Chapter 37

BANG!

“Who the fuck is this bastard now?!”

Lee Minsung, vice president of the Reaper Guild, smashed the table in a towering rage.

-(Breaking News) Crow, the Beast King!

-The mysterious hunter who obtained the Beast King's power: Crow!

-Why Does Crow Wear a Crow Mask?

The internet was flooded with articles about the incident at Magok Field.

KNOCK, KNOCK.

“Mr. Vice President.”

Secretary Kim entered after knocking, just in time to deliver a new report.

“All the Hyena Guild members who entered Magok Field have reportedly been found dead. They just finished recovering the last body.”

CRUNCH!

Minsung's fist clenched at those words, crushing the chair's armrest in his grip.

“I knew it.”

He ground his teeth, his expression terrifying.

“Now the whole picture finally makes sense.”

The Hyena Guild remnants he had taken on as his lackeys. It had been only two days since those werewolves had suddenly left, saying they were going to Magok Field.

[“We'll go see if there's a factory in Magok.”]

It was a good excuse. He had been hounding them to find a new Stardust factory by any means necessary.

But Minsung hadn't trusted them in the slightest. He had sent several hunters with stealth skills to tail them, with orders to observe what they were doing from as far away as possible, since the bastards had keen noses.

And sure enough, their lie had quickly come to light.

Besides the werewolves, hunters with Beast Transformation abilities were already roaming openly through Magok, having flocked there to become “worthy of kingship.”

“It seems they went to Magok to obtain this Beast King's power or whatever it is, rather than to find a factory.”

And once they had obtained that mysterious power, hadn't they intended to break free of Minsung?

In any case, they had ultimately achieved their goal. They had gained their freedom—in death.

Secretary Kim continued his report.

“We secured several of the bodies and examined the cause of death. They were killed by hunters' weapons, not magic beasts.”

“No. It wasn't hunters.”

“Pardon?”

Biting his lip, Minsung glared at the online article, certainty in his eyes.

-Why Does Crow Wear a Crow Mask?

“It must have been demons who killed them. Crow masks are practically their trademark.”

The moment he saw the words “Crow Mask,” Minsung had thought of the demons at the factory. For some reason, those demons always wore crow masks over their faces.

Just like “Crow”!

“That bastard Crow is definitely a demon. The demons killed those Hyena bastards and stole the king's power.”

“I-is that what happened?”

“I'm sure of it. They said only people with the Beast Transformation skill were eligible to become king in the first place. So what would demons have to do to get that power?”

“...”

“You don't get it? Is your brain not working?”

Minsung clicked his tongue in frustration as Secretary Kim continued to look bewildered.

“It's my own fault for hiring an idiot like you as my secretary. Don't you remember how those Hyena bastards became werewolves in the first place?”

“They awakened after drinking a wolf magic beast's blood... Oh! Blood!”

Muttering to himself, Secretary Kim suddenly shuddered with realization.

Minsung nodded, his eyes gleaming.

“Exactly. Blood. If drinking blood can turn humans into beasts, why couldn't demons do it too? The demons killed those Hyena bastards and drank their blood. That made them eligible for kingship, and they snatched the king's power.”

“Wow...”

Having heard his explanation, Secretary Kim gazed up at Minsung in profound admiration.

“Your insight is truly extraordinary, sir...! How do you see the bigger picture so clearly? I had the same information, yet I couldn't even have imagined it.”

“Tsk. It's nothing special. One look tells you everything.”

Secretary Kim's sincere flattery seemed to improve Minsung's mood a little.

“Anyway, now that we've got the situation completely figured out, what matters is using this information. With all those Hyena bastards dead, we'll have to step in and establish a Stardust trade with the demons ourselves. Understood?”

“Yes, sir. We'll need to find the factory first, and our lead is...”

“Magok.”

With a look of unsurpassed acuity and wisdom, Minsung pointed at the online article.

“How would demons without even a Beast Transformation skill have learned about the Trial of the King and gone to Magok? There's no such thing as coincidence. The logical conclusion is that the demons were there from the start.”

“Oh, of course! Then the werewolves weren't entirely lying when they said they were going to Magok Field to find a factory.”

“That would be the conclusion.”

“Understood. I'll personally see to it that we comb every inch of Magok Field.”

“Good. And have plenty of meat ready if we're going to do business with a demon who has the Beast King's power.”

“Ah! The werewolves did eat enormous amounts of meat. You're as wise as ever, sir!”

“Hmph.”

Once again deeply impressed by Minsung's wisdom, Secretary Kim bowed.

... The reality, of course, was nothing of the sort.

“Oh, by the way.”

Lastly, Minsung checked on another task he had assigned to Secretary Kim.

“What happened with that doctor?”

“I'm sorry, sir. I haven't managed to persuade the doctor yet. A very sharp-tongued, stubborn person.”

“You little...! What the hell am I paying you so much for? If money won't work, you should drag the doctor here by force!”

“Y-yes, sir. I'll get on it today...”

Secretary Kim hastily left the vice president's office after answering.

Watching him go, Minsung ground his teeth and lowered the phone he had picked up to throw at him.

“It's my own damn fault for hiring a moron like that as my secretary.”

This was the problem with hunters. Their hierarchy was based on fighting ability, not intelligence.

He, however, had been an elite businessman long before becoming a hunter.

'I'm different from other hunters. I was born different.'

Minsung ground his teeth at the thought of hunters who strutted around just because they had a little more mana.

* * *

[You have entered the Shadow Dungeon.]

Around that time, Suho returned to the Shadow Dungeon carrying ten fried chickens.

The dungeon was still quiet, as the goblins for his daily quest had yet to respawn. That was probably because a full day hadn't passed yet.

“Wow! What's that delicious smell?”

“Whiiiine?”

Catching the scent of fried chicken, Esil and Gray hurried over to Suho.

Suho handed all the chicken he had brought to Esil.

“Dig in.”

“Thank you for the food!”

“Whiiiine?”

“Gray, looking at me like that won't help. None of it's for you.”

“...”

Gray lowered his head dejectedly. Naturally, there was nothing for him this time either.

Just then, a message from Rakan appeared before Suho.

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, grumbles that you are being terribly petty about food.]

Feeling wronged, Suho protested.

“Who's being petty? You said Gray has to eat what he hunts himself to grow strong. Rakan’s Fang told me he'd never get stronger if I spoon-fed him like a mother bird.”

Besides, the goblins they had killed this time were piled up here in mountains. Even if Gray shared them with Esil, there were so many that he wouldn't have to worry about going hungry for quite a while.

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, concedes the point but protests, asking if you don't feel sorry for Gray, who has never tasted chicken in his life.]

“Hmm.”

Hearing that suddenly made Suho feel like a terrible person.

In the end, he gave in.

“Esil, give Gray one of the chickens.”

“Oh...”

Esil looked as though she had lost her country.

It was a pitiful sight as she finally handed Gray the lightest box of chicken with trembling hands.

Of course, she still had nine chickens left.

But once Gray received the box, he crouched low, baring his teeth with a ferocious look in his eyes.

“Grrr!”

[No. Don't hunt it. You're not supposed to fight the chicken.]

Beru watched him as if he were utterly pathetic.

Then came a message from someone watching the scene with delight from far, far away.

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, nods in satisfaction, declaring his successor truly valiant.]

“Seriously. What a doting fool.”

Suho chuckled.

Leaving Esil and Gray sitting companionably together, sharing the chicken, he decided to check his stats after all the levels he had gained this time.

“Status window.”

A long status window unfurled before him.

[Status Window]

Name: Sung Suho

Level: 25

Class: None

Title: Wolf Slayer

HP: 5,860/5,860

MP: 586/586

[Stats]

Strength: 53 Vitality: 34

Agility: 34 Intelligence: 34

Perception: 34(+5)

(Available Stat Points: 0)

[Skills]

Passive Skills: Toughness Lv.2, Dual Swordsmanship Lv.2

Active Skills: Ruler's Authority Lv.1, Shadow Extraction Lv.1, Storm Slash Lv.1, Smite Lv.1

[Items]

Rakan’s Fang

Vulcan's Horn

Ashen Ring

“Wow...”

Suho looked thoroughly satisfied. His level and stats had increased tremendously! He had acquired a whole host of skills, too.

“All that effort paid off.”

Next, he checked the new skill he had acquired.

[Skill: Smite Lv.1]

Active Skill

Mana Cost: 300.

Amplifies attack power by enveloping your body in Ruler's Authority.

This was the skill he had learned while delivering the final, decisive blow to Arachne, the Grave Spider.

“Three hundred mana. No wonder it hit so hard.”

With his current mana pool, he couldn't use the skill twice in a row.

'Ruler's Authority.'

Suho decided to test the skill.

The process went like this: first, he conjured Ruler's Authority in midair. Then he overlaid that invisible hand on his own.

WHOOOOM...!

Black energy enveloped Suho's hand.

“Oh.”

He turned his hand this way and that, examining it. It looked as though he were wearing an enormous, translucent black gauntlet.

'So it combines the strength of the Ruler's hand with my own.'

The proverb about how even a sheet of paper was easier to lift with help suddenly came to mind.

Instead of striking with one hand, the skill layered two hands together, creating not merely double the attack power but three, four times as much or more.

Suho glanced at his mana.

[MP: 586]

It was an enormous amount, considering he'd had only ten mana at level 1.

'Just one more level, and I'll have over six hundred. Then I can use this skill twice in a row.'

The thought alone was exhilarating.

Suho bared his teeth in a grin and clenched his fist. This experience had made one thing perfectly clear.

'If I want to level up, I need to enter real dungeons.'

He had long since surpassed the goblins in the Shadow Dungeon. To grow stronger, he would have to seek out places with more powerful magic beasts, like Magok Field.

And to do that...

'I'll have to raise my hunter rank.'

As an E-rank hunter, he could currently participate in dungeon raids only as a miner or collector at best. There weren't all that many field dungeons like this one in the country, so raising his rank would give him more opportunities to enter higher-level dungeons.

Suho suddenly recalled what the Association hunter he had met last time had said: his initial measurement appeared to have been an error, so he should visit the Association to be measured again.

'Maybe I should go.'

Suho decided to pay the Association a visit.