Chapter 514: Chapter 514

@Korea_Hunterfan

-What? Is it fake news? You can’t trust anyone these days.

?But there are too many people who have seen it.

?That’s right. My friend’s younger brother said he saw it too.

?By the way, isn’t it weird that all those media outlets are suddenly posting apologies?

It had been some time since the Abyssal gate opened, and people had become accustomed to such things. If a media company posted an apology like “We apologize for the defamation of this hunter,” most people would automatically think, “Oh, I guess the hunter went to the company building and made a fuss.”

On that note, those media outlets had to have started apologizing profusely to the Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor because someone had pressured them.

-They must’ve apologized first because they might face legal action. The media is terrible.

?But they aren’t good enough to apologize for that...

-Then what? Like the rumors circulating right now that Hunter Choi Yeonseung threatened the clan leaders? Where do you live? You aren’t Korean, are you??

?No... No, I’m Korean...

@Fire_Dog

-There are people spreading rumors that Hunter Choi Yeonseung threatened the leader of the Pearl-Spitting Turtle. The leader himself strongly denied those rumors. It’s defamatory to many people. Please be careful, everyone.

@Six_Eyed_Turtle

-There is a rumor that Hunter Choi Yeonseung threatened the leader of the Pearl Spitting Turtle clan...

Several large clans, as well as people who worshiped Choi Yeonseung, denied the rumors outright, firmly declaring that there was no way someone like Hunter Choi Yeonseung would throw a clan leader out the window.

In addition, the clan leader and the reporters at the scene had testified that nothing had happened, causing the witnesses to be confused.

Had their eyes played tricks on them...?

@Seha_Han

-Anyone who defames Hunter Choi Yeonseung should know that their organs will be damaged.

?Hunter Han Seha! You made a typo for the word ‘darling.’

-It isn’t a typo?

***

Choi Wuseok, a B+ hunter from the Pearl-Spitting Turtle, headed to the clan headquarters with a firm expression. The clan’s parking lot was packed with rare sports cars, which meant that the other hunters were already there.

“No? Say no.”

“I-I can’t say anything.”

“Say no, you bastard!”

Choi Wuseok grabbed the clan employee’s collar and shook him back and forth. The other hunters rushed in to stop him.

“Calm down, Wuseok.”

“That’s right. How could the clan leader actually be thrown out the window?”

“...”

Choi Wuseok could’ve sworn that he noticed the eyes of the employee twitch for a brief moment. It couldn’t be...?

There was currently a lot of turmoil among the hunters of the Pearl-Spitting Turtle clan, specifically between those who had participated in the previous international competition.

Rumors were circulating that the clan leader had been called in for his involvement in the international competition and then thrown out a window. Thus, there was no way the hunters under his command were fine.

At the moment, they were shaking with anxiety.

“The clan leader is asking you to come up.”

“Hey! Tell me the truth! Tell me the truth!”

It turned out that demanding answers from this staff member was useless.

The hunters frowned and went up. The highest floor of the building was the space of the clan leader. They opened the door and saw the clan leader sitting by himself, wrapped up in bandages.

“...”

“...”

Seeing their leader like this, the hunters wondered if the rumors were true.

Had he... Had he really been thrown out the window...??

“No way...?”

“...”

“No??”

“Shut up,” the clan leader spoke in a low, gloomy voice. He sounded like he wanted to throw the heavy desk in front of him at the hunters.

Everyone instinctively shut up.

“You should all go to the Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor and sincerely apologize for what you did during the last international competition.”

“Huh? Why should we do that??”

“Just do it! I...!” the clan leader yelled as he pointed at the window, only to stop abruptly. “...No, forget it. Do it and come back. Don’t talk back to him, and if you refuse to go, you can pack your bags and leave the clan. You’ll go ahead and do it if you know what’s good for you.”

“...”

The atmosphere in the room froze.

‘Did he really get thrown out the window?’

‘I’ve heard that Hunter Choi Yeonseung isn’t the type to do that...’

‘So why is he acting like this?’

There had been many witnesses at the scene, from clan leaders to reporters, so why didn’t anyone talk about it? The hunters at the scene didn’t think that Hunter Choi Yeonseung had threatened the witnesses to kill them if they came forward and talked...

The hunters of the Pearl-Spitting Turtle had no choice but to go out with displeased expressions.

“Are you going to apologize?”

“Uh, I don’t know... You?”

“I’m not going. Humiliating myself like that? No way.”

All the hunters here had a certain status. Even though the Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor was a legend, these hunters couldn’t just go there and say “I was wrong!” while kneeling.

“Well, I’m going. I feel a bit uncomfortable about the situation.”

“Are you crazy?”

“We didn’t listen to him back then. The Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor isn’t the type of person that doesn’t accept apologies. I’ll just go and tell him I’m sorry.”

“You coward...”

Choi Wuseok sneered at the colleague who was planning to go and apologize. However, after nightfall, he drank with his other colleagues and went up to Lee Changsik’s mansion.

“Choi Wuseok?”

“What? Who are you?”

“You’re drunk. Let me help you sober up.”

At that moment, a powerful energy surged into Choi Wuseok’s whole body. The energy caused the alcohol in his veins to evaporate. With that, Choi Wuseok could finally recognize the person in front of him.

“Choi... Hunter Choi Yeonseung??”

“Yes. I said I was going to find you. The clan leader must’ve not delivered the message.”

“Wh-what nonsense...”

Choi Wuseok fell on his face before finishing his sentence.

“Agh! Ghah! Aargh!”

This was the first time since awakening as a hunter that Choi Wuseok experienced such ruthless violence. He was paralyzed by Pressure Point Attack, so he couldn’t fight back... He could only endure the overwhelming baptism of violence coming his way!

With a vicious kick, Choi Yeonseung launched Choi Wuseok into the wall of the mansion.

“There’s no second chance. If you don’t come and apologize next time, I will throw you and your clan leader out the window.”

In his battered state, Choi Wuseok finally realized what had happened to the clan leader.

Ring—!

He looked at his phone and saw a text message from the clan leader.

-You bastard, I told you to go and apologize!! One more time because of you—

“...”

***

Lee Changsik cast Choi Yeonseung a suspicious glance, but Choi Yeonseung just stood there with an expressionless face.

A bunch of hunters, all wrapped up in bandages and seemingly with a few broken bones, had come up and said, “We’re sorry, Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor! Please forgive us just this once!

It was clear that they hadn’t done that out of their own volition.

“I didn’t need this...”

“The hunters came to you because they reflected on themselves,” Choi Yeonseung replied. “What does that have to do with me?”

“...In any case, thank you. However, considering the upcoming competition, I’m not happy to make a fuss like this.”

Lee Changsik looked over with a worried expression.

The international competition wasn’t a battle that could be won just with Choi Yeonseung’s strength. There was a limit to what the director could do, and the hunters were the most important factor.

However, the fact that Choi Yeonseung had taken over as the director of the South Korean team had set people abuzz. The fans that had lost all hope in the Korean team were understandably excited about this change.

Of course, if the hunters’ performance was subpar, those fans would naturally return to being disappointed.

A hunter’s rank meant nothing when it came to the disappointment of the public. Of course, since an S-grade hunter was taking charge of the team, the expectations were incredibly high, and failing to meet those expectations would lead to an overwhelmingly negative reaction.

“You don’t have to worry. Who do you think I am?”

“Indeed...”

Lee Changsik was surprised by Choi Yeonseung’s confidence. Of course, his confidence wasn’t baseless. After all, he was no ordinary human but a constellation.

Lee Changsik wasn’t sure if he should actually look forward to the competition, at least a little bit.

“First of all, let’s look at the hunters...”

“We have to do our best to comfort them.” Lee Changsik nodded.

Since everyone was making a fuss about this upcoming international competition, the hunters participating were bound to be nervous. The fans still thought, ‘We lost because of those bastards,’ and the hunters would have to apologize...

“Huh? I was going to kick them all out.”

“...Huh?”

“Why take those arrogant assholes when they’re not even that good?”

“...”

Lee Changsik was taken aback. Was this... Was this okay?

“Wouldn’t it be better to reconsider? The power...”

“Get lost. You have five seconds. If you don’t disappear from my sight, I’ll do what I did last time.”

Regardless, Choi Yeonseung proceeded to remove the hunters.

The hunters, who had already taken a beating from Choi Yeonseung, jumped out as soon as he issued his warning. They were sure that they would be beaten like dogs in five seconds.

The only ones remaining were Kwon Yeongseung and Han Seha. They had also participated in the last international competition, and they had actually listened to Lee Changsik. They would be candidates for the team, but Choi Yeonseung could just entrust them with the big roles.

“We need to find new hunters.”

“That’s a great idea,” Han Seha said with a thumbs up.

“Thank you, Seha.”

***

“I can’t believe I have to pick from these hunters...”

“Don’t worry, Zheng Zhiyun. You’ve got this!”

“Bah.”

Zheng Zhiyun looked at the list of hunters with a disgruntled expression.

After the invasion of the evil god constellations broke out, the Chinese A-grade hunters openly joined forces with high-ranking party officials, saying things like “You have any complaints about me being the ruler of this region? You can’t come here anyway, right?”

The whole country was divided, and naturally, someone from the few remaining executives had to take responsibility for the national team.

Zheng Zhiyun was a former member of the Central Hunter Committee, which essentially ruled China. He had been pushed out because he hadn’t been able to figure out the intentions of the A-grade hunters in advance.

Of course, being the director of the Chinese national team was a very prestigious position, but it wasn’t enough for Zheng Zhiyun.

“Isn’t it crazy to have an international competition in this situation? We’ll get criticized if we win. If we lose, we’ll just be humiliated.”

“Won’t it be a message to those who are dissatisfied?”

“It’s only natural to try and beat the Korean and Japanese hunters...”

Zheng Zhiyun grumbled as he continued looking at the list. In a way, this type of international competition was more like an act of bravado that declared, “We’re still fine.”

“Some A-grade hunters will be absent. Will that be okay...?”

China’s strength came from the fact that it had many A-grade hunters, and they could force these hunters to participate and train them mercilessly, ignoring their free will.

But now, several A-grade hunters had left.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Zheng Zhiyun didn’t care, as he had already confirmed the situation before coming here. There still were some A-grade hunters around, some of whom had recently been promoted following the outbreak of the invasion.

In fact, those A-grade hunters were less reliable than the previous ones, but this was an international competition. The remaining hunters had been training rigorously in their lower ranks, so they were certain to perform well.

“Zheng Zhiyun, the director of South Korea’s team...”

“Could it be that the Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor wants to humiliate himself again? Do Koreans have no heart?” Zheng Zhiyun couldn’t believe it.

Of course, it didn’t matter how much effort the Chinese hunters put into this competition. Once public opinion was unfavorable, they would be called out and forced to post an apology along the lines of “We apologize for being so frivolous in this situation! Don’t criticize the party! We are the ones to blame!”

However, South Korea wasn’t like China. They would never do something like that!

“No... Hunter Choi Yeonseung is in charge of South Korea’s team...”

“...Are you serious??” Zheng Zhiyun’s eyes widened. He had never thought that such a great opportunity would come his way!