Chapter 113

“It hasn’t been long. I heard up to the part where I appear in the dream.”

[……Please forget it.]

Forget it? I did forget it.

It seems she just woke up now.

“I forgot. Do you hear the sound of me hitting my head? I don’t remember anything.”

[Hehe, are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?]

I smiled at Eva’s voice, responding to the joke with a joke.

“Sorry for calling while you were sleeping.”

[It’s okay. I was about to wake up anyway. Is something wrong? If it’s Domi, you wouldn’t call without a reason.]

“Maybe I just wanted to call?”

[That trick might work on Ayu, but not on me.]

Is that so?

[……Not yet.]

Hearing her trailing off, I tilted my head and decided to get to the point.

“Do you know about the news on Alters?”

[The S-class Hunter organization, right? I know. High-rank Hunters on our side have mentioned it.]

“Recently, I heard something related to them from Seo-ho. Ah, Seo-ho is Si-ho’s brother. Seollsan Iri Ha Seo-ho.”

I immediately started explaining what had happened recently.

After hearing my story, she seemed lost in thought for a moment.

[So Alters is treating Korean Hunters as enemies?]

“Not immediately, but there’s a chance. I don’t see a reason to clash with Alters, but I’m not sure if they think the same.”

[Established powers tend to react that way even if their rice bowl is slightly threatened. I know from personal experience. They’ll definitely try to infiltrate Korea by any means necessary. Nasty guys.]

For some reason, Eva seemed to be overlapping Alters with another organization, but I didn’t deny it.

From what I heard from Seo-ho and Josia, Alters isn’t exactly a group with good intentions.

[Then let’s just push them away.]

“Alters?”

[Yes, they’ll dislike whatever we do anyway.]

“But if we do that, they’ll retaliate just as fiercely.”

[That’s true. They’ll probably first try to reduce the import of resources related to Dimensional Beings into Korea. They’ll target Korea itself rather than the Hunter market.]

I thought they might go that far, recalling countries that used past emotions to impose import sanctions.

At that time, there was even a boycott movement, causing quite a stir.

It seems like the Korean Hunter side will first cause trouble, then shift the blame, saying they had no choice but to impose sanctions.

[The Korean Hunter market still heavily relies on overseas, so they’ll try to suppress it.]

“Plus, since it’s the Hunter market, the World Returner Association won’t easily step in.”

[Yes, they’ll immediately react, saying the World Returner Association is threatening the Hunter’s rice bowl. The Returners’ reputation isn’t great among overseas Hunters.]

The reason Korean Hunters and Returners have a relatively good relationship is because of Returner heroes like Geumgang-ho and Gyedoo-sik.

Thanks to his active role on the front lines with Hunters in the past, Korea has many cases of Hunters and Returners cooperating.

Of course, there are still many who hate Returners due to the damage caused by them.

But the Returner Association has been taking immediate compensation measures and follow-ups, improving the situation recently.

However, this is only in Korea; other countries are different.

In China, after the Beijing Massacre, countless Hunters died, so the hatred towards Returners remains.

In Europe, Russia once used Returners for an invasion war.

With fewer Returners in Europe, Hunters were slaughtered while opposing Russia, making the relationship between Hunters and Returners very bad.

There are countries like the US where Hunters and Returners cooperate, but globally, the relationship isn’t great.

‘Seolhyang probably knew that, which is why she established a Hunter company only in Korea.’

Deep rifts aren’t filled overnight.

Perhaps Seolhyang intended to show a good example of Hunters and Returners cooperating through this Rodri Company, then gradually expand globally.

Hunters and Returners can’t keep hating each other forever.

[But if they impose resource sanctions, we do have a way.]

“There’s a solution?”

[Artificial Dimensional Gates.]

Hearing that, my eyes widened.

I didn’t expect the topic of Artificial Dimensional Gates to come up.

“Eva, isn’t that really dangerous? My knowledge of dimensional analysis is limited, but I heard there are many issues.”

[It is dangerous. Gira Constellation’s dimensional research has surpassed global standards, but it’s still unstable.]

“But…….”

[But Korea has Ha Si-ho.]

Si-ho.

At the mention of her, I was speechless.

“Eva, I don’t want to use Si-ho like that again.”

[Domi, I know Gira Constellation’s intentions weren’t pure, so the prejudice against Artificial Dimensional Gates isn’t great.]

She then slowly explained to me.

[But we can look at it differently. We can formally hire Ha Si-ho. Gira Constellation’s Artificial Dimensional Gate was a byproduct of preparing for a Dimensional Invasion. Their main goal was different, so they didn’t consider hiring Ha Si-ho.]

“That’s true.”

They were aiming to maximize Si-ho’s power for invasion.

The Artificial Dimensional Gate itself might not be a big burden for Si-ho.

[What we want from Ha Si-ho is help with research. The real meaning is to open Artificial Dimensional Gates without her, right?]

“That’s definitely worth discussing. If it doesn’t burden Si-ho, I think it’s not a bad idea.”

[Right? Gira Constellation was reckless. If this becomes possible, Ha Si-ho will benefit greatly, and the Hunter market’s sovereignty will change.]

If Artificial Dimensional Gates become possible, resources from Dimensional Beings will stabilize.

Naturally, the market itself will completely change.

It’s no wonder Gira Constellation spread Artificial Dimensional Gates to Hunter companies worldwide.

“Si-ho is really something, huh?”

[Her spatial ability is cheat-level.]

I nodded, once again realizing Si-ho’s greatness.

[By the way, the story started with someone presumed to be from Alters appearing near you, right?]

“Ah, yes, that’s right.”

The conversation went off track.

I didn’t expect to end up discussing changing the entire Hunter market.

This call felt like a world summit.

This aspect showed Eva’s past as a leader in another world before returning.

[I’ll discuss what we talked about with Iron-Blooded Empress. No, she’s probably already thinking about it. Let’s take it step by step. What do you want to do, Domi?]

“I think I’ll keep them close. I don’t want Alters to think we noticed something and moved.”

Moreover, according to Baeksan, Yoo Woo-jung is an S-class Hunter.

It’s better to keep an eye on her than to let her cause trouble unseen.

[Not bad. If they’re watching you, they’re probably already aware and moving.]

Eva agreed with my opinion.

[Then tell our employee to send them back nicely.]

“Got it. Thanks, Eva.”

[Compared to what you’ve done for me, there’s no need to thank me. Come visit Bum next time. I’ll treat you to something delicious.]

“I can’t resist that. I’ll come soon.”

After saying that, I hung up and called David, who was waiting in the distance.

I explained the situation to him, exchanged greetings, and parted ways.

He was sweating profusely and bowing until the end.

I felt sorry for him in many ways.

‘Well, then.’

We’ve speculated on how Alters will react and even found a solution with Eva.

Now it’s time for me to do my job.

7

Camila Agassa, an S-class Hunter from the Brazilian favelas, working behind the scenes for Alters.

Due to her childhood in the slums, she admires high status and beautiful things, pretending to enjoy classical hobbies.

Though not fond of reading, she pretends to read and drinks coffee she doesn’t like, playing the role of a lady.

Her current mission is Kang Ha-chan, someone Alters has been keeping an eye on.

According to investigations, Kang Ha-chan has been involved in many suspicious situations recently.

‘The start was probably the incident at the Hunter Training Academy.’

Alters had someone infiltrate the Hunter Training Academy to spy on the Korean Hunter market.

He reported Ha-chan’s extraordinary energy output, catching their attention.

One thing is certain: he’s hiding his power, and Seollsan Iri Ha Seo-ho is cooperating with him.

From then on, Ha-chan has been on Alters’ radar.

What confirmed their suspicions was the red lightning that wiped out all Dimensional Beings in the sky during a large-scale rapid dimensional gate in Seoul.

An abnormally high output.

Alters confirmed it and concluded that an S-class Hunter or higher had appeared.

The output was beyond S-class.

Thus, Alters temporarily designated him as SS-class.

The world’s first Hunter rank surpassing S-class.

‘Knowing that, the Korean Hunter Management Bureau has been deliberately hiding Ha-chan.’

That explains why Ha Seo-ho treated him like a VIP.

The Hunter Management Bureau must have discussed it beforehand.

Korea, having acquired an SS-class Hunter, is trying to break away from Alters and cooperate with Returners for independence.

A small country between Japan and China is causing such a change.

Thus, Alters is monitoring Korea’s movements and future treatment, while also trying to recruit Ha-chan.

For that, Camila Agassa and Yoo Woo-jung have infiltrated here.

Yoo Woo-jung’s first impression of Ha-chan was, well, nothing special.

‘It feels like something is lacking.’

Compared to the destructive high-energy output he showed, he seemed ordinary.

He lacked the aura high-rank Hunters naturally have.

His actions were clumsy, and he seemed a bit guarded.

But he might be hiding his true self.

‘He’s an SS-class Hunter, so he might have received such training.’

She herself mastered acting skillfully for infiltration.

Her opponent might be the same.

‘One thing is certain.’

He seems to really like women.

He seems to have already seduced his team member Seollsan Iri’s sister Ha Si-ho and Yoon Ji-eun.

Both seem to like him a lot.

‘Does he like young girls? My mistake.’

Minors have many restrictions, so she didn’t choose them, but it’s a pity.

‘But they’re only two years apart.’

From their actions, it seems he seduced them but hasn’t crossed the line yet.

The three of them show signs of an immature relationship.

Plus, he has a strange relationship with Bum.

An SS-class Hunter level of skill.

Surrounded by pretty girls.

Bum, who used to dominate the underworld, is struggling with his connections.

When these three conditions align, her bad habits start to surface.

‘Ah, tempting.’

She slowly licked her lips.