Chapter 1553 – 1553. Saint Unicorn
“Hey, you crazy bastard!!!”
As soon as I stepped outside the building, Oh Junhyuk grabbed my collar.
“It’s all because of you! Because of you, everything’s ruined! Everything’s ruined!!”
Oh Junhyuk shook me. I let him do it a few times before swatting his hand away.
“Let go of me! You ungrateful bastard! You should be thanking me, not grabbing your friend by the collar?!”
“Who asked you to save me!!”
“You know it too. How dangerous that guild is.”
“It’s not dangerous. It’s been fine so far! It’ll be fine in the future too! Five Sads is a much bigger and more amazing guild than you think!”
“Specifically, how is it amazing?”
“That’s…”
Oh Junhyuk couldn’t answer right away. Was it because it was classified? No. It was because he didn’t know. He wasn’t in a high enough position to know such high-level information.
“What do you know about the Five Sads guild? Nothing much, right? Five Sads sells drugs? You’re being used as a drug mule, so of course you’d know. You’re a low-level member of Five Sads, a low-level. Someone they can throw away anytime. You just experienced it.”
Just now, Noh Jisoo let Oh Junhyuk go without hesitation. It meant that the Five Sads guild could throw Oh Junhyuk away at any time. Honestly, if I were Noh Jisoo, I would have used and discarded Oh Junhyuk too. He was a D-rank hunter and not very bright.
“Sh, shit…. Do you know how many clients I know? Over 30. If I spill that information, even the Five Sads guild…”
“You said it yourself. The Five Sads guild is a much bigger and more amazing guild. Do you really think that measly information can hurt the Five Sads guild?”
“……”
It wasn’t for nothing that people formed organizations. It was hard for an individual to stand against an organization. Unless that individual had tremendous power, but that wasn’t the case for Oh Junhyuk.
“Shit…. I was making 30 million won a month…. I was also steadily clearing dungeons and building up my performance.”
“You’re the type to be thrown away as soon as things get dangerous. You should be thanking me. Normally, I wouldn’t let you go this easily.”
Normally, shady organizations like that don’t let people go easily. If you try to quit, they often consider it a betrayal.
Oh Junhyuk should be grateful to me for getting out of the organization safely.
“Ha, shit…. Is it true that you have a sister who works at the Association? Can you really get me a job?”
“Don’t worry. That sister is a well-known power player at the Association. You just need to graduate from college. Well, you’ll start from the bottom at the Association too, but it’s better than being a drug mule. Especially since you’re a hunter, you’ll get aggravated punishment if you get caught.”
“Aggravated punishment…. Sigh, shit. I’m suddenly feeling a huge sense of reality. Why did I do such a thing?”
Oh Junhyuk rummaged through his pockets with trembling hands. All that came out of his pockets were his smartphone and wallet. He frowned and looked at me.
“The drugs… of course, I wouldn’t have any, but do you have a cigarette?”
“I don’t smoke. You didn’t either.”
“Hoo. That’s right. I wasn’t like this originally…”
“But did you really do drugs? That Flash Powder thing.”
“I only did a little. Just a little. I had some left over from selling it, so I tried it a few times out of curiosity.”
Looking at his gaunt face, it didn’t seem like just a few times, but I just nodded casually. Oh Junhyuk was a hunter. He could withstand some level of addiction. And it wasn’t easy to get Flash Powder. Noh Jisoo wouldn’t have sold Flash Powder to Oh Junhyuk.
“Hoo. What do I do now?”
“It’s been a while since we met, so let’s go have some fun. Let’s go to a club in Hongdae.”
“No, hey. We just had a brawl with the Five Sads guild at a club, and you’re saying let’s go to a club to have fun? Sung Yoojin. This bastard. You’ve got a heart of steel, huh?”
“Why? Are you scared?”
“Shit. I’m Oh Junhyuk. Iron King Oh Junhyuk. Me, scared… I’m a little scared. Five Sads guild is no joke. What if they come for revenge?”
“If they were going to take revenge, they would have done it right there. They’ll probably just be watching you and me for a while?”
“That’s convincing. If we try to do something here, they’ll really take revenge, right?”
“Don’t do any hunter work for a while. If you go to a dungeon… you know what I mean, right?”
Oh Junhyuk nodded with a stiff expression.
Hunters don’t usually die outside of dungeons. They don’t get sick easily, and even if they get into a car accident, they’re more worried about the car. But the story changes the moment they enter a dungeon.
In dungeons, there are monsters you have to fight for your life and even hunters who rob others. The risk rate increases. And if you die in a dungeon, it’s hard to even find your body.
“…If there’s an assassin, they’ll come from the dungeon.”
“If you absolutely have to go to a dungeon, go with the Association. I heard the Association is doing various programs to train D-rank and lower hunters these days.”
No matter how strong the Five Sads guild’s backing is, they can’t openly mess with the Association.
“You don’t have much time left until graduation. Just hold out until you get a job at the Association. You can live off the money you’ve saved in the meantime.”
“…Thanks, Yoojin. Thinking about it, it seems like it was a good thing I left the Five Sads guild. I felt like it was dangerous a few times.”
“This bastard. You’re finally getting your head on straight. Now, let’s go hit the club. If you spend some money openly, it’ll be easier to pick up girls. You’re buying today.”
“Okay. I’m buying today. But… are you okay? The guild master…. Noh Jisoo, the way that bitch looked at you was unsettling. I almost shat myself at how terrifying she was.”
“That’s the killing intent of an A-rank hunter. It would have been a bit hard for you, a D-rank, to withstand.”
“This bastard….”
Oh Junhyuk shook his head as if he was dumbfounded. Then, he suddenly said with a serious expression.
“What are you going to do? I heard you joined a guild. Will that guild protect you?”
“The Seventy Tier guild? It’s a pretty good guild. They have quite a few sponsoring guilds too. I’m not officially active yet, but… well, don’t worry about me. I’ll take care of myself.”
“Are you going to get help from the Association?”
“No. I’m going to live as usual. What can those bastards do anyway? Hehe.”
I headed to a club in Hongdae with Oh Junhyuk. That night, we danced and had a blast.
•••
Just like I told Oh Junhyuk, I lived as usual.
I woke up late in the morning as usual, watched a movie as usual, had lunch and hung out with Han Harin as usual, and went to the dungeon in the afternoon. My goal wasn’t money, but performance. I had already made enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life. With the existence of the Yuhee Life app, why would I worry about money?
Giant Mantis.
That was the monster that appeared in this dungeon.
As the name suggests, a giant praying mantis, 2m in size, appeared as a monster. You shouldn’t think of it as a slow, small mantis. These guys are agile. They even fly in the air and use sword energy with their sharp, elongated forelegs like blades.
‘It’s a strong and annoying one among C-rank monsters.’
Moreover, it was an insect-type monster. Most hunters avoid insect-type monsters because of their repulsive appearance.
‘Thanks to that, I can use the C-rank open dungeon leisurely.’
I didn’t like the dungeon environment. It was a jungle with bright sunlight. It was humid and hot. I felt uncomfortable because I was sweating even with just a little movement.
Swish swish swish!
I looked up. A green Giant Mantis flying in the sky was flying towards me. It was descending rapidly, extending its blade-like forelegs. The blade of the monster was imbued with a light green sword energy.
I drew Hwaryeon Bido from my waist and simultaneously unleashed sword energy. The crimson lightning-wrapped sword energy cut through the air, aiming for the giant mantis’s body.
The mantis dodged the sword energy with acrobatic flight. I was impressed by its movements. The mantis in front of me was much better than most of the martial artists I had seen in the [Gwangmyeong Seungcheondo] world.
‘This mantis seems to have more talent than me.’
The mantis arrived right in front of me. Just before it swung its blade-like forelegs, Hwaryeon Bido moved even faster. A red line was drawn in the air, and the mantis’s body was cut into pieces.
No matter how strong the mantis was among C-ranks, it was still a C-rank. It was a monster that couldn’t break through the B-rank wall. It couldn’t be a threat to me.
‘Should I just catch about 20 more and leave?’
I discarded the other byproducts from the mantis’s corpse and only took the magic stone. I could get credit for my performance with just the magic stone. The mantis’s byproducts weren’t particularly profitable either.
‘Fighting monsters is fun, but the work of finding monsters and extracting magic stones is annoying. It would be nice if I could use auto-progress.’
Since it was reality, I couldn’t use auto-progress. I grumbled inwardly and wandered around the unpleasant jungle.
And at some point, I felt something strange. I tensed up.
‘There’s someone nearby. There are traces on the ground. About 5 people?’
It wasn’t strange. This was an open dungeon, so any hunter who met the qualifications could enter. So, I might be overreacting.
‘I had that brawl with Five Sads last night. Did Noh Jisoo send them to silence me?’
I focused and spread my senses. I caught 5 presences. They were near me. They were blocking my escape route. It wouldn’t be strange if they attacked me right now.
When she left yesterday, Noh Jisoo was contemplating silencing me.
I thought she would give up after thinking about it. From my perspective, yesterday ended well.
‘Was she worried that I knew about the Hwangha Moon? I thought she was a bold woman, but I guess not.’
I was annoyed.
In my mind, the Five Sads matter ended yesterday. I had achieved my goal by bringing Oh Junhyuk out of Five Sads. Now, we should just ignore each other and go our separate ways. But they were trying to eliminate me?
‘So, they want to see this through to the end? Fine. Let’s see this through to the end.’
The hand holding Hwaryeon Bido tightened.
I turned around and shouted.
“I know you guys are here. Come out when I’m asking nicely.”
They revealed themselves a beat later. I quickly scanned them. As expected, there were 5 of them. They were all wearing black clothes and holding weapons. I narrowed my eyes. I gauged their skills based on the aura I felt from them.
‘2 A-ranks and 3 B-ranks?’
It wasn’t a party composition that would be found with C-rank personnel. They came to kill me.
‘I’m publicly known as a B-rank. They prepared thoroughly, to an excessive degree.’
A man stepped forward from the center of them. He was a sturdy man with sharp eyes. He had a military-like aura. They were definitely professionals at this kind of work.
“Don’t bother running away. We’ve already controlled this area. There’s nowhere for you to escape.”
