Chapter 14: Nullifier

“There are too many casualties instead of new hunters emerging.”

Chairman Yu got stressed over the matter between hunters who received Mana Blessing and hunters who died or went missing in the dungeon.

“And another problem too, we have a low rate of the potential hunters that can climb from low rank to high rank.” Chief Yoon added about the overall hunter’s crisis in South Korea right now.

“There is no solution because it requires vast resources to nurture them.

“I’m growing old now, and the world still hasn’t offered a solution for this Portal Gate.

“What if all the Portal Gates all over the world became a Red Gate again?”

Both Chief Lee and Chief Yoon were shocked at Chairman Yu’s absurd words.

“Sir!”

“Chairman, you can’t say such a horrible thing!”

Chairman Yu looked at his subordinate and smiled.

“But what I said is true. We don’t know that much about the Portal Gate. Like why, when, and where they will show up.”

Both of his chiefs lowered their heads. Yes, they know so little about the Portal Gate.

For the whole six years since the Portal Gate appeared, not even the slightest bit of them had the chance to solve the problem or clear all the dungeons.

The only plausible solution was to hunt the dungeons and close the Portal Gate after clearing it.

Want to solve it by carrying some research and science approach?

Hilarious!

From the beginning, Mana was not something that science could touch. Even the research about Mana didn’t have any breakthrough all these years.

At best, they could make the Artifact suit with some Artifact weapon and item. That was it, no more, no less.

The Artifact weapon and item that could get manufactured was only 100 pieces. Then how many hunters were there all over the world that needed them?

113.000++ hunters!

Should they take turns borrowing artifacts among hunters from all over the world, with that 100 pieces of weapon and item?

Noted, it was not 100 weapons and 100 items, but 100 pieces of artifact combined. Also, the quality was far from useable.

They might need 100 years to make a breakthrough.

Who knew, maybe after 100 years. They could make legendary artifact weapons and items. Meanwhile, their place already became a world of dungeons after Red Gate happened with that many long years need it.

Luckily, the creature from the dungeons did drop an item or a weapon. If not, how do they want to gear up all of their hunters to ensure the success of closing the Portal Gate?

This Portal Gate might not have the advanced technology that Earth had. But it had something that humans didn’t know and had, which was Mana.

Mana itself came from the Portal Gate through Magic Crystal and Magic Stone. Not from their science and research.

That was how desperate their situation was for searching for the solution of clearing the dungeons.

“… How tragic the scene you imagined, sir? Making you so pessimistic?”

Chief Lee asked about Chairman Yu’s statement from before.

Chairman Yu answered with a single word. “Catastrophe.”

Chief Yoon and Chief Lee’s faces turned ugly after hearing the word.

That really was like the worst of the worst possibilities that could happen to the world.

Fuuh–

Chairman Yu sighed. “Schedule a meeting with Shadow, Demigod, and Artates guilds headmasters at a later date.

“Chief Lee will handle the matter, and Chief Yoon will be the one that accompanies me.”

“Yes, sir!”

Both Chief Lee and Chief Yoon bowed their heads and left Chairman Yu’s room.

—- —-

Two days had passed in the blink of an eye.

These past two days just went without anything significant happening. After the news about France Apex-rank hunter getting killed.

Except …, Kim Ji-woo’s struggling life, who still didn’t have a job.

Ji-woo got transmigrated in 2017 when he was still a high school student to the Magical world.

Now back in 2023, Ji-woo currently had nothing to use to apply for jobs anywhere else.

The only choice was working as a part-timer at a convenience store with a payment of 7000 Won per hour and only got 56,000 Won after working for 8 hours straight. (7000 won = $6,20)

But Ji-woo couldn’t tolerate working in that kind of boring place where you only wait and stay.

The current Ji-woo was not suitable for working in such an environment. As someone previously involved in the Great War and had a position as one of the Great Generals. He was not familiar with working in a safe place yet.

Ji-woo sighed. “Should I work with a guild and go to that Portal Gate again?

“Last time Eun-bi gave me 100.000 Won just for payment when I’m not doing anything for them.”

Deep in Ji-woo’s heart, he knew the money was not from the Demigod guild. But knowing the nature of Hwang Eun-bi’s personality, that gave him a job after so much trouble for the sake of his mother.

Ji-woo couldn’t reject it and accepted the money.

He calculated it based on the gift Eun-bi gave him that the fee for a porter must be pretty big even though it was only part-time.

‘I mean if I can work at the Portal Gate as a porter again and the payment gets estimated between 500.000 to 1 Million Won. That’s better than working for 8 hours in a convenience store that only earns me 56.000 Won.’

Ji-woo smiled helplessly. “In the Portal Gate, time works differently from here.”

He sat on the ground in an alley, around an area close to the convenience store where he previously worked. He took out a box of black menthol cigarettes and picked up one, then lit it up.

Hsup, Phusshh–

He smoked cigarettes.

“Heh, in the Magical World, I smoke something different. But this one is not bad compared to that.”

Not far from the place where Ji-woo was smoking. There was an older man who walked to where he was and smoked just like him.

“Young man, don’t look sour. You’ll look more like a beggar with it, especially with your long hair.”

Hahaha–

The older man laughed after teasing Ji-woo’s appearance.

“Ah, sir. It’s okay. Wanna sit here?”

Ji-woo moved a bit to the side to give space to the older man to sit and smoke like him too.

“Oh, sir? People here usually call me Ahjussi. You’re not Korean, isn’t it?”

“Pardon? S-sir…, I mean Ahjussi. I’ve been gone for a long time from here. So, I’m still adjusting to the lifestyle.”

The older man smiled and didn’t mind if Ji-woo was calling him Sir or Ahjussi.

“It’s okay. Both are the same. My name is Lee Ik-jun. You can call me mister Lee.”

“Ah, alright, mister Lee. I am Kim Ji-woo.”

“So, what happened that made you make that kind of expression, young man?” Mister Lee asked while smoking.

“Well, I didn’t have a job.”

Hahaha–

Ji-woo laughed after confessing.

But mister Lee didn’t respond to Ji-woo’s laugh and kept a straight face with his cigarettes.

“I have a job here as a porter. You know guild porter, right?”

Ji-woo was surprised that he got an offer as a porter again.

The biggest reason he tried to stay away from guilds and dungeons was not to avoid his family getting in trouble. As long as they did not cross the bottom line, he was cool with it and still could protect his family.

But his soul was the one that hindered him from working with the guild.

In the Magical World, Stormrage had told him before. His soul would make him addicted to fighting.

Like God of War, that wanted to keep battling, and Ji-woo was the same as that. He even liked all sorts of fighting, as long as there was an opponent for him.

That was one of the reasons why Ji-woo got called the cursed soul there. From the moment he fought, everything didn’t have any value anymore for him. It included living being life.

However, Ji-woo was too urgent to earn some money. What his mother collected was not sufficient since the living cost for three people was more expensive.

He gritted his teeth.

“I take the job, mister Lee. You can text me the time and place, and I will surely come.”

“Hoo, quite an ambitious young man, are you. Isn’t it? Let me remind you, a porter job is risky. That’s why it’s easy for the job to be a vacancy.”

“I worked as a porter before, mister Lee.”

Mister Lee stared at Ji-woo with a thoughtful expression.

“That’s good. Then…, I will call you or text you later after telling my leader about you.”

They exchanged phone numbers on the spot, and mister Lee left Ji-woo alone in the alley.

Ji-woo did not worry about being deceived. Since he was poor, who would want to rob him?

Want to kidnap Ji-woo then sell his organs? Ji-woo didn’t worry about that either. With his cursed soul, he could smoothly run away.

“It’s cheating having this cursed soul when I return here.”

Ji-woo’s cursed soul had blocked all kinds of Mana from entering his body as a price to maintain his physique. It also enhanced his strength and agility.

It was like having a body that wouldn’t shrink and rot at old age, but it didn’t mean Ji-woo was Immortal.

He could still get sick from the disease.

Haha–

“Yo, It seems like it’s inevitable in this life to run away from fights or battles. I only hope I can resist the urge to commit carnage.”

If the worst-case scenario happened, Ji-woo just let it go and sweep all the Portal Gates and clear dungeons all over the Korean peninsula.

Ji-woo smiled bitterly and looked at the night sky.

‘Stormrage, wish me luck this time with the cursed soul.’

“Be good to me, The Nullifier.”