Chapter 249: Chapter 249

Fighting against other hunters and killing monsters was important, but being able to flee from a disadvantageous situation was just as important. The Red-Haired Spirit hunters used smoke screens and flashing lights, cast illusions, cast short-range teleportation and cleverly got away from Choi Yeonseung. He couldn’t help admiring it.

Had they only practiced how to run away?

.

‘Well, raid hunters aren’t good at that...’

When it came to raids, retreating didn’t really mean much.

Of course, retreating efficiently was a good skill to have even in raids. However, when raid hunters were attacked by a monster and had to retreat, they usually couldn’t afford to do so. Hunters usually prepared in advance when entering a dungeon, and they unconditionally had to attack first. If a monster initiated the attack on them, the whole raid became messy.

Choi Yeonseung didn’t try to catch all the Red-Haired Spirit hunters who were fleeing. In a dungeon like this, it was impossible to catch all of them even if they were wounded.

‘I should target only one enemy and not be greedy.’

Choi Yeonseung aimed at the hunter from whom he had absorbed the most amount of magic power earlier.

“Help! I’ve used up all my magic power!”

“Ah, why is this guy so persistent?”

The Red-Haired Spirit hunters stepped up to help their comrade. They cast a restraining spell on Choi Yeonseung and tried to divert his attention from their teammate, but...

Choi Yeonseung dodged and blocked their attacks, and ultimately ignored them. He just grabbed one person among them. His fierce combat power was amazing, but the hunters were even more surprised by his composure, as he was completely unphased by them.

Normally, even the most experienced hunters were bound to get excited and make mistakes once the match started. This battle was fought with weapons and magic, and because they were humans, they would inevitably become emotional.

However, Choi Yeonseung’s expression had been the same throughout the entire match. He just casually did his job and returned to the top lane.

“Huh, so an A-grade hunter really is no joke.

“It’s weird though... I’ve seen Hunter Kwon Yeongseung fight and he wasn’t as impressive.”

“Really? Was Hunter Kwon Yeongseung more sloppy?”

***

…Nevertheless, the Demon clan didn’t win.

Except for Choi Yeonseung, everyone else died one after another. The Demon clan managed to drag the match into the second half, but ultimately suffered a crushing defeat.

“How did we lose?” asked Choi Yeonseung with an expression of disbelief.

“...”

“...”

The clan hunters had nothing to say, even if they grew an extra ten mouths.

Choi Yeonseung, who had established himself as the slayer of the top lane, advanced using the power he had acquired and destroyed the towers one by one. The towers got progressively more powerful as he approached the enemy base, so it took a lot of time even for him.

As for the Red-Haired Spirit hunters, attacking Choi Yeonseung again...

They didn’t even bother. They just pushed the other lanes knowing that Choi Yeonseung was pushing the top lane. However, all six of them pushed one lane! The problem was that since Choi Yeonseung killed a few of them, the other Demon clan hunters could’ve recovered to some extent in the meantime.

Of course, nothing like that actually happened. The match was pretty much over when Choi Yeonseung continued to push the top lane.

“Yeah, well… Everybody can lose... I guess I shouldn’t have said that,” said Choi Yeonseung after realizing his mistake.

The Demon clan hunters felt even more humiliated.

They were actually furious when the game ended and Choi Yeonseung said, ‘Why is it over? What did you do?’ If he hadn’t been an A-grade hunter, they would’ve replied with something like ‘What do you know?’

They had that attitude because they didn’t see Choi Yeonseung fight, so they thought that he had also been beaten up constantly by the Red-Haired Spirit hunters in the top lane.

…However, they changed their minds after watching the video of the match.

“???!”

“!!!?!”

After seeing a bunch of super players, which was quite a rare sight even if playing matches all year round, the hunters of the Demon clan couldn’t close their mouths. How was that possible?

A hunter asked, “Hyung. Did you know this?”

“How could I have known this?!” exclaimed Go Junwon.

“Well, if he fought so well, he should’ve come down and helped us at least once. It wasn’t fair...”

“...”

Go Junwon had nothing to say. Since he was the one in command, it was his responsibility to somehow convey messages and communicate.

“How can a person fight like that? Are these martial arts?”

“I’ve seen a few martial artists, but they never fought like this... Why else are martial arts considered bad? Magic is better.”

“But he managed to do it!”

As the shocked and frightened Demon clan hunters were talking and arguing, the Red-Haired Spirit hunters were creeping closer to Choi Yeonseung, their eyes full of respect and admiration. They didn’t seem to be arrogant as any winner would’ve been after the game.

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung, do you have a second?”

“If you’re here to brag about your win, many of you will leave this place with broken necks,” Choi Yeonseung warned them lightly.

He didn’t have any intention of beating up people just because he had lost a game. However, it was a different story if those people came and said, ‘How can you be so bad? You can’t even win a game?’

“No! What do you take us for?!!”

Choi Yeonseung wondered, “Aren’t you here to brag?”

“No! I told you.”

“Hah. I’m sorry. I thought so because of what the hunters told me.”

“...What did they say?”

“Well, your personality… They said you guys are radical and hot-headed.”

“...”

“...”

The Red-Haired Spirit hunters exchanged looks. Given that Choi Yeonseung said this, they guessed that what the other hunters from the Demon clan said about them was a bit worse.

‘Those assholes???!’

‘How dare they talk behind our backs...?’

‘I should’ve beaten them up even more.’

The Red-Haired Spirit hunters were furious. Of course, it was natural for fellow clan members to curse at their enemies, given that they themselves also did that, and it was true that they were hot-headed and radical. Nevertheless, this situation was different.

Daring to insult them in front of Hunter Choi Yeonseung??? It was unforgivable!

“That’s a ridiculous rumor! They neglect their training and aren’t taking this competition seriously. Talking like this about other people is all they can do!”

“Is that so? So you’re not fierce and quick-tempered?” Choi Yeonseung asked.

“No, we’re not! The hunters from our clan have always been known to be friendly and polite! We even got an award from the government!”

‘Hey. We got it because of some bullsh...’

‘Shh. Shut up.’

Choi Yeonseung suddenly became curious and searched it up. He searched for the Red-Haired Spirit clan and found search terms like ‘Red-Haired Spirit swearing’, ‘Red-Haired Spirit provocation’, ‘Red-Haired Spirit disturbance’ and so on.

“So this is also slander?”

“Yes!”

“...Wow. You are really shameless bastards. I can’t do this.” Eventually, one of the Red-Haired Spirit hunters came clean. His conscience couldn’t stand it.

“You bastard… How could you betray your colleagues?”

“Doesn’t Hunter Choi Yeonseung already know these things? You’re making fun of him! Hunter Choi Yeonseung, I apologize. We were so impressed with this match that we wanted to ask you something and talk about it. However, our image is stained, so we decided to cover it up.”

Choi Yeonseung told them, “It’s good to be honest. Alright, what do you want?”

“In fact, our clan also has some hunters who are learning martial arts...”

“Two people attacked you in the top lane earlier. How did you see it?

“How did you know about our surprise attack?”

They were like a group of students gathering to ask questions to the teacher. It was hard to believe that the Red-Haired Spirit hunters, who were famous for their foul tempers, asked him questions in such a calm way.

The clan executives rubbed their eyes in bewilderment when they saw it.

“No way...?

“They’re being so composed despite him being an A-grade hunter. It’s amazing, isn’t it? Maybe it’s because they were overwhelmed when they fought him directly,” explained one of the executives. He hadn’t fought Choi Yeonseung directly, but after watching the match, he could understand why the hunters were acting like that.

There were more than one or two things that the executive wanted to ask him.

“I didn’t mean that.”

“?”

“If they can act civilized like this, why do they usually behave so badly?? These bastards are really...”

“...”

***

After answering eager questions and rejecting the ardent proposals of scouting from the Red-Haired Spirit hunters, Choi Yeonseung suddenly had a thought.

‘Wait. Can I do this?’

Come to think of it, he should’ve done this with his own hunters so that they could improve. Wasn’t he helping the Red-Haired Spirit hunters become stronger now? The Red-Haired Spirit hunters looked like they had attained enlightenment three times and were going to test it right away.

“Thank you very much. We’re from different clans, so I never thought you would be so kind as to teach me...!”

“I’ll never forget your kindness!”

‘Um.’

Choi Yeonseung clicked his tongue. Given his personality, Choi Yeonseung had never been able to refuse hunters who told him that they wanted to become stronger. If they wanted to be stronger, he felt that he had to help them become stronger!

[You have received strong faith and your power of existence has increased!]

[...]

[...]

“...?”

Choi Yeonseung was taken aback by the faith that the clan hunters had sent him for teaching them. Realistically, he just answered some questions about the match, so he hadn’t expected to receive so much faith for that.

‘Isn’t this too easy?’

-Mortals are easy beings to begin with. They’re deeply moved by the small favors of a great being.

-I came from a mortal background, so it sounds nasty.

-......

The goddess of sloth pouted. He had already thought of that, and she just answered him...

Still, the goddess of sloth didn’t dare say anything else. There was something more urgent now.

-Successor. Why did I speak to you just now?

-Who knows? Hmm. Do you want to sleep for a while?

-...That’s not a bad idea, but think about it a bit more. What are you going through right now?

-What have I been through? Something absurd?

-It was just a little while ago.

-Defeat?

-Yes. Successor, you have finally experienced defeat for the first time since taking over my power!

-No... How is this a failure?

Choi Yeonseung refused to admit it. He honestly didn’t think of it as defeat at all. If that was the case, wasn’t it a defeat for Choi Yeonseung having to hide his identity to avoid being noticed by the other constellations?

-It is defeat!

-Why is this a defeat? I lost because of my teammates.

The Red-Haired Spirit hunters would’ve been impressed if they had heard this. Hunter Choi Yeonseung already had the spirit of blaming others that every SSL hunter was supposed to have!

-It’s a defeat!

-I don’t think it’s a defeat.

-But it is!

The goddess of sloth couldn’t convince him, so she started to bombard him. She kept whining until Choi Yeonseung admitted it. Choi Yeonseung was dumbfounded and had to nod.

-Yes. If you say so, let’s call it a defeat.

-Hu... Huhu. You finally admitted it.

The goddess spoke in a triumphant voice.

Choi Yeonseung heard this and hesitated.

…Was this a trap?

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ is shouting that it is suspicious! Be careful...]

-Don’t tell me... Did you want me to admit defeat in order to absorb my strength?

-...What nonsense are you talking about???

The goddess sounded serious. She was trying hard to persuade him so that he would acquire more power, but these two suspicious constellations were talking nonsense.

It was such nonsense that her desire to teach him disappeared!

-...Goddess. In fact, I didn't have any doubts. But the cat constellation mentioned it, so I had to ask.

Actually, Choi Yeonseung was the one to utter it first, but he put the blame on the cat constellation.

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ feels it is unfair since you said it first...]

-Now, Goddess. What do you have to tell me?

Choi Yeonseung blocked the words of the cat constellation and spoke to the goddess of sloth.

The goddess replied in a slightly sulking voice.

-Why are you asking? Isn’t it just a scheme to absorb your power, Successor?

-...I’m sorry.