Chapter 569 - Side Story (2)

“I guess you’re wondering how I managed to become the best hunter on Earth, right?”

Hwang Gyeongryong looked at the orcs huddled around him with a proud expression. However, they shook their heads.

“I’m not really curious about that.”

“I was wondering what kind of things Master accomplished while he was still a mortal.”

“...”

Seeing Hwang Gyeongryong pouting, Garagoncha quickly settled the orcs down.

“No, Yellow Dragon! Of course, we’re very curious about your achievements!”

Hearing that, Hwang Gyeongryong had an urge to punch the orcs and shout, “It’s Dragon Hwang!”

Yellow Dragon... How could they remember his name like this? He only held back because he felt that lashing out would embarrass him even more.

Garagoncha got the attention of the orcs that had left and said, “Of course, we’re eager to hear about your achievements. But wouldn’t it be easier to get the whole picture by first hearing about Master’s achievements and then about yours? We should do this in chronological order.”

“...”

Hwang Gyeongryong clearly realized what Garagoncha was trying to do but didn’t bother calling him out. Instead, he thought to himself, ‘You bastards... I will tell you my story over and over again!’

***

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung, I am from the Big Ghost clan. Let me ask you a quick question. Would you like to join our clan? We’re aiming to recruit a large number of potential martial artists, and you, Hunter Choi Yeonseung, are exactly what we’re looking for.”

“I’m still only D-grade.”

“D-grade is enough. Aren’t you within the top thirty percent of hunters? Besides, even though there are more magicians now, I believe the era of martial artists is right around the corner.”

The scout of the Big Ghost clan, very active in his endeavor, confidently tried to convince Choi Yeonseung to join the clan. In fact, the Big Ghost was one of the most successful clans at the time and attracted a lot of attention from the media.

As there were quite a few decent martial artists among them, new hunters who wanted to fight alongside such people came to join... By recruiting martial artists, they would automatically draw in other kinds of hunters as well—it was a beneficial cycle.

“Look, I appreciate your offer, but I like my clan.”

“Oh... Of course, I won’t deny that Hwang Gyeongryong is a great hunter. He has plenty of charm. But as a hunter yourself, don’t you want to step out of his shadow someday?”

‘This bastard...’

“Well, I personally believe that working with someone I can trust will have a positive impact on my career as a hunter.”

‘Yeonseung...!’

Hwang Gyeongryong, who was secretly listening in the background, was deeply moved. Even though he found this kid a bit strange, he was always moved when he saw him act like this.

The hunter industry was cutthroat and ruthless, and yet Choi Yeonseung showed such unwavering loyalty!

***

“Wait... Wait a bit.”

Iguacha suddenly interrupted Hwang Gyeongryong.

“What? Moved to tears already?”

“No... Now that I’m hearing this, couldn’t Master have succeeded and become stronger much faster? Didn’t you hold him back?”

“That’s right. That’s right.”

The orcs’ protests annoyed Hwang Gyeongryong. These ignorant green creatures didn’t understand what loyalty between comrades was!

“That’s not it, you fools! Loyalty! Loyalty has nothing to do with profit or loss...”

“No matter how I think about it, I feel like Master was deceived.”

“Shouldn’t he have changed clans back then?”

“Everyone, shut up and listen to the rest!”

***

Indingsen’s Laboratory—a C-grade dungeon that appeared in Incheon a while back.

These days, C-grade dungeons sparked competition among hunters because they made for great practice for the newcomers of large clans. But back then, whenever a C-grade dungeon appeared, many officials would order evacuations while hunters would silently voice their pessimism about being able to clear the dungeon.

When Indingsen’s Laboratory emerged, Choi Yeonseung, Hwang Gyeongryong, and Lee Changsik took part in the raid. However, it wasn’t just their clan participating—all the other clans that were around at the time had joined forces!

That was how dangerous everyone thought the dungeon was.

“Guys, don’t worry. I’ll make sure everyone walks out of here alive, even if it means putting my life on the line.”

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

***

“Hey, wait.”

“What now?!”

Hwang Gyeongryong was losing his patience. He had immersed himself in his memories and emotions, but the orcs kept cutting him off...

“Did you really say that?” said one of the orcs.

“Of course I did. Why are you even asking? Were you there?”

“Didn’t Master say it?”

“This feels too contrived. That’s something Master would say.”

“...”

Hwang Gyeongryong’s lips twitched.

“Believe what you want!”

“It seems to me that there is a need for rigorous verification. I will bring witnesses.”

“What? Are you going to bring Yeonseung?”

“No.”

Hwang Gyeongryong was stunned when the orcs came back with Lee Changsik. These crazy bastards!

“What are you doing?”

“Yellow Dragon here is telling us the legends of Master from the past.”

“...”

Lee Changsik sat down, and Hwang Gyeongryong was dumbfounded.

“Why are you sitting down?”

“I am curious to see how you’ll tell the story.”

“...”

***

Among the clans that came in, Choi Yeonseung, Hwang Gyeongryong, and Lee Changsik stood out due to their experience and skills. Most of the hunters in Hwang Gyeongryong’s clan weren’t afraid of real combat, as they often risked their lives to attack monsters.

Other clan hunters hesitated and were frightened by this dungeon they were entering for the first time, but Hwang Gyeongryong’s hunters calmly scanned their surroundings.

“Is it a forest? Be careful not to go into thick bushes. Monsters tend to hide in them.”

“Roger. The laboratory is probably somewhere deeper in the forest, so let’s secure the road first.”

-

Master’s judgment was legendary even back then.

-

One can only admire him.

-...Can you shut up?

Frightened, the rookie hunters stayed close to those from Hwang Gyeongryong’s clan.

“Uh... Sorry, but other hunters are saying that we need to cast a defensive spell on everyone. Is that correct? We don’t have any experience.”

“What? I don’t know who told you that nonsense, but you don’t need to cast defensive magic before the monsters appear. It’s even more so for other clan hunters. If you have defensive magic, save it for when you actually need it. They’re trying to trick you because you’re a rookie.”

Hearing that, the other hunters were even more anxious.

“What did you just say?”

“What, I can’t say that? You’re risking these young hunters’ lives to use them as shields. People like you are the reason the mortality rate of hunters is so high. You’re despicable!”

“Huh, you seem awfully confident that you’ll survive this raid. Let’s put that to the test...”

The hostile hunter paused. Before he knew it, Choi Yeonseung was holding his fist under his chin.

“Careful now. Unlike other martial artists, I’m not confident I can hold back. I’ll crush your jaw before you manage to cast any spells.”

“Y-you bastard...”

***

“Write it down, write it down. This should be on the record.”

“...I was the first to act,” Hwang Gyeongryong muttered. Have you already forgotten or are you purposefully ignoring that part?”

“I’ll write down a line about that too. Stop complaining.”

“Why are you so narrow-minded?”

Hwang Gyeongryong gritted his teeth at the reaction of the orcs. Lee Changsik looked at him with pity.

“What are you guys talking about?” Han Seha asked in a puzzled manner as she was passing by.

The orcs recognized her and were happy to see her.

“Oh, the new prosecutor!”

“We’re listening to the legends of our master!”

“Oh, I wanna hear it too!”

With that, Han Seha pushed the orcs aside and sat down. Hwang Gyeongryong felt more and more burdened as the number of spectators increased.

Wasn’t Han Seha an active A-grade hunter?

‘She’s not exactly tight-lipped...’

It would’ve been better if the orcs were his only audience.

***

“Let’s all stop. What are you doing?”

It wasn’t until the other clan hunters rushed in that the fight stopped. Choi Yeonseung, Hwang Gyeongryong, and Lee Changsik stepped back while staring at their opponents.

“Thank you so much! If you hadn’t told us, we would’ve...”

“I’m so sorry that you went through such trouble because of us...”

“Nah, it’s fine. I just did what I had to do,” Hwang Gyeongryong declared.

Choi Yeonseung and Lee Changsik also nodded.

“Besides, this dungeon isn’t that big of a deal. It’s just a battle of nerves.”

“I-Is that so?"

“Yes.”

After the rookie hunters left, Choi Yeonseung immediately said, “I’ll go after them. They’re the ones we’ll beat up first.”

“I was already planning on doing that.”

***

Han Seha slapped her knee.

That was it!

“As expected...!”

The orcs nodded in agreement to Han Seha’s response.

“The meticulousness of not killing them immediately, but waiting until there are no witnesses... As expected of Master!”

“Indeed, the way of doing things used to be more romantic.”

“Um... It was actually very rough, but...” Lee Changsik hesitated, wondering if that memory was actually a good one.

During the first generation, the quarrels between hunters were messier and more persistent than what the people of the modern generation might think.

These days, with many rules and methods to catch criminals, most hunters tried to avoid getting into nasty fights. But back in the day, hunters would constantly jump at each other’s throats, and the defeated would be left to die in the dungeon. Catching the culprit would be almost impossible.

“In any case, there were so many things like that. We had to be prepared for it.”

“It was a very good decision.”

“That’s right. That’s right.”

“Us orcs know the law. It’s self-defense.”

***

“I overheard their conversation. Once monsters show up, they’ll try to push us out first.”

“Those bastards...!”

“But we don’t have any evidence. What should we do?”

“Let’s attack first. There’s no one else to see it, as the other clans are spread out. Hit them as soon as a monster appears.”

“Yeah. We have to stay sharp if they’re planning to kill us. We strike first, right after a monster emerges...”

“I’ll run up to their leader and take him out.”

“Be careful, Yeonseung. They’re not that fast, but they’ll shatter your bones if they get a good magic hit on you.”

“You don’t have to worry.”

***

The orcs were moved to tears. The story of Choi Yeonseung stepping up for other hunters touched their hearts.

But Hwang Gyeongryong looked at them like it was ridiculous.

‘It hasn’t even started yet...’

Anyone who had listened up to this point would assume that the story was already over.

Kwon Yeongseung, who came late, asked an orc, “What are you talking about?”

“We are talking about how Master beat up other humans in a dungeon when he was a mortal. His story is most inspiring!”

“...What??? You were talking about

that

? Is it okay?”

The orcs looked at Kwon Yeongseung with confused expressions, wondering why it would be a problem to talk about this.

“Why? Isn’t it a story about Master’s heroism?”

“He didn’t make any mistakes and even risked his life for his comrades. Wait... You... I heard that among the humans, you’re a theater actor.”

“Movie star.”

“Yes, whatever! Tell this story to other humans! I’m sure they’ll be moved...”

“N-no...”

Kwon Yeongseung was flustered and tried to stop the orcs. Even if it had been self-defense, he couldn’t really make a movie about how Choi Yeonseung had beaten up other hunters in a dungeon a long time ago...

Regardless of the movie’s popularity, Choi Yeonseung’s supporters were bound to say, “Have you ever seen such a crazy person? They’re traitors!”

“It really is touching...”

Kwon Yeongseung couldn’t help glaring at Han Seha, thinking she was making fun of him. However, he was shocked after staring at her for a little longer.

‘Wait... She’s... serious?’

He couldn’t believe she was truly moved by that story.

It was absurd!