Chapter 332
As the hunters of the Bloody White clan were scheming in a hidden place in the mountains, Choi Yeonseung was dealing with some other hunters.
“Are you blind?! I hit it first! Here, the side! Look at the side! Don’t you see the burn marks?”
“U-uh… This bastard is going to trick people! Does a monster die just from being hit with fire? It was my attack that hit it in the head! I’m the one who saved your life, so be grateful!”
‘Ugh, isn’t this embarrassing for our country…?’
Choi Yeonseung was amazed by the civilized way in which these Korean hunters were arguing with each other.
Of course, the overseas hunters behind him didn’t raise their eyebrows at all.
“They’re fighting fiercely for their rights.”
“Ah, I’m so jealous! If I’d come a bit earlier, I could’ve hit one of the monsters and asked for a share.”
“Woah, so they’re not trying to shoot each other? It’s amazing! Don’t people usually shoot someone when fighting like this?”
“In South Korea, they don’t shoot each other. Instead, they call the public officials and make an agreement with each other.”
“What?!”
‘Why aren’t these bastards helping?’
The official from the Hunter Bureau was furious at these hunters and cursed at them in his mind. There were many people present, but none of them tried to help.
“Well, in principle, the one who hit the monster first has claim over the rewards. If you look at the video, it seems that the fire attack hit the monster first...”
“WHAT?! A civil servant is plotting against me! I can’t take this anymore!”
“...”
Of course, the hunters didn’t agree even when the official presented them with video evidence.
Choi Yeonseung, who was watching this circus from the side, finally intervened, “I think this person hit it first.”
“What? You bribed other hunters...?!”
Before he could finish speaking, Han Seha brought her sword to the belligerent hunter’s throat. The hunter was just about to shout when he saw Choi Yeonseung. He then looked back at Han Seha and finally realized the situation he was in.
“Yeah, on second thoughts, I think he hit it first!”
“Thank you for your understanding!”
“No need!”
Choi Yeonseung and Han Seha swiftly ended the conflict, which moved the official to tears.
“Thank you!
Normally, it would’ve taken several hours to settle a dispute like this, and even then, the hunters would still come back later to demand the truth, or what they believed to be the truth. Thus, the fact that Choi Yeonseung and Han Seha had calmed them down so fast was nothing short of a miracle.
Only A-grade hunters could do such wonders!
“Let’s go somewhere else,” said Choi Yeonseung.
“Huh?! Are you going to do it again?”
“That’s what I’m here for, right?”
“...Uh, d-do you have any intention of becoming a member of the National Assembly...?”
“???”
Choi Yeonseung looked at the official as if wondering what nonsense he was saying.
The official whispered so that no one else could hear it, “If you run for it, I will tell everyone around me to vote for you.”
“No, there’s no need…”
***
The golden pig had a transformation skill, but it wasn’t anything spectacular. If it transformed, a golden pig could fool people from a distance, but if someone looked at it for some time or they got closer, they could tell that it was actually a golden pig.
These types of monsters gradually became easier to deal with as people accumulated more information about them. In fact, several golden pigs had already appeared, and the hunters had easily dealt with them.
Instead, something else happened that distressed the hunters.
“Don’t come this way!”
“You can’t come this way!”
The moment some hunters saw Han Seha, they were frightened and tried to stop her from coming closer.
Seeing this, Han Seha nodded kindly and drew her weapon…
However, Choi Yeonseung stopped her and spoke to the hunters, “Why are you doing this? Of course, I know that it’s first come, first served, but to completely deny any kind of access to the monsters…?”
“Uhm... It’s because Hunter Han Seha is a member of Hanseong Group,” a hunter said hesitantly. He normally wouldn’t have explained himself, but he was scared. Han Seha was giving him a murder stare from the side…
“Why does it matter if she belongs to Hanseong Group?”
“Hanseong Group has also put a bounty on this golden pig, and… we were commissioned by Namhyeong Group…”
‘Ah. I see.’ Choi Yeonseung understood what the hunter meant.
Usually, companies issued quite a lot of requests to catch certain monsters. Whether they were researching that monster or just making soup out of it, companies were concerned with making profit from new inventions.
From that perspective, hunters couldn’t help flinching whenever they saw someone like Han Seha, who was a direct descendant of Hanseong Group. Besides, she was an A-grade hunter, so even if she barged in and tried to take something for herself unfairly, the other hunters couldn’t do anything to stop it.
Han Seha exclaimed, “Do you think I’m going to steal it??”
“I-It’s not like that. It’s just that… If you don’t see it, you won’t get greedy...”
“So you do think I’m going to steal it, you ■...!”
“Hmm… Well, if the golden pig is so popular, shouldn’t I be interested as well?” Choi Yeonseung suddenly wondered. Wouldn’t this monster actually be beneficial for Dragon Industry?
“H-Hunter Choi Yeonseung… Why all of a sudden...?”
The hunters teared up as even Choi Yeonseung, whom they had trusted, suddenly expressed his interest in the golden pig. It was hard enough to deal with a lunatic top hunter, and now Choi Yeonseung too…
“I’m not saying I’m going to take it from you. I’m just curious.”
Choi Yeonseung called the CEO of Dragon Biopharm, one of the companies under Dragon Industry.
-Ah, yes! An A-grade hunter, the guardian of human civilization, and the chairman who protects humanity from the clutches of evil! Hello!
-...Are you trying to pick a fight with me?
Choi Yeonseung was stunned. No matter how he thought about it, it seemed like the CEO was trying to get on his nerves.
-Huh? N-No… Chairman Dragon Hwang told me to address you like this...
-...Forget about that. In any case, you know that there are many monsters coming out in South Korea right now, but not like a monster wave, right?
-Yes, of course. How could I not know?
-People are fighting here and there to find the golden pig. I wondered if Dragon Industry needs it...
-Hahahahahaha! Chairman, it’s okay.
The CEO of Biopharm reassured Choi Yeonseung as he laughed heartily.
-I had an idea a long time ago to farm and raise something like the golden pigs.
-Is something like that feasible?
-I think we can achieve something like that someday. It’s just that we have to grow and extract the materials ourselves. The market for this is ruthless and there’s nothing left for us anyway, so there’s no need for us to enter it. There are many companies anyway, so we can just buy the materials from them if we need them. It’s a pity to see hunters quarreling over the golden pig like that. When you have as many profitable products like us, there’s no need to struggle over a monster like that... Wait... You’re in South Korea right now, right? So the Korean companies are trying to catch them?
-That’s right.
-...Uh, now that I think about it, perhaps I was short-sighted. It’s always the primary producers who support everything we do.
-......
The CEO belatedly grasped the situation and quickly changed his mind.
‘Gyeongryong hyung must’ve cursed at him before.’
-Chairman, please believe me! I’ve never ignored it...
-Yes, I understand.
-Chairman, before you hang up, just tell me that you’re not angry. Before you hang up...
Beep—
Choi Yeonseung hung up. In any case, he learned that he didn’t need the golden pig.
“I don’t need it.”
“Phew.”
“I’m glad!”
“Wha…? You idiot!”
“Huh…? Ah! No! I didn’t mean it in that way!”
“It’s fine. As you can see, I’m not interested. Make sure to contact me if there’s a problem.”
“Yes… Yes!”
Choi Yeonseung turned around and walked away without hesitation. The hunters blinked in disbelief.
“Is he really just going to leave?”
“He… He’s not trying to trick us, right?”
“Hey, would an A-grade hunter do such a thing?”
“I-Indeed, I guess he wouldn’t, right?”
The hunters sighed with relief. At first, they didn’t believe it when they heard that Choi Yeonseung was different from other hunters, but now they were convinced!
The hunters looked slightly moved as they walked forward.
Their colleagues, who had been waiting for them, exclaimed, “Why are you so late?!”
“Sorry, we were talking to some A-grade hunters.”
“...”
“...”
“Really! Look at this!”
“Isn’t it a fake?”
“Isn’t it a fake made with magic?”
“...Shut up. Have you been guarding the golden pig?”
“Yes.”
The hunters had already managed to capture one of the golden pigs. It was several times more difficult to capture a monster as opposed to just killing it, but it wasn’t impossible.
There were also several sleep-related and stun-related artifacts, which had made it pretty easy for the hunters to capture the golden pig.
“What? Did it wake up and transform? Hasn’t it transformed into another monster?” asked one of the hunters, looking puzzled. He looked at the golden pig in the special case, but it looked like another monster.
The golden pig could shapeshift, but it couldn’t do so when it was unconscious.
“It can transform.”
“Then it must’ve woken up… But it didn’t move, did it?”
“I guess it was quietly waiting for an opportunity to transform. Anyway, there’s no reason to worry. It’s going to jump out if you open the door.”
“That’s true, but...”
The hunter wondered if something was wrong, but his companions persuaded him to let it go.
After all, what could a captured monster do?
***
‘Is it Future Sight?’
A vision suddenly appeared before Choi Yeonseung’s eyes. He had experienced it many times before, so he was no longer surprised by it.
The goddess of balance had bestowed this power on him. It was a rare power from the Abyss that allowed its user to glimpse into the future!
“...???”
Choi Yeonseung couldn’t believe his eyes.
He tried to compose himself, but the vision was so terrible that he couldn’t do so.
-■■■■■!
Choi Yeonseung could see a golden pig in a special cage, and it suddenly transformed. At first, he thought it was just using its transformation skill, but it soon became apparent that it wasn’t the trivial skill used by every other golden pig.
With a deafening roar, the creature burst out of the cage!
Everyone at the scene, which looked like a laboratory, ran away screaming.
-You said you properly anesthetized it!
-It’s not a golden pig! It’s not a golden pig!
-Activate the alarm! Emergency! Emergency! The monster has escaped!
It wasn’t a golden pig that had transformed into another monster, but the reverse. Another monster had transformed into a golden pig!
Choi Yeonseung was shocked.
‘It’s not a normal monster!’
He couldn’t recognize it because it kept changing its appearance, but the monsters able to do something like that were usually strong in the Abyss.
It wasn’t uncommon for some monsters to be so cunning and malicious that they hid themselves by assuming another form.
‘Is the explosion constellation involved in this?’
Choi Yeonseung frowned as he quickly tried to come up with possible explanations for this. In order to prepare for this, he needed to know where this monster appeared and how.
He had to know as much as possible…
“???”
Choi Yeonseung suddenly paused.
‘I don’t think it’s in South Korea…?’
The moment the monster came out, the signs that it passed by were in Chinese, not Korean. What was going on…?
‘Did the golden pig appear in China?’
Rather, it seemed more likely that overseas hunters took the golden pig to China. The chances of a monster which hadn’t appeared in over twenty years to suddenly appear in two countries were rather slim.
The vision disappeared and Choi Yeonseung sighed.
‘No...’
He wasn’t shocked that some hunters had brought a monster to another country. After all, every country had hunters who did things like that. However, why would they take a mysterious monster disguised as a golden pig instead of an actual golden pig?
‘Ah... This...’
Choi Yeonseung clicked his tongue. No matter how he thought about it, this was a tricky situation.
“Can you go ahead and send an official notice to all the hunters who have come to South Korea?”
“Yes, of course! What message do you want the letter to contain?” the person in charge responded immediately.
Considering how much Choi Yeonseung had helped them so far, the person in charge would’ve complied even if Choi Yeonseung had asked them to steal the personal information of overseas hunters.
“The message should be that if any overseas hunters are sneaking out golden pigs, I won’t punish them if they come forward and admit it.”
“...I-I can send it, but...”
The person in charge hesitated because he couldn’t bear to tell Choi Yeonseung the truth: that those bastards would certainly disregard his warning…
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