Chapter 500: Chapter 500

“Should I pretend to know him?’

“What if he gets annoyed by that?”

“Uh...”

If the Golden Blood Fish hunters had come across a normal hunter from an ordinary clan, they would’ve just said, “Hey! What a surprise to meet a fellow human here in the Abyss! Nice to meet you!”

However, Choi Yeonseung was not just any hunter. His social status and strength as a hunter was leagues above anyone from the Golden Blood Fish clan. He was a formidable force in South Korea even before he became an S-grade hunter.

By accurately predicting and making preparations for the invasion of the evil god constellations, Choi Yeonseung had swayed the public opinion on his side. Then, he managed to put the disobedient politicians and clans in their place, reigning over them.

Overall, Choi Yeonseung could bury anyone if he put his mind to it, so the Golden Blood Fish hunters were understandably scared of him.

But contrary to their worries, it seemed that Choi Yeonseung actually knew about them.

“Oh, Korean hunters? Are you from the Golden Blood Fish clan?”

“!!!”

The hunters of the Golden Blood Fish were thrilled that such a great hunter recognized and greeted them first.

...They wanted to approach him, but they were scared by the blood dripping from Choi Yeonseung’s fist.

“What’s wrong? Ah, this? Don’t worry about it. It’s not my blood.”

‘Clearly...’

***

At first, Choi Yeonseung tried his best to be friendly with the other Abyssal mortals, and he had various reasons for that.

Most importantly, as a constellation, he had confirmed in the Third Kingdom that kindness could persuade mortals to become his followers.

-Was that... being kind?

Since he had to stop the household members of the evil god constellations from doing anything in the Temple of Glory, it made sense to be kind to the wandering mortals. However, that resolution didn’t last long.

“Get lost! Humans are uncivilized beings who can’t even use magic properly.”

Some demons started trouble when they saw Choi Yeonseung walking over to the temple. The recent rumors of humans disturbing the Abyss had caused many demons to be apprehensive toward humans.

Many of the humans’ areas of activity overlapped with the areas of demons. Those wicked humans went from place to place and deceived the local races into signing contracts. Then, they would bleed the area of all the resources before the Abyssal races noticed.

It seemed that humans were ever more adept at extortion than demons, even though they had been doing this in the Abyss for centuries.

After establishing a company, the humans systematically investigated the races in the area and suppressed them with contracts. The demons that arrived late in those areas had nothing left to gain.

-Hihi... I heard there’s a lake in the village where spirits dwell. If you dedicate that lake to me...

-I’m sorry, but we’ve traded access to the lake to the human newcomers. In return for monthly supplies, we allow them to access the lake.

-...If you dedicate your time to me, I will give you more strength...

-I’m sorry, but I’ve promised the humans to work six hours a day for them.

-Who are these bloody bastards tricking other mortals with ridiculous terms?!

The demons, who traditionally valued contracts, were outraged by the tyranny of the humans. They systematically wiped out everything, leaving the demons to starve!

Therefore, it was only natural that some demons were hostile toward humans.

Bam!

“Say that shit again! Who doesn’t know how to use magic?”

Of course, indignation and resentment were one thing, but the demons at the Temple of Glory actually started a fight with Choi Yeonseung, and he couldn’t care less about their reasons.

“You human bastard...!”

Choi Yeonseung gave the demons a proper beating. His beautifully coordinated moves made it clear that he had a lot of experience fighting demons.

Firstly, he interrupted their magic with quick blows. Then, he broke the demons’ balance with low kicks, knocking them over. From that point, Choi Yeonseung kept hitting the demons without giving them the chance to properly get up.

At a glance, it seemed like a simplistic fight without any magic or skills, but Choi Yeonseung’s moves were fluid and incredibly effective.

The demons kept trying to use magic, but every time they did so, a punch or a kick knocked them back down.

Fortunately, the arrival of the other humans saved the demons, as Choi Yeonseung stopped attacking them after seeing the Golden Blood Fish hunters.

“Hey, demons. From now on, keep your heads down when you see humans. Got it?”

“...”

The trembling demons quickly got up and fled.

The goddess of sloth was worried.

‘I think things have already become twisted...’

Wasn’t it already wrong to secretly dig away at the household members of the evil god constellations?

“Are you all here to go through the trials? It’s a good attitude. You have to seize such opportunities to train in order to get stronger and stronger.”

“Th-thank you.”

The hunters of the Golden Blood Fish clan were flustered by Choi Yeonseung’s words, but they still kept a keen eye on their surroundings.

Other Abyssal races were staring at them with fearful expressions as if they were wondering, ‘What are those humans doing?’

The hunters couldn’t tell if that was a good or a bad thing.

“Are there hunters from other countries?”

“Yes... We haven’t approached them, but I’m sure there are a few.”

One could obtain new skills by completing challenges at the Temple of Glory, so it was bound to be popular. There were many other clans besides the Golden Blood Fish that aimed to train at this temple.

“I see. That’s great. I’ll go ahead and meet the hunters from other countries.”

Choi Yeonseung decided to approach those hunters in order to prevent the household members of evil god constellations from reaching out to them.

“...?”

“?”

However, the Golden Blood Fish hunters were baffled by Choi Yeonseung’s words. Even though they themselves weren’t particularly close to Choi Yeonseung, their clan had a connection to him, so they weren’t necessarily terrified of him, but...

Wouldn’t it be extremely stressful for hunters from other countries to be approached by him?

“What’s the matter?” asked Choi Yeonseung.

“It sounds like a great idea!”

“That’s right! Meeting an S-grade hunter like you is a valuable opportunity! Everyone will be pleased!”

Of course, the Golden Blood Fish hunters didn’t have the guts to speak their minds. If they acted like this, what would the overseas hunters do?!

***

-The household member of the Undefeated Incarnation of Training is here? What are his intentions?

-Maybe he’s trying to get the rewards from the Temple of Glory?

-No. He’s not an ordinary man. Don’t let your guard down prematurely. Besides, I’ve heard the other day that his master acquired the Third Realm.

The mortals serving the Explorer of the Stars, an evil god constellation, held a meeting in a corner of the Temple of Glory. They had heard a rumor that a household member of the Undefeated Incarnation of Training had come to the temple.

Many constellations had already been wary of the incarnation of training, and their wariness had reached the peak now that he had claimed the Third Realm.

The Explorer of the Stars was among those constellations. Besides, he had a grudge against Choi Yeonseung for having his beloved pet stolen by him. Naturally, his followers were also hostile toward Choi Yeonseung.

-So what do we do? Do we just try to take him down?

-But his strength is absurd. Besides, he’s a bad enemy for us. Didn’t Jaldaran, the elf, also lose to him?

Most of the followers of the Explorer of the Stars were brilliant magicians, but they were far from being brutal combatants. Besides, it was a well-known fact that Choi Yeonseung had obliterated several magicians with his unique martial arts.

-That’s right. We should interfere in other ways, not fight him directly.

-In other ways? Like what?

-There are several mortals who hate his guts! Besides those who generally despise humans, there are also household members of evil god constellations who want him dead.

-Oh, using those mortals sounds like a great idea!

Having finished their meeting, the household members of the Explorer of the Stars rose from their seats. They were all proud of their intelligence.

They made for a more fearsome force than the Warrior Stained with Madness and Blood, who could only attack with raw strength!

“Hey, have you heard the rumor? I heard the household member of the Undefeated Incarnation of Training has come to the temple.”

The household members of the explorer constellation spoke to a passing demon as naturally as possible.

The demon nodded knowingly.

“You see, humans have been causing a lot of trouble in the Abyss these days, especially those who serve the incarnation of training. Did you know that one of them attacked a bunch of demons the other day?”

“I heard about it.”

“If we leave him alone, he might become even more dangerous. We know what his weakness is. Are you interested?”

“Are you suggesting that we attack him?”

“Huh? Nonsense. It’s just about being prepared in advance.”

The demon agonized over the proposal of the household member before nodding.

“Cough... Yes, I’d like to know.”

“That guy...”

The household members of the explorer constellation told the demon a plausible lie. It didn’t matter what kind of weakness they invented. If the demons thought Choi Yeonseung had a weakness to begin with, they would be confident enough to attack him.

“Thank you. That’s very helpful.”

“An enemy like Choi Yeonseung must be defeated right away. We can’t leave him unchecked.”

“Choi Yeonseung! These guys want to kill you!” the demon yelled before rushing toward Choi Yeonseung in a frightened manner.

The household members were dumbfounded at the demon’s shocking betrayal. What was this...?!

***

The overseas hunters who had been summoned seemed puzzled, but they nonetheless greeted each other politely.

“We’re all humans, so you hope we can work together in completing the challenges of the Temple of Glory. Is that right?”

Nicole, a B-grade hunter from France, was baffled. What kind of nonsense was this? Whoever had useful information should try to get all the rewards for themselves. Of course, they couldn’t say that out loud, but...

“...Okay!”

“...”

No one could decline Choi Yeonseung’s request.

Fritsch, a hunter from Germany whose value was quite high, nodded next to Nicole while forcibly managing his expression. All the hunters at the scene were very compliant and shared all the information they had obtained so far.

“So it’s best to go in when there are two full moons?”

“As far as I know, yes...”

There were various trials within the Temple of Glory, and they changed every hour. Given that rewards varied with each trial, the challengers had to pay attention to what specific trials there were and to the circumstances surrounding them.

That was doubly important because after succeeding once, a challenger had to wait for a while before entering the temple again.

“I’ve heard that when there are two full moons, the enemies inside are stone statues, and you can obtain the Solid Soul skill if you defeat them.

“As far as I know, if you go into the river west of the temple when it stops running, you can acquire a magic skill just by nullifying some simple magic. You don’t have to deal with any enemies.”

Choi Yeonseung had called the hunters just to join forces, but the more he listened, the more intrigued he was by the realm of the Monk Pursuing Glory.

‘How interesting... I never thought a constellation could create such an incredible realm of strength with their power of existence.’

-This is what a normal training ground for a constellation looks like. It’s way more efficient than wandering around in the Abyss for ten thousand years...

Choi Yeonseung pretended not to hear it.

-By the way, shouldn’t you focus more on the household members of the evil god constellations hiding here rather than on the rewards?

-Wait a minute. If I found out more about the rewards using Future Sight... Should I ask the goddess of balance?

The goddess of sloth was dumbfounded. Even though he was a constellation, he was still obsessed with every single skill...

“We can’t clear it at our current level! There’s a lack of defense. Please get stronger equipment.”

“Do you think we can easily get such equipment?”

Choi Yeonseung was puzzled when he suddenly saw the demons arguing in front of the temple.

“What are they doing?”

“Ah. Maybe they know the specific details of the trial they want to attempt but don’t have the ability to do it. A good strategy is useless if you don’t have the power to employ it.”

“Hmm.”

Choi Yeonseung approached the demons, and the hunters wondered what he was about to do. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“He’s going to attack the demons.”

“Why would he do that?”

‘That’s what’s going to happen.’

However, what happened took everyone by surprise.

Choi Yeonseung talked to the demons, took them aside, and gave them food.

“???”