Chapter 162: Chapter 162

“By the way... Even if a good god constellation wins, that doesn’t make humanity the owner of the land, does it?”

The good god constellations had no intention of occupying lands through force, but they weren’t pushovers. They shed blood in constellation battles to win Earth’s land. Would they really just obediently give it back? No constellation would do that.

“Right? I was also curious about that.”

Hwang Gyeongryong shared the same thoughts. Hunters who had fallen deeply for the constellations would say, ‘Are you going to ignore our master’s good intentions?’ However, Hwang Gyeongryong didn’t believe in the constellations.

“It isn’t just me. Quite a few people in other governments wonder about the same thing as well.”

“Why don’t you stop them, then?”

“What force do I have to stop them? And for what reason? I’d just be scolded if I’m wrong.”

For most people, the good god constellations had good images. The ones who stopped the great invasion and the hunters working under them seemed to be transcendent beings who had come to help humanity. From a politician’s point of view, there was no reason to object to them. People would say, ‘He is greedy and doubting the constellation!’ and grab his handle. Some National Assembly members were even kicked out for saying the wrong thing about constellations...

“Frankly, it is still better than having the evil god constellation ruling.”

“That’s true.”

No matter how insidious a good god constellation was, they were still better than being ruled by an evil god constellation. This was especially true when considering what the collector constellation had done. Evil god constellations were capable of committing any type of terror for their own pleasure and amusement!

‘This isn’t a good situation for me, though.’

.

Choi Yeonseung became nervous. The good god constellations were by no means weak compared to the evil god constellations. If the evil god constellations were increasing their strength by spreading fear in people, the good god constellations were increasing their strength in the opposite way.

“In any case, you will receive very serious proposals now that you are an A-grade hunter. Those include all-out wars and constellation battles. Refuse both,” Hwang Gyeongryong said.

“?”

Choi Yeonseung was puzzled. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Just refuse?”

“Well... There could be a useful proposal among them, but most of them are rubbish. During your absence, the number of crazy people has grown.”

Hwang Gyeongryong pulled up an organization’s website on his smartphone.

-Knights of the Holy Temple.

“What’s this? The Knights Templar? Didn’t they get ruined a long time ago?”

“No, this one’s the Knights of the Holy Temple.”

The Knights of the Holy Temple was an organization led by the royal families and hunters that were exiled from Britain when the evil god constellation conquered it. Their goal was to retake the UK. Hearing about it made Choi Yeonseung happy.

“They seem like a good group.”

“No. They’re crazy.”

“......”

They had to be really crazy, considering it was Hwang Gyeongryong who said that.

“Those bastards don’t care about the means and methods they use to achieve their purpose. Since you are an A-grade hunter, they will somehow try to get you to join them.”

“What do you mean they don’t care about the means and methods?”

“Um. They tried to kidnap the president of the United States and launch nuclear weapons at Britain.”

“......”

Choi Yeonseung was shocked. They were insane!

“There are many other crazy people aside from them. They didn’t come for you when you are a B-grade, but they will now, so be careful.”

“Got it.”

Hwang Gyeongryong was certainly persuasive. Right now, most A-grade hunters didn’t actively do raids. They were too valuable, and there was no reason for them to do so. Having reached such a high rank, they didn’t have much reason to risk their lives. Hence, only those who were desperate ever tried to recruit an A-grade hunter.

“Watch out for Russian spies as well.”

“Ah, okay. Anyway, what’s the hunters’ second dream?”

If the first was the restoration of their homeland, what could the other be?

“Attacking the Abyss Gate.”

“......!”

Choi Yeonseung’s eyes widened.

The Abyss Gate was the first gate that appeared on Earth. It connected their world to the Abyss. The reason so many dungeons were still appearing on Earth was because of that connection. Humanity had always jumped into unexplored lands. Attempts to enter it and conquer the Abyss realms one by one had been going on for decades.

‘However, most of them failed.’

Most of the hunters who entered the Abyss in the early days were wiped out. Moreover, those who got sucked into the Abyss for seemingly no reason had gone or were about to go crazy by the time they returned.

[Do you want to enter the ‘First Abyss Kingdom’ dungeon?]

[Rewards: Kingdom of ? ?]

[Admission restrictions: None]

[Time remaining: None]

That message window had been famous for decades. Choi Yeonseung suspected that it was a trap set by evil god constellations to eat souls!

‘It doesn’t make sense for an entire kingdom to be given up just because some hunters cleared a dungeon connected to the Abyss.’

-No. I think there is a possibility.

-......

Choi Yeonseung was taken aback by the goddess’ words.

-What do you mean?

-The gate between Earth and the Abyss isn’t something that anyone could create. Several constellations probably joined forces.

-......!

He thought it was just a chance connection, but the goddess thought otherwise. There were no coincidences in the world. It was more plausible that various Abyss constellations coveted the souls on Earth and worked together to open a gate to it.

-Even if the mighty constellations joined forces, these gates can’t be easily opened. There’s a good chance that they took an oath.

Oaths of the constellations were powerful. It was thanks to the oath made by the constellations on Earth that they could now be ranked. If any of them could claim the top rank, they could take possession of Earth. An enormous power that even constellations couldn’t break!

-Being able to invade Earth from the Abyss without paying anything is unfair even for a constellation...

Rather than opening the gate to make it reachable from Abyss to Earth, they would rather accept those who cane from Earth to the Abyss. They most likely took that type of oath.

-Then if I really enter the Abyss gate and raid it, I’ll be given a realm?

-Wouldn’t that be the case if they swore an oath?

-No. What type of constellation would be such an idiot?

-... From the constellations’ point of view, they probably didn’t think that humans would attack.

Most constellations looked down on humans. They were an uncivilized race who didn’t even know how to use magic until the gate opened. How could such a race raid the realm of a constellation?

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“Uh... I asked the other constellations, and they told me that if we enter the Abyss gate, we most likely will actually be given a connected realm.”

"Are you serious?!”

Hwang Gyeongryong was overjoyed.

“... Why are you happy?”

“I’ve been pouring a lot of money into this matter.”

“......!”

That was right. Hwang Gyeongryong had little interest in restoring the homelands of Earth, regardless of whether it was North Korea, Britain, or China. On the other hand, he was very interested in raiding the Abyss gate. As a human, he wanted to deal a blow to a constellation!

“I’m just glad it isn’t a lie.”

“What are you going to use a realm of the Abyss for?”

“I don’t know. I’ll think about it after I get it.”

“......”

Hwang Gyeongryong was very serious.

A realm in the Abyss was bound to be of use somehow. There were serious plans to dump industrial waste in the Abyss, so there was no way it would be useless.

“This could be fate, Yeonseung,” Hwang Gyeongryong said. From becoming an S-grade hunter to preparing to use the company’s enormous power to retaliate and Choi Yeonseung returning as a constellation.

“If it is fate, then I spent an unfair amount of time wandering in the Abyss...”

With a bitter expression, Choi Yeonseung checked the data about the First Abyss Kingdom Hwang Gyeongryong had collected. Most of the raid parties had been wiped out, but they still managed to get some intel. The surroundings were all red, flesh flowed, and the orc warriors who were two or three heads bigger than people roared and pounced...

‘Uh? Isn’t this the realm of the Warrior Stained with Madness and Blood?’

Choi Yeonseung somehow seemed to know the master of this kingdom.

***

[The hunters showed such ugly performances at the Hunter Arena in California... Max revealed, ‘I was scared as a hunter. I’m a coward…’]

“Isn’t this strange? Max definitely isn’t the type of hunter to say that, is he?”

Elisabeth was puzzled. It didn’t fit Max’s cocky and arrogant personality no matter how much she thought about it.

“Friend. Does that matter now?”

“This is amazing. Aren’t there more hunters than usual... ”

The Icarus clan hunters usually acted on their own, so they seldom gathered in one place. Yet today, she saw a strange number of hunters. It felt as if they were waiting for someone.

“It’s only proper for us to wait for Choi Yeonseung.”

“Is that so?”

An A-grade hunter was different. Moreover, Choi Yeonseung was from their clan. No matter how indifferent they were to others, for as long as they were hunters, they couldn’t help being interested in A-grade hunters. They had gathered here for different purposes. Some wanted to say hello, some to be taught, and others wanted to be friendly for some other reason...

“Ah. Damn. If I had known this would happen, I would’ve established closer ties with him!”

"That man is really consistent, isn’t he?"?Smallwood marveled while looking at Whittaker. Few people like him could build relationships while openly calculating about it. After Choi Yeonseung hit him with a heavy blow once, he began to avoid Choi Yeonseung. However, he now reappeared.

“Bah. You only make friends for profit.”

“W-what? We’ve always been friends! Friends! Hey, say something!”

“It’s hard to refute that, but…” Elisabeth trailed off. On the surface, didn’t they really just become friends for profit?

Antony was furious.

“I don’t know about the others, but I’m not of the same mind. Choi Yeonseung and I are competing in good faith...”

“Reach A-grade first before you talk.”

“... Do you want to die? ”

Antony and Whittaker growled at each other.

“Choi Yeonseung is an A-grade hunter now, so doesn’t that mean the B-grade champion seat is empty?” Smallwood asked Elisabeth.

“That’s right. Everyone is drooling because of it."

Creak.

Several limousines pulled up, and government-sent bodyguards exited the vehicles. Their objective was to follow the A-grade hunter they were assigned to wherever the hunter went.

“He’s here!”

“Wait… Isn’t he inside?”

However, Choi Yeonseung didn’t get out of any of the limousines.

“What’s everyone doing here?”

Rather, Choi Yeonseung was behind them. Riding a bicycle, he matched the speed of the limousines on the road.

“... Why a bike?”

“I was feeling a bit lazy, so I decided to train.”

The bodyguards who got off the limousines looked at Choi Yeonseung with complicated and subtle expressions. They wanted to tell him to get in the car, but there was no way an A-grade hunter would listen...

“Congratulations on your promotion to A-grade, Hunter Choi Yeonseung!”

“Oh. It’s nice to see you. By the way, weren’t you the one who spat on me the other day when I asked if you were interested in martial arts?”

“......”

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung! I would never do that!”

“I know you anonymously cursed me on the Internet. Didn’t you say that I should go to a nursing home and move around in a wheelchair?”

“H-How did you... ”

The hunters were terrified. How did he do that?

“Well, it’s fine. I should accept your congratulations. Thank you, everyone. Why isn’t anyone clapping?”

Clap, clap clap, clap clap clap—

Applause ensued in the very awkward and uncomfortable atmosphere.