He walked into the room yawning with a cup of hot coffee in his hand. It was a dark room, with the only source of light being the projector screen, which casted a sickly green glow onto the people sitting around the table. In his other hand he held a stack of papers, which he made sure none of the coffee got on. And as he took his seat the man at the head of the table looked around the table.

"Are we all in attendance? Let's begin then." The man said. His short stature belied the gravity that he oozed so naturally. His name was Chae Kangsoo and he was without a doubt the most powerful man in the room. There were some who might even argue that his influence stretched beyond even the president's, though Chae Kangsoo himself would tell such proponents that he had no interest in politics.

Chae Kangsoo nodded to the man sitting on his right, who stood up with a clicker in his hand and walked to stand beside the screen. The man was dressed in a perfectly smooth suit, without any errant wrinkles or creases. His short gray hair was waxed up.

Projected on the screen was a map of South Korea, with seven red circles highlighted.

"Good afternoon, sirs, madams, Bureau head. We have recently noted a trend where Portals are not being accurately assessed. This trend started with A-rank Portals being classified as B-rank and has extended all the way down to two D-rank Portals being wrongly classified as E-rank." The man in the suit said. "We will now present our findings. Please refer to the handouts distributed to all of you."

A woman sitting at the table, Choi Miyeon, stared at the map with a disgruntled expression. She pursed her lips. "Is this really important, Kim Taeshik? It's not exactly a sign of something big."

"While this is not a national emergency, it is worth noting, Minister." He said politely, a perfect neutrality in his tone.

"Please continue, Mr. Kim Taeshik," another man at the table said with a smile.

Kim Taeshik turned back to the screen. He clicked once and a series of greyed out photographs appeared above one of the red circles. "The A-rank Portal in Yeouido that we misclassified resulted in the deaths of all twenty members of the initial team. We sent in the Empress and Nox afterwards and the Portal was cleared without any casualties. We are currently waiting for it to collapse and the projections are for collapse to occur, at the latest, a week from now."

The people around the table shook their heads. Chae Kangsoo sighed. "What a waste. There were a few among those who died who were on our list."

Kim Taeshik clicked again and the photographs were replaced with another series of greyed photos above a different red circle. "On Jeju Island, a B-ranked Portal appeared and we misclassified it as C-rank. There were eighteen casualties but the two who survived," he pointed to the two photographs that remained in vivid colors, "are promising."

Chae Kangsoo looked at the two faces thoughtfully. He found one of them, the man with black hair on his left side and white hair on his right, all separated by a center parting hairstyle, familiar. "Say, Taeshik," he said while rubbing his chin as he always did when he was thinking, "isn't the man on the left one of the candidates we've been keeping an eye on?"

At that, there was a resounding chorus of "Right, right!"

Kim Taeshik nodded. "Han Woosang. He and his brother, Woosung, were Hunters we have identified as potential S-rankers. Unfortunately, Woosung died in the Portal. However, the woman who survived has emerged as a potential candidate in her own right."

He pointed to the gaunt looking woman with a hard look to her. She seemed to have a strong will, like a plant that would set down roots even in concrete. "Her name is Shim Yurim. Shim Yurim managed to go through Reawakening twice in the Portal and unlocked a fairly unique Skill - she can cause a frenzy of growth in plants using Aether."

Chae Kangsoo stroked his stubble thoughtfully. "That seems like it could be useful at the higher ranks."

"Indeed, Bureau head."

Kim Taeshik continued to run through the remaining cases until he reached the last two misclassified D-rank Portals. "In both D-rank Portals, the issues occurred because of Goblins and both Portals manifested somewhere in the forested region of the other world. This suggests that there may be something happening in the other world we are not aware of."

"It's the same with all misclassifications, isn't it," Choi Miyeon said at last, "at the end of the day, it's them."

Kim Taeshik nodded as Chae Hansoo sighed. "Right. Now, in the first of these two D-rank Portals, we observed no fatalities. This can be credited to Hunter Kang Seok," he pointed to the man, "who surpassed his limits and Re-awakened in the battle."

Chae Hansoo chuckled. "That old man still knows how to train them!"

Kim Taeshik nodded again. "As per Lee Hyunwoo's instructions, we placed Kang Seok on our list of S-rank candidates. So far, it does seem like Kang Seok will follow a path similar to the Empress's."

One of the men sitting at the table, Han Hyoseop, decided to speak up. His voice was as gentle as the falling snow, though he had a rough look to him. "Do we really need another Empress?"

Chae Hansoo laughed. "You must understand, Hyoseop," he said, a glint of playfulness dancing in his eyes, "not everyone can be both charismatic and strong."

Han Hyoseop looked at Chae Hansoo, his lips curling upwards. "Are you talking about me or yourself, Bureau head?"

"Ah, you brat. Can't believe you were A-rank not long ago." Chae Hansoo laughed.

"Five years is pretty long, Bureau head," Han Hyoseop chuckled.

Chae Hansoo's laughter filled the room again, infectious in its joy, causing others to find their lips mysteriously inching upwards despite it not being that funny to them.

Kim Taeshik just stared at them blankly.

"Hahahat." Chae Hansoo drew in a breath, forcing his face to return to normal. "Sorry. Please continue, Taeshik."

Kim Taeshik looked at the people around the table again. "The other D-rank Portal resulted in four casualties. The team leader in that incident, one Song Taesung, made a quick decision to abandon the extermination after their team was split apart and he judged that it was impossible to carry out their mission."

Chae Hansoo shook his head. “A good decision.”

"After receiving his call, we dispatched a team of nineteen D-ranks and one C-ranks, because he could not provide a reliable estimate of the Gate's new rating," Kim Taeshik continued, "and we discovered three corpses and a single survivor."

The face of the survivor highlighted on the screen was plain. Dull, average, uninspiring were just a few of the words one could use to describe the thoroughly normal man. But he had survived the Goblins as an E-rank. That meant something.

"His name is Kim Shiwoon. What is most remarkable is that after we administered an Aethergauge, we found that his Aether levels had spiked steeply compared to his previous test a couple of months back, when we first verified that he had received the Blessing. For a trainee to survive a D-rank Portal, it is perhaps unsurprising to say that he likely went through two Re-awakenings."

There were murmurs of excitement at a prodigy appearing again. It had been a while since the last one. It was almost worrying. Chae Hansoo smiled. "Sounds promising. Put him on the list."

"Yes, Bureau head. However, I would like to point out that this Hunter may need to be coerced; after displaying outstanding results in training, the instructor noted that Kim Shiwoon displayed a drop in intensity, focus and willingness to learn. There are also sketchy parts in his past, and many signs point to him valuing money too much."

Han Hyoseop sniggered. "What's the matter with that - money is something the Bureau has. Use it to push this guy more."

Kim Taeshik nodded. "But we have to be careful to avoid an incident like what happened in the US, with Andre James."

Choi Miyeon looked through the papers that had been disseminated before the meeting began. "You made sure the survivors and the victims' families were all paid the shut-up fee?"

Kim Taeshik said, "My team and I have gotten their signatures on a non-disclosure agreement."

Choi Miyeon nodded. "Good work as usual, Kim Taeshik. Did anyone try to refuse?"

"A few tried to but we convinced them in the end." Kim Taeshik frowned. "Kim Shiwoon accepted it immediately."

Han Hyoseop whistled. "Sounds like a money grubber to me."

Chae Hansoo shook his head. "If it would get us another S-rank, I'd gladly pay."

Han Hyoseop smirked. "Six not enough for you, Bureau head? Me, you, the Empress and those three teammates is enough to take on an S-rank Portal already!"

"You know it's not enough, Hyoseop." Chae Hansoo stared into the distance. "Not to deal with them." He snapped back into focus. "If there are no further questions about the aberrant Portals, you can go back to your seat, Taeshik."

Kim Taeshik bowed before returning to his seat.

"These are not omens of an S-rank Portal opening," Chae Hansoo said carefully, "but we must continue to prepare for one. We can't allow something like what happened in Congo to happen here; the death toll in Seoul would number in the millions."

Choi Miyeon sighed, knowing what Chae Hansoo was about to talk about but having no means to stop him.

"We must remain vigilant and continue to try to groom and push these young seedlings towards the S-rank." Chae Hansoo said with strong conviction. "And this means starting from as low as the trainee phase or even in E-rank."

Han Hyoseop shook his head and scratched his beard. "We can only hope it'll be enough. Not many people are willing to keep pushing after A-rank, not when the risks are so high.”

Chae Kangsoo sighed. “We’d better pray South Korea doesn’t face a crisis,” he said mournfully, “because we don’t seem to have any heroes.”