Chapter 57

People around him slowly started to avoid him. Who was he? He was a Guild Master whose face was as well-known as Taehyeok Sa’s, and he was notorious for his terrible temper. As he stood in the middle of the street, emitting a murderous aura, even civilians sensed something was wrong and began to clear the area. Yet, they didn’t forget to pull out their smartphones.

“Oh, hello? This is the Traffic light in front of Paehyeok Guild…”

Wham! Gihyeon Park punched Cho-i’s hand, which was holding the smartphone. The smartphone flew straight to the ground and crashed, and it was natural that Cho-i’s cheek, which had been holding the smartphone to his ear, was grazed. His cheek turned red. Cho-i frowned and looked at him with wide eyes. His pitch-black, reflectionless pupils stared silently at him.

“Why, are you scared now that you see me in person?”

Gihyeon Park said. Cho-i didn’t laugh at his words and went to pick up his smartphone. He then dusted off the smartphone, whose screen was shattered.

“Hey.”

“…Hey?”

Gihyeon Park raised his hand and slammed it hard on the hood of a illegally parked car next to him. Bang!

“Aack!”

Beep, beep, beep- The car alarm started blaring. Civilians around them backed away and held up their smartphones. It was obvious they were taking videos and pictures. The world was ending, truly ending. And someone like that, a Guild Master, was acting so wildly. Cho-i turned around and said.

“Are you afraid you’ll get stomped if we officially fight on Thursday?”

“…What did you say?”

“Scared?”

“You son of a bitch…”

“You’re the son of a bitch, you bastard.”

Cho-i laughed, his mouth wide open. There was something eerie about his laugh. Gihyeon Park closed his mouth for the first time. Cho-i grinned and squeezed the smartphone in his hand.

“You’ve lost your nerve, haven’t you?”

“You’re the one who lost your nerve. Have you forgotten where this is?”

“…Are you going to cling to that damn Taehyeok Sa?”

“This bastard has a talent for saying dog-like things like a dog. Is it because he’s a bastard?”

At that moment, Cho-i threw the smartphone at the other person. Gihyeon Park had let his guard down, as Cho-i showed no sign of counterattacking, and the flying smartphone hit Gihyeon Park squarely in the face. Whack! There was no scratch on his face. Of course. He was a precious S-Rank. But his face was distorted like a demon. Cho-i still smiled broadly, even with that face in front of him.

“You’re a coward who runs whenever Taehyeok Sa appears, always saying ‘Taehyeok Sa, Taehyeok Sa.’ Do you like Taehyeok Sa?”

“You’re going to die here today, you motherfucker.”

“You’re crazy, you son of a bitch. You won’t learn until you’re screwed, you bastard.”

Profanity filled the air. The tension between the two escalated. It was an atmosphere where a fight could break out at any moment. If there hadn’t been people in between them, this street would probably have been half-destroyed immediately.

“You two, stop right there.”

Someone approached, their long hair flowing.

“She’s here.”

Someone among the onlookers said. Dressed in a deep blue police uniform, black shoes, and a neat short-sleeved shirt, she appeared with her hair tied up high and flowing. Cho-i knew her well. Of course, no hunter wouldn’t know her.

“Do not move any further.”

It was Aekyung Song, an A-Rank hunter working at a police box near Seoul, part of the hunter task force. Seeing her face, Cho-i raised her hand high.

“Who is the caller?”

“Officer! Over here, over here! I called it in!”

“…You called it in?”

She frowned one eyebrow, looking puzzled. Cho-i vigorously waved her hand and nodded. She was quite flustered. She immediately ran to Aekyung Song, pointed at Gihyeon Park, and said,

“That person over there suddenly picked a fight with me while I was walking. Please teach him a lesson. Do you see that broken car over there? He broke that too. And he broke my smartphone too. He’s a son of a bitch.”

She looked at Cho-i with an ambiguous gaze, then immediately looked straight ahead and headed towards Gihyeon Park.

“Hunter Gihyeon Park.”

“Ah, damn. How embarrassing.”

“You’ll have to come to the station with me.”

“Aren’t you tired of this?”

“I’m starting to get tired of seeing your face too, Hunter Gihyeon Park.”

If you asked who among the high-ranking hunters caused the most trouble, Gihyeon Park’s name would naturally come up. His temper was so awful that it made one wonder how he managed to run a guild. And every time, it was this police officer hunter, Aekyung Song, who stepped in to stop him. It was absurd that an A-Rank worked at a police station, but she was characterized by her dedication to her job more than anyone else. And what was her other characteristic?

“Consider yourself lucky to be alive today.”

“Yeah, right back at you.”

Gihyeon Park pointed a finger at Cho-i, and Cho-i responded by raising her middle finger. There was only one reason he backed down. Was it because he was afraid of Aekyung Song? No, he was daunted by her persistence. Once she bit, she wouldn’t let go, even if it killed her. An A-Rank would obviously be beaten by an S-Rank, but she would rush in desperately and try to catch them no matter what. Since he was running a guild, if he messed with a hunter belonging to the police, it would literally be screwed, so the guild had no choice but to be somewhat cautious.

“First, you both need to accompany me for property damage.”

“Are you really going to embarrass me like this?”

“You need to accompany me. You also need to settle with the car owner.”

“I’ll take care of that myself.”

“To the station…”

“Ah!”

Gihyeon Park finally lost his temper and shouted.

“Who are you shouting at, you jerk! Is your head just filled with anger?!”

And Cho-i, not to be outdone, also shouted. It was a deafening sound that echoed. Gihyeon Park instinctively covered his ears and looked at Cho-i.

“Is that your famous skill?”

“I just shouted, you dumbass.”

“…You son of a bitch. Really, come here.”

“No. Do not move any further, Hunter Gihyeon Park.”

“Ugh! Why are you so eager to eat me alive?”

“You’re the one always causing trouble.”

Cho-i giggled and asked Aekyung Song.

“Officer, I’m busy, so can I leave now?”

“Ah, yes. Thank you for reporting.”

“Yes, please go home safely~”

Cho-i again raised her middle finger at Gihyeon Park, who was scratching his head, and said,

“Fix that and send it to Paehyeok. Otherwise, I’ll tell Taehyeok Sa.”

“You crazy bastard!”

“Oh~ I can’t hear you~”

Cho-i quickly trotted away and disappeared. Now, only Aekyung Song and Gihyeon Park remained. Gihyeon Park, with a highly annoyed expression, obediently got into Aekyung Song’s patrol car. And all of that instantly flew through the S-gradeNS-grade via the smartphones of nearby civilians. It was a natural progression for Huntred to be in an uproar.

[Yo, yo, yo, were H.C.O. and B.G.H. about to fight?]
[Video]
└ B.G.H. started it first.
└ That B.G.H. bastard was in the wrong.
└ Anyone can see B.G.H. is at fault.
└ Are these guys H.C.O. fans?
└ Even if they’re not fans, B.G.H. threw the first punch. I’d lose my temper too.
└ Wow, how brave is that person to act like that even to B.G.H., the Guild Master? I heard rumors that H.C.O. acts like that to the Paehyeok Guild Master too.
└ It’s not a rumor, isn’t it true? The Paehyeok Guild Master was dumped by H.C.O.
└ Hey, but he’s a Guild Master, would that really be true?

And below that, new posts were rapidly updated.

[Ah, hahahaha, H.C.O. has quite a temper]
[Look at her immediately throwing the smartphone back after it was hit ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
└ Cho-i Hyeon must really be S-Rank.
└ No, she might have just been trying to fight head-on.
[But what does it mean that they’re officially fighting on Thursday?]
[Are they officially fighting?]
└ I haven’t heard anything like that.
└ Isn’t it unofficial?
└ Anyway, aren’t they fighting?
└ Paehyeok, damn it, they should sell tickets.
└ That’s right, they should record it and sell it. An S-Rank versus an S-Rank fight? My heart is pounding.

Huntred fueled the fight between Gihyeon Park and Cho-i Hyeon. And, of course, it reached the ears of each Guild Master. Taehyeok Sa held his head, and Gihyeon Park said,

“I might as well properly crush her this time.”

“…What if you lose?”

Whack! He smacked his secretary on the head. He must have controlled his strength, but it was enough to make his head snap back. Considering that the secretary was an A-Rank hunter, it was clearly a pretty hard hit. He checked if his mouth was cut, as if accustomed to it, then said,

“Then I will proceed with the schedule as planned.”

“Ah, and contact Paehyeok.”

“What?”

“Tell them to record it and make some money.”

“…I don’t know if they’ll accept, but I’ll try to contact them.”

“Alright.”

Gihyeon Park recalled the black eyes he had seen then. They were eyes like his own. Eyes that only someone who had crossed a certain line could possess. Gihyeon Park chuckled and said,

“This might be more interesting than I thought?”

The secretary standing beside him sighed inwardly. He had never seen anything proper come from something Gihyeon Park found interesting. He had a strange knack for things, and the guild was quite respectable, but that was all he was as a Guild Master. A born fighter, beyond redemption. The Entity was the Guild Master he served.

‘There shouldn’t be any other variables.’

There is an unbridgeable gap between someone who was originally S-Rank and someone who grew into an S-Rank. The secretary was not unaware of this. But somehow, he couldn’t shake off a sense of unease. In any case, time passed. Cho-i Hyeon’s and Taehyeok Sa’s training continued daily, and the day of the fight with Gihyeon Park drew closer. Gihyeon Park made no special preparations. Because it was obvious he would win. He, who was originally S-Rank, became even stronger by discovering a hidden dungeon. He thought he hadn’t reached SS-Rank, but he was close below it. But what about Cho-i Hyeon, that hunter? A person who had just become S-Rank from A-plus by discovering a hidden dungeon. Gihyeon Park said to his secretary, who was driving his car,

“To civilians, all S-Ranks might look the same, but there are actually differences.”

“Differences, you say?”

“S-grade has A-rank, B-rank, C-rank, D-rank attached to it. If I’m S-grade A-rank, then she’s clearly just S-grade D, or at best S-grade C-rank. And I’m supposed to lose to someone like that? Even a passing son of a bitch dog would laugh.”