Chapter 78: Amongst Men, Kim Ji-Hee; Amongst Horses, Mandong (2)

Chapter 78: Amongst Men, Kim Ji-Hee; Amongst Horses, Mandong (2) There was an Awakened in South Korea who, upon awakening, received an ability called Warp, allowing him to move through space. After realizing its immense value, he immediately publicized it along with a personal policy. "I have no intention of joining any organization. Not the nation, or the Association, or any of the guilds. I won't allow myself to be tied down like that." "However, I will allow anyone to use it, so long as they pay the fee. It doesn't matter who I lend my skill to. If you want to criticize me for doing this, feel free. However, the moment anyone tries to monopolize my ability, I will leave South Korea. If the United States can guarantee my safety and freedom, I'll move there. If China can guarantee it, I'll move there." As such, neither the Association nor the government tried to forcefully recruit him. The moment that he felt his freedom was being oppressed, he would leave for another country, and South Korea would end up losing an extremely valuable Awakened. Even the Awakened criminals didn't try to do anything to control him. Since they could make use of his teleportation skill at any time for a price, there was no need to risk offending him. *** A team of Hunters from the Hunters Association, fresh off clearing a B-Class Gate, spotted a man yawning loudly and fiddling with his smartphone. When they approached him, the man looked up from his smartphone. "Oh! The big spenders[1] are here." The leader of the Hunter team struggled to be polite. "We'll be counting on you." "Yes, yes. Given the circumstances, I'm offering you a 30% discount this time as well," the man said with a smile. One of the members of the Hunter Team unconsciously clenched his fist in anger. Even with such a bargain, his fee was still a considerable amount. Furthermore, he was clearly raking it in, offering his services to Hunters and Awakened criminals alike. The leader let out an annoyed sigh. Despite the high toll, he had to transport his team to a C-Class Gate, where some unexpected variables had reportedly sprung up. "Well then, let's—" Bzzz, bzzz. The team leader halted and took out his smartphone, checking the caller's identity. Seeing the name of a Strategy Department member who was in charge of monitoring the problematic Gate, he immediately accepted the call. "Yes, we were just on our way." —It seems like you won't be needed here. "Hm? You've actually managed to defeat it?" the team leader asked in disbelief. He had been informed that an Ice Troll Lord contaminated by dark mana and equipped with an artifact-grade weapon had appeared at the Gate, which was why the Hunters Association had been trying to quickly dispatch reinforcements there. —They haven't defeated it yet. However, it seems like the Ice Troll Lord will be dealt with by a Hunter who has grown rapidly over the course of this defense. On occasion, there were indeed Hunters who would suddenly evolve over the course of a battle. However, even if that was the case, was one person really enough to turn the tides in a battle like this? The team leader gulped. "Are you saying that a single Hunter has managed to turn the entire situation around?" —Yep, that's right. "Who was it?" —They were from DG Guild... It was that C-Class, mid-sized guild led by that Crazy Bastard. In that moment, a long list of names ran through the team leader's mind. Could it be Lee Ji-Yeon? Or maybe Yoo Seh-Eun? Or perhaps it's their newly recruited Hunter, Lee Chil-Sung? They had several talented members: the potentially A-Class Hunter, Lee Ji-Yeon, the leader of The Five Siblings of Mapogu, Yoo Seh-Eun, and lastly, the new recruit, Lee Chil-Sung. —Miss Kim Ji-Hee. "Huh...?" —Hunter Kim Ji-Hee has experienced rapid growth and has acquired enough strength that she should be able to easily defeat the Ice Troll Lord. "Ah, so you're saying that Miss Kim Ji-Hee has truly become strong enough to defeat that Ice Troll Lord?" the team leader couldn't help but seek confirmation. The other members of the Hunter Team waited for their team leader to finish his call, as did the Awakened with the teleportation skill, his brows slightly furrowed with impatience. Upon hearing this, they all turned to look at the team leader with wide eyes. —Yes. It might be hard to believe, but... it's the truth. The team leader nodded. "Yes. It's unbelievable. To think that, Miss Kim Ji-Hee would actually..." —Once the situation has been mostly resolved, I will be sure to send you the video recording. "A recording?" the team leader repeated. —Yes. The DG Guild's Guildmaster, Mr. Kim Ki-Rok, decided to host a Hunting Event in order to boost morale, and had cameras installed all over the battlefield to record the activity. The team leader's jaw dropped. "Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok actually held an event during a Gate defense battle?" What kind of crazy nonsense was this now? The team leader was so dumbfounded that his thoughts momentarily froze. The teleporter urged, "I'll give you a 50% discount. No, make that a 70% discount. So let's go already..." "Well..." The team leader slowly shook his head as he hung up the phone. "They're saying that they no longer need reinforcements." The teleporter frowned. "They don't need them?" "Yes. Even though I don't fully understand the situation, if the strategy department has made that decision, then I believe that they should be able to handle the raid without any further reinforcements." "I'll do it for free. So just tell me the coordinates," the teleporter offered. "Huh?!" "No, I mean... Didn't you hear? She's stronger now, right? Don't you want to see for yourself?" The team leader was certainly curious. After all, it was Kim Ji-Hee, the DG Guild's mascot, who was said to have grown much stronger. And this was no ordinary improvement; she had apparently grown strong enough to subdue an Ice Troll Lord whose level was estimated to be in the eighties! The team leader glanced over at the rest of his squad. One of the team members eagerly spoke up, "The other two Gates have already been cleared. We'll tag along with you!" "Didn't you say that you wanted to get some rest?" the team leader reminded them. "But you said that Ji-Hee has gotten stronger," insisted another member. Indeed, after hearing this tantalizing news, how could they resist spectating? After getting the exact same response that he had gotten from the teleporter, the team leader nodded his head and revealed the coordinates. "Then let's go!" the man said with sparkling eyes, immediately using his skill. A magic circle appeared beneath their feet, radiating bright light, and they all instinctively shut their eyes. Pooooof! *** Boooom! Boooom! The atmosphere of the battlefield was somewhat strange. It was filled with the sound of Hunters laughing and chatting with each other. This was a typical occurrence once a Gate battle was over, but the sound of explosions coming from the still active battlefield was ringing in their ears. As the newly arrived group opened their eyes, the teleporter immediately snapped, "Where's the battle?!" Spinning around, he spotted the huge ice wall and the battle that was taking place somewhere beyond it, instantly appearing on the wall with a short-distance Warp. The Hunters Association's team ran after him with haste. "Wow!" a member of the Hunter team exclaimed as the battle came into view. He saw a pure-white troll that was twice—no, nearly three times as big as an ordinary troll. Surrounding that massive creature were... "Ghosts?" "They really are ghosts." "There are also a lot of Elementals." "After all, the DG Guild has more Elementalists than any other guilds. But the spirits are all probably being controlled by Ji-Hee, who's a Spiritualist." It was thanks to their Elemental idol group, the Fairy Flowers, that the DG Guild had been able to recruit so many Elementalists. "But I have to say, doesn't it seem like there are a lot more ghosts than you would expect?" "It doesn't just seem like it, there really are that many." Forty-two human spirits and one beast spirit were currently hunting the Ice Trolls alongside Elementals and Hunters. Were they seriously this strong? With this much strength, they definitely didn't need reinforcements. However, just a few minutes ago, they had put in an urgent request, forcing the Association to dispatch the team in a hurry. The leader of this team observed the strongest group of spirits. "Fire Spear!" A powerful spell tore away a chunk of the Ice Troll Lord's flesh. "Haaaaah!" A greatsword wreathed in blue light struck a critical blow. "Blood Explosion!" With a hand gesture and accompanying chant from a young female spirit, blood exploded from the Ice Troll Lord's wound, doubling the damage it had already suffered. "Don't you know that the patch will be out in two hours! Just die already!" A young male spirit thrust his spear forward while spitting out something strange. Whiiihiihiihiiing! And finally, there was Mandong using his recovery skill. "Holy... 'Among Men, Kim Ji-Hee; Among Horses, Mandong,' indeed!" the teleporter shouted, leaving no room for rebuttal. The Hunter Team's leader looked around for Kim Ki-Rok and Kim Ji-Hee, the ones supposedly in charge of finishing this battle. He spotted the two, whom he had only previously seen in videos, standing next to Jang Bo-Hyun. Kim Ki-Rok had a stuffed rabbit draped over one shoulder while he was holding Kim Ji-Hee in his arms. "Ji-Hee, you know you have to drink it," Kim Ki-Rok gently persuaded. "But I'm fuuuull," Kim Ji-Hee whined. "You still need to drink it," Kim Ki-Rok insisted. "Your mana is draining away as we speak." "Uuuuh..." Kim Ji-Hee pouted, before finally downing the mana potion. Kim Ki-Rok smiled. "You should eat this as well, Ji-Hee." "This is... a sweet!" "That's right. It's a sweet. I personally made this sweet for you so that you can raise your magic stat. And on top of that, it's our Ji-Hee's favorite strawberry flavor." "Waaah!" Kim Ji-Hee excitedly kicked her legs and waved her arms above her head as she cheered, then she quickly wrapped her mouth around the candy that Kim Ki-Rok was holding in his hand. Kim Ki-Rok looked down at his saliva-coated fingers for a few moments before wiping them on the clothes of Jang Bo-Hyun, who was still standing next to him. Noticing something, Jang Bo-Hyun turned and asked, "What are you doing?" Kim Ki-Rok assured, "I'm just applying some holy water on you to grant you some luck in the future, Mr. Jang Bo-Hyun." "Holy water?" Jang Bo-Hyun repeated doubtfully. "Just accept it and move on. What's with all the questions?" Kim Ki-Rok snorted impatiently. "No, isn't it only natural for me to—" "Oh my! Look who it is! Isn't it the Hunter team from our beloved Hunters Association! And it's the famous Team One, which is made up of A-Class Hunters!" Kim Ki-Rok ran over to greet the newcomers while still holding Kim Ji-Hee in his arms. "Dearie me, my apologies for the late greeting. We are the DG Guild's Kim Ki-Rok..." "And I'm... Kim Ji-Hee." She gave a shy smile, her cheeks bulging because of the large eyeball-sized candy rolling in her mouth. "How cute." The female Hunters belonging to Team One were already melting, having been instantly conquered by Kim Ji-Hee's cuteness. At this point, Jang Bo-Hyun also approached the group, as the defense was practically over. At the very least, there was no longer any need for him to continue acting as tactical control. The post-battle report could also be handled once they had received the video files from Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok. "You must have come here out of curiosity," Jang Bo-Hyun said confidently. He could completely understand their feelings. "Ha, haha." The leader of the Hunter team laughed awkwardly. "But we've already reported that the situation has been handled, so wouldn't your use of Warp be considered a personal expense?" Jang Bo-Hyun asked with concern. Jang Bo-Hyun was worried about who would be responsible for paying for their transport fees. He had clearly made the call cancelling the request for reinforcements before they could get here. If they had still insisted on teleporting here after the fact, this could become an issue with the private use of public funds. The team leader quickly eased her concerns. "Ah, this time we got to teleport for free." "For free? From that guy?" Jang Bo-Hyun asked in disbelief. The team leader nodded. "Yep. It seems he was just as curious as we were, so..." "Ahah!" Jang Bo-Hyun nodded, immediately grasping the situation. Just then, the teleporter approached them, holding up his card. "Hello?" "Hello..." Kim Ji-Hee, not wanting to slur her words, tried to carefully speak around the sweet, only to end up accidentally spitting it out. Plop. Kim Ji-Hee sniffed sadly. "Uuuuh..." As the teleporter was flustered by Kim Ji-Hee's tearful expression, Kim Ki-Rok hurriedly unwrapped two more sweets and placed them in Kim Ji-Hee's mouth. "There there, now you have two," Kim Ki-Rok comforted her. "Huuuuum." Kim Ji-Hee smiled cheerfully, her state of distress completely dissipated. Kim Ki-Rok turned to greet the teleporter, "It's nice to meet you. I am Kim Ki-Rok, the Guildmaster of the DG Guild." He responded, "Ah, I am Hong Seong-Tae, a teleporter Awakened and a subscriber to the DG Guild's MeTube channel." "Oh! So you're a subscriber, huh? It's so nice to meet a fan," Kim Ki-Rok said with a smile. "If you need access to teleportation, please contact me at any time," Hong Seong-Tae offered politely as he held out his business card. "Oh! Thank you very much. Here is my business card." Kim Ki-Rok reciprocated, fishing out his own business card. Having completed the exchange, Hong Seong-Tae recalled Kim Ki-Rok's strangely uninterested reaction to his initial introduction and began advertising his services, "Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok. Could it be that you don't feel like you'll need my services because they're so expensive? If so, let me tell you, everyone ends up using my teleportation eventually. Once they're pressed for time, they always turn to me. Hahaha!" "Hm?" Kim Ki-Rok tilted his head in confusion, only for an expression of understanding to suddenly dawn on his face as he replied, "Ah! It seems like you've misunderstood something." "Yes?" Hong Seong-Tae blinked his eyes doubtfully. "The DG Guild already has the ability to teleport, so we don't need to borrow your power, Mr. Hong Seong-Tae." Hong Seong-Tae looked taken aback. "Huh?" Kim Ki-Rok shrugged and said, "Look over there." As Kim Ki-Rok pointed toward the battlefield, Hong Seong-Tae and all of the Hunters in their immediate vicinity followed his finger. "Ice Spear. Fire Spear." There, they saw Kan Cho-Woo who was attacking the Ice Troll Lord with his spells. "That is the Archwizard Kan Cho-Woo," introduced Kim Ki-Rok. "An Archwizard?" Hong Seong-Tae unconsciously repeated. "Now that Ji-Hee has grown from this battle, he can freely cast the Teleportation Spell for us." 1. The original Korean term uses a slang word that means someone who buys something while knowing it's overpriced. It could be translated as sucker, but that felt a bit too offensive. Big spender felt like the right mix of teasing, yet mildly respectful. ☜