Chapter 114

An archer needed keener senses than anyone else. Sensing an opponent's presence and predicting their next move were the bare essentials. They even had to account for the wind's direction before releasing the bowstring.

In that respect, Lim Taegyu took pride in his senses. He was absolutely certain that when it came to detecting another's presence, he was the best in the world.

That made this all the more absurd.

'His senses are better than mine?'

Impossible. Even knowing how skilled Suho was, this simply made no sense.

'... I must be imagining things.'

But he wasn't. Suho really had noticed the warning signs before anyone else there, and there was a reason he couldn't have missed them.

[An Emergency Quest has arrived.]

A quest had appeared right before his eyes.

[Emergency Quest: Swampland]

A dungeon break has occurred near the Player.

Eliminate the swampland magic beasts contaminating the city and claim your reward.

'Swampland magic beasts, huh.'

Apparently, the creatures that had emerged were beasts.

As Suho calmly checked the quest, his senses were already operating on pure instinct. He had become a predator that had spotted prey in the wild.

[The buff effect of 'Title: Wolf Slayer' activates.]

The title's effect had activated on its own before he even realized it. Carried on the dungeon break's mana wave, the scent of beasts permeated the air.

"Let's go too."

"Go where?"

"Where else? There's been a dungeon break."

"Didn't you see how many people just rushed over? They'll handle it."

Despite Suho's burning eagerness to fight, Taegyu merely shrugged. With this much commotion, every hunter shopping in Euljiro had probably rushed over. A dungeon break might be a natural disaster, but with that many hunters, it shouldn't pose much of a problem.

Besides, there was professional courtesy to consider.

"You may not know this yet, but it's only polite for an S-rank hunter like me to stay out of the kids' playground. Besides, we didn't even bring our weapons—Huh? You're actually going?!"

Suho was already running out of the shop, still carrying the bow he'd been holding. Flustered, Taegyu chased after him and shouted.

"Hey, you brat! That bow you're holding is a hell of a lot more expensive than you—!"

"Is okay! I buy for him!"

Rio Singh suddenly produced the corporate card beside him.

He swiftly paid for the bow Suho had taken, then followed him outside. Taegyu stared incredulously.

"So you're the sucker—I mean, his sponsor!"

"Is okay! Our guildmaster has much money! Suho is Asura friend!"

"Seriously. Losing him to India would be a problem in its own right."

Taegyu grumbled, looking uneasy.

Other countries had already been poaching capable Korean hunters with large sums of money fairly often lately. In the long run, this would weaken the nation's defenses...

"Wait for me, you little bastards!"

Taegyu shook off the string of old-fogey thoughts running through his head and caught up to Suho in an instant with incredible speed. Resigned, he reached for the bow Suho was carrying.

"I'm telling you, with your mana, you can only fire a few shots. All right, hand it over. I'll make an exception and show you what a real archer can—What are you doing?"

He had lost count of how many times his lectures had been interrupted. Outside the shop, Suho had abruptly aimed his bow at the sky. It was in the direction of the dungeon break, but the buildings blocked everything from view.

Puzzled, Taegyu asked him,

"You can't even see anything from here. What are you trying to do...?"

Just then, Suho's eyes flashed as he faced his unseen enemies.

"Rise, Quay."

WHOOSH!

At that instant, a pointed spear of black energy rose from Suho's shadow.

[Quay Lv.3]

Form Transformation—Arrow

"...!"

Taegyu's eyes filled with astonishment.

'A mana arrow?! No, something's different!'

Something was wrong. Very, very wrong. When Suho created the arrow just now, he hadn't sensed any mana being compressed at all.

'He created an arrow without spending mana? No, that can't be possible!'

As he stood there bewildered, Quay, now a shadow arrow, cast a brief glance at Taegyu's face.

[...]

Lim Taegyu. A former friend with whom he'd shared a relationship of love and hate.

But that was all in the past now. Quay turned his gaze forward again as if none of it mattered, and Suho plucked him up and nocked him to the bowstring.

CREAK!

A terrifyingly menacing aura flowed from his bulging shoulder muscles and arms.

"Quay."

[Yes, Master.]

"Fly forth and pierce them."

[As you command.]

FWEEEEESH!

As Suho released the string, Quay instantly became a bolt of black lightning, soaring into the sky toward the unseen enemies beyond.

* * *

About thirty minutes earlier, an ominous disaster had been unfolding near Suho's home.

"... Ha. That cute little bastard."

Thomas Andre, who had returned to Suho's home just a day after his first visit, wore a murderous smile.

Suho wasn't home. Even after expanding his senses, Thomas couldn't detect his presence anywhere nearby.

"Pathetic! Did he get scared and run away, even with his own mother at stake?!"

RUMBLE!

The ground shook with his anger as though it might collapse.

But his secretary, Laura, merely surveyed their surroundings, utterly unruffled. Yesterday had startled her a little, but she was already accustomed to the tantrums of the old man hailed as humanity's strongest.

'Honestly, his temper has only gotten worse with age.'

She promptly calmed him down.

"Thomas, I don't think he ran away. Look at this note."

"Hmm?"

Only then did Thomas notice the little note attached to the door and raise his eyebrows.

-Stepping out for a while.

"He went out? He didn't run away?"

Thomas's oppressive aura weakened instantly as he read the note.

"Yes. Now that I think about it, we only gave CEO Yoo a business card yesterday. We never actually left our contact information with Hunter Sung Suho. That must be why he left a note."

"Ah, I see. So where did he go?"

"I'll find out right away."

Unfazed by Thomas's sudden request, Laura looked behind her.

"You there. You said you were Team Leader Han Jaehyuk, correct?"

"... Yes."

At the unexpected question, a large man awkwardly emerged from the alley behind them. It was Team Leader Han Jaehyuk of the Hunters Association.

"Do you happen to know where Hunter Sung Suho has gone?"

"... Yes. We've already ascertained his location."

"Competent, aren't you? I've heard plenty about how impressive Korea's Hunters Association is."

"Thank... you."

"No need to thank me. I'm just stating a fact."

Even with Thomas in a better mood and offering praise, Jaehyuk couldn't relax in the slightest.

'It feels like dealing with a time bomb that could go off at any moment.'

Ever since Thomas arrived in Korea yesterday, Association hunters had been shadowing him. He was a walking natural disaster. There was no telling what he might suddenly do in Korea, so they couldn't take their eyes off him for even a moment.

They had also watched from a distance when he abruptly clashed with Suho here yesterday. Fortunately, Thomas hadn't seemed to be using his full strength, so they had only observed. Even so, they had been on tenterhooks, prepared to rush out together and stop him if necessary.

'Ugh. Why did this have to happen while the chairman was away...?'

Jaehyuk sighed, blaming the Association chairman, who happened to be away providing aid to North Korea.

It had only been two years since the Cataclysm. Despite the Association's efforts, hunter legislation was still inadequate and riddled with loopholes. Experts believed at least another five years would be needed to establish a proper legal framework. The procedures required to enact new laws simply took time.

Under these circumstances, overbearing thugs like Thomas Andre routinely disregarded minor laws. Yet they couldn't exactly prosecute him and throw him in prison. Humanity had reason to be grateful that he was working quietly(?) as a hunter rather than becoming a villain.

"So, Mr. Han. Where did the kid go after standing me up?"

"... He's reportedly in Euljiro."

Fortunately, Thomas didn't seem hostile toward Sung Suho, so Jaehyuk answered without resistance.

"Euljiro? What kind of neighborhood is that?"

"Euljiro is a specialized district that sells hunter equipment."

"Oh, weapons shops? What a good kid!"

Thomas's mood immediately brightened, and he grinned. He'd wondered where Suho had gone so early in the morning. What else could it mean that he'd gone to buy weapons?

Laura nodded as well.

"It seems he made up his mind overnight to come with us."

"Laura, get a taxi."

"...?"

"What would that rookie know about choosing weapons? Obviously, I'll have to pick them out for him."

'Ah, so it comes to this after all...'

Jaehyuk felt faint. Humanity's strongest old man was about to descend on an area already teeming with hunters.

Looking as though he'd aged ten years, he sighed and said,

"Why don't you ride with us instead? We've prepared a large vehicle."

"Sure. This way?"

Thomas strode off as though this were only natural, as though he'd expected it all along. Seeing the mischievous expression on his face, Jaehyuk sighed again and guided him to the car.

'He's a genuine tyrant.'

But he had yet to realize that everything Thomas had shown them so far had truly been mere play.

While Thomas was heading to Euljiro in the vehicle provided by the Association—

THOOM!

"...!"

"...!"

An enormous wave of energy suddenly erupted in the heart of Euljiro.

"A dungeon break!"

The Association hunters instinctively readied themselves for battle. Only one person among them remained relaxed.

"What's this? You arranged some entertainment too?"

Thomas rose, looking as though he'd found an amusing diversion.

By the time he opened the car door and stepped outside, Euljiro was already in utter chaos. Jaehyuk swiftly assessed the situation and issued orders.

"Emergency! Emergency! A swampland has appeared in the middle of the city! The magic beasts are...!"

SKREEEEEE!

The vicious magic beasts were already springing out of the swamp and attacking them.

Then it happened.

"Reinforcement."

One corner of his mouth lifting into a grin, Thomas swung his massive fist into a magic beast's torso.

KABOOM!

The creature landed far away, half its body gone.

"...!"

The Association hunters stared at the incredible sight in shock.

"Oops. Did I hit it too hard?"

As Thomas scratched the back of his head, the many hunters rushing out from all over Euljiro began battling the magic beasts in earnest behind him.

"Did I mention this last time?"

Smiling with enjoyment, Thomas spoke casually to Jaehyuk.

"I've never let anyone who stood in my way live."

As he spoke, his fierce gaze settled on the largest of the magic beasts.

"Is that the boss monster? A giant swamp snake, huh..."

In the middle of the swamp lay a coiled giant snake as thick as a log. Blue venom dripped from the gleaming, razor-sharp fangs visible inside its wicked maw.

Thomas grinned.

"Good. Listen up! That one's my prey! Anyone who dares touch what's mine...!"

Thomas was striding toward the boss monster, boldly making his declaration with an utterly vicious aura, when—

FWEEEEESH!

"... Huh?"

At that very moment, a black arrow shot down from the sky like lightning, plunging toward the boss monster.

SKREEEEE!

"What insolent bastard dares?!"

With his prey snatched away right before his eyes, Thomas roared, his face savage.