Chapter 41
Seong-jun Lee tilted his head as he looked at his family members' faces.
"Do you know where Seo-yun went?"
"She said she was going to the bathroom earlier..."
It was clearly remembered.
The problem was that over 10 minutes had passed since then.
'Did something happen?'
There hadn't been any major commotion, so he didn't worry unnecessarily.
The entire floor was filled with high-end luxury brand stores, so security was excellent.
B-rank hunters were stationed as guards around the stores.
Of course, he wasn't just trusting the department store's security.
Earlier when Seo-yun Lee left her seat, he had confirmed that one of the presidential security agents assigned to protect the family had followed her, so he could breathe a sigh of relief.
However, it was clearly an unusual situation.
"I'll go look for her. Will you wait here?"
"Yes, it is taking quite a long time."
After nodding once to signal the hidden presidential security agents while looking at them, Seong-jun immediately set off.
"Where's the bathroom?"
"If you exit here and go to the right, it's at the very end of the wall."
Following the employee's directions, he walked for less than 2 minutes before seeing the bathroom sign.
At that moment, Seo-yun Lee's voice reached Seong-jun's ears.
"...Why have you always treated only me like this since the old days?"
Her voice was low and subdued, completely opposite from the excited and happy tone he had heard just before.
"You're asking because you don't know? F*ck, just looking at you disgusts me. You're like a bug."
A high-pitched voice grated on his ears after that.
Seong-jun's pace naturally quickened at the words laced with profanity.
As he turned a corner, he saw two women and one man surrounding Seo-yun in a corner.
Seong-jun's brow furrowed at the clearly hostile atmosphere.
"I bet her parents are bugs too?"
"Can't you tell by looking at them struggling to raise a child they can't afford? They breed thoughtlessly like cockroaches."
Seo-yun's face turned red.
"Take back what you just said and apologize."
She could tolerate them picking fights for no reason to some extent.
But she absolutely could not stand them insulting her precious family and parents.
Seo-yun's eyes were blazing with anger, but the two women surrounding her merely snorted.
"What? Apologize? Where does a poor b*tch like you get off..."
The hand of the woman standing in the center pressuring Seo-yun was raised high.
Having fully grasped the situation from the previous conversation, Seong-jun immediately stepped on Fenglei Bo and closed the distance at wind-like speed.
Then, he caught the hand that was about to strike Seo-yun's face.
"W-what?!"
As the surprised woman turned her head with a scream, a low voice flowed from Seong-jun's mouth.
"You'll apologize, right? From what I overheard, it seems you crossed the line."
Despite openly expressing anger, the woman's face showed clear signs of bewilderment as she looked at Seong-jun.
But that moment was brief, and she displayed brazenness instead.
"Who are you to interfere in our business?"
The woman asked in a nonchalant tone.
Seong-jun's gaze turned to Seo-yun, who was silently looking at him.
'What's going on?'
Seo-yun was carefully shaking her head and giving him a hand signal.
As siblings who had lived together for decades, there was no way Seong-jun wouldn't understand the meaning of that signal.
But paradoxically, because they were family, he couldn't accept that signal.
"I'm Seo-yun's older brother."
"No!"
Seo-yun shouted urgently as Seong-jun revealed his identity.
At the same time, the woman pressuring Seo-yun furrowed her brow.
"Seo-yun Lee's brother?"
As Seong-jun nodded in response, Seo-yun shouted once more.
"I'll handle this myself, so just go!"
"If it were you, could you just ignore it and leave when our family members were almost hit? Especially when they're insulting our family?"
As Seong-jun's cold gaze turned towards the woman, the man who had been watching from behind stepped forward.
"I get that you're Seo-yun Lee's brother, but this is between women, so let them resolve it themselves."
Seong-jun's gaze naturally turned to the man.
"Who are you?"
"You don't need to know that. Just leave before you embarrass yourself in front of your sister."
Following the man's words, Seo-yun grabbed Seong-jun's collar.
"Just go for now, I'll explain later."
"Your sister is smarter than you. Don't get beaten up and cry in front of her. Leave while you can still save face."
As the man with the hostile expression stepped forward and clenched his fist, his hand transformed into stone.
He was undoubtedly a hunter, specifically an Awakened with a unique ability.
The man was displaying confidence, clearly overestimating his own strength.
But this was a clear mistake on the man's part.
Since Seong-jun had asked the presidential security agents beforehand to provide secret protection as much as possible, they had no choice but to stay in place during conflicts between ordinary people.
This meant things would be different now that a hunter had stepped in.
In fact, the hidden presidential security agent who had been just watching immediately began preparing to move.
They seemed ready to intervene right away if the man used force.
However, Seong-jun didn't want the secret protection to be revealed over something like this.
-I'll handle this.
At Seong-jun's telepathic message ringing in his ear, the presidential security agent flinched before reining in his emanating aura.
Seong-jun turned his head with a satisfied expression.
"Hey, can't you understand what I'm saying? Get lost."
The man's face was overflowing with confidence, apparently thinking Seong-jun's momentary pause to send the telepathic message was out of fear.
"...Trash sticks together."
"What? Trash? Bro, did you hear what this bastard said?"
"You made a mistake. Our Jongha oppa is a B+ rank hunter!"
Kim Jongha's face turned grim as he created a heavy atmosphere, emboldened by the women's words that followed.
"You f*cking bastard, are you not grasping the situation? Do you really want to die?"
"Stop it! This has nothing to do with my brother!"
A panicked Seo-yun quickly moved to block Seong-jun.
Seong-jun understood why his sister Seo-yun was acting so desperately.
Generally, it takes 1 year and 6 months to become a B+ rank hunter.
Recently, there were cases of hunters achieving B rank in less than a month after starting, showing incredible speed, but she must have judged that it was still not enough to handle a B+ rank hunter.
Of course, this was only Seo-yun's misconception.
"It's okay, don't worry."
Seong-jun showed a relaxed smile as he passed by Seo-yun and approached Kim Jongha, who was standing with his shoulders spread wide, speaking in a low voice.
"If you're so confident, come at me."
"You bastard, you're really crazy!"
With a voice full of anger, Kim Jongha swung his fist at Seong-jun.
Although it was a lightly thrown punch, it had enough monstrous strength to knock out an ordinary adult male in one hit, so a smug smile spread across Kim Jongha's face, assured of victory.
But at that moment.
Seong-jun's form, which had clearly been right in front of him, scattered.
"Oh? You dodged?"
Judging by his movements, the opponent was also a hunter, but that didn't matter much.
It had been 9 years since Kim Jongha started working as a hunter.
Although he hadn't reached A rank due to the limits of his talent, he knew most hunters well enough after working for a considerable amount of time.
He would have immediately recognized the identity of any noteworthy skilled person, or at least anyone B+ rank or above, the moment he saw their face in this field.
However, the man before him, Lee Seong-jun, was a face he had never seen before.
'There's no way I'll lose if I go all out.'
So Kim Jongha swung his fist with all his might, wearing an expression full of confidence.
Whoosh-!
Unlike before, it was a fast punch that made a fierce wind sound.
However, sadly for Kim Jongha's efforts, the result was the same as the first time.
The fist was merely cutting through empty air, with no sensation of contact at the fingertips.
'...I missed again?'
As his fists continued to slash through the air, shadows fell across Kim Jongha's face as he finally realized something was wrong.
Seong-jun's form right in front of him scattered from view once again.
'Where?'
It was when Kim Jongha's gaze was quickly scanning his surroundings in confusion.
"What are you doing?"
Seong-jun's voice came from behind him.
An intense pain shot up from his ankle, and the world spun and flipped upside down in that moment.
Thud-!
"Kuheck-!"
As Kim Jongha groaned and lifted his head, Seong-jun, who had somehow approached in front of him, placed his clenched fist right in the center of Kim Jongha's chest.
Thump.
There was no immediate impact felt, but it was enough of a threat given that it was clearly a vital point.
"Y-you bastard..."
Kim Jongha was trying to put on a tough act and curse, but he couldn't finish his words.
This was because an invisible force flowing from Seong-jun's body had taken form and was constricting Kim Jongha's neck.
It wasn't a tangible physical force.
Nor was it a unique ability possessed by Awakened ones.
It was presence itself.
The manifestation of the presence engraved in the soul of a Blood Demon and Demon God who once ruled over the vast land of the Thousand Continent.
"I'll warn you once, first and last - don't put on airs just because there are women around. Act according to your status."
Along with Seong-jun's subdued voice, an overwhelming weight that couldn't be resisted tightened around Kim Jongha's windpipe.
Normally, he would have backed down even if he had to pretend to give in.
However, he absolutely could not back down now.
"Oppa, what are you doing!"
"This isn't funny, stop messing around and do it properly!"
His girlfriend Park Hyeon-ju and her friend Kim A-ra were watching right beside him.
If he lost to this unheard of, unseen hunter, he wouldn't be able to maintain his dignity as a boyfriend and oppa.
"You bastard, who do you think I am!"
Kim Jongha shouted and tried to struggle by violently swinging his fists, but it was naturally a meaningless struggle.
"You ignored the final warning. That's on you."
The halted fist moves towards Kim Jongha's chest.
The fist extended as naturally as flowing water, imbued with the subtlety of cun jing.
Thud-!
In the blink of an eye.
"Kuaaargh-!"
Kim Jongha's eyes rolled back as he lay sprawled on the ground, white foam flowing from his mouth.
The match was decided.
"This is roughly settled, so..."
As Seong-jun, who had subdued the B-rank hunter Kim Jongha with a single strike, turned his head, Park Hyeon-ju and Kim A-ra, who had always been so confident, flinched.