Chapter 154: Yu Il-Shin, the Prison Breaker

“

Huff! Huff!

” Gal Joong-Hyuk’s shoulders heaved violently. Although he had full body armor on, he still shouldn’t be as drenched as a drowning mouse.

This is ridiculous!

Even Royce, the 5th Hunter Wars winner and his opponent in that event’s quarterfinals, wouldn’t underestimate him. She was an incredibly tough opponent, but now that he had Soul Mecha Lazenca—the greatest of all artifacts—he was confident he could hold his own against her.

Who exactly is this lad?!

Gal Joong-Hyuk gritted his teeth as he glared at Yu Il-Shin, who was standing before him casually.

The fact that the man didn’t break a sweat during their fight and was only clad in a regular training suit filled Gal Joong-Hyuk with an inexplicable sense of terror!

“You dare challenge me with that level of skill? Are you an idiot?”

Gal Joong-Hyuk clenched his fists. “This is far from over!”

With a physique that far surpassed an ordinary human, he was second only to South Korea’s strongest: S-rank Reinforcement-type Hunter, Choi Kang-San. Yet, he couldn’t even graze a single strand of his opponent’s hair! His pride couldn’t bear the humiliation!

Baaaang!

Gal Joong-Hyuk charged toward Yu Il-Shin, his soul mecha emitting a blue aura.

“

Hyaaaa—!”

With a blood-curdling roar, Gal Joong-Hyuk tried to punch Yu Il-Shin in the head. The attack was overwhelmingly powerful, especially since it was combined with Soul Mecha Lazenca’s ability.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

A thunderous crack resounded in the sky every time he swung his fists, which were the size of an adult’s head. He threw dozens of punches every second, each one so fast that they were imperceptible to the naked eye.

However, none of them landed on Yu Il-Shin.

“Reach! Reach already! Why can’t I reach you?!”

Yu Il-Shin yawned nonchalantly. “You’re too slow.”

Flick!

Suddenly, Gal Joong-Hyuk’s world spun a full circle.

Swoosh! Baaam!

Before he knew it, he’d crashed against the middle of a mountain, which soon collapsed into a landslide. Then, he fell face first into the ground.

Yu Il-Shin smiled as he bent over. “Still alive?”

Rooooar!

Instead of getting an answer, a strong tornado appeared and blew away the thick dust.

Woooong!

In the eye of the tornado was Gal Joong-Hyuk. He was aiming his gauntlet, which had transformed into a dragon’s head, at Yu Il-Shin.

“This is your last warning. Surrender or die!”

“

Huh?

” Yu Il-Shin’s brows twitched. He then clutched his stomach and laughed maniacally. “

Pfft! Ahahaha!

”

“

Ugh!

How could you... still laugh?”

“Look at you, trying to act tough. Go ahead, Insect. Try killing me with that cute toy of yours.”

“You’ll regret this!”

Wooong!

Gal Joong-Hyuk concentrated his will and life energy into his dragon head gauntlet.

“Soul Mecha cannon, Dragon Fist!”

-

Kyaaaa!

Along with a deafening draconic roar, a massive golden beam of light pierced through the sky.

It held tremendous power that could annihilate even an S-rank monster in the blink of an eye.

“Not bad for an insect, but still not enough to ruffle my feathers.”

Instead of dodging, Yu Il-Shin stretched his arm toward the incoming light beam.

“I, the Emperor of the Empire and God, command you,” he said as an indescribably ominous aura oozed from his fist like thick tar,” shatter into pieces.”

Yu Il-Shin swung his fist down as if crushing an insect.

Baaaam!

Darkness engulfed the golden ray, creating a scene reminiscent of a solar eclipse. In the blink of an eye, Gal Joong-Hyuk’s Dragon Fist was extinguished by Yu Il-Shin’s darkness.

“W-what?!”

Yu Il-Shin then threw a punch, flattening the remaining half of the mountain.

“Aaargh!”

Hunter Association Chairman Lee Ji-Tae gasped. He had already replayed the clip several times in his office, yet he still couldn’t believe it.

“I-is this real?”

Fixing his silver-rimmed glasses, his secretary Choi Woo-Shin replied, “This video was compiled using satellite images, CCTV footage, and videos taken and uploaded by nearby citizens to NeoTube. It’s definitely authentic.”

“Wow... Kang-San did mention it in passing before, but I still can’t believe it myself. The way he effortlessly defeated Gal Joong-Hyuk, who had Lazenca on, is astounding.”

Unofficially, the highest-rank Hunter in South Korea was SS-rank Hunter Sung Mi-Na. After all, even S-rank monsters succumbed to her Psychic-type abilities. However, the same couldn’t be said when it came to combat power.

Just like the legendary Choi Kang-San, Gal Joong-Hyuk was also a Reinforcement-type Hunter with outstanding physical abilities. Recently, he’d even gotten his hands on a Soul Mecha armor, making him one of the few who could vie for the Strongest Hunter title in the world through the Hunter Wars.

Even so, Gal Joong-Hyuk was still defeated so easily like a child—by a newbie who had only Awakened his abilities less than a year ago, no less.

“Amazing. No wonder he could single-handedly defeat an SS-rank monster!”

Although he personally admired Yu Il-Shin, as the chairman of the Hunter Association, Lee Ji-Tae was conflicted over how he should resolve this situation. This was a fight between Hunters, not against monsters.

“What’s the total damage done?”

“Aside from vandalism, they also completely destroyed Mount Jinwoon. We roughly estimated the damage costs to be over a hundred billion won.”

Lee Ji-Tae stiffened. “What about casualties?”

“We don’t know if this was intentional, but there were only some with minor injuries. No fatalities were reported. Hunter Gal Joong-Hyuk will be in the hospital for three months, but thankfully, he didn’t suffer any serious injuries.”

“

Phew

. That’s great to hear.”

At least the crisis was manageable. Lee Ji-Tae turned his attention back to the video, which showed Yu Il-Shin taking off Gal Joong-Hyuk’s armor. Seeing a burly man being stripped naked while screaming was something else.

“This pervert... Where is Hunter Yu Il-Shin now?”

***

Cackle!

Cold iron bars with tens of thousands of volts of electricity traveling through them to deter intruders and exterior walls made of special metal so strong that not even a strike from an axe could scratch it. This was my new suite—

our

new suite, unfortunately.

“

Kikiki!

”

“

Keuhehe!

”

Looking at each of these weathered faces, one could tell that they were criminals. Surprisingly, though, they were all Hunters. Anyone could probably guess from this situation, but I was imprisoned in a special prison in the basement of the Hunter Association.

Unlike ordinary people, when Hunters committed a crime, they’d be detained in this special facility so even the strongest couldn’t escape.

“So, Newbie, what got you in here?” asked a balding, skinny, yet fierce-looking man. He was brought to this place three days earlier than I did.

With a pained expression, I explained, “I turned violent after a shitty, weird dream, and kind of destroyed some stuff... I don’t really remember much of it, but this is unfair.”

That’s right.

I only threw a few punches at Gal Joong-Hyuk for picking on me; I didn’t destroy the mountain behind my neighborhood! This was all because of that weird dream. Luckily, I woke up to Il-Ho’s cry for help, so things didn’t escalate further.

“

Ooh

.” The bald skinny man chuckled, showing the gaps between his teeth.

“So, you got caught taking dope like me,

huh?

What did you take? Black Savanna? Your hallucinations are probably a daydream.

Ugh,

I heard it’s kinda strong, but it’s still awesome!”

What? No, I didn’t. Don’t look at me like I’m a friend!

Just then, a chubby man, who had been in a daze, suddenly jumped to his feet. He began banging his head against the metal wall.

“Let me out! I was framed! Why am I being locked up here?!” Tears streamed down his face.

“What crime did he commit?”

“Oh, that pig? He Awakened with stealth abilities but used them to sneak into the women’s bathhouse. Unfortunately, he got caught by an S-rank Hunter there. If I were him, I’d use it to rob a bank and smoke more joints.”

The chubby man yelled again, “I barely saw anything! All I saw was a flat-chested lady taking off her blouse! I don’t deserv—”

The chubby man was thrown into the air. Upon crashing back down, he let out a cough.

“Shut up or die.”

Although still seated, the man who had thrown him was already as tall as an adult man. Bloodlust oozed out of the pupil-less eyes under his eyelids, which a blade seemed to have scarred.

“O-okay! I’m sorry, Cheol-Du hyungnim! I’ll be quiet!”

All the other Hunters in the cell, including the skinny man, fell to their knees. He had to be the room leader. Jumping on the bandwagon, I sneaked into a corner of the room and took my place.

I wonder if they’re doing well.

Thankfully, I was only locked up temporarily, so my phone wasn’t confiscated. Still, I couldn’t make any calls or use data—not that I gave a damn. Those functions were more of a decoration, anyway.

Don’t get me wrong! It’s not because I don’t have anyone to contact or anything!

I launched God-Maker.

[Welcome to God-Maker]

[Due to your growing number of followers, you now have access to four channels.]

I found a new channel for me to get in contact with my followers.

[Antrinia Gayami nation: Holy Empress Anty and Gayami followers]

[41st floor, Tower of Warriors: Fairy Queen Aran and Fairy followers]

[42nd floor, Tower of Warriors: Warrior and Temporary Apostle, Il-Ho]

[10th floor, Tower of Warriors: Challenger Yi-Ho]

Wow, Yi-Ho has reached the 10th floor already?

Considering it’d only been a few days, his progress was pretty fast. At this rate, he’d probably catch up with Il-Ho soon.

I decided to check on Il-Ho first. I was curious about how he and the Divine Beasts were doing after they escaped from the stomach of the Beast of Deceit and Rapacity. The beautiful island of Eden greeted me on the screen.

What the hell are they doing?

Rollie, the hedgehog, shivered as she held a bizarre-looking wooden staff. Meanwhile, Il-Ho was only in his underwear, flexing his muscles.

Rollie shut her eyes tight and directed the staff at Il-Ho.

-I-I don’t know! Staff, attack Il-Ho!

A blast of lightning engulfed Il-Ho.

Boom!

-

Muuuuscle—kyaaaak!

Il-Ho collapsed to the ground with half of his body charred.

What's happening?!

Millions of thoughts raced through my mind. Did Rollie betray Il-Ho?

“Il-Ho!” I yelled in surprise.

Like a possessed man, Il-Ho jumped to his feet.

-Have you called for me, O’ great and merciful God Yu Il-Shin!

Huh? How is he unharmed?