Chapter 141
Chapter 141
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 141
Chapter Title: The Hunter Examination
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In front of the Republic of Korea Hunter Management Agency, crowds bustled as usual today.
Among them, the longest line by far was the waiting queue for the screening that confirmed whether one had become a Hunter.
A long line that those already certified as Hunters no longer needed to join.
Yet amid that line, a few figures stood out who had no business being there.
Four people with hoods pulled low, eyes fixed intently on the lobby, and one more standing steadfastly with arms crossed, utterly unfazed.
It was Yong-un's subordinates.
"Lord Demon Dragon, please keep a low profile."
"One Ghost Soul, I can't help it—I'm too curious."
The long wait must have worn on him, as Sword Tiger was the first to try slipping out of the screening line.
But someone grabbed him by the scruff of the neck.
It was Poison Witch, one of Ghost Killer Soul Extermination's Three Ghost Souls.
Thud.
"Eek!"
Sword Tiger's upper body snapped backward.
And right in front of his face appeared Poison Witch's beaming smile.
"Just stay put, okay?"
Sword Tiger spun his body midair, twisting twice before lightly landing high in the air and seamlessly sliding back into the waiting line.
"I'm letting it slide because you're a woman. Anyone else, and they'd be dead."
For someone claiming to go easy, his face was flushed beet red.
Poison Witch shrugged nonchalantly.
"Sure, sure."
Then she whipped her head away.
Her teasing expression shifted to one of seriousness as she glanced back and asked,
"By the way, aren't you busy over there? Is it really okay for you to be here?"
The hooded figure, who had pulled his hood even deeper at Poison Witch's curious question, slowly raised his head.
Revealed within the hood was a face flashing an awkward smile while furtively scanning the surroundings.
None other than Unwoo Guild's Guild Master, Jin-cheol—the busiest among Yong-un's subordinates after clearing the San Marino Demonus, with...
Bzzz. Bzzz.
Poison Witch scowled at the incessantly buzzing phone vibrations.
"Seriously, pick up the phone. It's driving me nuts."
"Sorry. No time to take calls."
With that, Jin-cheol pulled his hood back down deep.
Hunching his shoulders, hood covering his entire face.
Poison Witch clicked her tongue and shook her head at his behavior.
"You look just like a fugitive."
"Pardon?"
Jin-cheol must have caught her quiet mutter.
But since he had no idea what she'd said, Poison Witch just smiled.
"Nothing. Anyway, when's he coming out? It's been two hours already... My legs are killing me."
"You?"
No faction leader dared argue with Poison Witch's words.
But for the first time, a voice contradicted her whining.
"Doesn't seem like something to say for someone who walks eight hours straight and poisons hundreds of monsters to death on top of that."
A voice sharp yet warm— the polar opposite of Poison Witch's own blend of edge and affection.
It belonged to Mu-hee, Wild Slaughter Leader and one of Ghost Killer Soul Extermination's Four Ghost Souls.
"Sis!"
Anyone hearing "Poison Witch" for the first time might picture a white-haired crone, so she barked in outrage at the jab.
In response, Mu-hee's voice rang out again—warm on the surface but laced with hidden barbs like a dagger in silk.
"Just kidding, kidding! Hahaha!"
"......"
Mu-hee laughed it off.
She seemed genuinely amused, but not a soul joined in.
'Whoa, so you can just say whatever and pass it off as a joke... Lesson learned.'
Sword Tiger mentally taking notes.
'Ugh...'
Myung-su groaning inwardly.
'Gotta keep my distance outside of work...'
Jin-cheol silently resolving from beneath his hood.
And finally,
"Letting it slide 'cause you're my sis, nyah~"
Poison Witch, turning childish as ever in front of Mu-hee.
"Hahaha, Poison Witch, my stomach hurts from laughing so hard because of you."
Mu-hee's slightly offbeat sense of humor sparked varied thoughts in everyone.
Poison Witch snuggled right into Mu-hee's embrace.
Though Poison Witch was the bigger of the two physically.
Still, her leaning-in act was enough to stun the faction leaders.
'Poison Witch is...?'
But the surprise was short-lived.
Mu-hee, who had been smiling brightly, shifted her gaze past the line toward the lobby.
"He'll be out soon."
Her words signaled an emergency to the subordinates who'd waited so long.
Skill precision test.
The results were as expected.
"Huh? Is there an error...? You have... no skills?"
In the end, there were no skills.
A Hunter without skills? Absurd.
Which meant he wasn't a Hunter.
"This world is truly bizarre."
Clearly, as a Hunter, he'd risen swiftly, protecting his family within the safety of a faction while establishing his own force on the world stage.
Yet now, Yong-un wasn't a Hunter?
"We're very sorry... It could be a machine glitch. If you give us your contact, we'll text or call if results show up later. Apologies again."
"Really strange."
Expected, sure—but still odd.
How could some machine detect every skill unique to Hunters?
In murim terms, it'd be like that device reading every martial artist's unique aura signature and quantity.
'Ridiculous.'
If such a thing existed, murim's power balance would have flowed in ways Yong-un didn't remember—utterly warped.
'Anyway, that's that...'
Stepping out of the lobby, Yong-un turned to glance at the screening line.
There, familiar figures hastily averted their eyes.
And right in the middle.
"You're dead meat."
The culprit he'd inwardly cursed appeared.
Swoosh.
"H-Hic!"
Jin-cheol, who had coaxed a reluctant Yong-un into the precision test half by force—his hood slipped as their eyes met.
Demonic energy instantly poured from Jin-cheol's entire body.
"You won't escape."
Yong-un's form vanished from the lobby entrance.
His destination was already set.
"Run—scatter!"
"Warp!"
Warp
Instantaneous spatial relocation
Too late, the subordinates sensed Yong-un's aura and bolted using their best escape methods.
Ghost Killer Soul Extermination's assassins tried melting into the scenery with Shadow Fusion Technique, true to their name,
while Sword Tiger, Demon Dragon Leader, surged his demonic energy to leap skyward.
But.
Pop.
Yong-un arrived, his sky-high demonic net descending like a black web to yank Sword Tiger down and sever the assassins' Shadow Fusion.
Whoooosh!
The wind howled.
As the uneasy crowd backed away from the screening line, only Yong-un and his collapsed subordinates remained.
All subordinates down.
None unconscious.
Just that, despite capturing every one, Yong-un's mood hadn't improved.
Because the most important one had fled.
Using some newfound "skill" he'd never shown before, no less.
"L-Lord! Forgive us!"
"Sorry! P-Please, just this once!"
"Sorry..."
The subordinates knelt, groveling before Yong-un.
The onlookers had no clue these pitiful wrecks were powerhouses who could slaughter hundreds of monsters solo.
Yong-un's cold gaze swept over them.
Then came his command, absolute as law.
"Bring him."
"Y-Yes...? Wh-Who...?"
Sword Tiger, hands clasped in plea, looked up.
Yong-un's furious face.
"H-Hic!"
Only then did Sword Tiger realize whom he meant.
The sole subordinate who'd escaped amid the group.
'He ditched alone?'
Demon Shadow Killer Ghost Leader Jin-cheol.
"I'll get him! I swear!"
Myung-su bellowed loudly.
"On Ghost Killer Soul Extermination's name, success guaranteed!"
Invoking even his faction's honor.
"You have thirty minutes. Drag him to my house."
"Yes, Lord!"
Yong-un turned at Myung-su's reply.
And vanished on the spot.
Capture a fellow comrade? Odd order in hindsight, but orders were orders.
To avoid severe punishment, they had to nab Jin-cheol as commanded.
"Sigh... Jin-cheol's done for now..."
The San Marino Demonus weakening operation had been invaluable experience for Yong-un and his subordinates alike.
For Yong-un, it revealed crucial info: he could wield the Demon-Slaying Sword without turning into a Killer Ghost.
For the subordinates, it humbled the arrogance swelled after a year of secluded training.
Post-operation, each grew a step via newfound insights, their own ways.
Demon Shadow Killer Ghost Leader Jin-cheol—the sole magic-type Hunter among them—gained his revelation too.
And this was the fruit of embodying it.
Pop.
Warp
Instantaneous spatial relocation / Mana-dependent range
"Warp."
A crimson flash, and Jin-cheol appeared.
Warp.
A skill enabling short- or long-range teleportation based on the user's mana.
Unlike Mu-hee's elite Shadow Walk, exclusive to Wild Slaughter's top spirit users—limited to marked shadows.
Warp allowed unrestricted jumps to any remembered location, making it the superior skill.
A Warp even top S-Rank magic Hunters could scarcely wield.
"Kneel."
It activated right before Yong-un's house.
Along with Warp materialized Jin-cheol, Myung-su, and Sword Tiger.
The faction leaders knelt before Yong-un, bowing their heads.
And cried out in unison.
"Forgive us!"
But that wouldn't sway Yong-un.
"Then you pay the price."
The leaders flinched.
Shaking hardest was Unwoo Guild's master—one of Korea's top five most influential figures.
Yong-un stared straight at Jin-cheol.
"Jin-cheol spars with me for the next month. Oh, three full-contact bouts daily, so eat hearty."
Jin-cheol shuddered violently.
Full-contact spars?
Meaning Yong-un could cut loose.
Sure, he'd emerge healthier and stronger after—but the process terrified him.
Even the growth he'd craved.
"Answer."
"Y-Yes, Lord!"
Jin-cheol's voice cracked.
But.
"Lord! A word, please!"
Jin-cheol was a master strategist.
Inevitable punishment or not, using Warp to present himself had purpose.
"I heard you have no skills."
"Add a month. Two total."
Jin-cheol shuddered again.
Yet his voice pressed on.
"I've requested GHO!"
GHO piqued Yong-un's interest.
GHO stood at the pinnacle of Hunter affairs worldwide.
"For what?"
At Yong-un's question, a sly smile crept across Jin-cheol's bowed face.
Yong-un was hooked.
"That Korean Hunter Management Agency's skill precision test..."
Zing.
"...is a decade-old model compared to GHO's! It couldn't detect your skills, Lord. But GHO's test will surely find them."
Despite the mid-sentence sting, Jin-cheol finished strong.
"I see. Well done."
The words Jin-cheol yearned for arrived.
"Ahh..."
Jin-cheol whipped his head up.
Meeting Yong-un's eyes, he smiled.
"Seems I haven't changed. This isn't the world I knew, yet building and elevating a faction here made me think I'd reverted to my old self. As a true master, you pinpointed my anger perfectly."
Murim and this world differed.
Yong-un reigned as faction Sovereign, a Heavenly Demon-like sky over his domain.
Yet they'd dared make him undergo screening like rookie Hunters.
He'd been furious then.
But reflecting later, Yong-un realized the divide: murim versus reality.
This world's ethos began with equality for all.
Supremacy of the Strong lingered beneath, but equality etched every heart on the surface.
Belittling others over status or honor clashed with his vow to live equally with family here.
That realization quelled his rage.
But.
That's that, and this is this.
Equality permitted testing with newbie Hunters.
But with subordinate Jin-cheol? Strict hierarchy ruled.
No "help" excused manipulating his Sovereign—grave sin unchanged.
"So I say,"
"Yes!"
"Add another month. Three total."
"...?!"
Jin-cheol, expecting mercy and beaming, froze mid-smile.