Against the Clock: The Team Leader’s Pursuit of Glory

"It'll be fine. It called me over first."

"Called you?"

"More than that, I'm worried about the others."

Kang Mu-hyuk glanced back over his shoulder. Ju Se-ah's gaze followed him.

"Old man Deuk-goo... And the others too?"

At the entrance of the resort, the guild members, seemingly bewitched, stared with vacant eyes, their bodies rigid.

"We regrouped by the lake and came here together. But for some reason, it seems I am the only one permitted to stand here. The others are unconscious."

As Kang Mu-hyuk took another step forward, Ju Se-ah forced herself up to her feet with great effort. Regardless of what was in front of them or why it was happening, she could not let Kang Mu-hyuk go alone.

As they synced their steps and advanced toward the unknown entity, symbols composed of shapes and letters wavered before them.

Only then could they see the symbols clearly. They were comprised of clusters made from light, particles emitting black darkness, each as tiny as a grain of sand, formed into a shape. It was a display of darkness and light coexisting together.

The light distorted the surrounding scenery and absorbed the sunlight. As the surroundings darkened and sunlight returned, it seemed to wait, greedily consuming the light.

Staring at the scene, it felt like they were being drawn into a black hole.

That was when Ju Se-ah saw it. It was a hand, frail and pale. Just as it seemed to reveal its shape, it extended its palm toward her.

The unknown entity gently pushed her away, seemingly not granting her permission to approach.

Despite the nausea causing her to retch, Ju Se-ah managed to take another step forward, but her body faltered. Even though she was on the brink of collapse, she forced herself to stay upright on one knee.

'Why is Kang Mu-hyuk okay?'

A question suddenly occurred to her.

"Didn't I say? It seems I'm the only one invited."

Kang Mu-hyuk's response, as if he'd read her mind, sent chills down Ju Se-ah's spine. His excessive calmness in the face of such an entity, despite not being a Hunter, was troubling.

'He's not a Hunter, yet he can withstand that thing? Has he changed after dying and coming back to life? No, that alone can't be the reason he's so confident in front of that monster. Something's off.'

Kang Mu-hyuk, too, was aware of the discrepancy Ju Se-ah felt. But he didn't know why he was perfectly fine. He simply accepted the situation as it was.

"Guild Master, don't push yourself. If it wanted to kill us, we would already be unable to escape. The fact that it hasn't killed us yet means there's a reason."

Kang Mu-hyuk, who was a step ahead, extended his hand to prevent Ju Se-ah from advancing further and looked directly at her.

She responded with a look of disbelief.

"How can you... be so calm in a situation like this?"

"I am sufficiently bewildered. My stoicism is a family trait."

"This isn't about your family trait."

Regulating his ragged breaths, Kang Mu-hyuk addressed the invisible entity.

"I accept your invitation. But, what exactly are you? ...I'm not qualified to know? Then why did you call me? Hmm. ...You didn't call me? ...I just heard it? What does that mean?"

Ju Se-ah turned her head inquisitively, wondering what Kang Mu-hyuk was up to. He was talking to himself. There seemed to be another voice only he could hear. It looked like madness.

Kang Mu-hyuk ignored Ju Se-ah's gaze and continued speaking, "I heard your voice. But if you didn't call me, then what the hell did? ...What? Mana? What does it mean that the mana called me... Ugh!"

Suddenly, he felt a crippling pain in his chest.

"Crack. Edge. Whoo."

A symbol approached with these vocalizations.

Under this pressure, Kang Mu-hyuk was rendered speechless. Cold sweat drenched him in an instant.

At first, he couldn't breathe, but he gradually felt the oppressive force lessening.

At some point, Ju Se-ah had positioned herself in front of him. With his breath finally returning, Kang Mu-hyuk barely managed to repeat the incomprehensible words of the being to Ju Se-ah.

"A blessing? And a curse at the same time? What's... the blessing, and what's the curse...?"

He couldn't see it, nor could he read its expressions.

Yet, Kang Mu-hyuk somehow felt it. He could tell it was observing him with interest.

"I have a question. What are you?"

The symbol did not respond, nor did the voice of the mana sound anymore.

Kang Mu-hyuk was about to ask again but closed his mouth.

The reason was Ju Se-ah's slumped shoulders. She, who had been protecting him from the pressure, seemed to be at her limit.

Kang Mu-hyuk folded his curiosity, deciding instead that he needed to resolve the situation.

'I don't know what kind of magic this is. An entity summoned by the goblin matriarch...'

A very small number of Hunters possessed a similar skill.

【Summoning】

'If we assume that being was summoned, then the conclusion is simple.'

He recalled the three elements of the summoning.

<Summoner, Sacrifice, Price.>

The 'sacrifice' seemed to be a human offering. One of the hostages had been bleeding to death.

The 'price' for summoning was usually mana. Particularly for strong summons, a large amount of mana was required as a price to exist in this world.

But what if the summoner was already dead and the summoned being did nothing?

The conclusion was simple.

'The summoning is incomplete.'

At least he was able to communicate with the being.

Kang Mu-hyuk thought there might be room for compromise at this point.

'There's no other way. It's an opponent I can't defeat with strength.'

All he could do was try. As soon as he made up his mind, he changed the subject.

"The being that summoned you is already dead. Do you still have a reason to stay here? You probably don't have any mana left to resist. Wouldn't it be better for you to return without overdoing yourself?"

It was a gamble. His previous comparison with summoning was based on speculation.

'Please let it be correct.'

And he hoped it would understand.

'Please!'

Fortunately, the gamble paid off.

The symbol, in response, twisted its lipless mouth into a smile and began to retreat.

'Did it just smile...?'

It was the feeling of seeing something he couldn't see. The unseen being left with a laugh, slowly fading until it vanished entirely.

"What a monstrous absurdity."

Ju Se-ah voiced her impressions with a voice as though dying and slumped down onto the ground.

Beginning with her, all the goblins that were around collapsed onto the ground. It wasn't simply a matter of losing consciousness. They were foaming at the mouth, their eyes rolling back in their heads.

The hostages were in the same condition. Kang Mu-hyuk got closer to check. They had all stopped breathing.

Taken aback, Kang Mu-hyuk glanced toward where his fellow Hunters had been. All of them had collapsed. He quickly rushed over and placed his finger under the nose of Pyo Beom-hee to check for a pulse.

"Phew, it seems she just fainted."

In this vast resort, only Kang Mu-hyuk and Ju Se-ah remained conscious.

"If something like that appears again, it'll be a disaster."

Ju Se-ah, who barely got herself together, commented while shaking her head.

"I agree."

They both let out long sighs simultaneously.

It felt like they had become empty shells, having exhausted all their energy, strength, and even their spirit.

For some reason, no one present at the scene, apart from Kang Mu-hyuk and Ju Se-ah, remembered anything about the unknown being summoned by the Goblin Matriarch.

For the time being, Kang Mu-hyuk decided to withhold information about that being. He saw no need to stir unnecessary fear, let alone having no way to explain it.

Instead, he attributed the fainting of the A-ranked Hunters and the death of the goblins to the magic of the Goblin Matriarch. The death of the hostages was no exception.

Upon hearing the circumstances, Jang Deuk-goo shook his head in disbelief.

"The Goblin Matriarch was a monster beyond our expectations. I understand now why the Brazil guild was annihilated. To think that she could use such terrifying magic."

"Yes. If it weren't for our Guild Master, we all would have been in serious trouble."

Kang Mu-hyuk echoed Jang Deuk-goo's sentiment. He chose to blame everything on the Matriarch's magic and wrap things up.

Kang Mu-hyuk later reported the details about the Goblin Matriarch to the Hunters Association.

He had things to investigate. He requested the report's classification as confidential and included a query about the summoning.

If the report were to be shared with the World Hunters Association in the future, inquiries related to the Goblin Matriarch who appeared in the Amazon might arise.

"Let's keep the matter of that being a secret between the Guild Master and me. We've filed the report, so we might get some responses."

At that time, Kang Mu-hyuk was merely tossing out bait, but the report he wrote would later bring about a massive storm.

Something completely unforeseen, even by Kang Mu-hyuk himself.

"We haven't completely dealt with the scattered remnants of the goblins yet, but the area around the guild headquarters has been stabilized."

"Ah, I see... Ugh! What is this smell... Ugh!"

"I apologize. We haven't finished cleaning yet. We're trying hard to clean up, but the goblins have defecated everywhere... Haha. But soon a professional cleaning and remodeling company will arrive, so it will get better quickly."

Oh Jeong-yeon, who had changed her team name to the Communication Team through organizational restructuring from the Management Team, was guiding the staff of the Guild Cooperation Division.

Most of them had only performed their duties from their desks or beyond the Gate. Having never experienced a monster-infested field firsthand, they looked skeptical no matter how much Oh Jung-yeon reassured them about their safety.

"Then, I'll guide you to the temporary campsite we're using. For now, you can unpack your luggage at the lodging there and from tomorrow, you can inspect the guild's planned site and the future location of the cooperation division," Oh Jung-yeon led the stiff-faced employees of the cooperation division.

At that moment, one of the staff members raised a hand to ask a question.

"Will we have a chance to meet the Guild Leader today?"

It was Park Choong-soo.

He was the employee who had first received Kang Mu-hyuk's call in the Public Complaints Division, which was why he was selected by the Cooperation Division Director Cha Gil-joo. In addition to the official site inspection, he had been tasked with delivering a message from Director Cha.

"Unfortunately, the Guild Leader went to Seoul today."

"Seoul?"

Had he known this, there would have been no need to come here...

With a disappointed look, Park Choong-soo asked again, "Then, the Guild Master, perhaps..."

"She also went along. She said she had some business to take care of."

"When will she be back?"

"She said she has a lot of things to deal with. Perhaps... In about a week? But to be precise, you'd have to ask her secretary."

Unconsciously, Park Choong-soo grabbed at his hair.

'We're doomed.'

The first place that Kang Mu-hyuk sought out in the busy building of the former Taesung Guild was the Chairman's office of Taesung Group.

"I remember you. You were Director Jung, right?"

"The chairman wishes to see you."

"What am I to do with this? I'm very busy at the moment."

"The chairman is very angry. I kindly request you not to disrespect him."

"You have a polite way of saying you'll use force. Well, what can a weak person do? If I don't want to be hit, I should go. Alright. Let's go. It's not as if avoiding it would solve anything."