Chapter 32. Provocation
“Philip. Philip Park.”
Han Serin offered a handshake to Philip as he introduced himself.
“I’m Serin, Han Serin. Thanks for putting on such a good show.”
“Ah. Yes!”
Most guild masters would brag about their hunter rank or the size of their guild the moment they opened their mouths.
But Serin showed not a hint of that, keeping it concise as she shook Philip’s hand.
“Judging by the color of your mana... you’re Uldran’s awakener, aren’t you?”
“Yes, that’s right!”
Serin had pegged Philip’s dragon just from the hue of his mana. Uldran wasn’t even one of the more common ones among awakeners, which spoke volumes about how long she’d studied humans and dragons.
“That guy’s your personal porter, huh. Impressive.”
Serin nodded toward Jeonghyeon, and Philip turned to him with a puzzled look.
Ah, so that’s how it connects back to what I told him earlier.
Without even needing to check Jeonghyeon’s expression, Philip nodded.
“Yes. My capable assistant—and porter.”
This bastard?
Philip must have seized the chance to climb the ladder after all this time, immediately dubbing himself the “assistant.”
“Makes sense now why you’d keep a porter like that all to yourself.”
Serin let out a smirk, a mix of satisfaction and sheer bafflement.
Jeonghyeon’s influence surely played a part in her high evaluation of Philip, but even so, to Serin’s eyes, he was a promising talent through and through.
An Uldran awakener who didn’t fit the current meta of speed-clearing dungeon bosses while leaving trash mobs behind. On top of that, he wielded a mace—one of the most niche weapons among blunt types.
Most would lighten the mace’s weight to adapt to fast strikes.
The calluses on his rock-hard hand, felt during their brief handshake, told her he’d stubbornly poured everything into raw power. It pleased her.
“‘Double Strike’ is a simple, brutish skill.”
As she passed by Philip, Serin picked up a rock fragment from the cratered ground—once part of a boulder—and continued.
“Haha, but doesn’t it just let you hit twice with the exact same attack? No stronger, no weaker, just pure duplication with mana’s help?”
Serin no doubt had far superior skills at her disposal.
Philip chuckled awkwardly, trying to play it off.
“No, it’s not.”
Her response was firm.
Serin tossed the rock fragment into the air and slashed her sword through it, cleaving it perfectly in two.
Thud.
She pointed at the fallen pieces. “Think about it. If that wasn’t a rock but your neck, which strike would’ve killed you?”
“Uh... the first one, probably?”
“Exactly. With a bladed weapon, one precise hit is all it takes. You don’t need two.”
Jeonghyeon’s flashy sword dance, the spear users’ hundreds of thrusts—they were all just ways to boost the odds of landing that one perfect blow.
“Plus, blades deal lethal damage in a tiny area.”
Simple, right? Some swordsman swinging a wooden sword twice at the center of plate armor wouldn’t kill the wearer from full-body agony.
“But a mace crushes through blocks and overwhelms. Hitting the same spot twice changes everything.”
Serin extended her sword like an extension of her arm, coiling it around Philip’s mace and lifting it. His body jerked up like a marionette.
Even if it glanced off like before and slammed the ground, a mace turned that into an area smash.
Both strikes would land true.
“Got it? How strong that is?”
“Yes...! I do.”
Philip seemed more thrilled that a hunter of Serin’s caliber acknowledged him than by realizing his skill was better than he’d thought. His face lit up.
The punk wouldn’t believe me when I said it.
Jeonghyeon clicked his tongue.
Whatever. Good was good. If a default character he hadn’t even picked came with a cheat skill in an idle RPG, any player would be thrilled.
“Plus, flashy moves like Hundred Blossom Fury drain almost all your mana in one go. Not easy to spam.”
Spotting his opening, Jeonghyeon strolled over casually.
“Sword auras that swordmasters love? They outscale your basic swings eventually, turning into a crutch.”
Jeonghyeon knew from experience as a former swordsman. Serin nodded in agreement.
“Double Strike uses way less mana, so it’s smooth sailing. That’s why it’s great. Congrats.”
Leaving those warm words for a stranger, Serin turned to Jeonghyeon, her face icing over instantly.
“Training’s over. We’ve got a lot to talk about. Follow me.”
“Sure, sure. Why ask your ‘assistant,’ though? Philip Hunter. You’re coming, right?”
Jeonghyeon grinned slyly, slinging an arm over Philip’s shoulder. The massive man shrank like a deflated balloon.
“Haha... uh. Y-yeah, gotta.”
Scaredy-cat. Good job, you punk.
As they followed Serin toward the raid site, Jeonghyeon glanced back.
Incredible destruction. The ground had collapsed like a demolition spell had hit it. Jeonghyeon mused to himself.
One fact neither Serin nor Philip—or anyone here—knew.
If you max out Double Strike’s level...
He couldn’t hold back the pleased smile leaking out since earlier.
...it turns passive.
“Heard? Kingdom’s leading this raid.”
“What? Damn it. How’d they get here from the south to the east... total bust.”
Right before the raid gate warped open, hunters griped in clusters.
Different words, same gripe.
Kingdom’s involvement.
Kingdom guild was small for a major one—maybe 150 members tops. Their rival, Royal, boasted over 3,000.
And growing.
But Kingdom cherry-picked elites under Serin. Bound tight by guild loyalty.
“If Kingdom’s running it, guys like us won’t even get a slot.”
“Yeah. They hog everything—no shares.”
As the hunters grumbled, Kingdom-contracted raids were invite-only for them.
“Guilds have to take raids like this?”
“You know a lot or nothing?”
“Hehe.”
“Mid-sized guilds and up must contract certified raids from the association.”
Fail quotas, lose privileges. Raids sparked guild rivalries; hot ones went to auction.
Profits funded hunter investments via Seoul Central Awakener Association. They had to—hunters could smash it otherwise. Total transparency.
Later, S-ranks flooded the association, turning mid-guilds into pretty figureheads.
“What’s in it for the guild?”
“They pick their raid team. Royals bring weaklings for PR experience...”
Kingdom? No room. Their members were too strong. Raids ended before others could act.
Many blamed Kingdom for winner-takes-all, blind to the shares they skipped.
“Kingdom’s just that strong.”
Philip nodded. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with a guild master even A-rank hotshots envied? Overwhelming.
“You two joining, obviously?”
Before stamping approvals, Serin eyed Jeonghyeon and Philip.
“Aw, we wanted to so bad~.”
Serin’s face twisted at Jeonghyeon’s smarmy grin—second time seeing it.
“Our hunter here shuns worldly greed, grinds the Tower nonstop, skips ranks entirely.”
“Tower? Just the Tower? How far?”
Not a question anymore—demand.
I came here myself to check you out, and you dodge? Wanna die? Golden killing intent leaked from her eyes.
Crazy. She’s blatantly venting mana.
He’d baited it, but Jeonghyeon flinched a bit, pretending to count floors on his fingers before flashing a V-sign.
“Floor 2?”
“No, 20.”
Ridiculous height. Philip beside him gawked in shock.
No way! We barely hit 3...
Philip whispered, cut off by Jeonghyeon’s elbow jabbing his ribs. He choked.
“20 floors? This punk thinks mocking the guild master once wasn’t enough?”
Junseok Park—Albatron’s awakener, grudge-burning since Jeonghyeon trounced him—shoved forward yelling.
“20? A-ranks barely scrape 15! You? Bullshit!”
Junseok, spitting image of Albatron’s hot temper, ignored Serin’s restraint and grabbed Jeonghyeon’s collar.
“What’s on 12? Huh? Spill!”
“Ah, so you topped at 12? Asking so confidently.”
Junseok froze, face hardening.
“Floor 12... lemme see, Manticore? Or was it Lich?”
Jeonghyeon leisurely pried off Junseok’s hand.
Crunch.
“Urk...!”
Junseok’s face contorted in agony.
“Did I go all-out against you? Huh? That easy to handle?”
Scarier than rage: smiling in the deadliest moment. Jeonghyeon beamed.
“Tell me. What was on 12?”
“Man... Manticore...!”
Tsk. Jeonghyeon shoved his arm. Junseok crumpled limply.
“D-rank climbing 20 floors... and I’m supposed to buy that?”
Now Serin glared daggers, golden eyes blazing unchecked—like she’d whip out her sword and decapitate him.
“I’ll check myself. If you’ve got the chops or not.”
Forcing their names onto the roster, Serin slammed the approval stamp.
“Fail to show that 20-floor prowess in the raid...”
A single golden wing of light unfurled behind her.
Its holy glow drew every hunter’s gaze.
“...you die by my hand.”