Chapter 148
Chapter 148
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 148
Chapter Title: Club Disturbance
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An incident broke out at the club.
None other than an assault.
And not a mutual brawl, but a one-sided beatdown.
"Waaaaaah~"
A massive thud echoed through the air, followed by cheers that pulsed in time with the club DJ's beat.
Most incidents at clubs involved guys fighting over a girl, trading punches between men.
Those kinds of bloody, filthy scraps usually left everyone feeling uneasy and disgusted.
That was the norm...
But this time was different.
"Unnie! What's your Instagram? You're so pretty!"
"Noona, are you a hunter? That's insane!"
It wasn't men scrapping with men. It was just a stunningly beautiful woman up against a guy.
And this fairly burly dude had gone down in one hit from the beautiful woman, toppling like a felled tree.
'Is it because she's so pretty that she's drawing all this attention?'
Chris frowned.
Normally, when a fight broke out at a club, no one knew why it started.
But everyone knew the reason for this one.
The man's sleazy advances... and the beautiful woman's overwhelming strength in shutting him down.
Her beauty had hooked everyone's interest from the jump.
"Is this justice in action? I figured something like this would happen, but the direction's all wrong."
That's how Chris knew.
He'd predicted a situation like this would pop off for sure.
But while it happened just as expected, it veered off in a wildly bizarre direction.
The scenario Chris had originally envisioned went like this:
Bees swarming a beautiful flower, clashing with the bees already guarding it.
Then Chris would sic the guards on them per club rules, clearing out all the bees.
'That way, the merchandise's value skyrockets.'
Clubs were that kind of place, after all.
A grimy den where bees went wild to pluck the beautiful flowers prettied up under the guise of "new encounters."
And in such filthy spots, the bees buzzing around those flowers were there to squeeze out as much honey as they could carry.
Others might not see it that way, but Chris, as the head honcho, thought differently.
No bees around the flower meant other bees would compete harder, naturally boosting the club's sales on that sweet nectar.
"Boss, what do we do? This is gonna make it tough to follow your orders."
But Chris's plan had gone completely off the rails.
He needed the bees fighting each other to justify sweeping them all out under the banner of mediation.
But why'd the flower have to be that damn strong all of a sudden?
Beautiful flowers have thorns or something?
From what he could tell, those weren't thorns—that was a full-on blade.
Most bees wouldn't dare approach, and even if they did, they'd lose both wings.
But Chris, with over ten years running club ops, knew better.
No matter how dangerous or tricky the flower, if it was breathtakingly gorgeous, bees would charge in even if it killed them.
That's just what bees were.
"Tricky, sure. But what choice do we have? Gotta do it if we want that paycheck."
"Then how..."
"Call the MD over."
"Got it."
The guard bolted off to fetch the MD patrolling inside the club.
"Yes, boss?"
"You see that event just now?"
"Yeah, I caught it."
"Any complaints or suggestions?"
"Plenty, obviously."
Complaints and suggestions...
A grin bloomed on Chris's face.
"What're they saying? Tell 'em to clear out the fighters?"
"Nah, more like 'do something about that guy on the floor.'"
The guards glanced at the boss, gauging his mood.
What Chris wanted wasn't some broken bee snapped by the strong flower.
He wanted those two bees hovering around the flower—Myung-su and Kim Gu—gone.
But why?
"Oh yeah? That's what they're saying, huh."
Chris's smile deepened.
The guards furrowed their brows at his grin, wondering what was cooking in his head.
Snap.
Chris crooked a finger, summoning the guards.
"Yes?"
"Heard you've got complaints and suggestions?"
"Yes. So, just clear the guy on the floor?"
"Obviously, but those two dudes over there need to go too."
"Huh?"
The guards' eyebrows twitched.
How? On what grounds? Just as those thoughts hit...
Chris's smile widened further as he spoke.
"We've got a suggestion: clear out the 'guys' who were fighting."
The suggestion had been tweaked.
The guards were about to question the weirdness when Chris raised his index finger to his lips.
"The suggestion's our little secret. Anonymous too—no one knows who made it."
"...?!"
"Any club patron can submit one. Hey, I'm the boss, but I'm a customer too, right?"
Chris rolled up his sleeve, flashing his wrist.
A clear club entry stamp marked it.
Well, technically a tattoo he'd gotten when he became head boss.
The guards stared blankly at the tattoo, exchanging looks.
"I'll make the suggestion: clear out all those bees. Let the beautiful flowers shine brighter. Open up space for other bees to whip out their wallets."
Chris's order solidified.
The club's guards were wage slaves.
When the top boss commanded, they obeyed.
They traded stunned glances before nodding sharply.
"Got it. On it."
Drag. Drag. Drag.
"Waaaaaah~"
The guards hauled the unconscious guy away, and the crowd around erupted in cheers.
People loved that stuff.
The righteous smackdown on evil, that refreshing catharsis busting open a stuffy chest.
To everyone watching, the dragged-off guy was evil incarnate, and the venom witch who'd punished him was pure good.
"What a punk."
The venom witch shook out her hands.
Cheers rose to match.
She seemed to relish those adoring gazes deep down.
The booze buzz? Her shy smile made her outfit fade into irrelevance.
"Dares lay a hand on our pretty witch. Right?"
"Sure, I've never dated as a girl or whatever! But I've got one guy in my heart!"
The venom witch declared it proudly, shoulders squared.
But at those last words, the dancer's beaming face—who'd been grinning at her—froze solid.
"Jeong-gun?"
"Yeah, unnie. It's an old story."
"Ooh, really?"
The dancer's expression turned increasingly menacing.
"W-Why, unnie?"
Demonic energy rippled around the dancer's body.
Sensing things going south, the venom witch's smile slowly stiffened.
Watching her, the dancer's face broke into another smile.
But not the friendly one from before.
An unknowable pressure lurked behind it.
It made even the venom witch glance around nervously.
"Wanna tell just unnie? Not anything big—just curious if he overlaps with mine. Don't worry. If he does, we can throw down big time."
The dancer reached sideways, and a dagger rose from the shadows.
Her smile held as she gripped it, killing intent flickering—eerie as hell.
"Who's the guy? Overlap with mine?"
A grin.
A demonic silhouette loomed behind her smiling face.
The dagger gleamed, reflecting the club's neon lights.
The venom witch flinched and shook her head.
"No! No overlap!"
She swore no overlap, but the dancer wasn't buying it.
"Oh yeah? Then spill. It's fine. No overlap, right? You can tell unnie. Promise."
The dancer leaned in close.
Gulp.
The venom witch swallowed dryly, shooting desperate looks at Myung-su and Kim Gu for backup.
But they looked just as curious, artfully dodging her eyes.
"W-Well..."
Realizing escape was impossible, the venom witch caved.
She revealed the identity of the 'Jeong-gun' in her heart.
Leaning into the approaching dancer's ear, she whispered so softly...
Myung-su and Kim Gu strained but heard zilch.
"Tch."
Kim Gu clucked his tongue in disappointment.
The dancer pulled back, stowing the dagger in shadow and clapping her hands over her face.
"Oh my~ How beautiful!"
The demonic energy vanished.
Killing intent evaporated, the demon behind her retreating to the shadows.
"So pretty. Unnie's totally rooting for you."
Clap clap clap.
Her genuine cheers sent chills racing across everyone's skin—venom witch, Myung-su, Kim Gu.
"It's a secret..."
Face flushed beet red, the venom witch primly lifted her glass with a pout.
She turned her head, and the dancer smiled.
"Obviously~ So beautiful. The one who named you, back in that hellish lab... Mmph!"
"Unnie!"
The venom witch blurred with afterimages, slamming both hands over the dancer's mouth.
Her face was exploding crimson.
"Ah~"
Myung-su let out a low sigh of admiration.
Named her... spent time together in the lab.
That was plenty to ID the venom witch's secret 'Jeong-gun.'
"Ahhh! Pretend you didn't hear!"
This time, the venom witch flared her demonic energy, jabbing a sharp finger at Myung-su.
"Hahaha, got it."
Myung-su raised both hands in surrender.
He flashed a suave smile.
But it didn't last.
"Phantom Soul Annihilation."
Scanning the room, Myung-su wiped his grin, voice grave and low—the tone he used in battle.
"Yes."
All the phantom souls halted their antics, eyes on Myung-su.
"It's only been a day. To train daily life for two days straight, we can't afford slip-ups if we wanna face the Supreme One properly."
"Yes!"
Swish.
Myung-su's head turned.
The guards who'd dragged out the downed guy were heading their way.
"Deploy Landscape Fusion."
The First Phantom Soul's order dropped.
Third Phantom Soul—the venom witch. Fourth—the dancer. Seventh—Kim Gu.
They glanced at the approaching guards, then nodded.
"Yes."
"Head home?"
Nod.
"Then."
No trace of playfulness left.
With the First Phantom Soul's final check, the Phantom Soul Annihilation squad melted into the scenery amid surging black demonic energy—like flames, gone in a blink.
The guards reached the Phantom Soul Annihilation table.
And in that instant, everyone except Myung-su vanished.
"Huh?"
The guard blanked out.
They'd been right there. Now, poof.
Not like they weren't there from the start—they definitely had been, then gone.
"Hunter...?"
The guards looked down at Myung-su, solo and sipping his drink.
He downed his last shot and stood.
"Can't just treat my crew with the company card as leader."
He fished out his wallet from his pocket, pulling thick wads of cash.
Dumped every bill into the guard's hand.
"Great drinks. Tip yourselves with the rest."
With a cool spin, Myung-su vanished from the spot.
To onlookers across the way, he shot a "this right?" look before blending into the scenery with Landscape Fusion.
"Whoa..."
A regular, witnessing hunter skills for the first time, gawked at the empty air with awe.
But just for a moment.
"...Fucking asshole."
The guard counting the cash spat curses.
The regular eyed him weirdly.
The guard crumpled the bills, unleashing more venom.
"700k total, but only 580k? Tip my ass—I'll squeeze 120k plus an extra 500k. Guards!"
"Yes!"
"Find those bastards now!"
"Yes!"
The guards tore through the club like hawks, hunting the thieving Phantom Soul Annihilation squad to refill their empty pockets.
Meanwhile, at Yong-un's family home.
"Where's the dancer?"
Last one in, Myung-su spotted a missing Phantom Soul Annihilation assassin and asked the venom witch.
Her face flushed—booze or embarrassment over her secret Jeong-gun getting out?—she shook her head.
"Said she had stuff to do. Going to see Jeong-gun or something... Ah! Jeong-gun! No! Ugh..."
Overcome, the venom witch slammed the door to what had become the girls' room.
Myung-su stared blankly at Kim Gu, zoned out watching TV.
"Man, you two had boyfriends all along? Trained together all the time—when'd you even date... Making us solos cry..."
Sniff.
Kim Gu wiped tears watching a dating show.
"Sigh... This training's been the toughest yet. The Supreme One must've seen this coming."
Just one day in, and Myung-su already felt the weight on his shoulders.
But viewing it as part of the training, he straightened up and headed to the bathroom.
'Still... Venom Witch aside... The dancer had a Jeong-gun too?'