abcnovels
Chapter 55
Chapter 55
Chapter 55 – Omen (2)
“No. So, go quickly to that guild master, Hong or whatever his name is.”
“Ye-es..?”
“Go and deliver my message well.”
“Yes!”
“Now, I’ll speak slowly, so repeat after me carefully.”
Lee Pil-gyu, with all his teeth knocked out and his cheeks severely swollen, nodded his head frantically.
“From today.”
“Fwom today.”
“This dungeon”
“Dis dungeon”
“Belongs to the Badass Guild.”
“Bewongs to da Badass Guild.”
Lee Pil-gyu desperately tried to repeat, but his pronunciation was off due to his swollen face.
Kang Hyeon, who was listening, slapped Lee Pil-gyu’s cheek.
-Slap!
“Wh-why…”
Lee Pil-gyu, face planted on the ground, shed tears with an incredibly wronged expression.
“Why is your pronunciation so terrible? How can you deliver the message like that?”
‘You made me like this! You bastard’
The essence of Korean swear words unfolded brilliantly in Lee Pil-gyu’s mind.
However, life was precious, so he had to bury it in his heart.
‘I heard rumors, but this guy is a complete psycho!’
The other guild members could only tremble in fear watching this scene.
“I’m not asking for anything extraordinary. Just go and deliver a message to your guild master, is that so difficult? Huh?”
Han Si-hwan, watching this scene from afar, shook his head.
“He seems to be enjoying this… Is it just my imagination?”
“Um… Well…”
Jo Dong-won, standing beside him, couldn’t say it directly and just quietly nodded.
“And why do you have so little? There’s nothing useful here. Nothing I like at all.”
Kang Hyeon, examining the items looted from them, threw them on the ground as if discarding trash.
“Anyway, deliver my message well to that Mr.Hong Chae-yeon. Got it?”
“Yes…”
“Tell him the Badass Guild is taking this dungeon. You guys took it the same way, so you shouldn’t have any complaints, right?”
The Jung Jin Guild members desperately nodded at Kang Hyeon’s question.
“Now get lost.”
As soon as the words fell, they ran away without looking back.
“Hey.”
“Eek!”
Kang Hyeon caught one of the men.
The guy screamed as if he had seen a ghost.
“You need to take this trash with you. How can you just leave?”
As the man shifted his gaze, he saw Lee Pil-gyu whimpering with resentful eyes.
“I, I’ll take him…”
***
Ippotranslation
***
“What did you say? Say it again…”
Hong Chae-yeon’s eyes trembled as he received the report.
“Kang Hyeon attacked the ‘Village of the Dead’ and forcibly occupied it.”
“I can’t hear well, can you say it again?”
Hong Chae-yeon got up from his seat and approached the man.
“Kang Hyeon attacked the Village of the De-“
“Shut up. Shut up! Shut up!”
“…”
“Why is that crazy bastard picking a fight suddenly!? Whyyy!”
Her hysteria level, which had been rising recently, shot to the extreme.
Hong Chae-yeon, who was screaming loud enough to shake the office, barely caught her breath and continued.
“Haa, so what does he want? He must want something, right?”
“That…”
“He’s not just causing trouble for no reason, right?!”
“Yes, yes! That’s right. He wants us to hand over Jo Seong-chan and all the ‘Monster Power’ we have.”
“What…?”
Hong Chae-yeon’s eyes widened fiercely upon hearing the demands.
“I don’t care if we hand over a moron like Jo Seong-chan. I was getting tired of bullying him anyway.”
“…”
“But, hand over the Monster Power?”
“Yes…”
“Do you know how much that’s worth? Who does he think he is to demand we hand it over?!”
“He says if we don’t want all our other dungeons destroyed, we should hand it over quickly. He’ll be waiting until 12 noon tomorrow at the Village of the Dead…”
Hong Chae-yeon wasn’t even angry at these absurd words.
‘Who does he think he is, the police?’
Not only did he suddenly interfere in the matter without being the police, but he’s also demanding we hand over expensive medicine.
There had never been such tyranny.
“Even Joseon Dynasty corrupt officials were better than this…”
Hong Chae-yeon, who briefly wore a dejected expression, continued speaking.
“Prepare the elites among our guild members. About 50 of them.”
“Pardon?”
“Do I have to say it twice?”
“But Guild Master… Even though our guild’s strength has increased, we’re talking about Kang Hyeon. “
“So?”
“Based on all the rumors about him so far, you should consider him a monster of a completely different dimension.”
“And? What are you trying to say?”
“…”
“Are you saying we should just let someone who’s messing with our territory like some gangster go? Because it’s dangerous to touch him?”
“That’s not it, but…”
As the man hesitated, Hong Chae-yeon slammed the desk.
-Bang!
“Stop talking and get them ready.”
Her glaring eyes gradually turned red.
***
Ippotranslation
***
“A beer please.”
“Here you are.”
Kang Hyeon received the beer can handed over by Shin Seong-a and emptied it in one gulp.
“Phew… I should learn some ice-related magic soon.”
Summer had long ended and it was the season when autumn leaves were in full bloom. However, Kang Hyeon was not at all pleased with drinking lukewarm beer.
‘There’s less than thirty minutes left… Is this okay?’
Jo Dong-won’s eyes trembled anxiously as he watched.
He thought it might be too carefree, given that his family’s lives were at stake.
‘He’s certainly strong, but…’
Of course, he had seen Kang Hyeon’s skills once before.
But if the Jeong jin Guild came prepared and clashed head-on, even Kang Hyeon might not fare well.
“Hehehe. They’re coming.”
“Yes. They’re starting to appear at the end there.”
An Yu-seong spoke first, followed by Shin Seong-a.
‘What’s coming?’
Jo Dong-won looked around earnestly at their words but couldn’t find anything.
“They won’t just talk nicely. I expected that anyway.”
Kang Hyeon, who spoke last, got up from his seat and stretched.
‘They’re really coming!’
A moment later, something started to appear in Jo Dong-won’s eyes too.
Dozens of armed ability users.
People wearing armor with the red sword mark of the Jeong jin Guild were approaching this place.
“Brother!”
As the distance between them closed, Jo Seong-chan, completely battered, came into view.
Jo Dong-won’s eyes rolled back at the sight of Jo Seong-chan being dragged along the ground.
“Stay still.”
Kang Hyeon held back Jo Dong-won, who was about to rush out.
“But…!”
Jo Dong-won, who was about to say something, stopped when he saw Kang Hyeon’s eyes.
Eyes sunk impossibly low.
It was an appearance unimaginable from someone who had been joking around just seconds ago.
“…”
Finally, the two groups got close enough to see each other’s eyes.
-Thud
The Jeong jin Guild threw Jo Seong-chan down like trash.
“Urgh…”
Jo Seong-chan’s condition was much worse up close.
If he hadn’t been an ability user, it wouldn’t have been strange if he had died right away.
Jo Dong-won was furious, but first aid was important, so he carefully moved his brother to the back.
“We’ve handed over Jo Seong-chan, now withdraw from the dungeon.”
One guild member stepped forward and spoke.
“The medicine?”
“We put it in Jo Seong-chan’s pocket.”
Kang Hyeon nodded to Han Si-hwan.
Han Si-hwan hesitated for a moment but searched Jo Seong-chan’s clothes without a word and found the medicine.
“It’s here.”
“Thank you.”
The medicine in Kang Hyeon’s hand looked no different from common pills seen in hospitals.
“Are you kidding? Just three pills?”
“Do you know how much each of those pills costs to talk like that?!”
“I’m sure I told you to hand over everything you had.”
“You bastard!”
The Jeong jin Guild member became extremely agitated, thinking they were being disrespected.
He was about to rush out, but stopped as he felt a hand holding him back from behind.
“Vice Guild Master…”
“Wait for now.”
Woo Jin-hyung, the Vice Guild Master of the Jeong jin Guild.
In terms of pure strength, he was one of the top few in the guild.
‘Why is he trembling like that?’
But his current appearance seemed somewhat anxious.
-Crash…
Woo Jin-hyung couldn’t forget.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the scene of his sword shattering in Kang Hyeon’s hand.
To overcome that fear, he had constantly tried.
He focused on hunting to raise his level and increased his medicine dosage.
Thanks to that, he was able to gain tremendous strength in a short period.
‘But why. Why is my body trembling like this!?’
As he faced Kang Hyeon again, fear crept up, as if mocking his efforts.
“You there. You know me, right?”
For a moment, Kang Hyeon and Woo Jin-hyung’s eyes met.
“I, I don’t know…! No, I don’t know!”
The flustered Woo Jin-hyung blurted out a formal speech.
He could feel the guild members around him looking at him strangely.
“What nonsense are you talking? You know me. While I’m still asking nicely, bring all the medicine you have.”
“You crazy bastard! This person is the Vice Guild Master of the Jeong jin Guild. He’s not someone a thug like you can talk to carelessly!”
Woo Jin-hyung’s whole body trembled regardless of his will.
He wanted to cover the mouth of the idiot shouting next to him right away, but he couldn’t move.
“I don’t care if it’s Jeongja or Jeong jin. I’ll say it one last time. Hand over the medicine.”
Kang Hyeon held out his hand as if he had left something in safekeeping, demanding the medicine.
The continued brazen attitude started to anger Woo Jin-hyung as well.
‘That guy just wants to pick a fight!’
From Woo Jin-hyung’s perspective, Kang Hyeon just seemed to want to pick a fight.
Even if they had handed over all the medicine they had, he would have found a way to start a fight.
‘Am I that easy? I’m Woo Jin-hyung!’
Even though the world had changed to one where the words of the strong were law, that behavior was going too far.
Woo Jin-hyung vowed to show that justice was still alive in the world.
“Fuck! Kill him!”
The moment Woo Jin-hyung shouted, unfortunately, he didn’t see it.
The sight of Kang Hyeon smiling as if satisfied.
***
Ippotranslation
***
“He’s not human…”
Han Si-hwan of the Guardian Guild stood dazed with his mouth open.
His unfocused eyes captured the image of An Yu-seong weaving through dozens of people.
“Aaargh!”
“Gack!”
Every time An Yu-seong swung his mace, screams and the sound of something breaking could be heard.
Attacks were pouring in from all directions, but An Yu-seong avoided them all as if he had eyes on the back of his head.
“I didn’t know An Yu-seong was this capable.”
In the dungeon, there wasn’t time to observe An Yu-seong closely.
So he had only thought of him as a subordinate who just followed Kang Hyeon around.
“In some ways, he’s more of a monster than Kang Hyeon.”
Han Si-hwan’s gaze shifted towards Kang Hyeon.
“No. That’s a demon…”
Watching Kang Hyeon fight, Han Si-hwan recalled the situation from earlier.
-If a fight breaks out, Mr. Han Si-hwan and Mr. Jo Dong-won, please stay back.
-But…
-Tsk. You agreed to do as I say in exchange for coming along, right?
-I understand…
-And Shin Seong-a, An Yu-seong. If possible, subdue them without killing.
-Why?
An Yu-seong looked at Kang Hyeon with a dissatisfied expression at his words.
-Hmm… Just do as I say. Man! Are you some kind of bloodthirsty murderer or something? Huh? They’re still people, you can’t just kill them recklessly!
-Tch.
Han Si-hwan laughed dejectedly as he thought about that situation.
“I wonder who’s calling who a bloodthirsty murderer…”
Kang Hyeon was facing the enemies without wearing any weapons.
Kang Hyeon said it was to minimize casualties, but from what he could see now, that was definitely not the case.
“He’s just enjoying hitting them with his bare hands…”
Unarmed, Kang Hyeon fought completely like a berserker.
Clearly, Kang Hyeon was avoiding most attacks, but he couldn’t perfectly avoid all attacks like An Yu-seong.
However, Kang Hyeon was busy moving his two fists, not caring whether the enemies attacked or not.
“Gahack!”
Kang Hyeon’s fist exploded on one man’s jaw.
With the tremendous impact, his teeth declared independence and flew out, and the man himself flew through the air, defying gravity.
And Kang Hyeon’s hand that threw the punch was bare, not wearing a gauntlet.
“Hahahaha!”
“He’s definitely enjoying it…”
***
Ippotranslation
***
“Total annihilation…”
“What..?”
For a moment, Hong Chae-yeon was overwhelmed with the urge to rip apart the mouth of the man reporting.
“50 out of 50. All severely injured. Some of them are barely breathing, so they might never…”
“Stop. Stop it.”
“Yes.”
“I said stop!”
“Yes…”
Hong Chae-yeon screamed like a completely insane person, pounding on the desk.
-Bang bang bang bang!
“Stop, stop, stop, stop it, you fucking bastard!!!”
“…”
“What’s the reason? Huh? What’s the reason that bastard is doing this to me?!”
Hong Chae-yeon grabbed the man’s collar, looking at him as if she would strike if he didn’t answer immediately.
“I’m not sure…”
“We handed over Jo Seong-chan and gave them the medicine, we did everything! So why? Why?!”
-Crack, crack!
Hong Chae-yeon took out an Ax from her inventory and mercilessly struck the desk.
“Haa, haa…”
The man who was reporting swallowed hard at the sight of her madness.
‘She’s completely crazy… Insane!’
It was clear that the side effects of the drug that had been a concern before were now in full effect.
Trembling with fear, he pondered how he could leave the guild.
“Fine. I’ll do as he wants.”
“Pardon..?”
“I’m saying I’ll do as Kang Hyeon wants. Right now, buy all the medicine we can afford. And look into that new drug I mentioned recently.”
“Yes…”
“Kang Hyeon. If that’s what you want so badly, I have no choice.”
Hong Chae-yeon, panting, slammed the Ax into the floor.
-Thud!
“This is war.”