Chapter 92
Chapter 92
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: The Beastkin's Plea
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As they drew closer to the village, Kang Jin-hyuk's expression grew increasingly troubled.
He even considered just fleeing back to his original world like this.
If Kang Jin-hyuk were a man lacking in responsibility, the thought wouldn't have ended there.
"Something going on in the village?"
Lucia, with her keen eyesight, tilted her head as if she could already see what was happening.
"The villagers are all out at the entrance."
"Why?"
"No idea."
Judging by the fact that the villagers' faces weren't as grave as Kang Jin-hyuk's, it didn't seem like anything dangerous.
But Lucia kept that to herself.
She found it amusing to see Kang Jin-hyuk's face paling upon hearing that the villagers had gathered.
'Has everything already been exposed?'
Kang Jin-hyuk told himself there was no way, but his guilty conscience wouldn't let him relax.
'Fine, whatever. I can just bow my head and apologize.'
Hadn't he survived the slave trader misunderstanding by doing just that?
Of course, it was hard to equate that with devastating the entire village, but it was still something he could appeal to emotionally.
Kang Jin-hyuk slowed his pace as much as possible, but time marched on mercilessly, and the village drew near in no time.
Silva, waiting at the village entrance with the residents, had already sensed Kang Jin-hyuk's approach through his scent.
The moment he spotted Kang Jin-hyuk, Silva came forward with the villagers in tow.
"Welcome. We've been waiting."
Since he offered a polite greeting, it was clear they hadn't gathered to fight.
Even so, Kang Jin-hyuk stayed on guard, ready to pull out his baseball bat at any moment.
"Why is everyone gathered like this?"
"We have a favor to ask."
"A favor?"
What kind of request was this now?
Kang Jin-hyuk had resolved in his heart to grant most anything, given his own guilt, when Silva and the villagers all dropped to their knees in unison.
"Please take us in."
Silva's words were utterly unexpected.
Kang Jin-hyuk hadn't imagined the villagers would bring up the very thing he'd planned to propose.
After all, they'd accused him of being a slave trader at first, so he figured they wouldn't come begging.
"Didn't you refuse before?"
"That was due to our foolish misunderstanding."
It had been ages since outsiders visited this village. Then this man appears, claiming to be from another dimension, saying he'd slain a dragon—tales too outlandish to believe. They'd suspected him without thinking.
Without that suspicion and misunderstanding, Kang Jin-hyuk's proposal would have been no loss at all for the beastkin.
"Is it really okay to decide so suddenly to leave your hometown?"
"Our kind doesn't cling to the places we live."
The beastkin had stayed in this village out of fear of the Empire's influence.
"If we can avoid slavery, what does it matter if it's another dimension?"
"What if I'm deceiving you?"
Things were going too smoothly, making Kang Jin-hyuk cautious.
He worried they might blindly follow now, only to misunderstand again later and cause a scene.
"That could never be."
Silva spoke with unwavering conviction.
"We and the villagers are certain you're not that kind of person."
"Huh?"
Kang Jin-hyuk wanted to ask why.
All he'd done for the beastkin was fulfill the commission he'd accepted.
He'd even beaten them with his own hands later—how could they trust a man like that?
From his perspective, it made no sense.
"There seems to be some misunderstanding..."
"Yes. We greatly misunderstood."
Silva looked up at Kang Jin-hyuk from his knees.
His eyes brimmed with awe and reverence, as if gazing upon a deity.
"In our lack of faith, we rejected the magnanimity you offered us—a new home for our kind, despite our differences."
Silva's words prickled Kang Jin-hyuk's skin, raising goosebumps.
Receiving such high praise from the beastkin left him not joyful, but burdened.
Unable to bear it, Kang Jin-hyuk tried to confess his misdeeds honestly.
"Everyone, the truth is..."
Before he could finish, Lucia's elbow dug sharply into his side.
While Kang Jin-hyuk clamped his mouth shut to stifle a cry, Lucia stepped forward to the beastkin.
"I was just about to bring up that proposal again. Perfect timing. Shall we start with a simple background check?"
Kang Jin-hyuk suspected Lucia's "background check" held ulterior motives.
As far as he knew, it wasn't said with purely innocent intent.
* * *
It was already the third day.
Seo Sang-ho's stress built up with each passing day due to the guild master who hadn't contacted him once.
If it were just stress piling up, that would be one thing.
The workload stacking on his desk was becoming unbearable.
"You damn bastard! If you're gonna ghost everyone, at least delegate properly!"
Not being officially appointed as acting guild master meant minor hiccups in handling tasks.
Extra verification steps slowed everything down further, pushing back Seo Sang-ho's quitting time.
If it weren't for the fact that the man had saved his life, Seo Sang-ho might have seriously considered staging a coup.
'Who would've thought I'd come to understand Han Young-seok?'
As Seo Sang-ho mentally scratched out the character for "endure" twice in his mind, his phone buzzed on the desk.
He picked it up and checked the caller info—his expression changed instantly.
Seo Sang-ho hit the call button and drew in a deep breath.
[It's been a while...]
"Where the hell are you right now!!"
Seo Sang-ho's lion's roar made the caller yelp in pain.
[Why are you yelling all of a sudden?]
"Put yourself in my shoes! Think you could hold it in without yelling?"
[Oh, right. Sorry for the trouble while I was gone?]
The casual tone, as if he'd been oblivious, tested Seo Sang-ho's patience.
If not for the words that followed immediately, he would've roared again.
[Anyway, listen. I rescued some people. Or... not people?]
Even the caller seemed unsure, mumbling nonsense over the line.
[You'll see when I get there. Heading over now.]
With that, the call ended.
Seo Sang-ho was dumbfounded that the guy who'd left for "official business" was suddenly bringing people back.
He couldn't fathom where he'd gone for things to unfold like this.
"What the hell is going on?"
Seo Sang-ho wasn't the only one confused.
Lee Hye-na, his secretary who'd heard the news, was equally baffled.
"As far as I know, no A-rank or higher hunters were looking to switch guilds."
Pantheon was critically short on members.
Lee Hye-na had aggressively recruited others to improve the situation, but few wanted to join a new guild.
Worse, word that they were lending territory to C-rank and below hunters had drawn ire from the hunter community.
'They won't make proper profits that way.'
Many hunters gossiped and mocked Pantheon's moves.
"Maybe he picked up some homeless D-rank hunters?"
"That would be a problem."
Seo Sang-ho fully supported helping the weak.
But first, they needed to solidify the guild's foundation.
Especially now, when their territory expansion was barely patched with illusion skills.
Adding useless D-rank hunters would only hasten their downfall.
"If Kang Jin-hyuk has any sense, he won't do that."
"Does Sang-ho see him as someone reasonable?"
"..."
Seo Sang-ho couldn't deny Lee Hye-na's question.
Kang Jin-hyuk's skills were beyond common sense, and his actions strayed far from social norms.
But on this one point, Seo Sang-ho was certain.
"Still, he never does anything that puts him at a complete loss."
Even if forced into a losing role, he'd wring out profits—that was Kang Jin-hyuk's way.
Lee Hye-na agreed with that assessment.
Lending vacant territory to C-rank and below was a prime example.
Others saw it as hypocrisy or folly, but it hid the intent to deter other guilds from encroaching.
With their current numbers, they couldn't cover Titan and Tyrant territories anyway.
It was the best option Kang Jin-hyuk had chosen.
"Word from downstairs. They're here."
"Let's go down then."
Seo Sang-ho wanted to see with his own eyes what people Kang Jin-hyuk had brought.
As the two headed to the elevator, a text arrived on Seo Sang-ho's phone.
From Kang Jin-hyuk, of course.
"Come to the basement discreetly?"
Seo Sang-ho didn't get it.
If he'd brought in new members, announcing it guild-wide made sense.
Why sneak them into the basement to avoid internal eyes?
"Still, guild master's orders are orders."
"Even if he's the guild master who ghosts and skips work."
Seo Sang-ho let out a small sigh and pressed the button for the basement.
Beyond the door accessible only to executive-level badges.
In the warehouse once used by Tyrant Guild to store items, Kang Jin-hyuk waited for Seo Sang-ho and Lee Hye-na.
Seo Sang-ho harbored faint hopes during authentication and door-opening.
But upon seeing the group Kang Jin-hyuk had brought, his face hardened.
"What the hell are they?"
"The people... no, beastkin I mentioned earlier."
"Beastkin? You're joking, right?"
"It's not a joke."
The group Kang Jin-hyuk brought resembled humans but had wolf-like ears atop their heads and bushy tails at their rears.
But Seo Sang-ho, ever the rational man, didn't buy it outright.
"Did you drag in a bunch of theater actors and call them beastkin...?"
"It's not makeup. They're real."
"Cut the crap, this isn't funny."
Seo Sang-ho suppressed his rising irritation with heroic patience.
"I won't chew you out for ghosting if you drop this nonsense. Just start working properly from tomorrow."
Hearing that, Kang Jin-hyuk let out a hollow chuckle.
He hadn't expected Seo Sang-ho to believe him instantly.
Still, being dismissed so openly stung a bit.
"Want to check for yourself?"
"Check what?"
Kang Jin-hyuk whispered to a nearby beastkin.
The beastkin immediately charged at Seo Sang-ho.
Not in a human running posture, but a feral quadrupedal gait. It covered over 20 meters separating them in a single second.
As it closed the distance, sharp claws extended from its swung right hand.
Seo Sang-ho dodged just in time, avoiding a throat-slitting strike by a paper's thickness.
"What...?"
In the blink of an eye, the beastkin was back at Kang Jin-hyuk's side.
That speed was threatening even to an S-rank hunter like Seo Sang-ho.
"No way... it's real?"