[Because a person’s character cannot be understood in a short period of time, you will work as a disciple.]
[Your mission is to defeat the demons that appear beyond the gate and rescue people.]
I never really intended to start a volunteer group.
Those who applied to join here probably did not come with pure good intentions.
But in the end, the shelter was saving people, and the rewards were steadily coming back.
[The name of the Hunter ‘Seogangrim’ spreads far and wide! Humans begin to take notice of you.]
[Humans talk about your righteousness and sacrifice!]
As the students become more active, the name of Bihomun is mentioned, and eventually, the master Seo Kang-rim cannot be helped but be mentioned.
Even in this moment, I felt that countless people were talking about Seo Kang-rim.
-Have you heard the news about Bihomun? I heard that they are going to start the work of eradicating the demons in earnest.
-I accepted students, but there is a prerequisite for becoming a full member of the school. Even if you are strong, if you have bad character, you won’t be accepted.
-And you donate a lot too?
Even though he didn’t come forward, people were increasingly praising him.
Meanwhile, Jang Tae-heon scratched the back of his head and said.
“But isn’t it too much to have too many disciples? There are quite a lot of them. Is that okay? The cost is high, and suspicious people might come in… … .”
“The money is fine. Harang and I filtered out the people.”
The current students are a kind of interns, but they are being paid enough that there are no complaints.
Anyway, there was so much money that it would rot away.
Even at this very moment, Bihomun’s finances were increasing by the second.
There were also spies who supported other sects, but they were all filtered out through Yu Harang’s ‘insight’.
In addition, Seo Kang-rim was looking into the fortune telling and was selecting those with useful abilities even if they were of low rank.
The verification had already been completed.
“And because we need more people, we can respond before the Protectorate.”
Currently, disciples were waiting throughout each region.
Even if the Bihomun tries to launch a rescue operation, it is meaningless if it arrives later than the Protectorate.
Jang Tae-heon nodded and said.
“That’s right. My brother said that I should become a replacement for the Protectorate.”
The reason people blindly trust the Protectorate is because it is the only place that can save them.
But what if someone appears who can replace the Protectorate?
And what if they were more capable than the Protectorate?
“We will take over the role that the Protectorate used to play. We will make people yearn for us.”
At the end of pain and despair, let the name you call be not a protectorate, but a gate of refuge.
To do that, I was going to wear clothes I didn’t like and act like an unwilling savior.
“Now that the students are getting used to it, I think you and the others can stop acting as leaders.”
To suppress the situation quickly, the current Bihomun group was taking on the role of leader.
But I had no intention of wasting key members on rescue operations.
Seo Kang-rim checked the message that had arrived.
“Lee Hyun has finished all the reconnaissance. Now it’s our turn to go out.”
It was a message from Lee Hyeon.
A message saying that all reconnaissance is complete.
Now it was time to really strip away the mask of the protectorate.
* * *
The hospital lobby was crowded with many guests.
The man in room 401 was dragging his IV tube to the lobby to get some fresh air.
When I ordered a drink at the cafe on the first floor, the owner of the store recognized patient 401 and spoke to me.
“Welcome back. You’re here again. Are you feeling better?”
“Oh, yes. It’s gotten a lot better.”
“Oh, thank goodness. It hasn’t been a mess these days because of the demons.”
Patient 401 was a case that was hospitalized after being injured by demons.
As the café owner poured the coffee, the fragrant aroma of coffee spread around.
“I think more than half of the patients admitted to hospital are admitted because of the Masu incident.”
“Still, my life was saved thanks to the Protectorate.”
Patient 401’s voice was filled with gratitude and awe.
It was natural to feel grateful to the group that saved his life.
Meanwhile, news was broadcast on the TV installed in the hospital lobby.
[This afternoon, the gates of Seowon Bridge opened and demons appeared, but thanks to the quick response of the guards, the situation was resolved with 0 casualties.]
[It is said that in England, they officially requested the cooperation of the Seo Gangrim Hunters to solve the large-scale magic mirror.]
[Currently, Bihomun has visited Jeju Island to attack the dragon-level magic. Many people are flocking to the airport… … .]
The names of Bihomun and Seo Kangrim continued to appear on the news.
A patient waiting to be seen watching the news spoke with admiration.
“Hey, are you making requests from abroad now? Isn’t it better for the Secretariat to be a protectorate than the Protectorate?”
“But how can you compare it to the Protectorate!”
“That’s true. There’s no place like a protectorate.”
People watching the news had varying reactions.
Some people cheered for Seo Kang-rim, and some cheered for the Protectorate.
I couldn’t even imagine that Seo Kang-rim was currently in this building.
‘If Lee Hyeon hadn’t figured it out first, I would’ve been in trouble.’
——————
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A small white rat was crawling down the vent without making a sound.
It was Seo Kang-rim who transformed into a ‘rat thief’.
The muggy heat and the tangled pipes made him feel disoriented, but he knew exactly where he had to go.
[I compared it with the hospital blueprint you gave me, and it appears there is a hidden area underground. I can sense a strange energy from deep underground.]
Although it wasn’t felt on the ground, Seo Kang-rim could also feel the energy as he went underground.
An aura that can only be described as strange.
I’ve been going down for a while, but I still haven’t reached my destination.
‘It’s deeper than I thought. It’ll be difficult for others to penetrate.’
Seo Kang-rim came down through the ventilation shaft, but the passage was narrow and could not be used by humans.
Even if you came in from the front, it was nearly impossible to get down without being caught.
‘And the building above ground is a general hospital. It would be difficult to enter in large numbers.’
I thought about raiding with a clown mask and my face covered, but there was a high chance that things would get complicated later.
What if there are civilian casualties during the entry process?
When it is later revealed that the real clowns are not terrorists, but a group resisting the protectorate.
If there were casualties during a raid here, there would be room for blame.
‘I’ll check it out on my own first. I’ll check the power first, and there’s also a way to bring the rest of the group over separately.’
So, going down, down, endlessly.
Seo Kang-rim arrived at a place filled with a strange energy.
I approached the end of the vent and looked out through the gap at the scenery outside.
‘It looks like this is a research lab.’
The pure white hallway smelled strongly of disinfectant.
The people moving busily through the cold, settled air were all wearing white lab coats like doctors.
But the stories coming out of their mouths were far from what one would expect from a hospital.
“What is the status of the production of magic potions?”
“We are putting as much manpower as possible into that area, but there is a limit. The supply from Heukuimun has been cut off… … .”
“There’s nothing I can do. How much intermediate magic and strengthening agent did you receive from the Black Gate?”
On one side of the lab, pipes and glass tubes were tangled in a mess.
The sight was reminiscent of a factory.
The demon’s corpse, collected materials, etc. were being ground, heated, juiced, and liquefied.
‘Is this place related to alchemy?’
A small light was shining between the vents.
A small white mouse was peering into the laboratory through a crack, but no one noticed its gaze.
Even if they noticed, they would just think of me as a rat.
‘At first glance, it looks like an alchemy workshop, but that’s probably not its main purpose.’
Burna clearly stated that he was studying demons in this lab.
I felt like I had to go further inside.
While Seo Kang-rim was looking inside through the vent, he heard someone’s voice.
“What is the feed mixing ratio?”
“Currently, the wood attribute has been changed to 80%, and the fire attribute to 20%.”
At those words, Seo Kang-rim stopped walking.
The content of the story was one thing, but a voice that I had heard somewhere caught my ear.
When Seo Kang-rim looked inside, he saw someone who looked vaguely familiar.
‘That person… seems like one of the team leaders I saw at the training facility?’
It was like the team leader who came when we took down Kangcheol.
Was his name Yang Yi-baek?
At that time he was wearing a mask, and now he was taking it off, but it seemed like the same person.
‘What on earth is this place?’
Unlike the alchemical tools that had filled the room just a moment ago, there were strange devices here and there.
The most striking of these were the unknown eggs lined up in a large glass case.
‘To have secured such a rare and unknown egg… … .’
The number seemed to be in the tens, if not hundreds.
The conditions for obtaining the unknown egg were difficult, so its price was sky-high, and it was not easy to obtain it even if you had the money.
‘Did they monopolize the unknown method of obtaining eggs? Otherwise, that amount doesn’t make sense.’
The sound of unknown eggs colliding with each other could be heard from all directions.
The sound of hundreds of teeth chattering.
The type of food was different, and the color and size were also different.
Then one of the researchers checked his watch and opened his mouth.
“Team Leader Yang, it’s time now. We’re planning to hatch the B-142 specimen.”
“Okay. Hatch it.”
As soon as the instructions came down, the researcher approached the unknown egg.
It was an egg about the size of a small rock.
The unknown egg that had just eaten the devil’s horn began to tremble.
[Growth rate reached 100%!]
[The ‘???’ egg’ hatches!]
The egg began to crack and the contents inside began to leak out.
Seo Kang-rim’s eyes widened as he saw the amniotic fluid pouring out with a splash.
Those born there were neither demons nor divine beings.
‘Human? No, not human.’
At first glance, he looked like a boy.
However, it had what looked like a dog’s face instead of a human face attached to it.
A white mane caught my eye.
The fake clown mask seen in the fourth Daema-gyeong.
The clown also had that kind of shape.
The researchers quickly administered a tranquilizer to Masu and checked his condition.
“It hatched as planned with a rank of Shinsampum (神三品) and an attribute of Earth (土). However, it shows many of the characteristics of a demon, making it unsuitable as a vessel for divine possession.”
