The hour was close to dawn, but at the Hunters Association, staff were being called back in a hurry due to a sudden flurry of texts and phone calls.0

The only Hunters Association department that usually operated twenty-four hours a day—in four shifts of six hours each—was the Gate Management Department.0

A man wearing a hoodie and a padded jacket over a tracksuit walked in through the wide-open doors of the department and immediately questioned Team Four's shift manager who was in charge of that shift.0

"Explain in detail. What's going on?"0

The shift manager handed the man a sheaf of printed documents and began to give his report on the situation.2

"At around 12:30 a.m., the Guildmaster of DG Guild, Hunter Kim Ki-Rok, reported the discovery of several new Gates. According to his report, all three Gates are estimated to have appeared shortly after midnight on the tenth of December."0

So three Gates had appeared in a single day. On top of that, their arrivals were less than thirty minutes apart.0

The shift manager continued, "I sensed the abnormality of this report, contacted the other branches of the Association, and had them dispatch any of their Hunter teams working overtime to investigate areas where high mana densities were detected. We've confirmed that a total of fifteen Gates have appeared."0

The man frowned. "Thirteen more Gates appeared in the span of just a few hours?"0

Indeed, this wasn't something that they could just overlook.0

The man nodded. "Thanks for your hard work. You made a sharp decision. In that case, continue to stay in contact with each branch until we fully grasp the current situation."0

"Understood."0

"And what about Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok?" the man asked.0

The shift manager shook his head. "I wasn't able to contact him, so I left him...0