Code Name: Black
Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.
A private whiskey bar known only to a select few.
“So, who is it in the end? Yoon Taeseong? Or Han Baeksan?”
“Well, you have to admit Yoon Taeseong is the strongest in South Korea. I’m placing my bets on him.”
“Come on, you have no idea what you’re talking about. Sure, Yoon Taeseong is powerful, but isn’t he strictly specialized in clearing dungeons? He falls a bit short to be crowned the best in a one-on-one fight.”
“Then are you siding with Han Baeksan?”
“I believe so. There are even rumors circulating that he recently acquired a massive secret manual inside a dungeon.”
The Bureau executives, who had already drunk heavily during their first round at a barbecue restaurant, were raising their voices in this bar for their second round.
There was one topic men never grew tired of debating.
Who was the strongest?
“A secret manual? He’d have to register that with the Association. There haven’t been any recent updates to the registry.”
“Why are you being so naive? Who in this industry would report swallowing a lucrative prize?”
“That’s true. But didn’t Yoon Taeseong recently obtain a Spirit Herb as well? And listen here, man! Do you instantly become stronger the very next day just because you picked up a manual?!”
“Even taking all of that into account, it’s still Han Baeksan. Isn’t he the man who reached the apex with a single sword? His title is the Sword Venerable! The Sword Venerable, Han Baeksan! Do you have any idea what that title means?!”
“Enough about that. Director! What are your thoughts on this matter?”
“Well.”
Clink!
The Director’s wrist twirled the glass on the rocks, looking uninterested.
“What meaning does any of that have?”
They would never actually fight each other anyway.
Both were vital national assets that the country could not afford to lose.
Even if they showed the slightest sign of clashing, the higher-ups would do everything in their power to intervene.
“At the end of the day, they’re both just acorns.”
“Pardon?”
“What do you mean by…”
“I’m saying they’re just a bunch of trivial acorns comparing their heights.”
The executives exchanged bewildered glances.
Was the Director intoxicated?
To compare S-rank Hunters—strategic weapons and the peak of the nation’s military power—to mere acorns.
“Listen up, you punks. The world is vast, and there are countless hidden monsters out there. So stop spouting such useless nonsense and just drink your liquor.”
Gulp.
The amber liquid smoothly moistened his throat.
“Kuh.”
A full-bodied whiskey, mellowed by years in oak barrels.
He really loves this whiskey too.
The Director, Kim Hyeongseok, narrowed his eyes as he set down his empty glass.
His gaze drifted back to the memories of that fateful day one month ago.
* * *
One month ago.
The Leviathan subjugation operation that unfolded in the East Sea.
Originally, that day was meant to be recorded as the worst disaster in the history of South Korea.
The numbers on the measurement devices skyrocketed alongside the flashing red warning lights…!
Bang!
They shattered.
The appearance of the first Unmeasurable-rank monster!
Naturally, the entire world paid close attention, yet no helping hand was ever offered.
“The United States wishes to assist, but all of our major Hunters are currently deployed!”
“What about China?! They’re right next door!”
“A monster has appeared in the Yellow Sea! They claim it’s regrettable, but defending their own territorial waters is their top priority!”
“These bastards.”
At that time, Kim Hyeongseok bit his lips so hard that they bled.
It was the World Hunter Alliance in name only; it was obvious they were testing the waters, afraid their own Hunters might get slaughtered. They were content to let South Korea serve as a meat shield while they gathered combat data.
It could not be helped, but this was the cold reality.
What if the roles were reversed?
What if a monster of that apocalyptic caliber had appeared in another country?
And what if those countries had desperately requested support from South Korea?
Would they have willingly thrust their Hunters, the very pillars of their nation, into a death trap with an unknown survival rate?
National interest.
Before those two damned words, loyalty and honor were meaningless.
“In the end, it’s entirely up to us. Issue an emergency mobilization order. Gather every S-rank Hunter!”
Kim Hyeongseok personally stepped forward, accompanied by five of the top 10 highest-ranking Hunters in South Korea.
Even that frail lineup was barely scraped together.
Han Baeksan and Yoon Taeseong, whom the executives had just praised so highly?
They had made excuses and backed out, claiming they were exploring unidentified dungeons or had sustained injuries during training.
“You’re all fools. Yet, I’m relieved that at least five fools like you still remain in this country. Please, I beg of you to survive so I don’t have to carry this as a lifelong burden.”
The result was devastating.
“Kuaaagh!”
“S-Save me!”
A mere 10 minutes.
That was all the time it took for five S-rank Hunters to be torn into bloody rags.
Two of the Hunters were already reduced to cold corpses and sank into the dark abyss of the sea, while another had his limbs ripped off, leaving him in a permanent vegetative state.
“…This is.”
Kim Hyeongseok, who was present at the horrific scene, instantly realized that death was imminent.
The remaining two Hunters had likely succumbed to the exact same despair.
It was at that very moment.
Rumble!
The sky tore wide open.
With a blinding flash, the atmosphere above the East Sea screamed. Every monitor and instrument panel in the command control room flickered before exploding into sparks.
“Wh-What’s happening?! The satellite signal has been cut off!”
“The mana levels have exceeded the measurable range! We can’t catch any radio waves!”
“All the camera lenses at the scene have shattered!”
As the control room descended into chaos, Kim Hyeongseok witnessed it.
A man casually tumbling out from the torn dimensional rift.
Clad in tattered rags, the man gazed down at the colossal disaster roaring beneath his feet.
Then, he frowned in annoyance.
“What’s with this mutt of a snake?”
His voice pierced through the deafening roar of the battlefield.
A mutt of a snake?
He called that Unmeasurable-rank disaster a mere snake?!
He waved his hand, as if swatting away a fly.
Splat!
A single strike.
With that single wave, the Leviathan’s massive head exploded like a crushed watermelon.
A rain of blood fell over the sea.
As he blankly stared at the sight of the ocean being dyed crimson, Kim Hyeongseok’s jaw trembled in disbelief.
Wh-What in the world is that?
The thing that killed the monster… was an even greater monster.
That monster…
“Hah, damn it. I’m dizzy.”
Leaving behind that single, absurd phrase, he plummeted into the sea like a puppet with its strings cut.
The shock of that day remained branded into Kim Hyeongseok’s mind forever.
* * *
Hannam-dong, Seoul.
In front of a premium safe house.
“Huu, huu.”
Lee Seah, a rookie agent recently assigned to the Bureau’s Special Task Force, clutched her pounding heart.
With trembling hands, she double-checked the screen of the tablet PC she was holding tightly against her chest.
It was the profile of the nation’s highest-grade classified document, Code Name: Black.
[Classified Document: Subject Information]
Name: Kang Hyeon
Age: 33
Rank: Unmeasurable
Notable Traits:
– Appeared above the East Sea alongside a dimensional rift phenomenon.
– Slaughtered the monster Leviathan with a single wave of his hand.
– Severe alcohol dependency; particularly fond of whiskey.
– Extremely difficult to communicate with.
– High probability of foreign powers attempting to secure him. Requires maximum security maintenance equivalent to a Special-grade strategic asset.
She had refused to believe it at first.
Did this man truly hunt down the Leviathan alone, and not the S-rank Hunters?
Yet, she had no choice but to believe it.
It was a Top Secret, officially sanctioned national document.
There were only a handful of individuals in all of South Korea who even knew of this document’s existence.
The President, the Chief of Staff, the Director of the National Intelligence Service, the Bureau Director, the two surviving S-rank Hunters, and the agents of the Special Task Force, which constituted a minority even within the Bureau itself.
That was exactly why she was thrilled at first.
Being granted clearance to view such highly classified information was concrete proof that she was walking an elite path with a guaranteed fast promotion.
She had even popped a bottle of champagne in blind celebration.
But now?
Because of that, her current emotional state felt as if she had swallowed a chalice of poison rather than champagne.
Yet, she quickly realized that this grand secret was actually a ticking time bomb that no one in the team wanted to handle.
Even today.
“Who wants to go pay Black a visit?”
Silence swept through the conference room the moment the Director spoke.
As if they had previously agreed upon it, the gazes of the seasoned veteran seniors shifted toward the ceiling, the floor, or their own fingernails.
“Sir, Director. My back pain suddenly flared up again… Damn it, why is it throbbing so badly today of all days?”
“I have a scheduled meeting with the Guild Master of the Heavenly Wolf Guild this afternoon. I heard they obtained a secret manual.”
“Huh? Section Chief Kim, didn’t you swear that you wouldn’t even piss in the direction of the Heavenly Wolf Guild?”
“Director! We must clearly distinguish between public and private matters! Even if I don’t piss in their direction, shouldn’t I still keep track of national management assets?!”
They were cowards.
To think that the seniors who proudly boasted of their heroic tales during company dinners would shiver in terror at the mere name, Kang Hyeon.
The ultimate result.
“Hmm, it can’t be helped. Agent Lee Seah?”
“Yes, sir?”
“You graduated at the top of your class this time, didn’t you? Prove to me that you’re fundamentally different from these useless parasites.”
B-But I have zero field experience…
She could not dare voice those words out loud.
How could a lowly rookie ever say such a rebellious thing to the Director?
“Just go and come back alive. I’ll stamp five solid stars onto your performance evaluation.”
Lee Seah swallowed her saliva.
That was the truth of the incident.
Alright.
Just how agonizing could it possibly be?
It was right when Lee Seah gritted her teeth and reached out to press the doorbell.
Huh?
The heavy door to the safe house was left slightly ajar.
Could it be an intruder?
No.
That was impossible.
The security system installed here was far more impenetrable than the Blue House itself.
Furthermore, considering the monster—no, the human residing inside—she would feel pity for any intruder foolish enough to break in.
“I-Is anyone inside? I was dispatched from the Management Bureau!”
No matter how many times she called out, only a heavy silence answered her from within.
Rub, rub.
Wiping her sweaty palms against her trousers due to the tension, Lee Seah carefully stepped into the hallway.
The interior was pitch black.
Every curtain was tightly drawn, allowing a piercing chill to linger in the air.
Coupled with a pungent stench of alcohol that stung her nose.
“Excuse me…”
Her gaze instinctively drifted toward the sofa in the living room.
She froze.
A man wearing stretched-out sweatpants, disheveled hair that looked as though it had not been washed in days, and dozens of empty whiskey bottles rolling around on the floor.
Did this absolute wreck of a man truly slaughter the Leviathan?!
Right when she was debating whether there was an error in the data…
“Hey.”
A cracked, gravelly voice echoed out from the darkness.
“Wh-What?!”
“Liquor.”
The man slowly pushed himself up.
His eyes were deeply sunken, and his complexion was as pale as a blank sheet of paper.
Lee Seah simply could not comprehend him.
If his head felt like it was splitting apart, shouldn’t he be asking for water instead of alcohol?!
Let’s just give it to him since he’s asking for it!
Lee Seah frantically held out the expensive bottle of whiskey that Senior Kim had shoved into her hands before she left.
Snatch!
The man snatched it away and chugged the liquor. Gulp, gulp, gulp!
Is he insane?
How could he drink that without a single change in his expression?!
No, rather than suffering, he possessed a euphoric expression, like a dying traveler who had just stumbled upon an oasis in the desert.
“Kuh, I finally feel like I can breathe.”
The man’s gaze finally locked onto Lee Seah.
“Who the hell are you? I’m pretty certain I explained it clearly enough for the government to understand. Don’t approach me unless absolutely necessary.”
In that split second, Lee Seah forgot how to breathe.
The sheer weight of the eyes revealed beneath his tangled hair.
His gaze pierced straight through her. She felt as though she had wandered into the den of an apex predator.
Gasp.
A shudder crawled up her spine, causing every hair on her body to stand on end.
I-I need to tell him.
That processing the contaminated corpse of the Leviathan in the East Sea was proving to be far too difficult.
That its toxicity was so potent that not even the S-rank Hunters dared to approach it.
That they lacked the manpower to handle it, so they regretfully had to request him to resolve this one single issue.
Yet, her lips had yet to part.
“Well, I guess the timing works out perfectly. I actually needed a hand with something.”
At that single sentence, the suffocating pressure vanished.
Help?
Realizing that, Lee Seah felt a surge of relief.
If this unfathomable monster was asking for something from them first, it meant there was a glimmer of hope for negotiation.
“Wh-What kind of help do you need?”
“Over there.”
Lee Seah followed the direction of his lazy nod.
Only then did Lee Seah realize that the massive 80-inch television taking up the entire living room wall was actually turned on.
The screen was broadcasting a news report showcasing the grand, majestic panoramic view of the National Academy—South Korea’s greatest Hunter training institution—along with its elites dedicating themselves to their training.
“Can you get me in there?”
A heavy silence instantly filled the room.
An Unmeasurable-rank monster wanted to enter the Hunter Academy?!
Why?
Surely not as a student?
His reply came without hesitation.
“Preferably as a professor.”
Comment