Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: Bluffing the Third Ranker
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Choi Yeoreum was staring at me with an attitude like she had a crown perched right on top of her head.
"Our line of work doesn't seem to sit well with you."
She let out a little hum at my words, popped a piece of lokum into her mouth, sucked on her fingers, and replied.
"I like preventive shots. It's always easier to sort things out before they snowball into something bigger."
With that, she yelled toward the door, "Hey!"
The door swung open, and a few hunters rushed inside.
"I'll go with different shoes. Hate the color."
She stuck out her foot, and the hunters immediately knelt to swap them out. But then one of them slipped up somehow, and her face twisted in fury.
A sharp thwack echoed as the hunter changing her shoes took a kick to the chest and went flying, tumbling across the floor a few times.
The hunter hit the deck flat on his stomach before he could even groan.
"Sorry! I'm sorry!"
It was a heartbreaking sight.
"Apologizing like that makes me look like the villain."
"You kinda are a bad person, though."
She whipped her gaze toward me, her face registering surprise.
"Do I?"
Then she flashed a toothy grin and winked.
"You're right. Good catch."
She nudged the other shoe-changers away with her foot, stood up, and sauntered over to me.
"But saying it to a bad person's face? Guess you're not all that bright. Am I right?"
I could feel the temperature climbing, so I glanced down. The lokum on the table was melting into a puddle.
"Threatening me over one little word. It's getting hard to stick around—too scary."
I stood to leave, eyeing the door. It was already engulfed in flames. The gold doorknob had turned cherry-red and was starting to drip.
"Can't even hit the bathroom? I'm about to piss myself from fear."
She scanned the room, then kicked one of the decorative gold bowls over to me.
"Do it here."
For real? Drop trou and play elephant-trunk-with-your-nose right here?
"What, too small to whip it out without blushing?"
"Just worried it'll shatter the bowl. Looks pricey."
She clicked her tongue.
"Not backing down an inch, huh? Desperate flailing. I don't like people like you."
"If you wanted me to like you, we wouldn't be here in the first place."
I was channeling mana to fend off the heat, but it was still sweltering. The ring on my finger glowed faintly, siphoning away some of the warmth bit by bit.
"Whoa, nice ring. Wanna see me crank it up?"
The room's heat spiked another notch. She clearly wasn't thrilled that I was holding out.
Then she really won't like this.
Jet-black flames began to creep up from my body.
The dark fire roared around Jeong Oh-hoon, Han Sang-ah, and me, voraciously devouring the ambient heat.
"…."
She wanted a staring contest, huh?
This Choi Yeoreum couldn't kill me anyway. Not for lack of skill, but lack of guts. She had way too much to lose—even the tiniest risk of dropping one of her golden eggs was too much for her to stomach.
Call it prudence in polite terms, but here? Straight-up cowardice.
"Everyone in Korea knows I beelined straight for the Wonder Club clubhouse the moment I landed."
"So?"
So what do you mean, 'so,' you pathetic excuse?
"If we kicked the bucket here, it'd stir up all kinds of fun, wouldn't it? The team headhunter cleared two Grade 1 Erosion Cores in record time."
I stroked my chin and cracked a sly smile.
"What do they call people like us? Oh yeah—heroes. Idols."
I swept my gaze around the room. Despite the blistering heat, aside from the charred door, there wasn't a scratch anywhere. Had to give her points for control.
I trailed my hand along the table as I continued.
"There'd definitely be an investigation... So if we died here, who'd take the fall?"
And just how far up the chain would that blame go?
"You think Wonder Club's some casual booze chatroom? I'm number three, and we've got two more top Hope's List hunters besides me."
As she spoke, a massive fireball materialized in her left hand.
"One punk like you croaking? Nothing happens."
"It's pretty damn well-known that Wonder Club's big-name hunters don't actually do jack."
I pulled out my smartphone and showed her the search results. Articles on the topic.
Stuff like, "What the hell are Wonder Club hunters even doing?"—headlines and public reactions galore.
"Didn't take long to dig that up."
A quick search for Wonder Club brought it right up.
"If you actually try to kill me, I'll fight tooth and nail to survive. I guarantee you—we're not the type to go down easy."
I pocketed the phone and gripped my spear.
"We wrecked two Grade 1 Erosion Cores in under a year. Even if you came at us full throttle, we'd last at least three hours."
I was confident on that score.
Three hours of battling? The building would start crumbling. Reporters and media were camped outside—if we accidentally filmed an action flick, they'd eat it up.
And that was just the start. Three hours was plenty of time for countermeasures. Fail to finish us off by then, and the government or Hunter Association would have to step in, at least on paper.
"…."
She stared at me for a beat, then flicked her hand. The temperature snapped back to normal. She strode right up and whispered in my ear, her voice all honey.
"One day, when enough time has passed, you'll regret this moment. There's people you can mouth off to, and people you can't. And you just poked the latter, kid."
Her hand gently brushed my shoulder.
"In ways you can't even imagine. Unbelievably destructive. You'll shatter. And only then will you remember this little chat."
I swept her hair back like she was my sweetheart and replied.
"Thanks for the advice."
We'll see if it pans out like you say.
"Aw, hate to end it like this—wanna seal it with a kiss?"
To anyone who didn't hear our convo, it might've looked like we were about to get a room, not smooch.
She stepped back, flipped me the bird, and jerked her chin at the door.
"Get. Outta my sight."
"Have a good night."
I gave a polite bow and headed out with Jeong Oh-hoon and Han Sang-ah.
"Your balls made of steel or what? Not even a little scared? You don't feel fear at all?"
Jeong Oh-hoon hit me with that the second we were in the clubhouse hallway.
"Scared of what?"
The world's full of scary shit—why waste fear on one bitchy hunter? Especially one not bold enough to actually touch us.
"You thought you could take her?"
"Nah. If she'd gone full murder mode, we'd have scraped by for three hours and ended up roasted whole."
But...
"Choi Yeoreum would've been messed up bad enough she'd never fully recover. That's the point."
I die, she ends up crippled somewhere. If I threw everything I had at her, it's doable.
Hunter power comes from ability. An unhealable injury guts that ability.
And Choi Yeoreum doesn't want to lose her status.
"Bottom line: even if she succeeded in killing us, she'd come out weaker."
That's why she backed off.
Jeong Oh-hoon stared at me blankly before muttering under his breath.
"You're insane. Sounds logical on paper, but pulling it off? Not normal."
"What're you on about? You're the only non-normal ones here besides me."
Han Sang-ah piped up.
"I'm normal."
Suuure you are.
"Brace yourselves for the door."
I blew off her comment and said that as we reached the exit. The second this swung open, shutters and interview requests would avalanche us.
Lucky this was Wonder Club turf, keeping the press in check. Otherwise, they'd probably ram the gates with a siege ram or something.
We no sooner stepped out than the questions hit us like a tidal wave.
Took damn near two hours to fight our way clear.
"Fuckin' chaos. Head's spinning."
Once we piled into the car, I just zoned out staring at the heavy tint on the window.
"Where to?"
"Gonna check in with Choi Seung-gi first."
I pulled out the box, turned it over in my hands, and answered Han Sang-ah's question. Needed to ID this gem I snagged—and see if it could work as a catalyst.
"Oh yeah, what'd you score?"
Jeong Oh-hoon blinked at me, then snapped his fingers. His body shattered like broken glass, fragments scattering every which way.
"Somethin' like that."
Illusion, huh? Gonna be a bitch to spot. And it lasts forever, too.
Perfect for a sniper—even if his position got made, he could keep the upper hand.
"What about you two?"
"Headed to the Association."
Jeong Oh-hoon nodded along with Han Sang-ah.
"Thought I'd leveled up decent, but damn, still miles to go. That Undying Legion or whatever? Not your average Grade 1 Erosion Core."
Han Sang-ah gave a small nod.
"But no clue what to tackle next."
Both of them fixed expectant looks on me.
"What're you, magpies waiting for scraps? Stick to the usual training grind. Once I wrap my stuff, I'll pitch in."
Jeong Oh-hoon let out an "Ooh."
"Roger that. I'll hold the fort."
The car dropped them off at Association HQ, then I headed straight for Daebak Scrap Dealers.
"Hunter Yoo Chan-seok... I'm done for."
Choi Seung-gi grimaced the second he saw me.
"No loot?"
"Just a ton of that sticky black goo! Jaun Valley's a total bust!"
Can't be helped. Who knew it'd be all ghosts? Ghosts don't drop much beyond ectoplasm—they're formless by nature. Looked like Seung-gi took a hit this time.
"I'm gonna end up a beggar at this rate."
Bullshit. It's not like I'm your only client. Word's probably spread by now about our scrap contract—hunters lining up to deal, guaranteed.
"Next one's different."
"Fingers crossed. My back's bending, next it'll snap clean off. Anyway, what's up this time?"
I skipped the answer and pulled out the box, revealing the gem inside.
"Secured it after Jaun Valley."
Choi Seung-gi leaned in to inspect it, reaching out—till I shook my head.
"Poisonous. Normals touch it, they drop dead."
He yanked his hand back with a nervous "Haha!"
"Shall I run some tests?"
"Yeah, please. No idea how long it'll take."
"Usually wraps in two days. If it drags, I'll call."
"Sounds good. Oh, and check if it works as that catalyst we talked about."
I wrapped up with Choi Seung-gi, said our goodbyes, and headed back to Association HQ.