TOP 24

Chapter 24

Ma Gwangcheol (2)

[You have entered a state of Mana Exhaustion.]

The skill One Punch, cast with a considerable amount of mana.

The aftermath it left behind was utter devastation.

The road was deeply gouged out, motorcycles and streetlights were shattered into fragments, scattered everywhere.

It had luckily been aimed toward the street. If it had gone toward the buildings, the entire structure would have collapsed.

But then—

‘How… is this possible?’

Ma Gwangcheol was standing there completely unharmed amidst that unbelievable destruction.

I had clearly seen One Punch swallow him whole. I had clearly witnessed his body getting crushed.

And yet, Ma Gwangcheol was alive.

In astonishing condition.

At that moment, the Gwangcheol Faction hunters who were watching cried out in shock.

“Wh-what the hell?!”

“That damn porter, what kind of destructive power was that…?”

“No, not that.”

“Then what?”

“Look at the Guild Leader.”

“Gasp!”

The hunters of the Gwangcheol Faction gasped for breath.

What they saw was…

“…Wow.”

Ma Gwangcheol’s body was intact. But only his body.

His equipment and clothing had all been blown away, leaving only his bare flesh unscathed.

I thought to myself,

‘…Did he come back to life?’

It was absurd.

There was no way he had blocked that attack.

The only explanation was that he had died from the hit, and then resurrected.

【Huh? Resurrection?】

‘You know about it?’

At that, Frill reacted as if she realized something.

【Of course. The “Resurrection” trait. Until the allotted number of lives runs out, you revive even after dying.】

“What kind of busted trait is that…?”

I couldn’t help but let out a laugh of disbelief.

Resurrection? That kind of thing was practically top-tier among Unique Traits.

But Frill shook her head.

【It’s not that overpowered. You come back, sure, but like now—you’ve lost your gear, you can’t prevent aging…】

Her voice carried a tinge of bitterness.

“I see. You’re right.”

The shock of seeing him alive even after One Punch faded quickly. On reflection, the trait “Resurrection” wasn’t as threatening as it first appeared.

More than anything, losing all his equipment was critical.

Even a 5-star hunter couldn’t do much stark naked.

Grind.

Ma Gwangcheol clenched his teeth and glared at me.

“You dare to humiliate me like this?”

“What are you babbling about? You being small isn’t my fault.”

“You son of a bitch!”

He raged.

“You’d better abandon any thoughts of leaving here alive.”

“Without weapons? Good luck.”

I only laughed at his provocation.

He was just a weaponless, naked hunter now.

Without a weapon, he couldn’t even use Aura Threads. Nothing to fear.

Besides, I wasn’t alone here.

“Ma Gwangcheol. Surrender.”

“Ha. Look at you puffing yourself up.”

At my side was Ji Hyun-woong, a 4-star hunter.

I felt reassured.

‘I saved you once—now I’ll lean on you this time.’

Just earlier, I had saved him from Ma Gwangcheol.

But now, with my mana drained, I could barely move properly.

This time, he would protect me.

Even though his spear had been reduced to half its original length, he was still in a better state than Ma Gwangcheol, who had nothing at all.

A 4-star could definitely stand against a 5-star in this condition.

But then—

“So confident, huh…”

Fwoooosh—

A light began glowing on the back of Ma Gwangcheol’s hand.

More precisely, from the tattoo inscribed there.

“Engraved Subspace!”

Unlike my subspace ring, this was different.

Instead of binding a subspace to an object like a ring, he had inscribed subspace magic directly onto his body, allowing him to summon it at will.

“Let’s see how long you last!”

In an instant, a dagger appeared in his hand.

“Shit.”

That kind of body-engraved subspace cost an absurd amount of money to perform, and the space itself was limited.

In other words, the efficiency was terrible.

But it was quite compatible with his Unique Trait, Resurrection.

Because even after reviving, he could continue fighting.

Clang—!

Hyun-woong hurried to block him, but his spear shaft was sliced clean in half.

“Damn.”

“You wait your turn. I’ll kill that bastard first, then you.”

Thud!

“Ghhk!”

Hyun-woong was kicked and sent flying.

Now there was no one between Ma Gwangcheol and me.

“You bastard. Looks like that skill’s penalty is pretty harsh, huh?”

“…Haa.”

I let out a small sigh.

He had seen right through me.

That I could barely stand because of Mana Exhaustion.

Fair enough. Realistically, using a massive skill like One Punch without any penalty would make no sense.

“Die!”

A naked 5-star hunter charged at me, dagger crackling with Aura Threads.

The sight was horrifying.

So.

Tok tok.

“Come out.”

I tapped the pendant hanging from my neck twice.

Boom!

Craaaash!

In the next instant, the Mithril Golem burst forth and crushed Ma Gwangcheol flat.

I whistled lightly at the sight.

“Whew.”

[Due to accelerated mana recovery, Mana Exhaustion ends early.]

Finally, the exhaustion state lifted.

“If it had been just a bit faster, I wouldn’t have needed to summon the golem.”

A little disappointing, but unavoidable.

If I hadn’t summoned it, I really would have died just now.

I checked Ma Gwangcheol’s corpse.

Flattened under the enormous weight of the golem, nothing but a pulp.

He clearly hadn’t expected such a sudden summon. His death was pitifully anticlimactic.

But then—

“You son of a…!”

He resurrected again.

“How many lives do you even have?”

According to Frill, he’d keep coming back until all his lives were gone.

No telling how many more times I’d have to kill him.

But I wasn’t worried.

Mana Exhaustion was over, and I had the Mithril Golem at my command.

The golem itself had the power of a 5-star combatant.

It could handle Ma Gwangcheol on its own.

Besides…

“You’ve lost face.”

“No, sir.”

With Hyun-woong back on his feet.

And Ji Young-hee, leader of Hunter Team 1, who had approached.

“Thank you, Vice Captain.”

“Nice one, Vice Captain!”

“He’s basically our new team leader!”

“Huh? Not Vice Captain anymore?”

“Eh, whatever. He’s gonna be team leader soon anyway!”

“Damn, Team 3 is lucky!”

The hunters of the Hyun-woong Faction rallied behind me.

Meanwhile, the morale of Gwangcheol Faction hunters hit rock bottom.

“Guild Leader’s died twice already…”

“Y-yeah, but he resurrected—”

“Resurrecting doesn’t make him stronger! He’ll just die again!”

“Ugh…!”

They instinctively knew Ma Gwangcheol was losing.

Naturally. Otherwise, they wouldn’t still be stuck watching their leader’s disgrace.

“Ha.”

Ma Gwangcheol let out a bitter laugh as he looked at those around him.

He too must have realized how bleak things were.

His ace in the hole, Resurrection, was exposed. His sister, the mage, and his useful subordinates were all dead.

He ground his words out at me.

“This is all because of you.”

Not entirely wrong.

If not for me, the Gwangcheol Faction would have easily devoured the Hyun-woong Faction.

His Resurrection trait would have stayed hidden. His sister would still be alive.

But I denied it.

“No. It’s because of you.”

“What the hell are you talking about—”

“Did you know I used to belong to Gwangcheol Faction?”

“…What?”

He frowned in confusion.

I answered politely.

“I was a porter.”

“So it was you who put Tae-su in that state…”

“That’s right.”

I was that infamous porter.

“And why did you side with Hyun-woong’s people? You’d have been better off with us.”

“Better? My ass.”

The Gwangcheol Faction was garbage in many ways.

Most obviously, their contract terms were utter trash.

“Maybe if you’d treated me well as a porter, there might’ve been a chance.”

“……”

“But I’ve got plenty of grudges piled up against you bastards.”

Even if they had offered better conditions, I would never have signed.

Because I never forget grudges.

The Gwangcheol Faction was my sworn enemy.

Ma Gwangcheol fell silent, thinking.

But he wasn’t impressive.

“…I’ll let you rule over them at my side. How about joining me?”

And then he said that pathetic line.

“You still don’t get it. It’s your way of thinking that disgusts me.”

“……”

Why could he never imagine treating his subordinates properly?

Yes, I hated the ones who bullied me.

Yes, I wanted revenge.

But I didn’t want to define my hatred so simply.

‘I despise that inhuman hierarchy.’

That mindset of Guild Leader Ma Gwangcheol.

The Gwangcheol Faction was an organization steeped in it.

Even if I gained power there, I’d become just like him.

If I truly hated it, the only answer was to destroy it from the outside.

Of course, not purely for noble reasons.

‘I can’t leave threats behind.’

If I hadn’t chosen revenge, fine. But once I had, I had to see it through.

If you make enemies, one side has to be destroyed for it to end.

Better to end it early than let it bite me later.

And now, the end was near.

Step.

I advanced on Ma Gwangcheol.

“Today, the Gwangcheol Faction ends.”

No matter how many lives he had left, I would kill him until he had none.

Ma Gwangcheol would die here today.

“…Shit.”

Perhaps sensing my killing intent, he suddenly turned and leapt away.

Bang!

“He’s running!”

“Catch him!”

Fwoooosh—

Despite being surrounded by Hyun-woong Faction hunters, his jump strength was incredible.

But—

“Frill.”

【Chilling Shield!】

A shield of ice appeared in front of him, slowing him down.

“Wh-what!?”

Thud.

It wasn’t overwhelming, but enough to hinder his momentum.

His jump fell short.

And then—

“Golem. Kill him.”

• Yes, Master.

Boom! Wham—!

The Mithril Golem, equal to a 5-star combatant, lunged after him.

It was the best way to catch a 5-star hunter trying to flee—send another 5-star.

“You son of a—!”

His face twisted as the golem leapt after him.

The golem raised both fists high, and as it landed, smashed them down.

Craaaack!

Ma Gwangcheol tried to block, but without equipment, it was impossible.

He died again.

“Is it over?”

That was his third death already.

He wasn’t a cat with nine lives. Surely this was the end.

“Form a perimeter around the body!”

“Yes, sir!”

Just in case, we rebuilt the encirclement.

Weapons pointed, ready to stab the moment he revived.

The plan was to kill him before he even realized what was happening.

Gulp.

We waited in tense silence.

Finally—

“Maybe it’s really over?”

“Seems so.”

We concluded he wouldn’t revive again.

Looks like he had only three lives total.

“Attention, everyone!”

Hyun-woong shouted at the top of his lungs.

All eyes turned to him.

“Well done! Today’s battle is our victory!”

The declaration of victory.

We had overturned overwhelming disadvantage, survived countless brushes with death, and earned a hard-won triumph.

Waaaaaaaahhhhhh—!

Everyone cheered in ecstasy.

Amid the roar, Hyun-woong approached me and held out his hand.

“Thank you.”

“Think nothing of it.”

I clasped his hand.

“Without you, we could never have driven out the Gwangcheol Faction. No, we would all be dead—remembered as fools who died chasing justice.”

He suddenly spoke of a scenario where we had lost.

Why dwell on that now?

“Well, there’s no need to think that way anymore, is there?”

At my words, Hyun-woong grinned.

“Right. No need. Just wanted to say thanks.”

I felt good.

At least he was someone who recognized my worth.

Smiling as well, I told him,

“Then I look forward to the next three months.”

I really liked this workplace.

Even after killing Ma Gwangcheol, head of the Gwangcheol Faction, there was no time to rest.

We had to secure the faction and take follow-up measures.

Like, for example, exacting bloody revenge on Quartermaster Lee Se-han.

“I-I’m sorry! I was out of my mind back then…!”

“Mm. Too late.”

“Please, just once!”

“Too late.”

“Ghhhaaahhh…!”

Now that I had seized complete power, Lee Se-han was nothing.

A mere ex-con whose only value was making illegal drugs.

“I-I’ll make mana suppressants free for you for life—”

“Nope. Don’t need them anymore.”

“Ghhk—!”

I settled my old grudges.

And then, in the midst of my busyness, I received news from Hyun-woong.

“…What happened to Ma Gwangjin?”

The Gwangcheol Faction’s personnel manager.

Ma Gwangcheol’s younger brother.

The one who had seemed particularly pissed at me.