Chapter 369 – Part 2 – Sucker

When Heo Yoon-ji heard that Song Chi-hyeon couldn’t be reached, she asked back.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know either. He’s been completely unreachable since yesterday.”

If his direct subordinate Choi Seong-min said it wasn’t possible, then it wasn’t possible.

“I’ll ask him as soon as I can reach him.”

“Yes, thank you.”

However, Heo Yoon-ji’s expression showed only deep disappointment.

‘He can’t be reached, so there’s nothing we can do…’

She had wanted to continue investigating Revolution with Choi Seong-min’s help, but it seemed like it would slip away like this.

‘Come to think of it, I didn’t even ask.’

Heo Yoon-ji looked around and quietly asked.

“Seong-min, why were you interested in Revolution? Don’t tell me you saw the mark…”

“I couldn’t just ignore Team Leader Heo’s request. While I was at it, I thought I should at least learn about the information.”

“Ah…”

Choi Seong-min had tried to help her with pure intentions.

‘And here I was, badmouthing him, thinking he was ignoring my messages and drinking…’

She felt pathetic for maligning such a good person.

Of course, Choi Seong-min, who had been reading her thoughts, could only smile bitterly.

“I’m sor… no, thank you, Seong-min. For asking the Great Hero.”

“Not at all. I’ll ask him as soon as I can reach the Great Hero.”

“Thank you.”

‘Nothing to thank me for. There won’t be any chance to contact Song Chi-hyeon anyway.’

From now on, even if Heo Yoon-ji asked, Choi Seong-min planned to consistently play dumb.

Nominally, Song Chi-hyeon had gone missing.

After that, the four people – Choi Seong-min, Choi A-yeon, Heo Yoon-ji, and Heo Sol-ji – sat at the dining table and chatted.

In the middle of their conversation, Choi Seong-min held up the lunch box and asked.

“Sol-ji, can I open the lunch box?”

“Huh? Oh, yes! If you haven’t had breakfast, you can eat it now.”

When he opened the lunch box, vegetable rolls carefully prepared, fried potatoes, fruits, and other items were beautifully plated.

“Wow… Sol-ji unni made this herself?”

“Huh? Y-yes…”

“Wow, Heo Sol-ji. I didn’t know you had talent in this area? When will you pack a lunch box for your sister?”

“It looks delicious. Sol-ji, I’ll eat it well again.”

“…Yes.”

Heo Sol-ji’s face turned red and she stood up from her seat.

“Well, I’ve delivered the lunch box, so I’ll be going now. Unni, get up too.”

“Huh? Already?”

“The Hunter is busy, so we should go. A-yeon, let’s go.”

“Where are you two going?”

“We’re going to talk more at a cafe. As for unni…”

“I’ll go home. I can’t intrude on the kids having fun without tact. It’s not like Seong-min would accept my date invitation anyway. Right?”

Choi Seong-min could tell from Heo Yoon-ji’s thoughts that it was a joke.

“Of course. I’m a busy person.”

‘A woman who has zero interest in men.’

Heo Yoon-ji’s interest was solely focused on investigating Revolution.

A true career woman, perhaps?

“What keeps you so busy, Seong-min? It’s the weekend.”

“I’ve been focusing on hunting lately.”

“Hunting? How much stronger are you trying to get?”

“I’m not far from a promotion.”

“Are you already becoming A-rank?”

Heo Yoon-ji didn’t think Choi Seong-min was close to S-rank either.

“Well… with 250,000 combat power, you’d become A-rank with just a little more.”

-I’m envious. I barely made it to B-rank since I don’t have combat-related traits and it doesn’t suit my aptitude.

He could tell from her thoughts that she was envious of him.

‘She’s envious just of reaching A-rank, but if she knew I was S-rank…’

He couldn’t imagine how jealous she’d be.

“Then good luck! Hunter!”

“We’ll be going, mother!”

Thus, the sisters who had visited from the morning left after taking a brief moment of time.

* * *

Choi Seong-min, having filled his stomach with the lunch box, immediately drove to a dungeon.

‘It was quite delicious.’

He planned to send another text saying it was delicious when he had time later.

‘But to think she likes me.’

He fully understood Heo Sol-ji’s feelings, but he already had a family.

There was no empty space in his heart.

Moreover, while Choi Seong-min appeared to be 20 years old, his soul’s age was 131.

The age gap with 19-year-old Heo Sol-ji was too great.

He had no romantic interest either.

‘I’m not interested in a girl who could be my great-granddaughter.’

But rejecting her coldly would be like crushing a young girl’s pure feelings, so he refrained.

‘She’ll forget on her own anyway.’

Thinking it wasn’t something to worry about much, he arrived in front of the dungeon.

It was an A-rank dungeon called the Swamp of Chaos.

“Good morning.”

He approached the dungeon manager planning to do solo runs as usual, but…

The manager wouldn’t let Choi Seong-min enter.

“You can’t go in alone.”

“Even though I’m alone, I’m officially part of a team?”

“Whether you have a team or not, it’s too dangerous.”

If someone went in alone and died, it would only be troublesome for the manager.

Since they went in alone, it would be hard to determine the cause of death.

However, if permission came from higher up, things would be different.

‘I can’t use Song Chi-hyeon’s name anymore.’

Currently, Song Chi-hyeon was missing, so he couldn’t leave traces.

“Then how can I enter the dungeon?”

“You need to get permission from higher up, or enter with another team. Other than that, solo entry is impossible.”

‘I can’t even do solo runs as I please… The regulations are really strict.’

Choi Seong-min felt he had no choice.

“I understand. I’ll go in with another team.”

“There’s a team with a reservation coming soon. It seems one spot is open, so talk to them when they arrive.”

As the manager said, after waiting a bit, the reserved team appeared.

It was a team of three men.

“Hello, manager. We’re team Squire with the reservation. Can we go in now?”

“Ah, wait a moment. This person here wants to go in together, so please have a discussion.”

At the manager’s introduction, Choi Seong-min stepped forward and greeted them.

“Hello, I’m A-rank Hunter Choi Seong-min from team Covert. If it’s not too rude, would it be okay to enter the dungeon together? The regulations say I can’t go alone.”

“……”

The male hunter stared at Choi Seong-min intently.

From his unpleasant expression, he could tell what he was thinking without even listening.

-What’s this? This guy. Where’s he trying to butt in…

Choi Seong-min looked at the other team members too.

-Doesn’t that guy have team members? Why is he here alone causing trouble?

-Ugh, annoying. What’s this suddenly?

Not a single person looked favorably upon Choi Seong-min.

Since no one said anything, Choi Seong-min asked once more.

This time with a bright smile.

“I’m sorry for the sudden request. Due to circumstances, I ended up hunting alone. I won’t get in the way, so I’d be grateful if you could include me.”

He had gone this far, but if they still wouldn’t accept him, he planned to pull out his military status badge and mention Song Chi-hyeon.

There probably weren’t many hunters who would want to get on the bad side of a Great Hero’s direct subordinate.

“Wait, let us talk among ourselves for a moment.”

The three hunters went out and returned shortly after.

Fortunately, there was no need to mention Song Chi-hyeon.

“Your situation seems difficult, so let’s go in together.”

“We’re accepting you because we believe your word that you won’t interfere.”

When the hunters smiled nicely, Choi Seong-min smiled back.

“Thank you. Really.”

He was grateful.

Until he read their inner thoughts.

-Keke, what a sucker. Coming to hunt alone so dangerously.

-Let’s watch for an opportunity at first, then ambush him at the right moment and strip his items.

-Poor bastard. He’s thanking us without knowing he’s destined to die, tsk tsk.

It seemed the three of them were plotting to make a score together.

At their honest appearance, Choi Seong-min inwardly sighed.

‘Human greed has no end.’

A-rank hunters should have earned enough, yet they were trying to rob someone.

‘The problem is this damned world where you can kill someone and brush it off with words.’

It was truly a lamentable worldview.

‘Planning to ambush me? Not a chance.’

Choi Seong-min actually thought of this situation as an opportunity.

‘It’s a chance to try out dual wielding in person-to-person combat.’

He had to test the new trait he obtained.

For an instant, killing intent flashed in Choi Seong-min’s eyes.

But no one noticed.

It was truly just an instant.

* * *

“Wait, let us talk among ourselves for a moment.”

A-rank Hunter Jang Pil-seong gathered his companions.

Glancing-

And while watching the hunter who asked to be included, he spoke in a quiet voice.

“Guys, we caught a sucker.”

“Should we work on that guy?”

“Yeah. We need to teach guys like that who don’t know how scary the world is that the world isn’t easy.”

At Jang Pil-seong’s words, the hunters’ lips curved up slyly.

It wasn’t their first or second time doing this, so they had no guilt.

In a world of survival of the fittest anyway, it’s natural logic for the weak to be devoured by the strong.

If there was any fault, it was the stupidity of such suckers who fearlessly asked to join parties.

“We split the items equally like last time, right?”

“Of course. The roles are the same as last time too. I’m in charge of ambush, you two handle torture and cleanup.”

“Sounds good. Let’s work on him.”

“Hehe, since he’s an A-rank hunter, that’s at least 1 billion won each. We’ll have to torture him well to extract it though.”

1 billion won was the profit you’d have to spend all day in A-rank dungeons to earn.

Killing one sucker meant they could play around all day today and still profit.

“But that guy, when I searched his name, he has 250,000 combat power this month.”

“Really?”

Since he came to an A-rank dungeon, he must be an A-rank hunter.

“It’s been ten days since the update… so he raised at least 50,000 in the meantime?”

“Anyway, it shouldn’t be difficult. If he just became A-rank.”

The hunters looked at each other and grinned.

Indeed, their combat power was over 500,000.

They could subdue a newbie who just hit 300,000 even alone.

“Then I’ll take it that everyone agrees?”

“Yes.”

Team leader Jang Pil-seong went to the hunter and spoke.

When told they’d include him in the party, he smiled and thanked them gratefully.

‘Keke, what a sucker.’

“Let’s go.”

Inwardly mocking him, they reached the dungeon entrance.

“Let’s equip our gear.”

Soon, Jang Pil-seong’s eyes widened significantly as he put on his equipment.

The other companions were also surprised, their pupils dilating.

‘Wow, damn. His equipment is good?’

Indeed, it was because the hunter named Choi Seong-min’s equipment was unexpectedly good.

‘That’s top-grade equipment even among A-rank gear?’

‘Wow, this will be worth stripping.’

‘How much is all that. Hehehe.’

The hunters were already considering the equipment as theirs.

“Let’s go!”

The hunters’ steps entering the portal were much lighter.

* * *

They entered the dungeon.

The humid environment of the swampland could have been unpleasant, but team Squire was in a good mood.

They had caught a rich sucker after a long time.

‘I’ll be able to make a solid profit. Hehehe.’

While grinning with a fishy smile and watching for an opportunity to ambush, Jang Pil-seong suddenly realized the sucker’s weapon was unusual.

“You use twin swords?”

When he unconsciously asked, the other person smiled brightly.

“They’re not swords but daggers.”

“Dual wielding?”

“Yes.”

Snicker- Snicker-

The hunters couldn’t hide the laughter escaping from their mouths.

“Why are you laughing?”

“No, it’s just my first time seeing someone use two daggers.”

“Is that not allowed?”

“Dual wielding isn’t as easy as it sounds. There’s no particular advantage either.”

“Beginners use dual wielding for show and then switch to something else.”

“Don’t you know that even though you’re A-rank? Keke.”

Now they were laughing openly.

Anyway, they could easily subdue someone with 300,000 combat power even without an ambush.

It was also funny to ambush such a weakling.

Since they entered the dungeon, there was nowhere to run either.

They planned to mock him like this for a while, then gradually draw their swords and reveal their true colors.

Then he’d get scared and spill everything he had.

That’s what they thought.

Until their companion’s head flew up into the air.

Thunk-

“Huh?”

It was so sudden they couldn’t even assess the situation.

“What. No reaction at all… How disappointing.”

What awakened Jang Pil-seong’s mind was none other than his opponent’s voice.

“Hey. Both of you draw your weapons.”

Choi Seong-min crossed his daggers and said.

“Be my test opponents.”