Chapter 121
Chapter 121
Internet communities where people gather are always bound to have fights, but there are still peaceful times.
For example, during the early morning hours when office workers and students all have to go to bed.
Everyone kills time chatting nonsense peacefully, when suddenly, a bombshell drops.
Title: Hey guys, I think I found a weird video (related to Jeong Da-on)
Content: Was bored, so I was browsing overseas communities, and I found something worth mentioning. It hasn’t been uploaded to YouTube yet, but anyone wanna watch?
Eh? Jeong Da-on?
What’s the video about? └ A new battle video of Jeong Da-on... but it’s kind of ambiguous.
I thought it was going to be a clickbait, but it actually has content, I’m surprised.
Is this link real? └ Click it. It really leads to an overseas forum, yep.
Battle video? What’s going on suddenly?
Why would there be a battle video of Jeong Da-on? She was stranded in a dungeon and was found in the U.S. a few days ago.
Maybe she did a dungeon raid in the U.S.? Maybe requested by the government? └ Even if it was urgent, sending a Hunter who was just missing and returned to do a raid right away? What kind of crazy schedule is that, lol, she’s not a slave... or is she? └ Lol, Koreans can’t trust the government, huh? └ Look at Yoo Han-ul from when he was a minor... sigh └ Just thinking about Yoo Han-ul makes me tear up.
Maybe it’s a test or something in the U.S.? └ What are you talking about?
└ Rich countries are famous for snatching talented people, lol. It’s just that China has been pulling them in with capital recently, but the U.S. was the pioneer of talent exodus.
But still, she’s in the middle of basic military training, why would they be doing a test in the U.S.? It doesn’t make sense.
Let’s watch the video first and talk about it.
The forum’s down. Are people going to watch?
Wait... hold on.
What did I just see??
???????
What the hell? Guys, what are you doing? I haven’t watched it yet, I’m scared... This isn’t a clickbait ghost video, right? I’m waking my mom up!
Yep, it’s not a horror video. I’ll grab the video, wait a sec.
?
What is this?
Isn’t this a deepfake video?
What’s going on here?
Who’s the foreign woman with Jeong Da-on?
Why is Jeong Da-on fighting in a battle there?
She’s cutting down people, not monsters, lol.
Is she using magic to attack a normal person? What’s going on?;;;;
Right now, American Hunters are talking about this. The person she’s fighting isn’t a civilian, it’s an A-rank Hunter from the U.S. who’s pretty well known. Ever heard of James Chen?
└ Hmm, searching it up, he’s a Hunter affiliated with the Association? Seems pretty famous.
If you're interested in foreign Hunters, you might have heard of him. He’s been sent out to various parts of the world for interviews and lectures.
Yeah, he seems pretty famous. So that’s probably why it’s causing more of a stir overseas.
But why is such a famous Hunter getting destroyed by Jeong Da-on?
└ Nobody knows, that’s why everyone’s sweating cold.
Is this... Korean pride? Looks like the Korean is winning.
Uhh... This doesn’t seem like a national pride video. It’s scary. Jeong Da-on is beating up a person? She’s wrecking them?
└ Say "Jeong Da-on-nim" please. └ Yes, Jeong Da-on-nim.
Wow... Like the graduation video, her personality is really something else... Scary...
Don’t know what to say, since we don’t know the whole situation.
Guys, this isn’t about the battle. Isn’t the rumor true now? └ What rumor? └ The rumor that foreign Hunters are targeting Jeong Da-on. People have been talking about how Jeong Da-on keeps getting into accidents, but James Chen is from the Association... └ Whoa. └ D-d-d-don’t know, but should we delete this? Will it get flagged when it’s morning?
Hey, people in overseas comments are saying it’ll get flagged within 10 minutes when it hits YouTube.
Woah.
So, are foreign countries really targeting our S-rank talent? Is this conspiracy theory really true?
Jeong Da-on special-grade talent certificate issued.
└ That was already issued when the Queen Ant raid video went out.
Damn, so everything that happened until now wasn’t an accident? We should look into this again.
Wait... Jeong Da-on is beating a veteran A-rank like that?? She’s only just awakened a few months ago, isn’t she?
Is this natural talent?
Personal opinion: I don’t know about Jeong Da-on’s character, but her skills are “real.” In a world where survival of the fittest rules, if you’re strong, everything’s forgiven, right? So what if her personality’s a bit rough?
└ Personal opinion 2: With her position, it’s better that her personality is strong than weak. └ Personal opinion 3: Jeong Da-on has been involved in strange incidents a lot, and if this is really someone targeting her, I can understand her bad attitude.
I agree, yeah.
Since it’s early morning, no news yet, but tomorrow, her stock price is going up.Yeah, she’s pretty good looking... Should I start a fan cafe early? I’ll sell enzymes.
└ It probably already exists.
Honestly, I think it’s better to be like Jeong Da-on than pretending to be nice, lol.
Guys, journalists just went live on YouTube. Looks like Jeong Da-on’s returning live stream. She’s arriving at dawn, lol. └ The timing is insane, lol.
It couldn’t have been a more perfect timing.
People, who were already bored, rushed to the live channel to see Jeong Da-on’s face.
Of course, the fresh overseas news about her was also included in the package.
When people think they know something others don’t, their mouths start itching.
Whether it’s true or not, that didn’t matter.
"Look at this."
And, the news quickly reached the journalists and the Hunters who were waiting for Jeong Da-on and the others to return.
"People are talking about some video... Is this real?"
"This is James Chen and Layla Lopez. Didn’t Layla have some issues?"
"Has the video been fact-checked? Where’s it from?"
"It just came out, so how would it have been verified?"
Han Jae-young, who had been watching the scene, shook his head.
In front of the two, the crowd had mysteriously disappeared.
Of course, this was all part of the plan.
First, Jeong Da-on would go out, get photographed by the journalists, and then Han Jae-young would clear them out.
If that didn’t work, Yoo Han-ul would show up later and take the journalists away.
It was a structure where only Yoo Han-ul took the loss, but he was the last person to complain about that, and Han Jae-young had become quite adept at using it to his advantage.
"We’ll slip out in this gap. We didn’t say anything, like promised, right?"
"Right."
Jeong Da-on responded flatly, as usual, but Han Jae-young noticed that her face was slightly pouty.
In fact, Jeong Da-on had wanted to respond to the journalists.
According to the plan, Jeong Da-on, disguised as Han Jae-young, would have a video of her taking down James Chen spreading all over, so it would be effective to say something as a warning.
But Han Jae-young stopped her.
He had no idea what she would say with her personality.
But seeing her silent like this, he felt it was worth stopping her.
Or maybe it was thanks to Lee Pyeong-hwa’s nagging during the flight from New York to Korea.
‘She seems weak against a personality like Lee Pyeong-hwa’s. It’s like treating her like a kid.’
"Still, isn’t it okay to say something...?"
"Right now, just staying calm and not reacting is enough for the media."
This was why they intentionally came out without saying anything, even though they knew the journalists were waiting at the arrivals hall.
It was the perfect opportunity to show that both Han Jae-young and Jeong Da-on were safe after the dimensional incident.
Of course, Lee Pyeong-hwa didn’t need to be caught up in any media frenzy, so he made her exit through a different terminal.
"Since we’ll have to coordinate with the Ministry of National Defense later, there’ll be a formal interview. No need to do it here at the airport. Now, now. You said you’d come with me. Let’s go..."
As Han Jae-young was trying to calm Jeong Da-on and get them out of the airport,
"Hello, Jeong Da-on, Hunter!"
An intern journalist, holding a notepad and standing at a distance, cautiously approached them.
It seemed there was still a journalist who hadn’t run off to Yoo Han-ul yet.
Looking at their young face, it seemed like the intern had hesitated and was now standing alone.
Han Jae-young gave a polite smile, signaling refusal.
"Sorry, but we’re not doing interviews..."
"Oh, it’s not an interview. I’m just an intern who came along."
"So, what’s the matter?"
"I heard you were missing and returned... Are you both okay?"
Han Jae-young was momentarily surprised.
Being part fairy, he was very sensitive to human intent.
After dealing with hardened journalists for so long, it had been a while since someone asked a question out of genuine concern.
Before Han Jae-young could respond, the intern quickly spoke again.
"Oh, you don’t have to answer. I’m just a fan... Here, take this!"
Saying this, the intern handed over two small tangerines.
"Anyway, I’m glad you two came back safely. Sorry for bothering you at dawn. Hunters, always working hard. Thank you!"
The intern bowed deeply and ran toward Yoo Han-ul.
It was as if the intern had come just to offer those words of concern.
Han Jae-young glanced at Jeong Da-on.
There didn’t seem to be anything suspicious about the tangerines.
Jeong Da-on, holding the unexpected gift in her hand, didn’t change her usual expression... but...
"Such a weird person."
"Why are you picking a fight?"
Even though the trash bin was right next to her, she didn’t throw the tangerines away. Now, I think I know what kind of person Jeong Da-on is.
"Oh, there he is."
Thanks to throwing Yoo Han-ul into the journalists’ sight, the two quickly exited toward the parking lot.
"Da-on!"
And when they reached the parking lot, someone called out to Jeong Da-on.
Her expression softened in an instant as she looked at the young man calling her name.
It was unimaginable from her usual demeanor.
The young man, who looked a lot like Jeong Da-on, was waiting anxiously while holding a kitten, waiting for his family.
Han Jae-young pushed Jeong Da-on’s shoulder.
"Go on. We’ll meet at the guild tomorrow."
"Is it okay? Aren’t you going back to your unit?"
"Where would I go back to? The others have already been assigned to their units for a while. You and Lee Pyeong-hwa are the only ones left unassigned... We’ll talk about it tomorrow."
Jeong Da-on had gone through a lot, so she could be allowed to spend a day with her family.
Even if the annoying tasks were delayed a little, they wouldn’t go anywhere.
As Han Jae-young was about to leave, he suddenly had a thought and gave one last piece of advice.
"And when you come to the guild, be careful. You’re no longer just a civilian."
"I know. I’ve been going through enough already."
"No, you still don’t know."
She might not know what it’s like to become famous on this small Korean soil.
Jeong Da-on might still be unaware.
With that last remark, Han Jae-young got into the car.
The last thing he saw as he left was a black cat, a little bigger than a fist, punching a gray puppy.
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