Chapter 77: [INVITATION]

A few days had passed, and Eli was finally discharged.

He wanted to believe it had been uneventful—quiet, even. No sudden tears ripping open above his head. No hunters barging into his hospital room. No one trying to kidnap him.

Just silence.

Well… silence, and the internet exploding.

Because Eli didn’t just go viral again—he was everywhere. His name wasn’t just a trending tag; it had carved its way into mainstream headlines, splashed across glossy thumbnails and primetime news segments.

The mysterious hunter spotted with Kairo.

The boy who’d been dragged into a dungeon raid with Caelen.

The son of Noah Ahn, one of the richest men in Korenea.

By the time he stepped out of the hospital, there was no turning back.

He wasn’t some nameless pretty face anymore, accidentally caught in the spotlight of S-Class hunters.

He was Elione Noa Ahn.

And now the questions burned hotter than the footage itself.

’Is this nepotism?’

’Did he buy his way into their good graces?’

1

’How does a beauty influenncer end up with two of the strongest S-Class Hunters?’

The media feasted.

When Noah Ahn, Elione’s father, was cornered by reporters outside a board meeting, his response had been weary, clipped, and edged with a frustration he apparently rarely ever showed in public:

“My son is a B-Class freelance hunter. I had no involvement in any of this. If it were up to me, Elione wouldn’t be a hunter at all.”

Watching that interview on loop, Eli had noticed it—the subtle slump in his so-called ’father’s’ shoulders, the drag in his voice, the exhaustion in his eyes.

Noah wasn’t lying. He was just… tired. Tired of explaining. Tired of fending off rumors. Tired of watching his son get hurt.

Elois, on the other hand, had been relentless. She hovered like a hawk over every step Eli took, fussing over his meals, checking his temperature when he so much as coughed, and snapping at him whenever he tried to push his body too early.

It wasn’t until he was nearly back to full strength that Elois finally relented and let him out—to Aureum Gold’s private gym.

Eli had insisted. He needed to know if upgrading his core stats through the system had actually worked.

On the treadmill, he ran. Faster. Harder. His body responded differently now, lighter with every stride, sharper with every reflex.

When the machine randomly shifted speeds, his muscles adjusted before his mind even caught up. His lungs stretched wider, his pulse hit harder, but instead of collapsing, he felt himself settle into it.

It wasn’t drastic—not like some anime power-up glow-up. But it was real. The system hadn’t lied.

He had changed.

And for a while, that was enough. A fragile peace. No sudden [Ding]. No floating panels dogging him at every corner.

Just… peace.

Until today.

Because today, the peace shattered.

Eli stood in the living room of the penthouse, staring at the envelope clutched in his hands. His fingertips pressed against the thick parchment, his pulse drumming against it. The wax seal gleamed red, stamped with the unmistakable insignia of the Hunter’s Association.

His chest tightened.

“What the hell…” Eli muttered, breath thin. His eyes flicked to the neat black print scrawled across the front:

To: Elione Noa Ahn

The name looked heavy in ink, heavier than it had ever felt on his tongue.

A chill crawled down his spine.

’The Hunter’s Association… why would they contact me directly?’

The envelope sat in his palm like a loaded weapon.

Eli’s thumb slid under the wax seal. The parchment split with a soft crack, and he unfolded the letter with careful, hesitant fingers.

The script was elegant, formal, the kind of handwriting that carried weight simply by existing.

To Elione Noa Ahn,

We hope this letter finds you in good health.

The Hunter’s Association wishes to extend an invitation to you at the request of our Founder, Midas Ryu.

In light of the recent events involving the A-Class dungeon that escalated into an S-Class incident, your presence is requested at the Hunter’s Association Headquarters.

Initially, both you and Hunter Caelen Ryu were to be summoned sooner, but per Hunter Caelen’s request, the meeting was rescheduled to allow adequate time for recovery.

Your attendance is required. A vehicle will arrive at your residence tomorrow morning to escort you to the Association.

The ink seemed to bleed deeper the longer Eli stared at it, every curve of the letters tightening around his chest like a strangling net.

His lips parted, the name catching, dragging like lead down his throat.

“Midas… Ryu?” he whispered, the sound hoarse, almost reverent—almost terrified.

The founder of the Hunter’s Association. The man everyone in Korenea revered as the genius who had built their society from the ground up—the father of the dungeon system, the architect of hunter law, the one figure even S-Class hunters bowed their heads to.

He wasn’t just powerful. He was untouchable.

And the idea of standing in front of him, speaking to him, wasn’t just intimidating—it was suffocating.

Eli’s pulse kicked, hard and erratic.

But what made the blood drain from his face wasn’t Midas’s name.

It was the last line written on the parchment, simple and sharp.

A vehicle will arrive tomorrow morning.

His stomach bottomed out.

“They’re… sending a car for me?” Eli muttered, voice cracking with disbelief. The parchment crumpled under the tightening grip of his fingers, as if wringing the paper would force the words to shift, to vanish.

But they didn’t. They stayed burned into his sight.

There wasn’t even a time. No contact, no instructions. Just certainty. They would come.

And it wasn’t phrased like an invitation. It wasn’t a request.

It was a summons.

No option to refuse.

Not that he would—not that anyone in their right mind would.

Still, the absence of choice coiled like barbed wire in his chest.

’If Caelen took all the credit for the dungeon… then what am I even supposed to say when I’m in front of him? What am I even doing there?

Well, he’ll see tomorrow.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep