Chapter 329: Chapter 329

“So you signed a contract with the explosion constellation?”

“No, I signed a contract with another constellation. I decided to become a subordinate of that constellation and then got teleported to the Abyss.”

“...?”

As far as Choi Yeonseung knew, Gary Nelson had orchestrated a terrorist attack after he had signed a contract with an evil god constellation.

‘Ah. The story must’ve been altered after the incident. I haven’t met Chairman Parker many times, but I could tell what kind of person he is with one glance.’

Alex Parker was a ruthless snake. Generally speaking, all chairmen who led large corporations were deceitful, sly bastards. No sane person would do what Alex Parker had done.

-Uh, Successor, that energetic human who is your subordinate is also a chairman...

-Shh, be quiet.

Choi Yeonseung changed the topic when he was at a disadvantage.

In any case, history was written by the winners. Given that Alex Parker had outsmarted Gary Nelson, it made sense that he had buried information about Gary and made up stories about him

After Gary had been teleported to the Abyss, there hadn’t been anyone to stop Alex Parker…

‘Hunters usually need friends.’

Top hunters had terrible personalities and reveled in debauchery, so most of them didn’t have any friends. That meant that Gary Nelson didn’t have anyone to step up and defend him when the incident broke out…

“By the way, why are you working here, in the realm of the explosion constellation, if you didn’t sign a contract with him?”

“My previous master gave me away as a reward in a constellation battle. He lost the constellation battle, so he handed me over to the explosion constellation...” Gary grumbled.

No A-grade hunter had ever suffered like Gary did. He had been wandering and struggling in the Abyss for over a decade.

‘...He’s very lucky,’ thought Choi Yeonseung after hearing Gary’s story.

If Gary Nelson had been teleported to the outskirts of the Abyss, he could’ve closed his eyes and opened them hundreds of years later. Frankly, from Choi Yeonseung’s perspective, Gary Nelson had it pretty well because he was in the safe realm of a constellation.

Choi Yeonseung had been forced to wander around the Abyss for around ten thousand years before he could finally say, “Oh, so this is what the Abyss is like…”

-Don’t say anything crazy...

“Are you unhappy with your current situation?”

“Of course!”

“Do you want power?”

“I want it... Wait…” Gary Nelson was nodding excitedly but suddenly paused. “What type of power is it?”

As expected of an A-grade hunter, Gary didn’t hastily accept it.

Any low-grade hunter would’ve jumped without hesitation at the opportunity to gather more power, even if they didn’t know what kind of power it was.

Meanwhile, hunters that reached A-grade had already accumulated many things: their own unique skills, their unique fighting style, etc. They wouldn’t just accept any power.

“That...” Choi Yeonseung paused and looked at the demons.

-Wait. What type of power do you usually give?

-...???

The demons were flustered by Choi Yeonseung’s words. The constellation was usually the one who dealt with such things. They were the one who determined what the mortal would get out of their contract.

It could be a specific skill, an item, or a power that contained the power of existence.

-We pay according to the rules, which is based on what the other party gives. Sometimes we bestowed on the contractee magic that we knew, but sometimes, the demon constellation, our former master, gave them the power directly.

‘...’

Choi Yeonseung paused.

What could Choi Yeonseung offer Gary?

‘I can’t think of anything else besides vegetables and meat.’

The orcs’ latest harvest was especially fresh, but of course, the mortals of the Abyss would immediately frown upon receiving something like this.

-Even if you don’t do it, the magic that demons know are on a different level from that of humans. There’s no need to worry.

As the goddess of sloth pointed out, there actually wasn’t a problem. The Abyssal races knew far more magic than the humans. Choi Yeonseung could probably negotiate with Gary by making use of the demons’ extensive knowledge of magic.

“Tell us what kind of magic you desire.”

“Regardless of the kind of magic you ask about, we’ll know about it.”

Choi Yeonseung let the demons take the wheel.

‘Ugh, I got worried for nothing.’

He reflected on himself as a constellation.

A constellation was actually more like a king than a general. They spent more time ruling their subordinates than leading them out and fighting.

In comparison, as a constellation, Choi Yeonseung went all in on combat skills.

‘Still, I can create as many martial arts as I want. I can also use my power of existence to create training-related skills.’

“Are there any martial arts?”

“?!?”

Choi Yeonseung turned his head in surprise. He initially thought he misheard it, but Gary Nelson had indeed said that.

“You’re interested in martial arts?”

“Yes. What I need now is the ability to fight at close range. In terms of long-range fighting, I’ve acquired enough skills... There are few people as strong in close combat as martial artists, right? China’s A-grade hunter, Li Yuyuan, fought really well.”

‘That’s just a fabrication.’

Choi Yeonseung knew the truth but he chose not to tell Gary. Sometimes, it was better not knowing the truth.

Gary Nelson was a first-generation hunter and had been missing from Earth for quite a while. He didn’t know that martial arts had fallen before barely being resurrected these days.

“Okay, I’ll teach you the martial art you want.”

“Ohh...!”

Gary Nelson was delighted. He could finally learn martial arts!

However, one of the demons looked at him in disbelief.

‘Why bother with martial arts?’

‘As expected of Master. He’s merciless. He tricked this mortal into accepting a useless power.’

‘Ahhh! I see!’

The demons were amazed.

Their new master exhibited his cunningness from the get-go.

They hadn’t expected him to trick this mortal so effortlessly.

***

South Korea.

Despite being at a geopolitical disadvantage and experiencing a lot of raids, South Korea was still holding its own.

That was evident when looking at the reactions of hunters.

If there were many monsters in a certain country and its hunters were reluctant to fight, saying things like “Oh, do I really have to go?”, it meant that the country was in a bad state.

However, if the hunters mobilized and responded with “We’re in this together, friends! Let’s do noble raids and protect the citizens of our precious country!”, it meant that the country was in a pretty good state.

South Korea was just like that.

The monster wave had just ended and a number of dungeons had exploded, but hunters from all over the world had come to South Korea one after the other.

“What type of dungeon does this country have? Didn’t a monster wave erupt last time?”

“Maybe it’s because China is next to them. Besides, the former North Korea region is also right next to them.”

“Hey... I’m jealous of the Korean hunters. Monster cores and items just keep rolling in and they don’t have to do anything.”

“...”

“...”

The Korean hunters were angered by the chatter of the other hunters.

‘I want to break those bastards’ teeth...’

‘Annoying jerks.’

Of course, there were some Korean hunters who welcomed the opening of the dungeons.

‘It would be nice to have some dungeons in my hometown.’

However, most hunters weren’t happy about dungeons at all. Their homes and families were all in South Korea, so they were obviously distressed about the wave of monsters.

They would’ve preferred to go to other countries to kill monsters!

“Just suck it up. We all know that we shouldn’t start a fight with hunters from overseas.”

“Ugh....”

The hunter who seemed to be the team leader urged the others to stay composed.

There were customs and rules for this. No matter how annoyed they were, they couldn’t get into a fight with foreign hunters.

If word got out that they fought with foreign hunters, nobody would help them the next time they needed it.

That became obvious just by looking at China. They were always abusive with foreign hunters, and because of that, they had suffered a lot of damage during the last monster wave.

The Korean hunters had to tolerate the foreign hunters, at least for the time being…

Bam!

“This crazy bastard.”

“Aagh!”

“If you come to our country, you should politely say, “Thank you for welcoming me to South Korea.’ If some local asks you if you like kimchi, you should answer with “Yes, I love it.” Why are you being such assholes… Would you like it if you had dungeons explode in your backyard? You shouldn’t talk badly about our country, you bastards!”

“D-don’t talk! Don’t talk!”

The other Korean hunters rushed over in a fright. One other Korean hunter was beating up the overseas hunters.

This one overseas hunter didn’t fight back at all, perhaps because he had been caught off guard. He just took the beating…

“You can’t do this... H-Hunter Choi Yeonseung?!”

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung?! Why are you doing this here?”

“I’ve received an official invitation, so I’ve come to help.”

“...”

The other hunters at the scene looked at Choi Yeonseung in bewilderment.

When overseas hunters arrived in South Korea, the Korean hunters would usually get to the airport and greet them. They did that as a precaution, because if hunters went on a rampage, only other hunters could stop them.

Of course, even if the government ordered them to cooperate with each other, many hunters would still refuse to join the operation.

-Ugh. My stomach suddenly hurts...

-I have to go to the dentist tomorrow...

-I used too much magic yesterday. I need to rest today.

When the officials heard excuses like that, they automatically cursed the hunters. Still, it couldn’t be helped. They couldn’t bother the hunters unless there was a serious situation.

That was the general rule.

Generally speaking, it was hard to get large clans and high-rated hunters to take action. Unfortunately, only smaller clans stepped up.

Hunters were also treated differently depending on how big and famous their clan was.

The small and medium-sized clans had to participate in operations because they couldn’t afford to get the officials to dislike them.

...Despite that, there was an A-grade hunter. The other hunters were so dumbfounded they couldn’t even speak.

“Uhm... I don’t think the official letter really summoned Hunter Choi Yeonseung, did it?”

“If I flew here, then they called me. What nonsense are you saying?”

Hearing that, Choi Yeonseung let go of the hunter he had been holding by the collar.

After getting his ass kicked for saying the wrong things, the hunter staggered to his feet.

“Ah, I have to release the Pressure Point Attack.”

Choi Yeonseung had skillfully used Pressure Point Attack so that the other hunter couldn’t resist. This confused his opponent.

"Are you okay?”

“I’m... I’m okay.”

Even though Choi Yeonseung had beaten the hell out of him, this poor hunter couldn’t say anything. Arguing with an A-grade hunter was a terrible idea. Moreover, Choi Yeonseung wasn’t just strong as a hunter. He also had a huge amount of wealth to back him.

“I was wrong! Thank you for hitting me! I learned a lot! I also love kimchi!”

“I wasn’t expecting this type of reaction, but I’m glad. Yes, be careful in the future.”

The conclusion of their conflict was so heartwarming that the Korean hunters found it even more absurd.

How come it ended on such a positive note?

“I’m here.”

“Ah. You came?”

Han Seha yawned as she arrived at the airport. She then looked around.

“Doesn’t it look like a small number?”

“...”

“...”

“List.”

“Huh?”

“Give me the list of people.”

“Ah, I-I’m sorry. Here it is.”

The official hurriedly came over with a list of people. Han Seha squinted at the names on the list.

“I will check attendance. Answer when I call your name.”

“...Ah, forget it. Hurry up and call it!”

“Who the hell checks attendance...?!”

The hunters couldn’t help remembering their hazy school days and freaked out.

-Come to the airport, you crazy bastard! Hurry if you don’t want to die!

-What are you doing? Run! Hurry up and run!

Han Seha carefully checked the names of those absent.

“There are some people who aren’t here... I see... Huh. Alright. I understand. Yes.”

Han Seha didn’t get angry. She just muttered and wrote down names. This made it even scarier.

The overseas hunters, who kept arriving at the airport, were perplexed by the strange situation.

“Wow, this is amazing...”

“Is this South Korean culture?”

It wasn’t common to see hunters slamming their heads against the ground. It was quite the novelty!