âWhat should we do?â the Mount Hua Sect hunters asked while looking at Choi Yeonseung. Right now, the leader?was?Choi Yeonseung. They had to obey his judgment.
âWhat type of crazy person... â
Choi Yeonseung didnât expect such a situation. Who set off the alarm? Choi Yeonseung focused his internal energy on his hearing to hear the commotion on other side better.
-Constellation! He has signed with a constellation!
-Heâs a minion of the Expert of Twisted Hallucinations!
â......!â
He paused for a moment because he thought they were talking about him, a constellation, but soon found out that wasnât the case. A minion of the Expert of Twisted Hallucinations!
âExpert of Twisted Hallucinations...â
It was one of the evil god constellations that Choi Yeonseung had heard of. The powerful evil god constellation who took over Mexico!
[The âCat of Lava and Magmaâ asks whether that villain would be in the top 20 of the rankings, considering he occupies a part of Earthâs territory.]
Choi Yeonseung was ranked 127th. If this constellation was in the top 20...
âIt will be tough to deal with.â
If Choi Yeonseung had one advantage, it was that his opponent didnât know anything about him while he already knew about his opponent. Such a famous evil god constellation would have a lot of information available about him. Furthermore, the opponent was just a household member or a minion. In comparison, Choi Yeonseung was a constellation himself. There was no need to be frightened.
âRight, I can ask the goddess as well.â
-Goddess. Goddess.
-...Didnât you say you would only call me once in a thousand years?
The Goddess of Defeat and Sloth sounded very annoyed and unwilling to answer.
-I never said that. I said I would try to minimize it as much as possible.
Did she just increase the time span?
-Why did you call me? Ah. You want to know about the power of defeat and sloth. It isnât that hard. Just lose and live idly and you will feel it.
It sounded terrible to Choi Yeonseung. What was she saying...
-We can talk about the power of defeat and sloth later... What Iâm curious about is if you know anything about the Expert of Twisted Hallucinations.
-Ah. That newbie.
â!â
Choi Yeonseung was surprised. The evil god constellations, commonly referred to as evil gods or demon gods, were strong and terrifying beings, yet the Goddess of Defeat and Sloth was treating one as a kid.
-When I was active, he was a bat-like kid hanging around the other constellations.
-Oh... Who did he usually cling to?
-The Master of Slowness and Silence.
The Master of Slowness and Silence, an evil god constellation with little noticeable activity. Even if so, he was one of the most famous evil god constellations on Earth. After all, he was the constellation that occupied northern China and revealed his mighty power during the great invasion!
The Chinese government gritted its teeth and tried to retake its territory, but it failed due to the power of the Master of Slowness and Silence. The constellations who participated in the rankings speculated that he could be in second place and was closest to first place.
-The Expert of Twisted Hallucinations has to be an incredibly strong constellation, yet heâs just the Master of Slowness and Silenceâs subordinate...
-Of course, it could be different now than it was back then. A lot of time has passed, after all.
-Do you happen to know the Master of Slowness and Silence?
-Yes. He was a strong constellation back then. We should focus on the Expert of Twisted Hallucinations right now, though.
Choi Yeonseungâs mind returned at the goddessâ advice. He had to concentrate on the constellation in front of him instead of thinking about other constellations. As expected, age wasnât something to be ignored.
-Thank you.
-Can I go now?
-No. Iâll keep calling you until the fight is over. It would be better for you to just stay up.
-......
The goddess, who was about to go back to sleep, cursed Choi Yeonseung. She had to have chosen the wrong successor!
***
âWait...â
Choi Yeonseung realized something strange. He thought the evil god constellationâs minion would have pushed their way inside with ease. However, he only heard sounds of combat from the outside.
â... Hey, I think theyâre actually defending the place quite well?â
.
â!â
âThe hunters hired by Pable are pretty strong! Maybe thatâs how they are blocking it!â
âAhh. Amazing.â
Choi Yeonseung was impressed. Honestly, he had been looking down on them. However, Pable was also a giant corporation that had more than a dozen hunter clans attached to it. As such, they werenât immediately pushed back when the evil god constellationâs minion invaded.
âThis is good. We can proceed with the mission as planned, then.â
âYou want to take advantage of the chaos?Pable?is in?â
âYes.â
âThat is a very genius idea.â
The Mount Hua Sect hunters were actually like the mafia, so they really liked Choi Yeonseungâs idea. They quickly went inside while the fight outside continued.
âI better carry you two.â
â... A-are you sure?â
âItâll be faster.â
Choi Yeonseung carried the two Mount Hua Sect hunters under his arms. He already had a rough idea of the intruder surveillance system of the research park since it was in the data given to him by Nguyen. Any system had loopholes, so he just had to break through one of those. It was hard to break through such a small, tiny loophole, but...
âI can just force my way through it.â
Bang!
Choi Yeonseung was so fast the hunters he carried thought they had been fired like arrows.
âLight footwork!â
Light footwork was a martial art skill that was more like a movement skill instead of a combat foot technique. When running away or outwitting monsters in a dungeon, a martial artist used light footwork instead of magic. There were many types of light footwork methods, but the principle behind them was simple. They had to strengthen themselves with internal energy and run out!
The Mount Hua Sect hunters knew how to do it to some extent, but Choi Yeonseungâs light footwork was on a different level. He was literally tearing through space! Before the hunters coud even finish saying, âUh,â they had already arrived at the designated building.
Rather than stopping at the entrance, Choi Yeonseung started climbing the wall even though he had a hunter in each hand. He wasnât climbing with his hands anyway. Rather, he was literally running on the wall.
â......!â n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
â!!!â
The Mount Hua Sect hunters were stunned and moved by the sight. They couldnât believe what was happening! As martial artists, they already knew this was theoretically possible. Theyâd have to release internal energy from their toes and attach it to the wall every time they kicked against it, allowing them to maintain balance. Even so, he did it so casually while holding two hunters in his hands.
Choi Yeonseung ran with the light footwork at full speed, then swung his hand and easily cut the window.
âWow. This man is really amazing.â
âWonât he make a good thief?â
Since he already knew about the alarm system, he ran inside the research complex in less than a second, climbed up the wall, cut off the window, and went inside! Magicians could never do that.
The two hunters felt their hearts pounding. This was martial arts?
âW-Who are you?â
Ronald, who was sitting in the room, was startled when three masked hunters entered.
âWe are from Dragon Artifact. Are you Ronald Totten?â
âYouâre here to save me!â Ronald happily shouted in surprise before lowering his voice. âI-It sounds like there is a big fight outside. Is Dragon Artifact in an all-out war right now?â
It wasnât common for clans to engage in all-out wars with each other, but it wasnât rare either. Hunters had always acted this way.
âNo. Those people are from some other clan... In any case, we have come to rescue you. You want to sign with Dragon Artifact, right?â
âOf course. The people from Pable brought me here by force.â
âYou probably had a hard time.â
âTo be honest, the Pable company did a good job, so I didnât suffer much...â
The Mount Hua Sect hunters stared at Ronald in bewilderment.
âLetâs get out of here for now. The others wonât even notice.â
âAh. Please wait a moment. My friend is in the next room.â
âFriend? Are they a researcher like you?â
âYes. I want to take him with us. Ah, but if that request would be difficult to doââ
âIt isnât that hard.â
Choi Yeonseung drew his sword and swung it toward the wall, cutting down the reinforced concrete wall as if it was a piece of paper.
âDonât use magic! There is a spell that can detect magic!â
âIt doesnât matter because I used?martial?arts.â
â!â
âSo this person is your friend?â
The man in the next room was dumbfounded when the wall was suddenly cut.
âYes. Hey! Chanseong?Kim! These people are here to help us! Come with us!â
âT-Thank you.â
âSouth Korean?â
The other personâs appearance puzzled Choi Yeonseung. Why was a Korean researcher here?
-Examine.
â!â
Choi Yeonseung frowned upon checking the other personâs information.
[Kim Chanseong]
[Level: 97
Strength: 93
Agility: 91
Physical Strength: 98
Magic Power: 171
Intelligence: 125
[Chameleonâs Face]
[Rank: D+.
Improves disguise magic effects.]
[Blurred Shadow]
[Rank: C+
Improves stealth magic effects.]
â...... â
âIsnât he a hunter?â
He was quite suspicious, too, because of the skills he had. No matter how Choi Yeonseung looked at it, these were intelligence-gathering skills.
âA researcher? He isnât a hunter?
âHeâs a researcher.â
âI see.â
Choi Yeonseung approached Kim Chanseong and pointed the sword at his throat.
âI know youâre a hunter. If you donât tell me what youâre here for three seconds, Iâll stab you in the neck. 3, 2...â
âI-Iâm here for a similar purpose!â
â?â
âI was going to take Ronald...â
A disguised corporate spy and hunter from the Korean clan âGolden Blood Fish,â Kim Chanseong planned to get to know Ronald and take him out when he saw the opportunity!
***
â... A Korean clan? Thatâs amazing.â
â?â
âI didnât expect a Korean clan would do this.â
Choi Yeonseung was surprised. Korean clans were international pushovers 30 years ago, yet now they were sending people to the United States to steal talent. It was touching in its own way.
âIs he really from a Korean clan?â
âYou... Arenât you from Dragon Artifact? I donât want to fight Dragon Artifact. Just take him with you.â
He was already cautious with Pable. He didnât want to get involved with Dragon Artifact. Pable had stolen Ronald from Dragon Artifact, the original contracted party, anyway! He had no other choice but to be more tactful.
âCh-Chanseong! Was the friendship we built a lie?!â
âN-No. It isnât. I was going to ask you to come and work in South Korea after weâve become friends. I didnât plan to do anything through force.â
âBoth of you are noisy. In any case, this seems to have been settled, so itâs time we leaveââ
Before he could finish speaking, a roar echoed from outside.
â... ? â
âWhat? â
Two buildings in the research complex had been blown away, and a strange-looking existence had appeared in their place. A shining octahedron was floating in the air, each of its sides emitting light of a different color.
-Thatâs the Expert?of Twisted Hallucinationsâ power! Be careful!
The Goddess of Defeat and Sloth warned. She sounded startled. Their opponent had to be a fairly powerful household member, considering they got the lazy goddess acting so frantically.
-Did the Expert of Twisted Hallucinations summon that household member after falling into a disadvantage?
Amid its rampage, the octahedron hit the building they were in and suddenly attacked Choi Yeonseung.
Choi Yeonseung clicked his tongue and immediately launched a counterattack. He unleashed storm-like palm energy, deflecting the incoming attack, then landed right in the middle of the collapsed building with his group!
⦠Due to the loud noise, the hunters of Pable saw their group.
âYou... Who are you?â
The Pable hunters shouted in astonishment at the people they had never seen before.
âDamn. I thought we could just leave in silence...â
âIt looks like I have to fight.â
The Mount Hua Sect hunters prepared for combat.
â... Iâm here to get rid of the Expert of Twisted Hallucinationsâ minions.â
â...... !â