The speeding car arrived at the gate not long after.
“Please wait here for a moment. I’ll take care of it.”
Peeking out the window, the Association President said this as he stepped out of the car.
The reason he used the word “take care” was simple.
A B-rank gate was not something that could be overlooked, and several staff members, who appeared to be from the Association, were stationed at the site.
As the car approached the area around the gate, one of the guards standing at the entrance stepped forward, waving an arm to stop them from going any farther.
“This area is a B-rank gate zone and currently dangerous. Please use a different route.”
“Stop right there, it’s me.”
“P-President?!”
The moment the Association President got out of the car, the staff member’s face twisted in shock.
As the flustered employee stood there opening and closing his mouth, the Association President walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“My group and I will handle this gate, so you may go home now.”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
Normally, entering a gate requires going through a lot of complicated procedures.
But with the Association President leading the way, all those trivial steps could be skipped — which was exactly why Cheon Hwi had brought him here.
Cheon Hwi stepped out of the car with Choa and walked toward the gate after thanking him for his help.
A massive blue gate.
The gate’s rank is determined by the magic flowing out from the dungeon inside, but even so, the sheer size and pressure of it couldn’t be ignored.
“Ah, that reminds me.”
“Is there a problem?”
“Is it legal to record the dungeon raid and upload it online?”
At Cheon Hwi’s sudden question, the Association President tilted his head in confusion.
Since he normally had no interest in internet broadcasts, he didn’t know that Cheon Hwi had been streaming online.
In contrast, Choa’s eyes lit up wide with excitement.
No matter how she looked at it, this was a video guaranteed to get views — failure wasn’t even an option.
“Technically, there are quite a few steps like getting filming permission and having the footage reviewed…”
The Association President looked troubled for a moment, but then he let out a soft laugh and nodded.
“As the Association President, I’ll take care of that part for you.”
Cheon Hwi values gratitude and resentment deeply.
He never spares those who have wronged him, and never hesitates to return kindness to those who have helped him.
The Association President knows this well.
That’s why, even if Cheon Hwi’s requests are a bit troublesome or awkward, he does his best to honor them.
“Shall we head in now?”
“I’ll stay by Lady Choa’s side and serve as her guard.”
“Sure, do what you like. A dungeon like this is no problem for me alone.”
As they entered the gate, the Association President glanced sideways at Choa.
Though she didn’t seem to realize it yet, he was keeping a close watch on the only woman that even someone like him — whom the President feared — had declared as his disciple.
Originally, she was just a D-rank awakened being that he wouldn’t have paid much attention to.
But the Association President no longer saw Choa through the lens of standard ranking systems.
To him, her value had already surpassed any awakened grade.
“Miss Choa.”
“Y-Yes…?!”
“If you ever plan to become a Hunter, please make sure to come find me.”
“O-Okay…!”
The Association President politely handed her a business card from his pocket.
Though clearly flustered, Choa accepted it with both hands and let out a sheepish smile.
This is how the door must be opened.
It may be difficult to grant a great favor from the start, but he could still build a good impression little by little.
The Association President, tense enough to break into a cold sweat despite his careful planning, passed through the gate with Choa.
“You really are quite clever.”
The sound of Cheon Hwi’s voice echoed directly in his mind, making the President’s body shudder.
“Keep thinking that way — no pointless schemes.”
Voice Transmission.
A technique used to send one’s voice only to a specific person.
“At the very least, if you do, I can remain your ally for the time being.”
Unlike Cheon Hwi’s usual calm and respectful tone, this voice sounded cold, like a warning.
The Association President trembled as sweat dripped down his back, swallowing hard.
Forcing himself to nod slightly so that Choa beside him wouldn’t notice.
“I hope you haven’t forgotten the lesson you learned at the orphanage a year ago.”
One year ago.
The orphanage.
From the two words Cheon Hwi had uttered, “one year” and “orphanage,” the Association President was reminded of that horrifying day’s nightmare.
As memories filled with shock and fear surfaced, his steady breathing turned ragged with sudden gasps.
‘I was wrong.’
It hit him like a blow to the head, his thoughts completely wiped clean in an instant.
The true meaning behind Cheon Hwi’s warning had finally dawned on him.
He looked at Choa, who was glancing around like a curious meerkat, and thought to himself.
‘It’s not me doing her a favor.’
The Association President had planned to use his reputation and power to do a favor for Choa.
Since she was Cheon Hwi’s disciple, any goodwill shown to her would eventually be goodwill toward him — or so he believed.
‘But in truth, this is the chance I was given.’
The reality, however, was entirely different.
From the beginning, there was no kindness or favor he could offer.
He was simply grasping a chance that Cheon Hwi had extended through his disciple, Choa.
The Association owes a debt to Cheon Hwi.
Everyone else who had actively intervened in that incident a year ago had lost their lives at Cheon Hwi’s hands.
The Association, by sheer luck, had avoided destruction because it hadn’t gotten deeply involved.
But that didn’t mean they were innocent.
Though they hadn’t acted directly, the Association had still failed to uphold its duty when it mattered most.
Cheon Hwi was offering them a chance to repay even a sliver of that debt.
‘This is an opportunity I can’t afford to lose.’
Determined, the Association President took a heavy step forward.
As his demeanor shifted, Cheon Hwi smiled in satisfaction.
‘His mind works well, after all.’
Cheon Hwi, briefly recalling the past, let out a faint scoff.
No matter how he looked at it, keeping the Association President alive last year had proven both convenient and useful.
After all, the incident that had once shaken the nation — where he went around the country killing every person involved — had gone completely silent, as if it had never happened.
One way or another, ever since the Association President started taking action personally, Cheon Hwi couldn’t deny that life had become more convenient.
How did they cover up the incident back then?
While reaching out his senses to search for monsters, Cheon Hwi fell into thought.
‘Was it reported as an S-rank gate break?’
He was pretty sure that was it.
The incident where countless people — including leaders from major guilds and political figures — died had been covered up as an S-rank gate break.
They pressured the media into wiping all articles about him.
Finishing the brief recollection, Cheon Hwi raised his hand in a knife-like gesture.
It was because he had sensed multiple presences ahead, each giving off a passable amount of energy.
“They’re here.”
The ground began to shake, little by little.
As a thick cloud of dusty soil began to fill the air, massive shadows started emerging from the forest ahead.
Mountain Giants.
They were humanoid monsters roughly twice the size of an average adult male.
Covered head to toe in brown fur, they resembled giant apes. Cheon Hwi let out a short laugh.
“Hah, and they call that a giant?”
Compared to the monstrous beings of the same name back in the martial world, these “giants” looked pitifully weak.
Not only were they small, but they even seemed to lack intelligence.
“M-Mister Cheon Hwi! Mountain Giants are smallest when you first meet them!”
“Huh?”
Choa, on high alert from entering a B-rank dungeon, practically screamed the warning.
Mountain Giants are at their smallest the first time you see them.
There was no need to think too hard to understand what that meant.
Crunch.
A disturbing sound echoed — the noise of muscle swelling.
Then, the Mountain Giants roared. Their thunderous bellows were loud enough to shatter eardrums.
The air around them vibrated and blew outwards in a fierce gust.
“Wow. They can do that too?”
Cheon Hwi gaped in admiration like someone watching a curious spectacle.
At first glance, it seemed like nothing more than the threat display of wild beasts, but the result was fascinating.
Their bodies were expanding.
It wasn’t just their muscles swelling — their entire bodies grew by several times over.
The Mountain Giants expanded to sizes comparable to apartment buildings, snorting clouds of steam so thick they looked like real clouds.
Faced with a powerful enemy unlike anything she’d ever encountered, Choa trembled in fear.
“President, stay with Miss Choa.”
“Understood.”
Following Cheon Hwi’s command, the Association President quickly moved to Choa’s side.
Cheon Hwi glanced their way briefly, then leapt into the air.
In an instant, he soared upward and clenched his hand.
A surge of black energy burst from between his tightly gripped fingers, forming a dark sword.
He swung it wide.
In the bright forest daylight, darkness suddenly fell like night.
A crescent-shaped slash of black swept across the sky, snuffing out the lives of the Mountain Giants.
“That was easier than I expected.”
The row of Mountain Giants, lined up like an apartment complex, were all beheaded by a single swing of Cheon Hwi’s blade.
Their headless bodies collapsed like dominos, and the Association President quickly pulled Choa away to safety.
After that, nothing stood out in particular.
Monsters appeared.
Cheon Hwi killed them.
Repeating that process several times, they eventually reached the place where the dungeon’s boss monster awaited.
“That one looks just right.”
“Sorry?”
The boss monster stirred.
A colossal Mountain Giant with patches of green fur slowly rose to its feet.
If the others were the size of apartment buildings, their leader towered even higher.
The giant was as tall as a high-rise skyscraper — a landmark-sized beast that stretched and let out a thunderous roar.
Woooooooaaaaaah!
The very heavens and earth shook with the sound, and Choa covered her ears.
Even the Association President’s expression hardened, realizing this one wasn’t ordinary.
But Cheon Hwi, facing the towering boss from up close, simply smiled brightly.
“Watch closely.”
A short remark that could’ve easily been missed.
That brief voice made the Association President’s gaze snap to Cheon Hwi.
The giant raised its foot.
Lifting its knee to a right angle, the Mountain Giant slammed its leg down with a monstrous roar.
A massive act of violence carried out by a mountain-sized body.
Even the Association President, an S-rank Hunter, couldn’t take such an attack lightly.
Normally, one would dodge such an obvious strike and quickly aim for a vital spot — but Cheon Hwi didn’t flinch.
Instead, he extended his right hand toward the Mountain Giant.
And then, Cheon Hwi’s hand met the giant’s descending foot.
The moment they connected, the Association President’s eyes flew open in shock.
“Heaven and Earth Great Shift.”
As if informing him of what technique he had just used, Cheon Hwi spoke the name aloud.
Then, with a light leap, Cheon Hwi gently pushed against the Mountain Giant’s foot — and the seemingly immovable giant suddenly shook and toppled backward.
KUOOONG!!!
With a thunderous crash, the Mountain Giant fell, crushing the dungeon floor beneath it.
Though the Association President and Choa had clearly witnessed the scene, they simply couldn’t understand how such a thing was possible.
It wasn’t brute force that had pushed it back.
It was as if the giant had lost its balance while trying to lift its own foot mid-stomp — the flow of force had changed in a way that defied logic.
“Ahhh…”
Cheon Hwi’s lips twitched as he glanced at the dazed, speechless Association President.
It seemed showing it firsthand left a stronger impression.
“That’s enough. You’ve seen all you need to.”
Looking back at the toppled boss Mountain Giant, which was trying to rise again, Cheon Hwi casually dusted off his hands.
Kuung!
Though it was just a light gesture,
with that single motion, the boss Mountain Giant’s head was severed.
A massive slash fell from the sky, cleanly slicing it off.
“Wh-What… what did you just do…?!”
“In my broadcasts, I usually coat my energy with black aura, but in real combat, the invisible kind is the Formless Sword. It’s more efficient, right?”
As Cheon Hwi said this, he reached his hand toward the boss Mountain Giant’s torso.
He raised his outstretched palm slightly, and the giant’s chest split open, revealing its heart clearly.
“Let’s focus on our own tasks now.”
While increasing internal energy doesn’t directly raise one’s realm, it’s true that having more energy helps speed up the process.
Blood Heaven Blood Refinement Method.
This technique, created by the Blood Demon to perfectly suit his Bloodborne Physique and Blood Asura Technique, was one of the most notorious demonic arts in the Central Plains.
Recalling the reason for its infamy, Cheon Hwi let out an awkward chuckle and spoke.
“Go inside.”
“Huh?”
“Enter the giant’s heart and activate the Blood Asura Technique.”
The reason why the Blood Heaven Blood Refinement Method and the Blood Asura Technique were considered the worst demonic arts of all time was painfully simple and obvious.
These days, they used monster blood for cultivation, but the Blood Demon had once used living humans as materials — grinding them down and drinking their blood.
Faced with the reality of having to bathe in the blood of the boss Mountain Giant, Choa looked like she was about to cry.
“Can’t I just learn Heaven and Earth Great Shift instead…?”
“I’ll teach you later.”
Cheon Hwi smiled brightly and waved his hand.
Faced with his firm attitude, Choa finally gave in.
“Uugh… it’s so sticky…!”
Grumbling, she reluctantly slid into the Mountain Giant’s heart.
Even demonic arts came with their own struggles.