Lee Tae-sung accepted Japan’s invitation and came.
Actually, he was a little late because he had been doing missions until just before coming here.
There were many Rankers invited, but there was no need to go together.
Everyone could afford their own private planes.
So he took a little time to do a mission, earned a few Ascendant Maintenance Tickets, and came.
Since he would have to summon the Mad Demon again in Japan, the tickets were essential.
But as soon as he exited the arrivals gate and saw the Guild Leaders approaching, Lee Tae-sung was flustered.
‘Wait… I heard they left first, but why aren’t they at the hotel? Why are they all waiting here?’
Strictly speaking, they were seniors much older than him.
They became Hunters before him, Rankers before him.
Even looking at the founding dates and sizes of their guilds, they were far ahead.
As for skill…he’d never fought them, but honestly, he was confident he could beat them now.
Anyway, Korean society is built on respect for seniors and elders, and he was the last to arrive.
He thought everyone would be relaxing at the hotel, so he planned to greet them later—but what was this?
“Haha. I heard you’ve been very busy with business lately. It’s perfectly understandable.”
“That’s right! It’s the Japanese government’s fault for calling a busy person here and there.”
But the Guild Leaders didn’t complain at all about him being late.
Instead, they were all smiles.
The people talking eagerly beside Lee Tae-sung were Gu Sang-min, Guild Leader of Iron Fist, and Lee Chang-su, Guild Leader of Cheoltap.
• Cheoltap and Iron Fist were giant guilds representing Korea, and both Guild Leaders had long been famous as top-tier fighters.
But right now, they were just competitors trying to carry Lee Tae-sung’s luggage for him.
“Excuse me, you two.”
Then Lee Ye-ji squeezed between them.
The younger of the Blue Dragon Guild’s genius siblings.
Although she had been slightly overshadowed by Lee Tae-sung’s emergence, until recently she was the most watched Ranker in Korea.
“Ahem. This is our spot.”
“That’s right. Follow the order, Vice Guild Leader Lee Ye-ji.”
The two Guild Leaders growled.
The goal of everyone gathered here was the same.
‘The 3rd Stage Elixir. It’s being developed, right?’
‘I heard they hinted to the Rankers at the Ranking Mission site that it’s coming soon.’
‘Our guild must get the first batch, no matter what!’
Hunters who have tasted the Elixir even once become worshippers of Taesung Guild; those who taste it twice become fanatics.
The Rankers here had all become much stronger than before thanks to the Elixir and the newly evolved mission reward skills.
They desperately wanted to get closer to Lee Tae-sung.
Thus, the three of them engaged in a glaring contest as if they were mortal enemies.
“No, I’ll carry this. Let’s go first. Should we head to the hotel?”
Lee Tae-sung said, pulling his suitcase.
Actually, because he had the pouch subspace gifted by Alex, most of his luggage was stored there.
The suitcase was just for show, so it was very light, and even if it were heavy, it wouldn’t matter to Lee Tae-sung.
“Yes. Then let’s go together in my car. I specially ordered a limousine so you’ll be comfortable the whole way.”
“My car is no less comfortable.”
“How about a sports car? I had one shipped over brand new this time. Want to ride shotgun? Or you can take the wheel.”
“……”
Looking at the various cars parked in front of the airport, Lee Tae-sung fell into serious thought.
After mulling it over for a while, he chose Lee Ye-ji’s sports car.
The roaring engine and white body were artistic, and honestly, he wanted to try riding in it given the chance.
“Hehe. Good choice. I’ll explain things as we go. Should I just give it to you as a gift?”
Lee Ye-ji shot a glance at the other Guild Leaders with a victorious smile.
“……”
“……”
The Guild Leaders clenched their fists.
—
‘A sports car is pretty fun, I guess.’
Lee Tae-sung never really liked cars.
They say men love sports cars, but he never had any interest.
Expensive, high maintenance, gas costs no joke…
Back when he was working, he couldn’t afford one, and now he was too busy to care.
He could move faster using his Lightfoot Technique anyway—why did he need a car?
But actually riding in one was pretty enjoyable.
The open top and the loud engine noise were not bad for relieving stress.
They arrived at the hotel like that.
A welcome ceremony was held with members of the Japanese Cabinet.
In the hotel banquet hall, food and champagne were served, and the event was meant to strengthen friendship between the two countries and promise cooperation between guilds and businesses.
Sneakily mixed in was a request to help Japan’s crisis as a neighboring friend.
The banquet ended, and some Hunters stepped outside for a smoke.
“As expected,” Lee Ye-ji said. She didn’t smoke but came out to talk.
“Cooperate if the Gate Incident happens again, solve the red sky over Tokyo, and if secondary issues arise from that, please provide support. It’s all whining.”
“Didn’t you expect this from the start, considering the enormous compensation we received for being invited?” Gu Sang-min, Iron Fist’s Guild Leader, said with a smirk.
“Ridiculous. How are we supposed to solve that? Ordinary people seem to think we’re wizards or something.”
Gu Sang-min looked up at the sky.
No matter how powerful a Hunter’s skills were, they just meant outputting a bit more power and moving a bit faster.
Sure, some Hunters had special superhuman skills, but flipping the sky or anything like that was impossible.
“Honestly, we can only wait and hope such changes resolve naturally.”
Cheoltap Guild Leader Lee Chang-su nodded, and the other Guild Leaders around agreed.
“But where did Guild Leader Taesung go?”
Lee Ye-ji looked around.
She had come out with him to talk with the Guild Leaders, but specifically to talk directly with Lee Tae-sung.
She had definitely seen him come out with them, but he had vanished at some point.
“He’s over there.”
Gu Sang-min pointed to Lee Tae-sung standing in a shadowy corner of the building.
He was hard to see, but it seemed he was talking to someone.
Then Lee Tae-sung raised his hand and pointed to the sky.
At that moment—
Fwoosh
“Huh, huh…?”
Lee Ye-ji’s eyes went wide.
Starting exactly from where Lee Tae-sung pointed, the sky began to clear.
The red clouds washed away like they were being scrubbed, and that influence spread out in concentric circles.
—
The red sky over Tokyo was created by the Mad Demon.
More precisely, fragments of the power she had released still lingered in the sky, affecting it.
So simply summoning her again instantly cleaned it up.
The moment Lee Tae-sung pointed at the sky, she waved her hand and dispelled her energy.
“Is this good enough~?”
“Yes. Thank you for your hard work, Mad Demon.”
“It’s no trouble at all~.”
The Mad Dragon drawled and smiled faintly.
Just looking at that smile, she couldn’t be more angelically beautiful.
But Lee Tae-sung knew what demon slept inside that face.
“Now, please return.”
“Send me back right away like this~?”
“Please. I’ll call you again later.”
Well, fine.
I was watching a fun movie anyway.
A scene where people kidnap someone and…
Hmm…
Lock them in a basement and make them kill each other.
Very thrilling!”
“…I see. Enjoy it.”
He didn’t feel like asking what kind of movie it was.
With that, he succeeded in reverse-summoning the Mad Demon.
Letting her loose carelessly once was enough to cause problems.
Of course, Ascendants want to stay on Earth, so this time he had asked for her understanding and planned to give her free time later.
‘Next time, I should ask Master or Goeseung to stay with her so I’m not alone.’
That would be better.
Just then, Lee Ye-ji and the other Hunters came running.
“G-Guild Leader Taesung! Just now…!?”
“You cleared the sky, Guild Leader Taesung, right??”
Lee Tae-sung made an awkward face.
“Well… it’s hard to say I did it exactly… but it’s also hard to say I didn’t…”
How should he explain this to brush it off?
—
That Lee Tae-sung had normalized Tokyo’s sky spread instantly across all of Japan.
The whole nation had been watching anxiously when suddenly everything returned to normal—of course it would spread as breaking news.
And the news reached the Prime Minister’s office.
“Oh my. Amazing, truly amazing. Inviting Korean Hunters here and the problem clears up immediately.”
They had invited him hoping for that.
There was speculation that the Gate Incident in Korea had been solved quietly by an outstanding Hunter named Lee Tae-sung, so they wished to bring a similar effect to Japan.
But they never expected it to be resolved so quickly upon arrival.
“Is it really those Korean Hunters?”
“It must be. During the welcome party, several Korean Hunters went outside for fresh air, and after that, the sky began to clear. Specifically starting from the clouds above the hotel.”
“Hmm…”
“A minister saw it through the window. He said the Hunters seemed to be looking at Lee Tae-sung and saying something in amazement.”
The Prime Minister realized his choice had been correct.
Spending a huge amount just to invite a few Hunters had now turned into pocket change to solve a national problem.
His worry vanished, and a smile naturally formed.
“Fufu. I was planning to keep begging them to solve it during their stay, but it’s already done. Good. Then let’s ensure they can enjoy sightseeing until they leave. Spare no support.”
“Understood.”
The secretary nodded and went out to carry out the orders.
But less than five minutes later, he rushed back in with a pale face.
“Prime Minister! Shibuya…!”
“What now?!”
The Prime Minister pressed his temples—just hearing about Shibuya gave him a headache.
The secretary continued cautiously.
“An strange black mist area has appeared in Shibuya!”
“…Another Gate? What about the Hunters?”
Shibuya was a place where a Gate Incident had once erupted on a large scale, so Japanese Rankers were on standby 24/7.
If any problem arose, they should have stepped in first to solve it.
“The Hunters deployed, but when they entered the area, all their skills became unusable.”
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