The crowd, filled with citizens and reporters, refused to calm down. The A-Rank hunter, who was clad in black armor, intricate and well-defined, helped push the people away from the yellow tape. He was behind it, reassuring the citizens and ignoring the reporters.
Yoon Minsu, the A-Rank hunter, cried inside.
When was the guild leader coming?
There was only so much he could handle by himself. And paired with the hot sun melting him down inside his armor, he was going to die of heatstroke at this rate.
Yoon Minsu kept his friendly smile, watching in the corner of his eye to make sure that the woman and her daughter were doing okay by the peremedics.
With his focus changed for a slight second, he didn't notice a reporter walking forward and shoving a microphone in his face. Yoon Minsu masked his shock with a polite smile—well, that was, until the reporter asked a very sensitive question.
The reporter smiled knowingly before he spoke, interrupting Yoon Minsu. "Excuse me, you have to back away from the—"
"How does the Radience Guild feel about this year's recent quarterly reports? The Lunar Guild was far ahead of you guys in response time and S-Rank clearage. I mean, look—" He pointed to the sealed gate behind him while smirking. The A-Rank's smile dimmed, and a frown took over.
"You—!"
Yoon Minsu never got to finish his words. A man's halting, raised hand came into view, descalating the situation.
"Guild leader!" Yoon Minsu was overjoyed and thankful as he cried. The crowd in front of them cheered Kim Daeho's name loudly.
The handsome man with blonde hair and sunglasses ran his hand through his hair and took them off. His amber eyes looked on with a glint of disappointment at the situation, yet a smirk fell on his lips.
A beige blazer hung off his shoulders, matched perfectly with a beige vest, white dress shirt, and a blue tie. Kim Daeho also wore matching fitted slacks and light brown dress shoes. The sun caught his golden hair perfectly, making him look like a dream.
"If..." he began, sunglasses on his head and hands in his pockets as he stood nonchalantly. "...You paid even the tiniest bits of attention, then you'd know the data behind that. We have districts we're assigned to, Mr reporter. But with higher-ranked gates appearing in the Lunar Guild's area, they requested our help because of the shortage. So, unless you have magical teleportation abilities and information reading skills, please refrain from making risky comments."
Kim Daeho turned around, and Yoon Minsu lifted the yellow tape so he could walk through without touching it.
He turned around one last time. "Oh, and," he spoke mockingly. "Please do call me if you ever get teleportation abilities; we'd love to have you, as no hunter has them yet."
The reporter stood still, face flushed with embarrassment. All he wanted was a reaction, not to be humiliated. He'll get that smug S-Rank Kim Daeho back for it. He swears it.
Kim Daeho scoffed and walked further into the gate zone. "That Hunters' Association meeting was taking longer than expected. I'm kind of happy I was interrupted, but not like this," Yoon Minsu nodded along solemnly.
The Guild Leader sighed. "I was briefed on the situation on my way. What were the odds of an S-Rank gate appearing and sucking up an unawakened 10-year-old with it? And I heard the unawakened brother rushed in without second-guessing, right?" Yoon Minsu nodded again. "How brave," he murmured.
Kim Daeho's face turned dark. "I guess we'll have to wait the 5 days then," ending the conversation on a dark note. They needed to get ready for the red gate, so they needed to monitor the mana levels. The gate should be increasing with mana currently.
He took one hand out of his pocket and held it up. Yoon Minsu quickly complied, placing a tablet in his gloved hand. The tablet contained the measured information about the gate.
Kim Daeho squinted his eyes.
"...The mana reading is stabilized and decreasing?" he questioned, and Yoon Minsu responded quickly. "Yes, I've been monitoring it since the reading suddenly changed about 20 minutes ago." Daeho hummed in thought.
"That would mean they cleared it, right?"
"Yes," Minsu replied.
An unawakened clearing a gate was practically impossible. So, maybe they awakened inside? But, then again, that's only if they awakened as an S-Rank. What are the odds of that? Even so, it was almost certain death as an S-Rank fighting alone in a gate.
Worry flashed in his eye as he watched the gate. "...But no one's coming out..." he muttered.
Then his eyes slightly broadened. "Yoon Minsu!" he yelled and pointed to the gate. First, he saw a red bag, dangling with keychains. Then, as the person came out, he saw her long, black hair.
She was dragging something, or someone, out.
It was a person, battered up and covered in blood. Everyone briefly froze in shock before rushing towards the gate to help.
__
Baek Iseul's head ached painfully. He winced as he opened his eyes, being greeted by the white ceiling and depressing lights. "...What?" he mumbled.
His throat felt dry.
Iseul pushed himself up, feeling his body ache in response.
He was in a hospital. Right, because of the gate. Even though his head hurt badly, he still took this opportunity to think.
So, he was an S-Rank hunter and miraculously survived an S-Rank gate alone, which was practically a suicide mission.
But that wasn't even the least of his worries. He was in a novel and he knew it. He remembered characters with similar names appearing on TV, billboards, and other things.
Names like "Kim Daeho," who was the loving brother of "Kim Duri," the main character. Kim Daeho was even the leader of Radience Guild, the number one-ranked guild in South Korea, as well as being the number one-ranked S-Rank in the country.
He also heard of "Lee Sanghun," who was the male lead and the leader of Lunar Guild, the second-ranked guild in South Korea. He was similarly the second-ranked S-Rank in the country.
That would mean that he transmigrated, or reincarnated, into this omegaverse-hunter-based world.
But then why does this world feel like another day for him? Or another walk in the park. This was likely because he retained all his memories of this world, which makes him feel confused.
Then, was this a real world, or a fake? Or maybe this was just an alternate universe?
His head throbbed as he thought. The "Red Eye" skill also wasn't answering him, so it probably has its own limitations, or he just didn't have enough mana.
Then there was also the case of "Kim Duri." Surely, being the first omega S-Ranked hunter in the world would've caused massive waves, regardless of whether Iseul watched the news or not, which he didn't. So, either way, obviously, Iseul should know of Kim Duri in this world.
But then why doesn't he? There's only one answer to this: Instead of Kim Duri, it was Baek Iseul who was the first S-Ranked omegan hunter in this world.
His eyes widened as he clutched the sheets below him.
But before he could go further, someone knocked on his door and opened it.
A handsome man with blonde hair leaned against the door frame, smirking.