Chapter 97

Chapter 97
## Chapter 97: Playing a High-Stakes Game

Choi Yeoreum glared in my direction, carrying herself with the entitled air of a monarch.

“It appears our particular line of work doesn’t sit well with your sensibilities,” I remarked.

She offered a faint, melodic hum in response to my observation. After popping a morsel of lokum into her mouth, she licked the sugar from her fingertips before answering.

“I’m a fan of taking early precautions. It is always far simpler to manage a situation before it spirals into a massive headache.”

Following that statement, she barked a command toward the entrance. “Over here!”

The doors retracted, and a group of hunters hurried into the suite.

“I’ve decided on different footwear. This shade is hideous,” she declared.

As she extended her leg, the hunters dropped to their knees immediately to perform the swap. However, one of the assistants evidently fumbled, and her expression instantly darkened with malice.

A violent thud resounded through the room as the hunter tasked with her shoes took a heavy kick to his ribs. He was sent sprawling, rolling several times across the floor tiles.

The man landed face-down on the ground, unable to even let out a gasp of pain.

“I’m so sorry! Please forgive me!”

The display was genuinely pathetic to witness.

“When you plead like that, it makes me look like the antagonist of this story,” she grumbled.

“To be fair, you aren’t exactly a saint,” I countered.

She snapped her head toward me, her features briefly registering a look of genuine shock.

“Is that how I come across?”

Suddenly, she revealed a wide, sharp-toothed smirk and gave me a wink.

“You’re observant. I’ll give you that.”

She used her foot to shove the remaining shoe-changers aside, rose to her full height, and strolled toward my position.

“But voicing that to a dangerous person’s face? It suggests you aren’t the brightest bulb in the box. Wouldn’t you agree?”

I noticed the ambient temperature beginning to climb rapidly, prompting me to look down. The tray of lokum on the nearby table was already liquefying into a sugary mess.

“Intimidating me over a single comment. It’s becoming quite difficult to stay—I’m practically trembling.”

I stood up with the intention of departing, glancing toward the exit. The door was already being licked by invisible tongues of fire. The gold handle had shifted to a glowing cherry-red and was starting to lose its shape.

“I can’t even excuse myself to the restroom? I’m truly about to lose bladder control from the terror.”

She scanned the decor of the room, then used her toe to slide a decorative golden basin across the floor to me.

“Relieve yourself right here.”

Was she serious? She expected me to expose myself and perform right in front of her?

“What’s the matter? Is it too small to reveal without dying of embarrassment?”

“I’m merely concerned the impact might crack the gold. It looks like an expensive piece.”

She made a clicking sound with her tongue.

“You won’t yield even a centimeter, will you? Just desperate posturing. I’ve never cared for your type.”

“If I had any interest in being liked by you, we wouldn’t be standing in this room to begin with.”

I began circulating my mana to resist the blistering heat, yet the air remained stifling. The band on my finger started to glow softly, gradually drawing in and neutralizing the thermal energy.

“That’s a fascinating ring. You want to see me turn up the pressure?”

The heat in the room surged even higher. It was obvious she was irritated by my continued composure.

In that case, she was really going to hate the next part.

Tendrils of pitch-black fire began to rise from my skin.

The dark flames swirled around Jeong Oh-hoon, Han Sang-ah, and myself, hungrily absorbing the surrounding heat like a vacuum.

“….”

So, she wanted to see who would blink first?

Choi Yeoreum wasn’t going to kill me. It wasn’t because she lacked the power, but because she lacked the resolve. She had far too much status and wealth to gamble—even a microscopic chance of losing one of her golden opportunities was a risk she couldn’t swallow.

In polite circles, they might call it being cautious, but here? It was pure cowardice.

“Everyone in the country is aware that I headed straight for the Wonder Club headquarters the moment I touched down.”

“And your point is?”

How could she be so dense?

“If we were to drop dead in this building, it would create quite the spectacle, wouldn’t it? A recruitment specialist who just neutralized two Grade 1 Erosion Cores in record time.”

I rubbed my chin, letting a mocking grin spread across my face.

“What’s the term the public uses for people like us? Ah, that’s right—heroes. Celebrities.”

I surveyed the surroundings. Despite the intense thermal output, the room was pristine aside from the ruined door. I had to acknowledge her incredible precision.

I ran a finger along the edge of the table as I kept speaking.

“There would inevitably be a massive inquiry… So, if we perish here, who exactly is going to take the blame?”

And just how high up the professional ladder would that scandal climb?

“You think Wonder Club is just some informal social circle? I hold the third rank, and we have two other elite Hope’s List hunters under our roof.”

As she spoke, a massive sphere of concentrated fire ignited in her left palm.

“A nobody like you disappearing? It won’t change a thing.”

“It’s actually common knowledge that the superstar hunters of Wonder Club don’t actually do any real work.”

I fished out my phone and turned the screen toward her, displaying the search results. There were dozens of articles on the subject.

Phrases like, “What exactly is the Wonder Club doing with their time?”—the headlines and public outcry were everywhere.

“It didn’t take much effort to find these.”

A simple query for Wonder Club brought the controversy right to the surface.

“If you truly attempt to end my life, I will fight with everything I have to stay breathing. I can promise you this—we aren’t the sort of people who die quietly.”

I stowed the phone and took a firm hold of my spear.

“We dismantled two Grade 1 Erosion Cores in less than a year. Even if you come at us with your full power, we can hold out for at least three hours.”

I was entirely certain of that estimate.

A three-hour supernatural battle? The entire skyscraper would begin to collapse. The media and paparazzi were already camped outside—if we inadvertently staged an action movie, they would broadcast every second of it.

And that was only the beginning. Three hours provided a massive window for external interference. If she failed to finish us in that timeframe, the government or the Hunter Association would be forced to intervene, even if only to save face.

“….”

She stared at me in silence for several seconds, then gave a sharp flick of her wrist. The room’s temperature plummeted back to its original state. She walked directly into my personal space and whispered into my ear, her tone deceptively sweet.

“Someday, when enough time has passed, you are going to look back on this moment with deep regret. There are individuals you can disrespect, and there are those you absolutely cannot. You just poked a tiger, little boy.”

Her palm came down to rest softly on my shoulder.

“In ways you can’t even fathom. Something incredibly violent. You are going to break. And only in that moment will you recall this little conversation.”

I reached up and brushed a stray lock of her hair behind her ear, as if she were a lover, and gave my reply.

“I appreciate the warning.”

We would have to wait and see if her prediction held any weight.

“Gosh, it’s a shame to say goodbye like this—care for a parting kiss?”

To an outside observer who hadn’t heard our threats, it would have looked like we were checking into a hotel, not threatening to kill each other.

She pulled away, flashed her middle finger at me, and jerked her head toward the exit.

“Get out. Now.”

“Sleep well.”

I offered a mock-polite bow and exited the room, followed by Jeong Oh-hoon and Han Sang-ah.

“Are your nerves made of titanium? Weren’t you even a little bit rattled? Do you just not experience fear?”

Jeong Oh-hoon interrogated me the moment we hit the clubhouse corridor.

“Fear of what, exactly?”

The world is full of legitimate terrors—why squander my anxiety on a single arrogant hunter? Particularly one who isn’t brave enough to actually follow through.

“Did you honestly think you could defeat her?”

“Not a chance. If she had committed to a kill, we would have barely survived for those three hours before being incinerated.”

However…

“Choi Yeoreum would have sustained such severe damage that she would never return to her peak. That was the leverage.”

If I die, she ends up as a permanent invalid. If I unleashed my full arsenal against her, it was a realistic outcome.

A hunter’s status is derived from their power. A permanent, magical injury effectively castrates that power.

And Choi Yeoreum is terrified of losing her throne.

“The bottom line is: even if she managed to kill us, she would emerge from the fight significantly weakened.”

That reality is why she chose to stand down.

Jeong Oh-hoon blinked at me with a hollow expression before whispering to himself.

“You’re a maniac. The logic is sound, but actually doing it? That isn’t normal.”

“What are you talking about? You two are the only ones here who aren’t normal besides me.”

Han Sang-ah spoke up then.

“I am perfectly normal.”

Of course you are.

“Prepare yourselves for the exit.”

I ignored her protest and gave the warning as we approached the main doors. The moment those doors parted, the flashbulbs and reporters would descend on us like an avalanche.

It was fortunate this was Wonder Club territory, which kept the press at a distance. Otherwise, they probably would have used a battering ram to get inside.

The second we crossed the threshold, the inquiries hit us like a physical wave.

It took nearly two grueling hours to navigate through the crowd and escape.

“That was pure insanity. My brain is rattling.”

Once we were safely inside the vehicle, I simply stared blankly out at the dark tint of the windows.

“Where are we heading?”

“I need to visit Choi Seung-gi first.”

I pulled out the container, rotating it slowly in my hands as I answered Han Sang-ah. I needed to identify this stone I’d acquired—and determine if it functioned as a proper catalyst.

“Right, what exactly did you get?”

Jeong Oh-hoon looked at me, then snapped his fingers. His physical form suddenly shattered like a pane of glass, shards flying in every direction.

“Something along those lines.”

An illusionist ability? That was going to be incredibly difficult to counter. And the duration was impressive.

It was a dream skill for a marksman—even if his location was compromised, he could maintain total control of the engagement.

“What about you two?”

“Heading over to the Association.”

Jeong Oh-hoon gave a nod in agreement with Han Sang-ah.

“I thought I had grown pretty strong, but man, there’s still a mountain to climb. That Undying Legion thing? That was no ordinary Grade 1 Erosion Core.”

Han Sang-ah offered a slight, acknowledging nod.

“But I have no idea what we should target next.”

Both of them turned their eyes toward me with clear expectation.

“What are you, baby birds waiting for a worm? Just stick to your routine training. Once I finish my business, I’ll give you some input.”

Jeong Oh-hoon let out an impressed sound.

“Understood. I’ll keep things running on my end.”

The car let them off at the Association headquarters, and I continued on toward Daebak Scrap Dealers.

“Hunter Yoo Chan-seok… I’m practically ruined.”

Choi Seung-gi was wearing a pained expression the moment I walked in.

“No salvageable goods?”

“Nothing but a mountain of that foul black sludge! Jaun Valley was an absolute nightmare for business!”

It couldn’t be helped. No one predicted it would be a purely spectral zone. Spirits don’t leave much behind except ectoplasm—they have no physical substance. It seemed Seung-gi took a financial hit on this venture.

“I’m going to end up in the poorhouse if this keeps up.”

Don’t give me that. I’m hardly your only source of income. Rumors have surely spread about our exclusive scrap deal by now—hunters are likely lined up at your door for a piece of the action.

“The next venture will be different.”

“I certainly hope so. My back is already bowing under the pressure; one more disaster and it’ll break. Regardless, what brings you by?”

I didn’t bother with a verbal response, instead pulling out the small box and opening it to show the gem.

“Obtained this after the business in Jaun Valley.”

Choi Seung-gi leaned forward to get a better look, reaching out his hand—until I shook my head in warning.

“It’s toxic. A normal person touches that, and they’re dead on the spot.”

He pulled his hand back with a startled, nervous laugh.

“Shall I begin the analysis?”

“Yes, please. Any idea on the timeframe?”

“It usually takes about forty-eight hours. If it takes longer, I’ll send word.”

“That works. Also, verify if it can serve as that specific catalyst we discussed.”

I finished my business with Choi Seung-gi, said my farewells, and began the trip back to the Association headquarters.