Chapter 429: Chapter 429

-Isn’t she being too humble?

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ also envies the ‘Manipulator of Dreams and Desires.’]

The goddess of balance had yet to prove herself with an impressive performance, and she was being overshadowed by Adaquaniel’s consistent accomplishments...

In contrast, the manipulator constellation was doing her job flawlessly, clearly because she understood Earth and human beings well.

[The ‘Manipulator of Dreams and Desires’ says that she did nothing.]\

-I see. Sometimes, the best strategy is to do nothing.

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ learned one thing...]

[The ‘Manipulator of Dreams and Desires’ is angry!]

The manipulator constellation ultimately got angry, and only then did Choi Yeonseung and the goddess of balance understand what was going on.

‘But that doesn’t mean she should be angry.’

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ also feels awkward.]

-That’s not what matters right now, is it?

The goddess of sloth was wondering about the more important matter. If the manipulator constellation hadn’t done anything, why had those hunters come in like that and accepted Choi Yeonseung’s offer?

‘I see.’

It didn’t make any sense. The competition was outstanding, and Choi Yeonseung hadn’t even done anything yet.

‘There’s something weird going on. Maybe there’s something I’m not aware of.’

“Can I ask why you accepted my offer?”

“Huh?”

The people from the Duduri clan were taken aback. They had expected Choi Yeonseung to be delighted.

‘Is this something normal people would ask?’

Even though they were surprised by his response, he was still Choi Yeonseung, so the people of the Duduri clan answered meekly, “Hunter Choi Yeonseung... We thought that you were the most trustworthy...?”

“!”

At these words, the Blocker siblings and Han Gyeongjun, who stood in an awkward pose, looked surprised.

It was an unexpected reason, but after thinking about it, they realized that it actually made a lot of sense.

In the end, it was difficult for a hunter to blindly trust a proposal from a clan. Everyone was out for themselves, so how could a hunter entrust their future to a clan?

However, it was a different story if the proposal came from a reliable hunter, but... The problem was that there were almost no reliable hunters out there!

In that sense, Choi Yeonseung was an anomaly.

‘I see.’ Han Gyeongjun nodded. He understood what Choi Yeonseung’s convictions were and how they had allowed him to easily subdue the Blocker siblings and confidently approach the Duduri clan.

People would often become obsessed with profit when working with hunters, worrying about how much they should pay to recruit a certain hunter or cooperate with a certain clan, and so on.

But in the end, the most important factor was the trust between people.

Hunters and clans often mocked Choi Yeonseung, saying things like “It’s ridiculous how obsessed he is with his image” and “He’s the king of pushovers!”, but Choi Yeonseung could proudly show the value of what he had been doing.

Han Gyeongjun suddenly got goosebumps as he reflected on him. All A-grade hunters were big names, but he had never seen someone like Choi Yeonseung.

The siblings who were immobilized next to him probably felt the same, given that they weren’t even trying to speak anymore...

Choi Yeonseung nodded at the Duduri hunters, and seeing this, Han Gyeongjun thought to himself, ‘He must’ve been touched by the sincerity of these hunters.’

No matter how different Choi Yeonseung was, walking a different path from everyone else had to be exhausting, even for him. Han Gyeongjun couldn’t even begin to imagine how angry Choi Yeonseung had to be when others treated him like a pushover and tried to take advantage of his kindness.

Seeing Choi Yeonseung be rewarded like this definitely felt heartwarming...

“There’s a misunderstanding.”

“...”

“...”

Choi Yeonseung instantly shattered the warm atmosphere.

“Mmphf... Fmph?”

The twins also looked at Choi Yeonseung with astonished expressions. They thought it was working out well, so why...?

“Sit down here. I think you guys are running the clan a bit weirdly. I’ll teach you the principles you need to keep in mind when running a small clan.”

“Huh?”

“Sit down.”

“Yes...”

The members of the clan sat down with bewildered expressions. If an A-grade hunter urged them to sit down twice, they had no choice but to comply...

“Now, while it’s important to pay attention to the person who made you an offer first, you have to look at other proposals and compare the terms and make those people compete for you.”

“...”

“...”

Everyone from the Duduri clan was stunned, but they immediately took notes. They didn’t know what was going on, but they felt they had to write everything down!

***

“Thank you. We’ve learned a lot from you!”

“I didn’t expect you to give us such valuable lessons, Hunter Choi Yeonseung!”

After the conversation, the members of Duduri bowed and saw off Choi Yeonseung.

“If you ever need any help or guidance about raids, feel free to contact me.”

“R-really?!”

The Duduri hunters looked at Choi Yeonseung with expressions of jubilation.

The reality was that Park Seunghwi was the most important person in this whole matter. His clan colleagues weren’t really important. Thus, Choi Yeonseung could’ve just taken Park Seunghwi with him and not bothered with anyone else.

For that reason, the other Duduri hunters hadn’t expected Choi Yeonseung to help them out like this. Besides being grateful, everyone was also convinced that they had sent Park Seunghwi to the right person.

‘Yeah, we can certainly trust Hunter Choi Yeonseung. Unlike other clans, he’ll pave out a good path for Seunghwi.’

‘At first, I wondered why he was acting like this all of a sudden. But he personally gave us advice because he was afraid we might be shaken after Seunghwi leaves. He was once in a clan just like ours, so he understands our position.’

Everyone from the clan was moved as they saw Choi Yeonseung off. The Blocker twins were also forced to admit it.

‘Amazing... I can’t believe there’s this kind of atmosphere when they’re giving away one of their hunters.’

‘I’ve never seen anything like this before.’

Generally speaking, the atmosphere within a clan was bound to be gloomy whenever a hunter left to pursue something greater. The rest of the hunters would naturally sink into jealousy and resentment.

Yet surprisingly, Choi Yeonseung had managed to keep everyone in the Duduri clan happy.

Hunter Park Seunghwi would’ve probably felt uncomfortable about abandoning his peers, but now he most likely felt supported.

‘So this is what Hunter Choi Yeonseung wanted to show us...?!’

Despite their lingering anger, the Blocker twins were now convinced of Choi Yeonseung’s abilities, and they were forced to admit that with such sophisticated persuasion skills, he could recruit any hunter he wanted!

-Wait, this wasn’t the plan though?

The goddess of sloth had been passively watching everything unfold, but then she suddenly realized something.

The original plan was for Choi Yeonseung to teach the insignificant humans about the greatness of a constellation. However, Choi Yeonseung had just explained to them how to run the clan before leaving.

‘Oh, sorry. My bad.’

Choi Yeonseung was forced to admit his mistake. He had been supposed to seal the deal by showing everyone that he could use the power of the manipulator constellation to take down the other constellations. However, he had done it purely by luck.

-Why did you help those humans like that?

-I suppose they reminded me of the old days.

-...

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ praises you for that.]

-Thank you.

‘Well played, guys... Well played.’

The goddess of sloth was irritated with the two of them. They were taking such good care of each other that it wasn’t surprising they would eventually have a child...

‘I have to move on and show my abilities somewhere else.’

Choi Yeonseung released the pressure points of the siblings. It was embarrassing, but given his failure to follow the plan, he had to display his abilities somewhere else.

“Fine, I acknowledge you.”

“You were justified in saying those things to us. We’ve learned a lot.”

“...?”

[The power of existence has increased due to faith!]

Choi Yeonseung was perplexed.

‘What are they doing?’

***

“Th-thank you! I-I’ll do my best and work hard in the future!” Park Seunghwi stammered before Choi Yeonseung.

It was understandable for him to be nervous. Even though several clans and companies had made him scouting offers, Park Seunghwi was still a low-grade hunter with nothing to show yet. Thus, an A-grade hunter like Choi Yeonseung was almost like a god to him.

“I heard you’d like to work in South Korea if possible. Is that right?” inquired Choi Yeonseung.

“Th-that’s right! B-but I’ll work hard wherever you send me!” Park Seunghwi hurriedly replied. He would’ve liked to work in South Korea for the sake of his family, but he had no intention of being stubborn when so much money was involved.

“No, you can work in South Korea if that’s what you want.”

“Th... Thank you! Thank you very much!”

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ wants you to ask him what he is making.]

‘?’

Choi Yeonseung was puzzled by the intervention of the cat constellation, but he decided to ask the question since it wasn’t that big of a deal.

“So, what are you making?”

Park Seunghwi’s workshop, located in the clan building, was cluttered with all kinds of materials and components, and there were no finished artifacts in sight.

As the number of hunters increased rapidly, companies focused on creating artificial artifacts that could be mass-produced. However, there was still a large demand for artifacts personally produced by craftsmen.

Everyone wanted to get artifacts that suited them, but creating artifacts on one’s own was quite difficult. Besides the effort of sourcing materials and making blueprints, it would take a considerable amount of time and labor for one person to craft the artifact itself.

It wasn’t for nothing that companies spent tons of money to automate the process.

Flustered, Park Seunghwi hurriedly made an excuse.

“I was making a shield, but there’s a bit of trial and error. It might take some time...”

Park Seunghwi couldn’t believe that he stood in front of his new employer empty-handed. He tried to somehow make it seem like he had it under control.

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ nods that it understands as a fellow craftsman.]

-Is that so?

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ gets angry and asks you to remember the time you made equipment out of orichalcum!]

The cat constellation was fuming. It still shook when it thought about how Choi Yeonseung had kept pressing it with insolent questions like “When will it be done?”, “Will it take much longer” or “Haven’t you been working on this for a while now?”

Anyone would be stressed if they had to meet a deadline, regardless of whether they were a mortal or a constellation.

Choi Yeonseung felt a bit bad.

‘I’ll have to treat the cat constellation better.’

“There’s nothing to be nervous about. I don’t need you to show me a finished product. I just want to see what you’re working on.”

“O-oh... Really?”

Park Seunghwi felt a bit relieved hearing that, but he was still somewhat nervous.

The Cat of Lava and Magma seemed to feel bad about him and offered some advice.

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ points out that there is too much ore in the shield, making the flow of magic power unstable.]

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ advises you to keep only eight out of seventeen and get rid of the rest.]

“Do you mind if I touch it for a moment?”

“Huh...? Ah, of course!”

Park Seunghwi’s expression became clouded. All craftsmen disliked someone else touching their work.

‘This is my work...’

However, he couldn’t say something like that to a hunter like Choi Yeonseung, especially on his first day on the job.

Choi Yeonseung proceeded to remove the ore from the shield with steady hands. He was more sensitive to the flow of magic power than anyone else in this room, so he understood what the cat constellation meant.

‘I see. The reduction in the number of ores causes the magic to flow more smoothly through the artifact.’

After Choi Yeonseung took out the excess ores, the flow of magic power stabilized and it neatly activated the armor.

“!!!”

Park Seunghwi’s eyes widened as he realized that the shield was working. Before, it wouldn’t activate because the magic power collided with itself, but now the magic suddenly activated the shield.

“How... How did you do it?! Please teach me! Can you teach me?!”

At this wondrous sight, the dissatisfaction instantly vanished from Park Seunghwi’s expression. He was looking at Choi Yeonseung with a reverent expression.

However, the look in his eyes angered the cat constellation.

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ is upset because it was the one who taught you.]