Episode 5
5. If You’re a Hunter, Act Like One
“Argh!”
“Ugh!”
Watching his party members hanging helplessly in midair, as if suspended in empty space, party leader **Jang Yi-hyun** could do nothing to help.
“Damn it… an *Unknown*?!”
An enemy that couldn’t be seen.
How were magic or skills supposed to hit if you couldn’t even see the target?
Left with no choice, he risked wasting mana and launched area attacks—but the damn monster dodged even those.
Still, Jang Yi-hyun didn’t give up. There was one last method.
A spell he had once thought nearly useless when he first obtained it.
“**Detecting!**”
A wave of mana light spread out from Jang Yi-hyun, sweeping across the surroundings.
But it was useless.
“Ghk!”
The enemy remained invisible and continued hunting his party members without mercy.
In the end, even Jang Yi-hyun raised both hands.
“Retreat! Retreat! Fall back to the entrance!”
“Party leader! If we keep this up, we’ll be wiped out before we get there! It’s too far!”
“Damn it… Head for the barrier zone! And… send a request to HQ for support—no, a **rescue request**.”
—
—
Beep beep beep beep!
“Ugh… hel…lo…”
Half-asleep, **Kang Mu-hyeok** barely managed to answer his phone.
He hadn’t even been asleep for an hour—he had brought work home again.
Annoyance flared up immediately, but given the nature of his job, it wasn’t unusual for work to come in at dawn that couldn’t wait until morning.
He forced himself awake and spoke.
“Yeah… Manager Kim. What time is it… 3 a.m.? What’s going on at this hour? Uh, yeah. Gate 17 in Sillim… So then… what?!”
Kang Mu-hyeok instantly woke up.
“Got it. I’ll see you at headquarters. Once we assess the situation, we’ll dispatch immediately, so wake up the entire standby team. Right. Tell them to prepare equipment for a gate raid.”
Throwing on jeans and a jacket, Kang Mu-hyeok grabbed his car keys and left the house.
“This week’s already been hectic since day one… and now day two starts with a spectacle at dawn.”
From his home in Hong-eun-dong to the guild headquarters in Yeouido was about 35 minutes. At dawn it took around 25. In emergencies, he’d done it in under 15.
Running red lights was dangerous—but thinking of the hunters whose lives might be decided by a single minute made him press harder on the accelerator.
As he started driving, he issued a voice command to make a call.
“Call Vice Guild Master **Ma Tae-su**.”
Usually, ordinary accidents were handled by the Strategy Team Leader level, but this situation was different. Calling the vice guild master at dawn wouldn’t get him scolded today.
“A rescue request is something you answer even in the middle of your wedding.”
It wasn’t a joke. It actually happened sometimes, even making the news.
That was how serious a rescue request was. It was the worst signal sent when a gate vanguard party or raid squad was in danger.
Aside from normal reports, there were four urgent signals hunters could send from a gate:
**“Supplies,” “Support,” “Rescue,” and “Annihilation.”**
“Supplies” was just a simple request for materials—nothing to worry about.
“Support” required allocating additional resources and personnel, which was annoying, but manageable aside from messing up other parties’ hunting schedules.
The real problems were the other two.
“Annihilation” meant everyone was dead—so there was nothing to discuss.
In reality, **“Rescue”** was the worst scenario.
Especially when a regular party from an **A-rank guild like Titan** had run into trouble.
The situation could deteriorate at any moment, so a rapid response was essential.
“Why isn’t he picking up? I’m dying here.”
The phone kept ringing, but the vice guild master didn’t answer. That was unusual. Of all days, he was unreachable today.
With no choice, Kang Mu-hyeok called the guild master’s secretary.
“Secretary Jung. It’s the Strategy Team Leader. Sorry to wake you up at this hour, but please contact the guild master. Party 6 at the Sillim-dong gate has sent a rescue signal. I can’t reach the vice guild master, so I’m reporting through you. Please explain it well so the guild master doesn’t get annoyed.”
By the time he hung up, he had arrived at guild headquarters.
Kang Mu-hyeok headed to the **27th-floor situation room**.
Manager **Kim Man-gi**, who lived closer than he did, had already arrived and was assessing the situation.
“Looks like the standby team this week is cursed.”
Beside him, **Park Min-soo** was drinking coffee. The rest of the standby team had finished preparations and were waiting in the duty dorms on the 31st floor.
“Yeah. Manager Kim, the equipment vehicles have already left, right?”
“Yes. They’ve been sent directly to the site. The existing raid camp is already set up in front of the gate, so field personnel will handle any shortages.”
“Then Party Leader Park, please depart immediately with your team.”
At Kang Mu-hyeok’s request, Park Min-soo clicked his tongue and pressed the elevator button.
“This is why I kept telling the vice guild master that Jang Yi-hyun shouldn’t be made a party leader until at least the year after next. Tsk.”
“Leader Jang isn’t incompetent. If he sent a rescue request, there must be a reason. Please be careful too.”
“Of course. I have to bring him back alive so I can tease him for the rest of his life.”
“Please do.”
After Park Min-soo headed to the rooftop to board the helicopter, Kim Man-gi leaned closer to Kang Mu-hyeok and whispered.
“There’s something I need to tell you…”
“What is it?”
“Not here…”
Sensing something bad, Kang Mu-hyeok immediately took him into the emergency stairwell.
“What happened?”
“It’s about the rescue signal today… It actually came **three hours ago**.”
“What do you mean three hours?! Then why are we only hearing about it now?!”
A rescue signal—something that could determine whether hunters lived or died—had been delayed three hours?
That was impossible.
Kang Mu-hyeok trusted the system he had personally built. If it had worked properly, this wouldn’t have happened.
Seeing his boss visibly angry for once, Kim Man-gi shrank back.
Kang Mu-hyeok took a deep breath to calm himself.
“What was the situation room duty officer doing?”
“H-he… fell asleep.”
“Asleep? What kind of insane—”
“But it wasn’t just sleep. Apparently he drank a beverage given by one of our staff and **lost consciousness**…”
Kang Mu-hyeok stared in disbelief.
“You’re saying… someone slipped him a sleeping pill?”
“Probably.”
“Why would Assistant Manager Oh do that?”
“…Today’s duty officer wasn’t Assistant Manager Oh.”
“Then who?”
“Hunter **Ma Tae-sik**.”
“What? That bastard skipped out to avoid duty! I told Oh to cover his shift!”
Kim Man-gi’s face twisted awkwardly.
According to the awakened duty officer, Ma Tae-sik had come in the evening and told Oh he’d take the shift himself, telling him to go home.
He also said he’d personally explain it to the team leader the next morning—so there was no need to report it.
“Is Oh Chang-soo stupid or just naive? That guy would never cooperate like that! At the very least he should’ve reported it by text!”
Ma Tae-sik was most at fault—but Oh Chang-soo had made a huge mistake too.
Regardless of intentions, the reporting chain had been ignored.
If it had been a normal night, it might’ve ended with a scolding or a written explanation.
But now it couldn’t be brushed off with words.
And Kang Mu-hyeok wasn’t in a position where he could shield his subordinate.
**Hunters’ lives were at stake.**
And the consequences could spread anywhere.
“Who knows about this?”
“The duty officer who drank the drugged drink, the four situation-room staff on standby in the dorm… plus me and you.”
“That’s a lot. What about Park Min-soo?”
“He doesn’t know yet.”
“And Ma Tae-sik?”
“His phone’s off. We can’t locate him.”
“That lunatic bastard… I knew he had no brain, but to screw me over like this… Damn it, of all times for something like this to happen.”
Ma Tae-sik’s scheme was obvious.
If the situation room was paralyzed for several hours, the blame would fall on the **situation room chief and the strategy team leader**.
Even if it was a subordinate’s mistake, ultimately it was the superior’s responsibility.
He probably figured Kang Mu-hyeok would at least get reprimanded.
But his petty, impulsive revenge had now spiraled out of control.
*What if the party gets wiped out because rescue arrived too late…?*
The thought made his vision go dark.
“Call in Oh Chang-soo. And have the intelligence team locate Ma Tae-sik.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And focus on the Sillim gate for now. I’ll handle the Ma Tae-sik issue.”
Even though he told Kim Man-gi to focus on the gate, Kang Mu-hyeok’s mind was spinning.
This wouldn’t end as a simple personal grudge.
*This could turn into a bloodbath…*
And where would that bloodbath stop?
The chill rising through the emergency stairwell made the back of his neck feel cold.
—
Soon, **Titan Guild Master Lee Cheol-jung** appeared in the situation room wearing a training suit.
The air instantly grew heavy.
He was the kind of man whose very presence made guild members lower their heads—except for the vice guild master and strategy team leader.
Still, the way everyone seemed unusually wary of him today felt strange.
“What’s wrong with you all? It’s not the first time a gate’s gone to hell. Straighten your shoulders and work. Don’t mess up because you’re scared.”
After hearing the gate report, Lee Cheol-jung noticed Kang Mu-hyeok signaling for a private conversation and moved to his office.
“The standby team’s already been deployed, so now we just wait. You’ve got something else to say?”
With short sports-style hair, a square jaw, and a thick neck, Lee Cheol-jung looked every bit the sturdy tank he was.
His heavy voice filled the office.
Kang Mu-hyeok spoke carefully.
“There’s… an internal guild issue related to this rescue signal.”
Even though he phrased it as an “issue,” Lee Cheol-jung immediately understood it meant a serious incident.
“Go on.”
Kang Mu-hyeok relayed everything Kim Man-gi had told him and explained why he had assigned Ma Tae-sik to a week of duty shifts.
After listening, Lee Cheol-jung spoke coldly.
“Still can’t reach the vice guild master?”
“No.”
“And Ma Tae-sik?”
“His phone is off.”
“Sounds like the vice guild master knows too.”
“No—there’s a chance it’s just a coincidence.”
Kang Mu-hyeok quickly added the defense.
Even though he suspected the same thing, it wasn’t something he could confirm without evidence.
Besides, as Strategy Team Leader, he might have to **defend** the vice guild master regardless.
He had to prevent any direct link between **Ma Tae-su** and **Ma Tae-sik**.
The relationship between the guild master and vice guild master had been deteriorating.
Lee Cheol-jung believed **“guilds should be run by hunters.”**
Ma Tae-su believed **shareholders’ opinions should now be reflected more strongly**.
Their disagreements were growing worse by the day.
That was why Kang Mu-hyeok had accepted Ma Tae-sik despite not wanting to.
He didn’t want Lee Cheol-jung pushing Ma Tae-su into a corner after Ma Tae-sik had already been expelled from an expedition team for causing trouble.
Both men were pillars of the guild.
The guild only functioned properly when the two remained balanced.
But now…
Everything was falling apart.
Kang Mu-hyeok felt bitter that instead of worrying about the gate raid, he had to worry about the **power struggle between his superiors**.
*You people… if you’re hunters, then act like hunters.*
*Go hunt monsters.*
*Stop playing politics.*
