abcnovels
Chapter 202
Chapter 202
Chapter 202
If there was a decent dungeon abroad, a modern hunter would fly there to clear it and raid the monsters. However, there were exceptions. This was a proposal from China.
-A request for a raid came from the Chinese side? Reject it. Are you crazy? Do you want to have your passport taken away and to be kidnapped?
-Can that actually happen in this day and age?
-Yeah, those guys still do it.
-If they want me to go to China, they’re gonna have to pay me three times as much, and in advance.
-You’ll go if they pay you three times as much? I wouldn’t go even if they paid me ten times as much.
-Actually, I wouldn’t go either. I would just take the money and run away.
Usually, foreign hunters were given preferential treatment in any country. Even if the hunters caused trouble, the government just had to put up with it. Otherwise, if something went wrong later, they wouldn’t get any help from the foreign hunters.
Didn’t France evacuate an entire village for the American hunters and treat them with great hospitality during the last raid? In this kind of sense, China was playing with fire.
False information regarding dungeons!
Stolen raid loot!
Unilateral contract termination, last minute changes in payment and more!
If such things happened in any other country, people would say things like, "Wow, those people must be insane. Has the government gone crazy?" As far as the Chinese were concerned, they were committing acts of injustice as if they were collecting trophies.
Choi Yeonseung wondered if things had changed for the better since his return to Earth, so he asked Hwang Gyeongryong. Hwang Gyeongryong just shook his head desperately.
-Hey. Nothing has changed. Those guys are the same. They are the kind of people to hit you in the back of the head out of boredom... I will never send my clan hunters to them.
They were quite notorious, yet they suddenly came to him and made a proposal very confidently.
“Do you think I will believe your proposal?”
“Hunter Choi Yeonseung. I see that you’ve misunderstood our intentions. You have misconceptions regarding us because of the constant brainwashing and propaganda of the evil Americans.”
“...I had a lot of contact with the Chinese government since I am from South Korea. Don’t you remember the incident from over 30 years ago? A monster called Tenghuang that appeared off the coast of Incheon. I came because you guys said you couldn’t handle it, but you shamelessly claimed to know nothing about it...”
“It was a misunderstanding! We would never do that!”
“In any case, it’s a shame that you’ve misunderstood us. Hunter Choi Yeonseung, please, let’s clear up this misunderstanding. Shouldn’t us East Asian hunters team up?”
“...With Japanese hunters?”
Sometimes when going abroad, one could discover some ridiculous misconceptions.
-Wow, South Korea, China and Japan are three East Asian countries so they must be very close, right?
-In that case, since you are French, you must’ve allied with Germany in World War 2, right?
-...I’m sorry.
“Stop talking nonsense and get to the point.”
“Yes!”
No matter how arrogantly Choi Yeonseung spoke to the Chinese hunters, their facial expressions remained the same. As long as he was an A-grade hunter, he had the right to speak like that. If anything, there were people a lot worse than him in this regard.
-Where did you crawl in from? Get down on your knees and speak with your head in your hands!
-I-I will do it?
-Then you should be the damn party president now.
-...T-That, please...!
The proposal brought by the Chinese hunters was more normal than expected. One of the elf tribes from afar told them the location of a dungeon. The Chinese hunters proposed to attack the dungeon together and share the rewards. Upon hearing the news, a representative from Dragon Industry rushed over to look at the contract. Then he said, “It is fine. I don’t see any bad clauses.”
“Even if the contract’s fine, can’t they still trick me?”
“Yes. It’s possible, but only if they try it on Chinese soil. The Chinese government doesn’t do such crazy things outside.”
The Chinese government might treat others like dogs but they weren’t stupid. When it came to doing something unjust, they only did it if they knew they could get away with it. For example, if a foreign hunter was in their own country, they could play dirty. However, in the Abyss, they couldn’t really do anything to hunters from other countries.
The US government wasn’t a pushover either.
“That’s true.”
“That dungeon is supposed to be B-grade, so I think it’s pretty good. The location is also great.”
“Uhuh. Then let’s have the hunters of the Mount Hua Sect to attack it.”
“It’s a bit hard to do it only with martial artists... Wouldn’t it be dangerous?” the representative said carefully. He knew that the Mount Hua Sect hunters brought by Choi Yeonseung were doing an excellent job, but he was a bit worried about going out on a raid with only martial artists.
‘So it’s still like this?’
Choi Yeonseung was disappointed with the attitude of those in charge. Of course, he knew that the representative was just worried, but even those who had seen him up close still doubted martial artists.
“I’ll show you that I can do well with only martial artists.”
“If you need assistance then please contact me right away.”
***
Choi Yeonseung called out the Mount Hua Sect hunters and they gathered together. They had looks of anticipation but frowned when they heard who they were supposed to work with.
“It’s a trap!”
“I’m sure they are doing this just to mess with you!”
No one was as scared as people who left their own country because they didn’t like it. The resentment of the Mount Hua Sect, who escaped from China as if they were exiled, was frightening.
“E-Everybody, stop it.”
The noisy hunters fell silent when Iris, Li Yuyuan’s daughter, opened her mouth. Iris had a timid personality, but she was good at talking with her fists. After taking a few punches, it was hard to argue with her.
‘The more I see her, the more interesting she becomes.’
Choi Yeonseung found Iris fascinating.
Excellent hunters were usually bold and fearless. In the case of Han Seha, who was currently an A-grade hunter, her personality was so fiery that she couldn’t control her anger… In comparison, Iris was so timid that it was hard to believe she was a hunter. She couldn’t even make eye contact with people, so there really wasn’t anything else to say...
“I’ve checked it a few times but it doesn’t seem like a trap.”
‘Although there might be other ulterior motives.’
The person from Dragon Industry was outstanding. He gathered information about this and that and came up with a speculation.
-Choi Yeonseung. Perhaps not far from that dungeon, there might be something that the Chinese want to get their hands on. That could be why they want to use someone else’s power to clear the dungeon as quickly as possible.
-Oh... I see. Do you want me to search around the dungeon for whatever it is they want and get it before we start the raid?
-...N-No. I didn’t say that! I just wanted you to know...
It was Choi Yeonseung who could understand him perfectly even when he talked nonsense. If Hwang Gyeongryong was present, he would’ve praised Choi Yeonseung by saying, ‘This’s the spirit of an entrepreneur.’
“I guess they are the Chinese hunters.”
There was a harsh sound as vehicles specially built to withstand the harsh conditions of the Abyss approached. The Chinese hunters were inside them.
“...This!!”
“Do you know them?”
Louis Wang looked surprised.
“They are the Shaolin Temple bastards!”
“Aren’t they supposed to be bald?”
“...Not all members of the Shaolin Temple are bald!”
In modern times, the Chinese government wanted to take advantage of China’s proud cultural heritages, such as the Wudang Sect and Shaolin Temple, and name the clans after them.
‘It sounds counterproductive to forcefully name them like that…’
It was a ridiculous policy from Choi Yeonseung’s perspective, but it was a rule made by those at the top, and those at the bottom had no choice but to lower their heads. They had to be even more careful when it was a ruthless organization like China.
“You look resentful.”
“They are the government’s dogs...”
During the time when the Mount Hua Sect was being obliterated by the party and the government, the Shaolin Temple clan encouraged it instead of preventing it. After the Mount Hua Sect disappeared, they became even more powerful. Consequently, the hunters from the Mount Hua Sect had a deep-seated grudge against the hunters from the Shaolin Temple.
“You went to the United States and succeeded, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, and we’ve gotten much better than you guys. You can’t even master the martial arts you were told to learn so you resorted to magic.”
The words of the Mount Hua Sect hunter angered the Shaolin Temple hunters. They struck a nerve.
A party official once said, ‘If you are from the Shaolin Temple, shouldn’t you be good at martial arts?’
Then the people below him doubled down on that because they were trying to prove their loyalty.
‘Shaolin Temple needs to create more martial artists!’
‘If you can’t do it, it will be the end of you!’
Of course, as it had already been proven, martial artists could be created through force. In the end, Shaolin Temple chose the last resort.
That...
They used magic and claimed that it was martial arts.
-...Didn’t you use speed acceleration magic?
-It’s footwork! Here... Take this and go somewhere nice.
-Hmm. I see. Looking at it again, it really is footwork!
In contrast, the Mount Hua Sect were those who had mastered authentic martial arts. Therefore, they were bound to be full of pride.
“Bah. Rather, it became medicine for us. Most of our clan’s hunters are learning both martial arts and magic.”
“......!”
The Mount Hua Sect hunters were shocked. Learning both martial arts and magic at the same time?
“What if you fall behind because you’re trying to learn both at the same time?”
Choi Yeonseung listened from next to them and asked with a dumbfounded expression.
“Isn’t it great to learn both magic and martial arts?”
“Both must be properly mastered or there will be gaps. Besides, how did you even manage to learn martial arts...”
-Successor, you have shared your techniques of learning martial arts with the entire world.
“... These Shaolin Temple hunters might have learnt martial arts in a short period of time, but they’re not as proficient as you guys.”
“Didn’t you just say that martial arts have to be mastered properly?”
“You misunderstand.”
Choi Yeonseung’s words were sincere.
Just because Choi Yeonseung showed a method to quickly become stronger didn’t mean that one could easily become proficient. When it came to martial arts, it was important to build up internal energy and learn linked movements, but experience was equally important.
Choi Yeonseung would often gather the Mount Hua Sect hunters to beat them out of boredom... No, rather they would train together, so naturally they had gained more valuable experience than the Shaolin Temple hunters, who had trained on their own.
“I... I want to say something.”
Iris said while raising her hand and Choi Yeonseung nodded.
“What do you want to say?”
“P...Parents...”
“...Let’s not say it.”
Choi Yeonseung was frightened at the sight of Iris trying to curse their parents. It wasn’t the time for the two sides to have a fight with each other.
***
“But recently there have been many questionable proposals from different Abyssal races. How exactly did the Chinese clans check them?”
“We’re using all types of high-tech equipment and artifacts. Of course, it’s not perfect.”
The one who answered Choi Yeonseung’s question was a B-grade hunter from Shaolin Temple, Pan Wugang. It was said that he was treated as an elite even by the Communist Party. Perhaps that was why he gave off the impression of being exceptionally intelligent and cool-headed.
“Are you certain this time?”
“Yes. Of course. Otherwise, we wouldn’t recruit A-grade hunters from other countries.”
“How can you be sure?”
“The race that made the proposal this time are the elves.”
“...So?”
Choi Yeonseung was skeptical. So what if it was the elves?
However, Pan Wugang looked at Choi Yeonseung as if he had nothing more to say.
“Elves don’t lie, right?”
“...You are a very capable person.”
“Thank you.”
The goddess of sloth said with a sigh.
-It’s like a rite of passage that young people always have to go through once.
-...It hurts a bit to see a fellow human get scammed like this.