Chapter 172
Chapter 172
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 172
Chapter Title: Part 2 Episode 35
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Pyo Sang-hun struggled against the ropes binding him to the tree.
He ground his teeth as he glared at the kid standing in front of him, arms crossed with a calm expression.
He'd simply thrown a rock, yet trees had toppled. It felt like facing a top-rank Hunter.
Mana was definitely B Rank or higher. No pushover.
The upper ranks in Korea's Hunter leaderboard were monopolized by Abyss A-Class kids anyway, and seeing the rankings always felt discouraging, so he didn't check them often. But to think there was a monster like this.
"Teleportation ability? Strength type?"
Pyo Sang-hun tensed up at the sudden attack. He lifted his leg, reaching for the weapon band strapped to his thigh.
He gripped the knife in his hand and pushed the protruding mechanism to draw the blade.
He shifted his body into an awakened state. His eyes turned golden, sparks flying from his body.
Pyo Sang-hun concentrated mana into the arm holding the knife and swung it from below, tearing through the tightly bound ropes in three strikes.
The moment his feet hit the ground, Pyo Sang-hun sheathed the knife back into the weapon band.
"I'm scared of monsters, sure. But I'm not scared of people."
Dun looked down at him indifferently. The leisure born of strength grated on his nerves a bit.
Pyo Sang-hun gathered mana between his hands.
"Lightning Spear."
He recalled using the skill inside the Ninapinta simulation.
With a crackling sound, sparks flew from his palms, soon forming a long spear.
Pyo Sang-hun hurled the spear with all his might at Dun, who stood there blankly.
Crackle!
The spear shot fiercely toward Dun's abdomen.
Out of courtesy, he twisted his waist backward to dodge the attack.
"Whoa, Zeus?"
As he straightened his waist, the cap on Dun's head fell to the ground. His light brown hair swayed from the recoil.
"No large-scale area magic?"
'He's testing me.'
Pyo Sang-hun furrowed his brow and drew out strings of electricity between his hands, then swung his palm.
"Thunder Net."
An electric net formed above Dun's head and descended, enveloping him.
Crackle, sizzle!
Sparks flew.
Normally, getting caught in the net would cause electrocution and temporary paralysis, so Pyo Sang-hun planned to rush in and pin Dun to the ground during that time.
He drew the knife again and brought the blade close to Dun's throat.
"Whoa, that's brutal."
"...You have electricity resistance too?"
"Nope. It just tickles a bit. Cough! Cough!"
To shake off the ticklishness from the electric shock, Dun coughed a few times.
Pyo Sang-hun grabbed Dun's collar and sent electricity through him, but Dun was unscathed.
Still, it was fortunate he'd gotten the knife to the throat first.
"What the hell is this about? What do you want?"
"You have to put a knife to my throat for you to feel like talking?"
Dun spoke as he clasped his hands behind his head, propping up his neck comfortably while lying on the ground.
"Shut up and state your purpose."
He pressed harder to scare him with a nick on the throat, but not even a scratch appeared.
"Abyss folks are all the same—extremely wary of others."
Dun glanced at the blade that couldn't pierce his skin, then met Pyo Sang-hun's eyes and lifted the corner of his mouth.
"Don't talk about my origins. It pisses me off. Just tell me your purpose. You lured me to the back mountain, so you called people here, right?"
The unknown kid kept testing him, probing his abilities.
Clearly shady, chasing him around with proposals that only benefited himself.
"Stalling for time? You send people after the other B-Class kids too?"
"Tsk, why are you like this? I'm genuinely trying to help with pure intentions."
Dun clicked his tongue in a sarcastic tone.
When Pyo Sang-hun's name appeared on the autonomous quest list, he'd thought it'd be easy to proceed, but this was unexpected.
Even conversation was taking this long.
"You're desperate to raise your rank. I'll make it happen."
"Tell me your real purpose."
"That's it."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I personally like Abyss Hunters, and you seem like you have potential to climb ranks."
Pyo Sang-hun wrinkled his nose at that.
"Ah, this some new human experiment MLM? Pretend to help, lure the easiest mark, dissect an Abyss Awakener's body?"
Dun's relaxed expression crumpled at the words.
"Fuck off with that disgusting shit. Makes me wanna puke...."
Once the Abyss Project was exposed and Abyss origins dominated the top ranks, shady groups coveting their power started popping up underground.
He'd tangled with a few back in his early days and lured them all to be monster chow.
"If you're that suspicious, keep the knife to my throat and stay like this till tomorrow. See if even one person shows up."
"...."
"I'm not patient, but I'll wait for you, buzzcut."
At E3 Rank, Pyo Sang-hun was prime monster bait among B-Class Hunters.
Targeted by many due to Abyss prestige. Having endured that hell, it made sense why the kid was so sharp.
Understanding that much, Dun could afford to be lenient. Without past ties, he'd have pushed hard already.
"...I get you're not one of them. Tell me your real purpose quick."
'Damn, he nitpicks purposes.'
Dun narrowed his eyes, looking at Pyo Sang-hun who seemed flustered.
{Primavera: A book you'd like arrived at the Dun Palace library. Come before Hea-il burns them all.}
Just then, a message from Prim arrived.
Such consistent interest.
Trying various tactics to convince Pyo Sang-hun reminded him of Prim, who had worked hard to befriend him.
When the princess suddenly rushed to befriend him without reason, he'd felt repulsed at first.
So he'd pushed her away and ignored her for a long time.
{Dun: Why'd you wanna befriend me early on?}
At first, he'd thought she just wanted a useful talent nearby for the rebellion.
But later he learned she planned the rebellion with self-destruction in mind, and admitted her intentions to befriend him were mostly pure.
{Primavera: Suddenly? You were just my type.}
{Dun: You like being ignored?}
That's why she'd persistently reached out and treated him well. A scenario possible only because Prim was a perv.
{Primavera: I liked you, but being ignored hurt. Truth is, you seemed like a kid with a lot of wounds just from how you talked. I wanted to comfort you. And as you opened up, my own wounds healed too, so I cherished you more.}
The response was long, as if indignant.
{Primavera: You're twisting it suddenly, so I'm explaining in detail. Obvious you'd think I cherish you because of some perv fetish.}
"...."
{Primavera: You're suddenly asking for affection confirmation, so I'm filling that anxiety, but really, you're just a lovable kid I wanted to befriend.}
Dun stared at Prim's reply for a while. How does she say such nauseatingly sweet things so easily? But it didn't feel bad.
{Dun: lol}
Dun sent an awkward reply and looked at Pyo Sang-hun. He'd zoned out, but met eyes and spoke again.
"I told you to state your purpose. Why're you spacing out? No schemes—just say it straight."
Since Pyo Sang-hun kept harping on purpose, Dun considered fabricating one, but dropped it.
He had a rough read on Pyo Sang-hun.
Might as well be a bit honest.
"You remind me of myself. I was monster bait once too."
"So."
"Just wanna help 'cause you look struggling."
It was an autonomous quest to begin with.
Dun sighed.
"Not trying to snag an easy Abyss connection?"
"Ah, fuck. Dense bastard. Just write a novel with your wild delusions and publish it. Title: 'Idiot's Delusions'."
"...."
Frustrated, Dun spat curses and let out a longer sigh.
'He's a wounded first-life high schooler.'
Then he spoke.
"People can just feel like helping sometimes. Ah, embarrassing to say.... If I have to explain, well. The old struggling me has power and some leeway now, so sharing it. Even enduring your knife threat 'cause I want you better."
Expressing this was so awkward and cringy, unfamiliar words making him nauseous.
"...."
Pyo Sang-hun silently stared at Dun, who frowned. The initial leisure had cracked, hinting at sincerity.
Was he really just reaching out for that simple reason?
Enduring insults yet insisting on helping didn't seem like fake pity from superiority.
Hard to fully trust yet, but thinking of current Association Chair Yi Yu-hyun or Lee Ra-hee made it believable.
'You distrust people too much, courting hardship.... Warding off your own blessings.... Can't be helped though....'
Something Ra-hee noona had said, clicking her tongue at him once.
Pyo Sang-hun rolled his eyes, then withdrew the knife from Dun's throat. He extended a hand and pulled Dun to his feet.
"5% of Hunter earnings after rank-up."
"Hm?"
"I'll give you 5% of my earnings."
Dun chuckled dryly.
He empathized too much with that psychology.
Unable to see the purpose, fabricating one to ease suspicion.
"I'll understand you're helping for your own satisfaction somehow. But you might lord it over me later as leverage, so let's make it a clean deal: 5% earnings."
"Sigh, fine. Buzzcut. Money on top? I'm grateful. Sturdy relationship, but feels shitty, Sang-hun. Want a contract too?"
"That'd be good."
Dun clicked his tongue, pulled a bag from his inventory, and took out a notepad and pencil.
'Selfish Abyss-related pricks are the real problem, not him.'
Suppressing the urge to flick his forehead, Dun scribbled irritably on the notepad.
''Party A (Dun) raises Party B (Buzzcut)'s Hunter rank in exchange for 5% of future Hunter earnings.
In return, can't exploit for whatever shady reason despite raising rank. Truly unfortunate.
Dun Savark (Sig)
Hopeless Bastard Pyo Sang-hun (Sig)''
Dun roughly scribbled, signed at the bottom, and pressed his thumb with the pen for a print.
He snatched Pyo Sang-hun's phone, turned on the camera.
Then took a selfie including their faces and the contract for extra proof.
"If it's bullshit, sue away~"
Dun handed back the phone and contract, flipping Pyo Sang-hun the bird right in his face.
"Still pisses me off, so one curse."
"...."
Pyo Sang-hun stared at the middle finger, read the contract, fixed the weird names properly, then signed below. He followed suit with a thumbprint.
"Does this hold weight?"
"Take this to Seol Do-yoon. He'll make the nonexistent real. I'd help gleefully if you're suing me."
"How do you know that guy too...? Ah, you said you like Abyss Hunters."
If this Dun kid was a top Hunter, he'd likely be acquainted with a few Abyss Hunters.
Suspicious as hell.
Pyo Sang-hun picked up the fallen cap from the ground and put it on, staring at the masked Dun.
"Alright, practice run: we'll clear a nearby gate. Follow me."
Dun glanced around briefly, then nodded his head toward himself.
The rank-up process seemed to start immediately.
It'd been ages since gate training; fear welled up.
After the rank test and this scuffle, his stamina was low. Could he close the gate safely?
"You know where a gate is?"
"Yeah, one just popped up over there."
"Rank?"
"Dunno. No measurer—how should I know."
Dun shrugged, straightened his hunched back, and strode ahead confidently.
His unwavering march toward the gate looked bold yet suspicious.
'What if it's a gate crime?'
"Hey, you coming?"
Pyo Sang-hun hesitated, then sent his friends a text: 'If I'm not back by 9 PM, come to this location.' Then he followed.