Chapter 167: Chapter 167

-The core purification factory exploded, and monsters are coming out! Requesting support...

-The Garyville Core Refinement Factory is now closed. Citizens, head outside...

Large factories not only in the United States but all over the world were exploding.

-The Ulsan Core Refinery...

-The core refinery in Shandong is...

Decades since the gate opened, the core energy monsters released became the largest source of humanity’s energy, surpassing even nuclear and oil. The nigh-perfect energy was environment-friendly and provided them with unlimited power.

However, cores couldn’t be immediately converted into energy. They first had to loot, process, and refine it before they could turn it into energy. The core refineries were in charge of achieving 99.999% energy efficiency from a core, which was humanity’s goal.

… However, all the core refineries around the world had just been sent into an uproar.

Hwang Gyeongryong screamed.

“The stocks are going down!”

If monsters ran amok all over the world, hunters could just say, “Go kill them.”

However, administrators couldn’t do the same. Even if they were to kill all the monsters, stock prices wouldn’t just shoot back up after they had fallen. Moreover, their facilities could be destroyed as well.

-US stock market panic... The Nasdaq crashed...

-The circuit breaker has been activated... Is Black Monday coming?

“This is insane. Call the people in charge! I’ll head?out myself.”

“Yes!”

The secretaries didn’t stop him this time even though they usually told him to let other hunters do it whenever he tried to step out himself. After all, too many monsters had appeared at the same time.

***

The three A-grade hunters contacted their respective acquaintances to gather information about what was happening. They were receiving all forms of news, but the information they needed the most right now was detailed ones about the monsters.

Choi Yeonseung suddenly became curious. If he got his intel from Dragon Hwang’s group, where did the other two A-grade hunters get theirs from?

“Who are you two asking for information?”

“The US Department of Homeland Security.”

“The Korean government’s Hunter Management Department.”

“... I-I see. Make sure to gather all the intel that you can.”

Now that he had thought about it, officials visited him and gave him their contact information when he was promoted to A-grade. They said it was so he could contact them whenever he needed their help or if he was ever approached by anyone suspected of being a spy from another country!

-Uh, Yeonseung. Did you contact me about the monsters? I’m fighting one right now, but what monster is this? I’ve never seen anything like it before!

-... Hyung doesn’t know about them either?

Considering even Hwang Gyeongryong didn’t know anything about their opponent, Choi Yeonseung became even more certain that a constellation was playing a trick on them.

-You don’t know about them either? Why?!

-This is my first time seeing it as well. A constellation is probably toying with us.

-That’s just despicable!

Hwang Gyeongryong sounded extremely angry as he vented out his frustration. He knew that the evil god constellations could do all types of cruel things, but he didn’t think they would adapt to the capitalist society and do something so dirty.

-I’m forcefully incinerating it right now. If I burn it all, it shouldn’t be able to regenerate anymore. Have you dealt with the one on your end?

-Yes.

How did you kill it?

Hwang Gyeongryong was puzzled. Choi Yeonseung couldn’t use wide-range magic like Hwang Gyeongryong. He shouldn’t be able to kill it with sword energy, either.

-I just kept cutting at it until it couldn’t move anymore.

-......

Hwang Gyeongryong was speechless.

‘Such an ignorant method...’

-Anyway, please send me any information on them as soon as you get them.

-Got it… Anyway, where are you right now? Nobody told me you were at our group’s facility.

-I’ll call you again.

-Hey! Don’t tell me—!

Beep—

Choi Yeonseung hung up. Talking on the phone for a long time wasn’t ideal.

“We still don’t have enough information, but they say you can burn those monsters to death.”

“That’s also what I’ve been told.”

Choi Yeonseung and Morales’ words made Han Seha sigh with relief. She was already planning to complain to the Korean government if they had gotten the right information and she didn’t.

“I think I should head to South Korea first.”

“Yes. Thank you for your help. I’ll take care of the rest and send your share over.”

“No, well, you don’t have to. But since you insist, I’ll accept it. Hehe.”

‘It’s like she turned into a completely different person.’

Watching Han Seha wave her hands in a shy and embarrassed manner astonished Morales. The sight was far more terrifying than the demons that poured out of the Abyss.

“What are you looking at?”

“... I didn’t see anything.”

“Don’t make a fuss and just go quickly. We’ll be moving as well.”

Choi Yeonseung loaded the closet, which he had brought with him in the middle of the commotion, to the back of the car. With a flick of his hands, he then moved.

“mmmmphh!”

“You didn’t take off their gags? Isn’t that too much?” Choi Yeonseung scolded the spies as if finding their behavior absurd.

The spies stared at Choi Yeonseung in disbelief. He didn’t say anything about it, so they didn’t!

“But you did well in not escaping. Good job.”

“Th-thank you.”

As soon as Choi Yeonseung took off the gags, Jacob furiously shouted, "These bastards! I’m going to kill you all!”

“Are you saying that to me now?”

“N-no. Not you. Those thieves. After I showed you grace and hired you...!”

“Aha. So that’s how you learned about the location.”

Choi Yeonseung was convinced. No wonder they were so good at stealing! It would’ve been easy for hunters employed by the Parker Group to find a gap.

“Still, think positively. The world is in a mess right now. We could’ve all died together.”

“T-That’s right. Think positively.”

“Shut up!” Jacob roared angrily when the thieves spoke up from the side.

“Hey, Jacob. I think you should say thank you now,” Executive Director Lockstein whispered, still tied up beside Jacob.

“... Ah. That’s right. Thank you.”

Jacob was the heir to the Parker family, one of the leading conglomerate families in the United States, but he couldn’t take these people lightly. Three A-grade hunters...

“Where did the other one go?”

“She headed back to defend South Korea.”

“As expected. You are patriotic. Hunters are great. That’s a rare virtue these days...”

Bam!

Choi Yeonseung kicked Lockstein in the thigh, making Lockstein scream.

“Why did you do that?!”

“Nothing. Sorry. I thought you cursed me for a moment.”

“?! ”

In any case, the people before them were A-grade hunters. Even powerful countries’ presidents would bow their heads to them and be careful around them.

“... Thank you, everyone. I didn’t expect you to come.”

“The safety of the citizens is our joy.”

“......”

Choi Yeonseung’s words made Morales so red he lowered his head. How could he say that in a situation like this...

“How did you know, though?”

“We have received information that suspicious thieves could be coming to infiltrate the factory, so Morales asked me to stand guard with him.”

“That’s...!”

Jacob was frankly moved. It was very rare for an A-grade hunter to do such a thing. Being warned in advance aside, would anyone really drag a friend to stand guard with them?

“Thank you, Morales. Seriously.”

“I just did what I had to do.” n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“I’m really sorry that what I promised last time has been delayed. The company is in a complicated situation right now, which is why it keeps getting pushed back. Still, I promise you something. I will convince the other board members to give you the shares I promised.”

“......!”

Morales’ eyes trembled slightly. His idea about stealing the white dungeon and demonstrating his skills had been shaken.

‘He’s lying.’

-He’s lying.

[Lies!]

However, the three experienced constellations immediately noticed that Jacob didn’t mean any of the sweet words he had just said.

“You know that is nonsense, right? There is no sincerity in it,” Choi Yeonseung softly told Morales.

“... Is that true?”

“Yes. Once martial artists have reached the peak-class stage, we unlock the ability to read other people’s minds. It is an Asian mystery.”

“Really?”

Morales seemed as if he truly believed it, making Choi Yeonseung look at him with pity. Was this guy truly an A-grade hunter? However, Morales couldn’t help it. Martial arts masters were extremely rare. Moreover, Choi Yeonseung had a very strong presence. Even if Choi Yeonseung had said, ‘In fact, martial artists can only eat kimchi for breakfast, lunch, and dinner,’ Morales would’ve seriously believed him.

Rather than reading minds, martial artists could more acutely sense every change in their opponent’s muscles, behavior, and eye movements. Choi Yeonseung had reached the pinnacle of martial arts and had even become a constellation, so it was easy for him to tell if someone was being sincere or not.

‘This guy is amazing too.’

Jacob was grateful for his life being saved, but he still had the audacity to break his promise of giving Morales company shares! Was having such little conscience required to become the president of a company?

‘I’m glad to hear that.’

Fortunately, Jacob’s behavior made it easy for Choi Yeonseung to act without feeling any guilt!

“Oh, yeah. I just remembered. I think I pulled out some stuff and used it when fighting inside the factory. Is that okay?”

“Of course. You killed the monster, after all,” the executive director immediately replied.

The one who killed the monster that appeared in the factory was an A-grade hunter. If Lockstein said, ‘No, your battle destroyed the factory’s facilities!’ it could result in him getting buried in this industry. A-grade hunters could just as easily bury him six feet underground too. He had to take the other person’s status into consideration.

“You can take whatever is in the factory.,” Jacob said, “You worked for our sakes, so I think it’s only fair for you to be rewarded that much.”

“Ah, really? Thank you.”

“We are the ones who should be grateful.”

“No. We should be grateful.”

“No. We—Eek.”

Choi Yeonseung turned around. It was a simple move, but he did it with the brilliant martial art technique of kicking a lump of soil into Jacob’s mouth.

“Let’s go, Morales.”

It wasn’t until the two hunters coolly walked away to the car that Jacob and Lockstein realized they were still tied up.

“......”

“Mmmmph! Mmmph!”

***

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ is shouting that the constellations are currently in an uproar!]

-What? I didn’t even do anything yet.

The very sensitive Choi Yeonseung reacted immediately. However, he wasn’t the problem.

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says that a constellation broke the agreement between constellations and went wild on Earth.]

The raid on the core purification factories wasn’t carried out by one of the constellations who signed the agreement. Surprisingly, there were rules even among the constellations of Earth.

Humans often thought, ‘These evil god constellations really just do whatever they want on Earth!’ However, they actually followed rules now due to the ceasefire agreement signed after the great invasion. Not all constellations signed that agreement, though. The number of constellations on Earth was increasing. Among them, one dared to ignore those who came first.

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says that some constellations have put a bounty on this constellation.]

‘Oh...’

Choi Yeonseung was amazed. In fact, Choi Yeonseung had already thought about it.

How cool would it be if he were to proudly reveal his identity and say, ‘All constellations, come at me if you think you have what it takes to defeat me in combat!’

However, the constellations on Earth were strong, and Choi Yeonseung was still a long way from becoming a supreme constellation. He was forced to gather his strength and wait. Now, this guy showed up. Through this great opportunity, he could observe how the constellations normally responded to such situations.

-Wait. Can I get the constellation’s bounty?

-Successor... Don’t be too obsessed with that...

The goddess of sloth looked at Choi Yeonseung as if she felt sorry for him. It was heartbreaking to see her successor, who had been ambitiously planning to deal with the constellations, covet a bounty.