Chapter 38. Wakin's Request (3)
By the time Jeonghyeon returned to the Kingdom Guild in Seoul's eastern district, Junseok was already waiting for him in the lobby.
"Where the hell have you been? Come on."
Junseok asked with an irritated scowl, his brows furrowed deeply, before hurriedly dragging him into the elevator and heading to the training hall where he'd met Serin before.
"What's this about?"
"No matter how much I can't stand you guys... it's not right to keep the guild master in a one-on-one training session for hours on end."
From Junseok's reaction, it seemed Philip was having a very productive time with Serin. Even Junseok, who despised Jeonghyeon and Philip, was clicking his tongue and personally escorting him there.
"Hurry up and go."
"He better not die."
"You think our guild master would let him?"
'Yeah, right. She'd probably make him beg for death first.'
And just then, the training hall doors slid open.
That was when Jeonghyeon finally understood why Junseok had been so insistent.
Serin stood elegantly with her whip sword in hand, while Philip knelt before her, gasping for breath. Blood surged from his mouth as his body swayed unsteadily.
"Heal him."
At her command, the horde of healers encircling them like spectators at an arena unleashed a barrage of recovery skills on Philip. In an instant, his body was pristine, as if he'd never bled at all.
"Get up."
Beat him to the brink of death, revive him, then beat him again. It was torture disguised as combat.
"Uh...?"
Even if his body healed, the pain and mental trauma lingered. Philip's face was as ragged as his tattered armor. He shook his head, then locked eyes with Jeonghyeon.
"Jeonghyeon-nim!?"
With that, Philip bolted toward him at full speed, clinging like a lifeline before collapsing.
"Where the hell were you?! Leaving me in this hell!! Save me! No, just kill me!!"
'Heh. Sorry, kid.'
Sympathy aside, Jeonghyeon activated his Demon King's Eye on Philip. He needed to check the auto-hunt results.
'Status check.'
Philip Park
Rank: B-rank Hunter
Command Rank: Subordinate Rank
⋮
Current Awakening Level: Lv.3 (60/600) → Lv.3 (101/600)
His awakening level had jumped over 40, and domination EXP had risen by nearly 100.
Jeonghyeon couldn't be sure how much EXP came from regular hunting, but he guessed Serin's session had yielded a ton.
With Jeonghyeon gone, Philip had essentially trained one-on-one with humanity's strongest hunter in her youth.
'I'll figure out what to do with the domination EXP and awakening level later.'
Serin approached the half-crying Philip, who dangled from him like a child. Her emotionless stride carried the unease of a session cut short.
"Get up, Philip. You can do it. You smash monsters just fine—why not me? Attack now. You can wreck this whole building if you want. Show me that strike from before."
'Ugh. Goosebumps.'
Seeing that familiar glare again sent chills down his spine.
"Whoa, whoa. Our hunter has places to be. We'll train again next time."
Even as he spoke, Jeonghyeon blocked Serin from approaching Philip.
"Next time?!"
"Next time? Where to?"
Serin's eyes turned downright menacing.
'No attribute domination anytime soon at this rate.'
Not only had he scratched her pride, but he'd interrupted her sacred battle with the strong. No way that built goodwill. Proving it, her whip sword coiled like a massive serpent around Jeonghyeon, its tip aimed at his throat—like a snake poised to swallow him whole.
"Whoa, that's intense. But we gotta climb the Tower, right?"
"...What? The Tower?"
Serin's brow furrowed deeper at Jeonghyeon's sudden switch to polite speech and feigned confusion.
"You know how vital the Tower is to hunters. Our dear 'Hunter-nim' never skimps on training to slay more monsters and become an even greater 'powerhouse.'"
Serin knew the Tower's importance better than anyone, and Jeonghyeon had flipped her "powerhouse" switch. No way she'd cling to Philip now.
As expected, she clenched her jaw in annoyance, pondering how to keep him. Seizing the moment, Jeonghyeon added,
"Or... one more exchange?"
"What?!"
"Oh? What's your proposal?"
Serin retracted her whip sword but kept her suspicious glare—she knew he was no pushover.
"Me...? I don't wanna anymore?"
Philip's deathly plea went ignored, of course.
"It'll feel unresolved, so one more bout, then let us go without fuss. But."
Jeonghyeon stepped closer, flashing a villainous grin as he revealed his intent.
"If Philip wins, hand over the monster core. You got one from the Soul of the Mountain boss last time, right?"
"..."
Predictable. Serin sighed deeply and turned away.
"Forget it. Just go. Training next time."
"It's not a bad deal. I'm just a porter—if I didn't harvest the raid boss mana stone, you guys took it all, right?"
Jeonghyeon prodded her back provocatively.
He could've extracted top-grade mana stones with dissection swordsmanship before the hunters arrived—if he'd had the chance amid the chaos.
"So, a bet might make our hunter try even harder..."
Shwick—!
The whip sword's tip halted before his eyes, inches from his brow.
"Go. I won't taint the sacred training between hunters with some bet."
"What...? Yeah, figured."
'Right on script.'
Everything as planned. Jeonghyeon smirked inwardly, kept a straight face outwardly, and swiftly twisted to draw his hidden epic weapon from inventory.
He wedged the curved harvesting knife's tip between the whip sword's blade and chain.
Clang—!
With a sharp metallic screech, he yanked hard. Serin, standing far off, lost balance and pitched toward him.
Jeonghyeon slammed the knife into the ground and swung a fist at her face.
Thwack!
But even mid-180 spin, Serin regained her axis and blocked his punch.
Arms crossed, she glared through the gap with fierce golden eyes.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"I'm not a hunter?"
For Serin and everyone in the hall, he clarified:
"I'm just a lowly porter. So we can bet."
***
Jeonghyeon never acted without reason. Not in his past life, and even more so now.
Back then, as a frontline hunter, he could brute-force through. Not anymore.
'I'm a ruler. The mastermind behind the shadows.'
Why did the Demon King send weaker demons through gates instead of conquering himself? Faster and easier for him, sure—but not for his minions. That was domination.
Jeonghyeon had two goals here.
First: Establish perfect command over Serin, who he'd unconditionally dominate someday, no matter what. No need to win hearts with kindness.
'I'm no teacher.'
Mutual benefit, with overwhelming obedience—no need for other tactics. That was the ruler-ruled dynamic he wanted with Serin.
Domination by name, alliance in truth.
Such alliances crumble without overwhelming strength on one side.
Jeonghyeon wouldn't allow that.
Second: Personally train his most loyal subordinate, Philip.
'Mirror Learning.' Subordinates automatically learn from their ruler's battles.
Watching Jeonghyeon fight, Philip would grow naturally. That was the plan.
Even top-tier mercenaries couldn't match a well-raised one.
'Not that his fanaticism makes him easy to command—that's our secret.'
Everyone knew but Philip. As long as he didn't, it was fine.
A brief breather passed.
"Pretty confident, huh?"
Serin unleashed her dazzling glare, uncoiling her whip sword with a shwick.
Jeonghyeon faced her, epic weapon in hand.
Stretching casually, he just chuckled at her words.
"Watch closely, Philip. Losing's expected. But think hard: how you would counter my approach on Serin."
No more spoon-feeding. Jeonghyeon activated Mirror Learning via Demon King's Eye and strode to the center.
'Whew, still tense.'
Second round, same nerves. Especially against a monster who grew every minute.
As training began, Serin's talisman—Solgaleh's feathers—unfurled brilliantly. The golden wings aided mobility and obscured vision.
"Right out the gate..."
Ignoring Jeonghyeon's grimace, Serin turned to the guild members.
"Listen up, Kingdom guildmates."
"What're you..."
She wreathed her whip sword in intense light, poised to charge, then murmured to them:
"Prepare to rebuild the guild building."