The Regressed EX-Class Martial God Decided to Become a Thousand-Star Hunter - Chapter 43

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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 43
43.
At those words, No Beom-seok’s expression darkened of its own accord.
Mo Ran-hee caught the shift instantly.
“My, it seems you still haven’t found him?”
“Damn those illegal Hunters. The moment they Awaken, they should register with the Hunter Association right away, file activity reports, do their due diligence. What do they take the South Korea Hunter Association for?”
“Truly. Whether they lack sense or sense itself, it must be terribly frustrating for you. And you put in so much effort as Chairman.”
“Hah, you’re a funny one. Far as I know, your own guild is mostly unregistered Hunters. Illegal operation if I’ve ever seen one.”
“Oh, law is ancient history now anyway. Hasn’t that been gone for ages? Still, I do my best to cooperate, really. Before meeting with you today, I prepared activity records with my own two hands, very diligently.”
She lifted her hand and mimed writing with a pen, smiling.
“Hmph.”
No Beom-seok snorted once more at her, yet his expression had softened considerably from before as he opened his mouth again.
“So you came to me to probe for information about him? Then you’ve got the wrong man. The Chairman of Taesung has locked it down tight. Says he won’t breathe a word unless the person himself wants it revealed.”
“Hmm… So Chairman Lee has taken such a stance?”
“Tsk, a man with nothing but money to his name, yet such a stiff neck…”
No Beom-seok, even his top button now loose from irritation, added his parting thought.
“Times are changing, you know. When will he stop thinking money is everything… isn’t that right?”
“Haha… quite so.”
She laughed in agreement, but her thoughts ran in an entirely different direction.
‘Here’s a man who’d sell his own country for money, yet he speaks well.’
No Beom-seok, catching her glance, spoke with sharp eyes.
“You just thought I was the type to sell my own country for money, didn’t you?”
“My goodness, surely not?”
Perceptive as a ghost, this one.
Yet his intuition was somehow uncannily sharp.
Mo Ran-hee maintained her smile as she answered, then rose slowly from her seat.
It was something that had happened while she was inside a Dungeon.
She’d thought that if anyone present at the scene then, it would be No Beom-seok—but if he knew nothing, there was no point continuing the conversation.
No Beom-seok asked.
“Leaving already? So that really was all you came to see?”
“What an unfair thing to say. I came to see your face too, Chairman. But I wouldn’t dream of keeping such a busy man any longer.”
“You certainly know how to talk.”
“Haha…”
The moment Mo Ran-hee turned her back.
No Beom-seok smiled thinly and spoke.
“I’ve seen Jin Woo-sung’s corpse.”
Mo Ran-hee’s footsteps halted.
“His neck was severed in a single strike.”
“…But he should have had Ultra-Regeneration?”
“There were no signs of regeneration. No other damage to the body was found either.”
“So it really was… killed with a single strike, that Jin Woo-sung?”
“I’m certain of it.”
After a brief silence hung in the room.
No Beom-seok opened his mouth again.
“That’s all I know. Beyond that, I’m completely in the dark. His name, where he lives, how he suddenly appeared, how he found Jin Woo-sung, how he killed him—I can’t figure out any of it. Though I’m curious. So what do you say? Shall we join hands and pay a visit to Chairman Lee’s residence?”
Mo Ran-hee smiled faintly and shook her head.
“That wouldn’t be proper. Even as times change, we civilized folk can’t afford to behave like barbarians, can we?”
“Huh? Who said anything about ransacking the place? I just meant we could go have a talk. Ah, or are you perhaps afraid your old temperament might rear its head?”
A slight tremor ran through her.
Mo Ran-hee’s body tensed, but she kept her back turned, tilting only her head to meet No Beom-seok’s eyes as he sat grinning.
Immediately after, Mo Ran-hee drew a long, slender eye-smile and lowered her head slightly.
“Thank you for the information. I’ll be in touch if I learn anything. Then, I’ll be going…”
After that, Mo Ran-hee left the reception room without hesitation.
The smile that had been hanging on No Beom-seok’s face deepened as he watched the closed door.
“Kekeke… Sword Flower… When did she start going by that?”
Of course, from the moment she began to become known to the public, everyone called her by that name.
But No Beom-seok, who had flourished in the same era as she, knew better.
The time when Mo Ran-hee was still fresh and green.
The nickname her teammates had called her when the world still didn’t know the name Mo Ran-hee.
“Butcher Flower.”
The flower that slaughters.
Hwa Baek-jeong.
No Beom-seok’s head nodded as the name came to mind.
“No matter how I think about it, that name suits her far better.”
It was a shame that the name had become one she could no longer call her by so easily.
* * *
Click—
Mo Ran-hee slipped out of the reception room, closing the door quietly behind her.
The Vice Chairman walking toward her froze at the sight of her eyes.
‘What kind of gaze is that……’
Her eyes were sharp enough that if she willed it, she could slice a person into dozens of pieces with a mere look.
Her expression had grown infinitely colder than when they first met.
He swallowed hard without meaning to.
As if the previous flash of coldness had been a lie, Mo Ran-hee drew a soft, elegant smile once more and greeted him.
“Oh my, Vice Chairman. You’ve arrived. I was just about to leave.”
“Ah, yes. The Chairman asked me to fetch some coffee……”
“The Chairman really. Asking someone of your station to run errands for coffee is too much, don’t you think?”
“Ha, haha…… It’s quite all right. I’m happy to do it.”
“You have a good nature, don’t you? In any case, I really must be going now. Perhaps we’ll meet again soon.”
Click-clack, click-clack.
She walked past the Vice Chairman at an unhurried pace.
Her smile remained in place as her thoughts continued.
‘Jin Woo-sung died in a single strike.’
A+ Rank danger level.
Estimated Hunter ability rank at minimum A.
‘Efficiency of ability utilization around 98%.’
And he was killed in one blow?
There was only one conclusion to be drawn easily.
‘Another S-rank Hunter has appeared in South Korea.’
Taesung was raising a frightening secret weapon.
But her head soon lowered slightly.
‘Part of it might be true, but……’
Was that really all there was to it?
In other words—Jin Woo-sung died in a single strike.
Could it have been her?
No.
No Beom-seok?
A dry laugh escaped her.
‘That’s out of the question.’
There was something else—something beyond that.
And now, she couldn’t even begin to guess what it might be.
After leaving the Association building and settling into the waiting car, Mo Ran-hee spoke while gazing ahead.
“Have we made any progress in getting close to the Chairman?”
“It’s still difficult. Since Taesung is such a solid company, if you could just give us a bit more time……”
“Never mind. By that time, everything will already be locked down tight anyway.”
Mo Ran-hee waved her hand dismissively.
As her subordinate’s explanation flowed in one ear and out the other, the view of Seoul spread beyond the car window before her eyes.
The Green Zone, with its stable and upscale atmosphere.
The Blue Zone, evoking memories of the old, glittering city center.
And beyond that.
The Red Zone, resembling a refugee camp devastated by war from another age.
Tap, tap.
Long fingers drummed against the car’s armrest.
‘If my sight had not reached there……’

There was only one possible point of origin.
Over the course of nearly ten years.
A place she had deliberately refused to even look toward, except for the times she’d visited to settle personal grudges.
A soft sound escaped her nostrils involuntarily.
“Hmm…
…
A dragon born from a stream.
…
….”
“Pardon?”
“Just an old saying that came to mind. Let’s cast the net wider than just Lee Young-sik’s circle. Check the Red Zone as well—see if anyone has recently come into prominence or shown signs of sudden movement. I’d appreciate your help with that.”
“Understood.”
After receiving the confirmation, Mo Ran-hee closed her eyes.
The moment she’d heard the news after leaving the dungeon, she’d rushed straight to the Association.
Her body was exhausted, but her mind raced relentlessly.
Naturally, her entire frame began to stretch and unwind.
Even so, curiosity continued to amplify within her.
‘Who could it possibly be?’
The mysterious Hunter who had struck down Jin Woo-sung in a single blow.
‘I want to meet them soon.’
Her tongue brushed unconsciously across her crimson lips.
* * *
A hat pulled down low.
Dark sunglasses.
A pitch-black mask and an outer coat that obscured the wearer’s build.
A man and woman dressed in such a suspicious manner found themselves at Ju Do-gyeom’s residence, both of them gloved in leather.
Ju Do-gyeom, his expression bewildered, opened his mouth toward the man of the pair.
“Chairman Lee…? What is this…?”
Lee Young-sik nodded silently, then approached the living room table and set down the bag he’d been holding before speaking.
“The Association and every guild worth its salt in this country are swarming to find you. It won’t be long before word reaches overseas as well.”
“The Jin Woo-sung incident, then.”
Ju Do-gyeom spoke with calm composure.
Lee Young-sik, regarding him with a look of bewilderment, let out a hollow laugh.
“Hah… anyone watching would think you’d simply caught some neighborhood thug. I still can’t forget it. When I heard that you’d killed that Jin Woo-sung… that you’d brought my daughter back safely… hehehehe….”
Was the man of iron now but a memory?
Tears welled in Lee Young-sik’s eyes once more.
In truth, it had not been limited to this moment alone.
After killing Jin Woo-sung.
Upon receiving word from Lee Seo-ah, Lee Young-sik had rushed to find them at their shelter faster than anyone else could have.
And after confirming they were both safe, he’d wept with profound joy.
Ju Do-gyeom, watching Lee Young-sik swept up in the torrent of that emotion, spoke with measured calm.
“It was thanks to Jin Woo-sung’s carelessness.”
“If he were a man you could defeat through mere carelessness, the Association Chairman himself or any guild master under heaven wouldn’t still be agonizing over his capture. You’re simply extraordinary, Ju Do-gyeom. From where I stand, you are South Korea’s representative Hunter, Taesung’s representative Hunter, and I feel as though you are as close to me as family.”
“…Dad, you’re being a bit too generous with your praise.”
“Am I? Hehehehe!”
“I’m undeserving of such words, Chairman.”
“Mmm….”
Lee Young-sik let out a low groan and smacked his lips.
Yet even that was nothing more than a mere performance.
For in both his eyes lay only genuine gratitude and affection toward Ju Do-gyeom.
‘Truly a remarkable friend.’
So young.
Despite achieving such astounding feats, he did not elevate himself.
Though he might have wished to boast, he did the opposite instead.
Lee Young-sik had not forgotten, from the moment of Lee Seo-ah’s rescue,
the words Ju Do-gyeom had spoken to him then—his true self.
—I am still insufficient. And so I do not wish to be known to the world. Could you help me with this?
A young genius who, despite already being sufficiently brilliant, could speak of his own insufficiency.
This was truly a rare quality.
And it also meant he understood well how terrifying the world could be.
‘Extraordinary. Truly extraordinary.’
With such thoughts, Chairman Lee Young-sik decided to make Ju Do-gyeom into a Hidden Dragon, just as he’d wished.
And so had come about this amusing situation—the rather comical disguise of the wealthy father and daughter venturing out together.
“In any case, contact will be difficult for a while. We’ll need to be mindful of wiretaps and location tracking.”
“That won’t be an issue.”
Ju Do-gyeom pulled out a mobile phone with his newly registered number.
“This is the one Jin Woo-sung was using.”
He followed with a brief explanation of its functions.
Lee Young-sik’s eyes widened as he listened.
“That… that doesn’t make any sense……”
It was bewildering, but he couldn’t simply deny it—what he’d experienced himself was far too clear.
Thanks to that, Lee Young-sik was able to quickly regain his composure.
“……At least we’ve eased one worry. We’ll be able to stay in touch as needed.”
“Yes. But isn’t it frustrating, not being able to leave?”
The season was late spring.
In other words, summer loomed just ahead.
“Thanks for your concern. It’s more bearable than I thought.”
“Same here.”
“I see. But I don’t think you two need to keep doing this even at home.”
“……”
“……”
Lee Young-sik and Lee Seo-ah exchanged a glance.
“Ahem…!”
Lee Seo-ah cleared her throat first, then removed her hat, sunglasses, and mask.
Lee Young-sik followed suit, casting off the bundle of gear he’d been wearing.
“Whew… ah, the air really does feel different.”
“It really does.”
“……”
“Don’t look at me like that. I actually had quite a bit of fun feeling like a special agent. Ha ha ha!”
“Ha, that’s you for you.”
“He he……”
Ju Do-gyeom let out a quiet laugh at the witty banter between father and daughter—a perfect match, as they say.
He opened his mouth.
To ask about what had become a natural ritual whenever guests arrived at his home.
“Would you care for a meal?”
“Yes, please.”
“Of course. We won’t be able to eat for a while after this, so we’d better take full advantage, wouldn’t we?”
“I’ll prepare something.”
Ju Do-gyeom headed toward the kitchen.
* * *
The meal was over as quickly as it had been prepared.
“This is it. This is the best! Your cooking really is the best, Do-gyeom. Hee hee hee!”
“I’m so happy……”
The two of them, now thoroughly satisfied, both gave a thumbs up together.
Ju Do-gyeom smiled quietly at their familiar antics.
What could he say?
At first, he’d started it purely out of curiosity—wondering if his Universal Chef skill would actually work on others.
But after feeding these two, and then Kim Han-yul as well, he’d come to realize something.
‘It’s nice eating myself, but making others happy with delicious food… is surprisingly enjoyable.’
His chest tingled with warmth, and for some reason, even without eating himself this time, he felt his own Mana rising.
‘No, it’s not just a feeling……”
His Mana had genuinely increased.
And the increase was quite substantial.
What was happening?
He was still processing this bewilderment when it came.
『You have acquired the exclusive job skill, Universal Chef’s Mindset (Lv.MAX).』
A second time.
A skill had manifested on Earth once more.

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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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