Chapter 268
The goddess of sloth seemed to have a bit of a misunderstanding about Choi Yeonseung.
For one thing, Choi Yeonseung didn’t have the ability to seduce a constellation. He didn’t deny that the goddess of balance cared for him, but that was because of their complicated relationship that went way back.
-No. From my perspective, you have the ability to seduce constellations, Successor.
-......
[The ‘Manipulator of Dreams and Desires’ agrees.]
Choi Yeonseung ignored the constellations and focused on what was going on in reality.
“I see. So they play a match against the minions sent by that constellation?”
“Yes. I’ve watched it a few times. The matches are ten times more exciting than the fights between hunters.”
The human hunters actually felt pain, so they had to fight while caring for their lives. In comparison, the creatures from the Abyss were utterly mad, and they made for a thrilling match by fighting without any concern for their lives.
Given the intensity of the matches, the Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place gave out rewards, but so did other constellations...
“Wait. Other constellations as well?”
“It seems that there are other constellations that often come to watch the matches. I mean I get it. It’s really fun to watch,” said Carter while nodding.
Carter really enjoyed the games that hunters played, but putting that aside, the matches were fun to watch from an objective perspective. Sometimes, when hunters pulled off an amazing feat, the constellation gave out rewards. This made the hunters want an even bigger challenge.
‘It feels very off-putting.’
Choi Yeonseung found himself shaking. Of course, the hunters received huge compensation and had no complaints whatsoever, but it still seemed wrong to Choi Yeonseung. After all, the constellations of the Abyss were conceited beings.
-......
[...]
[...]
-What? Why? It’s it a fair deal?
Choi Yeonseung could never get used to the arrogant attitude of constellations as they looked down on humans and played with them like toys.
‘They’ll soon see.’
Choi Yeonseung was determined to make such constellations pay for their arrogance!
***
“Choi... Hunter Choi Yeonseung!”
The hunters of the Black Steelers clan were surprised by Choi Yeonseung’s unexpected appearance. At most, they had expected hunters ranked between C and B-grade, or even retired hunters, to meet them. They had never expected an active A-grade hunter to come and talk to them.
Nicholas Carter had a big smile on his face as he was happy to see the hunters surprised. “What did I tell you?”
“A... Amazing, Mr. Carter!”
“You actually managed to cast an A-grade hunter.”
“I can do anything to see you guys win.”
On the surface, these words seemed rather heartwarming. However, given what was actually going on, this whole conversation was tainted with greed. The Black Steelers hunters wanted to somehow gain even more from the constellations, and Carter had made a bet on the hunters’ match with the intention of hitting the jackpot!
Choi Yeonseung asked them, “Yes... So you’re interested in martial arts?”
“Yes!”
The Black Steelers hunters naturally had a polite attitude, given that they had the unique opportunity to learn from the only martial artist that was an A-grade hunter. Only a lunatic would be arrogant with him.
One hunter named Gabermore adjusted his clothes with an excited expression. ‘What should I ask first? What martial arts skill should I acquire first? I also want to ask if I should change my martial arts skill or not...’
‘Most of them are second or third-rate,’ thought Choi Yeonseung as he looked around and grasped the situation. Most of these hunters were D-grade, only a handful of them being C-grade. Even though they had also learnt magic on top of martial arts, it didn’t seem to make much of a difference. Nevertheless, there was no reason to focus too much on their ratings since they didn’t specialize in raids.
“Alright, ask me anything you’re curious about.”
“What is the best training method to quickly raise my level?”
“Well, the secret is to participate in real fights, right? I recommend entering dungeons and killing monsters.”
“Isn’t there another way?”
“Hmm. Beating up people is another way of going about it. You could catch criminals. Isn’t there a steady stream of hunters causing accidents? It’s not that difficult.”
“...Is there any method that isn’t life-threatening?”
“I... don’t think so?”
Choi Yeonseung was being serious. The hunters were at a loss for words as they realized that Choi Yeonseung wasn’t making fun of them. He was dead serious.
‘I’d better ask something else.’
“The martial art I’m learning right now is called ‘Dragon Soul Asura’. I was wondering if this martial art is good or not. I use magic to summon minions and draw the enemy’s attention to them. Then I approach and use martial arts to inflict damage...”
“It’s not bad.”
“My martial art is called ‘Black Needles,’ but I’m a bit skeptical because you have to use black needles as a hidden weapon. Will this work? It seems so weak...”
“You just have to throw them hard. It’s pretty decent.”
“My martial art is called ‘Three Talents Swordsmanship’...”
“It works.”
“...”
The hunters slowly became anxious as they listened to Choi Yeonseung. They got the unique opportunity to meet an A-grade hunter, but surprisingly, they didn’t get much out of this. When they asked him about magic, they once again received monotone responses like “Yeah, this is fine,” “This works,” “Yeah, this type of skill is decent,” and so on.
No matter what questions the hunters asked, Choi Yeonseung kept answering in the most unenthusiastic manner possible.
This wasn’t good…!
Carter, who had been listening from the sidelines, understood how the hunters felt and intervened. “Hunter Choi Yeonseung, why don’t you discuss with these hunters about their shortcomings and how they can work on them?”
“Well, it’s not hard to figure that out.”
“!”
The hunters’ faces lit up at Choi Yeonseung’s words.
Carter continued his question, “How can they find out what they’re lacking?”
“How about going into a dungeon?”
“...”
The Black Steelers hunters were starting to feel uncomfortable. They hadn’t realized it before because they had only heard good rumors about Choi Yeonseung.
However, in reality, wasn’t Choi Yeonseung an eccentric hunter? Given that he was an A-grade hunter, it was possible that he was just crazy…
***
Around half of the Black Steelers clan hunters participated in the dungeon raid. Some people might have wondered why only half of them participated, but half was actually a lot. After all, these hunters normally didn’t do raids at all.
In fact, Choi Yeonseung’s reputation was so great that everyone thought, ‘It’s a waste of time, but let’s try it once’ and decided to go. If it hadn’t been Choi Yeonseung, they wouldn’t even have bothered to enter a dungeon.
Carter, who was watching from the side, realized something and asked Choi Yeonseung a question.
“Wait. If you want to see their strengths and weaknesses, why don’t you just spar with them?”
“Ah. I haven’t thought of that.”
“...”
No matter how Carter looked at it, Choi Yeonseung looked like he had actually been aware of that method of training them this whole time. Carter was horrified when he realized that Choi Yeonseung had deliberately dragged him into a dungeon.
‘He has quite a nasty temper...!’
He had forcibly taken hunters who didn’t like raids into a dungeon and made them wander around and fight. He really seemed like a sadist who liked tormenting others. Carter was a gambling addict, but he didn’t have strange hobbies like Choi Yeonseung.
Choi Yeonseung cast him a quizzical look. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
Carter waved his hand.
Very few A-grade hunters had good personalities, so he didn’t intend to tell Choi Yeonseung that he was bullying low-rating hunters. Wouldn’t that cause problems between the two of them?
The hunters had entered a D-grade dungeon called the ‘Sand Fortress.’ It was a low-difficulty dungeon with a vast terrain that resembled a desert. It was also easy to enter this dungeon.
Two A-grade hunters could’ve effortlessly cleared this dungeon with their eyes closed. However, it was different for the hunters from the Black Steelers clan, since they were experiencing real combat for the first time in ages.
‘Damn, this is hard...!’
No matter how realistic the virtual world was, fighting in the virtual world wasn’t the same as fighting in the real world. Even with an A-grade hunter behind them, they were constantly afraid that if they made a mistake, they would die.
This fear quickly exhausted the hunters.
Gabermore shouted even more urgently, “Stay in formation! Don’t run away!”
“Gasp... Gasp… Gabermore. Magic power...”
“What nonsense are you saying? How much magic did you use?”
Regardless of the hot weather in the desert, the hunters were getting tired unexpectedly fast.
The iron scorpion, a monster that moved around while digging shallowly into the sand, approached them with a hissing sound. The monster was big and powerful, but it was really noisy and easy to spot. Thus, it didn’t pose much of a threat to the hunters, but…
Given that everyone was exhausted after constantly fighting, this newly emerged monster felt so threatening that they looked at it with wide eyes.
“Stop its movements using martial arts. Don’t try to kill it through force alone. Move as little as possible.”
Choi Yeonseung gave them advice while watching from the sidelines. Martial arts was a skill that allowed them to move extremely efficiently. With magic, they had to use big skills every time, while martial arts allowed them to use their internal energy efficiently.
“Don’t drag out the fight. Just buy some time so your magic power can regenerate.”
“Gasp, gasp, gasp...”
“That’s right. You’ve learnt movement skills, so use them to dodge attacks. The movements of monsters are often simpler than you think...”
The hunters regretted following Choi Yeonseung. They just needed to live happily. Why did they have to suffer like this in order to become stronger?
In fact, they had planned to ask Choi Yeonseung to help them after they collapsed, but he just gave them advice without moving.
“I can’t use it any longer...”
“No. You have internal energy left. Now move and block it. Take a step, turn to the right, and hit its joints.”
“...”
***
‘Huh, it’s better than I thought.’
Choi Yeonseung was amazed when he saw the levels of the hunters through his constellation eyes. Perhaps it was because they hadn’t been going into dungeons, but their levels raised quite a bit just from this low-level dungeon.
‘Clan hunters should just go to dungeons.’
Choi Yeonseung made up his mind.
What did it matter if it was a match or something else? Many problems would be solved as long as the hunters were strong. Choi Yeonseung quickly dismantled the dead iron scorpion. The purified internal energy radiated a white light as it cut through the hard shell.
Carter was puzzled when he saw it. “Why are you keeping that?”
“They’ve had a hard time, so I should at least cook this and take care of them.”
“...”
Carter was dumbfounded.
‘Crazy bastard...!’
Choi Yeonseung worked the hunters to the point of exhaustion and now he wanted to feed them the corpse of a monster? His cruelty was unbelievable…
‘But I’m not the one who has to eat it.’
Carter apologized to the clan hunters from the bottom of his heart. This whole thing was for their sake. If they went through these trials and tribulations and won the match, they would receive rewards and Carter would also win money.
Then Choi Yeonseung told him, “Now, here.”
“...???”
“Are you rejecting my gesture of goodwill?”
Choi Yeonseung’s voice lowered. It was Choi Yeonseung who wanted Carter to participate in an S-grade raid, but that didn’t matter right now.
Carter could feel an overwhelming presence! It came from Choi Yeonseung, whose power of existence had skyrocketed ever since he had occupied the United Kingdom as a constellation. Not even an A-grade hunter could withstand this pressure.
“N... N... No...”
Without realizing it, Carter took the bowl offered by Choi Yeonseung and prepared to eat it.
“...It’s edible, right?”
“You think it won’t taste good?”
“N-No. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”
Carter was surprised when he tasted the dish. It tasted way better than he had expected. In fact, it tasted delicious. It was like Cajun cuisine. In the past, he had eaten seafood soup with various spices at a restaurant. However, the soup that Choi Yeonseung had cooked seemed to surpass the one from the restaurant.
...Had he used magic?
Carter finished the bowl in an instant and asked Choi Yeonseung, “Could I have another bowl? There’s something I’d like to check.”
“Ah. I’m sorry. There’s not enough of it. Let the other hunters eat. You didn’t even fight.”
“...”
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