“Where is The Prophet?”
At that single question, the smile on Team Leader Choi’s lips faded.
Not What happened to him? but Where is he?
A man with a keen mind, he immediately grasped the simple but clear distinction. And I already knew what the brief silence meant.
“You still haven’t found him.”
Team Leader Choi watched me with a grave expression, then nodded.
“That’s right.”
“You don’t even know where he is?”
Team Leader Choi didn’t answer. Silence was as good as a yes.
Damn it.
I swallowed the curse and looked up at the night sky.
Just because you’re in the same place doesn’t mean you’re all looking in the same direction.
Just like Team Leader Choi and I were looking at different scenery at that very moment.
System
Quest
Cataclysm
A new era has drawn near, and the final word of this long and fierce story has yet to be written.
Hope. Or despair.
And at this very moment, you are the only one holding the pen.
May good fortune in battle be with you.
Grade: Main Quest
Restriction: Jin Taekyung
Mission: ???
Reward: ???
Failure: ???
I stared at the holographic window covered in question marks and muttered to myself.
The Quest still isn’t complete…
That could only mean one thing.
The being those question marks stood for had never been Michael Silbert.
Why? Why the hell?
I hadn’t seen this coming. I’d been certain that eliminating Michael Silbert was the only way to complete the Quest and stop the coming Cataclysm.
But I’d been wrong. Completely wrong.
The Prophet.
That deranged fanatic who called himself God’s messenger and a prophet—the terrorist I’d taken for a lackey following Michael Silbert’s orders—was the real key to this Main Quest.
Or…
He was where the coming Cataclysm would begin.
Ding.
System
Information for the Main Quest, Cataclysm, has been updated.
The mission has changed in accordance with your realization.
Mission: Eliminate The Prophet within the time limit (Incomplete).
New holographic windows filled my vision. At the same moment, I understood.
The clock on the bomb called Cataclysm, the one that would soon shake the world, was ticking even now.
These days, even “global village” sounded outdated.
More happened across the world in a single day than anyone could keep track of. People had grown used to seeing one shocking story after another on TV and the internet, then promptly forgetting them.
But what had happened a week ago had shaken even them.
Across the world, Hunters had launched armed crackdowns and arrests, sudden as land mines going off. Those caught up in them included high-ranking politicians—even presidents—some of the world’s wealthiest people, and Hunters.
Every one of them was a heavyweight with influence over global politics, business, and security—not merely a particular region or country.
People waiting for the new World Hunter Federation’s inaugural ceremony were thrown into confusion. Soon, confusion gave way to shock.
“The whole truth is in here.”
Choi Minwoo stood before the cameras as interim spokesperson, holding a microchip smaller than a fingernail.
Of all the many cameras installed throughout the National Assembly to capture a moment in history, it was the only one to survive the aftermath of the tremendous battle.
It was also a Pandora’s box, containing a truth no one could bear to face.
The footage ran for just over three hours. But once it was uploaded to a streaming site where the whole world could watch, it plunged the world into a pit of silence.
Choi Minwoo had told the truth. Everything was there.
No edits. No lies.
Only facts, plain and undeniable.
Billions of people were confronted with an unbelievable truth—and, within the Pandora’s box that had suddenly opened, they discovered something still left inside.
Hope.
└ One thing’s for sure. I’d trust them with my family’s lives.
└ Agreed.
└ Real heroes. Real Hunters.
└ Yeah. And Jin’s the greatest hero of them all.
└ Damn it. What kind of idiot talked shit about that young savior?
└ Hate to admit it, but I did until recently. I was an idiot. Call me a fucking moron and I couldn’t argue.
└ You bald piece of shit.
└ Leave the bald part out before I put a bullet in your head.
└ Fine, you fucking moron.
└ God bless you.
└ I’ve decided. I’m naming my unborn child Sibal.1 It’s a great name, taken from Jin Taekyung’s nickname.
└ As a Korean passing by, I’d advise against that.
└ Wait. Am I the only one who knows about that fucking monster? Why isn’t anyone saying anything?
└ If you mean the Stone-King, stop trying to derail the conversation and get lost.
└ Are you insane? He’s a monster.
└ Oh. So?
└ Listen. My cousin was shot and killed by a Black man, but I don’t treat my Black friends like murderers.
└ Michael Silbert killed countless people. The Stone-King fought for them. So which one’s the hero, and which one’s the monster?
└ Shit. Morons like you are going to be the end of the world.
└ Great. You done? Now get lost.
└ Goodbye, idiot.
└ I’m French, and at first I thought there’d been a terrorist attack. I was on social media when a video popped up of the president falling out of a window at the Élysée Palace.
└ Emmanuel? He deserved to die. The bastard was in bed with Michael Silbert.
└ Did you see the video of the Swiss interior minister getting arrested? Magic Johnson was beating him with that big, beautiful staff of his.
└ OMG…
└ Buddy. It’s not what you think. Don’t let your imagination run wild.
└ It was a swift, brilliant operation. The World Hunter Federation organized its forces in just an hour, then rooted out the traitors planted all over the world. They didn’t have time to run or fight back.
└ They kept the operation completely secret until it began, too. If this had been Mexico or Brazil, the information probably would’ve leaked through the gangs.
└ We support you and love you. May God watch over you all.
└ It’s too soon to relax. Nobody’s forgotten about the fanatical terrorist, right?
└ Of course we remember. But the World Hunter Federation will protect us. That lunatic who calls himself The Prophet is keeping his head down and watching what happens.
└ The attacks stopped two weeks ago. The Prophet will die soon, just like bin Laden, and then we’ll finally have real peace.
└ Jin. Please wake up soon. We’re waiting for our hero.
A week was nowhere near enough time for the world to recover from the shock. Even so, humanity was quickly finding its footing again, sustained by faith in the World Hunter Federation and hope that things would get better.
But somewhere beyond their sight, something new was already stirring.
Or perhaps a fire was starting—one that would swallow the world.
“Concentrate every force we can mobilize in the Middle East. Right now.”
Choi Minwoo relayed Jin Taekyung’s words straight to the World Hunter Federation’s leadership. No one questioned them.
This wasn’t a request. It was an order.
The first order from the Alliance Leader they had chosen.
And there had never been any doubt about their answer.
“Yes, boss.”
The World Hunter Federation began to move.
“They’re coming.”
A trembling voice echoed through the cave.
The Prophet silently looked down at the man prostrate at their feet, then spoke.
“What is their estimated strength?”
“Th-that…”
“Answer.”
The man hesitated, then pressed his head to the ground.
“We estimate at least a hundred thousand.”
“…!”
“…!”
A hundred thousand.
The staggering number, far beyond what they had expected, froze the already chilly air in the cave.
Everyone gathered there knew those hundred thousand weren’t ordinary infantry.
The World Hunter Federation.
Hunters were rare, whatever their rank. Only one person in a thousand had the chance to awaken, and even then, they had to undergo specific training before they could be recognized as a Hunter.
But their enemy was the World Hunter Federation.
True to its name, every Hunter in the world belonged to that vast organization. From humanity’s billions, millions had beaten the 0.1 percent odds and been chosen by God. Now they were bearing down on the desert.
No—the whole world was coming.
“The entire desert is under surveillance.”
“We’ve lost contact with our informants planted in the Pentagon.”
“The residents of nearby villages and small towns are being evacuated.”
“We have reports that the United States has moved an aircraft carrier…”
Their growing fear spilled into their voices. For a long while, they poured out everything they had learned. The situation was already hurtling toward the worst possible outcome.
A week ago, Michael Silbert’s unexpected death had marked the beginning of their downfall.
The newly formed World Hunter Federation had moved boldly, without hesitation. It had begun by bathing its inaugural ceremony in blood, then set about gathering up the seeds Michael Silbert had sown. By revealing the whole truth without hiding or embellishing a thing, it had won support across the world.
Pure goodwill.
Nothing could stop the hammer the World Hunter Federation had brought down. A nation’s president, the head of a corporation powerful enough to sway the world’s stock markets—they had all fallen, bleeding.
Half a century ago, after Osama bin Laden’s terrorist attack, Pakistan and other Middle Eastern countries had refused to let the United States cross their airspace. Even they would not dare oppose this operation.
They could hardly do something as insane as make enemies of the World Hunter Federation and the entire world. If they did, they would be met with artillery fire and a great many Hunters.
But unlike those who could choose to compromise, the people gathered in this cave had no choice at all.
“Prophet!”
“Please, please show us the way we must go!”
Desperate cries rang out from all sides.
Armed with fanaticism, they all knelt and prostrated themselves before one person alone.
They feared the enemy closing in. But they also held fast to their faith in the path they had walked: offering their lives to God, following the prophet He had sent, and witnessing the astounding miracles the Prophet had shown them.
“Teach these lost servants!”
“Defeat these infidels and proclaim God’s will to the whole world!”
Fwoosh. Fwoosh.
The torches lighting the cave flickered in the wind. From beneath the Prophet’s deeply drawn hood came a voice whose age and gender no one could place.
“As you wish, I shall carry out God’s will and punish them. Inshallah.2”
“O-oh…!”
“God is great!”
The anxiety that had threatened to burst gave way to cheers. As they cried out about God’s greatness and bowed again and again, the Prophet watched them and thought:
The long wait would soon bear fruit.
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