Alec Osborne had gone missing.

The meeting so many people were interested in was canceled because Alec had suddenly disappeared.

He had last been seen hurriedly running from the hotel.

There were many hypotheses regarding his disappearance, but the most convincing theory was that the person behind his disappearance was an assassin sent by the Demon Cult.

After what happened a month prior, it had been quite public that assassins from the Demon Cult were after Alec.

People were horrified.

Shortly after world ranker Fujimoto Ryoma was revealed to be an evil Demon Cult member, Alec Osborne had died.

That meant they were strong enough to kill or corrupt world rankers.

There was also panic in Korea, a country that had managed to wipe the Demon Cult from its territory.

People began buying emergency food as if a war was happening.

It wasn't that the chaos had paralyzed the economy, but the number of people walking on the streets had gone down significantly.

The fear of the Demon Cult had returned to Korea.

Comment (ObviouslyObviously): Hey, what should I do? I'm too scared to go to work.

Comment (Let me go): I've read that Demon Cult members killed many people in Russia. Is something like that going to happen in our country too?

Comment (I want to go home): And Dragon Sword? What is Dragon Sword Doing?

Comment (): I don't know. They said that they hadn't seen Dragon Sword these past few days. Also, Alec died. What can Dragon Sword do?

People's attention naturally focused on Korea's Dragon Sword.

But most people thought that there was nothing he could do. After all, they'd defeated a world ranker.

The fear of the Demon Cult had started to grow in Korea.

* * *

Whish-! Whish!

A sword covered with blue light was swung while making a chilling sound.

With a hardened expression, Cheon MooJin blocked Kim ShiHoon's sword, who was swinging it violently.

Slam-!

A loud sound exploded out, and the training room they'd built using large sums of money shook.

The practice match kept going on.

"Haaa, Haa!"

Kim ShiHoon breathed heavily.

Cheon MooJin lowered his sword.

"Let's stop here for today."

"I can keep going on."

"With that body...?"

Cheon MooJin laughed in disbelief.

Kim ShiHoon's body was covered in sweat, and he was trembling as if he were about to collapse.

'But'

His eyes were full of motivation.

The blood of a martial artist was boiling inside him.

'Did something happen?'

Kim ShiHoon's attitude changed after Alec Osborne's incident.

He became desperate.

He began training three times more than before.

'Although his martial arts skills are improving at a scary speed thanks to that.'

On top of his talent, he was making a lot of effort, so the rate at which Kim ShiHoon was improving was horrifying.

'I'm worried.'

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What had made him like that?

He'd asked him many times, but Kim ShiHoon never answered.

Cheon MooJin gulped and raised his hand.

"Then, let's take a break for 10 minutes and then start again."

"Haaa, haa. Understood."

Kim ShiHoon collapsed.

Cheon MooJin walked out of the room and saw a familiar young man.

It was KangWoo.

"How is ShiHoon doing?"

"He's spending the whole day training... I don't know if I should call this passion or madness."

"It isn't madness. ShiHoon isn't that weak."

"Hmm. Well, I agree with that, but I can't help but worry. Do you know why Dragon Sword suddenly started acting like that?"

"He hasn't told me yet."

"Hmm. I feel like it's related to Alec Osborne, but since he doesn't talk, there's no way to be sure," Cheon MooJin said, worried.

KangWoo made a light smile.

"Well, craving for more power is in his nature."

"Oh. Speaking of that, I have a proposition to make."

"A proposition?"

KangWoo tilted his head.

Cheon MooJin spoke with a heavy expression on his face.

"I'm thinking about going monster hunting with Dragon Sword."

"I see."

"Simple training has no meaning to Dragon Sword anymore. It's better for him to gain experience while hunting."

It was a valid opinion.

"Then, are you planning to go to Suwon's S-rank gate?"

Cheon MooJin shook his head.

"I'm thinking of Shanghai."

"If it's Shanghai..."

There was an SS-rank gate there just like in Hokkaido.

"Isn't it too early?"

"Don't worry. I'll be supporting him," Cheon MooJin said in a confident voice.

KangWoo fell into his thoughts.

'Sending Kim ShiHoon to China'

It was something that went against what they'd agreed on with Cheon MooJin.

But KangWoo had gotten to know him quite a bit, so he thought that there shouldn't be any problems.

"Okay. If that's what's best for ShiHoon, let's do that."

"Haha, Dragon Sword is going to get scarily strong."

"I know that."

KangWoo smirked. If that wasn't the case, there was no point in all of the effort he'd made.

"Oh, and I wont be taking a communication device."

"Are you planning to do an isolated training regime?"

"Well, something like that."

Cheon MooJin nodded.

KangWoo fell into his thoughts.

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'There shouldn't be any problem, right?'

There wasn't anything Kim ShiHoon had to do at the moment, and that would be the case even if a demon suddenly appeared.

What mattered the most was for him to get stronger, and the way Cheon MooJin had proposed was the most effective one.

'It isn't like that way of training is famous for nothing.'

Gate hunting and isolated training were different, but at the core, they were similar.

Growing was kind of a flow.

Just like even the sound of a breath bothered you if you were studying in a public library, even a slight thing bothering you could make concentration difficult.

'If trouble arises, I can always call him with the Authority of Subordination.'

There probably wouldn't be many problems.

* * *

"Okay, understood."

"Haha. We're going to go tomorrow. Once the isolated training is over, maybe Dragon Sword will follow me more than you."

"Hahaha."

He laughed and walked past Cheon MooJin.

"That won't happen," KangWoo said as he walked toward ShiHoon.

Even if Cheon MooJin was like a teacher to him, there was no way he'd follow Cheon MooJin more than him.

'Because I made sure thatll never happen.'

KangWoo smirked and sat next to Kim ShiHoon.

ShiHoon stood up.

"Ah, KangWoo hyeongnim!"

"Lay down."

"No, break time was almost over anyway."

Kim ShiHoon stood up, but at that moment, he began to stagger.

"Ugh..."

"ShiHoon"

"Ah, I'm okay, hyeongnim."

He quickly waved his hand. KangWoo also stood up and opened his mouth.

"I'm not sure what happened to you that day"

"..."

Kim ShiHoon remained silent.

"And I'm also not sure why you suddenly started to train so desperately."

"That"

He bit his lip and placed his hand on top of his sword. Kim ShiHoon's expression darkened.

KangWoo shook his head and kept talking.

"I'm worried, but I won't stop you. I also won't ask you anymore, but instead..."

He placed his hand on top of Kim ShiHoon's shoulders. Kim ShiHoon's eyes widened.

"Get stronger."

"Hyeongnim..."

There were some tears in his eyes.

It seemed like those words moved Kim ShiHoon. His body trembled a bit, and you could see the blood veins in his hands as he gripped his sword.

"Understood, hyeongnim."

His eyes, full of motivation, looked at KangWoo.

KangWoo turned around.

The tips of his mouth went up.

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'Everything as planned.'

He tried his best to hold his laughter.

* * *

Kim ShiHoon and Cheon MooJin left for Shanghai.

After solving Kim ShiHoon's issue, KangWoo began focusing on the movements of the Demon Cult.

He'd heard that they had become more active in Russia recently.

"I should go personally."

There were lots of incidents happening over there recently, so he had to take a closer look.

KangWoo began gathering information about the regions where incidents related to the Demon Cult had happened in Russia.

"Aah"

He couldn't help but sigh.

KangWoo was looking at a map of Russia given to him by Chae YeonJoo.

"How stupidly big."

Russia's size was incomparable to Korea's.

Although he was looking at a Russian map, he felt he was looking at a world map.

The thought of finding the Demon Cult in such a big country was kind of disheartening.

'Will I be able to find them?'

He wasn't confident.

It might be better to let them act freely.

'But I still have to go.'

He sighed again.

Ring-

At that moment, someone called.

It was Chae YeonJoo.

"What's going on?"

[KangWoo, where are you?]

"I'm at home."

[Turn on the TV,] She said in a serious voice.

It somehow resembled her voice when the Isu Station incident had happened.

"This..."

It was a city that had been destroyed and looked like a post-apocalyptic city.

There was a huge black fissure amidst the ruined buildings.

[Breaking News! A huge number of monsters have appeared in Vladivostok!]

Vladivostok

It was one of the places where an SS-Rank gate was, and just like Sapporo and Shanghai, it was an area that had become abandoned after the Cataclysmic Day.

[W-we still aren't sure about the exact number. They're annihilating the SS-rank monsters that used to live here, and now they've started moving toward Manchuria! Thankfully, there were almost no human casualties, but since it's close to Korea, this issue needs to be...]

He could hear the panicking voice of the news reporter. The camera recorded a group of monsters walking out of the ruins of the destroyed city.

THey looked so ugly that just seeing their appearance made you want to vomit.

"Ha haha."

He began laughing.

The news anchor had said that a huge group of monsters had appeared, but KangWoo knew what it really was.

'It's the Demon Cult.'

The monsters walking out of the city were demonic monsters.

He could also see a few demons among them.

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The tips of his mouth went up, and he clenched his fists.

'Yolo!'