"So, you are the new SSS-ranked Hunter, huh?" the man said. "You're Chinese, right?"
"Yes, I am," Ning said. "Who might you be?"
The man's face scrunched up a bit at the question before bursting into a small fit of laughter. "Come on, stop joking. You know who I am," he said.
"Oh, you must be someone important then," Ning said and turned toward his cousin. "Who's he?"
"He's Zhu Zentian, an Apostle from a guild called Shadow's Edge. They're one of China's strongest guilds along with Blind Fury and Stull's Children," she quickly said.
"I see," he said and turned to look at the man. "So, how may I help you?"
"Did you really register as a hunter in Korea?" the man asked.
"Yes, I did," Ning said.
"Why?" the man asked.
"What do you mean why?" Ning asked.
"Why would you go to another country to register? Why not register in China?" the man asked.
"Uh, no reason. I just saw an opportunity and took it," Ning said. "You're still not saying what you're here for. Should I assume you have nothing else to say and go back inside?"
The man frowned. "The government sent me to bring you back so you can become a hunter in China. Dress up as soon as you can. You have a plane waiting for you at the airport," he said.
"I see," Ning said. "So, you're here to take me back? Feels weird that they would send someone strong like you as a messenger."
"I'm here to help you get away in case the Korean government is keeping you here through some nefarious methods," the man said. "Are you being kept against your will?"
"Oh no, I'm not. Thank you for asking though," Ning said.
"Alright, then let's leave quickly. I have my guild to look after," the man said.
"Huh? Oh, I'm not leaving," Ning said. "I'm going to continue to stay in Korea."
"What? Why would you want to stay in this country and not return to your own?" the man asked.
"My own? Oh, haha, you seem to not have all the information," Ning said as he brought out his national ID for South Korea. "See this? I'm someone from South Korea now."
The man stared at it with a dumb look on his face as he couldn't read Korean on it, so the man beside him had to explain what it was quickly.
"You… you became a citizen of Korea?" the apostle asked.
"Yes, that's what it says. Sorry, I forgot you couldn't read Korean," Ning said.
"Why would you?" the man asked. He simply couldn't comprehend what Ning had done.
"Because I'm half Korean, and I have family here," Ning said.
"But your name is Chinese," the man said.
"I was Chinese, but then I changed to Korean," Ning said.
The man looked at him with eyes that could not believe what he was saying. "You traitor. You betrayed your own country and joined these damn Koreans," he said with a visible rage on his face.
Hi-Ah's face turned sour when she heard it. She could understand what the man was saying, so hearing her nation being treated as a worse one didn't feel good.
Ning only smiled at the man. "So in this situation where the world could be overrun by monsters any day and you could lose everyone in a matter of hours, you still care about countries and nationalities?" he asked.
"Who said the world can be destroyed that easily?" the man asked. "As long as I and the other apostles are here, we will never lose to any damn monsters. I can promise that on my god, Hrestill's name."
"Well, good for you then. Since it seems like you have nothing else to do, goodbye," Ning said and turned around. He beckoned his cousin to go in, so she started walking in.
Ning also went behind her, but before he could do so, Zhu Zentian's hand landed on his shoulders.
"I came here to take you back. I will do so whether you want to or not. Let's go," he said. Suddenly, the shadow underneath Ning and him expanded until they touched each other.
At the same time, the shadow became a portal through which both he and Ning started falling through.
"Cousin!" Hi-Ah shouted the moment she saw what was happening after turning around, but by that time, both Ning and the man were gone through the shadow.
The two of them immediately reappeared outside of the shadow in the opposite direction, feet first.
Zhu Zentian was used to this technique, so he quickly flipped and landed on his feet.
"Let me take you to—"
"Cousin, are you okay?" Hi-Ah quickly came up to Ning but stopped when she saw his smile.
Ning turned around to look at the man's shocked face.
"What… what happened? Why are we not in China?" he asked. They were back where they had just left.
"If you want to go back to China, then go. But don't expect me to come along with you," Ning said as he walked close to him
Zhu Zentian couldn't help but feel a little scared when he realized that Ning might have done something to him to make it so that his skill didn't work.
"What did you do?" he asked.
Ning placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "I won't be as lenient the next time you try to pull something like this. Leave."
Suddenly, the space twisted around the man as he was teleported away. Ning sent him back to the place they had just come from.
The other man who was standing there quickly bowed and ran away in his car.
"Let's go back inside," Ning said.
Hi-Ah was surprised, but that didn't feel unusual anymore. They went back inside the house, and just as they returned to the kitchen, Jung-Hee came up to his sister.
"Sister, look at this!" he quickly showed the lock screen of his sister's phone. There was a notification on it that had surprised him a little bit too much.
"You've got a message from the White Devil guild."
