Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Home Run
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Jo Won-cheol planned to end it with a single strike—his very first one.
Dragging things out would mean risking whatever tricks they might pull with the Return Pill, so his judgment itself wasn't wrong.
The mistake was assuming his own strength and speed surpassed Kang Jin-hyuk's.
Jo Won-cheol's hand blade, swung at near-sonic speed, did indeed strike its target precisely.
But it couldn't sever the opponent's neck as intended.
Jo Won-cheol's hand blade stopped just 1mm short of advancing further from where it met Kang Jin-hyuk's neck.
"No way...."
Jo Won-cheol hadn't noticed the thin layer of aura Kang Jin-hyuk had placed around his neck.
Even if he had, though, the outcome wouldn't have changed.
Kang Jin-hyuk casually clenched his fist and thrust his arm toward the stunned Jo Won-cheol.
Caught off guard, Jo Won-cheol allowed a blow he could have easily dodged under normal circumstances.
"Gahk!"
The punch, pulled back like playful roughhousing between friends, still rattled Jo Won-cheol's internals.
An S-rank Hunter's body was reinforced by stats to the point where even bullets couldn't penetrate.
Yet Kang Jin-hyuk delivered a shock with just one fist that made Jo Won-cheol's eyes roll back.
"Urk....!"
Clutching his side, Jo Won-cheol collapsed and struggled to get back up.
Kang Jun-tae wondered if the scene unfolding before him was perhaps a dream.
"How... without even eating the Return Pill...!"
Kang Jin-hyuk had returned with some bizarre skill that fired beams of light and massive boosts to all his stats.
Unless he was a vegetable born with a monkey's tail, such rapid growth was utterly impossible.
But denying the unbelievable wouldn't make the events happening right in front of him vanish.
It was absurd, but what could he do? If it was reality, he had no choice but to accept it.
"Damn it!"
Having taken down Jo Won-cheol so easily, facing Kang Jin-hyuk head-on recklessly would be suicide.
He had to leverage their numerical advantage of 2 against 1.
To rescue Jo Won-cheol, Kang Jun-tae grabbed his iron mace and charged at Kang Jin-hyuk.
"Smash!"
Kang Jun-tae aimed for Kang Jin-hyuk's head with the skill that could shatter roads.
He was targeting a vital spot, but he didn't expect it to land cleanly right away.
Kang Jun-tae's goal was simply to force Kang Jin-hyuk back and create distance from Jo Won-cheol.
But Kang Jin-hyuk didn't oblige.
Facing the falling mace above his head, Kang Jin-hyuk swung his baseball bat.
A golden aura vividly enveloped Kang Jin-hyuk's baseball bat.
It wasn't just a color change from red to gold.
At first glance, the aura had shimmered around the bat like heat haze.
Now, it took on a distinct, coating-like form.
The moment their weapons clashed, Kang Jun-tae felt exactly what that difference meant.
"Fuck."
He watched his iron mace shatter like a sugar craft.
The trademark weapon that no monster had ever damaged until now vanished so pathetically that curse words spilled out automatically in disbelief.
Kang Jin-hyuk was equally surprised.
He'd expected their strengths to be evenly matched and hold.
He hadn't anticipated pulverizing Kang Jun-tae's mace so effortlessly.
"Wow."
Amazed at himself, Kang Jin-hyuk extended his leg toward Kang Jun-tae's midsection.
"Ghck!"
Kang Jun-tae let out a short scream and was pushed back.
He poured all his strength into enduring, but he couldn't completely ignore the surging pain.
In the end, Kang Jun-tae dropped to one knee, breathing raggedly.
"What kind of bullshit is this...."
It felt like a nightmare.
He couldn't wrap his head around being so utterly helpless against a C-rank Hunter license holder—not just anyone, but alongside an S-rank Hunter like Jo Won-cheol.
If it had been another S-rank Hunter, he could at least understand.
Getting owned by some no-name C-rank was a reality he wanted to deny even as his body experienced it firsthand.
"Why the long face?"
Kang Jin-hyuk met Kang Jun-tae's contorted expression.
Even without words, it conveyed a torrent of emotions.
"You always beat on others, and now that it's your turn to get hit, you feel wronged?"
Kang Jin-hyuk sneered mockingly.
"You sprayed poison gas all over my house like you were trying to kill me, and now you're whining over one punch?"
Kang Jin-hyuk didn't like how Kang Jun-tae was acting like the victim.
He was the one living quietly until lightning struck him out of nowhere—not Kang Jun-tae.
Kang Jin-hyuk hadn't forgotten for a second the day they'd barged in uninvited and wreaked havoc using their S-rank status and power.
"Get up. You need more."
Gripping his baseball bat, Kang Jin-hyuk took one step at a time toward Kang Jun-tae.
The pain had subsided somewhat, so Kang Jun-tae stood before Kang Jin-hyuk could close in.
"Arrogant bastard.... Got a bit stronger and now you think you're untouchable?"
"That's you guys. I just want to beat the shit out of assholes like you."
Repay what was done to him in kind.
That was the only reason he'd come all this way.
If Kang Jun-tae had been a total stranger, he would've waited quietly until he and Jo Won-cheol settled things.
"You didn't seriously think you could do that shit to someone and walk away unscathed, did you?"
Grinning brightly, Kang Jin-hyuk swung his baseball bat.
Even though Kang Jun-tae had watched it from start to finish, he couldn't move to dodge.
By the time the swing registered in his vision and brain, it was already too late.
The bat slammed vigorously into Kang Jun-tae's left forearm, pulverizing the bone.
"Kuaaaagh!!"
Kang Jun-tae clutched his struck arm and bellowed.
"Left arm first."
Kang Jin-hyuk had no intention of ending it with one blow from the start.
He planned to break limbs one by one, making Kang Jun-tae feel the same helplessness he'd endured.
"Kuuh....!"
"Don't wanna drag this out, so stick out the other one yourself."
"Fuck you, you bastard."
Gritting his teeth, Kang Jun-tae pulled a potion from his inventory.
As he tried to apply it to his wound for healing, the bottle he'd just taken out suddenly shattered.
The culprit, of course, was Kang Jin-hyuk.
Just like Kang Jun-tae had done before, Kang Jin-hyuk had picked up a concrete chunk from the ground and hurled it at the potion bottle.
"Hey, last time you said it was cowardly to drink potions mid-fight. What, dementia set in already?"
"You little...!"
With no choice, Kang Jun-tae gripped a spare iron mace in his good hand.
Pain surged from his injured arm, but he bit his lip until it bled to endure.
"Hup!"
Kang Jun-tae activated a buff skill, temporarily boosting his stats.
It was short-duration with a long cooldown, so he usually saved it, but now wasn't the time to be stingy.
'Admit it. He's stronger right now.'
An absurd notion.
But he couldn't keep sulking forever.
To win, he had to accept even irrational realities.
'Hm?'
While pondering how to counter Kang Jin-hyuk, Kang Jun-tae spotted Jo Won-cheol creeping up from behind.
Kang Jin-hyuk seemed oblivious, not sparing a glance that way.
Their eyes met, and Jo Won-cheol nodded subtly.
'Right. Better take this guy out first than fight Jo Won-cheol right now.'
Having lost the Return Pill, Jo Won-cheol and the pride-wounded Kang Jun-tae found common ground and formed a temporary alliance.
'No matter how strong he's gotten, he can't handle both of us at once.'
Jo Won-cheol and Kang Jun-tae shared the same thought.
A glance was enough to coordinate who would draw attention and when to strike.
As battle-hardened veterans, they didn't need words.
Taking point, Kang Jun-tae glared fiercely and moved before the buff ended.
"Raaah!!"
To mask Jo Won-cheol's approach, he charged with a loud yell.
Kang Jin-hyuk didn't budge an inch, simply extending a hand to block Kang Jun-tae's attack.
Then, twisting his torso, he dodged the hand blade thrusting from behind.
Jo Won-cheol's missed strike inadvertently pierced Kang Jun-tae's shoulder.
"Uwaaagh!"
"Fuck!"
He yanked the hand blade out hastily, but the hole was already deep.
Kang Jun-tae collapsed, blood pouring, while Jo Won-cheol was grabbed by the collar.
"So that's what your whispering was about?"
Kang Jin-hyuk had known from the start they'd attack together.
He'd wondered what impressive combo they'd pull off.
As expected from a hasty alliance, it was a predictably obvious ambush.
"Let go!"
Jo Won-cheol aimed his hand blade at Kang Jin-hyuk's wrist gripping his collar.
But it only sliced empty air.
Kang Jin-hyuk had withdrawn his hand preemptively, clenching it into a fist and thrusting again.
"Krack!"
The punch landed square in Jo Won-cheol's face.
Jo Won-cheol clutched his broken nose, trying to stem the gushing blood.
"You damn punk dare!"
"Dare what? You think you're so great that you can feed people to monsters?"
The lives lost to Alraune, and Jo Won-cheol's own—they all had just one each.
Equal in number and weight.
No one's life was precious while another's was cheap.
No such valuations existed.
"I'll let Kang Jun-tae slide, but you? You're the type that shouldn't be left breathing."
Kang Jin-hyuk gripped the bat handle tightly.
Before swinging, he checked Jo Won-cheol's karma value.
"'992'... Lucky you croaked before hitting four digits."
"What? What the hell are you babbling about?!"
"You wouldn't get it."
No point explaining anyway.
Instead of kindness, Kang Jin-hyuk delivered a full-powered swing loaded with weight.
"Heh, I could dodge a simple attack like this blindfolded!"
Jo Won-cheol ducked low to evade the straightforward horizontal bat.
As expected, it whistled just over his head.
'Figures.'
Sneering inwardly at the amateurish attack, Jo Won-cheol belatedly spotted Kang Jin-hyuk's incoming knee.
"!!"
The instant he realized he'd blown it, Jo Won-cheol's head snapped back from the knee strike.
"Nice height."
With a big hip turn, Kang Jin-hyuk swung the bat wide again.
It cracked against Jo Won-cheol's head with a watermelon-splitting thud.
Jo Won-cheol's headless body toppled sideways and lay still.
"Home run."