By Zephyria 
Oregon National Laboratory, USA.
A researcher walking briskly down the hallway knocked on the door of a professor’s office marked with an electronic nameplate that read ‘Cloud Carter.’ Since the owner of the office was inside, the researcher waited ten seconds after knocking, as previously agreed, before opening the door.
The first thing visible was a desk where printed materials were stacked in perfectly organized piles, without a single sheet out of place. At the desk sat a middle-aged East Asian man, his eyes fixed on the monitor, not even glancing away.
“Professor.”
Cloud Carter, the owner of the room, did not lift his head even upon hearing his name. While such an attitude could be perceived as unpleasant, the researcher, accustomed to this behavior, stated his business without showing any emotion.
“News has just arrived that the anxiety fog that occurred in Korea has completed its mutation into an inorganic substance. It is the first case of its kind in the world. Furthermore, it is a twin fission.”
Only then did Cloud ask in a slow tone that felt sluggish.
“Which hunting ground?”
“Pardon?”
The researcher, puzzled by the sudden counter-question, soon realized he was asking which hunting ground in North Korea it was.
“It’s not North Korea, but South Korea. In the temporary capital of South Korea, uh…”
For a moment, the name of the city ‘Daejeon’ didn’t come to mind, and as he glanced at his phone to look it up, Cloud’s lips moved again.
“Daejeon.”
“Ah, yes. It’s a magical beast that appeared in the downtown area of Daejeon. For now, it seems a magical beast seed has germinated; I will submit a detailed report later.”
Having finished his business, the researcher waited for a moment.
Korea—specifically South Korea—was Cloud’s home country. Though the exact timing was unknown, he had been adopted when Seoul was still the capital of Korea, so he must have some memories of his childhood. However, despite hearing news of his homeland after a long time, Cloud showed no reaction.
Hearing the click of the mouse, the researcher understood that Cloud had no further business with him.
“I’ll be heading back then.”
Until the researcher quietly left the office, Cloud’s only reactions were the two short phrases he had uttered.
As he closed the door, a deep sigh escaped him. He thought he had grown used to it, but he couldn’t help feeling tense every time he dealt with the man. Since reactions were so rare, it felt like talking to a wall.
‘Still, it’s good that he doesn’t say anything useless…’
A colleague he encountered on the way back greeted him.
“I was looking for you. Where did you go?”
“To Professor Carter. News came in that an anxiety fog mutated into an inorganic substance in Korea.”
“Ah, wasn’t it also Korea where the giant vine germinated in a city where the magical energy purification was perfect? Strangely, things happen there often.”
“As if we could trust that ‘perfect purification’ figure. It could just be an excuse to avoid responsibility.”
“I have an acquaintance at a Korean lab who said the concentration of magical energy was such that a magical beast seed couldn’t have germinated naturally. Since this incident also happened in a city area, the background is similar.”
The researcher groaned softly and rubbed his chin.
“You could dismiss it as a coincidence once, but twice in a row… Surely it’s not an artificial germination?”
Research into artificially germinating magical beast seeds had been conducted in extreme secrecy recently. Since research was also underway in Korea, it was possible, but he remained skeptical.
How could Korea succeed in artificial germination when the US failed every time? While Korea was a country ahead in magical beast research—having stabilized its government relatively early and being adjacent to North Korean hunting grounds—still…
The colleague, unaware that the researcher was lost in thought, asked a frivolous question.
“Come to think of it, isn’t Professor Carter’s name unusual?”
There are parents everywhere in the world who intentionally give their children strange or unique names. To the colleague who thought Cloud was a similar case, the researcher shook his head.
“He was adopted from Korea. I heard it’s related to his original name before he was adopted.”
✽ ✽ ✽
During the Great Cataclysm, the city hit hardest after Seoul was Busan. This was because the waters off Busan were occupied by aquatic magical beasts, represented by the S-class named magical beast, Sang-ryu, leading to a blockade of maritime transport. Whether magical beasts resembling flying guppies or those resembling eels crawling on land truly counted as aquatic types was a subject of debate among magical beast scholars.
Since Incheon Port and Pyeongtaek Port were close to Seoul and thus dangerous, Busan had to be reclaimed to safely open the sea routes. However, even if the situation was better than Seoul’s, Busan was equally a den of magical beasts.
〈Isn’t that just a Jagalchi Market for magical beasts? The ones becoming sashimi won’t be fish, but hunters.〉
The words spoken by a certain member of the National Assembly after watching footage of Busan were still talked about among Busan citizens. The lawmaker who made that comment never succeeded in being re-elected.
Five years after the Great Cataclysm, the reclamation of Busan was led by hunters who were refugees from Seoul.
Even though the temporary capital had been pushed back to Daejeon, the areas outside Seoul maintained the minimum infrastructure and civilization necessary to live like humans. In contrast, the situation in Seoul was entirely different.
To survive day by day in the destroyed city, the hunters of Seoul had to constantly hunt magical beasts. It was only natural that their abilities were honed more roughly and sharply than those of hunters outside Seoul.
As refugees escaped and underwent grade evaluations, the proportion of S-class and A-class hunters in all of Korea suddenly increased. Sister Benedicta, who had practically fed the Seoul refugees almost single-handedly, was exceptionally rated as S-class despite not being a combat or production type.
Since it felt as if their own tables had been stolen, the hunter community at the time looked upon the hunters from the Seoul refugee camp with distaste. However, as they solved the Id Portal problem, their influence grew.
〈What does it matter if a magical beast has nine necks or ninety-nine? Just cut them all and kill it.〉
〈Have you not heard the explanation until now that there is currently no method or hunter capable of dealing with an S-class magical beast? And no matter if you are a hunter, the way a young man speaks…〉
〈I’ll kill it.〉
Tae-un, who guaranteed it with a chilling expression unbecoming of a boy, led the Busan reclamation operation and truly cut Sang-ryu’s neck and destroyed its core. The hideous scar remaining on his face was the result of that brutal battle.
Lee Han-gyeol joyfully exclaimed that even the scar looked cool, but Pi Min-hyeong and the other children at the orphanage felt a bitter taste in their mouths whenever they saw it. They felt a sense of guilt, thinking that if they had been stronger, Tae-un would not have been seriously injured.
However, one positive effect was discovered. People who had looked down on the young Tae-un naturally recalled the combat footage of him running wild, covered in blood and disregarding his own life like a madman, whenever they saw his scar. After considering the correlation between their words and their own precious lives, they shut their mouths.
〈He’s carrying an etiquette injector on his face.〉
That was Justina’s one-line review.
In any case, the battle to reclaim Busan and the magical beast Sang-ryu were events that left this kind of meaning for Pi Min-hyeong.
“Do you know anything about Sang-ryu’s poison?”
That was why Kim Si-baek’s out-of-context question, asked while checking on the unconscious Tae-un, felt strange. He thought it was very abrupt, but he told him everything he knew.
“That Sang-ryu from Busan? All I know is that it was a mixture of poisons.”
“Do you know what the components were?”
Pi Min-hyeong, who used his body rather than his head, scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. Kim Si-baek thought for a moment and spoke again.
“Then could you inquire with Section Chief Gwak Yun-sang of the Invitation Bureau on my behalf?”
“It might be difficult for Section Chief Gwak to provide detailed data on an S-class magical beast within his authority.”
“It will probably work.”
His tone was certain.
Kim Si-baek acted as if he didn’t know much about the systems of society, yet he was strangely proficient in matters regarding magical beasts. The anxiety fog incident today was the same. Thinking it might be related to Tae-un’s sudden collapse, Pi Min-hyeong didn’t say much and immediately called Gwak Yun-sang’s number saved in his phone.
Ah, Hunter Pi? I’ve already heard about the magical beast at the amusement park. You worked hard.
“Yes. More importantly, could you send me the analysis data on the magical beast Sang-ryu? I’m sorry to ask over the phone without an official document, but it’s a bit urgent right now.”
It’s a bit difficult to provide S-class magical beast data to a guild privately when it’s not for a public purpose.
“It’s a request from Hunter Kim Si-baek of our guild.”
…….
At those words, Gwak Yun-sang fell silent for a moment and then answered quickly.
I’ll send it within 20 minutes. Please give me your email.
“Oh, thank you. I’ll write the necessary official document later.”
You don’t have to.
Pi Min-hyeong was amazed by the cool permission, devoid of any power struggle. At any other time, he might have enjoyed the childish sentiment of feeling like a hidden power player manipulating a government agency from behind, but not today.
“He says he’ll send it soon.”
“Thank you.”
Kim Si-baek replied briefly, his hand still resting on Tae-un’s side. Seeing the guy who had just effortlessly taken down an A-class magical beast lying unconscious in the back seat of the car felt surreal.
Pi Seo-yeon and Pi Seo-jun also paced back and forth anxiously.
“Uncle!”
Pi Min-hyeong, who had been rubbing his face roughly with his palms, snapped his head up at Pi Seo-yeon’s sudden cry. Tae-un’s shoulder, which had been slumped against Kim Si-baek, seemed to twitch once, and then a cough erupted. Black, dead blood flowed from between his lips.