Chapter 24
Sliiiide. Thump.
A man slid across the floor, leaving a trail of blood.
His sliding body came to a stop in front of a group of men and women who had been laughing and chatting boisterously.
An unconscious man, his arm bent at an odd angle, blood streaming from his broken nose and split lip.
“……”
In an instant, the atmosphere turned cold.
“That guy, did he mess with the Eventful Guild?”
“Be quiet. They might hear you.”
The Rogue Guild, which had been noisy with laughter and chatter, fell silent.
The only sound that echoed on the first floor, now swirling with a cold energy, was Hyun-jung’s choked sobs as she tried to hold back her tears.
“Are you okay?”
Had he ever been this furious before?
Hyuk-min’s cold voice was directed at Hyun-jung.
“Which one of them was it?”
But she was still terrified, shaking her head and refusing to answer.
However, Hyun-jung’s young eyes were honest.
He slowly followed her gaze, singling out the culprit.
It was the woman in the group who was showing the most displeasure.
“Can you wait here for a second?”
Hyun-jung nodded.
It was a relief that his Stats had gone up a fair bit.
Seeing the build of the man who had yelled “Strike,” he realized he would have been seriously hurt if he didn’t have any Stats.
He checked for any other external injuries, but aside from a split lip and a reddened cheek, there seemed to be none.
“Thank goodness.”
The sight of her clutching the gun even in this situation made Hyuk-min’s heart ache. ( T/N : I feel you brother…)
His fists clenched.
‘Why did I raise my Stats in the first place…’
Wasn’t it to protect his own people?
A wrong choice among the many he had made in the past.
He was now about to make the right choice, one he couldn’t make before because he was powerless and afraid.
He took a step toward them.
Tap.
Hyun-jung’s small hand grabbed Hyuk-min’s.
She shook her head, silently telling him not to do it, but Hyuk-min answered with a gentle smile.
Letting go of Hyun-jung’s hand, he approached the group of men and women.
“Was it you?”
He looked at the man who had yelled “Strike.”
A sturdy man in leather armor with a longsword at his waist.
“Are you crazy? Do you not know who we are?”
So brazen, hitting a little girl and then acting like the wronged party.
“Do I need to?”
“Well, it doesn’t matter. It’s not bad to have one more punching bag, right?”
“Kyahahahaha.”
A grating laugh rang out.
The unpleasant, high-frequency laugh he had subconsciously passed by.
Hyuk-min’s eyebrow twitched at the wretched sound, like a crow cawing.
He looked at the woman.
She was the one who had made Hyun-jung feel the emotion of fear.
“Ha! Are you glaring at me right now? You must be insane.”
She showed her displeasure and nudged the man next to her.
At that, the largest man in the group stepped in front of Hyuk-min.
“Who are you looking at? You wanna die?”
A hulking man who looked to be about 190 cm and 120 kg.
Looking up at the man, Hyuk-min let out a smirk.
“It’s pretty funny, a big guy like you jumping out just because a woman nudged you.”
“What did you say, you bastard?”
He raised a hand the size of a cauldron lid.
Then, without hesitation, he swung it at Hyuk-min.
The palm was powerful enough to stir the air.
But his agility stat must have been lacking, because his speed was pathetic.
Crack!
The sound of something breaking was heard.
A loud noise, as if a tree was snapping.
It came from none other than the shin of the man who had swung his palm.
The hand that had been swinging toward Hyuk-min lost its way in mid-air.
The man crumbled, his knee slamming onto the floor with a thud!
Then, clutching his completely broken shin, from which bone was protruding, he let out a bloodcurdling scream.
“Kuaaaaaaaack!!!”
Hyuk-min slowly approached and grabbed the giant man’s head with one hand.
Then, he slammed it into the ground with all his might.
THUD!!!
The screaming stopped.
All that remained was the limp body of the giant man, the whites of his eyes showing, making it impossible to tell if he was dead or alive.
“He’s… he’s dead…”
A woman in the group trembled and took a step back.
It had all happened in an instant, so fast that no one could react.
The time it took for the giant man to fall was barely five seconds.
“You’d better take him to a hospital. He’s not dead yet.”
Whoooosh.
A second silence fell over the Rogue Guild.
No one could make a sound.
“The Psycho Troll, in one go…”
Except for one group.
The very people involved in this incident, the ones who had bullied Hyun-jung.
“H-He’s strong. What do we do?”
“Eun-mi. Shut up.”
“The Psycho Troll was taken down… I think we messed with the wrong person.”
“I said shut up, Eun-mi!!”
Most of the group was terrified by Hyuk-min’s ruthless hands and his strength.
All except two people.
The fancy-looking woman Hyun-jung had feared, and the man in leather armor with the longsword.
Shing.
It seemed the leader of the men was the one in leather armor.
Drawing his sword, Leather Armor closed the distance in an instant and swung his blade at Hyuk-min.
Hyuk-min drew the Immortal Demon Sword and blocked the man’s blade, which was almost a surprise attack.
Kagak. Kagagagak.
Grinding their crossed swords against each other, the one with the leather armor smiled.
“Looks like we got another punching bag. I was getting tired of hitting that Water Rat bitch. This is perfect.”
He must have been a decent fighter, as he even knew how to imbue his sword with mana.
When Hyuk-min did the same, raising his own mana.
Tang!
The repulsive force of their two manas created a spark, pushing the man with the leather armor back.
“You’ve hit that child before.”
“It was a lot of fun. Much more than today.”
“Is that so.”
“Well, now that I think about it, this might be better, kekeke. You won’t break no matter how hard I hit you, right?”
Leather Armor suddenly looked at Hyun-jung. (T/N : Im gonna call him Leather Armor for now since he is just an extra and I cant be bothered to find the name of a man whos gonna be floored anyway lol )
Then he grinned.
“Just you wait. I’ll make it even more fun for you today.”
“If you can stay in one piece until then.”
It was in that moment.
‘Since when!’
With the sound of feet kicking off the ground, a startled Leather Armor swung his sword.
Tang!
The mana of the Immortal Demon Sword and the mana of Leather Armor’s sword clashed, creating a powerful spark.
Leather Armor’s arms were thrown upward by the strong repulsive force.
Shock filled his eyes.
Because unlike him, whose arms were now wide open, Hyuk-min, holding the Immortal Demon Sword, was completely fine.
‘The difference… in our stats?’
Shwick!
The Immortal Demon Sword grazed past Leather Armor’s wide-open thigh.
Once on the thigh.
“Keuk!”
He belatedly brought his raised sword down hard, but Hyuk-min’s form was already behind him.
‘N-No way! There can’t be a fighter of this caliber in the Rogue Guild…’
Shwick!
Once on his side.
Excruciating pain traveled from his thigh up to his side.
Blood spurted out.
But the fear of death made Leather Armor move his body despite the pain.
Whoosh!
His mana-infused sword drew a blue line as it swung toward Hyuk-min.
Ssk.
This time, their swords didn’t even clash.
Leather Armor’s sword cut through empty air.
‘What was that?’
It didn’t even seem like Hyuk-min had moved.
Those cold eyes, looking down on him.
He must have done something, but he didn’t know what.
“Ah!”
The sword flew from his grasp and fell.
Leather Armor’s body staggered and fell backward.
Looking at his wrist in intense pain, he finally realized what had been done.
Blood gushed from his half-severed wrist.
Thump!
Hyuk-min’s hand covered Leather Armor’s face, just as he had done to the giant man.
And then.
KUNG!
He mercilessly threw him backward.
His consciousness, which had almost flown away, unfortunately returned.
“Keok!”
Hyuk-min approached the man who had fallen backward.
Then, without hesitation, he plunged the Immortal Demon Sword through the man’s forearm and into the ground.
So forcefully that the floor cracked.
KUNG!
“Kyaaaaaaack!!”
A scream, far louder than any before, echoed through the hall.
“Keuuuuk.”
Tears and snot streaming down his face, he tried to pull out the Immortal Demon Sword embedded in his arm.
But the Immortal Demon Sword, lodged deep in the ground, wouldn’t budge no matter what he did.
“Well then, is it my turn now?”
Hyuk-min raised his hand and slapped the man’s cheek.
Smack!
The impact, impossibly strong for a simple slap, snapped the fallen man’s head to the side.
The man’s sweat and blood scattered like spray.
“Keuuuk!”
He grabbed the forehead of the man, who couldn’t even open his eyes from the pain.
Then he forced his head back up and slapped his cheek again.
“Lift your head. We’re just getting started.”
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!
After a rapid series of ten slaps, Leather Armor went limp like a puppet with its strings cut, as if he had lost his mind.
“This isn’t as fun as you made it sound.” ( T/N : That was coooooooold )
He pulled the Immortal Demon Sword from the man’s forearm.
“It’s not over yet.”
Gulp.
The sound of dry swallowing could be heard from all around.
The brutal scene had instilled fear not only in the group that bullied Hyun-jung, but in the entire Rogue Guild.
Holding the Immortal Demon Sword in a reverse grip, he slowly walked and stood before the fancy-looking woman.
The one who had instilled the feeling of fear in Hyun-jung wasn’t the giant man, nor the man in leather armor.
It was this woman.
“If you touch me, both you and that Water Rat bitch are fucked. Do you know who I am?”
“Do I need to?”
“I’m Han Sang-hae! The guild master of the Eventful Guild, Han Sang-jip, is my…”
SLAP!
Before she could finish, Hyuk-min’s palm struck the woman named Han Sang-hae across the cheek.
The blow was so strong that Han Sang-hae staggered, her vacant eyes looking at Hyuk-min as if she couldn’t believe what had just happened.
“Who cares who you are. Would you stand by and do nothing if someone messed with your family?”
“You, you, you right now…”
“Don’t worry about me. I plan on doing much worse.”
“Kyaak!”
He grabbed Han Sang-hae by the hair.
Then he started walking, dragging her across the floor of the Rogue Guild.
From where they started all the way to the information desk.
She was dragged, her body sweeping up all the filth on the floor.
She tried to resist, but Hyuk-min’s strength was far beyond what Han Sang-hae could handle.
Slowly.
As she was dragged very slowly, she made eye contact with the many people watching.
“H-Help me!! Help me!!”
“Ahem…”
In an instant, everyone avoided Han Sang-hae’s eyes.
As she was dragged, she pleaded for help from the people around her, but no one would meet her gaze.
“Serves her right for acting like a queen around here.”
“I knew something like this would happen to her one day.”
“Don’t make eye contact. You’ll get dragged into it.”
“It’s satisfying to watch, but what’s going to happen to that guy now? You think Han Sang-jip will let this slide?”
“No way. Han Sang-jip is a thug. He’ll definitely make a scene.”
“True, he might be strong, but against the Eventful Guild…”
“Still, it’s pretty cathartic.”
Whispers could be heard from all around.
And Han Sang-hae knew.
No one here was going to save her.
“Kyaak!”
He let go of her hair.
Her head hit the ground hard. Han Sang-hae slowly lifted her head, her hair a disheveled mess.
And the first face she saw.
“W-Water Rat… n-no…”
It was Hyun-jung.
“So…”
“You don’t even know her name, do you?”
Han Sang-hae’s mouth clamped shut.
Her head slowly drooped, as if in despair that there was no turning back.
“Uncle…”
Hyun-jung looked up at Hyuk-min.
He had expected her to be thrilled by the satisfying revenge, but her expression wasn’t what he’d hoped for.
He didn’t like the look of worry that still filled her face.
“Do whatever you want, Hyun-jung. Give back exactly what you got from these bastards.”
Hyun-jung looked at Han Sang-hae.
At the sight of Han Sang-hae, her head hung low in the absence of any escape.
Shake, shake.
But Hyun-jung did nothing.
She just shook her head and took Hyuk-min’s hand.
“L-Let’s just go. I want to go home.”
It was a pity.
‘Do these bastards even know?’
That the Hyun-jung they bullied was actually a little monster who massacred monsters in the Tower with a single gun?
These guys?
If Hyun-jung put her mind to it, she could make them disappear from this world without a peep.
And yet…
‘Is it trauma?’
Even after her Stats had risen and she had started to enjoy fighting, Hyun-jung was still afraid of these people.
“Should we?”
He smiled brightly.
He had no desire to force Hyun-jung to do something she didn’t want to.
He patted Hyun-jung’s head and said.
“Then I’ll just get the money from selling the Magic Stones and we’ll go. Can you wait for me outside?”
She nodded with teary eyes.
Then, deliberately ignoring the stares coming from all directions, Hyun-jung left the Rogue Guild, clutching her large gun tightly.
“The Magic Stone transaction is finished, right?”
“Y-Yes… that’s right!”
The employee hastily handed over a bag of money.
Hyuk-min opened the bag and took out a considerable sum of cash.
He handed a bundle of 50,000 won bills, which looked to be about a million won, to the employee.
“I have a favor to ask…”
The story wasn’t very long.
“Yes, that should be possible.”
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
Hyuk-min’s steps did not lead outside to where Hyun-jung was.
But right in front of Han Sang-hae.
“H-Heek!”
Han Sang-hae, who hadn’t trembled once, began to shake.
Because in Hyuk-min’s hand was the Immortal Demon Sword that had sliced up her companions.
“Now, we don’t have much time. Shall we get started?”
He brought the Immortal Demon Sword to Han Sang-hae’s arm.
Then, smiling brightly, he asked.
“What exactly have you done to Hyun-jung until now?”
(T/N: Ruthless MC, now that’s what I like.)