Chapter 69: The Illegal Hunters’ Ambush

At the unexpected proposal, Ju-an bit his nails as he agonized over it.

He had no idea why this was something he even needed to deliberate over, but while he was still confused, Baek Eun-hoo lowered his head as though he were about to kiss him at any moment, making Ju-an feel as if he had to answer just to avoid being kissed.

“Th-that is… Mr. Baek Eun-hoo, please calm down first.”

“So, your answer?”

“I mean… you’re saying we should keep it a secret, but instead, occasionally do what we did yesterday?”

He had merely repeated what Baek Eun-hoo had said, yet a crease formed between the other man’s brows.

“Occasionally? No. Every time it’s my turn. Just change that part and we’re good.”

“…”

Ju-an stared at Baek Eun-hoo with his mouth hanging open. The man gave him a sly grin and urged him to answer.

“Answer me.”

Haah. There was no way he was getting out of this.

The worst possible outcome would be for every member of the party to find out about this, so that was something he had to prevent at all costs.

Seong Ju-an let out a deep sigh before simply nodding. Baek Eun-hoo seemed dissatisfied with such an insincere response, but this was the best Ju-an could manage.

****

Mo Jun-young checked the time. It was already the time when Baek Eun-hoo and Seong Ju-an were supposed to arrive, yet neither of them had contacted him.

“…”

A sudden sense of unease swept through him. He remembered the greed in Baek Eun-hoo’s eyes whenever he looked at Seong Ju-an lately.

Knowing how Baek Eun-hoo always made sure to obtain whatever he wanted, there was only one conclusion Mo Jun-young could come to.

He took him and ran away!

The thought made his hand instinctively curl into a fist, and heat rushed to his head.

The sudden appearance of an S-rank buffer in a situation where they had been forced to rely solely on the Constellations had excited not only the party members but other Awakened as well.

It was because the emergence of an S-rank buffer gave them hope that perhaps an A-rank buffer might appear too.

If that happened, they would be able to challenge high-level dungeons without having to contract with Constellations who viewed the lives of Awakened as nothing more than tools.

The anger of Awakened who had believed there was no hope unless they were S-rank had gradually subsided, and their expressions had begun to change. As a result, the trouble caused by Awakened had also decreased compared to before.

All of this was the positive effect of Buffer Seong Ju-an.

So had letting his guard down been his mistake? He should never have trusted someone like Baek Eun-hoo!

Mo Jun-young finally slipped the phone he had been holding for several minutes into his pocket. Neither Seong Ju-an nor Baek Eun-hoo could be reached.

He wondered whether he should send out the Awakened affiliated with the Center, but he lacked justification. There had been no incident or accident, nor was there any physical evidence that Baek Eun-hoo had taken Seong Ju-an and run away…

He had just decided to track them down himself and reached for his jacket when his secretary suddenly flung open the door to the director’s office and rushed inside.

“Director…”

“Why? What happened?”

The secretary swallowed several times, as though trying his best to remain calm, before speaking.

“An incident occurred in a civilian district where unregistered illegal Awakened attacked Hunter Baek Eun-hoo and Buffer Seong Ju-an. The location is…”

The secretary’s expression was grave, but Mo Jun-young actually felt relieved.

Even if the unregistered Awakened were S-rank, they would be no match for Baek Eun-hoo with Seong Ju-an by his side. The only problem was that it was a civilian district… But Seong Ju-an would know how to control himself, so it would be fine.

“That’s a relief.”

“What? Director…”

“Ah, I mean it’s a relief that we received the news before there were any civilian casualties.”

The secretary stared at Mo Jun-young in bewilderment at his utterly calm reaction before continuing with what he had been unable to say earlier.

“The incident took place at an intersection about three kilometers from here.”

“Deploy.”

After ordering the secretary, Mo Jun-young immediately contacted Joo Ji-chan and Gong Se-yoon.

It had been less than ten minutes since they received the call when Mo Jun-young, accompanied by the Awakened affiliated with the Center, along with Joo Ji-chan and Gong Se-yoon, arrived at the scene.

****

Thirty minutes earlier, the two men had been on their way to the Awakened Management Center where Mo Jun-young was when they stopped the car at the sound of a sudden explosion.

The asphalt seemed to have exploded, filling the front of the car with a cloud of fine stone dust.

Baek Eun-hoo immediately unfastened his seat belt and wrapped an arm around Seong Ju-an’s waist as he looked at the Hunters holding people hostage across the street.

“They’re probably A-rank. Rather than making a reckless move, it would be better to wait until Mo Jun-young hears about the incident and comes.”

Seong Ju-an was dumbfounded by how utterly unfazed Baek Eun-hoo remained even in a situation like this. At the same time, Baek Eun-hoo made no attempt to release the arm wrapped around his waist.

What mattered right now wasn’t his own safety, but the civilians being held hostage by the illegal Hunters.

Knowing they were no match for them in a direct confrontation, the Hunters had instead resorted to destroying innocent property and driving the surrounding cars into a corner. All the hostages were trapped inside those cars.

“Now is not the time to be saying things like that. We have to save those people.”

“So? Should I summon lightning here? Even if I did, the civilians would be the ones getting hurt.”

“Don’t you know how to make precise attacks? Joo Ji-chan can attack within a narrow area, almost like shooting a gun. Can’t you do that, Mr. Baek Eun-hoo?”

At the half-hearted provocation, Baek Eun-hoo merely chuckled.

No, was this really the time to laugh? What kind of psychopath smiled while looking at people trembling in fear?

As Seong Ju-an desperately held back what he wanted to say, he heard someone shout.

“Isn’t that Hunter Baek Eun-hoo?”

“…There’s a buffer too! We’re saved!”

The people who had spotted the two of them shouted as though they had already been rescued.

The illegal Hunters, displeased by this, raised the guns tucked beneath their arms and threatened the civilians.

Thinking that no one could be allowed to die, Ju-an removed Baek Eun-hoo’s hand and tried to rush out. Baek Eun-hoo grabbed him firmly around the waist.

“Calm down. They won’t go as far as killing anyone.”

Caught in Baek Eun-hoo’s hold, Ju-an tried to think rationally.

Being unregistered was already a serious felony, and adding murder to that meant they would never get out before they died.

More than that, it was difficult to understand why they would launch an attack in the middle of the city when they clearly knew they were hopelessly outmatched.

“Then shall we loosen up a little?”

Baek Eun-hoo pulled a whip from his inventory.

When he cracked the multi-tailed whip against the road, golden sparks flashed.

The people watching let out cries of amazement, and although the Hunters briefly hesitated, they soon assumed fighting stances.

“…You’re not actually going to attack them with that, are you? If you hit them with that thing, people will get hurt.”

“I’m just trying to scare them. More importantly, don’t go anywhere. Stay right beside me.”

“Why?”

“They’re after the buffer. If an unregistered Awakened is willing to attack despite knowing their identity could be exposed, then they must have something hidden.”

“Or they could just be reckless optimists, or idiots whose arrogance has gone through the roof.”

“They’re really that simple-minded…”

Clicking his tongue, Baek Eun-hoo kept his eyes fixed ahead.

His gaze swept over the crowd as though searching for the injured. Then he called out to the Hunters.

“I am Baek Eun-hoo, guild leader of the Hanbaek Guild. I’m not affiliated with the Center, so I’m not bound by its laws, and I also have immunity. If you want to live, why don’t you give up now? Disarm yourselves and surrender, and I’ll spare your lives.”

If they were the sort of people who would give up after hearing that, they wouldn’t have committed the crime in the first place.

As expected, the Hunters merely snorted and fired their guns into the air.

That was when he sensed something strange behind them.

Seong Ju-an tensed and called out to Baek Eun-hoo.

“B-Baek Eun-hoo.”

“What is it?”

“I can sense something behind us. Someone is definitely there.”

Ever since learning that there were Hunters among the illegal and foreign Awakened who could use stealth abilities, Ju-an had been especially cautious.

Whatever it was that Baek Eun-hoo had said they were hiding earlier, it seemed to be someone capable of using stealth.

The moment Baek Eun-hoo heard this, he wrapped an arm around Ju-an’s waist and swung his whip.

Lightning burst from the whip, creating a wave of golden light that sent the two of them soaring into the air.

The Hunter using stealth was startled that his ability had been detected so easily, but he was even more surprised by their speed and immediately rushed toward the other Hunters.

“Looks like that buffer is more capable than we thought. He detected my stealth.”

“Damn it.”

The leader of the illegal Hunter organization quickly realized that they would never accomplish their goal of kidnapping the buffer at this rate, so he called upon the Constellation they had colluded with for help.

[Hey, Warrior. You never said my stealth wouldn’t work!]

[The Constellation, Warrior Riding a Chariot, says that even he was surprised.]

[What an irresponsible thing to say… What are we going to do now? You’ll have to spend some Coins and set a trap.]

[The Constellation, Warrior Riding a Chariot, tells him to wait a moment.]

Just as expected. Once they had colluded with a Constellation, there was no way a mere buffer could compete with them.

The leader had attempted to contract with Constellations countless times before, but he had never once achieved his goal.

If they succeeded this time and secured a contract with a Constellation, they would be able to clear dungeons faster than even the S-ranks.
Their plan was to use the rewards obtained from those dungeons to oppose the government and become the ones in power.

[The Constellation, Warrior Riding a Chariot, raises Awakened Lee Han-yeol’s stats by spending 10 Coins.]

[Awakened Lee Han-yeol’s Agility increases by 5.]

[Awakened Lee Han-yeol’s Stealth increases by 5.]

After checking his status window, the leader immediately gave Lee Han-yeol an order.

“Go again. You should be able to sense less energy than before.”

“…Yes, that’s true, but when are those two coming down? I think we can only kidnap them without being noticed once they come down.”

Lee Han-yeol pointed at the two men floating in the air.

What kind of skill had such a long duration? They showed no intention of coming down.

If they wanted to, they could probably disappear in an instant, yet the fact that they hadn’t seemed to be because of the hostages.

“Go anyway. The moment they come down, you can grab him.”

“Yes, sir.”

Lee Han-yeol used his skill again, and his body gradually became transparent.

He was slowly moving toward Seong Ju-an while concealing his presence as much as possible when they heard the sound of a red sports car speeding toward them from the opposite side.

Screeeech!

The sports car came to a stop in a cloud of smoke, and the person who stepped out was Gong Se-yoon, absolutely furious.

“f*ck! Who touched my brother?!”

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