Chapter 160: Ruining Other Plans
Chapter 160: Ruining Other Plans
Dong-hyun and Yu-jin sit languidly, helplessly exhausted in front of Ji-woo after several hours of non-stop sparring from late afternoon until late at night.
The result was unquestionable, certainly an easy victory for Ji-woo. However, in this practice, he opened his mouth more to give directions to the two hunters. He talked about the shortcoming they both had. Of course, Dong-hyun and Yu-jin were not in the same situation.
"Hyung, I'm only an E-rank hunter, and I've only had a few combat experiences since I've only been a hunter for one year. So, of course, it can't get compared to a D-rank hunter." Dong-hyun replied, not wanting to get scolded by Ji-woo at the longest.
Yu-jin took a glance at Dong-hyun then sneered. "Hmph! Idiot!"
Dong-hyun felt like he was building up his resistance by being called a fool that Yu-jin used to throw at him. He felt mentally suppressed by the female hunter while physically he had to take a lesson from Ji-woo. These two were the worst things that happened to him during his quest for strength to become a worthwhile hunter.
Well, no pain, no gain.
Dong-hyun then looked all over his body. He compared all the bruises of the punches and kicks that Ji-woo landed on him with Yu-jin. As a result, he immediately showed his displeasure.
"Hyung, this is really unfair. Why am I the only one who always gets hit and kicked by you? Why is she just being pushed and thrown? This is discrimination!"
The bruises all over Yu-jin's body weren't too deep and visible because they were all just marks from being knocked and dropped to the ground many times over.
Ji-woo chuckled at this. "Discrimination? That's practically true. As you said, your abilities are different from Yu-jin's because you're just an E-rank hunter. That's why you get punches and kicks instead of being pushed back. Not fair? Then become strong as soon as possible and surpass the limits of D-rank hunters."
Ji-woo spat out his nonsense words to reverse Dong-hyun's protest. The real reason he beat up Dong-hyun was because of the E-rank hunter's slow reaction every time he finished launching an attack. Either it worked or not. And most of all still relied on his mouth in the middle of the fight. It made Ji-woo feel irritated.
But, despite being beaten so many times after being advised, Dong-hyun still didn't show the slightest improvement. As for Yu-jin, although not entirely able to follow Ji-woo's directions, she already seemed to have improved a bit as the sparring went on.
"Go home and look back at today's sparring in your heads. If necessary, do a simulation of the battle earlier in your head. So that you can digest and get something that can increase your strength.
"It's a shame. Isn't it? If it's get battered like this, but still don't get anything at all. Hahaha."
Ji-woo laughed at Dong-hyun and Yu-jin's plight as he walked away, leaving the two hunters first. He also told them to rest for a day, and the sparring would resume at a later date.
Ji-woo still had a lot of business to take care of it. But, the main thing was to check the surroundings of his house first before letting his mother and sister return to their house.
Arriving at home, Ji-woo found that there were still two or three hunters roaming around, plus several reporters around his house.
'Well, yeah. It's hard to believe until they feel the consequences themselves. It has become the nature of human beings. OK. Let's just do it the easy way.'
Ji-woo nimbly moved and overthrew the three hunters. Some had their arms and legs broken before they lost consciousness due to being beaten by him. He did all of that to serve as a warning. After all, an A-rank healer would be able to heal such injuries. So, everything was under control.
Ji-woo then took the three hunters and appeared before the reporters while saying in a threatening tone. "Take these three hunters to the Hunter Association. Tell the staff there that these three hunters are thieves. And the one who broke their arms and legs was Kim Ji-woo. Is that clear?!" He said the last words in a slightly high-pitched voice that made the reporters startle with fear.
The reporters had no other choice and left as per Ji-woo's orders. They didn't have the guts to ask questions and raised dissatisfaction. It was because they saw the injuries the three hunters had sustained. It inflicted fear upon them.
In the meantime, in California, the western United States. Ma Dong-seok was walking on the beach near a villa. He wore casual clothes and shorts accompanied by sunglasses under the hot sun. Then, he was followed by a beautiful woman with blonde hair and a slender body, wearing a bikini and sunglasses, coming over to his side. There was no one else there besides him and the woman because it was a private area.
"How?" Dong-seok asked in English.
"Everyone has been informed. Steven to Alexandria, Egypt. Adolf to Stuttgart, Germany. Yiyi and Zuwei to Guangzhou and Changsha, China."
Dong-seok interjected. "Then, you just stay here. I will be the one that goes to Moscow, Russia. As for the last Portal Gate, I will let you know when I get news from the other side."
"We're lacking people." Jenny, the blonde-haired woman, said to Dong-seok while shaking her head.
"What do you mean?!" Dong-seok got taken aback by Jenny's statement.
"I just got the news that Momoka was found dead in South Korea. This news is authentic and already confirmed. Also, when I got this news, Japanese Apex-ranked hunter Yoh Akuma was preparing to head to South Korea. It gets foretold he wanted to claim the body. For further details, it is currently not available."
Dong-seok narrowed his eyes and instantly released his Mana Presence without restraint. Sand dust flew everywhere. Even the seawater got pushed back from the beach and vibrated like a tsunami.
"Who did it?"
Jenny could only shake her head again to answer the question. Momoka's incident was odd because of some mysteries behind the deaths of their members.
The first was an unknown killer, not even the slightest clue. The second was why a Japanese Apex-ranked hunter would bother going to South Korea to claim the body.
Dong-seok's veins were visible on the forehead. Previously, the Special Gate had closed unexpectedly. Now, one of their members died inexplicably. Of course, those things made him very upset. Not because of the members' sense of togetherness and kinship, but because their plans started to go haywire little by little.
What didn't go well might continue to be a failure?
No! Absolutely not!
Dong-seok tightened his grip. He refused to think that the plan would fail just because two mistakes had appeared in the process. He then blasted his red-colored Mana Presence.
Jenny used her invisibility shield as not to get pushed back by the explosion from Dong-seok's Mana Presence.
The coastal area immediately became land, and seawater formed a semi-circle of the spot.
Jenny sighed and opened her mouth. "We're lucky we're in California and on a beach away from the crowds. If we're in Washington or New York, I'm sure someone will report our whereabouts because of you."
"It doesn't matter. Back then, maybe the ArchMage was something we couldn't possibly beat."
"That's true. But even now, it would take four to five of us to face off against one ArchMage."
"No. I can deal with them in a one-on-one situation."
Jenny squinted her eyes. "Did you get anything new from those creatures? It must be true! How come you're the only one who got a rise in strength!? What about us!?" She instantly used magic, and an elemental water sword appeared in her hand. She then slashed the magic sword.
Dong-seok covered his hand with fire and parried the slash. Instantly, the two magics disappeared and evaporated into the air. It caused hot smoke around the two people who were unofficially Apex-ranked equivalents.
"Keep your head cool. Why should you be angry about such a small thing!?"
"Bullsh*t!"
"My power did increase. However, it wasn't because of those creatures. I increased it myself." Dong-seok tried to explain before Jenny used her magic again.
"Liar!"
"Then, how about we just give it a try now? You'll know after fighting me whether the strength increases due to external factors or not."
Jenny fell silent hearing that. She bit her lip and turned around, returning to the villa. She was frustrated about it but couldn't do anything about it. She knew that she was no match for the man, and if his strength increased now, it would mean that it would be impossible to exchange blows.
Dong-seok stared at Jenny's back. He was actually lying as he did get help from the Dark Elf. To be more precise, he got a magic item.
An item that could summon figures with immense power. It was even said to be capable of killing an ArchMage. However, activating the object was too troublesome. That was because great power required great sacrifice.
In the end, Dong-seok never wanted to reveal the secret to others.. After all, it became his trump card now.