Translator: Vine
Translated At: Nyx Scans
Chapter: 125
#125. The Hyung's Dignity
2022.12.03.
Thwaaack—!
With a single blow from his massive fist, dozens of monsters fell like autumn leaves.
"As expected of Master!"
"Master!"
Immortal's master, the Monkey King Yoo Hwan.
'Found him.'
Eunha, spotting him, approached him without hesitation.
"Hmm? Younger brother, why are you here? What about the south?"
Yoo Hwan, who was preparing for his next attack, turned his head towards Eunha, who had suddenly approached him.
"I need to check under the ground."
"The ground?"
Yoo Hwan lowered his gaze.
And then looked at Eunha again.
"Are you saying there's something down there?"
"I'm saying we should check. It'll probably be fastest if you do it."
Eunha stared directly at Yoo Hwan.
"...Is it impossible?"
At her question, Yoo Hwan's eyes widened.
Impossible?
Is she asking me?
Asking the Monkey King, who stands at the pinnacle of physical enhancement type hunters, about 'impossibility'?
He covered his eyes with his hand, looking dumbfounded, and burst into loud laughter.
"Younger brother, there's no one in all of Korea... no, in all of Asia, who underestimates me as much as you do."
After laughing his fill, he slowly lowered his hand.
"Really, sometimes it's disappointing."
"What are you talking about."
Eunha spoke in an uninflected tone.
"I don't underestimate you. Rather, it's the opposite."
And she lifted her pitch-black eyes and looked directly at Yoo Hwan.
"Among the hundreds of hunters gathered here, you're the only hunter I can ask this of. Monkey King."
"..."
Yoo Hwan closed his mouth.
A moment of silence.
Afterward, Yoo Hwan burst into loud laughter again.
'I think I get it.'
Why that blue-eyed kid looked at younger brother with those eyes.
'Whether it was intentional or unconscious.'
...She really knows how to play with people.
Yoo Hwan, slowly stroking his chin, lowered his gaze to the hard ground.
[12th Divine Beast, 'Monkey Bearing the Heavens's Authority ▶ Temporarily release 'Golden Fillet'?]
The reason the Monkey King was famous not only in Korea but also in China wasn't solely because he was a hunter at the pinnacle of the physical enhancement type.
—The only contractor who, despite not being a 'Vassal', had been granted authority from a divine beast.
"Release."
Chaeng!
With the sound of shattering metal, red sparks enveloped him like a whirlwind.
"Watch carefully, younger brother."
Yoo Hwan grinned, showing his canines.
"This is 'Hyung'."
Rumble, rumble, rumble...
Cracks began to form on the ground, centered on where he stood.
"...!"
Jaemin and Sungyoon, who were fighting nearby, simultaneously turned back.
And a silent exchange of glances followed between the two.
They shouted loudly towards their surroundings at the same time.
"Everyone, fall back! This area is dangerous!"
"Retreat!"
And the next moment.
[Stance ① ▶ Chimpanzee | Transformation Complete. Attack Power increases by 30%. Current accumulated training level 938,969/999,999.]
[12th Divine Beast, 'Monkey Bearing the Heavens's Authority ▶ When 'Golden Fillet' is released, an additional buff is granted according to the training level.]
[Attack Power additionally increases by 93.89%.]
Kwaaaaaaaang—!!!
The ground shattered.
A massive hole, as if from a large-scale sinkhole, was blown open in the ground.
"Wh-what..."
At the tremendous roar, not only the eastern hunters but also some of the adjacent northern hunters flocked over.
"What happened?"
"A boss? Don't tell me a boss appeared?"
Amidst the chaotic atmosphere, Eunha slowly took a step forward.
Clack—
'...This is.'
[An entrance leading to the Root of Incubation has been discovered!]
A hole torn in the floor.
And another floor located below that hole.
There, a large crest in the shape of a magic circle was shining with a brilliant golden light.
Ssshh...
Yoo Hwan's hair, which had been swaying as if in a typhoon, settled down again.
And he muttered in a voice that seemed lost in thought.
"Hmm. Since it's called an entrance, it seems that place is some kind of passage."
Then suddenly, thwack!
He kicked off the ground and jumped down in a single bound.
"Master?"
Heo Jaemin, who was nearby, rushed over with a frightened face.
The mere thought of what his master might do next seemed to make him dizzy.
"Master, what are you doing? Come up quickly! You don't even know what that crest is!"
"To catch a tiger, you must enter the tiger's den. I'll go in myself and see what's in there."
Yoo Hwan strode towards the crest.
"You can't, Master!"
Thwack!
Jaemin, just as Yoo Hwan had, jumped down without hesitation.
"You're blocking my path?"
Yoo Hwan raised an eyebrow, looking at Jaemin who blocked his way.
Normally, Jaemin would have whimpered and backed down at just that, but not now.
"We don't know what this place is like, or if we can even get out once we go in, in this situation."
"So we have to check."
"You can't. If something happens to Master, who will lead our unit?"
"Heo Jaemin."
Yoo Hwan lowered his voice, his brow furrowed in annoyance.
At that subtle change in intonation, Jaemin flinched slightly but resolutely did not back down from his position.
"I will go."
"What?"
At Jaemin's words, Yoo Hwan's eyes widened slightly.
"...Are you confident?"
"If Master believes in me."
"..."
Yoo Hwan was silent for a moment.
But that too was momentary; curling his lips into a grin, he spoke with a mischievous face.
"You don't trust me, yet you want me to trust you? Selfish bastard."
"M-Master..."
"Anyway, you only take after my bad points."
Yoo Hwan placed his hand on Jaemin's shoulder.
"If you're going, take Do Sungyoon with you."
"What?"
Jaemin frowned deeply.
"No, why that guy... I'm sufficient on my own, Master."
"It's not your problem. Isn't he looking over with such an anxious face?"
Yoo Hwan pointed upwards with his index finger.
Sungyoon was visible above the ground, craning his neck like a giraffe to look down here.
"As you said, we don't know what this place is like. Two is better than one."
"..."
Jaemin looked a little hurt, but he didn't refuse until the end.
"Master is right."
Thwack!
Sungyoon came down.
"Let's split up, finish the search, and quickly rejoin the main unit."
At Sungyoon's words, Jaemin pouted.
Such a worrywart.
Who was the one who caused all sorts of worry, both existing and non-existing, during the Busan Unknown Gate?
Whipping his head around, Jaemin strode towards the golden crest and said as if throwing it out.
"...Do as you please."
Sungyoon, letting out a smirk, followed him.
Pretending to be angry.
'Actually, you're happy.'
He didn't say that.
Because it was obvious he would fly into a rage.
"What, what's wrong with this."
However.
[The limited number of personnel has been exceeded. Cannot move to the Root of Incubation.]
It seemed the crest had a personnel limit.
Meaning, only one person could proceed to the 'Root of Incubation'.
"No, that..."
As the bewildered Sungyoon muttered blankly,
Thwack!
Jaemin rather roughly pushed Sungyoon's back.
"Clean up the kids' poop upstairs until big bro comes back."
As Sungyoon's feet left the crest, fwaaa!
The crest began to glow again.
"Well then, I'm off."
With a final lift of his hand, Jaemin, who was standing on the crest, disappeared like smoke along with a haze of light.
"Uuuugh."
Woo Namhyuk.
27 years old, main job hunter, side job BJ.
Alias Server Manager.
BJ name HyukieWorld.
Thanks to luckily finding good party members, he had been able to pass the Bokgye Mountain support qualification test and was currently part of the support unit led by the Princess of Dark Flare.
[Lv.30 'Root Sucker Parasite' has become an adult!]
"Hey! Behind! Behind!"
"Again?! Damn it, how many is that already...!"
Amidst the scattered surroundings due to the endless battle with the Sucker Parasites, Namhyuk was fiddling with his phone.
<Cannot connect to the network.>
<Please check your network connection status.>
...As expected.
As was widely known, just like in special gates, phones seemed to be useless here too.
Though modern telecommunication companies had created 'special data plans' that allowed phone use in gates, even those were useless in an Unknown Gate like this.
However, Woo Namhyuk, who was he?
The alias Server Manager wasn't just for show.
[Skill ▶'Activate Private Server' is being activated.]
Zzzzt—
A small spark erupted from his hand.
And the next moment.
<Network Connection Successful!>
The previously dead phone rang, ding!
His own convenient unique ability, capable of providing data anytime, anywhere, at a desired location and time.
Though this ability had made him a hotspot shuttle in his school days, it was now serving as a dutiful son while he was active as a hunter BJ.
Just like now.
「《LIVE》 The Association's Secret Operation?! I've Personally Participated in the South Coast Unknown Gate!」
"Ah, ah. Hello, everyone."
Namhyuk waved at his phone.
The current viewer count was 7.
Seeing that the number of people who entered as soon as it started was about 2-3 more than usual, it was certain that new viewers had been drawn in by the room title.
[Hyuk-ha~]
[yo yo]
[What's this? Why an Unknown Gate all of a sudden????]
[Is this some new kind of clickbait lol]
"Hey, clickbait? Look."
Namhyuk held up his phone and conspicuously showed his surroundings.
"See? Those monsters. They're a good Level 30. Everyone, you all know that even a C-Class hunter has a hard time catching monsters over Level 30, right?"
[omgggg;;;;; what did i just see]
[for real?]
[omg wasn't that Shine J and Gunslinger in the back just now???]
Pleased with the slightly changed reactions of the viewers, Namhyuk grinned.
There would be no other hunter BJ in the world who could conduct a live broadcast from here.
Of course... it wasn't that the non-disclosure agreement he had signed before entering the gate didn't bother him.
If the fact that he was broadcasting from here was discovered, he would have to pay a considerable penalty fee.
In the worst-case scenario, his hunter license could even be revoked.
—But so what.
This wasn't just any gate, but an Unknown Gate.
Moreover, it was an incredible scene where many of Korea's top S-Class hunters were gathered.
If this broadcast went well, he would be able to escape his long life of obscurity.
The position of Paprika TV president wouldn't be just a dream.
If that happened, he could live comfortably without having to risk his life in real combat, as he had until now.
Namhyuk, calming his swelling chest, spoke again.
"The Monkey King and Doctor Plant are here... All the S-Class hunters are gathered. Huh? You don't believe me? It's true!"
[‘☆PraiseHackingGodSoo☆’ has entered.]
[‘FlowerCrab’ has entered.]
"No... it's not just a gate, it's an Unknown Gate, an Unknown Gate!"
[‘BestSwordsmanInTheWorld’ has entered.]
[‘SinchonTwerkingMachine’ has entered.]
[‘SNUClassof29’ has entered.]
"Do you know how much trouble I went through to turn on this broadcast just to show you this, everyone? If you keep doing this, I'm turning it off."
Actually, that was a lie.
The viewer count was increasing in real time.
An explosive reaction, indeed.
After conducting the live broadcast here, once he got out of the gate, he should cut it into clips and upload it to You-Tube.
He could expect at least 5 million views.
'No, who knows? It might even make it to international news?!'
It was while the excited Namhyuk was enthusiastically communicating with his viewers like an unbridled colt.
"Hey!"
Someone shouted from behind.
"Are you in your right mind? What are you doing there? Instead of doing that, why don't you kill one more monster."
A girl in a pink baseball cap began to nag him with a defiant posture.
With her youthful impression, she looked to be a high school student at most, or at best, just turned twenty.
Namhyuk never dreamed that the girl before him was the famous faceless S-Class, Phantom Thief Kang Ayeon.
Perhaps it was because quite some time had passed since Ayeon was announced as an S-Class and suffered from rumors, but more than that, the main reason was that her characteristic 'Disturbance' effect was interfering with facial recognition in her daily life.
'What a mentality.'
Ayeon, pulling down her slightly crooked baseball cap, let out a small sigh.
No matter that they weren't personnel directly selected by the Association, to think there were so few useful hunters in the support unit.
As if dealing with those disgusting bug creatures wasn't annoying enough, seeing him hold a phone and chuckle gleefully made her blood boil.
She couldn't believe that her unnie's unit was filled with only such people.
'By the way, where on earth did Unnie go.'
Ayeon looked around.
Eunha, who had asked her to look after this place for a moment, had been silent until now.
Where on earth did she go?
Many hunters were still fighting the bug... 'Root Sucker Parasites' around her.
The number didn't seem to have decreased.
No, rather, it had noticeably increased.
Moreover, the monster, which was initially about 60cm, was now even bigger.
Unbelievably.
"Aargh! X damn, that startled me!"
As a giant bug approached with a wheezing sound, Ayeon jumped, her face pale.
[The 12th Divine Beast, 'Rat Ruling the Shade', clicks its tongue at your weak appearance, "For an S-Class hunter, you're doing a fine job."]
At the rat's sarcastic message, Ayeon's two eyes narrowed sharply.
"What, rat. Is there nothing you're afraid of in this world?"
[The 12th Divine Beast, 'Rat Ruling the Shade', scoffs at you, "I am the foremost being among the great 12 divine beasts, so how could there be anything I'm afraid of?"]
"X-ralhane."
(Korean slang, similar to 'bullshit')
Ayeon let out a smirk.
"You're afraid of my unnie, aren't you. You don't even show up when you're with Unnie."
[The 12th Divine Beast, 'Rat Ruling the Shade', looks for what to say in a flustered manner, "Th-that's...!"]
[It makes an excuse, "Isn't it unavoidable since that woman smells of cat?"]
That damn cat smell.
Ayeon had visited Eunha's house before, but she didn't raise any cats.
Of course, her unnie's long, slender eyes and haughty expression did resemble a cat...
"Anyway, it means you're afraid of something too. You crafty, lying rat bastard."
[The 12th Divine Beast, 'Rat Ruling the Shade', trembles, "Wh-what...! Look at this yellow-bellied contractor!"]
[It grinds its front teeth, "Among all the contractors I've had so far, you are the worst."]
"Not the strongest?"
Ayeon grinned.
The rat didn't answer after that.
It was probably sulking, or had gone to check on another contractor.
Well, it didn't matter.
Ayeon didn't particularly enjoy conversing with divine beasts.
The divine beast, through its contractor Ayeon's eyes and ears, spied on the world, received entertainment, and gained honor as a divine beast.
The contractor Ayeon, through the divine beast, enhanced her abilities and sometimes received support in the form of items or coins.
And that too, very rarely.
That's right.
The divine beast Rat and Ayeon were thorough business partners.
It could be said that their relationship was just that.
'If possible, I would have preferred a dragon or a tiger over a rat.'
What's with a rat, a rat.
It was the moment Ayeon shook her head.
Ding!
[An entrance leading to the Root of Incubation has been discovered!]
A blue system window popped up before Ayeon's eyes.
What's this all of a sudden?
An entrance to the Root of Incubation?
Is it some kind of hidden passage?
Ayeon looked around.
"Wh-what?"
"Root of Incubation?"
"Someone must have found the way!"
"As expected! It must be Heuk-Peu who went that way earlier! As expected of our captain!"
"Could it be the Monkey King? That roar earlier, it seems it must have been him."
It seemed the said system window had appeared not only to Ayeon but to all the hunters who were currently engaged in a fierce battle with the Sucker Parasites.
Though she didn't know who or where had discovered this Root of Incubation, it was certain that something was 'changing'.
They might have found the key to conquering the gate.
Perhaps her unnie who had disappeared just now...?
Anyway, it seemed to be an undeniable fact that the system window had played the role of a victory telegram.
The support unit hunters, who had been pushed back by the tidal wave-like momentum of the Sucker Parasites, were now clearly in higher spirits, and even those who had been in despair were getting up again and starting to fight back against the Sucker Parasites.
However—.
[Lv.35 'Root Sucker Parasite' has become an adult!]
"...Huh?"
Ayeon, glancing over, froze.
Level 35?
The bug creature, wasn't it Level 30 until just now?
Did she see wrong?
As Ayeon blinked,
"Uwaaaaaah!"
"...!"
The moment she quickly turned back at someone's scream, red blood, of unknown origin, splattered thickly in her vision.
[Lv.40 'Root Sucker Parasite' has become an adult!]
Ayeon froze like stone upon seeing the massive bug before her.
It wasn't a mistake.
—The situation was, in fact, getting worse.
