Chapter Title: Supreme Lee Clan
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Supreme Lee Clan
In the end, I chose Branch Chief Im Eonnyeon as my backer.
To be honest, it was an offer that couldn't possibly be anything but a huge win for me.
Suddenly, I had the top figure in Korea's hunter world watching my back. It felt way more reassuring than commanding a heavenly army of a million soldiers.
'The top hunter in an advanced nation has to be at least S-rank. A heavenly host like that wouldn't stand a chance.'
With all business concluded...
I slipped out of the Hunter Association through the back route the branch chief had quietly tipped me off about.
Then, making sure not to draw attention, I released my armament and finally headed home after a full ten days.
"I thought it was evening, but it's morning, huh..."
Well, the Hunter Association building was designed without windows from the ground up for security reasons.
It was about lunchtime anyway, so today I'd just order in and eat at home.
I followed the familiar path to the villa...
And there it was right now.
Weeeeeeng...
"...?"
Plastered with a "Restricted Access" sticker.
"This is a missing persons incident! Stay back!"
"The area is dangerous! Please go around!"
Surrounded by police cars, the scene resembled utter pandemonium.
"What the hell is this...?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Hunter clans.
These were the most prestigious lineages in the hunter world, officially recognized by the Association only when a family had produced A-rank or higher hunters for over 300 years straight.
Dungeons had emerged alongside human history.
And within those dungeons lurked creatures considered humanity's natural predators.
Hunters, who protected mankind from monsters dreaming of conquering the surface, were always seen as heroes, no matter the country or era.
They topped the list of the world's most glamorous professions, and hunter clans within that society wielded influence so immense that even politics and entertainment paid close attention.
Currently, Korea boasted four such hunter clans.
The Kaesong Wang Clan.
The Jeonju Choi Clan.
The Andong Kwon Clan.
And the Supreme Lee Clan.
Among them, the Supreme Lee Clan traced its roots back to the Balhae Kingdom, boasting over a thousand years as the oldest hunter clan around.
Their influence was so overwhelming that even during the early 20th century, when the Korean Empire fell to colonial rule, the Japanese Empire hesitated to touch the Lee Clan out of deference to the Hunter Association.
Perhaps because of that storied legacy.
The promising heirs born into the Supreme Lee Clan—and all hunter clans, really—underwent especially grueling training from childhood.
Not just social graces and knowledge as upstanding citizens, but practical hunter skills and networks too—all had to be mastered.
And through that relentless childhood regimen, the next clan head naturally emerged.
In that sense, the Lee Clan was currently riding high.
After all, this year alone had produced no fewer than three prime candidates for the next clan head.
"Gathering all the prospective heirs like this, they look like a single masterpiece. A fine sight indeed."
"Your praise humbles us, Clan Head."
In the Lee Clan's vast estate, spanning the size of a soccer field.
Like all Korea's hunter clans, one of the hanok annexes now hosted the 18th Clan Head of the Supreme Lee Clan.
Lee Yul knelt gracefully, receiving her daughters' bows.
Perhaps fitting for Korea's premier hunter clan.
Even in the 21st century, Clan Head Lee Yul wore traditional hanbok that evoked the Korean Peninsula's ancient heritage.
A pure gold hairpin adorned her hair, and the embroidery of red plum blossoms was a masterwork that spoke of artisan soul.
Slowly, her three daughters raised their heads before her.
They might dress freely otherwise.
But when facing their mother, the clan head, tradition demanded hanbok without exception.
"First daughter, Lee Gok. You have arrived."
"Yes, of course, Mother."
The first child Lee Yul called.
Lee Gok.
She was the stunning beauty currently ranked first among the Supreme Lee Clan's heirs.
Black hair just like her mother's.
The only difference was her eyes, a pale blue inherited from her father—but at just 57, she had already breached B-rank territory, a genius through and through.
The clan's top pick for next clan head.
"Second daughter, Lee Miran. You have arrived."
"Of course, Clan Head."
The next child Lee Yul called.
Lee Miran.
She had mastered the clan's rigorous teachings before age ten—something even most kids struggled with—and shone as the second-ranked heir.
But raised on distant European soil, perhaps...
Hanbok felt so awkward that she topped it off with her usual beret.
Her unsettling purple eyes and stunted, childlike frame didn't help her popularity in the clan.
"I heard you've reached C-rank."
"Yes, that's right."
"Impressive at 39. Keep pushing forward without respite."
"Yes, of course."
As mentioned, her talents were undeniable, making her a solid contender for next clan head.
Then.
"Youngest, have you arrived?"
"Yes, of course, Mother."
The last child Lee Yul called.
Lee Seolgi.
Kim Yongchan's childhood friend and the Supreme Lee Clan's baby of the family, she was a latecomer who shouldn't even factor into the heir race.
But from head to toe, her looks perfectly mirrored the current clan head Lee Yul's Balhae royal features.
And moreover...
"Any recent accomplishments to report?"
"Yes... I passed the hunter exam this time and advanced to D-rank."
"Wh-what?!"
"A girl just past 20... already D-rank?!"
Bearing the purest bloodline, she wielded the clan's strongest innate abilities.
Despite starting late, Seolgi's talent was closing the gap on her sisters, more than enough to thrust her into the next clan head contention.
Not that she wanted any of it.
'This isn't the time to be here...'
The clan head everyone yearned to behold.
But Seolgi craved someone else far more than her 'stiff mother' right now.
Her one and only childhood friend, missing for ten straight days now.
Kim Yongchan—the guy she couldn't exactly ask out because of family ties, so she had no choice but to commission him as her personal 'living dildo.'
'Where the hell did that idiot go?'
She'd mobilized her full resources, even getting the police involved, to track his trail.
But no matter how hard she searched, nothing.
"I've called you all here today, as always, to instill a sense of responsibility for your positions as heirs."
Haa...
Mom, I don't need any of that.
Unlike her focused sisters, Seolgi let out a quiet sigh, praying this would end soon.
So she could rush back out hunting for that Yongchan bastard.
The clan head seat held zero appeal anyway.
Fight a late-entry succession war against sisters who'd built their own factions since birth?
That was just begging to die.
More than that, she'd heard clan heads had to bed countless men to produce a worthy heir.
But having awakened to true love, was she some sex-crazed maniac?
No way in hell—even at swordpoint.
'Some other guy's dick inside me instead of Yongchan's? Ugh... I'd clench so hard it'd burst on the spot.'
Not that it'd ever happen, of course.
Still, just imagining that IF scenario made her gag inwardly.
That's when—
Slide—!
"?!"
"How rude!"
The sliding door to the clan head's room flew open without warning.
Her two daughters, eyes closed in deference as they listened intently, whipped around first.
Standing there was a trembling guard, bowing low—clearly aware of his blunder.
"F-forgive me! Clan Head! And Princesses! B-but this is such an urgent matter, I had no choice but to barge in!"
"An urgent matter?"
"Even so! How dare you open the clan head's door without permission! Shall we 'accidentally' tear your family apart before you learn some sense?!"
"F-forgive me! Mercy, please!"
First-ranked Lee Gok looked flustered, while second-ranked Lee Miran barked immediately.
The guard clammed up under their reactions.
But.
"What's going on?"
"...!"
"Seolgi..."
"Spit it out. Bursting into the clan head's room means it's big."
Third-ranked Lee Seolgi cut straight to it, manners be damned.
The shaking guard looked up at the youngest princess who'd given him an opening.
Gathering courage, he spoke.
"Th-there's a massive monster outbreak in Yongsan District right now!"
"Meaning in Yongsan..."
"A 'Black Portal' has appeared?"
"Yes, exactly!"
Black Portal.
Unlike the standard blue portals linking dungeon floors, this was something that shouldn't exist—one per floor's normal paths.
Earth-connected portals were strictly the 1st-floor entrances.
But Black Portals enabled monster surface invasions.
Appearing randomly across dungeon floors without warning, any monster passing through could emerge anywhere on Earth effortlessly.
"What's the floor level of the emerging monsters?"
"We've checked with the Hunter Association—it's connected to the 9th floor!"
"9th floor..."
"Best case, threat level under C-rank... but the problem's the number of portals."
"Confirmed Black Portals so far: over 10."
"T-ten of them?!"
"Sadly, yes..."
Black Portals rarely exceeded four or five.
Yet over ten already, with more possibly undiscovered.
The princesses understood why the Hunter Association had urgently called on the Lee Clan.
And among them,
'Yongsan... that's where Yongchan lives, right?'
Seolgi showed the most anxiety.
Fortunately—or not—thanks to the chaos, Yongchan wasn't home right now.
She tried to reassure herself with that.
Bzzz.
"Hm?"
A vibration from her hanbok pocket.
Seolgi pulled out her phone, and her expression...
[Message: Hey, what the hell did you do to my house? I can't even get in!]
"...Huh?!"
Collapsed in an instant.
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