Chapter 85

“Changsoo hyung. Are you okay?”

“Were you hurt?”

At his team members’ questions, Im Changsoo clenched his teeth.

“Shut up, you bastards. After everything I’ve done for you, you’re just standing around watching?”

“No, it’s just…”

“The situation was a little complicated then. I’m sorry.”

“You disloyal bastards.”

They weren’t bound together by loyalty, but Im Changsoo thought he had given them what they were due and received what he was owed in return. Who had been the one to force the training-camp washouts into the Guild, buy them cars, and give them spending money?

He had received their loyalty in exchange…but being abandoned at the most important moment felt like a stinging blow to the back of the head.

Fuck, what kind of bullshit is this?

Several billion won? It was certainly a large amount of money, but it wasn’t beyond Im Changsoo’s means. He could pay it in full by selling just one or two buildings registered under his name.

But he couldn’t tolerate having his pride trampled.

That bastard deserves to be beaten to death.

Im Changsoo glared at one person’s back with wide-open eyes.

That bastard in the black leather armor—Jin Taekyung—was the root cause of everything.

I don’t know where he came from or what he was doing before this…but I’ll make him pay for this humiliation.

He still didn’t know exactly what Taekyung’s identity was. The one thing he knew for certain was that Taekyung was no ordinary C-rank Hunter.

There wasn’t a single C-rank Hunter in the world who could crush eight B-rank monsters in a head-on fight.

Why is he hiding his identity? Is he a fugitive criminal? Or someone with a fraudulent registration? The moment we get out of this Gate, I’ll dig up every last thing about him.

It was at that moment that Jin Taekyung suddenly turned his head toward him and narrowed his eyes.

The predator’s gaze, fixed on its prey, made Im Changsoo’s heart drop.

“Hey.”

“Y-yes?”

“You were just cursing me in your head, weren’t you?”

“N-no, I didn’t.”

“Don’t give me that. The way you stammered gives it away. No wonder the back of my head has been prickling since earlier.”

Im Changsoo recalled the words of his father, a Hunter and war hero from the Great Cataclysm era.

The more dangerous the situation, the more calmly you have to deal with it.

“I really didn’t.”

“My mind-reading technique says you’re lying.”

“Mind-reading? There’s no such thing.”

“There’s magic, so why not mind-reading? Let go of your hidebound thinking.”

“Regardless, I swear I didn’t.”

“No, I swear you did. And you’re getting one too.”

Bonk!

Tears sprang to Im Changsoo’s eyes.

It was a forehead flick. He hadn’t even been hit by his father since turning twenty. And now, in front of his team members and several women, he had suffered this humiliation at the hands of someone who looked barely his age.

“Not bad. The feel is exactly like when I hit Hyuk Mujin. Anyway, watch yourself, okay?”

Im Changsoo didn’t know who Hyuk Mujin was, but he lowered his head anyway.

“…Yes.”

“But this damn labyrinth really doesn’t end. Hey, how much farther to the Boss Zone?”

“I don’t know. It’s a labyrinth.”

“And no more monsters are coming out. I’m bored to death.”

“…”

Of course they aren’t coming out when you beat down every single one you see!

Im Changsoo and his team didn’t even need to step in. Those five were more than enough. No, Jin Taekyung alone was enough.

What a monster. Is he really an A-rank Hunter?

Taekyung alone seemed to have brought down more than thirty monsters. Just when it seemed like he was getting tired, he would suddenly start flying around again.

The raid is getting faster.

Normally, a raid slowed down toward the end as fatigue accumulated.

But the raid was getting faster even though they were fighting the same monsters…

Is he getting stronger the whole time?

Im Changsoo desperately rejected the thought that had flashed through his mind.

What is he, a game character leveling up? How could that make any sense?

Getting hit on the forehead must have broken his brain.

“Hoo.”

As Im Changsoo let out a deep sigh, his team members approached him hesitantly.

“Changsoo hyung…”

“Oppa, are you okay? What do we do? You’ve got a bump on your forehead.”

“I’m in a bad mood, so get lost. The moment you leave, you’re all fired. Got it?”

No matter how badly his dignity had been crushed, even a tiger with its teeth pulled was still a tiger.

His team members swallowed nervously at Im Changsoo’s threat.

My car payments aren’t even finished.

Where will I get accepted if I leave Sangdong Guild?

My credit-card bill this month…

The reason they had been able to enjoy such comfortable lives was Im Changsoo’s support. Since they were all Hunters, they weren’t going to starve to death, but wherever they went, it would be difficult to expect the same treatment.

“You think you’re getting away with it just because you’re leaving? Just wait. Wherever you go, I’ll make sure to place a call in Sangdong Guild’s name. You know this field is small, right?”

At the threat that he would not only drive them out but also ruin their futures, their expressions changed completely.

“Changsoo hyung, that’s going too far.”

“Hyung? I’m only hyung when things are going your way?”

“Oppa, do you really have to take it that far?”

“That’s why you bastards should’ve picked the right person to hitch your wagon to.”

He wanted to slap every one of them across the face, but he forced himself to hold back.

If he raised his voice again, there was no telling when Jin Taekyung might turn around.

Fuck, how did I end up…

What kind of pathetic situation was this, being too afraid of a forehead flick to even get angry properly?

Im Changsoo spat on the floor and turned away.

That was when someone grabbed him.

“Changsoo hyung. No, Team Leader Im, you can’t do this.”

“Think it over one more time, oppa. Please?”

“Let go. I don’t want to say it twice.”

“This time, for real. I’ll do everything you tell me. Okay?”

“…Everything I tell you?”

Im Changsoo, who had been about to pull away from his colleague’s hand, suddenly stopped.

He glanced back and saw Jin Taekyung’s group far ahead of them. They had gotten some distance away while he was arguing with his Guild members.

Even from that distance, Song Song’s stunning figure from behind was impossible to miss.

Wait. Maybe there is a way.

To Im Changsoo, Jin Taekyung looked like a monster—but he seemed to have one weakness.

A woman named Song Song.

He was completely smitten earlier.

There was no need to be perceptive about it. Anyone could tell from a single glance that Jin Taekyung had feelings for Song Song.

She said she was a C-rank healer, right?

Subduing a healer was easier than twisting a chicken’s neck. If the woman he liked were being held hostage, Jin Taekyung wouldn’t be able to act freely.

Then it’s over.

Apart from Taekyung, the other three weren’t much of a concern.

The old man who was supposedly the Guild Master was a B-rank Hunter, but he was a mage, so close combat would be his worst area. The middle-aged man who was an E-rank tank wasn’t even worth discussing.

The only person who bothered Im Changsoo a little was Choi Minwoo. That guy…

“Can I trust what you just said?”

“Of course.”

“Just trust us.”

“Oppa, why don’t you trust people at all? Are we really only this close?”

Im Changsoo had a raid team made up of four B-rank Hunters and five C-rank Hunters who would obey his commands. They were all people he had trained to live solely on the scraps he handed them.

“Fine. Then listen carefully to what I’m about to say…”

After a short and simple explanation, the team members couldn’t hide their nervousness.

“Will it work?”

“It does seem possible.”

“Oppa, it’s not what I think it is, right? If you’re talking about killing someone, I’m not sure I can.”

“Didn’t you say you’d do everything I told you?”

“Even so, that’s a little…”

“Forget it. I’d like to do that, but I’m not reckless enough to go that far. First, we take the camera. Then we give that son of a bitch a humiliation he’ll never live down.”

“Whew. What a relief. Then I’m definitely on oppa’s side.”

“Do your best. You know what happens if anyone hesitates this time or holds back even a little, right?”

“Of course.”

“Just trust us, Team Leader. No, hyungnim. Hehe.”

A sinister smile spread across Im Changsoo’s lips.

If he trampled on my pride, he has to pay the price.

In the Boss Zone they were about to enter, Im Changsoo intended to make Jin Taekyung understand exactly whose toes he had stepped on.

There was even a monster there capable of standing against Jin Taekyung.

The Minotaur Warrior.

The boss monster of The Minotaur’s Labyrinth.

Despite being only a B-rank monster, it was a monstrous creature whose physical abilities rivaled those of an A-rank.

Once the Minotaur Warrior wears him down, we’ll make our move.

Set a barbarian against a barbarian.

Defeat a monster with a monster.

The moment both sides were exhausted would be their opportunity. He could recover both the money he was about to lose for no good reason and the pride that had been dragged through the dirt.

“Hey, hurry up! This is the Boss Zone!”

Jin Taekyung’s shout rang out the next moment.

Im Changsoo smiled broadly.

“Yes! Coming!”

His steps toward the Boss Zone were remarkably light.

“One Annihilation.”

Kraaaaaash!

From the tip of the spear came the sound of the sky splitting apart.

A white vortex that tore through and devoured everything it touched slammed into the muscular chest of the Minotaur Warrior.

—Moo?

Crack-crack-crack!

There was no need to check whether it was alive or dead.

The moment I pulled my spear from its chest, the System notification rang out.

Ding.

System

• Defeated Lv. 70 Minotaur Warrior!

• Level Up!

• Quest, B-rank Gate Clear, completed!

• Calculating your contribution… Complete!

• The Quest Success Reward has been deposited into your Inventory!

“Whew.”

The last one should always end with one big hit.

My body was incredibly tired, though.

I shook the blood from my spear and turned around.

“Let’s collect the byproducts and get out of here. I’m starving to dea—why are you all looking at me like that?”

Im Kkeokjeong spoke for everyone.

“You really have to ask?”

He looked back and forth between the dead boss monster’s corpse and me.

His eyes demanded some kind of explanation for how I had finished a B-rank boss monster with a single blow.

“Hmm. Let’s just say I got lucky.”

“Lucky?”

“Yes. Lucky.”

It really was because I had been lucky.

The fact that I had lived in a goshiwon.¹ The fact that a capsule had been discarded in front of my goshiwon.

All of it.

“Good grief. I’m speechless. Fine.”

The others reacted much the same way as Im Kkeokjeong. Even Team Leader Choi, who had already experienced a raid with me, addressed me with a stunned expression.

“I didn’t expect you to be this capable.”

“If you know now, that’s enough.”

“Could we discuss this?”

“Of course.”

Not now. Later.

I still had something more important to take care of.

With my most charming smile, I approached one person.

“Miss Song, could I ask you for a heal—what are you guys doing over there?”

“Ah.”

“What are you doing? Why are you here?”

“We’re just… just standing here.”

“I-I just think she’s so beautiful.”

The Sangdong Guild members who had been standing next to Song Song jumped in surprise and began spouting all kinds of nonsense.

What’s wrong with these guys?

I only meant that they should get lost because they were getting in the way between me and Miss Song.

Do I really look that scary?

“Where’s Im Changsoo?”

At a single word from me, the Sangdong Guild members split apart like the Red Sea.

Im Changsoo answered from behind them, his face white as a sheet.

“I’m here.”

“What’s wrong with your face? Are you sick?”

“I-I think I’m coming down with something.”

“Tsk, tsk. Take a potion, you idiot. You’ve got plenty of money at home.”

“…”

“Anyway, hurry up and collect the byproducts. Let’s go. I’m tired.”

“Yes, yessir.”

Once Im Changsoo disappeared with the nuisances, the moment I had been waiting for finally arrived.

I smiled brightly at Song Song.

“You’re hungry, right? How about steak at a nice restaurant for dinner?”

Song Song smiled back at me.

“I’m sorry, but I’m a vegetarian.”

“That’s strange. I thought you ate meat just fine yesterday. How about a salad bar?”

“I’m a carnivore.”

“…”

I got rejected, right?