“When do you plan on departing? There are already seven Escalons confirmed to have crossed the DMZ.
Surely those in Korea will cope, but we, who have received substantial support from the taxpayers, can’t just sit idly by, can we?”
The question from S-rank Hunter ‘Ye Taesik’, who was the only one opposed to sending Ma Gwang-jin and Yoo Min-jeong to Team 3, made Choi Gang-han’s brows furrow.
Since Ye Taesik’s claim was correct in hindsight, his speaking rights had grown in the current situation.
Choi Gang-han knew he had to consider Ye Taesik’s argument as much as possible.
“Ahem…”
After briefly stroking his chin and glancing around, Choi Gang-han noticed that almost everyone in the makeshift tent were S-rank Hunters, with only Ma Gwang-jin and Yoo Min-jeong being in decent condition.
Especially, Ma Gwang-jin was not just feeling good; he was brimming with a fiercer energy than ever before.
‘I’ve handed over the rewards I anticipated to the leader of the assassination group. Hehe…’
Choi Gang-han felt a pang in his stomach.
Though he was over sixty, the fact that there was someone beneath him climbing up irked him more than anything.
But he couldn’t show that outwardly. After all, he was the leader of the Hunters.
Sigh-
Not wanting to address Ma Gwang-jin, Choi Gang-han desperately looked at the other Hunters.
…Indeed, there was no suitable person.
The others, after clashing with the Escalon horde, had huge difficulties managing their magic. They were lucky if they didn’t get caught by Hunters they had previously held grudges against instead of even taking on Escalon.
‘So it’s just Ma Gwang-jin… tsk…’
His gaze returned to Ma Gwang-jin, who was being observed with heated eyes by the other Hunters as well.
After regaining their senses, they heard from Yoo Min-jeong that the first Escalon had been eradicated.
However, no one knew exactly how that monster had been defeated.
A few impatient Hunters pressed Yoo Min-jeong for details, and in the end, she concocted a story.
Having gathered the Hunters, after explaining as best as she could, Ma Gwang-jin became the hero who had ended the first Escalon.
Avoiding the scrutinizing gaze of Choi Gang-han and the Hunters, Ma Gwang-jin could no longer hold it in and suddenly sprang up to shout.
“Ah, come on! I’ll go! Isn’t that fine!”
Realizing he was being looked at in a peculiar light, Ma Gwang-jin began preparing to leave.
The faces of the other Hunters brightened at his decision.
Who would have thought that one of the leaders of the assassination group would become the main character of this hunt? But for now, anyone who could help settle the current situation was appreciated.
“But it seems a bit difficult to go alone. I’ll need a few Hunters I designate.”
“Of course. So, who do you want?”
Ma Gwang-jin picked Yoo Min-jeong without hesitation.
Yoo Min-jeong, having been pointed out, sprang up from her spot and yelled.
“What the hell! Why does that damn old guy keep dragging me into this! I’m done with my share for today!”
“Aren’t there a couple of lower-grade binding abilities? And aren’t they even area skills?”
“That may be true, but I can’t bind an Escalon!”
“I’ll handle the Escalon alone. You just take care of the leftover small fry.”
– Ooooo… You’ll handle the Escalon alone…
– What on earth kind of luck did he get…
The other Hunters showed quiet astonishment at Ma Gwang-jin’s bold declaration.
Even in a weakened state, he was the one who had defeated the monster that knocked down the Association Head in one blow.
Moreover, he had undoubtedly grown further while catching the Escalon. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to show such confidence in front of so many top-tier Hunters.
In fact, during this hunt, Ma Gwang-jin had achieved a whopping three accomplishments and made significant progress.
“Still, we need to be careful of the higher-numbered ones like 13 and 17.”
“There will surely be bizarre ones like 11 and 12, so pay special attention…”
S-rank Hunters, who were lying down receiving treatment while participating in the meeting, chimed in one after another.
Ma Gwang-jin understood the mindset behind their words but found the empty comments unhelpful.
“Alright. Yoo Min-jeong, I know you’ve worked hard, but hang in there just a bit more.”
Yoo Min-jeong flared up at Choi Gang-han’s statement.
“Ah, why! I have to head to Busan right away!”
“I… I’ll talk to ‘Sang-gun’ well.”
“Ugh… seriously.”
The news had already circulated that a ‘calamity’ had struck Busan.
Thousands of civilian casualties had occurred, but with Transcendents led by Hyeon Joong-gil joining, they had managed to put out the immediate fire.
However, they were aware of the limitations of the Transcendents.
They couldn’t be assured since they might vanish at any moment.
Yoo Min-jeong, who belonged to the guild under the Transcendent ‘Sang-gun,’ knew this well.
In fact, her greater desire was to meet her benefactor ‘Sang-gun’ after a long time, but the situation wasn’t allowing it, which was frustrating.
Trying her best to avoid the piercing gaze of Yoo Min-jeong, Ma Gwang-jin soon pointed out A-rank Hunter Shin Young-ah.
“Huh…? Me…?”
Shin Young-ah, who had been sulking in a corner feeling guilty for not contributing during the decisive battle, suddenly panicked when pointed out.
“I want you to join the party you lead.”
“Um… our party is the lowest-ranked in this hunt… just a bunch of C-ranked babies…”
“Lee Yeon-hee is a C-rank? We don’t have time for jokes. Get ready.”
Ignoring Shin Young-ah’s reluctance, Ma Gwang-jin took her and Yoo Min-jeong by the arms.
“Hey, wait!?”
“………”
Yoo Min-jeong made one last plea, extending her arm toward Choi Gang-han, but he only gazed at a distant mountain.
Even after they left, the meeting continued.
In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that the real discussions were just about to begin.
“Now we need to discuss the rewards… this is quite a predicament, isn’t it?”
What the numerous Hunters who had cooperated in taking down the Escalon wanted was one thing.
The byproduct of the Great Beast.
Yet, in a situation where it had completely vanished, Choi Gang-han felt like his lifespan was short by years.
And then…
Rumble rumble—
“Huh?! Wh-what?!”
“Is it another enemy?!”
A massive rumble that seemed to shake the earth drew the Hunters, who had been in a meeting, outside.
Boom—!
What appeared before them was a root the size of a house.
The long, enormous root stretched into areas beyond their sight, and its cleanly cut cross-section, evenly laid out, left everyone stunned.
“Uh…? Th-this is? It’s the root of the Great Beast! Why is this suddenly here?!”
“Could it be it was still alive!”
“That’s impossible! There’s no magic presence emanating from it, so how?!”
A Hunter from the detection line quickly went out and touched the root.
“…This belongs to the Devouring Creeper. Chairman!!”
“Whoa… this is absurd—”
Choi Gang-han and the Hunters stood blankly in this baffling situation, waiting momentarily for Lee Yeon-hee to summon.
Ma Gwang-jin, along with ‘White Alliance’, was equally flabbergasted.
“I mean… even if a dragon suddenly appeared, I wouldn’t be surprised now.”
“This doesn’t feel right; we might need to gather intel while waiting here—”
“Yoo Min-jeong Hunter. Are you pulling some tricks? We will return to Korea as planned.”
“Ugh… damn it…”
Of course, Lee Yeon-hee and her colleagues, who were guessing where the suddenly appeared carcass of the Great Beast had come from, were trying to act as calm as possible.
*Clap, clap, clap.*
“Um… well, this turned out well, right?”
“Uh… right.”
‘I’ve never summoned something this large before. I didn’t control it well…’
The Il-wol who just got summoned by Yeon-hee rushed to Ma Gwang-jin, who was about to head to Korea, and called forth the carcass of the Great Beast in a hurry.
Of course, what he summoned was only about a third of what was stored in his space, but even that was a considerable amount.
– It really is a huge volume!
– This should not be an issue when distributing it. Chairman.
– Haha, being a tree monster won’t yield many usable parts anyway, but this is still a relief.
As it was only one-third of the whole amount, Il-wol had been worried about whether it would be too little, but he let out a breath of relief at the Hunters’ positive feedback.
He thought he should be more cautious about using his space next time and widened the wave of his sense.
He first checked the condition of Kang Yeon-su and Gu Sang-min inside the makeshift tent.
“Phew… at least we’ve avoided the worst.”
Yeon-su was recovering quickly instead, and S-rank Healer Gu Sang-min wasn’t doing well.
His magic fluctuated chaotically, perhaps due to a mental shock. But with Gu Sang-min having high mental strength, he felt he could rely on him.
Alongside them was Hyeon Il-hwan and Hyeon Woo-seok, who were also receiving treatment, although Hyeon Woo-seok was in a bad state.
‘…Well, that’s his karma.’
“Shall we make another pact?”
At Ma Gwang-jin’s suggestion, the Hunters who formed a temporary party made another pact.
This time, the condition was not to disclose what happened during the process of defeating the remaining Escalons.
In the brief time he hadn’t seen them, Ma Gwang-jin’s magic had increased by over 20%, and his physical abilities had also dramatically grown.
Yoo Min-jeong hadn’t visibly changed much, but she had surely received corresponding rewards from the system as she had also performed well like Ma Gwang-jin.
The other Hunters understood that it was a part of their wishes not to reveal their grown states, so they swiftly concluded the pact and headed to Korea.
With the aid of ‘Sword Dragon’, they quickly arrived in Korea, where they spent two days together, tracking and defeating the remnants of the Escalon.
Though it took longer to find them due to their wide dispersion, they managed to take down four more Escalons, including the 13th one.
Due to Ma Gwang-jin’s active involvement and the presence of top-level supporters Yoo Min-jeong and Shin Young-ah, Il-wol didn’t stand out much but could also gain another level over the two days.
*
Now, the traces of the Devouring Creeper had thoroughly vanished from this world.
The main players of the hunt were heading to Helen’s shop to commemorate the end.
*Clap!*
*Clap, clap!*
“So cute…”
“I really just want to nibble on them!”
One new change we had was that the ‘traces’ I had left in this world had joined us.
It was a power gained by dedicating the Great Beast, and it turned out that during the two days of chasing the Escalon, there was little difference in physical abilities between ‘Skull 1’ and ‘Skull 2’.
However, it was the white spear that Skull 2 held that gave him overwhelmingly superior combat power.
‘To think that a weapon made of my bones would evolve into an artifact-level bound weapon…’
Since it was a bound weapon exclusive to Skull 2, it was a pity I couldn’t use it.
Clatter-clatter—
“……!!”
“……?!”
The two skeletons argued about who had taken down more Creeper Guards over the two days.
While possessing enormous potential, the sight of the two small skeletons less than a meter tall squabbling over it simply came off as cute to the Hunters.
It suddenly reminded me of when I had called them out yesterday.
The moment I had given them the uninspired names Skull 1 and Skull 2, my comrades had covered their faces in horror.
“No way, are those names too one-dimensional?”
“I think that’s a bit much even for me. It’s too thoughtless to distinguish them by numbers since there are only two!”
“……”
Even Ma Gwang-jin had given a low score to the naming of the skeletons.
So, after much thought, I had given them new names.
To Skull 1, who had come to me after struggling in the dungeon managed by the Ilseom Guild, I named him ‘Ainz’, and for Skull 2, I chose the name ‘Zweihander’.
“Yeah, that’s much better.”
“Simple, but not bad? What do they even mean, though?”
“It’s German, isn’t it?”
“Y-yeah…”
With no way of knowing how many more traces would join me in the future, I couldn’t give out grand names for each one.
Simple was the best.
And while changing the names of the two skeletons, I realized one fact: changing a name consumes considerably more power than giving the original name.
I didn’t quite understand it, but Ma Gwang-jin, having heard this from Yeon-hee, said it was only natural.
“A name means recognition in this world, and changing that name is a heavy matter that alters the recognition of the existing being. And it’s especially so if there’s karma built up from using that name.”
‘…Is that so? Now that I think about it, changing the long-established name of ‘Ainz’ did drain my energy significantly.’
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