Chapter 48: Monster Wave (3)
With the SP Guild effectively disbanded, the Lunatic Guild had risen to become the fifth-ranked guild in the country.
Lunatic’s Master, Yoo Jae-jin, was a 2nd-grade hunter ranked among Korea’s top ten.
Until recently he had been ranked tenth, but with SP Guild’s Min Hae-joon dead and Shin Hye-yeon missing, he had climbed to eighth.
His skill was outstanding enough to come with the typical arrogance of high-grade hunters.
The man in the suit who appeared before him was someone he had never seen before.
In other words, he wasn’t one of the seven ranked above him.
He might be someone operating in the shadows, but even then Yoo Jae-jin should have recognized his face.
“You’re telling us to voice our complaints? Who the hell are you?”
Yoo Jae-jin stepped forward first among the guild masters and spoke.
It didn’t even take much courage.
“You look like you belong in some district office doing paperwork. Do you even know who we are to talk like that?”
The other guild masters nodded in agreement at Yoo Jae-jin’s words.
The more they did, the harder Yoon Soo-ho’s expression became.
Just as the man in the suit scratched his head and was about to speak—
“Wait!”
Yoon Soo-ho suddenly shouted and appeared in front of Yoo Jae-jin in an instant.
“Why—”
The moment Yoo Jae-jin looked at Yoon Soo-ho in confusion—
Grab— BOOM!
Yoon Soo-ho seized his head in a vice grip and slammed him straight into the ground.
The barrier was made of ultra-high-performance concrete reinforced with mana—far harder than ordinary earth.
The fact that it cracked so cleanly spoke volumes about the force behind Yoon Soo-ho’s decision.
Of course, he hadn’t gone all out—he couldn’t risk seriously damaging the barrier.
“W-what the hell are you doing…?”
The guild masters stared at Yoon Soo-ho with complex emotions.
They had never seen the Association President act like this before, so the shock was even greater.
Of course, if they had known Yoon Soo-ho would react this way, Yoo Jae-jin never would have stepped forward.
“Why are you suddenly doing this?”
Even the man in the suit tilted his head at Yoon Soo-ho.
Only then did Yoon Soo-ho speak.
“As Association President, I bear great responsibility for failing to properly lead the guilds. It’s probably best if I handle this myself.”
“Hmm…”
The man in the suit rested his chin on his hand, thinking.
The guild masters stood frozen, unable to comprehend what was happening.
If you had to name the person with the greatest power and authority in this place right now, it was undoubtedly Yoon Soo-ho.
Until recently he had been mocked as a toothless tiger, but lately rumors said he had regained his form as a hunter.
If that was true, then even every hunter here combined couldn’t guarantee victory against him.
And yet that same Yoon Soo-ho was bowing his head to the man in the suit.
“President, what the hell is—”
Yoo Jae-jin, still face-down in the dirt, lifted his head and spoke to Yoon Soo-ho.
Yoon Soo-ho looked down at him with cold eyes.
Crack— Snap!
“AAAARGH! My bones!”
In an instant, both of Yoo Jae-jin’s shoulders were twisted.
And it didn’t stop there.
BAM BAM— THUD!
A barrage of punches slammed into his abdomen and chest, sending him crashing down.
The 8th-ranked hunter in Korea rolled his eyes back and passed out.
“…….”
The remaining guild masters lost any desire to speak.
Cha Se-hyeon, Master of the White Tiger Guild and Association Vice President, alternated his suspicious gaze between Yoon Soo-ho and the man in the suit.
‘If even the President is acting like this, he must be some political heavyweight… but he looks way too young.’
Perhaps a relative of a major figure or an aide.
Considering the Yoon Soo-ho that Cha Se-hyeon had known until now, that was the most reasonable conclusion.
“If anyone else wants to complain about this plan, step forward.”
Yoon Soo-ho spoke seriously, and the guild masters averted their eyes.
The man in the suit watched the scene and clicked his tongue.
“Su-ho, isn’t this going too far? You basically turned the kid into a cripple.”
“…….”
The guild masters nodded in agreement, their expressions mirroring the sentiment.
Yoon Soo-ho briefly recalled the Chinese delegation—bodies twisted, crumpled, and reduced to powder.
Compared to that, this was practically gentlemanly.
Of course, ugly rumors would circulate among the guilds for a while, but he had to accept that.
And once the identity of the man in the suit came to light, they would all end up thanking him.
“…By the way, what’s the situation up north?”
Yoon Soo-ho quickly changed the subject.
***
Jin-young clicked his tongue at Yoon Soo-ho’s sudden outburst, but inwardly he was satisfied.
‘No need for me to step in directly. Nice.’
The system was starting to run smoothly on its own without him having to intervene, and that felt good.
“What’s the situation up north?”
He decided to help Yoon Soo-ho move past this awkward moment quickly.
“Well, as you can see, the Kaesong contaminated zone has been cleaned up. That’ll make it much easier to block the monsters even if they come swarming.”
Contaminated zone monsters weakened the moment they left the Creep.
The longer they stayed out, the more their strength dropped—usually by one or two grades in danger level.
If the weakened monsters coming through Kaesong and across the Imjin River could be comfortably stopped from atop the barrier, it would be perfect.
With Lee Ju-hong serving as a living totem, the monsters wouldn’t scatter elsewhere—they’d all converge on the barrier.
This would be an ideal hunting ground.
The current Monster Wave would become the perfect opportunity for hunters whose growth had stalled to rise in grade.
Yoon Soo-ho nodded and asked,
“Couldn’t some head toward the northern Gangwon region too?”
“That’s why I’m planning to purify the contaminated zones up there as well. In the meantime, keep watch with these guys. I don’t think we have much time left.”
The Chinese delegation from the China Awakened Association had vanished, yet Zhu Yinchang and the Communist Party still hadn’t retaliated.
Their eerie silence suggested they had already finished preparations for the Monster Wave.
If so, there was no time to waste standing around here.
As Jin-young prepared to leave, Yoon Soo-ho called out.
“What if we can’t handle it on our own?”
Contaminated zones were nightmares for hunters.
The thought of hundreds of thousands of monsters pouring out was enough to worry even a 1st-grade hunter.
Moreover, though Yoon Soo-ho held the title of Association President, he was still only in his mid-twenties.
With countless hunters’ and citizens’ lives resting on his shoulders, the pressure must have been immense.
Jin-young smirked and said,
“That won’t happen. Not while I’m around.”
He leaped down from the barrier alone.
If he purified not only the Kaesong contaminated zone but also the ones in northern Gangwon Province, the Monster Wave plan would suffer a major setback.
In that case, GODS might pull something even bigger to make up for it.
‘The second Monster Wave that happens a year from now… they might trigger it together with this one.’
***
Zhu Yinchang’s group had begun leading monsters from the Yanbian contaminated zone.
They stopped by the Sinuiju contaminated zone in the southwest before heading east toward the Hamhung contaminated zone.
Along the way, they succeeded in gathering nearly a hundred thousand monsters.
They had come all the way to Hamhung in search of the second 1st-grade boss monster.
While heading toward the core, Zhu Yinchang received a report through his watch.
His expression hardened, and the turbaned man spoke up.
Sandesh Singh, a 1st-grade hunter from India.
“What’s wrong?”
“They say the Kaesong contaminated zone in the south has been purified.”
“Suddenly?”
“…….”
Even Zhu Yinchang looked like he couldn’t believe it, his mind racing.
Kwak Jeong-min, listening from the side, also found it strange.
The Kaesong contaminated zone was a place even high-grade hunters like Yoon Soo-ho couldn’t guarantee they could purify even with a full expedition.
Especially the 1st-grade boss monster there—it was on a level where even 1st-grade hunters couldn’t hunt it.
That was precisely why the previous North Korean expedition had failed and retreated.
“Who purified it? Do we know?”
At Kwak Jeong-min’s question, Zhu Yinchang turned to him and asked,
“You’re Korean—you should know better than anyone. Who else could purify the Kaesong contaminated zone? Yoon Soo-ho couldn’t have done it alone.”
“Maybe Shin Soo-jeong was involved too.”
“Even if it was those two, they couldn’t have done it with hunters 2nd-grade or below. There has to be at least one more hunter on Yoon Soo-ho’s level.”
“…I’ve been away from Korea for three years now.”
“Even three years ago, there must have been hunters starting to stand out. Maybe someone’s been hiding their identity and operating in the shadows.”
Zhu Yinchang recalled what his sister Zhu Meiling had told him.
A mysterious secret agent operating in Korea.
Even GODS’s top assassin, Stalker, had been taken down and gone missing at the hands of that secret agent.
Because of that, Zhu Meiling had even considered asking the Godfather for help.
Of course, the Godfather wouldn’t personally intervene over something like this.
“If there was such a hunter, I would have made contact long ago.”
Kwak Jeong-min shook his head as he spoke.
Zhu Yinchang still looked at him with suspicious eyes.
When he first heard that Korean hunters were gathering at the Paju barrier, he had even suspected Kwak Jeong-min of leaking information.
Of course, even if hunters were gathering at Paju, they alone wouldn’t be able to handle the Monster Wave.
But if the Kaesong contaminated zone had been purified and the monsters weakened accordingly, the situation could change.
‘Should I send Kwak Jeong-min and reroute toward Gangwon Province?’
Zhu Yinchang’s mind worked quickly.
Rerouting to Gangwon Province would increase the distance to Seoul, but thanks to the gap in hunter forces there, they could pass through easily.
Once they reached Pyongyang, he could send Kwak Jeong-min ahead and adjust the strategy.
Since things had come to this, he had no choice but to push harder and drag at least one more boss monster along.
Having successfully taken control of one additional 1st-grade boss monster in the Hamhung contaminated zone, Zhu Yinchang’s group now headed toward the Pyongyang contaminated zone.
During the journey, the number of monsters swelled to hundreds of thousands.
Of course, controlling even two boss monsters was already taxing for Zhu Yinchang—he didn’t have the capacity to manage hundreds of thousands on his own.
Even with support from Kwak Jeong-min, Sandesh Singh, and the other GODS members, it wasn’t easy.
Yet the hundreds of thousands of monsters were moving exactly as Zhu Yinchang willed.
The reason this was possible was the “bond” among contaminated zone monsters.
As long as he commanded just a few mid-tier monsters acting as lieutenants, the rest would follow them loyally to the end.
Thanks to this, Zhu Yinchang’s group was able to focus solely on controlling the boss monsters and advance rapidly toward Pyongyang.
That was when he received another intelligence report through his watch.
His expression twisted.
Sandesh asked again.
“What now?”
“…….”
Zhu Yinchang was so furious he didn’t answer right away, taking a moment to suppress his rage.
The other members, sensing the gravity of the situation, left him alone.
After calming down somewhat, Zhu Yinchang spoke slowly.
“The Gangwon Province northern contaminated zones—including the Geumgangsan area—have been purified.”
“It hasn’t even been a full day since Kaesong was cleaned. Could it be fake news?”
Sandesh asked with a grave expression.
Zhu Yinchang wanted to believe it was fake, but the People’s Liberation Army intelligence bureau wouldn’t lie.
They had even received confirmation that Yoon Soo-ho hadn’t gone into the contaminated zone and was still at the barrier.
“This is wrong… something’s very wrong.”
At this point, suspecting Kwak Jeong-min was meaningless.
There was clearly an anomaly in Korea—an existence beyond normal standards.
‘Could it be… a Zero-grade hunter?’
Even in China, there was only one Zero-grade hunter.
Officially, there were only six in the entire world.
If you included shadowy figures like the Godfather, the number might be higher.
He had never imagined Korea was hiding a Zero-grade hunter.
If that was true, then the current method wouldn’t be enough to inflict catastrophe-level damage on Korea.
Zhu Yinchang, clutching his head, spoke with a transformed look in his eyes.
“We’re changing the plan.”
“…….”
The rest of the hunters listened in silence.
“We’ll produce additional monsters right here.”
Sandesh shook his head.
“Will that be enough? The contaminated zones are gone. Shouldn’t we at least spread more Creep? Covering all the way to Seoul would be even better.”
“You’re saying we should summon him…”
Zhu Yinchang trailed off as he looked at Sandesh.
A hint of worry overshadowed his expectations.
When Sandesh removed his black sunglasses, lifeless gray eyes were revealed.
“Since he dared interfere with GODS’s great and sacred plan, he deserves an end befitting that crime.”