Episode 22
A high-rise apartment 1500m away from the dark clouds in the middle of a clear sky.
Kang Jin-hyeok and Lucia were standing on the rooftop of an apartment building that was over 30 stories high.
Lucia, her face covered by a mask, frowned and looked up at the sky.
“The air here is really bad. Every time I breathe, I feel like my life is being shortened.”
Lucia’s impressions of the outside world, following Kang Jin-hyeok’s guidance, were truly the worst.
As a half-elf, she couldn’t stand the pollution in Seoul without a mask.
If I took even a deep breath, I felt like my lungs would rot away on the spot.
“You guys are living well in a neighborhood like this.”
“… … I guess I have no choice but to just live, you know.”
Lucia continued to cough dryly even while she lifted her bow and took aim.
“This won’t work. I’ll have to hold my breath to get it right.”
Lucia held her breath as much as she could to stop coughing and gauged the distance between her and the dark cloud.
Lucia, confident that she could hit the target with this distance and wind, placed the arrow on the bow.
“I promise to bring you unlimited sweets every day. If that’s a lie, I know your head will be the next one to be pierced.”
Kang Jin-hyeok’s shoulders trembled involuntarily at the sincere threat.
It was ridiculous to think that I was risking my life for a mere lump of sugar.
“Can you guess it?”
“You call that a joke? How could I miss something that big?”
Lucia held her breath and drew more mana from her body than she had ever shown before in the dungeon.
The overflowing flow of mana was clearly visible to the naked eye.
As she pulled the bowstring, surrounded by a blue aura, all of the mana moved to the tip of the arrow.
Compared to the enormous aura that Lucia gathered in her arrows, the aura that Kang Jin-hyeok used was like a drop in the bucket.
“If you don’t want to get caught up, stay at least five steps away.”
After a brief warning, Lucia quickly released the protest she had been holding.
Kang Jin-hyeok was startled when a loud noise erupted while he was backing away.
As the aftershock hit him, Kang Jin-hyeok fell backwards without even having time to regain his balance.
While Kang Jin-hyeok was lying on his butt, the arrow flew in a straight line like a ray of light.
The arrow reached its target in the blink of an eye, giving the monster hiding in the clouds no time to react.
The arrow that had pierced through the monster’s body no longer had a blue aura left on it.
The aura contained in the arrow was completely absorbed into the monster’s body.
Soon it exploded with a louder noise than when the arrow was fired.
The person who created that amazing sight just shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s nothing.”
The aftermath of the explosion caused the dark cloud that had been covering the monster’s entire body to clear away.
Thanks to this, the identity of the monster that had been hidden by the clouds was revealed, but it was difficult to see with the naked eye because it was so high up.
Kang Jin-hyeok took out a telescope-like device from his inventory and looked at the opponent’s information.
“Is that… a turtle with the head of a crocodile?”
The monster, whose appearance I had never seen before, blinked its eyes as if it was still breathing.
It was as if he had no idea what was going on and why he was being treated like this.
[Leviathan]
LV : 300
Kang Jin-hyeok couldn’t help but be surprised when he checked the monster’s level.
“Level 300? That’s the highest level we’ve seen so far.”
It wasn’t for nothing that he was a difficult opponent.
Even if Leviathan appeared on the ground instead of in the sky, there was no way to deal with it at that level except with an S-class hunter.
“It’s fortunate that only one appeared… … .”
It was creepy to imagine that such things would appear in groups like goblins or orcs.
“What a fuss. What’s so great about that?”
Lucia snickered at the sight of Kang Jin-hyeok, who had become thoughtful.
Even a level 300 monster didn’t seem to pose much of a threat to her.
Kang Jin-hyeok had no choice but to acknowledge Lucia’s attitude.
What can we say when we kill an opponent that all hunters were struggling with with one arrow?
“Thank you for your help.”
“Thank you, that’s enough. It wasn’t like you helped me for free.”
Lucia said it as if it was nothing, but the achievement she made was truly great.
If Lucia hadn’t been there, who would have caught that monster called Leviathan?
No, could you catch it?
The magicians of Goetia were not even sure whether they would cooperate or not, and if they had delayed any longer, the defense line might have collapsed completely, causing casualties among the civilians.
Even though she helped him out of that crisis, all Lucia asked for in return was some sweet food.
From Kang Jin-hyeok’s perspective, it was not enough to bow down and express gratitude.
“Goooooooo!”
Kang Jin-hyeok was startled and startled by the loud crying sound that suddenly came.
Even though I thought everything was over, Leviathan was still not dead, even though his body was completely torn apart and his chest was completely blown away.
Kang Jin-hyeok became anxious, worried that he might go crazy and shoot lightning in all directions.
“It doesn’t seem to be dead yet. Can you finish it off for me?”
“There’s no need for that. That’s just a last resort.”
As Lucia said, Leviathan did not show any behavior other than crying.
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Even if you want to do something before you die, most of your body, including the magic stone, will fly away.
Rather than throwing a tantrum, all he could do was scream like this.
After venting his anger, Leviathan’s breath stopped.
The body, which had lost control immediately, began to fall from 35,000 feet to the ground.
“Look at that. It’s weird that it can take that and still survive.”
Lucia, convinced of Leviathan’s death, took out the counter she had kept in her bosom.
“So, you told me to catch the monster and give it back to you?”
The counter that Kang Jin-hyeok received back had a surprisingly high score piled up.
It goes without saying that those points were accumulated thanks to catching Leviathan.
“Is that really enough to prove that you’ve caught a monster?”
“Of course. With such high scores, there’s no way I can say anything else.”
Kang Jin-hyeok spoke with strong conviction, but Lucia’s expression was indifferent.
“Don’t trust people too much. I don’t know how many times I’ve been fooled while I was an adventurer.”
Even if there is evidence, people who want to rip off others will always find excuses.
To obtain fair compensation from such a person, evidence alone was not enough.
Kang Jin-hyeok also knew that much.
“Don’t worry. The captain there seems to be on my side, so he won’t hit you in the back of the head.”
The reason Kang Jin-hyeok looked so confident was because of Seo Sang-ho’s presence.
Seo Sang-ho wanted to bring Kang Jin-hyeok into the guild, so there was a high chance that he would support the fact that he had caught Leviathan.
Of course, I wasn’t 100% sure.
If even Seo Sang-ho tried to evade his responsibility, Kang Jin-hyeok planned to go to the association with a counter.
The counter he had was an officially recognized product by the association, so it was sufficient evidence.
The item that the secretary had given him with the intention of exaggerating his achievements was now Kang Jin-hyeok’s greatest weapon.
* * *
When the Leviathan died and began to fall, there was a great uproar on the ground.
Because it was a monster of such a large size, even though two-thirds of it was blown away, the size of the remaining part was over 100m.
If such a large body had crashed into a tall building while falling, it could have been a disaster.
But Kang Jin-hyeok wasn’t worried about that.
If they were still breathing, then it might be understandable, but as long as they weren’t just corpses, there was no way Seo Sang-ho couldn’t handle them.
As Kang Jin-hyeok had expected, Seo Sang-ho was there waiting in advance at the place where the body fell.
“What on earth did you do?”
Seo Sang-ho was half in doubt after receiving a call from Kang Jin-hyeok.
No, to be honest, even believing half of it was too much.
Who would have thought that a C-class hunter who can only swing a baseball bat would be able to catch a new type of monster?
Moreover, the new type of monster was an opponent that even Sangho Seo, an S-class hunter, found difficult.
“The more I look at him, the more I desire him, really.”
Seo Sang-ho chuckled as he faced the falling corpse of Leviathan.
The body, which was about to collide with the building, was first touched by Seo Sang-ho’s fist.
At that moment, the corpse that had been falling at a terrifying speed suddenly stopped in place as if it were a still image.
As Seo Sang-ho swung his fist once more, the Leviathan’s corpse changed its trajectory and fell into the wide open plaza.
“That’s enough of the follow-up work… … Now, should we start wrapping things up?”
The sky monster that was interfering with the battle has disappeared.
So now all that was left was to sweep up all the remnants that were running wild on the ground.
Seo Sang-ho took out the microphone he had prepared in advance to call out the hunters who were hiding to avoid the lightning.
“I caught a new monster!”
Seo Sang-ho’s voice resonated through speakers installed throughout the venue for the purpose of conducting.
Then, the hunters who had taken refuge inside the building began to crawl out one by one.
“You caught him?”
“Is it true?”
The hunters who came out to confirm the truth witnessed the corpse of Leviathan lying in the square.
The hunters were able to believe that the corpse in the square was definitely that of a new type of monster, thanks to its unprecedented appearance and size.
“I, I really am!”
“Did you catch the Titan Guild Leader?”
“If it’s S-class hunter Seo Sang-ho, it’s possible!”
The hunters thought that the ones hunting the new monsters were the Titan guild members, including Seo Sang-ho.
It was a natural thing.
If even Seo Sang-ho can’t believe that all of this is the work of a C-class hunter, how much more so must the other hunters be feeling.
Seo Sang-ho didn’t bother to explain himself even after seeing the hunters making mistakes.
It was never my intention to covet public achievements or to steal fame.
In this precarious situation where the defense line was on the verge of collapse, there was no time to go on and on with a detailed explanation.
“I guess I can explain the details after work is over.”
For Seo Sang-ho, annihilating the remaining monsters took priority over clearing up the misunderstanding.
The damage could not be increased any further as the casualties were increased due to the sudden appearance of a new type of monster.
Seo Sang-ho gathered the hunters, rebuilt the precarious defense line, and drove back the few remaining monsters.
With the Leviathan that had been watching over them gone, the monsters on the ground were greatly intimidated.
Hunting monsters that have lost their morale isn’t that difficult.
It didn’t take long for the hunters, including Seo Sang-ho, to sweep up the remnants.
When Kang Jin-hyeok returned, most of the monsters had already been hunted.
Since he only had to chase after the fleeing monsters, Seo Sang-ho withdrew from the front lines and was working with his officers to recover the situation.
Seo Sang-ho discovered Kang Jin-hyeok, who had reappeared while he was taking a breather, and approached him with a happy expression.
“Thank you for your hard work. It was a truly wonderful performance.”
Kang Jin-hyeok was quite surprised when he heard Seo Sang-ho’s greeting.
I never thought that the guild leader would volunteer to acknowledge my achievements.
Seo Sang-ho asked a question to Kang Jin-hyeok, who was acting flustered, while shaking his hand.
“Could you please tell me how you caught it?”
“Oh, that’s a secret.”
‘I asked you to bring a half-elf from the dungeon and shoot it with arrows.’
Kang Jin-hyeok, who could not speak honestly, chose not to answer, saying it was a desperate measure.
Then, Han Yeong-seok, who followed Seo Sang-ho, questioned him with his neck bloodshot.
“What’s the secret? You can’t tell it because you didn’t catch it!”
Kang Jin-hyeok felt relieved after hearing words that were almost like a nitpick.
‘Yeah, this is how you guys should be.’
It made no sense for those who tried to monopolize profits by taking over even the most common monsters to readily acknowledge the achievements of others.
Kang Jin-hyeok almost lost his common sense because of a weirdo like Seo Sang-ho.
“If you don’t believe me, check this out.”
What Kang Jin-hyeok handed over with a snicker was the counter that his secretary had handed him.
The executive who had been yelling at them opened his eyes wide like a frog when he saw the scores piled up on the counter.
“2… … 240 points?! There’s no way that’s possible!”
The score of the counter that Seo Sang-ho was carrying during this invasion was 173 points.
The fact that it was about 70 points higher than that meant that he had either swept away the monsters with an ability that overwhelmed Seo Sang-ho or taken down a big guy by himself.
But even after seeing the score, Titan’s executives refused to acknowledge it.
“Don’t make me laugh! You’re trying to trick us with a counter that has already accumulated points!”
“That’s something I got when I came here, so how do I get points for it in advance?”
“Hey, you got this from here? Who gave this to you?!”
The one who stepped forward to ask the executive’s question was Seo Sang-ho’s secretary.
She approached the executive and told him the truth honestly.
“I provided it because I was worried that the public record might be manipulated.”
When the Titan executive heard the secretary’s words and looked at the back of the counter, he saw that the Titan guild emblem was engraved there.
Since it even had a unique identification number written on it, it was absolutely impossible to swap it with another counter.
As the situation became clear, the executive clicked his tongue roughly with an annoyed face.
“Then why did you come here instead of just quietly getting paid behind me?”
“Why did you come? I came because I had something to take.”
“You’re going to pack it?”
Kang Jin-hyeok answered by pointing to Leviathan’s corpse with his finger.
The executive saw it and jumped as if he was having a seizure.
“What the hell are you talking about! Why are you taking that!”
“I caught the monster, so I have to take care of it.”
“It was our guild that prevented the fall! Do you think that body would have remained intact if it weren’t for the guild leader?”
The executives could give money to Kang Jin-hyeok, but they could not hand over the corpse of Leviathan.
The materials for such new types of monsters were so rare that they were expensive to obtain.
If they just handed it over to the association, they could have made at least several hundred million, and if they put it up for auction, the profits would likely snowball.
Kang Jin-hyeok just sighed at Han Yeong-seok’s frightened attitude of trying to stop him.
“I told you, don’t be so stubborn about the monster corpse later.”
“What, what did you say?!”
Kang Jin-hyeok’s argument was indeed valid.
It was a firm enough demand that even a legal battle would have resulted in a certain victory.
Han Yeong-seok also knew that fact.
But I couldn’t just hand over this precious body to that idiot.
Han Yeong-seok decided to use the power of a large guild rather than legitimate methods.
I thought that if I suppressed Kang Jin-hyeok with force here, he would never be able to say anything again.
But before Han Yeong-seok could try to make up his mind, Seo Sang-ho stepped forward first.
Seo Sang-ho grabbed Han Yeong-seok’s arm with one hand as he tried to raise it to signal the guild members.
“Stop being so ugly and give what you have to give. We have a lot of money, so why are you being so greedy?”
“… … !”
Since the Titan Guild Leader, Seo Sang-ho, said that in front of him, Han Yeong-seok couldn’t do anything.
All I could do was watch as Kang Jin-hyeok took away Leviathan’s corpse, crying while eating mustard.
Han Yeong-seok glared at Seo Sang-ho, who was still holding onto his arm, with venomous eyes.
‘Whose side are you on?’
Han Yeong-seok couldn’t understand Seo Sang-ho’s attitude of prioritizing a mere C-rank hunter over the interests of the guild despite being the guild leader.
