The Regressed EX-Class Martial God Decided to Become a Thousand-Star Hunter - Chapter 42

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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 42
42.
“A paper newspaper?”
In this day and age?
“I subscribe to it. It’s a hobby. Somehow things stick in my head better when I read them on paper instead of a phone. Anyway, that’s not the important part—don’t you see this? Jin U-seong is dead. The immortal one. That villain they called the King of the Grey Zone.”
Ju Do-gyeom sat down and pressed his forehead, speaking quietly.
“I know.”
“Ah, so you do check internet news and such?”
“It’s hardly unusual.”
It was part of his morning routine.
He needed to continuously verify whether anything had changed from the past he remembered.
“……What exactly do you take me for?”
“Someone rigid, stiff, someone who likes to put on airs?”
“…….”
“And somehow I figured you wouldn’t care much about this kind of news…… though I guess if you didn’t care, you wouldn’t have caught onto these hidden details in the first place?”
“…….”
“……Are you upset?”
Ju Do-gyeom shook his head firmly.
“I’m not particularly upset.”
He was simply taken aback to realize that was how he appeared to others.
‘Setting everything else aside……’
He wasn’t exactly rigid by nature.
“Well, forget it. Hehe…….”
“Don’t laugh.”
“Now you’re angry.”
“I’m not angry.”
“Then why tell me not to laugh?”
“It’s just…….”
Ju Do-gyeom fell silent.
He realized he’d been talking more than usual.
‘That must mean I’ve gotten closer to Kim Han-yul.’
Before the regression, neither of them wasted words on unnecessary talk, so he barely remembered exchanging casual conversation at all.
It was strange.
‘How did I even manage to live with a personality like that?’
The thought made him smile despite himself as he looked at Kim Han-yul now.
“Oh, you’re smiling.”
“I’m not.”
“Sure you are.”
“Believe what you want.”
“Fair enough.”
Kim Han-yul laughed heartily and turned back.
She tapped the newspaper with her index finger and asked again.
“Anyway, who’s the Hunter that killed Jin U-seong?”
In that moment,
Ju Do-gyeom walked to the refrigerator, took out a cold drink, and began pouring it into a glass before answering flatly.
“Me.”
“…….”
“……?”
“You’re lying.”
Ju Do-gyeom set the filled glass down on the table in front of Kim Han-yul without the slightest concern.
Kim Han-yul, her eyes narrowed, spoke.
“I’ll admit the team leader is the strongest of his peers—no, stronger than that. You’re a monster. But Jin U-seong was the same, wasn’t he? Before he turned villain, he was famous as Korea’s next S-rank Hunter.”
“So he was.”
“……You didn’t know?”
“I knew.”
He simply didn’t consider the past important, unlike a future yet to come.
Kim Han-yul gave an awkward laugh, raised the drink to her lips, and spoke.
“Right…… of course. You were joking?”
“I’m not averse to joking, but what I said just now was the truth. I killed Jin U-seong.”
Pfft—!
Kim Han-yul spat the drink she’d been sipping back into the cup.
Ju Do-gyeom frowned and looked at her.
“Hold on—you’re only asking me that now? So it really happened? How on earth?”
“Walked in, ran into him. Then I cut his throat.”
“……That’s it?”
“Roughly speaking.”
“That’s way too rough…… ha ha……!”
Kim Han-yul let out a hearty laugh and settled into a chair at the dining table, turning her attention back to the newspaper.
“So then, this one.”
Her long finger pointed to one of the articles.
[Taesung Group Announces Full-Scale Guild Business Launch. Goal: Expel All Villains Like Jin U-seong From Korean Territory. Primary Candidate for New Guild President Is the Hunter Who Resolved the Jin U-seong Incident?]
Ju Do-gyeom shook his head as he answered.
“I have no intention of joining any guild.”
“No, that’s not the one.”
Looking more carefully, it was Kim Han-yul’s index finger that was actually pointing to a different article.
[Taesung Group’s Only Daughter Plans to Repay Her Life-Saving Benefactor With Everything She Has. Expressing Deep Gratitude and Profound Thanks…….]
“What’s the problem with this?”
“Right here—this precious girl is talking about repaying a debt of gratitude to our Team Leader Ju Do-gyeom, isn’t she?”
Kim Han-yul’s eyes narrowed again.
It was right after Ju Do-gyeom gave a casual nod.
Kim Han-yul bolted upright from her chair and cried out in an excited voice.
“So we’re loaded now!? Since she said she’d repay the debt, she’s gonna hand over anything we ask for, right? Tens of billions, no wait—hundreds of billions’ worth of Magical Tools. This is huge. Our team leader really works hard even when I’m not around…….”
Kim Han-yul clasped her hands together, her eyes glistening with tears of emotion.
Ju Do-gyeom chuckled softly and replied.
“I’ve already put in requests for what we need.”
“I knew it……! But next time, make sure to call me too. I feel bad just getting a share without doing anything. I have a conscience, you know. Hehe…….”
“Got it.”
“Nice!”
“But…….”
“What?”
“Why are ‘we’ rich?”
“Huh?”
Ju Do-gyeom pointed at Kim Han-yul with his index finger.
“Not you…….”
Then he rotated his finger one hundred eighty degrees and tapped himself squarely.
“I’m the one who’s rich. Kim Han-yul.”
“Aw…… come on, team leader. We’re on the same team…… hehe…….”
“To be precise, it’s Chairman Lee Young-sik who’s rich. So don’t get your hopes too high.”
“…You’re so cold.”
Kim Han-yul’s expression fell.
Ju Do-gyeom let out a short laugh and opened the refrigerator again.
“Eat something before you go. I’ve got the ingredients ready.”
Kim Han-yul, already brightened, cried out happily.
“Delicious food, here I come!”
“…….”
Ju Do-gyeom shook his head silently from side to side.
‘Lee Seo-ah is probably younger.’
Why did it feel like Kim Han-yul was the more childish one.
It was absurd, even if he could understand why.
* * *
The basement parking lot of Ju Do-gyeom’s House.
Vroooom!
Kim Han-yul’s supercar bellowed a rough exhaust note.
Until she left Ju Do-gyeom’s house, Kim Han-yul had been grinning widely; now she sank into the car seat with a hardened expression.
“Sigh…….”
A heavy breath escaped from her lips.
The contents of the newspaper she’d left at Ju Do-gyeom’s house drifted through her mind.
‘So our Team Leader Ju caught that monster Jin U-seong.’
Without realizing it, she bit down on her lower lip.
If she hadn’t known…….
It was what she’d learned from watching Ju Do-gyeom these past hours.
“How much did you overexert yourself this time? Damn it!”
Honk!
Her fist came down without thinking, slamming the car’s horn.
The next moment, Kim Han-yul buried her head against the steering wheel.
Muttered words kept spilling from her lips.
“If something like that happens, you call me. Why do you go in alone? Don’t you trust me that much? We’re on the same team. Always struggling by yourself, taking the fall, and then…….”
She was furious.
But when she saw Ju Do-gyeom’s face, she didn’t have the courage to stay angry.
So she’d laughed instead.
She’d chattered away with exaggerated enthusiasm, reacted louder than necessary, showing only joy before leaving his house.
‘Though the food was damn delicious, I’ll give him that.’
Was it just the taste?
As always, her Mana had even increased.
Not just that—temporary special effects had started stacking on top of it.
She’d heard him mention a Job Upgrade.
‘But that doesn’t mean he has the power to take on Jin U-seong alone…….’
Another sigh tumbled out.
“Sigh…….”
Her head struck the steering wheel again and again.
Honk! Honk! Honk!
One of the people wandering through the underground garage looked at her car with a startled expression.
Kim Han-yul lifted her head, and catching him by chance, she rolled down the window and spoke hurriedly.
“Ah, haha…… I’m sorry. My apologies.”
“Oh, yes. Please be careful.”
The young man offered a light greeting and quietly passed by.
Kim Han-yul closed the window and shifted into drive.
‘Just drive for now.’
Staying in this state would only eat away at her insides.
Roar!
The supercar shot out of the underground garage.
In Kim Han-yul’s eyes, a firm resolve began to crystallize.
* * *
Noh Beom-seok, Chairman of the Korean Hunter Association.
Shirtless, he thrust a long spear repeatedly in his private training hall.
Each time, a golden lightning and a violent roar burst forth, shooting straight ahead.
Boom! Boom, boom-boom!
The walls of the Association’s training hall, unable to withstand his fierce practice—far more violent than usual—finally crumbled inward.
Hundreds of billions of won worth of Mana Stone walls shattered in an instant, but Noh Beom-seok paid no mind.
He didn’t stop.
Raising the heat through his entire body, he continued to extend the spear and draw up more power.
By the time even the sweat trickling down seemed dyed in the color of golden lightning.
Boom!
Part of the training hall’s wall collapsed again.
This time, even a section of the ceiling developed cracks.
It was the moment the Vice-Chairman, who had been watching, hurried forward to stop him.
Click-click!
The sharp sound of high heels echoed.
“I specifically said to let no one in……!?”
The Vice-Chairman turned naturally, raising his voice, his eyes widening.
A woman walked in, her golden hair reflecting the indoor light, dressed in an ornate gold-trimmed hanbok embroidered with peonies in a unified tone—a sight both elegant and striking.
‘Mo Ran-hui, the President?’
One of only two S-rank Hunters in the Republic of Korea, alongside Noh Beom-seok.
She, famous by the alias Sword Flower, met the startled Vice-Chairman’s gaze, then brought her index finger to her red lips and spoke.
“Shh.”
At the same time.
Boom!
The roar erupted once more.
Mo Ran-hui, who had been directly in the Vice-Chairman’s line of sight moments before, vanished.
‘Where?’
In my confusion, I quickly shifted my gaze and could see it.
The interior of Noh Beom-seok’s private training hall, ravaged and crumbling.
Mo Ran-hui, who had slipped inside somewhere along the way, held a thin blade that naturally intercepted the tip of Noh Beom-seok’s spear, from which Lightning Attack crackled.
And then.
Boom!
The air exploded with another thunderous crash.
Her splendid hanbok fluttered and scattered in response to the impact.
Mo Ran-hui laughed softly and retreated, deflecting the force of the blow.
She then quietly sheathed the blade she’d drawn from her waist and spoke.
“Still sharp as ever. Your nickname of ‘Thunder’s Voice’ is hardly undeserved.”
Haah—!
Noh Beom-seok exhaled roughly.
His eyes still burning with heat, he opened his mouth.
“What brings you here, Mo Ran-hui?”
“Of course I came because I have business, but let’s talk after you’ve calmed down. I don’t think you’ll hear a word I’m saying right now.”
“Hmph. I don’t see why I should follow your lead.”
“There’s no reason you must follow what I say, but…… look at this place. What is this? This was all built with the people’s tax money. If you destroy it, won’t more taxes have to go toward repairs?”
“It’s the price of protecting the nation.”
“My, such elitism. How frightening. People outside will curse you for that kind of talk.”
“Do as you wish…….”
Noh Beom-seok spoke with some irritation, but a heavy sigh soon escaped his lips.
“Sigh…… all right. Mo Ran-hui. If I let you run your mouth, there’ll be no end to it. I’ll wash up and be right out, so wait for me in the reception room.”
“A wise choice.”
Mo Ran-hui smiled softly and walked out of the training hall with an unhurried, graceful step.
From her retreating figure, her hanbok fluttering beautifully, the scent of peonies—the very fragrance that shared her name—drifted naturally through the air.
Noh Beom-seok did not even look after her, simply tossing aside the spear shaft that hung limply in his hand.
“Deputy Director, clean this up.”
“Yes, sir! Director!”
As Noh Beom-seok headed toward the shower room adjacent to the training hall, he clicked his tongue.
“Tch, that cunning woman.”
Creak—!
The grinding of his teeth followed naturally in his wake.
* * *
In the Korean Hunter Association’s reception room, Mo Ran-hui sat quietly with an elegant bearing, sipping barley tea from a paper cup.
Bang—!
The door opened roughly.
Without even glancing in that direction, Mo Ran-hui smiled at the corners of her mouth and spoke.
“That was faster than I expected.”
“An uninvited guest should be sent away quickly, or one won’t have peace of mind.”
Noh Beom-seok, dressed in business formal wear with his necktie loosened long around his neck as if it constricted him, approached and threw himself onto the prepared sofa.
He spread both arms wide and crossed his legs.
Then he spoke.
“So, what brings you…….”
Before he could finish.
Mo Ran-hui set down her paper cup and opened her mouth.
“Taesung Group. Lee Young-sik. Lee Seo-ah. Jin U-seong…….”
All of them were names that had been burning hottest in the Republic of Korea recently.
They were also names that had greatly upset Noh Beom-seok.
Mo Ran-hui raised her head, meeting Noh Beom-seok’s eyes—which had grown heated once more—and smiled softly before speaking again.
“And…… the one who killed Jin U-seong…….”
Her pale fingertip rested just beside the small mole on the right side of her crimson lips.
“A Hunter whose name remains unknown.”

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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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