It had truly been sixty seconds filled with lies. The moment I stepped out of the gate, the air felt wonderfully refreshing.
– Click, click, click!
But it seemed I would have to keep up the act a little longer.
"They're out!"
"Is the gate clear?"
"It's Kim Giryeo!"
The exit was already swarming with reporters.
***
Moritake Ito. A former securities firm employee, now an S-rank Hunter.
As he lay bound and thrown to the ground—an experience he had never once endured in his life—he found himself thinking that life truly never went according to plan.
After his restraints were removed, he hurried after Kim Giryeo. But by the time he reached the exit, a crowd of onlookers had already gathered. Cornered with nowhere left to turn, he no longer even felt the urge to try anything.
Click, click, click, click.
"Ugh."
Foreign reporters were everywhere. At this point, all that seemed left was for his crimes to be exposed to the entire world.
"Moritake-san!"
"Please say a few words!"
"Goodness, Japan really managed to conquer an S-rank dungeon..."
Yet, for some reason, and to everyone's surprise, Kim Giryeo said nothing in front of the crowd.
He merely cast a silent glance at the Japanese hunters who had followed him, then disappeared into the sea of people. A few seconds later, he seemed to answer several questions from the Korean reporters on the other side, but even those replies were brief.
In other words, Kim Giryeo said absolutely nothing about what had happened inside the dungeon. ṟἈΝỐᛒË𝘚
"Huh...?"
No way. Was this really going to end like this?
Was he actually covering up Ito's mistake?
That thought briefly crossed Ito's mind, but it was nothing more than a misunderstanding.
After careful consideration, Giryeo had chosen to remain silent—not because he intended to cover for their wrongdoing, but because he had no way of knowing just how much power the Imabari Guild wielded within Japan.
If they were influential enough to control the media, reporting them would accomplish nothing.
Moreover, by the time the Korean hunter boarded the plane waiting on the runway, the true price of those mistakes was already beginning to reveal itself.
***
"I'm leaving the guild."
Inside a hospital room draped in white, some time after the incident, the Japanese hunter who had lost consciousness finally came to.
But the moment the wind-attribute awakened recovered enough to speak, he made that declaration to everyone gathered around his hospital bed.
The fact that they had injured him was almost secondary.
What mattered far more was that those people had made a choice no human being should ever make.
"Iori..."
"This isn't something you can settle with a simple 'sorry.' I'm sure Moritake-kun understands that too."
"I just..."
"After studying the Hawaiian precedents so thoroughly, how could you possibly begrudge someone payment in the form of a Legendary?"
The patient sitting on the edge of the bed looked at his former comrades with open contempt.
"How can you stand here now and belittle someone else's help however you please? If that dungeon boss had been free to act on its own, we'd be hearing death sentences from the doctors right now!"
Just as the Nuckelavee had ultimately been responsible for the deaths of the greatest number of S-rank hunters in the United States, there was no doubt that if the dungeon boss they had encountered had not been restrained by someone's binding magic, the Japanese hunters would have been slaughtered without mercy.
"Forget zero casualties—half the people here would already be dead...!"
The person tending to the wounded beside him nodded in agreement with Iori.
Short, dark-blue hair.
This was another of Japan's S-rank hunters, an awakened with the lightning attribute.
"I was in terrible shape back then, so I had no choice but to pretend to go along with Ito. But I've made up my mind too. I'm leaving the guild."
"What did you say?"
"Honestly, I don't particularly care whether you hit a Korean or not. But you even laid a hand on Iori, didn't you?"
At those words, the expressions of the hunters gathered in the hospital room turned strange.
"..."
"I'm going independent. And if you refuse to let me leave, I'm considering emigrating."
"..."
"...If you've got a mouth, at least say something. Ito, don't you have anything to say after hearing all this?"
[Imabari] Guild.
When they first established the organization, they had believed that, unlike the hunters of other countries, Japan's S-ranks ought to unite their strength.
Even in an age defined by individualism, they believed there were values in this world that should never disappear.
That was why they had pursued a long-term partnership.
"Haa..."
The peace they had built over the years, supported by teamwork close enough to resemble a second family, shattered in an instant.
Iori's sharp gaze met that of the lightning mage.
But soon, both their expressions shifted to surprise.
The guild leader, who had remained silent until then, suddenly dropped to his knees on the hospital floor.
"Ito?"
"Moritake..."
Their leader was a deeply prideful man.
Perhaps because he had once survived the ruthless world of finance, his competitive streak had always been stronger than most people's.
And yet that very man had suddenly knelt before them.
With his head bowed low in a humiliating posture, he spoke.
"I'm truly sorry."
He really had never intended for things to turn out this way.
Looking back on it now, it almost felt as though he had been possessed.
Blinded by a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he had tried to betray the very benefactor who had extended a helping hand to them.
But had greed alone driven him to do it?
Ito did not think so.
In a sense, this had been a crime born from emotions that had accumulated inside him for years.
An inferiority complex.
An inferiority complex.
In the end, it all came down to that damned inferiority complex.
"As I thought. So that was the reason."
Moritake Ito had originally been regarded as an exceptionally promising talent even on the global stage.
Despite possessing an unusually vast amount of mana, international standards at the time had no separate classification for ranks, so he had spent some time officially designated as an A-rank.
But once the new ranking system was introduced, his classification was quickly corrected, effectively making him one of the world's earliest S-rank hunters.
When Ito first awakened, countries possessing S-rank hunters were still rare.
Naturally, the expectations of the entire nation settled upon his shoulders.
He was called the pride of East Asia.
The son of the sun.
In the age of Dungeon Shock, he was treated almost like a member of the royal family.
"I've told you countless times not to concern yourself with hunters from other countries. You are you."
?!
But if he had known his future would turn out like this, he would rather have been born as nothing more than a reasonably capable B-rank.
Jung Haseong.
From the moment that young man appeared, Ito's life changed completely.
[Urgent! The neighboring country's first S-rank confirmed to possess the Fire attribute!]
The same attribute.
The same rank.
And both were the first S-rank hunters of their respective countries.
By coincidence, Jung Haseong and Ito shared many similarities.
But there was one difference between them that could never be overcome.
[Is the machine broken?]
[Woww, that hunter's awakening stats have so many zeros.]
That neatly dressed young man was a true prodigy.
He possessed such extraordinary natural talent that even if Ito died and came back to life, catching up to him would still be impossible.
The pain of falling from a great height was far worse than spending one's entire life wandering near the bottom.
After Jung Haseong appeared, Moritake Ito found himself subjected to comparisons he had never even imagined before.
At first, the domestic media had defended Ito like one of their own, praising him while belittling Haseong.
But...
[Jung Haseong single-handedly brings down the White Tower—an unbelievable feat!... Sweeps through Tier 3 dungeons, including A-rank gates]
Even that eventually died down after a certain gate was cleared.
[Jung Haseong clears three dungeons a day like it's nothing, so what the hell is he doing? Pay for the building you destroyed! You incompetent fool ( ﾟдﾟ)]
Even siblings could suffer tremendous psychological pressure from constant comparison.
And now, with the entire world endlessly measuring Ito against that young man, the frustration had grown so intense that he felt he might burst.
Then, amid all of that, the troublesome treasure appeared.
I must really have lost my mind.
I swore that I would protect people. That I would protect the citizens.
So how could I have let myself be swayed by a single sword...?
The malicious media coverage had intensified around the beginning of the previous year, when a Korean Ranker happened to acquire a Legendary item.
Once the dragon known as Jung Haseong obtained a Legendary treasure, contemptuous remarks spread everywhere, claiming that no ordinary mortal could ever hope to catch him, no matter how many years passed.
Yet, contrary to everyone's expectations that his power would skyrocket, Haseong had still failed to uncover the artifact's true capabilities even now.
I thought that if I could decipher the Legendary first, at a time like this, then maybe I could finally beat him for once.
Ito deeply regretted what he had done.
But the others were not so willing to accept that regret.
"That's funny. If Hunter Giryeo hadn't been so strong, you wouldn't even have been given the chance to repent."
At that moment, the other Japanese hunters who had sided with the guild leader began to protest.
How could they be so cold toward one of their own?
Did they truly believe it was acceptable for such a dangerous item to fall into the hands of a neighboring country?
"Shut up!"
But the wind mage lying in the hospital bed scowled and snapped at them.
"Do you people still not understand the situation? You just picked a fight with a hunter who can neutralize three S-ranks in an instant!"
What followed was a fear-laden question.
Would Kim Giryeo truly continue to remain silent about what had happened?
The others flinched at Iori's raised voice and finally began to think.
Come to think of it, this entire incident had placed the Imabari Guild in an enormously vulnerable position.
Had Kim Giryeo handed over the artifact simply because it did not suit his abilities?
Or had he done so in recognition of their contribution to clearing the S-rank gate?
Kim Giryeo had generously surrendered the Legendary and spared their lives, but he had never once promised to keep the incident secret.
"Do you understand now? We're in a position where it wouldn't be strange for him to threaten us at any moment. No matter what happened inside that dungeon, if he ever testifies before [Justitia]..."
The youthful-looking hunter gripped the blanket so tightly that the veins stood out along the back of his hand.
"If it were up to me, I'd expose everything you've done right here and now and clear my own name!"
"I-Iori."
"Do you know why I can't do that? Because if I did, the management bureau would tear all of us apart!"
"Ah..."
"Haa, anti-hunter sentiment is already getting worse every year, and at a time like this, what the hell were all of you thinking?"
Murder among awakened people!
After venting all of his pent-up frustration, Iori rubbed his head.
From the standpoint of maintaining the public image of awakened people in Japan, they simply could not afford for a crime like this to be exposed so recklessly.
But then Ito, who had remained on his knees all this time, spoke in a grave voice.
"...For now."
Every eye naturally turned toward the guild leader.
"Don't worry about the second witness. It's Kang Changho. Before we left the dungeon, he told my translator something."
"What did he say?"
"He said he'd let it slide as well, so we shouldn't worry. Since Hunter Kim Giryeo was generous enough to overlook it first, how could an elder interfere and ruin things?"
"..."
"...He didn't seem inclined to expose us before Giryeo did."
Kang Changho had forgiven them.
But the greatest problem remained the blond man.
What exactly was he planning to do?
"And as for Kim Giryeo... no matter how much I think about it, our only option is to bow our heads and beg for his mercy."
"Ito-san."
"Of course, I can't do that alone. That's why, for what comes next, I intend to borrow a little of everyone's strength..."
The short-haired guild member sneered at Ito's words.
"So you're saying I have to follow Moritake-kun's orders again?"
However, the guild members' expressions quickly changed at what their leader said next.
"You're right. It must be difficult to trust a leader who has given the wrong order twice. On top of that, I've exposed my ugly greed for everyone to see."
"No, I just..."
"I don't believe this will restore the trust I've broken. But as proof of my repentance, I will relinquish my authority over the Legendary item."
It was a bombshell declaration.
"I will divide ownership of the item equally among all of you who participated in the raid. In exchange, I ask that you cooperate with me in making amends."
"So you're saying it'll become communal property."
"And regarding what you said earlier—that someone as greedy as me might someday harm his own allies—I will answer that concern with the [Knight's Oath]."
"Are you serious?"
"I swear that I will never betray any of you for the rest of my life. So please... don't leave the guild."
At Ito's declaration, the lightning-attribute awakened's expression changed.
Only Iori, lying on the hospital bed, remained unwavering.
"Even if you say that, I still can't forgive the guild leader."
Perhaps, more than anyone else in the room, he was the one whose feelings remained the most conflicted.
"However, depending on how you treat Kim Giryeo, the nature of our relationship from this point forward may change."
"...?"
"First of all, I'm tired, so just tell me. What are you planning to do to apologize to him?"