Chapter 491: Chapter 491

“But the sea itself...”

“Certainly, the composition is the problem.”

Choi Yeonseung nodded.

The rating was one thing, but the most important factor in this raid was the race! The areas one could access on that ship were determined by their race. Evidently, it was an absurd rule, but everyone had to play by it nonetheless.

“Let’s get some elves, shall we?”

“Elves are elves, but we also have to figure out the layout of the ship. We haven’t learned much.”

[The ‘Arrogant Light Elf’ delivers information.]

[As far as he knows, humans and orcs are on the first floor. Elves and dwarves are on the second floor. Angels and giants are allowed on the third floor.]

‘Uh... Thank you.’

Choi Yeonseung was slightly taken aback by the help of the elf constellation.

[The ‘Arrogant Light Elf’ says that with this, the debt from the last fight has been paid.]

With that, the elf constellation took his leave. Choi Yeonseung was impressed by his behavior.

‘All constellations should repay their debt like this.’

-...I-I’m working hard.

‘I wasn’t specifically referring to you, but... Wait. So humans and orcs are on the lowest floor, elves and dwarves on the second... And giants and angels on the third floor... What?’

Choi Yeonseung called the other household members to put their heads together.

“Isn’t it a ranking of the races that the Chef of Endless Gluttony finds delicious?”

“Could be, but it doesn’t make much sense for giants to be on the third floor.”

“Giants might have a taste we don’t know about...”

“Isn’t it based on who’s good at cooking?”

“In that case, humans are ranked too low. Humans are really good cooks.”

Choi Yeonseung and the household members came up with different explanations for the ranking on the ship, but none of them seemed right. But then, Choi Yeonseung suddenly thought of something.

“Aren’t the races ranked according to their rarity?”

“Humans are pretty rare in the Abyss... Wait.” Illaphael paused. Certainly, humans seemed out of place in the Abyss, but their numbers were by no means small. There was a large number of humans in the world overall.

“I think you’re right, Hunter Choi Yeonseung.” Adaquaniel nodded after doing the math. “It would be advantageous to take rare races with you.”

At these words, Illaphael looked pleased. She had never been so proud of being an angel!

[The ‘Six-Winged Angel Who Hunts Dragons’ advises you not to take this raid lightly.]

-Ah. I’m sorry.

In the meantime, Choi Yeonseung continued to talk with Adaquaniel.

“Speaking of which, are the nightmare demons rarer than angels?”

“Well, they are rare...”

There were far more angels and demons in the Abyss than people thought. Even though they reproduced slowly, they lived for a long time, and they were strong enough that not many Abyssal races could go up against them.

In comparison, there were a lot fewer nightmare demons. They were essentially a parasitic race that lived off of other creatures’ desires, so they naturally had a harder time maintaining and increasing their numbers.

“Then I’ll have to take the nightmare demons with me.”

“...”

Illaphael glared at the nightmare demons as if she was going to kill them. The nightmare demons flinched.

‘Uh... But I don’t really have a lot of faith in the household members of the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust.’

Putting aside Illaphael’s jealousy, Choi Yeonseung didn’t have much faith in the nightmare demons. After all, they served a hostile evil god constellation.

Of course, the goddess of pleasure had lent Choi Yeonseung her household members because of the contract, but as far as he knew, she could stab him in the back at any moment.

‘Manipulator of Dreams and Desires, can you lend me some of your household members?’

[The ‘Manipulator of Dreams and Desires’ says she can do that, but... She hesitantly asks if it is really okay.]

The manipulator constellation was slightly embarrassed. Her household members were also nightmare demons, but...

They couldn’t control their desires.

If the constellation released them next to Choi Yeonseung, there was a high chance they would attack him regardless of the mission or their orders.

‘I guess you’re right. Then can’t you join us yourself?’

[The ‘Manipulator of Dreams and Desires’ is at a loss for words.]

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says this is pretty good.]

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ says to entrust the governance of the realm to a trustworthy household member and participate in this raid yourself.]

The manipulator constellation was upset for the first time in ages.

These annoying constellations of the Alliance of Small and Intermediate Constellations...!

***

“Apart from bringing rare races with us, do you have an actual plan for dealing with this ship?” Carter wondered.

In fact, Carter still had no idea how to target this area. He would much rather deal with the boss monster of a realm. Normally, they would gain the rights to the realm if they defeated the boss monster. It was a simple and straightforward deal.

In comparison, he didn’t know what he had to do to find the ship’s captain.

“Are you doubting Hunter Choi Yeonseung, the S-grade hunter who’s repelled the forces of the evil god constellations in this invasion?” asked an angel in a serious tone from behind Carter.

“N-no... It’s not like that...”

Carter was taken aback by this angel.

The household members from the Abyss didn’t make frequent appearances on Earth, and when they did, they brought about a tremendous storm.

...However, it was a bit awkward to see all these household members act like Choi Yeonseung’s royal guards.

Were they indebted to him?

“Isn’t it a bit strange?”

“You think so?”

The other hunters were already used to it, so they didn’t notice anything strange. It wasn’t just the angels currently following Choi Yeonseung; the other household members acted in a similar manner, so the hunters were no longer surprised.

“Aren’t you coming up?”

“Ah. Yes.”

Choi Yeonseung boarded the ship of the Chef of Endless Gluttony, just like the hunters who had challenged it before.

The hunters who were meant to protect Choi Yeonseung and the other household members followed closely behind.

Choi Yeonseung nodded once everyone got aboard.

“Let’s take control of the first floor now.”

Of course, Choi Yeonseung had been thinking about how to attack even before getting on the ship. His strategy would revolve around control!

He was confident because he had wandered through countless areas and realms in the Abyss. The most effective course of action in this situation was to take control of the entire ship and check each floor one by one.

“...Huh?”

The hunters doubted their ears for a moment. What had he just said?

“I said take control of the first floor.”

“N-no... Wait a minute, Hunter Choi Yeonseung. It’s dangerous to fight here. The household members of the Chef of Endless Gluttony will throw anyone who fights overboard.”

“Wow, how careful they are. We can just come back.”

“...”

“...I-is that so?”

The hunters initially thought that Choi Yeonseung was joking, but he actually seemed serious based on his tone.

Could they actually pick a fight on this ship...?

“Listen, we won’t be able to do anything if we’re afraid of being thrown off or punished. Don’t worry. Even if we get thrown into the sea, we can just come back.”

If another hunter had said it, nobody would’ve taken them seriously. However, Choi Yeonseung’s status and authority were too great for the hunters to protest. Besides, these particular hunters had yet to experience firsthand just how crazy constellations were.

“I understand. I’ll follow your orders, Hunter Choi Yeonseung!”

“Just give us an order!”

At the end of the day, these hunters were all loyal people, so they quickly nodded and stopped questioning Choi Yeonseung’s decision.

“From now on, the first floor will be controlled by us humans!”

“You will need permission for any action on this floor, such as passing through or using our facilities!”

“Doing anything here without permission will get you arrested!”

“???”

“Are these humans crazy??”

The other Abyssal races who were wandering around on the first floor, looking for the captain, were stunned by the sudden racket from the humans.

Were they out of their minds?

“Are you crazy, human? What are you trying to do here?”

“You’ve heard us. Identify yourself immediately! I suggest you cooperate and tell us your origins.”

“Get lost!” the lion beast warrior snorted and waved at the hunters dismissively.

A second later, Choi Yeonseung jumped at the lion beast warrior, knocking him out with one clean hit.

Thud!

Choi Yeonseung lifted the fallen lion beast warrior and swiftly threw him overboard, not giving anyone time to intervene.

“...”

“...”

All the Abyssal creatures were stunned.

After a brief moment of silence, a household member of the Chef of Endless Gluttony came running and yelled, “You’ve started a fight! You will be expelled overboard!”

[The power of the ‘Chef of Endless Gluttony’ is activated.]

[You will be expelled from the ship!]

“!”

Choi Yeonseung had wanted to see how the others would try to throw him overboard, but it seemed that the household member was directly using the power of the chef constellation rather than catching him.

‘So that’s how it is, huh?’

Choi Yeonseung disappeared from the ship and reappeared in the sea as though he had been teleported there.

“Cough! Cough!”

Next to him was the lion beast warrior whom he had just thrown. He was thrashing and screaming.

“Aagh! I’m... freezing! Cough! Freezing!”

“Yes, this is an Abyssal sea with a unique cold snap. It can be extremely difficult to withstand this temperature if you don’t have a tolerance to the ice element.”

Choi Yeonseung kindly gave the lion beast advice like a professional. Of course, given how much he was struggling and panicking, the lion beast warrior couldn’t think of an ice resistance skill.

“He-help me! Help me! I’ll do anything if you save me! I swear!”

“Is that so?”

Choi Yeonseung grabbed the lion beast warrior and infused internal energy mixed with extreme yang energy into him to raise his temperature and shatter the ice that had formed on him.

“Hu-human... Thank you! Really... Thank you!”

-Perhaps the cold made him forget who threw him in the sea in the first place.

Choi Yeonseung didn’t bother telling the lion beast warrior about what the goddess of sloth had just said. If he was grateful, why ruin the atmosphere?

“Then let’s go back up.”

“But... We can’t! You can’t use magic properly here in the sea. Look at this wind! The magic power is swirling like crazy!”

It wasn’t a storm of magic power, but all sorts of energy waves colliding with each other and blowing in different directions. Using delicate spells would be almost impossible in this situation.

However, this didn’t mean much to Choi Yeonseung. After all, martial arts were perfect for such situations. It wasn’t just once or twice that he had been in an Abyssal sea.

“Let’s go.”

“!??”

Choi Yeonseung grabbed the lion beast warrior by the back of his neck and ran on the surface of the frosty water to chase the ship.

The lion beast was stunned.

Was this actually a human?!

***

“Will you cooperate with our inquiries or do you want to take a swim with me?”

The Abyssal races were stunned by Choi Yeonseung’s question.

“Why didn’t you properly expel this crazy human?”

“We did... We followed the rules exactly.”

It was no use to question the household member of the Chef of Endless Gluttony. After all, they had thrown Choi Yeonseung overboard, but he had just climbed back on.

Choi Yeonseung asked again, “Will you cooperate with the investigation? Or...”

“You bastard... You think you’ll be safe if you keep acting like this?”

Instead of further threatening them, Choi Yeonseung told the household member next to him, “This guy is trying to use violence.”

“Fighting onboard is forbidden. If you don’t calm down, you’ll be thrown overboard.”

“...”

“...”

The Abyss races realized that they were in the clutches of a madman. There had been rumors about the human race all over the Abyss lately, but they hadn’t thought they were this crazy!

“I heard that humans are crazy, but this guy is really...”

“I have to tell others to be careful when dealing with them in the future.”