The Firepower Is on Another Level

The issue of Hunters suffering from aftereffects was being controlled by the National Security Bureau.

Hearing that, Oh Hyeonseong couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

Seeing his expression, Choi Jeongil explained.

“Hunters gradually lose their ability to recover the more they go out into the field. Then, if they suffer a serious injury, they can develop physical or psychological aftereffects. Every Hunter is different, and the cases vary wildly, but up to this point, it’s common knowledge that everyone understands through experience.”

“That’s right.”

Some people were recognized for their dazzling talent, only for their natural recovery ability to hit rock bottom after clearing just a few Gates, bringing their careers as Hunters to an end.

Once a Hunter’s recovery ability bottomed out and the aftereffects began to surface, their body would rapidly deteriorate with virtually no chance of recovery.

Yet others might have picked up a sword as nothing more than an ordinary person, but even after hundreds of Gate raids, they would continue to improve without developing any aftereffects, climbing higher and higher.

That was why, in the past, people used to say that the ones who survived in this line of work to the very end were the truly strong ones.

Han Suyeon, Choi Jeongil, and the other juniors had all been selected because they possessed top-class potential in this regard.

But even Oh Hyeonseong, who had commanded such teams, had felt his body creaking after repeatedly taking the lead on countless missions. After the final battle, he eventually collapsed.

“Discovering the cause of that problem was the biggest research project at our institute. We poured an enormous amount of manpower and money into it. As a result, we discovered that the root cause of all those problems was ‘tainted energy.’”

“Tainted energy…?”

Oh Hyeonseong tilted his head.

If they were talking about the tainted energy produced by monsters, it was an energy that had already spread throughout the world—not just inside Gates.

It existed in the very ground they stood on, in the crops growing in the fields, and even in clear river water.

The only difference was that its concentration was extremely faint.

Aside from environments within restricted zones designated by the government, the residual tainted energy found in the world was not enough to cause any significant problems to the human body itself.

Although it was the main culprit behind disrupting ecosystems and producing crops that tasted absolutely terrible, numerous studies had already proven that it was harmless to humans.

“If tainted energy were really that serious of a problem, wouldn’t all ordinary people have been wiped out by now?”

“More precisely, the problem is the direct exposure to tainted energy within Gates. It has long-term harmful effects specifically on Hunters who enter Gates and fight monsters, regardless of whether they’re ordinary people or not.”

The tainted energy emitted from Gates and the residual tainted energy found on Earth were on completely different levels.

That was also why civilians were strictly prohibited from entering Gates above a certain rank, in one way or another.

But humanity wasn’t stupid.

They had recognized the terrifying levels of tainted energy inside Gates long ago and had taken measures accordingly.

Even the system of assigning ranks to all Gates and Hunters had originally been created based on whether a Hunter’s body could withstand the tainted energy present at a particular site.

“Just as a Rank 9 Hunter would never be assigned to an S-rank Gate, as long as we follow the current ranking system, there shouldn’t be any danger of tainted energy causing problems to the body, should there?”

“Unfortunately, the problem is that it only ‘appears’ as though there’s no problem. You don’t feel anything unusual at the site, and even after returning and undergoing examinations, everything appears normal. But any tainted energy you were exposed to accumulates in your body intact. It remains there permanently until the day you die, slowly building up and eating away at you.”

Choi Jeongil continued.

“There is no such thing as a safe threshold. Even if I, a Rank 12 Hunter, were to clear a D-rank Gate instead of an S-rank Gate and return, the tainted energy accumulated there would remain in my body forever.”

“Wait…”

Oh Hyeonseong briefly pressed a hand to his forehead.

This was almost the exact opposite of what he had always believed.

Then didn’t that mean the terrible aftereffects that had remained in his own body were ultimately caused by tainted energy?

And not just a little.

His body contained a massive amount of tainted energy that had accumulated over a full ten years.

“If that’s true, why hasn’t this been made public yet?”

“After our institute discovered the truth, we tried to make it known to the world. But the government stopped us the moment we were about to announce it. And it wasn’t as though they were trying to cover it up after the fact. The government’s own research institutes had already reached the same conclusion. They already knew everything.”

“So why control information about something that should be made public?”

“The reason is simple. The government doesn’t want being a Hunter to become an undesirable occupation. If anything, they want the current trend to continue.”

“Haah… So ignorance really is bliss? You managed to stay quiet about this.”

“Rather than trying to set everything on fire, I wanted to find a direct solution first. But I couldn’t find an answer. All I could do was add more pessimistic information to the pile. That is… until you appeared, Senior.”

The reason Choi Jeongil hadn’t rashly exposed the truth was simple.

There was absolutely no practical treatment for the problem.

There was no method of scraping the accumulated tainted energy out of a human body.

It had been judged theoretically impossible, and the prevailing opinion was that it would remain impossible even for decades to come.

The only thing he could do was adjust the schedules of the Hunters under his company as much as possible to lessen their burden.

That was also why, after Joo Jihye became ill, he had shifted her schedule toward filming and other activities instead of sending her into Gates whenever possible.

It feels like I just got hit in the back of the head. And to think all these problems were connected in one straight line…

Oh Hyeonseong clicked his tongue.

But thanks to this, the pieces were finally falling into place.

The crops grown by the Spirits didn’t merely heal injuries. They neutralized the tainted energy inside the body—the fundamental cause of the problem.

And that also explained why he had been unable to hear the Spirits’ voices until now.

A highly plausible hypothesis formed in his mind.

“Senior.”

“Hmm?”

“There’s… something I’d like to ask of you.”

Choi Jeongil spoke with an unusually serious expression.

He had even put down the spoon he had been holding.

“A favor.”

Oh Hyeonseong let out a faint chuckle.

Just from Choi Jeongil’s expression, it was obvious how much thought he had put into bringing this up.

And Oh Hyeonseong had a pretty good idea what he was going to ask.

So he casually pushed himself up from his seat.

“Get up. Let’s talk outside.”

“Hmmm~”

Joo Jihye sat in the yard, humming to herself.

She had been sitting there staring blankly outside for a while now, yet she simply couldn’t get tired of the scenery.

She was so picky about movies that she’d often walk out if she thought they were a waste of time, yet she could stare at this view without losing interest.

Perhaps she could finally understand why her parents had always taken pictures of beautiful scenery and sent them to her.

“Huh?”

Just then, she felt a strange gaze directed at her.

She casually turned her head and found herself staring into the eyes of a small creature behind the large earthenware jars.

At first, she thought a rat had somehow gotten in, but it was much too large for that.

“Got you!”

Joo Jihye sprang to her feet and lunged forward, grabbing the creature.

But the moment she saw what she was holding, her eyes went wide.

Squirm, squirm.

“Huh? What’s an otter doing in a place like this?”

She wasn’t mistaken.

A fluffy little otter was dangling from her hands.

Apparently flustered, it struggled frantically, but Joo Jihye simply stared at it in a daze, as though she’d been struck over the head.

“Cu… cute.”

Joo Jihye’s expression melted.

She had always been incredibly weak to cute things.

From its adorable appearance to its squeaky little cries, everything about it was driving her crazy.

“Eee~”

Joo Jihye stretched the otter’s cheeks from side to side.

The creature slapped her hand away as if it didn’t like it, but even that was cute.

Unable to resist any longer, Joo Jihye lunged at it, grabbed its chubby little paws, and rubbed her cheek against it.

“Hehehe. Hellooo~”

Joo Jihye hugged the creature tightly and refused to let go.

The soft, fluffy sensation was making her lose her mind.

The more the otter struggled in an attempt to escape, the tighter she hugged it, terrified of losing it.

“Where are you going?”

“Come with me and you’ll find out.”

At that moment, Oh Hyeonseong and Choi Jeongil came outside.

Their eyes naturally fell upon Joo Jihye, who was making a huge fuss in the middle of the yard.

“Hey… you…!”

Oh Hyeonseong stared at Joo Jihye in horror.

Choi Jeongil was equally aghast.

“What are you doing right now?”

“Oh, an otter suddenly came into the yard! I don’t know where it even came from, but…”

“Let go of it! That isn’t an otter. That’s Albern!”

“Eh…? This is the Spirit from back then?”

What on earth was he talking about?

But before she could even look down again, Joo Jihye suddenly felt an icy chill rising all the way to her chin.

CRACKLE!

In the end, she froze solid right where she stood.

“Uuuugh…”

Joo Jihye sat hunched over on the wooden porch, trembling violently.

After barely being rescued, she was surrounded by several tiny Fire Spirits, who were warming her body.

For Spirits that were usually shy around strangers, this was an unusual sight, but at Oh Hyeonseong’s request, they had willingly come to give her their warmth.

“Th… thank you…”

Joo Jihye trembled as she spoke to the Spirits.

Meanwhile, Albern—the very one who had caused all this—remained perched on Oh Hyeonseong’s shoulder in its manifested form, looking as aloof as ever.

“Sorry. This one can be a little difficult.”

Oh Hyeonseong shook his head.

Albern was extremely picky, showing affection and clinging only to its contractor. Even Choi Jeongil couldn’t casually approach or touch it.

The only person Albern would occasionally allow to touch it when it was in a good mood was Han Suyeon, whose natural friendliness made her exceptionally compatible with the Spirits.

“…It’s my fault anyway… I’m going to go rest in my room.”

Perhaps concerned about her, the Fire Spirits hurriedly followed Joo Jihye inside.

Joo Jihye entered her room with a dejected expression.

Oh Hyeonseong clicked his tongue.

Unlike ordinary summons, Spirits were completely indistinguishable from ordinary creatures when they took on manifested forms.

Even magical detection was impossible.

Unless someone had experienced it firsthand, there was no way they could know.

But Oh Hyeonseong had somewhere to go with Choi Jeongil, so for now, he simply started walking.

“Do you have a lot of work scheduled these days?”

“No, things have been fairly quiet recently.”

“Then stay a few more days.”

“No. I think I’ll head back tomorrow. It would be rude to keep staying here while continuously eating your food.”

Choi Jeongil said it decisively.

He had only eaten the food here for the first time today, yet he was somehow able to cut himself off so cleanly.

What incredible self-control.

Of course, how long that self-control would last remained to be seen.

“Isn’t this… a restricted zone?”

“Yeah. There’s a reservoir inside. We’re going fishing there today.”

“What? Fishing?”

“You love fishing.”

“But if it’s a reservoir inside a restricted zone, it must be heavily contaminated. How could we possibly fish there?”

Water environments were even more vulnerable to the effects of tainted energy than land.

As a result, the number of places where people could properly enjoy fishing had decreased, and above all, the fish tasted absolutely terrible.

Unlike agricultural crops, where naturally grown produce still had an advantage over cheap factory-produced alternatives, seafood was one of the few areas where cheap factory-produced food actually tasted far better than wild-caught varieties.

That was already the case with ordinary bodies of water.

Fishing in a restricted zone was simply absurd.

And when they arrived at the reservoir, it seemed even more ridiculous.

The reservoir was visibly polluted at a glance.

“Even for us, it looks like we’d have a hard time being found alive tomorrow if we went fishing in a place like this.”

“Albern, I need your help.”

SPLASH!

Albern leaped forcefully from Oh Hyeonseong’s shoulder.

It raced across the polluted reservoir, then suddenly dove beneath the surface near the center.

After enough time had passed for it to have nearly reached the bottom—

WHOOOOONG!

A massive ripple spread beneath the surface of the water.