Chapter 82

Episode 82

Eight hours ago…

Won Jeong-cheon spat on the ground, then turned his head to Lee Hwi-min’s direction. The man hadn’t moved for two hours. Lee Hwi-min had been sitting on a rock with his eyes closed.

He must be racking his brains out, Won Jeong-cheon thought.

‘I don’t know what he’s thinking.’

Won Jeong-cheon had no intention of waiting for whatever Lee Hwi-min was planning. He then began to approach him. Ha Yuk-il immediately turned his eyes on him.

‘Like a dog that observes anything that gets close to its owner,’ Won Jeong-cheon thought.

Ha Yuk-il posed him no threat. He had been reduced to a trembling nervous wreck.

Lee Hwi-min finally spoke.

“Step away,” he commanded Ha Yuk-il.

Ha Yuk-il walked away without a sound. Then, Lee Hwi-min met Won Jeong-cheon’s gaze.

“Let’s talk, CEO Lee,” Won Jeong-cheon started.

Lee Hwi-min did not respond.

“I’m not your subordinate,” Won Jeong-cheon continued. “We’re going to act separately.”

“What are you going to do?” Lee Hwi-min then asked him.

“Well, what else can we do here?” At this, Won Jeong-cheon stretched his arms out towards the deserted plains of the alien world.

“Hunting and exploration,” Won Jeong-cheon’s expression was firm.

“Doryongbang’s partnership with you is done. We’ll go by twos now. See you at the exit point.”

“I have a plan,” Lee Hwi-min told him briefly. His forehead was full of wrinkles.

“I can’t allow you to get separated from us and It can ruin my plan.”

“You must be crazy,” Won Jeong-cheon spat. “Are you kidding me?”

It was an open provocation.

“We are not your subordinates. Doryongbang and Goryong are equal partners,” Won Jeong-cheon was growling.

“I don’t have to follow your orders just because I lent my time and name to your ‘show.’”

Won Jeong-cheon had plans of his own, and that was to track the damn foreigner who dishonored him.

Outside the crack, it was unimaginable for him to speak with Lee Hwi-min this way. However, this time around, they were inside the crack.

Whatever happened here, it was separate from the rules of the outside world. He tightened his grasp on his bow.

A battle between him and Lee Hwi-min could go either way. Whatever happened, only one thing would be certain.

It would be at a catastrophic level.

“So… think again,” Won Jeong-cheon was confident. Lee Hwi-min’s expression did not change.

Then, gradually, the wrinkles in his forehead receded. His expression turned lighter.

Won Jeong-cheon started to feel a strange sense of discomfort.

“Alright then,” Lee Hwi-min’s unexpected answer came. “Do whatever you want.”

Ha Yuk-il trembled as he listened to the conversation. His hand unconsciously fell to his sword hilt. At this point, he felt like a shrimp caught in a whale fight.

Then, his eyes widened with Lee Hwi-min’s next words to Won Jeong-cheon.

“Wouldn’t you like to take him with you? Because I’ll be safe alone with my Tech. I have no intention of doing anything else. It would be a good experience for Ha Yuk-il to be a part of the exploration.”

Lee Hwi-min threw Ha Yuk-il a glance before continuing.

“First of all, you don’t know what you’ll face. What if you find yourself in an unexpected situation that would be difficult for two people to handle?”

Lee Hwi-min’s horned-rimmed glasses glinted. Won Jeong-cheon remained quiet.

Then, after a few moments…

“All right,” he decided.

There was no need to fight with Lee Hwi-min. What was important was that he was now free to do as he wished.

Now was the time to hunt.

***

“How are you going to pursue him?” Jinchung asked.

His question was extremely reasonable. From the time they entered the crack, he had no idea how they would find Yoo-seong.

Finding them in the plains of the alien world where he could go in any direction would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Instead of answering, Won Jeong-cheon pulled out a box from his backpack. It was similar to an insect collection box used by children.

However, it was much smaller, about the size of an adult’s palm.

Click-!

Won Jeong-cheon opened it and took out the creature inside.

“Is that a rat?” Jinchung was puzzled. Soon, his face was colored with surprise.

“A Kumiho?”

“Strictly speaking, it’s a half-baked attempt to make one.”

Despite its name, the creature Won Jeong-cheon held resembled a dog more than a fox. Its coat was a mixture of yellow and red, shaggy and missing hair in places.

The limbs and features of the creature were also severely imbalanced and not well-formed.

-Kee!

The creature twitched as if it was awakening. Then, its nose began to actively sniff around.

-Kya-ahahah!

Before long, it began to twitch violently. It was so violent that Won Jeong-cheon had to firmly hold it down.

Kumiho.

This was an attempt to recreate a mythological creature.

When a male Kumiho exudes musk, its odor attracted more male competitors of the same species than the females.

The males then tracked the scent to the end to locate the source. Then, the Kumihos fought to the death.

With this failure of evolution, it was natural for this species to go extinct.

The Goryong Company had gotten an idea from this creature’s characteristics. It attempted to recreate the Kumiho by intersecting the genes of the Razor Blade Fox monsters with canines such as red foxes.

However, the experiment was stopped prematurely due to questions about the experiment’s ethics, as well as the lack of technology.

“I thought it was a failure,” Jinchung wondered out loud.

Won Jeong-cheon nodded. He secretly took out a sample specimen and the musk.

With his natural obsession and meticulousness, he dipped his arrows in the musk. This enabled him to track his prey if they survived his first arrow.

When Yoo-seong caught his arrow, a trace amount of the musk must have been rubbed off him.

-Kyaaah!

The creature screamed as it wriggled violently. It was obviously itching to track the scent, at this, Won Jeong-cheon smiled.

“Yes, yes,” he whispered to the creature.

“I know you want to kill that motherfucker, too,” he stroked its tiny head. “Then, lead me to him!”

He let the creature loose. Then, Won Jeong-cheon turned to Jinchung.

“I can handle him alone, you know?”

Jinchung nodded. “Then, I will deal with the Red Dragon’s bitch.” His eyes shone as he recognized the opportunity.

For centuries, the Red Dragon Society had hindered the Doryongbang from owning Shanghai.

Now, their Vice Lord had even raised the bar during the Shanghai Shock.

She was causing us trouble, Jinchung thought. With Won Jeong-cheon beside him and a half-baked creature in front…

The hunt had officially begun.

***

Just before Yoo-seong reached the eyes of the Bi Xi, he sensed something ominous incoming.

‘An arrow.’

It was as powerful as the arrow that Won Jeong-cheon shot when Yoo-seong was trapped in the rift opening.

Auto-Hunting took defensive action. It was successful, but not without any damage to Yoo-seong.

His entire Aura had been concentrated on his blade. There was nothing left on him to block the arrow’s impact.

The Auto-Hunt had made him cross his arms in front of his head, in an ‘X’ position. Then, he turned his head to the side.

Saek-!

Won Jeong-cheon watched Yoo-seong’s falling body from afar.

“Got you, motherfucker!”

His voice was filled with glee. He turned to Jinchung. “Go and check the body!”

“I am not your hound,” Jinchung growled.

He was also excited, but not because of Won Jeong-cheon’s successful attack. It was because of the giant beast in front of them.

‘A dragon.’

They finally succeeded in hunting the foreigner down, but it was nothing compared to this. It was an unprecedented prey, something that could catapult them to the status as the strongest and the best.

Jinchung raised his Twin Axes.

‘The Dragon Slayer.’

From now on, its name would be literal, not just figurative. He began charging towards the Bi Xi.

Won Jeong-cheon had also recognized the opportunity before them and lifted his bow. He aimed it at the beast’s brow.

‘Good, good, good!’ He thought.

Today seemed to be his lucky day.

He had just killed the arrogant foreigner, and now, he was about to catch a dragon. His right arm grew to monstrous size, Aura sizzling around it.

‘With that size, it’s bound to be slow,’ Won Jeong-cheon felt confident.

An unmoving target. It was indeed his specialty.

Kwook-!

His arrow flew. Then…

Caang-!

Won Jeong-cheon was stunned.

With his skill and experience, he could determine the result of his attack by the sound of its impact. When Yoo-seong caught his arrow, he knew it even from a great distance because of the absence of sound.

He was most familiar with the sound of his arrow penetrating a hard surface.

However, this unpleasant sound… It could only mean that his arrow had bounced off.

With the power he placed on his attack, that arrow could have penetrated anything.

‘What happened?’

The giant turtle didn’t even flinch. For the second time today, he saw his arrow fall to the ground.

“Haaaaaah!”

He focused his eyes on Jinchung, who was yelling as he ran.

‘Does he even realize that my arrow failed?’ Won Jeong-cheon thought.

Jinchung didn’t see it. Even if he did, it wouldn’t have stopped him.

He was confident with his strength and his weapon. He would cut this monstrous head off.

Bang-!

Two legs strongly pushed off the ground. Two arms raised above his head.

Jinchung yelled as he brought the Twin Axes down.

“Hayaaaaah!”

Caaaaaang-!

The noise rang out over the plains.

The prized weapon of the Doryongbang.

The pride of the person wielding it.

They all scattered to pieces upon impact with the monster’s black scales.

It was the price for touching what it shouldn’t have.

—

[6 more will be uploaded tomorrow, we’re going to touch up a certain portion of the s first. The five chapters after are already upload ready… I apologize for the delays. We’ve already stockpiled pretty far ahead and will increase the upload rate in the coming week. I only caught on to the mistake today…]