That day, after Park Kyung-Hye, the mother of Song Jin-Woo and Jin-Ah, finally woke up, chaos broke out throughout the hospital.
This was not just a rare recovery.
By every standard, it was a complete miracle.
The disease known as Eternal Slumber Syndrome had never been cured anywhere in the world—neither in Korea nor abroad.
Doctors, nurses, and researchers were all in shock.
Questions flooded in.
Doors were closed.
The room quickly filled with medical equipment and examinations.
Under the excuse that more tests and close monitoring were necessary, the doctors decided to delay Park Kyung-Hye's discharge until the next day.
No one objected.
Even the doctors themselves needed time to understand what had just happened.
*** *** ***
That same evening, after finishing his visit with his mother—leaving only because he was forced to—Song Jin-Woo once again found himself under his sister's pressure.
This time… there was no room to delay anymore.
Jin-Woo headed to the Hunters Association to officially register and join.
His heart was not completely at ease, but what had happened to his mother made it impossible for him to ignore the situation.
If this was truly the price for her survival…
Then he would accept it.
As for Jin-Ah, she chose to return home.
She needed to prepare herself.
Not only physically… but mentally as well.
For her meeting with Louis.
However, she did not expect to find him waiting for her right in front of the hospital gate.
He stood there calmly, as if the place belonged to him, and as if everything that happened that day was no more than something he had already planned.
After a short and tense greeting, Jin-Ah found herself once again sitting in the passenger seat beside Louis, as the car moved toward her home.
Louis noticed her obvious tension.
Her trembling fingers.
Her silence.
Her uneven breathing.
For a brief moment, he thought that maybe he had gone a little too far.
But he quickly pushed the thought away.
It was fine.
All of this was necessary for his final plan.
Once they arrived near her house, both of them stepped out of the car.
Jin-Ah stood in front of him, hesitating.
She tried to speak, broken words leaving her mouth—about preparing, about what would happen next, about what awaited her.
But Louis interrupted her.
He smiled.
Then stepped closer calmly.
He placed his hand on her head.
Jin-Ah froze in place.
In a calm voice, without any threat this time, he said:
"You did well."
Her eyes widened in shock.
He continued:
"There's no need to continue this anymore."
She slowly lifted her head and looked into his eyes.
She opened her mouth, trying to say something—anything.
But Louis did not give her the chance.
"I'm not that kind of person," he said simply.
"All I wanted was for Jin-Woo to join the Hunters Association and stop raiding dungeons."
Then he added with a light smile:
"What happened between us was only to force you—and to make sure you convinced him properly."
He reached out and pinched her nose playfully with two fingers.
"The scene was cute, I admit."
" But I have to admit, you have really beautiful lips; I wonder if I was the one who really got your first kiss."
Then, without waiting for her reply, he took a step forward and kissed her on the lips, this time more deeply than before.
He stepped back.
" You can consider this kiss a farewell gift from me."
"We may never meet again in this world, so there's no need to worry anymore. Live your life properly."
"Goodbye."
Jin-Ah blinked.
And in the next moment—
He was gone.
He disappeared.
She stood there in shock, her mind filled with countless thoughts.
Fear, relief, anger, confusion… everything mixed together in a single moment.
In another part of the city, under direct guidance from Woo Jin-Chul, Song Jin-Woo successfully completed his registration with the Hunters Association.
The process did not take long.
In the end, he was officially listed as a member assigned under Kim Yoo-Won.
After Jin-Woo left, Woo Jin-Chul went straight to the office of the Association President, Go Gun-Hee.
He informed him that the registration was complete.
The president nodded calmly.
"Good."
But Woo Jin-Chul did not leave immediately.
After hesitating for a moment, he asked:
"Sir… do you know why Hunter Kim Yoo-Won specifically requested Song Jin-Woo's acceptance?"
Go Gun-Hee remained silent for a few seconds.
Then he said:
"I don't know the real reason."
He sighed and continued thoughtfully:
"But if I had to guess… it might be related to his father."
Woo Jin-Chul raised an eyebrow.
"Song Il-Hwan…"
The president said quietly.
"Anyway, approving such a request to win Hunter Kim Yoo-Won over to our side is a profit for us."
*** *** ***
Several weeks passed in the blink of an eye, as if time itself had quietly folded away without giving anyone a chance to breathe.
During that period, Louis met Sung Jin-Woo many times.
These were not random meetings, nor coincidences.
They were part of a carefully calculated arrangement.
Jin-Woo began working as Louis's substitute, handling the recording and writing of reports about the various dungeons that Louis raided with small and medium-sized guilds.
On the surface, it was just routine work…
but it gave Louis exactly what he wanted: time.
Time to observe.
And time to plan.
During all this, Louis never stopped reviewing dungeon appearance records, especially D-rank dungeons.
That rank mattered to him more than any other.
According to the original story, the double dungeon was supposed to appear among them…
the dungeon where Sung Jin-Woo obtained the System for the first time.
Finding it was not as difficult as others might imagine.
By tracking the people who had joined Jin-Woo in that dungeon raid in the original story, Louis narrowed down the possibilities step by step, until he identified its location with near certainty.
On the surface, the dungeon did not look suspicious at all.
It was an ordinary dungeon.
Anyone could enter and leave it without special restrictions.
There were no barriers, no warnings, nothing that hinted at the real danger hidden inside.
Confident in his teleportation skill—which he considered the final solution for any escape scenario—Louis decided to confirm it himself.
He entered the dungeon in advance, quietly and without drawing attention.
He compared its landmarks, terrain, and corridor layout…
everything.
With each step forward, his certainty grew.
It was the same one.
The exact dungeon from the original story.
Even so…
Louis was not arrogant.
He was not reckless enough to think about clearing it himself.
He knew very well what happened inside that dungeon.
And he also knew that his role was not there yet.
Instead, he moved on to the next step.
He prepared a video.
Just one video…
but it was enough to turn the internet upside down.
Louis appeared wearing a mask, his features carefully hidden.
In his right hand were Kamish's daggers—the weapons he had previously stolen from the Scavenger Guild.
In his other hand, he held Kamish's skill stone.
And behind him…
There was no room for doubt.
The massive corpse of Kamish's skeletal remains, filled with terrifying presence, was clearly visible in the background.
The skeleton that had been stolen from the headquarters of the American Hunters Association.
The moment the video was uploaded online…
everything exploded.
It dominated viewing platforms.
It spread like wildfire.
And soon, it became the topic of the entire world.
Guilds.
Hunters.
Governments.
Even the major hunter associations.
Everyone watched.
And everyone asked questions.
Who is he?
Is this the thief who turned both the Scavenger Guild and the American Hunters Association into a laughingstock?
And what does he want?
This was…
the next part of Louis's plan.