Supreme Rank, Three Letters and It's Over
The chat window shot up like crazy the instant Crodel finished speaking.
“Nyahahahahahat!!!”
Right beside me, Patricia was pointing at Manguls and cackling her head off.
“I’ve been dying to see that face, nyang!!!! Nyahahahaha!!!”
She was holding her stomach she was laughing so hard. Guess she really enjoyed it.
Well… I mean, who could blame her when he looks like that?
Manguls’s face was turning all shades of red and purple. Since he didn’t have any hair, you could see every single vein popping on his scalp.
When I glanced to the side, Reina was standing there with her mouth wide open, staring at me in a daze.
“Supreme Rank, of all things…”
She kept looking back and forth between me and Azureus before finally bursting out,
“Pfft!”
It was a bright, refreshing laugh.
“You were right. I really was worrying over nothing.”
She looked strangely refreshed as she met my eyes.
“From now on, no matter what you do, I’ll believe in you. As your senior.”
Her embarrassing words made me turn my head slightly.
“Sure. Thanks.”
That was when someone’s shout shattered the whole mood.
“I cannot accept this!!”
All eyes snapped toward the source. Of course, it was Manguls. His whole body was trembling, and the suppressed rage twisting his mouth was plain for everyone to see.
“What do you mean, Sir Manguls?”
Crodel, who had been examining Azureus, quietly turned around.
“Are you saying my judgment was wrong?”
“Yes!!”
Manguls took a heavy step forward.
“Supreme Rank? That’s a title only given to legendary hunters like Sir Dante or the current commander! And you’re telling me this rookie has joined their ranks? Who the hell would believe that?”
Crodel’s brow furrowed. For the first time, emotion actually appeared on that usually expressionless face.
“It sounds like you’re denying my evaluation.”
The two of them glared at each other. The atmosphere was rapidly heating up when—
“Nyahahahahat!! That’s enough, nyang!!”
Patricia jumped in between them. Both men turned to look at her.
“Lady Patricia.”
“You’re getting way too worked up, Crodel, nyang!!”
“But—”
“Nya-nyang!!”
When Patricia glared and cut him off with that sharp cat-like sound, Crodel silently took a step back.
This time her gaze swung toward Manguls.
“And you’re the same, Manguls, nyang!!”
“Lady Patricia!!”
Manguls tried to say something, but the moment he met her glaring eyes he swallowed his words. In the end he just grit his teeth and looked away.
Even after Patricia’s mediation, the two men were still glaring at each other. Watching them, Patricia shook her head.
“You’re not children, what are you even doing, nyang… You may have grown bigger, but you’re exactly the same as when you were kids, nyang.”
“Manguls, why can’t you just accept it, nyang?”
At Patricia’s question, Manguls—who seemed to have calmed down a little—answered.
“I can overlook the fact that he received Sir Dante’s recognition. Capturing Azureus in the first place is already incredible. Whether he received the lowest rank or low rank, I was ready to acknowledge him.”
Manguls tore his gaze away from Patricia and looked straight at me.
“But Supreme Rank? That requires a skill gap of several times greater than the monster you captured, at minimum. Not to mention the massive amount of preparation that goes into it.”
He shifted his body slightly and pointed at the Volcanus he had captured himself.
“This guy earned top-grade. I spent a full week preparing just to capture him in that condition. And the result was only top-grade. Yet this kid—who only heard about the capture request yesterday—somehow captured a monster without any preparation at all and got Supreme Rank? Does that make any sense?”
I glanced at the viewers who had suddenly started cheering for Manguls. At that moment, Manguls started glaring at me.
“In my opinion, either Crodel’s eyes have gone bad, or there must have been some kind of deal behind the scenes.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Crodel shook his head at his words.
“You’re saying I made a deal with Lady Haerang and gave him Supreme Rank? Ha!”
A laugh that sounded utterly dumbfounded.
“Sir Manguls. Have you finally lost your mind?”
The situation was once again on the verge of exploding. Patricia jumped in again.
“That’s enough, nyang!!”
Then—
Thwack! Thwack!
She moved at blinding speed and smacked both Crodel and Manguls on the head.
Oh, nice.
While the two of them clutched their heads, Patricia turned to Manguls.
“You really can’t believe it, nyang?”
“No.”
“Then go check for yourself, nyang!”
Patricia pointed toward Azureus.
“If you’re a Supreme Rank hunter too, you should be able to tell just by looking, nyang!!”
At her words, Manguls—who was still holding his head—walked over to Azureus. Then he began slowly examining him.
Manguls didn’t move a single eyebrow as he inspected Azureus from the tip of his head to the end of his tail, searching for even the tiniest hidden scar. He went over every inch without missing a thing.
After checking from start to finish, he went back to the beginning and repeated the process. He did it three times before finally—
“Ugh…”
He couldn’t say a word. He just hung his head.
“Well, nyang? Ready to accept it now, nyang?”
Time passed. The silent Manguls finally opened his mouth.
“How… did you do it…”
His voice was low and heavy. He stared at me with burning eyes.
“Just how in the world did you capture a monster this perfectly?”
His face was practically begging for an answer.
How I caught him, huh…
I could explain every single step—the thoughts I had, the actions I took—one by one if I wanted. But.
Why should I?
I didn’t have any obligation to do that.
“Just… well?”
I simply shrugged.
I wonder how he interpreted my answer. Manguls lowered his head. Then—
“Hahaha…”
His shoulders began to shake slowly.
“Hahahahaha!!”
Suddenly he started laughing loudly.
What the—why is he like this?
Manguls stopped laughing and lifted his head.
“You really are a ridiculous guy.”
He slowly started walking toward me. His face was slightly twisted. This was definitely going to cause trouble.
“Nya-nyang!!”
I waved off Patricia, who was about to step in. If he actually listened to her, he would’ve done it earlier. Of course, I understood why he was reacting like this.
This wasn’t a simple issue. The realization that years of effort and skill he had built up were inferior to someone who had only been a hunter for a short time. That wasn’t just ‘defeat’—it was the feeling of having your very existence denied.
Plus, anyone could tell he had a strong competitive spirit and an ego to match. For someone like that, this kind of situation would be even harder to endure.
‘Acceptance’ is only possible when you still have some composure left.
Since he had already lost his composure, he probably couldn’t accept anything else right now. Of course, I had kind of led him to this point on purpose.
I was curious how good he actually was.
When Manguls reached me, he grabbed his hammer and—
“Then I’ll confirm it myself.”
Whoosh—!
He swung the hammer. Naturally, I had been expecting it. I bent backward at the waist. He stepped in while attacking. I stepped as well, lightly deflecting his assault.
Whoooosh—! Whoosh!!
Every time I dodged his attacks, his face grew redder.
Guess he’s getting heated.
Maybe he decided this wasn’t working. Manguls started changing his movements, preparing for one big strike. Because I kept getting pushed back by his attacks, something suddenly bumped against my back.
It was the captured Volcanus. Seeing it as an opportunity, his eyes flashed.
Thud!
The moment he planted his foot, his waist twisted. A heavy attack came flying in.
You’re way too worked up…
His field of vision had narrowed. Against an opponent this angry, there was no need for a big attack. A precise strike was all it took.
I lightly slipped into his guard, pivoted on my left foot, and put all my rotational force into my right leg. Then—
Thwack!
My kick landed perfectly on his jaw. His jaw rattled and he lost his balance. I stepped on his knee, launched myself up, spun in mid-air, and slammed a second kick straight into his temple.
Bam!!
Thud.
The unconscious Manguls collapsed to the ground. I turned my back on the fallen opponent and lightly landed on the floor.
“That was easy.”
As I casually brushed off my hands, I suddenly noticed how quiet the surroundings had become.
“Why is everyone so quiet?”
People were looking back and forth between me and Manguls lying on the ground.
That was fair. I raised both hands.
“He’s not dead. I held back on the last hit.”
The atmosphere was still deathly quiet. They clearly didn’t believe me.
I feel so wronged, seriously.