Chapter 319: Chapter 319

The other party seemed to come back to their senses after filling up their bellies.

“...Oohh, thank you for helping us.”

“What the hell are you saying, you bastards? You ate like beggars...” said Louis incredulously.

If one was in the position to beg for food, they would naturally be angry if someone else rubbed it in their face. Of course, that was what happened with the hunters from the Shaolin Temple.

"What the…? You! Give me your name and your clan! I’m going to make a formal complaint!”

“Your mother...”

Choi Yeonseung stopped Louis before he could swear at them. He would’ve liked to see them bicker, but he had to hear the other person’s story first.

“You’ve eaten quite a bit of food, so you should repay us for that. You can start by telling us who you are and what you’re doing here.”

“...We’ll pay for it when we get back.”

“What nonsense are you saying? You know that one meal inside the dungeon isn’t the same as a meal outside the dungeon.”

Hearing this, the other hunter looked like he had just been stabbed.

Within a dungeon, the value of materials was unimaginable. A cigarette could sell for tens of thousands of dollars, and emergency food could sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

However, this hunter from the Shaolin Temple clan didn’t want to admit that. The moment he did, his weakness would be exposed. In this situation, he had to act brazenly. He said, “Well, I didn’t hear anything about that before you gave us the food, so we can only pay you the standard price.”

“...”

“...”

Louis was impressed by how effortlessly this hunter could anger them.

Perhaps the Shaolin Temple hunter sensed Choi Yeonseung and Louis’ anger, or even their killing intent, so he tried to re-negotiate their deal in an attempt to appease them.

“O-of course, I’m not saying we’ll only pay you the standard price. Once we get back, we’ll give you additional compensation...”

“Louis, go ahead and crush them. This guy doesn’t deserve to speak.”

“Yes! I’ve been waiting for this!”

“Wha...?!”

The Shaolin Temple hunter got scared and tried to draw this weapon, but Louis was always faster at such close range. In addition, this hunter had just finished eating, so he hadn’t been alert at all. Meanwhile, Louis had his fists clenched all this time, ready to attack at any moment.

Bam!

Louis delivered a powerful punch to his adversary.

“You’ve finally reached the first-class level.”

“Thank you!”

Bam bam bam!

“Who am I... Cough!”

Louis delivered his punches gracefully and with precision. He shouted each time he connected his punches, effortlessly infusing his internal energy into his opponent.

‘He’s mastered attacking his opponents with internal energy and dealing damage to them from within.’

Choi Yeonseung nodded in satisfaction. It was gratifying for him to see his apprentice evolve like this.

“Cough... I was wrong...”

“Did he say it was your fault just now?”

“No, you misheard it. Chinese words can have different meanings based on the intonation, so that’s probably why you misunderstood.”

“...Well, let’s beat him up properly.”

Choi Yeonseung just sat there and watched the whole thing. There wouldn’t be any harm in smacking this hunter some more. Wouldn’t he learn his lesson this way?

One should never disrespect the person who saved them from starvation!

***

“Zhu Wijen of the Shaolin Temple clan? What rating are you?”

“C... grade.”

Zhu Wijen was completely dejected. He realized it after receiving a few more hits.

These two hunters definitely had higher ratings than him, and on top of that, the reputation of their clan didn’t do anything for them in this situation…

Zhu Wijen didn’t know whether these two hunters were crazy or just very confident. He had to survive in order to find out.

“C-grade.”

“Nonsense!”

The two hunters were shocked.

Zhu Wijen felt indignant at their loud protest and said, “Here’s my rating card.”

However, Choi Yeonseung and Louis were unyielding.

“This has to be fake, right? Maybe the Chinese government falsified his rating card for external use...”

“It’s possible that they did something like that… Actually, it’s very likely.”

“...”

Zhu Wijen was dumbfounded. Why didn’t they believe him?

“This guy who begs for food is C-grade? There’s no way…”

“I honestly thought he was an E-grade hunter.”

Zhu Wijen’s face flushed with embarrassment as he listened to them. He couldn’t convince them of his rank…

“Don’t... Don’t you know that depending on the circumstances, even the strongest hunter can find themselves in deep trouble?”

“I think not even E-grade hunters would beg for food like you just did,” said Louis wryly. He felt like he had already let go of half of his pent-up grudges.

“If you didn’t have any supplies, why not retreat and come back later? Why did you stay? Is it because of orders?”

“Well, an order is an order… We’re not allowed to leave this dungeon.”

“...!”

At first, the Chinese hunters who had been ordered not to retreat hadn’t backed down easily. However, they had quickly run out of supplies.

The First Realm was large enough for a base and for everyone to live together, but this particular dungeon was very tricky to navigate; it was like a combination between a maze and an anthill.

The Chinese hunters were scattered and ran around the place chaotically, so they couldn’t manage the supplies properly. They went through them very fast…

Eventually, several of the hunters went up to the first underground floor to try and escape, but as they did so, they realized… They couldn’t find the exit even though it was supposed to be in a conspicuous spot.

The longer one stayed in the dungeon, the harder it would become to find the exit on the first underground floor.

Earlier, the hunters had come across various stone gates which would open only if they offered the blood of three people. Many of them had ended up getting stuck in this dungeon.

Choi Yeonseung admired this dungeon once again.

‘It’s truly impressive.’

The longer they stayed, the harder it was to get out. Would the hunters here just starve to death? What would they do in such a critical situation?

…They would attack each other and steal supplies!

The explosion constellation seemed to understand human beings more than any other constellations. He had come up with wicked plans quite fast.

“In any case, this dungeon is impressive. As expected, constellations can’t be trusted.”

“You want to just find the exit and leave?”

“No need for that. I’ll find it eventually anyway.”

These kinds of obstacles wouldn’t hinder a hunter like Choi Yeonseung. Other A-grade hunters might’ve struggled because they would’ve had to save up magic power, but Choi Yeonseung could quickly recover his internal energy if he was given some time.

There was a clear difference between a hunter whose maximum level was A-grade and a hunter who was a constellation.

“Let’s find the others and join them first. Things are going well.”

Thump—

“?”

Choi Yeonseung heard a distant thump.

Thump—

Choi Yeonseung was puzzled as the sound became louder.

“Who’s making a path?”

“Are they just breaking it?”

“I don’t understand.”

“What do you mean?”

“If they have the ability to make a path, they could preserve energy and do it quietly. Why would they do it so loudly?”

“Who... Who knows?”

This also made Louis feel curious.

“Isn’t it a noisy skill? Or maybe that person can’t control their anger...”

Crash!

A nearby wall was destroyed with a loud crash. Illaphael, drenched in sweat, stood there panting. Beside him stood Amelia, looking at him with a concerned expression.

“...Is there any urgency? I can’t believe you hit it so hard.”

“This... much... isn’t a problem for... me…”

Illaphael staggered forward.

Choi Yeonseung glanced behind them, and he could see a lot of rubble from the destroyed walls. It was hard to tell how many walls Illaphael had destroyed.

Choi Yeonseung said to Amelia, “Shouldn’t you stop him from showing off his strength like that? I might be the household member of a different constellation, but you two are the household members of the same constellation.”

“He doesn’t listen to me,” Amelia replied bitterly.

Even if Amelia spoke like a noble angel, Illaphael wouldn’t listen to her.

“Energy... I didn’t waste it! Let’s keep moving!”

“No, I’m worried. Why did an angel use so much magic power?”

Choi Yeonseung knew at a glance how much magic power that Illaphael had used. Seeing that he had used almost all of it, he must’ve opened the path by using powerful skills at random.

...It wasn’t like they were at war with the cave. Why was he pushing himself like this?

“Sit down for now, the two of you. Restore your magic power first.”

“I... I’m fine… Really”

Illaphael kept staggering, barely able to move. If he ran out of magic power and couldn’t even walk to the other hunters, this would be his new personal record in terms of embarrassment.

He needed to move!

“I told you to sit down.”

At Choi Yeonseung’s words, Illaphael involuntarily sat down.

‘Why... Why me?’

Amelia was stunned. She hadn’t expected Illaphael to actually listen. She wondered, “What did you do?”

“I guess he’s just that hungry,” replied Choi Yeonseung.

“What...? That is ridiculous...”

Choi Yeonseung ignored them and began the preparations. He had prepared the space necklace before coming here. In fact, he cared more about empowering the hunters than the supplies.

He wasn’t going down alone. He had to send one hundred hunters down as well, so he needed to strengthen their overall power.

He tried to use everything he could.

“...”

“...”

Amelia was even more perplexed when Choi Yeonseung took out a jar of seasoning, lit a campfire, and pulled out a frying pan and a kitchen knife.

...What was he doing now...?

“Ah. I remember hearing this story. He cooked monsters in the dungeon.”

Amelia remembered what some hunters in the US had talked about.

-Sigh. Have you ever eaten monsters, children? We’ve eaten monsters before. Not the monsters known to be edible, but real monsters.

-You’re not making any sense.

-How much have you had to drink?

-It’s true, children! Now, here’s a photo. Look.

-I guessed you just cooked it and took a picture?

-I don’t care if you don’t believe me! But if you ask the other hunters who participated, you’ll believe me. He really cooked it and ate it. It’s unlike any other kind of cuisine.

-That’s right. I’m so jealous that you guys can be satisfied with this kind of food. We can no longer be satisfied with it.

-......

At first, Amelia hadn’t given it much thought, but now that she thought about it, she remembered that it was Choi Yeonseung who had become a hot topic for his unconventional cooking.

...But why was he cooking now?

“Uh, do you really have to cook now? I’m not hungry...”

“Aren’t you concerned about Illaphael?”

Choi Yeonseung harshly criticized Amelia, which frustrated her.

“...I don’t think Illaphael is hungry either...”

Regardless, Choi Yeonseung continued to cook. In order to save time, Choi Yeonseung had separated the ingredients into small portions for each dish and placed them in the space storage before coming to this dungeon.

The food he was making right now...

‘Army stew.’

Choi Yeonseung paused. Come to think of it, did angels eat spicy soup?

‘...I won’t force him if he doesn’t want it.’

This was the silver lining of his poor relationship with Illaphael. No matter what he did, it wouldn’t get any worse!

***

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung has joined Hunter Amelia, and Illaphael is also there.”

The hunters of the angel constellation’s household were relieved after receiving the report through telepathic magic. Now that the strongest people had gathered, they had officially made the first step in this raid.

“We just need to gather there.”

“We’re pretty lucky. Based on the description of the terrain they’ve given us, it doesn’t seem that they’re too far away. If we go this way, we should get there in about thirty minutes.”

The hunters moved quickly, determined to join the group as soon as possible!

They were especially concerned about Illaphael. He had a difficult personality, so it could be troublesome in many ways if the people around him didn’t wait for him.

“That way! There’s some noise coming from there!”

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung! Hunter Amelia! We are here!”

The hunters paused when they arrived. They saw something very unexpected.

“...What are you doing?”

“E... Eating.”