Turning the Tables on the S-Rank Destroyer
“...Kkh?!”
Of course, hunters aren't always strong. Without mana wrapped around their bodies, they're just ordinary people. Pretty tough ones, sure, but still.
“A-Ah...?!”
Jin Seong-ah wasn't channeling mana. That's why my fist sank straight into her gut.
Me? I was channeling mana.
The gap between D-rank and S-rank? It's fucking enormous. Ten thousand of me couldn't touch her.
But with mana versus without? That's a huge difference too. I'm a hunter. I've fought monsters. With mana, I can't shatter concrete buildings like her, but I can smash bricks in a car-force show no problem.
“Kkhak... Kek... Kahak...!”
A punch like that nailed her right in the stomach. Even for Jin Seong-ah, that had to hurt.
“Haa.”
I stood up and walked over to her. She was thrashing like a fish out of water, unable to breathe.
Still not using mana to the end.
Even if it was a surprise attack, pulling up mana is easy. She's a physical-type with freakish reaction speed. She can sense incoming bullets and snatch them barehanded without mana.
She saw my fist coming. She could've dodged or blocked. But she didn't.
Doesn't even realize it herself.
That was likely. Shin Ji-hye knows her desire is 'suicide.' The bitch sings about wanting to die every day—how could she not?
But Shin Ji-hye has ten years as a hunter. Jin Seong-ah? Rookie with two years, less than one after the academy.
The desire I saw? She probably doesn't even recognize it.
But her subconscious? It's desperately chasing it. Proof: not pulling up mana. Not even thinking to.
“Hey, Jin Seong-ah, you fucking bitch.”
This girl was unconsciously enjoying this shit.
“Don't fuck with me like that. Life's shitty enough—why scratch at the scab, you cunt?”
“Th-this... is a crime, you... crime...!”
D-rank beats S-rank? People would buy it in a heartbeat.
“You... going off like that...! Even though you're weak as shit, incompetent... I called you senior... senior...!”
“......”
“Hitting people...! A girl, even...!”
“A bitch like you.”
“Hiiik...?!”
I grabbed her wrists together as she lay there coughing and spewing pissed-off bullshit. Twenty-one-year-old girl's body. Wrists thin enough for one hand.
“Needs to get hit.”
Held her wrists, yanked her up, and slammed another fist into her exposed gut.
“...Kkhak?!”
Jin Seong-ah twisted her waist. But she was like meat on a hook now. Pretending to resist without mana pissed me off more.
“Fucking bitch.”
Another punch. Her eyes shook, then she keeled over backward, passed out.
“...Driving me insane.”
Shin Ji-hye: destruction. Jin Seong-ah: violence.
This guild's got no normal people. Except me.
I'm a gentleman, after all. Yeah. Sure.
-Waaaaah!!
Cheers erupted from all sides. I looked around.
A circular arena. Packed like an idol concert or soccer stadium.
......An underground fight pit.
After hunters appeared, UFC and WWE lost their shine. No contest. Buff, muscled dudes were still human. Hunters? Beyond human.
One punch craters walls. One kick shakes the ground. Monsters like that fighting? Pure dopamine overload compared to regular fights.
Post-Gate laws exist for a reason. Hunters worldwide: bulletproof skin, tank-crushing strength. People feared them, hunters feared the scrutiny.
So the world bans mana use outside gates or on non-monsters. Strictly.
Enforcement? Laughable. Shin Ji-hye's 'suicides' level city blocks sometimes. Open secret among hunters.
Hunter international law calls it red-warrant heavy crime. But who arrests her?
No one in Korea. S-ranks all know each other. Other guilds bicker over gate bids and loot splits, but order them to arrest her? Mutiny.
Capture and jail another S-rank? Sets precedent. Could be you next.
S-rank rebellion? Strategic assets forming nukes. Coup? Korea falls that day.
Reality: her antics get buried. Yuseong Guild sways media, Hunter Association clamps down.
......Anyway. No real control over hunter fights.
Like porn, they just keep it underground.
Underground fight pit. Here, hunters brawl for cash, loot, grudges. Reasons abound, crowds too.
Even D-rank me gets a thrill watching physical-types beat each other bloody.
......And there, in the pit—not the stands—is Jin Seong-ah.
-Let me explain the rules for this underground fight pit!
A slightly unhinged caster bellowed.
-All hunters seal their mana!
......Mana seal. Magic-type ability. No magic-type can seal Jin Seong-ah's mana, but whatever. This was just her desire.
-But as you know, hunters' bodies naturally flow with mana!
Jin Seong-ah level? Can't beat her physically without mana. I needed mana just to hurt her.
D-rank mental-type me, mana punch turns normals to pulp. She took it fine—body's insanely tough.
-Dirty fighting using only internal mana...!!
The arena screen switched from the caster's face—guy I wanna punch—to mugshots of over ten people. Bright flash.
-Sixteen hunters enter at once!
-No rules! Beat, kill! Last one standing wins!
Even underground pits don't go full murder. Her head's fucked.
-But...!
“......”
-Special exception clause!
Caster grinned creepily.
-Mana sealed or not, rank gaps exist. S-rank crushes D or E barehanded.
Come for boring fights, folks?!
Booing from the crowd.
-One S-rank among the entrants! The rest get Force Gauntlets!
Force Gauntlet. Mana-battery fist enhancer. Mental-type me's used 'em. Gotta punch sometimes.
Simple, effective power boost.
-Sadly, our S-rank is a woman. Physical age: just twenty-one! Mana-sealed, can she tank gauntlet hits?
Cheers exploded.
Mana-sealed body + gauntlet? Mashed meat.
......Crazy bitch Jin Seong-ah. What does she watch? Snuff films?
-Enjoy the show, folks...!
Walls opened with his words. Last one: Jin Seong-ah steps out, sucking a lollipop like when she came to me.
“Haa...”
She smirks around the arena. Mocking the others. Provoking.
“Pissants with Force Gauntlets? Same shit. Come at me, retards.”
......And.
“Awake?”
“Hng...?”
Jin Seong-ah's eyes fluttered open groggily. Back in the reclining chair from before—fancy, turns into a bed.
She looked around, grasping the situation. Still no mana. Instead, she tugged her disheveled clothes, trying to scream.
“Kyaa...!”
“Hah, fucking bitch.”
I clamped her mouth. This was all show anyway. Mana scream? My eardrums burst. Can't even cover it.
“Cr-criminal bastard...! I-I treated you like a senior...!”
“Hah.”
“Kk-ha-uk...?”
Again. Fist to the gut.
“You crazy fuck, this is cri—kkhak...!”
“Fucking stop hitting—.”
“A-uk...?!”
“Ah, ha, kahak...”
Kept punching till she shut up. Normal person? Dead. Her? Not a drop of blood. Just hurts a bit.
“Se-sen-senior...?!!!”
One more. Middle finger knuckle out, jammed deep below navel.
“Kkgruk!!”
She flopped like electrocuted, then limp.
Still conscious.
“Hey. Cut the faking faint. Looks pathetic as fuck.”
“...Se-sen-senior. So-sorry... I-I was wrong...”
“That's how you apologize?”
“Th-then what—.”
“Head.”
Yanked her off the chair, slammed to the floor.
“Smash your head down.”
“Hngk, heuk...”
“Th-three...”
“O-okay...! I'll do it...!”
She sprawled, kowtowed toward me. Knees down, forehead smacked the floor hard.
......Hm.
Too bad her tits are small. Make Shin Ji-hye do it later.
“So-sorry...”
“...For what?”
“For talking back to you, senior... Sorry...”
I unstrapped my watch, tossed it in front of her.
“Look.”
“Ah...?”
“What time?”
11:30. She'd been out an hour and a half.
“E-eleven thirty...?”
“Yeah. You passed out here for an hour thirty, you fucking bitch.”
“......Ah?”
Blank stare, no clue how to respond.
I almost stomped her head with my shoe, but knelt instead.
She likes ruthless violence and submitting to it—not filth. Shin Ji-hye'd cream over 'social suicide' foot-stomp humiliation. Not her. This was degradation, not pure violence. Blurry line, but felt wrong.
“Say thanks.”
“Th-thanks...? Wh-what...?”
“While you were out, I didn't kill you, right?”
“Ah...♥.”
Saw it in her eyes. 'While out cold' triggered her—exposed vulnerability got her wet.
Not death-craving like Shin Ji-hye.
“Say thanks for sparing me.”
“Ah, ah, ahng...”
“Th-three...”
“Tha-thank you... Thank you...”
Head smacked floor again.
“For sparing this worthless bitch... thank you...”
“......”
“For saving a pathetic girl who spoke harshly to you... thank you...”
“Tch. Get up.”
Tsked, stood. She sluggishly rose.
“Lift your shirt.”
“Y-yes, heh...?”
“Not skirt. Top.”
She started hiking her skirt—fucking hell. Underground pit vibes. Group stuff... Nah, don't wanna think. I'm a gentleman, not into that genre.
“See the bruise?”
“Ah...♥.”
“Keep it safe. Anyone sees... you know.”
“Y-yes...♥.”
“Now fuck off. Tired.”
“Y-yes... Sorry, senior...♥.”
Watched her stumble out.
Two S-ranks already like this? Manage ten? Fucked. Totally fucked.