Chapter 173
Chapter 173
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 173
Chapter Title: Suppressing the Rampaging Hunter
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"Is that true?"
Kang Han's green eyes turned toward the Association staffer.
The man flinched for a moment under the chilling gaze, but then he raised his voice even higher.
"We're just following the Association President's orders! With citizens growing uneasy, if he's not subdued within the hour, we're to eliminate the Yi Chorok hunter!"
For a moment, Kang Han, I, and even Seong Yona were at a loss for words.
It didn't seem like we'd misheard.
Finally, I broke the silence.
"Have you lost your mind?"
"Nayeo-ju Hunter, that's a bit harsh..."
"No, who in their right mind would issue an order like that? The Association President has finally gone mad."
He hadn't harmed any civilians, and just because he went berserk during a dungeon raid, they wanted to execute him?
"Can you even look at the anxious people here and call this anything but excessive?"
The staffer gestured to the crowd surrounding us.
Their expressions weren't good, that much was true.
But.
"Isn't it the Association's job to resolve that? Isn't that what the Association is for?"
The Awakener Association didn't exist just to allocate gates and control civilian access.
It was there to propose various laws to the National Assembly so that awakeners and non-awakeners could live together, and to represent awakeners' interests when needed.
And yet?
Execute a hunter?
"Guild Master, let's head inside. Yona, come on."
I glared at the Association staff until the end before speaking.
"Just try coming in. Our Guild Master will fry every last one of you."
"Yi Chorok! Calm down!"
As soon as we entered the dungeon, Yu Myeong-hwa's voice rang out.
Our footsteps naturally quickened toward her.
"Kraaaah!"
"Hey! Yi Chorok! Snap out of it!"
Inside the dungeon, there were already about ten Camellia Guild hunters.
They were surrounding the rampaging Yi Chorok hunter, desperately trying to calm him down.
Yu Myeong-hwa, the guild master whose body was covered in wounds, was blocking his attacks up close.
And that scene was being captured entirely by the live broadcast cameras and transmitted outside.
'No wonder the public reaction was so off.'
I recognized Yi Chorok hunter's face from raid broadcasts I'd seen a few times.
He was young, only twenty, and not very talkative.
Despite his youth, he had earned the thick trust of his comrades enough to serve as vice guild master.
But in his rampaging state, he was an entirely different being.
Black fluid dripped from him without regard for his features, his teeth bared as only his attack instincts remained.
Moreover, rampaging hunters who showed offensive tendencies like this exerted power beyond their own rank.
Even though she couldn't use skills on him like she would on a monster due to him being a comrade, it was no wonder Yu Myeong-hwa was struggling to subdue him.
"Yona, come with me. Nayeo-ju-ssi... please stay back in a safe spot for now."
"Yeah, don't worry about me."
Kang Han and Seong Yona, after lightly loosening up, slipped inside the barrier formed by the Camellia Guild members in the blink of an eye.
"You're here!"
Yu Myeong-hwa's face lit up at the sight of Kang Han.
"I'll gradually increase the intensity with Electric Current attacks. Once his movements slow, Yu Myeong-hwa Hunter, subdue Yi Chorok hunter."
"Got it."
"Yona, focus on keeping the distance between me and Yi Chorok hunter."
"Yes!"
Fortunately, Seong Yona wasn't showing any fear.
If anything, facing a situation similar to the one from two years ago seemed to steel her resolve not to be helpless again.
Pzzt—!
Kang Han fired a light Electric Current at Yi Chorok hunter.
I'd wondered if it would work, but it seemed insufficient.
"Krook, kraaak!"
Instead, Yi Chorok hunter's ferocity grew even fiercer.
The moment his blackened eyes locked on Kang Han and he lunged in attack—
Crack—!
Seong Yona's skill activated.
The space behind Yi Chorok hunter compressed, slamming his body into the dungeon wall with a thud.
"Kuh..."
It was too mild to deal significant damage to an A-rank in rampage, but enough to buy Kang Han time for another strike.
Pzzzt—!
A stronger Electric Current hit Yi Chorok hunter.
It seemed on par with the one that subdued Jang Su-ho in his past berserker mode.
Sure enough, this attack had an effect.
"Kuh!"
Yi Chorok, who had leaped toward Kang Han, froze mid-air for an instant before plummeting down.
But his reflexes were no joke.
Bouncing straight off the floor, he launched toward Kang Han again.
Crack—!
Seong Yona's skill activated once more.
This time, it wasn't the space behind him.
Thud!
As if pressed down by an invisible force, Yi Chorok was smashed brutally into the ground.
Seong Yona had compressed the space beneath Yi Chorok hunter in that brief moment.
Born battle sense.
And Kang Han didn't miss that opening.
Pzzt—!
An overwhelmingly powerful Electric Current, shaped like chains, wrapped tightly around Yi Chorok hunter.
"Kuh, kraa..."
Yi Chorok writhed, trying desperately to move, but could only twitch on the floor.
The moment the current began to weaken, Yu Myeong-hwa pounced on top of him.
"Stay still, you punk!"
"Kuh... ugh."
With his limbs pinned, the rampage symptoms fortunately began to subside.
A little time later, proper human speech finally came from Yi Chorok hunter.
"G-Guild Master."
"Hey, you back to your senses now?"
"Yes. Ah... S-Sorry... Anyone g-get hurt?"
"You punk. Can't you see I'm hurt?"
"Heh, Guild Master is t-tough, after all. Heh."
His face was still smeared with thick black fluid, but the joking and smiling made him seem endearing.
And the Association had tried to kill someone like this.
Just because people outside were anxious.
I strode over to Yi Chorok hunter, who was now lying on his back staring at the ceiling as the restraint lifted, and said,
"Hold still. I'll heal you."
I pulled up his status window to check, and due to the rampage just ending, his Dark Addiction was only at 10%.
I was truly just boosting his utterly exhausted stamina when Yu Myeong-hwa spoke to me, Kang Han, and Seong Yona.
"Thank you. I won't forget this favor."
"Has this happened before? Orders to execute rampaging hunters."
"No, the Association President doesn't have the guts for that. It'll be the same this time. Someone else is using public opinion as an excuse."
The one who could make the Association President issue such an order was obvious.
"That bastard Sama Young."
I spat the harsh words, but no one tried to stop me.
They were probably thinking even worse inside.
I knew Sama Young was the type to use people as means to an end.
But the question was 'why'.
It couldn't be just to calm truly anxious people.
As I ground my teeth and racked my brain, my eyes caught the camera quietly capturing the entire scene.
"Could it be."
A rampaging hunter in a threatening form, people watching that spectacle.
And the kill order issued on the hunter.
"Perfect setup to start a fight."
Now it was starting to click what Sama Young really wanted.