Chapter 35

Their latest punishing raid done, Jinwoo and Lee Joohee wander a calm park to talk. As a B-Rank healer, Joohee admits her shy temperament was never built for the hazards of hunting. Even so, she values how the lesser raids brought her to Jinwoo, whose refusal to quit she came to respect while mending his many wounds. The E-Rank essence stone he had once handed her comes back to him now, and she confesses she kept rather than sold it, and tells him she is stepping away from hunting to head back to her hometown of Busan. Smiling, she hopes they meet again soon.

Once Joohee is gone, Jinwoo turns over a caution Woo Jinchul gave him after the raid: S-Rank Hwang Dongsoo could pursue payback for the death of his brother Hwang Dongsuk. Woo advised both Jinwoo and Jinho, the raid's other survivor, to stay alert or even flee the country, since the law has no grip on S-ranks. Jinwoo reads this as fresh motivation to advance, fully aware his present level guarantees defeat. Later, at the glowing entrance of a C-Rank gate, he and Jinho assemble their unusual squad of low-rank hunters. To reach the required eight, Jinho picked six people sidelined by injuries, thin experience, or personal struggles such as drinking. One member, allowed in purely because she is awakened, is the underage Han Song-Yi, who had cut school to attend. Unbeknownst to Jinwoo, she is also close with his sister Jinah. Song-Yi takes offense at being called a kid, but he checks her by citing her E-Rank and missing raid record.

Opening the Yoo Jinho Raid Party Arc, this chapter was adapted in Episode 10. Over at White Tiger Guild, Manager Ahn Sangmin and his aide Hyun Kichul catch wind of Jinho dropping 150 million won, roughly 121,500 USD, on gate rights. Ahn ties Jinwoo's name to the Double Dungeon disaster and, struck by Jinwoo surviving three brushes with death, suspects a second awakening and chooses to scout a gate in person.