EP3. An S-Rank Hunter's Outing
Jae-jun unsummoned Hestia the moment he exited the dungeon and hopped into a taxi with Tae-seong.
Tae-seong suggested they grab a bite together, but Jae-jun turned him down.
"I'm swamped today, man."
With that, he handed over the two E-rank magical cores he'd picked up today to Tae-seong.
Dengchi must've forgotten or something—he'd only given them to Jae-jun and skipped Tae-seong.
Jae-jun hurriedly parted ways with Tae-seong and rushed home. The instant he stepped inside, he pulled up his window again.
Level reached 150.
Additional system functions have been unlocked.
You can now participate in the arena!
The soonest arena battle is in one day!
Time remaining until arena battle participation: 23 hours
'An arena?'
He vaguely remembered seeing something about an arena when he'd bought that random potion last time.
Probably something like, if you want to get stronger in the arena, buy random potions.
'So there really is an arena.'
Just from the name, it sounded like some brutal battle pit.
It would've been nice to have more details, but this user-unfriendly system gave no further response.
'In one day?'
If it meant he could get even stronger, sure.
Still, just in case, he planned to minimize his fatigue and hit the participation button.
With about 23 hours left, there was no rush.
And so night fell.
By the time Hye-seon got home from school and nodded off.
Jae-jun checked his own fatigue first.
'Perfect.'
He'd eaten a hearty dinner too, so his condition was top-notch.
Without hesitation, Jae-jun tapped the participation button.
Participate in the arena right now?
'Yeah.'
His heart pounded with excitement before he even realized it.
Entering the arena.
With the system message, Jae-jun's vision plunged into darkness.
―
Deep into the night.
On the hotel room bed, a man and woman of striking beauty tangled together.
Their kisses were fierce, their hands roaming freely without restraint.
"Haa."
"Feels good."
The man gasped hot breaths as he clung to the woman's body, unleashing his lust. His name was Jeon Hyun-ho.
He was the guild master of Eclipse, a mid-sized guild fairly well-known in Seoul.
Unlike the major guilds, Eclipse focused mainly on C- and D-rank dungeons.
Aside from Jeon Hyun-ho himself, a B-rank hunter, most members were below C-rank.
But their numbers swelled to nearly 300, making them sizable.
"Haa."
"Haa."
Jeon Hyun-ho had locked eyes with this woman at a bar tonight and brought her back to his hotel.
She oozed sex appeal, her demonic allure drawing him in the longer he stared.
Sweating profusely, Jeon Hyun-ho gripped her body and panted.
The woman beneath him gazed up steadily and asked,
"Like it?"
"Haa."
"Fuck yeah, I love it."
Her hands slid up his waist, wrapping tightly around his back.
Then she flipped him over and mounted him.
"Enough to die for?"
Jeon Hyun-ho smirked up at her through half-lidded eyes.
"Yeah."
"Enough to die for."
She beamed back.
Her eyes gleamed as red as her lips, staring down at him.
"Then die for me?"
"Huh?"
Crunch!
She lunged, sinking her teeth into his neck.
Her sharp fangs elongated, piercing skin and vein.
"Guh!"
"W-what the hell!"
Her nails extended into razor claws, digging into his back.
Jeon Hyun-ho thrashed, but she clung fast, immovable.
Her throat bobbed as she gulped down mouthfuls from his neck.
"N-no!"
Gulp, gulp—
Each suck drained his will to resist, his body growing limp.
A strange sensation wrapped him—not quite pleasure, not quite pain, somewhere in between.
"Kahaa!"
Satisfied at last, she threw her head back.
Her eyes glowed crimson, fangs bared.
"Huff."
"Huff."
Jeon Hyun-ho's face was ghostly pale from blood loss.
His limbs felt like lead, too heavy to lift.
Thud!
Suddenly, she shoved him aside like trash.
With a casual flick, his body flew to the wall, crashed, and crumpled to the floor.
"Khek."
She ignored him entirely, heading to the bathroom to rinse the blood away.
When she returned, freshly clean, Jeon Hyun-ho's heart had stopped.
She poured wine into a glass from the table and perched on the bed.
Glancing irritably at his corpse, she snapped,
"Not getting up?"
Incredibly, his body twitched unnaturally and rose.
He shuffled to her, knelt, and bowed his head.
"...My queen."
"I shall obey any command."
She sipped her wine with satisfaction.
"First things first."
"We need to build some allies, right?"
"...Allies?"
"Your guild members."
"Turn them all into our allies."
"As you wish, my queen."
She grinned wickedly.
The woman was none other than Yoon Mi-kyung, formerly a Hunter Association employee.
―
Another Guild offices.
A sharp-eyed man sat at his desk.
Choi Sung-ho, Choi Sung-woo's brother and Another Guild's vice-master.
He kept trying to reach his brother.
But only the ringtone answered—no pickup.
Irritated, he pocketed his phone and addressed the man before him.
"No word from Sung-woo?"
"No."
"Contact cut off after he left the dungeon."
"Phone trace?"
"...Signal up to near the dungeon, then nothing."
Choi Sung-ho sighed.
"Something happen in the dungeon?"
"Raid leader said it was routine."
"Then drag in everyone with a grudge against him and shake them down."
"He wouldn't just vanish without reason."
"Dead or alive, we find him."
"He's my brother."
"Got it."
The man hesitated, still standing. Choi Sung-ho eyed him.
"What?"
"Well, sir... with that porter discipline thing before."
"Maybe he just bailed again?"
Choi Sung-ho's eyes narrowed to slits, glaring.
"What?"
"...It happens a lot, so maybe wait a bit mo—guh!"
In a flash, Choi Sung-ho yanked him down, slamming him to the floor.
Cough—
His eyes flashed yellow like a serpent's.
"When I say investigate,"
"you investigate."
"Got it?"
"...Khek... Yes!"
Blood trickled from the man's mouth as he nodded frantically.
The moment Choi Sung-ho released him, he stumbled out the door.
Choi Sung-ho's viper eyes gleamed after him.
―
"What a great big bro."
Tae-seong muttered with a grin, watching Jae-jun walk away.
Stronger than any hunter he'd seen.
So his mimicry power had to be insane too.
To boost the odds, Tae-seong had stuck close to Jae-jun on purpose.
Terrifying enough to sweat palms, but the thought of claiming that power kept him going.
'Mimic!'
Finally.
Jae-jun's power began copying into Tae-seong's body.
The fierce flames?
That insane agility?
Or the dragon summon?
But nothing took hold.
"What the hell?"
Instead, something weird popped up.
A glitchy hologram.
Half the letters were garbled.
'Level?'
A gamer at heart, Tae-seong figured it out quick.
Hunt to level up.
Boost stats to grow stronger.
He felt like he could fly.
So this was big bro Jae-jun's true power.
Gratitude bordering on worship welled up.
'But how do I hunt?'
Needed to kill something.
Dungeons were scary—could die.
Then he spotted a stray cat.
'Haha. This easy!'
He dumped every level-up into strength.
Hit 30 already.
But now levels came slower even with kills.
Eh.
Something good might drop.
His phone buzzed then.
A debt collector call he dreaded more than death.
'Fucking bastards.'
About to hang up, a brilliant idea struck.
"Hello?"
"Hey."
"Tae-seong."
"No money this month."
"What now?"
"Crush your mom's other foot again?"
"Huh?"
'Filthy scum.'
Money made them do anything.
5 million won loan ballooned to 50 million, who knows now.
They'd faked an accident to snap his mom's ankle over late interest.
Tae-seong's eyes burned vicious.
"...Got some magical cores."
"That work?"
"Huh?"
"Cores?"
"Bring 'em."
"Yeah."
"Address?"
He hung up and headed to the loan shark's office.
Stopped at a convenience store for a kitchen knife too.
'My strength stats should do it.'
Leveled up, mood soaring.
Inside the office, Tae-seong scanned.
'Three?'
Others must be out.
Click.
He locked the door casually.
Approached the one who'd broken his mom's ankle.
"You came."
"Cores?"
"Right here."
Handed over the black bag.
The moment he took it, Tae-seong slashed his throat.
Spurt—