Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Han Young-seok's Ambush
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Kang Jin-hyuk had heard the full story from Secretary Lee Hye-na.
Stripping away the tangled web of interests, the core of it was this:
Han Young-seok, dissatisfied with the current policy, was recruiting a new S-rank Hunter to install as the guild master.
That was the flow of events.
“You're saying the other guild members agreed to this insane bullshit?”
“They were persuaded that they could earn more than they do now, and most of the executives fell for it.”
Seo Sang-ho had dismissed Han Young-seok's moves to win over the executives as merely building up his faction.
Lee Hye-na had tried to investigate on her own, but Seo Sang-ho had stopped her, saying not to suspect family too much.
“This guy's too fucking stupid.”
“……”
“He doesn't even know what his underlings want and insists on being the good guy all by himself. Of course things end up like this.”
“I have nothing to say……”
Seo Sang-ho might be a fine person on an individual level, but he was unfit to lead a group.
If he wanted to push his own agenda, he should have at least built up a supporting force.
In a guild full of people who wanted to make money, insisting that loyalty trumped profit was bound to breed resentment.
“Well, anyway, it's already happened, so rehashing it won't help.”
What mattered now was how to break through this immediate crisis.
“For starters, let's contact a reporter and make the incident public.”
“I already tried, but no articles have gone up.”
“……Is that even possible?”
Titan's influence was strong, but for journalists to stay silent after being tipped off about a scoop like this was suspicious.
Weren't reporters the type to fabricate stories just to draw attention?
“It seems like they planned this very meticulously.”
Knowing failure would bring massive backlash, Han Young-seok had spent sleepless nights laying the groundwork.
With a guild master on the brink of death, a secretary with no combat ability, and one random Hunter caught up in it all, piercing that foundation would be tough.
“We need more people.”
Lee Hye-na nodded at Kang Jin-hyuk's conclusion.
“We need reliable allies, at least to treat the guild master.”
“Do you know anyone reliable?”
“There are a few, but I can't reach them right now.”
Even calling their personal numbers yielded no response.
Lee Hye-na was certain Han Young-seok had gotten to them first.
“Mr. Kang Jin-hyuk, do you have anyone who could help that you can contact?”
“Me? Well…… I don't have any friends……”
He was a guy with no money, no education, who had recklessly come to the city to become a Hunter.
Having crashed and burned as a nobody back then, he was too embarrassed to stay in touch, so he'd naturally drifted away from everyone.
He couldn't even remember a single friend's number now.
Seeing Kang Jin-hyuk's pained expression, Lee Hye-na didn't pry into the details.
She couldn't put it into words, but somehow it felt like the polite thing to do.
“Still, the report mentioned you know a highly skilled archer.”
“Oh, her? Well…… she's not the type to get involved in stuff like this, so it's hard to ask.”
Lucia's basic stance was that this world's affairs weren't her concern.
She'd helped raid the Tyrant branch last time purely out of curiosity.
By contrast, this incident was a thorough mudslinging fight with zero entertainment value.
No way she'd roll up her sleeves for something like this.
“Couldn't you at least ask?”
“Yeah, you're right.”
Even Kang Jin-hyuk thought attempting it was better than giving up entirely.
But the unfolding events didn't permit Kang Jin-hyuk to re-enter the dungeon.
Before he could fully rise from his chair, a massive *bang!* echoed as the front door exploded inward.
“Argh!”
Kang Jin-hyuk twisted his body to dodge the door hurtling toward him like a cannonball.
The door flew through the living room and smashed into the kitchen, shattering everything in its path.
Witnessing the devastation, fury boiled up in Kang Jin-hyuk from head to toe.
“Who the fuck are you!”
Glare locked on the gaping hole where the front door had been, he spotted Han Young-seok standing there with hands clasped behind his back.
“Long time no see.”
As if he knew everything, Han Young-seok curled the corner of his mouth in a sly grin.
“You motherfucker, what the hell is this!”
“Ask the woman next to you.”
Han Young-seok nodded toward Secretary Lee Hye-na.
Her presence here was proof as good as any that Kang Jin-hyuk was involved with Seo Sang-ho.
“Actually, you don't need to ask her. You already know, don't you, Kang Jin-hyuk?”
Continuing in that brazen tone, Han Young-seok fixed a murderous glare on Kang Jin-hyuk.
“Where's Seo Sang-ho? Bring him out now if you don't want to die.”
Kang Jin-hyuk's instincts told him denying any knowledge here would be pointless.
That declaration dripped with 100% certainty—no room for excuses.
“What if I can't?”
“Do I really need to spell it out?”
Flanking Han Young-seok were six Hunters radiating a lethal aura like armored knights.
These were leagues above the three who'd come earlier.
They were likely the ones Han Young-seok had personally nurtured with care.
‘Can I do this?’
He was alone; they were many.
All he had to rely on were the aura techniques from Lucia and his hidden class skills.
But fighting was the only option here.
Fleeing with the combat-incapable Lee Hye-na would just get them caught immediately.
“Hard Skin……”
Muttering under his breath, Kang Jin-hyuk activated the skill to boost his defense.
Up until now, his fights had all been brute-force baseball bat swings.
That had sufficed in most cases, but not today.
To win, he had to go all-out from the start.
“Defense Charge!”
With his defense further enhanced, Kang Jin-hyuk charged like a tank.
Boosted by aura in his legs, his speed was beyond what most could track with their eyes.
But his opponents weren't ordinary Hunters.
The ones blocking him were Titan's aces—Han Young-seok's trusted elites.
“How dare you!”
The burliest Hunter drew a shield matching his massive frame and stepped forward.
“Get lost!”
Kang Jin-hyuk swung his baseball bat with full power, gripping it two-handed.
The Hunter, braced like a mountain, sensed something wrong the instant the bat met his shield.
The bat, which should have bounced off, was instead shattering the shield and bearing down on him.
He yanked the shield back and twisted away, like a matador evading a bull.
Then he gripped the sword at his waist.
‘Shame, he seemed skilled. Oh well.’
The Hunter planned to slash Kang Jin-hyuk open.
But contrary to his expectations, Kang Jin-hyuk hadn't lost balance.
From the moment his strike missed, he'd stepped forward, killed his momentum, and prepared a counter.
Realizing this, the Hunter was stunned inwardly.
‘What kind of freak leg strength is that!’
He revised his assessment of Kang Jin-hyuk.
This wasn't some average scrub.
He'd have to take him seriously or risk losing.
“Shield Charge!”
Like Kang Jin-hyuk's earlier charge, the Hunter kicked off and rushed forward.
The difference: he led with his shield.
He aimed to smash into Kang Jin-hyuk like a car crash.
Kang Jin-hyuk countered full-force with an aura-infused bat strike to the shield.
Hitting the same spot twice, the shield shattered like glass.
The Hunter had never imagined a shield of rare ore breaking like this.
‘This can't be real?’
His shield, which withstood any attack, destroyed in just two hits.
Dazed by the impossibility, he failed to react as the bat slammed into his side.
“Gaaahhh!”
A split-second before impact, the Hunter had doubted inwardly.
No way.
As a tank with all stats in defense, he could tank one hit, right?
That naive thought shattered as the strike exceeded all expectations.
Only after taking it did he understand why the shield had crumbled so easily.
The Hunter flew over the railing and plummeted to the street below.
“……”
Han Young-seok and the remaining five Hunters stared in disbelief.
“One hit, and he's gone?”
“That unbreakable tank?”
Even seeing it with their own eyes, they could hardly believe it.
All the more so because they knew their comrade well.
The remaining five knew best just how tough the fallen Hunter was.
“If we take that, we're dead in one hit.”
“Then don't take it.”
“You sure?”
The questioned Hunter grinned and gripped daggers in both hands.
He closed in on Kang Jin-hyuk at blinding speed, leaving no afterimage.
“Die!”
Aiming for Kang Jin-hyuk's neck, he shouted boldly.
“Who sneaks up yelling like that, you idiot!”
Kang Jin-hyuk read the move with his enchanted bat's presence detection.
The overconfident Hunter realized the bat would arrive far sooner than his daggers.
But knowing didn't mean he could dodge.
Having charged at full speed, stopping was impossible without Kang Jin-hyuk's monstrous leg power.
He collided head-on with the bat.
“Gurk!!”
He barely twisted to avoid vitals, but the bat crushed his shoulder, ribs, and collarbone.
Wracked with irreversible injuries, the Hunter flew to a corner of the living room and lay still, unable even to twitch a finger.
Only after two Hunters fell in an instant did the rest realize he wasn't a one-on-one opponent.
“What are you idiots doing! Rush him all at once!”
At Han Young-seok's command, the four Hunters gripped their weapons and faced Kang Jin-hyuk.
Charging recklessly would just repeat their comrades' fate.
Leveraging their numbers, they surrounded him on all sides: front, back, left, right.
No matter how skilled, no one could block strikes from every direction.
He had one bat; they were four.
Assuming he'd miss at least two attacks, the Hunters lunged in unison.