SMH 155

Chapter 49 – South Korea’s Strongest Guild (2)

TL: Boko

Editor: Frost

‘I didn’t think an SS-rank Hunter would be this strong…’

Han Seok felt the coldness of the blade, as well as Sung Joon’s voice, which seemed sharp enough to cut through anything, and regretted his foolishness.

If Han Seok had an opportunity, then he’d immediately cast Blink, but Sung Joon didn’t give him such opportunity.

There were no openings. At this rate, the moment he gathered his mana, Sung Joon would cut his neck.

“W-Wait a sec… Let’s talk…”

“Didn’t seem like you wanted to talk before.”

“Mr. Kang Sung Joon. Please, let’s talk. Please.”

Sung Joon’s warning caused Han Seok to immediately begin speaking politely. After all, Sung Joon had a sword at his neck.

In order to leave an even bigger message, Sung Joon clad his sword in aura. He pushed his sword forward, piercing through Han Seok’s neck, and causing him to bleed.

“Ugh!”

“Think you know what you should say next.”

Sung Joon’s cold voice felt like a sharp knife that pierced through his lung. He was so uneasy that it was even difficult for him to breath.

“As expected, the stick is best for a mad dog that doesn’t know its place.”

Rishubalt watched on in satisfaction and nodded his head. Sung Joon was always his priority. He couldn’t bear it if someone looked down on Sung Joon. If he could, he would have executed Han Seok himself, but it was impossible for him right now, as he didn’t have a physical body.

“My lord, how about using the ‘rune of loyalty’? Sir Zelos should have one.”

Rishubalt suggested that they use the ‘rune of loyalty’, which would magically establish a master-servant relationship between two parties, so long as they agreed to it. As he said, a Magic Scholar like Zelos would have one.

“Mr. Park Jung Chul? Could you please call Zelos over?”

“Yes? Of course.”

Jung Chul withdrew his spear, which had been aimed at Han Seok, and left the living room to find Zelos. Five minutes had passed since he had left.

Han Seok felt as though five hours had passed. And after three more minutes had passed, the door opened and Zelos came in.

“Ah, I see. This is what was happening.”

It seemed like Jung Chul had given him a simple explanation, as Zelos didn’t seem very surprised. Instead, he looked curiously at Han Seok.

“It seems like the Hunters here know no fear. Against an SS-rank Hunter no less…”

Zelos trailed off, but it was easy to tell what he was saying.

“The fact that you called me means that you need something from me.”

“Good, you already know,” Sung Joon replied and turned to Jung Chul.

“Please step out for a bit.”

Jung Chul could tell what Sung Joon meant. He knew that Sung Joon was going to do something he didn’t want him to see, so he left immediately.

He tended to be quick on the uptake. That’s how he had survived in the business world for so long.

Once he had confirmed that Jung Chul’s presence was far away, Sung Joon looked at Zelos and said.

“Do you have the ‘rune of loyalty’?”

“I have a few in my dimensional pouch.”

As expected, Zelos had one. After all, he had most magical devices or materials.

This was only possible because of the huge carrying capacity of the dimensional pouch.

“I think I’ll need one.”

“I have one that you can use,” Zelos replied with a smile. Han Seok panicked as he listened to their conversation.

He’d never heard of the ‘rune of loyalty’ before. It was an obvious reaction.

Since the ‘rune of loyalty’ came from the otherworld, it didn’t exist on Earth.

“Here it is.”

Zelos took out the ‘rune of loyalty’ from his dimensional pouch. Sung Joon smirked as he took it.

If Han Seok would ‘cooperate’ with him, then he would gain a loyal S-rank Mage Hunter as his subordinate.

Sung Joon infused the rune with mana. It only made sense that the master would infuse his mana first.

Because the ‘rune of loyalty’ was abused in the otherworld, it was banned, but Zelos had secretly brought a few over.

“Choi Han Seok. Listen carefully.”

Sung Joon gave him a simple explanation as to how the ‘rune of loyalty’ worked.

“What kind of fantasy item is that…”

“So you want to die, then?” Sung Joon said and Han Seok grit his teeth. Sung Joon’s blade was slowly coming closer, pressuring Han Seok.

If it worked like Sung Joon had explained, then the moment he accepted the rune, he would forever be Sung Joon’s subordinate. He couldn’t believe it that easily, but it didn’t seem like Sung Joon was lying.

He had to think about this. However, his life took priority. He thought hard for a minute and came to a decision. Han Seok calmed down and spoke.

“I pledge my loyalty.”

He infused mana into the rune and spoke the activation words. The ‘rune of loyalty’ recorded both their mana signatures and formed a master-servant relationship between them.

Han Seok couldn’t feel the effects right away, but if Han Seok disobeyed Sung Joon’s orders, the rune would activate.

“Give me back the rune.”

“Understood.”

Sung Joon took the rune back from Han Seok and put it into his dimensional pouch.

If the rune was destroyed, then the master-servant relationship would go with it, so putting it into his dimensional pouch would prevent this.

“Heal.”

He’d become his loyal follower, so he withdrew his sword and healed Han Seok’s neck injury.

“Sit.”

“I understand.”

Han Seok listened to Sung Joon obediently. Zelos leaned against a wall and watched on, looking entertained by all this.

Han Seok sat in a chair and Sung Joon sat on the opposite end. Then, he pushed the document forward that Jung Chul had left behind.

“Then, please fill out the forms.”

It was the document for joining his guild. Han Seok hadn’t finished filling out the forms due to his unreasonable request, but they could talk properly now.

Now, he couldn’t even resist if Sung Joon wanted him to be the guild’s slave. He regretted being so greedy before, but it was already too late.

“Don’t worry so much. I’m going with the normal rate. I’m not planning on using you like a slave.”

“T-Thank you.”

Han Seok bowed his head at Sung Joon’s words. He thought for sure he would live the rest of his life like a slave. However, when Sung Joon told him that he’d be using the normal guild rate, Han Seok felt relieved.

It was to the point that he even felt thankful. The hate he felt for Sung Joon for using the ‘rune of loyalty’ on him had lessened, which was obviously what Sung Joon had been aiming for.

“If you get it, fill out the form,” Sung Joon said. Han Seok busily moved the pen. He finished the form quickly, as there weren’t any suspicious conditions. And Sung Joon gave the documents to Zelos.

Now, Zelos would need to pass it over to Seol Ah. Because all the procedures were finished, Han Seok went to his helicopter and left.

The helicopter slowly took off and Sung Joon watched it carefully.

‘Should I get a helicopter too?’ he suddenly thought.

* * *

The day after Han Seok had filled out the guild enrollment form, Seol Ah came over to Sung Joon’s mansion in the late afternoon.

Originally, Zelos was supposed to drop by Seol Ah’s office and give her the forms. However, she came by personally, so Sung Joon took the documents from Zelos, saying that he would give them to her himself.

“What about Ms. Yoon Seol Ah?”

Sung Joon, who had come out of Zelo’s workshop with the documents, grabbed onto Shin Chul who was passing by and asked.

They got a report stating that she had arrived at the mansion a little while ago, but because he had some things to discuss regarding the warp gates with Zelos, he hadn’t been able to leave the workshop.

“She’s in the living room.”

“Thanks.”

Shin Chul responded, and Sung Joon nodded his head. After that, he began moving towards the living room. There were several living rooms, but there was one place he used often.

Eventually, he arrived in front of the living room, opened the door, and went inside. Seol Ah was sitting on a chair drinking coffee.

“You’re here?”

“You came by faster than I expected.”

“I finished work early.”

Seol Ah replied whilst putting down her coffee cup. She couldn’t help smiling once she saw Sung Joon.

“You said you have a new guild member?”

“Yes. He already signed all of the enrollment forms. I think we’ll be finished as long as we register him with the Hunter Bureau, so I’d like you to do a final check on the documents, Ms. Yoon Seol Ah.”

“A new guild member, huh… I’m curious as to who it is.”

There were several people who wanted to be a part of the Lord guild, but because Seol Ah knew that Sung Joon didn’t allow just anyone in, her eyes shined with curiosity. She took the documents from Sung Joon and took a look.

“Oh my gosh! Did the rank 1 S-rank Hunter Choi Han Seok sign these himself?”

Seol Ah was shocked as she read through the documents. She was well aware of who Choi Han Seok was.

She looked at Sung Joon and questioned him. She thought she might’ve seen wrong, so she checked again, but the word ‘S’ was clearly written in the rank section.

“Yes. He filled it out himself.”

“Choi Han Seok was famous for being quite stubborn, as he didn’t join a guild or a regular assault team for the longest time… How did you convince him to join?”

“It’s a secret.”

Since she wouldn’t believe him if he said he used the ‘rune of loyalty’, Sung Joon didn’t explain it to her.

“There aren’t any problems with the documents, are there?”

“Please wait just a second.”

Sung Joon asked, and Seol Ah rechecked the documents. She was so surprised that Han Seok had personally filled out the guild enrollment forms that she hadn’t looked at it thoroughly yet.

“There aren’t any issues with the documents. However, you didn’t ‘threaten’ him or anything, did you?”

“He’s an S-rank Hunter. Would threatening him really work?” Sung Joon said nonchalantly, but Seol Ah shook her head seriously.

“You need to be a bit more aware of where you stand. There’s no one you can’t threaten in South Korea, Mr. Kang Sung Joon.”

Sung Joon was South Korea’s only and first SS-rank Hunter. He had enough influence to move the president himself. Seol Ah believed that Sung Joon needed to be a bit more cognizant of that fact.

“Is that so?”

Seol Ah looked at Sung Joon as he smirked and nodded his head, and just sighed. She swallowed down her coffee in one go, and then spoke once more.

“Now that I think about it, you told me about someone called Mr. Zelos, yes? The one you wanted to enroll as a Hunter.”

“Did it go well?”

“I was worried since he’s a foreigner with an unknown identity, but he was approved because of your influence, Mr. Kang Sung Joon.”

“That’s a relief.”

“He’s A-rank,” Seol Ah said and Sung Joon nodded his head. Zelos did indeed have enough strength to qualify for A-rank.

“I’m glad that it went off without a hitch.”

“Anyway, when you register Choi Han Seok, your guild rating will increase exponentially.”

“Even more?”

Because the Lord guild had Sung Joon, who was an SS-rank Hunter, they had immediately become a high-rank guild. Seol Ah took out her phone and began calculating the possibilities.

“I believe you’ll easily be able to get into the top thirty guilds. Congratulations in advance.”