Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: The Traitors' Mistake
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Jeong-hyeon retrieved his dagger and kept watch over the situation.
By the time he returned, Usik and Seung-yeon were already sprawled on the ground.
Judging from the way their chests rose and fell, it seemed they had merely been knocked unconscious.
As he had anticipated, Yun-ho and Jeong-jun had revealed their true colors.
If they had tried to use physical force on Ji-hee, he would have jumped in immediately, but since they hadn't at first, he chose to observe.
"Can't I figure out who's behind this if I let them try to persuade her a bit?"
That had been his hope, but unfortunately, the two hadn't voiced anything that explicit.
From Jeong-hyeon's perspective, they didn't seem like seasoned villains or agents.
It looked like they had recruited ordinary hunters with no ties to that world just to avoid the Korean Association's scrutiny.
If they were experienced criminals who had done this sort of thing before, things wouldn't have unfolded this way.
"They would have started by killing those two."
Then, they would have kidnapped Ji-hee the moment Jeong-hyeon was away, or actively persuaded her by offering rewards if she accepted their overtures.
When Ji-hee showed no sign of listening, the pair seemed to switch to threats.
And when she panicked and unconsciously unleashed her magic, Jeong-hyeon moved to intervene.
If Yun-ho hadn't pulled out that strange item at that moment, he would have jumped into the fray right away.
"What the hell is that?"
He thought it was some kind of green powder exploding outward, but Ji-hee's magic was dispelled in an instant.
He had heard that skilled magic-type hunters could dispel spells by interfering with the opponent's mana if there was a big enough skill gap, but he had never heard or seen of a way to neutralize magic so easily.
Ji-hee slumped to the ground in despair.
"You should've just listened to us from the start. What a pain, tsk."
"Hey, hurry up and grab her. Let's get out before the party leader comes back."
With nothing left to hold them back, Yun-ho approached her.
Yun-ho was a tank to begin with.
Lifting and carrying someone Ji-hee's size—who was like a child in comparison—was no trouble at all.
Just as Yun-ho reached to hoist Ji-hee up.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Jeong-hyeon, who had paused for a moment, finally revealed himself.
"Ha..."
Jeong-jun let out a sigh, his face twisting into a scowl as if everything had gone to hell.
He lazily gripped his spear and pointed it at Jeong-hyeon.
"Hey. You're from the Association, right?"
"And if I am?"
"Honestly, no one works for the government out of patriotism, do they? Don't make this complicated—just back off, and we'll make sure to compensate you properly."
Jeong-jun's words sounded so reasonable that Jeong-hyeon couldn't help but chuckle despite himself.
Of course, who in this day and age became a civil servant out of patriotism?
If he were truly just an ordinary Association employee, he might have actually considered backing down.
Risk his life to protect the nation's S-Rank hunters?
What nonsense.
An average staffer had no chance against two hidden hunters anyway.
He'd just end up dying pointlessly.
But Jeong-jun misinterpreted Jeong-hyeon's laugh and issued another threat.
"You think we're really just some C-Rank nobodies? Actually, we're A- grk!"
Clang-
Jeong-jun had tried to intimidate him with their rank since Jeong-hyeon showed no sign of backing down, but he couldn't even finish his sentence before reflexively raising his spear shaft to his chest.
At that instant, a sharp impact jolted through his sturdy grip, resonating through his entire body.
"What?"
Jeong-hyeon wasn't really D-Rank, that much he knew.
The Korean Association wasn't incompetent enough to pair an S-Rank with a D-Rank.
His movements during the hunt had been pretty good too.
But good didn't mean he was on their level.
At best, B-Rank.
That should be more than enough, he'd thought.
As confusion kept Jeong-jun from fully grasping the situation, cold sweat trickled down his back.
Instinctively, he knew.
The man standing there so casually wasn't beneath them at all.
Meanwhile, Jeong-hyeon tilted his head in surprise but grinned.
"You blocked it?"
It was unexpected.
Jeong-hyeon had pegged them as around B-Rank himself.
Even without any magic enchantment, blocking a surprise dagger throw meant he needed to revise that assessment slightly.
Maybe they were A-Rank.
At least on paper, that put them on the same level as Ye-rin.
Trash that couldn't compare to her, of course.
"Let's see you block this one too."
"Wha- guk!"
Jeong-hyeon didn't give Jeong-jun time to recover before hurling another dagger.
This one carried a neutral mana enchantment, of course.
Still dazed and never dreaming a follow-up would come so fast, Jeong-jun hastily swung his spear shaft again.
True to A-Rank form.
Boom-
He managed to get the spear in the way of the dagger.
"It won't be that easy."
If the first dagger had been a light tap, this one felt like a 5-ton truck.
He avoided instant death, but Jeong-jun couldn't withstand the impact and was sent flying.
And he just happened to crash into the earth mound the earth spirit had raised.
It hit so hard that cracks spiderwebbed across the solid dirt pile before it collapsed entirely onto Jeong-jun's upper body.
His legs twitched for a moment before going still.
Jeong-hyeon couldn't tell his exact condition, but he was out cold at minimum.
And that was after just two throws.
"What the hell are you!"
Meanwhile, Yun-ho—who had frozen mid-motion while reaching for Ji-hee—cried out in shock.
He hadn't known Jeong-jun that long, but they'd hunted together several times.
So he knew his skills well.
No matter how off-guard he was, Jeong-jun wasn't the type to end up in such a pathetic state from just two throws.
Plus, throwing skills weren't supposed to have that kind of monstrous destructive power.
Jeong-hyeon, who could guess Yun-ho's thoughts, smiled and said.
"Throwing Skill, in parentheses, 'physical,' you idiot."
It wasn't wrong.
A throwing skill enchanted with neutral mana really was just that.
"You bastard!"
Yun-ho firmly planted his shield in front of him.
The guy was at least A-Rank like him.
Shocking as it was to neutralize Jeong-jun with two daggers, if he stayed sharp, he could handle him.
That's what he thought.
Boom-
Right up until Jeong-hyeon's dagger struck his shield.
It was less a hit and more a smash.
Who could imagine that sound came from a small dagger clashing with a massive solid metal shield?
"Grk-"
"What the fuck is this guy!"
Yun-ho cursed inwardly.
This wasn't a dagger—it felt like a mid-sized monster charging straight into him.
"Is that guy S-Rank too?"
An absurd thought flashed through Yun-ho's mind.
The guild had warned him to be cautious of Association dispatchers, but no one predicted S-Rank.
No one would imagine cramming two level 4 or below S-Ranks into a public party.
"Still, matchup favors me!"
Yun-ho gritted his teeth and looked up.
The dagger's power was no joke, but he was a tank.
Unlike Jeong-jun, who collapsed under the force, his toughness meant he could block without matchup mattering.
He could close the distance slowly and take him down.
"The mage can't use traits for at least 30 minutes anyway."
Yun-ho glanced at Ji-hee, who stared blankly in a daze.
If she snapped out of it even a little, he'd have to run without question, but that was one stroke of luck.
Her gaze was aimed oddly, though.
Not at him or Jeong-hyeon, but to his right.
"No way?"
A sudden realization hit Yun-ho, and he whipped back toward Jeong-hyeon—but he was already gone.
"How already!"
He wasn't as fast as someone with agility traits, but as a frontline tank, he couldn't afford to miss monster movements.
He hadn't sensed Jeong-hyeon move at all, yet he was gone.
"Pretty relaxed. Looking elsewhere with me right in front of you."
"Hup! Graaak!"
Jeong-hyeon's voice came from below Yun-ho's right side.
By the time he startled and tried to move, it was too late.
Jeong-hyeon's dagger had lodged in his ankle.
No amount of toughness could numb the pain of a wound like that.
Still, thrusting his shield toward Jeong-hyeon again proved Yun-ho wasn't some pushover.
By ordinary standards, anyway.
"Tch. Thought A-Rank might have something special."
Jeong-hyeon clicked his tongue inwardly.
Sometimes even he couldn't believe his own traits.
All the ones he used were C-Rank, after all.
Especially facing an A-Rank for the first time, he had ramped up his tension.
But in reality, they were nothing special.
If the two had properly double-teamed him, maybe, but in their current dazed state, he had no intention of losing.
"Still, if they're using them in ops like this, they'd train them on how to fight other hunters before sending them in..."
Whoever was behind them had to be pretty brainless.
Jeong-hyeon tossed and caught a dagger as he spoke to Yun-ho.
"Now you know who's superior... Who sent you?"
Killing them would be easy, but then uncovering their backers would be impossible.
Kill them later if needed—he wanted intel first.
But Yun-ho curled into his shield like a cornered hedgehog.
"Tch, you want to see worse—"
"...No!"
Just as Jeong-hyeon moved again, Ji-hee—who still hadn't stood—shouted.
Jeong-hyeon already knew why.
But he couldn't dodge in time.
The attack came from a completely unexpected place, completely unexpected.
Poof-
He tried to twist away, but the green powder had already burst around him.
"Damn it!"
Jeong-hyeon had clearly seen what it did to Ji-hee.
He didn't know if it affected him the same, but it was clearly bad news.
"Heh... cough, you fucker... You're dead now."
"He's not down..."
Jeong-jun had crawled out from the dirt pile and stood frozen in the pose of hurling the orb.
His face twisted with rage and mockery.
"Ah..."
Tears streamed down Ji-hee's cheeks.
She had never hated herself this much.
An S-Rank, supposedly the best of hunters, but instead of helping, she couldn't even warn him in time and just caused trouble.
Pat pat-
"Ow, what the hell is this?"
"?
But Jeong-jun, who threw the green powder; Yun-ho, who had drawn his attention; even Ji-hee, blaming herself—
All of them were stunned by Jeong-hyeon's natural response.
He had taken the powder that silenced even "Lord of Fire" in an instant, yet he brushed it off like flour as if nothing happened.
Of course, Jeong-hyeon's expression was anything but casual.
It was like the face a demon from hell would make while smiling.
Even Ji-hee, who knew he wasn't her enemy, felt chilled to the bone by the overt killing intent beneath that grin.
"You bastards better spill where you got this before you die."
Jeong-hyeon was struck anew by how unlucky his life had been.
He had just been hunting innocently to nurture future honorary staff for the HJH Gate Office, and this happened.
But knowing at least two people had even unluckier lives let him smile.
Of course, those two were Jeong-jun and Yun-ho.
"You picked the wrong opponent."
For some reason, Jeong-jun and Yun-ho's shoulders visibly twitched.