Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Righteous Thief-2
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‘This was Son Eun-seo’s house?’
Whoa.
As expected of the division commander’s daughter.
“Hands up above your head. Don’t move. I warned you.”
There was no way Kim Min-jun would follow those orders.
Instead of answering, he reached into his pocket and started pulling out a piece of paper.
Thud!
“I said don’t move!”
At that moment, Son Eun-seo charged at him to subdue him.
‘Oh, pretty fast? She’ll make sergeant in no time at this rate.’
Whoosh! Swish!
Her hands targeted his nape relentlessly.
She probably planned to grab the back of his neck and pin him down.
But.
‘Not even in a thousand years.’
Kim Min-jun effortlessly dodged Son Eun-seo’s attacks and began scribbling something on the paper.
“W-what?! Are you messing with me right now?”
Meanwhile.
Son Eun-seo was stunned by the intruder’s movements.
At first, she’d gone easy on him, figuring he was just a civilian.
But even when she went all out, the best she could do was graze his clothes.
‘This guy’s no civilian!’
And judging by his build, he was definitely male.
‘He’s a hunter for sure.’
Unclear if he was a civilian hunter or one from the Hunter Army.
‘Even the strongest civilian hunter would be way below Hunter Army level.’
On top of that, the intruder seemed to know the CCTV blind spots, sticking cleverly to them.
Which meant this was premeditated.
‘This should do it. Time to bail.’
Confirming Son Eun-seo’s serious expression, Kim Min-jun tossed the note at her.
Thud!
“Ugh! What kind of speed...”
He snatched the glass jar with the gem inside, then leisurely vaulted over the wall and vanished.
“You let a thief steal right in front of your eyes? And you’re in the Hunter Army? Do you know how much that was worth...”
Son Eun-seo stared in shock, picking up the note the thief had left behind.
[Ker-urk!]
“You dog bastard! You crazy psycho!”
The moment she read it, she stomped her foot in fury.
“I lost to a guy like that? Argh!”
**
To absorb the magi, Kim Min-jun headed to a secluded mountain area.
“Yi Bong-gu. Head to the ground.”
-Kugh! I’m sorry, Mr. Kim Min-jun!
Next to him, a crow was slamming its head into the dirt.
The job had gone off without a hitch in the end, but it hadn’t given an accurate report.
“Magi can be found at the front lines, especially in dungeons...”
Who knew these gems would contain it.
The concentration was thicker than in most monsters, and the amount was substantial.
-To make so bold a statement, that gem seems to have been made through some special process. It feels like a monster swallowed it and let it ripen inside its body!
“I know that, you punk. What I’m wondering is how to efficiently detect magi sealed in containers like that.”
“As expected of Mr. Kim Min-jun! You’re always thinking one—no, two steps ahead of me!”
Yi Bong-gu promised to scour the Earth if needed—just leave it to him.
“Just do what I tell you. Mess up and die, and that’s it.”
-Understood.
Kim Min-jun shattered the glass jar and mercilessly crushed the gem.
Sss...
Thick magi began leaking from inside.
[You have absorbed a certain level of magi.]
[Magi stat increases by 1.]
[Magi stat increases by 1.]
[Magi stat increases by 1.]
[Magi stat increases by 1...]
“Whoa. There’s a ton.”
It was incomparable to dungeon magi.
His stats shot up in the blink of an eye.
[A singularity of magi has been created.]
[The grasp of magi has been created.]
“Whoa. Two skills at once?”
Grinning in satisfaction, Kim Min-jun opened his status window.
[Kim Min-jun]
Founder of the ‘Celia-unnie is My Favorite Character’ cult.
Strength: 65 Agility: 65 Vitality: 60 Magi: 30
Skills: Corruption (D), Night Walker (C), Dark Arrow (E), Singularity of Magi, Grasp of Magi (E), Basic Blunt Technique (E), Basic Swordsmanship (D), Strength (E), Agility Enhancement (E)
“Nice. That’s more like it. Skills piling up nicely.”
He was still far from his original power, but the Singularity of Magi skill was perfect for his current Hunter Army life.
[Singularity of Magi: Renders your magi colorless and odorless. Can be toggled ON/OFF at will.]
“The higher my stats, the thicker and stronger-smelling the magi gets, affecting those around me.”
He was controlling it now, but as his power returned, it would leak out naturally.
That would harm the hunters nearby, obviously.
“And now Grasp of Magi too. Yi Bong-gu, that’s enough. Back to position.”
-Thank you!
Grasp of Magi was a utility skill that pulled a designated target toward him.
Right now, it could only manage one civilian, but at higher ranks, it could yank an ogre right to his feet.
“Ah. Perfect for lazy remote grabs.”
High versatility for all sorts of situations.
“Yi Bong-gu. I’ll share some magi, so switch to a more mobile body. Something that can fly.”
-Kugh! To bestow so much magi! I’ll stake my life on serving you, Mr. Kim Min-jun...
“Cut the dramatics. It’s not much. Take it and go.”
-Understood.
Cases like the gem required getting close to detect.
Night Walker could sense from afar, but it guzzled too much magi.
‘Absorbed this much, shared a bit with Yi Bong-gu, and hardly anything left.’
He’d tested it after upgrading Night Walker’s rank, but the cost-performance sucked.
-Ooh. As expected of Mr. Kim Min-jun’s magi! This should let me take on monsters!
Yi Bong-gu had switched from crow to eagle.
“Good. Patrol outside like this. Report anything odd... Wait, shift back to true form for a sec.”
-Understood!
“You’ve worked hard. Time for a proper reward.”
He recalled bragging about Korean food to his cultists back in the otherworld.
“Let’s go. I’ll show you the taste of Korean cuisine.”
**
Inside an Incheon pork bone soup joint.
“Auntie! Two bowls of pork bone soup, please!”
“Coming right up! Oh my, Hunter Army? Thanks for protecting the country! I’ll make ’em extra special!”
“Thanks.”
Kim Min-jun ordered smoothly and took a seat.
Yi Bong-gu awkwardly scanned the room, mimicking him.
Soon, steaming pots of soup arrived.
Yi Bong-gu sniffed, then jolted in surprise.
A smell he’d never encountered in his life.
“This is... the ‘soup rice’ you spoke of, Mr. Kim Min-jun?”
“Yeah. Don’t compare it to that slop from Isgard. That was trash—this is real food.”
Yi Bong-gu tentatively scooped some, tasted it, and burst into emotional tears.
“Sniff! Sob!”
The patrons’ eyes turned to the lone hunter and the exotic-looking man.
“Hey. Cry or eat, pick one. You gonna choke eating like that?”
Kim Min-jun chuckled at the sight.
“So, how’s the taste?”
“It’s... it’s incredible!”
Yi Bong-gu shoveled it down like a man starved for three days.
Isgard’s staple was just calorie-dense, tasteless biscuits.
Even black mages struggled to get those, scraping by in poverty until Kim Min-jun rose to the top.
“Sniff! I want to share this with the other followers.”
“The others would get shredded trying to cross over. You’re one lucky bastard.”
Yi Bong-gu polished off three more bowls after that.
“I’m heading out soon, so you scout around for magi traces.”
“Yes, sir!”
“No going overseas. Get caught slacking, and you’re dead.”
“I’ll keep that in mind!”
Yi Bong-gu slipped into a quiet alley, shifted to eagle, and took flight.
‘Yi Bong-gu outside the base, Night Walker inside.’
Time would bring the intel rolling in.
Ding!
On his way back, the platoon chat exploded.
He’d ditched the ‘smartphones from sergeant up’ nonsense and made his own group chat.
Kim Kwang-sik: Sgt. Kim Min-jun! We’re screwed. Training schedule’s insane!
Kim Kwang-sik: Guerrilla training got moved up, and this time it’s in power suits!
Kim Kwang-sik: And they’re adding extra training after! This unit’s lost it!
Checking it out, Kim Kwang-sik was freaking out alone about the upcoming guerrilla training.
Kim Min-jun: (Thrilled emoticon)
Kim Kwang-sik: ?
Kim Min-jun: Wanna get to sergeant ASAP.
Kim Kwang-sik: .....
Lee Seung-ho: Psycho bastard.
Training led straight to performance scores.
Barring emergencies like gate breaches handled flawlessly, steady scores were key to promotion.
‘Emergencies don’t pop up like meals.’
He was a sergeant now.
Sergeant to staff sergeant was way tougher than private to sergeant.
Title changed from enlisted to officer track.
‘Keep us training nonstop, no sleep. Perfect.’
Back at base, in the barracks.
The platoon sighed heavily.
“Sir! Sergeant Kim Min-jun, returning from leave!”
“Oh, yeah. Min-jun’s back?”
“Why the long faces?”
“What else? This bullshit guerrilla training.”
“Hunter maneuver training was just done! Now they pull up the one six months out?”
“Ah. Fucking hell. Should I just skip guerrilla?”
It was all about the guerrilla training coming up.
Especially the discharge-bound sergeants were pissed.
“Hey. Suck it up. Skip it, and your Hunter pension gets slashed. Take the hit.”
“Argh! Pisses me off! Why’d our division get dinged on eval?”
The senior sergeants were fuming, so the juniors tiptoed around.
-Platoon leader announcing. 2nd Platoon Sergeant Kim Min-jun, report to platoon leader’s office immediately.
The heavy mood lingered briefly until Lt. Kim Cheol-min called for Min-jun.
“Sir!”
“Hey, Kim Min-jun. Leave go okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You know guerrilla’s moved up? This one’s tougher than last.”
“Is that so, sir?”
After a quick check-in, Kim Cheol-min pulled out a paper.
[Hunter Guerrilla Assistant Instructor Application]
“Wanna try being a guerrilla assistant instructor?”