Chapter 164: Tampering

“Cha Hasang Hunter-nim, the exit permit you requested has been issued.”

The female employee in a suit handed over a passport-style booklet.  

The massive Hunter Association of the Republic of Korea logo was stamped across the cover.

This was the official exit permit issued by the Hunter Association.

Hunters ranked B or higher from any country were required to report to their affiliated association whenever they left the country.  

While one reason was to monitor individuals with powerful abilities, the main purpose was something else entirely.  

The so-called ‘tampering.’

In professional sports, it referred to a player whose contract with their team had not yet expired contacting another team to discuss a transfer.  

Hunters were no different from athletes in that regard.  

Powerful nations were always desperate to recruit outstanding hunters.  

Using their immense capital, they frequently poached hunters from other countries.  

The number of powerful hunters a nation possessed directly translated into national strength.

I looked at the exit permit once more.  

‘……So I’m a B-rank hunter now.’

In the latest evaluation, my rank had been adjusted from E to B.  

B-rank, 102nd place.  

It was an ultra-fast promotion that skipped three entire ranks.

‘I can guess why…… there are quite a few reasons.’

The incident a few months ago where I survived inside Maslow’s Tower.  

Countless people I had encountered during that time came to mind.  

‘I pretty much left an impression on most of the A+ rank hunters.’

Among them, the Sword God Lee Geuk and the White Mage Tower Lord Yun Yeobaek had evaluated me quite highly.  

Their influence might have played a part in the evaluation process.

Meanwhile, there had also been a change in Jeanne’s rank.  

She had shot straight up from A+ rank 12th to 10th place.  

It seemed the Association had evaluated Jeanne very favorably.

‘Well, that makes sense.’

She didn’t cause any unfortunate incidents or accidents, nor did she take excessive actions just to gain popularity.  

She was a hunter who quietly and perfectly carried out high-difficulty missions.  

She was exactly the ideal member the Hunter Association wanted.  

The fact that Ma Seokdong, the A+ rank 11th World’s Strongest Man, was currently resting due to injury had probably helped as well.

‘Anyway.’

The travel plan to reinforce the Shadow Knight forces was simple.  

Starting with China, then Mongolia and Japan.  

I would travel across East Asia and collect various relics.

China’s Xiang Yu, Lü Bu, Guan Yu, Zhuge Kongming……  

Japan’s Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Miyamoto Musashi……  

There were so many heroes that it was hard to list them all at once.

‘Of course, I still have one last appointment to take care of before that.’

I checked my smartwatch.  

[AM 10:30]  

Thirty minutes until the appointment time.  

The location was Daehak-ro in front of Korea University.  

It was about 17 km away from the Hunter Association.  

Considering Seoul’s complicated traffic, even by car it would take at least forty minutes.  

‘In that case……’  

‘Shall I run there in Descent of God state?’

I began dashing through the streets of Seoul.

***

Starbucks on Daehak-ro in front of Korea University.

-Ding!  

<Skill ‘Descent of God’ has been deactivated.>

I immediately caught my breath.  

On the way here from the Association, I had to deactivate Descent of God about five times.  

It was the only drawback of the Descent of God skill.

To maintain the skill, I had to forcibly hold my breath.  

If I could overcome that one flaw, it would truly be a sweet skill that explosively boosted every physical ability.

‘……I need to train my lung capacity more seriously.’

I stepped into the Starbucks.  

The rich aroma of coffee tickled my nose.  

Soft classical music flowed from the store speakers.  

Couples chatting, office workers on calls, a man working on his laptop, a female student reading exam prep books……  

The atmosphere was filled with peaceful everyday life.

I sat down in a corner seat.  

[AM 10:55]  

I had arrived five minutes early.  

‘……Maybe I’ll check the news while I wait.’

I opened the news page on my smartphone and saw golden photos plastered everywhere.

[International Hunter Association discovers golden city in the Amazon jungle……]  

[Hunter Studies Expert: “Mana field analysis confirms dungeon break”]  

[Monsters vanished without a trace. Whose doing is this?]  

[Hidden golden city discovered! Is it the legendary El Dorado? In-depth report!]

The media was flooded with nonstop news about the golden city.  

It was only this morning that Andvari’s golden city had finally been discovered.

I looked at the photo on the front page of the newspaper.  

The scenery was completely different from Andvari’s golden city.  

Buildings with patches of gold plating peeled away were scattered everywhere.  

What the International Hunter Association had found was a stripped, bare golden city.

The culprit was……  

‘……I tore off all the usable gold and sold it.’

Using the zombie legion of the Mana Spear—more precisely, the zombies tamed with Cordyceps—I had meticulously stripped the golden city clean.

Soon, a familiar face appeared in the news video at the bottom.  

It was Professor Park Ahjeong.  

I pressed play, and the news anchor’s voice flowed out.

[Maslow Tower incident and the Fierce God Evil Slayer incident. S-rank disasters are occurring frequently not only in Korea but around the world. This time, the incident took place in the Earth’s largest rainforest, the Amazonia jungle.]  

[Yes, the jungle commonly called the Amazon. Traces of a dungeon break were discovered there belatedly. It was a massive ruined city with traces of gold visible in various places. The problem is that no traces of monsters could be found anywhere.]  

[How fascinating! If a dungeon break occurred, hundreds to thousands of monsters should have poured out. Where could all those monsters have gone? We have Korea University Hunter Studies Professor Park Ahjeong here—Professor, what are your thoughts?]

The camera angle shifted to Professor Park Ahjeong.

[Hello, I am Park Ahjeong, professor of Hunter Studies and History at Korea University. I believe this incident is a clear example of what kind of disaster can occur when a dungeon appears in a vast area untouched by human hands.]  

[Indeed. In reality, there are far too many unknown spaces on Earth that humans cannot manage. If an S-rank dungeon were to appear in such a place…… just thinking about it is terrifying!]  

[Exactly. That is why the current Association system must be completely reformed. Instead of wasting time on power struggles between national hunter associations, we should reorganize and strengthen each country’s management systems……]  

[Uh…… Yes! Just to clarify, that is not the position of MBS Broadcasting!]

The news anchor’s flustered expression was quite entertaining.  

Professor Park Ahjeong really did whatever she wanted, wherever she went.

At that moment, someone placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Hey. Hasang student?”

A beautiful woman wearing a thin gray dress that revealed her figure and a brown cardigan over it.  

Professor Park Ahjeong smiled brightly and continued.

“You’re early? Shall we order coffee first?”

Today’s meeting was the appointment with Professor Park Ahjeong.  

A few days ago, she had contacted me saying she had an important proposal.

However.  

‘There’s an unexpected person here.’

Soon, Kim Yerim peeked out from beside Professor Park Ahjeong.

“Hello, sunbae!”

Kim Yerim greeted me energetically.  

Professor Park Ahjeong immediately began explaining.

“Yerim student will be working as my teaching assistant starting next semester. She said she wanted to come along and learn the ropes since I was meeting Hasang student today…… so I just brought her!”

“That’s right, I have to learn diligently!”

The two women smiled at each other.  

Kim Yerim met my eyes and beamed.

“I’m Kim Yerim, who will be serving as Professor Park Ahjeong’s teaching assistant starting next semester!”

Professor Park Ahjeong continued.

“By the way, Hasang student, this is your last semester, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Fourth year, second semester.  

Once this semester ended, I would graduate next February.  

Thanks to the Text-Eating Slug, I had scored perfect on every exam.  

My GPA was well-managed, and I had completed all required courses.

Professor Park Ahjeong spoke up.

“Then, how about enrolling in graduate school?”

“No, I’m sorry.”

Immediate answer.  

I had expected she might invite me to grad school today.

However.

“I expected that, but it’s still a shame. Still, think about it a little more. There’s still time.”

Surprisingly, Professor Park Ahjeong took it calmly.  

She quickly moved on to the main topic.

“Actually, I didn’t call you here just to talk about grad school. Vacation starts next week, right? I’m planning a China tour. I’ll be exploring various parts of China with a local archaeology team.”

It was a tempting offer.  

After all, I had already planned to travel abroad during the break.

‘Traveling with experts would drastically reduce the chance of coming up empty-handed.’

Professor Park Ahjeong chuckled and said,

“Hasang student, your expression completely changes the moment relics are mentioned. So you’ll come with us, right? I’ll put in the participation application?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Another immediate answer.  

Satisfied, Professor Park Ahjeong gave a thumbs-up.

“Okie-dokie, perfect~! Let’s dig up some absolutely legendary relics and completely flip the academic world on its head!”

“……”

Her slightly old-fashioned way of speaking left both me and Kim Yerim speechless.  

Professor Park Ahjeong simply kept smiling brightly, completely unbothered.

At that moment.

Boom!

A tremendous roar came from somewhere.  

It sounded quite far away.  

Professor Park Ahjeong clicked her tongue.

“Another accident? Goodness……”

“An accident?”

When Kim Yerim tilted her head, Professor Park Ahjeong continued.

“There’s a four-lane road right in front of the university, right? It gets insanely congested around this time. If everyone just yielded a little, there wouldn’t be any need to cut in so recklessly and cause accidents.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Yerim student, you shouldn’t rush into everything either. Got it?”

Professor Park Ahjeong grinned slyly as she looked at Kim Yerim.

At that moment.

Vrrr— Vrrrrr—

Professor Park Ahjeong’s smartphone began vibrating on the table.  

The name displayed on the screen caught my eye.

[Bestie Minji]

“Hello……”

[Where are you right now?!]

Bae Minji’s urgent voice came through the receiver.

Professor Park Ahjeong blinked and answered.

“Huh? Me? I’m at a cafe with some students. Yeah, a cafe near the university. But why all of a sudden……”

The smile vanished from Professor Park Ahjeong’s face.  

Her brows furrowed and her pupils trembled.  

Suddenly, she shot to her feet.

“I’ll head over right now. Yeah, that place from before, right? Got it. See you soon.”

Kim Yerim asked with a worried expression,

“Professor? Is…… something wrong?”

“Hm? Ah…… It looks like I need to head out first.”

Professor Park Ahjeong smiled casually as if nothing was wrong.  

She pulled out a silver-gray card and continued.

“I was planning to treat you to a ton of delicious food after we finished. This is the department card. Order the most expensive things here. Cakes and everything. Yerim student, you can return the card to me later.”

“Yes, understood! Please take care, Professor!”

Kim Yerim stood up and bowed politely.  

Professor Park Ahjeong winked and hurriedly left the cafe.

Kim Yerim looked at me and asked,

“What do you think happened?”

“Who knows. It probably isn’t anything too serious.”

“Yes, sunbae!”

But at that moment.

Rumble rumble rumble—!

The ground shook violently.  

At the same time.

Boom!

An explosion sounded much closer this time.

I instinctively sensed it.  

Something serious was happening!

Sure enough.

Boom! Boom! Boom boom boom!

The explosions were getting closer and closer.  

Then.

BOOM! Rumble—

With a fierce explosion, the building directly across from the Starbucks collapsed.  

Screams and cries rang out through the smoke and blasts.  

And a thick, murderous intent could be felt.

“This is……”

Right in front of Korea University, in one of the busiest downtown areas in the Republic of Korea.  

BOOM!

A battle between hunters and villains had broken out.