𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟏: 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦
A man staring at a large monitor.
His eyes were unfocused, staring at the video on the monitor.
It showed A+ rank Hunter Asura Chu Ha-min being crushed like a toy.
“This is crazy.”
A sigh escaped his lips as the video ended.
Min Si-joon, the head of the [𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝] and currently ranked 9th among Korean Hunters.
He was known as the ‘Great Mage of Korea’, but such matters still felt burdensome to him.
He rubbed his face with his palm.
“. . . Haa.”
A sigh often escaped his lips, perhaps due to his increasing worries lately.
The cause of his sighs was none other than his older brother, Min Si-woo.
Unlike his wish for his brother to live a quiet life, Si-woo seemed to have no such desire.
No, even someone desperate to show off wouldn’t go to such lengths.
To crush an A+ rank Hunter, the raid leader of [𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝], one of the largest guilds, in front of dozens of people.
This incident would be a first in the history of the HSIU Korean branch.
“Hyung. . . Please. . . This isn’t right.”
If only Si-woo were his younger brother. Then it might have been a little easier to handle.
Creak. Creak.
He scrolled down with the mouse wheel to check the comments.
It was filled with all sorts of speculations and rumors about the new HSIU Hunter, with some information about Min Si-woo mixed in.
Of course, the information about his older brother, Min Si-joon, who had disappeared 10 years ago, was not yet widespread.
However, if interest continued to grow like this, it was only a matter of time before the truth about Min Si-woo came to light.
“I can’t help it. I have to talk before I die of frustration.”
That evening.
Si-joon returned home, carrying a variety of dishes that his brother would like.
“. . . A feast?”
Si-woo looked at his younger brother and the food on the table, his eyes wide with surprise.
【𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤, 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤! ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕚𝕤 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖!】
It was more than enough food to feed not just the two of them, but sixteen people.
“Hyung, let’s eat before it gets cold!”
“Oh. . . Okay.”
【𝔻𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕝, 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕞𝕖! 𝕀𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕝, 𝕀’𝕝𝕝 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦, 𝔽𝕠𝕠𝕕! 𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕕𝕖𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦!!】
Si-woo observed his younger brother’s expression as he ate.
It didn’t seem like he had bought the food because he was happy.
“What’s wrong?”
He could sense a subtle fluctuation in his younger brother’s mana wavelength.
This was not something that could be achieved with just keen observation or mana control.
It was a unique realm that only Min Si-woo, who had mastered mana manipulation for over a hundred years, could reach.
He could guess the other person’s emotions to some extent by sensing the fluctuations in their mana wavelength.
And what he could sense from Si-joon’s wavelength right now was,
‘𝘼𝙣𝙭𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨.’
Si-joon smiled awkwardly and replied.
“No, nothing’s wrong.”
“There is. Tell me quickly.”
“Ah~ I told you there’s nothing wrong.”
“If you lie to your hyung, you know you’ll get a week of ‘Infinite Training’, right?”
“W-What? That’s, that’s an old rule!”
Si-joon’s face turned pale as if he had seen a ghost. Suddenly, scenes from the past began to flash before his eyes.
A competition that continued ‘until death’ even with broken limbs and crushed ribs.
His disciples’ pleas that it would be better to go into a dungeon alone were no joke.
“Infinite Training has gone too far! I don’t need to learn from you anymore!”
However, Si-woo calmly replied as he put a large piece of raw tuna in his mouth.
“If you whine, you’re the hyung.”
“. . . . . . .”
“Do you want to be the hyung?”
“No. . . .”
Si-woo had intended to ask him after he had finished eating, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so when he saw his younger brother eating as if he were possessed.
It was clear that it was something related to him.
Si-joon would never show his own problems to his older brother, given his personality.
“T-That. . . . . . I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, hyung.”
Usually, when someone said something like this, it meant they were about to say something unpleasant.
“What is it?”
“Some time ago, when Gert fought in Min-jun’s lab, were you there, hyung?”
Si-woo nodded slightly.
He had never intended to hide it in the first place, so there was no sign of him trying to conceal his involvement.
In fact, this was the first time his younger brother had brought up the matter.
‘𝙂𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙎𝙞-𝙟𝙤𝙤𝙣’𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙃𝙎𝙄𝙐 𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚.’
Even so, the fact that he was asking Si-woo again must be out of respect for his older brother.
“Then was [𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝] Chu Ha-min also there when you were, hyung?”
“Who’s that?”
【𝕃𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕟 𝕝𝕖𝕘! 𝕌𝕨𝕒𝕒!!】
Si-woo asked back, genuinely unaware.
There were so many people he had beaten up while doing HSIU that it was hard to remember their names.
When you catch and lock up one or two people every day, it’s easy to forget their names.
“The A+ rank Hunter who was the supervisor when you were training the new guild members in HSIU. . . The one you crushed recently, hyung.”
“Oh~ The one with the strange tattoo on his back?”
He seemed to be a little stronger than Gert, who he had fought in Min-jun’s lab, but even so, it was a close call for Si-woo.
‘𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙙. 𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙜𝙪𝙮.’
Still, he was the one with the best skill utilization among the Hunters he had met recently.
His arms bent inward, so as a disciple of a disciple, he seemed to have some good points.
That was why he had held back from killing him.
“I know you may not be aware of this, hyung. . . but you’ve gone too far this time! The Guild Leader of [𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝] is ranked 8th in our country!”
“Ranked?”
Such a concept had emerged.
When Si-woo was a Hunter, there was no ‘ranking’ to determine who was stronger or weaker.
It was only based on the public’s perception and recognition.
If he was 8th in the Republic of Korea, he must be quite strong.
“Of course, Hunter Choi Sung-il is not a bad person, but don’t you think you need to restrain yourself a little. . . ?”
“Hmm.”