*
"Are you... are you really going to do it?"
After not even showing a reaction no matter how much she asked, the man was suddenly trying to move, so the woman looked at the man with an expression that she couldn't understand.
The man silently stared at her, and the woman unknowingly flinched at the thick and sharp murderous intent felt from his eyes.
"I know at least what you've been plotting behind my back."
"Wh... what are you talking about? I didn't do anything..."
"Bringing in the Minds, allying with the Villains in the world, did you think I wouldn't know?"
"I'm... I'm sorry. I just, I mean..."
"Enough."
With just a single word, the atmosphere sank, and the woman unknowingly took a step back at the thick and unpleasant sensation rising from the man's body.
"The association said they were selecting an S-Rank Hunter, right?"
"Th... that's right? There's a lot of talk about it because of that..."
"It's time to get revenge on those bastards."
"Plea... please think about it again, the greatest power of the Hunters in the country is there right now, going there means..."
"The reason I'm standing in this position is to get revenge on the association. The core bastards are all gathered there, do you think there will be another opportunity if it's not now?"
The woman couldn't say anything at the man's voice rising from deep inside.
Had that man ever reacted so emotionally before?
It was the first time seeing the man's appearance, so she could feel his sincerity.
Just how much he hated the Hunter Association.
Lee Byung-ho, the man who returned alive from the Red Gate 15 times.
He was mentioned as the most dangerous Villain in South Korea, but recently he had become quiet.
There were rumors that the evaluation of Lee Byung-ho was exaggerated due to the continuous failures of the Villain alliance, but the woman who watched him from the side knew that it was absolutely not an exaggeration.
"It's finally time to end it."
The only reason Lee Byung-ho joined the Villain alliance was to get revenge on the Hunter Association.
Destroying the association that had pushed him into the jaws of death so many times, that was exactly what he wanted.
"If they're in that position, they absolutely can't say they're unrelated."
With the sound of grinding teeth, an ominous aura began to emanate from his body.
The reason he had been still until now, even though he held the position of leader of the alliance, was to prevent innocent victims from occurring.
His target of revenge was the Hunter Association, and he didn't want to involve civilians unrelated to it.
But now he didn't have to do that.
Because the Hunters who could be said to be his targets of revenge were gathered in one place.
Could just anyone aim for the position of S-Rank Hunter?
It was something that only those who led an era could challenge, and those gathered now were the faces representing the Hunter Association.
It was time to make them pay the price for condoning the Hunter Association's atrocities.
"Are you really going to do it...?"
"Yes. They will definitely go inside the Gate. Then you start what you've been preparing."
"It's not perfect yet... I said it back then too, there are limits..."
"Choi Tae-soo, Reaper, Choi Ah-rin, Kang Chae-rin."
The Hunters representing Korea, those known to be at the peak of current power, and those who condoned the association's atrocities.
"I'll kill them all."
"I... is that even possible? There are definitely other Hunters..."
"Villain."
"Huh?"
"They judged everything about that human with just one word."
"..."
"Among those they called Villains, were all of them really Villains?"
Who defines a Villain?
It's a word commonly used to call Awakened Ones who have committed crimes, so who decided on those crimes?
"Can you be sure that there was no one who was wronged?"
"I... I guess not. I mean..."
"I saw it. Those who were unfairly killed... with my own two eyes, right in front of me!!!"
Red Gate, do they even know what tragedy happened inside there?
Are those who deceive others with sweet talk and push them into the jaws of death feeling any guilt?
The reason Villains can't use their power in South Korea is because there are strong Hunters like Choi Tae-soo or Reaper, but it's also because there is no mercy for Villains.
They took a somewhat hard-line approach to prevent the chaos that occurred when Awakened Ones first began to appear.
But can it be said that there were no side effects to that?
Did everyone really commit a crime to the extent that they had to be killed, to the extent that they had to be driven into the jaws of death?
__Eudeudeuk.
"Now it's your turn to be judged."
*
While the S-Rank Hunter selection was in full swing, those with serious expressions were gathered in one place.
Hunter Association President, Choi Tae-soo, Yoon Seung-ah, Choi Ah-rin, Kang Chae-rin, those representing Korean Hunters were all continuing the conversation in a heavy atmosphere.
"I'm against it."
The one who opened her mouth first was Reaper, Yoon Seung-ah.
"It's true that it's a problem that needs to be dealt with quickly, but still, proceeding like this is ridiculous!"
"Haha... but you know it too, don't you? What happens if we're late."
"..."
Who could forget the great disaster that day, those here could never forget it.
Because it was the accident that killed the man who was called the strongest.
"Still, I'm against it. I know the risks very well, but this is a problem that we have to solve among ourselves, we can't let other brats get involved."
Depending on the type of Gate, there are cases where the monsters inside multiply and flow out, and that incident was also a disaster where monsters flowed out.
It was just that the main character of that backflow was the Red Gate.
It is still an unknown space whose danger level has not been properly grasped, and a door called the most dangerous Gate.
The danger level of the monsters that flowed out from the Red Gate exceeded imagination, and it was a really urgent time when people thought the end was coming.
In order to deal with the Gate, they had to find and kill the existence called the Gate Keeper, but in a situation where the number of monsters had multiplied to the point of flowing out of the Gate, it was difficult to find and hunt them.
It was a serious situation where the fate of South Korea was at stake at the time, as even dealing with the monsters that flowed out was overwhelming, and even the Villains were running wild.
In order to deal with the Gate Keeper, someone had to go inside, but with monsters and Villains running wild outside, someone had to stop them.
In that chaotic time, Hunter Kim Tae-hwan said he would go inside the Gate.
Everyone tried to stop him, but it was undeniable that he was the most suitable person to assassinate the Gate Keeper as quickly as possible.
At that time, Kim Tae-hwan was the most overwhelming strongman.
Even Choi Tae-soo couldn't dare to beat Kim Tae-hwan in those days, and speed was more important than ever, so there was no one more suitable than Kim Tae-hwan.
In addition, casualties continued to occur due to monsters and Villains running wild outside, so they had to make a choice.
They eventually had no choice but to agree to his strong appeal, and a hero was born that day.
The association could not forget the incident that day, and has been resolving the Red Gate with the highest priority.
Thinking about Kim Tae-hwan's sacrifice in the past, they had been sending Villains as the advance team to minimize damage.
Even if the Villains couldn't solve the Gate, they could get a lot just from the existence of the advance team.
But now the Villains who would go inside the Red Gate have disappeared.
With Lee Byung-ho, who had solved the most Gates, gone, the Hunters belonging to the association had no choice but to deal with it directly.
"If we don't deal with it quickly, the disaster of that time will definitely happen..."
"Even so, are you saying you're going to push them into the Red Gate without consent?"
"What are you talking about, we plan to notify them in advance about the danger... and aren't we conducting training to adapt to the Gate?"
Currently, there is one Red Gate left in South Korea that has not been dealt with.
They were planning to put the Villains in as always, but things went wrong due to the Inverse Heaven Church.
While hesitating to deal with it, the World Hunter Association brought up the story about classifying S-Rank Hunters.
The association president thought of this as an opportunity.
He thought that the Hunters would voluntarily enter the Red Gate for the test.
He doesn't intend to push the Hunters into the jaws of death, but it's a problem that someone must solve.
"Isn't the S-Rank Hunter there to solve high-risk problems... I'm sorry to you, but I don't want to see a tragedy happen."
The association president lowered his head with a gloomy voice.
"Bu... but if so many people go in, wouldn't the risk be much lower...? It might even be safer!"
There is a risk, but if the top-tier Hunters go in together on a large scale like now, there may be almost no casualties.
"If this is successful, we can reduce the fear of the Red Gate... then it will be easier to deal with in the future."
"Still, I'm against it."
No matter what, she couldn't let her daughter and Kim Si-woo be in danger.
They are already adults, but in her eyes, they are still young children, and this is a problem that adults should solve.
"I understand your opinion... what do the rest of you think?"
"..."
Choi Tae-soo scratched his head at the difficult question to answer easily.
"Hoo... do we really have to do this? There must be other ways."
"I know that too. But isn't this the only opportunity to gather the top-tier Hunters regardless of affiliation in one place?"
Hunters fight for people, but in the end, they are moved by money, so it wasn't wrong.
"Hunters are not Heroes. I... it's not that I don't know about the sacrifices my Hunters have made. But isn't that right?"
"..."
"Think carefully and answer..."