I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 196

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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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#Chapter 196
I observed the men pointing their weapons directly at me.
“Why aren’t you saying anything!”
The situation was so unexpected that I couldn’t comprehend it at first, but watching them brandish their weapons threateningly made it clear soon enough.
“So… you’re bandits?”
“Seems like it, boss.”
Cho Cheon-woong and Maria looked toward me.
Their eyes posed the silent question: ‘How should we handle this?’
I gave them a simple command.
“Keep them alive—at least long enough to ask some questions.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Understood.”
The moment my order fell, they kicked off the ground and rushed toward the enemies.
The bandits, seeing Cho Cheon-woong and Maria charging toward them, hastily took defensive stances.
But it was a meaningless effort.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
Crack!
“Argh!”
With each attack from Cho Cheon-woong and Maria, another bandit went down.
Even though they were holding back, using only their fists and striking with restraint to avoid lethal blows.
I watched the scene unfold with a peculiar expression.
‘What in the world were they counting on to attempt robbery?’
It was a thought I’d had from the moment I first saw the bandits blocking our path.
None of them looked particularly strong at all.
What was especially puzzling was that they’d clearly witnessed us moving at tremendous speeds while mounted on our summoned creatures, yet they still chose to block our way.
While movement speed doesn’t directly correlate with combat power, it certainly gives some indication of one’s level.
In any case, all the bandits were sprawled on the ground within less than three minutes.
Cho Cheon-woong and Maria dragged the two largest and loudest of them before me.
“We’re sorry!”
“Please spare us!”
The moment they reached me, both men threw themselves flat on the ground and cried out.
My body felt so worn that their loud voices alone made my head throb.
I frowned and spoke.
“Lower your voices.”
Both men immediately fell silent. I turned to them with a question.
“Why did you block our path?”
“W-well…”
“That is…”
“Were you simply trying to rob us?”
I stared at the two of them and asked a question.
I hadn’t subscribed to their Channel separately, but I could still distinguish simple lies.
“No, I didn’t…”
“Yes, we did…”
They stopped mid-answer and looked at each other in surprise. There was no need to examine this closely.
I asked in a cold voice.
“I’m too lazy to ask for details, so just spill everything. Then I’ll let you keep your necks.”
At the same time, Cho Cheon-woong twirled the weapon in his hand beside me.
Then the two of them began spilling everything—facts and fabrications alike—without waiting for the other to start.
After listening to it all, I opened my mouth.
“So you’re saying you’ve spread a wide encirclement across this area?”
“Yes, sir!”
“You blocked the front to buy time, even if just for a moment, and you’ve already reported this, so there should be people coming this way?”
“Yes!”
I nodded.
The reason they had blocked the front despite anticipating a significant skill gap with my group was simple.
They believed that no matter how large the gap, they could hold out until reinforcements arrived.
But the difference was so vast that they were subdued in merely three minutes.
“Wait here for a moment.”
“Pardon?”
Cho Cheon-woong looked at me with a puzzled expression at my words.
“If we leave like this, they might track us. If we’re going to deal with them anyway, it’s better to clean it up properly before we go.”
If the opponent seemed too troublesome, I could always retreat then.
If the opponent was too fast to escape from?
‘Then I would have been caught up while moving in the first place.’
So it was better to just deal with them here once and for all.
These people I’d just captured were small fry among small fry, and they seemed to think we were just people who had escaped from the Ancient Ruins, knowing so little about us.
“You said they’d arrive within five minutes?”
“Yes, yes! They should be here soon!”
Accounting for the time I’d spent subduing them, it seemed they’d arrive in about one or two minutes. I focused on my body’s recovery while performing breathing techniques atop Thunder Wolf.
About two more minutes passed like that.
I felt a group approaching from far away.
Their movement speed was fairly quick, but at least it seemed better than the ones before me.
The captured ones only noticed when the reinforcements became visible to their eyes, and their expressions grew complicated.
They should have been happy to see reinforcements coming, but they didn’t seem confident whether those reinforcements could actually do anything against my group.
Within that tension, they soon stopped at a place not far from us.
“Who might you be?”
And then one of them spoke to me.
Unexpectedly polite in tone, I stared at the person who had spoken and replied.
“Someone who almost got robbed.”
As I spoke, I glanced to the side, and Cho Cheon-woong pushed forward the bandit he’d been holding by the scruff of the neck.
“These guys must have received a signal from their companions and rushed over here. Am I right?”
To my question, the Male Ranker answered with surprising composure.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Really? But why do bandits speak so politely?”
“Well, you clearly look much stronger than us.”
At such an honest answer, I let out an involuntary laugh.
“Then why didn’t you just run away when you saw us from a distance?”
“We only realized it once we got closer. And by then, I thought we’d be caught immediately even if we tried to flee.”
Such honesty was almost refreshing.
Without realizing it, curiosity stirred within me, and I opened my mouth.
“But among the people who entered the Ancient Ruins, there are quite a few who are fairly powerful. What were you thinking trying to rob them?”
I didn’t spell out the rest, but the Male Ranker likely understood what I was getting at.
Why would unremarkable-looking fellows attempt to rob strong individuals who had entered the Ancient Ruins?
To that question as well, the Male Ranker answered without hesitation.
“All the strong ones were thoroughly educated and told never to approach anywhere near them!”
“Ah. So we weren’t on that list?”
“That’s right!”
Though I had become fairly well-known, I was naturally nowhere near the level of other famous Guilds.
After thinking that far, I asked them a question.
“So which organization do you belong to? And what country are you from?”
“We’re from this place.”
“This place?”
As I tilted my head and asked, the Male Ranker answered again.
“Yes. We were born and raised in this Unclaimed Territory.”
At those words, my expression became peculiar.
“So all of you?”
“Yes.”
“The climbers too?”
“Some of our people have obtained the qualifications and are currently climbing.”
“So there are no outsiders among you originally?”
“That’s correct.”
It wasn’t particularly strange.
People are born and raised here in the Unclaimed Territory as well. And their numbers are far from insignificant.
But considering the scale I’d heard about earlier, it was quite remarkable that such a large group consisted entirely of natives from the Unclaimed Territory.
“Why did you gather together to commit robbery?”
“Our original Territory was destroyed, leaving us with nowhere to stay. With so many people, few places are willing to accept us.”
“Hmm.”
This too was a common occurrence.
Usually, when a Territory is destroyed, people scatter in different directions. Small groups can simply move to another Territory, but when the population is large, it becomes a problem.
Most prefer to avoid taking in such large numbers of people.
And if they all belonged to the same group?
‘It would essentially be like a separate faction establishing itself within the Territory.’
That’s why territories that aren’t desperately trying to expand their population rarely accept them. Unless the territory itself is absurdly vast.
But that didn’t mean these people had no choice but to resort to banditry.
If they wanted, they could have established a settlement somewhere, or at the very least scattered themselves across different territories.
So I posed one more question.
“Why do you insist on traveling together like this? If you’re looking for a way to survive, wouldn’t it be better to scatter and settle elsewhere instead of engaging in something this dangerous?”
My question didn’t receive an immediate answer.
But soon, one of the men spoke with a resolute expression.
“Revenge.”
“Revenge?”
“Yes. When our Territory was destroyed, our forces were occupied with other duties and couldn’t properly engage in combat. We failed our most critical mission.”
There were likely several reasons why they would reveal such information to me, someone they’d just met and a provisional enemy.
Perhaps they were seeking sympathy to survive by any means, or perhaps they simply had nowhere else to unburden themselves and spoke out of frustration.
And one of their intentions succeeded.
‘I didn’t feel like dealing with all of them anyway.’
If I were to eliminate them completely, it would be cleaner to kill them all and erase any trace, but I didn’t want to go that far when I wasn’t in peak condition.
The price for their reckless charge had already been partially paid through Cho Cheon-woong and Maria beating them thoroughly.
So I offered them just one proposal.
“If you want revenge, come to the coordinates I’ll give you—the location on the map.”
Then I quickly pulled out a suitable piece of paper from my inventory and wrote something down, handing it over.
One of them hesitated before approaching and taking the note.
“If you make it there, I’ll give you a place to settle in my Territory. Whether you grow stronger or not is your own business. But in exchange, don’t commit any banditry on the way.”
It wasn’t a proposal made with any great expectations or particular purpose.
Just something I offered out of curiosity before leaving.
The man who had first stepped forward to speak with me stared at the paper I’d handed him before bowing his head.
“Thank you.”
“Right.”
The conversation ended there.
I immediately signaled Thunder Wolf to depart as if nothing had happened, and Cho Cheon-woong and Maria followed behind.
I don’t know how they’ll act.
They might consider themselves lucky to have escaped the situation and return to their banditry.
If they do, they probably won’t last long.
All the Climbers settled in the Unclaimed Territory are above Floor 40. They’re all Awakeners not to be underestimated.
But it doesn’t matter.
If that happens, that’s the end of it.
* * *
My group crossed through several Gates just as we had on the way there and returned to the Territory.
The return journey was considerably easier than the way there, at least.
Rather than heading toward where crowds gathered, I was doing the opposite—moving from densely populated areas toward places where fewer and fewer people ventured.
“Wow, we’ve finally arrived.”
Still, after navigating through the congested Futuristic City multiple times and repeatedly using Gates to travel, I had to admit I was growing weary.
Conversely, when I passed through the final Gate and emerged beyond the city, a sense of liberation washed over me.
It felt like returning to a familiar place—or rather, like coming home, if I’m being dramatic about it.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Right.”
With that, Jung Han-sung began moving toward the Territory alongside Cho Cheon-woong and Maria.
Some time later.
Jung Han-sung finally set foot in the Territory. Though there was still quite a distance to the Village.
But as I passed through the Outer Area of the Territory, something unexpected occurred.
Whoooooosh—!
I spotted an enormous vortex approaching from far in the distance.

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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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