Chapter 326: Chapter 326

No matter how absurdly powerful a constellation was, there wasn’t much that could be done in this situation.

How could the explosion constellation tempt the hunters to fight each other in the dungeon when they were blocked access?

There were several people within the reach of the explosion constellation, but there was nothing they could do at the moment.

[’Endless Linked Explosions’ asks what you are doing.]

[’Endless Linked Explosions’ says to challenge the dungeon like a human.]

[’Endless Linked Explosions’ is trying to convince you that this realm isn’t a waste.]

[’Endless Linked Explosions’...]

[...]

Normally, constellations didn’t send that many messages to mortals. In fact, a large majority of mortals didn’t receive any messages whatsoever.

However, the explosion constellation sent out one message after another.

‘He must be desperate.’

-Most constellations can’t deal with unexpected events like this.

The demon constellation was the same, but basically, constellations in general had a hard time adapting to unforeseen circumstances. After all, in their long lives, there hadn’t really been any instances in which things didn’t go their way.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to go in. If you want people to challenge it, change the dungeon and play fair and square.”

[’Endless Linked Explosions’ shouts that a dungeon is supposed to be like this!]

[’Endless Linked Explosions’ is making a prediction. He says that humans will soon fall back into greed and take on the challenge.]

[The ‘Six-Winged Angel Who Hunts Dragons’ urges you to stop being deceitful.]

The angel constellation, who had been watching, interjected instead.

The explosion constellation became quite indignant and vanished.

“...By the way, is it really okay to do this?” asked Amelia in a flustered manner.

Originally, the angel constellation had planned to break through this dungeon, not to seal it off and prevent everyone from entering.

If they went through with this new plan, the angel constellation would be disappointed…

“No. Block it and gain the advantage in the negotiations with the explosive bastard.”

“Do you really think he’s going to negotiate?”

“Even if it doesn’t work out, I don’t want people to mess around in that ridiculous dungeon.”

[The ‘Six-Winged Angel Who Hunts Dragons’ praises your choice.]

[The ‘Six-Winged Angel Who Hunts Dragons’ says there is no need to play any longer.]

Illaphael, who was standing next to them, thought this was an opportunity and spoke up.

“Master, I will guard this place with other household members so that greedy humans don’t sneak in.”

Amelia was surprised by Illaphael’s words. She found it hard to believe that Illaphael would step up for the bothersome task of just standing guard.

Illaphael thought to himself, ‘This is an opportunity.’

Unfortunately, due to the unusual structure of the dungeon, Illaphael had no opportunities to play an active role and shine. Thus, if he went out of his way to take up such a terrible task, that of guarding the entrance, Choi Yeonseung would change his mind about him.

He would be impressed, right?

“No, forget it. Sealing it off was my decision, and I don’t want to make the household members of other constellations suffer so much. I’ll get someone I know to guard the dungeon.”

“...”

Hearing that, Illaphael’s expression contorted slightly, making it indecipherable.

Seeing that, Choi Yeonseung asked Amelia, “What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s in a good mood, but maybe he’s trying not to make it obvious.”

“Aha. It’s because I did a good job.” Choi Yeonseung nodded.

He was going to ask Adaquaniel to guard the entrance. He felt like it was overkill to choose her for such a trivial task, but it was important. He had to seal off the dungeon and also have everyone think that it would be impossible to enter.

Illaphael muttered, “...But I’ll be waiting here just in case.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I’ll be waiting!”

Choi Yeonseung was surprised when Illaphael lost his temper. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Amelia said, “It’s clear that he doesn’t want to wait here.”

“Then he can just leave. Why is he yelling instead of leaving?”

“Perhaps his master is watching.”

“Ah, you’re right... It must be hard for the angels.”

***

Choi Yeonseung’s blocking of the dungeon and preventing other hunters from entering immediately became a hot topic.

Many hunters would block off the entrance of a dungeon after entering it to ensure that they would be the ones to clear it.

However, it was very rare for someone to seal off the entrance like this without entering themselves.

In front of the group of reporters, Choi Yeonseung declared confidently, “This dungeon is nothing more than a trap created by the evil god constellation to pit the hunters against each other. I made the decision to stop them from going in and killing each other.”

“But a hunter’s rights...”

“Is conquering dungeons the right of a hunter? It’s a responsibility…”

In response to the reporters’ questions, Choi Yeonseung grabbed a Chinese hunter next to him.

The Chinese hunter didn’t look particularly happy to be there; he looked like he wanted to go home.

“Look at this poor, skinny hunter here! He fell into the trap of the dungeon and couldn’t carry out the raid properly. He and his colleagues were fighting among themselves!”

“H-Hunter Choi Yeonseung, please tell them I wasn’t the one to start the fight…” murmured the Chinese hunter. He was worried about his image.

Of course, almost all the hunters in the dungeon started a fight with someone, but nevertheless, they couldn’t openly say that.

“I couldn’t just stand by and watch hunters go at each other’s throats while advancing in the dungeon.”

In response to Choi Yeonseung’s words, the reporters… They were a bit surprised.

“Hah...”

“Isn’t this crazy?”

“Well, considering that most hunters are crazy, it’s better to be crazy in a good way.”

“That’s true.”

Choi Yeonseung’s reason for sealing off the dungeon was quite unexpected.

-I came and conquered this dungeon first! I’m an A-grade hunter! If anyone else tries to steal my dungeon, come and attack them! The US government will help me!

…If that had been the reason, the reporters would’ve just said something like “Oh, it makes sense” or “As expected of a hunter.”

However, hearing Choi Yeonseung say that he couldn’t stand to see hunters fight each other, it felt a bit… It was embarrassing.

Did a hunter actually say something like that…?

@NewYork_Arenas

-Hunter Choi Yeonseung’s decision is truly amazing. Even though he came first, he didn’t want to be greedy. He locked down the dungeon for the sake of other hunters.

@Schreiber_Lane

-If there are people who still want to enter out of greed after all of this, just execute them on the spot. I’m sure that anyone who still tries to enter are spies for the evil god constellation.

All the hunters whom Choi Yeonseung had helped, or who had joined Dragon Industry, praised him in unison. It got to the point where Choi Yeonseung was actually embarrassed and closed the posts!

Of course, not everyone praised him.

@Hunter_Wei

-It’s an unbelievable act of tyranny to block a dungeon like that. Hunter Choi Yeonseung has been corrupted by the power of Dragon Industry and has become a dictator! As a hunter, you should never go overboard.

@Seha_Han

-Who are you to talk about tyranny? Your country controls hunters by putting barcodes on them. How many Chinese hunters died in the First Realm raid? Ah, the numbers still haven’t been made public? Wow. Why can’t you get the statistics when you monitor the country in real time?

@Hunter_Wei

-...I won’t pay any attention to your cowardly and despicable propaganda. Clan hunters around the world must never give in to the tyranny of the United States...

Overall, public opinion wasn’t as bad as Choi Yeonseung had feared.

Most of the clans didn’t really criticize his decision.

Only the Chinese clans shouted, “Hey, look at that Choi Yeonseung! He’s crooked! How can he block other hunters from entering the dungeon when he is from a liberal, democratic society?”

However, their protests had very little impact. After all, when it came to public critique, it was very important who said it. No matter what the Chinese hunters said, the rest of the people would believe the complete opposite.

“It’s fine for now, but people will be dissatisfied if we keep it sealed for a long time.”

“I understand.” Adaquaniel nodded. She had a rudimentary understanding of human greed. The atmosphere was good for the time being, but after some time, hunter clans would start drooling again for that dungeon.

It wasn’t just the Chinese clans; it was the same for all the clans around the world.

“But the positive response is also thanks to what you have accomplished so far.”

“What... No.”

Choi Yeonseung was embarrassed and denied Adaquaniel’s praise.

However, Adaquaniel continued speaking sincerely, “The other hunters wouldn’t have trusted you if you hadn’t led such a virtuous life. I think it’s a great blessing for the humans of Earth to have a human like you, Hunter Choi Yeonseung.”

“Having an angel like you is also a huge blessing for the Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead...”

“Can you two be quiet???” Illaphael barked in an irritated tone.

The party was now at the entrance of the Second Realm.

They had set up a blockade just in case!

Generally speaking, hunters were lawbreakers, so if the group guarding the entrance looked even the slightest bit easy to deal with, many hunters would try to enter the dungeon by force and think about the clean-up work later.

This was why they had been maintaining their power, but...

‘It’s so annoying.’

Illaphael had basically been learning emotions throughout this entire mission. He felt more emotions in the last few months than he had ever felt in his entire life!

Before, he wouldn’t understand why hunters said things like “Oh, I’m so pissed off,” but now he understood exactly how they felt.

Illaphael had grasped the feeling of annoyance!

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung!”

“Wait!”

When another person approached him, Choi Yeonseung stretched out his hand and spoke first.

“Are you from a clan or corporation?”

“...Yes,” said the other person in a hesitant tone.

“Let me guess. You want to give your hunters a chance to raid the dungeon, and you’ll pay any price for that?”

“C-can you read minds?”

“Dozens of people have come before you. Go back.”

“...”

The other person looked taken aback. He hadn’t expected so many people to come with the same intention.

“Perhaps... Even if it just a suggestion...”

“Piss off!”

“Eek!”

Illaphael flapped his wings in a rage, causing the other person to run away.

Putting aside their beautiful appearance, the angels of the Abyss were fearsome creatures. In fact, almost all Abyssal races could pose a threat to humans.

“Oh, good job. You have a talent for chasing people away.”

“Clearly, angels are good at intimidation.”

“...”

Hearing the conversation between Choi Yeonseung and Adaquaniel, Illaphael got even more upset.

‘These ■■ bastards...’

Illaphael quickly learned how humans swore!

As the angel practiced swearing in his mind, Choi Yeonseung got lost in thought.

‘These hunter clans are so unscrupulous. It’s worse than I expected.’

Regardless of which country they were from, people from companies and clans came to Choi Yeonseung with all sorts of proposals.

-Let us go into the dungeon alone... Hey, there are no hunters in there anyway, so there won’t be any infighting, right? We understand your noble intentions, but isn’t this a win-win situation?

-Hunter Choi Yeonseung, if you join hands with the Chinese government now, you can become one of the most important people in East Asia... We can achieve greatness together…

-We don’t plan to attack the dungeon. We just want to go inside to look into what can make money before coming out. We will give you priority and also offer you some equipment for investigating the dungeon yourself.

-Hunter Choi Yeonseung, aren’t we both Koreans? I know a clan. Please let me in! I’ll make sure to actually clear the dungeon this time and make a name for myse... Cough. No, for South Korea. I will promote South Korea to the world…

Hunter clans tried to convince him with all sorts of reasons!

Choi Yeonseung regretted how he had handled this whole thing. He should’ve just lied that there was a terrible boss monster in the dungeon.

Wasn’t it like this because the dungeon seemed very easy to clear from the outside?

‘Well, many other hunters were in the dungeon, so I couldn’t lie about what was in there...’

Given that hunters were greedy, the fact that entering the dungeon had been prohibited spurred them even more to try and enter.

Choi Yeonseung was afraid that they would come up with new methods to somehow infiltrate the dungeon, something he couldn’t even imagine…

[...’Endless Linked Explosions’ asks what you want.]

“!”

As such, the declaration of surrender from the explosion constellation was naturally well received.