Chapter 169
Chapter 169
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 169
Chapter Title: Rapture Izakaya Gathering
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The izakaya called Rapture that Kim Gu had mentioned.
Located on the second floor in an area known as Youth Street, it was packed with people.
And right in the center table, Kim Gu and his friends were drinking.
In total, the four friends including Kim Gu had gone through twelve bottles of soju.
Naturally, they were all thoroughly drunk and barreling toward blackout territory.
"They're coming!"
Kim Gu's declaration drew snickers from his friends.
They still didn't believe him.
"Dude, cut the crap. We thought you were nuts for quitting Mast World to become a hunter, but this is next-level crazy, kek."
"Stop hitting the bone, haha! Kim Gu's gonna flip."
"Hahaha!"
Like true best friends, they roasted him mercilessly.
Yet unlike usual, Kim Gu smiled calmly.
"Just watch. Soon this place'll be swamped with people begging for photos."
"Hope so. Maybe we'll score free snacks."
"Kek, if Yong-un Hunter really shows, they'll comp the appetizers. Hell, buy out the whole joint? I'd do it."
"Yeah, Yong-un Hunter must be raking it in."
Kim Gu, one of the Seven Ghost Souls of the Demon Soul Exterminators.
Unlike his fellow Ghost Souls, who had lived lives marked by great pain,
Kim Gu had led an utterly ordinary existence.
Just like everyone else, he'd graduated elementary, middle, high school, and even college.
And like any other guy, he'd submitted a resume to land a job at Mast World.
Right around the time he finally became the Mast World employee of his dreams,
something changed in Kim Gu's ordinary life.
'Hunter awakening.'
For some, it was a dream come true; for others, a chance to escape a tough life.
But not for Kim Gu.
'Why take on something so dangerous and grueling?'
His best friends, equally ordinary folks just like him, had felt the same.
When he'd gotten his mandatory hunter license during military service, they'd all told him not to live as a hunter.
Everyone knew how risky it was.
But that was Kim Gu before joining the Demon Soul Exterminators.
The current Kim Gu was different.
"I'm making bank. And these days, I'm a hundred times happier than back at Mast World."
Kim Gu flashed a genuinely happy smile.
The grin on his flushed face made his friends smile too.
"As long as you're happy, man. Just don't die on us. All our friends were worried when I said one of us became a hunter."
"Shut up! Watch this. See who I serve, and what team I'm on!"
Drunk out of his mind, Kim Gu shot up from his seat with a laugh.
He shouted loud enough to draw every eye in the place.
"Any minute now! The Supreme One I serve, Yong-un Hunter, is coming! And my whole team, the Demon Soul Exterminators' Ghost Souls, too! Just wait!"
Every customer in Rapture Izakaya heard it.
And the reactions followed.
"Hahaha."
"What's with that guy."
"He's wasted."
"Been yapping about hunters earlier. Delusional? Gate trauma?"
"Yo, film it, kek."
It was the expected response.
If even his best friends couldn't believe it, why would strangers?
As the snickers grew, one friend snapped out of it and yanked Kim Gu down.
"Sit!"
"For fuck's sake, quit the bullshit or we'll get kicked out before we finish Konkuk, asshole."
"Someone stop him!"
"Let go! It's true! Tell everyone laughing to watch!"
Fueled by Demon Soul Exterminators training, Kim Gu had long surpassed human limits.
His regular friends couldn't restrain a sloshed Kim Gu.
"Damn, he really is a hunter now. Strong as hell..."
"Don't just stare, help, you gorilla fuck!"
As the three best friends struggled with Kim Gu,
and Rapture Izakaya buzzed with mockery over his one-man show,
swish.
"Get... up..."
Someone grabbed the arm of Kim Gu, whom three grown men couldn't budge.
And then the astonishing happened.
Up. Thud.
No matter what they'd tried, Kim Gu had stood firm—yet that single hand hoisted him up and gently sat him back in his chair.
Naturally, the three friends turned to the newcomer.
And they were stunned.
"Wha... what?"
"Y-Yong-un Hunter!?"
They clamped hands over their mouths.
"This must be the place."
Yong-un's arrival wiped the smirks not just from his friends' faces, but from everyone around.
And that was that?
Sudden silence fell, then a sound like compressed air bursting.
Pop. Pop pop pop.
"Sorry, Supreme One."
The Ghost Souls of the Demon Soul Exterminators had all released their Convergent Murder Technique and appeared.
Mouths gaped wide.
Eyes doubted their owners.
Was that drunkard's rant... actually true?
No more laughter.
One by one, people rose from their seats...
"I'm a fan!"
"Whoa... Demon Soul Exterminators!"
"Poison Witch sis! Dancer sis! Kyaa!"
"Whoa, insane... Yong-un Hunter. Crazy..."
"That guy's telling the truth. Whoa..."
They rushed toward the Demon Soul Exterminators and Yong-un.
In the growing chaos,
the door opened, and the last expected guests entered.
"What's with all the noise."
It was the Demon Dragon Corps, led by their captain, Sword Tiger.
Jong-hyun, Jeong-won, Jin-mo too.
With the full Demon Dragon Corps assembled, the izakaya exploded even more.
"D-Demon Dragon Corps!"
"No way! It's real. So those are Yong-un Hunter's teams."
"Quick, snap pics! Jackpot."
Yong-un, Demon Soul Exterminators, Demon Dragon Corps.
All stared down at Kim Gu, grinning dopily in drunken bliss.
"Hehe, told ya. Cheers! Su! Preme! You're all my bros tomorrow... thunk!"
And Kim Gu, the culprit behind it all, face-planted into the table.
The owner of Rapture Izakaya came sprinting in a panic.
He gawked at the massive line to get in.
"Wh-what the..."
In all his years of business, it had happened only once before.
Not since opening five years ago.
In this dreamlike reality, the owner quickly got an employee's help to slip inside.
"Is this real?"
The employee, flushed with excitement, replied.
"Thought he was just some drunk, but he was really a Demon Soul Exterminators member... I still can't believe it."
Normally, staff hated crowds.
But this employee was thrilled, far from annoyed.
When else could you see the Demon Soul Exterminators, Demon Dragon Corps, and Yong-un this close?
"Can't wait. Hold on."
The owner whipped out his phone and called other staff.
"Can you come in now? Work three hours, get 80,000 won."
For off-duty employees, it was an unbeatable offer.
After calling everyone, the owner directed staff to manage the scene.
As the atmosphere grew rowdier, Yong-un considered moving elsewhere.
But seeing the owner enter and things calm down, he placed a hand on the back of Kim Gu's neck.
Stirring his demonic qi, he restored Kim Gu's senses.
Swish.
As his hand lifted from Kim Gu's neck, the drunken haze was sucked out, sealed in a sphere of demonic qi.
Yong-un floated the black orb midair, then unleashed Crimson Heaven Demonic Qi to vaporize it along with the alcohol.
"Ung...?"
Kim Gu lifted his head, sobriety restored.
Headache? Not a chance.
Memories flooded back of what he'd done.
He smacked his forehead in horror.
"Wh-what did I do..."
Whip.
Kim Gu whipped around to see Yong-un, the Demon Soul Exterminators, and Demon Dragon Corps behind him.
'I'm fucked...'
In military terms, it was like a private summoning the division commander, regiment commander, and battalion commander to the PX.
Beyond court-martial—history-book insanity.
"Feeling... better?"
Myeong-su's face brimmed with fury.
"S-sorry, sir!"
Kim Gu bolted up, snapping to attention with a shout.
Yong-un naturally took the seat Kim Gu had vacated.
The center of the L-shaped booth.
"First time drinking with Myung-un here, right?"
He casually poured soju into a clean side dish plate.
"I'm a fan!"
Kim Gu's best friend next to Yong-un shouted like a recruit.
Yong-un glanced at him, chuckled, and poured into another plate.
"You look young. Informal okay?"
"Y-yes! Gu and I are friends, so treat me like him!"
"You seem drunk. Can you handle it?"
"Yes, sir! Pour it, I'll drink it all!"
This must be what "social life max level" means.
Despite being strangers, Kim Gu's friend matched Yong-un's toast as he lifted his plate.
And downed the soju shot-for-shot with Yong-un.
"Myeong-su, Sword Tiger."
"Yes."
"You called?"
The leader of the Demon Soul Exterminators' Seven Ghost Souls and the Demon Dragon Corps captain bowed to Yong-un.
Yong-un gestured to the seats beside him.
"Don't stand. Sit and enjoy."
"Understood."
Myeong-su and Sword Tiger shoved aside the best friends and claimed Yong-un's sides.
Just two rounds in, and two-thirds of the soju was gone.
"Not enough."
"Owner!"
Sharp-eyed Myeong-su raised a hand.
The owner dashed over, bowing deeply.
"You called?"
"Five bottles of soju."
"Right away, sir!"
Back from the kitchen in under a minute.
Yong-un savored the fresh chill, satisfied.
"Ammo loaded. Time to enjoy with my subordinates."
He eyed the remaining Demon Soul Exterminators Ghost Souls and Demon Dragon Corps members standing by.
Myeong-su signaled the Exterminators; Sword Tiger, his Corps.
The spacious booth filled in seconds.
Kim Gu and his friends got pushed to the end.
"Hehe..."
But they were thrilled.
This must be what it's like surrounded by celebrities.
Just sitting there felt ecstatic.
Training must always be grueling.
I agree.
But once you reach a certain level, you hit a wall training alone can't overcome.
Many fall into the common delusion there.
'Just train harder to break through!'
Wrong.
At that point, set training aside. Live normally, observe the world, gain insights.
That's why Yong-un ordered the Demon Soul Exterminators and Demon Dragon Corps to "train" via everyday life.
And unknowingly, they learned volumes, shifting their life's direction.
They won't realize it helps.
Developing hobbies, interests beyond training—that itself is training.
But Yong-un's reason for coming to Konkuk was different.
'Too focused on the road ahead.'
He recalled his past, building power and influence relentlessly.
Forcing subordinates to grow fast for his sake.
Training on training.
Gates for real combat experience.
Endless battles with monsters and demons to toughen them.
The result?
Demon Soul Exterminators, Demon Dragon Corps, and Shadow Demon Assassins complete.
Korea's top teams, wildly popular.
Yet in becoming the strongest, they'd lost sight of ordinary happiness everyone else knew.
Living robot-like, repeating the same days without simple joys.
"It's been so long with you all... I'm sorry we've never had a night like this."
Myeong-su and Sword Tiger smiled at Yong-un's wry words.
"No need. I'm content. I'll serve you forever."
"We'll make plenty more."
Yong-un chuckled.
"Yes, let's."
Then Jeong-won raised her glass high.
"Drinking and chatting like this... doesn't it feel like family?"
Jeong-won, the tactless one per her master-disciple rep.
But her words hit perfectly.
"Yes, like family."
Jeong-won beamed at Yong-un's reply.
Creating moments like this wasn't hard.
That realization made Yong-un feel even guiltier.
"Whatever you think, Supreme One—we're happy because of you. Meeting you is our greatest luck; we pray thanks to our ancestors for it."
Sung-min's words, fitting the Sixth Ghost Soul, drew laughter from all.
Yong-un scanned his subordinates' blooming smiles.
All laughed heartily, agreeing, downing their glasses.
"Thank you."
"No! We'll stay by your side forever! Cheers!"
Sword Tiger stood, raising his glass to everyone.
Yong-un's glass clinked with all his subordinates', ringing clear.
They drank as one.
'Is this happiness?'
Yong-un gazed at his empty glass, feeling he'd gained something new today.
"Lucky bastard."
A sincere voice rose among Kim Gu's best friends.
Two on the Demon Dragon side speaking to the one on Demon Soul Exterminators'.
And understandably so.
Because next to their friend sat none other than the hottest beauties: Poison Witch and Dancer.
"Must've saved a country in a past life."
"Why's that?"
Dancer, overhearing, addressed the Demon Dragon-side friend.
Her flushed, alcohol-warmed face froze them solid.
'Pretty... fuck...'
'Fairy? No, if a succubus demon lived, it'd look like that.'
Beautiful and sexy.
Her sultry voice shook their souls.
Goosebumps chased away the buzz.
Goosebumps from a face and voice—this memory for life.
"N-no, just..."
"Oh? Sorry, I'm taken. Interested in her?"
Dancer poked Poison Witch's side.
The pure-faced Poison Witch, different from Dancer's allure, scowled.
"Sis!"
How could even a frown look so cute?
"Kidding, kidding. Hehe."
Kim Gu's best friends watched him toast Yong-un, screaming inwardly.
'Thanks, really.'
'You're our friend for life.'
'Love you for this, Kim Gu!'
And so, today too, Poison Witch and Dancer set three men's hearts ablaze.