The special rewards that came from the change in missions.
Some Hunters who cleared the missions with a Perfect rating obtained powerful skills and items as rewards.
And in very special cases…
Individuals who harbored malice in their hearts and possessed considerable skill—those who were not helpful to human society at all—reached even the Outer God’s vanguard.
ding!
[Contacting the Outer God’s Vanguard.]
[Will you serve the Outer God and make a contract with them?]
When one of the Outer God’s vanguard members died by Lee Tae-sung’s hand, a change occurred in Earth’s mission system.
That change was not solely beneficial to humanity.
Where there is a gain, there is a loss.
Even the almighty Earth was not free from the law of cause and effect, and in this way, an opportunity arose for the Outer God’s side as well.
“Outer God? You want me to serve a god I’ve never even heard of?”
Naturally, the Hunters who received such mission rewards frowned.
What they wanted was the power to trample others and rise above, not an invitation to join some strange religious order.
ding!
[You briefly experience the power of the Outer God.]
“!!!”
But when they felt the power they could receive in exchange for serving the Outer God, they were seized with a thrill.
An absurdly immense power.
Could even the famous Hunters of each country exert such strength?
No way!
“I’ll do it! From now on, I will serve the Outer God!”
Born on Earth, but abandoning humanity and the world to believe in the Outer God—such corrupted Hunters appeared.
Near Gangnam Avenue.
“Hahahahaha! The god’s power fills my entire being!”
Kang Chan-seong laughed as he emitted something pitch-black from his entire body.
A repeat offender with 14 prior convictions before awakening.
He awakened in prison, and his prison sentence was suspended in exchange for a Hunter contract, but he escaped during the contract.
Still a wanted fugitive, Kang Chan-seong had been careful to keep his face hidden while engaging in illegal activities, but now such caution was gone.
“Oh, oh, oh God. Grant me even greater power!”
Having become a servant to the Outer God’s vanguard as a mission reward, he obtained immense power in return.
The power bestowed by them.
With this power alone, he could live without worrying about others.
He had always been dissatisfied.
Why should Hunters with power have to conform to the social system?
Why should they be under the control of organizations like the Hunter Association when they could live by treating ordinary people as slaves?
“I’ll shatter this entire system with my own hands!”
Something pitch-black emanated from Kang Chan-seong’s hand, spread around, and then exploded with a bang.
A massive explosion occurred on the 13th floor of a building, and soon flames began to spread.
Emergency sirens rang inside, and beyond the collapsed wall, people on Gangnam Avenue could be seen in chaos.
“They’re like ants.”
Looking down at them, he felt as if he had become a god.
Under normal circumstances, the moment he committed such a crime, a security Hunter affiliated with the Association would come looking for him.
In the past, he would have run away immediately, but…
“Unless a Ranker shows up, they can’t stop me.”
No, even if a Ranker did come, he was confident he could win.
That was how immense the power bestowed by the Outer God was.
“Oh.”
It was then.
A chilling voice came from behind.
Kang Chan-seong quickly turned his head.
Standing there was a man whose everything visible was red.
A man with hair, eyebrows, eyes, and beard all crimson was glaring at him with terrifying eyes.
“A, a Ranker?”
Kang Chan-seong was stunned.
The power he received from the Outer God could be called invincible.
There was no way he could be so brutally erased with a single gesture from the opponent.
At the same time, dense compressed flames shot up from under Kang Chan-seong’s feet and enveloped him.
“Kyaaaaaagh!”
“Remember this well. Energy burns better the more it’s mixed and turbid. Appearing before me with such energy means that no matter how great your power, you’re nothing more than fuel that burns well.”
“Kuuuuugh…”
“Well, I don’t know if you can hear this.”
“Aigoo. You sound like an assassin.”
The crimson-haired man, the Flame Emperor, strode forward.
“You know, I was planning to just quietly sightsee what Earth and the country called Korea are like? I promised my disciple I wouldn’t cause a fuss, so I was trying to avoid trouble.”
Ignoring the commotion outside, the Flame Emperor walked slowly.
Just that alone made Kang Chan-seong flinch, and he spread both hands wide.
“Hah, don’t move recklessly! This is a curse that will rot your body the moment it touches you!”
The pitch-black energy flowing from Kang Chan-seong’s hands was not just destructive.
If the opponent could withstand this power, it would immediately convert into a curse spell and gnaw at them.
Even a strong enemy would eventually be brought to their knees if the curse stacked like that.
boom!
And the curse energy enveloped the Flame Emperor.
The Flame Emperor waved his hand as if swatting a fly.
“What is this shabby energy you’re using.”
The Flame Emperor frowned and then flicked his hand.
Just that was enough to turn the curse energy into ash and make it disappear.
“But if you blow up buildings and set fires here, you’re putting me in a tough spot. If things go wrong, my disciple might misunderstand. That just as I arrive here, this kind of incident happens at the same time. If my disciple stops calling me, are you going to take responsibility? Huh? Are you going to take responsibility?”
“How, how…?”
Kang Chan-seong was stunned.
The power he received from the Outer God could be called invincible.
There was no way he could be so brutally erased with a single gesture from the opponent.
At the same time, dense compressed flames shot up from under Kang Chan-seong’s feet and enveloped him.
“Kyaaaaaagh!”
“Remember this well. Energy burns better the more it’s mixed and turbid. Appearing before me with such energy means that no matter how great your power, you’re nothing more than fuel that burns well.”
“Kuuuuugh…”
“Well, I don’t know if you can hear this.”
Before long, Kang Chan-seong turned to ash and disappeared.
But just at the end, within the flames, the will of some evil entity appeared in a translucent state.
That undulating translucent thing managed to endure for a while even in the flames.
The Flame Emperor frowned.
“Get lost.”
pssh!
The density of the flames thickened once more, completely annihilating what was inside.
Then, the Flame Emperor let out a deep sigh.
He turned around.
By then, Goeseung had approached.
“Benefactor, I understand. When I meet the disciple later, I have to tell him something, right? That I didn’t cause trouble, but rather prevented trouble from happening?”
“I understand, Benefactor.”
“Hoho. Yeah. If it’s like this, it’ll clear up the misunderstanding. In fact, I prevented a bigger incident from happening, so maybe the disciple will say I did well and give me an extra ticket or something?”
Ascendant Summon Maintenance Ticket.
Even though it only lasts 10 minutes, being able to roam Earth without cost was immensely valuable.
And it seemed the disciple had quite a few of those tickets, though he didn’t know exactly how many.
The Flame Emperor smiled broadly, thinking he could spin this achievement well to get a few extra tickets.
“There’s a saying on Earth that crisis is opportunity. This is exactly when to use that phrase, haha.”
“Half half, Benefactor.”
“Half half? What’s that?”
It means to split evenly.
I heard some students passing by say that.
It seems to be an Earth term meaning half and half.
“……!”
The Flame Emperor looked at Goeseung with an incredulous expression.
“…You wouldn’t happen to say something that might make the disciple misunderstand if I don’t agree to half half, would you?”
“Ahem. Who knows?”
“……”
The Flame Emperor let out a deep sigh.
There’s not a single trustworthy person in this world.
He wondered why people in the lower realm still served a guy like this.
*
People become desperate when they need something.
And the same goes for corporations and organizations formed by people, even nations.
-Where can I get Elixirs?
-Find out! As fast as possible! By any means necessary!
When Elixirs became essential for Hunters, initially the guilds took the lead in searching for them, but eventually even national institutions got involved.
Since the revival and maintenance of the Hunter industry was a key issue for each country, politicians accepted the demands of Hunters faster than anything else.
Of course, the fact that Hunters possessed powerful military force also played a part.
Thus, they learned about a newly formed guild in Korea.
-The Taesung Guild! They’re selling Elixirs!
-Many of Korea’s Rankers have already taken Elixirs and experienced an increase in mana, and now they’re even selling a new Elixir!
Lee Tae-sung’s abilities were known only to the intelligence agencies of the United States and China, but it didn’t take long for other countries with burning eyes to discover him.
“They’re selling Elixirs? Is there any talk about not selling to foreigners?”
“There’s nothing like that.”
“Then it’s a relief. Place an order immediately. Offer a blank check, and secure the supply no matter the cost. Secure the maximum quantity.”
This is an era where national power can vary depending on how many strong Hunters a country possesses.
Recent changes in missions were causing a seismic shift in Hunter national power, and no national leader was stingy with money in this situation.
What matters now isn’t money, but seizing opportunity and timing!
The attention of many countries turned to Korea.
And the Japanese government also received this news.
“Tsk, tsk. There’s a guild that can mass-produce Elixirs? And right next to our country?”
Foreign Minister Suemori Ryota also learned of the news from Korea while making every effort to obtain Elixirs.
He was a politician known for his strong far-right ideology, and to him, the appearance of such a guild in Korea was not very pleasing.
But feelings are feelings, and reality is reality.
“We’ll place an order too. Try to ask for priority since we’re a neighboring country.”
“Yes, Minister.”
“And let’s run an operation.”
The Foreign Minister smiled sardonically.
The aide understood what to do without even hearing the details.
“Steal the Elixir manufacturing method.”
Just because it belongs to Korea?
If you go back just a little in time, that country itself was part of Japan.
The Foreign Minister and his aide were the kind of people who thought that way.
So what’s Korea’s is also theirs.
“Can it be done?”
“Direct infiltration seems difficult. I hear some Korean guilds have already tried and been caught.”
Of course, there were Korean guilds that coveted the Elixir and tried to infiltrate the factory.
But due to the security spells Abeson personally set up, it was impossible to replicate the Alchemical Furnace, and the Elixirs were shipped almost immediately after production, making interception difficult.
They wouldn’t send such precious items by regular delivery, and the guild that purchased them would send capable guild members to pick up the goods. Unless they wanted to fight trained Hunters in the middle of a city, theft was difficult.
“Tch. Those incapable lot were just making a stir. So, what’s another plan?”
“The production volume in Korea cannot meet the global demand right now. So we’ll offer to build an overseas factory for free, and then steal the manufacturing method in the process.”
“Not bad. Make sure the security is tight so no one knows it was us.”
“Understood.”
Although it might require a significant upfront investment, if they can acquire the manufacturing method as a result, the profit will be far greater.
The secretary left to begin the operation, and Suemori Ryota leaned back in his chair and smiled.
‘Once we steal the method and start producing, all the world’s contacts will come to us.’
You Korean bastards. I’ll show you an overwhelming difference in quality!