novelraw Chapter 97
Chapter 97
Chapter 97
Choi Yeoreum looked at me with the air of someone wearing a crown on her own head.
“You don’t seem to like what you’re doing, do you.”
She went hmm at my words, popped a piece of Lokum into her mouth, sucked her fingers, and answered.
“I like vaccinations. It is always easier to put things in order before they get bigger after all.”
She finished and then shouted hey! toward the door. The door opened, and several Hunters rushed in.
“I want different shoes. I don’t like the color.”
The moment she stuck out her foot, the Hunters pulled her shoes off. One of them must have slipped, because Choi Yeoreum’s face crumpled.
With a dull thud, one of the Hunters changing her shoes took a kick from her and flew away, rolled across the floor a few times, and skidded to a stop.
Before the fallen Hunter could even groan, he sprawled flat on the floor.
“I am sorry! I am sorry!”
The sight hurt to watch.
“If you beg like that, you make me look like the bad guy.”
“You do look like the bad guy though.”
She turned her eyes to me and showed a shocked expression.
“Do I really?”
Then she smirked and winked.
“You’re right. You saw it correctly.”
She nudged the other guys changing her shoes away with her foot, stood up, and walked over to me.
“But you say it to my face that I am bad, so I guess you are not very smart, huh?”
I felt the temperature rise, and when I lowered my gaze, the Lokum on the table had begun to melt.
“You threaten me over one sentence. I find it hard to stay with you because you are scary.”
When I rose and looked toward the exit, the door was already wrapped in flame. The gold handle glowed red and sagged.
“Can I not even go to the bathroom? I might pee myself from fear.”
She glanced around at my comment, then pushed a golden bowl that decorated the room to my feet with her foot.
“Do it here then.”
Is this for real? Am I supposed to drop my pants here and play the ‘Mr. Elephant’s trunk is his hand’ game?
“What, are you perhaps embarrassed because it is too small?”
“I am worried the bowl might crack if I do it here. It looks expensive.”
She clicked her tongue at that response.
“You fight for every word huh. I don’t really like people like that.”
“If I wanted your favor, we would not have ended up here in the first place.”
I drew on mana to endure the heat, but I couldn’t really do anything about this heat. The ring on my finger glimmered and slowly bled off the heat.
“Woah, that ring is nice. Then I should turn it up a little more?”
The room grew even hotter. She clearly did not like that I was holding out.
Then you will like this even less.
Black fire crept up from my body.
The black flames wrapped Jung Oh-hoon, Han Sang-ah, and me, roared, and burned the heat away.
“…”
So she wanted a stare down with me.
Either way, this woman named Choi Yeoreum could not kill me. It was not for lack of skill, it was lack of nerve. She had too much to lose, so she could not ignore even the tiniest chance that the golden brick in her hand might slip away.
You could call that prudence, but in this case, scaredy-cat fit better.
“Everyone would likely know that I went straight to the Wonder Club clubhouse as soon as I arrived back in Korea.”
“And?”
What do you mean, ‘And?’ you dumbass.
“If we die here, something very entertaining will happen, yes? Team Headhunter succeeded in eliminating two grade 1 Erosion Cores in record time.”
I stroked my chin and gave a thin smile.
“What do they call people like us again? Ah yes, they say heroes or idols.”
After I finished talking, I took a glance around the room. Despite her unleashing this much heat, the room wasn’t damaged at all besides the exit being burned away. I had to acknowledge her skill.
I swept my hand across the table and continued talking.
“They will definitely start an investigation... So if we die here, who takes responsibility?”
And how far will that responsibility reach?
“Hey, do you take Wonder Club for some open chat drinking circle? I’m rank third, and Wonder Club has two other Hunters high on the Hope List above you.”
She said it, and then formed a huge fireball in her left hand.
“Nothing will happen just because a guy like you dies.”
“You yourself said those famous Wonder Club Hunters barely work, and that is very well known.”
I said it as I pulled out my phone and showed search results. They were articles on the same theme and public comments asking what in the world the Wonder Club Hunters were doing.
“It did not even take long to find.”
Typing Wonder Club alone brought them up at once.
“If you truly try to kill me, I will thrash to live. I promise you, we are not the type who die easily.”
I slid the phone back into my pocket and gripped my spear.
“In less than a year we smashed two grade 1 Erosion Cores. Even if you come to kill for real, we will hold out for at least three hours.”
I was confident in that.
If we fought for three hours, the building would start to fall. Reporters and media waited outside, and if we shot an action scene by accident, they would love it.
That was not all. Three hours was plenty of time for someone to act. If you failed to kill us within three hours, the government or the Hunter Association would have to do something, at least on paper.
“…”
She stared at me for a moment, then flicked her hand. The temperature returned to normal at once. She walked right up to me and whispered in my ear in a soft voice.
“Someday, when enough time passes, you will regret this moment. There are people you can clown, and people you cannot. You poked the latter, kid.”
Then her hand stroked my shoulder with feigned kindness.
“In a way you cannot even imagine, and with unbelievable destructiveness. That is how you will break. Then you will finally remember this talk.”
I brushed her side hair away like I was looking at a lover and answered.
“Thanks for the advice.”
We will see whether things go her way or not.
“Oh, perhaps If you hate to end it like this, how about a kiss?”
To anyone who had not heard the conversation, the mood would look ready not for a kiss but for a room key.
She stepped back, raised her middle finger, and jerked her chin toward the door.
“Get out of my sight.”
“Have a good night.”
I bowed and walked out with Jung Oh-hoon and Han Sang-ah.
“How big is your liver? Are you not scared? Do you not feel fear at all?”
In the clubhouse corridor, Jung Oh-hoon fired the questions at me on the spot.
“What is there to be scared of?”
There are so many scary things in the world, so why be afraid of one Hunter throwing a tantrum. Besides, she was not bold enough to really cross the line with us anyway.
“Wait, do you actually think you can beat her?”
“No. If Choi Yeoreum really fought to kill us, we would grit our teeth and last about three hours and then get roasted whole.”
But...
“She would take a wound somewhere so bad she could not recover. That part matters.”
I would die, and she would end up crippled somewhere. If I threw everything I had, it was possible.
A Hunter’s power came from skill. An irreparable injury lowered a Hunter’s skill.
And Choi Yeoreum did not want to lose status.
“In the end, even if she killed us, her power would weaken.”
That was why she did not kill us.
Jung Oh-hoon stared blankly at me and muttered.
“Crazy bastard. It sounds plausible, but actually doing that is not normal.”
“What are you talking about? Of the three of us, I am the only normal one here.”
Han Sang-ah answered me.
“I am normal too.”
Yeah, I don’t know about that one.
“Just get ready to step through the door.”
I ignored Han Sang-ah and spoke in front of the exit that led out of the clubhouse. Once it opened, flashes and interview requests would pour down.
We only had peace because this was the Wonder Club’s hallowed turf, otherwise someone would have fetched a battering ram and slammed it already.
The moment we stepped out, we were swarmed with questions.
It took nearly two hours to get away.
“Damn it, that was a madhouse.”
Once we finally got into the car, I stared blankly at the dark tinted window.
“Where are you going now?”
“I am thinking about seeing Choi Seung-gi first.”
I took out a box and turned it over in my hands as I answered Han Sang-ah. I needed to learn what this gem I secured actually was, and I had to confirm whether it could be used as a catalyst.
“By the way, what did you get?”
Jung Oh-hoon went huh? at my words and snapped his fingers. In an instant, he shattered into something like broken glass and scattered in all directions.
“Something like this.”
An illusion, apparently. This would make him hard to find. The duration was insanely long too.
Jung Oh-hoon was a sniper. With this, even if his position got found, he could keep the advantage.
“What about you two?”
“I am going to the Association.”
At Han Sang-ah’s words, Jung Oh-hoon nodded in agreement.
“I thought my skill had improved a fair bit, but the road is filthy long. That Undying Legion, or whatever it is. It is not the same as a grade 1 Erosion Core.”
Han Sang-ah gave a small nod at his words.
“But I am not sure what we should do right now.”
Both pairs of eyes turned to me. It seemed like they were expecting something from me.
“Why do you look like nestling magpies waiting to be fed? For now, do your regular training as always. Once I finish what I have to do, I will help.”
Jung Oh-hoon went oh at that.
“Got it. I will be waiting.”
The car dropped them at the Association building. Then I headed straight to Miracle Junk Shop.
“Hunter Yoo Chan-seok… I am dying here.”
Choi Seung-gi made a crying face the moment we met and said it.
“Is it because you did not haul anything in?”
“All we got was that sticky black liquid, didn’t we? Jaun Valley is a bust!”
It could not be helped. Did he think wandering monsters would all be corporeal? Ghosts left nothing but ectoplasm behind. They were defined by their lack of bodies. He looked like he had lost money this time.
“At this rate I will turn into a beggar, you know?”
Oh please. I am not your only source of income. By now the rumor that he had a contract with me should have spread, and other Hunters would be lining up to sign with him.
“Next time will be different, probably.”
“I sure hope so. At this rate my back will not just bend, it will snap. So, what brings you this time?”
I answered by taking out a box and showing him the gem inside.
“This is the item we secured after the Jaun Valley subjugation.”
As he reached toward the gem in the box, I shook my head.
“It is toxic. A civilian touches it and they’ll die.”
He yanked his hand back and laughed awkwardly.
“How about we run some tests then?”
“I would like that. I have no idea how long it takes though.”
He answered my words.
“Usually we get results within two days. If it runs late, I will call you.”
“Understood. Oh, also check whether it can serve as that catalyst we talked about before.”
I finished with him and headed back to the Association building.