Chapter 22: Chapter 22

In the midst of a dry sky, a dark cloud hovered over a high-rise apartment located 1500m away.

On the rooftop of the over thirty-story building stood Kang Jin-hyuk and Lucia.

Lucia, her face covered by a mask, frowned and looked up at the sky.

“The air here is truly filthy. I feel like my lifespan shortens with every breath.”

Her impression of the outside world, as guided by Kang Jin-hyuk, was nothing short of dreadful.

As half-elf, she simply could not endure the pollution of Seoul without a mask.

Taking a deep breath felt like it would rot her lungs right then and there.

“You guys are managing to live in a place like this.”

“… It’s just how it is.”

Even while aiming her bow, Lucia couldn’t stop her dry coughs.

“This won’t do. If I want to hit accurately, I have to hold my breath entirely.”

To stifle her coughing, Lucia restrained her breath and measured the distance to the dark cloud.

Once she felt certain that this distance and the wind would be enough to make the shot, she placed an arrow on her bowstring.

“I’ll bring you sweets every day without limit. If that’s a lie, next time, it’ll be your head that gets splattered.”

Kang Jin-hyuk felt a shiver run down his shoulder at her earnest threat.

It was ridiculous to place one’s life in the hands of mere sugar-coated food.

“You’re really going to hit it, right?”

“Is that even a question? How am I supposed to miss such a huge target?”

Holding her breath, Lucia summoned an enormous amount of mana from her body compared to what she had shown in the dungeon previously.

The flow of overflowing mana was visibly apparent.

As the blue aura shrouded her, once she pulled back the bowstring, all of that mana moved toward the arrowhead.

Compared to the staggering aura Lucia amassed, the aura Kang Jin-hyuk used seemed like a meager drop in a bucket.

“If you don’t want to get caught up in this, stay back at least five steps.”

After the brief warning, Lucia released the drawn bowstring in one swift motion.

Kang Jin-hyuk was startled and stumbled back as an explosive sound burst forth.

To make matters worse, the aftershock hit him, causing him to lose his balance and fall flat on his backside.

While he was awkwardly jolting back, the arrow flew in a straight line like a beam of light.

The monster hiding in the clouds had no chance to react as the arrow reached its target in the blink of an eye.

The arrow pierced through the monster’s body, now devoid of the blue aura.

All the aura contained in the arrow was absorbed into the monster’s body.

Soon enough, it exploded with a noise far greater than when the arrow was shot.

The perpetrator of the astonishing spectacle shrugged her shoulders lightly.

“Not a big deal.”

As the aftermath of the explosion dissipated, the dark cloud enveloping the monster lifted.

Thanks to that, the monster’s identity, which had been concealed by the clouds, was revealed, but it was still quite hard to discern with the naked eye due to its height.

Kang Jin-hyuk retrieved his binoculars from the inventory and examined the creature.

“Is that… a turtle with a crocodile’s head?”

The monster, in a state of shredding injury, blinked its eyes, indicating it was still alive, seemingly unaware of what had just transpired.

[Leviathan]

LV: 300

Kang Jin-hyuk couldn’t suppress his astonishment at checking the monster’s level.

“Level 300? That’s the highest among the ones that have appeared thus far.”

It was clear this was no ordinary opponent.

Even if the Leviathan appeared on land, there would have been no way for anyone other than an S-rank hunter to confront it.

“It’s a relief only one appeared…”

Imagining it showing up in groups like goblins or orcs sent shivers down his spine.

“Stop fussing. What’s the big deal?”

Lucia smirked at Kang Jin-hyuk, seeing him lost in thought.

To her, even a Level 300 monster seemed little more than a trivial threat.

Kang Jin-hyuk couldn’t help but acknowledge Lucia’s attitude.

Once an opponent that troubled every hunter fell to a single arrow, there was no grounds for further discussion.

“Thanks for your help.”

“Thanks are unnecessary. It wasn’t free.”

Lucia spoke in a nonchalant tone, but her contribution was undeniably substantial.

Had it not been for Lucia, who would have managed to tackle such a monster as the Leviathan?

Worse still, could anyone have even captured it?

The magicians from Getia were unsure if they would offer assistance, and if they had delayed, the defense lines might have crumbled to the point of civilian casualties.

Even after helping them escape such a crisis, all Lucia requested in return were sweet treats.

From Jin-hyuk’s perspective, he felt he ought to be on his knees thanking Lucia profusely.

“GRRAAAAH!”

The loud roaring noise that suddenly erupted startled Kang Jin-hyuk.

He had thought everything was over, but the dismantled Leviathan’s body belied that fact—it was still alive.

Worrying it would lash out and shoot lightning everywhere in a fit, Kang Jin-hyuk grew increasingly anxious.

“Can you finish it off already? It doesn’t look dead yet.”

“There’s no need. It’s merely letting out its dying gasps,” Lucia reassured him.

As Lucia stated, the Leviathan, though it had screamed, exhibited no further signs of action.

Even if it had wanted to do something, most of its body, including its mana stones, had been blown away.

This was in fact a desperate lingering cry before its demise.

After watching it let out its last breath, the Leviathan’s body began to fall, losing control at its height of 35,000 ft.

“Look at that! It’s strange to assume it could withstand the fall.”

Believing the Leviathan wouldn’t make it down intact, Lucia took out the Counter she had kept stowed in her arms.

“Now, I’d like you to return that monster, please?”

The score displayed on the counter was remarkably high.

Of course, there was no need to mention it was accumulated due to taking down the Leviathan.

“Is that enough to serve as proof of capturing a monster?”

“Of course. With that high score, they won’t be able to dispute it.”

Kang Jin-hyuk declared with robust confidence, yet Lucia’s face remained skeptical.

“Don’t trust people too much. I’ve been duped a few times in my adventurer’s days.”

Even with proof, those intent on trickery always devised excuses.

Given that, one would need more than proof to obtain a fair reward.

Kang Jin-hyuk understood that sentiment.

“Don’t worry. I think the guild leader is on my side, so I’m not afraid of betrayal.”

Kang Jin-hyuk’s confidence stemmed from Seo Sang-ho’s presence.

Seo Sang-ho intended to recruit him into the guild, making it likely he would support the claim of capturing the Leviathan.

Of course, Kang Jin-hyuk knew it was not a 100% guarantee.

Should Seo Sang-ho decide to run away as well, Kang Jin-hyuk would head straight to the guild with proof in hand.

The counter he held was officially recognized by the guild as a credible piece of evidence.

The item given to him, anticipating the secretary would exaggerate her account, had become his strongest weapon.

* * *

Once the Leviathan began its descent, chaos broke out on the ground.

Despite two-thirds of its massive body being blown away, the remaining carcass still exceeded 100m in size.

Even during the fall, if such a massive corpse collided with a high-rise building, it would be a major catastrophe.

Yet, Kang Jin-hyuk held no worries regarding that.

If it was just a lifeless body, Seo Sang-ho would definitely have the means to manage it.

As anticipated, where the Leviathan was set to land, Seo Sang-ho appeared, waiting in advance.

“What did you do?”

Seo Sang-ho had received a call from Kang Jin-hyuk and was experiencing a mix of doubt and disbelief.

To be honest, the fact that a C-rank hunter could take down a new type monster seemed highly improbable.

Moreover, that new type was one that even S-rank hunters like Seo Sang-ho found troublesome.

“You truly are an intriguing human.”

As the Leviathan was on the verge of colliding with a building, Seo Sang-ho punched it with his fist.

In that instant, the enormous body of the Leviathan, which had been plummeting at a frightening speed, abruptly halted as if it were a pause screen.

When Seo Sang-ho swung his fist once more, the Leviathan changed course and landed into an open plaza instead.

“With any luck, this is enough clean-up… now to wrap it up.”

As the monsters attacking from the sky had vanished, all that was left was to sweep away the remaining ruckus on the ground.

Seo Sang-ho took out a microphone he had prepared beforehand to lure out the remaining hunters hiding from the lightning.

“I captured the new type monster!”

Seo Sang-ho’s voice boomed through the speakers placed throughout the area for command.

As a result, the hunters who had fled into buildings began to emerge one after the other.

“You really caught it?”

“Is that true?”

The hunters who had come out sought confirmation of the situation, and upon seeing the corpse of the Leviathan in the plaza, they realized unmistakably that it was the remnant of a new type monster.

“That’s real!”

“Was it the Guild Master of Titan who captured it?”

“If it’s Seo Sang-ho, then it must be possible!”

The hunters were convinced that it was the members of Titan, including Seo Sang-ho, who claimed the new monster.

That assumption was a fair one.

Considering nobody would ever believe a C-rank hunter accomplish such a feat, it was only natural.

Seo Sang-ho watched the hunters without attempting to clarify the misunderstanding.

He was not motivated by a desire to claim credit or steal glory from others.

In the moments leading up to the breaking down of defenses, there was no time to waste on lengthy explanations.

“Everything can be explained later.”

For Seo Sang-ho, eliminating the remaining monsters was more urgent than clearing up misunderstandings.

In the wake of the sudden appearance of a new type monster, they had suffered significant losses, and the never-ending stream of damage must not increase any further.

Seo Sang-ho gathered the hunters and worked to reestablish the crumbling defensive lines while cornering the remaining monsters.

With the Leviathan gone, the ground-dwelling monsters showed signs of extreme panic.

It wasn’t difficult to hunt the dispirited monsters thereafter.

With Seo Sang-ho and the hunters working to sweep them away, it did not take long to finish the job.

When Kang Jin-hyuk returned, he found that most of the monsters had already been dealt with.

As they were now simply chasing after retreating monsters, Seo Sang-ho stepped back to support the executives in damage control.

Once he caught sight of Kang Jin-hyuk, he approached with a smile.

“Thank you for your hard work. Your performance was truly impressive.”

Kang Jin-hyuk was taken aback to hear such praise from the guild leader himself.

He had not expected Seo Sang-ho to openly acknowledge his achievements.

Grabbing Kang Jin-hyuk’s hand, Seo Sang-ho asked, “Could you share how you defeated it?”

“Oh, that’s a secret.”

Kang Jin-hyuk could not honestly reveal, ‘I brought a half-elf from the dungeon to shoot it with an arrow.’

Instead, he opted for an ambiguous, “It’s just a special trick.”

“I see.”

Before he could press further, Han Young-seok, who had followed Seo Sang-ho, interrupted, his voice raised angrily.

“The secret? You can’t share it because you couldn’t have taken it down in the first place!”

His words came across as grasping at straws, which eased Kang Jin-hyuk’s nerves.

He felt comforted that this group of greedy monsters tried to undermine and take credit for someone else’s achievements.

Kang Jin-hyuk had nearly believed that his sense of normalcy was slipping away from the likes of Seo Sang-ho.

“How about this to prove the capture?”

Kang Jin-hyuk, snickering, presented the counter handed to him by the secretary.

The executive was immediately stunned into silence upon seeing the high score recorded on it.

“Two hundred and forty points?! Impossible!”

At the time of the invasion, Seo Sang-ho had carried a counter that reached only 173 points.

Having surpassed that by about 70 points indicated he must have taken down the monster by himself or defeated multiple prominent ones.

However, the Titan executives wouldn’t budge on that revelation.

“Don’t be ridiculous! You’re trying to trick us with a pre-saved score!”

“How would I pre-record points on something I just acquired here?”

“Who gave it to you here?!”

The one who responded to the executive’s question was Seo Sang-ho’s secretary.

She stepped forward and, without hesitation, spoke the truth.

“Since I was concerned about proof of his accomplishment being tampered with, I provided it.”

After inspecting the back of the counter and noticing the Titan guild insignia, the executive saw the unique identifier inscribed there.

Having crossed all the T’s in procedure, the executive frowned, filled with annoyance.

“So, what you’re saying is that you’re just going to keep getting the rewards without having been a part of the guild’s contributions?”

“Why shouldn’t I? Because I caught it!”

“You’re claiming ownership after our guild had a huge part in stopping it! You honestly believe that’s appropriate?”

The executives fumed, astounded at Kang Jin-hyuk’s insolence.

The material from such a rare monster would fetch an exorbitant sum, and they weren’t willing to let it slip through their fingers easily.

In an attempt to scare Kang Jin-hyuk, Han Young-seok’s demeanor changed entirely.

“We don’t mind paying you, but we cannot give you the monster. It’s more valuable than any price you can put on!”

Letting out a sigh, Kang Jin-hyuk remained unfazed.

“I warned you. Don’t give me trouble over the monster carcass later on.”

“What nonsense?!”

Kang Jin-hyuk’s claims held a solid ground.

Even if it ended up in a legal dispute, this assertion guaranteed him a clear victory under the law.

Han Young-seok was aware of such an outcome.

But he resolved to take matters into his own hands, banking on the weights of a large guild to gain the upper hand in the immediate conflict.

Before he could conspire further, Seo Sang-ho interjected.

Seo Sang-ho grabbed Han Young-seok’s arm and stifled the words ready to leap from his lips.

“Enough! Just give it to him like that! We have plenty of resources back here. Why add to our problems needlessly?”

Facing the Titan guild leader, Han Young-seok was at a loss for words.

Unable to do anything but watch, he could do nothing to stop Kang Jin-hyuk from claiming the Leviathan’s carcass.

Glimpsing at his hand that remained gripped firmly by Seo Sang-ho, Han Young-seok glared daggers filled with resentment at him.

‘What side are you really on?’

As the guild leader of Titan, he did not understand why Seo Sang-ho prioritized a mere C-rank hunter over the guild’s own interests.