Chapter 518

It was so absurd that Zheng Zhiyun even wondered if the hunters were trying to make fun of him.

‘No way. I’m sure they have some kind of plan. There’s no way someone like Gao Rong or Yu Zilin would bend over and lose like this!’

Surely the Chinese hunters were pretending to be weak as a way to catch their opponents and everyone watching off guard. Soon, they would show their true colors and turn the tide of the match.

Otherwise, the current situation didn’t make sense.

‘We must win!’

Zheng Zhiyun didn’t even consider the possibility of defeat. Even before the competition, he was only thinking about gathering party members and reporters to boast how he had destroyed an S-grade hunter.

The thought of losing had never even crossed his mind.

‘We have to win!’

However, the match wasn’t changing. The Chinese hunters remained lethargic in the second half as well and lost.

Zheng Zhiyun threw away everything he had on him and shouted, “Grab all those bastards right now!!”

***

“You came? I did well, right?!” Han Seha jumped up and down with joy.

“I won, not like the last matches when the Korean team was stomped!”

“...”

That stung Kwon Yeongseung. Did she really have to say that? He had lost multiple times, but...

“Well done,” Choi Yeonseung told her. “But there’s no time to celebrate.”

“??”

“We have to leave. Everyone, get to the airport!”

“Huh?”

“Eh...?”

The Korean hunters, who were immersed in the heat of victory, were taken aback by Choi Yeonseung’s orders. What did he mean?

“I’ll explain everything on the way. Let’s move for now.”

“What are you doing? He’s telling you to move!” Han Seha urged the hunters, who still hadn’t come to their senses.

The reporters outside couldn’t even imagine that the victorious hunters were in a hurry to leave.

‘I expected it, but they really used force.’

As a hunter who had been active since the first generation, Choi Yeonseung had experienced first-hand how versatile the power abuse on the Chinese side could be.

Naturally, he had expected anything to happen from the time he contacted the Chinese hunters to offer them asylum.

The goddess of balance, Adaquaniel, and Choi Yeonseung had all seen the same future: the Chinese side using force to prevent their hunters from seeking asylum. To be precise, the vision showed the hunters being captured before having the chance to flee, not that it made much of a difference.

“How can they do something like that when there are so many eyes on them?” Adaquaniel asked incredulously as she ran alongside Choi Yeonseung.

There were all kinds of people gathered at the stadium—overseas reporters, analysts sent by various clans, and hunters who had just come out of boredom. Naturally, an international competition between hunters was a huge event that was bound to draw an enormous amount of attention.

Even though they had authority over them, the Chinese government would tarnish their image by abusing their hunters in front of everyone.

Adaquaniel didn’t understand it.

“Those who have been proud and arrogant all their lives are out of touch with reality. There’s no point in trying to understand such people.”

Regardless of how disadvantageous it was, some people couldn’t help flipping the table when their pride and reputation took a hit.

Power corrupted people’s minds, but since China constantly plotted against its neighbors, just how corrupt would its leaders be if they acquired power?

‘This is why most constellations are strange.’

-...

The goddess of sloth was dumbfounded by Choi Yeonseung’s subtle scolding.

“A-are you sure this is okay?” asked one of the Chinese hunters.

“And if it’s not, do you plan to stay here for a thousand years?”

The Chinese hunters shook their heads in response to Choi Yeonseung’s question. Even though it was all training, Choi Yeonseung’s training was different from what they would get out of the Chinese training camps.

With Choi Yeonseung, the more they trained, the more they admired their own growth, became happy, and wanted to continue training. As for the Chinese camps... They wanted to escape the harsh training before it completely destroyed their humanity.

-...???

The goddess of sloth cocked her head. Was there such a big difference between Choi Yeonseung’s training regime and the Chinese training camps?

They felt pretty similar to her...

“My family...”

“Your family all got out during the match. Once you guys get out as well, it’ll all be over.”

During the international competition, Choi Yeonseung didn’t give orders but instead approached the opposing hunters and offered them asylum. Persuading them was quite easy, as they instantly complied when they realized that it was the will of the incarnation of training.

The moment Choi Yeonseung promised he would handle everything else, the hunters shed tears of emotion at the grace of the Undefeated Incarnation of Training. There were very few constellations out there that took care of every single one of their believers like this.

“Go to the airport and get on the plane...”

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung!”

Ma Jun, the A-grade hunter from China, was shocked after catching up with them with his subordinates. He wondered what the situation was, but...

“There seems to be a misunderstanding.”

“What misunderstanding? Stop now! This is an international issue!”

Ma Jun had wondered where the hunters had gone, but he hadn’t expected them to be here at the airport.

The stadium was in utter chaos. With all the participants gone, the outsiders were muttering among themselves, “What’s going on?”

Zheng Zhiyun was just as baffled as everyone else, and he kept furiously shouting, “Catch those pieces of shit so they can’t hide!”...

The situation was so tense that Ma Jun had immediately mobilized his clan subordinates and set up a search party.

However, it was clear that none of the officials had predicted this situation. Who would’ve imagined that these loyal hunters, who had never rebelled before, would run to the airport and try to defect after merely making eye contact with their opponents?

“And what if we don’t stop?” Han Seha challenged.

“...”

“Are you going to attack us? I spared your lives because it was a competition, but now there’s nothing stopping me from blowing your heads off!”

Adaquaniel admired Han Seha for her outstanding provocation.

Ma Jun’s subordinates took a step back; they could tell that Han Seha wasn’t bluffing. They cast Ma Jun apprehensive looks.

“Bring it on. Come on,” Han Seha insisted.

Ma Jun ignored her challenge. If he attacked now, the aftermath would be catastrophic.

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung. I am indebted to you, as well as the hunters of Tangmen, my clan. Please don’t let your emotions cloud your judgment! Think about it carefully! Dragon Industry’s factories in China...”

“Since the Chinese government failed to repel this great invasion, all the factories were destroyed and we built new ones.”

“...”

Ma Jun was speechless.

With the recent invasion, large companies that had invested overseas were losing money and cursing.

Of course, from the perspective of the Chinese government, the great invasion of the evil god constellations was an unexpected disaster. And naturally, the party had protected itself and the Chinese companies first, with the foreign companies coming second.

“How could this...?!”

“Somehow, the production of Dragon Industry has been delayed!”

“Isn’t this too much?”

The Korean hunters scolded Ma Jun. His subordinates got embarrassed and tried to comfort him.

“Ma Jun, it’s not your fault! It’s not like the decision was yours.”

“Korean hunters, aren’t you crossing the line? Attacking with something like this! You have many other areas to criticize. Can’t you leave this alone?”

Ma Jun decided to change the subject. He had tried to use Dragon Industry to his advantage without knowing much about the situation and ended up making a fool of himself...

“Aren’t you attacking? Hey, stop talking already and come at me.”

“Kuock... What’s this Korean A-grade hunter saying...?”

“Don’t fall for it.”

One of Ma Jun’s more experienced subordinates stopped the other hunters.

South Korea’s A-grade hunters were very cunning and strategic. They were clearly trying to provoke the Chinese to attack first so they could claim it was self-defense. It was a frighteningly cunning scheme.

“Gao Rong, Yu Zilin! Think about it carefully! What has the country done for you?”

Ma Jun decided to directly appeal to the hunters. They might be tempted by Choi Yeonseung’s offer, but perhaps Ma Jun could get through to them and persuade them to come back.

“Uh... Ma Jun, I don’t think that’s a great argument...”

“I don’t think they’ll fall for that.”

Even Ma Jun’s subordinates, who showed fierce loyalty, were a bit taken aback by his words. Even their patriotism was starting to fade, so what about those hunters who had been treated horribly at the training camp?

Regardless of the ideological education, there was a high possibility that they were thinking, ‘Fuck this, I can succeed on my own!’

Ma Jun blushed again.

“I... I can’t do this! I should’ve called someone else!”

“No! Ma Jun, you can do it!”

“Let’s try to persuade them with sincerity!”

At the encouragement of his subordinates, Ma Jun gathered his strength again and raised his head. He had to deal with this situation somehow.

He started shouting as he walked forward. Of course, the Chinese hunters behind Choi Yeonseung didn’t even listen, which made him exclaim anxiously, “Think carefully! Now... That...”

‘He’s pretty bad at persuasion,’ Choi Yeonseung thought to himself. Then, he suddenly realized something.

‘...I think I can knock him out.’

Ma Jun was focused on convincing the hunters to come back, and he had too much faith in Choi Yeonseung. He didn’t think that the S-grade hunter with a great reputation would ambush him in such a situation.

But this didn’t mean anything to Choi Yeonseung.

If he could...

‘Now!’

The moment he made the decision, Choi Yeonseung was already in front of Ma Jun.

Ma Jun freaked out and tried to use a skill to defend himself, but he was already hit with Pressure Point Attack.

Bam!

It was a sudden strike, swift as lightning. Only an S-grade hunter could display such tremendous speed. The fight wasn’t loud or flashy, but the hunters at the scene couldn’t take their eyes off of him.

“Amaz... No?! Hunter Choi Yeonseung, what are you doing?!”

“Ma Jun wants to defect too.”

“Wh-what nonsense...!”

The Chinese hunters were speechless at the sight of Choi Yeonseung openly holding a hostage.

After Ma Jun was caught, the hunters boarded the plane and left the country in peace.

Ma Jun could do nothing but blink in disbelief.

“Then I have to go too...”

“...”

“...”

The other Chinese hunters were thinking of the worst possible scenario.

Could it be that Hunter Ma Jun...?

***

Wei Chang belatedly heard the news and frantically rushed to the airport.

“Get out of the way!”

He released magic from his fingertips, throwing the cars in front of him sideways.

"Ghiaahh!"

“Wh-what is going on?!”

“A monster has attacked!”

The civilians didn’t know what was happening, so they just rolled around and screamed. In any case, Wei Chang ignored them and kicked off from the ground with an excited expression. Being an A-grade hunter and putting all of his strength into each step, he unwittingly caused shockwaves with his feet, shattering the asphalt beneath him.

‘Where are those idiots going to defect?’

Normally, it would’ve been impossible for Wei Chang, an outsider, to intervene in this situation. However, everything was a mess, and he had some of his people at the airport, so the news had reached his ears.

-

A large number of hunters who participated in the international competition are trying to defect!

Initially, Wei Chang was speechless, but then he was filled with joy. If he managed to fix this mess, he would gain an invaluable bargaining chip.

‘How should I take advantage of it? The factory zone... No, this time, our faction...’

As he was imagining his ascension back to power, a huge spear flew at Wei Chang. He didn’t even manage to scream before he got knocked back.

Strangely, it was the kind of magic he had seen in the competition.