After the War
A few days later. Jinwoo was sitting on the couch at home, reading the news and sighing to himself.
(Humanity's greatest hunter? Is this the nickname I have to go by from now on? Well, everyone in the world probably knows me already, so I guess that makes no difference.)
Then Jinah, having just woken up, walked into the living room. When he came back home after ending the monster invasion the other day, Jinwoo explained to the two how his father protected him and died and took out his father's two daggers that was given to him to show them. Park Myunghe, Jinwoo's mother, hugged him in silence, while Jinah cried a lot that night.
"Good morning, Bro. I heard that you have to go to the Hunters Association for some speech."
"Morning, Jinah. There are some things the Hunters Association wants to ask me regarding the monster invasion."
"Didn't you contribute the most to the battle though? Are they asking you to do more?"
"Believe me, I do not want to go either. However, even with the massive scale battle yesterday, people are worried that it might not be over yet. All I need to do is confirm a couple of things with them. You need not worry, there are no more monsters or gates to be concerned about."
"Okay. Have a safe trip."
"See you later. I will be back for lunch, Mom."
"Alright, Dear. See you soon."
The Hunters' Association. Jinwoo headed straight for the chairman's office to discuss the morning press, where officials gathered from all around the world had come. Woo Jinchul greeted him with a warm welcome, and they went over some details and questions, and soon the broadcast started.
"This is a press conference and global live broadcast by the Korean Hunters Association. We have discussed and received permission from the Hunter Associations from all other countries to relay information regarding the events of the recent monster invasion to the entire world."
The first report is that the top hunters of the world being murdered and the emergence of the seven colossal gates with armies of monsters that poured out of them is likely related. The second is a series of reports from hunters that the monsters they fought yesterday were all stronger than the ones from the gates and seemed more intelligent and organized. The final report is that the monster who annihilated the top-ranking hunters of Canada, even their best hunter Jay Mills as well as everyone else at the scene with a single dragon breath and spoke in the human language was most probably the one leading the monsters.
"There is still a lot of information that we do not know regarding this event, and so we invited an honoured guest who has the most information about them. Sung Jinwoo, our hero."
Sung Jinwoo entered the conference room and stood at the podium in front of the foreign officials.
The viewers hyped up.
"Mr Sung, can you tell us what you know?"
"For the first matter, yes. The ones that murdered the top-ranking hunters are part of the same group leading the monsters in the invasion. In fact, the ice elf with the trident that I battled in Korea was the one that killed Chairman Go Gunhee. I was able to find out that this group was involved since he contacted me in time before he died."
The viewers gasped.
"The ice elf…..."
"They murdered the top-ranking hunters, and then lead the monsters in an invasion…..."
"Could you tell us more about this group of monsters?"
"The fact that they carried out the murders in secrecy by trapping them in pocket dimensions should tell you that they are intelligent beings who can also take human forms. All of them can talk in the human language, actually. As you saw in the three-on-one battle I had against them, one of them is enough to take down a national level hunter simply because they are very powerful. In fact, they are the strongest warriors of their own species. The one with the dragon breath in Canada, as you all can probably guess is a dragon, is the leader of the group."
The viewers trembled in fear.
"So, he is indeed a dragon."
"We only saw that one devastating dragon breath, but can you tell us more about this dragon individual? How strong is he?"
"The dragon race is the strongest race of all the monsters, and he is the strongest of the dragons. The monsters all call him the Dragon King."
"I see. A giant is an S-rank boss in an A-rank gate full of A-rank monsters, while one dragon like Kamish alone is enough for an S-rank gate. I can understand how the race determines how strong they are."
"A group of the strongest monsters who are also intelligent, as well as the Dragon King, frightening indeed. And what happens to this group now?"
"Rest assured. All of them have been dealt with. Including the Dragon King."
A weapons expert entered the room on cue and accepted a pair of daggers and a fang that Jinwoo passed to him. He began inspecting the daggers.
"Th-this is... Kamish's Wrath!"
"Correct. Thomas Andre gave it as a gift to me."
Just before the conference started, Jinwoo had made a phone call to the american hunter and received permission to reveal information related to the daggers that he had given him.
"Amazing. The mana sensitivity is simply excellent, and the craftsmanship is indeed as extraordinary as the rumours say. This fang, though…..."
"What is it?" the reporter asked.
"This fang is simply more powerful and of much higher quality than Kamish's fang itself!"
"And this should prove the death of the Dragon King. The black spears and sword I created pierced his dragon skin."
And the crowd goes wild.
"That's simply amazing, to say the least, Mr Sung."
"Th-that's...really a relief to hear. Thank you for the reassurance. Another question, what is the identity of the angel-like beings?"
"Well, to put it simply, the monsters and the angels come from the same planet."
The viewers gulped.
"The same planet?"
"Yes, we all know that the monsters are obviously not from this world. They and the angels come from another planet different from ours. However, the monsters' very nature is to destroy, and the angels preferred balance and peace to the world, and so they clashed quite often. The monsters looked for other things to destroy and thus decided to invade earth. And the angels felt partly responsible since the monsters came from their home planet."
The viewers nodded their heads in understanding.
"And they managed to reach earth in time?"
"It was a part of my plan. Just as expected, the battle with the Dragon King tore the space apart and released mana that allowed them to open gates and enter earth's atmosphere."
The viewers clasped their hands together and began worshipping Sung Jinwoo. He brought the angels to this world to save them from the monsters, and said angels bowed down towards him. If that is not a god, then what is?
"Just one last question before the press conference ends, Mr Sung. It is to our observation that among the shadow summons you have, there are some shadow "angels" that resemble those angels that we mentioned just now. If I recall correctly, they were the same ones that came out of the colossal gate in Korea."
"Yes. I made use of the angels' defeated companions to summon shadows and enter earth through the monster's gate undetected as reinforcements, since they are unable to come down just yet."
Jinwoo has already discussed beforehand with the Rulers and it was decided that some facts are to be embellished while some are omitted to avoid confusion and make things more convincing.
"This has been very enlightening."
"Thank you for answering our questions, Mr Sung. The things you said have been exactly what the entire world wants to hear. And once again, thank you for saving us all."
The officials and reporters all bowed towards the hunter.
And the viewers cheered and chanted his name.
Thus, the press conference came to an end. The global announcement of the ending of the Cataclysm was made, and the monster invasion was later dubbed the "The Final Wave of the Cataclysm".
"The end of the Cataclysm as well as the Final Wave of the Cataclysm should be cause for celebration."
"I agree, but this would be the first time we are celebrating the end of a disaster that concerns the world on a global scale. And by global I mean every single country and state. How should we proceed with this?"
"This world only survived because of Sung Jinwoo. Unlike the previous two world wars where humans fight each other, this battle is between monsters and hunters that would have left a devastating impact on us if Hunter Sung had not taken them out, the dragons included."
"I agree. How then do we carry out the celebration? It is not like we are the only ones who want to celebrate with the presence of our esteemed hero."
"Perhaps each country can hold their own choice of celebration, and they can invite Hunter Sung Jinwoo to their respective countries to participate in the celebrations, something like a tour around the world."
"Hmmm. That's a good idea. The start and the end of each country's celebration would be the time of Hunter Sung's stay in the country. This way, we could all celebrate while hosting Sung Jinwoo as our honoured guest."
"It's decided then. As for how to convince Mr Sung..."
A few days later. The Korean Hunters Association received multiple requests from various countries to Hunter Sung Jinwoo. They would be hosting celebrations to commemorate the end of the Cataclysm, and in the form of a vacation, invite Sung Jinwoo to their country as a special guest.
For Jinwoo, these kinds of requests would usually be seen as troublesome. However, it has been a decade since the family travelled overseas, and the world is now safe from monsters, so it could be seen as a good opportunity to do so. The entire trip was also sponsored by the countries themselves. Jinwoo agreed to the request with a few conditions. The first is that the sequence in countries that he would visit would be decided by his family members. The services provided would accommodate the whole family, but they should be treated in a way that makes them feel like it is a normal family overseas trip. Other meetings and appearances Jinwoo must make shouldn't take away too much of their vacation time.
The countries readily agreed and started making preparations. The itinerary set for Sung Jinwoo's family vacation trip was quickly decided.