NOVPUB
Chapter 114
An archer had to possess keener senses than anyone else. Sensing an opponent’s presence and predicting their next move was the most basic of basic principles, not to mention needing to estimate the direction and strength of the wind before releasing the bowstring.
Given that, Taegyu took great pride in his own sharp senses. He firmly believed that he was the best in the world when it came to energy perception—which made this all the more unbelievable.
This kid has better senses than me? Impossible. Despite knowing that Suho was quite skilled, this was still an unfathomable thought. It must be my imagination.
But it wasn’t Taegyu’s imagination, it was reality. Suho had sensed the mana wave quicker than anyone else here, and there was a reason for it.
[An emergency quest has arrived.]
A quest had just popped up before him.
[Emergency Quest: Swamp]
[A dungeon break has occurred near the player.
Deal with the magic beasts from the contaminated swamp and receive your reward.]
A swamp, huh? It seemed the magic beasts that had emerged would be animal in nature.
As he calmly confirmed the quest, Suho’s senses were now instinct itself. He had become like a predator zeroing in on its prey in the wild.
[Title: “Wolf Slayer” buff effect has been activated.]
The title buff emerged before he even realized it. The scent of the beasts, mixed with the mana wave from the dungeon break, reverberated in all directions around him.
“We should go, too,” Suho said.
“Where?”
“Where else? To the site of the dungeon break.”
“Didn’t you see the number of people who just rushed off? They’ll handle it.”
Despite Suho’s burning determination, Taegyu merely shrugged. Given the commotion, every hunter shopping in Euljiro was probably already on their way there. Even a natural disaster like a dungeon break shouldn’t pose an issue with so many hunters involved. Besides, there was also the matter of professional ethics.
“Being new, you might not know this, kid. It’s common courtesy for an S-rank hunter like me to step aside when the kids go out to play. We didn’t even bring any weapons... Huh? Are you really going?!”
Suho was already dashing outside, carrying the bow he had been inspecting.
A flustered Taegyu chased after him. “Hey, you punk! That bow you’re holding is more expensive than you think!” he shouted.
“Don’t worry! I can buy it!” Rio suddenly appeared and whipped out his corporate credit card. After quickly paying for the bow Suho had taken, he set off after the young hunter.
Taegyu was left standing with a look of disbelief. “So he found a sucker... No, a financier?!”
“Don’t worry! My guild master, lots of money! Suho is friend of Asura!”
“Good grief. It would be quite a problem if he gets poached by a guild in India,” Taegyu grumbled.
His face was uneasy. Lately, there were plenty of stories of promising Korean hunters being lured away by foreign guilds with big budgets. In the long run, this could lead to a weakening of national defense...
“Let’s go together, you brats!” Taegyu shook off the stream of decidedly middle-aged thoughts and caught up to Suho with incredible speed.
He casually reached for Suho’s bow. “You can’t shoot many arrows with your mana anyway, right? Hand it over. I’ll show you what a real archer can— What are you doing now?” It was hard to keep track of how many times his nagging had been cut off.
Standing in front of the row of stores, Suho had suddenly aimed the bow into the sky. Although he was aiming in the direction of the dungeon break, the target couldn’t be seen due to the buildings surrounding them.
“You can’t see anything from here. What are you trying to do?” Taegyu asked with a puzzled look. 𝚗𝚘v𝚙𝚞b.𝚌𝚘m
Suho’s eyes sparkled as he aimed at the unseen foes. “Arise, Que.”
Swoosh!
A pointed spear of black energy erupted from Suho’s shadow.
[Que - Level 3]
[Shape Transformation - Arrow]
Taegyu’s eyes widened in astonishment. A mana arrow?! No, something’s different! It can’t be... He hadn’t sensed any mana being compressed when Suho generated the arrow. Creating an arrow without consuming mana? No way, that can’t be possible!
Having transformed into a shadow arrow, Que glanced briefly over Taegyu’s confused face. They had once been close friends until their relationship had become tumultuous. But now it was all in the past, simply inconsequential.
Que’s gaze returned forward, and Suho drew him back on the bowstring. Tremendous tension surged through the young hunter’s fully extended arms and shoulder muscles, exuding a frightening aura. “Que...”
“Yes, Master.”
“Fly and pierce through.”
“As you command.”
Twang!
As Suho released the bowstring, Que instantly became shot into the sky as a streak of black lightning. He rocketed toward the unseen enemy beyond.
***
About thirty minutes before, another sinister calamity was ensuing near Suho’s home.
“Cute little brat.” Thomas Andre, who had returned to Suho’s place a day after their encounter, laughed with a vicious expression on his face.
When Thomas arrived, Suho was not at home. Even when he expanded his sensory perception, he couldn’t pick up the young hunter’s presence anywhere nearby. “How pathetic! Could he have run away in fear, even though this involves his own mother?”
Rumble, rumble!
The ground seemed to quake with his fury.
His secretary Laura, standing beside him, nonchalantly surveyed the surroundings. She was far from being flustered by this situation. Yesterday had indeed been a bit startling, but she was already accustomed to the tantrums of this old man, even if he was said to be the strongest humanity had to offer.
His temper only gets worse as he ages. Laura promptly attempted to soothe him. “I don’t think he ran away, Thomas. Look at this note.”
“Hm?” Only then did the old man notice the small note stuck to the door. He squinted as he read it.
—Gone Out.
“‘Gone out?’ So he hasn’t run away?” The note visibly deflated Thomas’s momentum.
“Yes. Now that I think about it, we only gave our business card to Mr. Yoo. Suho doesn’t have our contact details. Maybe that’s why he left this note.”
“I see. So, where did he go?”
“I’ll find out right away.” Laura was unfazed by the sudden demand and turned to look behind her. “It’s Team Leader Han Jaehyuk, correct?”
“Yes... That’s me.” At her abrupt question, a large man trudged out awkwardly from a side alley. It was Jaehyuk, a team leader from the Korean Hunters Association.
“Do you happen to know where Sung Suho went?” Laura asked.
“Yes. I have already looked into it.”
“How efficient. I’ve heard some good things about you guys,” Thomas cut in.
“Um... Thank you very much.”
“There’s no need for thanks. I merely stated the facts.”
The compliment from Thomas Andre lightened his mood, but Jaehyuk couldn’t relax in the slightest.
It’s like we’re handling a ticking time bomb. Ever since the American guild master arrived in Korea the day before, Association hunters had been constantly circling around him. The old man was a walking natural disaster. Since no one knew what he might suddenly do, they couldn’t take their eyes off him for a single moment.
Even during his abrupt clash with Suho the day before, they had been watching from a distance. Fortunately, it seemed that Thomas didn’t go all out, so all the Association hunters had to do was observe. They had been on edge, ready to jump in and stop Thomas if necessary.
Ugh. Why did this have to happen when the chairman is away? The chairman of the association was currently away on a project in North Korea.
It had only been two years since the Great Cataclysm. The association had been working hard, but hunter laws were still full of flaws and loopholes. Most experts estimated that it would take at least five more years for the system to be properly established. The procedures needed to enact new laws required time.
In such a situation, rough outlaw types like Thomas Andre would easily disregard minor laws. But it was difficult to accuse him of an actual crime and put him in jail. It was just the association’s luck that he was mostly quietly operating as a hunter and not turning into a complete villain.
“So, Mr. Han, where did the little guy go after standing me up?”
“He’s currently at Euljiro.” As it seemed that Andre fortunately did not consider Suho an enemy, Jaehyuk readily responded to his question.
“Euljiro? What’s that?”
“Euljiro is a specialized area that sells equipment specifically for hunters.”
“Oh, like an arms market? What a clever kid.” Thomas immediately brightened up and grinned. So the first thing he did after our chat was go out and arm himself.
Laura nodded. “It seems he made up his mind last night. He’ll join us.”
“Laura, hail a taxi.”
She tilted her head questioningly.
“As if that kid would know what to look for in a weapon. I’ll have to choose for him.”
Oh, so it’s come to this... Jaehyuk felt a dizzying sense of foreboding. If the world’s strongest man showed up in an area crowded with hunters...
He sighed, feeling as if he had aged ten years. “It’d be better if you moved with us, Mr. Andre. We’ve prepared a vehicle large enough to suit you.”
“Great. Is it this way?” Thomas walked off as if he had expected this all along.
At the mischievous smile on the old man’s lips, Jaehyuk sighed once more and guided him to the car.
He’s really strong-arming us, he thought. What he didn’t realize was that everything the old hunter had shown them so far was only “playful” in nature.
Thomas got into the association’s car. As they neared Euljiro, an immense energy wave burst forth from the heart of the district.
“It’s a dungeon break!”
The association hunters instinctively prepared for combat. Among them, one individual remained uniquely unruffled.
“So, you prepared entertainment as well?” Thomas perked up in his seat, his face suggesting that he was ready to have a good time. As he stepped out of the car, Euljiro had already descended into chaos.
Jaehyuk quickly assessed the situation and then issued orders. “Situation alert! A swamp has emerged in the middle of the city! The magic beasts are—”
Roar!
Vile magic beasts were already pouring forth from the swamp and rushing toward them.
“Enhance.” With a corner of his mouth raised in a smirk, Thomas swung his massive fist and struck the body of a magic beast.
Thump!
The half-obliterated body of the beast landed somewhere off in the distance. The association hunters’ eyes widened in horror at the tremendous sight.
“Oops. Did I hit too hard?” Thomas scratched his head bashfully. Meanwhile, groups of hunters who had hastily emerged from various parts of Euljiro began to engage in an intense battle with the magic beasts.
“I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it...” The old man, wearing a look of amusement, spoke leisurely to Jaehyuk. “I’ve never let anyone standing in my way make it out alive.”
His fierce gaze turned toward the largest of the magic beasts. “Is that the boss monster? A giant snake that lives in the swamp, huh...”
In the center of the swamp, a snake as thick as a massive log was coiled around itself. Blue venom dripping from its sinister fangs.
Thomas chuckled. “Perfect. Listen up, that one’s mine! Whoever dares touch it...” The old hunter began to approach the boss monster as he made his declaration with an exceedingly brutal force.
Swish!
“Huh?”
Suddenly, a black arrow shot from the sky like lightning, striking the boss monster.
Crack! Hiss!
“Which one of you audacious bastards is after my haul?” Thomas roared, robbed of his target right before his eyes.
