Chapter 454: Do It for Me (2)

The Association President answered with a bitter smile.

“It is nothing. We simply make it something I did, rather than something Hunter Choi did.”

“Pardon? What do you mean by that?”

Instead of answering Choi Kanghyuk’s question with words, the Association President drew up his energy.

The energy surging through the Association President’s body gathered in his grasp.

Then blue lightning raged within the old man’s hand.

Crackle-crackle-crackle.

Only then did Choi Kanghyuk recall a piece of information he had forgotten.

'Ah. Right. The Association President was an A-rank hunter too.'

An awakened person with an electricity-type ability.

In fact, judging by his ability alone, it would not have been unreasonable to consider him S-rank.

During the early days of the gate crisis, he had also been quite a famous expert.

The Hunter Association was famous for assigning hunter ranks conservatively.

The reason other hunters could not complain about that was precisely because of the Association President.

That did not mean the Association President had suppressed them by force.

It was because the Association President had led by example.

After becoming President of the Hunter Association, Kang Youngchan had assigned himself an A-rank.

His old and weakened body. Since he could not display his full strength in the field, he said S-rank was more than he deserved.

Conversely, that meant that although his body had aged, the firepower of his ability alone was beyond question.

“This bastard attacked me in the middle of the night because he wanted the qi treatment, and I accidentally killed him while fighting to survive. Would that not make the story fit well enough?”

A plausible set of circumstances was created.

And that was not even the end of it.

“Are you planning to reveal that the qi treatment was also connected to you, Association President?”

“I was the one who started this in the first place, so should I not take responsibility? I intend to say that you merely assisted as a rehabilitation therapist, while this old man treated the retired hunters using his ability.”

Then the eyes of the world would inevitably turn toward the Association President.

The flies visiting this gym would also disappear for a while.

He could even silence the villain who knew about the gate.

Through the method Seo Yonggwang had loved so much, killing someone to silence him.

But for some reason, Choi Kanghyuk wore an uncomfortable expression.

'Uh, hmm. Is this right?'

He had intended to dump it on the Association President, but he had never imagined it would be in this manner.

“Th-this involves killing a person. Are you truly all right with that?”

“And it would be all right for you to kill him, Hunter Choi?”

“.......”

“How could the head of an organization push it onto someone else? This happened because of me, so naturally, I must take responsibility.”

As though agreeing with his own words, the Association President nodded.

Then the Association President looked at Seo Yonggwang.

“And besides, you know as well as I do, do you not? Just how atrocious that bastard is. I do not particularly wish to keep him alive either. Even the taxes spent on someone like him would be a waste.”

It was not enough that he had robbed wealthy homes. He had even committed murder.

Because of that bastard, the Association President had even been subjected to attacks from the media.

- How dare you make things difficult for me! You insolent bastard!!

It was not because he wanted to take revenge and kill him while thinking such things.

The Association President was not such a petty man.

What angered him most was the negative perception that had arisen because of that bastard.

'Because villains like that run rampant, people’s perception of us only grows worse.'

Discussions over how awakened people should be treated had already continued without end for several years.

There were madmen consumed by supremacism who believed awakened people should rule the nation.

Conversely, there were also ordinary people who argued that awakened people were dangerous and should all be monitored and confined.

To such extreme people, a villain like Seo Yonggwang was an extremely useful excuse and justification.

Kang Youngchan, on the other hand, dreamed of a world where awakened people and ordinary people lived together.

It was only natural, if anything.

The elderly Kang Youngchan had not been an awakened person from the beginning either.

No, he had lived far longer as an ordinary person.

Only five years had passed since the gates opened.

It had barely been five years since he awakened as well.

By contrast, he had lived as an ordinary person for more than sixty years.

He had become awakened overnight.

And yet people who had been ordinary people just like him now treated him like a monster?

It was difficult to accept in many ways.

That was why he dreamed of a world where they lived together.

Because he still believed himself to be an ordinary person.

Under the Association President’s fierce gaze, Seo Yonggwang struggled.

After all, those words meant that he intended to kill him.

When he had been tortured, Seo Yonggwang had shouted for them to just kill him instead, but when the Association President arrived, he had held onto a sliver of hope.

At that moment. Choi Kanghyuk, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, opened his mouth.

“But even if you kill that bastard, Association President, you will still have to stand trial, will you not? Are you truly all right with that?”

“Hahaha. Do not worry. I intend to turn myself in. A first offense, voluntary surrender, self-defense. Well, after taking this and that into consideration, would I not at least be able to hope for a suspended sentence?”

“.......”

Choi Kanghyuk did not particularly like it.

He had entrusted it to the Association President and asked him to somehow handle it, but he had never imagined that the man would try to sacrifice himself.

'Is there no other way?'

Then a very useful idea flashed through Choi Kanghyuk’s mind.

“What if someone other than me or the Association President kills him?”

“Someone else?”

To the Association President’s question, Choi Kanghyuk gave an entirely unexpected answer.

“The truth is, that bastard had a gun.”

“A gun?”

“Yes. He said it was something he smuggled into the country. He was not someone who entered Korea through normal means.”

Choi Kanghyuk found several things strange.

An awakened person who was not even registered with the Association.

And yet, if he had only recently awakened a stealth-type ability, something did not feel right.

Because he used his ability quite naturally.

On top of that, he knew a great deal about circumstances overseas, and he had even smuggled a gun into the country?

While continuing to interrogate him about it, Choi Kanghyuk had learned one useful piece of information.

“These men had already caused trouble overseas. They were being pursued by a criminal organization in France. That was why they hurried back to Korea.”

Apparently, they had been using stealth to carry out contract killings abroad.

Then they accepted a job to assassinate an executive of a fairly large organization.

They succeeded in the assassination, but the organization discovered that they were the ones responsible.

Therefore, they had hurried back to Korea in order to survive.

It was simply absurd that, as the saying went, old habits died hard, and they had returned only to cause trouble again.

After listening to Choi Kanghyuk’s entire explanation, the Association President blinked several times.

It was not because he was surprised by something he had never imagined.

The Association President asked Choi Kanghyuk in an uncomfortable tone.

“Just how did you learn all of that as well?”

The Association President slightly turned his head and glanced at Seo Yonggwang.

'No matter how I look at him, I cannot see anything that resembles signs of torture.'

Choi Kanghyuk hurriedly answered.

“Ahahaha. Th-that bastard is an attention seeker, so he blurted everything out with his own mouth. Hahahaha.”

***

Late at night.

A luxury studio apartment located in Gangnam.

A young man sat in a computer chair, biting his fingernails.

“Ha. Why is this fucking idiot taking so long? He has not even contacted me.”

There had been no word from Seo Yonggwang, who had left to kidnap Choi Kanghyuk.

Just then, the sound of someone entering the passcode came from the front door.

The young man. Lee Gyeongseok let out a sigh.

“Haa.”

As the front door opened, Lee Gyeongseok spun his computer chair around.

“You idiot. What the hell were you doing until now.......”

Lee Gyeongseok trailed off.

Seo Yonggwang was not alone.

He was with some man dressed entirely in black.

More precisely, he was slung over the shoulder of the man dressed entirely in black.

A moment later, the man in black dropped Seo Yonggwang onto the floor like a sack.

Seo Yonggwang’s body collapsed like a doll.

A body from which all signs of life had already disappeared. It was a corpse.

His eyes met those of the man whose face was hidden beneath a black hat and mask.

The small amount of visible skin was pitch-black.

A black man.

Lee Gyeongseok unconsciously swallowed dryly.

“Gulp.”

At that exact moment, the black man opened his mouth.

“Did you think we would not find you once you returned to your homeland?”

French.

Lee Gyeongseok’s clever mind began working rapidly.

They had found them.

'Fuck. Useless bastard. I told you we should just lie low.'

He thought this disaster had happened because Seo Yonggwang had been unable to restrain himself and had run wild.

The truth was slightly different.

The man in black. Choi Kanghyuk glared at him with murderous eyes while thinking.

'I pronounced that correctly, right?'

Naturally, Choi Kanghyuk did not know French.

It was a sentence he had roughly made up by having AI translate it into French. He had diligently practiced the pronunciation on the way there.

The reason he had dyed his face black was because he had used those items.

Definition oil and tanning oil.

They were items used during bodybuilding competitions or body-profile photo shoots.

Choi Kanghyuk had even painted black dye over them.

In order to disguise himself as a black Frenchman.

And after finishing his disguise, Choi Kanghyuk had come here while using stealth arts.

Several decades of life in the martial world. Choi Kanghyuk had also learned at least a basic stealth art.

Compared to Mukyeong, it was an extremely crude level, but it was more than enough to deceive the eyes of ordinary people.

Choi Kanghyuk strode toward Lee Gyeongseok.

Then he drew a dagger he was not even accustomed to using.

Terrified, Lee Gyeongseok trembled and spoke.

“S-save me.......”

At the moment Lee Gyeongseok’s life hung by a thread. An old man entered the studio apartment.

“Stop!!”

It was Association President Kang Youngchan.

Choi Kanghyuk turned his head.

The moment their eyes met, Kang Youngchan felt a sense of incongruity.

'Is that truly Hunter Choi Kanghyuk?'

It was a situation they had arranged in advance.

Black clothes. A mask and hat. Even black, glossy skin.

Although his entire body was covered, there was still something subtly different about him.

It was because of the Bone-Shrinking Art.

He had not completely changed his appearance, but he had forcibly reduced his muscles slightly.

In addition, he had made subtle changes around his exposed eyes as well.

'It must be because of the skin color and clothes.'

After shaking off his distracting thoughts, the Association President spoke.

“An awakened person dares point a blade at a civilian! Do you think you will remain unharmed after doing such a thing?”

As though there was no need for further questions or answers, the Association President immediately swung his arm.

Then lightning erupted along his hand.

'Th-this truly will be all right, will it not?'

What if Hunter Choi Kanghyuk was injured by this electricity?

Fortunately, that concern proved groundless.

After wrapping even the dagger in fist energy, Choi Kanghyuk split the lightning apart with the dagger.

Slice!

“!?”

Even while jumping in surprise, the Association President hurriedly continued his attack.

But whenever the Association President fired lightning, Choi Kanghyuk either launched himself aside to evade it or swung the dagger and split it apart.

'I heard rumors that he was unrivaled even among B-ranks, but I never imagined it was to this extent.'

The Association President thought.

He needed to raise Choi Kanghyuk to A-rank as soon as possible.

Just then, a commotion arose throughout the studio apartment building.

“Ah. Fuck. What the hell are you doing in the middle of the night?”

“Let us sleep, damn it!!”

As though he had been waiting for that commotion, Choi Kanghyuk clicked his tongue.

“Tsk.”

Then, without the slightest hesitation, he launched himself forward.

Straight toward the studio apartment’s window.

Crash!!

Shattering the window, Choi Kanghyuk leaped out of the studio apartment.

Whoooosh!

At the same time, a dagger flew toward Lee Gyeongseok’s face.

Slice!

Thud!

The dagger grazed the side of his neck and embedded itself in the wall.

“Hic.”

Only then did Lee Gyeongseok’s pants slowly become wet.

“Oh dear. Are you all right?”

The Association President hurriedly approached and asked.

“I came after receiving a call from Hunter Choi Kanghyuk. He said two awakened people were fighting in front of the gym.”

Lee Gyeongseok’s pupils shook violently.

“I hurriedly chased the two of them and ended up coming all the way here, but just what in the world is happening?”

Lee Gyeongseok’s mind, having nearly lost his life, began working rapidly for the sake of survival.

After quickly finishing his calculations, Lee Gyeongseok hurriedly shouted.

“I-I will turn myself in!! A-all of the r-recent serial murders were committed by us!”

Compared to being pursued by mafia assassins, a Korean prison seemed far more comfortable.

“So p-please spare me!! No, p-please put me in prison!”