Preparing for the Trip (2)

PD Jung Jun-su's question was completely unexpected.

I never thought he would ask about that here.

'If it's already at this level, the rumor must have already spread thoroughly among most of the management teams.'

A sigh came out on its own.

I had always figured that this wasn't an ordinary matter and that someday the rumor would get out, but I didn't expect it to become common knowledge within the broadcasting station this quickly.

"Well, about that......"

Even if it got out, the attitude I'd take could only be one.

Just as I reported to the government, I'd simply say, "I don't remember anything after being sucked into the gate."

There was no way to prove otherwise anyway.

Only those close to me knew that I was a returnee who possessed knowledge not found in this world, and that was enough.

"Ah, so it's just a baseless rumor, right? I feel embarrassed asking about something so ridiculous."

But before I could say anything, producer Jung spoke up first, smiling.

"It's just that there's no record of your work for those three years, manager Park, so I was just curious. But surviving in a rift? That's impossible."

"......"

"There are a few management teams circulating those rumors these days, but most people think it's nonsense. Still, some places seem to be taking it seriously."

"Is... that so?"

"Yes, yes, you don't need to worry about it. Who would believe it?"

I smiled and nodded, but internally, I felt relieved.

Even though I had always figured it would come out someday, it was better for people to not know if possible.

"There's already the example of James Walker, after all."

As PD Jung spoke lightly with a faint smile, I felt puzzled.

James Walker? I felt like I'd heard that name somewhere, but I couldn't recall.

"James Walker?"

"Ah, don't tell me you haven't heard of him?"

PD Jung's response was as if to say, "How could you not know that?"

I wondered if he was a famous hunter, but that didn't seem to be the case.

Could it be someone who became famous during the three years when I was inside the rift?

"He's someone who stirred up America ten years ago, so I thought you, manager Park, would definitely know about him."

If it happened ten years ago, I probably missed it simply because I wasn't interested.

Well, ten years ago I was busy studying my head off.

"I haven't really kept up with overseas news."

"That's understandable. In Korea, it was just brushed off as gossip."

PD Jung then explained in detail who James Walker was.

"James Walker, as I mentioned, was a con artist who shook up America ten years ago."

"How extravagant was his con for it to be that big...?"

"It was big. He claimed to be a 'returnee'."

"What? Ah, so that's why you brought it up?"

I wondered why he'd mention James Walker as an example of people not believing if I claimed to be a returnee, but apparently, something similar had already happened.

According to PD Jung's explanation, this is what happened:

Ten years ago, a man named James Walker claimed he was a returnee who had survived the Grand California Rift incident.

Of course, people didn't believe him and treated him as a lunatic, laughing at him, but that perception was soon overturned.

He asserted things like unknown monster weaknesses and methods of using magic power, and it turned out what he said was mostly true.

On top of that, he consistently talked about an 'other world'—a world where science hadn't advanced, but magic had. At first, it was dismissed as mere fantasy, but as the usefulness of his knowledge was proven, it gradually came to be widely accepted as fact.

"But at some point, he began to avoid mentioning the other world."

A few years after revealing himself as a returnee, James Walker increasingly avoided talking about the other world. He stopped sharing knowledge from that world entirely.

People began to doubt him, and his statements about the other world were re-examined.

Then, errors were found in some of the things he had claimed.

The world demanded explanations and dragged James Walker onto a broadcast, where he appeared with the look of someone who had given up on everything.

And in front of everyone, he said this:

"All my claims so far were delusions. I simply embellished my late wife's research to make it sound convincing."

Suddenly, he brought up the matter of his wife.

But James Walker's wife, while a competent researcher, had only been a housewife from an ordinary family.

In the end, it was concluded that all of James Walker's claims had merely coincidentally matched reality as a result of his delusions.

After that, James Walker was quietly imprisoned for fraud.

"I see, so that's what happened."

"Ah, by the way, I heard James Walker has a daughter."

"A daughter?"

"Yes, I heard she's an internet streamer."

An internet streamer?

That was an unexpected detail as well.

'James Walker, huh.'

Why did he go around claiming to be a returnee, only to shut his mouth at some point? And why did he finally admit he was lying and turn himself in?

Each of those parts stuck with me like bumps and ridges.

'I should probably look into it sometime.'

His actions just didn't sit right with me for him to be dismissed as a mere con artist.

***

"Murderer Shim Chun-hoo died two days after the incident, and currently, the cause is unknown."

The TV was broadcasting news about the recent Shim Chun-hoo incident.

Following Detective Superintendent Shim Hyuk-soo's arrival, Shim Chun-hoo, having lost all hope, was imprisoned quietly and passed away two days later.

When it surfaced that Shim Hyuk-soo, Chun-hoo's brother, had been the detective in charge at the time, various conspiracy theories rippled through society.

The biggest party affected by this event was Javelin Guild, the management backing Shim Chun-hoo.

Javelin had been surging upward by seizing the moment as Upstream was in turmoil, but now it felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped on them.

"We should never have gone after Shin Ah-yeon when that bastard suggested it."

Javelin Guildmaster Kang Gi-hun muttered, biting his thumbnail.

Looking back, the root of all the trouble was the failure with Ji Yeon-hwa.

Had they succeeded then, there'd have been no need to overreach by targeting Shin Ah-yeon.

And now, this latest failure hit even harder than the one involving Ji Yeon-hwa.

"Guildmaster, what do we do now? What did the demons say?"

"No idea, man. Haven't heard anything since Shim Chun-hoo died."

Kang Gi-hun still trembled whenever he remembered what happened back then.

If they hadn't cut Shim Chun-hoo loose quickly, would he have ended up the same?

When Shim Chun-hoo—after being taken by the demons—reappeared in that bizarre state, Kang Gi-hun felt his heart stop.

Rather than just killing him, they'd turned him into something less than human.

In fact, after committing murder, Shim Chun-hoo started eating human hearts or awakeners's mana halls.

"They wouldn't turn all of us into that, would they? C'mon..."

"You never know. The resources spent during the Jeju Island job were immense."

To hire Ivan from UnderStellar alone cost a fortune, and they'd even handed over a demon artifact to Ivan.

Not only that, but the large-scale gate resonance event on Jeju Island had required the demons' help as well. In hindsight, it was fortunate the demons let the matter rest with just Shim Chun-hoo.

"G-Guildmaster!!"

At that moment, a hunter burst into the guildmaster's office and shouted in alarm.

Already on edge from recent events, Kang Gi-hun snapped at him.

"What now?"

"S-Something big has happened!"

"Big? What could possibly happen here now?"

"Th-the thing is... the president of Grand Nova is here to see you."

"...... What?"

If it was the president of Grand Nova, that could only mean Jin Su-hyuk.

'Why did Jin Su-hyuk come to our guild?'

Grand Nova and Javelin Guild had no connections whatsoever, and there was no reason for them to visit.

Javelin Guild had always operated on a completely different track from Grand Nova.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Go bring him in!"

"Y-yes, sir!"

Usually, visiting someone without prior notice was considered very rude.

But that kind of etiquette didn't really apply in the hunter industry.

Not just profit or influence, but above all, overwhelming power—that was what Grand Nova, the top of the business, possessed.

"I apologize for dropping in unannounced, guildmaster Kang Gi-hun."

Jin Su-hyuk entered the office, handing his coat to the man next to him.

Kang Gi-hun recognized the man's face and swallowed hard.

'K-Kang Min-gi.'

A hunter representing Korea—a man who always topped discussions of the nation's strongest:

Battle God (鬪神) Kang Min-gi.

Since debuting as a hunter, a man who'd never been defeated.

Why did he bring such a monster here?

Trying his best to remain calm amid tension, Kang Gi-hun put on his calmest face.

"It's fine. May I ask what brings you to Javelin?"

"Oh, it's nothing really. I just have a few questions."

He spoke, gesturing to Kang Min-gi.

Kang Min-gi took several photos from inside his coat and handed them to Jin Su-hyuk.

"First of all, I'd like to express my condolences regarding your vice-guildmaster Shim Chun-hoo."

After confirming the photos, Jin Su-hyuk passed them slowly to Kang Gi-hun.

Watching these actions with growing suspicion, Kang Gi-hun gingerly took the photos Jin Su-hyuk held out.

"......!!"

"These were taken at the entrance of Javelin Guild not long ago. The one presumed to be Vice-Guildmaster Shim Chun-hoo was seen leaving the guild late at night. And if you look closely... you'll see another unidentified individual behind him."

"Th-that... I don't know anything about that."

Even if he wanted to deny it was Shim Chun-hoo, the outfit matched exactly what he was wearing when he was captured in Sillim, so he couldn't completely deny it.

"Hmm, then let me ask a different question. By chance, I obtained a blood sample from Guildmaster Shim Chun-hoo. Something unexpected was detected."

Jin Su-hyuk smiled faintly at Kang Gi-hun, who was desperately trying to keep a straight face.

"We found a completely new kind of gene—something not found anywhere on earth."

Javelin Guild was definitely dealing with something unknown to the rest of the world.

It wasn't certain, but there was a chance it was related to the string of recent, bizarre incidents.

It was all just speculation for now, but Jin Su-hyuk's intuition was telling him something was up.

***

"Thank you for your hard work!"

"Thank you so much, everyone, for giving your all until the very end!"

The final shoot for the film "World of Superhumans" finally wrapped up.

Director Cha Jae-seok had kept filming going without a single break, even though all that happened on Jeju Island.

Thanks to him, filming was completed months ahead of schedule.

And it wasn't just the filming that went quickly.

"What? We're releasing it just three months from now?"

"It just worked out that way. The distributor wants to release it before the buzz from this incident dies down."

That incident was obviously referring to the Jeju Island event.

Three people, in particular, skyrocketed to stardom because of this incident.

First, there was me, who risked my life to attract the monsters' attention.

Then there was Ah-yeon, the S-rank hunter who closed the most gates and saved the most lives.

And finally, the mysterious man... also me, who singlehandedly closed an S-rank gate that nearly broke open.

Especially for Ah-yeon, it was initially hard for her to get attention because of me, but as more hunters gave additional statements, her popularity soared.

【Shin Ah-yeon, clashes with UnderStellar's Ivan Hunt】

【Why was Ivan Hunt in Jeju?】

【Gate incident and Ivan Hunt's suspicious involvement】

【The reason Shin Ah-yeon stopped Ivan Hunt】

Numerous articles like these began to pour out.

As a result, Ah-yeon, who was already popular, was now getting a barrage of love calls from all over.

It was only natural—she wasn't just strong, her story was compelling, and she possessed unrivaled looks.

The only problem was that the person in question liked staying home and playing games the most.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=It's okay Jung-woo.【【_】a(⩌ᴗ⩌ )】

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