Chapter 480  

Clap clap clap clap clap!

At Huntsman’s wink, his subordinates started clapping again. But even so, they noticed what was going on.

‘Is it okay to do this?’

Of course, the hunters wouldn’t just attack them, since they weren’t in a lawless jungle. However, they were still scared of what was to come.

After all, if hunters acted reasonably and with common sense, why did headlines like ‘Hunters are rioting in the streets with artifacts” keep appearing in the news?

In fact, the hunters at the scene were glaring at Huntsman with a mixture of shock and horror. He had just handed over the monster rewards, which were worth at least a few hundred million dollars, to someone else. Regardless of how long these hunters had been working for Huntsman, it wouldn’t be strange if they killed him.

‘You fucking lunatic...!’

‘Did he just hand over the monster?’

“Boss, are you just gonna let him do this?”

“Ah... Well...”

The hunters protested to their clan leaders, their voices brimming with killing intent, but there wasn’t really anything the leaders could do in this situation.

Huntsman was a madman holding onto their leashes!

Even though he was a helpless civilian when monsters were wreaking havoc, he would return to being a bigshot politician with enormous power when the raid was over.

If he walked around with his fanatical supporters and said, ‘Everyone, the bastards from this clan are ruining our country,’ then it didn’t matter how strong the clan was. They would be attacked from all directions.

Moreover, given his personality, Huntsman would certainly not let them go if the clan leaders defected or betrayed him.

A normal, sane politician would recognize the power of such clans and think, ‘I should avoid conflict with them so they’ll help me again in the future.’

However, Huntsman would seek to kill them if they betrayed him.

The hunters considered him a madman for a reason.

“Everyone, calm down.

“What do you mean, calm down? This is the money we’ve risked our lives for!”

“Mr. Huntsman almost died.”

“That’s true, but... It’s not our fault, is it? We received our orders from above after all!”

Just as the atmosphere among the hunters was becoming increasingly worse, Isabella Meyer returned to the scene.

“Miss Meyer!”

The clan leaders were glad to see her and ran over to greet her.

Isabella Meyer had the most authority in this situation, so perhaps Huntsman would listen to her.

“?”

“Mr. Huntsman...”

Isabella Meyer nodded with an emotionless expression after hearing what had happened.

“I understand.”

“Wa-wait a minute.”

“?”

The clean leaders were flustered at her reaction. Even after hearing what had transpired, Meyer just nodded coldly and moved on...

What was going on?

“We’ve worked so hard to kill the monster! Aren’t you upset that we’re not getting the rewards...?”

At the clan leader's words, Isabella Meyer firmly explained, “A hunter’s duty is to kill monsters and protect citizens, not to greedily pursue their trivial interests. Why do you keep going about those rewards?”

“N-no... Uhm...”

The clan leader was speechless. He had known beforehand that Isabella Meyer had a screw loose, but after talking to her in person, he really had nothing more to say.

What crazy nonsense was she saying...?!

‘Is she joking? What hunter would risk their lives to fight if they don’t get paid?

Of course, all hunters declared in interviews that saving citizens brought them happiness, but how many of them actually meant it?

“Oh, it’s been a while since I’ve heard such great words.” Choi Yeonseung nodded as he listened from a distance.

Meyer was definitely right!

This shocked not only Illeya but also Lamart. ‘What’s the matter with this human?’

Much like Abyssal races, humans were out for themselves, always prioritizing their own interests, which was why the nightmare demon was baffled by Choi Yeonseung’s attitude.

‘He’s lying. No way he means it...’

Lamart stared intently at Choi Yeonseung. He was clearly saying that just because there were many eyes on him. There was no way this human wasn’t greedy for money like the rest of them.

There had to be many desires stirring within him...

‘...There’s none?’

Lamart was shocked to notice that Choi Yeonseung’s desire hadn’t changed. He didn’t look human. After all, how could a human have such self-control?

“But I can’t keep everything to myself. Clan leaders, come here. I’ll give a share to the hunters who have participated in the raid.”

“!!!”

And now he was calling the other humans to share the rewards with them!

Lamart was seriously wondering what was wrong with this human. What kind of person was he?

“Hey, nightmare demon! I can see that you’re scheming... How long will you keep staring at him?!”

Illaphael misunderstood Lamart’s gaze and aimed her spear at her, but the nightmare demon hurriedly tried to explain.

“N-no! You’ve got it wrong! I wasn’t trying to attack...”

“Get back! If you get close, I’ll attack without hesitation.”

“...”

Lamart seriously thought she had to do something about this angel.

***

“Thank you! Thank you!”

“If it hadn’t been for Hunter Choi Yeonseung... Sob sob sob!”

Following the raid, most of the hunters had gathered in one place to rest.

Normally, the atmosphere after a successful raid would be cheerful, but there had been so many accidents and twists during this raid that nobody was celebrating. Besides, Huntsman’s first move was to go for an interview to curse the hunters, and his aides rushed after him to appease him.

Seeing that, some hunters exchanged looks and whispered among themselves.

Other hunters expressed their sincere gratitude to Choi Yeonseung. He hadn’t just given them rewards; he had also saved them from being crushed to death.

“I almost died because of those bastards. Thank you!”

“We couldn’t help it either. The orders...”

“Orders, my ass! If we die, are you going to say it was because of an order?”

“What were we supposed to do when an A-grade hunter had told us to pursue the monster?!”

Instead of thanking Choi Yeonseung, the two hunters grabbed each other by the collar and started fighting. And instead of stopping them, Choi Yeonseung decided to ignore them and do his own thing.

“What’s the situation on Huntsman’s side now? Is he doing some publicity?”

“No. I don’t know if he’s shocked that he almost died or something.”

After a successful A-grade monster raid, it wouldn’t be strange for a politician to boast on TV by saying things like “I did it, my fellow citizens!” However, Huntsman had yet to do that, possibly because he was still in shock at having almost been buried alive.

“Instead, he’s looking to hire more clans. We’ve also been contacted.”

In fact, Huntsman was searching for so many hunters that he had even contacted clans under Dragon Industry. After all, the hunters working for him had abandoned him to kill the monster, so his anger was justified.

“Thanks to this, we are able to announce the results of the raid to the media with a focus on the chairman. We’ve swayed the media in our favor, and we’re bound to get a firm response from the public soon enough.”

“Aren’t the hunters protesting?”

Even though they bowed in front of Huntsman and apologized profusely for failing to save him, the clan hunters gathered here weren’t pushovers.

In fact, they were the ones who had killed the A-grade monster, but the press release made it seem like Choi Yeonseung had killed it.

-The wendigo, an A-grade monster, has been defeated in the mining area! The raid team, in which Hunter Choi Yeonseung took part, defeated the monster...

-In a situation that almost led to a disaster, Hunter Choi Yeonseung managed to rescue everyone! An anonymous hunter revealed, ‘I thought a constellation had descended to save me...’

-Mitt Huntsman—there is a controversy about whether he was at the scene or not... Huntsman’s camp announced that, ‘the video going around right now is a complete fabrication. The person in the video is definitely not Mitt Huntsman...’

-Raid experts believe that it really was Huntsman: ‘Didn’t he intend to lead the raid in the first place?’

-A powerful skill that can bring down mountains... Even the high-ranking hunters praised it as an ‘overwhelming physical force that has never been seen before’... Will the rating debate be rekindled?

-The A-grade hunters who aren’t stepping up in the current situation should learn from Hunter Choi Yeonseung’s actions!

“Right now, the clans don’t even have the spirit to protest. They’re busy with their own problems.”

The clans involved in this raid were having a hard time.

Huntsman was biting at them from above, a fight had broken out among hunters along the way and had to be handled, and Isabella Meyer, whom they had trusted, only said what she wanted to say without helping...

Things weren’t downright awful because Choi Yeonseung had benevolently shared the rewards of the raid. If he had monopolized everything, it wouldn’t have been surprising if there had been a riot.

“It’s really amazing. I never thought you’d foresee this much and give away your rights to the monster. I thought it was a waste at first, but now I understand the meaning behind it,” said Hwang Jaecheol, the executive from Dragon Battery, with a look of admiration.

After hearing that he had saved other clan hunters during the raid and shared the monster rewards instead of monopolizing them, Hwang Jaecheol initially thought that Choi Yeonseung was being too generous.

But seeing how everyone reacted, he realized that Choi Yeonseung’s gesture had been part of his meticulous plan.

Thanks to rescuing the other clan hunters and people from Huntsman’s camp, the chaotic aftermath of the raid didn’t affect Choi Yeonseung. The clans that were fighting each other weren’t bothering Choi Yeonseung because he had given them a share of the rewards.

If the clans had tried taking the rewards by force, the scandal would’ve instantly made it to the media, and the situation would’ve been ten times more chaotic.

Choi Yeonseung had solved the problem in an unexpected and clever way.

“I didn’t really intend to do that.”

“You’re being humble...”

“No.”

“Oh, okay...?”

Hwang Jaecheol paused after Choi Yeonseung’s firm reply.

Was it really not the case?

“So did you find what I mentioned?”

After the raid, Choi Yeonseung had ordered his hunters to look for the metal cat.

He hadn’t cared about it when the A-grade monster had still been there, but now that the raid was over, he couldn’t miss out on such a great bonus. If he did, the executives from Dragon Industry would likely shed tears of blood.

-How could you ignore it and pass by?!

-You should’ve let Huntsman and the hunters die!!!

“Yes. However, some people are speculating that the hunters might’ve mistaken a different monster for the metal cat. We’re using every tracking spell possible, but...”

Choi Yeonseung was lost in thought after hearing Hwang Jaecheol’s report. He wasn’t sure if there actually was a metal cat out there. After all, it wasn’t him who had seen it but the other hunters who had fought in the raid.

Maybe they were mistaken or they had seen an illusion. There were a few monsters in the Abyss that cast illusions.

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says to search a bit more. It’s too good to miss.]

-Yeah, I know.

Choi Yeonseung thought that since this had happened, it was better to go out and search for the cat himself. If he combined his abilities with those of constellations such as the goddess of balance, he would be able to catch what the hunters had missed.

‘But I don’t know if it’s worth it.’

To be honest, Choi Yeonseung wanted to throw away politics and this media competition and concentrate on his personal training. His mind was focused on that new mysterious realm. Not even the goddess of sloth knew what that was about...

‘There’s a new realm, and it’s a combined one? What’s the combination?’

The realm of ■■.

Training?

Drills?

Conditioning?

-...You already have all those things.

Choi Yeonseung made up his mind and opened the door to go outside. Then, an unexpected guest appeared in front of him.

It was Isabella Meyer. She had her characteristic blazing eyes as spoke up.

“I came here because I have a proposal, one that I think will interest you.”

‘She must’ve heard about the metal cat.’

“Go on,” Choi Yeonseung replied.

“I want to wipe away all the constellations on Earth. I’m sure you feel the same way.”

“...?!”

-D-do you...?

-No... Calm down.