Chapter 433

Anyway, all he knew how to use was a telephoto camera. Artifacts couldn't be held in the hands of an ordinary civilian, and since a paparazzo couldn't exactly attempt a dungeon raid, it seemed he'd simply thrown caution to the wind and sold the information.

So the executives gathered there quickly came to a decision.

"First, let's go to the site. There could be hunters trying to sneak into the passage while taking advantage of the chaos."

Even if they wasted time here... it would be like trying to catch a horse with no legs.

Upon hearing that people had gathered at the site, Jung Haseong was the first to rise. The red-haired esper moved relatively quickly as well. After all, they were all S-rank hunters accustomed to responding to emergencies.

"That damn Elixir. I was thinking I'd get to see the real thing with my own eyes..."

But even amid the confusion, there were those who maintained their own pace.

Kang Changho.

South Korea's third S-rank Hunter barely moved. Instead, he simply watched the others.

Judging by his demeanor, he clearly had no intention of heading to the scene.

"That guy really does nothing but stir up trouble and then disappear."

It was a choice he could afford to make, since there were still plenty of other ways to verify the real Elixir.

Moreover, the head of the Association likewise had little reason to personally visit the site.

Except for a few people, nearly everyone soon headed outside.

"Um, Mr. Kang. I'm only asking to make sure, but if those people go out now, are they going to run into the security team collapsed in the hallway?"

"Oh, no. Nothing like that happened."

"Then you didn't knock out the guards?"

"We came in properly without using any violence. All we did was show them our S-rank Hunter IDs and explain that we'd been summoned as well."

"—"

Of course, the fact that this was a lie was a bit of a problem.

"The training for the newly hired security team is terrible. Don't they even double-check these things?"

"Wouldn't that actually prove that the Hunter Association hasn't suffered much trouble lately? Complacency. Though I suppose that's not entirely a bad thing either."

As one could infer from overhearing this exchange, no one had been injured so far.

But the Elixir had reappeared.

Word of it was quietly spreading among the public, and no one could guarantee what would happen next.

"Phew."

This world really did have far too many things to worry about.

Esther, who had been surveying the overall situation, paused briefly in thought.

"I'd forgotten because we haven't had to deal with monsters for a while, but as expected, Dungeon Shocks really come with far too many things to worry about."

Still, there was probably no one here more shaken than that young man.

[Magic Addiction] was a phenomenon that usually appeared only during the early stages of a Dungeon Shock.

As a result, in the minds of most people, it had long since become a rare condition one might never encounter in an entire lifetime.

And yet that sudden catastrophe, something that should have existed only in distant footage and old records, had struck none other than the family of Korea's representative Hunter...

***

A little later, Jung Haseong arrived at the familiar location while wiping cold sweat from his forehead.

A blue glow.

Alien mana lingering in the surroundings.

Before him stood a gate—something so commonplace by now that even explaining what it was felt tiresome.

"Oh my goodness!"

However, the scene was exactly as he'd been told over the phone.

"Ah! There you are. You've finally come."

"Excuse me. Does some kind of black, crawling monster come out of this gate?"

"Our guild heard all about it! But seriously, some people think they can just snatch this up because their rank happens to be high."

"Neo Sisters and the Magic Tower really went out of their way to post guards here, huh?"

Fine.

Let's say the Elixir had appeared.

But why in the world had these people worked themselves into such a rage all on their own?

"Phew. Everyone, hello."

"This isn't the time to say hello!"

"Sir, blocking access to newly discovered gates is a procedure that already existed five years ago, and our large guilds have merely dispatched personnel in accordance with that."

"But the thing is..."

"Let's calm down first."

The commotion gradually subsided.

The others might have been intimidated by the unexpectedly powerful presence of the Awakened, but Jung Haseong and Esther ignored that for the moment and focused on talking things through.

"Even though a top-tier guild discovered this dungeon first and secured it, you're telling us not to get worked up?"

"Guild Master Esther. Are you saying yours is the only guild that counts? Even if we're stuck in third place, we're contributing just as much to national security."

Judging by their reactions, it seemed that news of the meeting held at the Hunter Association hadn't spread at all.

"We only came because we heard that the [Elixir] had appeared, but when we got here, Awakened were already blocking the way. Naturally, everyone was startled and pushed back."

By the way, there was a saying that if you stayed shut inside your room doing nothing but browsing the internet, you became an adult child younger than your actual age.

Surprisingly, however, social skills could return quite quickly with practice.

So Esther drew on the eloquence she'd accumulated over many years and began explaining the situation.

"All right, let's start by sorting this out. I'll make one thing clear from the beginning. The Elixir Gate is going to become a public asset belonging proudly to the Republic of Korea, understood?"

"A public asset?"

"Are you saying you're going to let hunters enter freely, like at Gate 0?"

A brief exchange of questions and answers followed.

"Not exactly, but I do want to give as many hunters as possible a chance. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Didn't the Association say they were going to hold an auction?"

"Their position on that point is similar to mine as well."

"S-similar? If a public institution has already confirmed it, then I suppose I have nothing more to say..."

At that point, someone once again brought up the "peculiar phenomena unique to gates."

"Wait a moment, Hunter Esther. The thing is, considering the current trend..."

It was still unclear whether the photographer had sold the information to every media outlet he could find.

Fortunately, only a handful of people here seemed suspicious.

The hunters currently at the scene belonged to the third-ranked guild, trailing behind the Korean Magic Tower and Neo Sisters.

"This... gate, I don't know whether it's some kind of punishment from heaven or what. Anyway, it seems to strongly dislike Hunters gathering in one place and simply loitering around."

"Hmm."

"That's why, after a dungeon is cleared, there have recently been more cases where the gate's resource monsters stop appearing on the surface."

"Go on."

"Guild Master, you also know why [Knight's Oath] has become so rare lately, don't you?"

However, reaching an agreement on what to do from this point onward still seemed difficult.

"In Europe and elsewhere, monsters nicknamed Tristan have been rapidly declining in number."

"..."

"In the past, dungeons were treasure troves that kept producing rewards endlessly. These days, even ordinary monsters no longer seem guaranteed to remain available for repeated hunting."

"There haven't been any reported cases of monsters disappearing completely."

"Still, is it really so wrong to settle everything before beginning the work?"

Seo Esther was a mutant who easily ranked among the top five percent of humanity in terms of money, authority, and sheer force.

Therefore, it was only natural for her, as the person currently holding the reins, to speak as the representative.

"I wouldn't go so far as to call it wrong. But if I may, I'd like to state my position as the person who first discovered this dungeon."

Even if the number of monsters inside this gate was limited, she believed it would be unreasonable for a single person to monopolize the entire place.

Even now, everyone was keeping one another in check and chaos had already broken out.

If all rights to the gate were handed over entirely to one side, accidents could occur that no insurance policy would ever be able to cover.

Just as during the [Beast] incident, even if a band of thieves appeared, the public would willingly intervene.

Therefore, Esther proposed that authority over this treasure gate should be shared among multiple people.

"If you prefer, we could even draw the monsters out of the gate one at a time and bring them outside, then distribute them according to rank."

For reference, if the lottery-like opportunities were distributed in that way, even hunters whose resolve was beginning to waver would go back to working like oxen.

From Esther's perspective, it was a perfectly rational solution.

Safe.

And even noble, considering that she was voluntarily giving up the advantages that came with being the S-rank Hunter who had first discovered the gate.

"What did you say? According to rank?"

"I knew it!"

However, the reactions of the nearby hunters were far from favorable.

"Absolutely not! How are we supposed to know when our turn will ever come?"

The capital was a city where gates appeared frequently.

However, most of Seoul's prime hunting grounds were swept up by large guilds backed by substantial capital.

As a result, it was only natural for high-ranking hunters to gather under Neo Sisters and the Korean Magic Tower.

Moreover, the occasional high-ranking A-rank Awakened who slipped through the cracks were often based in the provinces, where they monopolized certain regions...

"What exactly was wrong with what I just said?"

Seo Esther shot a sharp glance at the hunters in front of her who had obtained the leaked information.

Anyway, in the end, their argument was simple.

So they're complaining that if opportunities are distributed by rank, their share, as the third-ranked guild in the metropolitan area, will be too small?

At that point, Seo Esther felt a strong sense of doubt.

"But even if the owner of the gate were chosen by some other method, there's no way you'd end up first anyway, is there?"

After all, they were people lacking money, scale, and even the modern form of power represented by supernatural abilities.

This kind of behavior was seen all too often.

In short, it was safe to assume that the hunters in such positions envied those with more resources and attempted to keep them in check.

"If entry into the gate is determined by rank, then later you're going to distribute the right to kill the boss the same way too, aren't you?"

Moreover, Esther wasn't the only target of their criticism.

"He's contributed the most to the country, and by sheer coincidence he has a [Magic Addiction] patient in his own household. At this rate, everything's going to end up in Jung Haseong's hands in the blink of an eye, isn't it?"

"No, that's..."

"Since when are people with incurable or difficult-to-treat illnesses found only in his family? Everyone here has circumstances of their own!"

What in the world was Jung Haseong thinking at that moment?

The executives of the third-ranked guild soon pointed toward the young man dressed in white.

"But now that such an extraordinary treasure gate has appeared, you're really just going to hand all the rights over to one person?"

"Is there actually a better alternative?"

"No, we can't accept that. We agreed on this before coming here, and we absolutely refuse to create that kind of precedent."

What did you just say?

It was the kind of statement that naturally made such a question spring to mind.

"[The Elixir] isn't simply an item that makes its user stronger. It's medicine capable of saving a person's life!"

"Exactly. So are you saying only the people at the top should be allowed to share the chance of obtaining it?"

"If you're the only ones protecting this world, then fine, we won't complain. But if even the C-rank hunters went on strike, never mind the A-ranks, the country would be thrown into chaos. So why should S-rank Hunters automatically receive special privileges? Huh?"

Questions followed one after another.

"Are you the only heroes in this country?"

"At this rate, every time a national treasure appears, it'll just be taken away as though that's the natural order of things. If that's how it's going to be, then let's just decide it by lottery!"

"Whether the Elixir Gate gets raided or whatever else happens, let whoever wins ownership deal with it themselves!"

"If not that, then voting... What about a vote? This is a democratic country, after all."

At that moment, Seo Esther grumbled inwardly.

What is wrong with everyone's heads?

If they adopt slow, drawn-out methods like voting or lotteries, just imagine how much money will be siphoned away into security expenses while everything drags on.

And we'll get headaches from all the shady schemes pouring in from every direction.

On this side stood an S-rank Hunter who had accumulated countless achievements and, thanks to a solid record of regular activity, firmly held second place in the rankings.

And if I happened to obtain the Elixir, I might even have been able to negotiate a private deal with the president of Neo Sisters.

Naturally, every argument Esther had made had also taken her own interests into careful consideration.

But now that the whole plan was on the verge of collapsing, a hollow feeling rose inside her.

What a shame.

The chance to surpass the guild I've been competing with for years is just slipping away like this?

Moreover, although the curse user wore an amiable smile, a peculiar contempt gradually crept into her gaze.

Honestly, I don't even know whether those people understand what capitalism or competition mean.

Although she genuinely cared about protecting the weak, she also had a tendency to hold grudges.

The purple-haired woman observed the situation and was just about to interject with a remark tinged with irritation.

However, someone else spoke a little faster.

A one-handed sword the color of crimson daylight.

An otherworldly cloak retrieved from beyond the glowing blue corridor.

Finally, a familiar figure clad in such equipment stepped forward.

"Everyone."

Those were Jung Haseong's first words.

"This is already widely known, but I'm in a position where I desperately want to treat my sick mother. Even so, all I'm asking for is one opportunity in return for all the effort I've put in until now... Do you really have to oppose me this much?"

He didn't stop there, adding a few more words.

"No, well... we have sick people in our families too. My mother also has a hereditary illness that modern medicine can't cure..."

"But medicine in this world isn't free either, is it?"

"Huh?"

"Everyone talks a good game about how the lives of poor people are just as precious, but in the end, newly developed drugs with fewer side effects and higher success rates have always been priced beyond the reach of ordinary families..."

As she watched him, Seo Esther instinctively realized that Jung Haseong was no longer in a rational state.

"Besides, even dogs... even those tiny lives we call puppies, their surgeries aren't covered by insurance, so they're always at risk of being abandoned."

"..."

"But just because they're pitiful, one veterinarian can't possibly take in and raise every stray dog in the country, can they? Everyone understands that realistically."

"..."

"This is a world without equality."

"..."

"But now, after someone has worked themselves to the bone and lived diligently, when it's finally their turn to receive some benefit... why now... why, of all times, does it have to be now?"

As the normally calm Hunter gradually raised his voice, it became easy to see just how desperate he was.

"Ah... please. I don't even know what else to say."

"H-Hunter-nim."

"I know this request is half unreasonable, but I'm really desperate."

Then, within only a few seconds, the atmosphere became so unfamiliar that it was almost suffocating.

Jung Haseong had entered society at a young age.

Because people often dismissed him on account of his age, he had deliberately concealed his impatience until now.

But this time, unable to control his emotions, he was showing tears in front of others.

From the beginning, something like this couldn't have been held back by individual strength alone.

"Please. I need the [Elixir] more than any other item."

Who in the world wouldn't feel grief when thinking about a sick loved one?

People were generally much the same in that regard.

Unless, of course, one happened to be an alien occupying a son's body.

"If this is likely to create a bad precedent, I'll sign a formal pledge. I won't accept any preferential treatment based on the ranking system ever again."

"Oh my."

"And I really didn't want to say this... but no matter how much I think about it, I don't think I can let this go."

"W-what?"

"I feel like I won't be able to rest unless I somehow obtain the right to defeat this dungeon's boss. Otherwise, I think I'll go insane. I think I'd try anything—even telling government officials that I'm going to emigrate—just to get one chance..."

"Gasp!"

"I'm so sorry."

My goodness.

Jung Haseong had rejected every lavish offer that had ever come from abroad.

Yet now, the national hero who seemed destined to remain in Korea forever had suddenly played an unexpected card.

"But if all of you can hold back your protests—I mean, if you don't oppose me too strongly—then in exchange, I'll personally guarantee the rewards from the gate's ordinary monsters. So please..."