Chapter 100. That's a Strategy Too
Chapter 100. That's a Strategy Too
The long-awaited first group match of the preliminary round had finally begun.
The participants' faces appeared on the live broadcast screen, each briefly labeled with their affiliation and name.
Countless spectators and analysts buzzed all around them.
Everyone's attention was fixed on a single question: who would survive under these rules?
"They've definitely changed from before."
I had looked up past footage.
Even back then, they had been conscious of each other and competed, but this time they were keeping their distance with an excessive degree of caution.
One team found a monster early and quickly plunged into combat.
But the moment they delivered the finishing blow, another team lying in ambush nearby launched a surprise attack.
"Now! Attack!"
"Defend yourselves! Just grab the part and break away!"
Even in the thick of the fierce battle, one person nimbly sliced off the monster's finger and secured it.
The team that had it stolen gave furious chase to the fleeing thieves.
A situation where people were more threatening than the monsters.
That was the exact nature of this prelim's rules.
Elsewhere, a team that had just barely managed to kill a monster and collapsed in exhaustion to catch their breath was ambushed.
"What the...!"
"Grab everything they've gathered and run!"
Desperate screams, violent clashes, the crash of steel drowning out the cries.
And this time, it wasn't lawless at all.
It was a rule where plundering was explicitly permitted.
Because of this, the Hunters deployed for control and safety had to intervene unusually often.
"Both sides, cease combat!"
"Any further attacks will result in immediate disqualification!"
"We have an injured person!"
[Whoa, it's seriously cutthroat lololol]
[Stealing does seem to be the clear advantage, though]
[They're probably already wiped out from killing the monster, so they're easier to hit]
I nodded my head.
Perhaps because of that, the total number of collected parts hadn't increased by much.
Parts were circulating around more than they were being newly collected.
One side formed a temporary alliance.
But then, the moment one of them showed a hint of carelessness...
—Smack!
"What are you doing...!"
"...!"
They were suddenly struck from behind and the part was stolen away.
In this kind of situation, the ones showing stable performance were, naturally, the participants from the major guilds.
'Of course, they won't betray each other, and they had teamwork...'
Beside me, I saw Lee Chae-hyun staring at the scoreboard with a rigid expression.
She looked oddly tense, yet she was meticulously analyzing the situation.
"In a way, this rule is optimized for you."
Lee Chae-hyun swallowed and nodded.
Honestly, we hadn't done that much monster hunting together.
Most of her training had been focused on fighting other people.
'The problem was... she's just one person...'
Even so, there was no sign of panic on her face.
---
The night before the preliminary round.
On the outskirts of Seoul, inside the luxurious mansion of the Black Faction Guild Master.
A man sat deep in a neatly conditioned leather sofa.
It was the Black Faction Guild Master, Jang Ho-jin.
Before him stood a young man with a lean, agile build.
His hair was cropped short, and the back of his neck was flushed as if he had just finished training.
Among Jang Ho-jin's children, this was the son participating in this tournament.
"Are you preparing well?"
He looked at his son, Jang Yun-jae, his voice low and weighty.
Jang Yun-jae promptly smiled and nodded.
"Yes, I will not disgrace the name of the Black Faction Guild."
Jang Ho-jin gave a derisive snort as he pulled out a cigarette and placed it between his lips.
Then, leaving it unlit, he simply held it in his mouth and spoke.
"Still, don't let your guard down. The world these days isn't just about throwing fists. Act slyly. Whether it's hunting or combat, the one who uses their head wins."
At Jang Ho-jin's words, Jang Yun-jae nodded with a serious expression.
Jang Ho-jin closed his eyes for a moment, sinking quietly into thought.
There was a mystery that remained unsolved for him.
'Just why was Hanul Guild backing a woman named Lee Chae-hyun?'
Past information surfaced in his mind.
Unknown Hunter, Song Hoon.
A viewer who got tangled up with him through his stream became his manager, and eventually joined Song Hoon's foundation.
That person was Lee Chae-hyun.
'No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't understand. Just for that reason? Even if Hanul was perennially in last place, they were one of the so-called Five Great Guilds...'
Then a memory suddenly occurred to him.
Something he had casually joked about to Geum Hye-jeong at a meeting not long ago.
- Is it because she's a candidate for your son's bride-to-be that you're pushing her like this?
It was just meant as a joke at the time, but now that he thought back on it, it left a strangely uneasy feeling.
'Was that for real? Hmm... Song Hoon definitely had a blue-haired woman by his side... Well, was it a big deal for a man to have a few women? I had several concubines myself...'
While he was lost in such oddly complex thoughts, Jang Yun-jae cautiously asked him.
"Father? What are you thinking about?"
Only then did Jang Ho-jin open his eyes and look at his son.
"Lee Chae-hyun. Be wary of that woman."
Jang Yun-jae narrowed his eyes.
A beat later, his expression shifted as if puzzle pieces were clicking into place in his mind.
"I definitely heard... she's an E-rank Hunter being taught by the Unknown Hunter."
Jang Ho-jin took the cigarette out of his mouth and smiled.
"That's right. On the surface, she looks like nothing special, but who knows what she might be hiding. Of course, she can't compare to a C-rank like you... but still, never let your guard down."
At his father's words, which subtly sounded like self-praise, Jang Yun-jae smiled contentedly and squared his shoulders.
"I won't let down your expectations. In tomorrow's match, I'll crush that woman in front of everyone."
At those words, Ho-jin's gaze turned serious as he looked at his son.
"Good. But there must be absolutely no killing, nor any crippling. By the regulations, if something like that happens, you'll be eliminated immediately, whether you win or lose."
'If that happens, it could escalate into a dispute between guilds, and in the worst-case scenario, the Unknown might intervene...'
At his own reply, his son nodded and grew serious.
"Understood."
Jang Ho-jin finally leaned back in his chair and spoke.
"On your way out, tell your sister to come see me."
"Yes, Father."
Jang Yun-jae gave a final bow and left the room.
'Hmm... Lee Chae-hyun...'
This wasn't some kind of revenge drama or a deep grudge.
It was simply about making the one in the spotlight fall, to humiliate Hanul Guild.
Because if a rival guild was diminished, they themselves would stand out all the more.
---
"Next group, please get ready."
In front of the entrance leading to the deployment zone, a small-framed girl bowed her head to two people.
"Big Sis, Chairman... I'm off!"
[Chae-hyun, show the world who you are]
[F*** it's nothing special but my nerves are on edge lol]
She disappeared into the Gate.
A moment later, her movements started being displayed on the screen.
The other participants scattered in all directions with the same kinds of movements as before.
She lowered her body like a cat trying not to be spotted, quickly using the terrain to infiltrate the battlefield.
— Crunch... Slicck!
She skillfully caught a monster.
No, 'caught' was the wrong word.
The spectators watching Lee Chae-hyun's actions buzzed with murmurs.
"Huh? The monster is still alive...?"
The monster was alive.
But one finger—
The right index finger, the designated part to be collected.
She nimbly snapped that part and sliced it off.
"...What did she just do?"
"Wait, the monster's still alive, right? Didn't she just cut off the part and leave?"
Amidst that murmuring, one of the panelists picked up a microphone and cautiously asked the head judge.
"Head Judge, that just now... is that not a rule violation?"
At those words, the head judge slowly shook his head.
"By the regulations, there is no clause stating the monster must be killed. The only evaluation criteria is whether the specified part has been accurately 'collected'."
She diligently cut off only the index fingers from the monsters.
And the ones who discovered the monsters later raged furiously when they found the collection part missing.
"Ah, f***! The finger is missing again!"
"Which bastard keeps cutting off only the fingers and leaving?"
And she intruded even while Hunters were fighting a monster.
In fact, they hesitated to attack her when she dove right into the middle of them.
Because they were worried their attacks might hit their own comrades.
— Shiiing!
"Aaargh!!!"
"My eyes...!"
She pretended to draw her sword, then kicked up sand from the ground, blinding her opponent.
Then she stole the pouch from the blinded opponent.
She also raised her hand as if to strike a vital point on a Hunter who had come to their senses, making them flinch, and in that gap, she fled again.
"Hey, isn't that too cowardly...?"
"How can that be called a Hunter..."
"What is this, acting like some petty thief?"
[You idiots, that's a strategy too]
[Lolol what chivalry are you hoping for in a tournament]
[If you saw Hero badmouthing this, you'd be shocked lol]
On the scoreboard, her rank was climbing up step by step.
"...That's a strategy too."
A low, roughly pitched voice came from behind me.
"Hm?"
I looked back to see someone approaching this way.
He came closer slowly, then extended a hand covered in tattoos.
"Jang Ho-jin, Master of the Black Faction Guild."
That hand was stocky, and the outstretched arm was permeated with muscles hardened in real combat and a sense of killing intent.
"Since my own child is participating, I came to take a look as a father."
"..."
We clasped hands, and Jang Ho-jin's gaze returned to the scoreboard.
His eyes fixated on Lee Chae-hyun.
"It's not a rule violation, nor did she harm anyone."
"..."
"No matter how much people call it cowardly, in the end, isn't the one who survives the strong one?"