Chapter 47: Chapter 47

Now that Hwang Gyeongryong had thought about it, Ernest seemed like a good match for Choi Yeonseung since he liked training.

However, that didn’t mean he liked it as much as Choi Yeonseung. After all, Hwang Gyeongryong had never seen someone as crazy about training as that man.

***

“Odaigon, repeat what I just said.”

“Yes, Master. If I want to kill someone, I should stop myself and ask you first. I should ask you as well if I think something’s wrong.”

“Yes, yes. We’ll be doing many things apart if we join a clan, so be careful.”

Odaigon?was a powerful magician strong enough to be left alone. He was a bit nervous, but he was adapting quickly. There shouldn’t be an accident... right?

“By the way, Master. I know you’re joining that clan to build up fame and find useful people, but why do I have to come with you?” Odaigon suddenly asked.

“It’s because my stomach will hurt if you play alone while I’m working.”

“I-I see. I’m sorry.”

“... I’m joking.”

“......”

Odaigon?became even more puzzled. That was a joke?!

“Sigh. I’m sorry.”

“No! It was a really funny joke!”

“That sounds even weirder. Where did you hear that... No, forget it.” Choi Yeonseung waved his hand. “It will be more convenient if you have some status as a hunter. It’ll give me more freedom?than moving alone.”

“I see!”

Aside from?using him in a constellation battle, it would be best to have a hunter around that Choi Yeonseung could trust. Bluntly speaking, he couldn’t just send Odaigon to clear a dungeon in the country because of his rank. It would be best to make him get an A-grade rating first. After all, having that rank would change one's authority itself.

‘If others learn I think of A-grade as some type of qualification. they’d treat me as a madman.’

Choi Yeonseung smiled.

The B-grade wall used to seem as tall as the sky for most C-grade hunters. Now, that felt like a distant past...

“Is that the clan training center?” Choi Yeonseung asked while pointing to the circular dome in the distance. He was riding in a car driven by one of Hwang Gyeongryong’s secretaries, the number of whom he had forgotten.

The United States’ suburbs had a lot of large and empty lands.

“That’s a nice building. It's good enough to train in.”

Choi Yeonseung used to rent a gym to train. It was pretty small, but it didn’t matter. After all, he only needed himself to train.

“... That’s the security company’s building. You have to go further inside to see the clan facilities.”

“... Why are you using so much of the land?”

The clan site’s size alone was easily more than several hundred thousand square meters. Choi Yeonseung admired the Icarus clan’s scale. It was huge, even by Hwang Gyeongryong’s standards.

‘He found success here in the United States.’

Even with a lot of money, clans in South Korea wouldn't be able to operate like this since its land was small.

“This looks like a military base.”

There were several layers of barbed wire and guard posts around its perimeter. It also had security guards armed with rifles wandering around. Why did they need to monitor a vast site like this?

“This place holds various secrets, including the items managed within the clan. There are few fields with industrial espionage as fierce as the raid industry.”

Without such security measures, others would be able to freely get intel on dungeons, monsters, and invaluable treasures like items and magic.

“I see. Every piece of information is indeed valuable.”

No other industry was close to the raid industry when it came to keeping information a secret. Neither dungeon nor monster intel was ever shared, so hunters were forced to risk their lives just to figure things out.

The secretary listened carefully as he drove. The story of 30 years ago was interesting.

“I found out the other day that information on famous monsters now circulates the Internet. It’s amazing. Back in my time, there was nothing like that.”

“Was it that bad?”

The world had suffered from the great invasion, and thirty years had passed since Choi Yeonseung went to the Abyss. Hence, it was only natural for such information to become publicly available. There was so much information on frequently-appearing?monsters?that even the general public knew about them.

“There’s still quite a lot of unshared information, though. I’m sure the Icarus clan has many secrets.”

“Are there a lot of thieves? Either way, I don’t think they’d infiltrate a place full of hunters.”

“There are more of them than you probably think.”

Wanting to turn their lives around, crazy people would steal or take commissions from corporations.

“Guns are enough to deal with non-hunters, but I doubt they can stop hunters hellbent on stealing from places like this. ”

“Don’t worry. Security companies have quite a few hunters. Most of them are E or D-grade, though.”

“......!”

Hunters were definitely a good fit for working in security companies. Even a low-grade hunter would have extraordinary combat capabilities upon awakening. Strengthening themselves with magic would put their power on an entirely different league.

‘It used to be a joke, but it seems common these days.’

Hunters used to make jokes like ‘Should we quit raiding and set up a security company?’

“Still, all the security company’s employees have to do is find the perpetrators and buy some time. The moment the alarm goes off, hunters from the other clans under us will run right over.”

The strict security was linked to other places.

“This is very thorough.”

“Haha. This is the bare minimum.”

***

“Starting from that building, those are Private Training Ground 1, Private Training Ground 2, Private Training Ground 3...” The secretary said as he guided them past the security company’s building and to other spacious buildings.

“Why are there so many private training grounds?”

“They all have different functions.”

One focused on strength, another on agility, and another on reflexes...

Choi Yeonseung looked moved upon hearing about it.

“They're amazing!”

This place?fit?Choi Yeonseung’s personality perfectly!

“There is a dormitory over there, but only a few hunters use it. Most of them commute via car.”

“I don’t want to stay at Gyeongryong?hyung’s?mansion, so I’ll use the dormitory.”

Choi Yeonseung paused.

“Even if there are many Icarus clan members, aren’t there less than a hundred intensively training right now?”

“Yes.”

“Why are there so many dormitories, then?”

For Choi Yeonseung, a dormitory was a small studio apartment. However, the dormitories here were rows of several single-family houses. Apart from there being only a few people, It looked just like a luxury residential area!

“Great hunters stay here. We can’t provide them with bad facilities now, can we?”

“I heard most of them aren’t being used.”

“... Ah! We also have a magic training field here. It has sveral devices that allow you to test your power in real life!”

‘This jerk is changing the subject,’ Choi Yeonseung thought but didn’t bother to argue. Instead, he listened to the brief explanation and thanked the secretary.

“Please contact me if you need anything.”

“If I need... Ah. Can you get me a bike?”

“Huh? If you need something to drive, I’ll get you a car.”

“No. I’d like a?bike—one sturdy enough to hold up no matter how hard and?fast I pedal.”

“Uh... Understood.”

The secretary nodded despite being puzzled.

***

“I’m done unpacking.”

“You don’t have luggage in the first place...”

Choi Yeonseung and Odaigon picked?a house?and finished organizing their things.

“I’m going to check out the private training grounds. What about you?”

“I’ll play Gold Run!” Odaigon?proudly declared while holding up his smartphone. The sight dumfounded Choi Yeonseung.

“Why don’t you just admit that you like it?”

“I don’t like it, Master! I’m just bored.”

“Okay, then. Have fun.”

Choi Yeonseung left?Odaigon?alone.

‘This place is like a ghost town.’

This site had rows of houses and working street lights but didn’t have any signs of people. It gave such a strong?eerie feeling.

‘Should I go to the strength training ground first?’

Rattle.

According to the rules, the Icarus clan’s hunters only had to come to scheduled group training, which was held three times a week. They had complete freedom over the rest of their time. Moreover, hunters ranked B-grade or higher generally didn’t have any financial shortages. Hence, they could play wildly as much as they wanted. Even so, some hunters still came here to train. One of them was a tall hunter, who was currently doing bench presses.

Choi Yeunseung checked the weight she was benching.

‘Five tons.’

An average person could only bench press a few hundred kilograms, but that wasn’t the case for hunters. Depending on how they strengthened themselves with magic power, they could lift far heavier weight. Considering the hunter was benching five ton with ease...

‘She’s a?strength-type melee combatant. A tanker, maybe?’

That was the role Choi Yeonseung used to fill during raids. Close-quarters magicians could cast various enhancement spells?on themselves and deliver heavy attacks. Their strategy was to discard the agility required for dodging and inflict as much damage as possible in a single blow.

[You have seen through?your target's essence!]

[Honing your vision strengthens your power of existence!]

[Elisabeth Gutierrez]

[Level: 235

Strength: 530

Agility: 294

Physical Strength: 241

Magic Power: 229

Intelligence: 235]

‘She’s got good strength.’

Her strength was more than twice her level. It felt like he knew how much she had been training.

“Who are you?”

“A new hunter.”

“Ah. I heard a few new people were entering. Are you one of them?”

Elisabeth stood up and wiped her sweat with a towel. She was lean, firm, and had clearly defined muscles. Though still shorter than Choi Yeonseung, she was nearly 180 cm tall.

Choi Yeonseung instantly liked her. Such level of ability couldn’t be achieved in just one or two training sessions. She definitely trained a lot!

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I was admiring your training.”

“What? You won’t get anything from flattery.”

Elisabeth let out a manly laugh and held out her hand. Choi Yeonseung grabbed it.

"Hup!”

Elisabeth smiled and started to tighten her grip. With her magic power concentrated, her strength surpassed imagination. However, she chose the wrong opponent. Without even blinking, Choi Yeonseung countered her with internal energy.

“?! !”

Elisabeth was surprised. Even in this clan of aces, few hunters could beat her in a battle of strength.

“This is amazing. I’ve never met anyone equal to me.”

“Do you shake hands like this often?”

“I do it once in a while for newcomers. If I’m going to entrust my back to them, I need to know how strong they are first.” Elisabeth sat back down. “Where are you from? China?”

“Why China? Do you think all Asians are from China?”

“N-No. Don’t misunderstand. Ever since China was occupied, quite a few Chinese hunters have immigrated.”

“Well, I’ll let it slide.”

“I didn’t mean anything bad. I’m from Mexico.”

“Ah... I'm sorry.”

Similar to China, Mexico was one of the countries that lost their territory to the evil god constellations.

“Well, I left when I was younger, so I don’t remember much. Are you the same as me?” Elisabeth asked while straining her arms to build muscle.

Was he a?strength-type close-quarters magician?

“I’m a martial artist.”

“... R-Really?”

“Why? Are you surprised?”

“Naturally! It’s nice to see a B-grade martial artist! Wow. You really don’t use magic and strengthen your body with just internal energy? Can you fight with that?”

Choi Yeonseung smiled bitterly at the question. "Of course."