The Crazy Villain Regains His Sanity - Chapter 44

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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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Episode 44

Lee Chan-taek, Master of the Avantgarde Guild.
Fifty-two years old this year.
His slicked-back hair showed no sign of softness, and his angular face with its coldly sunken eyes made an impression.
A man with a frozen heart who pursued the guild’s profit ruthlessly and discarded anything that meant loss without hesitation.
Even in my last life, after reaching a major compromise, he had thoroughly protected his guild’s strength—so I’d never faced him directly.
Lee Chan-taek exchanged greetings with Cheon Myeong-guk first, then spoke while looking at me.

“I came because I wanted to hear information about Nuri.”
“Dropping formalities from a first meeting?”
······

His casual remark made the atmosphere sink. Still, showing courtesy to a man who’d gossiped behind my back was restraint enough. What had he said about me? That Choi Jun-ho’s beginner’s luck wouldn’t last long? That I was fit to drop dead on the road?
If the Avantgarde Guild hadn’t been first in the hunting rotation, I would have dealt with him already.
If I charged at him now out of irritation, I’d gain something. But what choice would this man make?

“I apologize for my rudeness. I came because I wished to learn information about Nuri. Could you share that with me?”

His demeanor shifted quickly. I smiled to hide my disappointment. Now he was using formal speech too.

“I’m curious why you’re asking me about that.”
“···I thought there might be traces left on Black Wyvern that Nuri left behind.”

A quick-witted man. He’d remembered that Black Wyvern was driven off by Nuri and deduced that traces might remain.
That was the right answer.

“You’re correct. There are traces on Black Wyvern.”
“What kind?”
“There are scorch marks on the tail’s tip.”

Marks I’d noticed while butchering it, visible because the leather was black.

“Flame attribute, then.”
“And there are also sword wounds.”
“Aren’t those marks left by a hunting team that resisted Black Wyvern?”
“That’s one possibility, but there’s another.”
“Which is?”
“Nuri’s Gift.”

At my words, Lee Chan-taek’s expression crumpled. Did it sound that absurd to him?

“···Nonsense!”
“Believe what you will. I’ve told you what I know.”
“There’s nothing useful here. Still, I’ve obtained the information I needed, so I’ll take my leave now.”

He’d reverted to casual speech immediately. Should I have let him actually revert—to his previous life, that is? But the look on Cheon Myeong-guk’s face, as if he might explode any moment, made me decide to let it pass. He’d suffer plenty once he started hunting anyway.
Instead of stopping Lee Chan-taek as he left, I spoke to Cheon Myeong-guk.

“The Avantgarde Guild won’t have an easy time.”
“Do you truly believe Nuri possesses a Gift?”
“Consider the case of Da-on.”

Da-on was Monster #7—a Grade 8 creature in turtle form that moved between sea and land, laying waste to the Yellow Sea.
At the moment its final breath was cut off, Da-on had created a massive tidal wave, and debate erupted over whether monsters use Gifts.
The conclusion was that it was a coincidence of circumstances, but it remained a nagging incident in every way.

“Monsters can use Gifts.”

It’s merely a difference in proficiency. Whether one accepts this or not—that makes all the difference in the world.
The caliber of monsters keeps climbing higher. The Nuri that first appeared at Grade 8 and a Grade 8 that emerges ten years from now are worlds apart. Monsters too must survive in this age of infinite competition to reach Grade 8.
There’s even talk it might be Grade 9 Nuri, but I was too far gone to parse details like that back then.

“I hope you’re wrong. Just this once, I wish your prediction were off the mark.”
“We’ll find out soon enough.”

If my prediction missed the mark, it wouldn’t cost me anything even if the Avantgarde Guild succeeded in the hunt.
But they won’t succeed.

* * *

“Master, your trip to Cheong Wa Dae went well, I hope······.”

Ha Seong-hun, the vice-master of the branch guild greeting Lee Chan-taek upon his return from gathering intelligence on Nuri, trailed off as he caught sight of his master’s tightly drawn expression.

“That brat rubbed me the wrong way.”
“You mean Choi Jun-ho?”
“He spoke to me in informal speech without a second thought.”

Ha Seong-hun burst into laughter.

“It seems that blacklist rumor was true after all.”
“Cheon Myeong-guk, a talented operative reduced to Choi Jun-ho’s lapdog at the Reaper Guild—I’m deeply disappointed. He used to handle his duties flawlessly there.”
“What can you do? Choi Jun-ho’s a mad dog. You have to pamper him to keep him in line. But anyway, what came of your meeting at Cheong Wa Dae?”
“······.”

Lee Chan-taek fell silent in thought.
Monsters can use Gifts? The theory that monsters use Gifts was merely a speculative notion mentioned in passing during the Da-on incident.
There’s no harm in preparing. But if he fretted over a Gift whose existence was implausible, complications could arise during the hunt and he might lose prey already in his grasp.
This hunt commanded the guild’s full strength. Success would yield astronomical wealth, and the guild would stand at the very pinnacle of South Korea’s prestige.
Should it fail, Choi Jun-ho would be next in line. Having staked his guild’s fate on this hunt, Lee Chan-taek deemed the man’s warning a deception meant to cloud his judgment.
He would handle his preparations alone.

“There was no new information. We proceed as planned.”
“Yes, sir!”

Four days later, Nuri appeared in Goesan County, Chungcheongbuk-do.

* * *

The eighth-grade monster came to be named Nuri when member nations of the Typhoon Committee began naming creatures in their native languages.
We gave the monster a name in our native tongue, one that disregarded its properties and characteristics.
The names assigned largely carried positive connotations—a practice born partly from not wanting to stoke fear when reports aired on the news, but also mingled with considerations for hunter morale and psychological advantages in safe hunts.
Though some criticized the approach as ineffective, the concern faded away as concentrated efforts to combat monsters took precedence.
When Nuri’s appearance was first predicted, the Awakened Security Office and the National Guild Alliance identified three locations where it might emerge.
Cheongju City, Eumseong County, and Goesan County, all located in Chungcheongbuk-do.
At a strategy meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae, Cheon Myeong-guk explained the situation.

“Nuri’s appearance matches a goshawk almost exactly. Its size is roughly twelve meters, and the distinctive feature is that its entire body emits a reddish glow and radiates intense heat. This confirms that the burn marks left on Black Wyvern’s tail were indeed caused by Nuri.”

Nuri would breathe fire at temperatures high enough to char Black Wyvern’s hide. Hypothesis had become fact.

“Nuri has descended upon civilian dwellings in Eumseong County.”
“What’s the damage?”

The President’s voice fell low and steady.

“Despite evacuation efforts, significant casualties have occurred among civilians and monster response teams.”

Monsters are inherently hostile to humanity.
The higher their Grade, the more pronounced this tendency becomes—and Nuri, which had emerged in Goesan County, promptly attacked Eumseong County directly above it.
The government had done everything to encourage evacuation, but as always, there were people who wouldn’t listen. The civilian casualties from this incident fell into that same category.
The President exhaled slowly.

“How is the Avantgarde Guild moving?”
“They’re preparing to advance from Icheon City into Eumseong County. They plan to engage on open ground where there’s no obstruction.”
“Is their strength sufficient?”
“All of Avantgarde’s core forces have been mobilized.”
“If they capture it, they’ll gain enormous prestige. But if they fail, one of the major guilds will be shaken.”

No matter how much the major guilds hunger for state power, the benefits we gain from them are undeniable. Maintaining footing against the major guilds matters, but so does maintaining and strengthening Awakened forces—and that’s also the President’s responsibility.

“What’s your assessment of how the hunt will go for Choi Jun-ho?”
“It will fail.”
…….

He asks for my thoughts, then reacts like that. Why?

“Can you explain your reasoning?”
“The most important thing in monster hunting is understanding the monster’s capabilities. When you assess a monster’s strength, Mr. President, what aspect do you consider most important?”
“Size, wouldn’t it be?”

Not a chance. By that logic, Nuri would have deferred to Black Wyvern as his superior.

“A monster’s strength lies in its Purity.”
“Purity?”
“It refers to their original form. Nuri is shaped almost identically to a goshawk—which means it’s a monster born with innate, powerful Force.”

When monsters consume other monsters and undergo complex mutations, their output becomes unstable and their Force control grows awkward and unnatural.

“So reaching Grade 8 with that kind of Purity is dangerous—that’s what you mean. But why do you think they’ll fail?”
“Insufficient strength. And the hunting team has too many unnecessary personnel included.”

From what I can assess, to handle Nuri you’d need two Level 8 Awakened and at least five Level 7s, backed by twenty Level 6s—then you could take it down.
If one of the Level 8s had a ranged Gift, it would be easier still.
But Avantgarde’s strength falls short, and Lee Chan-taek is the textbook lone wolf type—someone who only trusts his own ability.
Success makes him a charismatic commander; failure makes him a pigheaded fool.
In this case, the latter was far more likely.
Of course, when I hunt, the story is different.

…….

The atmosphere grew cold.

“Don’t worry, sir. This man thinks his own guild members are disposable—he won’t throw his life away recklessly.”
“The problem is dealing with the monster itself.”
“Why are you concerned about that? I’ll handle it.”

I speak with absolute confidence, but why are these eyes looking at me like that? People with suspicious looks in their eyes—I’ll remember them.
After scanning the room, I turned to the President.

“If I catch it alone, it’s all mine, correct?”

I believe a Grade 8 monster’s worth starts at a minimum of 1.5 trillion won.
And if I handle the Heart processing myself, the value shoots up considerably.
One bowl of miso stew costs six thousand won—that’s two hundred fifty million bowls.

“As long as we can hunt, it’s all yours.”
“Very well.”

* * *

Alone with Cheon Myeong-guk, the President mulled over what had just been said.

“What do you make of Choi Jun-ho’s analysis?”
“I find it absurd.”
“My thoughts exactly. Yet somehow it carried remarkable conviction.”

There was something peculiar about the way Choi Jun-ho spoke. His unverified claims carried the weight of absolute certainty, and that confidence struck hard enough to shake the foundations of years of accumulated data.

“The Awakened Choi Jun-ho’s remarks consist largely of content never before analyzed. We should neither trust them nor act upon them. However—”

Cheon Myeong-guk met the President’s gaze.

“He has never been wrong.”
“That’s the problem.”
“Indeed.”
“Do you think this time will follow the same pattern?”
“There is a high probability that it will.”

There was nothing but Choi Jun-ho’s word to go on, yet if forced to choose between the data and his prediction, Cheon Myeong-guk would choose the latter.
The problem was what would happen if his words became reality.

“If the Avantgarde Guild breaks, we’ll make our stand in Gwangju or Yongin. If we can’t hold there, Seoul will be within striking distance. Contact the Reaper Guild. Tell them to prepare their full strength as a precaution.”

Cheon Myeong-guk had once served as a deputy master of the Reaper Guild. Even if the request seemed premature, he could sufficiently justify it.

“Understood.”
“I hope these worries amount to nothing.”

But the worries became reality.

* * *

When Lee Chan-taek first encountered Nuri, he’d believed they could hunt it down without issue.
For a Grade 8 monster, it wasn’t particularly large, and the aura it radiated seemed manageable.
But the moment combat began, everything changed. Nuri possessed a strength that existed in an entirely different dimension from any other Grade 8 monster Lee Chan-taek had faced.
In less than five minutes, hell unfolded. Acrid smoke from winter’s withered trees and grass obscured his vision.

“It’s my oversight.”

Lee Chan-taek stared upward and clenched his teeth. The creature that had created this inferno looked down upon the world with haughty indifference, as though he didn’t even register.
Nuri was agile and vicious, unleashing Breath attacks so intense they could melt the very Armor and Weapons the hunters wore.
But what proved decisive was the Gift that Choi Jun-ho had warned them about. The Blade Storm conjured by its wings was an inescapable calamity.
When the Gift Blade Storm activated, Force Blades tore through a radius of fifty meters. Each one struck with power rivaling that of a Level 7 Force Blade.
Caught in the first Blade Storm, more than a dozen of Lee Chan-taek’s hunters were torn to shreds—reduced to minced flesh with no trace of their former shape.
Trying to face the creature in open ground had been a mistake. There was nowhere to hide from the Breath or the Blade Storm.
The monster toyed with his guild members from a distance beyond the reach of his own Gift, mocking them with impunity.
At this rate, annihilation was inevitable.
Lee Chan-taek admitted that his choice had been catastrophic.

“Everyone retreat! I’ll hold the rear!”
“Master!”
“I’m the only one who can draw its attention. Listen to me! Ha Seong-hun! Get the others out of here, now!”
“You must survive.”

Ha Seong-hun, leaving those words behind, regrouped the remaining forces and withdrew.
Left alone, Lee Chan-taek drew Nuri’s aggression but found himself outmatched.
To bring down a flying monster, he needed to drag it lower—but having committed the guild’s entire strength, his attacks couldn’t even reach.

“Is this the end.”

Nuri hovered above him, looking down. He had thought it a manageable opponent, nothing imposing—but now it appeared as a monster capable of annihilating the world.

Shriek!

That cry seemed to mock him.
All his preening, and this was how it ended—pathetic. The world would laugh at him.
The Avantgarde Guild’s standing would plummet. He would never reach this position again.

“······.”

Watching everything he’d built his entire life crumble in real time, Lee Chan-taek clenched his teeth hard.
Then it happened.
A figure approached from behind at ferocious speed. Swift as if treading on air, the silhouette shot skyward in a straight line and struck Nuri’s head with a sweeping blow.

Screech!

Nuri shrieked and unleashed a Breath, but the figure dodged effortlessly and struck the monster’s head again.

“Fall back.”
“Choi Jun-ho······!”

Lee Chan-taek’s eyes widened at the sight of this unexpected reinforcement, and he scrambled backward. In that instant, Choi Jun-ho cut through the Blade Storm unleashed by Nuri’s wings and closed in, delivering another blow to the monster’s skull.

Bang!

A tremendous boom thundered across the sky.
Nuri staggered, then shot higher, radiating heat across its entire frame alongside a chilling bloodlust. It was pulling away from Choi Jun-ho’s striking range.

“It didn’t break.”

Choi Jun-ho marveled at the hardness of Nuri’s skull.
Lee Chan-taek, meanwhile, noticed something peculiar—an obsessive focus on the creature’s head that he did not overlook.

“Head Breaker.”

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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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