Chapter 17
Namgyuil was also startled.
‘Handucheol?! The leader of the Steel Guild and the father of the Hangangsu siblings??’
He hadn’t expected a hunter who ranked in the top five in all of Korea to appear here.
Hansuyeong raised her voice slightly.
“How did Father get here?! And even in disguise….”
“I came because I was curious about the person our Gangsu praised.”
“Did you come because you were worried I might fail to scout him?”
“Ehei, that’s not it.”
Handucheol stared intently at Namgyuil.
Clack, clack.
As he approached Namgyuil, the heels of his dress shoes struck the floor.
“So, you said your name was Namgyuil?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“I offered an annual salary of 500 million won, so why don’t you want to join our guild?”
“It’s because I have something I must do.”
“Something you must do?”
“Yes.”
Handucheol gazed fixedly into Namgyuil’s eyes.
He dared meet his gaze with eyes wide open as he spoke—Handucheol liked his guts.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but your eyes are alive.”
“Thank you.”
“Then, how about an annual salary of 1 billion won?”
Handucheol abruptly doubled the amount.
Hansuyeong was startled.
“Father! What do you mean by….”
“Be quiet. Your father is in the middle of a negotiation.”
Handucheol made his daughter close her mouth with a sharp glare.
Hansuyeong lowered her head.
And she clutched her skirt hem as if resentful.
Handucheol disliked that sight and slowly shook his head.
‘Tsk, if she inherited my bloodline, she should know how to act boldly. Can’t she even speak her mind properly?’
Handucheol even discriminated among his children based on ability.
His son, Hangangsu, monopolized both talent and good looks from birth, but his older sister, Hansuyeong, did not.
She hadn’t even awakened yet.
It seemed she had no aptitude for being an Awakened, so he had entrusted her with guild work, but she had no notable achievements either.
‘The eldest child of the house being so incompetent—!!’
Handucheol was displeased with his daughter.
He looked back at Namgyuil and resumed the interrupted conversation.
“So, does an annual salary of 1 billion won sound good?”
“It’s not a matter of the amount. I have something I wish to accomplish, so I cannot enter the Steel Guild.”
Namgyuil did not bend his will.
That sight rather captivated Handucheol’s heart.
‘Yes, a person must have fortitude when asserting their will. I really like him.’
But if things continued like this, he wouldn’t be able to recruit him into the guild.
Handucheol looked at the Poison Knife placed on the table.
‘If he is not a man who can be moved by money, I must make him move with different conditions.’
Handucheol curled the corners of his mouth.
He casually threw out a proposal no one could have expected.
“My good man, do you like bets?”
“Bets?”
“Yes. If you win, I’ll just give you that item.”
Handucheol pointed at the Poison Knife with his finger.
Namgyuil showed interest.
He had wanted it anyway, and now that it appeared as a betting prize, he couldn’t help but listen closely.
Namgyuil asked Handucheol.
“What if I lose?”
“Then you join our guild. How about it?”
“What is the bet?”
“A spar.”
“That would be too advantageous for you, Chairman Handucheol. I do not fight matches I will foolishly lose.”
Namgyuil narrowed his eyes.
Handucheol was a figure who had trained for a long time with the proper training method.
He didn’t know exactly how strong he was, but he was at least stronger than Namgyuil.
Handucheol laughed heartily.
“Of course, I won’t be the one fighting. Then I’d obviously win, so the bet wouldn’t be valid.”
“Then, who will be sparring?”
When Namgyuil asked, Handucheol looked at the chair across from him and called out.
“I say, Manager Kim.”
“Yes.”
Then, a man wearing sunglasses rose from his chair.
Handucheol smirked.
“Fight with the Steel Guild’s manager.”
“Manager?”
Namgyuil looked at the man called Manager Kim.
Someone who had risen to the position of manager in a large guild wouldn’t be a pushover.
If he used the Arnia-style mana body strengthening method, he would definitely win, but if Handucheol saw that, he would try somehow to recruit him.
‘Or they might retaliate, thinking someone outside their group knows the proper training method.’
He wanted no part of such a troublesome affair.
If the man called Manager Kim hadn’t trained with the proper method, it would be worth fighting while hiding his true strength. But currently, there was no way to know that.
Just then, Handucheol added a word.
“You’d need to be at least on our Gangsu’s level to beat Manager Kim.”
At those words, Namgyuil subtly raised the corner of his mouth.
‘It seems this Manager Kim hasn’t trained with the proper method. He’s probably just mediocre.’
If so, it was a fight with the outcome already decided.
‘That Hangangsu, I told him to keep it a secret that I beat him in a spar, and he didn’t even tell his family. Even about the proper training method. What a commendable guy.’
If Handucheol had known that fact, he wouldn’t have even thought of such a bet.
Namgyuil accepted his proposal.
“Very well.”
“You’d better prepare yourself. Our Manager Kim is strong. As you know, he even retired from the Hunter Bureau with all his limbs intact.”
“It’s fine.”
“Puhahaha, you have tremendous confidence.”
Handucheol laughed heartily.
They headed toward the Steel Guild.
After all, it would be a bit much to fight where everyone could see.
Vroom.
The vehicle carrying them sped down the road.
***
Screech.
Namgyuil and Handucheol’s party arrived at the Steel Guild.
They immediately went down to the underground sparring hall.
Handucheol and Hansuyeong sat in the spectator seats prepared there and watched the match.
Namgyuil went up to the sparring ring.
Soon after, Manager Kim appeared from the opposite side.
A scar starting from his forehead and running down the bridge of his nose was conspicuous.
It looked like a wound from fighting monsters.
Manager Kim looked at Namgyuil and subtly sneered.
“A green National Hunter sure has guts. To think you don’t even tremble before a senior who retired from the Hunter Bureau.”
“I will do my best.”
“Yes, do your best and see. You’ll learn just how great the difference is between a National Hunter and a guild hunter.”
Manager Kim was full of confidence.
He had reason to be.
He believed that someone like Namgyuil, who still had the status of a National Hunter, couldn’t possibly beat him, who had retired with all his limbs intact.
Tap.
Manager Kim kicked off the floor and rushed at Namgyuil.
His movements had no wasted motion.
Namgyuil immediately realized the extent of his combat power upon seeing his movements.
‘As expected, he isn’t someone trained with the proper method.’
His prediction wasn’t wrong.
It was highly likely that Handucheol had taught the Arnia-style mana cultivation method only to executives or relatives.
If so, he could win even while holding back appropriately.
Namgyuil leaned back to avoid the flying kick aimed at him.
Manager Kim pursed his lips.
‘Oh, he dodged this? Not bad?! He has the skill to catch the Chairman’s eye. But leaning back to avoid the kick broke his stance. In that state, he can’t do anything.’
This wasn’t just Manager Kim’s thought.
Handucheol, who was watching the spar, had the exact same opinion.
Hansuyeong thought this match would end in Manager Kim’s victory. Even she, who didn’t know much about fighting, could tell who was at an advantage.
But when Namgyuil took a breath and clenched his fist, the atmosphere changed.
Thwack.
A single heavy punch.
A sound like air pressure exploding filled the sparring hall.
“Keugh!!”
Manager Kim screamed.
Namgyuil’s fist struck his jaw cleanly.
His vision spun.
His head went blank and he couldn’t think of anything.
Soon his vision went dark, and his legs gave out, causing him to collapse.
Handucheol’s eyes went wide.
‘Throwing a punch from that stance is impressive enough, but he struck the jaw and caused a concussion?’
It was truly an unbelievable sight.
Namgyuil, who had leaned back to avoid the kick, was in a broken stance.
It wasn’t a situation where a punch could be thrown with proper power.
Yet his attack was powerful.
Powerful enough to bring Manager Kim down in a single blow.
‘Was he born with waist and thigh muscles that allow his center of gravity to move freely?! Then he truly is born with tremendous talent. Because he can counterattack from any situation.’
Handucheol made an expression that said he now understood why Hangangsu had said he had talent.
The reason Namgyuil could make such an attack was thanks to the swordsmanship of the Arnia Knights he had learned in the Akashic Records.
Because he had repeated the same stances to the point of excess, his basics were firmly established, allowing him to seize his center of gravity and counterattack in any situation.
Thus the match ended in Namgyuil’s victory.
It was such a clean spar that no one could say anything against it.
In truth, he could have won more overwhelmingly, but he ended it at exactly this level to hide the fact that he had trained with the proper training method.
Handucheol failed to notice that fact.
Namgyuil smirked.
‘Since I won the bet, shall I go receive the Poison Knife as promised?’
The moment he thought that!
Namgyuil felt a pressure as if his heart had stopped.
A sensation of his throat being constricted.
He felt his body stiffening under an intense force.
Namgyuil slowly turned his head in the direction where the energy was felt.
There stood Handucheol.
His blood boiling from watching the spar, he unleashed mana filled with fighting spirit.
That alone made Namgyuil tense up tightly.
Handucheol wanted to fight.
‘Hoohoohoo, my blood is boiling.’
The corners of his mouth slowly rose, drawing a sharp arc.
Handucheol, who had started from the bottom and become the chairman of a large guild—the fire had truly been lit in his heart, which had always possessed tremendous fighting spirit.
However,
“Keuk!”
Hansuyeong, who was nearby, let out a groan.
Handucheol inwardly exclaimed in alarm.
His daughter, a non-Awakened, would find it difficult to endure such energy.
‘I got too excited and made a mistake.’
Handucheol withdrew his mana.
And changing his expression filled with fighting spirit, he laughed heartily.
“Truly amazing. To think you took down Manager Kim. And I didn’t think he’d go down in one hit, of all things.”
Namgyuil let out a scoff.
“Manager Kim was strong as well, but I was a bit stronger.”
“My friend, you know how to say such things too? You look like you wouldn’t take a joke.”
Handucheol rose from his seat and handed the Poison Knife to Namgyuil.
“Take it.”
“Thank you.”
Namgyuil pocketed the Poison Knife.
Handucheol was reluctant to part ways just like this.
He wanted to recruit him into the guild, and if possible, he wanted to spar with him too.
So he suggested dinner.
“Well, it’s about that time. How about having dinner together?”
“I’m sorry, but I have something to do….”
“Really? That’s a shame. Everyone rushes to eat a meal with me. You won’t get this chance again.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Kuhahaha, you’re a truly interesting friend. Very well. Be on your way.”
Namgyuil left the Steel Guild.
Handucheol watched his retreating figure.
‘Namgyuil. He’s an incredible guy.’
Manager Kim was someone whose skill was recognized even within the Steel Guild.
‘But to think he took him down in just one hit. He was the strongest among those who hadn’t learned the Taesan Simbeop.’
The Taesan Simbeop was a secret training method created by Korea’s first Awakened.
And it was very similar to the Arnia-style mana body strengthening method. What they called the Taesan Simbeop referred to the proper training method.
Handucheol crossed his arms.
Seeing Namgyuil’s actions, growth potential, and will, he instantly grasped what kind of person he was.
‘That brat isn’t one to serve under someone. He’s one who will become a leader moving a massive organization. His vessel is too large for anyone to take him in.’
And he vaguely felt it.
Perhaps.
‘He might become a competitor in the future.’