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The sensation created by the Bone Club was truly remarkable.

After obliterating the final Skeleton, my body quivered with delight, plus an extra 50% satisfaction. I couldn't help but chuckle.

“Hehehe.”

[Don't laugh like that. Why did you leave these guys for last?]

“We should save the best for last.”

[Crazy... Anyway, that guy really gave you a gift.]

Like the Heavenly Demon said, through this battle, I had achieved 120% on the Perished Soul’s Eight Fists and the Heavenly Demon Replication, and also raised the proficiency up to 50% on the three forms of the second stage for the Demonic Dragon’s Eight-Blade Style.

It resulted from fighting while utilizing all the martial arts skills I had learned while maintaining control and efficiency to regulate my inner power since my Two Hearts title hadn't finished its cooldown.

It became a gift to me whether he had intended it as one or not.

“As expected, there is nothing like actual combat for training.”

[Kukuku. There is nothing better than experiencing it directly with your body.]

“Anyway, we have spent more time here than intended. Everything else has to go according to plan.”

After recovering some of my inner power and energy, I emerged from the Gate through the portal that had been created after destroying the Summoning Stone.

The hunter guarding the entrance to the Gate was still in a deep sleep.

Making use of Heavenly Demon Stealth, I headed towards the core of the Hunter Institute, where the Angel Dust was being produced.

However, on the way, I stopped when I heard someone speaking Japanese in what appeared to be an office.

It could be someone related to the Japanese hunter who attacked me. No, I was sure they were related.

I carefully looked inside through the office window.

'Huh? That person?'

[Do you know them?]

Seeing them brought back old memories from long before my return.

The person had once greeted me when I was in the Phoenix Guild. She had come to see the Phoenix Guild’s training ground with Lee Seo-yoon when I was practicing.

She was called Irene Suzumura of the President's Guild from Japan.

[It was quite a while ago, but you remember her name?]

'Both the guild’s and that woman's name are strangely familiar.'

At the time, I only knew she was visiting to sign an MOU, but listening to their conversation now, I understood the purpose of her visit.

She was speaking Japanese, but an interpreter was translating on the side, so I was able to follow their conversation without much difficulty.

Judging from that, it seemed the Phoenix Guild was trying to exchange their Angel Dust for artifacts discovered by the President's Guild.

However, when Irene spoke about the artifacts, ‘deception’ was displayed in her status window.

The Insight skill seemed to work regardless of language.

'I don't know why she's lying.'

[You can tell by touching the artifact.]

I came to mess everything up anyway, so there was no need to go easy on them just because there was a guest.

There were a total of three people in the office, including the interpreter. I pushed open the door and stepped inside. I struck their Movement and Sleeping Points before they realized I was there.

They slept with their bodies locked up, not knowing what had happened.

'As expected.'

[This is the mark of the Wu-Tang Clan.]

The back of Irene's hand also had the mark of the old Wu-Tang Clan.

[The truth is revealed little by little.]

'The number of people I need to be careful of is increasing.'

From now on, I'll have to be wary of the Phoenix and President Guilds outside the Gate, as well as the manager and Choi Yooseong inside the Gate.

[Don't overcomplicate it, just sweep them all away. All you have to do is make sure you don’t leave any evidence behind.]

It might be easier to follow the Heavenly Demon's advice.

However, the problem was that I didn't know what the Gate Manager might do, and the thing he said about how I should get stronger bothered me.

‘I’ll think about it for a while. I can't just rush in recklessly.'

[I don't think that's what the guy who threw the Demonic Dragon Skywrecker without thinking should say.]

He had told me to wipe them all out, but now he was scolding me for attacking out of the blue. The word hypocrite would fit this case.

Since he was strong, the Heavenly Demon didn't seem to think too deeply about these things.

‘Sigh. All right.'

I first checked the artifact on the table.

[Shunkan's Bracelet - Female Only]

[Rating: Advanced]

[Option: Permanently increases the user's magic power by +5 when equipped.]

[Set Effect: There are no wearable sets.]

-One of the first mass-produced artifacts created.

There were ten artifacts with the same name but different options.

“Hmm, there is a reason Irene lied. It's not from the Gate. It's crafted.”

It was only after job-related information was updated in the system after the Third Cataclysm that the Japanese artifact creator became known.

‘I guess there were artifact producers in Japan already at this time. They seem to be keeping it a secret for now.'

[It seems those Japanese hunters also found a Hidden Piece.]

I wasn't interested in anything other than Korea, but I knew the President's Guild was one of Japan’s top three guilds, along with AS1 and SOD.

And the name Shunkan, that must be Ayami Shunkan. She would be pretty famous as the first woman to receive the job of artifact maker during the Third Cataclysm.

'Since she raised her production level this early on, she got way ahead of the competition.'

[You're not thinking of recruiting Shunkan, are you?]

‘There will be an uproar in Japan if I do that. Japan strictly prohibits their hunters from working overseas.’

That didn’t mean there weren't any hunters exiled overseas, but given what I remembered, all those hunters went missing or died shortly after their exile.

[Hmm. They might have sent those assassins.]

'It makes sense.'

I took the artifact and Angel Dust samples and swept anything that seemed helpful in the office into my inventory.

Thanks to this, the inventory was 90% full.

'If I'd known it would be like this, I'd have brought a bigger bag.'

[I'm sure you said you wouldn't become a criminal... I can't believe my martial arts are being used for petty theft!]

The Heavenly Demon joked when I broke the safe open and took a bundle of cash close to 500 million won.

***

Crack!-

Phoenix Guild Office.

Oh Young-seok's desk broke in two.

He had just received a report their Hunter Research Institute was attacked, and they still hadn’t found the beast that destroyed the Haeundae Gate.

“It must be Lee Byeong-gi!”

“Sir, please calm down.”

The female secretary with a ponytail was lying unconscious near Oh Young-seok, her forehead covered in blood.

She fell after being struck in the head by the intercom Oh Young-seok threw after he had received the report.

It was Lee Seo-yoon who now restrained the furious guild leader.

“This isn’t something that can be done by a C-Rank Proby working alone. The hunters of the BnS Guild haven’t left the office today.”

At her words, Oh Young-seok barely managed to calm himself.

"Whoo… And what about the President's Guild?"

“They expressed dissatisfaction, but the MOU will be signed as scheduled.”

“That’s a relief. What happened to Miss Suzumura?”

“The President's Guild attendant took her, but she is still unconscious, so we’ll have to wait and see.”

“That’s annoying. How much Angel Dust is left?”

“Our other production lines are in full operation. They can meet the timeframe you want.”

“The Moving Flora is the problem.”

“We only have two Gates left under our control.”

“The Gate with Moving Flora hasn’t been reported since the Cataclysm, right?”

"That's correct."

“It's frustrating. How did they know to destroy that Gate? It's strange they even know about the existence of Angel Dust.”

“They left no traces at Haeundae nor at the research institute. It wasn't even caught on CCTV. Is there a spy in our ranks?”

Oh Young-seok leaned back in his chair and lit a cigarette.

"I don’t think there is, but find out."

Oh Young-seok couldn’t hide his annoyance.

Lee Seo-yoon brought over an ashtray and continued.

"What about the BnS Guild? It seems as though they have picked up on something, as they have assigned security details to the people around them.”

“Since when did we care about that? Clean up the people around them. Now this has happened, we must take the BnS Vitality Potion.”

Lee Seo-yoon bowed and left the office. Shortly after, some people came in and took the secretary with a ponytail away.

Oh Young-seok watched them hurry about without emotion and then turned to face the window.

After everyone left, Oh Young-seok took a deep breath and thought.

As he was organizing his thoughts, someone knocked on the door.

Usually, he got a call through the intercom, but it seemed like they were knocking on the door because he had broken it.

Wanting to be alone, he felt his irritation rising again.

“Come back later!”

Even with Oh Young-seok's shouting, the office door opened.

Oh Young-seok swung around in his chair to see who it was, but no one was in sight.

“Am I seeing things?”

Even as he said so, Oh Young-seok drew his weapon and raised his magic power warily toward his surroundings.

But nothing tripped his senses.

“I must have become too sensitive.”

Because of the incident at the Haeundae Gate and the Hunter Research Institute, his nerves were frayed beyond repair.

When he was about to stow his weapon away in his inventory, he heard a heavy sigh.

“Wouldn’t it be better to keep that weapon out?”

“!!!”

Oh Young-seok’s head spun in the direction of the voice.

"You?"

***

The following day, there was a media uproar.

The Phoenix Guild, Korea's No. 1 in the hunter industry, was attacked overnight, and their president disappeared.

Following that, the ugly and illicit things the Phoenix Guild had done were delivered to the Hunter Management Bureau.

In a morning interview, Lee Seo-yoon declared that this was a conspiracy to bring down the Phoenix Guild, an illegal and unacceptable challenge that they wouldn't let slide.

"It's been such a mess, but Byeong-gi Oppa hasn't even shown his face since yesterday."

The members of Team Seolhwa, including Woo Seol-ah, were watching this breaking news on TV with Lee Seong-jin.

“What’s the point of us watching this? It doesn't matter.”

At Min Eun-joo’s comment, Yoo Hye-jong nodded.

“Seol-ah, I want to go to training. Please take care of me today too.”

Ji-young petted Mitchell and responded casually. She had zero interest in the news.

“Okay, Unnie, let’s train since we can’t go hunting anyway. Let's go, girls.”

Eun-joo and Hye-jong's faces wrinkled at Seol-ah's words.

“We worked hard yesterday too.”

“Right, let’s rest today!”

Seong-jin's eyes were fixed on the TV, no matter how loudly the girls talked.

As soon as he saw the news, he called Lee Byeong-gi. But the phone went straight to voicemail no matter how many times he tried.

Yoo So-eun also hurriedly hung up when he called her, saying she would call later when things settled down.

A serious expression had settled upon Seong-jin’s face.

'Couldn't it be that Byeong-gi did this?'