abcnovels
Chapter 121
Chapter 121
Chapter 121
“N-No…”
Choi Yeonseung ignored the hunters attempting to stop him and looked away.
“So, are you an industrial spy?”
“P-Please call me an unofficial scout, not an industrial spy, Hunter Choi Yeonseung,” Kim Chanseong, who was caught trying to take Ronald away, replied while wiping the sweat on his forehead. Kim Chanseong wasn’t that strong, but he had seen several strong hunters due to the nature of his work. In the hunter industry, where only people with broken personalities gathered, strong hunters were like walking time bombs.
‘This hunter is really strong!’
Despite Choi Yeonseung’s hunter rank and raid achievements, Kim Chanseong instinctively felt it. If he got on the wrong side of this person, not even his bones would survive.
“W-We are both Koreans.”
The Mount Hua Sect hunters booed Kim Chanseong.
“Boo. What nonsense is that?”
“Once you’ve left your hometown, then you shouldn’t use it anymore!”
“Why are you clinging to that?!”
Choi Yeonseung raised a hand as if telling them to be quiet.
“If you are an industrial spy, then you probably know a lot.”
“I don’t know much.”
“Really?” Choi Yeonseung looked at Kim Chanseong. “Kids, the industrial spy here says he doesn’t know much. Please make him think otherwise.”
“That is our specialty, Choi Yeonseung!”
“No! No! Ask me anything you want!”
“There is nothing to be nervous about. I don’t intend to ask you about anything big.”
Choi Yeonseung really didn’t intend to ask about anything big. How much did an industrial spy, or a scout, know in the first place? He just thought of asking random questions.
“What type of clan is the Golden Blood Fish?”
“Our clan has an A-grade hunter! ‘Blue Dragon Sword’ Hunter Jeong Wonuk leads us!” Kim Chanseong mentioned their clan leader with all his might.
He wanted Choi Yeonseung to respond like, ‘Your clan leader is an A-grade hunter? That’s amazing. I should be more respectful.’
“What? Jeong Wonuk?” Choi Yeonseung was shocked.
“Yes! Jeong Wonuk!”
“Jeong Wonuk, the former member of the Beggar Gods clan?”
“Yes! You know him!”
“The Jeong Wonuk who peed out of fear in a D-grade dungeon?”
“... Huh? I’ve never heard that before…”
Kim Chanseong hesitated. Their clan leader, who exuded a storm of charisma and seemed to be the epitome of strictness and discipline, actually peed in a dungeon?
“No? Hmm. I didn’t think such a guy would make it all the way to the rank of A grade...”
Choi Yeonseung was amazed. He met Jeong Wonuk in the past while clearing dungeons with Hwang Gyeongryong.
As a rookie, Jeong Wonuk got rated D during his measurement during a time when even D-grade was considered quite high. However, he made a mistake that almost got him killed due to his lack of experience in a dungeon. Fortunately, Choi Yeonseung’s party saved him.
-Is he really that rookie? Isn’t he too sloppy?
-He’s also timid. His personality doesn’t seem suited to this profession.
-I think so as well. I bet he’ll retire early.
… Such a hunter making it to grade A was amazing.
“In any case, since your clan leader is an A-grade hunter, then it has to be one of the best clans in South Korea.”
Each country only had around ten A-grade hunters. The clan they led was bound to be huge!
“Yes!”
“So you did a big thing and came all the way to the United States for industrial espionage?”
“... T-The US does it as well. I’m here on a formal visit.”
“Why did you have to disguise yourself, then? In any case, I understand. I’ll send you back safely, so don’t forget my grace.”
“Thank you!”
He was currently staying in the US because of Hwang Gyeongryong, but he would have to return to South Korea one day. It wasn’t just because he was Korean. Choi Yeonseung, who had to gather faith on Earth, couldn’t leave any country alone. Taking that into consideration, he thought there was no harm in showing grace to the Golden Blood Fish clan.
‘I wonder if I’ll have a better chance of accumulating faith in South Korea...’
“Choi Yeonseung, are you planning on coming to South Korea?”
Kim Chanseong’s words made the Mount Hua Sect hunters furious.
“You’re really going to keep doing that? Do you want to die?”
“If you want to go there, then go alone.”
“Ah... No. I was just asking... Hunters live a good life in South Korea these days...” Kim Chanseong muttered timidly out of fear.
“Is South Korea a good country for hunters?” Choi Yeonseung asked, curious about what he had just heard.
30 years ago, South Korea wasn’t a good place to live for hunters. It offered less support, had many monsters emerging, and was infested with many scouts from other countries... Moreover, its neighboring countries weren’t well-behaved either.
China, North Korea, and Japan took turns causing trouble! Monsters broke out of dungeons because they failed to clear them, but they pretended not to know and handed them over to other countries. As a result, they often received swear words. That was why Hwang Gyeongryong cursed when he was drunk.
“Yes. It has become a lot better. Hunter Choi Yeonseung is quite... Were you already a hunter when you were still in Korea? We’re no longer in that situation.”
“Oh? How is it different?” Choi Yeonseung asked. He looked excited. Hwang Gyeongryong grumbled all the time, so Choi Yeonseung couldn’t ask him anything.
“First of all, relevant laws have been passed, so the treatment our hunters receive is no longer inferior to other countries.”
“Really?”
Kim Chanseong’s detailed explanation made Choi Yeonseung curious.
Laws that recognized the hunters’ rights to the monsters they had slain and the cores they had obtained were just the beginning. Now, they even had laws now that allowed the country to take responsibility and care for the hunters who were injured fighting for citizens.
‘The world has changed a lot.’
To be honest, it was a bit touching. If this had happened before, Hwang Gyeongryong and Lee Changsik wouldn’t have had to fight.
“That’s a relief, but hasn’t its situation become worse? There are several evil god constellations there.”
In the past, South Korea used to and still did have a terrible geographical location. The Master of Slowness and Silence occupied northern China, and another evil god constellation occupied North Korea as well. All kinds of monsters would’ve flowed out of the evil god constellation’s territory. It was terrible just thinking about it.
“Huh? Ah. Things are better than you think.”
“...???”
Choi Yeonseung couldn’t understand what Kim Chanseong meant. It was better than he thought? Did he mean everyone adapted to it so it was okay now?
“No matter how terrible the location, it certainly becomes bearable if you adapt. Still, aren’t you being too positive?”
“Ah, that isn’t it, Hunter Choi Yeonseung. Have you seen what the territories ruled by the two constellations look like lately?”
“I haven’t.”
Choi Yeonseung recalled the kingdoms of constellations in the Abyss. They were hell where all types of bizarre and transcendent phenomena took place! However, Earth was different. The human race wasn’t as strong as the races of the Abyss. If they treated Earth the same way they treated the Abyss, all the humans would die.
Therefore, the countries on Earth dominated by constellations surprisingly looked fine on the surface. It just seemed as if they were under a dictatorship. Those countries were fine on the outside but had twisted and complicated inner workings!
“Those areas have to be dangerous. Just now, the Expert of Twisted Hallucinations sent his minions to make a mess.”
“But the Master of Slowness and Silence doesn’t do such a thing.”
“What? Really?”
“Yes. He is considered a quiet and docile constellation among the evil god constellations.
-He’s not wrong.
The Goddess of Defeat and Sloth interjected.
Choi Yeonseung happily asked.
-What? Are you bored?
-... I’m not going to talk to you again.
-I’m joking.
-Hmm. The Master of Slowness and Silence is quite similar to me. He’s lazy and hates noise... If I were to compare him to an animal on Earth, he’d be like a very large whale.
-Is he like a skyray?
-What is that?
-A skyray. It’s a very famous... Nevermind.
Choi Yeonseung tried to explain, ‘Oh, it’s from Lee Yeongdo’s novel,’ but he stopped. He doubted the Goddess of Defeat and Sloth would have read a novel from Earth.
-Anyway, so he’s an incredibly huge whale...
-Yes. In the past, he rarely attacked first. He’s the type to keep his kingdom quiet...
-But didn’t he conquer China?
-I don’t know about that. No matter the constellation, they’re bound to get angry.
As the two conversed, Kim Chanseong continued. “In any case, northern China is more peaceful than you think under the Master of Slowness and Silence’s rule. Every now and then, videos would appear about that place only having two rules.”
“What are they?”
“No more than 20 km/hr. No louder than 70 dB of sound.”
“... Wow. That’s really simple.”
Choi Yeonseung was surprised. It wasn’t as bad as he thought. Everything was fine for as long as they lived slowly and quietly. It was surprisingly okay.
“What about the factories in northern China, then?”
“They have all been closed, as far as I know.”
“What do people eat?”
“They say that the constellation uses magic to make his citizens incapable of feeling hungry.”
‘... Isn’t that better than before?’
Choi Yeonseung was surprised. In the past, people had to work hard for 12 hours to eat one meal a day. Now they just had to be slow and quiet and the constellation would feed them.
… Wasn’t it really nice?
“What about North Korea? Is the constellation that rules North Korea as peaceful and quiet?”
“Not really, but... the constellation that rules North Korea is more neutral than an evil god constellation.”
The Snake of Alcohol and Dancing ruled North Korea. According to the testimonies of several good god constellations, the Snake of Alcohol and Dancing was more neutral than evil. It was just that the people of Earth labeled her as an evil god because she occupied North Korea. In any case, as a neutral constellation, the Snake of Alcohol and Dancing didn’t commit any destruction or atrocities.
‘Isn’t the Snake of Alcohol and Dancing that constellation?’
Choi Yeonseung was surprised. It was the constellation who gave him a drink as a gift when he was thinking about how to improve his Abyss territory! That constellation was the one who occupied North Korea?
‘I never would have imagined it.’
“Then what is the state of North Korea? Do they drink and dance every day?”
“You’re right on the mark.”
“... Really?”
“Yes, really…?”
Choi Yeonseung was dumbfounded to find out he was right. North Korea had turned all their factories and facilities into breweries. 90% of the country’s industries made alcohol!
“... I can’t adapt to Earth.”
Choi Yeonseung muttered over and over again.
***
After listening to Kim Chanseong’s explanation, Choi Yeonseung sneakily brought up Lee Changsik. Lee Changsik was the vice clan leader and was a pillar of the clan. Whenever Lee Changsik was brought up, Hwang Gyeongryong would sulk and say, ‘Don’t talk about that cheeky bastard,’ but Choi Yeonseung didn’t pay any attention to him. Choi Yeonseung had heard that he was criticized for taking over the director position of the national team...
“I heard that Lee Changsik is leading the national team these days?”
“Ah. You mean the SSL?”
Kim Chanseong wasn’t too surprised by Choi Yeonseung’s question. SSL was one of the best sports in the world. Even those who had spent the last 30 years in the Abyss could quickly become fans of that game!
“... Do you think he is doing well?”
“Aish. He’s in the worst situation.”
“......”
Choi Yeonseung clenched his fists. Kim Chanseong wasn’t aware of it, but the Mount Hua Sect hunters held their breath. Was he going to blow this bastard’s head off? They were martial artists, so clenched fists looked like tank shells to them.
“The Korean players aren’t very good.”
Choi Yeonseung’s fists opened up. His expression also slightly softened.
“Really? Isn’t it the director’s fault?”
“Why would it be the director’s fault? The players are the ones who are lacking. Only those who don’t understand that curse at him.”
Choi Yeonseung’s fists had completely opened up.
“Nobody should curse at him either way. If only they knew what Hunter Lee Changsik has done for South Korea. Bluntly put, a lot of people would’ve died if Hunter Lee Changsik decided to leave South Korea. Even in such a difficult situation, he persevered and kept hunting down monsters...”
“... Right! You’re truly knowledgable and wise.”
“???”
Choi Yeonseung suddenly felt better. Meanwhile, Kim Chanseong was flustered. What was wrong with this person?