nearby.”
The deputy director's expression brightened.
He was none other than the deputy director of the Hunter Bureau. He had memorised back to front the list of all rank S Hunters living in the States already.
”Mister Hwang! Is he coming here?”
”Yes, sir.”
One of the main Hunters of the Scavenger Guild, Hwang Dong-Su.
Just how much effort did the Hunter Bureau have to put in, in order to bring that man here and naturalise him as an American citizen?
'If it's him….'
Even if something bad did happen, it'd not be too much of a big problem. The deputy director smiled deeply.
”Oh, right. I almost forgot.”
A question belatedly formed in his head. If he were to make a report to the higher-ups, he at least needed to know the subject's name.
”What was the name of that man?”
It was a difficult-to-pronounce name, that's for sure.
The section chief confirmed it on the report submitted to him by one of his underlings and spoke up.
”His name is Seong Il-Hwan, a Hunter from South Korea.”
Hwang Dong-Su had no time for such things as mercy. Especially if it was against monsters.
He lost his parents to a dungeon break many years ago and grew up with only his older brother as the sole surviving family member. That was why when he Awakened as a rank S, he knew this was his heaven-sent opportunity.
'The opportunity to rip apart and kill as many monsters as I can!'
Perhaps that was the reason why the glare of Hwang Dong-Su as he entered the interview room was icier than usual.
A man who came out from a dungeon – even the magic energy wavelength this man emitted apparently had a similar pattern to that of a monster.
'If a monster is pretending to be a human….'
Then, he'd kill this abominable creature right here, right now.
His glare met the man's gaze.
'.....'
'.....'
They silently exchanged their gazes.
Hwang Dong-Su put the file with this man's information down on the table, pulled the chair out to sit, and opened his mouth.
”It'll be better for you to cooperate with me. One word from me will determine how others will see you: a human or a monster. Got that?”
”Understood.”
Before he got started, though, a deeply personal question floated up in Hwang Dong-Su's head.
His older brother who died inside the dungeon – was there any possibility that Hwang Dong-Seok could return alive?
He wanted to know about that first.
”Is there any chance of other Hunters returning from a dungeon, just as you have?”
The man shook his head.
Hwang Dong-Su's brows quivered just then.
”How can you be so sure?”
”Because… I'm well aware of the reason why I came back.”
”The reason? What is it?”
”Let me ask you something before I answer that.”
”….I'll be the one asking questions here.”
Hwang Dong-Su's eyes narrowed to a slit. However, the man continued on with what he wanted to say regardless.
”The Gates, monsters, and dungeon breaks. How much do you know about them?”
”…”
If this man had asked a stupid question, Hwang Dong-Su might've used force to shut this man up right away. But, he couldn't do that right now.
Because that question was something that countless tried to answer ever since the first Gate opened and Awakened people began appearing ten years ago.
This very moment could be when the answer finally revealed itself.
”Deputy director….”
”Shush.”
The agents of the Hunter Bureau all nervously swallowed their saliva as they stared into the one-way mirror.
Hwang Dong-Su asked.
”Are you saying that you know?”
”Dungeons, Gates, monsters… all these are merely preludes to a true war about to happen soon. And recently, a being that will become the greatest calamity ever seen has opened its eyes.”
”So, the reason why you returned here is…?”
”In order to stop that calamity.”
”And what is, or who is, this 'greatest calamity ever seen'?”
”…..That, I can't tell you.”
Hwang Dong-Su smirked derisively.
”A man who came here to stop a calamity can't talk about what it is? I don't know what that thing could be, but surely, rather than trying to stop it all by yourself, wouldn't it be better to work together with others?”
The man shook his head.
”The number of people means nothing when facing this being. Doesn't matter whether lots of amateurs decide to work together or not, they will only become its prey and become its pawns, instead.”
”So, you are saying that only you can stop it?”
The man nodded his head.
Hwang Dong-Su inwardly clicked his tongue.
'This guy's gone off the deep end.'
It wasn't that hard to understand, though, if this man had been truly trapped inside a dungeon for ten years.
Or, alternatively, there had been some kind of an error, a mistake, during the process of the monster trying to copy a human's memories and consequently, its brain had melted somewhat.
In any case, Hwang Dong-Su decided to humour the other party for the time being, and see where this thing would go.
”You must be awfully confident of your skills, then.”
”Let's just say that, besides my skills, I've other factors in my favour.”
”Well… if you say so.”
Just what kind of information could he even extract from a madman?
Hwang Dong-Su decided to stop the questioning here.
Instead, he opened the man's case file, thinking of finishing up the Bureau's request, which was to investigate the man's background.
”Your name is Seong Il-Hwan…..”
The photo supplied certainly matched the man's face.
'Rather than ten years, though, it's like only a couple of weeks, maybe months, have passed by, instead.'
However, Hwang Dong-Su decided not to mind it. He heard that high-ranked Hunters could even skirt past the ageing process.
”Your records as a Hunter look pretty good. You could have earned quite a lot of money these days.”
Seong Il-Hwan didn't respond to that.
Back then, there was no proper system of Hunters in place. Hell, there wasn't a ranking system for Hunters, even!
Hwang Dong-Su began reading the file.
”Your spouse, Park Gyung-Hye. Two children. The son's name is….”
As he read down the names of the children with no emotion on his face, Hwang Dong-Su's eyes opened up slightly wider for a moment.
'….Seong Jin-Woo?'
But, it only lasted for a truly brief second. Hwang Dong-Su did his best to remain calm and continued on.
”…..Seong Jin-Woo. And the name of your daughter is?”
”Seong Jin-Ah.”
”Okay. Next.”
It happened, then.
”Wait.”