Chapter 365: Ghost White Tiger 1
It was Sunday morning, and Junhyuk was stretching lightly. He would be back to the monster area for another training session that day.
The interphone rang, and Major Jiro could be heard from the other side.
“The people sent by Guardians are here.”
Junhyuk walked outside. The new recruits gathered by Guardian would be arriving that day. As he stepped out, the security team guarding him followed him.
Walking down to the lobby, he saw someone unexpected.
“We met again.”
Jennifer Rockefeller greeted him politely. She looked full of confidence as she smiled at him. He was not looking at her, but further behind her.
“I did not know they would send two experts.”
He wasn’t interested in Jennifer. He was more interested in Helen and Jeffrey standing behind her. After staring at the two, he turned to Jennifer.
“Are they willing to partic.i.p.ate in the training?”
Jennifer stepped aside and said, “They are willing. However, the US is now providing two experts. Shouldn’t you rearrange the order of priority?”
He looked at Helen, the blonde with the ponytail who was standing behind Jennifer. He did not know about her powers, but along with Major Sean, she would be the second expert from America.
“China’s already sent two experts, and they did so out of good will. Should I prioritize them then?”
Jennifer frowned, and Junhyuk said calmly, “I will make the decisions.”
Jennifer wanted to say something to him, but Helen grabbed her shoulder, and Jennifer sighed and said, “We are looking for more experts, but if there are powerful people who don’t agree with us in charge of them, we can’t just take them.”
He smiled.
“Just find out where they are. I’ll be responsible for bringing them in.”
Even if the experts were able to fly or crawl underneath the earth, they would be no match for Junhyuk.
He added calmly, “I’ll have you two talk to me for a moment.”
Junhyuk took Jeffrey and Helen and headed toward the meeting room, staring at them while in there.
“Tell me about your powers.”
Jeffrey said nonchalantly, “I can tame monsters, and I can summon them.”
Taming and summoning weren’t different powers. They were two stages of one power. However, Jeffrey was aware of Helen there, so he simply stared at her.
“I can use light to ensnare the enemy and I can make light swords to throw at the enemy.”
Helen put her hand forward and a light sword appeared on it.
“I can also wield it, but it only last for five seconds that way, so after I summon it, I usually just throw it.”
“Can the enemy dodge it?”
“I can’t control it after I throw it.”
Junhyuk nodded. She had good powers. The light sword, from what he had seen, was a better power than most. If she could use it at long range, like she said, it might be a high-ranking power.
“What’s the cooldown?”
“Thirty seconds.”
It was a high-ranking power. However, it wasn’t as great as his Spatial Slash. She probably didn’t have a lot of great equipment, but her damage was similar to Junhyuk’s regular attacks.
The woman had nice powers, and since she could hold enemies down, she had to be loved by the heroes on the Dimensional Battlefield.
“OK. Let’s meet with the experts’ team and adjust your powers. There should be five people per team, but we’ll run it with seven for now.”
The two nodded, and Junhyuk looked at Jeffrey.
“Jeffrey, talk to me for a moment.”
Helen nodded and went out, and Junhyuk stared at Jeffrey.
“Why did you come here?”
“Congratulations on becoming a hero!”
He laughed.
“Thanks.”
“So, I have a favor to ask.”
Looking out the window, Junhyuk asked, “You mean an A-ranked monster?”
“Yes.”
Junhyuk looked at Jeffrey and pulled out the Ring of Promise, giving it to Jeffrey.
“You’ve looked into it,” Jeffrey said, laughing.
“Right. You did not tell me everything.”
Jeffrey shrugged and said, “True. There’s a difference between the body and the limb, but to have absolute trust we need these rings.”
“I heard about that, but when I put this ring on, I can’t take it off. If you take the body ring, I can’t form bonds with others, so I can’t give you the body ring.”
After hearing him, Jeffrey shrugged again.
“Whatever. I don’t have any other people in mind. I just want us to wear the rings.”
Junhyuk pulled out the Ring of Promise he had purchased.
“Then, put this on.”
He tossed the ring to Jeffrey, who took it and put it on.
Smiling, Jeffrey asked, “Then, am I getting my A-ranked monster?”
“I’ll help you. Is it OK if it’s half dead?”
“If I can control it, it’ll regenerate when I return it.”
“That’s fine then,” Junhyuk said and continued calmly, “After we are done training and everyone goes back, we’ll advance alone. When you get your A-ranked monsters, you’ll be stronger than ever before.”
“I can only tame one now, but I’ll get stronger so that I can tame more.”
He smiled.
“OK. Do you know anything about the A-ranked monster that just sp.a.w.ned?”
“I checked on it through a satellite feed. It’s called Ghost White Tiger.”
“Ghost White Tiger?”
“You can normally see the Ghost White Tiger, but it must have a hiding power because it disappears from time to time, which is how it got the name ghost.”
Junhyuk sighed.
“You want to catch an A-ranked monster that hides?”
“You can do it.”
Junhyuk thought about Jeffrey. If the Ghost White Tiger had had a teleportation power, it would have been able to dodge Junhyuk. However, the Ghost White Tiger had a hiding power, which meant that it wouldn’t be able to escape from him since Junhyuk could sense fluctuations in s.p.a.ce.
“Fine, but it won’t be easy.”
The two could deal with the Ghost White Tiger by themselves, but if they had a larger group, things could turn bad. After thinking for a while, Junhyuk said, “I thought we would go in after training, but now, I think we should advance first.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. There’s no way the novices will survive an attack from a Ghost White Tiger. Or even the experts for that matter.”
A-ranked monsters could fight heroes. People without equipment or with shoddy equipment wouldn’t be able to go head-to-head against them.
Jeffrey shrugged.
“High risk, high reward.”
Junhyuk nodded, and Jeffrey got up.
“Can we go right now?”
“Yes.”
“Then, let’s go!”
Both of them walked out, and as they did, they saw the powered people waiting for them. They looked tense, and Junhyuk said calmly, “Before noon, I’ll make an advance with the newly acquired expert into the monster area. You may train here.”
“Only you two will go in?” Ling Ling asked hesitantly.
He answered, “The new A-ranked monster has a hiding power. It’s too dangerous, so just the two of us will go in for now.”
“Take our team with you,” Peyton offered, but Junhyuk shook his head.
“Training is good, but your safety is the top priority,” he said.
“Then, why are you taking that man?” Peyton thought he had enough powers, even if his powers weren’t attack-based.
Junhyuk addressed them all, “Jeffrey, show them your powers.”
Jeffrey extended both hands and said, “Anywhere, anytime.”
Suddenly, four monsters appeared. They were all B-ranked monsters, and the others tensed up as they saw them and stepped back.
The experts’ team was ready to engage, but Junhyuk raised his hand and said, “Jeffrey can tame and summon monsters. We are going alone because of his taming power. Jeffrey will tame a monster, and it will help us eventually.”
Peyton’s eyes widened, and he stared at Junhyuk.
“Are you thinking about taming an A-ranked monster?”
“If possible.”
A-ranked monsters were too strong for experts to deal with. If Jeffrey tamed one, he would s.h.i.+ne among them.
The experts had no objections.
Looking at the others, Junhyuk said, “If we can tame an A-ranked monster, we’ll go a long way into stopping the monster areas.”
Then, he turned to Jiro and added, “It’s just us moving on. The others will stay here and train. Prepare a vehicle for us.”
“Yes, sir.”
Junhyuk turned to Jeffrey and said, “Return your monsters and get in the car.”
“OK.”
Jeffrey returned the monsters, and the others watched it happen, less tense than they had been previously. Helen, who had been staring at the two, stepped back.
Junhyuk got in the vehicle with Jeffrey, and it took off toward the monster area.
“There is one problem,” Jeffrey said.
Junhyuk looked at him, and Jeffrey sighed and continued, “When I come up against the A-ranked monster, I have to cancel the contract with the B-ranked monsters. Whenever I do that, I won’t have any powers at my disposal.”
Junhyuk replied with a question, “Do you have your s.h.i.+eld?”
“Sure.”
Jeffrey had invested heavily in his defensive equipment, boosting his defense stat. Before Jeffrey could tame monsters, he had relied solely on defense.
Junhyuk remained silent as he looked out the window. He could see the soldiers in front of the border to the monster area coming up.
They went through the barricade and stopped right on the border’s edge. Jiro was with them as they stood right in front of the monster area.
Junhyuk got next to Jeffrey and said, “We’ll head to where the Tokyo Tower used to stand.”
Jeffrey had also been there before. Previously, he had hunted at the border, but this time, they would go to the center of Tokyo, the Tokyo Tower. It wouldn’t be an easy trip.
Jeffrey gulped hard, and Junhyuk patted his back, walking ahead first.
“Don’t be scared. I’m wearing the Ring of Promise. I won’t let you die.”
“You are scaring me even more.”
“You can always run away by yourself.”
Jeffrey shook his head.
“When I return my monsters, it takes a while before I’m able to summon them again.”
“Your power isn’t as good as I thought it was.”
“I’m aware of that too, but someday, I’ll summon a bunch of A-ranked monsters.”
“Sure.”
He and Jeffrey stepped into the monster area.