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“It seems you have a good backing. Or maybe you were born with a good skill. Watching the video, hmm… at one point, your appearance changed slightly, and from then on, you became incredibly strong. That’s not really a normal situation, is it? Ah, and besides, that handsome man suddenly disappeared.”
A laugh that seemed like a joke followed, along with a glance at Agon. On the other hand, veins bulged on the backs of Beom Yeonhu and Agon’s hands at those words.
The air before a catastrophe brushed against their skin. Wang Rong must have felt it too.
“Many people interpreted that scene like this. They said that the man next to you disappeared because he had ‘fused’ with Han Dokyeom-ssi. Does that mean you can fuse with other monsters? Fusion… Isn’t that a very good skill?”
Wang Rong, who had reached a conclusion as if in a monologue, soon smacked his lips briefly and laughed, hiding his regret. Even though he acted friendly, he couldn’t hide his true intentions.
Fusion?
Anyone who saw the snow mountain video could easily figure that out, unless they were an idiot. But it probably wasn’t ‘certainty.’
That’s how much Baek Jiun’s snow mountain video was full of situations and scenes that would make people tilt their heads in confusion.
Right. The ‘result’ existed, but the ‘process’ that produced that result was lacking.
That means all the important scenes were cut into pieces, and only the ‘result’ was transmitted. This was largely due to the gate’s environment at the time.
No matter how skilled Baek Jiun was at capturing the situation, it would have been impossible to film the entire process from start to finish. In key scenes, flames erupted, and the screen was covered several times by steam that enveloped the surroundings.
For example, scenes of Dokyeom using
After the video was released, countless people questioned Han Dokyeom’s strength.
They questioned not only the reason for his increased strength, but also the circumstances of his changed appearance and the sudden appearance of a ‘child.’ The child appeared from nowhere, then disappeared, and the chimera monster appeared again.
And at the end, in that chaotic video, a handsome young man who stole the viewer’s attention suddenly disappeared, and Han Dokyeom’s appearance changed. From that point, an E-rank became strong enough to rival an SS-rank boss.
Thus, absurd rumors poured out, saying the video was a ‘movie’ made by Sahyeon Guild’s ‘funds.’ Why? Because it was unbelievable.
Nevertheless, Dokyeom didn’t bother to explain and left them alone. He had no intention of revealing the ‘truth.’
Taeseongyeon, who had stepped back and watched the snowballing situation, was no different. It was safe to say that Taeseongyeon’s influence was the strongest in having the snow mountain video deleted.
Sahyeon Guild took the lead and applied strong external pressure to the Association. The Association, agreeing that the snow mountain video could cause a lot of controversy, deleted all videos from the hunters who were deployed at that time.
Naturally, people would constantly dig into and question why Han Dokyeom could defeat an SS-rank boss, and how an E-rank could have such power.
And Dokyeom had no answers to give.
“You said your name is Wang Rong-ssi, right?”
A calm voice cut through the dangerous air that felt like walking on thin ice. Everyone’s eyes immediately focused on one spot.
At the end of that gaze was Dokyeom, straightening his head that had been leaning against Agon’s shoulder, his cheek pressed.
Wang Rong narrowed his eyes and willingly nodded.
“You seem to have searched hard, but I guess you didn’t hear anyone subtly saying that video was fake.”
“It looked like the truth to me.”
“Oh, is that so? I wonder why it looked like the truth. Well, maybe you’re annoyed that you don’t have such a skill, so you can’t sleep.”
“Haha, if good hunters appear in neighboring Korea, isn’t that a good thing? The international community always supports each other.”
It’s a check, I suppose.
China had the most S-rank hunters in the world. Even the United States, called the land of the gods, had 16 S-ranks according to recent counts, while China had as many as 27. Among them, five S-rank hunters belonged to Shanghai City.
Of course, that was only the official count; the public speculated that if unregistered or covert hunters were included, the number would be even higher.
Therefore, China kept an eye on neighboring countries, checking and spying on them to maintain its title as the country with the most S-ranks. In some cases, they spent large sums to scout hunters from weak small nations, and sometimes even took them away.
In the midst of this, some E-rank did something unbelievable, so China must have been dumbfounded. For them, it must have felt like the foundation of their faith was shaken.
After all, China believed in and revered the power of S-ranks more than anyone else.
“I understand that Han Dokyeom-ssi has not undergone a separate rank reassessment. If you wish, the Shanghai City can provide a rank reassessment. You never know, right? Perhaps your rank has been upgraded like Beom Yeonhu-nim next to you. Ah, if it’s okay, please have Beom Yeonhu-nim take it together. It’s not easy to say this myself, but our verification machine is world-renowned for its accuracy.”
The meaning of those words was simple. They couldn’t trust Korea’s test results, so they wanted to verify with their own eyes. In other words, they suspected not only Dokyeom’s rank but also Beom Yeonhu’s.
How much did they look down on them to pull such a trick? If other hunters saw this, they would be fainting with anger.
Dokyeom looked at Wang Rong, who was waiting for an answer, then tapped the foot of Baek Jiun, who was sitting across from him.
“Jiun, what are you doing?”
“…Yes?”
“They’re giving us such VIP treatment, so broadcast this and show the Korean viewers the benevolent appearance of the Shanghai Association. Wang Rong-ssi will be disappointed if you don’t.”
Baek Jiun, who had been blinking with wide eyes, finally realized Dokyeom’s intention and hurriedly opened his bag and took out a small camera. The smile faded from Wang Rong’s lips.
“Hyung, what should I title it? I’ll get crazy engagement.”
“Wait. Let me think.”
Dokyeom wiggled his toes and thought. What would be good?
Meanwhile, Baek Jiun connected his phone and camera jack, turned on the camcorder, and placed his eager hand over the phone. His fingers moved back and forth over the screen as if thinking of a title. His expression was pure delight.
“Hyung, how about this? ‘The Benevolent Back of Shanghai Association Proposing a Rank Reassessment to S-rank Beom Yeonhu.’ Or maybe, ‘Shanghai Association Says They’re Suspicious of Our Hunter Beom Yeonhu’s Rank Upgrade?'”
“The latter is good. Perfect for starting chaos.”
“Hyung, then I’ll post it with this title? You won’t blame me later, right?”
A tapping sound came from Baek Jiun’s fingertips. Just as Baek Jiun, who had been typing the title diligently, raised his head with a proud face, Wang Rong, who had been silently watching the scene, let out a cold laugh. It was a hollow laugh.
His kindly crinkled eyes seemed to look at a playful grandchild.
“You seem to be full of youthful vigor, so your jokes are excessive. It was just a formal proposal, not with any particular intention, so stop there. Besides, that ‘ability’ is useless here anyway.”
Useless.
Those words proved true as Baek Jiun’s expression began to twist strangely. Baek Jiun, who had been frantically tapping his phone, looked uneasy, then finally raised his head and looked at Dokyeom.
That gaze conveyed only one meaning.
‘…Hyung, it seems like there’s some jamming here.’
It was probably not just the video recording that was being blocked.
“While you all stay here, recording media will unfortunately be unusable. Whether video, audio, or photos.”
Wang Rong’s wrinkled eyes curved like half-moons. Instead of answering, Dokyeom took out his phone and looked at the screen. He saw the ‘out of service area’ icon at the top.
That meant there was a ‘hunter’ or ‘item’ here that could emit jamming signals. He cautiously guessed that it might be the hunter silently driving the car. Was that why Wang Rong had been so open about his intentions?
“I apologize if my words were excessive. But Korea and China are like sworn brothers. I was just concerned that Korea might lose a talent like Han Dokyeom-ssi, so I mentioned our country’s rank verification machine…”
At that moment.
“Oh my, what’s that?”
Yisaein, who had been quietly listening, suddenly interrupted, looking out the window. Her slightly parted lips seemed to be in admiration, but her expression was as dry as watching a fire across the river.
Only then did everyone in the car turn their gaze toward the window Yisaein was looking at. At that moment, the air in the car turned cold.
“Wha, what…!”
Wang Rong, as if speechless, pointed ahead with a trembling hand, then turned his head sharply to look at the back seat. Specifically at Yisaein.
Yisaein frowned and showed displeasure. “Why are you looking at me? Don’t look at me. I didn’t do it. I mean, in broad daylight, how can the wind blow like a typhoon? How can anyone go shopping in Shanghai with this? Look, the sign is flying away.”
At those words, the color drained from Wang Rong’s face. Wang Rong, who was muttering something, hurriedly looked to the side again at the scream coming from the driver’s seat. A scream that forgot all decorum escaped from Wang Rong’s mouth.
And for good reason, because a ‘hurricane’ was approaching from afar.
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