"I'll be back, mom," Minho called out, locking the door of the house. He jogged down with a smile still playing across his face. He'd done what he would've never thought he could just a year ago.
The job was done. All he wanted to do now was enjoy the fresh air and think of what other plans he had now. During his little exercise, a dagger came flying from behind a tree, stopping just an inch away from his throat. It was Ah-Ra.
"We would like to speak with you." She said. Raising her head, she saw Minho in front of her, rolling his shoulders. 'Th-that speed...his reaction time is something else. I'm sure I timed that perfectly.' Her blood ran cold. 'Is…is this really The Breaker?' she thought.
"I never knew talking these days came with daggers to the throat." Minho muttered, glancing over his shoulder at her, his expression cold with a frown.
"Forgive my acquaintance, Hunter Lee," A voice came from ahead. "It was her way of confirming if you actually were 'The Breaker'. I am Woo Jinchul. Chief inspector of the Hunters Association's Surveillance team. And that is Yun Ah-Ra, Head of the Hunter Association's Investigative Department."
Minho turned to Woo Jinchul. "So, you're the ones the Hunter Association sent after me again."
Jinchul finally walked up and stopped right in front of Minho. "We don't mean to go into sudden interrogation or start a fight. We just want you to have a simple conversation with the chairman."
"Ha?" Minho raised an eyebrow with a sudden irritation playing over his face. "So you can turn me into an office rock or a so called Guild Master and I get to live the life while other weaker hunters get to do all the jobs and nothing big happens for them?"
'So, it's true that this might be a reawakening. He really was an E-rank after all.' Jinchul thought to himself. "That isn't quite how the system works, Hunter Lee."
"How does it work? High-class hunters misbehave, and the world looks the other way. But when an E-rank is harassed, maltreated, or even used as dungeon bait, it's just 'normal.' They're expendable. They break their backs every day just to make the S-ranks - the ones who do nothing. The ones who get all the praise - smile at their own privileged status."
Jinchul was rendered speechless.
"Tell me how it works then?" Minho added.
Jinchul sighed. "I cannot completely oppose you, Hunter Lee. But I just want you to know that, this is in no way a means of trying to put you under the system."
"We want to get a better understanding of why you're doing all this." Ah-Ra added.
"And what makes you think I won't kill you after doing so?" Minho scoffed.
"Because we trust you won't." Jinchul replied. "Our strengths are rendered useless against an S-rank of your caliber. So, this is more a request than a command or statement."
"You trust I won't?" Minho smirked. "It's because you're lucky I'm in a good mood today. And also lucky the system doesn't want you dead." He glanced at Ah-Ra. "At least not anymore."
"Well…thank you and thanks to the 'system' as well, whatever it is." Jinchul bowed his head slightly. "Do you wish to come with us now?"
Minho removed his phone from his pocket and checked the time. 5:01 pm. It was getting late, but he could just squeeze this in, since he had nothing to do and wasn't patrolling, searching for dungeons. "Sure."
Ah-Ra let out a long breath of relief. One she hadn't realized she was holding all this time.
Jinchul smiled and gestured behind him. Far ahead, a sleek black car was parked. "Shall we?"
They walked up to the car and Jinchul opened the door for Minho. Just as he was about to duck in, the air grew cold, instantly. Far across, a red lightning flashed without thunder, a sudden heat haze warping the area as a crimson vortex swirl and created a massive dungeon gate.
Ah-Ra's eyes widened in horror. "Th-th-that mana density. It's…"
"An S-rank gate." Jinchul's eyes also widened behind his sunglasses.
Minho on the other hand looked at it with a deadpan expression. For some reason, his destructive core pulsed in sync with the dungeon's heartbeat.
[The First Noble Soldier is being born!]
[Claim your General!]
So that was why? Minho exhaled. "Tell the chairman that if he wants to meet me…" He walked away from the car and faced the dungeon. "He'll have to wait, as my presence is needed somewhere else at the moment."
Jinchul's head snapped to Minho. "That's a suicide mission, Hunter Lee. It's an S-rank gate. Unregistered…we need to go back and prepare a raid team—"
Jinchul's words were cut short as Minho took a step, then another, slowly turning into a sprint as he went for the dungeon.
"What is he doing?" Ah-Ra looked in awe and worry. "But…What if we loose him?"
"We won't." Jinchul made a split second decision and went after Minho, his agility skill giving him a boost. Ah-Ra looked so confused but just decided to follow Jinchul.
They both stumbled into the stone floor of the dungeon. With sickening BOOM, the gate sealed shut behind them. Minho stood ahead and looked over his shoulder at them, his eyes glowing a bright crimson in the dimness of the dungeon. He looked at them with mild annoyance. "I said my presence is needed elsewhere. I didn't call for guests." He looked away as that wasn't the problem. It was what was in front of him.
Jinchul and Ah-Ra were left in shock as they saw it. What looked like a humongous egg who's shell looked like a shiny rock.
A thunderousCrack, made them flinch. A burning red crack formed on the egg, followed by another, then another.
Minho looked at it, his expression deadpan. He was waiting quietly as the General was about to be born.