Chapter 403 – Part 2 – Peter’s Invitation

Ten years ago, the worst dungeon break in history occurred.

Karmygas, the strongest named boss in history, burst out into the world.

It was a desperate situation where humanity might face extinction if they couldn’t stop it.

At that time, eight hunters who were closest to the boss joined forces to defeat it.

From then on, the world called them the 8 Heroes.

No one objected to them monopolizing power.

At least until a class system emerged and society began operating unjustly.

“Hmm…”

The White House of Westland.

There sat a respected Great Hero.

None other than Peter Fields.

With 4 million combat power, ranking second among the 8 Heroes and the undisputed ruler of Westland.

Such a man was wracking his brains over one person.

‘How can I recruit that guy…’

The person Peter was thinking of was none other than Choi Seong-min.

A hunter he had never met face-to-face and whose name he had only recently learned…

‘I want him. What would it feel like to have a subordinate with 10 million combat power?’

He was more covetous than ever before.

There was no one more suitable for increasing military power.

‘Recruiting Hunter Choi Seong-min alone would be much more valuable than recruiting twenty S-rank hunters with 1 million each.’

Peter already had over a hundred S-rank hunters under his command.

It was the result of recruiting all the S-rank hunters in Westland.

Nevertheless, Peter felt greedy.

He wanted to place the hunter named Choi Seong-min under his feet.

‘But how? How do I manipulate someone with 10 million combat power?’

10 million was on the level of Woo Seong-jae, who was called a god among Great Heroes.

Their combat power wasn’t much different either.

‘If I could just recruit Hunter Choi Seong-min, it would truly complete the world’s strongest force…’

For someone whose hobby was gathering hunters to strengthen military power, he was an irresistible talent.

‘Then even Woo Seong-jae wouldn’t be able to treat me carelessly anymore.’

Peter, who planned to someday escape Woo Seong-jae’s shadow by strengthening his forces, desperately needed the horse called Choi Seong-min.

But tigers don’t enter under wolves.

‘What should I do… How do I bring a tiger under me?’

The reality of wanting something he couldn’t have gave Peter a headache.

‘For now, I have no choice but to talk with Kwak Min-cheol.’

Since Choi Seong-min was from Eastland, Kwak Min-cheol would surely know him.

‘No, I should contact Melissa rather than Kwak Min-cheol.’

Although no official announcement had been made yet, Melissa, who had gone to devour Eastland, was the actual ruler.

‘But what if that woman also wants Choi Seong-min?’

If so, she wouldn’t readily give up information.

‘This is really troublesome!’

Peter, who had been thinking about various things, finally picked up his phone.

One way or another, he had to try.

* * *

Choi Seong-min, who had returned to Kwak Min-cheol’s mansion, lay down on the bed.

‘It hasn’t even been a week since I started living at the mansion, but now it feels like my own home.’

The reason he was staying at Kwak Min-cheol’s mansion was purely because of the guys he had confined in the basement.

Kwak Min-cheol and Melissa.

‘Those guys can’t die yet. It’s bothersome, but I have to manage them directly.’

Like watering plants, he had to feed them when the time came.

It was annoying, but not difficult.

‘When the time comes, I’ll have to kill them like Christopher.’

Choi Seong-min had put Christopher on the execution platform as planned.

He had revealed his crimes, exposed the spy, and held an execution ceremony in front of Revolution’s leader.

‘Now Revolution will consider the black mask a complete ally.’

They knew he shared their goals and even helped execute a traitor, so they couldn’t view him negatively.

It wasn’t a bad debut.

‘Now that I’ve debuted, I can act publicly.’

While Choi Seong-min’s identity wouldn’t allow it, the black mask could eliminate Great Heroes without problem.

Well, there weren’t many Great Heroes left to kill anyway.

‘Frank Larson, Peter Fields, Woo Seong-jae. Just three more to kill.’

He wanted to kill Frank first since his combat power was lower, but his whereabouts were unknown.

His number wasn’t even registered in Melissa’s or other Great Heroes’ phones.

‘Probably only Peter or Woo Seong-jae level can contact him.’

Frank was someone who wouldn’t listen unless you were stronger than him.

‘Like Katsuramoto Kogo, he’s a guy who wanders around everywhere, so he’s not easy to find.’

But that didn’t mean there was no way.

‘If I go to places where he stayed, I can find his location using the Soul Tracking trait.’

For that purpose, Choi Seong-min was thinking of meeting Peter Fields first.

If he visited the White House where Westland’s Great Heroes gathered, he could also find traces of Frank.

‘Kill two birds with one stone by attacking the Pentagon and obtaining the Magic Core as planned.’

Just as he was thinking of an excuse to contact Peter Fields with such a plan.

Melissa’s phone vibrated.

It was a call from Peter Fields.

‘What’s this about? Could it be?’

Normally he would have avoided the call, but Choi Seong-min answered.

He judged it would be a call beneficial to him.

Sure enough.

“Melissa? It’s Peter. There’s a hunter named Choi Seong-min on your continent, right? I have business with him, so could I get his contact information?”

Choi Seong-min grinned.

‘As expected, Peter wants me.’

Judging by how he pushed straight to the point, he must have wanted him quite badly.

‘I was just thinking of ways to meet him, so this works out well.’

Choi Seong-min answered in Melissa’s voice.

“Of course I know him. I’ve already contacted him and even talked with him.”

“Wh-what? Don’t tell me you recruited him as a direct subordinate? Someone with 10 million combat power?”

Peter’s tone trembled anxiously.

“No. I made an offer but he refused. What can I do? The 2nd ranker said he wasn’t interested.”

“Re-really?”

Eventually a sigh came from across the call.

It was a sigh of relief.

‘If I say this, he’ll think he has a chance too.’

As expected, Peter requested Choi Seong-min’s contact information.

“Let me try talking to him once. Could you give me his contact information?”

“Alright. I’ll text it to you.”

“Thanks. I’ll buy you a drink next time we meet.”

“Sure. See you next time.”

As soon as the call ended, Choi Seong-min’s phone rang.

“Hello?”

Choi Seong-min answered the phone in his original face for the first time in a while.

Of course, even though he knew who was calling, he pretended not to know.

“Peter Fields… the Great Hero of Westland?”

The surprised acting was a bonus.

“You want to meet with me?”

“That’s right. I’d like to invite you to our Westland right away.”

“Hmm…”

Choi Seong-min, who pretended to think, accepted the invitation.

Everything proceeded smoothly from there.

He made an appointment to meet Peter Fields at the airport tomorrow and hung up.

‘To think of recruiting someone with 10 million combat power… his greed is excessive.’

Given Peter’s personality of valuing military power, he had thought a call might come.

But he didn’t expect it to come this quickly.

‘Thanks to this, things became easier. I was wondering what excuse to use to meet him.’

If he went to the White House with Peter, he could find traces of Frank.

He could kill both Frank and Peter as planned.

‘I’ll make him regret trying to recruit me for a long time.’

Choi Seong-min drew a deep smile at the corner of his mouth.

* * *

The Earth in his previous life and the Earth of this specimen world had many similarities.

Environment, civilization, everything was similar.

You could even call it a parallel universe.

It wasn’t strange for airplanes and airports to exist in such a place.

‘Finally arrived?’

Central Airport in central Westland.

Choi Seong-min appeared there in casual clothes without even a travel bag.

‘To think it took 12 hours by plane. It’s quite far.’

Westland wasn’t a distance you could travel by car.

Originally it was blocked by ocean so you couldn’t travel there anyway.

‘That Peter bastard called me to such a distant place?’

He should have come himself instead of making him fly for 12 hours.

It was annoying, but he could guess the intention.

‘Probably planning to make it so I can’t leave easily.’

When traveling, the longer the travel time, the more people want to stay longer.

It seemed like a plan to keep him on home ground while trying to win his favor.

‘Even so, he won’t be able to recruit me.’

Then someone spoke to Choi Seong-min.

“Hunter Choi Seong-min?”

It was a woman holding a welcome sign with Choi Seong-min’s name on it.

“Welcome to Westland. I’m Megan Adkins, in charge of guiding you, Hunter. Please feel free to call me Megan.”

Choi Seong-min silently looked at her.

‘She’s not a hunter. She’s a civilian.’

He knew from reading her thoughts that Peter Fields had sent her, but he still asked.

“Did Mr. Peter send you?”

“That’s correct. You have an appointment to meet the Great Hero, right?”

“Yes.”

“I’m his secretary. He specifically instructed me to serve Hunter Choi Seong-min just for today.”

“I see.”

‘Not just today, but I’ll be attached for several days until I leave. To keep watch too.’

Well, it didn’t matter.

Just because she was watching didn’t mean he couldn’t move.

He just had to act according to plan.

“But didn’t Mr. Peter come? It would have been better if he had come to greet me personally…”

“The Great Hero wanted to come too, but… as you know, he’s so famous. The airport might have been paralyzed by crowds.”

“The Great Hero is that popular?”

“Of course. He’s a hero who saved humanity from crisis, isn’t he?”

But contrary to the surface, the secretary’s inner thoughts were different.

“Hero? Damn it, a pervert who gropes his secretary’s thighs being called a hero…”

Inwardly she was disgusted with her superior, but she showed no signs of it.

‘Excellent poker face.’

She seemed quite well-trained.

“Please follow me. I’ll escort you comfortably.”

“Yes.”

Following Megan outside the airport, a limousine was waiting.

“Please get in.”

After Choi Seong-min and the secretary got in, the limousine departed.

“Where are we going? The White House?”

“No. We’re going to the Great Hero’s private mansion.”

Hearing this, Choi Seong-min was disappointed inside.

‘I need to go to the White House to catch Frank’s scent… That’s unfortunate.’

But that didn’t mean there was no opportunity.

If he said he wanted to tour it later, wouldn’t they take him there?

‘I should review the plan again during the ride.’

After organizing plans in his head while traveling for about an hour.

“We’ve arrived.”

They arrived at Peter’s mansion.

It was a magnificently large estate.

‘Incredible. Kwak Min-cheol’s mansion doesn’t even compare.’

The garden was also incredibly vast, making it feel like visiting a park rather than a private mansion.

While walking through the garden following the secretary.

The secretary bowed toward the front and said:

“Hunter Choi Seong-min. That person is the Great Hero.”

Choi Seong-min nodded.

He was also looking.

At Peter walking toward them.

“Hunter Choi Seong-min?”

Peter, who came close, suddenly extended his hand.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Peter Fields.”