I Became a Mythical Hunter After Killing the Golden Goblin - Chapter 30

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

Chapter 30. Facing My Enemy
Just as South Korea has five major guilds, there exist three massive conglomerates. Considering that three of the five major guilds are owned by them, their power transcends imagination.
The Seohwa Group, Seo Mi-na’s family enterprise, earned its reputation as the most formidable and prestigious corporation, ranking second and owning the Seohwa Guild.
The Sungyun Group, weakest among the three conglomerates yet possessing staggering capital, is the true owner of the fifth-ranked Sungyun Guild.
The Changsung Group is a legitimate megacorporation owning the third-ranked Changsung Guild.
And standing before me now, wearing that repugnant smile and feigning warmth, was one of my parents’ killers and the chairman of the Changsung Group.
Among those called the three great conglomerates, he and the Sungyun Group were responsible for my parents’ deaths—a despicable wretch who had blackmailed them with their weaknesses while they lived, who had envied their talents and systematically oppressed them through guild resources, causing them endless suffering with his selfish, contemptible nature.
Even now, the words that old man had spoken to my parents burned vividly in my mind.
“Hehehehe, you should greet an old man when you see him. Where did you learn your manners? Growing up without parents is no excuse—you should at least know basic courtesy!”
This repugnant, contemptible old man, Lee Seo-yong, hurled insults the moment we met, scratching at my nerves with his vile manner of speaking. I felt my already contorted face twist further.
“Hehehehe. Tell me, Shin Ju-ha, do you still believe your parents’ fate was my fault and theirs? You’re mistaken. They chose death themselves and were banished to the Abyss. They abandoned their two children and fled reality! So why don’t you forget everything now…!”
“…Is that all you wanted to say? I find this conversation repulsive, so I’ll take my leave.”
I had no desire to exchange further words with him. I cut off Chairman Lee Seo-yong’s words, bowed slightly, and turned to leave.
“You insolent brat! How dare you interrupt the Chairman!”
A man grabbed my shoulder roughly, blocking my path. Dressed in a neat suit and polished shoes, he looked more like an associate than a bodyguard. Watching him glare at me, I let out a deep sigh.
“Is this why you were waiting for me? To gauge my strength? Why? Are you afraid? Afraid I’ve grown strong enough to tear out your throats?”
“Hehehehe. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Are you saying I, Lee Seo-yong, would personally wait for a brat like you? Just to test your power? I’d like to stop my grandson, but he’s so hot-blooded and hates being disrespected. Especially when our group is disrespected—he becomes absolutely furious.”
Lee Seo-yong smiled thinly, his sharp, serpentine eyes boring into me.
“Ji-yong, you’re a C-rank Hunter, so go easy on him. I apologize, Shin Ju-ha. I lack the power to restrain my grandson. As you can see, I’m just a powerless old man.”
Powerless? That’s nonsense. A chairman of a megacorporation owning guilds would have certainly awakened. At minimum, he’d have consumed essence potions like water to achieve awakening and secretly cultivated his strength.
Faced with Chairman Lee Seo-yong’s transparent deception, I sighed and grimaced at the grip strength I felt from the hand on my shoulder.
‘Damn it.’
My opponent is a C-rank Hunter. Considering I barely defeated an E-rank Hunter…this was an opponent I absolutely could not beat. A change in letter grade meant a fundamental difference in caliber.
Though I defeated an E-rank with two mythic-tier stats, the Boss was a prime example of “stat inflation”—he’d raised his stats purely through massive wealth and essence potions without developing actual skill, so he couldn’t be called a true E-rank.
But this opponent is a direct heir of the owner family backed by Changsung’s full support, a genuine powerhouse walking the elite path of promising prospect—rising star—ranker.
“Understood, Grandfather. Listen here, brat. Just three attacks. Block three attacks, and I’ll acknowledge the disrespect and rudeness you’ve shown our grandfather.”
“Threatening an [F-] rank Hunter while acting gentlemanly.”
“Block them. If you don’t, don’t expect to crawl out of here in one piece!”
Bad luck was clearly involved in this unfortunate situation. As expected, this encounter was merely another whim of that cursed entity.
〚Misfortune, unable to fully recover its strength, curses you in its weakened state!〛
However, as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining.
〚Fortune, fully recovered, awakens from slumber and stretches!〛
Just then, Fortune awakened from its sleep, and its blessing descended upon me. The moment I saw the blue flames blooming from Lee Ji-yong’s right fist, I had to reconsider.
‘So he can manipulate fire attributes.’
This changes everything. With my mythic-tier stat The Sun, I possess absolute immunity to all fire-related damage.
That means even if I take that punch, I’ll suffer no fire damage, and I only need to redirect his force somehow.
In other words, I now have the advantage.
‘Then I’ll turn this around and land a blow on them instead.’
Normally, I would have desperately struggled to survive and been drawn into the flow Chairman Lee Seo-yong desired, but now I could make the board move in my direction.
“Here comes the first attack. Let’s see if you can block it!!”
The moment his words ended, the air burst with a sharp crack as a fist hurtled toward me at tremendous speed. The gap in our abilities made it impossible to rely on my Infinite Stats’ prediction ability.
However, his attack came so straightforwardly toward my chest that I reacted on pure instinct.
‘Blocking the attack is impossible!’
The difference in power made defense futile. You couldn’t stop a cannon with a bulletproof vest, could you?
‘Then I’ll deflect it.’
I subtly twisted the incoming fist to the right, changing the point of impact.
Thwack!
“Ugh! Th-cough!”
A failure—or rather, a half-success. I had altered the impact point. I’d redirected the attack from my chest, which could have been fatal, to my side instead.
But I hadn’t managed to deflect it completely. My Infinite Stats weren’t yet refined enough to execute the deflection technique perfectly.
Groaning in pain, I exaggerated my collapse to the ground, raising my hand where everyone could see it to signal surrender.
“You think you can give up now? Too late! You must pay the price for your disrespect to Grandfather! Get up!”
“Ugh!”
“Besides, you got lucky—you didn’t even take the full force! I was aiming for your chest, but you staggered and took it on your side instead? But my flames are powerful. Without treatment, even low-grade healing won’t be enough.”
I’m sorry, but I hadn’t suffered any burns at all. In fact, when his flames touched my body, my mind awakened and I felt invigorated. It was as if the power of fire itself had been transmitted to me.
I continued my act of pain, wobbling as I stood and positioned myself before him like a punching bag.
“Ugh.”
“One hit was supposed to be the end, but luck—or misfortune—made it two. This time, such tricks won’t work!”
Perhaps blessed by fortune, Lee Ji-yong believed I’d been lucky enough to dodge rather than skillfully deflected his attack. Suppressing my pain, I focused once more.
‘Not yet.’
Boom!
Once again, the air burst as the cannon fired. This time, his target was my chest—specifically my left chest where the heart lay.
‘Twist!’
I brought my right hand to the side of his incoming right fist and twisted my body to the left. My right hand, receiving the rotational and muscular force, pushed the projectile away, deflecting his attack.
Crash!
“Ugh! Aaargh!”
Yet again, only a half-success. I’d altered the trajectory of the projectile, but the price was his fist embedding itself in my left arm, fracturing it.
But it was undeniable that I’d deflected it at a much steeper angle than the first time.
While I’d minimized the damage compared to the first attack, my acting portrayed the pain as several times worse.
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Considering this was the Association Lobby, many eyes must have gathered by now. It was time for the grand finale.
“Ho-oh. You managed to deflect my fist in that brief moment? Yes, this is the skill befitting the top student of this year’s class. But now it ends.”
Lee Ji-yong’s fist began charging again, wreathed in flames. I bit down on a buff potion, stood up, and positioned myself before him once more.
Boom!
As the air burst and his fist hurtled toward me—
Whoosh!
I dropped my pained expression for an instant and flashed him a bloody smile.
“What?”
Right before my chest, I created a small bomb using The Sun. And just as his fist was about to make contact—
Kaboom!!!
I detonated it. In the dust of the massive explosion, I quickly used The Sun to create fake burn marks across my entire body, then threw myself backward, acting as though I’d been sent flying by the tremendous blast.
Crash!
I flew through the air and slammed into an Association pillar before crashing to the ground, spewing a torrent of blood from my mouth as my body trembled violently before going limp, feigning death.
My entire body was flushed red, my clothes torn to shreds and smoldering, barely covering the vital areas, and blood dripped from my lips.
It was a carefully orchestrated display of devastation.
“Wh…what?”
Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, Lee Ji-yong stared blankly between his fist and me, while people around us raised their phones, and a reporter lurking in the distance began frantically snapping photographs.
‘Tricks aren’t exclusive to you. You intended to bury this incident under the guise of educating me for disrespecting your grandfather, but if I’m rushed to the Hospital in critical condition, barely clinging to life…!’
The news would spread far and wide—that Shin Sung, a C-rank Hunter, had beaten an F-rank Hunter to the brink of death in the Association Lobby simply because he’d rubbed him the wrong way.
To achieve this, I’d deliberately suppressed my power and refrained from using The Sun’s mana, performing as merely a promising prospect. With each strike, I’d exaggerated my suffering, dismantling their justification piece by piece.
Of course, these men were apex predators at the pinnacle of the power hierarchy. They had the means to bury this incident entirely.
So the final puzzle piece needed to complete the picture I envisioned.
With my senses heightened by the buff potion, I felt the presence of two people ascending urgently from below, their footsteps echoing. I completely relaxed my body and let out pained groans from the ache in my arms and ribs.
‘You… said you were sorry to me, didn’t you? Then let me see if you’ll land a blow on that bastard for my sake.’
If you do, I’ll consider your proposal.
With that thought, I closed my eyes, watching Park Seo-ha rush toward me in panic and the Association Chairman’s face harden with fury.
***
“Hehehehe! So the tiger’s cub is indeed a tiger’s cub. Or did you make a mistake, Ji-yong?”
“No, sir. My final attack clearly… didn’t even touch him. That was his doing. I never imagined he’d possess fire attribute mana.”
“Hehehehe. How troublesome, how very troublesome. This wasn’t supposed to go this way. So what’s your assessment of that boy’s level?”
Lee Ji-yong felt the gazes upon him, suppressed his surging mana, and opened his mouth.
“His combat ability is precisely that of a promising prospect—nothing more, nothing less. If anything, he seems to be on the lower end among promising prospects. Perhaps he could reach the level of Shin Sung, but… I don’t believe he’ll ever reach Ranker status.”
“Even accounting for his sharp mind, Ranker is impossible… Very well. It seems we’ve obtained everything we needed today. All that remains is to clean up this troublesome mess.”
The elderly man, Lee Seo-yong, clicked his tongue inwardly as he watched the Association Chairman approach with an angry expression.
‘Tsk tsk, I’ve shown a crack to that meticulous and cunning fellow. He would’ve been better off bowing his head to me, but what’s done is done. I suppose I am getting old. Still, compared to what I’ve gained, this is acceptable.’
His assessment was complete—regarding the potential of the fallen hero’s son, whom he’d personally destroyed, and whether that potential could one day threaten his own life.
‘I came here after hearing he was meeting the Association Chairman in secret, but seeing his expression, that plan seems to have fallen through.’
He had many eyes throughout this Association, and their intelligence had brought him here in haste. He’d been concerned that the Association Chairman was plotting something using Shin Ju-ha.
Of course, in his mind, those two would never join hands. How could one work alongside someone who had stood by and aided in his parents’ deaths?
Lee Seo-yong had come merely to block even the smallest possibility, to verify the situation. And incidentally, to assess Shin Ju-ha’s abilities as well.
‘Instructing the Guild to continuously gather intelligence should be sufficient.’
There was no reason for concern—such was the judgment Lee Seo-yong had reached, and it was also the ending Shin Ju-ha had desired.
“What is the meaning of this? In my Association! In front of all these people! Beating someone to the brink of death like this! And a C-rank Hunter doing it to an F-rank Hunter!”
“Hehehehe! My apologies, Association Chairman. My grandson couldn’t bear the disrespect toward me. Let’s get him to the Hospital first, then we can discuss this upstairs.”
“…There will need to be appropriate compensation and an explanation.”
And so Shin Ju-ha was hastily transported to the Hospital, while the Association Chairman and Lee Seo-yong disappeared, allowing this incident to reach its conclusion.

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