Chapter 41
“This has happened a few times before. Bribing a measurer and trying to snatch newbie hunters into the clan...” Choi Yeonseung said while recalling old memories.
“Measurers are public servants who don’t make much money. Hence, for them, getting paid with small bribes in exchange for bringing you hunters is already a jackpot.”
“I... I don’t know what you’re saying.”
“It was popular in the past. Do you know why they stopped doing it?”
“...... ”
“It’s because the efficiency is lower than expected. It isn’t like they can catch a hunter for sure, no matter how expensive the bribe, just like what’s happening right now.”
At Choi Yeonseung’s words, Cuepi took a step back without realizing it.
“First of all, the rating is done in front of everyone, making all the talents that stand out too risky to target. The measurer’s own neck will fly away if they hide something like that. Hence, they have to find a special hunter that isn’t much in the eyes of others or measure them in a place where no one is looking... This type of situation doesn’t come easily. This has happened a few times in the past, but it wasn’t discovered because the measurer was caught. It was that the clan who gave the bribe was caught threatening the measurer because they were angry at the empty results.”
The measurers received money but didn’t give any recommendations. Hence, from the clan’s perspective, it was no different from feeding someone only for them to run away after.
Cuepi could feel his back become damp with sweat.
“Why are you telling me this... ”
“I’m just voicing out my thoughts. This situation is a bit suspicious in many ways, you know. I did properly demonstrate my strength when it was being measured, but the results differed. There’s not a single thing that could’ve indicated that I’m good in the clan’s eyes. Even so, you contacted me so quickly that I thought about the old days and asked the question.”
“......”
A chill went down Cuepi’s spine. He disregarded this person, who seemed like a hillbilly hunter, but this man was much more terrifying than he thought.
He had a lot of insight!
“If not, I’m sorry. Don’t take it to heart.”
“N... No. I’m glad the misunderstanding has been cleared up.”
Cuepi was so surprised that he backed off, unable to even threaten this person anymore.
‘I really think these bastards are playing tricks.’
Choi Yeonseung was convinced upon seeing Cuepi’s behavior. In his old clan, Choi Yeonseung was treated like a social misfit who only knew training, but...
He wasn’t that stupid. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have survived the Abyss.
‘... I couldn’t enter the training ground and got lost, but that couldn’t be helped.’
Choi Yeonseung was lost in thought. How was he going to handle this? The Ambitus clan bribed the measurer and Choi Yeonseung suffered damage, but he wasn’t angry. It was just a bit ridiculous. Just as no one got seriously angry at flies for being a nuisance, it didn’t matter much whether Choi Yeonseung’s hunter rank was C or B.
‘I’ll just take care of it later. There’s no need to step out now anyway... My rank will go up on its own anyway.’
Hwang Gyeongryong was already calling for a new measurer. He just needed to show his skills again so it could be properly measured.
‘Their clan leader has to be a bit strange, though. Is his money rotting away?’
The Ambitus clan leader never dreamed that he was being cursed in an unknown place for being stupid.
‘Well. This could’ve turned out better. Let’s think positively.’
Choi Yeonseung realized that he had to reduce his strength more than he thought.
Being in the Abyss had made his standards a bit strange. Breaking the instrument was too much! Someone too powerful suddenly appeared. The constellations were bound to suspect him.
'Once I reach B-grade, I'll take the opportunity to show them I'm only gradually becoming stronger. That should make me less suspicious.'
“Hunter Choi Yeonseung. Please get ready for the next match.”
“Ah. I’m coming now.”
***
It wasn’t very known unless one was a martial artist, but martial arts had many styles. There were martial arts that emphasized power, and there were also those that focused on?weight, speed, or change. In terms of style, there was an endless variety of martial arts. And just like magicians, there were martial artists with different styles!
Of course, if this was mentioned to magicians, they would say, ‘Isn’t that what martial arts are?’
The Origin of the Celestial Divine Arts that?Choi Yeonseung?mastered was a harmonious martial art that wasn’t particularly focused in one place, but what?Choi Yeonseung?pursued in the qualifiers was speed.
Extreme agility!
In any case, the opponents here weren’t monsters. Hitting them lightly would be enough to knock them out, so there was no need to focus on strength.
‘Put 90% of my internal energy into speed...’
It was all-in on speed instead of defense or offense!
‘I’ll reduce the Origin of the Celestial Fist’s connecting movements and make it lighter... I would be beaten to death if I did this in the Abyss, but it doesn’t matter here.’
The world sent a new message window to Choi Yeonseung as he thought about multiple matters.
[You have succeeded in creating a new B+ rank martial arts skill!]
[Please name the new martial art.]
The reformed martial art was so excellent it was registered as a new one.
‘Diffraction of light... I should say Diffraction of Light Arts.’
It felt too much to call it a divine art, so he just finished it with arts. In order to diffract and split apart light, speed beyond common sense was needed. That was exactly what this martial art was.
‘Afterimage!’
The moment he stretched out the Diffraction of Light Fist, he became nearly as fast as when he used Movement Transposition. Movement Transposition was difficult to implement properly due to his lack of internal energy right now, so being able to implement something close to it was great.
‘This is good.’
[You have lived a life worthy of your existence. The power of your existence has risen!]
‘It’s great that the power of my existence is rising, but it’s too slow.’
[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ is confused about how much you want.]
Choi Yeonseung’s power of existence was currently at the level of an intermediate constellation. It was increasing at an incredibly fast speed. He had risen from his mortal origins to an intermediate constellation.
That wouldn’t have been possible without a ‘constellation hunt!’
‘I’m wondering if I should hunt more.’
[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ warns that you should never do that since there are too many prominent constellations. It is telling you?to?make a household and prepare for the constellation battle quicker.]
Other constellations didn’t say anything about constellation battles, where the household members fought each other.
[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says that you can also increase your number of household members and followers.]
‘Umm. That’s true, but...’
It was important to train and polish himself to increase his power of existence, but the same went for increasing his number of believers. It was just that Choi Yeonseung wasn’t good at this type of thing.
[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says you still have to do it.]
‘I know, I know.’
“Are you two ready?”
Choi Yeonseung nodded. The opposing hunter also nodded.
‘Should I use Level Measurement?’
It wasn’t necessary, but Choi Yeonseung needed to increase his household and followers in the future. It wouldn’t hurt to develop the habit of observation.
[You can see through?your target's essence!]
[Gregory Martinez]
[Level: 81
Strength: 155
Agility: 80
Physical Strength: 68
Magic Power: 100
Intelligence: 63]
‘He’s below C-grade...’
A C-grade hunter would normally be above level 100. It seemed like a D-grade hunter’s challenge.
‘His strength is high, though, so he probably prefers melee combat.’
Combat using melee-related magic made the relevant stats naturally rise.
‘... Why is he holding a bow, though?’
Choi Yeonseung was puzzled upon noticing Gregory’s weapon. He seemed like he wanted to attack from a distance!
‘It is a fake.’
He was disguising his surprise attack as a long-range offense. Such a funny trick wouldn’t be that effective, but…
‘Wait. Can I see my stats in the Otherworld?’
[You can see through your own essence.]
[Choi Yeonseung.]
[Level: 200
Strength: 400
Agility: 400
Physical Strength: 400
Magic Power: 400
Intelligence: 400]
‘My stats are limited as well.’
They were restrained according to C-grade League standards!
“3. 2. 1. Start!”
Gregory raised his bow in an attempt to keep Choi Yeonseung in check.
-Fire Arrow!
A flaming arrow formed on the bow. Magic was heavily influenced by the user’s mental state. Even if people used the same magic, the more they used it with high concentration, the stronger it became! In that respect, weapons like bows were used quite often. It was easy to concentrate mentally when using arrow-type magic.
Choi Yeonseung shot off from where he was standing. He exhibited the same speed as his first fight. The sight of the wind rushing from all directions made Gregory momentarily unable to come to his senses.
He couldn’t aim!
‘Ugh. It doesn’t matter anyway!’
The fire arrow that had just formed swiftly disappeared.
Magic cancellation! Forcibly canceling a spell that had already been cast would damage the user. However, Gregory was fine due to the passive skill ‘Low-grade Magic Cancellation.’?It prevented him from receiving any damage if a lower-circle magic of his was canceled!
Unaware of this, his opponents would only focus on the fire arrow. That gap would then allow him to hit them.
-Flame-Covered Body!
Gregory’s body started burning with magical flames.
‘Gasp!’
Gregory took a deep breath and infused himself with magic power. It was time to engage in close-quarters combat.
"Kuaaaak!"
Gregory roared and?threw a punch. Choi Yeonseung easily dodged with a nonchalant expression. He came all the way in front of Gregory before widening the distance after this one blow. It was an overwhelming speed difference!
‘He can’t attack while I’m protected by fire. He has no weapons...’
"Hmm."
Choi Yeonseung stared at Gregory. He was hoping to see if there was anything more to it because Gregory seemed focused on melee combat, but this seemed to be all he could do.
‘Too bad. I should finish this quickly.’
Choi Yeonseung disappeared again, and his speed amazed everyone once more.
“This is real speed...”
“Is that the footwork of a martial artist?”
“Is it? Even if so, he’s still ridiculously fast. It’s rare to see footwork that fast.”
If they were all as fast as Choi Yeonseung, then the number of martial artists wouldn’t have decreased. Speed was a weapon.
“He still needs to find a way to break through?that?defense, but martial artists don’t have any means to pierce something like that.”
“He should’ve brought something...”
“A normal weapon would just burn up. It should at least be an artifact. It’s also dangerous to fight at close range with those types of flames... Huh? ”
Bam!
As people were talking, Choi Yeonseung was already right in front of Gregory. A punch that was like a flash of light struck Gregory’s chest directly. By the time the people’s eyes had widened, Gregory’s breathing had already stopped and he had been sent flying.
Thump!
Despite the raging flames, Choi Yeonseung dug in and delivered a decisive blow.
"Waaaaahhhhh!”
It was such a wonderful blow that cheers involuntarily burst out from the people watching.
‘Magic power, no... Did he protect himself with internal energy? While approaching that fast?’
The fans exclaimed, “Wow! Amazing!” while the reporters and scouts with discerning eyes were flustered. Moving at full speed like that had to be difficult, yet he even protected himself and managed to land an attack.
‘A monster... ’
‘Where did this hunter come from?’
‘Which clan does he belong to?’
“Isn’t he an Abyss returnee?”
“An Abyss returnee! I thought he seemed retro, starting from the martial arts... I saw something good. Go back and release it!”
The assembled people excitedly started to organize what just happened. It could’ve just been a coincidence if it just happened once, but doing it twice meant he was that skilled.
A martial artist who suddenly appeared like a comet! This would be a good article.
The reactions of the people gathered changed in an instant. Cuepi?held his head. ‘I have to get him to sign the contract immediately...’
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