Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Demonic Beast Subjugation (3)
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‘What is this?’
Oh-jin narrowed his eyes in confusion, glancing between Choi Jong-cheol and Park Jeong-woo.
With them was a bald man with a scorpion tattooed on his head.
It seemed the three of them were a team for this subjugation.
‘This doesn't seem like a chance encounter.’
Oh-jin’s eyes narrowed to slits.
The bald man's scorpion tattoo was one that all members of the Pandinus Guild had.
And.
The same tattoo was on the nape of Choi Jong-cheol’s neck.
‘So that’s how it is.’
He could roughly guess the situation.
‘He got kicked out of the Starlight Lake Guild and joined Pandinus.’
That would explain why Park Jeong-woo and Choi Jong-cheol were together.
“Hm? Why so quiet? It’s been a while, don’t be so cold.”
Choi Jong-cheol taunted with a sly smile.
Oh-jin shrugged and grinned.
“No, I’m just a little surprised. What happened to the Starlight Lake Guild? How’d you end up in Pandinus?”
“…Are you really the one asking me that?”
Choi Jong-cheol’s expression twisted viciously.
*Grit.*
He clenched his fist tightly.
“Didn’t we have a promise back then? That you wouldn’t say anything to the Guild Master.”
“Ah, that?”
That, of course.
“Was a lie.”
“……”
*Tremble.*
Choi Jong-cheol bit his lip harshly, his body shaking.
“Haha. Because of you… I lost everything.”
He was expelled from the guild for breaking regulations and provoking an Apostle of Vega.
Was that all?
As a penalty, all the money he had saved, his Stigma Relics, and even his Stigma Stones were confiscated.
“That’s a real shame.”
He said it as if it had nothing to do with him.
He spoke with a calm smile.
“Ha, haha!! It’s not all bad.”
Choi Jong-cheol caressed the scorpion tattoo on his neck and smiled grimly.
“Thanks to you, I was able to find a much better home.”
“Impressive you got in without a Scorpio Stigma.”
“Hahaha. The Aquarius Stigma is in high demand, you see.”
As he said.
Aquarius, which boasted unparalleled performance among healer-types, was a welcome constellation anywhere.
“Well—it’s not just Aquarius anymore, though.”
He licked his lips with a meaningful expression.
“Is that so? Good for you.”
He was curious about what that last remark meant, but he didn't bother asking.
It wasn't like he'd get a straight answer anyway.
“Well, if you’re done, can you get lost now?”
“Haha! Yes, we should. We have things to do as well.”
Choi Jong-cheol stuck out his tongue and licked his lips.
“What? You’re just letting it end like this?!”
Park Jeong-woo shouted as if in disbelief.
“We should take that bastard’s head right now…!”
As he approached with a furious expression, Choi Jong-cheol grabbed his shoulder.
“Hehe. Calm down, Mr. Park.”
He glanced this way with his trademark sleazy smile.
“You don’t have to get so worked up… You’ll get to see something interesting soon enough.”
*Hehehe.*
His shoulders shook as he laughed.
“……”
Oh-jin stared at Choi Jong-cheol with deep, sunken eyes.
“Well then, I look forward to our reunion.”
Choi Jong-cheol smirked and turned away.
Just when it seemed he was leaving.
“Hehe. Was it Ms. Ha-eun?”
He suddenly changed direction and started walking toward Ha-eun.
“The eye patch looks amazing on you.”
His slimy gaze raked over Ha-eun from head to toe.
A greedy desire gleamed in his upturned lips.
“Huh?”
*Twitch.*
Ha-eun’s face contorted as if she’d just found a cockroach cut in half in her hamburger.
“The hell are you trying to pull?”
Ha-eun launched a surprise kick with her left foot.
*CRACK!*
Her leg drew a smooth arc and connected squarely between Choi Jong-cheol’s legs.
“Ugyagyagyagyak!!!”
Choi Jong-cheol’s eyes bulged as he doubled over, his legs clamped together.
‘Oof.’
That had to hurt. A lot.
“Hmph! *Ptooey!* A prick the size of an ant’s fuzz is getting fresh with me.”
Do ants have fuzz?
No, more importantly, what was she implying was the size of an ant’s fuzz?
“Grrrk. Ugh.”
Choi Jong-cheol trembled, biting his lip.
He glared at Ha-eun with murderous eyes and clenched his fist.
“Let’s see… let’s just see how long you can keep smiling like that.”
With those final words, Choi Jong-cheol spun around and walked toward the Sokcho city center.
“Hah!”
Ha-eun flipped her middle finger at his retreating back.
“…Ha.”
Oh-jin let out a dry laugh as he watched Choi Jong-cheol’s back disappear.
‘I’ll get to see something interesting soon?’
If nothing else, he now knew for certain that Choi Jong-cheol was a complete moron.
“You shouldn’t say things like that so carelessly.”
Did he think Oh-jin was some 90s shonen manga protagonist who would just wait patiently after being told, ‘Just you wait’?
If so, he was gravely mistaken.
‘Let’s not wait. Let’s meet right now.’
He wondered if the man would be able to say the same thing then.
Oh-jin grinned and activated the Stigma of Canes Venatici.
Using his explosively enhanced sense of smell, he memorized ‘Choi Jong-cheol’s scent.’
‘This actually worked out well.’
He ran his tongue over his lips.
The Stigma Choi Jong-cheol possessed was definitely Aquarius.
It was a Stigma he had planned to acquire eventually anyway.
“Ugh. Running into that weirdo totally ruined my mood.”
Ha-eun scowled in displeasure.
“Oh-jin! Let’s hurry up, smash some demonic beasts, and get that reward money!”
She tugged on Oh-jin’s arm and exclaimed.
“Alright.”
*Smirk.*
The corners of Oh-jin’s mouth lifted.
He leisurely made his way toward the city center, from which gray smoke was rising.
‘Looks like I have more to hunt than just demonic beasts.’
Of course, he had no intention of stopping at just Choi Jong-cheol.
The bald man and Park Jeong-woo who were with him, too.
It was best to eliminate any potential seeds of conflict in advance.
‘I keep getting tangled up with the Pandinus Guild on bad terms.’
Killing those three would mean messing with one of the Top 10 Guilds, but it didn’t matter.
“Casualties are to be expected in a subjugation operation, after all.”
With a grim smile, he gazed at the city teeming with demonic beasts.
***
*CRASH!*
“Krrrrrrk!!!”
From the rubble of a collapsed building.
A demonic beast that had been hiding its body launched itself into the air with a savage roar.
It was about two meters tall.
Its overall appearance was similar to a human, but its entire lower body was that of a snake—a half-human, half-beast monster.
“Krarararak!”
The beast slithered forward and opened its mouth wide.
Its mouth split open into four parts, revealing sharp teeth.
“Hup!”
*THUD!*
Park Chang-hyun blocked the approaching beast with his massive shield.
A heavy impact traveled up his arm.
“Kuh!”
*Screeeech!*
The beast’s strength was so immense that even he, with his Taurus Stigma, couldn’t withstand it and was pushed back.
“Mr. Oh-jin!”
“Yeah!”
While Park Chang-hyun held his ground, Oh-jin kicked off the ground and jumped.
*TANG!*
A wire shot from his Wire Shooter and latched onto a steel frame, pulling Oh-jin’s body high into the air.
“Ssp.”
He took a short breath.
‘Falling Lightning.’
*FZZZZZZT!!!*
He brought his spear down with all his might!
“Kuaaaaaaah!!!”
The beast, impaled through the shoulder by the silver spear, writhed as if having a seizure and shrieked in agony.
*SWOOSH!*
The long snake tail that made up its lower half whipped around like a lash.
“As expected, it won’t die in one hit.”
Oh-jin clicked his tongue lightly, twisting the silver spear to pull it out.
*WHIIIR!*
As he infused mana into the Wire Shooter, his body shot back into the air with a sharp sound.
“Leave the finishing blow to me!”
*FWOOSH!*
Ha-eun, who had been hiding in the rubble and waiting for an opportunity, flicked her fingers at the beast.
A crimson flame, like a dragon’s breath, swirled and engulfed the monster.
“Krararararak!!”
The beast, thrashing about from the clinging flames, soon turned and began to flee.
“Huh? It’s running again!!”
Ha-eun shouted, pointing at the fleeing beast.
“Oh-jin!”
“I know.”
Oh-jin, suspended in the air by his wires, extended his right arm toward the escaping monster.
*TANG! TANG! TANG!*
Three wires shot out and tangled around the fleeing beast’s body.
‘Exploding Lightning.’
*FZZZZZZZZT!!*
“Kuaaaaaaah!!”
Blue lightning coursed through the wires and consumed the beast’s body.
*THUD!*
Its movements ceasing completely, the demonic beast collapsed on the spot.
“Whew~ These things are no joke, one by one.”
Park Chang-hyun wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“They’re at least 5-Star… no, almost 6-Star.”
Oh-jin said, examining the beast’s corpse.
‘Considering the nature of demonic beasts, it's probably 4-Star, or maybe 5-Star.’
Variant monsters, or demonic beasts, possessed far greater power than normal monsters of the same class, so their rating based on ‘Stars’ would likely be lower than one might think.
“Haha! But our party has great balance, so they’re not too hard to handle!”
Park Chang-hyun let out a good-natured laugh and lifted his shield.
Oh-jin nodded.
‘The balance is certainly not bad.’
Park Chang-hyun held the front line firmly, he himself could switch freely between close and long range, and Ha-eun possessed powerful ranged firepower.
Aside from the lack of a healer, the balance was perfect.
‘Thanks to that, my stamina consumption is low.’
Oh-jin could have handled a few demonic beasts on his own, but he would have reached his physical limits quickly.
“Still, for how tough this bastard was, it’s a total rip-off.”
Ha-eun clicked her tongue as she pulled out a bottle-cap-sized black Stigma Stone embedded in the center of the beast’s forehead.
As she said, the demonic beast’s Stigma Stone was lacking in both size and quality for its difficulty.
“Haha. But the reward money is hefty, isn’t it? And…”
Park Chang-hyun smiled brightly and slammed his shield on the ground with a *thud!*
“This is more for the people of Sokcho who are trembling in fear right now than for money! Right, Mr. Oh-jin?”
“…Ah, yes. Of course.”
“Haha! I was truly impressed when I saw you refuse the interview earlier! All Awakeners should be like you, Mr. Oh-jin!”
Oh-jin smiled wryly and nodded.
Truthfully, he couldn’t care less whether the residents of Sokcho were trembling in fear or not.
‘It’s good if he thinks of me that way on his own.’
In any case, the demonic beast subjugation itself was proceeding very smoothly.
However.
‘These things… something’s off.’
Oh-jin narrowed his eyes as he looked down at the beast’s corpse.
It happened last time, and this time too.
Whenever they hunted a demonic beast, it would turn and flee at the last moment.
‘That part is fine.’
No matter how ferocious a demonic beast was, it was still a living creature, so it was natural for it to flee when its life was in danger.
The problem was.
‘They all flee in the same direction.’
When their lives were on the line, did it make sense for every single demonic beast to flee in the ‘same direction’?
“Hmm.”
Oh-jin crossed his arms, lost in thought.
He wanted to call Vega and ask, but with Park Chang-hyun around, he felt hesitant to summon her.
As he continued to ponder.
“Aaaaaaaaaargh!!!!”
A scream filled with agony echoed from the distance.
“Huh?”
“That voice is…?”
Ha-eun and Park Chang-hyun turned their heads at the same time.
Before they could move.
—*BOOM!!*
“Kuh!!”
Oh-jin kicked off the ground violently and sprinted toward the source of the scream.
‘That scream just now.’
That voice was definitely.
“Keok! K-kuh! Cough! Cough!”
Arriving at the scene, he found Park Jeong-woo collapsed on the ground with a large wound in his chest.
‘Just as I thought.’
Oh-jin’s eyes glinted sharply.
He turned his head to check Park Chang-hyun’s position.
‘Not much time.’
In that case.
“Are you alright!!!”
Oh-jin rushed over to Park Jeong-woo in a panic.
“Krrk… ugh!”
Park Jeong-woo pressed a hand to the wound on his chest and nodded faintly.
“Who did this…!”
“A demonic beast… got me… cough!”
Park Jeong-woo coughed up blood.
“Stay with me!!!”
Oh-jin grabbed Park Jeong-woo by the collar and shook him violently back and forth.
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
Park Jeong-woo’s head swung back and forth, hammering against the wall.
“Keuk! I-I’m okay now…”
“What are you talking about?! You’re bleeding so much!!!”
*Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!*
He put more force into it, shaking him by the collar.
Blood started to flow from Park Jeong-woo’s head.
‘This is…!’
He was hit in the head, too!!!
“Aargh! Ack! W-wait! Aaargh!”
He could feel Park Jeong-woo struggling.
“Mr. Oh-jin!! What happened!”
Park Chang-hyun, who had arrived late, was approaching.
“Mr. Park!!! Please, stay with me!!!!”
“Keok! K-kuh! Hey, you bastard! Hey!!”
“Aaaah!!! Why did something so horrible have to happen!!!!”
*CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!*
The blood pouring from his head soaked Park Jeong-woo’s body.
It meant the wound he’d sustained from the demonic beast had worsened.
“N-no!!!”
With a desperate cry.
*Crack.*
The sound of something shattering was heard.
“M-Mr. Oh-jin, this is…”
Park Chang-hyun, who arrived a few seconds later, flinched as he looked down at the bloodied and collapsed Park Jeong-woo.
“……”
Oh-jin turned his head, his face pale.
“He’s… dead.”
The warmth had already faded from Park Jeong-woo’s limp body.