Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Where Am I? Bounty Hunter
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Where the hell am I? Seriously, where?
Bounty hunter.
Even in the 21st century, when the concept of human rights had taken root, it was one of those shadowy professions that still lingered in the hunter world.
"A male hunter with a 100 million bounty...?"
"This is like free cake falling into our laps!"
"Those Supreme Lee Clan bastards must be swimming in cash."
"Anyway, if the goal's to capture him alive, we can have a few rounds with him before handing him over, right?"
A job considered as dangerous as drug traffickers, yakuza, or gangsters.
But for those who played it right, it was a high-risk, high-reward gig that could let you live off the fat for life.
That was why.
"Grab Kim Yongchan!"
"Ooooh!"
The moment a hunter awakened their powers, catching some ordinary schmuck was child's play.
Of course, if the target was a fellow hunter, that changed things—but this mark was a male hunter, little more than a living fucktoy.
In other words, prime cockmeat. So the bounty hunters drooling over the chance to slurp up that dick rice had shelled out for a high-end broker to pinpoint his location and schedule.
The instant Kim Yongchan entered a dungeon beyond the Korean Hunter Association's protection, they followed suit.
And the result was...
Shockingly beyond expectations.
"Wha—what?"
The target was supposed to be a male hunter, right?
The first floor spanned at least three times the size of Gyeonggi Province.
Even entering right away, spotting Kim Yongchan was like finding a needle in a desert. A few had crossed paths, sure, but...
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Gaaah?!"
"Guhk!"
"Huh? My body's... full of holes..."
He'd only shot enough to knock them out.
Yet most of the bitches ended up riddled with holes, one step from the afterlife.
"Master! Master! Let me handle these cockmeats!"
"Yeah... sure..."
Meanwhile.
In the half hour it took to reach the lakeside, he'd run into over fifty bounty hunters.
All wiped out, and he'd even gained four whole levels to boot.
But.
'Better hustle.'
This was just the start.
They saw him as your average male hunter, so every tom, dick, and harry was swarming. No telling when a real pro would slip through the cracks.
There had to be B-rank or higher bounty hunters among them.
Crossing one in his current state could get dicey.
So he slung Lime—who'd picked up who-knows-where foul language like "cockmeat! cockmeat!"—over one shoulder and bolted for the lakeside.
And when he finally arrived...
"Lime, you can open the portal right now, yeah?"
"Yep! Just trust me!"
The lakeside woods, usually devoid of spawns and thus people...
But now, presences tracking his trail were closing in from all sides.
"Ah, Master! It's open!"
Right then, Lime beamed innocently, the portal rippling to reveal the 12th floor beyond the lake's surface.
He patted the slime girl's head.
Then again, portals auto-closed once just the two of them passed through.
Shwooo!
"...?!"
A presence rocketing toward him at insane speed.
"Kim... Yong... chan!!"
"Who the—?"
"Lime, jump!"
Whatever it was, that velocity screamed danger.
This was the real deal he'd been wary of amid the small fry.
With that thought, he snatched Lime—question marks practically floating over her head—and dove straight into the lake.
Dungeon 12th Floor.
Field Name: Atlantis.
He'd briefly ducked in here before while fleeing the Wang Clan's head, Wang Sunja, alongside Princess Lee Miran.
Back then, it was just a pit stop for rest—no deeper thoughts.
They'd bolted right back to the first floor.
But now, their goal was to clear this ocean world sans continent.
Find the gate to the 13th floor lurking in the seabed.
Which meant.
'Hit the lakeside portal, spawn on the sea or beach, then dive straight in.'
No lingering on the 12th—he planned to plunge right into the depths.
Just like now.
"Yo-ho-ho! Yo-ho-ho!"
"......"
"Male! Found a male!"
An utterly unforeseen encounter.
Until he popped onto the deck of a legendary criminal pirate's ship and got bound before he could react.
"Uhahaha! To think I'd spot a man inside a dungeon! Damn, how long's it been?"
"Almost two centuries, ain't it, Captain?"
"Hahahahaha! That right? Well, whatever—we've hooked a real prize!"
A woman laughing boisterously amid ethereal, formless 'ghost sailors' of shimmering light.
Blue hair like the sea cascading beneath her sunglasses—she was this pirate ship's captain.
A figure who made even the bounty hunters look tame.
"No way... Miss Jolly Roger?"
"Ooooh! Still someone who knows my name!"
Her name: Jolly Roger.
Early 18th century, the heyday of pirates.
While average pirates hit cruises or freighters at best...
She raided hunter vessels in an era before proper firearms existed, snagging hunter gear and popping cherries.
A legendary pirate... and the 'Pirate King' who racked up the British Empire's (back when it ruled America) highest bounty ever.
"Ah, Captain! Word is, this guy's a wanted man like us!"
"No shit?!"
"Yes! Fresh intel from the 'seagulls' on this male hunter!"
"Hoo... a man with a price tag, eh?"
In hunter texts, her past deeds—right down to her face, recorded like modern photos—dominated any sea sections.
No mistaking her, the one gone missing.
And now she'd clocked his identity. This was bad...
"Crew."
"Yes, Captain!"
"Cut him loose."
"Yes!!"
...or so he'd thought.
"...?"
The chains fell away all too easily.
As he scrambled up into a fighting stance amid the confusion...
"Hey, you there—handsome boy!"
"Handsome... boy...?"
Boy? Lady, I'm a full-grown adult...
Not that arguing with an 18th-century relic wouldn't be surreal.
So he stayed quiet and listened.
"What's your bounty?"
"Huh? Uh... 100 million dollars..."
"A hundred mil?! Shit, that's the same as mine!"
The legendary Pirate King.
Sharing a bounty with Jolly Roger herself!
...A fact that brought zero joy.
"Hahahaha! What a hilarious coincidence!"
She grinned like a loon; he grimaced.
"Hey, boy."
"?!"
Jolly Roger, suddenly nose-to-nose.
No time to react as the overwhelming aura slipped into his guard. He swallowed hard.
"Join my crew."
"......Pardon?"
One of the world's worst criminals.
The Pirate King was recruiting him.
Jolly Roger really was a criminal due to her 'circumstances'.
At least, that's what she claimed.
"See, these hunter bastards barge into our port, start a ruckus! Looting 'for the world's sake' and all. So I said fuck that and made examples of a few."
"...And that made you a pirate?"
"Yep! They kept coming in droves, C-rank this, B-rank that. Killed 'em all, and next thing you know, I've got a bounty on my neck too!"
B-ranks and up were top-tier hunters.
She laughed heartily, claiming she'd swatted them like flies.
"Uh... so the civilian raids and navy attacks in the books...?"
"They struck first—I just hit back! No preemptive bullshit in Jolly Roger's book! I don't fuck a guy unless he rubs his dick on my pussy first. Manners, y'know!"
"Ah, I see..."
Fair enough—if she were a real sleazy pirate, she'd have railed him while he was out cold.
Her version diverged(?) sharply from the history books.
Sipping sweet ale atop the pirate ship like a cruise liner under sunny skies, he listened.
"Haha, if you're a 'criminal with a story' like me, you should've said so from the start!"
"Criminal... with a story."
"Damn straight! Commit a crime? You've earned a chat with me. Got a backstory? Boom—you've got the creds to ride with us!"
...She bellowed her incomprehensible logic with another guffaw.
"Say, if I were some story-less villain...?"
"You're male, so no killing—just chain you as our lifelong living dildo."
Chills.
She flashed a serene smile and a warning at his probe.
"I like Robin Hoods, hate straight thieves."
"Ah, got it..."
One worry down, at least?
He'd figured mortal peril boarding this ship.
Thanks to Jolly Roger's unexpected 'story-having villain' status, skipping the 12th floor seemed feasible.
"Pleasure meeting you, Miss Jolly Roger. But I've got urgent business—gotta pass on the crew invite."
"Business?"
"Yes. Straight to the 15th floor right now. Sorry."
If he were a pirate, he'd have treasure to reclaim, no doubt.
He rose, bowed to the captain.
"Lime, if you're beat, shift to dagger form."
"Yeah... thanks, Master..."
Lime, drained from the layer-skip portal.
Melting like ice cream, he converted her to item form.
12th floor max anyway.
Figured he could solo to 15th easy—time to dive.
"Boy! You'd best not."
"...Huh?"
Jolly Roger eyed him steadily.
"Wandering into the 'deep layer' down there? Dead in seconds."
"Deep... layer?"
Until her warning hit.