F-Rank Secretly Becomes Stronger - Chapter 57

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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57

The day scheduled to face off against Bluebird.

The location they were guided to was none other than the Korean Hunter Association.

From the Association’s standpoint, they wanted the sparring to take place within the Association for the protection of domestic Hunters, and Bluebird accepted this.

“But why are you all here?”

“Hehe.”

I could understand the Association President being here.

The two people who train with me daily were fine since I brought them along.

Yena also came to visit the bakery frequently, so naturally the topic of the bet with Bluebird came up, and she insisted on watching.

This was already plenty of spectators.

But on top of that, even more people were waiting for him inside the spectator seats of the sparring hall.

“This industry is quite small, you know.”

Park Hanseong Hunter spoke with a hearty laugh.

He lightly crossed his arms and stood up from his seat, approaching Juhyeok.

“How could we just sit still when our country’s top prospect is having a match with Bluebird?”

“….”

Our country’s top prospect.

Hearing such a title anew made something somewhere in his chest feel ticklish.

“You must be planning to win since you made such a bet, right?”

“I guess even the details of the bet have spread everywhere.”

“Of course. Hunter Juhyeok’s side set everything up so you couldn’t back out.”

As evidenced by the fact that the Association had already caught wind of the bet and approached directly, Bluebird had leaked the information beforehand.

It seemed to mean they were putting quite a bit of effort into this bet.

‘Anyone would feel the same way if they could get an A-rank for cheap.’

You could call it a thief’s mentality, but from a corporation’s standpoint, it’s natural to pursue profits.

Whatever methods they use, I don’t feel any particular emotion about that aspect.

“So do you really think you’ll win?”

“I sometimes pick fights I’ll lose, but today isn’t one of those days.”

“Haha! Good.”

Park Hanseong Hunter laughed heartily, finding something quite amusing.

From his perspective, it must seem quite entertaining to see the Rookie Hunter causing all sorts of incidents everywhere.

“The opponent will arrive soon, so go down first and warm up.”

“Yes, understood.”

Juhyeok was about to head down first.

Just as Juhyeok was about to go down through the staircase, the door he had just entered through opened.

What appeared beyond that door was Bluebird’s scout and the security guard he had subdued.

And…

“What, are they all spectators?”

A muscular bald man wearing pitch-black sunglasses.

Juhyeok had learned all the conversational English during his Academy days, so he could roughly understand what the man was saying.

“I should have brought my wife and daughter too.”

“What daughter would want to watch her father fighting and brawling?”

“I wanted to show off a cool side of myself for once.”

The group chatted among themselves before spotting the Association President.

The Bluebird scout approached the Association President first and politely greeted him in Korean.

“Good day, thank you for letting us use the sparring hall today.”

“Not at all. Since we made the proposal first, we should be thanking you for accepting it.”

It was quite a different attitude from how he treated Juhyeok.

Watching this scene from behind, Hyeonsu frowned.

It was perfectly understandable, since Juhyeok was so polite that he wondered if this was really the same person he had seen last time.

“I hope we can finish today without any injuries.”

“Yes, I’ll make sure to tell Kieran as well.”

With those words, the Scout gestured toward Kieran with his eyes.

Then Kieran also smiled and greeted the Association President.

Indeed, even if they were troublemakers elsewhere, they showed quite a bit of courtesy to a country’s Hunter Association President.

‘So I was acting so recklessly toward such an important person.’

His past behavior became all the more remarkable in hindsight.

Seeing him like this again, when he had seemed just like a neighborhood grandfather, made him reflect on how he had casually barged into the Association President’s Office.

“So, where is the opponent?”

Kieran glanced around the area.

Juhyeok walked up to him first and offered a greeting.

“Nice to meet you. I’m F-rank Hunter Jung Juhyeok.”

“Oh, nice to meet you.”

Upon seeing his face, Kieran offered a handshake with a bright smile.

They clasped hands and shook them lightly, following the natural flow.

“I’m S-rank Hunter Kieran Green.”

“Please take care of me.”

So they really brought an S-rank.

However they managed to bring such precious personnel, this was truly Bluebird.

To bring even an S-rank just to recruit one promising talent – it showed they were a group with both exceptional execution power and manpower.

Kieran lowered his hand from the handshake and came closer, asking in a small voice.

“Just asking in case, but you don’t have any thoughts of making a contract through normal methods even now?”

“Haha…”

The consideration of revealing that he was S-rank, then lowering his voice so others couldn’t hear when asking questions.

From his position, he had shown a way of respecting his opponent in his own manner.

“If it’s now, I could speak well on your behalf and help you go through the proper procedures again…”

The story he was telling, thinking it was consideration in his own way.

Of course, if a veteran S-rank fought against an F-rank irregular who was somewhere between ordinary A-rank and S-rank, the result was obvious without even watching.

From that person’s perspective, he was probably saying that because he judged it to be a match he would win without even watching.

‘I don’t like it.’

However, from Jung Juhyeok’s perspective, his gaze was very displeasing.

The look in the eyes of humans who firmly believed they would win.

The considerate attitude that could be shown because of that belief.

His lips pursed at that arrogant appearance of already predicting himself as the victor.

‘Kieran Green, I’ve heard of him too.’

He had checked all the personal information of S-ranks within Bluebird.

He was an S-rank Vanguard Hunter who had been continuing hunter activities for over 10 years already.

Probably in terms of actual combat, he would have conducted an incomparably greater number of strategies than himself.

‘But in terms of practice amount, I won’t lose either.’

Kieran Green, who was positioned in the middle-lower tier even among S-ranks.

He was one of the ‘hunters worth trying against’ that he had envisioned.

‘It would be easier to understand if my mana came out as numbers.’

Jung Juhyeok, who had special strength unlike other hunters whose strength was mostly determined by mana amount.

Because of this, he could only make rough guesses, and it was difficult to say he could definitely beat someone.

“I’ll go down first.”

That meant it would be difficult for him to admit defeat.

Jung Juhyeok would do his best as he always had and show the results.

“…Understood.”

With those words, Jung Juhyeok was the first to head down to the sparring hall.

After he disappeared, Park Hanseong Hunter, who had been quietly watching the two from behind, stood up from his seat and greeted Kieran.

“Nice to meet you. I’m S-rank Hunter Park Hanseong.”

“Ah, nice to meet you. I’m Kieran, also S-rank.”

The two exchanged a light handshake.

Park Hanseong looked at Jung Juhyeok beyond the window and said.

“You can’t sense anything from that friend, right?”

“…Yes, he really is F-rank.”

He had heard he was called an F-rank Irregular, but seeing him in person was even more surprising.

Mana that shone even more faintly than an ordinary person’s.

Judging from the calluses felt on his hands, he must have become the talent that Bluebird coveted through blood-shedding, bone-grinding effort.

However, that was all there was to it.

How well could an F-rank Irregular with barely any mana really fight?

Even now, he heard that Jung Juhyeok exceptionally entered A-rank Gates, but no matter how he thought about it, he didn’t feel like he would lose.

“Please… no, that’s not right.”

“Pardon?”

He briefly started to say something but stopped mid-sentence.

Park Hanseong thought for a moment, then smiled lightly and continued.

“Please just make sure he doesn’t get hurt too badly.”

“Haha… Understood.”

Kieran laughed awkwardly and headed down to prepare for the sparring match.

The Scout was about to sit in an empty seat when he received a phone call from somewhere and briefly stepped outside the spectator seats.

In that moment when only the people gathered to cheer for Juhyeok remained.

In the quiet atmosphere, the Association President asked Hunter Park Hanseong.

“Do you think Juhyeok will lose?”

“Pardon?”

“From the way you’re talking, it seems like you’re expecting Juhyeok to lose, so I’m asking.”

Beyond the sparring hall, Juhyeok was warming up his body.

Park Hanseong, noticing where the Association President’s gaze was directed, also looked in that direction and answered.

“…It would be difficult.”

No matter how much he had handled an A-rank Gate alone, that level was just basic among basics for an S-rank Hunter.

Could Juhyeok, an F-rank Hunter, really defeat an S-rank Hunter?

Everyone would have doubts about that point.

“Still, Hunter Juhyeok has always shown an unbelievable growth rate.”

Nevertheless, a small sense of anticipation was blooming within Park Hanseong.

“Perhaps he’ll show us something different this time too?”

Juhyeok, who always showed unexpected sides.

Having expectations for such a Juhyeok in this absurd sparring match was now a familiar thing.

Moreover, the Jung Juhyeok Hunter he knew wasn’t the type of person to engage in fights he might lose in the first place.

Even if he were to lose, he expected that Juhyeok wouldn’t go down easily.

“For someone with such thoughts, you sounded like you were asking him to go easy.”

“This should at least help Hunter Juhyeok somehow.”

“….”

The Association President paused for a moment and glanced at Hunter Park Hanseong.

The Association President soon began to chuckle heartily.

“Hehe, how cowardly.”

“Where is there cowardly or not in the Hunter world?”

A profession where you must risk your life every time you enter a Gate.

To win against monsters, you had to know how to use even cowardly methods without hesitation.

“If he falls for that, then that person is only at that level anyway.”

“That’s also true.”

The two laughed cheerfully while watching the sparring hall.

“What on earth are you talking about…?”

“Exactly.”

Except for the two who seemed to understand each other, the rest of the people were just bewildered.

*

“Shall we start soon?”

“Let’s do that.”

The two standing in the sparring hall.

Without a referee, the two stood on the wide dirt floor with about twenty paces between them.

“I’ll yield the first strike.”

Kieran showed a quite relaxed attitude with his wooden sword resting on his shoulder.

He confidently yielded the first strike to the newcomer.

“I won’t decline.”

With those words, Jung Juhyeok took his stance.

His form was impressive, clearly created through tremendous training as evidenced by the calluses felt when shaking hands.

‘Still, I don’t feel any intimidating presence.’

Since he was called an Irregular, I thought he might have a somewhat differentiated approach from other Hunters.

But his stance is too orthodox, so I’m not particularly excited.

Thud―!

Light footstep sounds.

His charging form is agile and definitely seems to be at A-rank level, but if you ask whether it’s beyond that, one would tilt their head in doubt.

‘How disappointing.’

He had made up his mind to just do his best while ending things in a way that wouldn’t cause too much injury.

While Jung Juhyeok was charging forward like that for a while, his footwork got tangled midway and his speed slowed down.

‘Is he nervous?’

His speed decreased noticeably.

His precarious posture continued as if he might fall, and then his foot that was rolling on the ground.

Thump―!

Stomps the ground forcefully.

After that, Jung Juhyeok used his tangled posture to his advantage, immediately spinning sideways once and swiftly charging toward Kieran.

“What the hell….”

A warning to the tension that had loosened.

It was too sudden.

Kieran quickly raised his sword with instinct carved into his body to block the attack coming from the side.

Clack―!

Wooden sword clashes against wooden sword.

The force felt there was strength that couldn’t be felt from a mere F-rank.

His wrist tingled, whether from hastily blocking or because of the opponent’s pure strength.

With a bewildered heart, he pushed Jung Juhyeok away along with the wooden sword, and finally the distance between them widened.

“Ha, that was quite difficult.”

Jung Juhyeok clicked his tongue, showing his disappointment.

The clumsy appearance he had shown just moments ago vanished without a trace, and he displayed the eyes of a predator.

It was as if he had transformed into a completely different person.

At this, Kieran felt goosebumps rise all over him for the first time in a while.

“Going again.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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