Chapter 20

Leveling Up Alone: Ragnarok Chapter 19

For a while, the internet was abuzz.

-Exclusive! The Hidden Truth Behind the Hyena Guild!

-Werewolves on Gwanak Mountain!

-Survivors Nearly Turned into Monster Food!

The survivors rescued by Suho from the Gwanak Mountain field revealed everything they had experienced to the media, and the public was shocked.

-What the hell;;;

-They were catching humans to feed to monsters??

-Is that something humans should do??

-Hunters were living as slaves to monsters;;

-Isn't this a betrayal of humanity?

The revelation that humans were hunting other humans to feed to monsters caused a significant reaction among citizens.

Along with this, other guilds that had any connection to the Hyena Guild were also showered with criticism.

-Wasn't the Death God Guild the Hyena's backer?

-Yeah, right. Now they're trying to deny it, but everyone in the industry knows, right?

-When the Hyena was exploiting lower-level hunters with usury, where do you think that huge capital came from?

-Weren't the Hyena originally just local thugs?

-100% a large guild was funding them from behind.

-We should thoroughly investigate the Death God Guild now.

Bang!

"Am I supposed to just keep watching this nonsense?!"

The guild leader of the Death God Guild, Im Tae-gyu, slammed his fist on the table in anger.

The marble table cracked, but no one in the meeting room paid any attention.

"I'm sorry. We're doing our best, but the backlash is just too strong..."

"Head of Planning."

The cold voice cut off the Head of Planning's breath.

"Did I hire you to make excuses? To gather in the planning room and post comments?"

"Sorry..."

"Hmm."

Im Tae-gyu leaned back in his chair and sighed deeply.

"Let's just ask one thing. How did our image get this bad? We were doing well last year, right?"

"..."

Faced with Im Tae-gyu's question, the executives only exchanged awkward glances.

Indeed, until last year, the Death God Guild was the undisputed number one guild in South Korea, riding a wave of success.

The reason was none other than the guild leader, Im Tae-gyu.

Despite being middle-aged, he was one of the few S-class hunters in Korea.

And there was one more.

Until last year, the Death God Guild had another S-class hunter besides Im Tae-gyu.

"It was when Vice President Baek Yun-ho left last year..."

"Shh."

The Head of Planning quickly covered the mouth of a subordinate.

'What an insensitive guy! Who doesn't know this already?'

S-class hunter Baek Yun-ho.

He left the Death God Guild last year to establish the White Tiger Guild.

The moment he left, the Death God Guild's strength was effectively halved.

But the real problem was not that.

In fact, everyone in the meeting room knew the fundamental reason.

They just couldn't bring themselves to say it.

'If I say it, I'll lose my head.'

After Baek Yun-ho left, Im Tae-gyu, in a fit of anger, brought in an A-class hunter from outside and abruptly made him the vice president.

He was an old friend of Im Tae-gyu, so it was essentially a parachuted appointment.

Naturally, the Death God Guild's executives strongly opposed his decision.

An A-class hunter couldn't replace an S-class hunter's role.

Worse, the A-class hunter 'Lee Min-sung' was a complete novice who had never even entered a proper dungeon.

But Im Tae-gyu didn't bring Lee Min-sung in for his combat skills.

Lee Min-sung... was just very rich.

He was already a wealthy businessman with a golden spoon before he awakened.

He was even a popular movie star in his youth, a superstar in Asia.

Regardless of dungeons or hunting, Lee Min-sung's life had been a continuous path of wealth and success from birth.

Im Tae-gyu's real goal?

It was to throw money at the problem.

'If our strength weakened, we could just buy expensive weapons to boost it, right?'

In reality, Lee Min-sung was more of a powerful sponsor than a vice president.

And the plan worked to some extent.

After Lee Min-sung became vice president, the guild members started to get increasingly expensive and flashy equipment.

Ironically, though...

'Our guild's image started to plummet from then on.'

The Head of Planning had to suppress his urge to speak.

Just then, the meeting room door opened, and the problematic Vice President Lee Min-sung entered.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late, sorry! The traffic was terrible~"

Lee Min-sung, who was an hour late for the meeting, laughed and made light of it.

His face was full of a warm, friendly smile, reminiscent of his days as a handsome actor.

Im Tae-gyu's cold gaze fixed on Lee Min-sung.

"Vice President Lee Min-sung."

"Whoa, what's this? You broke the table, didn't you, boss? You're really strong, huh?"

"Vice President Lee Min-sung."

"Hey, Secretary Kim! Get a better table by today, got it?"

"Hey! Lee Min-sung!"

Finally, Im Tae-gyu, unable to contain his anger, shouted.

At that, the smile on Lee Min-sung's face vanished.

"Hey?"

Lee Min-sung's head tilted, and he looked at Im Tae-gyu with a cold stare.

"That's a bit rude, isn't it?"

Im Tae-gyu ignored the comment and glared at Lee Min-sung.

"Vice President Lee Min-sung, why are you late?"

"I told you. The traffic was bad."

"Were you cleaning up after the Hyenas?"

"..."

Lee Min-sung's brow twitched at the comment.

But he quickly laughed it off.

"What are you talking about? What Hyenas? The ones you see at the zoo?"

"Don't try to dodge the question, Lee Min-sung."

At that, the mask on Lee Min-sung's face slipped.

"You've been really rude lately."

Despite facing the anger of the S-class hunter Im Tae-gyu, Lee Min-sung's face showed clear mockery.

"When did you get so big, Tae-gyu? Weren't you just my driver before?"

"..."

Grinding his teeth, Im Tae-gyu's eyes flared with rage.

But Lee Min-sung, undeterred, approached him.

He straightened Im Tae-gyu's collar and scanned him up and down with a disdainful look.

"Wow. People are really unpredictable, huh? You got lucky and awakened as an S-class, and in just two years, you've become so arrogant? In front of your old master, no less?"

"Lee Min-sung..."

"Oops. You're not my old master, right? Tae-gyu, you still have two years left on your driver contract, don't you?"

"Lee Min-sung... don't test my patience."

"Why? Going to kill me? Oh, how scary. The dog is trying to bite its master. I gave you money to support a declining guild, and you don't even show gratitude."

If looks could kill, everyone in the meeting room would have been dead by now.

'Please, fight outside...'

The tension between the two made the executives unable to breathe.

Fortunately, Im Tae-gyu wasn't so hot-headed that his reason would be completely overwhelmed by anger.

"...Sigh. Let's stop this."

"What were you trying to do, anyway?"

"Vice President Lee Min-sung, I already know you had some kind of commission with the Hyena Guild. The Association will soon investigate this."

"...The Association?"

Lee Min-sung's smug expression hardened at the mention of the Association.

Im Tae-gyu sighed deeply.

"Yes. So, tell me what you were up to behind the scenes. We need to know to clean up the mess, right?"

"Hmm. Clean up the mess, huh."

Lee Min-sung stroked his chin, deep in thought.

But he didn't want to reveal the details.

'And I can't.'

In the end, Lee Min-sung shrugged and smirked.

"Well, nothing much. Just some light errands and money games?"

"Is that all?"

"Really. The Association can't do anything I can't handle, so don't worry."

"I hope that's true."

"Or what? The Hunter Law is so weak that my lawyers can handle it easily."

"The law..."

The Hunter Law was indeed weak.

Im Tae-gyu pondered this.

It was natural.

It had only been two years since the Great Cataclysm.

The Association was still working hard to pass Hunter-related laws, but they were still full of loopholes.

That's why scum like the Hyenas could still run rampant.

"Is that it? If you have nothing else to say, I'm leaving?"

Swish.

Without waiting for a response, Lee Min-sung turned and left the meeting room.

Im Tae-gyu gave a final warning from behind.

"Vice President Lee Min-sung, don't get too overconfident. The law may be weak, but the Association President is not someone to be underestimated."

Bang.

The meeting room door slammed shut.

Im Tae-gyu shook his head and sat back down.

Finally, the executives could breathe again.

But as Lee Min-sung walked out with a casual gait, his expression was twisted with rage.

'How dare this insolent brat!'

Though he didn't show it, Lee Min-sung was drenched in cold sweat from the killing intent Im Tae-gyu emitted.

But his pride was more wounded than his fear.

'I begged to be made vice president, and now he treats me like a servant? Im Tae-gyu, you little...'

But he didn't have the right to express this anger.

After all, Im Tae-gyu was an S-class hunter, and he was just an A-class.

So, this boiling anger could only be directed at the root cause of this situation.

The Hyena Guild?

No.

'The one who destroyed the Hyena Guild!'

Lee Min-sung made a terrifying call.

"Hey, it's me. Did you find out who it is?"

-Well, Vice President. We've searched all the survivors...

-None of them know what the hunter looks like.

"What? They don't know? Why not?"

-The hunter always wore a mask and a hood. The only distinctive feature was that he used dual swords, but those were just the swords the werewolves used.

Grinding his teeth, Lee Min-sung said,

"...Find out more. Bring that guy to me, no matter what."

-Yes, I understand...

Bang!

Unable to contain his anger, Lee Min-sung threw his phone to the ground.

* * *

Meanwhile, at that moment.

Suho was enjoying a peaceful moment in the Shadow Dungeon.

Of course, only Suho was at peace.

The young wolf Gray of the Fang Clan was in agony.

"Grumble!"

[Good job, Gray. You finally hunted a goblin on your own. Of course, it was just a baby goblin.]

"Roar-!"

At Ber's praise, the palm-sized young wolf howled pitifully, or rather, fiercely.

The sight of him standing on the baby goblin's corpse with his paw was both pitiful and brave.

[Now, eat it! A true hunter leaves nothing of their prey!]

"Grumble!"

[Come on! Open your mouth wide and chew!]

"Roar!"

Chomp chomp!

Despite his obvious exhaustion, Gray couldn't disobey the harsh commands of his strict trainer, Ber.

But as he followed the orders, opening his mouth wide and tearing into the goblin he had hunted...

Ding!

[Your pet 'Gray' has leveled up!]

A message appeared in front of Suho.

"Oh, he leveled up?"

-Didn't I tell you? They grow by eating, sleeping, and playing.

"Right. I thought only I was leveling up, but pets can too?"

Then another message appeared.

[Your pet 'Gray' has offered 50% of its experience as a tribute to its owner.]

"Huh?"

[Chirp?]

Suho and Ber looked at each other in confusion.

Then they turned their gaze to Gray, who was lying flat on the ground.

"Chirp..."

[My, my, little lord. Why are you taking the liver of a flea?]

"No, I..."

Suddenly, a wave of guilt washed over him.