Chapter 35
Commander-in-chief—the weight of those two words was too heavy for an ordinary person to bear. The single person standing above eleven operational teams, each made up of some of the best Hunters in the country, assembled for the S-rank Fissure raid.
The thought of being that control tower brought Min-Hyuk an overwhelming pressure beyond imagination.
How does the Sword Emperor stay so calm? he wondered in amazement.
The Hunters were looking at the Great Fissure with anxious eyes.
When he announced that he was the new commander-in-chief and that they would have to follow his orders from now on, would they actually comply?
All sorts of negative thoughts crossed his mind.
Why did a Fissure like this have to open now...?
Min-Hyuk spotted Min-Ji talking on the phone some distance away and wondered who she was talking to. Whatever the case, he needed to inform the Hunters of this fact now, but he found it hard to speak.
“Senior Min-Hyuk.” Min-Ji approached after finishing her call. “Did Chief appoint you as the commander-in-chief?”
“Ah, you heard.”
“There’s someone I would like to propose to take that position, separate from Chief’s orders. But only if you allow me, of course.”
“What?” At Min-Ji’s words, Min-Hyuk scanned the team leaders.
Who among the remaining S-rank Hunters from Team Leader 3 to Team Leader 7 could she propose for this position?
If she’s suggesting a replacement... could it be Kwak Young-Ho?
Kwak Young-Ho was the leader of Team 5, an S-rank Hunter from the Tank class. He was a man highly trusted by the Hunters here.
Min-Hyuk thought that if Kwak Young-Ho took over as commander-in-chief, he might be able to lead them well and considered accepting Min-Ji's suggestion. But Min-Ji’s suggestion was out of his expectations.
“I would like to suggest Supervisor Lee Do-Jun,” she said confidently.
“Hold on... Lee Do-Jun?”
Why on earth would the name of a civil servant from Seoul City Hall’s Fissure Management Division come up here?
Min-Hyuk looked at Min-Ji in confusion and asked, “You’re messing with me, right?”
“I’m serious.”
“Do you think people will accept this?”
“No, they won’t. That’s why I need you to agree with me. Just say it’s the chief’s direct orders.”
“Why are you trying so hard to appoint Lee Do-Jun as commander-in-chief? And did he even agree to this? Do you think what you’re saying makes any sense right now?” Min-Hyuk growled in a low voice, and it was a fair reaction.
But Min-Ji did not back down. “He’ll be here soon.”
“Min-Ji, what’s wrong with you today?! My head is already...” Min-Hyuk couldn’t finish his sentence as he spotted Do-Jun walking toward them from a distance.
He strolled through the Hunters and stopped in front of Min-Ji. Min-Hyuk frowned deeply as he scanned Do-Jun’s attire.
He wore a suit, no different from a typical office worker’s outfit. A civil servant ID was hanging around his neck. He wore dress shoes and held a briefcase in one hand.
Min-Hyuk let out a dry laugh. But Min-Ji approached Do-Jun with a smile and extended her hand.
“Thank you for making the time for us, Supervisor Lee.”
“You’re welcome,” Do-Jun responded curtly.
Min-Hyuk looked at him disapprovingly but still extended his hand for a handshake—though reluctantly.
“It’s been a while, Hunter Min-Hyuk,” Do-Jun said as he shook hands.
“Let me ask you one thing...”
“Yes.”
“Did you really come here to take on the role of commander-in-chief?” Min-Hyuk asked, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
Any normal person would immediately back down and wet themselves.
Do-Jun smirked, shrugged, and said, “If you don’t need me, I’ll just return to Seoul City Hall.”
“Senior!” Min-Ji grabbed Min-Hyuk’s arm.
She had a strong gut feeling that if Do-Jun really returned to Seoul City Hall like this, the S-rank Great Fissure raid operation in Umyeonsan Mountain would end in failure.
“When are you planning to enter the Fissure?” Do-Jun asked.
“We will enter as soon as the chief gives the order. We need to get inside before a Breakout occurs, so say within the next hour and a half.”
Listening to Min-Ji’s explanation, Do-Jun looked up at the Fissure tearing more than sixty meters high through the sky.
***
A short while later, all eleven operational team leaders gathered together, including Min-Hyuk and Min-Ji.
Each of them wondered what a civil servant was doing at an S-rank Great Fissure as they looked at Do-Jun’s work ID hanging around his neck.
But the question didn’t last long.
“This is Supervisor Lee Do-Jun from the Seoul City Hall Fissure Management Division, who will be directing today’s operation,” Min-Ji introduced Do-Jun to the team leaders.
Everyone looked like they had just bitten into something sour. The person to fill the void left by the absence of the Sword Emperor, Kang-Hyun, was a mere civil servant!?
Moreover, the Fissure in front of them was an S-rank Fissure with the highest wave frequency since the Masalis incident.
“Are you kidding me right now?” Kwak Young-Ho, the leader of Team 5, shouted.
Min-Ji spoke up at this very expected reaction. “This is a direct order from Chief Jung Young-Chul.”
“W-what did you say? From the chief?”
Min-Hyuk couldn’t understand why Min-Ji would go so far as to lie to appoint Do-Jun as the commander. He had known Min-Ji for years and always thought of her as rational and calculating, but now that impression seemed to be crumbling.
The die is already cast, Min-Hyuk thought dejectedly.
Swallowing hard, he said, “It’s true.”
Upon the confirmation from both Min-Ji and Min-Hyuk, Kwak Young-Ho shouted in disbelief, “Why on earth would Chief make such a crazy decision?”
“I’d like to know that myself. Why...” Min-Hyuk turned his head to look at Min-Ji. “Why would he give such an order?”
***
“Here you go, Supervisor Lee.” Min-Ji handed the radio she was holding to Do-Jun, who then put it away into his briefcase.
Once inside the Fissure, communication with the outside would be cut off.
All they could do was transmit footage to the Hunter Bureau’s control room via an emergency cam and use a specially designed radio to communicate with other operational teams within the Fissure.
Maybe I should take a look inside first.
Do-Jun turned his head to look at the Fissure.
***
The inside of the S-rank Great Fissure that appeared on Umyeonsan Mountain was desolate beyond belief. It was an endless expanse stretched out without a single weed in sight.
So this is what an S-rank Fissure looks like... Do-Jun thought while looking around.
Monsters were scattered everywhere, starting from a point one kilometer away from the Fissure’s exit.
However, though the Fissure was S-rank, the monster ranks weren’t restricted to just that. Other monsters like the B-rank trolls, A-rank ogres, and even some bizarre creatures that Do-Jun had never seen before were seen in the Fissure.
Do-Jun pushed off the ground and landed among the monsters in an instant. A goblin began to approach him, but this one had dark skin, unlike the usual green-skinned goblins.
Do-Jun moved closer to the goblin, and its body started to swell. Before long, it exploded with a loud boom.
“Hmm.”
The ground around Do-Jun got scorched. The power of the explosion was enough to instantly kill and be fatal for anyone standing in its vicinity other than him. Fortunately, the blast radius wasn’t wide.
Do-Jun took out the SpacePad from his briefcase and searched for information about the monster. However, there was no registered information on the dark-skinned goblin. Other Hunters likely knew nothing about this goblin either.
I need to take it down from a distance.
Kroar!
An ogre charged at him, but Do-Jun didn’t try to evade it. Just as the ogre’s fist was about to slam down on him, a sound was heard, and the ogre’s belly caved in. It was sent flying dozens of meters back.
Do-Jun unclenched his fist and moved forward.
Ogres are nothing special.
Crash!
Suddenly, lightning struck from the sky and hit Do-Jun directly. He lifted his head to check the sky, but there wasn’t a cloud in sight.
Upon looking down, he noticed that the spot he was standing on had turned yellow. Do-Jun lifted his foot, then stepped on the yellow-tinted ground again.
Crash!
Once more, lightning struck Do-Jun.
Ah, I guess I shouldn’t step on that... huh?
In the distance, a gigantic creature that looked strikingly similar to a human appeared. It was a one-eyed giant with a protruding belly, holding a wooden club.
This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.
In terms of power, it’s a bit weaker than the Monarch Ogre...
There were three of them, each nearly twenty meters tall. The problem was that they were all grouped together.
Do-Jun decided it would be difficult to take down all three simultaneously and resolved to separate them.
With a running start, he leaped between the giants. He then performed a roundhouse kick in mid-air. The giant struck directly by Do-Jun’s kick was sent flying about a kilometer and a half to the east.
“Human, kill.”
“Human, dangerous, eliminate.”
The two remaining giants raised their clubs as they looked down at Do-Jun. The clubs came down rapidly, but the result was unexpected.
“M-my... club...”
The massive wooden club split along its grain.
Do-Jun punched the now-unarmed giant, and the giant was hurled to the west with a loud crash.
The last remaining giant stared blankly at Do-Jun with its lone eye.
Do-Jun searched the SpacePad’s monster encyclopedia and confirmed that there was no information about these giants either. He glanced at the remaining giant briefly, then pushed off the ground and flew forward.
***
“Chief.”
In the Hunter’s Bureau Situation Room, an analyst reading data transmitted from the monitors called out to Young-Chul.
Young-Chul stood up and walked over to the analyst.
“Is there a problem?” he asked.
“No, not exactly... It’s just that the Fissure wave readings are gradually decreasing, albeit slowly. As a result, the breakout time has been extended from the expected 19:00 to 19:15.”
In this case, there were two possibilities: the first was that the Fissure itself was dissipating, and the second was that the number of monsters inside it was decreasing.
However, in the first scenario, the wave readings would typically drop sharply.
“Could it be...?”
Young-Chul quickly contacted Min-Hyuk.
—Yes, sir.
“You’re picking up the phone, so I guess you haven’t entered the Fissure yet.”
—We’re on standby until we get the signal to enter. Is there something wrong?
“It’s nothing. And if you don’t hear from me, proceed with the entry in thirty minutes. Once inside the Fissure, tell the team leaders to keep all emergency cams on.”
—Uh... sir, the commander-in-chief right now is...
“What’s going on?”
There was a brief silence.
—It’s nothing. We’ll proceed with the entry in thirty minutes, as you instructed.
***
After ending the call with the chief, Min-Hyuk spoke to Min-Ji. “Operation deployment in thirty minutes.”
“Yes, understood.”
“But where on earth did Lee Do-Jun go? Still no contact?”
He had been missing for over an hour.
Min-Ji nodded cautiously, and Min-Hyuk clicked his tongue in frustration. “So, he finally came to his senses. That guy must have run away.”
“Supervisor Lee isn’t like that. If he were going to run away, he wouldn’t have come in the first place,” Min-Ji defended Do-Jun in his stead.
“Are you serious? He’s been missing for an hour, and we can’t even reach him.”
Min-Hyuk decided to inform the operational team leaders that the deployment would be in thirty minutes. But at that moment, a familiar voice came from behind.
“Thank you for worrying about me, but I didn’t run away.”
Min-Hyuk quickly turned around and found Do-Jun standing there, smiling brightly.
I... couldn’t sense his presence?