The Reincarnated Hunter Sweeps Up All Fortunes - Chapter 14

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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 14
14
From the moment Im Gang arrived at Wol Hyang Ru, he’d been on edge, half-expecting members of Sapa to show up and cause trouble.
Even if they’d all been too intoxicated to think straight when the deed was done, the fact remained that something had happened—and that made anxiety inevitable.
He’d even prepared himself to flee Hangzhou if necessary.
But then.
“There’s been another fire, I hear.”
“Hm?”
“The slum where the Sapa gather.”
……What?
From what Baek Cheon told him, the place he’d visited yesterday had burned thoroughly indeed.
The Rogue Warrior Slum was nothing compared to it—the Sapa Slum had blazed so fiercely that over fifty percent of it had been reduced to ash.
The problem was.
Traces of a drug party had been discovered, and the authorities had mobilized again.
Official Sanctum Inviolable—ah yes, there was such a rule.
But drugs, except when used for medical purposes, were strictly forbidden by the state.
Even high-ranking officials indulged quietly through back channels, so enforcement was lax except in egregious cases.
‘Over fifty percent burned—that’s substantial.’
So what, it’s just a slum, right?
No. It wasn’t.
Slums made up roughly forty percent of Hangzhou’s total area.
They were crammed in corners and interspersed with the lower districts, making boundaries blur, but they sprawled across considerable territory.
Beyond the Rogue Warrior Slum and Sapa Slum, there were other slums, but.
By area alone, the Sapa Slum represented about ten percent of Hangzhou.
If more than half of that had burned to ash in a single night, then five percent of Hangzhou had been reduced to rubble.
At that scale, a slum or not, it would ripple through the civilian population.
“But how did it even happen?”
“Best guess is that people too far gone on drugs failed to notice until it was too late.”
“Mm. Well, that’s… plausible enough.”
But Im Gang, despite his words, found it suspicious.
For good reason.
He’d been there yesterday.
‘Were they trying to destroy evidence?’
It had to be the work of whoever had been dealing in that slum.
There was no other explanation that fit.
At the same time, word that there were no survivors swept away his unease in one stroke.
“…? Suddenly you look rather pleased with yourself.”
“Things have been tense around the Sapa lately, haven’t they?”
“They have.”
“With the authorities poking around, things should settle down for a while. And Wol Hyang Ru will benefit too.”
“…Ah.”
Baek Cheon nodded as understanding dawned.
Wol Hyang Ru drew all manner of clientele.
Among them were patrons skilled enough to be called masters—those from Sapa’s ranks.
When they left quietly after a pleasant evening, there was no real trouble.
But Sapa members weren’t known for restraint.
They treated the courtesans roughly, made excessive demands, sometimes handled them violently enough to leave injuries.
Each time, the atmosphere at Wol Hyang Ru soured considerably.
Neither of the two hall guards could entirely escape the fallout.
If this incident reduced Sapa’s foot traffic, the mood would improve noticeably.
The prediction proved accurate.
The rest of their shifts passed in peace and ease.
There was no incident of the senior hall guard needing replacement.
“You two have worked hard all this time.”
Do Bu Eok, the general manager of Wol Hyang Ru, emerged as he had on their first day to offer encouragement.
He praised them, saying he’d never seen rogue warriors perform hall guard duties so competently, and slipped them a generous bonus.
Im Gang’s pouch already held a fair amount of silver coins.
‘More money is always better.’
He couldn’t help the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.
On the way back, he and Baek Cheon had a serious conversation.
“I’m thinking of doing some training for a while. What about you, Im Gang?”
“What’s with that tone, exactly……?”
“What’s wrong with my tone?”
“Never mind. Hmm. I’m also thinking about doing some training for a while.”
“Then why don’t you train with me?”
Im Gang considered it without thinking.
‘Is this the martial world version of flirting?’
If this were my past life, it’d be like asking “Want to grab some ramen?” or “Want to come see my cat?” or “Want to watch Netflix?” Something along those lines, probably.
‘Damn.’
Im Gang slapped his own cheek to snap out of it.
Watching those eyes shimmer with barely contained anticipation made him feel uncomfortable, as if something heavy had settled in his chest.
That feeling like he was about to start liking men…… No way in hell.
“I prefer women. Let’s talk about training another time.”
He declined Baek Cheon’s invitation. Part of it was because he didn’t want to become someone with strange tastes, but there was another reason too—he had no intention of just training.
During the past month working as a bouncer at Wol Hyang Ru, he’d learned quite a bit.
The difference was even more pronounced after his trip to the Sapa Slum.
His current level, even being generous about it, was somewhere in the Second Class range.
Not First Class, and splitting realms within Second Class felt almost ridiculous to say.
If he had to choose, he’d say somewhere between early and middle stages.
‘Honestly speaking, I’m just a strong can with Internal Energy and nothing else.’
It was a harsh assessment, but it was the truth.
The Dae Ryok Pae Gong had made him stronger, but he was clumsy with controlling his power, and while he’d gulped down Young Yak to build his Internal Energy up to twenty-four years, he didn’t know how to use it properly.
Since Martial Arts had become skills, the low realm was probably because he hadn’t invested in training them.
The rate at which his Internal Energy grew had already started to slow.
At first, practicing Un Gi Jo Sik for an hour a day would increase his Internal Energy by four years.
Now it took two hours of intense practice to gain four years.
If he just kept moving and relied on automatic circulation, it would take several hours just to gain a single year, if that.
‘Internal Energy, well, I suppose that’s fine.’
It was the skills—the Martial Arts—that were the problem. Even when he learned them, his realm was too low to actually use them.
In a case like this, maybe “proficiency” was the right word instead of “realm.”
Wait a moment.
Didn’t he kill some Second Class bastard with Bi Do when he fought Heuk Do Bang?
‘Would I call him a bastard for nothing?’
That guy shouldn’t even be called Second Class.
Doing the kind of stuff even Third Class warriors wouldn’t do—what kind of Second Class was that?
He was just a fraud.
If a real Second Class warrior had seen him, they’d have killed the corpse again out of sheer disgust.
Anyway.
If he couldn’t take care of things quickly with his raw brute strength and Bi Do, he’d be in serious danger.
The conclusion was that he had no idea what would happen if he faced off directly against a warrior of similar level.
Conversely, if he could raise his proficiency with his skill-based Martial Arts to a certain degree, he should be able to handle Second Class warriors of comparable level just fine.
Maybe even higher.
Because Im Gang wasn’t an ordinary Rogue Warrior—he was an awakened one.
“……Huh?”
“The winner is White Face!”
But something felt…… off?
“……This winner as well, White Face!”
“What is this guy?”
“His movements are clumsy though…….”
Why am I this strong?
Im Gang gazed down at his own hands with a puzzled expression.
* * *
After parting with Baek Cheon, Im Gang headed toward the Underground Fighting Arena—the place his master, that bastard, had forcibly dragged him to in the old days to build real combat experience.
Hangzhou is a city of pleasure and indulgence.
When we speak of indulgence here, it doesn’t just mean eating, drinking, and enjoying music and dance.
Gambling is obvious, and just like in the Sapa Slum, there are spaces where people enjoy drugs.
If one is light, the other is darkness.
And among them, there’s a place that could be called particularly deep darkness.
The Underground Fighting Arena.
A place for pure physical combat—(mixed with gambling)—regardless of origin, status, or martial realm.
Of course it’s illegal.
Naturally, they don’t accept just anyone.
Put plainly, if a master-class expert rare enough to be counted on one hand in Hangzhou showed up desperate for quick coin, what would happen?
He’d win match after match, the crowd would stop wagering, the payout odds would collapse, the arena would rake in no commission, the economy would implode, and the whole enterprise would crumble.
A truly lamentable state of affairs.
So the Underground Fighting Arena established several rules for participants.
First Class and above barred from entry.
Matches divided by age bracket.
Weapons prohibited.
There were other rules besides these, but these were the critical ones.
As for why they banned First Class and above—
It’s easy to conceal one’s true level depending on which martial arts you’ve trained.
So-called Renowned Schools, in particular.
A martial artist from such a place can leave you guessing if they deliberately hold back their aura.
To prevent people from slipping in under false pretenses as much as possible, there was no choice.
Besides, matches at that level are decided in the blink of an eye—hardly entertaining to watch.
As for age brackets, do I even need to explain?
If a sixteen-year-old fought a forty-five-year-old, nine times out of ten the older man would win.
So they pit fighters of roughly similar age against each other.
Of course, there are exceptions.
Specifically, wearing a mask.
It means you can fight anyone regardless of age.
And finally, weapons are prohibited.
You might wonder why, but—
By “weapons,” the Underground Fighting Arena doesn’t mean ordinary blades like swords and spears, or even exotic implements like brushes, whips, or sickles.
Only things that are tedious to watch or run afoul of the law—Hidden Projectiles and powder-charged devices like Byeok Ryak Tan—are banned.
Despite being illegal, why do they run such a fair and orderly operation?
Because places that don’t have already gone under.
For exactly the reasons I just listed.
“Ah. You’re the one from last time.”
“Yes. I’m here to participate.”
“What’s your level?”
“Early Second Class.”
“…? I assume you know the rules. What about age?”
“I’ll be wearing a mask.”
“Good.”
The arena administrator nodded.
A wise choice.
Fighting someone your own age makes for sloppy matches and smaller purses.
How many Rogue Warriors haven’t even reached their twenties?
Every so often some young Rogue Warrior comes by or gets dragged in chasing real combat experience.
Most don’t make it to their twentieth birthday before retiring—or they freeze up in a real match and wet themselves.
‘In that sense, this one’s genuine goods.’
At fifteen years old, he fought his first match and immediately rose to stardom.
In terms of pure skill alone, there were plenty more talented fighters around.
‘But his match presence is unreal.’
By “match presence,” I mean entertainment value—he makes it fun to watch.
Hmm.
If I let this one go, I might as well hang up the administrator’s badge.
“When can you start?”
“Right now.”
Right now.
* * *
Im Gang rolled his neck side to side.
Crack-crack—air hissed out between his vertebrae.
‘Keep it measured.’
It had been a while since he’d been to the Underground Fighting Arena. He’d only come once or twice since that time at fifteen, and hadn’t set foot here since his master went into seclusion—roughly a year ago.
‘Wait. My birthday passed, so it’s been two years.’
They say mountains change in three years—though in this case, whole Sapa sects bloomed and withered in mere months.
One or two Sapa factions in Hangzhou disappeared or formed anew every month.
In the martial world, two years was an eternity—long enough for mountains to rise from nothing and chasms to split the earth, turning it into rivers.
“Today’s first match… and the competitor’s wearing a mask?”
“A masked fighter. It’s been a while since we’ve seen one.”
“I came here to earn coin, but if I have to worry about someone’s age while fighting…”
The spectators murmured among themselves as Im Gang stepped into the center of the arena.
Then, from the opposite side, another fighter emerged.
“Roooaarrr!”
“I put my money on you! You better win!”
“Kill him! Break his arms and legs and make him crawl!”
The arena erupted in fevered heat.

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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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