“How fascinating… So such abilities exist.”
Hyeon Woo-seok, who had been looking down at the man turned snowman, finally seemed to regain his senses after splashing water on his face a few times and let out a trembling sigh.
A desperate wish for this nightmare to end was clearly conveyed.
In the end, he revealed his hidden face and approached us, awkwardly lowering his head like someone who had never apologized in his life.
“I… I apologize. I sincerely apologize for making things difficult for you due to my negligence.”
“Geez… he won’t even apologize to Ah-rin till the end.”
He might have hoped we would just brush it off, but we weren’t that gullible.
If Jang Yu-chan hadn’t stepped in, Noh Ha-yoon, who was preparing magic while leaning against Joo-ah, would have jumped at him. If worse came to worst, I would have.
Shivering—
Hyeon Woo-seok trembled like a aspen leaf.
Seeing his eyes lose focus, it was clear he was experiencing a state of mental confusion close to abnormality.
Did he think this situation was humiliating? It’s his own karma, so what can he do?
“Ah… Looks like one more bubble is going to burst.”
His swordsmanship was undoubtedly real, but with someone like this handling it, it seemed unlikely he would become the focal point of any group going forward.
“Shouldn’t we reconsider Hyeon Il-hwan too?”
Seeing Hyeon Woo-seok, whose reputation and reality were so different, I began to have doubts about Hyeon Il-hwan, who was being praised as the next sword master.
“Do you think just nodding your head is sufficient for an apology? Seriously… anyway, can you at least hand over the compensation?”
Jang Yu-chan, being pragmatic, aimed to secure compensation first.
Given the situation getting this far, it was hard to believe they even had real dungeon entry tickets.
But Hyeon Woo-seok immediately pulled something out from his space and said,
“Whoo… Whoever attaches this to their clothing will be permitted entry into the dungeon. And this is a shortcut to the hidden dungeon.”
With shaking hands, Hyeon Woo-seok handed Jang Yu-chan five black brooches and a map.
“You must enter through this path only. The other paths… are used by Ilseom’s elite knights…”
“Path, huh. What’s next?”
“Interpret it yourself.”
“Tsk…”
Having given the compensation, he had the audacity to take a ‘figure it out’ attitude.
(But hold on, Skeleton. Why is that guy taking the apology and leading the negotiations instead of us?)
Just in case any other issues arose, Azraelon, who hadn’t been revealed by Ham Eun-young, spoke to me.
“It would look better for him this way. If we try to confront that guy, who knows what Hyeon Woo-seok might do? So… this is a delicate matter you might not understand.”
He was a proud person, so apologizing to someone unrelated like Jang Yu-chan and offering compensation would probably have less psychological impact.
Jang Yu-chan, experienced, likely knew that, and perhaps it was a calculated move considering we were at Ilseom’s base.
For someone who did such crazy things, unexpected behavior could be anticipated. Like trying to wipe us out or something…
Of course, we weren’t particularly pleased with the situation, but coldly speaking, pushing Hyeon Woo-seok further wouldn’t benefit us.
Jang Yu-chan gave a signal to our increasingly furious party members, indicating to let it slide just this once.
“Good call. We neither care to receive an apology from that jerk. Even if he does, would it be sincere?”
(Hmph! How ridiculous. After all, humans are weak!)
“Why is this turning into a collective roast session?”
(Once someone does something like this, they’re bound to do it again in the future!)
“Could be unpredictable. But doesn’t it just mean we should grow stronger faster?”
(Humans are impossible to understand. Just don’t let this affect Eun-young.)
“Ah, come on. If you’re so worried, just regain your original strength quickly.”
(I’m trying, but even if I regain all my power, do you think this world can handle it?)
Sometimes Azraelon shows off like this; I label it bravado because I heard he was sealed by Eun-young’s grandmother and the companions.
He is strong enough that a group of Transcendents had to come together to seal him, but I don’t think he has power so devastating that the world couldn’t handle it.
For a being that can say such things, they should at least be as strong as the Seven-headed Dragon.
“Ugh~ No, no. This world isn’t worthy of containing Lord Azraelon.”
(Of course not!)
As I was reasonably comforting Azra, Jang Yu-chan spoke up.
“Do you think five entry tickets can compensate for the disgrace brought upon our lady?”
“…… It was a fair duel, so what disgrace was displayed—?”
“That was doping, wasn’t it? Are you really hoping to go tell the Sword Master to expose this?”
“Ugh… I can’t offer much more than that.”
“Entry tickets will do. Just five more will suffice.”
If you lost a fair contest, you should plead for more rewards while being polite or something.
“Ah… I have my limits with what I have, so that’s hard.”
“Even if it’s not from the Sword Master, I don’t think there’s a condition against spreading it to the media?”
“It’s going to leak out anyway.”
“No, if I properly manage the people here, I could limit the damage to mere whispers. What do you think?”
“Hmm…”
As Jang Yu-chan kept gnawing at him with enticing carrots, Hyeon Woo-seok ultimately ended up giving five more entry tickets.
‘Is he creating a mess and then worrying about cleaning it up? What’s the structure of this disaster…’
After securing those extra rewards, Jang Yu-chan finally smiled satisfactorily and extended his hand for a handshake.
‘He only flapped his gums and came out with five more entry tickets.’
Jang Yu-chan immediately unfolded the map and handed ten entry tickets and the map over to us.
“Let’s talk separately later.”
“Sure?”
He signaled our party’s artisan, Baek Ah-rin, with his eyebrows.
‘He probably intends just to ask for a few entry tickets…’
Dungeon entry tickets monopolized for decades.
This was something even a budding guild would covet. A new guild like Vision didn’t own such famed dungeons.
‘By the way, just how many entry tickets do they have? It’s probably something easily made, but maybe they’re just flaunting it.’
Jang Yu-chan snapped his fingers at his attendant, who quickly pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to him.
Jang Yu-chan receiving the paper started drawing something on it with a pen from afar.
‘So he memorized the map after looking at it once. How smart he is.’
Even with a quick glance, the map looked incredibly complex…
He probably must be a well-cherished talent in Vision, and it seemed the witch wasn’t simply discarding Noh Ha-yoon.
Ah-rin accepted the rewards into her space and then spoke to Hyeon Woo-seok, who was blankly staring at the ground.
“I don’t regret what I did to make Heo Min-sol like that. And if it’s him, he’s definitely dreaming of the day he gets his revenge. So please let me know if we happen to meet again. I won’t run away; I’ll be waiting.”
After hearing that, Hyeon Woo-seok’s eyes lit up, but after a moment of contemplation, he shook his head.
“I have no intention of ever meeting that woman again, so I won’t be passing on that message.”
“What? No, you jerk! Then why the hell did you stir this mess up?”
In an instant, rage boiled up, and I wanted to transform into a human right away and unleash a barrage of curses.
I’ve never met anyone as irritating as Jo Gi-man in my life, but this guy had an uncanny ability to annoy me in a different way.
As Hyeon Woo-seok made statements to cut ties with his ex, everyone around couldn’t help but chuckle in disbelief.
“Ha… They say like attracts like. He spat it out so quickly.”
“Only the good bits get drained…”
Bae Joo-ah murmured, and the knight who had turned into a snowman reacted again.
“No way, is the snow all melted already… get some solid skills down.”
“Well, look at that, a hunter with no affiliation talks too freely, eh?”
“Who’s talking freely here? It’s your misfortune that’s plain to see.”
“What, what? Hey, are you calling us a thug?”
“Joo-ah could say nothing wrong, why are you getting so worked up?”
Unintentionally instigated, embers of discontent from both sides began to flare up.
“Great, this is just the right tension and timing.”
Thinking this was happening at a good moment, I seized the opportunity to pull out my great sword.
Swoosh—
—?!
Suddenly brandishing a great sword that was engulfed in flames, everyone in the vicinity clearly showed signs of wariness.
Even the hunters from Vision weren’t exempt; it seemed I managed to show off my presence today.
I aimed the tip of the great sword at Hyeon Woo-seok and said,
“Clap, Clap, Clap!!”
“……? What?”
Hyeon Woo-seok rubbed his eyes in disbelief, as if he couldn’t believe a monster was aiming a sword at him, while Yeon-hee looked at me as if to ask why I was acting like that, yet didn’t intervene.
Whenever I acted randomly, there was always a reason, and by now, she should believe that, right?
“You don’t mean to say you’re challenging Master Hyeon to a duel, do you?”
Jang Yu-chan rushed up with a horrified expression, asking Yeon-hee.
This guy, when you look closely, is really quite diligent.
“Uh… uh, um, I think that’s about right.”
“Huh? Isn’t that Hunter Lee Yeon-hee’s will?”
“My summoned creatures have free will… Sometimes they overcome my intentions and get competitive…”
“Free will? Does that mean everything they do is decided independently of you?”
“I handle the big picture, but I usually let Il-wol do as he pleases. I haven’t given other summoned creatures that level of freedom yet, but Il-wol is special.”
Yeon-hee explained my actions calmly and added a sliver of justification to my outburst with the term “competitiveness.”
But in the face of the situation, no one would hear such an explanation.
“Even if today was full of incorrect choices leading to this situation… I didn’t spend all those years just to clash swords with a pathetic monster. Right now… tell that damned monster to put away that sword.”
With the last remnants of his reason, Hyeon Woo-seok desperately struggled to end his sentence.
‘Anyone would think he’s been training for fifty years.’
Yeon-hee shook her head at me, but I was not going to back down.
Rather, I activated [Lightning Step] and began to circle around Hyeon Woo-seok in wide arcs.
Sometimes pretending to throw something into my mouth while I comically imitated Ilseom’s swordsmanship.
“That damned guy…?!”
“That crazy bastard? Hunter Lee Yeon-hee! Is this too much? Can’t you show a little respect for the loser?”
“Uh… th-that…”
“Ugh… Such humiliation… I told you to keep ‘Killbard’ hidden. You wouldn’t listen to my advice at all.”
“In this situation, you’re bringing that up, Master?”
“I can’t say that’s wrong. But right now isn’t the time to be nitpicky. We need to deal with that damned monster first.”
‘Small fries, get lost.’
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