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CHAPTER 13: I Became the Successor of a Constellation.
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Chapter 13
‘But it was a perfect plan.’
Taehyun was dumbfounded. Just moments ago, he had been cheering for the outcome that perfectly matched his expectations.
But this bastard had even put on a show of hiding the Blood Tracker in a cocoon, only to brazenly blindside him.
His panic was brief, however. As he regained his composure, a sense of relief washed over him.
That guy just got lucky and survived again.
‘Right, he's just an F-Rank anyway. A failure of a rank, can't even become a proper Hunter. I was just careless earlier.’
Steeling his resolve, his confidence returned. He straightened his shoulders and looked Minho straight in the eye.
Only then did he get a proper look at Minho.
Seeing his clothes drenched in the bodily fluids of variants, it seemed he had already fought a fierce battle with the variant spiders.
‘Looks like not as many hatched as I thought.’
Even though Minho had fought a desperate battle against a ceaseless flood of variant spiders for two hours, Taehyun interpreted the situation only in a way that favored himself.
Watching the change in Taehyun's expression, Minho felt a sense of emptiness beyond his anger.
‘He still hasn't come to his senses. Well, I guess that's just like you.’
“What, you’re alive? And since when did this bastard start dropping the formalities? Trying to act like you're my equal now, huh?”
“Enough. Take this.”
He threw something at Taehyun. A black plastic case the size of a pencil. A small LED was blinking on it.
“Everything you said is recorded there. From attempted murder to threatening my family, all of it.”
“What? A recording?”
“I don't plan on doing anything with it. That is, if you just listen to what I say.”
Taehyun's face hardened in an instant.
“You think you can threaten me with something like this?”
“The condition is simple. You take whatever happens from now on to your grave. No matter what.”
“…?”
For a moment, Taehyun thought he’d misheard, but he quickly scoffed.
“What? Are you suggesting we go one-on-one?”
“No reason we can't.”
“This guy's completely insane.”
Taehyun pushed himself up, lightly touching the back of his head. The back of his neck still throbbed, but it was bearable.
“Fine. I don't know what you're plotting, but I won't tell anyone what happens here.”
“That's not enough. You have a ‘Pledge of Oath,’ right?”
“…Hah, you know everything, don't you.”
Taehyun took out the ‘Pledge of Oath’ from within his clothes.
Minho confirmed that his prediction was correct.
He had figured that a shady guy like Taehyun would carry an item like this to silence people at a moment's notice.
The ‘Pledge of Oath’ was a document that certified a promise between parties and possessed a supernatural binding force. Breaking the contract would result in a powerful penalty.
“Right. It's better to be certain.”
Unable to find a good counterargument, Taehyun reluctantly tore the ‘Pledge of Oath’ to activate it. Minho recited the terms of the contract.
“Everything that happens in this Dungeon will never be revealed to anyone. Upon violation of the contract, the penalty is death.”
“…I agree.”
Soon after, the Pledge of Oath vanished, and a faint ring of light formed between the two of them. It signified that the contract was established.
At the same time, Minho raised a hand into the air.
There was no need to delay any longer. The safety measure was in place.
“Come out, King.”
The air shimmered for a moment. As if something were rising from underwater, a transparent form slowly revealed itself.
[Ancient Slime, King, is summoned]
“Wh-what is that?”
Taehyun's eyes widened. What appeared in mid-air was a transparent slime the size of his palm.
Its entire body was transparent like jelly, and a faint blue light pulsed within it.
King landed softly on the ground. At the same time, a burst of laughter erupted.
“Puhahaha! It's just a single slime?”
Taehyun clutched his stomach, roaring with laughter. He had been secretly worried that this guy might have a hidden ace up his sleeve, but to think it was a slime. It was almost anticlimactic.
What was slime? It was an otherworldly species that lived on the lower floors of the Tower.
They usually moved in groups and were quite a headache for adventuring parties, but individually, they were one of the weakest creatures.
Weak enough for even Taehyun, who had yet to climb the Tower, to disregard.
“Hey, is this your big ace? What can a slime possibly do?”
But the laughter didn't last long.
“Huh?”
Taehyun sensed something was wrong. The air in the entire Dungeon began to grow heavy. Soon, he found it hard to breathe.
An immense pressure pushed in from all sides, as if he were at the bottom of the deep sea. This was no mere physical pressure.
‘Wh-what is this?’
His body began to tremble on its own. He had never felt such an overwhelming presence before.
Not the A-Rank Hunters he'd met at the guild, not even his own father, a Successor of a Constellation, had an aura like this.
King simply remained where it was. But from around the small creature, invisible waves continuously spread out.
A being that had traversed primordial time had now descended upon this Dungeon.
‘No, there must be some kind of trick.’
There was no reason to be scared. He was about to become a B-Rank Hunter and an official member of the 「Iron-Blooded Legion 」.
He couldn't be intimidated by a single slime.
“The games end here! War Cry!”
Taehyun shouted, thrusting his hand into the air.
One of the signature skills of the 「Iron-Blooded Legion」.
A technique of the war god that broke the enemy's morale on the battlefield and roused the fighting spirit of allies.
But
“Huh?”
Nothing happened. Normally, his voice would carry a thunderous echo, and an intimidating aura that pressured his opponent should have erupted from him.
But now, it was as if he had just yelled.
‘Why isn't the skill working?’
While Taehyun was panicking, King began to swell.
From the size of a palm, it grew to the size of a basketball, and then soon, it was as tall as a person.
As it grew, the faint blue light within its transparent body began to radiate more intensely.
And then,
Shwoooosh--
A jelly-like tentacle shot out from King's body. With lightning speed.
He hastily pulled out his shield, but the moment the tentacle touched its surface, the unthinkable happened.
Tsssss--
The shield, which had its defense boosted with a special coating, began to melt away, emitting smoke.
It boasted enough durability to block attacks from most high-grade variants, but now it was melting like candy the moment the slime's tentacle touched it.
Just then, Minho spoke leisurely.
“Hey, I thought you were B-Rank?”
“…”
“Ah, my bad. Were you still a C-Rank?”
Taehyun's face turned beet red with rage. But he couldn't retort.
What could he do when both his weapon and skills had been neutralized?
Watching Taehyun's reaction, Minho made up his mind.
‘Now it's my turn.’
In truth, there was a reason he hadn't stepped in himself from the start.
He had used up a lot of stamina from fighting the variant spiders for over two hours.
Also, even with ‘Body Enhancement,’ he couldn't guarantee the outcome of a head-on fight with a C-Rank Hunter.
‘But it's different now.’
That guy's weapon is gone and his guild skills are sealed. There couldn't be a more perfect time.
Minho slowly rolled his shoulders as he approached Taehyun.
‘Body Enhancement’
As he activated the ability, the muscles all over his body tensed, and power surged through him.
It felt like hot energy was flowing through his veins.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
Taehyun backed away warily. Instead of answering, Minho charged.
At the agile movement, Taehyun instinctively pulled his body back. Or rather, he tried to.
Thwack!
He slammed his fist into the guy's solar plexus.
“Guek!”
Taehyun let out a sound like a stuck pig and doubled over. Of course, Minho had no intention of stopping. This was just the beginning.
‘At the end of every sentence, F-Rank cleaner, F-Rank cleaner!’
Whish!
A left uppercut struck the tip of the guy's chin. His head snapped back, spattering saliva and blood.
‘He trapped me and laughed that pathetic laugh…’
Pow!
A right straight flew toward Taehyun's nose. With a ‘crack,’ his nose burst open.
“Aaargh! You crazy bastard!”
The guy screamed and staggered back, but Minho didn't back down and closed the distance.
‘He threatened my family!’
Bam!
A knee strike dug into Taehyun's ribs. The moment he gasped and bent over again,
an elbow came crashing down on Taehyun's back. Taehyun crumpled to the floor.
“You think you can get away with…”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
With every kick that landed on Taehyun's body, Minho felt a rush of adrenaline.
‘So this is why they say a good beating is the best medicine?!’
The force of his blows was greater than he'd imagined. No matter that Taehyun was a Hunter several ranks higher than him; he had lost both his weapon and his skills.
In this situation, he was nothing more than a punching bag.
“Stop… please, stop….”
Taehyun, on his knees, coughed up blood and barely managed to speak.
“You said you read my file, right? Then you should know. I'm older than you, you punk!”
Bam! Bam!
Two consecutive kicks slammed into Taehyun's thigh. Taehyun's knees gave out, and he collapsed.
“Kuaargh! P-please stop….”
Taehyun's voice was close to a scream. Only then did Minho stop his assault.
“Hoo.”
He took a deep breath and looked down at Taehyun, who was on the floor.
The guy was covered in blood from his nose and mouth, trembling convulsively.
‘Any more and I'll be planning a funeral. I can't let that happen.’
The guy had tried to kill him, but he couldn't do the same.
Above all, if this guy, the Guild Master's son, disappeared, the arrow of suspicion would point straight at him.
He glanced at King. King's body rippled, seeming satisfied with the outcome.
The man who, just moments ago, had been filled with the pride of being a Hunter from the 「Iron-Blooded Legion」 was gone.
Only an ordinary human, trembling in fear, remained.
“You haven't forgotten the oath you just made, have you?”
he asked in a calm tone. The guy could do nothing but nod his head.
Seeing him like that, Minho felt some of the resentment in his heart dissolve.
Finally,
The request was complete.
***
“Ah, fuck, I just want to quit everything!”
Gwanghwamun, Seoul. 7th floor of the Hunter Management Department building.
There was a woman who hadn't been home in a week.
Investigator Kim Dai. Age 32.
Her desk was piled high with reports on Dungeon incidents from various regions.
The woman's scream echoed through the empty office as she stared at the documents, her eyes ringed with dark circles.
“Aaaargh!!”
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