Chapter 90

Chapter 90

The battle with Soye dragged on for another three hours or so.

The creature had stamina to match its outstanding brute strength. The Shinseong Guild's strategy of grinding that stamina down through a war of attrition wasn't exactly elegant, but it was the surest method available.

"......"

As for my personal take, watching the hunt from a safe distance—what should I call it? Unremarkable, maybe.

There was nothing worth referencing for my own hunts.

Setting that aside and evaluating it objectively, they were demonstrating textbook form on how to fight a powerful monster by scraping together every scrap of insufficient manpower.

Baek Gunseo, at the vanguard, absorbed the monster's aggro and dealt damage, while the tankers positioned behind him served as the second line of defense against its assaults. Then, once the creature's attention was locked, they struck from all sides to inflict damage.

It was textbook to the point of tedium. And that was precisely why it was strong—steady, unshaken, and relentless in chipping away at the target.

Lee Sehee's ability stood out: keeping everyone focused when concentration wavered, redistributing roles based on stamina, and responding to unforeseen situations.

Without her, several would already be dead. Every time someone was injured, Lee Sehee readjusted the formation to protect her people.

And after grinding the creature's stamina down to nothing—

Thud!

"Finished?"

Soye finally collapsed. The Shinseong Guild's losses were far from light. No fatalities, but over thirty Hunters had sustained serious injuries.

Emergency treatment was administered immediately each time, but those were wounds that might well have been fatal for a small hunting team.

I walked over to where Soye had fallen.

"Junho."

Lee Sehee greeted me with a troubled expression.

Wondering why, I quickly saw the reason—the hunt wasn't over yet.

Soye had collapsed but wasn't dead. Its energy was depleted, yet it was still channeling its gift at full force, making it difficult to break through the Force shield.

And if it recovered its stamina here? They'd have to hunt it all over again.

I turned to Baek Gunseo. Having handled Soye from start to finish, he looked visibly exhausted.

I hadn't planned on interfering until the end, but seeing it collapse alive made me want to try Brainwashing.

"Mind if I step in?"

"On the contrary, I'd like to ask you. Would you?"

"If you don't mind."

"I'm asking."

"Then I won't refuse."

I stood before Soye. The creature flinched at the sight of me and tried to squirm, but its stamina was spent—it couldn't move any further.

Crk-crk!

As I poured Arc Mine after Arc Mine into it, the Force shield began to crack.

It was the same form as Nuri—channeling Force to the extreme to maximize defense. It would have been a pain even for me to handle. But having fought it once before, dismantling it was simple.

At last, my hand broke through the Force shield and came to rest atop the creature's head.

Grrrrrr!

I pushed through Soye's resistance and used Brainwashing.

Soye responded to the keywords I injected. That was unexpected. Every previous use of Brainwashing had triggered either desperate resistance or signs of rampage—but this time, there was no particular reaction.

Does it intend to submit? If so, I won't refuse.

But when I delved deeper, into the domain of consciousness that could be called the root of the self, a deep, innate rage greeted me.

I knew monsters harbored hostility toward humanity. I had to erase that and inject the submission keywords to make taming possible. Every monster until now had rampaged before I could even touch it. But would Soye be different?

I began to probe at that rage.

Grrrrrr!

Soye howled.

I paid it no mind and kept prodding.

The rage that hadn't responded at first ran wild, then lashed out, pushing back against my keywords and going berserk.

The outcome of a confrontation between a dying monster's ego and my perfectly intact one was obvious from the start.

My Brainwashing subdued Soye's rage and began injecting the submission keywords.

Thud!

A dull sound echoed through Soye's skull, and its eyes glazed over as its head dropped.

Unable to hold on any longer, it died.

Whoooa!

The watching Shinseong Guild Hunters cheered, saying they'd killed the monster with its body intact—but I didn't.

The taming had succeeded, only to end in failure less than three seconds later.

I clicked my tongue. It had seemed like a creature with a decent sense of the situation, too.

"No good."

It was as if something had been programmed into it to make it hostile to humanity.

In the end, it came down to a mental issue—and injecting Brainwashing's keywords seemed to trigger a rejection. As if it were being treated as a kind of virus.

The best answer for something like this is Immunity to All Poisons. If that hostility were judged a status effect, Immunity to All Poisons would wipe it away cleanly.

If Brainwashing is the virus, then Immunity to All Poisons is the vaccine.

But Immunity to All Poisons was a gift that applied only to me.

I'd heard there was a gift that could apply effects to others—was it called Synchronization? I'd need to find out who held it.

As I stepped back, Lee Sehee approached with a delighted expression.

"Junho! Thank you! I'll make sure your hunt contribution is calculated precisely."

"It's fine. You don't need to."

"What? That won't do!"

"It was already caught anyway. You let me observe, and you gave me time to examine Soye—so I got everything I needed. This is the Shinseong Guild's achievement, whole and undivided."

Thanks to this, I'd learned what my next task would be, so it wasn't a loss.

If there was a problem, though, it was that Immunity to All Poisons kept trying to worm its way through my mental barrier at every opportunity.

It seemed to have a will of its own—was there any way to properly discipline it? I'd conveyed my intent several times, but it was proving as stubborn as its ego.

Most likely, something went wrong when I copied it from Berserker.

I knew Berserker's mind was off, and I'd gone and copied it—so maybe I'd absorbed that wrongness as my own.

In the end, the problem was Berserker.

Seeing the lingering regret still etched on Lee Sehee's face, I made another offer.

"If it really bothers you, come on my personal broadcast sometime."

"You mean the project Team Leader Jin Sejeong did? I'd love to. I'll give it everything I've got."

"Good. Then handle the cleanup."

I returned to Seoul, mulling over how to make use of Immunity to All Poisons.

*

Choi Junho up and left for real, leaving Soye behind.

He could have demanded something, but there was none of that either.

Lee Sehee thought there was no one quite as peculiar as Choi Junho.

Anyone else with that kind of skill at such a young age would invariably be a slave to their desires. But Choi Junho had no greed. Money and honor meant nothing to him.

That was what made him so difficult to deal with.

It would have been easier if he were honest about his desires—then at least she could have harbored the ambition of using that overwhelming power.

No—if he were that kind of person, her head would have been smashed long ago.

Even now, recalling that first meeting sent a chill down her spine.

Shaking off her thoughts of Choi Junho, Lee Sehee let out a sigh of relief.

Dealing with him always drained her mental energy. Having just fought a fierce battle with Soye, a dizzying wave of fatigue washed over her.

"Hah!"

Looking around, she saw exhausted Hunters sprawled everywhere. It was rest time until the follow-up units arrived. That was how grueling the battle had been.

Lee Sehee wanted nothing more than to sit down, but she was the General Operations Team Leader. To avoid showing weakness to the guild's Hunters, she forced herself to stay standing on sheer stubbornness.

Baek Gunseo approached her. His face was unusually haggard.

"You did well, Sehee."

"Thank you. But you suffered the most, Uncle. Without you, we wouldn't have even dared to hunt it."

"Now I understand why they say Plus-tier monsters are a struggle. There were quite a few dangerous moments. If it had been a flying monster, it would have been worse."

Baek Gunseo's face was deep in thought. Indeed, Plus-tier monsters were on a different grade.

Knowing he'd struggled more than usual, Lee Sehee didn't offer him any hasty comfort.

Choi Junho was especially the problem. That brief moment when he'd casually pushed Soye aside stood in stark contrast to the rest of them, who'd been fighting with everything they had.

The shock felt by Baek Gunseo—a man with more pride than the sky is high—must have been greater than she imagined.

"Your judgment in securing Choi Junho was correct. You saved the Group."

"Ah, thank you."

"If anything comes up where you need my strength, tell me anytime. I'll help as if it were my own business."

"Uncle?"

"I believe you're smart enough to understand what I mean."

"......"

"Then I'll be going."

With that, Baek Gunseo turned and walked away. A moment later, a smile spread across Lee Sehee's lips.

*

—As the Shinseong Guild successfully hunted the Plus-tier monster Soye......

While news of the hunt was blanketing the press and TV, Baek Gunseo headed to headquarters and was meeting with Lee Youngmun.

Compared to Baek Gunseo, who had completely washed away the aftermath of the grueling hunt, Lee Youngmun's complexion was the worse of the two.

"I'm glad you returned safely, Gunseo."

"Only because you worried for me, Brother."

"I heard your efforts were considerable."

Baek Gunseo shook his head.

"It was a place where I felt only my own inadequacy. I especially felt the gap between myself and Choi Junho."

"You say that?"

Lee Youngmun probably couldn't truly grasp it.

Baek Gunseo himself had been the same.

If not for the hunt against Soye, he would have remained firmly deluded.

"Yes. If anything, I'd say Sehee may have seen Choi Junho the most accurately of any of us. Choi Junho is at minimum a Ten Great Transcendents-level combatant."

Perhaps even beyond that.

Baek Gunseo muttered those words inwardly.

"Sehee did put in unusual effort. She secured Choi Junho well."

"But Choi Junho is dangerous. If the Group ever wavers, it won't be because of a business failure or a failed monster hunt—it'll be because of Choi Junho. Just look at what happened with Sechan......"

"That's enough."

Lee Youngmun raised a hand, cutting Baek Gunseo off.

Both of them already knew who had turned Lee Sechan into a simpleton.

But it was a Pandora's box that must never be opened aloud.

"Let's leave it at that."

"My apologies."

"You're right that Choi Junho is dangerous. But it's also true he's brought the Group enormous profit. As a businessman, there's no reason whatsoever to distance ourselves from him. If we'd sat still, someone else would have reaped the benefits. Gunseo."

"Yes."

"Help Sehee get on good terms with him."

"There isn't much I can do."

"But there's far more I can do than a man who wouldn't be surprised to die tomorrow."

"That's not something you should say, Brother."

Baek Gunseo spoke in alarm, but Lee Youngmun shook his head firmly.

"My wishes and reality are different things. If it were up to my heart, I'd step forward myself, but this isn't a problem that can be solved right away. It's something that takes time."

"Choi Junho is someone who won't move as you wish."

"The government will interfere with any connection between him and Sehee. They've likely grasped as much about Choi Junho as we have. They may even think that if our two houses joined, South Korea would be swallowed by the Shinseong Group. That's not exactly wrong. And it's the ideal picture for us as well. So you need to hold the center. Can I trust you with this?"

"I believe you'll be watching over it from beginning to end, Brother."

"I hope so."

Lee Youngmun smiled bitterly.

*

With the simultaneous hunts of Soye and Hanbyeol, South Korea had thoroughly proven its hunting capability this time.

One was Plus-tier, the other a Harmful-class Level 8—but simply fighting both at once was a tremendous achievement.

There were still many countries that struggled to handle even a single Harmful-class Level 8 monster.

"We've risen to sixth in the Power Ranking."

The President said with a broad grin.

Cheon Myeongguk looked quite bright as well. The Awakened Power Ranking was one of the indicators symbolizing national power, he explained, so it could showcase just how safe South Korea was.

Indeed, South Korea had entered the top five safest countries relative to land area.

So it was a livable country even with villains and monsters teeming everywhere. Just how much of a hell were other countries, then?

"Anyway, it's today, but do you really have to go?"

Today was the day Franz arrived from Germany.

He'd made it clear he was coming to give me a piece of his mind, so I couldn't very well let it slide.

The President and Cheon Myeongguk both wore expressions pleading with me to just let it pass—but why should I turn away from a face I hadn't seen in ages?

So I'd made clear my intention to go greet him at the airport.

"Yes."

"An unnecessary clash could break out. It'd be better to exchange brief greetings at the Blue House."

Knowing that old man's temperament, he'd blow up on the spot regardless.

The President apparently hadn't given up hope that things could pass without incident.

"Even if a clash does happen, wouldn't the airport be better than the Blue House?"

"......"

He seemed to finally understand my consideration.

Of course, I had no intention of fighting no matter what.

"I'll do my best to keep things amicable."

"All right, if you say so, I'll have to believe you. I trust you'll handle it well. Don't you agree, Director Cheon?"

"Yeees......"

If you say it with that reluctant expression, it doesn't inspire any trust at all.

Then again, I wasn't the type to force belief on someone who didn't believe in me anyway.

"I'll be off, then."

My heart was pounding as I headed for the airport.

I'd met Franz after becoming Blood Lord, but that encounter had left a deep impression on me.

Arc Mine, one of my gifts, was also my most favored one.

When he died at my hands, Franz had already been an old man past eighty. He could have quietly ended his life in Europe, respected by all—yet he came to Korea for the sake of justice.

Had he been full of that old-man stubbornness even back then?

The moment he saw me as Blood Lord, he'd bellowed at me to come to my senses, demanding to know how a young man could have surrendered to evil.

"He'll be strong, won't he?"

Now that he was much younger, I was looking forward to seeing what he'd be like.

*

Franz Günther, now in his mid-sixties, looked early fifties at most by appearance alone. His bold features and the solid muscle on his frame made it clear he was a well-trained man of considerable skill.

He was stroking his long mustache, brow furrowed at the sound of his disciple nagging beside him.

"You need to make a good showing."

"I'll make a good showing, won't I? Do you think I'm going to flip the table?"

"It's precisely because of how you behave that it's a problem."

"Tsk."

Franz's disciple, Laura Anne, let out a heavy sigh. Having faced Choi Junho before, she'd offered advice on how to handle him, but her master clearly had no intention of listening.

How had she ended up caught between these two? The thought of her predicament made her miserable.

"We've come because we need to join forces to stand against the League. You need your head screwed on straight, so I'll give you a proper scolding—you just stand by and watch."

"Has anyone ever actually come to their senses from that?"

“There is. Thirty years ago, there was a guy named Johannes Müller…”

“You’ve told me that story over a hundred times. And there’s no point bringing up someone who’s already dead—we can’t even verify it.”

“Ahem. Anyway, if I keep talking, you’ll end up listening.”

“Ugh!”

Laura heaved a sigh, but Franz didn’t so much as change expression as he spoke.

“If I don’t give him a thorough dressing-down in advance, he could be swayed by the League. The best thing would be to marry him off and set him straight, but…”

His gaze shifted to Laura, and his face scrunched up.

“If you keep saying weird things, I won’t let it slide. And it makes no sense anyway. How big is the age gap!”

“Age difference doesn’t matter in love.”

“Want to see what your disciple’s fists feel like?”

At Laura’s fierce retort, Franz muttered under his breath.

“…Back in my day, we treated our masters like the heavens.”

“How many hundreds of times did you get called a ‘master bastard’ while teaching me?”

“Anyway, just trust me. If he won’t listen to reason, I’ll beat some sense into him if I have to.”

“Choi Junho is genuinely strong.”

“Stronger than me?”

“It won’t be easy.”

When the answer he wanted didn’t come, Franz furrowed his brow.

“Youth is no match for real strength. Are you disrespecting your master?”

“I’m not disrespecting you.”

“Bah. Kids these days don’t know respect. Let’s go.”

Clicking his tongue, he took the lead. Laura, following behind, let out a deep sigh.

What would happen when her crotchety master met the half-mad Choi Junho?

It wasn’t as if she had some future-sight gift.

But she couldn’t understand why she kept seeing the future.