Chapter 71 (2/2)
Taking down the high-level magic beasts was nothing . But to think that he could knock out an A-rank Hunter in one blow . The fact that that man was his hyungnim filled Yoo Jinho with awe and pride . Go Myunghwan continued his story,.
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“-Then dozens of ice elves appeared out of thin air . I really thought we were done for then, but-”.
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Was it because they were so focused on the story? The time passed by quickly . The tale of the Red Gate was not a short story, but in no time, Go Myunghwan reached the end . The man spoke a little too excitedly,.
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“It was something impossible . Sung Jinwoo-ssi was the savior of everyone there . ”.
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Yoo Jinho nodded along without realizing . He fully understood Go Myunghwan’s feelings . He himself was saved by hyungnim several times . .
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“And to think that we couldn’t tell the story of our savior! It was hard for me to accept Baekho’s decision on this matter . Fortunately, the chairman contacted me and-”.
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Yoo Myunghan cut off Go Myunghwan at the right time,.
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“Hunter Go Myunghwan-nim . ”.
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“Sir?”.
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“I think that’s good enough . ”.
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“Ah, I apologize . I got a little too excited . ”.
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Go Myunghwan slightly bowed his head in embarrassment . Yoo Myunghan turned back to his son,.
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“And when I investigated Hunter Sung Jinwoo, an unexpected name appeared . ”.
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Yoo Myunghan pointed to a name on a document in front of him . The man’s finger was on Yoo Jinho’s name . The document was one of the raiding reports the young Hunter had handed to his father in the beginning . The finger slid over to a second name on the document, Sung Jinwoo . .
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Raid Leader Yoo Jinho . Raid Member Sung Jinwoo . .
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The evidence was clear . .
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‘He got me…’.
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The fact that he had borrowed a powerful Hunter’s abilities for his Guildmaster license plan was found out . Yoo Jinho’s expression hardened . .
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“The fact that Hunter Sung Jinwoo’s help was great in your plans to obtain the Guildmaster license . Do you deny it?”.
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“ . No, sir . ”.
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“Do you have anything else to say?”.
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“ . ”.
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The road ahead looked bleak to the young man . The moment hyungnim’s involvement in the plan was revealed, it became impossible to convince his father that he was worthy of Yoojin Guild . .
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‘ . ’.
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His father continued to look at him with a fierce gaze . In the past, Yoo Jinho would’ve lost all strength before that gaze . .
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‘But . ’.
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He could not back off like this . For the first time in his life, Yoo Jinho gathered the courage to stand up to his father . The young man bowed his head and raised his voice,.
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“Could you please leave Yoojin Guild to me, father?”.
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“Alright . ”.
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“Eh?”.
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At the cool reply, Yoo Jinho raised his head . .
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“I’ll leave Yoojin Guild to you . ”.
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“Huh…?”.
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“You said it yourself . It’s too risky to leave the Guild to an outsider . With your existence, is there a need for us to take on unnecessary risk?”.
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“B-but, I tried to deceive you, father-”.
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“So what . Did you think I would scold you and chase you away?”.
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Was he mistaken? His father’s face remained stern; his mouth closed in a straight line . But Yoo Jinho felt like his father was smiling . .
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“If you had carelessly entered these Dungeons without a plan, perhaps I would’ve done so . I do not recall raising a fool for a son . ”.
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Yoo Jinho felt his face becoming hot . .
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‘If I never met hyungnim, I would be yelled at and sent away by father right now . ’.
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Well, he would’ve probably died before that . Yoo Jinho sighed in relief in his mind . .
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“However, I have a condition . ”.
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“Yes, sir . ”.
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“This Hunter Sung Jinwoo… Could you bring him to Yoojin Guild?”.
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Yoo Jinho’s eyes opened wide,.
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“Hyungnim to our Guild?”.
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‘Did he just say hyungnim?’.
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A light flashed across Yoo Myunghan’s eyes for a split second . .
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“Yes . ”.
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Yoo Jinho could not reply easily,.
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‘Argh…’.
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The young man knew he had to appear confident before his father right now . However, the target in question was hyungnim . All he could do is ask and hope for the best . So, he spoke truthfully to his father,.
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“I’m not sure . ”.
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“Good . There would’ve been no point to a condition if it was that easy . ”.
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Chairman Yoo Myunghan drank some water then wiped his mouth with a handkerchief . .
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“If you fail, I will turn the Guild over to your brother . How about it, will you give it a go?”.
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Yoo Jinho’s face filled with determination . .
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‘I’ve worked hard for this opportunity…’.
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If he walked away now, he would not be able to raise his head in front of hyungnim, who had helped him until the very end . Yoo Jinho spoke with a serious look in his eyes,.
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“Yes, I will try . ”.
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“Good . ”.
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With his father’s last word, the deal between father and son was complete . Yoo Myunghan silently nodded to dismiss his son, and Yoo Jinho bid his goodbyes and left . Yoo Myunghan removed the handkerchief from his mouth; the man had difficulty hiding the smile on his face . .
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‘That brat…’.
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To think that he would ask for the Yoojin Guild . He had a rough idea of what Yoo Jinho wanted when his son asked for this meeting, but it was beyond Yoo Myunghan’s expectations that his son would come with such determination . .
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‘As expected, the tiger’s son is a tiger . ’.
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The smile on Yoo Myunghan’s face slowly widened . .
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‘Holy shit! THE Chairman Yoo Myunghan is smiling!’.
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Go Myunghwan was beyond shocked . The chairman’s nickname was “Pokerface” . Whether something good or bad happened, the man was famous for maintaining his stern and fierce expression . Sensing Go Myunghwan’s awed stare, Yoo Myunghan turned to his side and asked,.
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“Hunter-nim, do you have anything else to say?”.
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At the sudden question, Go Myunghwan hastily shook his head,.
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“N-no, sir . ”.
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. 47, 48, 49, 50 . .
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Jinwoo climbed toward the upper floor with a terrifying speed . .
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You’ve defeated a Mid-level Demon . .
You’ve earned 300 experience points . .
You’ve earned 1 Demon Soul . .
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….
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….
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You’ve defeated a Mid-level Demon . .
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You’ve defeated a Mid-level Demon . .
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However, looking at the piling up experience points and souls every time he defeated a demon, Jinwoo did not feel tired . .
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Collected Demon Souls: 4,388/ 10,000.
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‘Not even halfway, huh?’.
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He felt like he had hunted an endless horde of demons here, but the wall known as 10,000 was still very high . What about his level?.
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Level: 69.
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He had gained two more levels after a day . It definitely had slowed down, but was still fast compared to the rate of soul collecting . Even now, he continued to gain experience points . .
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“Kkieeeek!”.
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. Mid-level Demon . .
You’ve earned 300 experience points . .
You’ve earned 1 Demon Soul . .
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“Whew-!”.
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After taking down the last demon in front of him, Jinwoo stretched his back and looked around . Between the Shadow Soldiers standing at attention, countless corpses of mid-level demons were scattered about . .
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clap.
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Jinwoo smiled and put his hands together . .
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“Good job, everyone . ”.
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The soldiers that fought hard returned to his shadow . While they could be used to collect magic cores in normal Dungeons, in here, only Jinwoo was able to collect the drops . .
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Would you like to acquire it?.
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After all, only he could respond to the System’s messages . .
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‘This part’s a bit inconvenient . ’.
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And so, if the number of demons was low, Jinwoo would take care of them on his own . Only against a larger group, were the soldiers summoned . After each battle, he went from corpse to corpse, stretching his hand toward the light and collecting drops . .
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‘What was so fun about this that Jinho kept volunteering?’.
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Remembering his dongsaeng, Jinwoo smiled as he continued to work . .
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There was one more inconvenience here . In the Demon Castle, Shadow Extraction was impossible . The low-level and mid-level demons he fought did not give off the black smoke that indicated a soldier could be raised . .
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‘Even when I stare at the corpses, all I get is-’.
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The mana is contaminated . .
It’s not a possible target for Shadow Extraction . .
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The message that told him extraction was impossible due to contaminated mana . .
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‘Well, what could I do?’.
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With a disappointed feeling, Jinwoo went from corpse to corpse and piled up the drop messages . .
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ring~.
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You’ve found 29 “Mid-level Demon’s Horns”.
Would you like to acquire them all?.
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Jinwoo smiled widely,.
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‘Of course!’.
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Looking at the items that piled up on the ground out of thin air, Jinwoo forgot about the disappointment regarding Shadow Extraction . .
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‘Nothing I could use . ’.
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Then everything has to go! The mass sale of junk items in the past few days had massively increased his hoard . .
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Current Gold: 914,690,772.
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Damn! Looking at the amount of gold he had amassed, Jinwoo was satisfied once more . His funds for the System’s shop had risen above 900 million . .
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‘Makes sense . A single demon’s horn is about 200,000, and I’ve hunted 4,000 of them . ’.
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And adding the other random items sold here and there, the gold piled up with terrifying speed . .
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‘Should I purchase an S-rank weapon or an armor?’.
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Jinwoo shook his head . He didn’t particularly feel the need right now and did not want to forcefully spend gold . .
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‘I’m sure I’ll have a need for it someday . ’.
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Jinwoo closed the inventory and dusted off his hands . The area was roughly cleared . He had long since obtained the entry permit for the 51st Floor . All that was left to do is head over to the magic elevator….
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Jinwoo moved his gaze to the pillar of light . Guarding the magic circle was a single giant demon surrounded by multiple high-level demons . Jinwoo looked above the giant demon’s head . Its name was floating in the usual place, in black letters:.
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‘Overlord of the Lower Floors, Volkhan of Avarice’ [1].
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The demon had a giant muscular body that looked like it weight several dozen, no, several hundred tons . In its hands was a terrifyingly large club . Still, Jinwoo smiled,.
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‘So that’s the halfway boss?’.
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Jinwoo had no bad memories when it came to the bosses of the Instant Dungeons . They had always given a large amount of experience points and dropped good items . Compared to the boss-level magic beasts that often gave little reward, boss-level monsters were practically gift boxes . The Hunter wondered just what this thing would drop . .
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gulp.
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Jinwoo smiled as he gulped in anticipation . .
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Translator’s Notes:.
[1]: “Overlord of the Lower Floors, Volkhan of Avarice” (하층의 지배자, 탐욕스런 볼칸): Wew, long name . “Lower level/floor” 하층 + “ruler/overlord/dominator” 지배자 . “Greedy/Avarice” 탐욕스런 + proper name (ball 볼 + khan 칸) . Note, the title for “overlord” 지배자, is the exact same word as “Ruler” from “Ruler’s Hands” skill (지배자의 손길), but I am purposely using a different word here . Don’t ask why . .