The Celestial Returned From Hell - Chapter 409

Chapter 409

Dmitry was very flustered, stammering over his words.

Hunters were always prone to misunderstandings; it was the nature of their job. The general public often misunderstood hunters, saying things like “Ugh, you bastards are committing all sorts of crimes under the pretext of killing monsters and you don’t get punished!”

Thus, regardless of whether it was an actual misunderstanding, hunters usually replied to such criticism by saying something like “You losers haven’t even awakened, so why are you talking?”

However, this misunderstanding was unexpected.

Dmitry secretly admired Choi Yeonseung, so he couldn’t afford to be despised by him!

“A misunderstanding?”

“Yes!”

“Ah, so you didn’t post that stuff on social media?” asked Choi Yeonseung as he looked at Dmitry. He was aware that there were many fake accounts on social media. Given that Korean reporters often wrote inflammatory articles, maybe one of them had impersonated Dmitry…

“No, I posted it.”

“…”

The contempt returned on Choi Yeonseung’s expression.

Dmitry hurriedly explained, “But that’s not how I truly feel! It’s a type of showbiz. Surely you know about this, Hunter Choi Yeonseung!”

“I don’t.”

“Hey! Explain it for me!” Dmitry shouted to the clan member next to Choi Yeonseung, causing him to flinch.

“Why are you acting like this now?” asked Choi Yeonseung.

“Uh… That’s not…”

The more Dmitry tried to explain, the more he felt that he was being bogged down.

He wasn’t genuinely criticizing the Korean hunters. He had just cleverly sparked controversy on social media in order to attract attention from potential opponents, increase his number of followers, and attract funds…!

However, he didn’t have enough time to explain, and Choi Yeonseung’s piercing gaze sort of prevented him from doing that in the first place.

“I deleted it! Look!” exclaimed Dmitry as he took out his phone.

@Dmitry_Diesel

ㄴWhat? What post?

ㄴWhy did you delete it?

ㄴDid the Korean hunters threaten you?

ㄴWhat are you talking about? Dmitry isn’t the type of guy to be scared of others! Dmitry being scared?

ㄴDid the clans put pressure on him?

ㄴIt’s possible! Aren’t the Korean clans crossing the line? I can’t believe they took down a post like this.

“…They’re flaming the Korean clans.”

“Huh? No way….”

Dmitry stared at the screen with a bewildered expression. He hadn’t expected these reactions in the comments.

“Th-the message I just posted was a mistake. I will post that I respect Korean hunters.”

“Uh… Won’t that look weird?” the staff member next to him asked cautiously. This was why he was scared to say something. Once the words left his mouth, he couldn’t take them back.

As the conversation dragged on, Choi Yeonseung waved and interrupted, “Forget it. You can write that you are disappointed with Korean hunters.”

“Wha…? No…”

“I’m looking forward to the clan battle,” said Choi Yeonseung as he turned around and walked away.

Left alone, Dmitry was in a daze. He closed his account and threw his phone against the wall.

***

“A hunter over there is glaring at us.”

“Isn’t it Dmitry Diesel?”

“Wow, that bastard… He’s giving it his all despite it being just a friendly match? What a tryhard.”

Go Junwon couldn’t help grumbling. Dmitry’s glare toward him was undeniably fierce.

Considering how little money was at stake, this was basically a friendly match, so it was hard to believe that Dmitry was so focused.

Go Junwon wondered if the level of the top hunters in the US was that good, but even so, he couldn’t understand why Dmitry was taking this so seriously.

“The manager is coming!”

“!”

At those words, the hunters straightened their backs, knowing well who was about to come…

“Loosen up, guys. Why are you so nervous?”

“N-no…”

“It’s an honor to see you again! Congratulations on the last Abyss raid!”

“Thank you.” Choi Yeonseung nodded at Nathan’s words.

Nathan was terribly stiff despite knowing Choi Yeonseung, which made the other hunters even more nervous.

‘Will we really be disbanded if we lose??’

‘…If we get disbanded, no other clans will accept me…’

Wi Seongu was the youngest hunter in the Demon clan, having just graduated from high school. He couldn’t help gulping nervously.

The other prospects at his highschool had been taken in by various clans and received money, but no one had been interested in him.

Only the Demon clan had sent him an invitation. Even now, Wi Seongu still couldn’t believe it, wondering if the Demon clan had invited him by mistake.

Certainly, if they had mistakenly picked up someone else’s results…

“Hey, don’t be afraid!”

“Junwon hyung!”

“They’re hunters like us, not superhumans. We can push them back if we do our best!”

“!”

At Go Junwon’s words, Wi Seongu gave him a respectful look. Go Junwon had always been a cloud high in the sky for him, a figure that he could only look up to. He had always been active in the Demon clan and was considered an ace.

However, Go Junwon considered Wi Seongu to be a very valuable junior. Most hunters he had been close to had left the clan, and the current ones were either unaware of or disregarded him.

Given his vanity, Go Junwon considered a junior who looked up to and respected him to be very valuable!

“You really are amazing, Junwon hyung! Are you confident that you can beat Dmitry?”

“Uh… Huh…?”

Go Junwon paused. He was just telling them to be confident, not that he could beat Dmitry. However, judging from Wi Seongu’s gleaming eyes, he was already half-convinced of it.

Go Junwon usually lost his bravado when fighting, but he couldn’t back down now…

“…Yeah, just don’t say it anywhere else.”

“As expected…!”

Kim Yeongchan, who was passing by, looked at Go Junwon with a dumbfounded expression.

‘What’s he doing here?’

Among the hunters present, Kim Yeongchan was the only one who had been with Go Junwon since the beginning of the Demon clan. However, Kim Yeongchan didn’t resonate with Go Junwon’s ostentatious and boastful character. They were like water and oil to each other.

But due to the change in ownership and management, the training had become insanely harsh, so luckily they had no time to bicker with one another.

‘Should I stop him?’

Kim Yeongchan was worried that Go Junwon would be a bad influence on the young Wi Seongu. He genuinely considered Wi Seongu to be a tanker just as good as him.

He was so great at withstanding attacks that Kim Yeongchan couldn’t fathom how he had gotten such a low rating in high school! He was a highly talented hunter, and he could even compare to Nathan, the ace from the United States.

Choi Yeonseung finally addressed the hunters.

“So far you’ve trained under the teachings of the Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor. I won’t teach you anything new. I’ll just tell you about the opponent’s weaknesses and tactics.”

“Yes.”

The hunters weren’t very surprised. It was common practice to analyze the opponents before clan battles. In addition, the Awake clan was a well-known clan, so there had to be a lot of analysis data on them.

‘But will this actually make a difference?’

‘I can’t disappoint him. I have to do my best…’

“?!??!”

However, the hunters of the Demon clan were astonished by Choi Yeonseung’s explanation.

***

“The hunters must be very dissatisfied.” Gudlow nodded. He was the manager in charge of the clan battles of Awake.

He was a first-generation B+ hunter and a celebrity who was in charge of several large clans, overseeing their clan battles.

“I’m sorry. The other clans in South Korea didn’t accept the offer…”

“It’s fine. I know it’s hard for them to accept.”

The stronger the clan, the more difficult it was to find an opponent for a clan battle.

It was possible to win an astronomical amount of money in a single battle, but there were also downsides.

In any case, if the hunters didn’t have any adversaries to wield their weapons against, they would get rusty. Gudlow wanted the hunters to be able to fight against as many different clans as possible so their senses wouldn’t dull out.

“Korean hunters are good at ranged skills. I thought we could definitely get used to it after fighting a few times… It’s too bad. I can’t believe the opponent is like this.”

“But I’ve heard that the Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor is in charge of training the Demon clan.”

“I’ve also heard that. I’ve seen videos of their matches,” replied Gudlow while shaking his head. “The Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor is a great hunter, but not even he can do anything with those hunters if they’re useless.”

Gudlow didn’t attribute his accomplishments to his own strength. Rather, he took pride in the results he had achieved with the several talented hunters in the clan.

In comparison, the Korean clans were doing poorly in many ways.

First of all, they all had a relatively small number of hunters and they needed to achieve results fast. Thus, instead of helping the hunters actually improve and reach their true potential, the clans were training them so they could get results as fast as possible.

What could the clans get out of such a small talent pool if they disregarded the hunters’ potential like that?

It wasn’t that there weren’t any good hunters in the Demon clan, but their performances were very disappointing by Gudlow’s standards.

“…?!?”

However, Gudlow was compelled to stand up once the clan battle started.

***

Dmitry held his weapon and followed the monster’s trail along the middle lane. He was a bit shaken by the incident before the match, but he wasn’t amateur enough to let it affect him.

He was certain he would win the match!

‘Son of a bitch! I’ll do my best and have you acknowledge me!”

His other colleagues thought that Choi Yeonseung would hate him even more if he did his best, but they didn’t say anything out of consideration for Dmitry.

–

Red Waves Emission!

After casting a spell, red waves of magic surged from Dmitry’s blade and struck the monsters. After making short work of the F-grade monsters, he looked ahead.

He spotted a hunter walking up from the opposite tower.

“??”

Dmitry was amazed by how confidently this hunter was approaching him.

‘He wants to stick to me now?’

Dmitry was known as a melee damage dealer, and he excelled at using a variety of powerful spells with very little magic power. Because of that, hunters rarely fought Dmitry in the early stages of the match.

“Damn, you’re really trying to fight me?”

Dmitry became puzzled as the opponent got closer and closer, finally reaching the neutral zone. However, his opponent ignored him and started killing the surrounding monsters.

‘What the…?’

Dmitry was furious. He wouldn’t be able to call himself a hunter if he didn’t accept this challenge.

“Alright, let’s see what you got!”

Bam!

Dmitry rushed forward.

***

The first reason Gudlow was surprised were skills that Dmitry had chosen for this match.

Lately, hunters hadn’t been engaging with Dmitry in the early states of the matches, so he hadn’t really taken any useful skills for the early stage of this particular match.

It would be incredible if his opponent realized this and challenged him right away.

In any case, the second reason Gudlow was surprised…

‘He’s fighting back!’

The hunters facing Dmitry were usually intimidated by his reputation, which meant they would either keep their distance or fight defensively. However, his current opponent was being very aggressive.

To put it bluntly, it was a classic one-on-one confrontation meant to decide who was superior!

Dmitry slowed down and hesitated because he hadn’t expected such an opponent.

‘

Tsk

, this is harder than I thought! I knew this hunter was a martial artist, but was he that tough? It’s not like he’s famous.’

Gudlow looked in the opposite direction.

“!!!”

He spotted Choi Yeonseung, watching the match with a blank expression.

Gudlow felt as though he had just been struck by lightning when he recognized the very familiar hunter.

‘D-did Hunter Choi Yeonseung coach them himself?!’