Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Raid (6)
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The car window rolled down, and his mother poked her head out.
"Kang... Be careful! If it gets dangerous, run away no matter what!"
"Yes, I got it."
The hunter in the driver's seat gave a wry smile.
Run away if it's dangerous?
The person outside that window was Korea's strongest hunter.
Would someone who could effortlessly take down even S-rank magic beasts ever need to run?
'Well, parents all worry the same way.'
No matter how powerful their child was as a hunter, parents couldn't help but fret.
"Oppa, be careful!"
"Don't push yourself too hard!"
"Kang... Be careful!"
Yu-na, followed by Jin-o and Hye-in, each chimed in with their own words.
Kang-hyuk waved back and immediately turned away.
Flash!
As Kang-hyuk vanished from sight, his family let out small, surprised laughs.
Hunters were beings with superhuman abilities.
And among them, Kang-hyuk was known as the strongest in the country—a swordsman beyond compare.
"We'll head out now."
"Yes, please do."
The Association-affiliated hunter slowly drove across the Hangang Bridge.
In the meantime, Kang-hyuk moved with Royard in tow.
The orc warriors fell to Kang-hyuk's hands in a massacre.
-Chiiiik...!
The orc general and orc shaman had their limbs severed and tossed to the ground.
Royard, following behind Kang-hyuk, finished off the orc general and shaman.
In one go, Royard had reached the level of Low Sword Master.
"Keep going! Follow me!"
"Yes, sir!"
Kang-hyuk intended to assign Royard as his family's bodyguard.
The former Team 19 leader, Bark, had been a Low Sword Master swordsman.
Kang-hyuk was grateful for his sacrifice, but protecting his family required even stronger forces.
By following Kang-hyuk, Royard managed to take down over 30 generals and shamans.
"Haa... Haa... Haa..."
Royard panted heavily as he gazed at his own sword.
In less than an hour, he had reached Mid Sword Master.
"Team 19 will be reorganized, and you'll be the leader."
"Y-Yes... Understood."
"I'm planning to take you all the way to High Sword Master. Rest up a bit and then catch up."
"I-I'm fine to move right away."
Royard had invested all his AP from level-ups into stamina.
Thanks to that, his trembling legs had returned to normal.
"Please, go ahead."
Kang-hyuk chuckled lightly and nodded.
The orc subjugation resumed with Kang-hyuk and Royard.
Kang-hyuk single-handedly took down over 2,000 orc warriors and incapacitated more than 100 generals and shamans.
Orc generals were B-rank magic beasts who wielded battle spirit comparable to Lowest to Low Sword Masters, while orc shamans were A-rank magic beasts capable of 5th-circle black magic.
Royard, having defeated them, swiftly reached High Sword Master.
"Good work."
"Haa... Haa... Haa... N-No, it's nothing."
Royard bowed deeply to Kang-hyuk while catching his breath.
"Th-Thank you... I'll stake this life on protecting your family."
"I'm counting on you."
"Leave it to me."
Kang-hyuk headed to Gwanak-gu with Royard.
After linking up with GH Guild members, he took the new Team 20 leader out to subjugate more magic beasts.
The man, who had been a Low Sword Master, also ascended straight to High Sword Master.
"Well done."
"Thank you. I'll engrave your grace into my heart."
Kang-hyuk patted the Team 20 leader's shoulder.
The vice-leaders had reached Mid Sword Master, and the other guild members, after battling magic beasts all day, hit the peak of Lowest Sword Master.
Kang-hyuk summoned 100 new homunculi.
The existing guild members helped the new ones grow.
Kang-hyuk incapacitated hordes of magic beasts, then directed his skeletons to raise the level of Lowest Skeleton Summon.
One more level, and he could summon 10,000 skeletons.
'The skeletons will be a huge help in developing cities on North Korean soil.'
Of course, for now, he planned to use them to restore damage in Seoul and Chungcheongbuk-do.
The skeletons gripped swords prepared by the GH Guild and charged at ogres and trolls with severed limbs, stabbing at their wounds.
Puuk! Pufuuk! Puuk!
-Keurgh...
Soon after, Kang-hyuk spotted a group of orcs and incapacitated all the C-rank orc warriors and archers.
One hundred skeletons bustled about.
The scene was captured by news helicopters.
Seoul citizens breathed a sigh of relief at the GH Guild's efforts.
America boasts three national power-level hunters.
Among them, the notoriously racist strongest American hunter, Lucas Howard.
Every time he visited Korea, China, or Japan, he demeaned East Asians as monkeys and committed acts of violence.
The problem was there was no way to punish him for his crimes.
He ruled like a king even in America, extracting budgets from the government.
His reputation was in the gutter because of it, but no one could deny his abilities.
He'd effortlessly taken down a beastman field marshal who had killed numerous S-rank hunters—including three S1-rank ones.
SNS buzzed with praise for Park Kang-hyuk's feats, but comments comparing him to other countries' national power-level hunters flooded in.
Kang-hyuk didn't mind the reactions.
He had no need for the spotlight anyway.
He picked up his family—who had crossed Hangang Bridge—and headed to the GH Guild headquarters in Gwanak-gu.
"Th-This is... the GH Guild's..."
Yu-na stared blankly at the building.
Her father Jin-o and mother Su-yeon wore equally stunned expressions.
For reference, Hye-in and her family, who had evacuated with Yu-na, had also taken shelter at the GH Guild building.
"C-Can we really stay here too...?"
"It might be a bit cramped for four of you, but with guild members always on standby at headquarters, you can feel a little safer."
"Thank you so much."
Hye-in's parents bowed to Kang-hyuk.
Her family consisted of her parents and older sister—four in total.
Kang-hyuk led the group to the top floor.
The living quarters next to the office included a living room, kitchen, utility room, terrace, four bedrooms, and three bathrooms/toilets.
"Staff will bring bedding from the on-call room. Use two of the bedrooms. And..."
Kang-hyuk turned to his own family.
"You two take this bedroom. Yu-na, yours is right next door."
"Got it."
"Kang-hyuk, where will you sleep?"
"I'll crash in the office next door. Or with the guild members in the on-call room. Doesn't matter. Down on the second floor, there's a cafeteria. There's ramen in the pantry and frozen food in the freezer, but... better to go to the cafeteria. Staff will bring the meal cards, so just scan those."
No sooner had he spoken than staff arrived with blankets and pillows from the on-call room.
They handed over seven cafeteria cards to Kang-hyuk.
"Thank you."
"No problem. We'll get going then..."
As the staff left, Kang-hyuk distributed the cards.
"I'll head out now. Still plenty of magic beasts left..."
Once Dongjak-gu was done, he might need to check Jungnang-gu and Gangdong-gu.
Of course, with hunters returning from Chungcheongbuk-do, those areas were stabilizing.
"Be careful."
"Don't worry."
The GH Guild had 30 members stationed at all times.
All S-rank hunters.
Plus, Team 19 leader Royard, now guarding Kang-hyuk's family, was a High Sword Master powerhouse.
Even an S-rank magic beast would get a minimal response.
Kang-hyuk took the new guild recruits out to subjugate more beasts.
Lowest Skeleton Summon had reached level 9.
This was plenty for now.
He could command 30,000 skeletons.
They all had paper slips on their foreheads reading "GH Guild" and began recovering magic stones from beasts felled by guild members.
5,000 skeletons acted as porters, 10,000 handled rescue operations, and another 10,000 moved beast corpses.
"...Magic beasts?!"
Victims trapped in building rubble flinched at Kang-hyuk's skeletons but calmed upon seeing "GH Guild" on their foreheads.
Crack.
Five skeletons began rescuing a victim from the debris.
"Th-Thank you..."
The injured were carried out on stretchers.
People transported by skeletons felt a mix of emotions.
'Never thought I'd be carried by a magic beast...'
The rescue skeletons even threw themselves to protect people.
-Chiiik!
Boom!
Five skeletons were shattered instantly by an orc warrior's greatsword.
While the skeletons blocked the beast, people fled desperately.
"Load these magic beasts onto the trucks too!"
Crack!
Even Association hunters naturally accepted the skeletons' help.