[...Mr. Author, this is really a problem.]
"I'm sorry."
[Is it that you don't like me as your editor? If so, don't hesitate to tell me—I can switch you to someone else without any hard feelings.]
"No, that's not it."
[Then is it the contract terms with our publishing house that you're unhappy with?]
"Ah, no, absolutely not."
…THUD!
[So why hasn't a single word of your manuscript changed from last time? Of course, you don't have to accept my feedback wholesale, but you said yourself it made sense, and you promised to revise it accordingly. I've been waiting.]
"I did that…"
A deep sigh came through the phone.
[I hate to nag again, but if you're writing a hunter story, Mr. Author, you need to do proper research on hunters and gather accurate data. Your combat scenes and staging show zero understanding of what hunters actually go through.]
…THRUM!
[And above all, killing an A-rank monster with one punch? Come on, does that even make sense? Even if it's fantasy and readers love overpowered protagonists, starting off like this will just get you flamed.]
"…I'm sorry."
THRRUM!
[Are you outside? Near a construction site or something?]
"Yeah, I had something urgent come up, so I'm just stepping out for a bit."
[...Anyway, I'm begging you to fix it. How about a week?]
"O-one week?"
[Is that too tight?]
"No, no. I can do it!"
[Please keep my feedback in mind this time.]
"Yes…"
[I always emphasize this, but nothing's more important than 'realism.' Even if it's fantasy, this is 'modern fantasy!' You have to nail the 'realism.' Got it? 'Realism'!]
"…I'll keep that in mind."
[Alright. Send the manuscript in a week, and I'll review it then. Good luck. Hanging up.]
"Okay. You first. Thank you."
The call ended soon after. The man, who had been hunched over like a guilty schoolboy during the conversation, stretched grandly.
Streeetch!
His face, tilted up toward the sky, looked remarkably youthful.
Letting his arms drop fully, he let out a heavy sigh.
"Haa, got chewed out again."
His expression turned thoroughly dejected.
"Realism, huh. What exactly was missing?"
He scratched his head furiously, unable to wrap his mind around it no matter how he thought about it.
But that lasted only a moment.
"Anyway, with just a week left, I gotta grind starting today. Alright, then…"
Slapping his cheeks to shake off the gloom, he rolled his shoulders like he was warming up and scanned his surroundings.
Countless tall and short buildings sprawled beneath his feet. Only now did he realize he was standing atop some tower.
And then,
Roooar!
Rat-tat-tat!
BOOM! KABOOM!
In the distance, a massive monster was demolishing a huge building and ravaging the city.
Helicopters, tanks, and the full might of the military had been deployed, resisting with everything they had, but it was clear at a glance they were outmatched.
The man drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
"Guess I should take care of business quick."
In that instant.
Crackle!
His eyes flashed.
Snap! Crackle-pop!
His black hair turned platinum blond.
Soon, his eyes began to glow a brilliant blue.
Zzzap!
'Thirty… three of them, huh. Perfect.'
BOOM!
He kicked off with a thunderous roar and soared into the air.
A speed invisible to the naked eye, too fast for even a shadow to keep up.
His body became a streak of light—no, lightning itself. In that moment, the air tore with a rip, and a bolt of thunder hurtled toward the monsters.
Crackle!
The lightning bolt from the sky pierced straight through one monster's body.
Leaving it reduced to a handful of ash without so much as a scream,
the bolt chained to the next monsters,
Crackle!
Sizzle!
The air ripped again as the lightning became a single beam shooting toward the giant monster.
Bang!
Crackle!
The beam grazed the giant monster's body and shot up into the sky.
And then,
Snap, crackle, CRACKLE-POP!!
That light transformed into a massive thunderbolt and slammed back down into the giant monster.
KABOOOM!!!!
The giant monster turned to ash like the others, without even a cry.
Monsters that hadn't flinched under the concentrated fire of dozens of divisions collapsed powerlessly.
No trace of the giant monster remained.
Instant death.
Shhh.
All the monsters' corpses disintegrated at the molecular level and vanished completely.
"I-it's down!"
"What… what just happened?"
"L-lightning flashed… wait, lightning? N-no way!"
"Look! It's the Thunder Emperor! He's here!"
"Oh God! Thank you!"
Waaaaaaah!
Joy spread across the faces of the citizens whose city lay in ruins like after a great catastrophe, and the soldiers who had grown increasingly helpless against the impervious monsters.
And as if on cue, their gazes turned to the lone man hovering in the sky, looking down upon the ground.
WAAAAAAAAH!
Clap clap clap clap clap!
Everyone expressed their heartfelt gratitude and cheers.
This was Copenhagen, Denmark—a place whose fate had seemed sealed just moments ago.
But one man had changed everything.
Everyone here knew who that East Asian man was.
He was far too famous not to.
The man's name was Tae Ihyeon.
In the era of the Great Gates.
A Legendary Hunter—one of only twelve in the entire world—known by the moniker Thunder Emperor, and a celebrity to boot.
Some even rated his existence as more important than the presidents of the world's superpowers.
But no one could have known.
That the man they hailed as a hero had, just moments before, been mercilessly roasted by his editor as a 'pitiful aspiring web novel writer.'
Crackle! Crackle!
"Realism, realism… realism."
No one heard Tae Ihyeon's faint mutter as he stared down at his fist.
"Hmm… what exactly is the problem?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
It was a continuation of peaceful everyday life.
Same yet different, different yet the same.
The world flowed on within the bounds of common sense everyone knew.
Until one day, gates opened, and the world changed.
And hundreds of years passed.
Humanity still hadn't unraveled the mysteries of why gates appeared or the conditions for hunter awakenings.
At least, over those hundreds of years, they had learned to predict certain disasters through experience.
Or more accurately, acquired knowledge through hard lessons.
⚙ Chaos Gate ⚙ A phenomenon where the strongest and worst gate appears on Earth every 100 years. The first one emerged in 'Romania.' With no information on Chaos Gates at the time, it was left unchecked. Soon after, monsters of the highest grades never seen before flooded out. In less than a day, Romania teetered on the brink of annihilation. Thankfully, the world eventually mobilized, closing the gate—but the damage was incalculable. Since then, conquering Chaos Gates became humanity's top priority.
Humanity had no choice but to prepare for Chaos Gates every century.
Just like today.
Pourrrrr!
Rain poured endlessly, as if a hole had opened in the sky.
On any other day, people might have checked the forecast for when or how much it would rain. But today, no one cared about the downpour.
It was as if all of humanity's clocks had stopped.
Why?
[To reiterate, we have no information on the situation inside the gate. All communications cut out the moment the team entered.]
People across the world stopped everything to focus on the anchor's words on TV.
As if nothing mattered more.
The anchor continued with a gravely somber expression.
[How should we interpret this crisis, Doctor?]
[Well, lost comms aren't good news. However…]
The expert guest paused, deep in thought.
He knew better than anyone how much weight his every word carried for the watching world.
Finally, he spoke.
[One thing we can confirm: all twelve who entered are still alive. Their individual life-alert devices are still signaling.]
[But Doctor, if other devices malfunctioned, couldn't these be faulty too?]
They both knew it wasn't a real challenge—just voicing the doubt everyone shared.
And,
[Th-that… we can only pray it's not the case.]
Riley Kim.
A thorough atheist and titan of hunter academia, who never spoke without certainty.
His uncharacteristic response was utterly unlike him.
But who could blame him in this situation?
Humanity's recurring nightmare: the Chaos Gate.
This one's mana reading was the highest ever recorded.
In other words, unprecedented difficulty.
If they failed, humanity was done for.
Please, please, please, please!
God!
All of humanity could do was pray with one mind toward the Chaos Gate.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The twelve Legendary Hunters in the world—humanity called them the 12 Apostles.
79 hours, 17 minutes, and 8 seconds since humanity's strongest entered the Chaos Gate.
...KABOOOM!
The ground quaked,
Whummm!
the air trembled,
WHOOSH!
and a deafening sonic boom erupted massively.
KABOOOM!
Crater after massive crater scarred the ground, proving a battle of unprecedented ferocity had raged—no structure remained intact.
Where was this place?
Grrooooar!
Roooar!
The Monster of Destruction.
Master of the Chaos Gate, harbinger of world's end.
The beast that seemed immortal finally collapsed with a mighty roar.
But the twelve silhouettes facing it stayed on high alert.
How much time passed?
Seeing no sign of movement, their tension finally snapped.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The Monster of Destruction has been annihilated. Earth has successfully conquered the Chaos Gate!
They had conquered the most hellish gate in history.
WAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!
"Oh, oh! God, thank you! Thank you!"
As the system message appeared, people worldwide wept in joy.
They cheered and celebrated.
For those who had saved them.
Humanity had once more escaped the brink of extinction.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"…Huff! Huff! I-is it finally over?"
A blond man spoke, exhaustion etched on his face.
Those beside him began chiming in one by one.
"That damn thing ain't getting up, so yeah."
"Phew… we were really at our limit. Lucky. So lucky…"
"My weapons' barrels all melted… years of blood and sweat, my masterpieces. Haha…"
"It's fine. We can make more."
"Yeah. No one's dead—that's what counts."
"Don't jinx it…"
"Uwaaaah! Why'd I even come here for this hell?!"
A girl in a large conical hat scratched her head furiously, whining loudly. A gray-haired man with fierce eyes chuckled.
"You the only one who suffered? We all nearly died too. Quit acting like the hero… someone might think you soloed it."
"What? You done talking smack? Why's it always me? Should I freeze you alive?"
"Ha? Try it, mana-dry mage. All skin and bones, huh?"
"Ugh, enough already. I'm half-dead as is. Hearing you bicker tires me out more."
The short-haired woman mediated, and they all fell silent.
A brief stillness followed.
"…At least we can rest now, right?"
"What're you on about?"
"No gates like this for the next hundred years."
"Probably."
"Sweet. Even with ten lives, you couldn't do this often. I'm off to Hawaii for months of beach therapy."
"Me too, taking a break."
"I'm gonna rake in cash. PM promised exclusive contracts post-mission. Heh heh heh!"
"Ugh, money grubber. What'll you do with all that? Can't take it to the grave."
"Hey, more money's always better!"
"Sure, sure."
"Heh heh, you young'uns."
An elderly man smiled warmly at their bickering.
"What about you, Mr. Litmanen?"
"Retiring?"
"Heh heh, too early for that. Time to step back from the front lines, though. Bad optics having an old codger charging ahead."
"Phew, had me worried you'd retire."
"Heh heh. Fair point—I'm retirement age."
"Nah, you could go another ten years."
"Don't curse me. Elder abuse."
Hahaha!
Laughter erupted instantly, a cheerful vibe clashing with the scorched surroundings.
As they slumped down, trading good-natured barbs, one boy among the twelve remained silent.
The youngest of the group.
Someone nudged his arm.
"Hey, kid. Why so quiet all of a sudden?"
The boy murmured,
"…I gotta become one."
"Huh? What?"
"I've decided. I'm becoming a web novel writer."
Everyone stopped, staring in confusion.
"What're you…?"
"I-I'm quitting being a hunter!"
Their eyes bulged.
"""""What?!"""""
That day, one of the 12 Apostles—heroes of humanity—vanished without a trace.
Why?
Rumors and speculation swirled, but no facts emerged.
Two years passed since then.
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