abcnovels
Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Bait Guild (2)
“That’s enough.”
A man appeared with a relaxed smile. At his words, Kang Hyeon released his grip.
“Ugh…”
Finally freed from Kang Hyeon’s grasp, Kim Hyeon-woo frowned while rubbing his hand.
“Are you the boss of these thugs here?”
“Haha. Yes, that’s right. I’m Jeong Eui-hyeon. You’re more interesting than I expected.”
It was a statement that could have offended anyone, but Jeong Eui-hyeon countered casually without changing his expression.
“If you don’t mind, would you tell me your name?”
“I don’t want to. Let’s cut the unnecessary chatter and get to the point.”
Jeong Eui-hyeon nodded at Kang Hyeon’s response.
“If that’s how you want it… I’ll be direct. Join our Bait Guild as an executive.”
“…”
“We’ll provide everything you need for wealth, honor, and growth without hesitation.”
As Kang Hyeon had expected, Jeong Eui-hyeon had been waiting to recruit him after seeing his skills.
‘If we can just put this man forward, the Bait Guild can easily grow into one of the top massive guilds.’
This was the thought that occurred to Jeong Eui-hyeon as soon as he received the report about Kang Hyeon.
He didn’t care at all about the well-being of his injured subordinates.
His mind was just filled with future business plans.
‘An undiscovered strong player. We must recruit him at all costs.’
After that, Jeong Eui-hyeon had already imagined in his mind a guild that would expand beyond Korea to the world, but that was just his own delusion.
“No.”
Kang Hyeon, living up to his title of ‘One Who Does Not Hold Back’, answered firmly.
“I didn’t expect you to accept right away. Here’s my business card. Think it over gradually.”
Despite Kang Hyeon’s rude attitude, Jeong Eui-hyeon smiled and handed over his business card.
“Hmm…”
Kang Hyeon quietly accepted the card. Then he held the card with both hands.
-Rip, rip!
The card in his grasp was instantly torn into dozens of pieces in Kang Hyeon’s hands.
“No matter how trashy I am, I don’t do thug stuff like you guys. Who are you third-rate gangster bastards trying to recruit?”
-Flutter
The pieces of the business card Kang Hyeon threw scattered in all directions.
At this sight, Jeong Eui-hyeon’s smile, which he had maintained throughout, began to tremble at the corners of his mouth.
“What, are you pissed? Want to have a proper fight?”
Although anger rose to the top of his head, Jeong Eui-hyeon desperately tried to maintain a smiling face.
However, his face twisted grotesquely as his expression didn’t cooperate with his intentions.
“No… I just wanted to talk today. Let’s speak again when we have another opportunity.”
“Bullshit. Talking about next opportunities.”
Kang Hyeon snorted at Jeong Eui-hyeon’s words and turned around.
“It was shitty meeting you. Let’s never see each other again.”
As Kang Hyeon went down the mountain, he inwardly sighed with relief.
‘That was close.’
In truth, he was in a state where he didn’t have much magical power left after clearing the dungeon.
In a situation where he didn’t know how strong or what abilities any of the over 100 ability users had.
Even if he fought in perfect condition, he couldn’t guarantee victory.
If he fought now with his magical power depleted, it was obvious he would be crushed nine times out of ten.
“Phew…”
Finally, after deactivating all his skills, Kang Hyeon let out a sigh of relief as he got into Bentley No. 2.
***
Ippotranslation
***
“Kim Hyeon-woo”
“Yes.”
Kim Hyeon-woo quickly approached at Jeong Eui-hyeon’s call.
“Put people on him and find out everything about that bastard, down to the smallest detail.”
“Understood.”
As Kim Hyeon-woo bowed his head and left, Kim Seong-woo was soon dragged in front of Jeong Eui-hyeon.
“What’s this?”
“A traitor. He volunteered to be that bastard’s guide.”
At the guild member’s words, Jeong Eui-hyeon suddenly broke into a broad smile.
“Sword.”
At Jeong Eui-hyeon’s single word, a guild member quietly handed over a sword.
“Please… Just spare my life!”
Sensing his impending death, Kim Seong-woo knelt down and begged.
“You want to live?”
“Yes! I’ll do anything. Please, just spare my…”
-Shunk!
Before he could finish pleading for his life, Jeong Eui-hyeon’s sword mercilessly plunged into Kim Seong-woo’s heart.
“Gack…”
Kim Seong-woo’s eyes widened in disbelief, and blood gushed from his mouth.
“How dare a traitor think of living?! You worm!”
Jeong Eui-hyeon, whose attitude changed in an instant, shouted sharply.
His face was contorted like a demon, without a trace of a smile.
***
Ippotranslation
***
July. The summer days are excruciatingly long.
The time had already passed 6 PM, but the scorching sun showed no sign of retreating.
-Buzz
Kang Hyeon, who had been frowning and shielding his eyes from the sunlight with his hand, took out his smartphone from his pocket.
Then he opened his contacts.
[Kim Tae-soo]
A welcome name he hadn’t seen in a long time.
“It’s been 7 months?”
On the day the tutorial started, Kang Hyeon had been pathetically beaten by Kim Tae-soo and received 300,000 won.
So much had happened since then that it felt like years had passed, but it was surprising that not as much time had actually elapsed as he thought.
“Hoo…”
With an expression of having made some kind of decision, Kang Hyeon made the call.
-You’re alive?
“Of course, man.”
-Haha. What’s up?
Just hearing the voice of his old friend was enough to lift his spirits.
“Want to grab a drink after a long time?”
-Sounds good. Let’s go to that pork belly place we used to frequent.
“When can you come out?”
-I can come right now.
“Okay. I’ll be waiting.”
***
Ippotranslation
***
Kim Tae-soo, who arrived at the meeting place, looked around eagerly.
“Where is this guy? He said he’d be waiting.”
Just as he was about to make a call after not being able to find Kang Hyeon anywhere,
“Hey, Kim Tae-soo!”
Kim Tae-soo turned around at the voice calling him.
“Oh! Kang Hyeon..?”
Kim Tae-soo blinked for a long time as he looked at Kang Hyeon.
“Is that you, Kang Hyeon?”
“You punk. Can’t even recognize your friend after not seeing him for a while.”
Although Kang Hyeon spoke to him in a friendly manner, Kim Tae-soo still had a confused expression.
“Did you get a job as a fitness trainer? No, are you a martial arts fighter?”
Kang Hyeon’s bulging muscles were visible through his short-sleeved shirt, and his eyes had a fierce light in them.
A man who gave off a dangerous aura at first glance.
Kim Tae-soo doubted if this man was really his skinny and dull-looking friend Kang Hyeon.
“It just happened somehow. Haha… What are you doing! Let’s go in. I’m hungry.”
“Oh, okay…”
In fact, their last meeting had been quite awkward, and seeing each other after a long time made them feel a bit uncomfortable.
However, those feelings naturally disappeared after a few rounds of drinks with delicious meat.
“I was sorry about that time.”
Kim Tae-soo smiled pleasantly at Kang Hyeon’s words.
“It’s in the past, why keep bringing it up. It’s fine. Let’s talk about something else.”
Kang Hyeon laughed at Kim Tae-soo’s words.
‘He’s always been like this since we were young.’
Always caring for him, full of affection, and without grudges.
Kim Tae-soo, who was righteous, responsible, and diligent.
He was always a good friend and an idol to Kang Hyeon.
“Is Kang A-hyun doing well?”
“She’s the same as always. Working well at her company.”
“I see.”
“What about you? Are you still working at the same company as before?”
Kim Tae-soo’s expression darkened a bit at Kang Hyeon’s words.
“I changed jobs. I’m doing paperwork at Dangun Guild now.”
“Oh, Dangun Guild? You’ve made it, man!”
Even though Kang Hyeon was out of touch with the world, he knew well about the current position of Dangun Guild.
He felt proud that his closest friend is working at such a place.
“I got in through a connection by chance. The salary is almost double, so I was tempted.”
“Hey, that’s great, so why do you look so gloomy?”
“Actually, my father…”
Just as Kim Tae-soo was about to say something, a commotion was heard from one side of the restaurant.
“Hey! Is this the place?”
“Nice. Order whatever you want!”
“Are you crazy?! You got a lot of money or what?!”
Several men were entering the restaurant, heavily drunk.
Even though the restaurant was already noisy, the men made enough noise to make people frown immediately.
“Who are these bastards?”
Kang Hyeon’s face wrinkled at the men’s commotion.
“Hey, leave them be. What’s wrong with being a bit noisy in a meat restaurant where people drink?”
Even when he was all skin and bones, Kang Hyeon had a strong pride and often got into fights.
Now that his body had become muscular, Kim Tae-soo stepped in to stop Kang Hyeon, not knowing what kind of trouble he might cause.
“Well, you’re right. What were we talking about? What about your father?”
“Never mind. Let’s just drink. Cheers!”
And so, a few more rounds of drinks were shared in a joyful atmosphere.
Before they knew it, the empty soju bottles in front of them had already exceeded 6.
“Wow, Kang Hyeon. Have you improved your drinking?”
“You punk. You used to nag me about drinking well, now you can’t keep up? Hehe.”
“You’re still far behind, man.”
While they were exchanging jokes, Kang Hyeon suddenly stood up from his seat.
“Where are you going?”
“Gotta poop.”
“Hahaha.”
Kim Tae-soo laughed heartily at Kang Hyeon’s words and stood up from his seat.
“Go ahead. I’ll have a smoke while I wait.”
“Okay.”
A moment later.
Kang Hyeon, coming out of the bathroom with a relieved expression. His face suddenly wrinkled.
“What the?!”
Kang Hyeon rushed to Kim Tae-soo, who was lying collapsed.
***
Ippotranslation
***
Right after Kang Hyeon went to the bathroom.
Kim Tae-soo, who was going out to smoke, stopped at the commotion he heard from nearby.
“What are you doing?!”
“You bitch, why are you playing so hard to get? Just come with us!”
“Do you girls know who we are? We’re from Han Seong Guild.”
The men who had entered the restaurant drunk and causing a disturbance were now harassing the women at the next table.
“Hey, shouldn’t we stop them?”
“They said they’re from an ability user guild… Haven’t you watched the news lately? There are quite a few people who’ve been disabled after getting involved in assault cases with ability users.”
Kim Tae-soo assessed the situation after hearing the whispers around him.
The drunkenness in his eyes was now replaced with anger.
“Stop it now.”
“Who are you?”
“Can’t you see these people don’t like it? What are you doing in a business establishment?”
At Kim Tae-soo’s firm tone, the men frowned and stood up.
“Who are you to tell us what to do?”
“What’s with this guy? Do you know who we are?”
“You old-fashioned bastard. What are you gonna do if we don’t stop? You wanna fight?!”
As the men approached, Kim Tae-soo held out his hand to stop them.
“If you continue like this, I’ll call the pol-… Ugh!”
One of the men struck Kim Tae-soo as he was about to say he’d call the police.
“What are you gonna do if you call the police? What, huh?!”
*Thud, thud!*
As time passed, the gap between ordinary people and ability users was widening.
Kim Tae-soo had been diligently training his body as part of his self-management, but it was no match for ability users who risk their lives fighting monsters in dungeons.
“Ptui! You worm.”
“Hahaha! Hey, do it more.”
One of the men spat on the fallen Kim Tae-soo. His companions were holding their stomachs and giggling as they watched.
“Phew. Acting all high and mighty like some hero when you’re nothing.”
“I thought I was watching some superhero movie for a second there.”
“Hahaha!”
“Stop it nowww! Pfft!”
Despite the men’s mockery, the fallen Kim Tae-soo could only groan.
“This is what happens when you stick your nose in other people’s business. Got it, mister?”
“Urghh…”
“Think of it as a life lesson, courtesy of us.”
When Kim Tae-soo showed no reaction, the men’s expressions showed their excitement fading.
“Tch, let’s go. This just ruined the mood.”
“Because of some worthless thing. Shit.”
Just as the men were about to leave.
*Click*
Finally, Kang Hyeon came out of the bathroom.
“What the?!”