1.

August 13th.

Eight months after the emergence of the monsters, Korea was still full of monsters and ruins. Among the broken buildings, no straight building could be found, the roads were still graveyards of cars, and a lot of people were suffering from the water shortage, not to mention not being able to wash their hands.

On the other hand, monsters were still threatening humans, hiding themselves in every corner or building their own territories.

There seemed to be little change in the gruesomeness of reality. However, the sense of despair, which was felt not just by the eyes, but also the body, was clearly different from the past.

On December 31, 2016, a blaze of hope was ignited in some cities in South Korea, where there was nothing but despair. Among them, the hottest place was Bucheon. Previously, this small city, which was just sandwiched between Seoul and Incheon, was now the hottest city in South Korea.

There were many reasons. Having more solar power plants than any other city enabled a stable electricity supply; the nation's most advanced health care system; and the infrastructure of living was better than any other city, and crime rates were the lowest. Most of all, there was something else in Bucheon City.

"That's the headquarter of the Mac Guild."

"Looking at the flag of the Mac Guild there, it looks like this is the safest place in South Korea."

The headquarter of the Mac Guild, in what was once Bucheon City Hall, made Bucheon the hottest city. Naturally, the nation's people gathered in Bucheon City.

"We sell yellow-grade monster leather! You can trade with monster stones any time!"

"We're looking for Clan members! All Awakeners are welcome!"

"We're looking for party members to join in the hunt for monsters! It's a Starfish Clan party!"

The Awakeners who had gathered there made Bucheon a hotter city through their activities in Bucheon.

Monsters' bodies were traded here and there, and such traded bodies were made into items in the workshops. The items were the basis for hunting stronger monsters when held in the hands of the crowded Awakeners.

A virtuous circle was formed to kill stronger monsters. It was the Mac Guild who fueled such a virtuous cycle.

"Did you hear that? I heard the Mac Guild will release lots of relics this time."

The Mac Gild did not want their possessions to rot in a safe.

"Oh, I heard the story. There are rumors that they will release the relics that they gained from Gyeongju."

"According to the rumors, the items made from the hair of the Gamecock are finally being auctioned, and there are also the elite goods made by Park Kap-soo and his disciples! There's a rumor that they are more powerful than a few relics!"

"There will be some great things, I'll have to pack up the monster stones!"

"It will be hard for an individual to get a successful bid at an auction. The top Clans are holding hands before this Mac Guild auction, it's going to be a huge deal."

The relics wanted to find their masters and become weapons to hunt monsters. For that reason, the Mac Guild auctioned off items made using relics and monsters they had hunted. For the hunters, it was basically the only place where they could get powerful weapons without bleeding for them.

"This auction will be more intense than ever because it's a place where the Clans can show their strength."

"They can show their loyalty to the Mac Guild."

Furthermore, the Mac Guild-sponsored relic auction was now a place where the Clans of the Mac Guild, whose numbers now exceeded a hundred, could display their strength. It was not just an immature struggle.

"The powerful Clans will have a lot of rights now."

In the world of monsters, the hunter groups and the Clan had no choice but to exercise absolute influence. It was no wonder that a community was formed around such a Clan.

Talented engineers and talented people who wanted to receive protection and support gathered under the talented hunters. The community that combined in that way showed great performance in the process of restoring the infrastructure of the Republic of Korea, which had obviously collapsed.

"If they are smart, they'll have to realize that this is a historic opportunity."

That meant a great deal.

In the land of Gangnam, which no one dared to approach and where the monsters were overflowing in the ruins and the buildings, if someone built a building, who would be the owner of the building?

It would be hard for the old owner of the building to claim full rights to the new building.

What if they recaptured an area full of monsters and rebuilt a city there, not just a building or two?

In Korean history, those who had taken the opportunity before and after the Korean War became a power, becoming the chaebol who controlled the Republic of Korea. Therefore, they could not help but know what to do now to get wealth and power in the next ten years.

The Mac Guild's auction made many people boil up.

There was one more event that attracted attention as such an auction.

"This time there is a new recruitment announcement for a hunter."

"Really? Where is it this time?"

Hunter Recruitment Notice.

It was a notice that the Mac Guild was recruiting volunteers to hunt high-grade monsters that were hard to hunt with the power of just a Clan or small party.

An ambitious Clan or party competitively applied because it could then hunt powerful monsters, and could get a stake in the monsters. Above all, the participation rate of parties that wanted to be a Clan recognized by the Mac Guild was higher than ever.

It was a true gateway; the moment they climbed up, there was a chance they could be a top Clan!

"Let's see… huck!" But this time the story was different.

"… this hunting spot is Jirisan, isn't it?"

Jirisan!

If they were Koreans, they cannot help but know that Jirisan was the representative mountain of Korea, next to Mt. Halla and Mt. Seorak, and better known than either.

"Jirisan? Wait, wait, what if it's Jirisan?"

"… the realm of the Golden Horn Spider, a blue-grade monster."

"Oh, my God."

And now it was notorious for housing a blue-grade monster, the Golden Horn Spider with its golden legs. It was a place the living were not allowed to approach. Indeed, the Mac Guild announced that Jirisan was an area of the Golden Horn Spider because hunters and the public carefully avoided the dangerous place.

"Isn't this the first time for a blue-grade monster?" Of course, the Mac Guild had never issued a hunter recruitment announcement for a blue-grade monster.

"The first time is not important, it's not a case of how many times!"

No, they couldn't afford to refuse the hunter recruitment announcement.

"There's only one person in Korea who can be a hunter, not a prey, against a blue-grade monster!"

There was only one hunter who could hunt blue-grade monsters!

2.

Bucheon City Council Preliminary Board Meeting Room...

It was crowded with people since it had now become the Mac Guild's conference room. The addition of new members to the early days of the Mac Guild's foundation had made it more crowded than ever before.

Two of them were prominent: Colonel Lim Hyun-joon, now Commander of the Korean military, and Cho Seong-yeon, Interim Commander of the Second Operations Command. They were the first to be here, but their facial expressions were not much different from those of the rest of them.

'I don't know what they're thinking.'

'What the hell are they thinking?'

They were frowning, revealing their agony.

'They're hunting a blue-grade monster, and they offer a hunter recruitment announcement!'

What bothered them was the recent hunter recruitment announcement of the Mac Guild. It was announced that it would recruit hunters to participate in the hunting of the Golden Horn Spider which had settled in the area of ​​Jirisan.

It was a public announcement made by Kim Tae-hoon. In the first place, there was no one who could plan a blue-grade monster hunting without his opinion. The problem was that no one had been informed that the hunting recruitment announcement would be made in advance.

It was a surprise. It was natural that their heads were about to burst, because they had to grasp Kim's intentions in the situation where they were raiding.

Screech! The door of the Preliminary Board Meeting Room opened, and Jang Sung-hoon stuck out his head.

"You all look like shit." At the end of the sentence, some people turned their eyes toward him, who whistled cheekily. In a situation where they had to complain about Kim Tae-hoon, only Jang was of no account. At their angry looks toward him, Jang responded by shaking the coffee pot in his hand. No one in the room was unaware of who the coffee pot with the white steam coming out was for.

Kim, as everyone expected, appeared behind Jang. Everyone was silent. In the silence, Kim received the coffee pot from Jang and immediately began to pour hot water over the coffee drier he brought along. As the water fell, the quiet conference room melted with the coffee beans.

"I'll be going to Japan soon," Kim Tae-hoon's words thunderbolted into the quiet conference room.

"Yes?"

"What is that?"

"Japan?"

Everyone was surprised at the announcement. The only ones who were not surprised were Jang Sung-hoon, Cho Sung-yeon, and Colonel Lim Hyun-joon. Jang and Cho were the first to hear of Kim's trip to Japan, and Colonel Lim was contacted by Jang and had prepared a ship for Kim's trip to Japan. However, that did not brighten the faces if the three.

"I'm ready to go to Japan." Kim continued to speak in the shocked atmosphere. "But the reason I have not left yet is not to leave any room."

Any Room.

The meaning of Chinese characters was 'the remaining land'.

"I don't want to leave any room for Jirisan if you can't kill a blue-grade monster without me."

Jirisan was the only place in the Republic of Korea, except for North Korea and Jeju Island, where there was a blue-grade monster which the Mac Guild could not kill. Kim did not want to leave the land as 'any room'. Of course, this alone could not explain why he issued a hunter recruitment announcement.

"In addition, we will get volunteers for this hunt."

"They cannot help you." Someone stopped Kim. Everyone looked at the man who interrupted Kim's words with surprised eyes... Cho Sung-yeon! Cho shrugged at the audience's gaze.

"Why? I didn't say anything wrong, did I? What would ants do to hunt tigers? Oh, this time they're not tigers, they're huge spiders."

However, at the image of Cho Sung-yeon, who still spoke without being discouraged, those who saw him at this moment could catch a certain sense of what kind of person he was: a man who said what he wanted to say, under any circumstances.

Kim was willing to answer the words of such a man. "The moment I go to Japan, the war begins. The result is one of two: whether Japan is defeated, or Korea is defeated."

It was an eerie answer. But Kim's story was not over there.

"For reference, Japan is not the end. There are two reasons why I am attacking Japan. One is that they declared war on us first, and the other is that we need Japan's relics and naval power for the next war. The next war is likely to be China."

China was after Japan. Some of them felt a deep dizziness at his story, of someone who was going to deal with the mountains rising one above another.

But Kim's story was still not over.

"It will be a good thing if the war is over there, but there's no guarantee that it will be over, and we might fighting the world; Russia, India, Europe, and America."

With that, Kim picked up a cup of the coffee that he had just made in front of them. He drank the coffee just as it was.

Silence came, and during that time, everyone in the conference room organized their thought.

It was Kim who broke the silence. "What I need in this situation is a man who will be willing to risk his life with me."

A comrade.

It was a word that Kim did not use easily. For him, the object of war was not a monster, but a human or a nation. The word "comrade" was also much stronger than the feeling of being a colleague fighting against a human being, rather than a colleague fighting against a monster. Of course, that was why he used the word "comrade".

"This hunting announcement is a process for finding my comrades. 'I'll be with you,' and with that remark alone, they will be at my side in the coming war, and such crazy guys will be willing to follow me to the hell where the blue-grade monster is located."

Kim took another drink of coffee after the words, swallowing without savoring it. It was a surprise. He said, "And I want to show to those who will be my comrades, who exactly I am, and how capable I am, to be able to trust me and risk his life with me."

Kim's words were heard more sincerely than ever.

"I don't want to leave any room in their minds to doubt the power I have, and the power of my country and the Mac Guild. That's why I made a recruitment announcement."

As soon as the words were finished, no one could even look unhappy with Kim anymore. He smiled lightly at the crowd. "That's why it happened, so the details should be taken care of by the people here."

At the end of his words, Kim left the conference room with his mug in his hand. Everyone looked after him with blank eyes.

Jang stood where Kim disappeared. "Well, let's start the meeting."

And that was how the meeting began.