Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Of Course It's Me
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"Whoa, Eve! Is that Dangdang?!"
"Yes! Dangdang evolved!!"
—Woof woof!
It was the same concept that Ophelia had told Minium about last time—possession. Drawing out the form of Fenrir, the royal guard dog that protected the palace, through mana into Dangdang.
Dangdang, who had grown five hundred times bigger in an instant, licked my cheek energetically once before charging toward the gate at an incredible speed.
"Ugh, it got drool on me."
The road was packed with cars, and people were crammed in between them, but Dangdang skillfully weaved through the obstacles like whoosh and swish, leaping incredibly high as it charged forward.
What was emerging from the gate were deer-like creatures with six legs. They were swinging their sturdy antlered heads around, threatening people, but the moment Dangdang growled and barked, they flinched in surprise, turned their heads, and started staring blankly at Dangdang.
And showing an opening in front of our ultimate apex predator Dangdang was no different from just giving up on life. With tremendous reflexes, Dangdang twisted its body and chomped down on the deer's neck from the side—crunch. The deer didn't even get to scream before it dropped dead.
"Good job, Dangdang!"
"Eve! Don't go too far forward!"
"Ah, ahhh!"
I had stepped forward a bit to get a better view of Dangdang's exploits and nearly got caught up in the fight with the others battling up front.
The deer might not stand a chance against Dangdang, but they were still buff with muscle, had threatening antlers, and were huge. Definitely dangerous monsters.
Some people by the roadside were bawling their eyes out because the deer had smashed through several cars on their way.
"Argh, can't get close—too dangerous."
"Do-hee!! Just tank it and stab! I'll heal you!!!"
"Hey! Healing doesn't make it not hurt, you know?!"
Han Do-hee was fighting hard up front, true to her B-rank vanguard warrior style. Chae-ah unnie was in the back, but that didn't mean she was as fragile as a regular person like me.
I was the special case to begin with. Awakening normally comes with mana in your body, so everyone gets some boosted physical abilities—like reflexes that don't match their body or dynamic vision, stuff like that.
"Hmm, they're fighting well."
Watching Dangdang from afar, my eyes still showed no improvement in dynamic vision no matter how I looked. Honestly, if it had gotten even a little better, I'd be better at games. Wait, no—thinking about it, the games I play don't really need dynamic vision anyway.
"Huff!! Boss incoming, Dangdang!!"
—Grrr...!
I wondered if some deer boss was coming out, but suddenly a massive bear appeared. Guess the gate connected to some forest. But it couldn't stop Dangdang!
"Dangdang! Suri! Take it down!!"
The wrecked cars around were blaring their alarms—beep beep boop boop—like crazy, so Dangdang probably couldn't hear me. But if I used a skill, that'd be different!
"Suuu... Haaa...! Granting mana to Suri! Fight hard—!!"
The small amount of mana in my body transferred to Suri, and its wingbeats sped up tremendously. Same as what I did to Minium in the Desert Mausoleum last time.
Suri shot up so high it looked like a dot, then performed a Meteor Strike with its own body, plunging right into the bear's spine at the back of its neck—splat.
—Groooarrrr!!!
The puny bear couldn't get its bearings after the ultimate Suri Birdstrike. With a stake driven straight into its spine where the nerves run, its head was ringing, it lost the will to fight, and started wailing.
In the meantime, Dangdang snapped the bear's neck—crack—like twisting a kid's wrist. It only had half its HP left anyway.
"Good job!! You did it—!!!!"
This was a total victory for me. Dangdang and Suri took down eight deer?? And even the boss??? This should net me an S+ rating and four honors on the results screen. Even the bear's soul might applaud and give me one.
Dangdang leaped over the cars in a flash and came right up to me, while Suri flew from afar and landed beside me.
"Mwah, good job, good job! Come back now!"
—Poof!
Dangdang reverted to its original form as its mana ran out. Suri, having tasted mana enhancement once, nodded in satisfaction.
"Suri was super cool too! Such amazing accuracy?!"
It plummeted from like 1km up—boom—and made the bear go "give me my spine back."
"Ouch, my arm hurts. Can't drive like this. Ow."
"Do-hee unnie!"
"Whoa, what was that with Dangdang? It got huge, but now it's back to normal?"
"Yeah. It only changes temporarily, can't keep it up."
"Huh, really? It fought so well. Suri too."
—Beep!!
Tow trucks had already swarmed the area after reports came in. They needed to drag the smashed cars to the side so people could get going.
"Excuse me, are you the Hunters who participated in the open-type gate?"
"Ah, yes. That's us."
"Thank you so much. If you write down your names and numbers, we'll settle and pay the rewards as soon as possible."
"Sure, thanks for your hard work."
Wait, they pay money for participating in open-type gates? I thought everyone was just doing it out of goodwill. Then, back when I first encountered one in Ahyeon-dong, shouldn't I have gotten rewards for the three wolves Suri took down?
Kind of regrettable...
"Hey, Kim Chae-ah, why are you writing your name?"
"I participated too~ Why not, Do-hee-yang~?"
"Ugh, so shameless..."
Chae-ah unnie did cheerlead from the back with her staff. Hardly anyone got hurt, so no heals were needed. Whatever, good things are good.
While the tow trucks were hauling the wrecked cars off the road, a familiar megaphone crackle came from the overpass a bit back, followed by a loud voice.
—Beeeep...
"Waaahhh!!! My caaaar!!!! Sob sob!!!! Keeeek—!!!"
"Shit."
"Oh my."
"Whine...?"
The voice booming through the megaphone sounded like an adult man, and Han Do-hee and Chae-ah unnie reacted instantly.
"What a catastrophe!!! Waaahhh!!!!"
"Eve, let's go quick."
"Huh? Why? What's that?"
"Pfft... Let's hurry. Do-hee hates that guy."
Chae-ah unnie was grinning for some reason. Han Do-hee scowled hard, hung her head, and hustled toward where Maxcruz was.
"Your sorrow!!! This grief!!!! Devastation!!! Damage!!!! I understand it all—!!! Hunter insurance agent Kwon Do-young!!! Waaahhh!!! I'll be your strength—!!! Come see me right now for insurance counseling—!!!"
"Wh-who is that guy...?"
"He's around. Total psycho."
"He's Do-hee's ex."
"What?!"
"Ah, Kim Chae-ah!"
What kind of people does she hang out with?
"Team Leader Yoo. Should we head out and play some golf?"
"No thanks. This isn't the first time."
Signiel Busan rooftop private lounge. Yan Pei's scheduled 4 PM arrival kept getting delayed, and now 30 minutes had passed.
Four S-rank Hunters from just one guild, Tianla Guimeng. Considering Korea only had two S-ranks total, with only Yoo Chae-rin actively operating, it was an overwhelming difference in power.
That didn't mean it was okay to keep an appointment with foreign S-ranks waiting like this, though.
Im Jong-ho, watching from the side, was fuming. "See, this is why those damn chinks..." Yoo Chae-rin felt the same but waited silently.
—Crackle... Ah, Jong-ho. The golden horses are coming up.
"Got it, hyungnim."
A senior Hunter from Nova's Busan branch, waiting on the first floor, radioed Im Jong-ho. Soon after, Yan Pei arrived via elevator.
'Jesus.'
This was Im Jong-ho's first time seeing Yan Pei in person. The outfit was even bolder than rumors or photos, making his head nod involuntarily. At this point, waiting 30 minutes seemed fair.
'Whew, no. Get it together, Im Jong-ho. You're here to work.'
Still, he composed himself professionally.
"Hah, you waited well~? Like good dogs?"
"...We apologize for Yan Pei-nim's tardiness."
"We left late too, expecting it, so don't worry."
"...Team Leader Yoo accepts your apology."
The interpreters on both sides were sweating bullets, but Yoo Chae-rin, top 1% elite of Korea, roughly understood Yan Pei's words.
Among East Asia's three countries, Korea was the only one not like that—China and Japan branded their Hunters like superhero comic heroes.
Japan had a thriving subculture anyway, and in China, with so many Hunters, even skilled ones got no popularity or money if they were ugly or bland.
The Chinese government, fearing powerful popular Hunters, slapped huge taxes on Hunter activities. So they had to do events and such to earn, fostering that culture.
"Ugh, no tea coming here?"
"Cold water. With ice."
"Ah, hate cold water. Don't drink chilled stuff."
"Cold water. Lots of ice."
"...Understood."
"So petty~"
The server was Korean, so had to follow Yoo Chae-rin's order. It was natural for others to suffer between the two S-rank mind games, but people working these gigs got paid big.
"Nova Guild doing well lately? Heard good news."
"Heard some tax evaders from Tianla Guimeng got caught."
"Ah... That's unrelated."
"So is Nova Guild talk."
"Tch, boring."
With the West Sea entry-type gate dispute making them growl at each other, forcing a face-to-face like this couldn't be friendly.
The actual reason for the meeting—Busan Chinatown open-type gate—wasn't even mentioned. They were just probing each other.
"Nova. Give up the West Sea gate. I'll pay."
"You know it's not about money."
Entry-type gate ownership was like claiming nearby land or sea rights. The West Sea gate was closer to Korea than China by measurement, so Tianla Guimeng should concede normally.
"Dragging this out is tiring. Right? Korea Hunter Association seems annoyed too."
"Correct. They hate Tianla Guimeng Hunters being visible."
"Hmm."
Yan Pei let out a shallow sigh, then pouted playfully.
"Not many new Hunters in Korea lately, huh?"
"...Why do you ask?"
"Just curious if there's a reason. Hehe."
Newly registered Hunters had noticeably decreased recently. Down about 8% from four years ago—a big gap to dismiss without cause.
"Get tired, just say so! Nova could join under Tianla Guimeng."
"No thanks."
"Aw, too bad. We might get a new S-rank."
This was info beyond what Tianla Guimeng had announced. Ignoring her secretary's restraint, Yan Pei grinned and added,
"Wonder how it compares to your newbie. Who's stronger?"
"Nova hasn't announced any new recruits."
"Really? Oh well."