Joining the Stronger Side
Slurp.
"Go on, eat. This place makes the best ramen."
Do-ha, inhaling his noodles with gusto, waggled his chopsticks at the man seated across from him — Han Jeong-soo.
"Not hungry?"
"Ah… no, I'll eat."
Han Jeong-soo, who had been sitting frozen in place, hastily picked up his chopsticks and began working through the ramen.
Slurp.
"Well? Pretty good, right?"
"…Yes."
"That's a taste you only get to enjoy while you're still alive."
"Ghk— cough, cough!"
At Do-ha's words, Han Jeong-soo choked so hard he nearly inhaled the broth.
One hour earlier.
He had taken the hand Do-ha held out to him. He still wasn't sure why. Looking into those abyss-deep eyes, his own hand had simply reached out of its own accord.
And now, back to the present.
The man had led him out of the Association and into a ramen shop just around the corner.
"Aigoo, sorry about that. I wasn't trying to scare you… just eat."
Do-ha slid a glass of water across the table and scratched the back of his head. As far as he'd been concerned, it was just a throwaway line. He hadn't expected it to land like a threat.
"…Thank you."
Han Jeong-soo drank the water Do-ha offered and returned to his noodles. His chopsticks moved diligently enough, but his expression was a tangled mess of conflict.
What the hell am I supposed to do now…
Had he truly become this man's man? Was he really going to play double agent?
"Looks like your head's spinning."
"Ah… no, it's not."
"Sure it isn't. Just keep it simple. You hitched yourself to the stronger guy."
"…"
"Why'd you join New Age in the first place? Because you wanted wealth and power the easy way, right?"
"…Yes."
"Exactly. And I'm going to give you that. Wipe out every New Age branch in Korea, and every last won that comes out of it is yours."
"…Mine?"
His eyebrows twitched — clearly tempted. As a regional manager he already earned a little more than the branch chiefs, but if every scrap of their revenue funneled to him instead, the numbers would be on a completely different scale.
"And the top seat of New Age. That goes to you too."
"What do you mean…? Weren't you planning to wipe New Age out completely?"
"That was the original plan. But keeping them under my thumb seems smarter."
As long as light existed, darkness would always trail behind it. Erase New Age, and the vacuum would fill with new organizations and new criminals — ones that might prove even more troublesome, or grow even larger, than the original. So he intended to leave the syndicate standing.
"I'm putting you in the boss's chair."
Only then could he keep the reins. New Age would remain a criminal organization, but under his control he could stop it from swelling further and prevent any truly catastrophic crimes.
Even a Cheon-oe-cheon wiping out New Age alone is pure fantasy…
Han Jeong-soo knew full well the man was SSS-rank. But New Age had SSS-rank Hunters of its own — and rumor held they were stronger still than the publicly known Cheon-oe-cheon.
Ha… is this really the right call…
He had to pick his side carefully. One wrong step and he would tumble straight into the pit of death.
Just then—
"What the hell! You two are eating without me?!"
Canteas, who had vanished on Do-ha's orders, came storming over with a voice thick with wounded pride. He'd been sent to deal with the fleeing Choi Geon-sang, and the man himself was sitting here eating ramen alone!
"Did you handle it?"
"You dump the work on me and then sit down to a meal?!"
"Choi Geon-sang. Did you handle him."
"Yes!"
Zwaaang.
Thud.
Canteas pulled a scrap of Choi Geon-sang's clothing from his subspace. He would have preferred to produce the man's head, but that would almost certainly have earned him a beating.
"But this one… you left him alive?"
Canteas tilted his head at Han Jeong-soo, who sat staring blankly. Do-ha had said he was going to eliminate him — so why was the man sitting here perfectly intact, eating ramen?
"I'm keeping this one."
"…Don't tell me."
"That's right. Same as last time."
Canteas caught on immediately, and Do-ha nodded.
This wasn't the first time. Back in Belhart, a similar situation had played out. Long before Do-ha's arrival, an organization called the White Wolves had spread across the entire Western Continent. Their numbers and cohesion had been formidable, a constant headache for every kingdom. Do-ha had moved then, killed the White Wolf boss, and installed one of his own people in the vacant seat — leaving the organization intact so he could control it.
"Well, in a way, that approach works even better."
"Um… A-nim. What is that?"
Han Jeong-soo pointed at the skeleton. At first he'd assumed it was an ordinary summon, but listening to them talk up close, the thing clearly possessed intelligence.
"This? This thing dares call me that when it's one breath from dying?"
The moment Han Jeong-soo pointed, Canteas bristled. Just because Do-ha treated him casually didn't mean some random human got to look down on him!
"Ah, ignore him. He's a deranged Lich."
"That's harsh! A deranged Lich?!"
"…Excuse me??"
Han Jeong-soo momentarily doubted his own ears. What had he just heard? A Lich…?
The Lich he knew? The kind as dangerous as a dragon?? The undead of Unknown rank — more dangerous than any SSS-rank monster?!!
"Aaaaagh!"
Clatter-crash.
Han Jeong-soo, mid-ramen on the outdoor terrace, screamed and toppled backward out of his chair. So that was why something had felt off! A skeleton with intelligence simply shouldn't exist — and now he knew what it was.
"A L… Li… Lich…"
"What's with the overreaction? Never seen a Lich before?"
Scrape.
Thud.
Canteas snorted at the trembling Han Jeong-soo. The man had already dealt with a mad emperor far more terrifying than him — and he was scared of a Lich?
"I want ramen too!"
"Fine. Order some."
Who… just who the hell is this man…?
He kept a Lich — a being that raised undead legions — as a subordinate?
"Hey, just one bite."
"Get lost. You ordered your own. Eat that."
"I'm curious what yours tastes like!"
"Put those chopsticks away before I send you flying."
"…"
Watching the two banter as if nothing in the world were wrong, Han Jeong-soo's resolve began to harden.
Screeech!
"Hmm. These things move more systematically than I expected. Canteas — cut off the forces coming from the rear."
"Got it."
Zwaaang!
An A-rank Gate spawning orcs. Do-ha and Canteas had been hunting inside it for several hours already. Canteas had grown strong enough to handle orc packs on his own now. He had been an 8-Circle grand mage to begin with, so for all his constant complaining, his growth rate was blisteringly fast.
Corpse Explosion
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-BOOM!
The moment Canteas finished the incantation, the orc corpses littering the ground detonated all at once. The blasts hit like an artillery strike — flames rocketed skyward, and craters pocked the earth in every direction.
"Ah — right! Do-ha!"
Canteas, who had been grinning at the explosions, suddenly went wide-eyed. Do-ha had been standing right in the middle of that blast zone!
Whoosh.
"You're supposed to think about that before you set them off, aren't you?"
Completely unharmed, Do-ha parted the smoke and walked out. Canteas had been told to cut off the rear forces — and instead he'd vaporized the entire orc pack Do-ha was fighting in a single stroke.
"Tch. Of course you're fine."
"It'll take a lot more than this to put a scratch on me."
The Gate they were currently clearing belonged to the Association. Since they only ever entered Association-owned Gates, they almost never encountered a boss. Association Gates were treated as public resources, so the bosses were routinely cleared in advance for safety.
Just then—
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
While Do-ha and Canteas were bickering, someone came racing toward them from the distance.
"There you are!"
"Hm? Association President?"
Do-ha looked at the man approaching him. If he needed something, why not just call? Why come in person?
"Something urgent came up, so I came myself."
"Or did you just want an excuse to escape the paperwork hell?"
"Haha — caught me."
Association President Kim Hee-jae burst out laughing. Lately, whenever he had business with Do-ha, he came in person just like this. People at the Association kept asking where he was going, but the moment he said he was meeting a Cheon-oe-cheon, even his secretary stopped questioning him.
"I've been using you as cover to slack off now and then."
"Then since you've been using me, I suppose I'll have to collect a drink later."
"Gladly, anytime. I'll treat you at a place I know. Thanks to you, the Association's performance numbers have been climbing vertically."
"So what's the actual business?"
"Ah, well…"
At Do-ha's question, the Association President scratched his head with a troubled look.
"The World Hunter Association has formally invited SSS-rank Hunter A to this year's dinner party."
A dinner party hosted by the World Hunter Association. It was an event that invited not only the Cheon-oe-cheon but the entire Divine 200 — not mandatory, but most Hunters attended. And for good reason: it was a chance to build connections with the Cheon-oe-cheon, manage one's network, and cultivate relationships with world-class guilds.
"But I would prefer that you not attend this dinner party, Do-ha-nim."
"Why not?"
"As you know, a Hunter dinner party is a little different from an ordinary party."
If it truly ended as a dinner party, that would be ideal — but Hunter dinner parties were different. Challenges could be issued at any point during the event. Win a duel, and your ranking rose; your standing in the community shifted with it.
"You've only just risen to Cheon-oe-cheon, so a great many Hunters will try to pick a fight. Especially the ones ranked just below you."
Do-ha currently sat at rank 18. The Cheon-oe-cheon had been seventeen strong; Baek Do-ha's arrival had made them eighteen. And the Hunters still below SSS-rank — everyone from 19th downward — would almost certainly keep challenging him. If things went truly badly, not only 19th but 20th, 21st, and 22nd would all throw down gauntlets.
"Do the fights have to wait until after the party?"
"Not necessarily. You can fight mid-party as well… though most people don't. They're too busy reading the room."
"Ah, I see. And this 19th place you mentioned is one of the Divine 200?"
"Yes. The Greek Hunter Heracles holds 19th place and is number one among the Divine 200."
"I've been curious — is Heracles his real name, or a nickname?"
Do-ha had known of the Hunter called Heracles from articles, but he'd never been sure whether that was the man's actual name.
"Yes, Heracles is his real name. And true to it, his ability is superhuman strength."
"So he's strong, then."
"Strong doesn't begin to cover it. A few months ago a warship made an unauthorized approach on Greece, and Heracles destroyed it with a single palm strike — no, he tore it apart like paper. Even Max, a Cheon-oe-cheon ranked 10th, lost to him in raw power."
"Hoh. Now I'm curious."
"Which is why I'd like you to skip this dinner party. I know your growth rate is absurd… but I'm still a little worried."
The Association President glanced around. Do-ha was growing fast enough to hunt A-rank orcs like this, but it still didn't feel like the right time.
"Understood."
"I'm glad you see it that wa—"
"I'll attend as well."
"…?"
For a moment the Association President tilted his head. Wait. Had "understood" meant he would skip it… or that he would attend?
"I've been curious what the other countries' Cheon-oe-cheon are like anyway… perfect timing."
"I figured… you'd attend."
The Association President let out a long sigh. After months of knowing Do-ha, he had a solid read on the man's personality. He'd still tried once — and, as expected, it hadn't worked.