Jin-Woo waited until Cha Hae-in had fully processed the scene before speaking again. His voice was low, meant only for her ears. "We know you were awake the whole time," he said, his tone matter-of-fact. "You heard everything we discussed."
Cha Hae-in's eyes snapped to his, but she didn't deny it. Her posture remained still, accepting the statement.
"We're both S-rank in everything but official paperwork now," Jin-Woo continued. "We know the sedatives the ants used were calibrated for normal humans. The dose given to the hunters was the same. It wasn't enough, not for hunters. Not for you.
The others didn't wake up because their minds shut down from the excessive trauma. Their bodies were healed, but their spirits were shattered. But you…" He looked at her directly.
"You weren't violated. You were just injured, and that injury was healed. You're an S-rank. Those sedatives were just a suggestion to your system. We knew you were awake the moment your breathing changed.
We aren't idiots, Hunter Cha. We wouldn't have survived this long if we were. Especially him. He had to survive, no matter what, to get back to Esther. That was his only rule. Even if it meant he was called a coward or he had to run away from fights that he knew he would fail."
He let that sink in before continuing. "We discussed all that in front of you for a reason. To let you know where things stand. Samuel showed you care. He's favorable toward you because you tried to protect these women. But that doesn't mean you cannot become a liability to him."
"A liability?" Cha Hae-in asked, her voice quiet but clear.
"To Esther and Jin-Ah's safety," Jin-Woo stated bluntly. "When I said they are his world, I wasn't joking. He is… pathologically protective of Esther. Jin-Ah is included in that protection, but Esther… he acts as if he was born for no other purpose than to keep her safe. It might sound absurd to you.
But Esther is alive and functionally sane only because of him. If he's late without calling her, she becomes restless until she sees him, safe and whole.
Only then does she calm down. After his father died, she began clinging to him more and more not wanting to lose him as well, she's very weak at heart in these matters. He doesn't mind it. He encourages it.
As whenever he pampers her she feels the happiest and smiles the brightest, which makes him very happy. But he does not let anyone, anyone, spite her or make her feel unsafe. The same extends to Jin-Ah."
Jin-Woo's gaze was intense. "I'm telling you all this so you understand the lines that cannot be crossed by hunters association. He doesn't belong to Korea, or the Association. He belongs to them. And only them.
If something, anything, happens to Esther or Jin-Ah—whether by your mistake, or by the Association's pride, or by some politician's stupid order—he will burn the world down. Clean.
He has an army of ants now that killed S-ranks like they were nothing. Ants that violated women and breed them to form more offspring.
He doesn't want to use them, especially after knowing that hardly any s rank hunter in this world has potential to stop these ants. He just wants a peaceful life with his… his world.
I am reminding this to you again and again so you can frame your reports and handle the higher-ups. Make sure Korea's Hunter Association doesn't bite off more than it can chew."
Cha Hae-in listened, her face a mask of concentration. "Why are you telling me this, Hunter Sung? Isn't it just spilling all the beans about him? Is he okay with it?"
"He doesn't care about these things. Again, as for why I'm telling you all this is because I consider Esther my second mother," Jin-Woo said, his voice softening just a fraction.
"She looked after me and Jin-Ah when our own mother fell into her coma, and has never once made us feel like our mother is in vegetative state. And because you are a good hunter.
Samuel told me you agreed to help him to save these women, even against your orders. You were willing to die for them to save them, Samuel liked it.
That matters. To him, and to me. So don't be on guard against us. We are on humanity's side, as long as humanity doesn't wrong us first. You'll have time to know him better after this. You'll see for yourself."
As this quiet, serious conversation unfolded, the focus of their discussion was in clear view. I was still surrounded by the women. The initial terror had subsided, but a heavy, grief-stricken anxiety remained. They watched every shadow, flinched at distant bird calls.
I was working gently against that tide. I wasn't forcing cheer. I was creating small moments of normalcy. I had helped Mrs. Kim sit up more comfortably and was now showing her how to tie the silk wrap into a more secure knot, my hands guiding hers slowly.
"See? Like this. Now it won't slip. You have control over it," I was saying, my voice encouraging. A tiny, fragile smile touched Mrs. Kim's lips as she managed the knot herself.
Nearby, I had gathered a few of the younger women. I was telling them a story, something simple about a stubborn dog I and Esther once tried to feed. It was a silly, mundane tale. But I told it with warmth, my hands gently patting the back of the girl leaning on me.
As I reached the punchline—the dog stealing my sandwich instead—a wet, hiccuping laugh escaped one of the girls. It was a shocking sound in the gloom, but I just grinned, wiping a tear from her cheek with his thumb. "There we go," he murmured. "Laughter is still in there. It's okay to let it out."
I moved constantly, like a steady presence. A hand on a trembling shoulder here, fixing someone's hair there, using the edge of my torn shirt to wipe a face clean of grimy tears.
I didn't promise them they would forget. I was just reminding them that they were still alive, still capable of a knot, a smile, a breath that wasn't a sob.
Cha Hae-in watched this as Jin-Woo spoke to her about something I had done in the past. She saw the patience, the immense focus I poured into each small interaction. Jin-Woo's words painted a picture of a dangerously devoted protector. Her own eyes showed her the gentle, relentless caregiver.
The two images were merging, creating a whole that was both formidable and deeply compelling. Her interest, professional at first, was now tinted with a personal curiosity. Who was this man, who contained such extreme contrasts? And who was Esther, the woman who inspired such absolute devotion?
She looked back at Jin-Woo and gave a slow, definitive nod. "I understand," she said. Her voice held no fear, only a strategist's resolve. "The report will be precise. The priority is the survivors' care and recovery. I will ensure the Association understands the… operational realities."
She glanced once more at Samuel, who was now quietly singing a few lines of a folk song to a dozing Ji-yeon, his hand rhythmically patting her arm. Cha Hae-in's usually serious expression softened minutely.
The path forward was fraught with danger and difficult explanations, but for the first time, she felt she was looking at an ally, not just a potential threat. And she was deeply interested in meeting the woman named Esther.
Soon enough, the first sounds of the distant thrum of helicopters, then the crunch of tires on ruined earth started all could be heard. The backup teams arrived not long after dusk, a convergence of vehicles and anxious faces from Korea, Japan, China, America, and Europe.
Medics rushed forward, but they stopped short at the sight that greeted them: rows of women wrapped in strange silk, most clinging to a single, battered young man, while the few conscious hunters stood in a grim, silent cluster.
Cha Hae-in immediately stepped forward, intercepting the Korean commander. Her report was a model of crisp, clinical efficiency. She relayed the agreed-upon story—the retreat, the scavenged prototypes, the ultrasonic array, her own crucial data burst. She presented it not as a tale, but as an after-action report.
The Korean commander, a stern-looking man, listened, his eyes occasionally flicking to Samuel and the women. He asked sharp questions; Cha Hae-in had sharper, pre-prepared answers. The debrief was over in minutes, the official Korean line set.
It was the other national teams that caused the trouble. Their commanders, high-ranking A and S-ranks used to deference, saw their surviving female hunters in states of shock and a crowd of civilians clinging to an unknown man. They wanted answers, and they wanted them now.
A tall American S-rank with a buzz cut strode forward, his eyes bypassing Samuel entirely, looking at the women. "We need to debrief the survivors. Immediately. We'll take it from here," he announced, his voice leaving no room for argument. A European commander nodded in agreement, moving to approach Anna and Sophia.
I didn't stand up. I simply spoke, my voice calm but carrying across the clearing. "No."
Everyone froze. The American commander, named Hayes, finally looked at me, his expression one of annoyed disbelief. "Excuse me? And who are you?"
"Samuel. The one who stopped the ants," I said, keeping one hand resting reassuringly on Mrs. Kim's shoulder as she was visibly tensed.
Hayes scoffed. "An E-rank, according to the manifest. You don't get a say. This is an international incident. Step aside."
The other commanders murmured agreement, their impatience growing. A Japanese officer added, "These women are our responsibility. We must ascertain what happened."
I looked at each of them slowly. "Your responsibility? Is that what you call it?" My voice remained even, but a cold edge entered it. "I'm not just an E-rank hunter. I'm the person who used my brain while your so-called S-ranks charged in like brainless bulls."
Hayes's face reddened. "You watch your mouth—"
"No, you watch," I cut him off, my gaze sweeping over all the foreign commanders. "Your contingency plan was apparently to become a contingency meal. Your elite teams are gone. Eaten.
They weren't defeated in battle; they were processed as nourishment for the very things they were sent to kill. They were just different flavoured potato chips for the ants to snack on."
The words were brutally graphic, and they landed with the force of a physical blow. The commanders flinched. The medics and lower-ranked hunters behind them looked horrified.
I continued, my focus now on the European and Chinese teams whose female hunters were among the survivors. "If I hadn't been here, using something other than brute force, aka my mind, your women would be next.
Not just dead. Impregnated. Used as living nests for the next generation, used to destroy your countries. That was the ants' plan. Your 'strength' almost delivered them to it."
Finally, I looked at the Korean commander, who was watching silently. "And without me, that swarm would have finished here and moved to the mainland. Your gates, your cities. You would have been overrun, and you would have been able to do nothing about it except die louder."
The clearing was utterly silent except for the wind. The arrogance had drained from the foreign commanders' faces, replaced by pallid shock and dawning humiliation.
Hayes found his voice, though it was weaker now. "You can't speak to us like that. We have influence. You'll be sanctioned. Stripped of your license."
I actually smiled, a small, cold thing. "Threaten me again," I said softly, "And the next conversation won't be with you. It will be with every news outlet in the world.
The headline writes itself: 'While S-Ranks Became Ant Food, Lone E-Rank Saves the Day.' Imagine the discussion. The hearings. The public wondering what they pay their taxes for. Not to forget the fact that the ants have simply escaped not destroyed. Would you like that? Or would you prefer to handle this… quietly?"
The threat hung in the air, more potent than any show of mana. It was the threat of disgrace, of institutional collapse. They were bullies used to power, and I had just revealed their power was a paper tiger of public perception.
The Japanese officer was the first to break. He swallowed hard, then gave a stiff, shallow bow in my direction. "Thank you for your actions," he said, the words clearly tasting bitter.
One by one, the others followed. The European commander mumbled a thanks. Finally, Hayes, his jaw clenched so tight it looked painful, gave a single, sharp nod. "Your… assistance is noted."
It wasn't gracious. It wasn't friendly. But it was submission. They would not be pushing the survivors anymore. Not today.
I simply nodded back, then turned my attention away from them, as if they were no longer relevant. I resumed gently adjusting the silk wrap around a young woman, my focus entirely on the people in my care.
The international teams stood there for a moment, humiliated and dismissed, before finally dispersing to set up their own perimeter, their authority thoroughly neutered.
Cha Hae-in watched the entire exchange from beside the Korean commander. A look of grim satisfaction passed over her features before she schooled it back to neutrality.
Jin-Woo, standing off to the side, simply crossed his arms, a faint smirk on his face. The message was clear: the balance of power had shifted, and the man in the center of those broken women was now the one who set the rules.
If my story made you smile even once, that's a win for me. That's what I want to live for—brightening dull days and reminding people that joy still exists. My dream is to keep getting better, to someday reach legendary level of storytelling.
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