The news swept the nation without warning.

[This is shocking news. A document uploaded to an authenticated Hunter community online…]

[The document clearly laid out evidence of corruption within the Management Bureau.]

[The Management Bureau has yet to release an official statement…]

[Breaking news! The Bupyeong Gate Shock Incident that plunged the entire nation into grief five years ago has been revealed to be orchestrated by the Management Bureau…!]

Even major media outlets latched onto the story, reporting on the articles regarding the evidence of Management Bureau corruption that had surfaced on hunter communities.

Under normal circumstances, this would have been dismissed as the ravings of a conspiracy theorist.

This time, however, was different.

The reason was simple: recent incidents, such as the mishandled Seoul gate management accident and the S-Rank gate mutation, had already cracked the public’s trust in the Management Bureau.

[Wait, is this actually real?]

└ Wow, insane. I saw the upload online and the details are incredibly meticulous. Looks like someone went all out on this.

└ Hey, shit lol. The uploaded document already got taken down lmaooo.

└ ?????Guess it’s real then??????

[No way, are you telling me Chun Jun-ho’s trip to North Korea was because of these guys???]

└ Fuck, does that even make sense?

[Absolutely shocking;;; So, have these Management Bureau bastards completely lost their minds?]

└ They were already acting like they owned the place, but they were pulling this shit behind our backs?

└ No way, shit, is Seunghyeoldan really in on this? I knew they were a guild in front of the National Assembly Building so they were close to politics, but seriously to this extent?

└ Agree. Is this real??

Once the issue caught fire, it wasn’t quick to die down.

Of course, some outlets didn’t mention the incident at all, while others took down articles they had already posted, but this only served to backfire.

[Sharing a list of broadcasters and media outlets that took bribes.]

└ Fuck, there’s no one left to trust lmaooooo

The narrative had already been framed, and public sentiment had begun to turn.

Above all, this wasn’t just any issue; it was directly tied to national security and the future of the country.

Just as one cannot cover the sky with their palm, from the moment the public became aware, attempts to cover it up only poured oil on the flames.

The chaotic atmosphere continued both internally and externally.

Then came the final nail in the coffin.

[Cheonhwa will not stand idly by and watch such criminal acts utilizing Gates…]

[Black Moon will not take this matter lightly under any circumstances.]

[Athens will now demonstrate through action that we have absolutely no involvement in the Management Bureau’s transgressions.]

The Three Great Guilds had officially declared hostility against the Management Bureau.

It was, effectively, a declaration representing the entire guild corporate sector.

Even before the current frustration of becoming the Management Bureau’s scapegoats, there had always been a sense of unfairness within the system where the Bureau designated gate management guilds.

This was merely the explosion of long-accumulated grievances.

It was obvious how the full-scale intervention of the guilds, armed with a just cause, would shift the landscape.

The situation was becoming increasingly dire for the Management Bureau.

Jung-woo reflected on the fundamental reason why bringing down the Management Bureau in his past life had been so sluggish.

‘The environment wasn’t right. Everyone secretly knew the Management Bureau was corrupt, but there was no justification to attack them. No reason to.’

Lee Cheon-woo, the internal whistleblower, had no allies.

He had clear evidence and a righteous cause, but the practical interests that moved the world had no reason to answer his call.

What Jung-woo had done was essentially provide that reason.

Using the enemy to defeat the enemy, as they say.

Guilds were not entirely clean or heroic, but precisely because of that, they reacted more sensitively to their own interests.

The Management Bureau’s power was waning.

Meanwhile, taking the fall for them had resulted in massive losses, so the guilds naturally concluded that stepping up was to their advantage.

That was the dynamic at play.

Rather than a simple Countermeasure Bureau versus Management Bureau dynamic, it was a board set by the Countermeasure Bureau where the Management Bureau was surrounded and gnawed apart by the guilds and the public.

‘It’s only a matter of time now.’

The Management Bureau would be stripped bare and dismantled like this.

At the decisive moment, they would need an alternative, and in this game, that role belonged to him.

Knowing the future made it an effortless task to begin with.

With his abilities backing him up, it was even easier.

It wasn’t anything worth celebrating anew.

Above all, he had no intention of popping champagne before the job was done.

In the bureau chief’s office, Ho-jong spoke.

“You know, right? They aren’t the type to go down easy.”

Jung-woo nodded.

“They’ll thrash around at least. Or they might take an ‘if I’m going down, I’m taking you with me’ approach.”

“The latter is more likely. Those old bastards only made it this far because they’re that ruthless.”

He spoke with conviction.

Nor was it a baseless claim.

‘If you think about it, they’re his old colleagues.’

Ho-jong was a first-generation hunter and one of the people who built the public hunter system alongside the First Bureau Chief.

Although he now lived like an isolated island in his position as the Countermeasure Bureau director, he was once the closest person to the current political hunters.

Jung-woo didn’t take the words of such a man lightly.

Even before that, Jung-woo already knew the methods they would employ.

“I have an idea of what they might do.”

“Hm?”

A repetition of past events.

Even if he had flipped the dynamic to create a more radical situation, the fundamentals hadn’t changed.

The people cornered were the same.

And the methods they would use would likely fall along similar lines.

Therefore,

“They’ll bury one issue with another. It’s a pretty classic method.”

That disaster would surely unfold exactly as it had before.

‘The problem is that with the butterfly effect in play, I can’t be certain of when or how…’

He was deep in thought.

“Mr. Jung-woo, you have a visitor.”

“Huh? A visitor?”

Who would come all the way here?

Puzzled, Jung-woo left the bureau chief’s office and headed to the reception room.

And upon seeing the face of the person waiting for him, he sucked in a sharp breath.

“It’s been a while, Hunter Shin Jung-woo.”

The very person he hadn’t expected was there.

A robust physique, wearing a mask of righteousness, a middle-aged man with a smile that would appeal to anyone.

“Director Kim Shin-wook?”

Kim Shin-wook, the director of the Nowon-gu Management Bureau, stood there.

He offered a handshake and said,

“I’ll get straight to the point.”

“Regarding what?”

“Would you care to make a deal with me?”

It was the moment Jung-woo furrowed his brow.

“This will be a very favorable proposition for you, Hunter Shin Jung-woo.”

Shin-wook’s smile deepened.

The Council of the Hogukdang was the most powerful political group in the country.

At least, it had been until right before this disaster struck.

“My stomach is churning. I can’t remember the last time I felt this utterly rotten.”

The atmosphere grew stagnant at the murmurs of the old man sitting at the head of the table, resembling a dead tree.

None of the old men in sharp suits dared to meet his eyes.

“Someone say something.”

But there was no way anyone could answer.

A thorn in one’s own finger always hurts more than a spear in another’s back.

Everyone here, without exception, had suffered tremendous blows from this scandal.

Just thinking about cleaning up the mess made their heads split, let alone talking about the party’s future.

What more could be done with a group that had nothing left but ruin?

However—

“If not, shall we all just die together?”

The old man at the head spoke coldly.

Only then did they realize.

Amidst all these incidents and accidents, the one who had suffered the greatest damage was none other than him.

Setting everything else aside, there was one matter he would never bring up himself.

It was a taboo subject, one that strictly forbade any remarks that might remind him of it.

The North Korean Reclamation plan.

It was a trap the old man had set to eliminate the First Bureau Chief.

The entire truth of that incident had been laid bare to the world.

What did it mean that the truth of murdering the hero who saved the nation had been exposed?

Looking at the old man alone, it was clear that if things continued this way, he would face punishment far exceeding the dissolution of the party, the Management Bureau, and Seunghyeoldan—he would likely face the death penalty.

For now, he was holding on with everything he had built up, but even that would soon run out.

The public, the guilds, the media, and public authority.

Everything was turning against them.

In particular, the opposition party, which had previously been treading carefully, was gaining momentum and baring its fangs.

This was a gathering held in such times.

The elders felt it too.

“Those filthy pieces of trash are yapping away. Are you just going to stand by and watch?”

Former Vice Director of the First Management Bureau.

Current Party Representative of the Hogukdang.

First-generation hunter, Han Dae-hyung.

He was in a state where he would unleash any horrific act just to bury this issue.

“Sir…”

“We’ve had peace for too long. They’ve slept with their legs stretched out for so long that they’ve forgotten who was protecting them, and now they’re barking.”

A chilling aura lingered in Han Dae-hyung’s voice.

“Those filthy pigs only know how to bark at what’s right in front of them. Justice, cause, my ass. The moment their lives are on the line, they’ll be busy begging for mercy. That’s the kind of trash they are. Why are you getting scared now?”

A directive was issued.

“If they’ve forgotten… yes, we need to remind them who allowed them to sleep so comfortably all this time.”

He growled the words.

“Open the gates.”

An order to remind the masses of the terror they had forgotten.

The intent was clear.

If it couldn’t be buried, they would make it so the public knew but couldn’t resist.

It was an order to initiate the deployment of the Hunter Military.

The surreal disaster known as gates threatening humanity had become a thing of the past.

It was now an era where gates had become a part of daily life.

Given the trend of gates appearing more frequently in densely populated areas, even if one left Seoul, any major city would have at least one Third gate at its center. That was the kind of era it was.

Therefore, the collapse of a gate meant the collapse of daily life.

The depravity of those who planned such a thing was an issue significant enough to draw the condemnation of the entire world.

Here in Daejeon, it was the same.

“Did you see the news? Actually, it’d be weirder if you didn’t. The whole world is talking about it. Yeah.”

“Why are you acting like you’re the only one who knows? Of course I saw it. Isn’t it insane? Those Management Bureau bastards, seriously…”

“More than anything, the fact that they did something like that after the First Bureau Chief incident is just too shocking. How could they…”

All the distant and horrific transgressions that had continued since the current Management Bureau took power… no, from before they even took power up until now, had all been brought to light.

From the petty crimes they committed before monopolizing power, to pushing the First Bureau Chief—the greatest hero of the era—into the gate-eroded North Korea to seize complete control, to the records of massacres they committed to monopolize political power afterward.

With all those facts exposed one by one, it was a time when that topic came up in conversation no matter where you went.

In the bustling downtown streets, stories related to the scandal could be heard everywhere.

Beyond people’s conversations, even the news playing on someone’s smartphone only showed related content.

It was a time when public sentiment was so turbulent.

Waeaeaeaeaeaeaeng—!

Disaster struck suddenly, accompanied by the wail of sirens.

[Gate Shock! Gate Shock! This is a Level 1 disaster situation! Citizens, please evacuate to the nearest air-raid shelter! This is not a drill! I repeat! Gate Shock! Gate Shock! This is a Level 1 disaster situation! Citizens…]

The entire city was thrown into an uproar by the sirens and announcements.

Everyone going about their day felt a chilling sensation and looked up at the sky.

There, swelling and turning red, was a gate.

It was a mutation of a Third gate due to exceeding capacity—a Gate Shock.

Something burst forth from it.

Magical beasts, the creatures that had been called the most realistic terror since the dawn of the 21st century.

“Kyaaaaah!!!”

“Aaaaaaah!!!”

Citizens screamed in terror.

They shoved and trampled each other, turning their backs to the gate as they began to flee.

Kwaaang—!

The magical beasts crashed to the ground.

And just like that, they reached their hands toward the city that had been living in peace.

It was in that moment.

Ppyoppyoppyoppyoppyoppyopyong—!

Something—a gaudy and childish sound effect—cut through the air.

Kweoeoeong!!!

At the sound of a monster cry straight out of a children’s cartoon, the people abruptly stopped.

They began to realize something was off and turned around.

And there, they saw it.

Ttak.

Ttak.

The steady, peaceful sound of dress shoes.

Followed by…

Ppok!

Ppok!

The footsteps of something adorable yet massive.

At the end of the gazes that followed the sound was a very familiar face.

A tall stature, a gentle impression, dressed in a suit.

Standing guard beside him with blank expressions were a Teddy Bear and a Sea Otter doll.

The man who dragged every issue and topic in the hunter world along with him.

It was Hunter Shin Jung-woo and his summons.

Humans were not creatures highly sensitive to sudden changes in information.

For the citizens, having just been in the middle of a city-collapsing disaster only to face a situation that now resembled a plushie monster brawl, they couldn’t help but stand dumbfounded with stupid expressions on their faces.

Right then, the magical beasts, now looking like dinosaur plushies, began waddling toward them.

Seeing this, Jung-woo spoke into his transceiver.

“Abnormal Disaster Countermeasure Bureau Hunter Shin Jung-woo, arrived on scene.”

His clear, enunciated voice rang sharply in their ears.

“Gate Shock incident confirmed. Rank A, three Champion entities.”

Why was it,

“I will execute operations on site.”

that those words sounded like a declaration that not a single person would die here today?

“Guys, take care of it.”

Paaaaaaang—!

Kwarrururururung—!

The plushie summons began to run wild.

A sudden massive accident had occurred.

An unannounced surge of magic had caused Gate Shocks to erupt simultaneously in major cities across the country.

A national crisis.

An event that nearly came to pass.

Coincidentally.

[Breaking news! Hunter Ha Kwon-seung, guild master of Cheonhwa, is responding to the Busan Gate Shock…!]

[This is the scene of the Gwangju Gate Shock! Black Moon owner Hunter Park Tae-woon is simultaneously subjugating the magical beasts…]

[This is the scene of the Daegu Gate Shock! Athens Chairperson Hunter Jin Hae-seo has just shattered the Champion’s head!]

[The Hunter guilds dispatched for emergency response are suppressing the Gate Shock situations! At the Wonju Gate, Marang’s Hunter Baek Geun-ho has called in the guild’s core combat forces to protect the citizens’ homes… Ah! Excuse me! The microphone…!]

[Citizens! Please watch! I, Marang’s Baek Geun-ho, am going to show you something right nooooow!!!]

[Hey, wait! Give me back the microphone!!!]

South Korea’s core combat forces, who should have been gathered in Seoul, had appeared all across the nation.

As if they had been told by someone that this kind of incident would happen.