CHAPTER 76 World Around You

Fail to strike the enemy once you know their location, and it'll be too late to even regret having missed the chance

Rider, Alexander The Great

The King of Conquerors

Sorry I forget to upload the photo of Frostbite

So here it is the Frostbite-

...........

I also wanted to give Ende's Shield to Iron, but it was too small for him. So I just gave up on the idea. When I find something suitable for his build, I'll give it to him. The same goes for every shadow.

Just like me, I want them to be equipped with the best gear I can find, so they can be as overpowered as possible. That's the reason I even bought two A-rank bows from the system, which took a toll on my gold reserves.

But it was for the better, as now both elves can shoot down their targets from 2km away. And since all of them are class equipment, the three bows can shoot their own elemental arrows, so I don't need extra arrows. The only requirement is magic power.

They have plenty, so they can fight very well.

'Baruka's Tanto.'

It has the second-highest attack power out of all the daggers I have found so far. On top of that, it even increases my agility. It's obviously better than the C-rank Casaka's Poisoned Fang, the B-rank Knight Killer or Red Tooth, or any dagger besides Frostbite that I can't compare to. An A-rank dagger! It's the perfect weapon to replace Casaka's Poisoned Fang, which is gradually losing its effectiveness in battle.

'The grip doesn't feel bad either.'

While I was going over the events of the Red Gate, the van arrived in front of Han Songyi's house.

Screech.

The student, who had been silent throughout the entire ride, bowed her head to me.

"Then, take care."

"Okay."

Watching the girl walk back to her house with sunken shoulders, I felt like I had accomplished my mission.

'Things got a little complicated, but the second goal was to convince Han Songyi.'

It looked like the girl would no longer continue as a Hunter. Well, anyone whose first-ever Dungeon was a Red Gate would feel the same. I was about to drive away in satisfaction when the passenger door opened.

'...?'

I turned to see Han Songyi holding the door open.

'What's wrong with her?'

My curiosity only lasted for a brief moment. The girl deeply bowed her head again.

"Thank you for today, oppa."

Now that I think about it, her title for me had changed from "ahjussi" to "oppa."

"Oh yeah, no problem."

"So..."

"Hmm?"

"I'll see you tomorrow - I mean, a few hours from now."

"A few hours from now?"

Before I could ask her what she meant, Han Songyi ran inside. After she disappeared into her home, I realized,

"Oh right."

It was already night, but the raids with Yoo Jinho would resume today. As Han Songyi was still part of their raiding party, they would see each other again.

"That's what she meant."

Oh shit... If Han Songyi completely retired from anything related to Hunters, Yoo Jinho's team would have lost a team member, and it would have delayed their plans. Thankfully, it looked like the girl would at least finish the remaining raids.

"Thank God..."

With the Shadow army, the clearing speed of the Dungeons would rise to a whole another level. I was confident I could complete the remaining raids in record time, even in just two days if Yoo Jinho successfully reserves the dungeons. I was also looking forward to Yoo Jinho's reaction when he sees the Shadow Soldiers.

"That man, Yoon Gijoong, his reactions were top-notch."

I grinned widely while turning the steering wheel.

...

A few hours later.

*3rd Person Pov*

"Yawn-"

Jinwoo arrived at the lobby of his apartment while yawning. When he opened his eyes after a brief nap, it was already the promised time.

"Good morning, Hyungnim!"

A familiar voice filled with energy greeted him. Yoo Jinho was already waiting for him.

"I took the car. How did you get here?"

Jinwoo had borrowed the workhorse of their raiding party, "Bongo," for last night's events. The van was parked nearby.

"A taxi, Hyungnim."

"Ah, a taxi."

Jinwoo had hoped to flip their positions for once and go pick up the young man.

"It's okay, Hyungnim. I'm the one receiving your help. I should be the one accommodating you."

Yoo Jinho spoke while chortling. After a one-day break, their morning exchanges had resumed as normal.

"Huh?"

Yoo Jinho discovered something. Jinwoo was holding something cylindrical in his hand. The young man asked curiously,

"Hyungnim, what's that?"

"What, this?"

Jinwoo smiled widely.

"I'm going to use it in the Dungeon today."

Holy... Yoo Jinho's stomach fluttered.

"Is it a weapon to be used in the Dungeon?"

Hyungnim always showed off something crazy in Dungeons. Just what kind of a terrifying weapon was he holding now? Yoo Jinho already began to feel anxious.

*gulp*

Yoo Jinho gathered his courage and raised his head.

"Hyungnim, let us go."

"Hold on."

Jinwoo put up a hand, then took out his phone.

"We'll be picking up someone on the way."

"Huh? Who?"

Jinwoo ignored him and spoke into the phone,

"Yeah, Songyi, it's me. We'll pick you up and take you to the Gate."

Songyi... That Songyi? When Jinwoo hung up, Yoo Jinho asked,

"Hyungnim, is the person we're picking up our team's high school student?"

Jinwoo nodded. Since she lived really close to his house, he felt like it would be efficient to just pick her up before leaving the area. However, as he had done in the past, Yoo Jinho completely misread Jinwoo's intentions.

Han Songyi.

A cute-looking girl with short hair falling just below her ears.

"If Hyungnim knows her number and talked to her with such familiarity... Is their relationship like... that?"

As he had always known, Hyungnim was an amazing man. He had spent a long time with Jinwoo, and when they talked, he always mentioned women. Yoo Jinho knew Jinwoo had a variety of tastes in women, as he had seen him interested in all types.

"Especially when I watch him go to work on giant magic beasts with a single dagger..."

The young man was sure his Hyungnim had no interest, but it made sense that the female student would fall for him. Yoo Jinho nodded to himself. If that was the case, there was something he had to clear up.

"Hyungnim, so should I be addressing Ms. Han Songyi as 'missus' from now on?"

What the fuck.

That was what Jinwoo's eyes were saying. Even Yoo Jinho, who was terrible at taking hints, was able to read as much from the man's expression.

"Er... Were you two not dating?"

"She's just my little sister's friend."

"Oh. Oooooh."

So that's what it was. Yoo Jinho finally understood the situation. To think that he almost accidentally called her his sister-in-law. The young man's face turned red with embarrassment.

Soon, Han Songyi came down from her apartment. Compared to their previous meetings, the girl appeared to have paid a little more attention to her looks this time. Yoo Jinho smiled,

'She's just like a teenager who wants to show off before her friend's oppa.'

Yoo Jinho was about to act like a leader and compliment the girl's clothes when Jinwoo greeted her first,

"Did you get some sleep?"

Yoo Jinho's face froze.

'...'

Han Songyi smiled and shook her head,

"I couldn't sleep a wink."

"You must be tired, get some shut-eye in the car."

At the pair's conversation, Yoo Jinho's mind became more and more chaotic.

'Huh? Huuuuuh?'

Han Songyi asked Jinwoo a question,

"Oppa, did you get any sleep?"

"Just a quick nap. It was already 4 AM when I got home. And I am not much of a sleep person."

"Right…"

Couldn't sleep? Must be tired? 4 AM? Yoo Jinho's confusion turned to horror. Jinwoo was heading toward the Bongo and turned around,

"Yoo Jinho, are you coming?"

"Err… Hyungnim?"

"...?"

"That's er… Ms. Han Songyi is underage, Hyungnim."

What the heck.

"So? Who cares?"

"...Nevermind, Hyungnim."

As expected, Hyungnim was the manliest of men. Yoo Jinho was in awe of Jinwoo's personality that gave no thought to society's rules.

'He's truly not a normal man.'

Yoo Jinho berated himself for judging his Hyungnim with the laws of ordinary people.

... 

At the same hour.

Baekho Guild's Meeting Room.

"-And that's pretty much all I saw."

Park Heejin finished recounting the events of the Red Gate. Before she began, Baek Yoonho had asked if she needed some rest out of concern, but the woman insisted that they complete the investigation. She explained that she was relatively comfortable(?) in there.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The two upper management members who conducted the interview, Guildmaster Baek Yoonho and Chief Ahn Sangmin, were at a loss for words. The one who was in charge of the training, Hyun Gicheol, was sent to the Association to argue about the incident. As such, only three people were gathered in the meeting room. Ahn Sangmin broke the silence,

They all were at a loss for words. How could they believe such a thing? It's absurd and goes against every law they came to know about.

"Was all that really true?"

"Is it even possible?"

"You can contact Go Myunghwan and Yoon Gijoong. They'll tell you the same story."

The two C-rankers had returned to their homes, stating that they wanted to see their families. Park Heejin could confidently say that their statements would not differ from hers.

'All I did was explain what I experienced in person.'

How the forest that man disappeared into rang with screams of ice bears, or how that man was doing push-ups while everyone else was sleeping. How he was running around killing every monster he could find. How he did not only have every corpse of every monster he had killed in his space.

But how his black army strip-mined everything that he saw useful, even a tree, and when they left the place, it only had a few trees. It's like the Amazon forest transformed into the Sahara desert. He could communicate with monsters. She didn't dare to include any hearsay from the other teammates, only what she had seen with her own two eyes.

"Huh…"

Ahn Sang Min made a strange noise with his mouth. Knocking out an A-rank Hunter in one hit. Freely using spatial magic. He cut down all the trees in the whole forest, welding around hundreds of summons.

Each one of them alone would be an unbelievable thing. And one of them was a huge minotaur, an S-class monster, and the one she described seemed even more powerful. As he restrained the boss like it was nothing. And JINWOO played with the boss of a red gate like it was nothing, he even used a very powerful lightning magic. And the man in question had done it all. But the most shocking fact was,

"So he not only solo cleared a high-level Dungeon but did it without even trying. He didn't kill the boss just because he wanted to kill more monsters, and when he killed everything around him, he looked for more by capturing an Ice Elf and asking him the location of monsters."

Baek Yoonho uttered after a long period of silence. It was because he was an S-ranker that he was able to say,

"That is an incredibly unimaginable feat."

Although the man had fought with summons, those summons were not comrades but Hunter Sung Jinwoo's skill. It was the same as solo clearing the Dungeon and looking for more monsters by capturing the boss.

"No matter how high one's rank is, it is difficult for a Hunter to solo clear a high-level Dungeon, especially a Red Gate on top of that."

What if he himself was there? Could he solo clear a B-rank Red Gate? It was possible for Hunter Sung Jinwoo, who wielded not one or two, not dozens, but hundreds of summons. Ahn Sangmin spoke with amazement,

"With this, it is clear that he's an Awakened Being with special powers."

Baek Yoonho agreed,

"Among Hunters, those that can use summoning are rare. And to think that he's a Hunter that can wield multiple summons with extraordinary physics and so much more, I've never seen it in one place, let alone in a human…"

Having worked as an S-rank Hunter, Baek Yoonho had met and conversed with many different Hunters. Not one of them ever spoke of a Hunter wielding that many summons and so much magical energy. It was like a dam that was ready to burst.

"An Awakened Being with a special power in a different dimension than the average special power…"

Baek Yoonho was amazed. Ahn Sangmin thought of something and asked,

"If you had to put a value on Sung Jinwoo-ssi's abilities, how much do you think he's worth right now?"

"..."

Baek Yoonho could not easily reply. But one thing was for sure, regardless of what the value of Sung Jinwoo was right now, it would multiply explosively once the man underwent the retest. They had to act before that happened. Baekho had just lost an A-rank Hunter and multiple B-rank Hunters. If they were not able to obtain the power known as Sung Jinwoo, their losses from this incident would be too great.

"I trust you, Chief Ahn."

Baek Yoonho sent a look of faith towards the man. Ahn Sangmin replied with a determined expression. Suddenly, the two men turned toward Park Heejin. The woman was raising her hand.

"Do you have something to ask?"

Succeeding in grabbing the two men's attention, Park Heejin lowered her hand,

"Please allow me to help."

"With what?"

"Raid Lead- I mean, Hunter Sung Jinwoo-nim's recruitment."

Baek Yoonho and Ahn Sangmin exchanged glances. The Recruitment Specialist, Ahn Sangmin, tilted his head.

"Why would Hunter Park Heejin-nim be…?"

"Of all the members of our Guild, I'm the one who spent the most time with Hunter Sung Jinwoo-nim. I believe I can be of great assistance."

After spending 9 hours outside the Gate and nearly a week inside, Baek Yoonho and Ahn Sangmin thought Park Heejin's words made sense. Additionally, the woman was beautiful, and her appearance wouldn't exactly hinder their efforts to recruit Sung Jinwoo. Realizing that her suggestion was influencing the Guildmaster and the chief, Park Heejin continued,

"But I have one condition."

Baek Yoonho asked,

"What is it?"

"Once Hunter Sung Jinwoo-nim enters Baekho, please be sure to place me in his raiding party."

Park Heejin had learned something in the last raid: the terror of a high-level Dungeon and just how powerless she could become.

'In the end, I ended up learning the lesson Sung Jinwoo-ssi was trying to teach Han Songyi...'

It was embarrassing, but it was true. To stubbornly claim that something terrifying wasn't scary was foolishness. What happened in the Red Gate was certainly a terrifying experience. However, she did not want to give up the benefits of working as a B-rank Hunter. A high salary! Multiple career choices! And the acknowledgment of society on top of that! If you put aside the danger involved in the job, being a Hunter was the perfect profession. If anything, it was because of the high risks involved that the rewards were equally high.

However, Park Heejin had found a way to reduce that risk.

'It's to raid with Raid Leader Sung Jinwoo-nim.'

The person she was most jealous of in the Red Gate was, in fact, Han Songyi. The reason was simple. It was because of the promise Sung Jinwoo made to Han Songyi on their first day:

"I brought you here, so I'll be responsible for your protection."

In other words, Jinwoo had no responsibility to protect anyone except Han Songyi. Park Heejin and the two C-rank Hunters were just added baggage. The woman had always feared that they would be thrown aside. And on the 6th day, he did leave, but he left them everything they needed to survive. If he wasn't confident that nothing would attack them, he wouldn't have left.

So Sung Jinwoo cleared the Dungeon and protected Han Songyi until the end. The man had kept his promise. Watching all of this, Park Heejin gained assurance.

If she raided under that man, she wouldn't be in any danger. After realizing this, her heart began to race. In fact, her heart was still beating vigorously right now.

The ability to make decisions calmly. A powerful strength. And a sense of responsibility, to boot.

She wanted to be by Sung Jinwoo's side in the next raid. And that was her condition.

'Place me in Sung Jinwoo's raiding party.'

Baek Yoonho and Ahn Sangmin discussed among themselves for a bit. Soon, they came back to Park Heejin.

"Alright."

Baek Yoonho laughed excitedly.

"Then Park Heejin-ssi will be working together with Chief Ahn for a while."

"Thank you."

Of course, the recruitment would not be easy. Sung Jinwoo was someone who knew the value of his ability.

'He was so confident in the Red Gate too.'

"No, he wasn't confident; he knew he would get out of the place. And he had the aura of someone who doesn't like to be ordered around. He had a very dominating presence, and they experienced that first-hand when their leader tried to stop him. Convincing him would not be an easy task.

'Still…'

She obtained the opportunity to see him again. Park Heejin smiled in her head.

Meanwhile, after thinking about something, Baek Yoonho opened his mouth with difficulty.

"Chief Ahn."

"Yes, sir."

"I would like to know Sung Jinwoo-ssi's contact information."

"Guildmaster, that's…"

Ahn Sangmin finally explained his experiences with Sung Jinwoo, how he had first seen him, why he had hidden the man's existence until now, and how he had tried to get in contact with him. Listening to his story, Baek Yoonho nodded understandingly.

........

"So my English got batter or not ." - Remark.

So world travel has started to the Akame Ga Kill.

I am currently writing it.

Now to confirm the plot points Esdeath is part of the Harem and other are Shadows.

Now if can suggest me some good shadows both humans and danger beasts it would be great help.

Thanks