Chapter 42: Thunder’s Verdict and the Eve of Judgment

All of it.

Crackle!

Sparks emitted from the blue-green skeleton’s body, followed by a massive surge of electricity.

It engulfed the imp in an instant.

“Ki, Kiyaaah!”

The imp trembled violently as if electrocuted, screaming in agony.

Then, its entire body turned into a blackened chunk of charcoal and collapsed onto the floor with a thud.

The imp that had driven our team to the brink of death was dead.

“I-it worked! We did it……!”

“We caught it! We caught the imp!”

“The imp collapsed! That damn bastard is finally dead!”

“H-hurray! We caught the imp! We finally caught the imp!”

As the imp fell, the people reacted with jubilant cheers.

One team member, filled with resentment, even stomped repeatedly on the charred black corpse of the imp.

It was venting anger on the imp that had severely injured team members and cornered the entire team.

“S-Seo Juwon Hunter. How on earth did you do that……?”

At that moment, Cha Jihye approached me and asked.

She was wondering how I had managed to catch the imp.

As the team members focused their attention on me, I extended my arm.

“It’s thanks to this bracelet.”

“The bracelet? Ah, the one bestowed by the Guild Master?”

“Yes. I was able to catch the imp thanks to this Bracelet of Thunder Wolf.”

That’s right.

It was thanks to the Bracelet of Thunder Wolf that I caught the imp.

It’s because it’s a counter-attack item that I could catch it.

The Bracelet of Thunder Wolf.

The effect of this item is to release a powerful electric current called “Charged Bolt.”

And the important point is that this skill activates “upon being hit.”

In other words, it can’t be used voluntarily; the opponent has to hit first for it to trigger.

Charged Bolt is strong but also fast. That’s why the imp couldn’t dodge it.

The imp attacked the blue-green skeleton, and the skeleton, backed by the Bracelet of Thunder Wolf’s effect, released Charged Bolt.

And it engulfed the imp’s body in an instant.

Even the imp, which dodged most sword strikes, couldn’t evade the Charged Bolt that extended at the speed of light.

I explained all this to Cha Jihye and the team members, and they showed surprised reactions.

“Wow, Seo Juwon Hunter. The Guild Master really bestowed an amazing item.”

“Jackpot. I heard rumors it was good, but it’s truly an incredible item.”

“Hah, it counterattacks even when you’re getting beaten? How is there such an overpowered item?”

“Juwon oppa, the Guild Master must really favor you a lot. Giving you such a good item too.”

“Wow, is that really an epic-grade item? The options are so good, it’s almost like legendary grade.”

The team members admired the astonishing effects of the Bracelet of Thunder Wolf.

They were surprised by an item with options far too good for epic grade.

At the same time, they expressed gratitude to me.

Saying that without Seo Juwon, we might have been wiped out.

“Team Leader.”

“Yes, Seo Juwon Hunter.”

“It’s presumptuous, but it seems I’ll have to take the lead in this gate.”

At my words, Cha Jihye looked at the team members’ faces before speaking.

“Alright, Seo Juwon Hunter. We’d be grateful if you do that.”

“Thank you for permitting it, Team Leader.”

“No. I’m just sorry for asking you like this every time.”

“I’m fine. Then let’s proceed while maintaining formation. I’ll handle both attack and defense.”

“Yes……!”

With Cha Jihye’s response, we began advancing through the Forest of Evil Spirits.

The Forest of Evil Spirits was truly eerie.

The pitch-black night sky and land.

And the bare trees filling the space between seemed ready to extend their branches and ambush us at any moment.

Of course, the grotesquely shaped trees didn’t actually attack us.

What attacked were the imps.

It wasn’t just one like the first time.

The deeper we went into the forest, the more imps there were.

But there was no need to worry.

Thanks to the Bracelet of Thunder Wolf, the imps became electrocuted grilled meat the moment they charged.

“Hahaha, Seo Juwon! Your item is really amazing!”

“Kyaa, that thing called Bracelet of Thunder Wolf is awesome. How much would it cost to buy? Surely not over 10 billion, right?”

“Whew, I don’t even want to imagine what would’ve happened without Juwon oppa. Really.”

As the team members said, we no longer fell victim to the imps.

Every time the imps attacked the blue-green skeletons surrounding the team members, massive currents were released, electrocuting them.

It’s nice not hearing that damn laughter anymore.

I felt relief looking at the imp corpses turned into charcoal from electrocution.

What if I hadn’t brought the Bracelet of Thunder Wolf?

Just imagining it was horrifying.

Thus, we continued forward, leaving a trail of blackened imp corpses.

Of course, I didn’t just wait for the imps to attack.

I don’t only have skeleton soldiers, after all.

Sweep them all away.

I gave the order to the skeleton mages.

Then the blue-green skeleton mages unleashed their respective magics.

Boom! Bang! Boooom!

The skeleton mages relentlessly fired magic without pause.

Flames, frost, lightning, deadly poison.

Colorful elemental magics flew out, attacking the imps perched here and there.

Of course, the imps tried desperately to dodge with teleport.

But they couldn’t evade all the indiscriminate barrage like a machine gun from the skeleton mages, and eventually collapsed into pieces of flesh along with the bizarre trees.

As we advanced deep into the Forest of Evil Spirits like that.

“I-it’s the boss monster!”

Cha Jihye said, lowering her voice as much as possible.

Indeed, in the center of the Forest of Evil Spirits, a special monster was floating.

All of it.

[Fallen Angel].

The boss monster of the imp gate.

Its name was “Fallen Angel.”

A monster that was once an angel but corrupted by Satan’s temptation and became a demon.

It was the fallen angel from mythology.

Swish.

I stepped forward one pace.

And no team member resisted it.

Everyone trusted me.

Go, skeletons.

I commanded the skeletons.

Clatter! Clatter!

A whopping 70 blue-green skeletons charged madly to kill the fallen angel.

The fallen angel was powerful.

With its massive body, pitch-black wings, and the demonic sword in its hand.

It boasted power befitting its terrifying appearance.

However, it helplessly collapsed under the skeletons’ group assault.

The fierce sword slashes from the skeleton soldiers.

The four-attribute magics from the skeleton mages.

The immense explosive power of bone explosions.

The Charged Bolt bursting every time it counterattacked.

And finally, the triple set of additional damage from the Blood Ghost’s blade item.

Under the overlapping attacks, the fallen angel didn’t fall like an eagle but like a sparrow.

Limbs and head severed, the blackened corpse was pitiful enough to evoke some sympathy.

Of course, I didn’t actually feel sorry.

Anyway, after defeating the fallen angel, I exited the gate amid the team members’ extreme praise.

To think I could truly “carry” the Silver attack squad.

I could only marvel at my abilities time and again.

As I repeated such remarkably easy hunter activities.

The long-awaited “that day” finally arrived.

The debut of the girl group Daisy, and the launch day of our Eunbyeol’s first song <Darling>.

“You’ve all worked hard.”

A high-end Japanese restaurant.

Nam Seungha, seated at the head table, spoke with a kind smile.

“You’ve worked hard too, Teacher!”

“Nam Seungha Teacher! Thank you for your hard work all this time!”

“Everyone, you’ve worked hard!”

“Daisy jackpot! No, super jackpot!”

The A&R team members said with beaming faces.

Everyone had worked tremendously hard on lyrics, composition, and other tasks for the girl group Daisy’s debut.

“What hard work did I do? You all did. Anyway, eat and drink to your heart’s content today.”

At Nam Seungha’s words, the A&R team members cheered.

They expressed enthusiasm, saying they’d eat until their stomachs burst and drink until their noses crooked.

As they mindlessly devoured precious sashimi and expensive sake.

Nam Seungha spoke to me.

“Father, you’ve worked hard.”

“Oh no, not at all. What did I do? Eunbyeol did all the hard work.”

“I know you worked hard taking care of Eunbyeol and looking after her. You’ve really worked hard. You’ve contributed greatly to Daisy’s debut as well, Father.”

Nam Seungha continued to praise my efforts, saying I worked hard despite being busy.

I was grateful.

For viewing me favorably even though I hadn’t participated in composition.

After exchanging such pleasantries.

Nam Seungha looked at Eunbyeol this time and said.

“Eunbyeol, you’ve worked hard. It must have been tough making the song, right?”

“Hehe, nooo! It was just fun?”

“Hoho, is that so? Still, it must have been hard in many ways. Being a composer involves a lot to worry about and many exhausting parts.”

I agreed with Nam Seungha’s words as well.

In fact, I had thought being a composer was a very enjoyable and leisurely job.

How should I put it.

I thought it was a job where you rest comfortably usually and then play the piano a few times when inspiration strikes to create a song.

As expected, there’s no easy way to make money.

But seeing composers’ lives up close, my illusions shattered completely.

Far from resting comfortably, they lived all day in narrow recording studios.

They ate in the recording studio, slept in the recording studio, just lived in the recording studio, striving all day to create songs.

Perhaps that’s why.

I felt I needed to support Eunbyeol’s composer life even more sincerely.

Because composer life is far too grueling and lonely to sustain just with genius composing ability.

“Anyway, since the song is complete, eat deliciously and enjoy, Eunbyeol. Got it?”

“Yeees! Got it, Composer Uncle! Cheers, cheers!”

“Haha, alright.”

Eunbyeol and Nam Seungha clinked glasses.

Of course, Eunbyeol’s glass contained bright yellow orange juice.

Anyway, everyone enjoyed the company dinner in a warm, friendly atmosphere.

But one person.

There was one person not enjoying this gathering.

“Hah, so you thought composer life would be easy.”

Kwak Daesu, sitting a bit away.

Sipping sake, he spoke in a voice mixed with complaint.

Was it because he was the only one emitting negative energy?

Not only Eunbyeol and Nam Seungha but also the team members who had been noisily chatting shut their mouths and looked at Kwak Daesu with uncomfortable gazes.

“Kwak Daesu, what did you say?”

“It’s not something I said to you, Teacher. I just said it because it’s absurd how that little kid and Mr. Seo Juwon look down on composer life.”

Perhaps because of the slight argument in the hallway before.

Or because Eunbyeol was listening.

I narrowed my brows and shot back immediately.

“Mr. Kwak Daesu, what do you mean? We never looked down on composer life. We never did.”

“What never? It’s all over your faces.”

“Hah, why are you being so cynical again in a good gathering? Do you have some grudge against us?”

Perhaps because of Kwak Daesu’s attitude.

I raised my voice in front of everyone.

“A grudge. Well, I can’t say I don’t have one.”

“You have a grudge? Then say it openly and resolve it. Don’t ruin the mood with that bug-chewing expression alone while everyone is enjoying the company dinner.”

“Resolve what? Forget it, just keep the promise. The promise Mr. Seo Juwon made if you lose in the final music chart rankings.”

“The single hasn’t even launched yet? You speak as if you’ve already won.”

“Pfft, why bother checking? It’s obvious without looking.”

Kwak Daesu smirked, raising one corner of his mouth.

A laugh like a hyena’s.

That damn bastard.

Seeing that, I gritted my teeth.

I wanted to slap his face, but I decided to hold back.

I didn’t want to use force against someone who wasn’t even a hunter.

Let’s win fair and square in the music chart rankings. It’ll be revealed soon anyway.

A few hours later, when Daisy’s album launches, everyone will know.

The bet between Eunbyeol and Kwak Daesu.

Who will win in it.