Chapter 272: Chapter 272

The moment Choi Yeonseung and Bruce joined them, the two clan hunters who had been struggling so far let out a cheer of joy.

“Quickly! Come quickly! I’m on the verge of dying. What the hell took you so long?!”

“Watch what you’re saying, you fool! Hunter Choi Yeonseung is here as well!”

“Gasp..! I’m sorry!”

The hunters who had been getting their asses kicked quickly came to their senses after hearing that Choi Yeonseung was also here and hastily apologized. Even though the enemies in front of them used terrifyingly powerful skills, they were still more afraid of this A-grade hunter.

Choi Yeonseung was dumbfounded by the sight.“You don’t have to apologize, so focus on the front... wait. There are only two enemies?”

There were clearly only two opponents. Since the fight was two against two, the hunters weren’t outnumbered, and yet they were begging for help...?

“No! There were three!”

“Ah. Did one of them go somewhere else?” Choi Yeonseung looked around for the third enemy, but he couldn’t see anyone else. Perhaps the third enemy had retreated far away or had used skills that Choi Yeonseung didn’t know about.

‘I have to be careful.’

“No, there were three on our side!”

“...”

“...”

Burce covered his face in embarrassment.

‘These pathetic bastards...!’

There was no shame in looking weak in front of an A-grade hunter, but even so, weren’t they being absolutely pathetic? They had lost three versus two... One of them had even managed to die…

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung, it didn’t use to be like this, but the opponents the constellation has brought today are stronger than any of us have expected. Their skills are also strange, so we couldn’t predict it...”

Bruce let out a steady stream of excuses without realizing it. Even he was surprised. ‘Was I this good at making excuses?’

Choi Yeonseung interrupted him, “I didn’t ask. Get ready to fight.”

“Yes!”

Choi Yeonseung sighed once and quickly moved to take the opponent’s rear. There was no way they were going to lose four against two, so he wanted to block the opponent’s escape path.

“Wait...! We have to move together!”

The other hunters were surprised by Choi Yeonseung’s approach. No matter how many people their side had, Choi Yeonseung had moved forward too boldly. The cold spirit seemed to think so as well as it snorted when it saw Choi Yeonseung.

Kuoooh!

[The ‘Arrogant Light Elf’ scolds the cold spirit, telling it not to look down on the A-grade hunter.]

A constellation unexpectedly scolded the cold spirit. Choi Yeonseung initiated his attack before the cold spirit could even be baffled by the scolding.

“!”

He moved quickly, creating shadows and completely taking control of the surroundings. Each one had a hot energy, so the cold spirit couldn’t properly avoid them.

The ice drake rushed in to help its teammate, but Choi Yeonseung blocked it using his other hand. He extended his finger and shot a bullet of internal energy. The power itself wasn’t that strong, but the attack was directed at the legs of the ice drake with terrifying precision, intimidating the ice drake and causing it to halt its movements. That was enough for Choi Yeonseung to manage to kill the cold spirit by ripping open its chest.

‘Amazing...!’

‘Is he even playing the same game as us?’

Choi Yeonseung’s attack had definitely been amazing, but it was something else that impressed the hunters. Choi Yeonseung was playing the same game as them and growing at the same speed, but he was the only one going on a rampage by himself. It was like he hadn’t received any restrictions.

Anyone looking at him would’ve thought that he had started the game with his original strength.

“Hey.”

“Yes!”

The hunters came to their senses and looked up when Choi Yeonseung called them. They had completely forgotten about their silly plan of taking care of Choi Yeonseung so he wouldn’t complain. What instructions was Choi Yeonseung about to give?

‘I’m sure he’s about to tell us about the weaknesses of the enemy.’

‘Certainly... Their skills are overpowered, but surely they must have some weaknesses.’

‘Maybe he’s going to tell us how to position ourselves? The enemy has pushed this lane quite a lot. If we give up on this one and leave for another lane...’

However, Choi Yeonseung’s words went against the hunters’ expectations.

“...Aren’t you going to help?”

“I’m sorry!”

[The ‘Hound of Instinct and Liberation’ constellation feels sorry for you.]

***

After he won the fight in the bottom lane, Choi Yeonseung participated in many other fights to help allied hunters. At first, he went straight to the top lane to wipe out the monsters and drive away the enemy who was trying to destroy the magic tower. Afterwards, he saved an allied hunter from being killed outside the lanes and then went down to the bottom lane to help again before heading back to the top lane.

After all that, Choi Yeonseung began questioning it.

The SSL… Is it supposed to be like this??

Choi Yeonseung had been fighting in the Abyss for ten thousand years and participated in many battles, so this game wasn’t mentally exhausting. He just found it a bit strange. No matter how he looked at it, this match didn’t seem normal to him.

“...Thank you!”

“Stop thanking me and stop asking to help you... Actually, no. It’s better to ask me for help. It’ll be even worse if we lose because you didn’t ask me for help.”

“...”

The Black Steelers hunters were so stunned and ashamed that they couldn’t even meet Choi Yeonseung’s eyes.

They were only human, so they had a conscience and were aware of the situation. They felt really bad whenever they saw Choi Yeonseung running around like crazy, trying to provide help on all lanes, and even outside the lanes. There was constant trouble everywhere!

However, if they didn’t call him, they would be pushed back by the opponent and lose the game...

“S-Still, I think we have a chance of winning. The opponent is being pushed hard! We just destroyed one of their towers...”

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung is here...”

“...”

[The ‘Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place’ declares her defeat.]

[She says she doesn’t think there will be any difference if she keeps watching, so she will end the game here.]

[As promised, she will give a reward to the ‘Black Steelers’ hunters. However, if they have a conscience, they should work hard to improve their skills.]

“...”

[The ‘Arrogant Light Elf’ agrees.]

[The ‘Hound of Instinct and Liberation’ agrees.]

[...]

Despite the huge victory, the Black Steelers hunters couldn’t even raise their heads. Either way, Choi Yeonseung was relieved that the match was finally over and said, “Somehow it’s over.”

“T-That’s right! Thank you for your hard work.”

“I’ve learnt a lot from fighting alongside you.”

The Black Steelers hunters offered some kind words in order to end the match on a heartwarming note.

Choi Yeonseung wasn’t that narrow-minded to vent his anger or scold hunters that he likely wouldn’t even see in the future, so he just nodded. “Yes. I’m glad you’ve learnt something.”

The atmosphere was surprisingly pleasant, so Bruce jumped on the bandwagon and opened his mouth.

“If I get a chance, I would like to fight alongside you again!

“No, don’t push it.”

“I-I’m sorry...”

Choi Yeonseung had said that in such a stern manner that the Black Steelers hunters immediately lowered their heads again.

***

[The ‘Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place’ says she will keep her promise.]

[Let’s declare our alliance!]

[By the way, she asks what you are doing right now.]

“Ah... I’m sorry. I was looking at some of the artifacts I received.” Choi Yeonseung was looking through the rewards he had received from the constellations who had watched the game. There were a lot more good items than he had expected.

‘This seems like a pretty good business...’

It seemed that the observer constellation would earn more than expected from hosting the game.

[The ‘Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place asks how dare you do something else when she is talking.]

“You’re not my master.”

[The ‘Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place’ says that your spirit is good, but you don’t know what lies ahead. She says that one day, your master might hand you over to her.]

‘That won’t happen.’

Choi Yeonseung inwardly denied what the constellation had just said. In any case, since the alliance had been made official, Choi Yeonseung had no choice but to be grateful to the Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place. In such an unfavorable situation, she allied herself with the goddess of balance and Choi Yeonseung. She should’ve considered the risks before making such an alliance.

[The ‘Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place’ asks about your future plans.]

“...?”

Why was she…?

Choi Yeonseung was flustered seeing that the observer constellation showed a strange interest in him. Of course, it wasn’t strange for a constellation to be interested in a human. It was even more unsurprising if that constellation was generally interested in human society like the observer constellation. However...

‘It’s strangely suspicious.’

In any case, he didn’t really have any issues with stating his plans. Most of them were probably already known.

“There will soon be a raid on an S-grade dungeon. I have to be there to clear it.”

[The ‘Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place’ says she will support you, so she advises you to treat her household member well.]

“Household? Who is your household member?”

***

Surprisingly, the household member of the constellation was someone who Choi Yeonseung already knew.It was Illeya Vsevolodovna of the Icarus clan.

Choi Yeonseung was surprised.“Were you a spy?!”

“...I think your words are too harsh...” said Illeya with a hurt expression.

What did he mean by ‘spy’?

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“Legally, I’m allowed to follow this constellation.”

“I see.”

The Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place was a neutral constellation, not an evil god constellation.

Illeya continued, “It’s banned in Russia, but...”

“...”

“Hey, many things are banned in Russia, so it doesn’t mean anything!”

“Is that so? I thought Russia was more broad-minded when it came to banning things.”

Choi Yeonseung searched through his memories.

Dictatorships like China or Russia had been making a lot of dangerous experiments with magic. Choi Yeonseung remembered several controversial topics, such as ‘the research scandal regarding the use of lethal magic on the human body’, ‘testing magic drugs on minorities’, and ‘the legalization of banned magic’, and so on.

“However, many things are banned, such as low-potency vodka or democracy...”

“...Stop making such jokes that are hard to respond to. Of course, the Icarus clan hunters will be mobilized, but they probably won’t be in the frontlines, right?”

Choi Yeonseung and Hwang Gyeongryong weren’t some kind of evil leaders. They wouldn’t put the Icarus clan, which mainly consisted of B-grade hunters, in the front lines. They were going to assign the Icarus hunters to stay in the back to provide support and pick off any straggling monsters.

Illeya’s talent was highly regarded, but she was still only B-grade.

[The ‘Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place’ says not to worry. She says that Illeya is a vessel through which her power will descend.]

“...!” n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

A descent. Just as the goddess of balance had descended by borrowing Adaquaniel’s body, a constellation could borrow the bodies of their household members in order to make an appearance on Earth. These household members were usually...

‘I guess she has a higher position than I thought.’

...They were the ones that the constellation really trusted. Otherwise, it would be uncomfortable in many ways when the constellation descended.

‘I didn’t pay much attention to her because she’s only B-grade and she’s not that famous. I’ll have to be careful with her in the future.’

In fact, within the clan, Illeya was still easy to deal with as a hunter. She wasn’t crazy about money and wasn’t selfish, so she naturally wasn’t troublesome at all. The only peculiar thing about her was the fact that she liked Korean culture, but that wasn’t a problem.

However, the fact that she was the household member of a different constellation changed things.

Illeya asked, “...Why are you suddenly backing away?”

“What? I’m not backing away. You’re just imagining it.”

[The ‘Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place’ says not to treat her household member poorly.]

“I have a slight cold, so I’m trying to protect your household member.”

[The ‘Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place’ sternly demands that you reduce the distance between you and her household member before she makes a formal complaint to your constellation.]

***

“Ohh...! Thank you for supporting us like this...”

The US deputy minister of Homeland Security sighed with relief at Hwang Gyeongryong’s response. Fortunately, the lunatic chairman seemed to be satisfied.

“...Are you really trying to piss me off right now??? If you don’t call the minister right away, I’ll cut off your head and hang it as a trophy on the first floor of my company building!!”

“I-I’m really sorry!”