9

I knew that I was not a good person, but Jeong Gi-Hoon was not an enemy.

All he did was follow orders from my brother, and I didn’t want to crush a person’s pride. I could guess that was enough. Should I teach him a lesson?

“It was about four years ago. I once fought with a dragon.”

Gi-Hoon quickly recovered his composure. That was why he had used this moment as an opportunity and struck me with his sword.

Simultaneously, I covered my leg with an aura.

“[Sonic Tempes…]”

He started to pronounce the trigger word for the spell, and that was when my fist struck him. I punched him hard, and his body collided with the wall. Then, with my other hand, I forcefully covered his mouth.

However, his movements were fast. With his other hand, he brought out a gun and shot me. I quickly grabbed the muzzle of the gun, blocking the bullet with my hand. His eyes were filled with shock as if he had just seen something impossible happen.

Instead of understanding his circumstances, I spoke to him.

“A dragon is a blessed creature that can cast magic with just trigger words instead of long, lengthy spells. And that’s why I’m asking this question. Did I win a fight against a dragon? Guess the answer.”

“…”

“Oh, and I forgot to mention that winning means killing. Let me ask again. Did I kill the dragon or not?”

With surprise on his face, Gi-Hoon looked up. He was about to say something but could not seem to open his mouth. Oh, that was right. I was still covering his mouth so hard that he couldn’t get any words out.

“The answer is yes. I killed it and won. How? I chopped off its tongue and pierced its neck first. Then it could not pronounce the trigger words, meaning that it couldn’t cast any magic. It became a walking lizard that can’t use any magic. In the end, I struck it with a fist until it died.”

That was the end of that situation.

The S-rated hunter Gi-Hoon Jeong, one of the strongest hunters in Korea, was defeated by me, and it only took less than a minute.

“Can you guess the reason behind my words?”

Jeong Gi-Hoon was an S-rated hunter that did not rely only on magic. His physical strength and ability were way above ordinary people’s.

I judged him through every aspect, including his use of swords and guns. Aside from that, he kept trying to resist, working hard to get my hand off him. He possessed patience and a grip that could smash iron for sure. His attempt was not all that bad. The only problem was that my arms were much stronger than iron.

So where was I… Talking about the dragon?

“The dragon was relying too much on its skill. They can easily activate their magic, but don’t know about its fundamental character. To me, hunters are like dragons.”

What I was saying were just my honest thoughts.

“I suppose Ho is different, but aren’t you supposed to be aware of the power you don’t know? Also, weren’t you supposed to study your source of power?”

He continuously tried to resist and seemed like he was not listening. Ah, forget it. I was trying to teach him some important lessons, but he would never listen, anyway.

“Well, that’s all I can say.”

There was silence for a while as Gi-Hoon continued to resist. My right hand was still covering his mouth forcefully, and he was trying to take that off. However, after trying for about a minute, he finally gave up.

He raised both hands and released his power, his face showing that he wanted some clues.

It was hard to give a specific clue for him. I was not his teacher anyway. Plus, I already taught him a valuable lesson. I pointed out his shortcomings and let him feel them directly.

If he still didn’t get that, then that was his own fault.

The words that I was going to say and Gi-hoon’s answers were decided.

“Tell me his location. Right now.”

* * *

Lee Joo-Heon was drinking at a bar in Gangnam, Seoul. This was one of the reasons why he liked his job so much. It was near his workplace. After finishing easy tasks, he would earn a lot of money and use it to enjoy his time at the bar. Women were attracted to his title, so he came to this place quite often.

Today was just another ordinary day for him, enjoying his time at the bar and flirting with women. He was about to go and have fun with some girls, but nature had suddenly called. That was why he was in the bathroom.

Someone else entered the bathroom after him, but it was none of his business. The man washed his hands right after entering, and Joo-Heon also washed his hands after finishing his business.

He washed his hands carefully with soap. That was a habit he had picked up about ten years ago when a pandemic had occurred. He was even diagnosed with the virus and had to deal with being quarantined. That was one of the worst experiences he apparently ever had. Joo-Heon wanted to live longer.

He pumped out more soap onto his hand and washed them again. And then….

Wow.

The guy at the next sink looked familiar. He had tidy hair and clear skin, but more importantly, he was familiar.

Wait a second, is he…?

“Are you the hiker?”

“Well spotted.”

It was hard to describe this feeling in words, but one thing was certain. It was getting interesting.

“Well met, brat.”

He was already drunk and quite tipsy.

Though a hunter’s memory lasted longer than ordinary people’s, it was unusual for him to remember a person he saw for just a minute. Joo-Heon, however, remembered his face accurately.

He was just thinking about this guy’s rude attitude. He could not bear it when ordinary people were arrogant toward him. It was hard for a prideful man like him to forget something like that.

“How come a weakling like you can come here, huh?”

He laughed at the man and turned off the faucet. The water stopped running and he turned around to face the hiker.

“What were you saying? ‘Are you speaking Korean?’, ‘I don’t speak English?’ Fucking brat. Do you think I’m your pal? Show some respect!”

The hiker just stared at him quietly. Joo-Heon knew that the man was afraid of him, so he laughed loudly. Indeed, what could this scum do to him? He never thought of letting the hiker go. He was about to teach him a lesson. That was the duty of awakeners.

He pushed the hiker’s forehead with a finger, and the man was pushed back easily. Just as he thought, the hiker was an ordinary person.

“I’m quite happy right now cause I’m about to hang out with some pretty girls. But how come you’re here at the bar? This is not a place for scum like you.”

The bar was famous for being a fishing spot, but it was not officially built for such a purpose. This place only accepted approved guests. In other words, it was quite a luxurious, exclusive place. It also had a strict dress code, but this man was just dressed in a cheap training outfit. How come the guard did not stop him?

Anyway, that didn’t matter. Joo-Heon’s only goal was to teach him a lesson.

“Brat, don’t stand against hunters. That’s my advice, punk.”

“Who? Me?”

“Who do you think is going to die? I’ll break every single one of your bones and kill you. Do you think this world is the same as before? I know that one must experience pain to learn a lesson.”

The hiker was laughing. Was he mad? He was supposed to be scared, not delighted like that. Usually, someone would think of the reason behind the laughter, but Joo-Heon did not. He strongly believed in himself that the hiker was scared of him. What a cute guy.

“When you see me again, bow your head. Of course, we are never going to see each other again anyway.”

He smirked and was ready to leave, but he suddenly remembered something and turned back to the man.

“Oh, how was that bitch’s taste?”

For the first time, the hiker opened his mouth.

“You mean Yoo Ee-Na?”

“Yep, that bitch. You slept with her at the motel, didn’t you? How did it feel?”

The hiker laughed, and that only made Joo-Heon mad.

“Did you just laugh? Fucking bastard.”

How dare he laugh at him. Joo-Heon immediately balled his hand into a fist and moved to hit him.

* * *

Some might say that it was better to live quietly.

My brother was a successful man. Not just successful, but extremely successful that everyone in the world knows him. At a young age, he became the CEO of the world’s largest corporation. His company had been started from scratch, and that was why it was more astonishing. He definitely must have gone through a hard process.

For a brother who had been missing for ten years, even I knew that hitting this guy publicly would result in backlash for my brother.

Some people might say that I should just hide and live quietly.

Think of the staff members of the secretary. Why were they sent to observe me? When people did something, there must be thoughts and reasons behind it. I didn’t have those. That was why I considered myself a bomb.

For Ho, I was a suspicious person who seemed like his brother, and for Ho’s people, I was just a stranger from nowhere claiming to be their boss’ brother.

If I stayed quiet, then everything would go well.

Don’t cause any accidents and live quietly. If something happens, get help from the company and let them solve it.

That would be the best way for Ho. Unfortunately, I couldn’t live like that.

My time in Valhalla shaped me like this.

I would do whatever I wanted, meet people I liked, and remove the obstacles in front of me. The world was ruled by power. Power was everything here. If I had enough strength, then no one would touch me. That, I could say, was a comfortable life. Even now, I only wished to be comfortable.

I raised my arm to block his attack.

“Blocking my attack? You’re out of your mind!”

Joo-Heon, with a smirk, tried to attack me again with his other hand. He couldn’t because I went for his neck first.

It was time to teach him a lesson.