Chapter 2699 – 2699. Dragon Hunter
I was returning on a drone.
I spotted a truck speeding down an unpaved road. It was a large truck carrying a dragon that was over 10 meters in size. Around the truck, there were hunters on bikes.
‘Seven hunters. Two are roughly A-rank… the rest are B-rank or lower.’
They were a group of dragon hunters, called a clan. It was roughly similar to a guild in the real world.
[Opening the Heavenly Eye.]
I checked the surroundings. No one was visible within a 3km radius.
“That dragon is mine now.”
Zzzzzzzzt.
Lightning flashed and began to gather in my fist.
Thunder Heaven Style: Ten Thousand Thunders.
The launched lightning blasted the truck. The truck driver was killed instantly, and the A-rank hunter in the passenger seat jumped out and aimed an arrow at me.
I deflected the arrow with the Fire Lotus Blade and kicked off the air.
Thunder Heaven Style: Flying Thunder God.
I arrived in front of the A-rank hunter and swung my sword. A gust of wind pushed the A-rank hunter back. The blade narrowly missed.
‘Indeed. Even a rotten A-rank hunter is still an A-rank hunter.’
I didn’t intend to fight these guys for long.
[Using Acceleration. Lasts for 10 minutes. Remaining stacks: 11]
[Using Instant. Remaining stacks: 10]
I took a step forward and swung my sword. The A-rank hunter’s head was severed and floated into the air.
Then, using the Flying Thunder God for high-speed movement, I took care of the dragon hunters nearby.
The only one left was an A-rank dragon hunter armed with a gunlance, shield, and heavy armor.
“What is the meaning of this, suddenly appearing like this? Have we done something wrong to you?”
“I wanted the dragon you have.”
“…Was it necessary to kill us? If you had asked, we would have given you the dragon corpse.”
“Maybe. But what then? You would have run to the Dragon Hunter Association and reported this incident. And I would become a criminal and have all sorts of trouble. It’s better to deal with it cleanly from the start.”
“To have such power and still resort to robbery… you don’t deserve to be a dragon hunter!”
“Are you an idiot? This is how the hunter world is. There are no laws in dungeons. Oh, there wasn’t a dungeon here.”
“You won’t die easily! At least I’ll take one of your arms!”
Bang!
An explosion occurred at the end of the gunlance. Black smoke spread, obscuring the view. Of course, it was useless. I could see the guy rushing through the Heavenly Eye. Even if I couldn’t, I could feel all of his movements with electromagnetic waves.
I pulled the Fire Lotus Blade back and prepared to swing. Sword energy bloomed from the blade.
He seemed to be relying on his shield and armor, but I planned to cut him down completely the moment he got close.
“Stop!”
He shouted. Red liquid flowed from under his helmet, as if he had coughed up blood.
Thump!
My heart stopped. Not only that, but my body itself froze. An unknown force was binding my body.
‘A word of power? He had that kind of ability too.’
He approached. Just before the gunlance pierced my head.
[Activating Heavenly Heart. Lasts for 1 minute.]
[Using Instant. Remaining stacks: 9]
Thunder Heaven Style: Thunder Flash.
A red line cut through his armor and body. He fell to the ground with his eyes wide open.
I habitually shook the Fire Lotus Blade. No blood was on it. The speed of the Thunder Flash was too fast for blood to get on the blade. The sword energy also played a part.
“Even if I don’t know about anything else, the word of power was a bit dangerous. A trump card used without caring about the backlash. The hunters here are not to be underestimated.”
I had thought they were just pushovers, but I changed my mind.
“Next time, I should kill the A-rank hunters first.”
All that was left was to collect the spoils.
I grinned.
If I killed and took, I wouldn’t need to spend money. Rather, I could earn more money. Aside from the dragon heart, I could sell the hunter equipment, the truck, and the dragon’s byproducts.
‘There aren’t many perfect crime situations like this where it’s so easy to loot.’
These guys had stored the most expensive dragon heart separately in a magically sealed storage box. It was an unnecessary box for me, who had an inventory.
‘I’ll sell the box too and appraise the dragon heart.’
[Light Pig Dragon Heart
This is the heart of a Light Pig Dragon.
If consumed by someone with compatibility, there is a high probability of acquiring Light Cannon.
If consumed in the real world, there is a very low probability of acquiring Light Cannon (Lv.1 skill). Compatibility is required.
Using the original can increase the probability of acquiring skills and traits.]
‘The dragon’s nose looks like a pig’s nose. Is that why it’s called a Light Pig Dragon?’
I didn’t know much about the dragons in this world, so I didn’t know what rank the Light Pig Dragon was.
‘It’s too big to be a Lesser Dragon. More than that, there are two A-rank dragon hunters in the clan. It doesn’t seem like a clan of that size would bother hunting a Lesser Dragon.’
It didn’t make sense.
Even large guilds in the real world don’t often attack dungeons below C-rank. The money they get is small compared to the guild’s size. Even if they do, it’s mostly to give experience to new recruits.
‘I’ll leave the corpses. There are no CCTVs, so there’s no need to put them in my inventory.’
Even if the civilization of this world is more advanced than I thought, it’s nothing compared to the real world. The basis of this world is a fantasy where dragons fly around.
A person, including a dragon hunter, went missing?
Ah! They must have died a meaningless death! Probably became dragon poop.
That’s how this world roughly glosses over things.
• • •
Thump!
The head of the Blazing Dragon, Impulse, fell in front of the Dragon Hunter Association headquarters.
The hunters in the headquarters and the passersby buzzed and looked at the Blazing Dragon’s head.
“It’s exactly like the picture in the encyclopedia! It’s really the head of a Blazing Dragon!”
“Did he really hunt a high dragon that has lived for over 200 years by himself?! Something that even famous clans wouldn’t attempt unless they were determined?!”
“I heard that over 60 A-rank dragon hunters were eaten by the Blazing Dragon.”
“It hasn’t even been two hours since that man took out the request. It’s not something a newly recruited F-rank hunter can do. Who is he?”
My reputation was rising in real time. It was as I expected.
‘Achievements must be flaunted openly. That way, the association won’t be able to undervalue me.’
Just as I was enjoying the envious gazes, I felt a powerful presence from above. I looked up. The top floor of the hunter headquarters. A man jumped down to the ground from there.
Thump!
A muscular man with a huge physique over 2 meters tall landed on the ground. His bald head and sunglasses gleamed in the sunlight.
The chairman of the Dragon Hunter Association and S-rank dragon hunter, the Sword Emperor, Baek Jeong-su.
He walked towards me.
“Hunter Seong Yu-jin. I would like to talk to you in private. Is that alright with you?”
“Is that conversation worth my time? I hate wasting time, even if I don’t mind wasting money.”
“It will be a conversation that won’t waste your time.”
“Okay.”
A space rift opened in the air, and my inventory opened. I put the Blazing Dragon’s head in there.
Originally, I could just reverse summon it… but showing it like this seems more impressive.
“Space rift?”
“Does he have space abilities? That’s a rare ability.”
“An ability to store things in another space. It would be very convenient to have something like that.”
I sat facing Baek Jeong-su on the top floor of the headquarters. His secretary brought tea. I narrowed my eyes at him. Judging by the energy I felt, he was A-rank.
“You look strong. It’s hard to understand why you’re working as a secretary.”
“Haha. Thank you for the compliment. He’s my disciple. Not a formal secretary, but he’s helping me.”
“So, what do you want to say?”
“You’re very direct. I like that. It’s refreshing. First, please accept this.”
It was a necklace that proved he was an A-rank dragon hunter. The front of the small gold plaque said A-rank, and the back had my name on it.
“I will recognize you as an A-rank hunter by the chairman’s discretion. I will only take 10% of the brokerage fee for the Blazing Dragon subjugation request.”
“Did you prepare this before I came?”
“Two hours ago, your presence was felt all the way to the top of the building. Your power is clearly equal to or greater than mine, an S-rank dragon hunter.”
“If you know that, you should give me an S-rank necklace, not an A-rank one.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have that much discretion. S-rank requires the approval of me and the vice-chairmen. They don’t even know of your existence yet. Even if they did, they would doubt you. The way to end the doubt is…”
“Overwhelming achievements.”
“I like how quickly you understand. It’s like you’ve done this several times? May I ask what you did before?”
“No. Don’t ask.”
“I understand. Instead, can you tell me your goal? Surely you can’t say that either?”
“I want to hunt a Dragon King-class dragon. I want you to tell me their locations. The association should know, right?”
Baek Jeong-su’s expression became serious. He fiddled with his teacup and said,
“…This is confidential, but the association has made an agreement with the Dragon King-class dragons. The association respects their territory, and they respect our territory. That’s the agreement.”
I chuckled. I knew the truth through the original work.
“If the association really made such an agreement, there would be no reason to hide it.”
“You know? This is… I can’t underestimate you. Yes. Not the association, but a few S-rank hunters, including me, made an agreement with some Dragon King-class dragons. Not to invade each other’s territory. Dragon King-class dragons are beings that seem to transcend the dragon species. If they were to act seriously, humans would not be able to resist. Thanks to this agreement, the Dragon Hunter Association is maintained.”
“And there are also Dragon King-class dragons that haven’t made an agreement. I’m going to hunt those guys first.”
“…They are beings that cannot be compared to the Blazing Dragon you hunted.”
“So? It’s not like they can’t be killed. If you don’t want to help, don’t interfere and stay still. If you’re too scared, it’s not a bad choice to hand over the chairman’s position to me.”
“Haha. It’s an attractive offer, but… if you become the chairman, it seems like there would be cries from many places, so I don’t think that will happen. Please don’t harm the association.”
Baek Jeong-su slightly lifted his sunglasses. Sharp eyes were revealed, glaring at me. My magic power stiffened, and it felt like an invisible blade was aimed at me.
I laughed lightly and shook off the pressure.
“That’s what I should be saying. I hope the association doesn’t hold me back. I’m not generous enough to forgive those who hold me back.”
I got up from my seat. Baek Jeong-su’s disciple, who was standing near the entrance, was sweating profusely, his clothes soaked.
“Wait. Do you have any intention of selling the Blazing Dragon’s dragon heart to the association? We’ll pay well. I promise 20% more than the market price.”
“I’m not selling the dragon heart. On the contrary, I’m looking for it. Does the association sell dragon hearts?”
“Currently, there are no dragon hearts above high dragon-class. And even A-rank dragon hunters don’t get discounts on dragon hearts and dragon blood. You can get other equipment and items at a 10% discount.”
“It’s shopping time then. Hehe.”