Chapter 154: The Finest Flame

Even in the Hunter era, real estate problems remained.  

Even strong Hunters wanted to live in Seoul, where infrastructure was concentrated.  

As a result, apartment prices in Hunter-populated areas and nearby neighborhoods kept rising, while other regions fell.  

Just look at Lee Tae-seong—didn’t he live in an apartment overlooking the Han River?  

From that perspective, Jeju Island was one of the places that saw housing prices plummet after the Hunter era.  

It was the land farthest from Seoul.  

Not many Hunters lived there, and if something went wrong, reinforcements would take a long time to arrive.  

Naturally, it wasn’t a place people wanted to live.  

And with that, lowlifes inevitably gathered.  

Sim Gyu-seok, an unregistered illegal Hunter, was one of those people.  

-“Earn money by doing missions? Why should I?”  

At this rate, even the Outer God who had turned its attention might take notice again!  

“Well, I don’t really care how you found out. I’ll burn you all together. Consider it an honor to die in the finest flames.”  

whoosh  

A pillar of fire over five meters tall danced above Sim Gyu-seok’s palm.  

Skill: Ignition.  

It was a skill he possessed, one that had been continuously strengthened by the Outer God’s power.  

That choice had been perfect.  

The revelations that came down from time to time incited social chaos—exactly the kind of work Sim Gyu-seok enjoyed.  

He had fun doing it, and the rewards were enormous.  

After following the revelations a few times, he grew strong quickly, and before he knew it, he had become a force close to a low-tier Ranker.  

-Khehheh.

At this rate, I’ll become the top Hunter in the country in no time!  

He even dreamed that dream.  

But not long after, a problem arose.  

The revelations abruptly stopped.  

At first, he didn’t think much of it.  

The god in the sky must be busy, so it’s fine to take a break.  

But when it became a day, two days, a week, a month, anxiety surged.  

He had never gone this long without receiving a revelation.  

Fear that his connection to the Outer God had been severed.  

He had tasted the thrill of getting stronger, and being told it was over drove him mad.  

Then, suddenly, a good idea struck him.  

“It was my behavior that was the problem! I’ve been too still without revelations! I just need to satisfy it enough for the revelations to come back!”  

What the Outer God’s revelations wanted was clear: social chaos.  

That was Sim Gyu-seok’s specialty.  

So from then on, he acted every day.  

Robbery, kidnapping, murder, arson, intimidation…  

He even killed the Hunters who came to stop him, labeling him a villain.  

He thought that after all this, the revelations would slowly return, but nothing changed.  

“Not enough…”  

Maybe he needed to step out into the public eye and stir up chaos.  

If he did, famous guilds and Rankers might come after him, but now he had to take that risk.  

So he caused trouble all over Jeju Island, and that was how he caught the Flame Emperor’s attention.  

“Mad Demon, what do you think? Doesn’t it smell suspicious?”  

“Sniff sniff. Sniff sniff sniff sniff. This girl’s nose smells something absolutely dreadful!”  

The Mad Demon twitched her nose, then grinned.  

She was wearing a police uniform—a special forces outfit complete with a bulletproof vest and goggles.  

The reason the two Ascendants had come to Jeju Island was simple.  

They told the Hunter Association they wanted to catch some villains, and after some deliberation, the Association pointed them here.  

The Association mistakenly thought they were Lee Tae-seong’s companions, but they knew they were incredibly powerful.  

So they kept a close watch to prevent trouble while still allowing them to help, guiding them to Jeju Island.  

When the Mad Demon said she wanted a police uniform, they even went out of their way to get it for her.  

Wearing such clothes without being a cop was illegal, but who could stop her?  

“Let’s go quicklyyyyy~”  

The Mad Demon excitedly kicked off the sky and sprinted.  

The Flame Emperor did the same.  

With incredible speed, they used the Lightfoot Technique, heading toward the center of Jeju Island—near Hallasan.  

It wasn’t that they had extra information from the Association; they were tracking the Outer God’s energy.  

The impure energy was leaking everywhere, so it wasn’t difficult.  

The place they arrived was a midpoint of Hallasan.  

BOOM  

There stood Sim Gyu-seok, creating a massive pillar of fire.  

The Mad Demon’s eyes sparkled at the sight.  

“Ohhh? That guy uses fire too?”  

“Hmph. Not all fire is the same. That flame is huge, but it’s far from pure—utterly worthless.”  

It looked massive, but the will within it was lacking.  

That kind of thing was nothing.  

The two landed and approached.  

“Don’t moveeee. You’re under arresttttt.”  

The Mad Demon shaped her hands like a gun and aimed.  

The Flame Emperor stared at her in disbelief.  

“Where on earth did you pick up a line like that?”  

“We watched a movie together, remember?”  

“In that movie, they didn’t use guns—they punched.”  

“Oh. Then should we use fists too?”  

“Forget it. You could die.”  

Sim Gyu-seok was flustered by the sudden situation.  

‘What the hell are those?’  

Police special forces?  

But only one of them was wearing the uniform.  

And she looked like a young girl.  

The other one had red everything—hair, beard—he didn’t look like a cop at all.  

If anything, they seemed more like Hunters.  

After briefly guessing their identities, Sim Gyu-seok stopped thinking.  

No matter what they were, they were enemies.  

But one thing puzzled him.  

“How did you know I was going to burn down Hallasan? I didn’t tell anyone, and I was just about to start.”  

Causing moderate social chaos had been useless.  

But he couldn’t give up now.  

If this wasn’t enough, he’d just create a bigger disturbance!  

Sim Gyu-seok’s thoughts naturally turned to Hallasan.  

Hallasan was a nature reserve and a UNESCO World Heritage site.  

If it burned down completely, it would make news not only in Korea but around the world.  

At this rate, even the Outer God, who had turned its attention elsewhere, might take notice again!  

“Well, I don’t really care how you found out. I’ll burn you all together. Consider it an honor to die in the finest flames.”  

whoosh!!  

A pillar of fire over five meters tall danced above Sim Gyu-seok’s palm.  

Skill: Ignition.  

It was a skill he possessed, one that had been continuously strengthened by the Outer God’s power.  

Just by opening his palm, he could create a massive flame, and he took great pride in his ability.  

Even if his overall combat power was low among Rankers, he believed he might be at the top among fire-type Hunters.  

And that pride touched the Flame Emperor’s nerve.  

“What did you just say?”  

His red eyebrows twitched in displeasure.  

“The beeeest? The finest flaaaame? That garbage?”  

The Flame Emperor swung his arms.  

Thick flames spread around him, forming a dragon-shaped whirlwind that shot into the sky.  

BOOOOOOM  

A pillar of fire hundreds of meters tall.  

It emitted such intense light and heat that it could be observed from anywhere in Seoul.  

And it wasn’t just huge.  

A giant flame dragon emerged from the pillar, letting out a roar and sweeping the area.  

Everything was covered in red and black.  

“You punk.”  

“……”  

Thud  

Sim Gyu-seok collapsed to the ground.  

He stared blankly at the sky.  

It wasn’t just that he was overwhelmed by the visible power of the flame.  

Since he too used flame skills, he could feel even a fraction of the power within it.  

In front of that flame, no matter how many flies like him there were, they would become nothing but a handful of ash.  

“At least this much is needed to call it flame. How dare you spout nonsense about the finest flame with a pathetic little spark like that?”  

The Flame Emperor intended to lecture the arrogant brat for hours more.  

If the Mad Demon hadn’t interrupted.  

“But is it okay to burn all this like thatttt? I heard this is Korea’s precious mountain, you knowww?”  

“……”  

The Flame Emperor suddenly snapped back to reality and looked around.  

Everything was blazing.  

When he said “around,” he didn’t mean just nearby.  

The area within a radius of dozens of kilometers had turned to ash.  

From the sky, the midpoint of Hallasan would look like a bald mountain.  

Hurriedly, the Flame Emperor waved his hands to withdraw the flames and prevent the embers from spreading.  

The cleanup was quick, but there was no helping the land that had already burned.  

Even an Ascendant couldn’t regenerate dead trees and soil.  

Cold sweat broke out.  

-“I will give you the tickets, but you absolutely must not cause an accident. Got it? Absolutely not. If you cause one, I won’t give you the tickets, so you’d better behave.”  

The Disciple’s words while handing out the Ascendant Maintenance Tickets came to mind.  

‘Th-This is bad…’  

The Disciple’s eyes at that time had been serious.  

There was a clear intention to set an example to control the uncontrollable Ascendants.  

That was why the Flame Emperor had sworn never to get caught himself…  

“Wh-What do I do?”  

“This girl didn’t do anything, you knowww…”  

“Mad Demon, you…! Is this how you betray me?!”  

“Betrayal? I didn’t burn a single tree, I sweaaar.”  

“But we were in the same group! We’ll be punished together!”  

“……”  

When the Flame Emperor gave her a look that said he wouldn’t go alone, the Mad Demon bit her lower lip.  

She had believed she would be fine, but… who knew?  

“Then let’s go ask for forgiveness in advance, how about thatttt? There’s a saying, right? ‘Confess and find the light.’”  

“…Should we?”  

“I think that’s the best for nowww.”  

Better to be punished earlier than later.  

Rather than feeling anxious not knowing when they’d get caught, it was better to face it head-on!  

The Flame Emperor made up his mind, fist clenched.  

“Alright. The Disciple is in a country called China, right? Let’s go.”  

“Let’s depart right nooow!”  

The Flame Emperor and the Mad Demon kicked off the sky, shooting away at tremendous speed.