“Wow, he actually beat the Sword Saint.”
Park Kang-chul defeated Han Yu-ra.
I hadn’t even expected that.
I was well aware that Park Kang-chul’s combat power had surged thanks to my equipment, but to the point of knocking down Han Yu-ra?
It was an unofficial duel, but I heard he had been soundly defeated in the previous one.
Well, considering the gear Park Kang-chul used before, it wasn’t so surprising.
“His old gear really was a mess.”
He wielded a greatsword focused purely on attack power, rather than matching his abilities.
It was also a weapon thirty levels below Park Kang-chul’s level.
As a berserker, he neglected defense, so his armor was even worse.
Wearing such gear against Han Yu-ra, it was no wonder he lost.
But this time, he fought with equipment far superior even to Han Yu-ra’s, so it made sense he won.
‘Besides, he wasn’t even using 100% of his strength.’
During the duel, Han Yu-ra used even her secret techniques—her maximum power—to attack Park Kang-chul.
But Park Kang-chul?
He didn’t use the trump card I saw him prepare when we were tackling the Gate through his point of view.
Well, it’s more accurate to say he ‘couldn’t use it’ rather than ‘didn’t use it.’
Park Kang-chul’s strength shines not in one-on-one fights with humanoid opponents, but when facing multiple or massive enemies.
He’s the kind of Hunter who reveals his true power amid bloodshed all around.
In fact, his trump card requires a lot of blood nearby to work properly.
“Well, I guess Park Kang-chul is satisfied with this.”
Park Kang-chul was resting now.
He seemed to be recalling the duel with Han Yu-ra, or savoring the pride of having climbed all the way to first place after such a long run.
Maybe he was also feeling the emptiness of having nowhere else to go.
One thing was certain.
He was waiting for an rank 9 Gate.
Of course, until then, he’d keep steadily tackling rank 8 Gates to keep his skills sharp.
“Though rank 9 Gates don’t appear all that often.”
But what did it matter?
Just by consistently clearing rank 8 Gates, the Vulcanus Guild—and Korea’s situation—were greatly helped.
Aside from Gate Burning, Korea was the only country that wasn’t feeling uneasy despite the increasing frequency of Gates.
– The attempt to reclaim western China has ended in failure.
– It’s hard to even call it a failure.
– Before the reclamation operation could even begin, Hunters had to move to deal with rank 8 Gates that appeared in major cities.
Since efforts are now focused on setting a boundary line with the west, it seems they have completely given up on the west.
– Breaking news.
– Rank 8 Gates have appeared consecutively in Finland, putting the country in crisis.
– Finland is requesting aid from neighboring countries, but those countries are too busy fighting off the increasing monsters to respond.
Just from hearing the news, it’s obvious.
Why is only Korea okay in this situation?
Well.
– Once again, Vulcanus Guild’s Gate clearing was successful.
– Vulcanus Guild has earned its place as a true rank 8 Guild…
Unlike other countries whose Hunter forces are weakened due to monster damage, Korea’s number of rank 8 Gate clearers has increased, especially with Vulcanus joining in.
And there’s more.
Recently, Park Kang-chul has been assigned every rank 8 Gate he spots, attacking them to test his own power.
– Berserker Hunter Park Kang-chul has become a hot topic for clearing two rank 8 Gates in a single day.
– Even though he joined Vulcanus Guild, it is said he cleared the Gates alone once again.
– With this, the number of open rank 8 Gates in Korea is zero.
– Among countries facing the threat of rank 8 Gates, Korea is the only one to have completely cleared them all.
– As a result, the number of travelers coming to safe Korea is steadily increasing, and after travelers, the number of foreigners wanting to immigrate to Korea is exploding.
– Refugees fleeing countries wiped out by monsters, even Europe—once a major power…
– Accordingly, the Korean government has…
Currently, all rank 8 Gates in Korea have disappeared.
Now, rather than viewing rank 8 Gates as threats, even large Guilds scramble to be assigned these lucrative rank 8 Gates.
“There’s nothing to do without any Gates.”
Korea’s Hunter forces are abnormally strong right now.
Honestly, I have to admit a big part of that is thanks to me.
My mass-produced equipment, developed with the production team, has greatly raised the quality of Hunters’ gear.
Because of this, the number of Gates below rank 7 in Korea has also greatly decreased.
In this situation…
– The Korean government has decided to dispatch Hunter forces to Taiwan.
– Besides this, the government announced it would continue support to countries in crisis…
Korea has officially begun sending Hunters overseas.
A wise choice.
If Hunters stayed in Korea like this, their skills would stagnate.
For Hunters’ growth, and to keep them from growing lazy or complacent, they need to keep fighting monsters.
Then.
– Currently, an rank 9 Gate has opened in Vietnam.
– Vietnam has yet to fully recover from the Second Gate Burning, so this Gate’s appearance is close to a national disaster…
News of the rank 9 Gate opening in Vietnam reached us.
The first person who came to mind was Park Kang-chul.
After all, he had been eagerly waiting for an rank 9 Gate to appear.
Just as Korea sends Hunters abroad, it would be more advantageous to send Park Kang-chul overseas to hunt freely, rather than keep him waiting.
Of course, it depends on whether Park Kang-chul agrees.
“Mr. Park Kang-chul.”
– “Is the rank 9 Gate open?”
“It is. But not in Korea—it’s in Vietnam. If you want, I can tell the Association to arrange support.”
Of course, he welcomed it wholeheartedly.
Park Kang-chul accepted the dispatch without hesitation.
He really wanted to challenge that rank 9 Gate.
“There is one condition, though.”
– “Condition?”
But I couldn’t send Park Kang-chul alone to Vietnam.
We didn’t know what he might do there, so he needed someone to watch over him.
Of course, that’s only part of the reason.
The real reason was to protect Park Kang-chul’s survival.
Even if he’s strong, this would be his first time tackling an rank 9 Gate.
If he tried to clear it alone, he might end up in serious danger.
So he needed backup to deal with any crisis.
“Go with Team 4.”
– “I move alone.”
“That’s why it’s a condition. If you don’t go with Team 4, I won’t request the dispatch.”
– “I don’t need a request—I’ll go by myself…”
“If you go to Vietnam on your own, you’ll lose your position as 0th Team Leader. You know that? Losing that position means all the equipment you’re wearing now will be restricted.”
– “Is this a threat?”
“Yes, it is. You should understand this much.”
I had to be firm.
Honestly, if Park Kang-chul was in front of me frowning, I wouldn’t be able to speak so boldly, but right now he didn’t even know where I was.
Being strong, he shut his mouth.
Still, I guess he didn’t want to miss out on using the gear I gave him.
Without my equipment, the premise of going all the way to Vietnam to challenge an rank 9 Gate wouldn’t even exist.
– It’s dangerous.
– “Even Team 4 has only just barely cleared an rank 9 Gate, right?”
– “Going in at that level would only get them slaughtered.”
“It won’t be a problem. I’ll tell them to stay out of the way as much as possible.”
Could the real reason for bringing them along be to ‘carry’ me?
Carry.
In online games, it means a high-level player helps a lower-level player level up by partying together.
Come to think of it, that’s kind of true, but as I said, that wasn’t my goal.
“It’s to deal with emergencies. Mr. Park Kang-chul might not like it, but at least they’re strong enough to rescue you and run if things get dangerous.”
– “That won’t happen.”
“You never know. Plus, Team 4 has a strong support role, so they’ll help in the clearing.”
Thanks to Vulcanus Guild’s recent rank 8 Gate clears, I’ve gotten to know most of the team leaders’ personalities.
Team 4’s was unique.
While others want to take the lead, Team 4 mainly supports.
That’s why their Gate clearing is noticeably slower.
Team 4 tends to stay back and clear Gates more safely than other teams.
They’re a perfect match to pair with Park Kang-chul.
– “Ok then, let’s do it that way.”
‘Phew’
“Good choice.”
With Park Kang-chul’s acceptance, things moved quickly.
I asked Team 4 myself, and they immediately nodded, saying it would be a good experience.
I even prepared special items in case of danger.
Nam Bora contacted the Hunter Association to submit the dispatch request, and soon after, eleven members of Vulcanus Guild, led by Hunter Park Kang-chul, were dispatched to Vietnam.
Their mission is to clear the rank 9 Gate known as the Jungle of Wailing.
Vietnam promised to pay a sufficient reward if the Vulcanus Guild would clear only this Gate…
Park Kang-chul left for Vietnam.
He hadn’t caused any trouble so far, but with him gone, I felt oddly at ease.
Like a troublesome nephew finally going home.
Anyway, I thought I could finally breathe easier when
Nam Bora sent me a system call.
– Vulcanus.
“What is it? I heard Park Kang-chul departed.”
– There’s a production request that came into the forge.
Production requests.
Normally, I ignored most production requests, but thanks to them, Park Kang-chul had personally visited the Vulcanus Guild building.
Because of that, Nam Bora carefully filtered important production requests and reported them to me.
This was the first report.
I wondered how many of the ranked Hunters had submitted requests.
…But honestly, it was impossible to guess.
“You don’t need to narrow it down that much. It doesn’t take long to check. Just show me the Guilds in the top 10 and Hunters in the top 100.”
– That’s the problem.
– Even filtering it to that range, there were over a hundred requests.
“…What?”
What kind of nonsense was this?
Even restricting to the top 10 Guilds and the top 100 Hunters, there were more than a hundred requests?
The answer came quickly.
– Among the top 100 ranked Hunters, 99 submitted production requests.
“Wait, isn’t Park Kang-chul in the top 100? Then 99 means…”
– Yes. Everyone except Park Kang-chul submitted requests.
“Ah…”
– That’s not all. All the large Guilds within the top 10 also submitted production requests to you, Vulcanus.
“Seriously…”
Were these people trying to kill me?
How was I supposed to make all that by myself?