Chapter 8: After the Mission Ends (1)
While people were carrying out missions in the Otherworld, those left behind in the real world fell into chaos.
'People all over the world have disappeared.'
The scale was far too massive to be seen as a simple missing persons case.
It wasn't one or two people who vanished; tens of thousands of people across the world disappeared simultaneously.
It was only natural that the world would be turned upside down!
Governments of every country were hell-bent on finding the missing, but they couldn't be found anywhere.
All that remained was CCTV footage taken just before they disappeared.
Even though people had witnessed with their own eyes the sight of the missing being sucked into distorted space, they couldn't believe the footage.
They denied reality in the face of a situation that couldn't be explained scientifically.
The internet boiled over with countless conspiracy theories over the mysterious incident, and religious groups presented apocalyptic theories, claiming that God's wrath had to be appeased.
Two hours after the incident.
In just two short hours, the world was swept into a tremendous vortex of chaos.
If the survivors of the Otherworld had revealed themselves to the world even a little later, society might have been exposed to all sorts of crimes.
Anthony Johnson.
He was an ordinary young American man on the list of missing persons.
Appearing covered in blood, Anthony Johnson revealed an unbelievable truth to the world.
"There was a hell on the other side of the world, a side we could not see. The Otherworld. It will plunge us into the abyss."
Having finished speaking, Anthony Johnson said no more.
People demanded the truth from Anthony Johnson and wanted more of the story, but with a face clouded by darkness, he did not reveal what he had experienced in the Otherworld.
The Otherworld.
People could not understand Anthony Johnson's words.
But they no longer pressed him.
Three hours after the incident.
Due to survivors appearing all over the world in miserable states, people were forced to confront the truth of the Otherworld.
* * *
The world changed overnight.
Because of the truth of the Otherworld that the survivors all spoke of in common, the existing order that maintained the world completely collapsed.
Great chaos.
The truth was too cruel.
The fact that the world could end put every nation on high alert.
With sparks falling on their very feet, an international conference was held under America's leadership, and representatives from every country attended without exception.
The meeting continued for days, but no clear conclusion was reached.
Information on the Otherworld was still far too insufficient.
There was much bickering over the imminent invasion of the Otherworld, but there was one thing the representatives of every country agreed upon.
'Survivors of the Otherworld shall be designated as Hunters. Having obtained special abilities, they cannot be considered ordinary people. Hunters shall now be managed by their respective countries. If Hunters are the important cards capable of stopping the Otherworld's invasion, then from now on we must provide them with treatment and management befitting that role.'
Commonly known as the Hunter Management Act.
It was the moment the first Hunter-related law, to be applied uniformly across every nation in the world, was legislated.
Normally, passing a law requires complicated procedures and time, but due to the unprecedented situation, it was processed in an instant.
Tens of thousands of people who had been nothing but ordinary citizens just days ago became special beings overnight, and the state collected all their information.
Those who had become Hunters welcomed the government's response.
The government wasn't simply trying to oppress Hunters.
Instead, it acknowledged them as important beings and promised to treat them according to their abilities in exchange for managing them.
Hunters.
And those who were not Hunters.
There were many who resisted the rapidly changing situation, but this was not something that could be changed just by resisting.
It was a crucial matter upon which the destruction of the world hinged.
Based on the truth of the Otherworld spoken by the survivors, reality changed rapidly.
Had they not said that man is an animal of adaptation?
People soon adapted to the new world.
* * *
"Hyung, did you hear that rumor?"
"Yeah. You're talking about the Hunter Management Act, right?"
"Yes! What's going to happen to us now? According to what people are saying, the government gives different salaries depending on a Hunter's ability......."
There was no sign of worry on Jang Minho's expression as he trailed off.
His twitching lips showed he was quite welcoming of the current situation.
Jackpot!
No matter how prestigious a university student he was, Jang Minho was nothing but a youth in his twenties worrying about finding a job every single day.
For Jang Minho, who hadn't even completed his military service yet, the guaranteed benefits as a Hunter naturally made his heart flutter.
Of course, missions in the Otherworld were directly tied to the end of the world, but he hadn't yet realized the severity of it.
He thought that if they just solved the missions, they could solve the problem.
Go Changhyeok, who was conversing with Jang Minho, was no different.
No, rather, he seemed even more elated than Jang Minho.
"What's going to happen? Our lives are set. Once the Hunter Management Act is fully implemented, we'll finally break free from the lowest class of society!"
Jang Minho could foresee a bright future.
In contrast, Go Changhyeok, who was at the bottom of society, welcomed the change in the world with open arms.
Comrades had died during the process of carrying out missions in the Otherworld, but such facts weren't even in Go Changhyeok's mind.
Their deaths were forgotten in the rosy future.
"I'll work until the end of this month, then I should quit the chicken restaurant."
"Of course. Once we start receiving Hunter salaries, would there be any reason to work part-time at a chicken restaurant anymore? Then we just regularly collect the money the government gives us and enjoy our changed social standing."
Already half a month had passed since the incident.
The world was still chaotic, but everyday life was finding its place.
The world didn't consist only of people changed by the Otherworld.
There were also those it didn't apply to, and they had lives to live as well.
If society merely waited for missions from the Otherworld, it wouldn't function properly.
As stores that had firmly closed their doors in the first few days began to open wide, society gradually returned to its old self.
Honestly speaking, the people at the chicken restaurant, including Go Changhyeok, didn't have to come to work.
But they had a reason to deliberately come to work at the chicken restaurant.
'In case we're suddenly summoned to the Otherworld contrary to what the fairy said. If that happens...... being summoned together with comrades who solved the mission with me would be the way to increase survival odds rather than being alone.'
After the mission ended, certain facts became known as survivors exchanged information.
One of them was that survivors had commonly been summoned to the Otherworld together with people who were in the same place!
The chicken restaurant provided the justification for people to be together.
Of course, with their hearts full of hope, work didn't properly get into their hands.
Since sales had plummeted drastically and work was slow anyway, people deliberately came to work at the chicken restaurant.
They would quit at the end of this month.
People's bodies were at the chicken restaurant, but their minds were already elsewhere.
"But Hyung. Are you planning to join a Clan by any chance?"
"Well. I don't know yet."
"If you aren't planning to join one, how about creating a Clan with me?"
"A Clan?"
Go Changhyeok's eyes widened at Jang Minho's proposal.
A Clan was a survival measure formed recently through communication among Hunters.
People in the same place get summoned together.
Then if capable people formed a group and gathered at the end of each month to carry out missions together.
It wasn't yet a 100% certain fact theoretically, but if it was possible, wouldn't it be a way to drastically increase survival odds?
Hunters were already in an uproar trying to recruit capable Hunters.
To Jang Minho, Go Changhyeok was a very coveted figure.
In the last mission, Go Changhyeok had shown outstanding performance.
Having seen Go Changhyeok dispatch the feral dogs without hesitation, Jang Minho realized he had to secure him.
'Look at this.'
Go Changhyeok let out a smirk.
He knew it too.
That his value had changed because of this mission.
People who had only seen him as a thug were showing excessive kindness after the mission.
They deliberately came to work at the same time as Go Changhyeok, and tried to get promises to be together at the end of each month.
The strong.
In the world of Hunters, Go Changhyeok was no longer at the bottom of society.
"For now, nothing is clearly set yet, so let's solve the mission at the end of this month and think about it then. After that, it wouldn't be bad to pick out capable people and create a Clan."
"Got it."
Go Changhyeok suddenly thought of Akan.
Akan didn't show any changed behavior after the mission.
Watching him come to work every day and diligently labor, Go Changhyeok thought to himself.
'......Not bad.'
Akan.
During the mission, Akan had shown a completely different side.
He was someone who fought the feral dogs alone when everyone else was frozen stiff and unable to react properly.
Because of that, Akan's evaluation changed, but it didn't mean their existing perception of him completely changed.
If they had watched Akan fighting the feral dogs alone, things would have been different, but at the time, they had been too busy fighting the feral dogs themselves to look around.
And because they didn't properly know the situation, they didn't even think that Akan had taken them down alone.
They thought he had received I Minyeong's help, just as they had taken down the dogs through combined attacks with their comrades.
'There's probably no need to go out of my way to take care of him. Taking Akan-hyung, whom we've been ignoring all this time, as a comrade—no, it would be much more profitable to just bring along obedient kids like Jang Minho.'
Leaving aside all conditions, it was right to acknowledge Akan based solely on the fact that he had received the highest merit.
But Go Changhyeok and the others weren't inclined to do so.
While Go Changhyeok and Jang Minho had particularly ignored Akan severely, the others had merely differed in degree—it was the same belittlement.
Their pride wouldn't allow them to acknowledge someone they had considered inferior to themselves.
That was why everyone evaluated Go Changhyeok highly, not Akan.
With all the spotlight on Go Changhyeok, people deliberately turned a blind eye to the fact that Akan had been active in the last mission.
Go Changhyeok was the true ace of the last mission.
The people at the chicken restaurant were desperate to get on Go Changhyeok's good side.
Prejudice.
It still prevented people from facing Akan's true nature.
- To be continued in Chapter 9 -