Chapter 302
On his way to meet the hunter that Gloria wanted to introduce him to, Choi Yeonseung asked Aine, “Since this person has signed a contract with her, I shouldn’t hope for them to be a decent person, right?”
“Yeah, she’s that kind of person after all…”
Gloria would’ve been furious if she had heard such harsh words. However Choi Yeonseung and Aine talked about her like that in the most carefree manner.
“Are there any precautions for dealing with such hunters?”
Choi Yeonseung had infinitely more experience than Aine on the field, but it was likely that she had more experience than him when it came to dealing with hunters. After all, wasn’t managing hunters her job? She could certainly give him some advice in that regard.
“Precautions... Things to keep in mind... I think you just have to be yourself.”
“What? Is that enough?”
Choi Yeonseung was flustered. Come to think of it, what was his normal behavior?
‘I don’t think that would help.’
If the other person wanted to rest, he pushed them until they fell down. If they talked nonsense, he would swing a punch…
Could he act like that with those hunters?
“There’s a good chance that they’ll be ruder and meaner than you. If they talk nonsense, then just use your strength to show who’s superior. After all, you’re in the position where you’re giving something. If they act arrogantly, just step on them.”
“Great advice.” Choi Yeonseung nodded.
Certainly, Aine’s words were compelling.
Given his position, he had no reason to put up with some arrogant asshole. He would show them what it meant to be an A-grade hunter!
***
“I can’t believe I get to meet you! It is truly an honor!!”
“...”
“...”
“Why are you both looking at me like that?” asked Gloria incredulously.
Both Choi Yeonseung and Aine looked embarrassed.
“I thought he would be a rude person.”
“What kind of person did you think I was going to bring...?!”
“Well, you said it yourself that you don’t care about a hunter’s personality, only about their reputation!”
“...”
Gloria was baffled and went quiet. She normally would’ve argued fiercely, but she couldn’t do so against Choi Yeonseung’s argument.
Upon listening to their conversation, the hunter said firmly, “I may have signed a contract with Ms. Parker, but I am different.”
“...”
Despite Gloria looking at him in disbelief, the hunter didn’t change his attitude. There was an A-grade hunter in front of him, so he naturally had to make a good impression. There was no reason to worry about the agent he had signed with.
‘This bastard...?’
“Alright, so you’re a martial artist?”
“Yes! I’ve been learning martial arts since I was in university.”
Training as a hunter in university sounded strange at first, but those days, it was actually pretty common. Unlike the early days of raids, there were presently several educational institutions that trained young, gifted children to become hunters.
The Ivy League had changed from the prestigious universities of the past to schools that trained hunters. Those were the most sought after educational institutions.
Nathan Dab, who was currently in front of Choi Yeonseung, was also a promising hunter from a school like that.
The talents from such schools had many skills at their disposal and received vigorous training, but because they lacked any significant results, they were forced to sign contracts for cheap. This made them mouthwatering customers for all types of clans, companies, agents, etc.
“How interesting. Is it because of this kind of education that there are so many hunters these days?”
“There is research showing that nowadays there are more awakened people than in the past. It might be a result of the education.”
“But don’t half of them end up going on a different path instead of doing raids?”
“...There’s also that.”
Aine couldn’t deny that. In fact, as the hunter profession became more popular, there were more and more hunters who didn’t do raids and aimed for something else.
Choi Yeonseung said, “Anyway, enough with the useless chatter. So you said you wanted to learn martial arts?”
“Yes!”
Nathan looked like a football player. Thanks to his training in martial arts, he had discipline and a naturally muscular build.
‘He’ll be a pretty sturdy tanker.’
Choi Yeonseung looked Nathan up and down with his constellation eyes. In simple terms, he was a tank with defensive skills and high stats in physical strength. If he worked hard to improve his performance, he could certainly reach at least B-grade.
After all, Nathan was popular for a reason.
‘I struggled to reach C-grade in the past, so it’s amazing that he’s C-grade from the get-go.’
-What this person said is right.
-?
The goddess of sloth piqued Choi Yeonseung’s curiosity.
-The humans of Earth have a short history of learning magic. It hasn’t been long since you’ve been affected by the Abyss. It’s only natural that as time goes by, you will become more and more familiar with magic.
-Could it be that in the future, the entire human race will awaken?
-Who knows? I don’t know to what extent it will increase... Maybe?
Choi Yeonseung imagined a future in which the delivery man walking down the street was awakened, the office worker who ordered food was awakened, and even the engineer doing interior work underneath…
‘It would be amazing.’
“Okay. Tell me what martial arts you’ve learned.”
At Choi Yeonseung’s words, Nathan’s eyes lit up and he nodded.
***
“Thank you, Hunter Han Seha!”
“??”
Han Seha was puzzled when she suddenly heard words of gratitude. She put down the weapon she was wielding, wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead with a towel and asked, “Was the person I beat up yesterday your enemy?”
“N-No, it’s not that. Thanks to you, we were able to obtain the life plant this time.”
“...”
Han Seha’s expression suddenly became rigid. She contemplated the situation.
‘If it’s the life plant, it’s probably Gorn’s Life Plant. If it’s Gorn’s Life Plant, it’s something that Dragon Industry grew at their smart farm. There’s no way to get some stock of it right now, but they managed to bring it back? Ah, there was that presentation. But unless the person from Dragon Industry is an idiot, there is no reason to release goods first, right? If they’re thanking me, did they borrow my name?’
By the time her thoughts reached this point, her constellation had already started talking to her.
[The ‘Hound of Instinct and Liberation’ barks not to hold back your anger!]
“You used my name to get goods from Hunter Choi Yeonseung?”
Han Seha’s hair rose and her eyes were ablaze with killing intent.
At this point, every three seconds the employee didn’t say anything he risked having a part of his body broken. Thus, he cried out urgently, “I paid for it! I bought it for a really high price!!”
“Is money important right now?! This isn’t something that can be bought with money! What did you do?!” Han Seha bellowed as she grabbed the employee, who was on the verge of fainting at this point.
“H-Hunter Choi Yeonseung said he would take care of you, so I had no choice... Really...”
“Stop talking nonsense. Get your ass through that door and return the plant!”
The employee stopped Han Seha when she looked like she was about to hijack a plane and leave for the US at any moment.
“Please calm down and think about it! Even if try to give it back, he won’t accept it! Hunter Choi Yeonseung gave it as a gift. We need to show him some respect!”
“I feel like kicking you through that wall over there when you talk like this. You better be careful.”
“...”
The employee shut up. Han Seha calmed down her anger and thought about it.
‘Well, he won’t take it back even if I try and return it.’
Choi Yeonseung was the type of person to take a gift back, which made Han Seha even angrier. How dare the people of Hanseong Energy take advantage of his personality?
[The ‘Hound of Instinct and Liberation’ says that after listening to it, it doesn’t seem like they took advantage of him at all...]
-Shut up!
[The ‘Hound of Instinct and Liberation’ is asking why you are taking out your anger on him...]
“All the people in charge, follow me.”
“H-Han Seha. Violence... Please no violence...”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I won’t resort to that.”
***
When talking about the hunter that Koreans respected the most, people always mentioned Lee Changsik, the Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor.
If he had just retired, Lee Changsik could’ve become a respected person who occasionally appeared on the news saying things like “Korean hunters aren’t good now” and “Korean hunters need to reflect.” Instead, he had jumped into the front lines to manage the hunters of the national team.
Of course, the results had been disastrous, but...
“Are you listening?”
“Yes...”
“I’m listening...”
“I want to repay the country by making you stronger hunters. Of course, this will be an arduous and painful journey...”
‘Ah, he’s crazy.’
‘It would be better if he just appeared in the media.’
The moment the hunters who admired Lee Changsik heard that he would be directing, they thought, ‘Did I win the lottery?’ However, all of them soon realized what would await them.
Lee Changsik was actually a very different person from what they had assumed. The hunters only saw his cold and distant appearance in the media, but once they actually met him as a director, he proved to be more difficult than they had expected…
He was an exhausting person.
-That method isn’t right. Think for yourself and try again.
-Ah. I understand.
-Still not good enough. Try again.
-...Yes.
-No, you’re not doing it correctly! Again...
-......
Starting with asking them to do the same thing over and over again to calling out hunters who seemed bored and teaching them personally…
If it had been any other director, they would've tried to beat him, but evidently they couldn’t hit Lee Changsik.
‘There’s a big difference in level.’
The hunters assessed Lee Changsik’s level, but so did he with all the hunters in the clan.
At Choi Yeonseung’s request, Lee Changsik had taken charge of the clan, and he had no intention of taking his task lightly. However, what could he do to rebuild a clan that was on the verge of collapsing?
‘You first open the wound and drain the pus. Then it will recover.’
He kept the hunters who still had motivation while kicking out those who didn’t have any.
After pondering on it for a while, Lee Changsik had realized that the main issue was the motivation of the hunters, not their talent. He didn’t want to bother teaching hunters who asked things like “Why do I have to do this?” when training to become strong.
However, there was a problem...
‘We need to recruit more hunters. I should call Yeonseung.’
He hadn’t planned to recruit hunters for a while because the clan was in such a terrible state. However, it seemed like he had to release some hunters and recruit some new ones. He had to get rid of the useless hunters in order to let in those who were capable and willing to learn. By doing so, the clan could gain some vitality.
‘...Should I just recruit them with my own money?’
Lee Changsik was slightly worried. From a director’s perspective, he couldn’t say to the clan owner, “We haven’t won a game in a while, so can you give me some money to recruit hunters?”
No matter how close he was to Choi Yeonseung, it was a matter of reputation and pride. He had to get some results before calling Choi Yeonseung...!
“Is anyone here?”
“Come in.”
Lee Changsik opened the door, puzzled as to who it could be. He saw a familiar hunter.
‘Hunter Han Seha?’
Well-dressed employees with gloomy expressions stood behind Hunter Han Seha.
“I heard you’re here, so I came.”
“Ah. Come in.”
‘What’s this about?’
Lee Changsik was curious about the reason why Han Seha had come to visit.
Of course, it was plausible for a current A-grade hunter to visit a former A-grade hunter for advice. However, things like that didn’t really happen. Unless they were invited to a public event, they rarely met.
“Hunters...”
“?”
“I’m here to give you hunters.”
“...?!??”
Lee Changsik looked at Han Seha with a baffled expression.
What was she going to provide him? And more importantly, how would she do that?
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