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Chapter 35




SMH 35
Swordmaster Healer – Episode 35
TL: Boko
Editor: Ren
Chapter 12 – Operation Downfall (1)
The evidence that Sung Joon and Hyun Sung had gathered was uploaded to the internet. The corresponding sites were accessed to the point of paralysis and when the truth of the Great Demon guild’s brutal crimes was revealed, the people began to reproach them.
Amongst the Hunter community, Hunters had uploaded the largest scale bulletin board message on Hunter.com. Within a few minutes, the recommendations were centered on the message and it became the top message.
Just like when a company’s corruption is revealed and spread, the Great Demon guild’s connections and issues were all across the Internet within less than day.
People were just as interested in Sung Joon as they were in the Great Demon guild. As interest in the Great Demon guild rose, so did interest in Sung Joon by just as much.
Just by looking at the comments, one could tell what the average Hunter thought of the Great Demon guild.
Until now, they had been afraid that the Great Demon guild would point their swords at them. However, someone else had taken the first step and started it, so they borrowed the mask of anonymity and unleashed all their grudges.
“Hurry up and issue a media blackout!”
The Great Demon guild was in chaos. The Guild Leader, Jang Seok Ho, used every method available to control the press and the internet, but it was pointless.
They wouldn’t give up the sweet candy in their mouths. Yet the Executive Branch, which had ruled through fear, had taken a huge blow to its forces. As a result, the Great Demon guild’s status fell.
“That’s… the PR department can’t do it alone.”
“What? Then are you telling me that we need to send the Executive Branch to threaten them like usual!?” Seok Ho said.
Yoo Jin, who was standing next to the wall, lifted her head at his words.
“There’s no one we can send. If you want to threaten or assassinate the press, you would need at least an A-rank Hunter or higher, but the only A-rank Hunters we have are myself and Mr. Lee Joon Yong.”
“Damn it!”
“The Executive Branch is weakened right now. Guild Leader, in order to ensure your safety, two A-rank Hunters must remain and protect the guild house.”
The Great Demon guild didn’t just have notoriety, but also large numbers to match. The Executive Branch was weakened right now, so competing guilds might carry out their schemes. Therefore, the two A-rank Executive Branch Hunters had to remain at the guild house 24/7.
“It seems like we’re facing a sudden disaster.”
Seok Ho shook his head.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
After Seok Ho collected himself, he opened his mouth and responded to the urgent knocking.
“Come in.”
The door opened and a guild member with a pale face hurried inside. After catching his breath for a few moments, the guild member said, “We’ve found a body at the back door.”
“Whose body?” asked Seok Ho.
“We haven’t confirmed his identity yet but he was wearing our guild’s vest.”
Seok Ho exchanged glances with Yoo Jin.
“Lead the way!” he said.
The guild member lead them over to the back door. Two Executive Branch members on standby in the hallway joined them.
“Was there any activity from the Executive Branch yesterday?”
In the current situation, the Hunters of the Executive Branch were the hardest hit victims. Yoo Jin’s face darkened as she responded to his question.
“Mr. Jo Byung Min acted in order to perform reconnaissance on the Seraphim guild.”
“Let’s pray for now that it’s not him,” said Seok Ho as he arrived at the back door.
The guild members who had already heard the news were grouped around the body. The two accompanying Executive Branch members opened the path for them.
“He’s missing his head.”
The head was missing from the body. Yoo Jin calmly searched the body and found the ID card.
“It’s Jo Byung Min.”
At noon that day, his head came in the mail.
* * *
In two days, he had killed four people. They were all affiliated with the Great Demon guild’s Executive Branch.
“Rishubalt, what’s my synchronization rate?” Sung Joon asked.
“It’s at 10%.”
He had killed four B-rank Hunters and his synchronization rate had rose by about 1%, making it 10%. It didn’t seem like a big change, but when he tested himself in the mountains, it was evident that his physical abilities had improved.
“Did I master any new skills by any chance?”
“I am in the middle of synchronizing your memories, my lord.”
Rishubalt established a connection with Sung Joon’s mind. After he had looked into his memories for about five minutes, he spoke with a calm expression.
“You can handle your killing intent more naturally now. Now you can subdue weak opponents with only your killing intent.”
“That should make things easier.”
“Also, we can act separately now.”
“That’s great.”
If Sung Joon could subdue his opponents with just his killing intent, it would be useful to him not just in his dungeon attacks, but also for his current ‘hunt’.
“Can I only use it against weak foes?” Sung Joon asked.
Rishubalt shook his head.
“You can use it against enemies of the same rank or strong opponents but you shouldn’t expect much from the subduing effect. It may stop their actions for a second but that’s all you can really expect from it.”
“That much is plenty.”
Sung Joon smirked and nodded his head. In a battle, a second was everything; everything could be lost in a second.
“When can I enter the Awakening Dungeon?”
“When your synchronization rate is at around 15%.”
There was still 5% left.
Was this how it felt to raise a game character?
He didn’t know what ability he would learn when he hit 15% but pushed down his expectations. He would happily continue his ‘hunt’.
“Synchronization rate?”
“It still hasn’t gotten to 11%.”
It had become routine to ask Rishubalt about his synchronization rate whenever he killed someone from the Great Demon guild’s Executive Branch.
He didn’t feel guilty about killing people. There might be people who would ask him that, but Sung Joon could shake his head and firmly say that he felt no guilt.
As his synchronization rate went up and he obtained more memories from his past life, he had become more cold-hearted towards those who attacked him first.
“Now there are eleven of them left.”
His ‘hunt’ had begun in earnest and one week had passed. There were only eleven B-rank Hunters left in the Great Demon guild’s Executive Branch.
Without fail, on the next day of his hunt, he delivered the headless body to the Great Demon guild house.
On the internet, the criticism against the Great Demon guild was still going strong. As the Executive Branch sacrificed more and more of their members, he became sure that they were feeling anxious by now.
“The ordinary members of the Great Demon Guild are starting to leave.”
That morning, Hyun Sung came to find Sung Joon and reported the Great Demon Guild’s situation to Sung Joon.
“It’s a little fast,” Sung Joon smiled sardonically.
Ever since he started his hunt, he had expected that the ordinary guild members would desert the guild.
Their fellow guild members were continuously being killed so… they ran. They didn’t have the same loyalty as the Executive Branch so they hadn’t planned on risking their lives for the guild.
“The Internet is also making a fuss and the mood around the guild is chaotic, so it seems that’s why the ordinary guild members are leaving.”
The small embers that Hyun Sung and Sung Joon had laid had become a forest fire.
“It isn’t long before their downfall.”
“They’ll collapse soon. Headquarters is also moving.”
At the beginning, the Hunter Bureau had been half-hearted in their support but now that the Great Demon guild was faltering, they would attack.
“What about my father’s guard? He’s doing well, right?” queried Sung Joon.
“He’s in a safe house guarded by three of the Bureau’s Hunters and two Tactical Armed Forces troops. This is at the level of a state minister’s guard.”
“I’m counting on you.”
“I’ll do my best.”
After Sung Joon finished his conversation with Hyun Sung, he bought a coffee and went home. However, he saw a familiar back at the entrance of the villa.
Sung Joon realized who the person pacing in front of the villa was.
‘The Great Demon guild’s Chief Recruiter, Kang Byung Jin.’ Sung Joon approached him, purposefully making a sound.
“May I ask why you came?”
Although he was being respectful, his voice sounded like the sharpest steel. Perhaps he had felt that, as Byung Jin looked anxious and opened his mouth.
“Could you please spare me a minute of your time?” he said.
“It’s fine as long as it’s just a minute. I’m also curious about what kind of horseshit you have to say, so for now come in,” Sung Joon said, and took a sip of his coffee.
“I’ve come to relay the guild’s will.”
“Please, go ahead.”
“The guild would like to establish a ceasefire, Mr. Kang Sung Joon.”
“Stop bullshitting me and shut up,” Sung Joon said shortly.
His icy voice was covered in killing intent. Although his killing intent was faint, it still made Byung Jin fear for his life.
Byung Jin’s legs started shaking.
“We acknowledge our mistakes and we are making an effort to fix them. If you accept a ceasefire, we will compensate you.”
Sung Joon threw the iced coffee that he had been drinking into Byung Jin’s face. Byung Jin was flustered but he had no choice but to stay still.
Right now, Sung Joon had the ‘authority’ over him. The fate of a top 30 ranked guild lay on the tip of Sung Joon’s tongue.
“So you made a mistake and just apologize, that’s it? If you want to right your wrongs, then can you collect the coffee that I just spilled? If you do, I’ll acknowledge that you guys are trying.”
Byung Jin couldn’t say anything. It was impossible.
“If not, there are other methods…”
“If you just tell me what to do, we’ll do our utmost to reflect on it,” Byung Jin said desperately.
If Sung Joon didn’t stop, it would spell ruin for the guild.
“Behead all of the Executive Branch members,” demanded Sung Joon.
Was it due to the memories of his previous life? He’d become more accustomed to the word ‘behead’.
“What, what are you…!”
Byung Jin was taken aback. If the Executive Branch members were annihilated, even if they solved the problem regarding Sung Joon, they wouldn’t be able to withstand the onslaught of the other guilds.
“If you don’t want to, then leave.”
“Mr. Kang Sung Joon! Please talk to me again…!”
“If you don’t want to die, then get lost.”
Sung Joon spread his killing intent. Just as Rishubalt had explained, he handled his killing intent and attacked Byung Jin with it.
“Ugh!”
Byung Jin felt like he was being strangled by the waves of killing intent; he couldn’t breathe.
Thud.
Byung Jin lost the strength in his legs and fell to the floor. He couldn’t move. For just a second, he felt as if death had just passed him by. His face turned pale like an aspen tree and he shook; tilting his head back, he fainted.
“He fainted.” Rishubalt reported on Byung Jin’s condition.
“The effect’s better than I thought,” said Sung Joon to himself as he re-entered his one-room apartment.
If a normal person was affected this much, he felt like there’d be an effect on Hunters and monsters too.
* * *
“Apparently, the Guild Leader secretly sent Chief Kang Kyung Jin to negotiate.”
After Kyu Seok died from his hospital ambush, the Executive Branch Leader, Han Yoo Jin, had taken his place and the A-rank Hunter, Lee Joon Yong, had become her right-hand man. While she temporarily left her original position, Lee Joon Yong reported on the guild’s activities.
“He failed, right?”
“You already know.”
“It’s obvious. If he was the type to stop in exchange for some money, he wouldn’t have even started in the first place.”
Yoo Jin shook her head.
“By the way, our Guild Leader is also a problem. Maybe it’s because he’s gotten old, but he’s become too timid.”
Yoo Jin remembered the past, when the Guild Leader had been the embodiment of a great king… However, for some reason, after Yoo Sang Kyu died, he became a timid figure.
“Wasn’t Sang Kyu a heavyweight of the Executive Branch? Perhaps the conflict intensified and the Guild Leader became worried about the competing guilds intervening.”
“That’s possible. However, I don’t like it.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“We have to follow him. We have to prepare a trap and… we have to assemble our forces and kill him.”
Yoo Jin explained her plan simply.
“Are you thinking of going out yourself?”
“Do you have another solution?”
Joon Yong shook his head. There would be a gap in their fighting strength if she, an A-rank Mage Hunter wasn’t there.
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“Prepare a trap. We’ll kill Kang Sung Joon within a week.”
“But what about the Guild Leader’s approval…”
“We don’t need it. I’ll take responsibility for the aftermath,” Yoo Jin responded.
Joon Yong nodded his head and they started to formulate their plan. They had no idea that someone was watching them from outside the window.