Chapter 383 – Part 2 – Emergency Meeting

Kang Min-chan and Park Hui-jun entered the operations room.

In that temporarily prepared place, there were ten hunters.

They were Revolution’s executives, so to speak, the highest-ranking and most trustworthy individuals within the rebel army.

Kang Min-chan and Park Hui-jun also belonged to the first tier in terms of trust.

“You’ve arrived? Please take a seat.”

The man sitting in the center, Ryu Jong-ik, spoke in a gentle voice.

He was none other than Revolution’s leader.

“Originally we planned to hold the operation meeting a week from now, but there’s something urgent to discuss, so I called you all here.”

“What happened?”

At Park Hui-jun’s question, Ryu Jong-ik smiled slightly.

“It seems Hui-jun hasn’t checked the rankings yet.”

“Rankings?”

“Didn’t the rankings update at midnight today? If you had seen them, you might have guessed the reason.”

“Ah… I’ve been so distracted that I haven’t checked yet…”

“That’s understandable. Given what happened to your sister, what older brother could be in his right mind? I understand.”

Unlike Ryu Jong-ik who smiled kindly, Park Hui-jun panicked and belatedly opened the ranking window.

After checking his own ranking, which hovered around B-rank, he searched for other names.

Then he learned a shocking fact.

“So-Song Chi-hyeon… isn’t searchable?”

“It’s not just Song Chi-hyeon. Katsuramoto Kogo’s name isn’t in the rankings either.”

Two Great Heroes, who were Revolution’s main enemies, had died.

There was no bigger news than this.

“Ho-how did this happen? Why did the Great Heroes suddenly…”

“We don’t know either. Those bastards who lived so well wouldn’t have committed suicide, so we can only speculate that it was murder.”

“Mur…der? You’re saying someone assassinated a Great Hero?”

“Or they might have died fighting each other.”

Nam Il-woo, an executive and A-rank hunter, suddenly offered his opinion.

Then other executives also cautiously expressed their thoughts.

“Kwak Min-cheol might have killed the other two heroes to rule alone.”

“I think differently. Isn’t Kwak Min-cheol the real power in the association? He’s already sufficient as is, so why would he?”

“Didn’t he view Song Chi-hyeon, who was the only A-rank, as a thorn in his side?”

“So he eliminated him? Then why did Kogo die?”

The meeting erupted with various opinions on one topic.

Ryu Jong-ik briefly raised his hand to neutralize the heated atmosphere.

“Either way, there’s no way for us to know. Let’s stop this meaningless discussion. We didn’t gather here to uncover the cause of the Great Heroes’ deaths, did we?”

“Huh? Wasn’t it because of the Great Heroes that we gathered?”

When Park Hui-jun asked in surprise, Ryu Jong-ik shook his head.

“No. You didn’t look at the rankings properly. Hui-jun, please look again.”

Park Hui-jun opened the ranking window and examined it, but there was nothing unusual.

“I don’t know what you want me to see…”

“Look at the upper rankings.”

When he dragged through the air to move to the upper rankings, Park Hui-jun finally showed a surprised expression.

“Wha-what is this? Another person with 10 million combat power appeared?”

The current undisputed ranking 1st was Woo Seong-jae from the neutral nation.

With 10.02 million, he was an unprecedented Great Hero whose combat power exceeded eight digits.

This was a fact and common knowledge that any hunter would know.

But from today, one more person was added.

“2nd place has 10 million combat power… The name is Choi Seong-min?”

“Until now, Peter Fields, who was below him, was ranking 2nd with 4 million combat power. But it changed from today. Because a hunter named Choi Seong-min shot up to 10 million.”

“Ho-how could such a thing…”

It wasn’t like he gradually climbed up.

Just last month, 4 million was 2nd place, but suddenly 10 million took 2nd place.

That meant he had to have raised at least 6 million combat power in one month.

“How could a human raise 6 million in one month…”

“6 million, it would be more than that. I scanned the upper rankings last month, but there was no one with the name Choi Seong-min.”

Park Hui-jun couldn’t close his gaping mouth.

It was a bigger issue than Great Heroes dying.

Ryu Jong-ik spoke quietly.

“I want to bring this hunter named Choi Seong-min into our organization. If someone with 10 million combat power becomes our ally, it would be tremendous help. This is why I summoned you all today. To discuss how we can recruit Hunter Choi Seong-min.”

Certainly, if he joined the organization, it would be helpful.

The goal of eliminating the 8 Heroes and reforming society wouldn’t be an impossible dream either.

But how could they approach a hunter they only knew by name?

“Leader, no matter what, how can we approach a hunter we don’t even know…”

“Don’t worry about that. I heard there’s someone who knows Hunter Choi Seong-min.”

“What?”

Ryu Jong-ik’s gaze turned to action leader Kang Min-chan.

“Captain Kang Min-chan. You definitely said Eun-jeong is in contact with Hunter Choi Seong-min, right?”

“Yes. She said she’d try calling him before coming, so she should arrive soon…”

Before he could finish speaking, the operations room door opened.

It was Do Eun-jeong.

“Oh, you came. Sit here.”

As soon as she sat next to Kang Min-chan, Ryu Jong-ik asked.

“So, how did it go? Eun-jeong. Did Hunter Choi Seong-min answer the phone?”

Do Eun-jeong shook her head with a dejected face.

“I tried calling several times, but he won’t answer…”

“How did you two get to know each other?”

“We were on the same team before. Even then, he stood out with remarkable growth, but I never thought he’d become this strong…”

“I heard that Eun-jeong wanted to bring Hunter Choi Seong-min into the organization from before. Is that true?”

“Yes. I even had a secret interview with Captain Kang Min-chan.”

“Then why didn’t you bring him in?”

“The captain opposed it.”

“Ahem…”

At Ryu Jong-ik’s gaze, Kang Min-chan nervously cleared his throat.

“At the time, I didn’t know Hunter Choi Seong-min would grow to this extent. Most importantly, I judged that we couldn’t trust a hunter who was Song Chi-hyeon’s direct subordinate… but thinking about it now, we should have recruited him.”

“That was the captain’s judgment. Can I also hear Eun-jeong’s reason for wanting to recommend Hunter Choi Seong-min?”

When Ryu Jong-ik looked at her, Do Eun-jeong nodded and spoke.

“In my view, Hunter Choi Seong-min is a righteous person. In a crisis when a boss appeared, rather than just saving his own life, he knew how to care for his teammates… He’s a man with both a sense of justice and loyalty. Plus, he has the skills to match, so I thought he was a talent suited for our organization.”

“Does that mean we can view Hunter Choi Seong-min as an ally?”

Having someone with 10 million combat power as an ally would be incredibly reassuring, but if he were an enemy?

There would be no worse case than that. It would mean having to face a hunter five times stronger than Kwak Min-cheol.

But as if there was no need to worry, Do Eun-jeong immediately nodded.

“Yes. He’s an ally. Hunter Choi Seong-min is not an enemy. Although he works at the association, he’s clearly different from the association parasites who suck the people’s blood. I can vouch for his character.”

At Do Eun-jeong’s confident voice, Ryu Jong-ik smiled with satisfaction.

“Good. With this, we’ve concluded that both his character and skills pass. Everyone has no objections, right?”

The executives nodded in agreement.

“Recruitment is confirmed with this… The problem is how to draw Hunter Choi Seong-min to our side. Shall we hear everyone’s opinions on this?”

The meeting began.

Opinions flew back and forth like ping-pong balls.

Leader Ryu Jong-ik listened quietly and intervened to control the situation whenever the atmosphere became overheated.

He also occasionally expressed his own opinions.

After discussing for a full 30 minutes, the conclusion was one.

“We have no choice but to meet Hunter Choi Seong-min directly.”

“For now, I’ll keep trying to contact him.”

“Yes. For now, Eun-jeong will have to work hard. If Hunter Choi Seong-min joins the organization, it will be a great help.”

“Yes. If I can’t reach him, I’ll go to his house and try to persuade him.”

Do Eun-jeong’s eyes sparkled with firm determination.

* * *

Choi Seong-min, who had finished showering at Kwak Min-cheol’s dormitory, was lying on the bed examining traits.

“Phew. Did I finally see them all?”

Checking over a hundred traits one by one was not an easy task.

‘Certainly, because they were subordinates carefully selected by Kwak Min-cheol, all the traits are good.’

To categorize them, out of 117 traits, there were 10 D-rank, 8 C-rank, 49 B-rank, 40 A-rank, and 10 S-rank traits.

The C-rank and below traits came from C-rank hunters in the workshop who weren’t direct subordinates.

‘I don’t know exactly, but I must have become several times stronger with this.’

Since trait effects applied as percentages, it was possible to become exponentially stronger with just a few.

‘Someone like Woo Seong-jae is nothing now.’

Although he couldn’t claim 1st place with only a 20,000 combat power difference, Choi Seong-min was confident.

His potential combat power had already surpassed Woo Seong-jae.

‘Combat power is enough now.’

Now he was confident that no enemy could match Choi Seong-min.

‘Damage-increasing traits are meaningless now.’

Now, traits with excellent utility were more valuable than damage.

‘Traits like these.’

[Trait – Soul Tracking]

-Grade: S

-Description: Tracks the scent of places where the target has stayed. Since it remembers the scent of places where souls have stayed, you can find them wherever they go. Damage against the tracked target increases by 50%.

[Trait – Homing Instinct]

-Grade: S

-Description: You can register a specific location and return there instantly. Only one location can be registered, and it can be changed if desired. Has a 24-hour cooldown when returning.

Among the various traits he obtained, Choi Seong-min liked these two the most.

‘I lacked means to track Great Heroes, but with the Soul Tracking trait, I won’t have to worry about that.’

Even Choi Seong-min, who possessed information, didn’t know the locations of all the Great Heroes.

‘Especially Frank, that psycho bastard has wanderlust like Kogo, making him hard to find…’

However, with the Soul Tracking trait, he wouldn’t need to worry about such things.

Just by smelling the scent of places where that guy had stayed, tracking would be possible.

‘The Homing Instinct trait is also good. With this, I can teleport instantly.’

Before, he could move at super-high speed riding a ghost wolf, but now he didn’t have such a thing.

For Choi Seong-min, who lacked proper transportation, it was a trait like sweet rain.

‘I’ve looked at all the traits, so now I should go home.’

Choi Seong-min, who borrowed Kwak Min-cheol’s car, drove home.

Since his combat power rose to 10 million, he would attract public attention.

‘Maybe there will be bastards who threaten my family.’

Thinking about such things, he couldn’t help but worry about his family’s safety.

‘I need to prepare in advance before getting caught by the ankle.’

Choi Seong-min pressed the accelerator and increased his speed further.

* * *

“Oh? Oppa?”

Going home early in the morning, Choi A-yeon, who had just woken up, rubbed her eyes and looked at him.

“What happened? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t come home for a while?”

“I did, but the situation changed. Where’s mother?”

“Seong-min came?”

Seeing his mother peeking out from the kitchen, Choi Seong-min, who felt relieved, suddenly made a serious expression.

“I have something to say, so please gather.”

“What’s wrong?”

When the mother and daughter gathered in front of the dining table, Choi Seong-min began with a serious voice.

“We need to move.”

“Move?”

“Suddenly?”

To the two surprised people, Choi Seong-min spoke directly.

“I’ll be honest. You two might be in danger because of me.”

“In danger? What do you mean?”

“I became famous from today.”

“Famous?”

“I’ll explain the details later. Right now, we need to move houses. You two just need to trust me and move.”

“But suddenly moving at this hour… It’s confusing. We need to look for a house and prepare many things…”

“You don’t need to do that. I said moving, but there’s nothing you particularly need to take. Everything needed is there, so you just need to pack valuables and go. I’ve already prepared a place to stay.”

“Really? Where are we going?”

Choi Seong-min smiled meaningfully.

“You’ll be surprised when you see it.”