Chapter 158. Together, Hanshin (3)
“Uh-oh.”
It was around the time I started worrying about some random compensation fee.
Suddenly, I sensed someone else’s magic surging out and turned my head sharply.
“Ugh, kkh…!”
As I looked closer, I heard the sound of gritting teeth coming from the direction of the collapsed Cho Sang-oh.
That A-Class Hunter had been hit head-on by a unique magic tool and still hadn’t completely passed out.
But it was true that he was in bad shape and couldn’t properly compose himself.
‘He’s still conscious?!’
For reference, I was on high alert due to the sudden injury.
So, to see an enemy muttering curses and releasing magic right in front of me was quite terrifying.
I reflexively drew my weapon.
I intended to land a decisive blow before that mysterious mage could recover.
However, even a glance suggested that Cho Sang-oh was at least top-tier A-Class.
With his magic barrier fully armored, my Hydra wouldn’t break through. I had to rely on physical means, not just wounds.
[Scream Stake]
[Grade: Unique]
[Description: Inflicts [Pain] status effect on the target.]
As I mentioned earlier, Awakened individuals here tend to neglect gear that resists status effects.
“You little bastard! What did you do to me…?”
I approached the crawling Hunter, gripping my weapon tightly.
“I’ll kill you…!”
What followed was a silvery arc slicing through the air.
And someone’s horrifying scream.
*
“Aaaah… ugh…!”
Startled!
On a quiet afternoon, Neo Sisters’ newbie guild member perked up at the distant noise.
“What’s that scream?”
“Did a monster appear somewhere?”
Choosing the role of a protector, the newbie had an above-average sense of justice.
So upon hearing the scream, they dashed towards the direction of the sound along with their workplace supervisor.
If civilians were in danger, surely as Awakened, they could help.
“Huh.”
But then—
Upon arriving at the scene, the situation was not what they expected.
In a ghastly scene with passersby sprawled out like corpses, a blond man was expressionlessly stabbing another person.
“Uwaaaaah!”
Another scream erupted.
The attacked person bore no visible wounds, yet for some reason, they let out a ripping cry every time they were stabbed.
The collapsed Hunter clutched the struck area and curled up tightly.
His eyes were covered in sweat, and he was drooling stomach acid that he hadn’t managed to swallow.
“Gahhh!”
The one wielding the blade, seeing the other’s pathetic state, showed no compassion and continued their harsh assault.
It was truly a cold-blooded demeanor.
‘Huh? That person is…?!’
At that moment, the newbie of Neo Sisters recognized the identity of the merciless man.
Dressed in a suit with dark three-hundred eyes.
Wasn’t that the distinctive characteristic of Korea’s Fourth S-Class?
‘Huh, it’s the real deal?’
Having heard many stories about that Hunter from her direct senior, she had been eagerly anticipating the day they would meet.
But she never expected to see Kim Gi-ryeo under such circumstances.
Not managing a Dungeon Break stylishly.
Not coincidentally running into him at places like the Hunter Association.
“Uuuuhhhhh!”
To see someone mercilessly stabbing another person like that?
‘What on earth is going on?!’
The newbie of Neo was awestruck at the sight before her, and frankly, the shock on her end was no less severe.
“Please, spare me…!”
Cho Sang-oh, being brutally beaten by Gi-ryeo, was begging for mercy without realizing it.
What the hell had happened?
He had never imagined experiencing such defeat.
When he discovered Kim Gi-ryeo’s gaps, he had felt pure joy, believing his acquired skills would at least allow him to have a decent match. Yet here he was, pathetically rolling around without even throwing one solid punch.
‘What, what, what on earth just happened?!’
Of course, it made sense that his bodily control was collapsing without warning.
Even at this moment, Cho Sang-oh was panicking as his limbs wouldn’t properly respond while trying to communicate.
“W-wait! Mr. Hunter! I understand, so just stop for a—kugh!”
His attempt failed.
From Gi-ryeo’s perspective, there was no way he could trust the words of someone who suddenly pulled out an axe in broad daylight.
What if he gave this brat a chance and ended up being threatened again?
‘Before I get hit in the back, I need to make sure he’s completely incapacitated!’
However, his stunning item had just been used and was now in cooldown.
Thus, the only thing he could do was rely on the [Scream Stake] to deliver psychological damage.
“Eek! Aaaah!”
While someone was screaming their heart out, how was Kim Gi-ryeo able to continue torturing so resolutely without a hint of hesitation?
There was a fundamental issue tied to his soul.
Unfortunately, the mage here was too distant from the other party to empathize with the pain coming from a mammal’s cries.
In other words, it was akin to humanity’s indifference towards the injuries of jellyfish.
Exactly. Jellyfish. How many Earthlings truly empathize with the pain of jellyfish on this planet?
“Please, please stop…! Gaaaah!”
Bloodshot eyes. Cracking vocal cords.
Cho Sang-oh flailed his barely mobile limbs, desperately trying to address the situation, when an alien indifferent to his plight continued the mental assault.
“Ugh, ughh…! Cough.”
Grappling his wound with trembling hands, a dagger came again, and as he curled up, he felt the sensation of his skull gracefully cracking open.
How on Earth could he keep enduring such unnatural pain?
Ultimately, before the paralysis effect wore off, Hanshin’s guild member foamed at the mouth and collapsed.
He fainted from the repeated agony.
“……”
Soon, silence fell upon the road.
Gi-ryeo looked at the fainted opponent and pondered.
‘Did I take him down?’
Just as Gi-ryeo began to mutter forbidden words—
“Th-that, that, that over there.”
Out of nowhere, a delicate voice was heard from the side.
Whew.
Neo Sisters’ newbie finally exhaled the breath she had been holding for so long.
Having seen Gi-ryeo pushing his opponent hard, she couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed; she hadn’t even realized how intense it had been.
But now that the situation had somewhat concluded, she couldn’t help but ask.
“What is going on here…?”
She and her supervisor, with frightened expressions, had their eyes fixed on Gi-ryeo.
And the cold-looking man soon opened his thin lips to respond.
“Self-defense.”
The new witnesses from Neo Sisters momentarily thought that this S-Class was some kind of lunatic.
But after hearing the full story, the Hunters soon said,
“He deserved it!”
“Wow, so you swung your weapon at someone just standing there? Huh! Speaking of which, Mr. Hunter, there’s blood on your neck!”
For reference, the chance that Gi-ryeo had lied about this was slim.
This was a public institution into which huge state budgets had been poured. So CCTV was everywhere around.
‘Wow, and despite going through such an annoying ordeal, somehow, he managed not to injure anyone.’
The newbie of Neo eyed the collapsed Cho Sang-oh.
And just then, a woman Hunter calling 119 opened her mouth.
She was someone familiar with Kim Gi-ryeo. An A-Class Hunter who specialized in crossbows, having briefly interacted with him the previous year.
“Uh… Mr. Kim Hunter. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s that you’re holding?”
“Pardon?”
“I was just wondering what allows you to stab someone like that without leaving a mark.”
The crossbow-wielding Hunter felt awkward just standing there waiting for the ambulance to arrive, so she awkwardly tried to change the subject.
Then Gi-ryeo raised the dagger he had caught.
This was the Scream Stake, and its performance was entirely incapable of inflicting physical harm.
“Oh! That trash dagger?”
The brown-haired crossbow user recognized it only after hearing its name.
But at that moment, a tiny question popped into her head.
It had to hit skin directly.
Most monsters went wild upon being provoked by pain, making battles more challenging.
And furthermore, if it touched the wrong spot even slightly, the owner would feel its effects—essentially a piece of equipment commonly avoided.
“Oh, oh! I see an advanced Hunter using something like the Scream Stake…?”
A somewhat peculiar choice for a Hunter.
However, that question was soon resolved. Seeing the crossbow user tilting her head, the newbie suddenly interjected.
“Of course, Team Leader! He must have bought that specifically for situations like this!”
“Uh?”
“Look! Mr. Kim Gi-ryeo is already wearing another primary weapon on his waist!”
Where she pointed hung a longsword called Hydra.
“Honestly, for an S-Class, killing someone is no big deal, so the Scream Stake might be made for controlling force when needed, right?”
“Ah.”
“Also, I heard from Senior Yoon-seung…”
At that moment, the youngest guild member proudly displayed her knowledge.
“That S-Class Hunter dislikes skills. He believes in naturalness. So he often uses tools to adapt no matter when he returns to being an ordinary person.”
Right, isn’t that so?
The Neo newbie looked at Gi-ryeo with sparkling eyes.
Of course, this was complete nonsense, but it was suitable as an excuse…
“Yes, that’s all absolutely correct.”
Gi-ryeo immediately seized upon the newbie’s misconception.
Even though it was their first meeting, he had no hesitation in lying. Truly, one could say he had thrown his conscience to the dogs.
“By the way, now I see why you look familiar. If you’re calling Yoon-seung your senior, are you part of Neo Sisters?”
“Yes, yes.”
“Was it you who went with me into the Dungeon?”
“Oh! You remember me!”
Having settled the crisis, all that was left was to manage the aftermath.
A few minutes later, several ambulances arrived at the scene.
The incident was somewhat concluded.
*
The next day.
“This reckless fool!”
The quiet interior of the building turned upside down.
The news that the ace of the guild, Cho Sang-oh, had gone head-to-head with an S-Class Hunter finally reached the guild leader’s ears.
“Are you insane? How could you let things get this bad? Yesterday, you were supposed to showcase the might of an A-Class by betting on Dungeon conquest! Why the hell did you mess with that Hunter outside?”
He glared dismissively at the bowed guild member.
However, Cho Sang-oh still didn’t believe he did anything wrong; he only kept whining in frustration.
“I thought I could win.”
“What?”
“I thought I could win even if we fought right there! Plus, he angers me! Do you know what that guy did to me? Acting all high and mighty as an S-Class and not listening to me at all! Seeing that made my blood boil….”
Crash!
Unable to listen any longer, the guild leader slammed the table.
“Shut up!”
At that, Cho Sang-oh closed his mouth, looking deflated.
“Ugh….”
Attacking an S-Class in front of everyone?
Normally, someone who pulled a stunt like this would be fired immediately, and he would’ve had to bow down to Kim Gi-ryeo.
Surely, one would plead not to hold the entire Hanshin responsible for his rudeness, since that Hunter no longer belonged to their ranks.
But this time, they couldn’t resort to such cold measures. The thirty-something man before him was none other than his son.
‘Ugh, this rotten kid. I got too complacent because he hadn’t caused any trouble lately….’
Still, he came back safely, so perhaps that’s a relief.
Blood indeed bends the arm.
In the end, the guild leader couldn’t bear to be harsh with his own blood.
“B-but don’t worry. Not only did I get beaten, but I also scored a blow against that S-Class.”
“What?”
“I’m serious! After all, he must be so embarrassed after getting hit by an A-Class that he wouldn’t dare to make a scene….”
Just then—
Ding. The sound of an alert, set to default, echoed.
“Ah, I forgot to put it on silent mode.”
Cho Sang-oh pulled out his phone to check the messenger, but his expression quickly hardened as he scanned the screen.
[Hey, Sang-oh, what are you doing? Go check the curtain board; you’ve totally become a star!]
[You sure have a lot of booze material for the next three years! LOL]
[http://www.teamcurt……. ]
