Chapter 375: Chapter 375

“...Huh?”

Choi Yeonseung, who was actually involved in the fight, was taken aback by the monster’s unexpected reaction. What the hell was it planning?

‘Is it trying to pull off some trick so as to not return the hostages?’

-That... I don’t think that’s the case... Probably.

The goddess of sloth made a cautious prediction. The Abyssal monsters weren’t just violent and ferocious. Illingars was the typical honorable monster that always kept his promises. He wouldn’t do something cowardly and deceive Choi Yeonseung just because he had eaten Bonnefant.

Besides, the way the monster was acting now was probably...

[The ‘Iron-Blooded General Who Shakes the Battlefield’ is angry and asking what is going on right now.]

-I’m sorry, Master!

Grant apologized and raised his weapon. Then he cast magic to summon a bunch of clones that surrounded him. This was a simple clone spell, but it was on a different level when cast by an A-grade hunter like Grant. Moreover, he was the best hunter out there at using clone magic!

Grant gathered himself to dispel the pathetic appearance he had just shown. The monster had shaken everyone with his surprise attack, but he was still a monster at the end of the day. He wouldn’t be able to take on all the hunters at the scene.

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung,” a hunter called out.

“Hm?”

Choi Yeonseung had never seen this hunter before, but he quickly recognized that he was a martial artist.

The hunter lowered his head and introduced himself.

“I am Nadeet Superat, a B+ grade hunter. I’m here on behalf of the Monk Pursuing Glory.”

“Nice to meet you. What’s going on?”

Superat knew that it wasn’t the time nor the place for casual chatter, so he nodded and got straight to the point.

“There is a martial arts skill I want to use, and I want you to help me use it against the monster.”

The Mount Hua Sect hunters were furious at the insolent words of this hunter, whom they had never seen before.

“You arrogant bastard! How can a B-grade hunter do something like this?

“But you’re also B-grade...”

It was indeed out of place to ask an A-grade hunter to assist with an attack, but Choi Yeonseung noticed something in Superat’s confident demeanor.

‘There must be something.’

Given that Superat was the household member of the Monk Pursuing Glory, he had to have received the constellation’s power. If he combined this skill with the power of a constellation, the attack could be devastating.

The problem was that it was hard to keep up with such an agile opponent.

Choi Yeonseung readily nodded.

“If that’s the case, I’ll give you a hand.”

“!”

Superat was surprised. He thought that Choi Yeonseung might refuse regardless of his explanation. His expectation was only natural, because what A-grade hunter would agree to such a request from a lesser hunter?

“T-thank you!”

“What? It’s not that big of a deal. I’m just cooperating as a fellow hunter.”

[The ‘Monk Pursuing Glory’ expresses his gratitude.]

“Then prepare your ability...”

However, Superat’s opportunity to show off his skill slipped away.

“He’s running away!”

Even though it didn’t seem like Illingars was done with this city, he decided to make a run for it. The hunters just stared at the monster, dumbfounded. They hadn’t thought that this monster, which had been going on a rampage, would just flee like that.

“...”

“...”

[The ‘Monk Pursuing Glory’ says it’s absurd, but it’s also a relief that the monster didn’t fall for the deception of the evil god constellations.]

[The ‘Humble One-Eyed Archer’ also...]

The constellations present were flustered by the monster’s sudden escape, but they accepted the situation for the time being. They achieved their initial goal of preventing Illingars from being tempted by the evil god constellations.

At that moment, the power of existence surged through Choi Yeonseung.

[Illingars, the wise tiger, serves the ‘Undefeated Incarnation of Training’.]

“...”

-Don’t look surprised! Keep a straight face!

-I know.

Choi Yeonseung struggled to maintain a neutral expression. No matter how good the other constellations were, they would certainly not be happy about this.

***

[Who is to blame for Bonnefant’s death? The hunters who were at the scene are responsible...]

[Each clan has denied playing a part in the CEO’s death...]

[Peleza, a red flag for the next product announcement? Compensation for the damage caused by urban disturbances...]

[Peleza’s employees are blowing the whistle! Bonnefant caused the city defense to be subpar!]

[Raiden and Klein expressed their strong disapproval of Peleza’s actions. In this unusual situation, experts...]

Generally speaking, if someone was doing well, their disgruntled enemies would just keep their mouths shut. However, once that person disappeared, all their enemies would publicly berate them.

As soon as Bonnefant died at the hands of the terrifying monster, screaming as he was swallowed whole, all of Peleza’s festering problems overflowed like crazy.

Their mismanagement of the frontier in the Abyss, their problems with urban damage, their scheme of deceiving their other two partners while trying to launch products independently... Everything came to the surface.

As severe problems arose one after the other, Peleza realized that this wasn’t the time to worry about others.

“I don’t know what’s happening with the world. Who knew it would turn upside down in an instant?”

The clan leader of the Six-Eyed Turtle clan, Kwon Yeonghyeong, clicked his tongue as he folded his newspaper.

All the clans had been buzzing after Peleza had spent a huge amount of money to establish an alliance with Raiden and Klein. People speculated that Peleza would take over the entire materials industry and that it would be a good idea to get in their good graces in advance. The Korean clans had also been worried that Peleza’s ascension would be detrimental to them.

However, before the competition started, Peleza screwed up catastrophically, causing their own demise. On top of that, instead of joining forces and cooperating, Raiden and Klein were throwing a tantrum, which proved that a proper competition in this industry was almost impossible.

As for Dragon Industry, they would most likely gain tremendous profit from this whole Peleza scandal.

“They’re really lucky. In any case, this is good for us. We need to have a friendly relationship with Hunter Choi Yeonseung.”

“Yeah. He helped us a lot last time.”

“We have to help them in return, but what if someone else beats us to it?”

‘Ah.’

“I’m not going to say much, but these days, you’ve been a bit...”

“Uh...”

Kwon Yeongseung was starting to sweat. He was an A-grade hunter, but that didn’t mean much, given that the clan leader was his father.

Kwon Yeonghyeong was displeased with his son even though he had become an A-grade hunter!

“It’s good to be active in the entertainment industry, but shouldn’t you also pay attention to your main job? I’m sure you’re proud about your performances in the entertainment industry, but real power and wealth comes from being a hunter...”

Such lectures would usually last for an hour...

Kwon Yeongseung lowered his head and listened in silence.

“I... This week, I’m actually going to train with Hunter Choi Yeonseung.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Hearing that, Kwon Yeonghyeong stopped nagging him. This was the first time he was satisfied by something his son said.

“Well, I’m glad you made this great decision. If you get complacent with your A-grade status and stop training, your level will only decline.”

“I-is that so? I-I meant that’s what I thought too.”

“In addition, it would be beneficial to build a strong connection with Hunter Choi Yeonseung. He’s a senior hunter after all, much older than the other hunters out there.”

‘I think Choi Yeonseung would be angry if he heard this.’

Of course, Choi Yeonseung didn’t look that much older than Kwon Yeongseung, but he was nonetheless a hunter from the first generation. Most of the hunters from his generation had retired.

Kwon Yeonghyeong was saying it as a compliment, but Choi Yeonseung would most likely be offended...

“Yeongseung, you have to keep your mind sharp. Times are becoming more complex and difficult. Hunters can no longer survive just by relying on their powers.”

Kwon Yeonghyeong was being honest with his son. The era of relying on a single strong hunter to fix everything had long been over. Various fields were divided up and had gotten highly complex. No matter what, a hunter couldn’t thrive by themselves.

What if Peleza had won this time and left all the Korean clans without armor? No number of A-grade hunters could’ve done anything to fix that.

In times like this, Kwon Yeongseung had to stay sharp and be prepared for anything, especially since South Korea was prone to suffer collateral damage if the neighboring countries fought.

“I understand.”

***

‘Still, I think Father is making too much of a deal out of this,’ Kwon Yeongseung thought to himself as he was heading for the mansion in Los Angeles where Choi Yeonseung was currently staying.

It was actually Hwang Gyeongryong’s mansion, but given his new role within the company, Choi Yeonseung was staying there instead.

Kwon Yeongseung naturally wasn’t looking forward to spending an entire weekend training with Choi Yeonseung, but he had already told his father he would train with him, so he couldn’t back out now.

‘I have to thank him.’

Kwon Yeongseung walked through the door with a gift from South Korea. He thought that maybe, just maybe, Choi Yeonseung would let him take it easy with the training if he gave him a gift.

“Hunter Kwon Yeongseung? We’ve been expecting you. Please come this way.”

The security guard recognized Kwon Yeongseung and ushered him inside. There were many mansions in South Korea as well, but none of them would compare to those in the United States.

This mansion had been built on a huge plot of land, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a small town.

“Ha! Ha! Haa!”

“Agh! Aaach! Don’t hit so hard, you crazy bastard!”

‘Are they the hunters under Hunter Choi Yeonseung?’

Kwon Yeongseung was curious to see if the martial artists he had seen before were training somewhere in the mansion.

“...???!?”

Kwon Yeongseung was shocked to see the hunters lying face down outside the mansion.

“What... What’s going on?”

“Ah, please don’t mind them. A lot of people have been coming here in the past few days.”

The security guard seemed used to this, probably because he had seen it so many times. Following Peleza’s demise, the biggest clans from various countries had rushed to Choi Yeonseung and prostrated themselves in front of him.

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung! Please let me see you just once!”

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung, my mother is actually Korean! Please just hear me out!”

“...”

Kwon Yeongseung was stunned. He knew the names of some of those hunters because they were from highly eminent clans. To think that the most respected clan leaders in the world were groveling at Choi Yeonseung’s feet...

“Ah, so you came!” Choi Yeonseung greeted Kwon Yeongseung with open arms. “Didn’t you say that you had some work to do?”

Kwon Yeongseung hastily said, “Oh, that... It got canceled, so I came to train with you instead.”

“Oh... Well, you made the right decision. Isn’t it more fun to become stronger than to wander around aimlessly? Rest assured you’ll have lots of fun here.”

“...”

Kwon Yeongseung was suddenly overcome by a chilling sense of dread. In a way, he was more scared now than when he dealt with monsters!

“W-what about those people...?”

“Those people?”

Choi Yeonseung nodded as though he suddenly remembered about them.

“They broke the contract before the scandal with Peleza, and now they’re crying on my doorstep about it.”

All the clans were desperate to remedy their relationship with Choi Yeonseung, and some of them had rushed ahead of the others to do that.

Following Peleza’s announcement, many clans had terminated their contracts with Dragon Industry and publicly announced that they would side with Peleza.

The clans who hadn’t been convinced of Peleza’s announcement were glad that they hadn’t sided with them, but those who had switched over were now dismayed and desperate.

They had committed to trusting Peleza, but then everything fell apart.

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung! Just once! Please let me see you just once!” One clan leader was still yelling from outside the mansion.

“Uh... Are you planning on not supplying them?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Choi Yeonseung shook his head. Those clan leaders were under the false impression that Choi Yeonseung was angry at their betrayal and that he wouldn’t supply them with materials in the future.

However, Choi Yeonseung was rather indifferent about this. He didn’t really feel betrayed because he hadn’t expected them to be loyal to him in the first place... He didn’t really expect much from the most popular clans worldwide.

‘They only have your back when you’re doing well. Why bother with them?’ n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Huh? If you won’t punish them, why not tell them?”

“I did, but they don’t believe me.”

“...”

Kwon Yeongseung was stunned. Wasn’t this ridiculous...?

“They’ll believe me when I show them the contract later. That’s up to them... Now, you said you were here to train?”

Choi Yeonseung smiled brightly. Kwon Yeongseung felt a chill running down his spine and stepped back. He was hoping that someone would save him...

“Chairman, an executive from Raiden came to visit. He has something to tell you.”

“...”

Choi Yeonseung frowned at that. He had been interrupted before, and now someone else was bothering him again...

“N-no, it must be important!” shouted Kwon Yeongseung, thinking that this was his one chance to get out of this training session. An executive from Raiden, a competitor, had come to speak to Choi Yeonseung. It had to be a very important proposal!

“You’re not saying this just to avoid your training, are you?

“Wha.. Uh, no, not at all! I just think that it sounds like an important meeting.”

“Alright, I’ll go and talk to him then.

Choi Yeonseung shook his head and beckoned the executive over. Kwon Yeongseung sighed in relief, thanking the heavens for saving him.