Chapter 86: The New Master

I confirmed through the captives that the deceased Guo Jie possessed the Slave Imprint skill.

It was a dangerous skill, and in the hands of scum like him, it would have been used in all sorts of heinous ways.

That was why I killed him, but I never expected that the ownership of those slaves would be transferred to me.

‘I don’t need something like this… Slaves.’

It was baffling.

Why on earth would I need slaves in the modern world?

‘Cancel. Can’t I cancel this?’

Lee Tae-sung muttered to himself, but no new notification appeared.

System notifications were one-way and notoriously unfriendly, so he had expected as much.

“It’s finished. Good work,” Heo Ming said as he approached.

He paid no attention to the dead Guo Jie and instead stared at Lee Tae-sung with sparkling eyes.

“That final sword strike was truly a work of art. As expected, won’t you reconsider joining our Shinseonhyang Guild?”

“I’ll pass.”

“Oh, what a shame.”

“More importantly, I received a notification that the slaves here have become my property. What should I do about this?”

“…By any chance, did you acquire the Slave Imprint skill?”

“No, that’s not it. It seems only the existing slave ownership was transferred.”

Heo Ming, who had flinched for a moment, looked relieved at Lee Tae-sung’s answer.

“Ah. Then there must have been a special condition attached to the Slave Imprint skill. Perhaps ownership is seized if someone kills the master.”

“Yes. What should I do about this?”

“What do you mean? Congratulations. You’ve gained subordinates who will be loyal for life.”

“…….”

Was this something to congratulate?

‘It actually is.’

Lee Tae-sung quickly regained his composure.

It was certainly not a bad thing.

Currently, the Taesung Guild lacked trustworthy people.

There was a shortage of Hunters, and even fewer employees to handle the work.

If he could bring these people back, wouldn’t his worries disappear?

‘If I treat them as regular employees instead of slaves, they won’t have any complaints.’

He figured he could send those who wanted to go home back and keep only those who wanted to stay.

He gathered the people and asked them.

“I want to stay by the Master’s side!”

“Me too!”

“I would be devastated if I had to go back! Please let me serve by your side!”

These were people who had fallen into the clutches of the Bandit Group’s human trafficking.

Naturally, he thought they would miss their families, but many among them were vagrants or drifters.

That was likely why they had become targets for the Bandit Group in the first place, and they preferred staying with Lee Tae-sung over returning to their previous lives.

However, there were also travelers among them, yet it was peculiar that they also wished to stay with Lee Tae-sung now that they bore the Slave Imprint.

“You don’t need to worry about the master-slave relationship. Please think about it seriously.”

“It’s the same no matter how many times I think about it. Please let me stay with you, Master.”

“That’s right! We beg of you!”

In the end, it was decided that everyone would join the Taesung Guild.

No matter how many times Lee Tae-sung spoke to them, they did not reverse their decision. And most importantly.

“You said your name was Peipei, right?”

“Yes. Please speak comfortably, Master.”

Yang Peipei.

She was a rare Buffer-type Hunter.

It was her skill that had applied lightning-type buffs to weapons, allowing ordinary people to exert powerful force.

If she had applied that ability to capable Hunters, the battle might have been quite difficult.

“Would you perhaps like to join our Taesung Guild—”

“I’ll go. Please, let me join.”

“…I didn’t even need to ask.”

Peipei’s reaction was exactly the same as the others.

She couldn’t even imagine going anywhere else; she was determined to stick by Lee Tae-sung’s side!

‘A Buffer-type Hunter… She could really be a huge help to the Taesung Guild.’

Although Lee Tae-sung only performed solo missions, the day would come when other Hunters would need to perform party missions if they found themselves lacking strength.

Peipei’s abilities would be an immense help then.

“Were you injured while fighting Heo Ming?”

“No. I’m fine.”

“That’s good. Then, please have this.”

Lee Tae-sung pulled a bottle of Lowest Grade Elixir from his bag and handed it over.

He always carried a few bottles in his bag, as one never knew when they might be needed.

Since she was now a member of the Taesung Guild, providing immediate elixir support was standard practice.

“I will drink it gratefully.”

Peipei didn’t even ask what it was before drinking it down.

Once she finished, he asked her.

“How is it?”

“It’s delicious.”

“Not that.”

“My mana has increased. I think I can be of more help to you now, Master.”

Peipei wore a look of wonder.

As a Hunter herself, her face flushed slightly from the exhilaration of increasing mana and the pleasure of becoming stronger.

Any Hunter would feel great joy in growth.

If anything, Peipei was being remarkably calm.

“Is that the elixir everyone has been talking about lately?”

Heo Ming asked curiously from the side.

Rumors about the Taesung Guild’s elixir had already spread among Chinese Hunters.

Hadn’t a Ranker from the Seonpung Guild even demanded the elixir when Lee Tae-sung first arrived in China?

Since it went without saying how vital elixirs were to Hunters, Heo Ming’s interest was natural.

Especially after seeing Peipei’s reaction to her mana increasing immediately after consumption!

“Hmm…”

Heo Ming seemed to be contemplating something.

He looked at Lee Tae-sung.

“Master. I’ll be your slave too, so could you give me just one bottle of elixir?”

“…That was creepy. Please don’t do that.”

“Oh. I think it would have worked better if I were a woman. What a shame.”

“……”

Lee Tae-sung looked genuinely disgusted.

***

Even if Heo Ming hadn’t been greedy for it, Lee Tae-sung planned to sell the Lowest Grade Elixir abroad soon.

Domestic orders were still flooding in, and he couldn’t keep up, but that would eventually end.

He needed to open overseas sales channels in advance, and China was the easiest target.

There were no obstacles to Lee Tae-sung doing business in China.

The United States wasn’t bad either due to his connection with the Astral Guild, but it would be better to target China first.

“It’s a gift.”

“R-Really?”

Lee Tae-sung handed a bottle of Lowest Grade Elixir to Heo Ming as an investment for the future.

Heo Ming looked dazed before shouting with a moved expression.

“Master!!”

“…Don’t do that. Just promote it to those around you. Tell them it’s good.”

“Of course! Honestly, does this even need promotion? If it’s an elixir that increases mana, I bet even our Guild Leader would come running immediately! Hahaha!”

The Taesung Guild was still new and not yet world-famous, but it was already being monitored by the Republic of Korea, the United States, and China.

They recognized Lee Tae-sung’s potential and the importance of the elixirs he produced.

Since the factory was currently running without rest to churn out stock, it was only a matter of time before the elixirs were supplied worldwide.

“Ling Ling, you have one too. And please promote it to the people around you.”

Lee Tae-sung handed one to Ling Ling as well. Since she had come this far with them and he had given one to Heo Ming, it felt wrong to leave her out.

“……”

Ling Ling wore an indescribable expression.

She had been jealous of Lee Tae-sung and had picked fights for no reason…

Yet how generous he was!

“I… I’m still not quite ready to call you Master…”

“Ah, what are you talking about? I don’t need that.”

He quickly shut down the nonsense.

“Then… thank you very much.”

Ling Ling bowed her head.

After seeing Lee Tae-sung’s skill during the journey and his magnanimous character just now, she had fully acknowledged him.

Afterward, the group began investigating the research lab.

This had been their original goal.

They had been delayed because they hadn’t expected remnants of the Bandit Group to be there.

Since they were all Rankers and capable of protecting themselves, they decided to split up.

Lee Tae-sung calmly descended the stairs of the research lab.

As soon as he was alone, he summoned Ashaka.

Following her guidance, there was no chance of getting lost.

The interior of the lab had various sections, and there was much to see if he checked them one by one, but Lee Tae-sung had only one destination.

‘Is it here?’

The very bottom of the research lab.

He forced open a tightly sealed door and saw a floating mass of light.

Ashaka wagged her tail as she paced around the mass of light.

Lee Tae-sung scanned the surroundings.

The room was constructed with steel plates on the walls and floors, but it was gouged and torn as if a monster had clawed at it.

Furthermore, the room was filled with radiation.

If he hadn’t possessed the body of a Ranker-class superhuman, he would have had problems the moment he stepped inside.

‘It’s a complete mess. I was told this was a place where they researched monsters captured during the Gate Incident.’

Before coming here, Senator Zhang Lifeng had told him about this place, calling it top secret.

The research being conducted in absolute secrecy involved combining materials obtained during past Gate Incidents with modern weapons.

Naturally, the most powerful modern weapon was nuclear, and problems erupted when it reacted with the mass of light that was the Spirit Essence.

Every civilian in the research lab was exposed to massive amounts of radiation, leading to various diseases and mutations.

Many of the researchers died shortly after, and only Zhang Lifeng, who had received a Heal Shower, survived.

“What do you mean by the ego vanishing?”

Gate Incidents occur whenever there is a failure to defend the Dimensional Barrier.

In a country with a vast territory like China, such failures occasionally happen, and that is when monsters appear in reality.

Naturally, they would have been eliminated by Hunters, just as Lee Tae-sung had recently done.

‘But… were spirits not only found in the Dream World?’

Ashaka was a spirit Lee Tae-sung had brought from the Dream World.

She wasn’t a monster from reality, yet listening to her speak, it sounded as if she were talking about her own kind.

Various hypotheses swirled through his mind.

While Lee Tae-sung was lost in thought, Ashaka asked in an excited voice.

“This? Isn’t it combined with radiation?”

The unpleasant energy Ashaka felt was radiation.

For some reason, the radiation that should have been spread throughout the entire lab was concentrated entirely within the essence of light.

“Then go ahead. Do as you wish.”

With a grin, Ashaka charged toward the Spirit Essence.

Immediately after, a light so bright it was hard to even open one’s eyes erupted.