Chapter 17

The Yongho Guild had been doing so many thoughtless things that Sa-yoon had almost forgotten, but he hadn’t brought Geon-joo here to carry him around like a key chain and let him observe other guilds.

He had brought him with the intention of entrusting him with tasks and seeing his skills when things got messy, so when he threw a guild member at Geon-joo and tilted his head, Geon-joo made an absurd expression.

“…What do you want me to do?”

“I said to subdue him appropriately as you see fit.”

“This person?”

“That’s right.”

“…It’s not like you’re a judge or something.”

“What?”

“I’ll do it.”

Does he think I can’t hear him just because he’s mumbling like that? Glaring at Geon-joo, who was underestimating his S-grade hearing, Sa-yoon subdued the remaining guild members rushing at him and observed Geon-joo’s combat. After hesitating upon seeing the fallen guild member, he finally began a light battle after the guild member regained consciousness and got up. Even though Sa-yoon had served him a meal on a silver platter, Geon-joo had a talent for making things more difficult. Sa-yoon had tried to grasp how he handled and moved, but an ugly face entered his sight.

“No matter how strong you are, with this many people…”

“Isn’t that cliché?”

“Kuk!”

“Are you some third-rate villain from a martial arts novel? At least back it up with skills before spouting nonsense. What kind of eye for people does Chunbok have to keep someone like this as a Hunter?”

When Sa-yoon tried to focus only on Geon-joo, the Yongho Guild was making a fuss, demanding attention for themselves too. As the perpetual 10th place guild, they were yapping and barking, saying they would defeat the 1st place, which was at a level too embarrassing to even dismiss as nonsense. Sa-yoon twisted the wrist of a guild member who had rushed at him with a sword.

“Aaaagh!”

Geez, he hadn’t even broken the bone, but the guy was overreacting. Sa-yoon, who grabbed the guild member’s shoulder with his other hand, applied force to his grip. A cracking sound was heard, and a scream burst from the guild member’s mouth. After inflicting an injury appropriate for the level of the scream heard earlier, Sa-yoon tossed the guy, whose shoulder bone was dislocated and trembling, to the ground.

Pushed helplessly as he was thrown, the man grabbed his shoulder and groaned. One of the guild members, who had been watching the scene with a stiff expression, stepped forward.

Sa-yoon faced the Hunter, who exuded a fairly well-prepared aura compared to the others, and used his Eyes of a Genius skill on him.

<Gu Chang-in’s Status Window>

Age: 28

Gender: Male

Grade: A

Disposition: ‘One who follows earnestly’

Titles: ‘Martial Arts Tournament Champion (A)’, ‘Vanguard of Warriors (A)’…

.

.

.

Among the Yongho Guild members, he alone had quite a presence, and he indeed had a pretty decent status window. His skills were too good to be left in a guild of stubborn old men. Except for the fact that he had rebelled against Sa-yoon, he wouldn’t be bad as a Night Rats member, so Sa-yoon pondered and reached a conclusion.

“I can take you with me.”

“Pardon?”

“By the way, why did you jump out? If you had stayed hidden, I would have taken you anyway. Did you think you could take me on because you’re A-grade?”

“How did you…”

“Is there any point in asking the leader of an information guild something like that?”

Sa-yoon chuckled at the man who widened his eyes as if wondering how Sa-yoon knew his grade. It was information obtained through the Eyes of a Genius, but it wasn’t a lie either. If he sent a text to Kyungjin, a file with information on Chang-in would arrive within a minute.

After casually responding, Sa-yoon looked at the man who swallowed nervously for a while, then shifted his gaze toward Geon-joo. At least, it was admirable that he had subdued the guild member well as Sa-yoon had ordered and tied his arms.

It would have been more fun if he had directly seen how Geon-joo fought. Swallowing his regret, as things were wrapping up on Geon-joo’s side, Sa-yoon deliberately sent a few more guild members his way. How could a rookie, who was still green, relax while Sa-yoon himself was fighting?

After throwing more work at Geon-joo, Chang-in seemed to have made up his mind and clenched his fists. As the martial arts tournament champion, he seemed quite confident in hand-to-hand combat.

As he threw a punch, a strong shockwave brushed past Sa-yoon’s head. Among Awakeners, it didn’t matter whether their sword or fist was strong.

Whatever it was, the grade was the boss. No matter how sharp and good a sword was, it couldn’t properly injure an Awakener with a higher grade.

And in this battle, the one with the higher grade was, naturally, Sa-yoon.

Avoiding the energy coming from Chang-in’s punches by leaning his head back and twisting his body, Sa-yoon stepped forward. One step, two steps, three steps. With each approaching step, Chang-in stared at Sa-yoon as if he had seen a ghost.

It was understandable for Chang-in to make such an expression, as Sa-yoon had dodged every deep attack, boasting his SS-grade agility stat.

How absurd it must be.

To face an enemy who disappeared and reappeared right before his eyes.

Despite the clearly overwhelming disadvantageous situation, his tenacity to keep fighting without giving up was commendable. The guild members behind called him the team leader, so perhaps that was why. Seeing Chang-in firmly standing against him with a face that said he would take responsibility, Sa-yoon lifted the corners of his mouth and moved instantly behind him.

I should definitely take him.

He had the perfect image to be placed as the team leader of a specialized martial arts team.

Just like the dozens of attacks Chang-in had futilely unleashed into the air, Sa-yoon, who had raised his hand in the shape of a blade, struck the back of his opponent’s neck. With a dull sound that one would never think was from being hit with the edge of a hand, Chang-in coughed up blood.

“Ah, I hit him harder than I thought.”

Today, he was frequently failing at controlling his strength. Sa-yoon, who spoke nonchalantly, caught Chang-in, who looked back at him with dumbfounded eyes before losing consciousness, with one arm. Supporting his abdomen to prevent him from falling, Sa-yoon slung the unconscious body over his shoulder.

The startled Yongho Guild members looked at Sa-yoon as if he were an evil spirit, asking what he was going to do with their team leader. Sa-yoon, who let out a hollow laugh at their innocent spirit, thought it was a waste to spend more time here and froze the ground to restrain them.

In that state, as he turned his head, he saw Geon-joo, who had subdued a total of six Hunters, including the guild members Sa-yoon had additionally sent. He seemed to have struggled quite a bit, as there was a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. Even for him, dealing with six skilled Hunters right after Awakening seemed to be a challenge.

As evidence, blood was flowing from his arms and the back of his hands. Clicking his tongue at the sight that showed he had allowed at least three attacks, Sa-yoon opened his mouth.

“Come here, pretty boy.”

Geon-joo, who had been excessively faithful to the order to subdue and had tied the six Hunters together, reacted to that call. Lifting his head, he discovered Sa-yoon with a person slung over his shoulder and frowned.

“Did you kill him?”

“What do you take me for? I just put him to sleep for a while because I’m taking him with me.”

“Taking him?”

“He seemed quite useful.”

He’ll be usable after a few training sessions.

Any other time, Sa-yoon would have entrusted him to Jongsik and walked away leisurely, but unfortunately, Jongsik, who was dealing with most of the Yongho Guild’s power, had not yet returned to his side. So what could he do? Rather than handing him over to the fragile-looking Geon-joo, it was more comfortable for Sa-yoon to carry him himself.

It wasn’t that heavy anyway.

Finally, Sa-yoon examined the six Hunters Geon-joo had subdued. Although they were all unconscious, they were still breathing properly.

“You left them alive.”

“…You didn’t tell me to kill them.”

“I was just checking, why are you so tense? Are you scared?”

He acted quite amusingly. Since it wasn’t a situation where he needed to take their lives anyway, Sa-yoon, who teased Geon-joo for slyly lowering his tail that he had stiffly raised, moved his feet again.

His steps were cheerful, having obtained a more satisfactory outcome than expected.

Although there were some gaps, considering his lack of accumulated experience, Geon-joo’s skills were excellent, and the level of Chang-in, the newly acquired slave—no, the team leader-level member—was also quite good. On top of that, Sa-yoon had managed to suppress the spirit of Geon-joo, who had become arrogant at the torture villa, thinking Sa-yoon wouldn’t kill him, so he felt it was the right decision to bring him along.

What did I say, Jongsik?

I said that if you listened to my words, good things would happen even in your sleep and that I was always right.

He hummed a tune, recalling Jongsik, who wasn’t even there. Since the Yongho Guild itself was a guild with a small weight class compared to its tradition, there weren’t many guild members who rushed to stop Sa-yoon afterward.

While subduing about fifteen more, Sa-yoon, who had handed most of the opponents to Geon-joo under the pretext of not being able to use one arm because he was carrying Chang-in, was able to confirm the rookie’s skills to some extent, which he had regretted not seeing earlier.

It would be different when facing monsters and in a group battle, but in a one-on-one individual match, Geon-joo had a pretty good combat sense.

He was called the one supreme under the heavens. Each movement that stemmed from instinctive sense rather than experience was a fairly good answer.

“Next time, it should be fine to throw a B-grade at you.”

Sa-yoon had deliberately let only Awakeners of C-grade or lower flow toward Geon-joo, considering his safety. He had sufficiently confirmed how Geon-joo responded when facing someone weaker than him, so now he needed to see his level when facing an opponent of the same grade. As he muttered to himself, Geon-joo, who had just finished the battle and was catching his breath, glared at Sa-yoon as if he had given him ten assignments.

However, unfortunately, as if the support had run out, no new Hunters appeared until they reached the Guild Master’s room. Sa-yoon, who had regrets about not being able to hand a B-grade Awakener to Geon-joo, licked his lips and looked at him.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I think you need to gain a few more combat experiences. Should I be your opponent?”

“Ah, that looks like the Guild Master’s room.”

Geon-joo naturally changed the subject, coolly ignoring Sa-yoon’s suggestion, which he had made with consideration. At that brazen behavior, Sa-yoon let out an empty sigh.

It was astounding, but if he ended up failing to control his strength while facing Geon-joo, from that point on, it would be no different from filming a black comedy that couldn’t be watched without tears, so he went along with the change of topic.

Anyway, what was more important now was the merger with the Yongho Guild.

After confirming the unnecessarily luxurious Guild Master’s room, Sa-yoon raised a foot and kicked the wooden door.

With a loud bang, the large door shattered. Stepping on the wooden fragments that flew in all directions, Sa-yoon entered and found a man in his 40s sitting in a chair, looking at the door with a surprised expression. Sa-yoon curved his eyes.

“Hello, Chunbok.”

Long time no see.

At the words spoken warmly as if greeting an old friend he was meeting after 10 years, the man called Chunbok spat out Sa-yoon’s name as if chewing on it.

“Kwon Sa-yoon…”

At the angry voice, Sa-yoon only smiled, wiggling his fingers.