Chapter 42 – Heal’s New Discovery (2)
TL: Boko
Editor: Frost
As soon as he opened the door, a red beam of light fired at Sung Joon. Sung Joon moved his body to the side and avoided the beam.
“The beam contains a petrifying curse,” Rishubalt warned. The beam’s impact area had turned to stone. Sung Joon glanced at the petrified area, and then turned his attention to the front from where the beam had came from. There stood a monster with snakes as hair.
“How unexpected,” Sung Joon muttered to himself. He hadn’t expected a Medusa to appear as the boss, even though it was the weakest of SS-rank monsters.
“Did you expect a top tier S-rank monster to appear as the Boss?” Rishubalt asked.
“That’s right. But it doesn’t change anything.”
The fact that he needed to kill an SS-rank monster didn’t change anything.
“Hoo!”
Sung Joon breathed in and slowly closed the distance with the Medusa. Contrary to her myth, she couldn’t apply a petrifying curse with just her gaze.
She wore antique Greek armor, and was armed with both a longsword and a shield. Her sword and shield were clad in a clear aura.
“You intend to face me alone? How absurd,” the Medusa said smiling, but it felt frightening due to the snakes on her head. Sung Joon wordlessly and gradually closed the distance.
“Wind Cutter!”
She wouldn’t allow him to get any closer. Dozens of sharp blades shot towards Sung Joon from all directions.
“A Medusa is capable of utilizing high-rank magic as well!” Rishubalt explained. Sung Joon avoided the Wind Cutter, and stiffened his posture. The Medusa gazed at Sung Joon, discharging a beam containing her petrifying curse. It befitted the term beam, as it approached Sung Joon quickly; however, Sung Joon narrowly avoided it.
He didn’t use the ‘Dragon’s Protection’. Because it was only an S-rank item, he wasn’t sure that it would be able to block the Medusa’s high-rank curse, as she was an SS-rank monster.
“Blink!”
As soon as Sung Joon approached, Medusa used Blink and widened the distance. She was wielding her sword and shield, and was an auruser as well, but she anticipated that she’d lose in a close up fight with Sung Joon.
Unfortunately for her, Sung Joon possessed his combat boots, which was an item that allowed him to utilize ‘Blink’.
“Blink!”
He closed the distance once more. Seeing that, the Medusa panicked.
“Blink? You were a Magic Knight?”
Instead of replying, Sung Joon raised his mana. Likewise, the Medusa casted her magic.
“Gale Sword.”
“Fire Wall!”
Sung Joon utilized Gale Sword to close the distance. The Medusa constructed a flaming wall, attempting to block Sung Joon’s approach.
‘I’m going to use the Spell-Breaking Sword!’
Whilst using Gale Sword to approach, he would simultaneously utilize the Spell-Breaking Sword; it was a high-level technique! This was only possible for Sung Joon, as he was the reincarnation of the strongest of the 13 knights, Roukel, who was also a genius in the sword.
He pierced through the hot flames and appeared before the Medusa. Around twenty of the sword winds that hadn’t been cancelled out rushed towards her.
“Damn it!”
She did manage to block the sword winds with her aura shield, however, she couldn’t help but curse. With this, she had been forced into close quarters combat, something that she had been trying to avoid all this time.
Sung Joon immediately drew his mana in order to use his most deadly attack, the Illusionary Sword. The Medusa could tell that he was gathering a considerable amount of mana with that small gesture, and dispersed a powerful poison through the snakes.
“Illusionary… Ugh!”
Because it was so fast, Sung Joon couldn’t avoid it. The best he could do was raise his left hand to block his eyes. Fortunately, it wasn’t a powerful acid poison, but it momentarily obscured his vision.
Medusa didn’t lose her opportunity in that short instance where his vision was obscured. It was now time for her to decide between offense and defense. And she picked offense.
She accumulated mana within her eyes and shot a red beam towards Sung Joon’s legs. So long as it hit, Sung Joon’s body would begin petrifying, so it didn’t matter where.
“Ugh!”
Sung Joon sensed the beam coming for his legs, but he couldn’t avoid it. He had noticed it too late to do so. Ultimately, the beam containing the petrifying curse struck his legs.
He screamed at the awful pain and his legs were quickly becoming petrified.
“My lord! Please use your Heal!” Rishubalt yelled hastily. It was then that Sung Joon remembered that Heal was effective against curses as well. The higher his synchronization rate, the more powerful his Heal became. Therefore, now that he’d become SS-rank, he should be able to completely purify her petrifying curse.
“Heal!”
Sung Joon utilized his Heal. The radiant white light that came from his hand shined upon the petrified area, and the pieces of stone melted away as if it were mud, revealing a pair of perfectly healthy legs.
“Ha!”
He forcefully kicked the Medusa who quickly approached with the tip of his foot.
“Ugh!”
“Urgh!”
The Medusa’s body was as hard as a rock, and Sung Joon’s leg fractured. However, it seemed as though she had felt a considerable shock as well as she staggered. Sung Joon used that opportunity to ‘Heal’ himself and treated his fracture.
He was healed in an instant. Even as an S-rank Hunter, he could perform a miracle like regenerating a severed limb. So as an SS-rank Hunter, it was obvious that his healing power would allow him to treat his fracture in a split second.
“You damn human!” the Medusa yelled angrily, and raised her aura clad shield. Then, sharp shards of aura rushed towards Sung Joon.
Sung Joon swung his sword and blocked all of the aura shards. As soon as he blocked her attack, the Medusa's face was filled with despair.
‘To think she’d be able to use aura transformation as well… As expected of an SS-rank monster…’
Sung Joon possessed a calm expression, but he was flustered on the inside. Only those who had mastered aura to the highest level could utilize the aura transformation technique, so he hadn’t expected her to use that technique.
“You even blocked my aura transformation? Who the hell are you!?”
The Medusa was pissed. She wasn’t used to being on the losing end; She had expected her aura transformation attack to work.
“You don’t need to know,” Sung Joon said suddenly, and used his ‘Flash Cut’. His aura clad sword left behind a blue track. However, the Medusa wouldn’t go down without a fight. She quickly stepped back and avoided his attack.
“Illusionary Sword.”
‘Flash Cut’ was nothing more than a feint to hide his true lethal technique. As soon as he infused his mana and unleashed the technique, 31 illusionary swords rushed at the Medusa.
“T-This is…!”
“Rest in peace,” Sung Joon said, but the Medusa wouldn’t go easily. She utilized her aura transformation technique to expand her shield. However, it didn’t really have much effect.
As the 31 Illusionary Swords repeatedly battered on her shield, the shield futilely shattered. However, several of the Illusionary Swords were used up as well. There were only 4 illusionary swords left after piercing through her shield to aim at her vital points, but the Medusa managed to block all four of them.
‘This is tough. I can’t take her lightly,’ Sung Joon thought. Though she was a low tier monster, she was still SS-rank. There was no way she would be easy to take down.
‘I have to widen the distance!’
The Medusa knew she was at a disadvantage from up close. Therefore, she attempted to widen the distance, but Sung Joon wouldn’t allow it.
Because Sung Joon didn’t have any other long range techniques other than his dagger throwing and his Slash, it would be tough for him to fight at long range with Medusa, as she possessed a petrifying beam.
“My lord! The Medusa is attempting to widen the distance!”
Rishubalt reported to Sung Joon whenever he saw her do something suspicious. Sung Joon quickly closed the distance and swung his sword.
Because he knew that the Medusa had a way to fight off his Illusionary Sword, he couldn’t use it repeatedly.
“Shit!” the Medusa cursed again. She had tried so hard to widen the distance, but Sung Joon had prevented her from doing so. Therefore, she had to fight close up once again.
“Ugh!”
“Urgh!”
The two swords passed by each other. Sung Joon’s sword grazed the Medusa’s right shoulder. On the other hand, the Medusa’s sword cut halfway through Sung Joon’s neck.
It was a fatal wound that could’ve killed him, but Sung Joon was an SS-rank Healer Hunter.
“Blink! Heal!”
After he’d used Blink to widen the distance, he utilized his Heal and instantaneously treated the fatal wound on his neck. The Medusa attempted to prevent him from doing so by shooting a beam containing her petrifying curse at him, but it didn’t work.
It might look like they were even, but the longer the battle went on, the more Sung Joon was overpowering her.
“Blink!”
Sung Joon used Blink once more. Because he’d used such high level techniques repeatedly, including the Illusionary Sword, his mana had hit rock bottom. His body was at its limit as well.
If he hadn’t used ‘Absorption’ to recover his consumed stamina and mana throughout the dungeon assault, he would’ve already used up all of his mana. It was time to finish this.
“Ha!”
As soon as he closed the distance, his sword was swung.
‘Found it!’
The two intensely exchanged blows, and Sung Joon was delighted when he found a blind spot. He pushed through and used his fist to push her shield to the left. She wasn’t able to respond at all.
“Illusionary Sword!”
The 31 illusionary swords aimed at the Medusa. If there was something that was different this time compared to last time, it was that there was no aura clad shield to protect her body.
It was certain that before she could recover her shield, the first illusionary blade would hit.
“Ahhhhhh!” the Medusa cried in agony. The 31 illusionary swords began to brutally pierce her body. No, cut it into pieces.
The Medusa was an SS-rank monster, but she wasn’t able to endure the fatal 31 illusionary swords and died.
“Absorb.”
He absorbed the mana from her corpse. Though his synchronization rate didn’t increase, his measuring tool responded.
-Verifying assault, measurement complete. S-rank dungeon, clear.
-Verifying the existence of a new item.
As soon as the Medusa’s corpse disappeared, a small box covered in silver leaf remained. The measuring tool recognized this as an item, and Sung Joon opened the hand-sized box. There were two contact lenses inside. Sung Joon then utilized the appraisal feature of his measuring tool.
S-rank.
Ability to use petrifying curse.
It was indeed an S-rank item. It didn’t have any special abilities, but it was big deal for him to be able to use a petrifying curse.
“It seems like something you put on your eyes,” Rishubalt said. After Sung Joon nodded his head, he equipped the ‘Medusa’s Eyes’. As soon as he gathered mana into his eyes, a red beam was discharged and the impact area was turned to stone.
“Not bad.”
When Sung Joon left the dungeon with a satisfied expression, there was someone following him to his parked car.
His eyes gleamed as he saw Sung Joon get in his Hunter sedan. He took out a small crystal and brought it to his mouth.
“This is Levich, rank 399 of the Knight Brigade. I’ve found the otherworlder who appears to be Roukel’s disciple.”
A plot had begun late after midnight.
//
Chapter 43 – Otherworld Attacker (1)
TL: Boko
Editor: Frost
Levich secretly used Stealth and went behind Sung Joon’s Hunter sedan.
Contrary to the other members of the Brigade that Sung Joon had fought thus far, he was wearing a suit and sunglasses. His attire certainly could’ve made him look suspicious, but it seemed like they’d tried hard to get an otherworlder to fit into the crowd.
“My lord, there’s someone following us.”
“I know. That’s why I haven’t left yet. I’m thinking about a good place where I can fight him nearby.”
He didn’t do something as stupid as going back home when someone was following him. After thinking about it for a short while, Sung Joon decided where he’d go and departed.
“The target’s moving.”
“Follow him. I’ll send reinforcements.”
“Are you planning on taking care of him immediately?”
“It seems like headquarters wants to take care of Roukel’s disciple as soon as possible. The faster the better.”
Levich, who was speaking to someone through his crystal, followed Sung Joon’s car.
“He’s still following me.”
Sung Joon could sense the presence behind his car. It was a high-level stealth technique, but it couldn’t fool Sung Joon’s superb senses.
“Though we’re only going at 50 km/h, he is managing to maintain his stealth whilst following us,” Rishubalt said.
“He’s definitely strong. I’m curious as to who sent him.”
Sung Joon parked his car at a nearby park. Levich, who was watching from afar, carefully approached when he realized that there was no movement inside the car.
“He’s gone?”
He was shocked. Unbelievably, there was no one inside when just a little while ago there was someone behind the wheel.
‘Is it stealth?’
Levich calmly grabbed the handle of his sword. And his eyes moved busily to survey his surroundings. However, he couldn’t feel a presence anywhere, and became restless.
‘It’s stealth at a level than even I can’t sense? How powerful is he?’
It felt like he could see his death. And that moment had come sooner than he’d expected.
“Ugh!”
Something cleaved through his left arm, and his arm gushed with blood. Both the attacker and the receiver’s stealth were nigh simultaneously released and both could see each other.
“Who sent you!?”
Rather than withdraw his sword, Sung Joon drew his dagger and swung it at Levich’s left thigh. Levich hastily retreated and drew his mana.
“Equip!”
The mana shaped into armor and equipped onto Levich. Simultaneously, aura armor was activated as well.
“My lord. That’s the armor of the Knight Brigade.”
“I know. But there’s no Raid nearby, so how did he get here?” Sung Joon spoke softly whilst being wary of Levich.
“Perhaps the Empire has created techniques to cross between dimensions through the work of a few people,” Rishubalt said with a grave expression. Sung Joon nodded his head and opened his mouth.
“Well, if they can open large warp gates, then I suppose they’d be able to open small ones as well.”
Sung Joon could understand how they did it. The Empire and the Species Alliance already had the means to cross dimensions. He was sure of that. The problem was that he didn’t know the limitations of their ability to do so.
“You’re part of the Knight Brigade aren’t you?”
“…”
Sung Joon pointed his sword at him whilst asking quietly, but Levich didn’t answer him.
“What rank are you?”
“…399.”
As soon as he asked his rank, Levich finally responded.
“My lord, you should be able to take him down within 30 seconds if he’s truly rank 399.”
“Am I that strong?”
“Your current synchronization rate is 52%. Please trust me,” Rishubalt said, and Sung Joon smirked. He gathered his mana and charged at the 399 ranked Levich.
“Shit!” Levich cursed. His left arm had already been severed, and he was still bleeding. Furthermore, his eyesight was becoming faint, and Sung Joon was much too fast for him to respond.
“Ahhhhhh!”
Sung Joon’s sword flashed; Levich cried sharply and spurted blood as his right arm was severed. Sung Joon kicked his legs, forcing him onto the floor.
“Ugh!”
Because both of Levich’s arms were cut off, he couldn’t resist and shamefully rolled onto the floor. Sung Joon placed his dagger right next to his neck and opened his mouth.
“You’ll feel your bleeding stop soon. Since I used ‘Heal’ on you,” Sung Joon said, and Levich’s gaze turned to his severed arms. Like Sung Joon had said, his bleeding truly had stopped.
Because Sung Joon was an SS-rank Hunter, he possessed enough healing power to restore both of Levich’s arms, but he had no intention of letting Levich go; therefore, he skillfully controlled his healing power in order to only stop Levich's bleeding.
“I can use ‘Heal’. Do you know what that means?”
“I-I don’t know.”
As soon as Levich shook his head, Sung Joon smiled coldly and opened his mouth.
“It means I can torture you for even longer.”
Behind his black eyes, Levich could see a calm and quiet killing intent moving around. It felt like he was being eroded by the cold, but he remained stern.
“I don’t know anything.”
Even if it hurt, he couldn’t give Sung Joon information on his comrades. He acted according to how he was trained.
“Then, shall we get started?”
Sung Joon plugged Levich’s mouth and began the torture process. In between, Sung Joon gave him a chance to spit out some information when he took out the piece of cloth in his mouth, but he didn’t cooperate.
He continued to torture him for ten minutes.
“This is your last chance. How advanced is the Empire’s Dimensional Leap ability?”
“I-I really don’t know about that. I’m not a part of that…”
It was hard for him to endure the awful pain that wracked his body. Levich spoke as though he was pleading for his life.
“It’s highly likely that he wouldn’t know about the Empire’s dimensional techniques unless he were an interested party,” Rishubalt said from beside him. Sung Joon agreed with him, and decided to change his line of questioning.
“How many of you crossed over?”
“Including me, five… Because creating a small warp gate is unstable, I think only a small handful of members could cross over…”
“Alright. Thanks.”
He’d gotten all the information he needed from him, and he could sense four presences quickly approaching with powerful mana. Sung Joon unhesitatingly sliced Levich’s neck with his dagger.
The blood surged like a fountain and Sung Joon looked down upon Levich’s corpse, and opened his mouth with a cold expression.
“Absorb.”
He replenished both his stamina and mana. Because the fight was so short, he was able to restore all of his stamina and mana. There were four powerful enemies approaching, and this was immediately after solo clearing an S-rank dungeon, but his condition wasn’t bad.
Eventually, four men came out from the darkness. They had already completely armed themselves.
“I’m rank 355 of the Knight Brigade, Artux. Let me ask you, Otherworlder. What’s your relation with Roukel?”
He looked like a westerner, but he spoke in Korean, not in the otherworld language, nor English.
“I don’t think there’s really any reason for me to answer you…” Sung Joon responded curtly.
“You don’t seem very surprised when I call you an otherworlder. So there’s something Roukel told you, huh?”
Artux raised his greatsword and activated his aura. That became the signal for the battle to begin. The other three knights raised their swords as well.
“They’re ranked 386, 390, and 400. When you consider their mana quantity, they’re at the level of top tier rank Hunters,” Rishubalt pointed at each of them and said. While Sung Joon was readying himself for battle, Rishubalt had been checking the number engraved on either their rings or their necklaces.
“They’re a lot weaker than I’d expected.”
He had been nervous because they were skilled in stealth, but they turned out to be no big deal.
Compared to Hunters, these knights possessed a ton of actual combat experience and were trained and specialized in techniques to kill people.
Though they were at the level of top tier rank Hunters, they were definitely a bit stronger than that.
“Petrify!”
Sung Joon attacked first. He accumulated mana into his eyes and yelled, and a red beam containing the petrifying curse shot out towards the 400th ranked knight.
“Ugh!”
The fact that Sung Joon had run around avoiding the Medusa’s gaze didn’t mean that the speed of the beam was slow. To be honest, it was fast enough that it would be difficult for an S-rank Combat Hunter to dodge.
Though he was part of the Knight Brigade, there was no way a 400th rank knight would be able to dodge the beam. He was hit directly on the chest, and weakly fell. His body began to turn to stone starting from his chest, accompanied by a horrific pain.
‘It consumes a lot more mana than I’d expected,’ Sung Joon thought.
“It’s a petrifying curse! Everyone, be careful!” Artux yelled.
“It’s so fast that it’s difficult for us to respond to!”
“If that’s the case, then let’s attack!”
Artux dashed towards Sung Joon with the two remaining knights. They used their high-speed movement and quickly closed the distance; seeing that, Sung Joon infused mana into ‘Roel’.
“Dragon Fear.”
Roar!
The slumbering Evil Dragon soul within Roel awoke and roared. It was still limited, but the Dragon Fear would even temporarily stop S-rank Hunters. The three knights who possessed about a top tier rank Hunter’s mana couldn’t endure it.
“Ugh!”
“AH”
“Urgh!”
The three knights were shocked and stumbled. Though they were specially trained in assassination techniques and had plenty of combat experience, which increased their fighting ability, they were still handicapped by the maximum amount of mana they could possess.
“Flash Cut.”
Sung Joon instantaneously closed the distance with the 390th ranked knight. He used Flash Cut and cut deeply into his neck. Though his neck was protected by thick armor, as well as aura armor, Sung Joon’s aura was powerful enough to cut through them both.
“Ah!”
“Slash!”
Then, Artux, who had been released from the Dragon Fear, shot an aura slash at Sung Joon, but that was only after the 390th ranked knight was already dead.
Sung Joon ducked his head and evaded the aura slash; while doing so, he used his high-speed movement to get close to Artux. The 386th ranked knight blocked his path, but Sung Joon cut through him with one strike.
“Ah!”
“W-With only one blow?”
The 386th ranked knight weakly fell without even properly receiving Sung Joon’s blade once; seeing that, Artux panicked considerably.
“To think that Roukel’s disciple was this strong!”
Artux blocked Sung Joon’s strike with the side of his greatsword.
“Ugh!”
However, because of the difference in physical strength, Artux was significantly pushed back. Sung Joon didn’t miss that opportunity; he gathered his mana and opened his mouth.
“Gale Sword.”
He charged with the sword winds. Artux focused on his aura armor. His aura armor managed to block the sword winds, but they couldn’t block Sung Joon’s lunge.
“Ah!”
Sung Joon’s sword pierced Artux’s stomach. As he lost his concentration, his aura armor vanished. Sung Joon drew his dagger and cut the tendons of both of Artux’s arms.
Even the aura over his greatsword disappeared and he dropped his weapon. He had lost his will to fight in front of such overwhelming strength.
“Did you say your name was Artux? Shall I tell you something interesting?” Sung Joon asked, and Artux arduously nodded his head. Seeing Artux’s weak eyes, Sung joon opened his mouth with a cold expression.
“I am Roukel.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately swung his dagger and cut Artux’s neck. A fountain of blood spurted from his neck and Sung Joon took a step back, absorbing both their stamina and mana.
-Verifying the existence of a new item.
His measuring tool reacted.
“It seems like it’s time to loot,” Rishubalt said, and Sung Joon smirked.
//
Chapter 43 – Otherworld Attacker (2)
TL: Boko
Editor: Frost
“There are items. Two Knight Brigade necklaces and five rings. I’ve already extracted the otherworld energy.”
As soon as Sung Joon absorbed the mana from the bodies, Rishubalt checked how many items were on them. With his help, Sung Joon rapidly collected the two necklaces and five rings.
“How are you going to deal with the bodies?” Rishubalt asked.
Contrary to the Awakening Dungeon, this was Earth, not the other world. Plus, they were human, not monster corpses, so they didn’t vanish.
If he left five corpses in the park, it would become troublesome for him later, even though he was an SS-rank Hunter.
“I have someone who’s good at things like this,” Sung Joon said, and raised his phone. And dialed someone’s number.
“Mr. Kang Sung Joon? It’s been a long time since you last called.”
The receiver was Jung Chul. It was daybreak, but it seemed like he was already awake as he sounded extremely energetic.
“I have something that I need your help to deal with, Mr. Park Jung Chul.”
“If I can, I’ll take care of it,” Jung Chul replied. Sung Joon explained the situation simply, but withheld information regarding the Empire’s movement across dimensions.
“Unknown attackers… I understand. I’ll send someone over for now.”
Jung Chul didn’t ask any questions. He was well aware of how tough it would be to deal with the situation if he was too curious.
Ten minutes hadn’t even passed before two black sedans arrived. And Jung Chul, as well as six burly men exited from those cars. The six men began to clean up the corpses, as well as any traces of the battle. They were garbed in black, wearing hats and masks.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Do you really think I’d get hurt?”
Jung Chul asked, and Sung Joon replied back sarcastically. Jung Chul just smiled.
“In any case, it’s strange. To think you’d use Mage Hunters to ‘clean up’…”
“It’s a method often used by the criminal underworld. There’s nothing better than a Hunter’s magic.”
Because a Hunter’s magic was quite diverse, it could be applied in various situations.
“It’s quite early… Please leave this to us, and go rest. I’ll report back to you in the morning.”
Jung Chul said, and Sung Joon nodded his head. He was quite exhausted as he had solo cleared a S-rank dungeon, as well as being ambushed right after.
Though he could replenish his stamina and mana through ‘Absorption’, he’d accumulated quite a lot of mental fatigue.
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing. Just make sure you pay me later.”
“Hahaha. I understand.”
Sung Joon smiled in response to Jung Chul’s reply. He began walking towards his parked Hunter sedan.
“There’s no one following you,” Rishubalt reported after scouting the area. Sung Joon didn’t sense any strange movements from his Presence Detection either.
“I guess I can go home now.”
Sung Joon drove his car back to his studio apartment. It was dawn, so there weren’t a lot of cars on the road and he arrived quickly. He, who had finished parking and returned home, took out the two necklaces, as well as the five rings he’d acquired from the recent battle.
He didn’t know why, but the knights hadn’t been equipped with any other items besides the rings and the necklaces.
“What about the otherworld energy?”
“I had already extracted the otherworld energy when I confirmed that they were items.”
“Good. Combine them.”
Sung Joon took off the necklace and the ring he had equipped. As soon as Rishubalt gathered his mana, the rings and necklaces placed on the table gleamed and resonated.
As soon as the fusion was complete, the necklace and the ring were engraved with the number ‘355’. Sung Joon took out his measuring tool and activated the appraisal feature.
B+ rank.
Verifying Aura Persistence effect.
[Knight Brigade’s Necklace +3]rank
Verifying Mana Recovery effect.
‘The item’s rank went up.’
The necklace’s rank didn’t change, but once the ring was upgraded to +8, it went up to the B+ rank. The ring’s Aura Persistence effect should’ve improved considerably as well.
It seemed as though the Mana Recovery effect of the Knight Brigade’s Necklace had become more effective as well. As soon as he equipped it again, he felt his mana quickly being replenished.
“The Mana Recovery effect has improved considerably. Would you like to try out the Aura Persistence effect as well?” Rishubalt asked. Sung Joon wordlessly drew his sword and activated his aura. The aura danced upon his blade; Rishubalt examined it closely and then opened his mouth.
“It seems like the Aura Persistence effect has improved as well. You shouldn’t have to worry about maintaining your aura during a long battle anymore. Congratulations, my lord!”
Sung Joon deactivated his aura and turned his sword into a ring again. Roel’s ‘transform’ ability had been helpful in a lot of ways.
“So that’s it with the items… Shall we start with the main topic?”
Sung Joon grabbed a cold drink from his fridge and spoke while sitting on the sofa. Rishubalt moved in front of Sung Joon.
“It’s safe to say that the Knight Brigade knows where I live, considering that they attacked me, right?”
“Because I don’t know what the current Knight Brigade report system is like, I don’t know how much they relayed. However, I believe they haven’t figured out the location of your studio apartment yet.”
Rishubalt accessed the situation calmly. Sung Joon nodded his head in agreement and listened.
“But I recommend that you move to another residence that is equipped with the most up to date security equipment.”
The security in his studio apartment wasn’t very good, and there was a chance that innocent people could get caught in the crossfire. Because of his memories as Roukel, he wasn’t the type to worry about that, but he had to be somewhat concerned about it in today’s society.
“Yeah, I should move to a place with a large garden.”
“While you’re at it, why don’t you create a guild as well? If you pay them a proper wage, then Park Jang Hoon and Yoo Shin Chul will definitely follow you. There’s also a high chance that Choi Eun Joo will join you as well.”
Shin Chul and Jang Hoon thought favorably of Sung Joon. If he paid them enough and gave them enough freedom, they would follow his orders. However, contrary to what Rishubalt thought, Sung Joon wasn’t so sure about Eun Joo.
“You also have to think about your father’s safety. Though they’ve increased the security in the hospital, if the main force of the Knight Brigade attacks, he’ll be in danger. Instead, it would be better to create a safe house for him and then placing him there where he can be both treated and protected at the same time.”
He brought up some good points.
“You need a fortress that’s heavily defended such that you won’t have to worry even if they find out where you live.”
“The price of houses in Seoul is quite expensive.”
“I know that the price of housing won’t be a problem for you, my lord.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
Sung Joon smiled and replied. By selling the magic stones from the S-rank dungeon, he could acquire tens of millions; though he hadn’t been able to do so due to the ambush. If sold, he would have $1.5 billion.
“Ok, that’s that, but the dungeon I cleared was supposed to be a mid tier S-rank dungeon… It seems like it’d be more effective to bring a few people to clear an S-rank dungeon than to solo it, so I should make a temporary dungeon assault team.”
“I agree.”
Rishubalt nodded his head.
“For now, let’s go to sleep and go to the Dungeon Bureau in the morning.”
Sung Joon showered and went into his bed to sleep. And as soon as morning came, Sung Joon went to the Dungeon Bureau to sell his magic stones.
Han So Eun, Sung Joon’s exclusive Dungeon Bureau clerk, had already been contacted beforehand and was waiting for him.
“I’ve come to sell my magic stones.”
“We’re all ready for you. I’ll calculate the payment immediately.”
So Eun smiled and replied. The workers took the magic stones, and she went through the normal procedures. Because they had already prepared for his arrival, it didn’t take very long.
“It comes out to $40 million, but adding in your 30% additional reward, it comes out to a total of $52 million. Shall I deposit it into your account immediately?”
“Please do.”
So Eun immediately took care of it. She skipped the unnecessary procedures, perhaps because Sung Joon was an SS-rank Hunter. It didn’t take long before Sung Joon checked to see that the sum had indeed been deposited into his account.
“Thank you.”
“Yes. Take care.”
After Sung Joon had said his farewells to So Eun, he left the Dungeon Bureau and made his way to the parking lot. He got into the driver’s seat and turned on the car, but then, heard a bell sound.
Jung Chul was calling him. As soon as Sung Joon checked the caller, he picked up the phone.
“Yes. This is Kang Sung Joon.”
“We’ve taken care of everything. We’ve hacked the nearby CCTVs and we’ve cleaned up the scene. Of course, we’ve taken care of the bodies as well,” Jung Chul said. He was reliable as he was the type of person to get things done quickly. Sung Joon opened his mouth with a satisfied expression.
“Good work. I’ll pay you immediately.”
“Thank you. Please contact me whenever you need me.”
“Ah! Now that you mention it, may I make one more request?”
“Please go ahead.”
“I’m thinking of buying a mansion. I’d like it be a mansion that’s in an easily defensible location in case of an attack. If it’s possible, I’d like it to be in Seoul as well,” Sung Joon said. He was planning on building a fortress in preparation for an attack from the Knight Brigade.
“I’ll do that for you for free. It won’t take long,” Jung Chul said in a voice overflowing with confidence. There were a few S-rank Hunters who lived in fortress-like mansions in case of a Raid. Because of that, Jung Chul knew about a few spots that matched Sung Joon’s description.
“I’ll contact you again later.”
The next day, Sung Joon heard a bell sound while he was resting.
“This is Park Jung Chul.”
“You’re faster than I expected.”
Sung Joon picked up the phone.
“I’ve found a good mansion for you. It’ll cost more if you want to remodel it, but it costs $10 million to buy it.”
“I’d like to see it first.”
“I haven’t had to do much to do in the auction house recently, so… I’ll take you there myself,” Jung Chul said. He thought it’d be helpful in maintaining his close relationship with Sung Joon if he were to go himself.
“Are you free tomorrow?”
“Yes. I feel like around 1 o’clock in the afternoon would be alright.”
“I understand. I’ll come by then.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I’ll come to pick you up.”
Time passed by, and it was now 1 o’clock in the afternoon the next day. Jung Chul came by with a luxurious sedan and Sung Joon got in. The mansion that Jung Chul spoke of wasn’t very far away.
“Here it is. There aren’t any high buildings around it, and it’s in a very defensible location. Above all, there’s a guard post of the Armed Policemen ten minutes away. If there’s a problem, you can get reinforcements immediately,” Jung Chul explained. The structure of the house made it seem easy to defend to Sung Joon as well.
“If we fortify it properly, I feel like it can become a fortress.”
Rishubalt had the same idea. Sung Joon nodded his head with a satisfied expression and opened his mouth.
“I’ll buy it. $10 million, right?”
Sung Joon much too easily decided to buy the mansion for $10 million. Now that he’d become an SS-rank Hunter, $10 million wasn’t much to him.
//