Episode 75
While Kang Jin-hyeok was receiving attention from the association executives, the association president followed Cheon Sang-ho out of the stadium.
The association president, who had been quietly walking down the hallway, opened his mouth after confirming that there was no one around.
“Why did you fight with such a cheap sword?”
“hmm…….”
As the association president pointed out, the black item that Cheon Sang-ho used in the duel was a rare grade item.
It might be okay for an average hunter of class A or B, but it was a weapon that didn’t suit Cheon Sang-ho.
“What about the sword you normally use? If you had used that, you wouldn’t have lost just because the sword broke.”
The association president said that he was disappointed with the result of the game.
It’s a good thing that Kang Jin-hyeok is as strong as Cheon Sang-ho, but it was disappointing that their rivalry ended in such a futile conclusion.
“I didn’t come here to fight.”
“But isn’t it a shame? It was a rare opportunity to test our skills against each other.”
“Why do you need to do that?”
The association president looked embarrassed at Cheon Sang-ho’s question.
“What are you doing? … … . Do you not want to decide who is stronger?”
People always want to compete with someone.
Sports are also very popular among people.
The act of trying to rank everything was also evidence of this.
The association president thought that the reason Cheon Sang-ho trained every day was to maintain his number one position.
But the answer Cheon Sang-ho gave was far from what the association president expected.
“I build up my strength to fight monsters, not to cut down my fellow comrades.”
Hunters just need to be good at catching monsters.
That’s what Cheon Sang-ho was trying to say.
Cheon Sang-ho couldn’t understand why hunters were fighting each other so bloodily.
It’s so foolish for hunters to fight each other to reduce their numbers when they have a hard time catching monsters and contributing to the world.
“Then why did you go to the trouble of asking me to create this kind of position?”
The association president believed that even though he said that, Cheon Sang-ho secretly wanted to compete with Kang Jin-hyeok.
“If there’s no need to fight each other, why don’t we just check it out on video and move on?”
After being reprimanded by the association president, Cheon Sang-ho stopped walking.
And then he slowly turned his head and stared at the association president.
“I can believe it just by looking at the video, but the president and the executives can’t.”
“Are you saying that… … you did that on purpose to create an opportunity for Kang Jin-hyeok to prove his abilities?”
Cheon Sang-ho didn’t bother to answer that question.
The association president laughed in vain as he looked at Cheon Sang-ho’s back as he started walking again.
Surely the excuse he had come up with to tease Kang Jin-hyeok was really what Cheon Sang-ho had intended?
“Is it because I’m not greedy, or because I have a big heart…?”
* * *
Pantheon took the former Tyrant Guild headquarters as its base, replacing the shattered Titan HQ.
As expected from a guild that competes for the top spot in the country, the Tyrant Guild’s headquarters was vast and had various facilities.
Thanks to this, Lee Jun-cheol was able to check Pantheon’s finances in a spacious and comfortable office with the air conditioning on full blast.
“One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand… … .”
Lee Jun-cheol checked the profits Pantheon earned over the past month.
“It seems like trust is slowly building up among lower-ranked hunters.”
During the first two weeks, the profits were below expectations due to low-level hunters’ hesitation and doubt.
But now, a fairly large amount of money is being accumulated every day.
However, Jo Hyeong-il, who was working next to him, looked very dissatisfied.
“Then what do you do? In the end, it’s just to make some money.”
The 5% of profits paid by low-level hunters was a drop in the bucket compared to the money earned by guild members hunting directly.
“I still don’t know why I chose this approach.”
Pantheon has made all areas previously owned by Tyrant available for use by low-level hunters.
Instead, the area that Titan occupied was still a place exclusive to guild members.
It was an unprecedented method, but no guild members expressed any complaints.
Lee Jun-cheol also fully understood why Kang Jin-hyeok made this decision.
“Check this and then say something like that.”
Jo Hyeong-il tilted his head as he received the documents handed over by Lee Jun-cheol.
“What is this?”
“This is a list of members of our guild. What do you think when you see it?”
“Hmm… … It seems like there aren’t many people.”
“Yes. The two large guilds merged and their power is enormous, but the number of guild members is too small.”
Because there were so few people, Lee Jun-cheol had a headache every time he checked the guild member list.
“There’s nothing we can do. All the guild members who were part of Tyrant were imprisoned.”
“Even Titan was destroyed by internal divisions.”
Even without Jo Hyeong-il reminding him, Lee Jun-cheol was fully aware of the reasons why Pantheon was inevitably suffering from a talent shortage.
Although Lee Jun-cheol joined Pantheon with his subordinates, they were only ordinary people, not hunters.
It was fortunate that the Titan Hunters who supported Seo Sang-ho joined.
If they weren’t there, the number of Hunters belonging to the Pantheon would have been so small that they could be counted on one hand.
“’Filling the empty spaces with low-ranking hunters.’ That’s our guild leader’s trick.”
“aha.”
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Only then was Jo Hyeong-il able to understand Kang Jin-hyeok’s intentions.
The Pantheon did not have enough men to utilize all the territory it occupied.
But if you leave it empty, other guilds will definitely take notice.
They will pounce like hyenas at any opportunity and try to claim territory.
Kang Jin-hyeok chose low-ranking hunters to solve that problem.
“If we attract people’s attention, other guilds won’t be able to invade without warning.”
“They also succeeded in creating an image of being a good guild.”
“Hahaha, we’re actually far from being good people.”
Jo Hyeong-il chuckled, saying that the washing machine’s performance was very high-end.
I never thought that those who used to be gangsters in the black market would come out into the open and be treated as good people.
“But is it possible to patrol the entire area with this number of people?”
“How could it work? Of course, we have to use tricks.”
“A trick? Ah.”
Jo Hyeong-il noticed what Lee Jun-cheol said and nodded.
“Are you talking about the new guy?”
“Yes. I’m glad that Mr. Jeong Dae-yoon came.”
Jo Hyeong-il deeply sympathized with Lee Jun-cheol’s words.
If it weren’t for Jeong Dae-yoon’s welcome skill, it would have been impossible to fool other guilds with fake patrols.
Thanks to Jeong Dae-yoon covering up the lack of personnel with his welcome skills, Pantheon was able to establish a foundation without much resistance.
“Where does our guild leader plan to recruit guild members?”
“Well, I don’t know what’s on that gentleman’s mind either.”
As there was no other way for now, Lee Jun-cheol decided to focus on supplying supplies.
Thanks to his long stay in the black market and his wide reach, he never lacked for supplies needed for hunting.
Besides, most of the preparations had been completed, so the only thing the Pantheon was lacking was people.
Lee Jun-cheol believed that Kang Jin-hyeok had a plan.
Kang Jin-hyeok also thought there was no answer.
Kang Jin-hyeok, who entered the dungeon for the first time in a while, sat on the blacksmith’s chair and fell into agony.
“The hunters that seemed decent were all scouted by other guilds… … .”
Even if you find a promising hunter among the low-ranking hunters, you can’t use them for your own strength right away because their growth rate is so slow.
“But that doesn’t mean we can just take people from other guilds.”
A new guild is stalking other guilds and stealing members?
The large guilds that know that fact will never stay still.
Currently, Pantheon is barely covering up its hollow shell by using Jeong Dae-yoon’s skills.
If I had been attacked in such a concentrated manner, I would never have been able to withstand it.
Even if Kang Jin-hyeok’s abilities are superior to those of other S-class hunters, it is impossible for him to deal with enemies coming from all directions at the same time unless he is Son Oh-gong.
“What should I do… … .”
The more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t find an answer to the problem.
Kang Jin-hyeok was so busy groaning that he didn’t even notice that the dwarf had finished his work.
“Hey, Inma. Stop rolling around like Shinchan and take this.”
Even when the dwarf held out a baseball bat, Kang Jin-hyeok didn’t turn his head.
When he was blatantly ignored, the dwarf raised his fist and hit Kang Jin-hyeok hard on the back of his head.
“Eww!!”
A loud, cracking sound like a skull hitting a wall echoed throughout the forge.
Kang Jin-hyeok rolled on the floor, holding his head, which had been hit by the dwarf.
“Why are you hitting me!?”
“That’s because you keep ignoring my words.”
“No, that doesn’t mean you can punch people… …!”
“Stop whining and get this done.”
The dwarf held out the baseball bat he had enchanted in front of Kang Jin-hyeok’s nose.
The moment Kang Jin-hyeok held the handle of the baseball bat, he felt different than before.
“I feel like I’m gaining some strength?”
“Yes, that’s right. I’m absorbing your mana.”
“Is that a baseball bat?”
“Then should I suck it up?”
Since he picked up the baseball bat as the dwarf said, Kang Jin-hyeok’s MP has been decreasing rapidly.
If you use Aura here, it won’t take even a few seconds for Kang Jin-hyeok’s MP to run out.
“Why did this happen? Did I fail?”
“Look at this fucking American. I’m going to fail? That’s never going to happen, man!”
Dwarves had great pride in their own abilities.
Kang Jin-hyeok couldn’t believe that the enchantment was wrong since the dwarf said something like that.
If so, then this is what was intended. Kang Jin-hyeok couldn’t understand this function at all.
“Then why are you sucking my MP?”
“I wanted to save it in advance.”
“What?”
“What the heck, it’s so frustrating! Of course it’s your mana!”
“Where are you going to save it and use it?”
“That’s your mind.”
It was only then that Kang Jin-hyeok realized the new function of the baseball bat.
A large amount of MP. That is, to store mana so that it can be used whenever needed.
That was the new power embedded in the baseball bat.
“How much can you save?”
“It could probably fit about fifteen people, I guess.”
The material used to enchant the baseball bat is Alaune’s ore, which accumulates nutrients by feeding on many people.
As expected of a mineral with such a birth story, its enchanted abilities were also similar.
“If you store it well, you won’t need to drink the potion continuously.”
The MP problem was about to get worse because I was using Aura more often than before.
It was a great relief to get a huge storage tank.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Enough with the greetings. If you have any other interesting ingredients, bring them.”
The dwarf’s only interest was in creating outstanding works of art.
That was why I left the secular world and became trapped in a dungeon like this.
Thanks to the dwarf’s unique personality, Kang Jin-hyeok was always able to obtain items that other hunters could not obtain.
Kang Jin-hyeok headed deep into the dungeon to test the performance of his new baseball bat.
