Solo Leveling: Ragnarok - Chapter 140

Chapter 140

[Young Master.]
The moment Suho stepped inside Jisan prison, Beru spoke in warning.
“Yeah.”
Suho nodded in agreement to stare in front of him.
There were multiple presences within the prison.
There’s a saying how the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime. Was this also it?
But it proved to be false.
“Another addition to the competition, huh?”
“A summoner?”
The bounty hunters who arrived at the prison before Suho frowned as soon as they saw him.
To be more specific, it was because of the small wolf in front of Suho sniffing the surroundings.
“Is it a summons specialized for tracking?”
“Tsk. this makes things difficult for us.”
Suho was reminded just how competitive bounty hunting was from their sharp gazes on him.
However, amongst them were few who approached Suho with kindness.
“Hey, are you involved with a specific team?”
“Your summon doesn’t look like a battle summon. Do you want to join us?”
“Team up with us.”
Unlike the dungeons, where abilities unrelated battles were meaningless. The unpopular summoning abilities were regarded entirely differently when it came to hunting down villains.
Summonings with a particularly good nose or a tracking ability were welcomed within this field.
[Young master is so popular here.]
Beru nodded with satisfaction with the expression of seeing a child who grew up well.
On a separate matter, Suho had no intention to form a team with any of them.
When Suho declined every offer, they backed up with slightly bitter expressions.
“Hm, it’d be dangerous for a single summoner to face off a villain.”
“Ah, youth. Oh well, you gotta face hardships when you’re young I guess.”
“You seem like a newbie. Don’t come to us crying later for help, got it?”
Countless streams of advice came from the seniors(?) but Suho paid no attention to them.
But some refused to leave things as they were as they insisted on giving Suho their business cards.
“Make sure you contact me if you change your mind later. We’ll end up meeting quite often anyways.”
‘……So Baek Miho was right.’
Suho recalled Miho saying that they were lacking in personnel.
“Considering the scale of this case, the number of bounty hunters are definitely unproportional.”
[The ones here can’t be all of them. The case started two days ago, so there’d be more who already came by here and left.]
Suho nodded at Beru’s words.
Just as Suho came here to investigate, most bounty hunters also must’ve visited the prison already.
After investigating the remnants of the battle here, it would be easier to estimate the level of the villains.
It was a type of estimation.
“Hm. there’s a lot of strong ones mixed in.”
“Should we just call it good? It might be better to do a round of dungeons than this.”
“Yeah. let’s.”
It looks like there’s some strong ones mixed in.
There were few hunters who decided that hunting for the villains would prove to be a difficult feat and chose to give up altogether.
It was a rather contrasting look to Baekho Guild, who chose to get involved for the safety of the citizens.
[actually, it’s the Baekho Guild that is the peculiar one here. That’s the typical mindset of the hunters. There’s not many who’d bet their lives on things that won’t give them money.]
Seeing the hunters leave the prison, Qwei whispered to Suho.
[The reason why the Baekho Guild acts like this is most likely because the Guild leader of Baekho used to be a firefighter before awakening.]
“A firefighter?”
The S rank hunter Baek Yoonho used to put his life on the line to rescue citizens.
Qwei’s eyes glinted at Suho’s interest.
It was the perfect opportunity to get on Suho’s good side.
[Yes. but there will come a time that they won’t be able to act like this anymore.]
Qwei, who used to be the vice president of a large guild, analyzed the baekho guild with a cold tone.
[in the end, the Baekho guild leader will end up choosing methods that won’t generate profit. Guilds, especially larger guilds, need the funds to maintain it after all.]
“I don’t think that should come from the vice president who used to embezzle as a daily routine.”
[Cough.]
Qwei disappeared back into the shadows.
Suho laughed at that to think.
‘I never expected the guild leader of Baekho to be a firefighter. My grandfather also used to be a firefighter.’
What a serendipity it was.
’Maybe they know each other’ is what Suho thought, but he chose to focus on the investigation.
And managed to confirm one thing.
“I’m certain. There’s no evidence of taking off the anklet anywhere.”
[Yes. There’s no evidence of it exploding either.]
Beru agreed.
The bloodied prison was full of scars from the aftermath of the battles and skills.
But no traces of explosion nor anklets could be seen. Which meant…….
“They must’ve used some method to deactivate their electronic anklet.
That was the only conclusion after surveying the field.
Although its exact method was unknown, it was now certain that the electronic anklet no longer could control the villains.
But this was not something that Suho had to worry about.
Since that was a task for the association, and Suho’s task was to investigate.
“Gray, make sure to remember all the scents from here.”
“Whine.”
Gray’s nose sniffed even harder at Suho’s command.
It was difficult to remember the faces of 500 villains.
And it was not like those villains would have their faces proudly revealed either.
But if Gray can recall all the scents of the prison, the tracking would prove to become easier from here on.
This was also the reason why the other bounty hunters were so insistent on recruiting Suho.
The moment Suho was wrapping up investigating the prison.
fwsh.
“Hey, are you done with your investigation?”
One of the bounty hunters approached Suho with a smile.
“How about moving together if you’re done?”
“…….”
Suho stopped in his tracks to silently look at his face.
Gray glared at that man and growled at the same time.
“Grrrr!”
“Haha, what a cute puppy. Its killing intent is pretty strong for a tracking summons.”
[Young master, he’s suspicious.]
Suho nodded at Beru’s warning.
[The thick scent of blood on the body, and the scent is that of humans. He’s killed many.]
“Oh, you can tell even that? What an odd summonings you have. You’ll be useful as expected.
The man remained calm despite Beru’s insight, but instead shrugged with a relaxed face.
Then suddenly took out a wallet from his pockets to open it towards Suho.

[Authorized Association Bounty Hunter]
Name : Gang Taesik
Rank : B

Suho’s eyes glinted at the Authorized Association Bounty Hunter card.
“Despite it all, I am one of the specialized villain hunter. I’m on a different level than other dimwits, so joining forces with me would do you well.”
Gang Taesik introduced himself.
And that introduction was rather bizarre.
“You said that I smell of humans blood? Why of course. I killed more humans than monsters.”

“…….”
“Hey, even I will get hurt if you keep staring at me like that. Do you really think I’d go around killing normal civilians after getting the official authorization from the hunter’s association? I only killed villains.
Surprisingly, Gang Taesik never participated in dungeons, but rather professionally hunted down villains. A real bounty hunter he was.
Gang Taesik shrugged at the continuous wariness from Suho and extended out first.
“How about this then? I’ll give you all the intel I’ve gathered so far. How about you decide on joining me after hearing me out?”
“Intel?”
“Yeah, intel. I can assure you that I have the most information out of all the bounty hunters here.”
“I’ll hear it out at least.”
I had no reason to decline the offer.
Suho nodded calmly, and Gang Taesik smiled as if he knew what the outcome would be.
Then silently spoke after ensuring no other competitors were nearby.
“So you know that the instigator of this case, Hwang Dongsuk, has Hwang Dongsu behind him, right?”
Suho nodded.
The S ranked villain, Hwang Dongsu.
A person who used to be a shadow soldier named Greed in the past.
“Truth is, that Hwang Dongsu cut ties with Hwang Dongsuk long before this.”
“…..cut ties with?”
“Yes, to be specific, Hwang Dongsuk cut ties with Hwang Dongsu.”
Gang Taesik started to reveal all the information that only he knew.

»»————-　★　————-««
The Brother con artists.
Before the cataclysm, Hwang Dongsuk and Hwang Dongsu were called with such nicknames and were third-rate criminals.
They were greedy about money, and the more age they gained, the more greedy they became.

The day they got released after serving their sentence, they committed more crimes.
To enter and exit the prison as if it was their home.
However, the two brothers were rather satisfied with the lives that they led.
If they committed the same crimes, got the same sentence, and got assigned to the same prison.
Living in jails was rather comfortable.
Since they were on the same side.
But after the cataclysm.
Their lives changed 180 degrees.
-wha, what is this?
-Big bro, did you awaken?
The first to awaken was the older one.
The moment Hwang Dongsuk felt the surge of power within him.
He realized.
That they won’t have to live by swindling anymore.
swindling?
That was only for those who couldn’t fight and had to earn money by using their brains.
After the cataclysm.
When the world was in chaos.
Hwang Dongsuk became a villain during those times.
From a swindler to an armed robber to committing crimes against convenience stores and restaurants.
-hahahaha! It’s money! Money!
Who would’ve thought that making money was this easy?
His past of racking his brains to earn a few coins felt so bitterly insignificant.
And…….
-Tsk. You still haven’t awakened? I guess you don’t have the talents for it?
His younger brother without a single sign of awakening felt insignificant as well.
– I heard that you can suddenly awaken without symptoms. So please wait a little longer…….
-Until when?
-…….
-Tsk. Useless bastard.
Despite the harsh criticism from the older brother, the younger one couldn’t do much.
It was the truth after all.
Mana was inherent.
No amount of effort would cause an awakening.
And soon after.
-You. Get out of my sight now.
-huh? What are you…….
-I said scram! You useless piece of shit!
Hwang Dongsuk cut ties with his younger brother.
It was easier to swindle with two people, but there was no reason to share his hard earned money with him now.
After mercilessly throwing out his brother, Hwang Dongsuk traveled throughout the country to continue robbing people.
His speed was different compared to when he worked with his brother.
And not having to share his earnings with his brother helped his funds accumulate no matter how much he spent.
But those good days didn’t last long.
The hunters association got established one day.
And Chairman Woo Jinchul officially declared a war against the villains.
Hwang Dongsuk was arrested way too easily by the hunters from the association.
He tried to fight back, but his retaliation got subdued without much effort.
Realization hit for Hwang Dongsuk, who’s been living while being drunk off of his powers.
That he was just a frog inside a well.
At that time, the mana detecting equipment from the US just entered South Korea, and Hwang Dongsuk found out that he was just a C rank.
And by natural order of things, he got assigned to the Jisan Prison, the facility where all the infamous villains were being held.
To hear the news.
That his brother Hwang Dongsu became a S ranked villain.