Chapter 184: Chapter 184

‘It went in.’

With conviction, Choi Yeonseung cut Igorka’s throat.

Concentrated Energy Arts, the peak of martial arts. In terms of pure energy, concentrated sword energy boasted a power that no magic could match. The orc chieftain couldn’t even properly react to the sudden attack. In fact, even Choi Yeonseung was surprised when he discovered that other hunters had come first.

-Were they thinking the same thing?

Now that he had thought about it, Joseph’s constellation had given Joseph a plan of attack. Hence, it wasn’t really that surprising to witness him executing an assassination. He thought he would have no choice but to watch the others attack, but an unexpected situation occurred. Something seemed to have gone wrong, seeing as how the orc chieftain survived the ambush. The item the constellation had given likely had a weaker effect than expected...

‘I can do things my way now, then.’

Since the other group had failed, it no longer mattered if Choi Yeonseung took the kill for himself. All the orcs’ attention had shifted away from his direction because the hunters had attracted a lot of aggro.

[The orc chieftain, Igorka, has fallen!]

[The ‘Warrior Stained with Madness and Blood’ has lost.]

[The ‘First Abyss Kingdom’ has become Earth’s realm.]

[The power of your existence has increased!]

[......]

[......]

[......]

[The ‘Warrior Stained with Madness and Blood’ is screaming in anguish!]

The moment the boss monster collapsed, the orcs around him started to be expelled en masse. Since they were minions of the Warrior Stained with Madness and Blood, they were banished from the realm. Furious, Ketala glared at Joseph.

-You cowards! How dare you ambush us? I swear by my name and the name of the great chieftain that I will kill you!

Ketala was kicked out as soon as he finished making that promise, so he wasn’t a threat for now. Nevertheless, he had released terrible killing intent. Joseph frowned, feeling disappointed because not only did he miss the opportunity to kill the boss monster but he had also been cursed by an orc bastard. The orc seemed to think everything went according to Joseph’s plan.

[The ‘Warrior Stained with Madness and Blood’ vows revenge on the ‘Iron-Blooded General Who Shakes the Battlefield.’]

[The ‘Iron-Blooded General Who Shakes the Battlefield’ laughs at the ‘Warrior Stained with Madness and Blood.’]

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ scoffs, thinking they are both bluffing losers.]

“The orcs have disappeared!”

The hunters in the fortress slumped down when the orcs disappeared like fog dissipating. All the enemies who had been pushing the hunters so dreadfully were now gone. The ones with a lot of experience in dungeons immediately knew that the dungeon had been cleared!

“How did you do it? Did you use?a power?you received from your constellation?”

Ben looked at Choi Yeonseung in disbelief. Putting aside the blow he just landed, it was hard to believe he could even trick the eyes of so many orc warriors and shamans and get this far. Was Choi Yeonseung given a constellation power just like Joseph was?

“No. I just used?martial?arts.”

“Does martial arts have a stealth-type skill?!”

“......”

Choi Yeonseung felt a little frustrated. Most magicians naturally didn’t know what martial arts could do and the techniques it had. He even often took advantage of that stupidity. Even so, he thought it was a bit unfair for them to be this surprised.

“I think martial arts have better stealth skills than magic.”

While wandering the Abyss, he excelled the most in stealth, not in attacking, defending, or dodging. He became so adept at it that he could avoid his pursuers despite being tired and injured. Having to survive in such a harsh environment, his hiding ability became unrivaled.

‘Fortunately, now that I’ve become an A-grade hunter, I can use my abilities more freely.’

Since most of the constellations thought Choi Yeonseung was a member of a constellation’s household already, it didn’t matter if Choi Yeonseung showed some power now. They could likely be easily deceived since they would immediately think, ‘Did the constellation give him some power?’

Unlike how he struggled when he had just returned to Earth, he now felt quite comfortable.

“Anyway, thank you. You saved my life. I almost died because of this bastard,” Ben said while pointing to Joseph.

Another hunter stealing a kill normally would have resulted in a fight or someone getting stabbed, but considering even Joseph’s subordinates looked as if they were about to complain about him, the current atmosphere didn’t seem to be leading to that.

“What was the plan?” Choi Yeonseung asked out of curiosity. After hearing the explanation from the other hunters, Choi Yeonseung nodded. “So you did it to share the profits among yourselves and exclude me.”

“... N-No. It isn’t like that. We just aren’t close. Now, look. We are Europeans, and you’re Asian...”

“Nacht, isn’t that racism?”

“No! What are you saying?”

“It’s fine. Well, I don’t care whether you guys side with each other or not. I was the one who took down?Igorka?anyway. If you have any questions, then ask me now.”

“......”

“......”

Joseph’s hands twitched. People who had gotten such a raid achievement normally couldn’t be touched, but there were no absolutes in the world.

There were three A-grade hunters and several B-grade hunters here. If they joined forces and pressured Choi Yeonseung, he wouldn’t be able to do anything. It didn’t matter if they were cursed at. It was far harder to concede the glory of clearing the First Abyss Kingdom, something humanity had failed to do over and over again.

Moreover, it wasn’t just a matter of glory. Various interests were intertwined here. This was the first time Earth had gotten its hands on an Abyss realm. Whoever led the raid that conquered it would inevitably be given huge privileges.

“There are no complaints.”

“None. Thank you for the help.”

“!”

The other hunters stepped aside before Joseph could do anything. Not only did he save their lives in a dangerous situation, but Choi Yeonseung’s personality also impressed them quite a lot. Among the hunters here, very few hadn’t been assisted by the expedition Choi Yeonseung was leading. No matter how brazen they were, they still had a certain sense of shame and conscience left. Hence, they couldn’t bite at him.

‘What is this... !’

The hunters’ withdrawal bewildered Joseph. He thought everyone would step up to take credit, but they quickly backed down instead.

Only then did Joseph realize that Choi Yeonseung’s actions at the base had been for this purpose. At first, he thought, ‘How can he be so much of a pushover?’ but now he got goosebumps. He never thought Choi Yeonseung could create this result using supplies!

***

[For the first time in human history, the Abyss Gate has been successfully conquered! The hunters’ delight...]

[The gate that has been blocked during the raid has been reopened. Supplies have to be replenished... Is this the first base to be built in the Abyss?]

[Choi Yeonseung, the A-grade hunter who took down the boss monster, showed off the strongest aspects of a martial artist...]

[Ben Nacht said, ‘We were in such a precarious situation that many people would’ve died if Choi Yeonseung hadn’t stepped forward. I’m grateful he was there.’]

[We interviewed a hunter who participated in the expedition. Keeping him anonymous, he said, ‘The expedition was more like hell for the junior hunters. Most of the promises weren’t kept. Without Choi Yeonseung’s help, more than half of us would’ve died…’]

The hunters rested as soon as they returned to Earth. Choi Yeonseung was no exception. Although he would have been fine even if he didn’t rest, it wasn’t good for the other hunters to stay in the Abyss for a long time.

“Are you getting enough rest?”

“Uh… Yes, I am.”

“I don’t think you are... ”

Aine was surprised to see Choi Yeonseung lying on the bed with one hand on the ground. He wasn’t resting. He was training.

“This is sufficient rest. It is only training if I increase?the?weight. What’s going on?”

“I came to celebrate. Have you seen the articles?”

“I did. Wasn’t it all posted by Gyeongryong hyung?”

“... No!” Aine replied firmly. That was absurd.

“Just a few of them, maybe.”

‘She isn’t denying it.’

“He can’t touch every article out there. Most of them were written by others.”

“Is that so? There were so many compliments that I thought Gyeongryong hyung had a hand in it.”

When Choi Yeonseung turned on the TV and read the articles, all he found were praises. Hence, he naturally misunderstood. This was the first time they succeeded in raiding an Abyss Gate, but it was still too much. Hence, he suspected that Hwang Gyeongryong had written the articles himself.

-Who said that the 1st generation should retire? What did I say? Martial arts aren’t lacking compared to magic.

-Isn’t it just Choi Yeonseung who is strong, not martial arts? All the other martial artists are struggling.

-The person above seems to be a martial artist.

-Honestly, if Choi Yeonseung had learned magic, he would’ve reached S-grade by now and cleared two or three more Abyss Gates. Look at Dragon Hwang right now. He reached S-grade with magic.

Even people who were quite used to raids had a fierce reaction to the Abyss Gate raid. Completely different from the raids so far, Earth had taken its first step into the Abyss. The evaluation of Choi Yeonseung was bound to rise like crazy since he played a big role as a vanguard and showed an overwhelming performance even with other A-grade hunters present. He did so well that all concerns about him being a martial artist were blown away.

-Hunter Choi Yeonseung is really amazing. I’m glad to have a hunter like him in the United States.

-Isn’t Choi Yeonseung Korean? He is just working in the United States right now.

-Regardless, all that’s important is that he is in the United States.

-That’s right. Dragon Hwang was like that before. He came to the United States from South Korea and became an American.

-He isn’t an American yet. Don’t be fooled.

-Why are people doing this?

-They are probably Koreans.

-I’m not Korean?

-Sure. Pretend you aren’t Korean. The US is the best country for hunters to live. Choi Yeonseung will make an announcement soon. You better accept it already. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

-These bastards are annoying!

Aine shook her head when she saw Choi Yeonseung checking all the reactions on the forum.

“You can look at the news and articles, but there is no need to read the reactions and comments as well. It isn’t good for a hunter.”

For as long as they were still human, hunters were bound to be affected by such malicious comments. Unless they were an idiot like Hwang Gyeongryong, who would wait for such comments just so he could track down the commenter’s IP and deal with them himself, most people had no way to respond to these comments.

If they failed one raid, they would hear noises about retirement. If they failed two raids, they would hear noises about retirement... The best thing they could do was not to look at all.

“I don’t really care, so it’s fine. Rather, I find it strange that these reactions aren’t really manipulated.”

Choi Yeonseung posted something.

-Isn’t the praise for Hunter Choi Yeonseung too much? All the other hunters had a hard time. It isn’t good to just highlight Choi Yeonseung...

-What are you saying?

-Why didn’t you kill the boss monster instead? You don’t even have any skills, yet you’re here barking.

-As a hunter, I’m very ashamed to know someone like you exists.

-If you don’t have skills, you should at least have a good personality.

“... Are they really not fake?”

No matter how hard he thought about it, didn’t they seem like employees hired by Hwang Gyeongryong?

“No... My father doesn’t spend money on things like this.”

‘He probably spent a lot of money on other things.’