Chapter 227
Awakened individuals instinctively understood their powers as soon as they gained them, becoming capable of using those abilities according to their nature.
For Ma Dongwook, a lifetime dedicated to judo had shaped his power into something raw and formidable—a pure, unyielding strength. From the moment he awakened as an S-rank hunter, the mightiest of all abilities took root within him.
Gigantification.
Dongwook’s body expanded like a swelling tide as he suddenly sensed danger. His loose clothes strained, clung to his frame, then ripped away in tatters.
Decades of judo practice were ingrained in his very bones. Those well-honed techniques were unleashed on Suho in an instant.
The air howled in Suho’s ears as Dongwook’s monstrous grip latched onto him, using his own momentum against him. With a surge of overwhelming power, the old man slammed Suho into the floor—at least, he attempted to.
Huh...?
Something was off. In a disorienting shift, Dongwook realized that it was he, not Suho, who was now upside down.
The faces of stunned onlookers blurred past him. Then in a flash of white-hot pain, his head struck something hard.
Stars flickered behind his eyes. A shrill cry escaped his lips as waves of pain followed. For a moment—a short, humiliating moment—he might have even blacked out.
When he regained his senses, Dongwook discovered that it was his body, not Suho’s, that had been driven into the floor like a stake.
“Ha...”
Despite the pain, a laugh escaped him. It was soft at first, then full of disbelief.
Ma Dongwook had size, superior technique, and finely tuned skills honed over years of battle, but Suho had something greater—raw, undeniable power.
Suho released the old man’s hand.
Dongwook’s arm dropped limply, hanging like that of a marionette with its strings cut. It was far more flexible than it should have been.
Then a realization set in with dreadful clarity, and panic rose.
Medical staff and an A-rank healer, who had been observing from the sidelines, sprinted toward Dongwook. They swiftly informed him that every bone in his hand and arm had been shattered—crushed to a pulp.
***
“Hahaha! I can never beat the young ones!” Dongwook roared.
“Are you... all right...?”
“Of course I’m all right! Why all the fuss? It’s just a few broken bones! I’m the sturdiest tanker in the country, after all! Hahaha!”
“Thank goodness.”
Sehwan sighed deeply, visibly relieved as he watched Dongwook being healed. Despite the pain, the old man guffawed as though he’d just heard a grand joke.
Sehwan wiped the cold sweat from his brow and glanced behind him. The other S-rank hunters stood in grim silence, their expressions far more serious than even his own.
Though it probably wouldn’t be pleasant for Dongwook to hear, Sehwan was feeling a little bit of catharsis.
Oh, he’s Jinwoo’s son, all right.
Thanks to him, Suho had given them all a hell of an introduction. But was it even fair to call it a simple introduction?
That’s insane...
He overpowered Ma Dongwook, of all people!
Even Taegyu and Miho, who were already aware of Suho’s power, were left stunned.
None of them would have been so shocked if Suho had relied on his combat abilities or advanced skills—but raw strength?
Dongwook was literally the strongest S-rank tanker in South Korea. This warm-looking, thick-bearded old man was second to none when it came to sheer brawn and pain tolerance, and he could easily snap an A-rank magic beast’s neck with his bare hands.
Yet Suho had defeated him with brute force alone.
Dongwook was completely outdone even after using Gigantification. How strong is Suho for that to be possible?
This was a wake-up call for those who had dismissed the young hunter’s earlier feat in India as a fluke, blaming it on “weak magical beasts” with subpar defense. Such doubtful thoughts went silent.
Meanwhile, Dongwook, still grinning like a fool, gazed at Suho with newfound admiration.
“Haha! You really are something! Are you sure you don’t want to join my guild? Actually, scratch that. Just take my spot as guild master! I’m too old for this line of work, anyway.”
Though his hand still ached after the healing, he rubbed it and chatted amiably with Suho. Noticing the strange looks everyone else was giving the young man, he burst into another round of laughter.
“Haha! I’m the one who got hurt. Why are you all looking at him like that?”
The S-rank hunters who had witnessed Suho’s display of power remained silent.
Among them, Hyun Mukang looked especially pale. Moments earlier, he’d been shaking hands with Suho. Now his palm trembled almost imperceptibly, slick with sweat.
Who the hell wrote in that kid’s profile that he’s a summoner?
He felt like an idiot for trusting the information from the Hunters Association.
What? An S-rank summoner? Summoner, my ass!
Mukang had failed to account for the possibility that Suho, a reawakened hunter, might have had his powers reclassified. The odds of reawakening were already rare, and it wasn’t unusual for new abilities to emerge.
His thoughts churned as he glanced at Seo Jiwoo, the hunter from the Blue Dragon Guild standing nearby. Jiwoo... Come to think of it, she also reawakened.
Her case was different. After her reawakening, Jiwoo had been restored to peak physical form, so much so that she now appeared twenty years younger than her actual age. In actuality, she was anything but young. She’d even asked the association to keep her true age confidential—and since they were as generous as ever when it came to S-rank hunters, they had agreed.
If Suho’s case was similar, then it meant only one thing: He wasn’t just a summoner anymore—he was an S-rank hunter who could overpower Ma Dongwook with pure muscle alone.
The fact that this had been kept hidden was likely no accident. Perhaps the young hunter had been hoping this sort of situation would happen so he could impress the S-ranks and earn their approval to go to North Korea.
And I made a complete fool of myself.
Mukang’s face burned with humiliation.
What did I say earlier? I confidently offered a summoning rune stone to a tanker stronger than Dongwook! Goddamn it!
Still, it was too soon to give up. To escape Jinho’s relentless grip, Mukang needed Suho on his side.
He racked his brains. He simply wants to clear dungeons. I still have a chance.
Mukang had already gauged the atmosphere in the room. The other S-rank hunters had taken a clear interest in Suho. But even if those four hunters supported his departure, Mukang had the power to veto it with a single vote.
Of course, there was always a chance that Suho would push back. He might try to visit other S-rank hunters who weren’t present today, attempting to sway them to his cause.
No chance in hell.
Mukang was absolutely certain of one thing—the hunters who hadn’t shown up today had no interest in Suho. A new S-rank hunter was just another body to offload responsibilities onto. There was no way they’d support him running off to North Korea as soon as he arrived.
My vote will make or break his plans.
Mukang’s mind shifted gears. If the rune stones weren’t enough to win Suho over, perhaps he could offer something better.
What if I make him join my guild in exchange for my support?
The others would be displeased by this, of course. Just from the atmosphere right now, it was clear that everyone wanted Suho for their own guild.
But not me.
Unlike them, Mukang’s goal wasn’t really to recruit Suho. He only wanted to use the nephew as his ticket out of the uncle’s clutches.
I don’t care if he doesn’t join the Black Tortoise Guild. As long as I can pry myself free from Jinho, I’ll do whatever it takes.
If Suho was a tanker and not a summoner, it would actually be easier. Mukang knew exactly what a tanker needed most—gear. Brute strength was not the only required resource for fighting magic beasts, and this was true even for Dongwook.
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In fact, the stronger the hunter, the bigger the problem. A warrior with monstrous strength could swing a sword so hard it cracked on impact. Even a slight miscalculation could chip, nick, or outright shatter a blade. Even the gauntlets Jiwoo wore on both hands were considered consumable items. Weapons, armor, and gear degraded naturally with every fight, no matter the quality.
That’s why tough weapons created with pricey mana crystals are necessary. And my guild has more of those than any other. I can provide gear so fine that any tanker would sell their soul for it.
Mukang’s eyes flashed with renewed confidence.
“Heh. How interesting,” Dongwook said, now fully healed, as he looked around the association’s gymnasium. “What kind of building is this, anyway? The floor didn’t crack, even after all that. Don’t tell me the entire thing is made of mana crystals?”
Shock hung in the air as Sehwan responded, “Yes, that is the case. This training center was recently completed as a specialized facility for the association’s hunters. It serves multiple purposes.”
Mukang’s eyes widened in shock. He and the other S-rank hunters, who had been focused only on Suho, finally took a look around.
“My god. Is that really true?”
“It must’ve taken considerable funds to build something this size with mana crystals.”
“Does the association even have that kind of money?”
Their voices were a chorus of disbelief. Even large guilds didn’t have training facilities of this scale.
It had only been two years since the Cataclysm. No guild had the capital to build something like this. Even though many guilds made plenty of money, every coin they earned went straight into weapons and repairs from dungeon runs.
Of course, guilds had training facilities for their members, but none were this large. A place like this would require them to save for three to five years, perhaps even longer.
“Wait a second...”
“Don’t tell me—”
A name sprang to everyone’s mind. Whenever something seemed too advanced for its time, one man always came up.
“Did Woo Jinchul do something again?”
“Maybe he somehow got government support.”
“But it would take at least a year just to build!”
“The country didn’t grant much money last year. There is such a thing as government budget!”
Sehwan grinned, clearly enjoying their reactions. “Of course. But it wasn’t government-funded. We had a rather... generous investor. This building was part of a larger project that Mr. Woo initiated before heading to North Korea.”
“A project?”
“An investor?”
Yoonho and the others raised their eyebrows.
“What do you mean, an investor?” Yoonho asked. “The association should remain neutral. Has it started accepting investments from private companies?”
“What makes the association any different from privately owned guilds like ours, then?” Mukang added.
“Oh, I think you misunderstand,” Sehwan replied.
He could fully understand their pointed reactions. He, too, had been shocked when Jinchul informed him after the fact. Everyone knew the international rule—a hunters association, unlike a guild, could not belong to any private organization. They held the most sensitive information about every hunter in their countries, and letting private investors get their hands on that information would be a disaster.
“But as you all know, Korea was the first country to establish a hunters association. It existed long before the World Hunters Association.”
“What’s your point?”
“Why bring that up now?”
“Well, what I’m saying is...” Sehwan remained calm, smiling confidently as he revealed a truth only he knew. “Our hunters association is the only one in the world that isn’t bound by international law.”
“What...?”
“What does that mean?”
The hunters stiffened, detecting something odd in the words.
Everyone knew Woo Jinchul had once been the chief of police. After the Great Cataclysm, he’d gotten government approval to establish the Korean Hunters Association. He had fought for the rights of hunters and the protection of citizens alike, earning the public’s respect as a national hero.
Could someone like him have...?
“In other words,” Sehwan explained, his voice carrying a note of finality, “the Korean Hunters Association is essentially a multinational private guild, government-sanctioned and led by Mr. Woo himself.”
Shocked silence filled the air.
“Of course, Mr. Woo has never exploited his position for personal gain. That is why you all seem mistaken. The Hunters Association has always belonged to him. If he wants to accept private investments, he’s fully within his rights to do so, according to both international and domestic law.”
The S-rank hunters struggled to process what they’d just heard. The implications were staggering.
Did this mean that Jinchul was able to command all hunter guilds in South Korea if he wanted to? Was subverting the law that easy? More importantly, why had he arranged things this way in the first place?
Amid this general confusion, there was one person who remained unaffected.
“So... Who is this investor?” Suho asked, though he suspected he already knew.
Before Sehwan could answer, the doors to the gymnasium swung open, and the investor in question walked in.
“Hey! Suho! You little... I heard you went off somewhere dangerous again without telling me!”
“Uncle...”
“Say hello,” Sehwan said. “This is Mr. Yoo Jinho, the man who invested in the Korean Hunters Association.”