Chapter 93: Chapter 93

However, nothing changed no matter how much they cursed at the wooden doll. The hunters had to desperately use their minds and think about how to beat it.

‘I don’t know when they’ll realize the trick to it.’

Choi Yeonseung thought to himself.

They had to learn the right way to deal with the wooden doll. If they tried to win using their strength alone, they’d never catch it and would only keep getting abused until they realized otherwise!

‘They have to do this much to make a living as a martial artist.’

“Kuaaack... That Hunter Choi Yeonseung... No, Mr...!”

“That bastard Choi Yeonseung...!”

The hunters cursed at Choi Yeonseung while struggling. Respect vanished and evil took over in an instant.

What a devilish man!

***

“I saw the match. It was amazing.”

“It wasn’t a big deal.”

“You did great in your recent battle.”

“Thank you.”

“I saw you hitting reporters! They definitely deserve it!”

“?”

The people Choi Yeonseung met in the Icarus clan pretended to know him. The UHC match and Las Vegas raid left a deep impression on them. Hence, the staff members and private mercenaries standing guard pretended as if they had a close relationship with him. However, several hunters didn’t greet Choi Yeonseung. Instead, they just stared coldly and walked by.

“?”

“Don’t care about it too much,” Elisabeth spoke behind him. “They’re acting like that because they think you’re going to be joining the 1st team.”

The Icarus clan raised aces. Thanks to Hwang Gyeongryong’s massive support, the hunters here had no trouble eating and playing. That didn’t mean there was no competition, however. The clan was divided into the 1st and 2nd teams.

The 1st team was composed of hunters representing the clan. They were essentially ready for combat at any given time. The 2nd team had many candidates who were still unpolished and could still improve in many areas. It was rare to find Icarus hunters that had said, ‘I don’t have a dream. I want to play and eat.’

Most of them had enormous ambitions and goals. And they naturally aimed for the 1st team. They could only get exposure to the media, receive the attention of cameras, and earn huge additional profits if they were on the 1st team! Hence, they inevitably became worried when they witnessed Choi Yeonseung, a new recruit, performing so spectacularly. No matter how they looked at it, they thought he was going to be on the 1st team.

“Bah. People who aren’t confident in their skills will do things like that,” Antony added.

He saw Choi Yeonseung coming and immediately ran over from a distance.

“The UHC match was pretty good, Choi Yeonseung. It wasn’t as good as mine, but it was a perfect match.”

“... What nonsense are you saying? Not as good as yours? If it were you, could you even have won?” Elisabeth sounded dumbfounded.

She also watched Choi Yeonseung’s match. As someone who was also in the B-grade League, she honestly got chills from his performance. Considering how perfect he was in close combat, other hunters that specialized in close combat like Elisabeth wouldn’t be able to do anything to him. She feared they’d get blocked no matter what type of attack they launched and that they’d be unable to defend against his attacks!

“... I didn’t necessarily say that.”

“That’s exactly what you just said!”

“Sigh. Choi Yeonseung, did you see what Gutierrez just did? That is why she can’t be a good hunter. She hangs onto things that I didn’t even say.”

Antony shrugged. Elisabeth looked like she genuinely wanted to fight him in single combat. She really wanted to step on this bastard!

“Schneider. You can pass through the UHC qualifiers, right? Right?”

“I don’t want to. I don’t participate in such barbaric and vulgar matches that involve no tactics and balance...”

“That’s why it’s a battle of skills! It’s much easier to understand than six people running around in a dungeon and arguing!”

The UHC was a one-on-one match where the combatants fought each other without restrictions. The SSL was a six-against-six battle with rules and balances. The fans of the two fiercely argued with each other.

-UHC requires real skills! You can easily enter SSL with just two or three skills and fumble around?

-Hunters should clear dungeons. What’s the point of single-combat skills? Is it more important to beat people than monsters? This is why the UHC players’ personalities are like that.

-Don’t SSL players make a mess?

Choi Yeonseung yawned as he listened from the side.

“So are any of you thinking about learning martial arts?”

“......!”

“!!!”

The eyes of the two people widened. They didn’t expect Choi Yeonseung to say something like that. In fact, millions of people were now interested in martial arts.

-1st generation hunter Choi Yeonseung, bringing a fresh wind to the UHC with martial arts. Shocking!

-An old man’s rebellion! Old hunters don’t die! n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

-As the popularity of martial artists heats up, the competition to secure them...

Choi Yeonseung’s performance in the raid was definitely fascinating. Unlike existing tankers, he was an all-around hunter who could deal damage, draw aggro, and tank all at the same time! The intense video made it clear that one well-trained martial artist was better than several heavy tankers.

The problem was that even if people wanted to learn martial arts, they had no means to study them. The current level of martial artists wasn’t that high. The highest rated martial artist was just a C-grade! At that level, it wouldn’t matter how much they bragged. They wouldn’t even be able to attack properly. Moreover, most 1st generation hunters were retired, making it hard for them to train anyone. Even if they tried to study it, it would take quite a bit of time...

However, Choi Yeonseung was different. He was the highest level martial artist in existence! B-grade was actually even close to the highest rank of hunters who raided dungeons. A-grade hunters were all treated as strategic weapons, so they never showed their faces unless the dungeon was extremely dangerous. Hence, B-grade hunters were usually the strongest individuals that people could meet.

It was hard to believe they could learn from Choi Yeonseung.

“Y-You’ll teach us?”

“D-Don’t be fooled, Gutierrez. There’s no way he’ll just teach us for free. He’ll probably have some dubious conditions.”

“What could that be?”

“A contract that takes 90% of our future earnings...”

Despite Antony’s absurd accusations, Elisabeth was tempted. Honestly, it seemed worth it. For a hunter, skills were worth more than treasure. It was worth more than life itself! Hence, no hunter would teach their skills to others. Even if they did, they usually kept the really important skills to themselves.

Yet Choi Yeonseung was just going to teach them martial arts?

“What nonsense are you saying? I don’t intend to do that.”

“R-Really?”

“Well, 80% is enough...”

The two people immediately responded to Choi Yeonseung’s joke.

“As expected!”

“If it is 80%, then I’ll consider it…!”

It was a reaction that made the person making the joke feel embarrassed.

“... No. I was kidding.”

“R-Really?”

“You seem to be having strange thoughts, but aren’t there quite a few situations where you teach magic to each other?”

Magic was as solid as its history. There were times when it was taught within the clan or when a retired hunter set up an academy and taught young hunters...

“There are countless people who can use magic, but there’s no one who can teach martial arts properly.”

“You’re right, but stop spouting nonsense, Choi Yeonseung. Your skill level is completely different.”

In terms of rarity, Choi Yeonseung was around S-rank while magic was around D-rank. If someone offered to pass on an S-rank skill for free, people would suspect the person was either a scammer or crazy.

“It isn’t like I’m teaching you S-rank skills or giving you martial arts skills for free. If you want to learn martial arts, then I will help you. Can’t I do that much for my fellow clan members?”

“No. People usually don’t do that.”

“I have to agree with Gutierrez this time. This is beyond the scope of helping a fellow clan hunter. Choi Yeonseung, I think you should adapt more to the modern world.”

The two hunters were sober. They usually didn’t help each other! Choi Yeonseung, a 1st generation hunter, had a different way of thinking from modern hunters. In their eyes, Choi Yeonseung was too good. He looked just right to be scammed.

“... I said I would help you, but your words tell me you don’t want me to.”

“? ?!”

“......!”

Choi Yeonseung’s words made the two people realize something. Just now, they kicked away a blessing being bestowed upon them! If someone else tried giving them gifts, they should just say, ‘Ah, thank you’ and accept it.

“N... No. Choi Yeonseung! I didn’t say no.”

“Me too!”

The two of them hurriedly countered.

“Do you really think I can learn martial arts?” Elisabeth asked earnestly.

Choi Yeonseung had asked last time if she was interested in martial arts. She refused because she would’ve had to learn from scratch again. Elisabeth had done so many things to become a B-grade hunter, and she’d only been training in magic since she was a child. Now, she had to start over and learn martial arts. She had no choice but to be afraid of building it up from scratch.

“You’ll inevitably have some differences from people who’s been studying martial arts from the beginning. However, I’m not telling you to stop using magic and focus on martial arts alone.”

“...... ”

Choi Yeonseung’s words surprised the two. They didn’t think devoting themselves to martial arts was enough, but his reaction was more lukewarm than they expected.

“You can do both.”

“...... !”

“D-Does that make sense to you?”

“It doesn’t sound like it does, but Smallwood succeeded in using a martial art skill using magic power he’d normally use for magic. It was weak and easy to use, but it’s proof that such a feat isn’t impossible.”

Choi Yeonseung created the Mana Control Method skill when he taught Smallwood.

[Mana Control Method]

[Rank: C

Allows the user to execute martial arts using magic power instead of internal energy. The higher the user’s understanding, the lower the penalty.]

It was simple, but this skill was the key in allowing magicians to use martial arts!

“What if you could use a few martial art movements in a situation where you only have a few seconds to cast magic?”

“I-I think that would be amazing...!”

Elisabeth quickly nodded.

“You naturally won’t be as good as a martial artist who only studies martial arts, but being able to use both has its own advantages.”

“Okay, Choi Yeonseung. If you teach me, then I’ll teach you as well.”

“...... ”

Choi Yeonseung cocked his head.

Elisabeth teaching him? Elisabeth was certainly an accomplished hunter. B-grade hunters who could act as a tanker in close combat was rare. But teaching Choi Yeonseung... did she even have anything to offer?

Spanish?

“What are you going to teach me?”

“Magic. What did you think it would be?”

“!”

Choi Yeonseung looked as if he found it absurd. Did he still have to learn magic now that he was a constellation?

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says this is a good idea!]

[The ‘Manipulator of Dreams and Desires’ agrees!]

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ is also encouraging you to learn it carefully.]

“No...”

The three constellations supporting Choi Yeonseung finally agreed on something.

Choi Yeonseung… only knew martial arts. Of course, he was really strong. However, fists alone couldn’t solve everything in the Abyss.

Choi Yeonseung wandered around because he couldn’t handle his own power and manage his realm at the same time. That was ultimately caused by his inability to use anything other than martial arts. He would be able to do more things if he learned different types of magic. In addition, fighting constellations from the Abyss in the future meant getting their realms, minions, and even powers and skills as loot.

It was too wasteful not to use magic.

Learn!

He had learn and share it with others!