The conference room on the top floor of the Korean Hunters Association smelled of ozone and expensive espresso. It was a space designed for diplomacy, but today it felt like a cage holding five tigers.
At the head of the obsidian table sat Chairman Go Gunhee. Despite his age, the presence was like a mountain—immovable and vast. To his right stood Woo Jinchul, his hands clasped behind his back, looking every bit the loyal Chief. Beside Jinchul, Yoo Jinhee sat with her tablet open, her professional poise masking the exhaustion of the sleepless night she'd spent coordinating with the Yoojin Group's logistics teams.
Opposite them sat the titans of the industry: Choi Jong-In of the Hunters Guild; Baek Yoon-Ho of White Tiger, his golden eyes narrowed; and the representatives of the other major guilds.
The silence was heavy. In the world of S-Rank Hunters, silence wasn't just an absence of noise; it was a measurement of pressure.
"I thank you all for coming on such short notice," Go Gunhee began, his voice gravelly but resonant. "The Association does not summon the masters of the Five Guilds for trivialities. We are facing a shift in the nature of our world—one that requires a unified front."
Choi Jong-In adjusted his glasses, his eyes flickering between the Chairman and Jinchul. "Chairman, we respect your leadership. But bringing a Director of the Yoojin Group into a closed-door Association summit... it suggests a shift in policy. Or perhaps, a shift in power?"
Go Gunhee glanced at Jinchul and nodded. "Director Woo has been spearheading the research into the recent atmospheric anomalies. He will present our findings."
Jinchul stepped forward. "Thank you, Chairman." He nodded to Jinhee. She swiped her tablet, and the massive holographic display in the center of the table flickered to life. It showed a map of the Seoul Metropolitan Area, dotted with red markers.
"In the last 180 days i.e 6 months ," Jinchul continued, his voice cutting through the mana-thick air, "the frequency of Gate appearances has increased by fourteen percent. But the 'Saturation Index' is the true threat. Atmospheric mana density in these regions is no longer dissipating after a Gate is cleared. It is pooling."
Baek Yoon-Ho leaned forward, a low growl in his throat. "We've felt it. My lower-rank recruits are complaining of migraines but they will quickly adapt. Is this just a temporary spike, Chairman?"
Go Gunhee looked at Baek solemnly. "It is not a spike, Baek Yoon-Ho. It is a virus."
"Specifically," Jinchul intervened, "it is the beginning of the 'Eternal Slumber.' Within months, the air will become toxic to the un-awakened. It will start with the vulnerable. Eventually, it will take everyone who does not possess the ability to adapt to mana."
The room went ice cold. The Guildmasters were used to fighting monsters they could see. An invisible environmental shift was a nightmare they weren't equipped to handle.
"The Association and Yoojin Group are working together on this." Jinchul said. "We are breaking ground on 'Pure-Zone' residential wards. High-density environments equipped with massive, mana-filtering arrays. They will be the safe havens who haven't adapted."
"A 'Pure-Zone'?" Lim Tae-Gyu of the Fiend Guild asked. "And who pays for this? Who guards it? This sounds like a massive grab for control by the Yoojin Group."
Jinchul turned his gaze toward Lim. For a brief second, the air in the room didn't just feel heavy—it felt sharp. A faint, golden hum seemed to vibrate from Jinchul's shadow. The S-ranks at the table stiffened, their instincts screaming that a predator had just entered the room, even though Jinchul hadn't moved a muscle.
"The Guilds will pay for it," Jinchul said, his voice dropping an octave. "By increasing your mandatory raid quotas by twenty percent. We need the mana crystals for the filtration cores. And you will guard it because your own families will be the first residents."
"Twenty percent?" one representative barked. "That's impossible! Our casualty rates—"
Jinchul slammed his hand onto the obsidian table. He didn't break it, but the sound was like a thunderclap that silenced everyone. "Then recruit more. Or merge. I don't care about your profit margins anymore. The era of the 'Celebrity Hunter' is over. From this moment on, you are the front-line soldiers."
Go Gunhee watched his protégé with a mixture of surprise and pride. He had known Jinchul was growing, but the sheer weight of the young man's presence was now rivaling his own. The Chairman leaned back, letting Jinchul take the lead.
Baek Yoon-Ho stared at Jinchul, his feline eyes widening. This pressure... it's not just mana. It's authority. "You're asking us to provide the fuel for your 'sanctuaries.' But I want a guarantee. If my men die in these dungeons, I want their kin at the top of the list."
"The Guilds will be allocated priority blocks within the first three wards," Jinchul replied, his eyes locked on Baek's. "Your families will be safe. That was always the plan."
Choi Jong-In watched Jinchul closely. "You've changed, Chief Woo. You sound less like a bureaucrat and more like a Hunter."
Jinchul didn't deny it. He simply met Choi's gaze with a calm, terrifying intensity. "I am a man who sees the clock ticking, Guildmaster Choi. While we sit here debating quotas, the atmospheric density is rising. If we don't act, we will be the masters of a world filled with corpses. Is that the legacy you want for the Hunters Guild?"
Chairman Go Gunhee stood up, closing the discussion. "Chief Woo has the full authority of the Association to enforce these quotas. We are at war with an invisible enemy. Cooperation is no longer a choice; it is a mandate for survival."
One by one, the Guildmasters stood. Some out of respect for the Chairman, but most out of a new, lingering fear of the man standing at his side.
As the room cleared, leaving only Gunhee, Jinchul, and Jinhee, the Chairman turned to Jinchul. "You pushed them hard, Jinchul. Perhaps harder than I expected."
Jinchul bowed his head slightly, the intense aura vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. "Forgive my forwardness, Chairman. But we don't have the luxury of patience anymore."
Go Gunhee smiled tiredly, placing a hand on Jinchul's shoulder. "No, you were right. They needed to see the reality. Just... make sure you don't lose your humanity in the pursuit of saving it."
"I have Jinhee and the Chairman to remind me of that," Jinchul said softly.
Jinhee checked her tablet, her face pale but determined. "Construction on the first hospital ward starts at midnight. We're calling it 'Project Dawn'."
"Project Dawn," Go Gunhee repeated, looking out at the hazy skyline. "Let's hope the sun rises before the world falls asleep for good. So Jinchul, we will have to be strong enough to face it. Lets have a spar now"