Chapter 47
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Became the Last of the Giant Clan
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The murderous intent emanating from beyond the gate.
That killing intent chilled Bae Su-ji to the bone for the first time in ages.
Because of it, her hand moved to the hilt of her sword.
'Not an ordinary one.'
As Korea's longest-serving and most accomplished hunter, she could tell.
A being radiating that level of killing intent couldn't possibly be human.
That meant it was a monster, and one strong enough to rattle her narrowed the possibilities considerably.
'The gate's master boss monster. It's about to come out.'
With that, she drew her sword, bracing for the worst-case scenario.
And just as she prepared for battle...
"......What are you doing?"
A completely unexpected Korean voice pierced her ears.
Bae Su-ji's eyes widened, and Kang Cheol-woo, the Hunter Association President standing beside her, looked flustered as well.
"K-Kang Team Leader?"
"Yes, President. It's Kang Team Leader. But......"
Kang Hyuk trailed off, glancing at Bae Su-ji, who was glaring daggers at him.
"Isn't the one holding that sword...... Bae Su-ji?"
At those words, Bae Su-ji narrowed her eyes.
She kept her hand firmly on the hilt and asked,
"Cheol-woo."
"......Yes?"
"Unless I've lost my mind, that S-rank talent right in front of us seems to be the real deal. Does it look that way to you too?"
"Y-Yes......"
Bae Su-ji fell silent at his response.
In the meantime, Kang Hyuk tilted his head, staring at the woman who had drawn her sword on him.
'Allmaster Bae Su-ji. Korea's current number one hunter and a high ranker in the global top 100.'
The top hunter in Korea right now was glaring at him, her aura surging.
It left him puzzled.
'......No grudge that I can recall. Why?'
Pondering the question briefly, Kang Hyuk soon realized the reason.
"......"
Kang Cheol-woo, the president, was tense, staring at him.
And Bae Su-ji still gripped her sword at an angle—she was on guard against him.
More precisely, against the killing intent pouring from his body.
'Looks like the aftermath from taking down the Warlord hasn't faded yet.'
As he muttered to himself and reined in the aura,
Bae Su-ji's eyes flew wide open.
"......Well, well. I thought you might be a doppelganger that devoured an S-rank, but seeing you suppress your energy...... guess not."
She sheathed her sword and relaxed her guard.
Behind her, the other hunters who had followed Kang Hyuk through the gate began emerging.
"......Waaaaah!"
"We're alive! We made it......!"
"Mom...... Mom...... your worthless son has come back alive......"
"That's it! That's the taste of home!"
The hunters, covered head to toe in orc blood and gore, collapsed to the ground, sobbing and shouting.
The Association and guild staff waiting on-site rushed over hurriedly.
'The expedition...... succeeded?'
Kang Cheol-woo blinked in disbelief, momentarily forgetting Kang Hyuk's presence.
Then a familiar voice rang out.
"......Dad?"
"......Na-eun?"
"What brings you here? Oh...... the gate, right."
Kang Na-eun turned her gaze.
Spotting Team Leader Kang Hyuk standing casually off to the side, she headed his way.
"Team Leader Kang! You should've contacted us once it was resolved! We had no idea and just stood around like idiots after destroying the monument!"
"Didn't the message get through? I figured you'd destroy the monument and cross the gate as usual."
"You left saying something came up at the Association. How were we supposed to cross without you?"
Kang Hyuk chuckled at her grumbling.
Gazing at the First Team members who had gathered behind Kang Na-eun at some point, he said,
"Looks like you all handled it well, though."
The team members' eyes widened at his words.
"I trusted you, and as expected, you lived up to it. Thank you."
They exchanged awkward glances before approaching him.
"What, you think empty words cut it? We've never suffered like this— you owe us a feast! Now we're really going for that Jeju pork belly."
"Team Leader looks exhausted. How about later?"
"Yeah, Team Leader seems tired."
"......Aren't we tired? Meat and booze are for when you're beat!"
As Lee Hwan-seung shouted and the First Team bantered cheerfully,
Kang Cheol-woo, who had been watching stealthily, couldn't hide his shock.
'......That's Na-eun?'
Just moments ago, the killing intent from Team Leader Kang was intimidating enough, but the girl in front of him made him question if she was really his daughter.
'Her mana presence has skyrocketed.'
Her appearance was a mess.
But unlike her looks, her settled demeanor and rising aura resembled a seasoned soldier.
'At least D-rank...... maybe top-tier D even.'
Even accounting for growth from clearing the otherworld, the change was too drastic.
As Kang Cheol-woo blinked in surprise, Bae Su-ji surveyed Kang Hyuk, his team, and the gathering hunters.
'Hmm......'
All of them looked utterly drained from the ordeal.
Some were even wailing about Korea.
'Your first otherworld dive makes you realize how precious home is.'
She lifted her head.
'That aside...... intriguing.'
The still-open C-rank Red Gate.
The color pouring from it was unmistakably purple.
'Purple from a Red Gate means rapid evolution. Factoring that in...... the quest or boss inside has leveled up dramatically.'
A B-rank gate evolved from C-rank would have different quests and bosses, but one thing was certain.
'At the expedition team's reported level, clearing a near B-rank gate would cost half their lives.'
Cold, but reality.
Even with two B-ranks and an A-rank, B-rank gates were on another level of brutality.
Yet the number of surviving hunters before her far exceeded expectations.
'What happened......? And that killing intent from the S-rank talent earlier.'
As she pondered,
She shook her head.
'Whatever. I'll get the report once Tusinjeon returns. Find out then.'
As she waited for her guildmates,
"Huh?"
Arena's Yoon Hee-na and the Association's Lee Hyun-wook appeared—people she knew well.
Boom!
With them, the gate door slammed shut.
Bae Su-ji's eyes bulged, and she muttered unwittingly,
"What the hell? What's going on?"
She strode toward the chaotic scene.
"Thanks, Yoon Team Leader. Let's handle the afterm...... Huh?"
Lee Hyun-wook, supported by Yoon Hee-na and the last to confirm the site, stared wide-eyed.
"......Bae Su-ji."
"Yeah. It's me, Hyun-wook. But why......"
She slowly lowered her head.
"Everyone else came out, but not our Tusinjeon kids?"
Her eyes twitched at the sight.
She pressed him.
"Why aren't you talking? Our Tusinjeon! Why haven't they come out?!"
Lee Hyun-wook bit his lip hard.
Realizing he couldn't hide the truth, he slowly spoke.
"The expedition succeeded. But."
Then came the shocking declaration.
"Tusinjeon—all but one—were wiped out."
A heavy silence descended on the site.
Bae Su-ji couldn't believe it.
But she had no choice.
"......That's how it happened."
Lee Ye-min, the sole F-rank survivor from Tusinjeon.
The footage from his camera vividly showed how Tusinjeon's hunters met their end.
"......I'm sorry. I should've pushed harder to stop them, but I failed."
Lee Hyun-wook bowed his head in apology.
Kang Cheol-woo felt for him—rushing straight to report without rest after the gate—but the situation allowed no leeway.
'Tusinjeon's annihilation. The impact will be massive.'
Being Korea's number one guild carried weight.
And that weight matched the ripples this would cause.
As he hesitated to speak, watching Lee Hyun-wook and Bae Su-ji,
"......No. If anything, I owe you an apology."
"......?"
"Our Tusinjeon nearly caused losses for the Association and Arena. Jeong Jae-hong...... that dumb bastard got blinded by honor and money, made the wrong call, and let the Warlord evolve."
A brutally frank assessment.
One no one else dared voice, but Bae Su-ji did.
As stunned Yoon Hee-na and Kang Cheol-woo blinked,
Bae Su-ji stood.
"B-Bae Su-ji! No need for that!"
Lee Hyun-wook blocked her from bowing.
"What do you mean no need? With people we nearly killed right here, would I look like a jerk who can't even bow?"
"Th-that's not......"
"If not that, then let me bow. I can't hold it together otherwise."
Lee Hyun-wook closed his mouth.
Gazing at her subtly trembling hand, he instinctively understood the emotions behind it and sighed.
"......Yes, understood."
Then silence fell again.
Yoon Hee-na and Kang Cheol-woo exchanged glances, then turned to Bae Su-ji.
She spoke.
"Apologies to you two as well. Words aren't enough, so I'll draft formal compensation and send it over."
"......"
"Putting a price on lives is wrong, but it's the best I can do now."
They nodded reluctantly, like with Lee Hyun-wook.
Bae Su-ji straightened, letting out a long sigh.
Recalling her Tusinjeon guildmates still vivid before her eyes, she muttered,
'My judgment error. Jeong Jae-hong...... Even short on manpower, I shouldn't have put that kid in charge of the raid.'
Honor- and money-hungry.
Despite his skills, Jeong Jae-hong had never held key roles.
But she valued his talent and made him raid leader this time.
That greed wiped out Tusinjeon and nearly doomed the entire expedition.
'No excuses...... The wrong call was mine, not Cheol-woo's.'
Embarrassment and grief.
Overwhelmed by emotions she hadn't felt in ages, she bit her lips fiercely.
Then one man's face flashed in her mind.
'......Kang Hyuk. S-rank talent.'
The man who made her draw her sword from her waist today.
Korea's first S-rank talent.
'I came to this expedition because of him.'
A talent held by only 36 worldwide.
If it died before blooming, the Association—and Korea itself—would face fierce backlash.
So, coldly, she came to save him, even if it meant sacrificing the rest.
But all her predictions and judgments proved wrong.
The man she meant to save had instead saved the entire expedition.
'He's a D-rank, they say. Only seven real battles under his belt. And yet......'
That hunter took down a Warlord positioned at B-rank.
One that devoured Tusinjeon hunters and might even be A-rank.
Hard to believe, but Yoon Hee-na and Lee Hyun-wook's accounts were flawless.
'Team Leader Kang—no, Kang Hyuk—is the expedition's MVP.'
'Kang Hyuk solved everything.'
They weren't liars.
So she had to believe, yet it was too unbelievable.
If true,
'It'll shake the world beyond measure.'
No one knew what chaos that would unleash.
'Humans are fragile. If something defies common sense, they target the culprit.'
As Bae Su-ji buried her emotions and pondered the issue,
Ding ring!
A bell tone echoed.
It was Kang Cheol-woo's smartphone.
"Oh, ahem! Sorry. Forgot to silence it......"
As he coughed and moved to power it off,
A sharp exclamation escaped him.
"What?"
Everyone present widened their eyes in shock.
"V-VIP?"