Chapter 33

Chapter 33: The Five Stars of Seoul

In the meantime...

“Gehehe.” The leader of the Shadow Lurkers, Nick Jakan, laughed in a low tone. “As expected of the Fine Bow. It’s not easy.”

Dozens of blue balls of hellfire were swirling around him. Each one had incredible firepower, equivalent to his S-rank skill.

“So you have also reached the level of a monster.”

Not all rankers were the same. If all those within the top 1,000 were called rankers, those within the top 100 were commonly referred to as ‘monsters’ instead of ‘humans.’ They were individuals who were akin to natural disasters.

“...”

The Fine Bow, Giparang, silently stared at Nick Jakan. As he pulled the bowstring, his expression did not significantly change. Then Giparang’s lips parted.

“Hellhound.”

“Yes?”

“Did you think you could challenge Parang just by bringing along the Diamond?”

The Diamond, Favreau—a ranker from Canada and an S-rank mercenary ranked 301st in the world.

“Pfft, you’re right. What an idiot. I called him in because he’s a tank ranked 301st, but he can’t even handle the Dark Empress. Tsk.” Jakan glanced to the side with an annoyed expression.

—Swish! Swish!

There, the speedy Gi Soyul and the sturdy Favreau were fighting at a speed invisible to the normal eye.

Gi Soyul’s current ranking was 380th. Despite her lower ranking, she showed no signs of being overwhelmed.

Jakan turned his gaze back to Giparang.

“Heh. But, Fine Bow.”

“...”

“You know only one side of things. Do you really think my goal is Parang’s downfall? Why would a group like ours, working in the underworld, try to bring down those working in the overworld?”

“I don’t see any need to answer that question.”

—Tiiing!

The bowstring was drawn back in the Fine Bow’s hand. It was the skill ‘Arrow of Instant Death.’ Once shot, it never missed. And when it hit, it was said to always kill, hence the name.

Damn.

Jakan’s face contorted.

It was a skill with an incredibly grandiose name, but he had to admit it. Even when he tried his best to dodge and put up a fire barrier to block it, the arrow ultimately found its way and embedded itself into his calf.

—Thunk!

He couldn’t even track it with his eyes. There was no time to calculate any countermeasures.

“Guhhh, indeed... it’s an amazing skill.”

If his ranking were slightly lower, he would have died instantly as the skill’s name suggested. His calf was numb, but it was bearable. After all, that skill consumed an enormous amount of energy.

“Let me show you why they call me the Hellhound.”

—Vwooom!

A stream of fire shot from his hand.

—Whoosh!

It surged forward like a flying dragon of fire.

“...”

The Fine Bow’s brows furrowed as he leaped into the air.

—Ting! Ting! Tiiing!

He fired three arrows in rapid succession, but they were all swallowed by the mouth of the incoming fire dragon.

—Whoosh!

Ranked 92nd, the Hellhound. He, too, was a hunter worthy of being called a monster.

They dodged, engaged, and showed off their skills.

—Kaboom!

The two monsters clashed with full force in a certain dungeon in Seoul. If this were on Earth, a city would have collapsed from the intense display of skills.

After a few minutes had passed, Giparang’s expression changed as he evaded Jakan’s skills.

“...”

He sensed something unusual.

This is not like him at all.

Hellhound, the criminal called ‘Firedog’ by Berserker, never engaged directly. His meticulous and cunning nature allowed him, a single ranker, to run the underground organization known as the Shadow Lurkers for so long.

“Hehe. That was fun, Fine Bow.”

“Are you trying to escape?”

“You’re quick-witted as always. Farewell. Thanks to you holding out for 30 minutes, my goal seems to have been achieved.”

“Your goal?” Giparang made a peculiar expression.

That guy.

He seemed to be misunderstanding something. He had no idea that the rankers sent by Gi Soyul had gone to Seonyudo.

—Whoosh!

“Well, I’m still at 20, same as before, hahaha.”

“...”

I watched their conversation in a daze. It seemed that the World Ranking Board had been updated. But I couldn’t see anything from my point of view.

All hunters could see the status message announcing the update at the beginning of each month. However, it seemed that only rankers had the privilege of seeing the changes that occurred when a ranker died.

I instinctively pulled out my smartphone, curious about what was happening.

[Breaking news! Ranker system updated!]

[Who died? According to the World Association, the current 301st-ranked individual is suspected to have died!]

[301st-ranked, from Canada, the Diamond is currently unresponsive! The World Association has begun an investigation...]

[Breaking news! A new ranker appears on the board! From Uzbekistan, Abdulaziz the Tyrant! Find out more about this new addition to the top 1,000!]

As expected, news articles were pouring out incredibly fast, fitting for the current era of information.

“...”

And next to me, I saw Kim Junseo, still with his mouth agape, unable to grasp the situation.

Well, it’s understandable.

Suddenly waking up to find himself kidnapped by the global crime organization Shadow Lurkers and then being rescued by the rankers known as the Five Stars of Seoul.

“I can’t believe this...”

“Hey, are you okay?”

“What am I even seeing? What is this even all about?”

“That... I’m confused too. Just take a rest for now.” I patted Kim Junseo.

He hadn’t done anything wrong in this kidnapping. If anything, it was because he knew me. He got entangled in an unfortunate incident because of me.

I felt sorry.

But now was not the time to have a conversation with him.

“Gahaha, are you the one called Joo Donghoon? You look pretty weak.”

“Hey, Berserker! I told you many times that hunters are about potential. You may be a crazy monster now, but someday I might catch up to you!”

“Hmm, that’s very unrealistic, White Swine.”

All the rankers’ eyes were focused on me. The already perished Shadow Lurkers were of no concern to them.

“Hm! But still!”

—Shing!

Lee Sunah wiped the blood off her rapier and sheathed it.

“For as much as the Dark Empress wanted to introduce him, there must be something special!”

“That’s right! I agree with the Black Sword. From what I saw earlier, he uses a unique skeleton.” Yoo Sangdon looked interested.

“Necromancer is already a special unique authority, and it seems he has something more than that! No wonder the Dark Empress has taken an interest in him!” Lee Sunah’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

“...”

I flinched as I watched them. Honestly, I was tense as the people I idolized talked to me in droves and with great interest.

“Fuu,” I exhaled shortly.

I couldn’t afford to be scared. I needed to be flexible and composed in situations like this.

This is the opportunity Gi Soyul created for me.

There’s a saying, “Birds of a feather flock together.” Just sticking to their sides like a leech would bring me closer to becoming a ranker.

Moreover, even with the combined strength of these three, they were nothing compared to the real forms of the old man or the Sun Spear.

Surprisingly, this fact calmed my nerves.

“Hmm.”

First, Lee Sunah took a step forward.

“Joo Donghoon, was it? Nice to meet you! I’m Lee Sunah, a friend of the Dark Empress and leader of the Black Sword Squad!”

The Black Sword Squad’s name was widely known. It was one of the elite assault squads of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon, considered one of the strongest guilds in the world.

For reference, the Cult of the Heavenly Demon was a guild led by Ha Sera, who was ranked 3rd in the world and 1st in South Korea. Interestingly, your alias would change to one in the wuxia style when you joined that guild.

“Hey, Black Sword. Don’t butt in now with your black-hearted nature, as your name suggests. A true name should have the word ‘white’ like mine. I’m Yoo Sangdon, also known as the White Swine.”

The White Swine. Even though his ranking was in the 800s, no ranker underestimated him as he was the vice president of the Global Hunter Merchant Confederation, also known as ‘GHMC.’ His start-up company ‘White Swine’ was one of the top companies in the domestic hunter item business. He was one of the richest men to be in the top 1,000.

“Oh, really? We’re making fun of each other for our aliases now? Funny coming from you, with literally the word ‘pig’ in your alias! And a greedy one at that! Oink, oink!” Lee Sunah retorted to Yoo Sangdon’s provocation.

“What? Greedy? Hah, do you even know how clean and unselfish pigs are?”

“And yet your skill is called Gluttony? Oh, sure, I understand now!”

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“...”

The two rankers were chattering non-stop.

Isn’t it said that the closer people are, the more they bicker? Just seeing how nonchalantly Berserker was watching, it was clear this was their usual behavior.

And then, the ‘real one’ stepped forward.

Ranked 20th in the world, he had no match in the country except for Ha Sera, the Heavenly Demon.

“Hahaha, leave those fools aside. How about a handshake?”

He extended his hand.