The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 167: Chapter 167: The Third Operation

The Apex Guild headquarters was unusually busy.

News of the Dungeon Collapse had already spread throughout the building, and several members were moving between the various departments while discussing the incident. Reports were being compiled, injured Awakeners were being treated, and the guild’s communication team was already working with the government to determine exactly what had happened.

On the highest floor of the headquarters was the Guild Master’s office.

The room was spacious and modern, with a large window overlooking the city and a long desk positioned near the center. Several documents were neatly arranged across the surface, while a large monitor displayed the latest information regarding the collapsed C-Rank Gate.

Kang Ji-hoon sat behind the desk.

He was South Korea’s only officially designated National Awakener and one of the country’s strongest S-Rank Awakeners.

At the moment, however, his attention was focused entirely on the man standing before his desk.

Park Min-jae.

The leader of the Apex Guild party that had responded to the Dungeon Collapse.

He was an A-Rank Awakener, but despite his usual confidence, there was a trace of uncertainty in his expression.

Ji-hoon looked up from the report.

"So you’re saying a woman wearing a black dress fought the C-Rank monsters by herself?"

"Yes, Guild Master."

Min-jae nodded.

"And she also defeated the A-Rank boss."

Ji-hoon’s expression became slightly more serious.

"By herself?"

"Yes."

Min-jae paused.

"She didn’t use a weapon and fight bare handed."

Ji-hoon’s eyebrows rose slightly.

"An A-Rank boss?"

"Yes. I saw it myself."

Min-jae answered without hesitation.

"She fought the Orcs bare-handed. Her movements were extremely fast, and she was using what appeared to be some kind of martial arts."

He hesitated.

"Honestly, Guild Master, I’ve never seen A-Rank Awakener move like that."

Ji-hoon leaned back slightly in his chair.

"What about the other Awakeners?"

"They were already struggling when we arrived."

Min-jae continued.

"There were more than twenty Orcs outside the Gate, and only seven Awakeners were trying to hold them back. They were clearly losing ground."

"And this woman?"

"She arrived before we could properly intervene."

Min-jae’s expression became complicated.

"By the time our party reached the battlefield, she’d already eliminated most of the Orcs."

Ji-hoon glanced toward the report.

"Do you know where she is now?"

"I’m sorry."

Min-jae shook his head.

"After the battle, I approached her and thanked her for helping us."

"What did she say?"

"She said it was nothing."

Ji-hoon frowned slightly.

"And then?"

"I asked whether she belonged to a guild."

"Did you offer her a position?"

"Yes."

Min-jae gave a small, helpless smile.

"I invited her to join Apex, but she refused immediately."

Ji-hoon stared at him.

"She refused?"

"Yes."

"Did you offer compensation?"

"I did."

"And?"

"She refused that too."

Ji-hoon’s expression became more interested.

"She refused both?"

"Yes."

Min-jae nodded.

"She told me that if we wanted to compensate someone, we should give the money to the Awakeners who had been fighting before we arrived."

Ji-hoon was silent for a moment.

That wasn’t the response he had expected.

"Did she give you her name?"

"No."

"Did you ask?"

"I tried."

Min-jae sighed.

"But she didn’t seem interested in continuing the conversation. She simply left."

Ji-hoon tapped his fingers lightly against the desk.

"Are you sure she’s Korean?"

"There was no doubt."

Min-jae answered immediately.

"Her appearance might have made me question it at first, but the way she spoke was completely natural. Her Korean was fluent, and she didn’t have any noticeable accent."

Ji-hoon nodded slowly.

"Did you sense her mana?"

"Very little."

"Very little?"

"That’s the strange part."

Min-jae’s expression became serious.

"I could tell she was an Awakener, but she wasn’t releasing much mana during the fight. Most of what she used appeared to be physical strength and technique."

Ji-hoon remained silent.

An A-Rank Awakener capable of defeating an A-Rank boss without relying heavily on mana was already unusual.

But an unidentified Korean Awakener appearing during a Dungeon Collapse, defeating the boss, refusing compensation, and disappearing without leaving any information behind was considerably more interesting.

"If she’s really independent and isn’t affiliated with another guild, we need to find her before the others do."

Min-jae nodded.

"That’s what I thought."

"Search for her."

Ji-hoon’s tone became firm.

"Check the records from the Dungeon Collapse. Review every available surveillance camera in the surrounding area and identify where she went after leaving the battlefield."

"Understood."

"Also investigate whether she’s registered with the Awakener Association."

Min-jae nodded.

"If you find anything call me immediately."

Ji-hoon looked directly at him.

"Don’t approach her aggressively. If she’s as strong as you say, we don’t want to turn her into an enemy just because we’re interested in recruiting her."

"Understood, Guild Master."

Min-jae gave a respectful nod.

"I’ll begin immediately."

He turned toward the door.

Min-jae left the office.

The door closed behind him.

Ji-hoon remained seated for several seconds, staring at the report.

An unidentified Awakener.

An A-Rank boss defeated almost effortlessly.

No guild affiliation.

And apparently no desire for recognition.

Interesting.

Before he could think about it any further, the door opened again.

Ji-hoon looked up.

A very tall man walked into the office without waiting for permission.

He was heavily muscular, with cropped black hair, thick eyebrows, and several noticeable scars running across his arms. His appearance was intimidating enough to make most people hesitate before speaking to him.

But his expression was surprisingly relaxed.

He lifted one hand.

"Yo, Ji-hoon. How’ve you been?"

Ji-hoon’s expression immediately became tired.

"Kim Tae-hyun."

The man grinned.

"That’s me."

Ji-hoon leaned back in his chair.

"What business do you have with me?"

Tae-hyun placed both hands behind his head.

"Man, that’s cold."

"Just get straight to the point."

Ji-hoon’s eyes narrowed.

"I know you didn’t come all the way here just to say hello."

Tae-hyun laughed.

"Yeah, fair enough."

His expression gradually became more serious.

"I came because of the call from the Chairman."

Ji-hoon’s expression changed slightly.

"The S-Rank Gate?"

Tae-hyun nodded.

"You got the call too, right?"

"Yesterday."

Ji-hoon folded his hands together.

"So that’s why you’re here."

Tae-hyun pulled out a chair and sat down across from the desk.

"The Chairman wants us to prepare for a third attempt."

Ji-hoon’s expression hardened.

"Already?"

Tae-hyun leaned back.

"And this time, they want assistance from other countries."

Ji-hoon frowned.

"Seriously?"

"That’s what I was told."

Tae-hyun sighed.

"They’re considering requesting support from foreign S-Rank Awakeners and possibly sending international teams into the Gate."

Ji-hoon remained silent.

Tae-hyun crossed his arms.

"Honestly, I don’t know what they’re expecting."

He shook his head.

"Even if all eight of us S-Rank Awakeners in Korea worked together, I don’t think we’d be able to clear that Gate."

Ji-hoon’s eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, that’s because of the monsters."

"Exactly."

Tae-hyun’s expression became grim.

"Every monster we’ve encountered inside that Gate has been at least A-Rank."

He paused.

"And the deeper we go, the stronger they become."

Ji-hoon nodded slowly.

"We haven’t even reached the bottom."

"No."

Tae-hyun leaned forward.

"We’ve barely scratched the surface."

He lowered his voice.

"And that’s the part that bothers me."

Ji-hoon looked at him.

"We still don’t know what the boss is."

Silence.

Tae-hyun continued.

"We’ve spent a year studying that Gate, sent multiple teams inside, and even threw five S-Rank Awakeners at it during the last operation."

His expression hardened.

"And we still don’t know what’s waiting at the bottom."

Ji-hoon looked toward the window.

The city stretched beneath them.

Thousands of people were living their ordinary lives, completely unaware of how close they might be to a disaster.

"How long?"

Tae-hyun’s expression became serious.

"According to the latest estimate?"

He paused.

"A few months."

Ji-hoon slowly turned toward him.

"A few months until the stability threshold."

"Yeah."

Tae-hyun nodded.

"If we can’t clear it before then, the Gate will collapse."

"And Seoul..."

"Will be in serious trouble."

Ji-hoon remained silent.

Tae-hyun continued.

"The evacuation zone would cover several districts, and if the initial containment fails, the number of casualties could reach hundreds of thousands."

Ji-hoon’s expression became colder.

"We can’t let that happen."

"I know."

Tae-hyun sighed.

"But knowing that doesn’t make the Gate any easier."

He stood from the chair.

"Anyway, the Chairman wants each of the major guilds to begin preparing."

Ji-hoon looked at him.

"Did he give us any specific orders?"

"Not yet."

Tae-hyun shrugged.

"For now, we’re supposed to review the previous operation, prepare our available High-Ranking Awakeners, and determine whether we can cooperate with the foreign Awakeners if the government manages to bring them here."

Ji-hoon nodded.

"I’ll have Apex prepare."

Tae-hyun walked toward the door.

"Same here."

He stopped before leaving.

Then he looked back.

"Ji-hoon."

"Hm?"

Tae-hyun’s expression became unusually serious.

"If the third attempt fails..."

Ji-hoon didn’t answer.

Tae-hyun continued.

"South Korea won’t get a fourth chance."

The door closed.

Ji-hoon remained alone in his office.

For several minutes, he said nothing.

His eyes remained fixed on the city outside the window.

A few months.

That was all the time they had.

If the third operation failed, the S-Rank Gate would collapse.

And if the Gate collapsed...

Seoul could become a ruin.

Millions of people could be caught in the disaster.

Ji-hoon slowly clenched his fist.

They had already lost too many Awakeners.

They couldn’t afford another failure.

Yet despite all their preparations, despite having eight S-Rank Awakeners and some of the strongest guilds in the country, there was still no guarantee that they could clear the Gate.

For the first time in a long while, Kang Ji-hoon found himself facing an enemy he couldn’t confidently measure.

The Seoul S-Rank Gate.

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