LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 22
Chapter 22
High-rise apartment 1500m away from the dark clouds in the middle of the clear sky.
Kang Jin-hyuk and Lucia were standing on the rooftop of the apartment building, which was over 30 floors high.
Lucia, her face covered with a mask, frowned as she looked up at the sky.
“The air here is really dirty. I feel like my lifespan is being shortened with every breath I take.”
Lucia’s first impression of the outside world, following Kang Jin-hyuk’s guidance, was truly the worst.
As a half-elf, she couldn’t stand Seoul’s pollution without a mask.
It felt like her lungs would rot on the spot if she took a deep breath.
“You guys live well in a neighborhood like this.”
“…Well, we just live here because we have no choice.”
Lucia kept coughing even while she was aiming with her bow.
“This won’t do. I’ll have to hold my breath completely if I want to hit it properly.”
Lucia held her breath as much as possible to stop coughing and gauged the distance to the dark clouds.
When she was convinced that she could hit it sufficiently at this distance and with this wind, Lucia nocked an arrow.
“The promise to bring me unlimited sweet food every day. If that’s a lie, you know your head will be the next thing to get pierced.”
Kang Jin-hyuk involuntarily flinched at the sincere threat.
It was ridiculous that he had entrusted his life to a sugary food.
“You can hit it, right?”
“Is that even a question? How could I miss something that big?”
Lucia held her breath and drew up a greater amount of mana from her entire body than she had shown in the dungeon before.
The overflowing flow of mana was clearly visible even to the naked eye.
As she, surrounded by a blue aura, pulled the bowstring, all the mana moved to the tip of the arrow.
Compared to the tremendous aura gathered on Lucia’s arrow, the aura Kang Jin-hyuk used was like a drop in the bucket.
“If you don’t want to get caught up in it, stay more than five steps away.”
After a brief warning, Lucia released the drawn bowstring at once.
Kang Jin-hyuk was startled by a loud bang while he was backing away.
To make matters worse, he was swept back by the afterwind and fell backward without a moment to regain his balance.
While Kang Jin-hyuk was falling on his butt, the arrow flew straight like a beam of light.
The arrow reached its target in the blink of an eye, before the monster hiding in the clouds could react.
The arrow that pierced through the monster’s body no longer had a blue aura.
The aura that had been on the arrow was completely absorbed into the monster’s body.
And then it exploded with an even louder noise than when the arrow was shot.
The one who created that amazing sight shrugged lightly.
“It’s nothing special.”
The aftermath of the explosion cleared the dark clouds that had been covering the monster’s entire body.
Thanks to that, the identity of the monster that had been hidden in the clouds was revealed, but it was difficult to see with the naked eye because it was so high up.
Kang Jin-hyuk took out a telescope-like device from his inventory and looked at the opponent’s information.
“Is that… a turtle with a crocodile’s head?”
The monster, whose appearance he had never seen before, blinked its eyes as if it was still alive.
It seemed as if it didn’t understand why it had been subjected to such a fate.
『Leviathan』
LV : 300
Kang Jin-hyuk was astonished to see the monster’s level.
“Level 300? That’s the highest level we’ve seen so far.”
It was a tough opponent for a reason.
Even if the Leviathan had appeared on the ground instead of the sky, there was no way to deal with such a level except for S-rank Hunters.
“It’s fortunate that only one appeared…….”
It gave him goosebumps to imagine them appearing in groups like goblins or orcs.
“Don’t fuss. What’s the big deal?”
Lucia chuckled at Kang Jin-hyuk, who had turned pale.
It seemed that even a level 300 monster was not a big threat to her.
Kang Jin-hyuk had no choice but to acknowledge Lucia’s attitude.
What was there to argue about when she had taken down an opponent that all the Hunters were struggling with with a single arrow?
“Thank you for your help.”
“No need to thank me. I didn’t help you for free.”
Lucia said it like it was nothing, but the contribution she made was truly great.
If it weren’t for Lucia, who would have caught that Leviathan monster?
No, would it have even been possible to catch it?
He wasn’t even sure if Getia’s magicians would cooperate, and if they had delayed any longer, the defense line might have completely collapsed, resulting in civilian casualties.
Despite helping them out of such a crisis, all Lucia asked for in return was sweet food.
From Kang Jin-hyuk’s point of view, he couldn’t thank her enough even if he prostrated himself.
“Groooooooooo!”
Kang Jin-hyuk was startled by the sudden loud roar.
He thought it was all over, but the Leviathan was still alive, even with its mangled body, most of which had been blown away from the chest down.
Kang Jin-hyuk became anxious, wondering if it would go berserk and shoot lightning in all directions.
“It doesn’t seem to be dead yet. Can you finish it off?”
“No need. That’s just its death throes.”
As Lucia said, the Leviathan didn’t show any action other than roaring.
Even if it wanted to do something before it died, most of its body, including its magic stone, had been blown away.
It could barely even scream, let alone struggle.
After venting its frustration, the Leviathan breathed its last.
Immediately, its uncontrolled body began to fall from 35,000ft in the air.
“See? I told you it would be strange if it survived that.”
Lucia, convinced of the Leviathan’s death, took out the counter she had been keeping in her pocket.
“Here, you said you’d give it back after I caught the monster, right?”
The counter that Kang Jin-hyuk received back had an astonishingly high score.
It goes without saying that the score was accumulated thanks to catching the Leviathan.
“Is that really all the proof I need that I caught the monster?”
“Of course. With such a high score, they won’t be able to argue.”
Kang Jin-hyuk spoke with strong conviction, but Lucia’s expression was indifferent.
“Don’t trust people too much. You have no idea how many times I’ve been tricked while being an adventurer.”
Even with evidence, humans who tried to rip others off would always come up with excuses.
One piece of evidence wasn’t enough to get fair compensation from such people.
Kang Jin-hyuk knew that much.
“Don’t worry. The leader there seems to be on my side, so he won’t stab me in the back.”
The reason Kang Jin-hyuk was confident was because of Seo Sang-ho’s presence.
Seo Sang-ho wanted to recruit Kang Jin-hyuk into the guild, so there was a high probability that he would support the fact that he had caught the Leviathan.
Of course, he wasn’t 100% sure.
If, by any chance, even Seo Sang-ho tried to deny it, Kang Jin-hyuk was planning to go to the Association with the counter.
The counter he had was officially recognized by the Association, so it was sufficient as evidence.
The item that the secretary had given him, anticipating that he might exaggerate his achievements, was now Kang Jin-hyuk’s greatest weapon.
◈◈◈◈◈◈
When the Leviathan died and began to fall, there was a great commotion on the ground.
Because the monster was so huge, even though two-thirds of it had been blown away, the remaining part was over 100m in size.
It could be a big problem if such a large corpse collided with a tall building while falling.
But Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t worry about that.
Unless it was still alive, there was no way Seo Sang-ho couldn’t handle it if it was just a corpse.
As Kang Jin-hyuk expected, Seo Sang-ho was out there waiting in advance where the corpse was falling.
“How did you do it?”
Seo Sang-ho was dubious when he received Kang Jin-hyuk’s call.
No, to be honest, it was generous to say that he even half-believed it.
Who would have thought that a C-rank Hunter who could only swing a baseball bat would catch a new type of monster?
Moreover, that new type of monster was an opponent that even Seo Sang-ho, an S-rank Hunter, found difficult.
“The more I see you, the more I want you.”
Seo Sang-ho chuckled as he faced the falling Leviathan’s corpse.
The corpse, which was about to collide with the building, first came into contact with Seo Sang-ho’s fist.
At that moment, the corpse, which had been falling at a terrifying speed, stopped in its tracks as if it were a still image.
When Seo Sang-ho swung his fist once more, the Leviathan’s corpse changed its trajectory and fell into a wide-open square.
“I’ve done enough cleaning up… Now, shall we finish this?”
The monster in the sky that had been hindering the battle was gone.
All that was left was to sweep up the remaining monsters that were rampaging on the ground.
Seo Sang-ho took out the microphone he had prepared in advance to call out the Hunters who were hiding from the lightning.
“I’ve caught the new type of monster!”
Seo Sang-ho’s voice echoed through the speakers installed in various places for command purposes.
Then, the Hunters who had taken refuge inside the buildings began to come out one by one.
“You caught it?”
“Really?”
The Hunters who came out to confirm the truth witnessed the Leviathan’s corpse lying in the square.
Thanks to its never-before-seen appearance and size, the Hunters were convinced that the corpse in the square was undoubtedly that of a new type of monster.
“It’s, it’s real!”
“Did Titan’s Guild Master catch it?”
“S-rank Hunter Seo Sang-ho could do it!”
The Hunters thought that it was Seo Sang-ho and the Titan Guild members who had hunted the new type of monster.
It was only natural.
Even Seo Sang-ho couldn’t believe that all of this was the work of a C-rank Hunter, let alone the other Hunters.
Seo Sang-ho didn’t bother to explain even after seeing the Hunters’ misunderstanding.
It was definitely not because he was greedy for the credit or wanted to steal the honor.
In this precarious situation where the defense line was on the verge of collapse, there was no time to give a lengthy explanation.
“I can explain the details after the work is done, right?”
For Seo Sang-ho, annihilating the remaining monsters took precedence over clearing up misunderstandings.
Since there had been many sacrifices due to the sudden appearance of the new type of monster, they couldn’t afford any more damage.
Seo Sang-ho gathered the Hunters, rebuilt the precarious defense line, and drove the few remaining monsters into a corner.
With the Leviathan, who had been backing them up, gone, the monsters on the ground were greatly demoralized.
It wasn’t difficult to hunt down the demoralized monsters.
It didn’t take long for Seo Sang-ho and the other Hunters to sweep up the remnants.
When Kang Jin-hyuk returned, most of the monsters had already been hunted down.
Since all that was left was to chase down the fleeing monsters, Seo Sang-ho had withdrawn from the front lines and was handling the aftermath with the executives.
Seo Sang-ho, who had been taking a breather, spotted Kang Jin-hyuk’s return and approached him with a welcoming face.
“Good work. That was truly a splendid performance.”
Kang Jin-hyuk was quite surprised to hear Seo Sang-ho’s greeting.
He never thought that the Guild Master would voluntarily acknowledge his achievements.
Seo Sang-ho offered a handshake to the bewildered Kang Jin-hyuk and asked a question.
“Could you tell me how you managed to catch it?”
“Ah, that’s a secret.”
‘I brought a half-elf from the dungeon and asked her to shoot it with an arrow.’
Kang Jin-hyuk, unable to be that honest, chose not to answer, vaguely saying it was his secret weapon.
Then, Han Young-seok, who had been following Seo Sang-ho, raised his voice in protest.
“What secret! You can’t say it because you didn’t catch it yourself!”
Kang Jin-hyuk was relieved to hear the words that were close to nitpicking.
‘Yes, this is how you should be.’
It didn’t make sense that these guys, who were trying to take even the small fry monsters to monopolize the profits, would readily acknowledge someone else’s achievements.
Kang Jin-hyuk almost had his common sense distorted because of an oddball like Seo Sang-ho.
“If you don’t believe me, check this out.”
What Kang Jin-hyuk scoffed and handed over was the counter the secretary had given him.
The executive, who had been yelling, widened his eyes like a frog when he saw the score accumulated on the counter.
“2… 240 points?! That’s impossible!”
During this invasion, the score on the counter that Seo Sang-ho had been carrying was 173 points.
A score about 70 points higher meant that he had either swept away monsters with an overwhelming ability compared to Seo Sang-ho or had defeated a big shot alone.
But even after witnessing the score, the Titan executive refused to acknowledge it.
“Don’t be ridiculous! You’re trying to fool us with a counter that you’ve pre-loaded with points!”
“I received this after I got here. How could I have pre-loaded it with points?”
“He, here? Who gave you this?!”
It was Seo Sang-ho’s secretary who stepped up to answer the executive’s question.
She approached the executive and told him the truth honestly.
“I provided it because I was worried that he might fabricate his achievements.”
When the Titan executive heard the secretary’s words and checked the back of the counter, he found the Titan Guild’s emblem engraved there.
With a unique identification number also written on it, it was absolutely impossible to swap it with another counter.
With the circumstances becoming clear, the executive clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“Then why did you come here instead of just quietly receiving your reward at the back?”
“Why did I come here? Because there’s something I need to take.”
“Something to take?”
Kang Jin-hyuk answered by pointing his finger at the Leviathan’s corpse.
The executive jumped up and down as if he was having a seizure.
“What nonsense! Why would you take that!”
“I’ll take it because I caught the monster.”
“It was our guild that stopped it from crashing! Do you think the corpse would have remained intact if it weren’t for the Guild Master?”
The executive could give Kang Jin-hyuk money, but he couldn’t give him the Leviathan’s corpse.
The materials from such a new type of monster were extremely valuable, to the point where they could name their price.
Just by handing it over to the Association, they could earn at least hundreds of millions of won, and if they put it up for auction, the profits could snowball.
Kang Jin-hyuk simply sighed at Han Young-seok’s panicked attempt to stop him.
“I told you. Don’t try to be unreasonable about the monster corpse later.”
“Wh, what?!”
Kang Jin-hyuk’s claim was indeed valid.
It was a legitimate demand, to the point where victory would be guaranteed even if it went to a legal battle.
Han Young-seok knew that much.
But he couldn’t just hand over this precious corpse to this annoying guy.
Han Young-seok decided to use the power of a large guild instead of legitimate means.
He thought that if he suppressed Kang Jin-hyuk with force here, he wouldn’t be able to make a peep again.
But before Han Young-seok could make a move, Seo Sang-ho stepped forward.
Seo Sang-ho grabbed Han Young-seok’s arm, which he was about to raise to signal the guild members, with one hand.
“Stop being disgraceful and give him what he deserves. We have plenty of money, why are you being so greedy?”
“…!”
Han Young-seok couldn’t do anything since Seo Sang-ho, the Guild Master of Titan, said so to his face.
He had no choice but to watch Kang Jin-hyuk take the Leviathan’s corpse with a forced smile.
Han Young-seok glared at Seo Sang-ho, who was still holding his arm, with venomous eyes.
‘Whose side are you on?’
Han Young-seok couldn’t understand Seo Sang-ho’s attitude, who, despite being the Guild Master, prioritized a mere C-rank Hunter over the guild’s interests.