Machine God with EX-rank talent (Deus ex machina)

Hyun Suho’s achievements had already spread widely through various media outlets.

Even before the government had a chance to reward him, they had edited all the footage and broadcasted it.

A dazzling and spectacular plasma attack befitting his alias, Light Bringer.

Some were already predicting that he would be named in the next Hunter Association’s ranking announcement.

Of course, it wasn’t just that reason why so many were flocking to Hyun Suho.

“They say he was a great help to the Silver Knight, right? So, how was it? Meeting Korea’s hope in person?”

“What’s there to say? He swung his hammer and even took down a dragon. He’s a Dragon Slayer.”

“Ah! This makes me proud to be Korean. Are we finally going to have a top ranker in our country?”

Even though Hyun Suho hadn’t said a word yet, the people around him were already beating their own drums.

Hyun Suho had no intention of dampening their expectations.

But he also wasn’t going to lie.

“Whatever you imagine, it’s probably more than that.”

Hyun Suho meant it in a different way, but the gate soldiers interpreted it as they pleased.

“Of course! I knew it!”

“It’s certain, coming from Light Bringer who helped him up close.”

When moving to a city other than your registered address, you had to go through a strict and meticulous process.

The stronger you were, the higher your level, the greater the potential for causing significant accidents.

Fortunately, thanks to his recent exploits, Hyun Suho was allowed to pass after only minimal procedures.

“Take care!”

“Thank you.”

Hyun Suho once again felt that he had truly become a hunter.

When he used to move between cities as a porter, soldiers paid less attention to him than to the rocks on the ground.

'I don’t have time for this.'

Of course, the reason he came to this city wasn’t to bask in fame or for sightseeing.

It was because of the sudden voice message he received from Jeon Jung-gu yesterday.

He had tried calling back right after receiving the voice message, but there was no answer.

Jeon Jung-gu and his daughter, Jeon Mi-rin, were certainly in some kind of trouble.

They were members of the Mir Merchant Guild, whom he had coincidentally met and formed a connection with on his first day as a hunter.

Thanks to them, he was able to solve his early financial difficulties, and he didn’t have to worry about slaughtering or carrying around the monsters he hunted.

Of course, the Mir Guild had made a bold investment, seeing Hyun Suho’s potential, but still, attaching a guild to a rookie hunter was an extraordinary treatment.

Hyun Suho also felt indebted to them, and now this incident had occurred.

“Where are you?”

[I'll turn on the minimap to guide you.]

To find them, he decided to track the phone.

He followed the signal from the last call made to Hyun Suho’s phone.

It led him to a dark, gloomy back alley on the outskirts of the city.

Only after descending through a sewer lid did Hyun Suho find Jeon Jung-gu’s phone.

“Why is it in a place like this...?”

The phone was covered in filth.

The screen was shattered, probably due to the impact when it was dropped.

Without caring about the filth, Hyun Suho wiped off the phone and examined it.

“What on earth happened?”

The Mir Guild was a small merchant guild that traveled around the country engaging in intermediary trade.

Fortunately, Jeon Jung-gu was quite capable, and over the past ten years, he had steadily grown the guild, establishing a solid foundation.

Of course, being in the merchant business meant accidents were bound to happen.

Especially since they almost faced death due to the Anbyon Merchant Guild’s betrayal last time.

If not for Hyun Suho’s help, they wouldn’t have been able to avoid the trap.

He vaguely remembered hearing that they were relocating their main base because of it...

“Something must have gone wrong.”

Hyun Suho looked around, but this was a back alley near the port that even delinquents avoided.

There were no witnesses or CCTV cameras around.

Moreover, before arriving here, Nova had hacked into all the city’s cameras, but nothing useful was found.

All she could confirm was that Jeon Jung-gu and Jeon Mi-rin had entered the city.

“If something happened within the city... it must have been caused by humans, right?”

Considering the strict security he saw upon entering, the chances of being attacked by monsters inside the city were almost nonexistent.

However, Nova had a slightly different opinion.

[There have been continuous monster attacks near the port. Particularly, powerful monsters have been stationed on the surrounding islands, occasionally attacking the city.]

“Monsters on the surrounding islands? Why hasn’t the city dealt with them?”

[There’s a monster of at least level 8 leading them. The government has tried to form subjugation teams several times, but they’ve failed every time.]

“A monster that strong? Couldn’t they just deploy a high-ranker? We have three level 9 high-rankers in the country.”

[The monster is a siren. It can move freely between water and land. Even a high-ranker would have difficulty fighting a siren underwater.]

A siren is a monster with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish.

With its beautiful voice, it could mesmerize sailors and cause ships to crash into rocks, sinking them.

And this particular siren was a level 8 named monster living on an island.

“Could the siren be related to their disappearance?”

[I'll investigate the phone's data first.]

"Please do."

Despite hurrying as fast as he could, half a day had already passed.

It was fortunate that Nova was there; otherwise, he would have been at his wits' end by now.

Nova quickly analyzed the phone's data.

[The phone seems to have been dropped near the port.]

"Got it. Then open the minimap again."

[Understood.]

Following the route Nova provided, Hyun Suho headed straight to the port.

Upon arriving, the first thing he noticed was the countless stacks of container boxes, and the security there was even tighter than at the road gates.

"Are those turrets?"

Huge turrets were stationed conspicuously around the area.

Although they were mostly encased in metal, the protruding barrels were made from monster materials.

Naturally, the bullets were also likely made from expensive monster bones.

But the turrets weren’t the only thing; there were also many hunters, who seemed to be mages and archers, stationed all around.

It was such overwhelming firepower that even a powerful monster would be reduced to dust just by approaching.

However...

"They're all wrecked."

Upon closer inspection, the turrets were in terrible condition.

Some of the solid barrels made from monster materials were snapped in half, and many turrets were completely destroyed.

The watchtowers and bunkers where the hunters were stationed were in similar states.

"How could monsters break through such defenses?"

What on earth had happened here?

In any case, he moved toward the port to investigate further.

Normally, strict controls would prevent people from entering to protect important supplies, but this time, the gates were wide open for some reason.

There, he saw a middle-aged woman surrounded by what appeared to be many residents of Wonsan.

"We can’t live like this anymore!"

"I've lost count of how many times this has happened! You need to destroy their base as soon as possible!"

The people were shouting at the middle-aged woman as if they were ready to tear her apart.

It looked like a riot was about to break out, but the woman calmly spoke to them.

"I'm very sorry, citizens. I fully understand your situation. We are also working on a solution, so please be patient for a little longer."

She was a woman who calmly soothed the angry crowd, with an air of dignity in her face and voice.

Curious about her identity, Nova provided the answer.

[This is Myeong Eun-sook, the mayor of Wonsan. She became mayor after the previous one was imprisoned for bribery.]

Though he wasn’t sure what the situation was, it was clear that the mayor herself was personally involved.

And as expected, the situation was much more as he had anticipated.

“The Sirens have already attacked and kidnapped people five times this year alone! Ever since you became mayor, these incidents have increased!"

"That's right! How long do we have to keep suffering like this? Even the workers are too scared to do their jobs!”

From what he heard, there had been a Siren attack just yesterday, at the exact time Jeon Jung-gu had tried to contact him.

The Sirens had attacked the port, destroying the turrets and kidnapping people left and right...

As these incidents became more frequent, the people could no longer stand by and had come forward.

The mayor, recognizing the gravity of the situation, had personally faced the enraged citizens.

"I swear on my name and my position as mayor. I will issue a mobilization order to all hunter guilds in Wonsan. This time, we will capture the Golden Tail."

The named monster, Golden Tail.

The level 8 boss monster that leads the Sirens.

The mayor of Wonsan had declared that she would mobilize all the city's guilds to hunt it down.

The people still wore grim expressions, but the mayor's firm declaration, pledging her name and position, forced them to reluctantly agree, at least for now.

Then Nova spoke.

[The mayor is telling the truth. The official notices to all guilds in Wonsan have already been prepared.]

"Already? That was quick."

Government workers are often likened to sloths.

But this time, due to the severity of the situation, they had moved quickly.

If they delayed and those kidnapped by the Sirens were harmed, it would be a disaster.

‘Are they still alive?’

They were taken by monsters, not just anyone. There was no guarantee of their survival.

‘I have to help them.’

Even if a subjugation team was being formed, he couldn’t just sit and wait.

He intended to take proactive action.

"I’ll join this expedition."

Fortunately, he had become famous enough to be known by his alias, Light Bringer. If he volunteered for the subjugation team, they wouldn’t likely turn him away.

However, Nova’s words were less optimistic.

[The official notice states that only guilds affiliated with Wonsan city are allowed to participate. External hunters are not included.]

"Is this really a time to be picky about such things?"

[There have been many cases where unvetted external hunters caused accidents. To manage the forces effectively, they prefer to organize the subjugation team with verified hunters only.]

Hunters possess power that far surpasses ordinary people.

When properly managed, they can greatly benefit the nation, but unfortunately, some go astray.

Even high-level hunters can become notorious criminals who make headlines.

While they may act properly in the city, there's no telling what they might do in lawless zones like the Red Zone.

Therefore, when enlisting hunters, extreme caution is necessary.

After contemplating Nova’s words for a moment, Hyun Suho clapped his hands as if he had thought of a good idea.

"You can hack the system and make me a hunter affiliated with this city."

Nova had already hacked into a supposedly unhackable hunter terminal.

With Nova's skills, it would be a simple task.

But Nova remained skeptical.

[The head of the Hunter branch in Wonsan doesn’t trust digital systems. He organizes everything on paper. So, they’ll probably handle the list of the subjugation team in a physical file.]

"…Is there really someone like that in this day and age?"

[Indeed.]

If that was true, then Nova's abilities couldn't be used.

After thinking it over again, Hyun Suho came to a clear conclusion.

"Then I'll just create one! A Hunter guild!"

There are a few requirements to establish a Hunter guild.

You need a guild master of at least level 5 and at least three guild members.

This is the Hunter Association's policy to prevent the proliferation of Hunter guilds.

With Nova's hacking, Suho's terminal level had been set to 6, so the only thing left was to find two more party members.

That problem was solved without much difficulty.

Step! Step!

At the Wonsan branch Hunter guild.

As they walked down the hallway, Suho could feel all eyes on them.

It wasn’t because of the Light Bringer title.

After all, in the videos, Suho had been wearing a black mask, so there was no way they could recognize him now.

Rather, it was because of the breathtakingly beautiful woman with mysterious emerald hair who was walking arm in arm with Suho.

Both men and women were left speechless.

As they approached, even the receptionist’s eyelids fluttered, and she couldn’t speak properly.

“Wh-Who are…”

Everyone was completely ignoring Hyun Suho, staring blankly at Nova instead.

This is why I told her to tone down her appearance.

Thinking back, it was probably thanks to his EX-level mental fortitude that his mind hadn’t frozen the first time he saw Nova.

Others, however, had clearly turned into fools.

In the frozen atmosphere, Hyun Suho spoke to the receptionist.

“We’re here to establish a guild in Wonsan.”

As soon as he spoke, the receptionist seemed to finally notice Suho standing in front of her.

It really felt like being invisible.

Startled, the receptionist tore her gaze away from Nova and finally managed to look at Suho.

Then she glanced at the man beside him.

The man, who was just about 160cm tall and had a cute appearance, looked at the receptionist and smiled gently.

“Beep beep, boop.”