abcnovels
Chapter 370
Chapter 370
Chapter 370
-Was this all staged?
-It seems like this is happening for real.
-What the hell is Peleza doing? Oh, this is nuts!
-A friend of mine lives over there!
Incidents like this were usually contained to some extent. The people in charge were supposed to organize everyone and evacuate. However, Peleza failed to do any of that, and to make it worse, everything was being broadcast live!
It was truly rare to see a company drop the ball like this!
This situation was no longer about Peleza’s presentation being a failure! New frontier cities were being built in the Abyss, and this particular city was the first major one, which made this disaster that much worse.
Han Seha, who was evacuating people to the underground facilities, was surprised to see the live broadcast.
“They’re actually broadcasting this live?”
A businessman next to her was equally stunned.
“It can’t be... As expected, Peleza is something else. I can’t believe they’re not trying to cover up this whole thing. How can they be so confident?”
“If it had been our presentation, we would’ve stopped the live broadcast right away.”
“Did they not turn it off by mistake?”
“What do you take them for? There’s no way they’d make such a blunder.”
The people at the scene admired Peleza’s confidence. They were still broadcasting everything live even though the presentation had gone terribly wrong. It was clear that they were confident they could properly deal with this situation.
Otherwise, they would’ve turned off the broadcast for sure.
***
“Come here.”
How insolent...
“If you don’t like it, leave.”
Bam!
Choi Yeonseung jumped and struck Illingars with Origin of the Celestial Fist. To Illingars, it seemed like Choi Yeonseung had suddenly just vanished into thin air before striking.
This infuriating trick...!
Choi Yeonseung kept attacking without responding to Illingars. There were many eyes on him, which naturally meant that he couldn’t use the power of existence. Still, it wasn’t difficult to deal with Illingars with this limited amount of power.
‘It’ll be a drawn-out battle.’
He wouldn’t be able to finish off Illingars with just one hit of the Origin of the Celestial Fist, but the damage would accumulate with each subsequent attack.
Choi Yeonseung would wear out Illingars with consistent attacks until he couldn’t move, then hit his vital point with concentrated energy.
-You’re really skilled!
The goddess of sloth also praised Choi Yeonseung. Constellations were generally not good at these types of fights. Given that they had been born with tremendous strength, they could only fight by going all out.
The only beings that could fight so strategically and fiercely were those who had been born weak and become strong. This particular fight was about hitting and running over and over again, gradually scraping off the opponent’s stamina.
At any rate, Illingars was clearly a powerful monster. He possessed such brute physical strength that he would be able to overpower Choi Yeonseung, who couldn’t use his power of existence in this fight, if he relied solely on his physical prowess.
However, Choi Yeonseung compensated for the gap in physical strength with his efficient techniques.
??????!
“!”
Perhaps because he got sick of Choi Yeonseung constantly disappearing and reappearing, Illingars enlarged himself and furiously lunged at Choi Yeonseung. He was determined to blow up the building behind Choi Yeonseung if he dodged his attack again. And sure enough, Illingars ended up blowing away the newly built advanced building.
Many of the buildings in the Abyss had been built with the latest technology in terms of architecture. Thus, those who were watching the fight live, especially the Peleza executives and those who held shares in the company, screamed in desperation.
-No! Dear God! You crazy monster!
-Hunter Choi Yeonseung! Defend the buildings!
But of course, Choi Yeonseung wouldn’t sacrifice himself for the sake of Peleza’s stock price. He dodged Illingars’ attack without hesitation.
He had no issues dodging these kinds of attacks because their trajectory was rather evident, and the monster was telegraphing his movements way too much.
...??
Illingars raised his head and stared at Choi Yeonseung, bewildered.
I didn’t think you would just dodge it. Don’t... Don’t you know that if you just dodge, the buildings behind you will crumble?
In response, Choi Yeonseung charged at Illingars at lightning speed with Origin of the Celestial Step, following up with a vicious upward Origin of the Celestial Kick!
Cho Yeonseung kicked Illingars’ in the chin, the explosive kinetic energy resulting from the internal energy violently knocking the monster’s head back.
At this point, Illingars realized he had picked a fight with the wrong human. His opponent completely disregarded his people and the buildings built by them.
Fighting such a ruthless opponent would inevitably result in Illingars’ defeat!
Illingars made a huge leap backward to get some distance, realizing that there was no point in trying to fight this crazy human.
“...!”
The shuttle, or rather, Kwon Yeongseung, returned after evacuating the hunters and was taken aback by the scene. The fact that the surrounding buildings had been reduced to rubble was indeed surprising, but he was most shocked by Choi Yeonseung’s nonchalant attitude.
Any hunter, no matter how strong they were, would be distressed if the monster they were facing went berserk and destroyed the city like this. However, Choi Yeonseung wasn’t fazed in the slightest.
‘I see! He’s trying to put pressure on the monster!’
Kwon Yeongseung admired Choi Yeonseung’s strategy. Given that no other hunter was as concerned about the safety of the citizens like Choi Yeonseung, there was only one reason for him fighting like this.
It was to deceive the intelligent monster!
Be afraid, young humans! The strongest and fiercest beasts of the Abyss will attack you!
With those words, Illingars fled out of the city. Choi Yeonseung didn’t think about chasing him because there could be more monsters outside the city.
-Hunter Choi Yeonseung! Hunter Choi Yeonseung!
“?”
Choi Yeonseung was puzzled by the unknown voice he heard in the contact line that Han Seha was using to talk to him.
-What is it?
-I’m Noaville, Peleza’s headquarters manager. Immobilize the giant monster so that he can’t escape. Our hunters will be there in less than five minutes!
-Oh...
Choi Yeonseung was stunned by how shameless this manager was... If anyone else had heard him, they would’ve thought that he was making a casual request to his friend from the same clan.
-Why me...?
-What the hell are you doing, you bastard?! I allowed you to speak to Hunter Choi Yeonseung because you said it was urgent, and you stab me in the back like this? This is why I don’t trust blonde bastards.
Han Seha ripped into the shameless manager before Choi Yeonseung managed to decline the request.
-H-Hunter Han Seha! Calm down! It’s necessary to...
-Necessary?! Necessary for your stock price, right?! You sorry bastard! If you want to kill the monster, tell your hunters to go after the monster! Why the hell should we chase it for you?!
-Y-you can’t hit me! Agh! Stop, for god’s sake!
-Hunter Han Seha, stop!
The commotion on the other side left Choi Yeonseung and Kwon Yeongseung speechless.
Kwon Yeongseung said reluctantly, “Uhm... Should I go and stop them?”
“Yes, please.”
Choi Yeonseung frowned as he looked in the direction in which Illingars had fled. Given Illingars' size and his physical prowess, Choi Yeonseung thought it would be difficult for him to catch up to the monster, which was why he had left it alone...
‘This might become troublesome.’
There were monsters that wandered around alone, but there were also monsters that settled in one area as the king of their pack.
Illingars was the latter. What if it kept sending monsters to target other cities like it had done just now?
‘Maybe we should get all the hunters in the Abyss...’
Choi Yeonseung's sense of foreboding turned out to be true. Hordes of monsters appeared in the distance before they even managed to start repairing the city.
***
“How many newly signed clans are there now?”
“Around fourteen.”
“It’s still not enough! We need at least triple that! Haven’t you heard that people want to go back to Earth?!”
A city needed people to run properly. Just like on Earth, the cities in the Abyss needed people in various important fields, such as engineers.
The big companies that had built the city brought people in by promising them sweet benefits and guaranteeing safety, but... Peleza’s disastrous presentation was unprecedented.
[Peleza delivers the worst presentation in history... Their arrogance led to a disaster.]
[Fortunately there were no victims resulting from Peleza’s disastrous presentation. What were they thinking when deciding to make such a dangerous presentation?]
[Peleza’s stock price crashes... A ‘red light’ for partnerships...]
[It’s likely that more Abyssal monsters will go on a rampage... Growing unrest in the frontier cities....]
@Peleza_hunter47
-I genuinely thought I was going to die. What type of nonsense are these crazy people doing, making us wear such equipment and doing something like that? The executives should be the ones doing such tests in the future. It was only the hunters whose lives were in danger!
@Peleza_hunter14
-That’s what I’ve been saying. Those from above are trying to silence me, but this is just outrageous. Everybody saw what happened. Do they think they can cover this up? Honestly, I can’t imagine how many people would’ve died without Hunter Choi Yeonseung’s help. Did you know that Peleza didn’t even issue an evacuation order?
Peleza was trying to somehow remedy the situation, but this was completely out of their hands. Too many people had witnessed their gross negligence and incompetence. Not even executives from other companies who owned Peleza stocks could help them.
-Why didn’t you give an evacuation order? What were you thinking?
-If we defend them in this situation, our stocks will also go into the ground.
The monsters were more of an issue than the presentation itself. Just like Illingars had threatened, more monsters were flocking in the cities.
-Confirmed monsters in Area 8! Confirmed monsters in Area 8! Hunters, go!
“Is this a joke? It’s only been thirty minutes since the last fight! I haven’t even restored my magic power!”
-Confirmed monsters in Area 15! Confirmed monsters in Area 15...
The problem wasn’t the monsters’ levels, but their overwhelming numbers and the frequency of their attacks. As more and more monsters stormed the cities, the flaws in defense systems became apparent, even though the people who had designed them said that they were foolproof.
This wasn’t just Peleza’s problem anymore.
“Thank you for helping me like this.”
“N-no, it’s not a big deal.”
Choi Yeonseung thanked Kwon Yeongseung. Following the presentation debacle, Choi Yeonseung casually shook off the Peleza executives trying to latch onto him and set out for the city built by Dragon Industry, which was also in danger.
The city had been built in a relatively safe location compared to other cities, but he still couldn’t let his guard down.
After arriving, Choi Yeonseung summoned the hunters from Earth and waited there. Of course, Kwon Yeongseung and Han Seha also stayed in the city in order to help.
“Even though he says he wants to help, he most likely had a dark hidden agenda. He was going to team up with Peleza, remember? He’s probably flattering you just because the presentation turned out to be a disaster,” said Han Seha.
“N-no! That really isn’t the case! Hey!”
Kwon Yeongseung looked at Han Seha with tears in his eyes.
Of course, someone from the clan had contacted him and said, “This is a good thing. Please help Hunter Choi Yeonseung in case any similar incidents occur in the future.” However, Kwon Yeongseung was helping out of the kindness of his heart.
“People get so defensive only when they’re exposed for their misdeeds.”
“What about you? You’re part of Hanseong Group! Hunter Choi Yeonseung! If I’m suspicious, then so is she!”
‘Are they kids?’
Kwon Yeongseung wouldn’t usually engage with Han Seha’s blatant provocations, but now he was acting childish. It seemed that his conscience was pricked.
Choi Yeonseung clicked his tongue. To think that two A-grade hunters who represented South Korea were fighting like this...
“Should we... just keep preparing like this?”
The Mount Hua Sect hunters were also at the scene.
Iris, who was watching with her colleagues, seemed worried. They could fight as much as necessary, but being constantly vigilant wasn’t easy. The hunters in charge to protect other areas would eventually become exhausted.
“No, Iris. Aren’t you confident with the current measures?”
“We’re trained in martial arts. We won’t get tired even if we stay on the lookout for twenty-four hours with no sleep.”
“...Drop the useless bravado.”
Choi Yeonseung looked at the Mount Hua Sect hunters with a dumbfounded expression. They were bluffing unnecessarily in front of him because he had taught them martial arts, but they weren’t fooling anyone. Martial artists were humans at the end of the day. They would get tired after being on the lookout for too long.
“I’m going to put up a shield around here.”
“!!!”
The hunters present were surprised. Wouldn’t that cost a lot of money?
“Is he doing this because he thinks money loses its value over time?”
“What value...? You’re not even the one spending it. Besides, have you seen the recent accomplishments of Dragon Industry? I’m sure they have plenty of money to spend.”
“I’m really jealous. Why doesn’t he teach business as well on top of martial arts?”