The Chicken Legend's Game Becomes Reality - Chapter 23
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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 23
* * *
As the sun began to set.
A man in black trousers and a white shirt lowered his phone.
“I’ve called him several times and he won’t pick up.”
A desolate building, cordoned off from the public with signs announcing scheduled demolition, was crawling with mysterious men.
It looked like a movie set.
Despite the broad daylight, an ominous and dangerous atmosphere permeated the air.
Hwang Beom-young flicked his lighter.
“Track his location and drag him here yourself. You have tracking abilities, don’t you?”
“My tracking skill requires me to know the target’s name and face. How am I supposed to find someone when I don’t even know their name?”
“Then use the guild’s phone tracking function to bring him in.”
“Damn it.”
The man muttered.
“At this point, I can’t even tell if I’m a hunter or a criminal.”
“…?”
Hwang Beom-young looked at the man.
Anyone listening would think he was a genuinely upright and respectable hunter.
The hunter community has its light and shadow.
These hunters belonged to the Guild Shadow Division, operated by Hwang Beom-young’s maternal family.
Low-rank hunters desperate to earn money despite lacking skill, hunters with extensive criminal records, or mid-to-high-rank hunters naturally suited for this work—they handled the dark operations that legitimate hunters couldn’t touch.
For instance, the elimination of ordinary people, something ordinary hunters could never do.
A male student, captured at some unknown time, hung from the building’s ceiling like butchered meat.
Beside him, another man who appeared to have just been captured knelt trembling, unable to lift his head—until suddenly he jerked it up.
“H-help!”
Click.
At the sound of the lighter igniting, Park Hyung-jin, the man just captured, looked up at his captor with a face twisted in terror.
Hwang Beom-young.
“P-please… spare me….”
His dry expression twisted into a cruel smile.
“Why would I kill you? I heard your younger brother started trouble with my people first. You’re just a notorious neighborhood delinquent with a criminal record anyway.”
“….”
Since it was true, Park Hyung-jin’s mouth clamped shut.
“I like filthy bastards like you. The kind who deserve to be beaten, the kind people would point at and say deserved their punishment.”
Park Hyung-jin’s body, born and bred as a neighborhood delinquent, trembled violently.
It was a well-known story.
Hwang Beom-young had a habit of singling out and beating school bullies and back-alley delinquents—people with dirty secrets.
“Where does that pig live?”
The lighter’s flame blazed right before his face.
“Ahhh!”
It was probably because I’d watched too many low-quality crime movies.
Park Hyung-jin, who had just been dragged in, felt a terror that his entire body was about to burn, even though there was no oil on him.
Of course, all of this was nothing more than a threat orchestrated with impressive cost-effectiveness.
“I-I don’t know anything about that either. I really don’t know anything! I only met that female hunter a few days ago! She might not even come if you call her!”
At his convulsive response, Hwang Beom-young laughed with amusement, his shoulders shaking.
“This is hilarious. So you’re telling me that even a cripple would throw herself into danger to save guys she doesn’t know? You’re all cut from the same cloth. I’ve seen your fighting style before—it’s not amateur work.”
Hwang Beom-young was treating them as a complete package.
“I-I really didn’t-”
“Shut up. If she doesn’t come, I’ll find her and drag her here myself. But that woman—she’s definitely a hunter?”
“…Excuse me?”
“I looked into it myself, and there’s no female hunter in Korea with that height and a disabled leg. Maybe if she were a man. But those guys are all way too old.”
“!”
At Hwang Beom-young’s words, Park Hyung-jin’s eyes widened in shock.
Gulp.
If what Beom-young said was true—if that woman wasn’t a hunter but an ordinary person—then they were in serious trouble.
It meant there wouldn’t be a single hunter among those they’d dragged to the Hunter’s Den.
Kekekeke.
Hwang Beom-young laughed with great amusement as he watched Park Hyung-jin’s expression dissolve into fear and despair.
The Man in Suit clicked his tongue.
“Tsk. You devil. You know you can’t touch ordinary people, right?”
After hearing the lecture, Hwang Beom-young raised his thick eyebrows high, extinguished his lighter, and stood up to sit in a chair.
Thump.
“She threw the first punch.”
“That doesn’t matter. Absolutely not. You’ve already served a year, and you’re not even a minor anymore. And she’s an ordinary person, a woman, and she has a leg disability.”
At those words, Hwang Beom-young furrowed his brows fiercely and spoke savagely.
“If you don’t want to see me step in, then you fight like dogs. Make sure I don’t get bored and end up killing that woman.”
“Look at him talking to his hyungs. This is my problem now. A cripple and an ordinary person at that.”
Aside from the absurdity of hunters having to deal with an ordinary woman with a disability, if they handled this wrong and public opinion turned against them, they’d be marked for death.
Since they did dirty work, they had to accept the possibility of being abandoned by the Main Organization.
Of course, the risk was completely irrelevant to Hwang Beom-young, whom the highest-ranking people of the Main Organization protected like a sore thumb.
“She’s decent at fighting. She’s got a solid build, so you wouldn’t even think she’s a woman if you saw her. Things have been slow lately, so I should be grateful that she’s giving me something to do.”
“What the hell?”
After spouting whatever came to mind, Hwang Beom-young glanced back over his shoulder.
“Such a punk-”
The man grumbled in disbelief at being told to be grateful, but Hwang Beom-young didn’t even listen with half an ear.
An eerie abandoned building with nothing but walls, a few rooms, and stairs—hollow inside.
They’d spent their own money to create a separate internal structure like a club, where you could look down from the upper level to the lower one.
The systematic composition looked just like watching a movie set.
Hwang Beom-young smirked.
“Real-world God Opal—let’s give it a try.”
* * *
In my rush to leave, I’d forgotten my phone at home.
‘No matter.’
At least I had my card.
I stopped at a restaurant to grab a hearty lunch, then headed to the Department Store where I loaded up on essentials, groceries, and all those appliances I’d been wanting but couldn’t afford—everything shipped straight to my place.
It was a flex funded by the sponsorship money White Eyes had deposited directly into my account.
Even after burning through all this, once YouTube approves the payout request I’ve submitted, there’s still a decent chunk of earnings waiting to be settled.
‘Yeah. This is what life’s supposed to feel like.’
Plenty of people stole glances at my unsteady gait, but some of the Department Store staff actually treated me with extra kindness because of it.
‘Department Store is the best.’
Before I knew it, the evening was already creeping in while I shopped mindlessly.
‘I think I’ve bought everything I need. Even if I wanted more, my place is so cramped there’s nowhere left to put anything.’
With all my desires satisfied, I hobbled into the movie theater inside the Department Store, grabbed some sweet caramel popcorn, sipped on a cola, and took a breather.
It was a story about blue aliens from an alien planet fighting to protect their world.
After watching that spectacular war film with its stunning graphics, I got an intense craving for God Opal, so I searched for a nearby VR Game Room and headed out of the Department Store.
‘What?’
Just then, God Opal was playing on the massive billboard dominating the Commercial District centered around the Department Store.
Quite a crowd had stopped to watch the screen.
And for good reason—the dazzling battles between human avatars in Virtual Reality, unleashing skill effects, looked just as impressive as the war movie I’d just watched.
After the Territory War Highlights TOP 10 finished, my battle against Dark Choco played next.
“Wow, they really fought well.”
“That’s Virtual Reality? Looks like actual footage shot at Gwanghwamun.”
“I’ve played that game before. Aside from the enhanced physical abilities and the ability to use game skills, it’s almost identical to reality. God Opal isn’t called a hunter game for nothing.”
“When does the main tournament start?”
Listening to the crowd’s conversation reminded me of a comment I’d seen on my way here.
Something about the tournament schedule being announced.
“I get why Lee Do-jin’s hunter character is famous, but who’s that other person?”
“That’s Chicken Bulssdagu—one of the rising God Opal rankers these days. I’m subscribed to her channel and her streams are entertaining. She’s probably an actual hunter in real life.”
I’m not a hunter, damn it.
‘This is exhausting.’
Part of me wanted to just awaken as a hunter right then and there, but hunter awakening costs a whopping 20,000 coins at the Coin Market.
Fixing my leg comes first.
Still, hearing my game nickname in real life felt oddly embarrassing.
“If it’s a female character, could the player be a woman?”
“Who knows. Hwang Beom-young’s a guy but his character is female.”
Now that I think about it, that’s true.
Hwang Beom-young—that kid’s young but huge, and his game character isn’t even a gorgeous woman; it’s a little girl.
Though her personality syncs perfectly with his, making her look incredibly rude.
‘But she’s pretty, though.’
Unlike casual gamers who typically choose opposite-gender characters, hunters usually end up having their identities exposed, so most choose same-gender characters for their main avatars.
Of course, I assumed most people made their alt accounts as the opposite gender, but it wasn’t common to see someone like Hwang Beom-young openly running their main character as a female.
“Who won that one?”
“Chicken Seat.”
“It was basically a draw, but apparently the Hunter Site went crazy that day. What about Lee Do-jin the hunter?”
“Looking at the territorial conquest match between Chicken Seat and him in the next tournament, he doesn’t seem to care much. Then the Hunter Site flipped again because they thought Lee Do-jin knew Chicken Seat’s real identity.”
No, that’s not it.
I’m a complete stranger to that guy.
I abandoned the VR Game Room and quietly slipped out of there.
Now that I thought about it, if I logged in as Chicken Bulssdagu from the game room, my personal information would get exposed and torn apart—worse, they’d probably take photos and plaster them all over the internet.
Since evening had arrived, I grabbed dinner at a nearby restaurant and called a black taxi—something I could never normally afford.
‘Ha. Perfect.’
It had been an absolutely incredible day.
Now if I just went home, played some games, and streamed, it would be nothing short of flawless.
‘The stress just melts away. Even with legs like this, having money makes life worth living. Money really is everything.’
It had become a day devoted to chasing money.
“Card, please.”
After paying the taxi fare and stepping out to head inside, I heard an unfamiliar man’s voice from behind me.
“Why wouldn’t you answer your phone? I’ve been waiting forever.”
“…?”
Was he talking to me?
Even as I looked around with that thought, there was nothing but the taxi pulling away in the distance.
“Sorry, but you’re coming with me.”
Snap.
The moment a man I’d never seen in my life snapped his fingers, my limbs went numb and consciousness cut out.
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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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