How to Live as a Fencing Genius Hunter - Chapter 25

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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How a Fencing Prodigy Lives as a Hunter
Chapter 25
Demon Slayer (3)
A team meeting was underway at the Demonic Realm Branch of Sambyeol Guild.
From Choi Jong-hyeok of Hunting Team 1 to a dozen or so junior team leaders—a dozen-odd Awakeners gathered around a long table, and support team leaders from the Finance Team, Medical Team, Legal Team, and others had all arrived.
“The Branch Director is entering.”
“What’s all this? Sit down, sit down.”
With the Branch Director finally arriving, all meeting participants were assembled.
The Branch Director was a C-rank Hunter with a kind but weary expression.
As a rare Healing-type Awakener, he received treatment befitting his rank at any guild; he was also a founding contributor from the early days of the catastrophe, once a party member of a half-legendary, half-human group.

“So it seems Team Leader Choi got everyone here? The fact that I wasn’t called in tells me something.”
To offer even light mockery to A-rank Earth Mage Choi Jong-hyeok, one would need some standing.
“They were simply those with more debts to repay in life than sins grave enough to warrant death.”
Of course, Choi Jong-hyeok replied without the slightest movement, steady as the stone he wielded.
“Let’s stop with the wordplay.”
The Branch Director gave a rueful smile and turned to Yeo Baek, Team Leader 2.
“Everyone performed admirably. Jung Jae-ha goes without saying, but Lee Hae-il, Jung Ho-min—they were all solidly competent on average.”
Yeo Baek reported in an excited tone.
“It looks like each team can take on one or two Awakeners as recruits.”
Cheers and whistles erupted from all around.
“Finally! At last! It’s about time!”
“So I don’t have to charge in solo anymore?”
“We’re getting quantitative growth here!”
Team Leader 3 smiled contentedly and added his voice.
“For those new recruits you mentioned, I think we should accelerate various support provisions. Isn’t getting them adapted early the priority?”
“Right. Let’s get them Bulletproof Vests quickly, and handle housing allowances fast. Is that possible?”
The Branch Director nodded, and the Finance Team Leader checked his tablet.
“We’re short on people, not money. We have plenty of Awakener gear and equipment stock. Let’s do it!”
Another whistle broke out.
Yeo Baek opened his mouth as if remembering something.
“Finance Team Leader. Come to think of it, Hunter Jung Jae-ha signed a top recruit contract with no probation period, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then we should count that C-rank Demon she caught today as a Kill Count and give her the bonus.”
Exclamations came from various corners.
“A Demon Slayer from day one?”
“So that thing about catching an Amber Weird Dragon in the tutorial was real?”
The Finance Team Leader’s eyebrow twitched.
“That… money’s no problem, but honestly, today is too soon. The database registration isn’t even complete yet.”
Yeo Baek inwardly clicked his tongue at that support team’s characteristic bureaucratic convenience.
‘Just wire it to the KakaoTalk account. How long have we been a major corporation, and we’re sweating the small stuff?’
But it wasn’t that he was refusing outright, merely that it would take a little time—hardly something to complain about.
“Isn’t the Demon Slayer bonus supposed to be settled same-day as standard?”
That’s when support fire came from a completely unexpected direction.
“Good deeds, however small, must be done; wrongdoing, however small, must not be done. If you signed a contract on those terms, that’s what you pay.”
Choi Jong-hyeok looked at the Finance Team Leader with the expression of a stone statue.
“Isn’t that what a contract is?”
“R-right. We’ll do it that way.”
The Finance Team Leader nodded with the urgency of someone ready to wire it from his own account.
‘What an unusual turn.’
Yeo Baek let out an inward exclamation of surprise.
Indeed, Choi Jong-hyeok must have been certain after witnessing that spectacle today.
Jung Jae-ha would surely take the lead in Sambyeol devouring Demonic Realm Gates.
‘It’s almost a shame we met her as a Reformation-type.’
He genuinely wanted to bring her onto his team.
‘If I trap her or wound her with Telekinesis, and she just goes there and—boom!—most demons would be done in one hit, wouldn’t they?’
Their compatibility was already quite good, as it happened.
“Then let’s move on to distribution.”
Yeo Baek pressed forward with almost frantic speed.
‘That Team Leader Choi will refuse, anyway.’
Yeo Baek harbored no anxiety about being stripped of his position by Team Leader Choi Jong-hyeok.
‘He didn’t arrive and torment people for the sake of it—he’d just kill them if they caused trouble in his team or elsewhere. That was the issue, not that he enjoyed cruelty.’
It bothered him slightly that Choi Jong-hyeok had done something he normally wouldn’t, though he’d always despised Reformation-type hunters anyway.
‘Besides, he wasn’t someone anyone needed.’
Moreover, Hunting Team 1 was already overkill with Team Leader Choi Jong-hyeok alone.
“Team Leader Choi, is there perhaps a new recruit you’d like to take with you?”
So Yeo Baek’s question was purely ceremonial.
“Jung Jae-ha and Lee Hae-il—I’d appreciate it if you gave me those two.”
“I said there aren’t… what? No. Wait?”
He hadn’t expected Team Leader Choi Jong-hyeok to ask for new recruits at all.
……
Silence descended over the conference room.
‘Why? Why in the world?! Is that why he looked after them?’
Yeo Baek felt an urge to scream.
“Team Leader Choi.”
Even the Branch Director’s eyes grew guarded.
“Until now, it seemed you never took on new recruits—you rejected Natural Awakeners, Artificial Awakeners, and Reformation-types all the same, didn’t you?”
“That’s true.”
Choi Jong-hyeok answered slowly.
“But after listening to the other team leaders this morning, I realized I should understand how to work alongside Awakener team members.”
“Does it have to be Hunter Jung Jae-ha specifically?”
“She was very different from me.”
“I see—hearing Team Leader 2 explain it, that does seem to be the case…”
“That’s precisely why I want to see more.”
“More of what, exactly?”
The atmosphere in the conference room shifted toward something funereal.
“Whether she has the skill to prevent misfortune from becoming tragedy.”
Team Leader Choi Jong-hyeok spoke slowly, like the rumble of a great boulder.
“Is that so?”
In that instant, the Branch Director’s gaze narrowed.
No one else saw it.
‘It’s over.’
Yeo Baek exhaled silently within.
Choi Jong-hyeok’s will was absolute.
He was an A-rank hunter and leader of Hunting Team 1, and he had always made concessions regarding team composition.
In an age so laden with misfortune, he could speak of having endured greater tragedy than anyone else.
“For teams with Awakener members, maintain an atmosphere free from territorial bias, and for teams without Awakeners, position yourselves carefully between your Reformation-type and non-Awakener members.”
She proceeded with the announcement, her spirit visibly depleted.
“We’re consolidating nationwide reports of disputes arising between Reformation-type hunters and N-rank hunters.”
“That’s correct. Several incidents have occurred in the Demonic Realm Branch as well.”
“It’s unavoidable, really. N-rank hunters weren’t originally doing this kind of work, were they?”
Once a new topic surfaced, the team leaders engaged more actively again.
“They were all ordinary office workers before becoming refugees after the incident, and now they’re doing this—but Reformation-types are all criminal-origin, after all. Friction is bound to develop emotionally.”
“Hazing we can overlook, but when it results in deaths, the problem becomes far too serious.”
It was indeed a pressing issue in the hunter industry at present.
“First, prevent the practice of attaching sensors to firearms and shooting someone in the back of the head… as for other hazings, team leaders should handle as you see fit… we’ll revisit this the day after tomorrow…”
And like all pressing issues in the hunter industry, there was still no definitive answer.
Things simply creaked along on improvisation.
* * *
The team leader meeting adjourned.
“Everyone head back carefully, and Team Leader Choi—come talk with me for a moment?”
“Of course.”
From Hunting Team 2 Leader Yeo Baek down to the double-digit junior team leaders, all the hunting team leaders descended to their floors and prepared to leave.
Once even the Finance Team Leader—whose mouth had grown loose from a small amount of overtime—returned to his own level, only Team Leader Choi and the Branch Director remained in that vast conference room.
“Team Leader Choi—no, Jong-hyeok.”
The Branch Director called him by his given name with a knowing smile.
It carried the weathered instinct of a hunter who had watched Choi Jong-hyeok since Sambyeol was merely one of Seoul’s survivor communities.
“What more do you have to say that requires you to use my name?”
Choi Jong-hyeok raised his eyebrows theatrically, as though exhausted already.
“Are you planning to try again?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“An executive promotion.”
……
“I still think you’re holding back something, you know. Don’t you? You’re a hundred times better than that punk.”
“Everyone carries a burden they must bear their whole lives.”
But at the words that followed, even Choi Jong-hyeok’s face hardened with genuine resolve.
“The team members don’t care about gangsters or anything else—they just like whoever puts more money in their pockets. What am I supposed to do about that?”
A memory of betrayal flickered across his ink-wash eyes like a rough brushstroke.
“Are you giving me the cold shoulder too?”
“I’ll get up now.”
“You recruited two of those kids who refused the money and went to prison anyway.”
……
“Hong Si-yu sent this to you.”
“Is it acceptable to use a retired Hunter Association executive as a company spy?”
The Branch Director brought up a resume on his tablet.
“Hong Si-yu? She never actually resigned. We’ve got her embedded there to coordinate with the government on various matters.”
Jung Jae-ha recalled the detailed case files that Hong Si-yu had obtained from the Ministry of Justice.
After exposing the match-fixing scandal, Jung Jae-ha had once received a negotiation offer from someone connected to the Hunter Association.
Cleanly laundered coins worth billions and an executive position that guaranteed a salary in the hundreds of millions just for having her name on the roster.
But Jung Jae-ha had refused without hesitating for even a second.
Lee Hae-il had likewise been offered substantial cash in exchange for cooperating with money laundering for the Scorpion Gang, but she too had refused.
“Trust me one more time.”
The Branch Director smiled sadly.
“You’re the kind of person who can do it.”
“I’ll get up.”
“Clean out the Demonic Realm, then go to Headquarters with these people.”
……
Choi Jong-hyeok let out a deep sigh and got to his feet.
“That’s what you want to do anyway.”
He didn’t shake his head in refusal all the way through.
* * *
My first day as a hunter had passed.
It was more surprising than I’d expected and more fun than I’d thought it would be.
I never imagined I’d get the chance to perform at this level on my very first day.
After all, I really should have known how to showcase what I’m truly good at.
And when I thought about it, those non-Awakener hunters back there had every right to look so rough around the edges.
In the end, being a hunter is just like sports or athletics.
The people doing commercials, earning executive titles, and appearing on variety shows were always the top 0.001%, the apex of the rankings.
If you could at least make a living from your specialty, that was success; otherwise, you just became an adult with a nice physique.
Wasn’t it common for failed athletes to end up going down a darker path?
With those thoughts, I returned to Lee Hae-il’s place.

“I’m dying—it’s so hot and I’m so sleepy and hungry.”
“I’m completely wrecked.”
“Right now I’m absolutely drenched in sweat.”
We both flopped into chairs without any sense of ceremony.
“Let’s shower and grab dinner right after. Should I order delivery?”
“Yes, please. Something delicious, if you would.”
“What counts as delicious?”
“Just order whatever you think, please.”
While Lee Hae-il was showering, I cleaned up the place more and placed a delivery order.
“For crying out loud!”
Let me correct that.
I tried to place a delivery order.
I was told it would be easy, but why was it so difficult?
I nearly threw my phone several times while downloading the delivery app and registering my card.
“Just use mine. I’ve set it up for automatic payment, so you won’t need a password.”
“Thanks.”
“Why do you become useless around machines when you’re good at everything else?”
“No idea.”
Lee Hae-il finally emerged from the shower wrapped in a towel, handed me her smartphone with all the registration complete, and disappeared back inside.
“You should wash up too.”
A moment later, Lee Hae-il came out toweling her hair dry.
“Oh, take that off here. We’ll have to throw the whole thing away.”
“Yeah.”
“This is going to happen a lot, isn’t it? Starting tomorrow, I should just wear a t-shirt and dolphin shorts.”
“Those kinds of clothes exist?”
“Image matters, but you can’t let it consume you.”
With her help, I tore off the Tactical Combat Uniform that clung to my body.
My body had healed thanks to the Regeneration that came with Body Enhancement, but the uniform was completely charred—unwearable now.
Buying new ones every day wouldn’t be cheap, so I was grateful the guild was providing replacements.
……
Lee Hae-il stared at my body.
“What?”
“It’s frustrating, somehow.”
“What is?”
“I’m supposed to be a Body Enhancement user too, but I don’t understand why there’s such a gap in physique.”
“You’re toned already. Keep hunting a little longer and you’ll have better physical conditioning than Jung Ho-min.”
“Easy for you to say when your back muscles are split down to the latissimus dorsi.”
I stepped into the bathroom and stood before the large mirror.
The burns from earlier left no trace of scarring now.
If it weren’t for the color difference between the new skin and the old, no one would believe I’d been injured at all.
This had to be more than just ordinary regeneration—this was bordering on Super Regeneration.
When I came out, Lee Hae-il had already received a delivery order.
“What did you order?”
“Galbi-tang, extra large.”
“What?! Didn’t I say I wanted something delicious?”
“I was torn between spicy braised pork and soybean paste stew, but after sweating this much, I figured a hearty broth would be better.”
“No! When a girl says she wants something tasty, you’re supposed to order cheese fountain rice cakes or spicy marinated beef slices, aren’t you?”
“Cheese what?”
She wore a stunned expression before letting out a small sigh.
“I should’ve realized you don’t have a delivery app.”
“If you don’t like it, don’t eat. I’ll have both bowls.”
“I’m hungry anyway, so I’ll make do.”
We lifted the lids and each took a spoon.
“This—why is this so good?”
Lee Hae-il’s eyes went wide after just one bite.
“It’s decent, isn’t it?”
“You ordered so well.”
Her spoon moved as fast as I could swing a blade.
It was absurd.
We emptied one bowl of galbi-tang in what felt like seconds.
“Are you full now?”
“Not at all.”
“I should order more.”
Yet somehow I felt hungrier than before we’d eaten.
At first I thought I’d simply been starving today.
But after downing wrapped pork, buckwheat noodles, that cheese fountain thing, and chicken on top of everything else, I became convinced something was seriously wrong.
“I think it’s because you ranked up.”
“What do you mean?”
“Body Enhancement doesn’t mean you suddenly control inner energy—it means your muscles and bones themselves have changed to exert greater force.”
“So it’s like I’m bulking up incredibly fast?”
“Yeah. On the day you rank up or when you hunt a lot of Demonic Beasts, you can get extremely hungry, they say.”
“I think I heard something about body weight at the training center.”
Lee Hae-il searched something on her smartphone and explained it to me.
Fortunately, it didn’t seem like anything was wrong with our bodies.
In fact, I felt full of energy.
Everything I’d just eaten was being broken down bit by bit and flowing into my bones and muscles.
The only problem was that eating like this would bankrupt me.
“I’ll have to buy Protein Supplements tomorrow.”
Lee Hae-il had some money, but accepting a meal after being given shelter and a place to sleep felt ungracious.
The hunger was sated now; I should be content with that.
Ding.
Just as I was thinking this, a notification arrived from the bank app.
[Deposit: Kill Count Bonus]
[Deposit: Employee Housing Support]
A text message came through as well.
[This is the Finance Team of Sambyeol Guild’s Demonic Realm Branch. We have deposited the Kill Count Bonus for the C-rank Flame Demon you hunted today, along with this month’s housing support. We look forward to your continued service.]
I read through the Kill Count Bonus, counting the zeros, and my eyes went wide.
Even if I called it a monthly salary instead of a bonus, it was a substantial amount.
“Hae-il.”
“Yes?”
“Want to go out and grab some meat? I noticed the restaurants stay open late around here. You’re not too tired after washing up?”
“You only had 300 won left, didn’t you? You should save it.”
“I just got a bit more.”
“You did?”
I showed her the deposit notification.
Lee Hae-il’s eyes went wide as saucers.
“I like beef.”
She grinned and threw on her jacket.
We lingered through a long meal, receiving the owner’s service multiple times over, then headed back.
We stopped at a warehouse-style mart and picked up a High-capacity Scale, Protein Supplement, and two bottles of Calcium Supplement.
If my muscle and bone structure had changed during the Rank Up process and my weight had increased, I thought I could reverse-engineer that growth through my weight.
So how much had it increased?

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