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Chapter 37




SMH 37
Swordmaster Healer – Episode 37
TL: Boko
Editor: Ren
Chapter 12 – Operation Downfall (3)
Sung Joon wordlessly threw his dagger. His dagger flew through the darkness, even whilst his stealth effect was active.
“Wind Cutter!”
Yoo Jin cast the magic she had been preparing. The blades of the wind struck the dagger and soared through the air. Sung Joon strode forward.
Yoo Jin had sensed his presence due to his rash movements, but because of the powerful winds generated from her Wind Cutter attack just a little while ago, she hadn’t been able to cast any magic.
“Fireball!”
In the end, she chose ‘Fireball’, a magic that was relatively weak compared to the rest of her arsenal.
However, against Sung Joon’s Spell Breaking Sword, the fireball dissipated weakly.
As he cut down the Fireball, he became exposed, but he stormed Yoo Jin and cried out, “This is the end!”
“That’s my line! Fire Blade!” countered Yoo Jin.
A blade of fire formed at the edge of her staff. She evaded Sung Joon’s blade with intricate movements and she cut Sung Joon deeply in his left leg.
“Heal!”
“You relentless bastard!”
However, Sung Joon didn’t even groan; he simply stepped back and healed himself. Then, he advanced and swung his sword. Yoo Jin cursed and raised her staff.
The Fire Blade struggled against Sung Joon’s aura.
“For a Mage, you sure seem used to close-quarters combat…”
Sung Joon grasped his sword.
“It’s pointless,” he derided.
“We’ll see about that…”
Sung Joon didn’t need to hear the rest. He used Flash Cut. In an instant, his sword flashed and cut deeply into her chest.
“A-AH!”
Yoo Jin vomited blood and collapsed. Even A-rank Hunters weren’t nearly enough to match him, now that his synchronization rate had gone up to 12%.
“My lord, your skills are amazing. I’m happy since it seems like you’re reclaiming your past glory!” Rishubalt said admiringly.
Sung Joon wiped the sweat off his forehead.
“This should be an item, right?” he asked, pointing at the staff.
“It’s a magical tool, so… it’s definitely an item. I feel strong mana coming from it,” replied Rishubalt.
Sung Joon took out his measuring tool and brought it close to the staff.
A-rank.
Verifying Amplify Fire Magic effect.
Verifying Casting Speed Acceleration effect.
An A-rank item was so rare that the seller could determine its price and everyone would still buy it. Sung Joon smiled.
“New items are always a welcome addition.”
As soon as he finished the battle, the Hunter Bureau’s forces cleaned up the park and collected the bodies. Sung Joon looked at Rishubalt.
“What’s my synchronization rate?” he asked.
“It’s still at 12%.”
“I should be able to enter the Awakening Dungeon once I get 3% more, right?” Sung Joon asked.
Rishubalt nodded his head.
“That’s correct. You may challenge the second gate.”
“Ok, let’s talk more in detail later.”
Since Sung Joon had seen Hyun Sung running towards him in the distance, he saved his conversation with Rishubalt for another time.
Hyun Sung panted. Then he relaxed himself and evened out his breathing before speaking.
“Truly good work. I didn’t expect you to annihilate the entire Executive Branch of a high-ranking guild by yourself.”
The Hunters who had supported Sung Joon from behind and the members of the Hunter Bureau, as well as Hyun Sung hadn’t expected that Sung Joon would be able to topple the Great Demon guild’s Executive Branch.
They had thought that the Great Demon guild’s Executive Branch would take some damage before negotiating a ceasefire. They had thought that everything was going as they had expected, up to the Great Demon guild sending a messenger to negotiate a ceasefire. However, they hadn’t at all expected that Sung Joon would refuse their offer.
There were a few ownerless items as a result of this all-out war. Their ownership would rightfully go to Sung Joon.
“Where are you going?” Hyun Sung asked.
Sung Joon replied, “I’ve killed the elite guard, so now I have to kill the general.”
He would kill the Guild Leader to prevent future trouble. At the moment, Seok Ho was powerless and unable to muster any forces since Sung Joon had destroyed the Executive Branch.
The ordinary guild members probably wouldn’t give their lives for him.
“Actually, the Great Demon guild’s Leader was killed just a while ago,” said Hyun Sung.
“He was murdered?”
“Yes. We discovered that he had died in his guild house. While the Executive Branch members were out, it seems that their enemies used that opportunity to send an assassination unit.
Sung Joon furrowed his eyebrows.
‘They dared to steal my prey?’
Someone had snatched his opportunity to legitimately absorb an A-rank Hunter’s mana for the first time, and although he felt angry, he raised his head.
The ordinary guild members wouldn’t have risked their lives for Seok Ho, but if their guild house had been attacked, it was a different story. Since their lives were at risk, they might have participated in its defense.
If that happened, things would become troublesome.
“Are you angry by any chance?” Hyun Sung asked cautiously.
Hyun Sung felt anxious, as he thought that Sung Joon might be angry. He had watched his battle from afar but since he was a normal person, he couldn’t say much; but he had realized something when he saw the Executive Branch Hunters dying in vain.
‘He’s least an A-rank, maybe higher!’
A-rank Hunters weren’t common. The Bureau didn’t even have that many A-rank Hunters, only those that they had appointed just in case of an emergency.
‘I have to at least be on his good side.’
If he got into an A-rank Hunter’s good graces, he knew that one day, the Hunter would help him. It was something he had realized through his experience in the world.
“I’m not angry,” Sung Joon said.
“Phew! That’s a relief!”
Since he wasn’t angry, Hyun Sung was relieved.
“I’m going to sell the items but you’ll help me move them, right?” Sung Joon asked.
If he sold the items to the Dungeon Bureau, it would take them twenty-four hours to conduct the exchange.
“Of course we’ll help you.”
Hyun Sung gestured with his hand and three workers who had been helping him until then, ran over and placed the items into a nearby car.
“Thank you as always,” Sung Joon said.
“It’s nothing. It’s just something we ought to do!” Hyun Sung responded with a smile.
Sung Joon nodded his head and went into the van that contained his items.
“Please go,” he requested.
The van went to the Dungeon Bureau in order for Sung Joon to sell his items. As Sung Joon was helped by the workers, Sung Joon was able to sell his items.
They deposited a fortune of $5 million into Sung Joon’s account.
‘As expected, A-rank items are different.’
As he had surmised, the A-rank item had sold for $4.5 million. He had heard that A-rank items were rare, but he hadn’t expected that they would sell for that much, so he was astonished.
“We’ll take care of the aftermath,” Hyun Sung said.
Although it was the era of dungeons and Raids, whenever someone died, it was inevitable that the clean up would be a hassle.
“Thank you.”
Sung Joon smiled at Hyun Sung’s consideration and went home in a car that the Hunter Bureau had offered.
“I’ve amassed plenty of money so wouldn’t it be alright if I moved?” muttered Sung Joon.
Sung Joon had arrived home and was looking at the ceiling of his tiny, one-room apartment. Although it looked like he was speaking to himself, Rishubalt was right beside him.
“My lord, you should think about yourself some more.” Sung Joon nodded. All this time, he had been so busy that he hadn’t thought about himself.
His father’s condition was improving, so it seemed like it would be alright to get a wide studio apartment. Sung Joon called and scheduled an appointment to view the property. The next day, after he had viewed a few studio apartments, he leased a 45 pyeong* studio apartment in the station area for $1 million. (*pyeong = Korean unit of area and floorspace, equivalent to 36 Chinese or Japanese feet. Not commonly used, but informally used in real estate)
“It’s not as big as your mansion in the past, my lord, but I still think this is magnificent,” commented Rishubalt.
“I think so too,” replied Sung Joon.
The memories regarding his mansion were faint and Sung Joon nodded his head. But suddenly, he felt curious and grasped at his memories.
Due to his increased synchronization rate, he could recollect a portion of his memories.
“Ugh!”
He found it, but the discovery was accompanied by a weak migraine.
A large mansion was besieged by knights.
His past life, Roukel, or Sung Joon, equipped with a sword and armor, broke through the siege, and what appeared before him was…
…An army of armed monsters. Then the memories disappeared suddenly, just as quickly as they had arrived.
“My lord! Are you alright?” asked Rishubalt, looking concernedly at Sung Joon as he staggered.
Rishubalt regretted that he couldn’t physically support his lord, since he was a ghost.
“I’m alright,” Sung Joon replied calmly.
Sung Joon sat on a nearby bench, stared at the ground and said, “By any chance, did the traitors join up with the monster army?”
Although he spoke extremely softly, Rishubalt could still hear him.
“My memory isn’t clear. If you increase your synchronization rate a little bit more, I think I can give you a definite answer. I apologize.” Rishubalt bowed.
“So I have to increase my synchronization rate, huh…”
“That’s right,” Rishubalt replied.
Taking his advice, Sung Joon took a taxi and went to the Hunter Bureau to schedule an appointment for solo playing a dungeon. He started walking to the desk in order to schedule his appointment but heard his phone ring, so he stopped and checked the screen.
It was Hyun Sung.
“Hello?” Sung Joon said.
“Mr. Kang Sung Joon, where are you right now?” Hyun Sung asked.
“I’m at the Dungeon Bureau right now.”
“I’ll meet you there.”
“What’s the matter?”
“I’ll tell you when I get there!”
When their conversation was finished, Sung Joon was curious so he accessed Hunter.com. It was filled with top-rated messages regarding the disbandment of the Great Demon guild and other corresponding content.
The competing guilds continuously spread messages regarding the assassination of the Great Demon Guild Leader, the annihilation of the Executive Branch, and the toothless Great Demon guild’s corruption.
In the end, they weren’t able to withstand it all and disbanded.
Sung Joon perused the top-rated messages for a while and when he raised his head, he saw Hyun Sung. Hyun Sung had also located Sung Joon and ran towards him.
Hyun Sung wasn’t alone. Beside him was the Hound Chief Recruiter, Tae Min.
“I’m sorry I’m late!” Hyun Sung exclaimed.
“Are you here because of the Great Demon guild’s disbandment?”
“Ah, it seems like you saw it on the internet already. There’s that and there’s someone who came to find you, Mr. Kang Sung Joon.”
Hyun Sung introduced Tae Min. However, he was already acquainted with Sung Joon so they skipped the long introductions.
“What does the Hound guild want with me?” Sung Joon asked.
“We have replaced the recently disbanded ‘Great Demon’ and become a top 30 ranked guild. Therefore, I’ve come to thank you, the one who has done the most for us, Mr. Kang Sung Joon.”
It seemed that the Hound Guild knew exactly what had transpired recently. Sung Joon turned his gaze to Hyun Sung. He waved his hand and denied an information leak.
Tae Min, seeing that, smiled.
“The influential Korean guilds, for the most part, know what has transpired recently.”
“A guild’s influence is a lot scarier than I thought,” commented Sung Joon.
“I’m more scared of you, Mr. Kang Sung Joon.”
Tae Min responded with a smile but Sung Joon could feel the honesty in his shaky voice.
“Is that all you came to say? Thank you?” Sung Joon asked.
Tae Min shook his head.
“That’s not all, of course. When you need help, our guild will assist you.”
He didn’t explain the amount of support they would give him but if he came personally to relay the message, it definitely wouldn’t be light.
“Could I ask you how you plan to help me exactly?” questioned Sung Joon.
“If you ask for help in case of an emergency, our guild’s Executive Branch will help you, Mr. Kang Sung Joon.”
The Executive Branch was a powerful fighting force. Since the Hound was also a top 30 ranked guild now and possessed an Executive Branch, the Executive Branch’s strength couldn’t be ignored.
Since they had promised the Executive Branch’s support, a guild’s most secretive fighting force, the Hound was also proving their trust in Sung Joon.
“Why are you going so far for me?” asked Sung Joon.
Tae Min replied, “You just need to think of it as us investing in your future.”
After they lightly conversed a bit more, they parted ways. Sung Joon applied for a C-rank dungeon solo play, but unfortunately there were no nearby dungeons available so he had to wait.
There was still time before he moved in, so Sung Joon returned to his one-room apartment and laid on his bed to rest. The next day…
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Sung Joon heard his phone ring, rather than his alarm, in the morning.
“Hello?”
“There’s a B-rank Raid in the vicinity of your home! We’ll transmit the coordinates to you soon! Please get ready and block the wave!”
A Raid had broken out.