Chapter 109 : Chapter 109

Chapter 109 - Renewal (3)

“...Hey, Boss. Is that guy really going to be okay?”

“Huh?”

Jeong Joo-chan turned his head as he loaded his gun.

Because of the sunlight piercing through the forest and reflecting intensely off his head, the subordinate who asked the question had no choice but to frown for a moment.

“That guy, Kim Gyu-sik. I hear he’s no ordinary guy. You saw what he did in the Ordeal, didn’t you, Boss?”

“You foolish brat. That’s why we saddled him with a huge handicap, isn’t it?”

He had passed off only cadets who knew nothing and had no abilities, and he had also perfectly arranged for his pre-infiltrated agents to drive all the most dangerous and powerful demonic beasts toward him.

Compared to that, what about this side?

It was full of demonic beasts that were easy to hunt. They were all at the bottom of the food chain, with no resistance abilities, and all their efforts were focused solely on their reproductive capabilities to increase their numbers.

Jeong Joo-chan pulled the trigger once more. The mother bird’s efforts to protect her chicks were mercilessly in vain as the nest of giant birds was ruthlessly blown apart.

Although the points were much lower compared to dangerous demonic beasts, hunting these things down as they came was much more profitable compared to that guy, Kim Gyu-sik, who would be threatened by much more dangerous and powerful monsters.

“How many have we caught now?”

“Let’s see... we’ve caught about 30. That’s a truly enormous number for just one day.”

“See? I told you we don’t have to worry about a bottom-feeder like that.”

It wasn’t just about racking up points; if even one person on their side got injured or forfeited, he planned to tear them to shreds.

As expected, since he couldn’t even manage that, he was nothing but hype. A young and arrogant brat needed to know his place. If he nitpicked on that kind of thing, that brilliant reputation of his would be severely tarnished.

“That may be so... but.”

When the subordinate answered unenthusiastically, Jeong Joo-chan’s eyes turned a little more savage.

He was, at the very least, a veteran among veterans with over 10 years of experience as a Climber. There should be no one who dared to question his decisions.

“Are you questioning my words right now? Huh?”

“N-no, sir!”

“Tsk, that bastard. From what I’ve seen, it’s all just manipulation, manipulation. The Hunting Alliance deliberately exaggerated it to make good use of a signboard. Isn’t that right?”

“...”

How could the Hunting Alliance, who were not gods, manipulate what happened inside the Tower?

Such a rational rebuttal sprouted in the subordinate’s mind, but he decided not to voice it out loud.

This person, after all, was someone who liked to believe what he wanted to believe.

“That damn bastard... I’ll definitely teach him a lesson.”

Jeong Joo-chan muttered as he rubbed the back of his reddened head.

It was the mark left by Kim Gyu-sik, who had somehow completely ignored the subordinates spread around him, approached him, and struck him with all his might.

He remembered him muttering something about ‘not liking the lodging,’ but after that, he had been unconscious for an hour before waking up.

Cowardly bastard. He would find out what kind of disgusting trick he had used.

Jeong Joo-chan muttered, completely ignoring his subordinate’s gaze that seemed to say, ‘Are you really one to talk?’

“That guy, he must be completely ruined and on the verge of tears by now. Hehe, serves him right.”

I look forward to the final day’s settlement.

He couldn't suppress his joy at the thought of that arrogant brat’s face crumpling.

A sinister smile hung on his face.

***

“...A campfire is nice.”

Sipping on hot cocoa was heaven on earth. Roasted marshmallows were a bonus.

Ah, yes. This was it.

This was how a night in the forest should be.

Not a practical, compressed survival experience while being chased by guys with forced stat penalties, full-body invisibility, and one-shot kill-level attack power like in the Second Ordeal; this was healing and camping.

“...Um, Climber Seo Ah-in.”

“He’s always like that. Don’t ask.”

“...Okay.”

And on the side, the chicks and Seo Ah-in were conversing with slightly pale faces.

Why. What was the problem?

“No, really, what’s the problem?”

“...”

Seo Ah-in furrowed her brow and pointed a hand at the booby trap I had set up next to me.

It was a simple trap. A contraption designed so that if you touched the thread on the ground while passing by, sharp spikes would fall from above.

It was a basic trap, so what was wrong with it?

“...That giant cassowary caught there. It’s originally a demonic beast that barely scrapes by as C-class, right? Even at that level, it’s a level where most mana bullets won’t even penetrate, isn’t it?”

That may be so, but the giant cassowary has a spot about 3mm in size in the area extending from the back of its head to the back of its neck.

If you aim for that spot well, you can kill it in one blow with your bare fists. It wasn't C-class for no reason despite its high physical resistance.

“...And you did that in the wild with a trap made only with a survival knife?”

“Yeah.”

“Dropping a spike made from a tree branch at the exact right timing and position to hit a 3mm target? And it wasn't even you who shot it, but a trap?”

“Yeah. What’s so hard about that?”

“...”

The chicks clung to Seo Ah-in, on the verge of tears.

They looked as if they had seen a ghost.

“...U-um, Climber Seo Ah-iiiiiin...”

“He’s a man with a twisted sense of things. Just try to understand.”

“...”

They were treating me like some kind of alien.

No. Seriously. What in the world was so difficult about this?

“Then what about the thunder eagle over there that you caught just by throwing a dagger?”

“I know about 17 of its flight patterns, and you can figure it out quickly just by looking at the angle of its wing joint-”

“What about the poisonous frog here that fainted when you just blew on it?”

“There’s a moment before it attacks when its body temperature drops drastically, and if you catch that timing and apply a little heat within 3 frames, it will self-destruct on its own-”

It was true.

No matter how you looked at it, these were all basic hunting methods that anyone could do with just a little practice and effort.

While I was sincerely thinking that, the chicks, now on the verge of tears, were hiding in a line behind Seo Ah-in, clinging to her like a train.

“Yes, it’s okay. Don’t worry. He may look like that, but he’s actually a good person.”

“...”

“Anyway, how many demonic beasts have you caught like that so far?”

“122.”

Well, I did catch more than I thought.

I didn’t know why, but they rushed at me as if they were possessed. Thanks to that, I was able to catch them to my heart’s content without having to go looking for them.

In the original game, after hunting for about 3 hours, it was as if a fear of me was engraved into their DNA, and they would run away just from seeing me, so I had quite a hard time.

“...”

Seo Ah-in put a hand to her head and sighed.

“Um... Mr. Kim Gyu-sik. Even if you were to one-sidedly hunt demonic beasts with no resistance, you wouldn’t get that many.”

“Hey, no way. Where in the world would there be guys that incompetent?”

And if I continued hunting like that, the aftermath of the situation that followed this event would be very unpleasant.

The reason it was good to catch the ones that rushed at you with hostile intent was partly because it gave you more points, but also because the ‘special boss’ that appeared at the end of this event had a slightly peculiar nature.

Hmm, well.

If you treat nature with such a wicked heart, you’ll eventually receive divine punishment. I had to be careful.

“...How have you not changed at all, from then to now.”

“...”

And.

Hearing a voice I really didn’t want to hear from the side, I wondered if I, too, had been living with a bit of a wicked heart lately.

Strange. I didn’t think I was bad enough to meet this person, though.

“Oh, I think we’ve met before. I’m sure of it... Mr. Kim Jin-gyu?”

“Ah, you remember me? Thank you, Climber Seo Ah-in.”

The appearance of the ‘self-proclaimed’ extra, Mr. Kim Jin-gyu.

***

“It’s been a while. Climber Kim Gyu-sik.”

“...Ah. Yes.”

I greeted him with an awkward nod of my head.

This person introduced himself as an ‘event staff member’ in charge of the event, and then suddenly called me out separately, saying he had something to talk about.

He said this area was safe anyway since I had cleared it all out.

“...”

And honestly, I was breaking out in a cold sweat.

To be honest, there weren't many people I would feel uncomfortable meeting.

But this person was a bit of an exception.

Because he was someone who had several reasons to rationally question me about this and that.

“It seems you’ve been through a lot lately. In the Second Ordeal, and at the Grand Unification Event a while ago. And now you’ve participated in this bizarre form of rank renewal.”

“...”

Hmm.

But, you know, it was a little like that.

Seeing him suddenly babbling with a serious expression, it seemed like he had come to catch me today.

Mister. I did expect it would eventually come to this by now.

You did a good job of acting like a hidden powerhouse until now. Can’t you just keep doing that in the future?

“It’s as if you’re always preparing for something and moving busily. As if you already know what’s coming.”

“Excuse me. I’m not sure what you’re trying to say...”

“I have been watching you until now, Mr. Kim Gyu-sik.”

For the first time, the honorific ‘Climber-nim’ that used to be attached to my name disappeared.

As soon as I realized that fact, my whole body tensed up.

“I was always curious about how someone who knows so much would deal with the upcoming situations. Because if there were even the slightest things that were wrong, I would have had to cut you down as you were. I couldn’t let my daughters associate with such a person.”

“...”

And the story flowed as expected.

Well.

I had been hanging around the Seo sisters for so long, it was a stage I couldn’t have passed without ever being found out.

“Well, you probably have an idea. Let me reintroduce myself.”

Mr. Kim Jin-gyu, no.

“I am the head of the Hunting Alliance, and the father of Ah-in and Hye-in. I am Seo Jin-seong. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The man who was always counted among the strongest climbers in Korean history, along with Kim Kang-in.

The strongest swordsman in the Conqueror's world.

The big-shot climber called the Dragon of Asia, and.

The person who would become the ‘key’ to the ending route I desired.

Mr. Seo Jin-seong smiled faintly.

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