The hunter industry underwent a massive tectonic shift.

As the specifics of this shift materialized, the unexpected shape it took sent shockwaves through the public.

Immediately, debates erupted everywhere about how this would reshape society.

A news desk analysis program was one such example.

[In this recent announcement, Hunter Shin Jung-woo introduced the Association system, declaring independence from politics. While it’s an excellent measure to prevent future terrorism, it’s also a move that carries some inherent risks.]

[Is the issue with the Countermeasure Bureau and Hunter Shin Jung-woo’s side?]

[More specifically, it’s a matter of guild Hunters’ vested interests. Ultimately, the council members with voting rights will be selected from the leaders of major guilds, and these internal conflicts of interest could turn the Association into their own private league. Of course, the Countermeasure Bureau will conduct audits, but it’s not a perfect solution.]

[Ah, I understand. So it’s a change accompanied by risk. In that case, there should be severe pushback, but there hasn’t been any significant reaction from various social groups yet. What do you think the reason is?]

The guest, a retired hunter, answered the question.

[It’s because the Countermeasure Bureau played their cards right.]

[Oh, the Countermeasure Bureau?]

[That’s right. I think I can point to exactly two reasons why this reform plan is successful.]

[Could you elaborate?]

[First, setting council member terms to three years and making all election-related data completely transparent. Fundamentally, this acts as a built-in mechanism to check internal cartels. They have to fight among themselves for seats. When they compete for achievements, a natural system of mutual checks and balances is bound to emerge.]

[But conversely, couldn’t they make Gate management more dangerous just to boost their performance?]

[Exactly!]

The guest beamed and raised his voice.

[That’s where the Countermeasure Bureau’s second success factor comes into play. The North Korean Reclamation!]

[Is there that strong of a connection?]

[There is! Once we reclaim North Korean land, think about the sheer volume of resources there. Third Gates that can be purified and utilized? And the massive influx of magical beast materials into the market? The guilds’ turf wars will shift toward North Korea. It inevitably distances them from civilian life and politics.]

The guest’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

[For the citizens, it’s simply a welcome reform. Even looking at the immediate expected benefits, there’s the drop in market prices for magical beast materials.]

[So the North Korean Reclamation is the key after all.]

[Yes, and the success rate is also highly promising. It’s been designated as the Association’s first official project, and it’s a battle where the leaders of major guilds, including the Three Great Guilds elected as the inaugural council members, are all participating.]

[All of South Korea’s S-Ranks in one place…]

[It’s a task left unfinished fifteen years ago. Since it was the dying wish of the Hero Chun Jun-ho, it’s seen as a declaration of inheriting his legacy, and public expectations are sky-high.]

From there, the conversation drifted to peripheral details.

In broad strokes, it illustrated the current external standing of the newly established Association.

For more visceral reactions, one need only look at the online comments.

[Man, this makes me tear up for no reason. I was super shocked when the corruption scandal exposed the truth about Chun Jun-ho’s expedition to North Korea. Seeing them carry on his will totally hyped me up.]

└ Me too… Sure, there’s probably an element of image management, but they’re genuinely taking on the North Korean Reclamation. That deserves praise.

└ I still can’t believe Jung-woo is only 23 lmaooo. Isn’t this literally the second coming of a hero?

└ I think Mr. Chun Jun-ho can finally rest in peace now…

The reclamation of North Korea was the fervent wish of the nation.

Beyond mere historical significance, the practical benefits of reclaiming the North were immense the moment it was achieved.

The probability of success?

Speculating about it was meaningless.

[Did they even need to take all of it in the first place?]

└ Yeah, yeah. They could just push up from the DMZ to Pyongyang. Even just that would yield insane resource gains.

└ What if it doesn’t work out? With that much manpower invested, they can just retreat to there and manage the areas they’ve already secured.

└ Guilds might be greedy for territory, but the safety margin is way bigger than during Chun Jun-ho’s time.

└ Let’s play it safe, pleaseee. It’s unclaimed land, so there’s zero reason to rush.

Unlike a conventional territorial conquest, this initiative was about sequentially sweeping up and restoring ownerless land.

In other words, there was no need for a radical approach; they could proceed sequentially and over a long period, utilizing only as much of their forces as their capacity allowed.

It was a long-term national plan that transcended mere reform of the hunter system.

The Association’s launch was incredibly smooth, and subsequent events followed suit.

[It has already been fifty days since the terrorism incident!]

Spring was slowly drawing to a close.

Just as Jung-woo had initially planned, the Management Bureau faded into the annals of history within the Korean hunter community.

[We are at the inauguration ceremony in full swing, and yes! They are taking the stage right now!]

[The speech by former Countermeasure Bureau Director and inaugural Association Chairman Jin Ho-jong is just beginning!]

The history of the Korean Hunter Association had begun.

The first words of Chairman Ho-jong, heralding this monumental moment, were as follows:

[First off, I can’t exactly express my gratitude to Hunter Shin Jung-woo, who dragged a man trying to retire and propped him up here.]

[Hahaha!!!]

That opening remark, delivered with a thoroughly displeased expression, was entirely genuine—fitting for a man who had beaten a national assemblyman to a pulp in front of the cameras in another timeline.

It was the time of year when the gradually intensifying sun began to feel unwelcome.

Sitting on the living room sofa, Jung-woo checked his newly issued employee badge over and over again.

[Korean Hunter Association, Gate Disaster Management Department Head Shin Jung-woo]

It was a highly satisfying title.

After all, hadn’t he overturned the entire country just to secure this one position mere moments ago?

There was a minor incident where Ho-jong, having been thrust into the chairman seat at the last minute, tried to appoint Jung-woo as vice chairman under the pretext that he shouldn’t die alone, but Jung-woo safely thwarted this by shredding the paperwork.

With that out of the way, the internal cleanup was finally complete, and the Association had begun functioning in earnest.

It still creaked here and there, but even that would resolve itself once the cooperative system stabilized over time.

‘Is this where it truly begins…?’

The real plan was kicking off.

The major guilds seated as council members of the Association were pouring their efforts into transferring various vested interests previously held by the Management Bureau over to the Association.

Otherwise, they had begun preparations for the North Korean Reclamation operation.

Once the long preparation period spanning the summer concluded, an army of hunters would march north in the fall.

A national undertaking the entire country anticipated.

Simultaneously, it was a stepping stone toward Jung-woo’s ultimate goal.

‘The North Korean Reclamation must proceed. This country lacks sufficient data on Erosion Zones.’

To Jung-woo, the compensation from the reclamation process wasn’t particularly important.

What he needed was the data on Erosion Zones flowing in during the process.

After all, hadn’t Jung-woo’s goal always been the Zero Gates?

‘Ultimately, Zero Gates are also Erosion Zones. To investigate them, I need erosion exploration experience and quantified field data.’

To prevent Se-gi from becoming the host of a Zero Gate, he had to personally lead expeditions to Zero Gates scattered across the globe.

There, he had no choice but to empirically determine the formation principles of Zero Gates and figure out methods for purification and prevention.

Thus, hiding his true motives beneath an outward-facing purpose, Jung-woo pushed this initiative forward.

To gain unrestricted access to all of that investigation data, he secured the directorship of the ‘Gate Disaster Management Department,’ a subordinate organization within the Association.

Consequently, what currently held Jung-woo’s utmost interest was the data regarding gate creation that had been researched within South Korea up to this point.

He wanted to see how much that research had progressed in this era.

To state the conclusion first: as expected, it was exactly what he anticipated.

‘It’s a bit lacking. Well, from my standards, this is ten-year-old information.’

Tok, tok.

He tapped his knee with his index finger, continuing his deliberation.

‘Ten years later, far more advanced research in this field will emerge. Most of the current theories are outdated and lack empirical field validation. If that’s the case…’

Jung-woo possessed a fair amount of knowledge in that area.

How does a mere mid-sized exploration team leader know so much?

If asked, the answer would be: precisely because he was an exploration team leader.

Think about it.

Does it make sense for someone in a position where they must always prepare for uncertainty and variables, ensuring their team’s safe survival inside gates, to lack such foundational knowledge?

Furthermore, to reach such a position with only C-Rank—not even B-Rank—combat power, equivalent to a regular soldier, he needed an exceptional amount of gate-related knowledge.

Thus, before his regression, Jung-woo was so dedicated to this research that he even taught himself the latest published papers.

The result was this.

He possessed enough knowledge to fluently explain the entire flow of gate-related theories, categorized by era.

Of course, spending time on all that while neglecting Se-gi even more remained a source of regret now.

Regardless, the conclusion.

‘I need to accelerate the pace of gate-related research. To the point where it feels like skipping steps.’

He had to overturn the current academic mainstream theories and drag them up to the level Jung-woo knew.

The problem was that the method was incredibly hard to conceive.

‘If I just insist “this is right,” who’s going to listen? To that.’

The gate-related academic circles were different from the hunter world.

Every single researcher was an intellectual who had studied the field for decades.

How could the ivory tower they built not be backed by substantial evidence?

For Jung-woo to ignore that and stubbornly insist he was right would be nothing but an argument backed by brute force.

They needed to be convinced.

And so, their knowledge had to rise to the level Jung-woo stood at, allowing their subsequent research to align with the present.

‘How…’

At that very moment.

“Ttaek! You shouldn’t fight!”

Se-gi’s shout echoed through the living room.

Jung-woo raised his head with a start, and his eyes fell on Teddy Bear and Sea Otter grabbing each other by the collars.

What’s this? Were they bickering again like usual?

He thought, continuing to observe the scene.

Ppok! Ppokppok!

Ppokppokppok! Ppok! Ppok!

Teddy Bear and Sea Otter protested, each claiming to be the wronged party.

It was as if they were saying, “It’s his fault. I didn’t do anything wrong. If you do this, I’ll be so sad. Take my side.”

They each seemed to be saying just that, and Se-gi, with ghost-like intuition, caught onto their vibes and entered judge mode.

“Stop! Speak one at a time!”

Then, Teddy Bear first pointed at a magic stone on the floor, and then pointed at Sea Otter’s hat.

It seemed Sea Otter had secretly stolen a stray magic stone and hidden it inside his hat.

“Hmph…! Stealing is bad, but Sea Otter has ownership rights too! It’s not something to hit over!”

Ppok!

Teddy Bear patted his chest with a ‘ppokppok’ and lifted Sea Otter’s conical hat.

Wareureu, the magic stones hidden inside poured out, and at the sheer volume, Se-gi’s jaw dropped before her eyebrows slanted into a stern ‘八’ shape.

“Sea Otter! What are you doing holding that many?! We agreed to share!!!”

Ppo… ppok!

Sea Otter protested in a fluster.

Pointing at a shell, he conveyed his opinion: “I need a lot of these! You could give me a little more!”

At that, Se-gi’s demeanor softened as if she understood.

“Hmm, you both did something wrong but also did something right, so make up!”

So they had to make up no matter what.

Jung-woo let out a hollow chuckle as he watched the ensuing scene.

Teddy Bear and Sea Otter trembled as they embraced, looking as if they absolutely despised it.

Only then did a radiant bloom of a smile spread across Se-gi’s face.

“Yeah! Fighting is fine too, but you always have to make up at the end!”

It seemed to have resulted in a happy ending after all.

Or so he thought.

“Then let’s play adventure house starting now! Come here!”

Se-gi gripped a crayon in her hand.

Teddy Bear and Sea Otter let out a “Ppobopok!?” in panic, tightly hugging each other and quivering.

They seemed terrified at the prospect of having the scribbles scrubbed off their bodies again.

‘Should I save them today anyway?’

Right, they had a hard time before, so let’s help them out just this once.

Thinking that, Jung-woo stepped in.

“Se-gi. Should we let your friends rest for today?”

And just like that, he fell into the trap.

“Huh? Why?”

“Huh? Well… because you fought and made up, so it’s peace time?”

“Why?”

“…Usually, after a war ends, people rest for a while.”

“Why?”

“Uh…”

Se-gi blinked her eyes innocently as she asked.

It was ‘Why’ hell.

Jung-woo had fallen into that bewildering trap where a curious child, once they latch onto a question, never lets go easily.

“Why? Why do they rest?”

“Th-that is, well…”

Jung-woo’s gaze trembled.

He looked at the dolls, but they had already vanished from their spots.

He hadn’t reverse-summoned them, so they had probably hidden themselves somewhere like a wardrobe.

‘Abandoning the person trying to save you and running away?’

Wasn’t that a severe lack of professional courtesy?

Jung-woo opened his mouth coldly.

“…Se-gi. I think your doll friends want to play hide-and-seek.”

“Huh?”

“Look. They’re gone. They must be hiding somewhere.”

“Haek! I never said I’d be the seeker!”

Se-gi, indignant, gripped the crayon in her hand even tighter.

“Just try to find meee—!”

Dododo, Se-gi ran off to ransack the room.

Aggro management: successful.

Only then did Jung-woo let out a sigh of relief and sank back into the sofa.

Parenting was indeed not easy.

If nothing else, he still had no proper countermeasure for the ‘Why’ bomb.

‘How on earth do other parents get past this…’

The moment he had that thought.

‘…Huh?’

Ppeonjjeok! It felt like lightning had struck his brain.

‘Why? A question?’

Suddenly, the answer to the dilemma regarding research progress he had been pondering just moments ago flashed through his mind.

‘Right? Why? Why didn’t I think of that?’

Jung-woo sprang to his feet.

Wait, did he really need to personally explain the future theories to convince them?

No, he didn’t.

In the first place, Jung-woo wasn’t a scholar who could win them over with rhetoric.

So, simply.

‘Couldn’t I just make them realize it themselves?’

More than half of the current mainstream theories were backed by flimsy evidence.

So, what if he poked holes in those theories, constantly asking, “Why is it like this?”

And subtly provided the necessary data, prompting them to reinforce the theories themselves?

‘That’s it.’

Then there was no need to agonize over this.

Creating a venue for that wasn’t particularly difficult at this point.

Jung-woo immediately picked up his smartphone and contacted Ho-jong.

The call connected in less than three seconds.

[Oh, Jung-woo. What’s up?]

Following that question, the sound of a young man and woman screaming could be heard in the background.

“What are you doing? Are you watching a drama or something?”

[No, I’m watching my daughter and son-in-law fighting.]

“???”

[Why did you call? It’s getting to the good part, so make it quick.]

Was this guy not even thinking about stopping them?

‘No, that’s not what’s important.’

Jung-woo spoke.

“You know the annual academic conference hosted by the Management Bureau? The gate-related one. Didn’t that get transferred to our side?”

[Right? Which department was in charge of that again?]

“Could you toss it over to me? I believe it starts in two weeks.”

[Suddenly?]

“Yes, I need something from it.”

Ho-jong pondered for a moment before speaking.

[There’s nothing difficult about it. It’s quite relevant to your department, too.]

“Thank you. Having the Association Chairman as my direct superior is convenient at times like this.”

[What chairman? Just call me Director. If you’re done, I’m hanging up?]

“Thank you! Have a good night!”

[Yeah, sure.]

Right before the call cut off, a sharp female voice echoed from Ho-jong’s end.

It sounded roughly like, “Dad, you think this is funny?” It seemed Ho-jong had been caught secretly chuckling.

‘Is this what they call being a fool for your daughter?’

Anyway, that was that.

‘Then how should I prepare for this…’

Jung-woo pulled out his laptop and accessed the database.

Since the conference was scheduled for two weeks later, the submitted papers had already undergone review and final acceptance.

Using his access privileges, he scouted for prey one by one.

And just like that, he found it.

‘This is it.’

A topic where the more the question ‘Why’ was asked, the more the presenter would inevitably sink into a quagmire.

If executed well, it was a topic that could overturn all the current flimsy theories and significantly advance the growth of gate theory.

Jung-woo had locked onto his prey.