abcnovels
Chapter 264
Chapter 264
Chapter 264
Every time new Abyssal races came on Earth, took over a city, and acted as they pleased, there were bound to be people who disapproved of it.
The British Hunters were one of them.
They had received special treatment from the collector constellation. Hunters with a noble background were especially privileged and favored.
In other countries, it was often said that hunters were nobles, but only in a sarcastic way. The hunters weren’t real noblemen, which meant they still faced punishment if they committed major crimes, and they also paid taxes on the income they earned from raids.
Meanwhile, with the support of the collector constellation, the British hunters were literally treated as nobles. Therefore, it was inevitable that those hunters wouldn’t be pleased with the situation that had changed overnight.
“I’ll go and speak to him.”
Clive was considered to be one of the best British hunters. If he hadn’t been stuck in the closed-off England, he most likely would’ve earned the A-grade rank. He was quite a vocal person in the United Kingdom, so it was natural for him to step forward in this situation.
“Hunter Choi Yeonseung!”
“What?”
The clan hunters lying down in the courtyard garden of Buckingham Palace frowned at the sight of the guests. They had been enjoying themselves...
‘They’re a bunch of cheeky outsiders.’
Naturally, the British hunters were also displeased with the outsiders.
The collector constellation had been ruling for decades, and even the most disloyal hunters had become used to his rulership. Furthermore, the British hunters had been living a comfortable life, so they were bound to feel even more reluctant toward the outsiders.
“What? Are they British hunters?”
“Are they here to seek asylum? If that’s the case, they can contact the US government.”
The clan hunters from the United States spoke kindly.
Of course, the British hunters here had no intention of doing such a thing. They had been eating and living well here. Why would they defect to the United States?
“I’m here to see Hunter Choi Yeonseung,” said Clive
“Hunter Choi Yeonseung? He’s busy...”
“It’s very important!”
“I understand. Calm down. I will pass it on.”
The British hunters decided to wait and see.
It was a bit strange, but these US hunters were still listening.
‘Wait... Did those bastards take the treasures of the United Kingdom from the British museum?’
‘No way. It can’t be.’
It wasn’t long before Choi Yeonseung appeared. With one hand, he was holding the head of the charging nightmare demon and pressed down to restrain it. He gestured with his other hand as he gave instructions to the orcs. He then asked, “I’ve heard you have something important to tell me?”
“T...That’s correct.”
Now that they faced Choi Yeonseung, the British hunters were a bit reluctant to talk.
'What?'
Clive was also embarrassed.
Obviously, when he had heard about Choi Yeonseung, he hadn’t thought that there was that big of a difference between their abilities. Choi Yeonseung was in fact an A-grade hunter, but Clive, despite not having a rating, had also been told that he was as strong as A-grade hunters.
Even so, now...
Choi Yeonseung, who was facing him, gave off such an intense aura that Clive instinctively flinched. Had the Undefeated Incarnation of Training bestowed his power upon his followers?
In fact, Clive’s idea was only half wrong.
This wasn’t the power that the Undefeated Incarnation of Training had bestowed on his household members. Clive could feel that power because Choi Yeonseung himself was a constellation.
This happened because Choi Yeonseung’s power as a constellation had increased significantly. He couldn’t conceal this kind of aura even if he wanted to. On top of that, Choi Yeonseung now ruled over the United Kingdom, so it was natural that his power seemed amplified.
“I... I’m here to congratulate you on your victory.”
Clive couldn’t help stammering slightly, and his attitude was rather polite.
Choi Yeonseung nodded. “I appreciate it.”
“Hunter Choi Yeonseung, since you’re not British, you probably don’t know much about the United Kingdom. I’m here to offer you advice on how to govern our country.”
“Oh. Advice?”
Choi Yeonseung was delighted. Right now, he welcomed anyone’s advice.
The angel constellation had said ridiculous things like ‘Let us arm all the British people and fight the evil god constellation!’ Therefore, Choi Yeonseung needed some reliable advice.
-Why don’t you send all the bastards who colluded with the collector constellation to the Abyss to live on the farm?
-Odaigon. That’s a bit... I can’t do that, okay?
-Huh? But I thought this would be quite lenient...?
[The ‘Manipulator of Dreams and Desires’ is wondering why you don’t put them in a sealed temple so that they repent for the rest of their lives.]
-What would they do there?
[The ‘Manipulator of Dreams and Desires’ says it’s a place where they can easily spend around a hundred years in a void where they can’t feel anything...]
-......
Those from the uncivilized Abyss came up with a series of policies that even Choi Yeonseung found ridiculous. Of course, the orcs and nightmare demons weren’t incompetent.
The temples that the nightmare demons had built right after they arrived on Earth produced powerful magic and maintained various kinds of magic, while the plants grown by the orcs purified the polluted air.
Just like a country changed under the influence of the constellation that occupied it, the orcs were also showing unexpected abilities.
—Although, the citizens were terrified of the orcs.
Choi Yeonseung asked Clive, “So what’s your advice?”
“Clearly, the hunters from the outside world aren’t very familiar with the situation in the United Kingdom. It’s even more so in the case of Abyssal races.”
“That’s right. Then who’s the right pick?”
“Those of us who know the United Kingdom well.”
The British hunters became more confident after seeing Choi Yeonseung talk to them in a surprisingly easy-going manner. It was unexpectedly easy to persuade him.
‘Even if a new constellation takes over, it’s difficult to rule this country without any help.’
‘The collector constellation also left most of the work to humans.’
Choi Yeonseung wondered, “You guys?”
“Yes! I’m in charge of the Hunter Administration and the Export Credit Bureau, and Bonaville here is in charge of the Land Registry and Internal Revenue Agency...”
“...???”
Choi Yeonseung became puzzled as he listened. Why did these hunters have multiple positions instead of just one?
“I don’t understand. Are you saying you’re in charge?”
“That’s correct.”
“What about other experts?”
“Of course, there are experts in the ministries as well!”
“Wouldn’t it be better for those experts to take care of it?”
“What nonsense are you saying? Those people aren’t hunters.”
“...”
Choi Yeonseung slowly realized something strange.
“Hmm... I see. You guys are really talented people.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“Orcs!”
-Huh?
“Get rid of these people and start investigating. Begin with all the hunters who have government positions. I’m going to kick them out first.”
“N-No, what...?”
***
“Tell them I’m not here.”
“But the senator...”
“Did you not hear me?”
“...Yes. I’ll tell him you aren’t here.”
Hwang Gyeongryong was irritable.
The change of rulership in the United Kingdom was an enormous matter. The shock was even greater because an evil god constellation had never lost a country before. Because of that, many countries and organizations were silently trying to take advantage of the current situation.
However, Choi Yeonseung had gone to the United Kingdom and couldn’t be contacted. Thus, everybody was trying to contact those who were close to Choi Yeonseung. Hwang Gyeongryong was one of them. It was known that the two of them were close, and people wanted to use Hwang Gyeongryong as leverage to control Choi Yeonseung.
“The British royal family...”
“I don’t care if they tried to reach me. Forget about them. They’re incapable and shameless.”
Hwang Gyeongryong hated them. Even the US government was more useful than those guys.
There were many items in the United Kingdom that had been in the possession of the collector constellation for a while. The US government’s request to purchase those items first was a reasonable suggestion.
In comparison, it was ridiculous for the exiled British royal family to say, ‘It’s our country. Why don’t you give it back?’
Did those bastards even have a conscience?
“Will the new constellation be able to rule the United Kingdom well?”
“Won’t it be better than the collector constellation?”
Hwang Gyeongryong had faith in Choi Yeonseung. Constellations of human origin basically had an advantage over the constellations that weren’t interested in humans.
Of course, Hwang Gyeongryong hadn’t heard about the arrival of the orcs and nightmare demons yet.
Ring—!
“...!”
Hwang Gyeongryong’s expression stiffened. Hunters in the US who were rated A-grade and above had been given a telephone line to speak directly to the president. Hwang Gyeongryong was once A-grade, so he naturally had it as well.
Now that phone was ringing.
‘Don’t tell me that these bastards leveraged the president...?’
Even if they did, Hwang Gyeongryong had no intention of giving in. The days of hunters having to submit to those in positions of power had long been gone. Now those at the top had to pay attention to hunters. There were many clans and companies supported by hunters, and many hunters supported each other...
The president and the senators couldn’t act badly with S-grade hunters like Hwang Gyeongryong unless they wanted to make all the large clans from the US their enemies.
***
Initially, Choi Yeonseung hadn’t wanted to make many changes right from the get-go. However, he couldn’t stand the fact that the British hunters came and provoked him. Before he knew it, he had already made lots of changes!
Still, Choi Yeonseung tried to avoid causing trouble as much as possible.
‘The good news is that there are a lot of dungeons.’
This was what he discovered when looking around to see what was available in the United Kingdom. There were in fact many dungeons that hadn’t been explored.
The collector constellation hadn’t forced his subordinates to raid dungeons. They would only kill the monsters that sometimes appeared. Thanks to this, the dungeons that had several years left before exploding were still intact, and the greedy hunters were naturally excited to raid them. Normally, it would’ve been possible to negotiate with the governments and gain benefits from this, but...
“An S-grade dungeon appeared in the middle of America?”
“Shh. Be quiet. The stocks will go down.”
Choi Yeonseung was forced to return home in a hurry.
Hwang Gyeongryong asked him for help in a serious voice.
An S-grade dungeon. It was definitely a topic that had to be discussed quietly.
Choi Yeonseung wondered, “It hasn’t been announced yet?”
“Everyone will panic the moment it gets announced. It only has half a year left, and George wants to deal with it as quietly as possible before announcing it.”
“Who’s George?”
“Ah. The president. We’re rather close.”
“...”
Choi Yeonseung looked at Hwang Gyeongryong with a hint of annoyance. Hwang Gyeongryong picked up on it and got irritated.
“Hey, we really are close… Do you know how much I supported George to become president?”
“Yeah, I don’t really care. Tell me more about the dungeon.”
An S-grade dungeon.
Strictly speaking, S-grade dungeons didn’t have a set standard.
Just as those who made remarkable achievements among the A-grade hunters were promoted to S-grade, threatening dungeons that emitted magic power ten times more powerful than other A-grade dungeons were considered S-grade.
So even if it was the same S-grade monster, the level of danger was bound to be different.
Hwang Gyeongryong replied, “Nothing.”
“Huh?”
“There’s nothing. All the teams that went in didn’t come back.”
“...”
The hunters who went into dungeons in order to gather information were at least B-grade and they specialized in exploration and evasion…
“So are they going to leave it until it explodes?”
“At this rate, that’s probably what’s going to happen. A-grade hunters probably won’t want to go in there.”
Choi Yeonseung activated ‘Future Sight’. As opposed from before, he could now see more clearly and farther into the future. He had certainly improved on this skill.
The vision showed America being on fire.
“...?????”
For the first time in ages, Choi Yeonseung was shaken by an unbelievable vision.