Chapter 322: Chapter 322

-I heard that the household members of the Undefeated Incarnation of Training are good friends with the rock snakes.

“...I don’t think that the household members see it that way.”

After a polite greeting, the rock giant addressed Choi Yeonseung once again.

-Then we must continue the fight.

“No...”

Choi Yeonseung was taken aback. Weren’t they about to make peace?

-I am grateful that you are kind to the rock snakes, but I made a promise to my master. I have to keep it.

Bang!

The rock giant was right. His master’s orders had nothing to do with the snakes. It would be shameful to disobey the orders of the explosive constellation for something so trivial.

Bang, bang, bang!

“But isn’t the battle pretty much over? You can’t even lay a finger on me, can you?” asked Choi Yeonseung as he dodged another attack. He thought well of his opponent, so he wanted to pursue him to stop the fight rather than knock him down.

This household member of the explosion constellation certainly knew a lot about this dungeon, so it was better to reason with him in order to get information.

-It’s not over yet! It’s not over until I am completely broken!

Swish!

Choi Yeonseung knocked the giant off balance and threw him to the side.

“Ugh!”

The Chinese hunters, who had been watching the fight with fascination, ran away with fright as the rock giant suddenly flew toward them.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot about you.”

“N-no, it’s okay. Don’t worry about us!”

Of course, the hunters inwardly swore at Choi Yeonseung, but they couldn’t say it out loud here. They merely smiled and suppressed their anger.

“Do you still want to fight?”

-Yes!

The rock giant charged at Choi Yeonseung again. There were a few explosions and the floor shattered, but Choi Yeonseung dodged everything with ease. Once again, he knocked the rock giant off balance and flung him away.

“Now? Are you still going to fight?”

-Yes!!

“...Geez, just surrender and stop overdoing it.”

Before Choi Yeonseung could finish speaking, another group of hunters appeared behind him. They were the hunters led by Illaphael.

***

“I’ll help!” shouted Illaphael the moment he saw what was going on. It seemed that the hunters in the rear didn’t participate in the fight because their levels were low and they lacked skills.

Given that they were facing the rock giant, it would be difficult for those Chinese hunters to deal any damage to him due to his unique defense.

A large spear appeared in Illaphael’s hand. Since it was created by magic power, the spear wriggled like a snake.

“No... It’s okay.”

-I don’t care! Bring it!

The rock giant urged them to join the fight. No matter how many adversaries came at him, his pride wouldn’t allow him to back down.

Bang!

Illaphael flew in and kicked the rock giant, knocking him away. The rock giant screamed in pain.

-Six Thousand Flights!

Illaphael’s attack was quite powerful. Once magic reached a certain level, it became so powerful that it was difficult for martial arts to keep up with it.

He concentrated his magic power and released it in an explosive way, causing a devastating attack.

“How is it? Was it helpful?”

Choi Yeonseung answered, “I was trying to persuade him to stop fighting...”

“...?”

Beside him, Louis cautiously added, “He’s familiar with a household member, so Hunter Choi Yeonseung was trying to persuade him.”

“...”

Illaphael’s expression completely changed after hearing that. He quickly tried to come up with an excuse.

“Ah... Well, the rock giant is arrogant and demanding, so it’s almost impossible to reason with him… You don’t know this. In addition, he’s the household member of another constellation! He probably won’t listen to you!”

“I think we were actually about to convince him...”

“Shut up! What do you know?”

Illaphael was angry with Louis, and his biting remark caused Louis to flinch and step back. No matter what level of martial arts he had achieved, it wasn’t enough to withstand the wrath of an angel serving a constellation.

-Yes… He’s right.

“See?! He said it himself!” Illaphael exclaimed in satisfaction as he pointed to the rock giant.

The monster recovered and got back up.

-You cannot convince me to surrender. The only way to stop this fight is to knock me down for good.

“Yes, you’re absolutely right! That’s how it should be,” insisted Illaphael before looking at Choi Yeonseung, who was staring at him from the side.

“...”

“...”

Illaphael fell silent as Choi Yeonseung looked him in the eye, his gaze indecipherable, but nonetheless intimidating.

“If you want to convince the rock giant to stop fighting, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try again,” said Illaphael in a quiet voice.

“Thank you.”

Choi Yeonseung cleared his throat and stood in front of the rock giant.

“Rock giant. I respect your pride and your unwavering resolve. However, it’s precisely because you’re an honorable opponent that it pains me to fight you.”

-I... I don’t think so. You should fight me without holding back. This is an honorable fight for the two of us.

Illaphael kept nodding as he listened to the rock giant. Why was Choi Yeonseung holding back when the opponent urged him to fight without hesitation?

If this fight was upsetting to Choi Yeonseung, Illaphael could beat up the rock giant instead.

“What did your master promise you in exchange for guarding this area?”

-My master has promised me more power.

“Oh, more power, you say? You can get that from other constellations too. For example, my master is known for offering his household members more power.”

-...Even so, I’m not a traitor to break the contract.

“Think carefully. If your master really respected you, would he have left you by yourself in a place like this?”

-He did so in order to give me a chance to gain more power...

“No, it’s too old-fashioned to gain power that way. It takes a lot of careful preparation in order to evolve properly. You have to match with the right opponent and control your strength.”

“...?”

In the back, Louis cocked his head. Hadn’t Hunter Choi Yeonseung made them go through various difficult trials and told them to just suck it up and overcome them?

“I’m living proof of this. Rock giant. Do you know why I’m overpowering you even though we’re both household members?”

The actual reason was the fact that Choi Yeonseung was a constellation while the rock giant was a mortal being, but the rock giant couldn’t possibly know that.

The rock giant was lost for words.

-N-no...

“Either your master doesn’t care about you, or he’s making you go through this ordeal just to torment you.”

Illaphael watched from the side and thought to himself, ‘Isn’t it messed up to bully him like this?’

As a fellow household member, he could empathize with the rock giant. If others told Illaphael that the angel constellation was deceiving him, he would also react like that if he couldn’t refute it.

It was frustrating, but the rock giant really had no arguments to defend his master. Thus, this seemed a lot like an act of disloyalty.

[’Endless Linked Explosions’ is annoyed.]

[He causes the rock giant to disappear from the spot.]

-Master! I’m sorry!

[’Endless Linked Explosions’ says not to worry about it because this hunter is too strong for you.]

The explosion constellation was surprisingly kind.

The rock giant disappeared, leaving behind a huge sphere that contained great magic power. Choi Yeonseung could feel the power inside the sphere.

[’Endless Linked Explosions’ asks why you keep ruining his work]

[’Endless Linked Explosions' tells you to be honest. He suggests killing the foreign tribe members next to you.]

“...”

The explosion constellation seemed to know humans very well. He went for the low-hanging fruit: the sour relation between China and South Korea!

[’Endless Linked Explosions’ says to think about how annoying these Chinese hunters have been.]

[’Endless Linked Explosions’ says that seven years and two months ago, they caused damage by withholding information. Eight years and eight months ago, they secretly hunted monsters and took all the rewards for themselves. Nine years and one month ago, they secretly dumped toxic waste from magic experiments into the sea.]

“...Wait. I’ve never heard about the last one…”

[’Endless Linked Explosions’ says he knows what they did!]

[’Endless Linked Explosions’ says he can tell you countless other evil deeds committed by the Chinese.]

When it came to China, the explosion constellation had ten times more intel than Choi Yeonseung.

Unlike Choi Yeonseung, who had just recently started to expand his influence, the explosion constellation had household members scattered everywhere. Thus, he had found out things that Choi Yeonseung had no idea about.

“This is definitely... Wasn’t the Chinese media making a scandal about South Korea dumping toxic waste?” asked Choi Yeonseung incredulously. He hadn’t expected those bastards to lie in such a filthy manner…

[’Endless Linked Explosions’ says there is no need to betray your master.]

[‘Endless Linked Explosions’ is just telling you to vent your anger that you have bottled up. He says that he will help!]

[‘Endless Linked Explosions’ whispers that the ‘Undefeated Incarnation of Training’ wants strength, and if you kill those hunters and become stronger, your master will certainly be satisfied.]

‘...Shit, it actually sounded convincing for a moment. I almost agreed with him…’

Choi Yeonseung came to his senses, and the goddess of sloth chastised him.

-Why would you even think about that?!

-I’m sorry, goddess, but I didn’t just come into being from nothing.

No matter how long Choi Yeonseung had wandered in the Abyss, his roots hadn’t changed. Above all, he was a Korean human. No matter how much he tried to detach himself from his identity, if two hunters, one from South Korea and one from another country, were both equally criticized, he would still feel worse about the hunter from South Korea.

Nevertheless, Choi Yeonseung wasn’t too troubled about this flaw of his.

‘I made my peace with this a long time ago.’

“You do have a point,” said Choi Yeonseung.

[’Endless Linked Explosions’ welcomes it!]

[’Endless Linked Explosions’ says that if you want, he will give you a chance to blow up not only China, but also other countries.]

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung?!”

“Don’t do this! We didn’t do anything!” shouted the Chinese hunters when they sensed that the atmosphere had taken a turn for the worse.

They thought everyone was going to work together to kill the boss monster on the second underground floor and go down, but now they felt that something was wrong.

The explosion constellation himself came out and tried to get the A-grade hunter to take revenge against them. Moreover, the constellation managed to sound very tempting.

It seemed like he would actually convince Choi Yeonseung!

“The other guys are the ones who did it! Taking it out on us wouldn’t change anything!”

“You’re better than this! Don’t be swayed by the likes of him!”

Seeing how the hunters desperately tried to plead with Choi Yeonseung, the explosion constellation laughed mockingly. This kind of reaction from humans was always amusing.

Of course, the situation was urgent, but the right response was an apology. The Chinese hunters should bow down and beg for forgiveness for their wrongdoings.

This wasn’t a matter of right or wrong, but of emotion. Constellations and mortals couldn’t be rational.

“Uhh, this actually makes a bit of sense...”

Illaphael looked a bit shaken. In any case, the household members of the angel constellation had decided to cooperate with Choi Yeonseung to clear the dungeon together. Thus, it wouldn’t be a bad thing for Choi Yeonseung to gain more power.

Of course, dozens of human hunters would die, but that wouldn’t be that big of a deal. After all, one could always find a way to clear their conscience…

“...But I refuse your proposal. It’s ridiculous to think that you could tempt me into doing something like that.”

“...”

Illaphael was embarrassed and lost for words. Choi Yeonseung had firmly rejected the offer of the constellation, whereas he…

[’Endless Linked Explosions’ is infuriated!]

[He asks why you are turning down the offer!]

“They said it earlier.”

[...?]

“They’re not the ones who did those awful things.”

[’Endless Linked Explosions’ is dumbfounded and asks if you actually believe that.]

[’Endless Linked Explosions’ is convinced that these hunters approved of those wrongdoings...]

“It doesn’t matter if I believe it or not. If some Chinese hunters committed terrible crimes, I can find them and make them pay for it. I won’t feel better if I beat up some innocent hunters that are weaker than me.

Choi Yeonseung was a human and a Korean. That couldn’t be changed. However, ever since he had pledged to become the master of Earth as a constellation, Choi Yeonseung was determined to have a more broad-minded mentality.

Of course, every time he heard China blaming South Korea for something they did, he genuinely wanted to beat up some people, but…

He wouldn’t let himself be swayed by emotions and become the puppet of another constellation!

[’Seed of the Realm’ is vibrating.]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

[’Nobility’ is engraved on the seed!]

“...”

-...Uhm, this doesn’t bode well…