Chapter 149
…?But their guess was correct.
“Is that the monster dish that the Icarus clan showed last time?”
“He can do this without any preparations. It’s amazing”
“Did you see Chef George Manuel’s post? I heard that Hunter Choi Yeonseung is really talented. It seems he has a skill.”
Monster dishes were delicacies that only a few rich people could enjoy. Known edible materials were limited, making them astronomically expensive. Moreover, few chefs could handle them right. It was hard to believe that he was cooking a monster dish with no other equipment than a fire and a knife, but it was happening right before their very eyes.
How was he doing this?
“Shouldn’t Argo meat be fish-like, though?”
“I don’t know, why ask me?” Illeya cocked her head. No matter how she looked at it, the Argo’s meat was closer to that of a?wild?beast.
The large pieces of red meat were emitting faint magic power. Choi Yeonseung marinated a piece of it and grilled it. He then cut another piece into thin slices and lightly seared its surface. Unlike the usual yukhoe, this one was cut into thin slices from a whole piece of meat!
“Hmm. Alright. Try it.”
Antony and Illeya, who had already eaten his dishes a few times, rushed in as if they had been waiting. Everyone in the Icarus clan now knew Choi Yeonseung’s skills. The thinly sliced yukhoe was great on its own, but the marinated?imugi?ribs made them crave for something.
“There’s no bread?”
“You’re in South Kore. Eat rice.”
“No, something other than rice...”
“Come eat.”
“... Understood.”
Choi Yeonseung drove in the nail, making Antony quietly accept the rice. He was worried that he would lose the meat if he acted stubbornly.
‘Wait. Isn’t this better than I thought?’
Unlike the rice he ate in the US, the one he was eating now was quite delicious. Did the rice taste different because it was native?
“Is it special rice? Did the chef of this hotel make it?”
“No. Cooking it would be bothersome, so I just used instant rice.”
“......”
Antony looked at Choi Yeonseung with a sense of betrayal. To think he was so impressed...!
“It would’ve been annoying to cook anything else, so I made sure all I had to do was cook the meat. Eat it.”
Antony focused on his meal again. For as long as the meat was delicious, the rest would certainly be unconditionally delicious as well. With every bite, they could feel their strength and energy soar!
“Don’t just watch. Come and eat. I made a lot,” Choi Yeonseung told the hunters from Korea and other countries.
“C-Can we really have some as well?” they asked in surprise.
“Why discriminate against people over food? Come and eat.”
“Can I really eat—Ack!”
Choi Yeonseung grabbed the rice spatula next to him and threw it. He imbued it with martial art techniques, so the hunter couldn’t avoid it. It hit him in the forehead.
“Except for that guy, the rest of you can come and eat.”
“N-No. Thank you! Just—”
“Dage! Sob.”
“What is Dage?” Illeya asked while cocking her head.
“I guess it means Hyung.”
“Are you saying he’s old?”
The Chinese hunters hurriedly made excuses.
“That’s not what I meant!”
He didn’t know anything else, but he did notice that Choi Yeonseung didn’t like his age being mentioned.
***
“Hah...”
Jeong Wonuk admired the unexpectedly peaceful situation. Everyone, regardless of nationality, was sitting on the rooftop and eating meat. He couldn’t imagine this type of thing happening during the exchange. Under normal circumstances, everyone would already be cursing each other out…
‘I have to record this.’
The sight seemed as if it would make for a very good photo. They could use it later as an advertisement when announcing the exchange hosted by Golden Blood Fish.
“Ah. The Blue Dragon Sword is here.”
“Hello.”
The hunters stood up and greeted him. Even those from other countries paid respect to A-grade hunters.
Jeong Wonuk nodded and walked away. He then solemnly told Choi Yeonseung, “This is really amazing. I can’t believe those wicked hunters have made up.”
“I doubt they’ve made up. They’re probably just keeping their mouths shut because they are eating. Once they’re done, they’ll start fighting each other again.”
“It’s amazing nonetheless. Can I get a bowl as well?”
“Ah. I’m sorry. Antony over there just took the last piece of meat.”
“......”
Jeong Wonuk inwardly screamed.
Those little pigs! Those who had surpassed their limits and became superhumans certainly had to eat way too much food. Eating all this meat?
‘I wanted to try it...’
Jeong Wonuk was also just human, so he couldn’t help being curious.
“Ehem. Ehem.” Choi Yeonseung coughed awkwardly, making Jeong Wonuk wonder about what he wanted to say.
“Here, take this.” Choi Yeonseung raised his courage and handed Yeong Wonuk meat he had specially prepared while he was cooking earlier. His thoughtfulness touched Jeong Wonuk.
‘This guy...!’
Choi Yeonseung’s heart was still as warm as when he saved Jeong Wonuk in the old dungeon. Jeong Wonuk pissed himself and was on the verge of dying back then. This was probably why he could unite those trash hunters who only cared about themselves.
“Thank you.”
“Please bring it to Han Seha. I hope eating this will help her recover.”
“... Huh?”
“?”
“I-I’m not getting any?”
“What? I already saved your life in the past, but you still want more?”
“N-no, that’s not what I meant, so...”
Speechless, Jeong Wonuk finally lowered his head.
“... I’ll make sure this reaches her.”
“Great. Please do.”
‘Han Seha surely can’t eat all of this by herself,’ Jeong Wonuk thought as he turned around and walked out.
However, in the end, he couldn’t eat a single piece.
***
“To capture the runaway elemental spirits, five C-grade hunters prepared 3rd-circle magic of the opposite attribute. As a result, they surprisingly managed to kill the B-grade monsters effectively. What this shows us is that winning isn’t about strength but about targeting the monsters’ weaknesses...”
“The death rate among hunters remains high. The more information each clan and country shares about the monsters it has, the lower the hunters’ death rate will be.”
“I’ve discovered a new weakness of the forest trolls. Hitting their cervical vertebrae will significantly decrease their regenerative ability...”
“With the number of artificial artifact companies these days, there is a lot of concern among the hunters about which artifact to choose. If they could follow some principles, they won’t at least lose anything...”
After the hike, a free-form seminar was held to share information with each other. They were free to say anything, but if it wasn’t useful, then they could be ignored or even booed at. Everyone in the room was looking forward to Choi Yeonseung’s turn.
“What is the difference between magic power and internal energy?”
“They’re kind of similar, but they have different levels of control. It isn’t impossible to perform martial arts with magic power, but it will take several times the effort.”
“Do martial artists have no other option but to engage in close-quarters combat?”
“No. There are also several martial artists who use ranged weapons. Most of them have disappeared from the scene, which is why you can’t find any.”
The hunters kept asking questions. The hunters below B-grade had more questions than those who were more or less already complete as a hunter. After all, they could still think about learning new martial arts or switching completely.
“I’m currently a C-grade hunter, but I don’t know if I should change to martial arts or continue studying magic...”
“Why not both…?”
Choi Yeonseung’s turn took the longest to finish. Surprisingly, he answered every question.
-Is it alright for you to keep giving them information?
The hunters had such a thought as they asked more questions.
‘Even if I tell them what they need to know, most of them won’t be able to do anything with it anyway.’
The strength of martial arts was ultimately determined by how consistently one worked.
Those with outstanding talent would naturally grow rapidly with brilliant enlightenment. However, among the many linked movements in martial arts, the ones that could be relied on during chaotic, real-life situations… were those that they had practiced for a long time.
When learning martial arts, practitioners would inevitably learn that there was no shortcut to it.
“Hey,” Chen Yuwei, a Chinese hunter, called.
“?”
“What is it? Are you trying a surprise attack?”
“Surprise attack?”
“The Japanese hunters have been cursing you and your friends for quite some time now.”
“Those are just baseless accusations from those Japanese bastards. You know how good they are at creating and manipulating rumors.”
‘Wow, how shameless.’
Choi Yeonseung was impressed. Witnessing Chinese hunters reacting in such a way left him with no other option but to admire their behavior. Where did they get trained as a group?
“Well, let’s just say there was a misunderstanding.”
It didn’t affect Choi Yeonseung anyway. He would’ve turned them into bone powder if they touched hunters like Lee Changuk, but they just attacked Japanese hunters...
Couldn’t they do well on their own?
Chen Yuwei looked around, lowered his voice, and said, “There are quite a few Chinese martial artists who have reached the B-grade.”
“...... !”
Choi Yeonseung was surprised. B-grade martial artists could decently fill in the role of clan ace. There was no way Choi Yeonseung wouldn’t be aware that there were so many martial artists in China.
“What? Are you hiding them?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Some hunters didn’t like disclosing their identities to the outside world. Hunters were national powers, so letting others know about them would actually prove detrimental to them. Hence, in some coercive countries like China, quite a few unofficial hunters were nurtured in secrecy.
… But that had clear limits.
The moment those hunters took on an active role, their identities would immediately be revealed. In addition, the stronger the hunter became, the more likely they were to refuse orders from the party and the country. Carrots were just as essential as whips.
‘B-grade hunters are hard to control, aren’t they?’
“About that… They aren’t actually B-grade hunters.”
“Ah... Manipulation?”
“That’s not it. Cough. Just a bit of support... Something like that.”
Hunter rank manipulation had been around for a long time now. Manipulating the ranks so a hunter would reach A-grade was practically impossible, but they could at least reach B-grade by being given achievements.
“Why do something so useless?”
“It is one of the plans the party conceived.”
“...... ”
The world sometimes didn’t run rationally. When martial arts collapsed and everyone started learning magic, one of the officials of the Chinese Communist Party created a strong argument.
-Throwing away martial arts is ridiculous! Rather, we should push martial arts more aggressively when other countries withdraw!
-What nonsense is that...
-Is your son a martial artist?
-Our China has the largest number of martial artists in the world! How can we throw away this advantage?
As a result, attempts to foster martial artists in China continued behind the scenes. They gathered young and talented people from all over the country and taught them martial arts! However, since there were limits to what they could teach, the results naturally also had a limit as well. Most of them could only reach C-grade.
“Really?”
“Cough. Some of the executives care?about their public image, so a bit of manipulation was done...”
“... You’re still doing this?”
“Still?! What nonsense are you saying?”
“You used to manipulate ratings...”
“That is just a rumor spread by other countries!”
“... I understand. Keep talking.”
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