Of course, as long as a hunter strengthened themselves with magic power—or internal energy, in Choi Yeonseung’s case—they wouldn’t die. However, doing so had to feel really dirty! Choi Yeonseung was determined not to have a useless emotional quarrel with Antony, but he wasn’t going to be a pushover.
‘I’ve decided not to bring him into my household anyway.’
He quickly made a decision and sprang into action. One of a martial artist’s skills was the Pressure Point Attack. A powerful combat skill that completely grasped the opponent’s anatomy and attacked their vital points to create various status abnormalities!
… It was great, but they had to have a thorough understanding of the type of monster they were up against to use it. It was practically unreasonable to expect anyone to know so much about monsters. There were over a thousand types of known monsters in dungeons, and more were still being discovered...
However, its versatility completely changed in the hands of a master like Choi Yeonseung. Choi Yeonseung quickly hit Antony with such light taps that they didn’t even seem like attacks at first.
Thump.
“???”
Antony was horrified. He had been paralyzed. He couldn't even conjure magic power
Choi Yeonseung lifted up Antony like luggage, then used a light footwork technique to run. As soon as the internal energy that went down his legs spread to his toes, he kicked the ground to launch himself.
‘Fast!’Choi Yeonseung’s speed as he passed by the hunters amazed them. Ernest, who was watching, had the same reaction.
“Do martial arts really give that much speed?”
“It’s certainly better than magic in terms of movement and evasion,” Ernest answered as he nodded. Quite a few hunters used martial arts during his younger days.
“Hah. Is that so?”
“I don’t know why it’s so rare these days.”
“Its growth is too slow and what it can do is limited. That man has the best footwork I have ever seen.”
“Really?”
“Even if there were still many martial artists around, you still wouldn't be able to see that. He truly is an Abyss returnee...”
He had obviously been immersed in training for a really long time. No matter how immersed a hunter was in training, no one would spend twenty-four hours on it. The higher one’s status was, the more things one had to do. On the other hand, Choi Yeonseung went missing in the Abyss. It wasn’t known how long he had been there, but he would’ve had to be training for a long time to rise to this level.
‘How great. His power and his skill’s rank aside, such a hunter is bound to be strong in actual combat.’
Ernest nodded. He could see why Hwang Gyeongryong liked Choi Yeonseung. A rare hunter in this day and age!
Ernest was an old-timer, so he knew what Hwang Gyeongryong wanted. He wanted hunters who weren’t just obsessed with fame and money, but someone who seriously focused on raids.
Ernest agreed with him. Hunters ranked A-grade or higher couldn’t reach that rating through ordinary processes. It was possible only with natural talent, hard work, and tremendous luck.
… Ernest wasn’t aware that Choi Yeonseung had been training for over 10,000 years, not 30 years, though.
***
“@(*&#(*$#!”
‘Hmm. He seems to be swearing harshly.’
Released from Pressure Point Attack, Antony jumped up and down looking all red. Of course, Choi Yeonseung couldn't care less about his behavior.
“What are you doing? You didn’t do what I told you to do!”
“You were too slow.”
“What nonsense are you saying? I’m not slow!”
“Really? Then you should move faster than me next time. Don’t tell me you’re not confident you can do that?”
Antony looked like he was asking, ‘huh?’ Why did this happen? He was certain he could match this man...
“You shouldn't have a problem if you keep this up, but you're still new here, so you should show respect. My pride can't allow this!”
“Really?”
“I’ll use magic, and you should move accordingly....”
Choi Yeonseung smiled and turned away, ignoring Antony completely!
Antony was momentarily stunned. “Listen to me, newbie! You must listen to me!”
Meanwhile, the hunters who couldn’t avoid the wyvern’s Breath were filtered out.
“Those who are eliminated, get lost.” Ernest coldly said.
“Give me one more chance! We were just out of sync!”
“Say that after a monster has killed you. Get lost.”
A few hunters who were either unlucky or had their hands and feet twisted grumbled as they retreated.
“Are you listening, newbie? Don’t you see that I’m giving you a chance to yield?! You have to take this opportunity. What are you doing?!”
Choi Yeonseung continued to ignore him. On the side, a dumbfounded Elisabeth spoke.
“Hey. What are you guys doing? You two were tied together to prepare for emergencies.”
“If there are only two people left in an emergency, then I’ll follow the winner’s words. Hence, we're doing this my way.”
“... Did Antony agree to that?”
“He did.”
“I didn’t!”
“You agreed that we are doing it together.”
Antony sighed and shut up. He seemed to have realized that things would become stranger if he kept talking to Choi Yeonseung.
‘What are they doing? Shouldn’t they be working together to deal with the situation?’ Elisabeth thought, then began to ignore them.
The training was so tough that she couldn’t care about other people’s situations. Ernest would do everything in his power to mess with the hunters. He was good at creating situations that hunters would hate as long as they weren’t A-grade hunters. Each situation was different as well, so they were forced to adapt on the spot.
How could he make unexpected situations so well...
What they were doing today was rather easy. Last time, they had to avoid monster attacks in a paralyzed state.
“Here comes the next attack.”
The moment they heard Ernest’s words, the hunters became nervous again. How would the wyverns attack?
‘Below us.’
Choi Yeonseung swiftly realized that the next attack was coming from underground. His keen combat senses that had been honed in the Abyss were sending him a signal!
-Jakarta’s Fire...
“It’s slow.”
Choi Yeonseung once again used Pressure Point Attack on Antony. Antony, who was about to strike the ground with magic, collapsed with wide-open eyes.
‘This cheeky newbie!’
Choi Yeonseung grabbed Antony and immediately leaped into the air.
“???”
“What? Why is he jumping?”
The hunters were taken aback by Choi Yeonseung’s actions, but they soon got an answer. Monsters emerged from below them! The vividness of high-circle illusion magic was no joke. The hunters gritted their teeth at the sight of the giant sandworms rising from the collapsing ground.
“Isn’t a rock eater after a wyvern too much?”
“This monster doesn’t even appear in B-grade dungeons!”
The giant sandworm, nicknamed ‘rock eater’ since it literally ate rocks, was a vicious predator that moved through the ground. It would immediately jump out to devour prey upon feeling a vibration from above!
Pretending not to hear them, Ernest said, “I told you that failing to respond to an attack will kill you. Do you still think you deserve to be a hunter then?”
Nearly half of the hunters were eliminated, leaving only ten survivors.
The hunters who managed to respond were lying all over the place with sullen expressions. They were tired of using magic in a hurry.
“Hey. Can I ask you something? How did you know the monster was coming from below?” A hunter asked Choi Yeonseung. His ability to move earlier than the rest amazed them.
“I heard it.”
“There was a sound?”
“Yes. You have to be at this level if you want to survive using martial arts.”
“Ohu...”
Choi Yeonseung’s words seemed to have intrigued the hunter. It was certainly hard to believe that a martial artist could enter this clan unless they were on this level. He came here because he had something he could put on the table!
“Is that martial arts?”
“How long will it take to learn to use it? Can it be used with magic circles?”
Most of the hunters who had been in the Icarus clan for a long time unexpectedly didn’t hesitate to learn new things. Meanwhile, those who had just joined would snort and say, ‘What sort of martial arts should I learn?’
“If we're just talking about the basics, then around one—”
“Oh. Around one month? It’s worth a try...”
“No, around one year.”
“......”
“......”
“If you train in martial arts for a year or so, you’d be able to reach the third-class stage. Why? Are you interested? Do you want me to help you?”
“N-No. That’s a bit...”
“Isn’t it too slow?”
The hunters disliked it. They looked at Choi Yeonseung.
‘He has to be insane to learn it.’
‘He’s crazy.’
‘I heard he’s an Abyss returnee?’
‘Did he go crazy in the Abyss?’
‘No. He said he was from a few decades ago.’
‘Ah... That explains his martial arts. He only trained in martial arts there.’
The hunters understandingly nodded.
Ah~ So this is the reason...!
The hunters of the Icarus clan looked at Choi Yeonseung with warm eyes, which made him feel bad. Why were these jerks looking at him in the same way that he looked at Gyeongryong hyung?
“If you have any questions, then feel free to ask, friend. No. I should call you grandfather—”
“I will kill you if you call me grandfather.”
“... Friend!”
“Ask me if you have any questions.”
Unlike other newcomers, Choi Yeonseung quickly fit in with the clan’s hunters. He wasn’t a cheeky, arrogant, or self-absorbed person just because he scored high.
In addition, his being a martial artist, which was rare in this day and age, and an old man that had just returned from the Abyss made them curious. To top it all off, Choi Yeonseung was a hunter with a good personality in a place filled with people with bad personalities…
[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ is surprised that a constellation who was a loner in the Abyss is getting along well with others on Earth!]
‘Be quiet.’
[Be~~ quiet. The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ is copying you.]
‘How to cancel the oath...’
[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ immediately apologizes!]
Training continued after this. It started with the hunters’ grumbling and ended with them cursing Ernest’s parents, but Ernest didn’t care.
Dodging while being tied up in groups of two, dodging while being tied up in groups of three, dodging while being tied up in groups of four...
Countering when unique magic was cast, subduing a colleague when they were hit by illusion magic...
Choi Yeonseung became more favorable toward Ernest as the training continued. This person knew things!
‘Yes. This is how much training you should do.’
Choi Yeonseung could recover quickly even if he used his internal energy. Unable to recover their magic power as quickly as Choi Yeonseung replenished his internal energy, the hunters seemed to be dying. Every time they cast magic, they had to check how much magic power they had left. No matter how great a hunter was, they wouldn’t be able to do anything if they ran out of magic power! This distribution training was also one of Ernest’s purposes.
“It seems the warm-up's too easy for you all. Next up, we’re going to do a dungeon raid,” Ernest said with a nod.
“Sigh. That man’s insane...”
“Die...”
While the other hunters gritted their teeth, Choi Yeonseung asked curiously, “Dungeon? Are we really going into a dungeon?”
“Oh, grandfather. We have something called the Otherworld now—”
Choi Yeonseung stared at the hunter emotionlessly, yet his eyes seemed to somehow crush the latter’s heart! Without realizing he had been overpowered, the hunter quickly rephrased what he was saying.
“Haha. He’s talking about a dungeon in the Otherworld, friend!”
“Ah, I see. Like the hunter sports?”
“That’s right! You’ve probably seen it at least once since you returned. Which team are you a fan of?”
“What?”
“Which team are you a fan of?”
“LG Twins?”
“... This is the first time I’ve heard of that team…”
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