I Was Just Passing By

"What's that now? Haaa...!"

Kim Sanghyun let out a deep sigh as he looked at the ridiculous-looking man.

"Where did you come from? This is a restricted area. We're hunting monsters right now."

Yoo Minsik, the team leader of the Ability Management Division of the Disaster Management Bureau, stepped up to block the man's way.

"Team Leader... huff, huff... I brought the supplies you asked for."

The man said, panting for breath.

Yoo Minsik looked confused.

'Me? When did I ask for something?'

It turned out, the "team leader" the man was talking about was not Yoo Minsik, but Jung Ahyeon.

Jung Ahyeon quickly moved next to Yoo Minsik and said,

"They're a cooperating company. I asked them. I requested the production of a special hunting blanket to prevent pollution."

"What did you say?"

"Hello, hunters. I am Deputy Kang Taehun from 'Galapagos'. This is a blanket made from new materials. If you use this to hunt monsters, I guarantee there will be no pollution."

Kang Taehun took off the silver blanket wrapped around his head and spread it out.

It shimmered like foil, very thin and light.

"A hunting blanket that can maximally utilize the hunting method of that Mount Jiri hero hunter. Our Galapagos made it specially."

Kang Taehun introduced the blanket passionately, but the hunters' reactions were lukewarm.

"You came to do product sales at a time like this?"

"This is ridiculous. Ha ha..."

"Do you even know there are monsters swarming further inside?"

Kim Sanghyun, in particular, glared at Kang Taehun and Jung Ahyeon with a cold expression.

"What are we doing now? Are we supposed to play along with a merchant's antics? Are you saying we should trust that piece of cloth instead of our hunters? Team Leader Yoo, you agreed to let me handle the method of hunting."

He then looked at Yoo Minsik.

Yoo Minsik was in a tight spot.

"Team Leader Jung, do you really think we have time for this? The hunters are about to start hunting, and you're trying to push this on us?"

"This is my job. Preventing pollution is literally my duty. And as for time, they just need to take this with them now."

Jung Ahyeon did not back down.

Yoo Minsik did not like Jung Ahyeon.

Even looking at her appearance—messy hair, horn-rimmed glasses—felt frustrating.

From the very first glance, he had felt she would be difficult to communicate with, and it had proven true.

Yoo Minsik, the team leader of the Ability Management Division, had no thought of going against Kim Sanghyun.

The Ability Management Division was responsible for managing awakened people.

When sudden disasters struck and the new division was hastily created, Yoo Minsik took on the crucial task of managing the powered folks.

'Opportunities like this don't come around just any time.'

He had always lived with the motto to survive long as a civil servant by keeping low, but this time, he started to feel a bit ambitious.

'Awakeners are really important in disaster situations. Before long, I'll wield a lot of influence. If I support them well, everything will go smoothly for me down the line.'

Yoo Minsik was seeing a wide, open road in front of him.

And standing on that road were awakeners—especially Kim Sanghyun.

Kim Sanghyun wasn't just some normal powered person; he was the son of the Minister of the Interior and Safety. It was unthinkable to turn against him.

'I have to hold onto Kim Sanghyun.'

With thoughts like that dominating his mind, Yoo Minsik naturally tried to support Kim Sanghyun.

"Team Leader Jung, please. Let's use that blanket next time. Pollution is important, but hunting the monsters comes first right now."

"They already spread a lot of pollution when they drove the monsters into the terminal. We can't let any more pollution happen."

"Pollution harms slowly, but if monsters burst out again, people could die on the spot. Didn't you see the casualties just now?"

"If the hunters just take this and use it to cover the monsters, that's all there is to it."

The two team leaders were in a standoff.

Unable to bear it anymore, one of the hunters snatched the blanket from Kang Taehun's hand.

"Let's just take it. There's no reason not to."

At that moment, Kim Sanghyun shouted,

"Put that down!"

At his icy command, the hunter put the blanket back.

At that moment, thumping sounds and vibrations came from the express bus terminal building. It seemed like monsters trapped inside were banging against the walls.

"See? Are you going to wait until the building collapses? Is pollution really that scary? Should I just burn down the entire terminal? It'll be nice and clean, then."

Kim Sanghyun spoke sharply.

At the same time, he raised one hand as though ready to use his electrical powers to summon lightning.

"Hunter, please calm down. You can't really burn the entire terminal."

Yoo Minsik tried to soothe Kim Sanghyun.

Yoo Minsik wondered if it was really worth going this far to avoid using the blanket, but he couldn't say that. He was truly at a loss.

While the confrontation continued,

Suddenly, a strong wind blew from somewhere.

Blankets in Kang Taehun's arms started flying in all directions.

"Oh! Oh! The blankets...!"

At that moment, the sound of a dog barking rang out.

Woof woof! Woof woof!

It was a deep, loud sound, spreading far.

Then something happened.

Jung Ahyeon was the first to sense the change.

At first, she didn't quite understand what had just occurred, but she could feel something significant had happened.

She sniffed the air.

"Huh? I don't smell anything?"

Jung Ahyeon, team leader of the pollution management division and a powered person herself, wasn't wearing a gas mask.

"... The pollution is gone, right? Everyone! The pollution is gone!"

Jung Ahyeon shouted in surprise.

Hunters who weren't wearing gas masks first sniffed and then nodded.

"It's true? The pollution's really gone?"

The ones wearing masks hesitated, then started taking their masks off one by one.

"How did this happen?"

"The air really is fresh, isn't it?"

The pollution in the whole area had disappeared. That harsh smell was completely gone.

The flow of the air, like waves, still swirled around them. Silver blankets rode the wind.

'... Did those blankets really remove the pollution?'

Kim Sanghyun was annoyed.

He'd planned to go in, hunt monsters, and boost his reputation, but it seemed like those blankets had stolen his spotlight.

Then, the sound of a dog barking rang out again.

"But what's with all that barking?"

Kim Sanghyun said irritably.

At his words, everyone turned to look where the barking was coming from.

"Seriously, whose dog is that...?"

A dog, shaggy and the size of a bear, was approaching.

Beside it walked three people who looked like civilians.

"Who are those people now?"

Kim Sanghyun muttered, and everyone else held the same question.

Staring at the approaching group, they soon recognized one of the men.

'... That hunter? The Mount Jiri hero?'

It was the very man they'd all seen in the monster hunting video from Mount Jiri.

* * *

As Ian approached the hunters, he increasingly sensed something was wrong.

'What's going on? Why haven't they gone in?'

Several people were having a discussion over there. Ian quietly shifted his energy and sharpened his hearing.

He heard hunters and government officials arguing over the method for the hunt.

'What? They're arguing over something like this. Of course, pollution prevention should come first.'

One hunter was making a particularly strong argument.

He seemed eager to ignore the pollution and go for an all-out hunt.

Ian couldn't understand him.

'Does he have some amazing ability? It's good not to be afraid, but he seems a bit reckless.'

To be honest, Ian didn't care who won the argument.

He'd come with Hao to purify the pollution anyway.

'Don't fight, people. I'll take care of it.'

He even wanted to just walk up and tell them himself.

Of course, he couldn't. He had to keep Hao protected at all costs.

'I'll help secretly.'

Then he noticed the man wearing silver blankets around his head.

'Huh? I know that guy... Oh! He was Ahn Bin's former colleague.'

Ahn Bin's memories flashed.

Galapagos, the outdoor equipment company Ahn Bin had worked for. That colleague had turned up here with the special new-technology hunting blanket.

'Things are turning out interestingly.'

It was almost amusing to meet Kang Taehun here.

Ian's mind spun quickly. It seemed he could turn this situation to his advantage.

"Aren't those hunters fighting among themselves?"

Haeyeon, who was filming a video, said.

"Looks like they need to coordinate something."

Jeongnam tilted his head, but tried to sound positive.

"Why are they talking so much with monsters right in front of them?"

Haeyeon shook her head.

"Huh? Is the terminal shaking a little right now?"

"The terminal? Oh! I think it actually is shaking."

At Haeyeon and Jeongnam's words, Ian quickly checked the terminal, then leaned down and whispered softly to Hao.

"Hao, you can bark as much as you want now."

It seemed the slimes herded inside the terminal were getting agitated.

Along with the purification, it was necessary to calm down the slimes too, at least until he figured out what was happening there.

Hao, who had always been in charge of rounding up slimes and other animals on Praeri, could handle it with ease.

When Ian petted Hao's head,

Woof woof! Woof woof!

Hao let out a tremendous bark. His energy overflowed.

Ian aligned his energy with Hao's. Then he visualized the image of wind.

'Wind, rise in waves!'

He wove the purifying energy imbued in Hao's bark into wind.

Ian subtly waved his raised hand.

From his fingertips, waves of wind began to ripple outward.

Winds of purification and calm.

They whooshed past, sending the silver blankets flying.

The echo of Hao's bark spread wide, and the pollution in the area quickly started to clear.

The whole place brightened, and their sinuses felt refreshed.

The shaking of the terminal subsided.

Ian's experiment—aligning his energy with Hao's—was a complete success.

"The terminal's stopped shaking."

Jeongnam said.

"Oh! But over here, I don't smell anything at all? There's no pollution. Did a hunter use some kind of ability?"

Haeyeon sniffed the air.

"Maybe. There could be someone with purification powers. Awakeners really are amazing."

Jeongnam muttered with a trace of envy.

Ian let them keep their misconception.

Hao neither cared nor stopped barking.

Their group approached where the hunters had gathered.

Was it the wind, or was it because of Hao's barking? Everyone was now looking at them.

"... The Mount Jiri hero?"

"Oh, right! It's that man from the video, isn't it? Hunter, what brings you here?"

"Did you come to hunt monsters?"

People who recognized Ian murmured as if meeting a dreamlike figure.

Ian quietly looked around at the crowd gathering.

The hunter who had led the earlier argument was glaring at Ian with a deep frown.

Far behind him, Kang Taehun nodded at Ian with a smiling face, as if to say he had recognized his old colleague Ahn Bin.

Most of the others looked surprised by this unexpected appearance.

Yoo Minsik did not forget his job. He briskly walked over to Ian to greet him.

"You're Ahn Bin, right? Nice to meet you. I was just about to reach out. I'm..."

Yoo Minsik offered his business card.

"I'm Yoo Minsik, team leader of the Ability Management Division of the Disaster Management Bureau. I assist awakeners like you. Did you come all the way to Seoul today to join the hunt?"

"No, I was just passing by."

Ian replied indifferently. His gaze was fixed on the frowning hunter.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.