[You have seen through the essence of Kwon Yeongseung.]
[Kwon Yeongseung]
Level: 324
Strength: 366
Agility: 411
Physical Strength: 398
Magic Power: 408
Intelligence: 401
A-rank skill âUnderstanding Advanced Magic.â
B+ rank skill âMagic Power Recovery.â
B+ rank skill âRepeated Casting.â
......
âThatâs amazing.â
Considering his skills were this good despite not signing a contract with a constellation, he seemed to be born with talent. He even reached the A-grade rank without training. But that was it...
âIf this bastard had worked harder, Changsik hyung wouldnât have been sworn at.â
Choi Yeonseung stared at Kwon?Yeongseung. In fact, the grudge he felt wasnât fair at all. Kwon Yeongseung wasnât the only one to be blamed for the defeat. People had many expectations of Kwon Yeongseung because he was an A-grade hunter, but SSL had limitations to what a single hunter could do. In addition, being an A-grade hunter didnât necessarily mean he could make full use of his abilities.
âWhy... are you looking at me?â Kwon Yeongseung took a step back. He was certainly an A-grade hunter, considering he instinctively realized that something was strange.
âIâm bored. Come train with me.â
âUh... Arenât there other hunters?â
âNone of them are A-grade.â
Choi Yeonseungâs words were hard to refute. However, Kwon Yeongseung didnât back down so easily either.
âIâm a bit tired because I used a lot of magic power. Training in this condition could backfire.â
âI see.â
Of course, it didnât work on Choi Yeonseung at all.
âHe is in very good condition.â n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Choi Yeonseung was a master of martial arts and also had constellation eyes. Such a lie would never work on him.
âDo you know the best thing to do in this situation?â
âI should rest, right? At least until my magic power is restored...â
âNo. That will make you weaker. I have perfected a special training that restores magic power and makes the body stronger.â
â... Iâll just rest.â
Kwon Yeongseung firmly drew a line. He knew he couldnât beat Choi Yeonseung with words.
âWhere are you right now?â
âWhat do you mean? Arenât we in the base of?Dragon?Industry?â
âThatâs right. Remind me, whoâs the leader around here?â
âHunter Choi Yeonseung.â
âThatâs right. Train. Now.â
â......â
Kwon Yeongseungâs jaw dropped open. So right now...
Was Choi Yeonseung saying that if he didnât train, he would be kicked out? He was so dumbfounded that he couldnât speak.
Kwon Yeongseung wouldnât be kicked out because he refused to pay a large sum of money once they had gotten back or because he refused to give up loot from this dungeon raid. Rather, it would be because he refused to train with Choi Yeonseung.
The condition was so trivial that he hadnât even thought of it, rendering him speechless. What was going on with this training?
-Iâm sorry, everyone. Dragon Industry wants us to leave.
-Why? What did they ask for?
-He asked me to train with him, but I refused and said I had to rest. Thatâs why he told us to leave.
-... What are you talking about?
Even though Kwon Yeongseung was an A-grade hunter, he couldnât just say that to the Korean hunters, who trusted and followed him.
â... I can train! Iâll go!â
âItâs nice to see you so motivated.â
Kwon Yeongseung grumbled as he walked away. Now that this had happened, he decided to give Choi Yeonseung a proper blow in the training room. He would make Choi Yeonseung realize that he didnât have to train!
***
âThe orcs are being cunning.â
âThey usually arenât clever enough to move in small groups and target our supplies.â
It was rare to find such intelligent monsters in normal dungeons. Moreover, orcs ordinarily only charged recklessly when attacking. They didnât cunningly engage in guerilla warfare like this. However, the orcs in this dungeon moved surprisingly intelligently because their ruling constellation ordered them to.
âDamn it.â
Joseph cursed deep down. He was confident in his constellationâs teachings, but he wasnât the only one receiving help from such higher forms of beings. A constellation was also assisting the orcs they were facing. They already knew these unexpected circumstances could happen.
âOkay. Itâs ahead of schedule, but it canât be helped. Contact the other expedition teams and tell them to prepare for an all-out attack.â
âAn all-out attack? â
âYes. Iâm sure the others know things will become dangerous if we keep letting things go this way.â They will cooperate, unlike before.â
âBut Grant. Our enemies right now are quite formidable.â
The great fortress, the heart of the orcs, was located in the middle of the realm. To reach it, they would have to go through numerous fortresses intertwined like spider webs. If they attacked one fortress, the next fortress and the one after that would prepare and wait for them. They had to deal with so many orcs.
âEven if we move forward together, they most likely wonât listen to your orders.â
What Joseph wanted was for other hunters to take the lead and act as his shield, not for them to act on their own for their own sake. However, the other hunters had no reason to listen to Josephâs instructions.
âTell them that if they follow my orders, we will give them supplies. More importantly, I know the best way to raid this dungeon. They have to cooperate if they want to get out of here.â
Boasting that he knew the best strategy for this dungeon was bound to be attractive. Everyone was greedy when the escape route was open, but now that it had been blocked, returning to Earth without any damage became their main goal. Many hunters were bound to be tempted by his offer.
âJoseph, do we really have enough supplies to distribute? We have so many people to take care of already.â
âWe can give fewer supplies to low-level hunters and technicians. We donât have to give them all the supplies we promised anyway. We just have to buy some time.â
â!â
The hunters looked at each other in silence. This could turn into a bigger problem if someone were to discover it later. However, getting to issue orders to hunters from other countries was extremely tempting.
â... Okay. Letâs give it a try. I donât want to stay in this annoying place much longer!â
The hunters acted as Josephâs subordinates and contacted the other expeditions. The response they got was much more favorable than expected. Everyone was suffering from insufficient supplies and anxiety. Since he knew a definite raid strategy, they decided to join in.
However, not all expeditions joined. The expedition led by Choi Yeonseung and the Korean expedition that joined them flatly refused.
-We have plenty of supplies. We will launch an assault together with you, but we have no intention of taking orders. We will act on our own.
âBunch of useless bastards.â
âPut up with it. It wonât do us any good to create conflicts for no reason. Everyone else will be joining us anyway, so itâs fine.â
âHow did those bastards even get supplies?â
âTheyâre bluffing.â
âNo. They probably arenât. Theyâre from the?Dragon?Industry. Dragon Hwang is backing them up.â
As a former hunter, he wouldâve invested lavishly in the expedition. Unlike other big companies, Dragon Hwang was quite eccentric.
âDamn. They have guts because they have such a huge investor. Who else refused?â
âThe Chinese expedition.â
âWhat? Why?â
âThey said they are the best and the most experienced, so it is only right for them to lead.â
â......â
â......â
The hunters were dumbfounded. They were already expecting the Chinese to refuse, but their reason was so bizarre.
âDid they really say that? Are they crazy?!â
âLeave them alone. Theyâve always been this way.â
The Chinese hunters always acted based on their pride, even if they had to starve to death tomorrow. They probably behaved differently when working as individuals, but since they were here under the leadership of the party, they naturally acted like this.
âIn any case, everything is ready. Gather all the hunters! We will launch an attack!â
***
â......â
Kwon Yeongseung lay on his stomach and gave a sideways glance. His eyes were almost closed.
âYou arenât pretending to faint, are you?â
â... Of course not.â
Hesitantly, Kwon Yeongseung stood up. The sparring in the training room had devastating results.
Defeat!
Choi Yeonseung specialized in single combat and was undefeated in the UHC, but Kwon Yeongseung didnât expect to lose this badly. Using the hard-to-master space magic as his main skill, he tried to keep Choi Yeonseung in check by teleporting away to widen the distance and by manipulating several terrain features.
However, Choi Yeonseung avoided his attacks as soon as he felt the magic. Every time Kwon Yeongseungâs offensive failed, Choi Yeonseung took it as an opportunity to counterattack. It was now widely known not to engage in combat with martial artists of the same level.
Kwon Yeongseung tried to block Choi Yeonseungâs advances with magic somehow, but Choi Yeonseung still dug in despite having no magic. From that point on, he couldnât help but feel as if Choi Yeonseung was just toying with him. Choi Yeonseung would pick him up whenever he got knocked down, shake him whenever he tried to use magic, and knock him down again whenever he tried to escapeâ¦
âI feel like you have very little experience fighting against people Why donât you use some low-level magic? Donât use high-level magic just because you have a lot of magic power.â
Choi Yeonseung had instantly seen through Kwon Yeongseungâs weakness. He was confident in powerful magic, so he only used high-circle magic spells. As a result, he had many gaps in between. A seasoned hunter should be able to keep their opponent in check by using weak but fast-casting and cost-effective magic in between. However, Kwon Yeongseung lacked that. It was because other hunters filled in that part for him.
âIt isnât just about Kwon Yeongseung.â
Basically, raids had to be efficient. The role of A-grade hunters like Kwon Yeongseung would be to use powerful magic to break the monstersâ defenses and deal a fatal blow. They didnât have to prepare magic to keep the opponents in check. These days, hunters were much more thorough when it came to the division of labor.
Choi Yeonseung didnât care about that, though.
âYour life is at stake, so shouldnât you be prepared for every situation?â
âUh⦠I will think about it.â
âYes. Iâll go on the offensive, so start practicing.â
âHuh? No, I can practice on my own...â
âNo. Didnât you say that doing things right is more important? You said you learn by doing, so you should learn by doing.â
âI didnât say I was going to learn by doing! Ack! Hey, you son of aâAaack!â
***
When the two A-grade hunters exited the training room, the people at the base looked at them with respect. They found it so amazing to see two A-grade hunters working so hard. After all, one alone wouldâve already been dazzling.
âAs expected, A-grade hunters are built differently. They train so intensely.â
Choi Yeonseung was supporting Kwon Yeongseung, who couldnât even hold himself up properly. Some of the hunters who were relatively friendly with Kwon Yeongseung were puzzled.
âIsnât this strange? Yeongseung isnât the type to train.â
âWas he threatened?â
âDonât be ridiculous... He probably thought this was a good opportunity since they are both A-grade.â
How many chances were there for A-grade hunters to meet and get along like this? Kwon Yeongseung, who was usually interested in other things, was clearly feeling passionate right now. In contrast, the hunters of the Icarus clan looked at Kwon?Yeongseung?as if he was very pitiful.
âTsk tsk...â
âArenât?the?Korean?hunters too much? Theyâre not doing anything even though their colleague is getting bullied.â
âLooking at his face. He looks like he got beat up good.â
Today, they realized for the first time that they could feel sorry for an A-grade hunter.