Chapter 382 – Part 2 – Flower of Corpses

A man was climbing a mountain path.

“I think it was around here…”

The place he was searching for while recalling his memories was none other than a human trafficking gang.

Since he had only used their services once or twice before, the location was hazy.

“Why aren’t they answering calls and making customers come find them? Tsk.”

Dissatisfaction appeared on the man’s face, but only briefly.

When the villa from his memories appeared, his expression brightened.

It was the villa where prostitution had taken place.

“Found it properly. Hehe.”

He hadn’t even seen the goods yet but excitement was already beginning to stir.

That’s how unforgettable the nights he had spent at the villa were.

The fact that he had to come find them personally because they weren’t answering calls said it all.

“I brought plenty of money, so it should be fine.”

Originally it was a reservation system, so he shouldn’t be visiting like this.

‘But I can’t help it if I can’t endure it.’

Even without a reservation, if he offered double the money, he should be able to engage in prostitution as he wanted.

“Hehe, I wonder what kind of girls are in there today?”

The man who entered the villa walked down the corridor.

He looked around here and there, thinking there would be something like a consultation room.

‘Why is it so quiet?’

When he came before, he would occasionally hear moaning while passing through the corridor.

‘I don’t see anyone either.’

If he encountered anyone, he would ask for directions, but there was no one to be seen.

Then at one point, the man frowned.

A smell that stung his nose.

‘What’s that smell?’

It was a fishy odor.

He moved his steps toward where the smell was coming from.

And then.

“Huk!”

He ended up seeing something he shouldn’t have seen.

A sea of corpses.

At the gruesome sight stained with blood, the man immediately stepped backward.

‘Th-they’re dead…’

Roughly ten corpses at a glance.

The man fled the villa without having time to look closely.

For now, he was busy running away.

“Huk, huk…”

Only after running for a while and coming down the mountain path did the man catch his breath.

‘Th-there was a reason they weren’t answering calls…’

That’s when it happened.

The man’s phone rang as a call came in.

“Ah, yes. Emergency assembly? Ah, I understand. I’ll go without being late. Yes, yes.”

After ending the call, the man looked back and let out a long sigh.

“Haah… I won’t be able to use this place anymore.”

People had died.

It wasn’t the first time he had seen corpses, but he wasn’t used to it either.

Naturally, he couldn’t help but be shocked.

‘I don’t know who killed them, but I should leave quickly.’

If he got involved in this somehow, it would become troublesome.

‘I was never here.’

He quickly went down the ridge.

With an eerie feeling, he pulled up the zipper of the jumper he was wearing.

It was a khaki-colored jumper.

* * *

Choi Seong-min, who had annihilated five human trafficking teams throughout the dawn, returned to the dormitory.

The first thing he did upon arriving was to gather his subordinates through the butler.

“How many teams are currently out hunting?”

“Eight teams, so… it would be about 40 people.”

“Tell them hunting is prohibited today and to assemble in the courtyard by 6 PM. Including all the subordinates remaining at the dormitory.”

“A-all of them?”

“Are you going to make me say it twice?”

At Choi Seong-min’s cold gaze, the butler quickly bowed his head.

“I-I’ll do as you command!”

As the butler left the room, the corners of Choi Seong-min’s mouth curved up.

‘I’ll kill them all at once.’

As time passed and the appointed time approached.

Murmur murmur-

The courtyard in front of the dormitory bustled like a marketplace.

This was because nearly 100 subordinates had all gathered.

“What did the Great Hero summon us for? Did you hear anything?”

“Who knows? I didn’t hear anything either.”

The murmuring noise completely stopped the moment the Great Hero appeared.

“Everyone gathered without exception, right?”

“Ah, well, everyone except one person is here.”

“Who’s the one person?”

“Hunter Choi Seong-min.”

“Forget about him, did everyone else come?”

“Of course, Great Hero. 99 direct subordinates and 18 work unit subordinates, a total of 117 people assembled.”

At the butler’s words, Choi Seong-min nodded with satisfaction.

Originally there were more direct subordinates, but the number had decreased due to recently killing Lee Geol-ryun’s gang.

Choi Seong-min opened his mouth toward the assembly.

“The reason I called you all together is none other than this. To give you a well-deserved vacation.”

“Vacation?”

“Ooooh!”

At just the word vacation, the hunters cheered and got excited.

It showed just how much hard labor Kwak Min-cheol had put his subordinates through.

“Quiet. I’m not finished speaking yet.”

At those words, it became as quiet as a mouse, but their flushed faces couldn’t be hidden.

“I know you’ve worked hard hunting all this time. Therefore, today we’re all moving to the villa together. There’s something I’ve specially prepared at the villa to relieve your fatigue.”

“Something prepared at the villa… you mean?”

There wasn’t a hunter who didn’t know that prostitution took place at the villa.

On days when they went to support the villa, they would have fun with the goods.

For that reason, the hunters couldn’t help but think of women.

“Hehe, Great Hero is the best!”

“Then we’ll move immediately. Everyone get on the prepared buses.”

“Wahhh!”

Choi Seong-min had prepared three buses early to transport the hunters.

They were buses heading to hell, but no one knew that fact.

They were just boarding with excited feelings about the long-awaited vacation.

“Let’s depart.”

No one saw the corners of Choi Seong-min’s mouth curve up.

* * *

In the mountains where darkness had fallen.

Three buses stopped in sequence.

Soon, about a hundred people got off like sausages in a row.

“From here we walk.”

With the Great Hero in the lead, the hunters climbed the mountain path.

The hunters looked happy as if they had come on a picnic.

Ma Jae-seong was equally excited.

‘How long has it been since we had a vacation, really.’

He had spent most of each day just hunting.

There were no rest days.

Under the pretext of growth, the Great Hero didn’t even allow rest.

‘The only rest was when going to support the human trafficking gang.’

Direct subordinates went to support the human trafficking gang once every 12 days.

The work was supervising the C-rank worker hunters working there.

But supervision was nothing special.

‘It was practically the same as going to rest.’

They came to support nominally because they needed a superior, but all they did was kill time and play.

‘When picking goods to play with was truly ecstatic.’

Ma Jae-seong was also a man, so he didn’t refuse women.

When his rotation day came, he would think first about going to the villa and taking women.

Guilt?

If he had such a thing, he wouldn’t have remained as Kwak Min-cheol’s subordinate all this time.

‘What did the Great Hero prepare? Probably women, right?’

Imagining about a hundred naked women lined up, he reached the front of the villa.

“Before going in, pay attention for a moment.”

At Kwak Min-cheol’s words, the hunters all stopped in unison.

Ma Jae-seong also looked at the Great Hero with a pounding heart.

“There’s a gift, so come closer. Gather in a circle around me.”

‘Gift?’

At those words, the hunters rushed forward competitively.

Ma Jae-seong was also curious about what the gift was, but being pushed around by other hunters, he had to stand at the very back.

‘Ah damn, I want to see too.’

What could the gift be?

Unfortunately, being short, he couldn’t see.

While he was curious, the Great Hero’s voice was heard.

“My gift is right here.”

Swish swish swish swish swish-!

The sound of something being scattered, the sound of things being embedded, even sounds of groaning.

All these sounds echoed from Kwak Min-cheol’s center.

Something seemed to be happening, but Ma Jae-seong, who was pushed to the very back, had no way of knowing.

However, such thoughts were brief, and his curiosity was quickly resolved.

“Ugh, uwahhh!”

“Ahhh!”

“Urgh!”

The sounds that started from Kwak Min-cheol’s center came rolling like waves.

Scattering hunters, death screams.

Ma Jae-seong, who had been at the very back, could clearly witness what was happening.

“Wh-what is this…!”

Hunters fell while spurting blood.

Swish swish swish swish swish-!

Daggers shot like bullets took the hunters’ lives.

At the epicenter was Kwak Min-cheol, no. Someone wearing a black mask.

“My gift is death.”

Swish swish swish swish swish-!

“Uwahhh!”

“Keuheok!”

The ceaselessly scattered daggers accurately hit the hunters’ heads.

One-shot kills.

Even if they were lucky enough to avoid their heads and get hit in the body, their heads would immediately split from the next flying dagger.

“Th-this is a dream…”

At the surreal scene, Ma Jae-seong couldn’t even think to run away.

He had no choice.

The wave of incoming daggers had already reached right before his eyes.

Thud- Thump-

“Phew.”

Choi Seong-min, who had been unleashing skills wildly, looked around.

With Ma Jae-seong as the last, there was no one alive.

‘Killing 117 people took less than 10 seconds?’

Since the skill cooldown kept resetting, he could continuously use Blade Scatter.

Because of that, the corpses were close together.

Meaning there was no time to escape.

“…”

Choi Seong-min’s cold gaze looked around.

About a hundred corpses scattered in a circle looked like an art piece at first glance.

Though up close, it was a nauseating sight.

‘Maybe because they were bastards who deserved to die, I don’t even feel nauseous.’

Choi Seong-min, who made a cynical observation, looked at the system.

[You have killed Hunter Kim Hyeong-bae.]

[You have killed Hunter Park Hyeon-hong.]

[You have killed Hunter Lee Yeong-gu.]

………..

……

[Synchronization rate 19.9%]

………..

……

[Synchronization rate 31.5%]

117 traits entered and the synchronization rate exceeded 30%.

‘The synchronization rate that was so hard to raise went up by more than 10% at once.’

So many items and traits entered that it was hard to examine them all.

The benefit wasn’t just that.

[According to Demon’s Contract, 3% of stats have been absorbed.]

[Strength increases by 2,070.]

[Agility increases by 1,380.]

[Stamina increases by 921.]

[Magic Power increases by 231.]

A considerable amount of stats increased in an instant.

‘I didn’t know the value of about a hundred hunters would be this great.’

It was only this much because they were mixed with various ranks from A-rank to C-rank.

‘What if all the bastards I killed had been S-rank?’

It might have been three times more.

‘If Kwak Min-cheol had seen this scene, he would have been jumping mad.’

Originally, these should have been stats for Kwak Min-cheol to eat.

‘The trash has been cleaned up with this…’

He had disposed of not only the human trafficking gangs but also all the direct subordinates.

The only person left was Choi Seong-min, who was also Kwak Min-cheol.

‘The Kwak Min-cheol I knew before doesn’t exist. From now on, I am Kwak Min-cheol.’

It wasn’t a role to reign for just one month like with Song Chi-hyeon.

As long as Kwak Min-cheol remained imprisoned like this, he could live as the ruler of Eastland for life.

‘Many things will change from now on.’

Not just Kwak Min-cheol’s role.

Choi Seong-min’s recognition would also be on a different dimension than before.

A monster with 10 million combat power had appeared.

‘First, I need to go to the dormitory and take a shower.’

He had done too much slaughter in one day.

He wanted to wash away the dirty smell of blood and cleanse his body and mind.

‘After washing? I should go home.’

Considering the upcoming repercussions, he couldn’t help but worry about his family.

As he descended the mountain leaving behind the flower of corpses, his phone rang.

‘It’s a call from Do Eun-jeong.’

Understandable.

He could guess why she called.

Choi Seong-min chuckled and ignored the call as he came down from the mountain.

* * *

“Did Hui-jun come?”

“Hello, Captain Kang Min-chan.”

At Park Hui-jun’s polite greeting, Kang Min-chan nodded.

“How is your sister’s condition?”

“She’s okay. There’s some psychological trauma, but she’s receiving treatment so she’ll get better.”

Though he said she was okay, Park Hui-jun’s expression wasn’t good.

Thinking of his sister who had suffered terribly after being captured by human traffickers, his heart couldn’t be at ease.

“Phew, such bastards should receive divine punishment.”

“Divine punishment has already been received.”

“Thanks to the black mask?”

The story of the black mask annihilating human trafficking gangs and saving Park Hui-jun’s sister was known to everyone.

Therefore, the black mask’s reputation in the organization was quite favorable.

Voices saying they should find and recruit him came up every day.

“By the way, what’s this sudden emergency assembly about? Wasn’t the operation discussion still a week away?”

“I didn’t call you because of the operation, but because something urgent came up to discuss.”

“What kind of matter?”

“Come into the operations room first. I’ll let you know when everyone gathers.”