"What? A red-gate? Are you sure? Who provided the intel? " Jong-In Choi asked his assistant.
"Yes, sir…we received a phone call from Hunter Thalia….we have no way of confirming if it's true or not."
Jong-In Choi was deep in thought…he was well familiar with all the Mission Reports related to Hunter Thalia. He knew she possessed a unique skill that allowed her to see through dimensional walls…so there was a high probability that she was correct on this matter.
According to the policies and procedures in place, all S-rank gates were handled by the IHA. Lower-level gates were handled by each respective country's Hunters Association. This, however, was an unusual case. This was a C-rank dungeon that was probably going to transform into an S-rank gate…a red-gate on top of that…this was likely going to be brutal dungeon.
"Contact the IHA immediately, tell them this is an emergency." Jong-In Choi ordered.
[10 MINUTES LATER]
"President Jong-In Choi, this is Adam White. We also have Jinchul Woo on the line. We received your message."
"Hello President White and Vice-President Woo…thank you for your quick response. We have an urgent situation developing here in South Korea…an S-rank red-gate is about to appear." Jong-In Choi stated flatly.
"An S-rank red-gate? Are you sure? We haven't received any intel on this," Jinchul Woo replied.
"Yes, Hunter Thalia confirmed it." Jong-In added, "We have a C-rank gate that will turn into an S-rank red-gate as soon as the strike-team enters."
"Hmm…that explains why we don't have an intel…it hasn't happened yet…but if Hunter Thalia confirmed it, I believe her." Jinchul Woo said.
"How much time do we have before a dungeon break?" Adam White asked.
"2 days." Jong-In replied.
"Call an emergency meeting with our staff and get all our analysts working on putting together a strike-team." Adam White order a nearby assistant.
The next four hours were a long meeting aimed at putting together an appropriate strike-team.
Hunter Jinwoo Sung was not available, he was in the void handling an intrusion.
Hunters Suho Sung and Liu Zhigang were still away on their Ruler Transition ceremony.
Hunter Hae-in Cha could be deployed but she was needed at the refugee camp…even though there had not been any trouble, everyone felt better knowing that Hunter Cha was there to keep an eye on Gaia (a possible Apostle-level threat).
Hunter Il-Hwan Sung was also not available…for personal reasons.
After much discussion, the following strike team was put together:
Jongsoo Park, SR-rank, Tank, Guild Master of Knights Guild, Captain of the Stike-team
Kihoon Son, S-rank, Tank, Vice-Captain of the Strike-team
Miho Baek, S-rank, Fighter
Matteo Smith (American), S-rank, Fighter
Liam Williams (American), S-rank, Fighter
Teo Johnson (American), S-rank, Archer
Gina, S-rank, Mage
Bora Lee, S-rank, Mage
Semi Han, S-rank, Healer
Thalia Lightmaiden, S-rank, Mage
A large part of the discussion focused on whether or not it was advisable to include Thalia in the strike-team. Some thought she was an invaluable asset given her unique skills. Others worried about the potential dangers…S-rank dungeons were very dangerous…and red-gates were the worst. How would the world react if Thalia died in the raid? The fall-out could be catastrophic.
Others worried about canceling Thalia's tour schedule…she still had another 3 days of events planned. After much debate, the IHA agreed to assign Thalia to the strike-team.