Chapter 57: Chapter 57

In fact, Kang Jin-hyuk was not someone who particularly enjoyed fighting.

He had only become significantly stronger after discovering the dungeon less than half a year ago.

Moreover, he had thought that hunters only needed to hunt monsters.

He never imagined he would be living a life where he had to clash with other hunters like this.

‘How did I end up in such a situation?’

Kang Jin-hyuk fell into a deep sense of doubt as the three A-rank hunters surrounded him.

All the stats boosted from leveling up were being used to merely get involved in somebody else’s faction fight.

At this rate, he was not a hunter but just a strong thug.

The hunters surrounding him noticed Kang Jin-hyuk’s expression darkening.

They misinterpreted his troubled look as a sign that he was intimidated by the fact that he had to fight them.

“Haha, it’s only natural to feel pressured since you have to face all three of us at once.”

One of the hunters, fueled by newfound confidence, felt a pang of ambition arise.

He thought that if he could take down Kang Jin-hyuk, who had just knocked out the two previous attackers, his status within the guild would rise.

‘Alright then…’

The hunter secretly signaled to his ally beside him.

‘You go in first to draw his attention?’

The ally, unsure, hesitated.

What if he foolishly leaped into the fray and ended up being the first to fall?

Among the hunters Kang Jin-hyuk had just dealt with, there was one known for having the highest defense in the Titan guild.

Kang Jin-hyuk was the one who had sent that sturdy hunter crashing down with mere baseball bat swings.

Drawing attention against such an opponent would require significant resolve.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, the hunter eventually moved according to his ally’s signal.

Kang Jin-hyuk instinctively shifted his gaze towards the hunter approaching him from the side.

‘Now’s the time!’

The ambitious hunter rapidly closed the distance while the other drew Kang Jin-hyuk’s focus.

“What the hell…!”

The hunter, who had agreed to rush in together, saw his companion sprinting alone and let out a sigh.

They had the advantage of three against one, yet one of them decided to act solo, putting them all at risk.

As expected, the hunter who dashed forward quickly met the sharp turn of Kang Jin-hyuk’s motion, receiving a devastating hit.

There was no time for him to defend himself.

By the time he realized his mistake, the baseball bat had already slammed into his body.

“Ugh!”

Amidst the wave of pain as he was thrown back, Kang Jin-hyuk assessed the remaining two targets he needed to face.

“Damn it!”

The intended target was the hunter who had initially approached him to draw his attention.

Due to their proximity, he had to withstand two strikes before his companions could reach him for assistance.

He barely dodged the first swing of the baseball bat but had no chance against the subsequent kick.

With a force akin to kicking a soccer ball, the hunter swung his leg to strike Kang Jin-hyuk in the side.

“Ugh!”

The kick infused with aura caused greater pain than being struck with a steel club.

Kang Jin-hyuk grabbed his abdomen and staggered, but he swung the bat again to deliver the finishing blow to the hunter doubling over in pain.

In less than ten seconds, the three hunters were reduced to just one.

“Damn!”

The remaining hunter had been dreading this outcome ever since his partner dashed in recklessly.

The inevitable result of not staying cautious against someone like Kang Jin-hyuk was unfolding before him.

Watching the fight, Han Young-seok could only sigh.

It was pitiful that he had raised such useless subordinates under his direct command.

“Hahaha! They really are amusing!”

Suddenly, another human burst into laughter as he entered the living room.

“If these guys are the best the guild can offer, things are serious. Should I even be the guild leader here?”

“It is something we’ll have to plan to overhaul again soon.”

Han Young-seok had been dissatisfied with the current state of affairs, where many individuals ran rampant believing they were untouchable due to their ranks.

As a result of this incident, he planned to thoroughly instill a meritocracy within the guild.

In his view, those who couldn’t help when it truly mattered were not deserving of a place in Titan.

“Taking on the last one alone seems like a bad idea. I’ll take care of it.”

“Aren’t you the one who said you’d be too lazy to watch?”

Kang Jun-tae chuckled after hearing that.

“It looked fun. Now, I kind of want to see what it feels like.”

Kang Jun-tae retrieved a large iron mace from his inventory.

The mace, covered in thick iron spikes, looked threatening just by its appearance.

Kang Jun-tae effortlessly lifted the heavy-looking weapon with one hand and stood face to face with Kang Jin-hyuk.

“It seems like your specialty is bludgeoning with a blunt weapon too. Why don’t we face off, since we’re the same type?”

Kang Jin-hyuk glared at Kang Jun-tae in silence.

The atmosphere surrounding Kang Jun-tae was distinctly different from those he had fought before.

Beneath the facade of lightheartedness, a terrifying spirit lurked.

‘When he talked about becoming the guild leader earlier… does that imply he’s the new S-rank hunter they’ve recruited?’

If this assumption were true, Kang Jin-hyuk would be up against an S-rank hunter one-on-one.

‘An S-rank hunter…’

Not long ago, just hearing that title felt overwhelming.

However, after becoming stronger through dungeon challenges and facing multiple hunters, his perspective had shifted.

The gap between S-rank and A-rank hunters was merely one tier apart.

Considering he could effortlessly take down A-rank hunters now, it felt plausible to have a shot against even an S-rank.

“Hehe.”

Kang Jun-tae welcomed Kang Jin-hyuk’s intense glare.

It was rare for any hunter not to cower in fear.

“Oh, instead of glaring, why don’t you make the first move?”

Kang Jun-tae nonchalantly invited him to attack, acting as if he were a martial arts grandmaster.

Kang Jin-hyuk’s pride was pricked, and he accepted the challenge without hesitation.

Channeling aura into his legs, he launched himself forward with the springiness of a coiled spring.

“Defense Charge!”

As he activated the skill, the distance closed drastically.

Kang Jin-hyuk, without a moment’s hesitation, aimed for Kang Jun-tae’s face with the bat.

His determination to end the fight in one blow was evident in his swing, but Kang Jun-tae simply leaned back.

It was a movement that bent only a few centimeters, yet it turned Kang Jin-hyuk’s strike into a futile attempt that sliced through empty air.

“What…!”

This had been his first experience since discovering the dungeon.

He had always been the one to dodge the enemy’s attacks, but now he found himself on the receiving end.

“Ah, so that’s how it works.”

Kang Jun-tae smirked, his expectations met, enjoying his opponent’s attempts.

“It’s my turn now, right?”

Kang Jun-tae spun rapidly like a top, generating momentum.

With his accelerated arm, he whipped the mace toward Kang Jin-hyuk, replicating the same strategy he had just employed.

“Ugh!”

Kang Jin-hyuk barely managed to lift his bat in time to block the incoming strike.

However, he could not disperse all the force from the mace.

Unable to withstand the impact, his body was thrown off into the living room’s bookshelf.

As he spun in the air before hitting the floor, Kang Jin-hyuk managed to land on his legs.

“Damn it!”

He charged straight back at Kang Jun-tae.

This time, as he approached head-on, Kang Jin-hyuk concentrated aura into his left leg and swiftly pivoted to the left.

He then immediately swung the baseball bat aimed at Kang Jun-tae’s left side.

However, from the very moment he swung the bat, Kang Jun-tae had already read his movements.

As a result, the bat only collided with the mace and was effectively blocked.

Kang Jun-tae was not the type of person to falter under such a strike.

He held steady like a mountain and swung smoothly, bringing the mace down toward Kang Jin-hyuk.

“Urgh!”

Once more, Kang Jin-hyuk was sent flying, crashing down onto a table and groaning in pain.

“How can this be…?”

Unlike other hunters, Kang Jun-tae had closely followed every one of Kang Jin-hyuk’s movements from start to finish.

As if he were aware of every intended action.

‘No way!’

Upon suddenly realizing something, Kang Jin-hyuk’s expression revealed his shock.

“Have you figured it out already?”

Kang Jun-tae had expected Kang Jin-hyuk to take a little longer to realize that fact.

Impressed that he managed to comprehend it within just two exchanges, Kang Jun-tae thought it impressive.

“Every time you attack, your limbs glow red. Is that your skill? Quite a pathetic skill you’ve got there.”

Just as Kang Jun-tae described, the body parts Kang Jin-hyuk infused with aura glowed a crimson hue.

As long as he identified which part glowed, predicting where he would move next would be straightforward.

It certainly involved analyzing the depth of the aura and monitoring its power in a larger area, which was beyond what most hunters could achieve.

However, Kang Jun-tae was different.

An S-rank hunter’s talent transcended effortless effort.

Kang Jun-tae possessed ample combat experience and innate instincts.

“Then I just have to keep you from seeing my moves.”

Kang Jin-hyuk pooled his aura not in specific body parts but instead across his entire body.

The red energy mist wafting from him evoked excitement in Kang Jun-tae.

“Kekeke, why didn’t you start with that?”

With the mace resting on his shoulder, Kang Jun-tae beckoned him with a wave of his free hand.

“Come at me again. Let’s see what’s different this time.”

As if mocking him, he exuded a confidence that nothing had changed.

Kang Jin-hyuk wanted to deny Kang Jun-tae’s demeanor but found himself unable to reject it.

Charging his entire body with aura spread out his power, making it hard to match the previous impact.

Letting his focus lie entirely in his hands could yield a thousand units of power, but now he would only muster around sixty.

Moreover, spreading the aura too broadly resulted in his MP declining rapidly.

‘Indeed, S-rank hunters are on a different level.’

Kang Jin-hyuk reflected on how he had underestimated S-rank hunters until just prior.

‘If I cannot deal a solid blow, I have only one option left.’

With gritted teeth, Kang Jin-hyuk firmly gripped the bat with both hands.

Fortunately, Kang Jun-tae had underestimated him and conceded the first attack once more.

To seize the chance as much as possible, Kang Jin-hyuk poured every ounce of aura into maximum capacity without a thought for the MP expenditure.

Thanks to that, he would exhaust all his MP in a mere five seconds, yet he only needed to clinch victory before that.

Kang Jin-hyuk burst off the surface, darting toward the front like a bullet.

Within the blink of an eye, he reached Kang Jun-tae and angled the baseball bat across his body.

“What is this? I thought something would change, but are you merely swinging honestly?”

Kang Jun-tae casually parried Kang Jin-hyuk’s attack with his mace, expressing blatant disappointment.

“It seems like your strength has diminished… so my expectations were unfounded after all.”

Was he just going to be on par with the hunters scattered around?

The moment Kang Jun-tae reached this conclusion, Kang Jin-hyuk unleashed his secret move.

“Take this and see for yourself.”

Kang Jin-hyuk envisioned a bolt of lightning striking down from the heavens to devastate his opponent entirely.

That imagination set off the skill enchanted onto his baseball bat.