Chapter 311

Chapter 311

Lee Changsik was naturally astonished by Choi Yeonseung’s surprised reaction.

“Huh? Why are you surprised?”

“I’m still not entirely sure what I’m capable of...”

Many constellation powers were awoken unconsciously, so Choi Yeonseung hadn’t been aware of this new power.

‘It’s amazing.’

In any case, Lee Changsik’s powers were returning back to normal thanks to the power of a constellation. It was quite a happy story.

“Then can’t you announce your return?”

“Uh... It’s not that simple...” said Lee Changsik with a look of worry. He then went on the internet and showed something to Choi Yeonseung.

“There’s this article from some time ago about a rumor that I might return.”

[Is the Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor Lee Changsik coming out of retirement?]

-How old is he? Is the Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor still active? What the hell? Isn’t this elder abuse? Can’t they get sued for this?

-They should raise new A-grade hunters instead of bringing back some old guy.

-Honestly, three A-grade hunters is a lot. How can we raise more here? If we want to raise more here, we need to kidnap B-grade hunters from other countries.

-Isn’t the Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor better off as a director?

“...Ah. Still, there are people who trust you to be the director.”

“...This article was from before my losing streak.”

“I’m sorry,” said Choi Yeonseung, trying to comfort him. However, Lee Changsik only felt more bitter.

“In any case, this is how it is.”

Lee Changsik wasn’t just worried about his reputation. He was retired, but he was still a former A-grade hunter. That was a position that represented his country, a badge of honor, and he took it more seriously than anyone else.

If he came out of retirement and made a fool of himself, he would face the ridicule of everyone.

“Hyung.”

“...?”

“Don’t worry too much about that. What matters most is what you can do and what you want to do, right? The way that people look at you will change every time.”

“...”

“Hyung, isn't your desire to protect people the reason you want to return as an A-grade hunter?”

“That’s right.”

“Then public opinion is just...”

“...Right. I just have to suck it up and do what I think is right!”

“Uh... No...? I was going to tell you to buy the reporters.”

“...”

Lee Changsik looked at Choi Yeonseung in disbelief. Hwang Gyeongryong actively bribed the media, but Lee Changsik wasn’t that kind of person.

“No, I’m good.

“It’s okay. I’ll bribe them with my own money.”

“...”

Lee Changsik vowed that when he met Hwang Gyeongryong again, he would grab him by the collar and yell into his face, “It’s your damn fault that he’s become like this!”

“Hyung, you can do as you want. That’s just how Gyeongryong hyung does it.”

“Don’t use him as an example,” said Lee Changsik with a firm expression.

He would never live like that!

***

As Lee Changsik was preparing to announce his return, Choi Yeonseung headed to the Demon clan. He had left the clan to Lee Changsik, but he would be busy because of his return, so Choi Yeonseung wanted to lift some of the burden off his shoulders.

‘I’m going to filter them out, check the rest, and make them stronger.’

Choi Yeonseung was curious about the special effect that Lee Changsik had talked about. He didn’t have to bestow the power on others for it to still have an effect.

‘Well, the hunters I’ve trained myself have certainly grown.’

The young hunters of the Mount Hua Sect in the Abyss and the orcs in his realm had shown impressive results. At first, he had thought they were talented in martial arts. However, Choi Yeonseung realized he might’ve just inadvertently influenced them with his power.

But on a different topic...

“...He wants to... join?”

Choi Yeonseung looked at Aine with a confused expression.

An unexpected guest had arrived.

Nathan Dab.

He was a young hunter and an Ivy League prospect from the United States. He was such a high-profile talent that even if he did nothing, all the elite clans in the US would still consider him a superstar talent and would desperately try to recruit him.

However, Nathan had suddenly flown to South Korea and requested to join the Demon clan.

Choi Yeonseung was flustered.

-Aine, try to convince him not to join.

-What do you want me to do?

Of course, Aine was also flustered. If she had to draw a comparison, it was like a top prospect from the Major Baseball League flying to Korea and saying, “I like Korean baseball! I want to play in the Korean League!”

“Mr. Nathan, I understand that you’re grateful to have been taught by Hunter Choi Yeonseung. However, I’m afraid the choice you want to make isn’t a very good one.”

It was crazy to join the Demon clan just because Choi Yeonseung had taught him some martial arts. It was better for him to try to get into another clan...

However, Nathan was adamant about it.

“It doesn’t matter. I want to be stronger. I felt it while learning martial arts, so I know that this is the way to get stronger!”

“The other clans...”

“Wouldn’t I have a hard time training in some other clans that already have a lot of hunters and move around all the time?”

“That’s true, but...”

Aine paused. Come to think of it, Nathan had signed with Gloria, so Aine wondered why she was so worried about him. It wasn’t like Nathan was poor and desperately needed money at the moment...

‘Well, Hunter Choi Yeonseung wouldn’t take advantage of him and throw him away afterward.’

“Alright, then join us.”

“Thank you!”

Choi Yeonseung listened from next to them and cast a bewildered look at Aine.

“...Niece?”

“How can I stop him when he’s so determined to join? We should respect his decision.”

“Hah...”

Choi Yeonseung looked puzzled.

“Well, it’s not like he’s not talented.”

Nathan was so talented that even the American clans coveted him. It was still a bit uncomfortable to have him come here for no apparent reason, but...

‘Well, all hunters are weird.’

However, Nathan wasn’t the only one who did this.

“Uh, you want to join?”

He knew that there were several promising Chinese hunters who had applied for asylum this time, but among them, Zhang Wei was rather special. He was the ace of Beijing 31st High School. Thus, the Korean hunter clans cheered for him and desperately tried to recruit him.

...However, Zhang Wei had declined all of their offers and came to the Demon clan.

Choi Yeonseung was so befuddled that he asked, “Why, why on earth?” over and over again!

“The moment I saw you fighting, I knew I wanted to be like you,” explained Zhang Wei determinedly. His expression was calm, but full of deference.

-What does he mean he wants to become like me? Is he referring to my martial arts? My personality?

-Maybe he’s talking about how you saved his life?

Aine understood Zhang Wei’s feelings. Young people were naturally soft and easily impressed. When she was younger, Aine had also admired Hwang Gyeongryong like he was a hero. Only after a few years had she woken up to reality.

Given his young age, it was natural for Zhang Wei to admire Choi Yeonseung after seeing him in action. The director from his own country had run away, but Choi Yeonseung, a hunter from another country who had nothing to do with him, had saved him...

“Alright, I understand.”

“Thank you. I look forward to it.”

The new recruits both left, and Choi Yeonseung looked nervous.

“I wanted to elevate Korean hunters. At this rate, won’t this turn into a Korean clan without Koreans?”

“It doesn’t matter that they’re foreigners as long as they’re active in a Korean clan, right?”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

Usually, hunters were active in clans from their own countries. From a legal standpoint, it was the most beneficial option. However, some hunters played for foreign clans while receiving special treatment. If there were some extra benefits to joining a foreign clan, they would obviously go for it.

...Of course, this was an exception.

“Since they believe in me, I have to train them properly,” said Choi Yeonseung.

“By the way, don’t you care that the Chinese government is planning to conquer the Second Realm?”

“Ah, that... It isn’t that I don’t care... If anything, I’m actually grateful.”

The current situation with the Second Realm was so all over the place that Choi Yeonseung was concerned. The owner of the realm had suddenly changed, and the Chinese government had declared they would conquer it...

Of course, the worst case scenario was China taking over the Second Realm by itself, but that seemed quite unlikely.

A constellation’s realm was too formidable.

‘They’ll probably only manage to weaken the explosion constellation.’

Choi Yeonseung would be grateful if he could at least get some information from the Chinese hunters after they raided the Second Realm. Until then, he would just do what he could.

“Indeed. That’s also why the demand for artifacts has skyrocketed.”

“...?”

“What... Shouldn’t we be thankful for that? The Chinese will buy artifacts en masse.”

If hunters were mobilized on a large scale, then the price of artifacts would naturally increase. Artifacts would be consumed or broken, so they had to secure as many as they could. At a time like this, the artificial artifact companies were obviously overjoyed.

“That’s right. We should be glad.”

“Besides that, there’s a chance that the Chinese government will ask for the artifacts in secrecy. If that happens, they’d pay a boatload of money.”

“What...?” Choi Yeonseung laughed. “The Chinese are too proud to do something like that.”

"You think so?” asked Aine as she cocked her head. She found it hard to argue with him on this because of how convinced he seemed. Of course, since he was from South Korea, he probably knew more about the Chinese government than her.

“Even if they risk dying, they’ll still use their own artifacts,” added Choi Yeonseung. “Why would they ask us for artifacts?”

“You’re right.”

***

“I will comply with any conditions, so please give me some artifacts...”

“...”

Choi Yeonseung looked at the person sitting in front of him with a bewildered expression. He wasn’t talking to a party official, but to someone from Yie Nie, the Chinese artifact company.

No matter how oblivious Choi Yeonseung was when it came to business, he could still tell that it was very peculiar for this person to come to an artifact company from another country because their own company was short on artifacts.

“How can there be a shortage of production when you have so many factories in China?” asked Choi Yeonseung incredulously. “Aren’t you being too greedy?”

In the artificial artifact market, China had relatively low prices. If they pushed using their advantage in the labor force, there weren’t many opponents who could keep up with them.

“...To tell you the truth, when it comes to performance, our artifacts can’t seem to keep up with the latest artifacts developed by Dragon Industry. We need even better artifacts to appease the hunters’ frustrations.”

Like all regular people, Chinese hunters also had complaints. It was already a dreadful situation that they had to charge into the Second Realm. If they had to use subpar artifacts on top of that, they might as well raid the mansion of a party official before going on the raid. nOVE-lb/In

“That’s right. Fighting! You can’t ask for artifacts like this if you want to maintain your reputation.”

“Please! I’m begging you!”

Choi Yeonseung wondered, “What’s your position? I know you’re desperate, but do you have permission to do this? Go and get permission first. Then we’ll talk.”

“...I’m the chairman.”

“...Oh... Really?”

Choi Yeonseung felt bad when the other person looked at him with an embarrassed expression.

“Didn’t I tell you my name in the beginning?”

“...Sorry.”

He was a middle-aged man in a nice suit and wearing an expensive watch, but Choi Yeonseung hadn’t expected the chairman himself to come visit. Of course, Yie Nie’s chairman, Kang Luomin, had mentioned his name. He just hadn’t expected Choi Yeonseung to not pay attention to that.

“If you really are sorry, we’d accept your apology if you gave us a lot of artifacts...”

“I’m not that sorry.”

“I see...”

Kang Luomin was disappointed that Choi Yeonseung didn’t fall for it.

“Is there anything for an ordinary chairman to be disappointed about? Do you have any debts?” asked Choi Yeonseung out of curiosity.

“There’s something scarier than debts.”

“What?”

“The orders from above... Um. I’ve said enough. Hunter Choi Yeonseung, I didn’t actually expect you to accept it from the start, so I’ve prepared an offer.”

“...?”

Kang Luomin took out papers from the suitcase he had brought with him and laid them out in front of Choi Yeonseung. Familiar artifacts were drawn on the papers. More specifically, they were Korean treasures and artifacts.

Choi Yeonseung was dumbfounded.

“If you’re coming up with an offer to return stolen Korean artifacts and treasures in return for our artifacts, you should at least include all of them.”

“N-no... No!”