Chapter 262

Chapter 262

Choi Yeonseung gave up on asking the other constellations for advice. While the other constellations were familiar with ruling or invading kingdoms in the Abyss, they knew virtually nothing about Earth.

“Aine, can you explain it to me?”

“Yes. I was already going to do that. As we all know, there was once a time when it was popular for hunter clans to control countries.”

“...?”

Choi Yeonseung was puzzled.

“Was there such a trend?”

“It happened when you weren’t here...”

“That’s right. Including the Aiden clan, there have been many instances of hunters ruling countries.”

In the early days when the gate opened, humans were rather powerless. Back then, they lacked information regarding magic, monsters, and the Abyss...

In the meantime, monsters constantly emerged from dungeons, making it seem like the world was really about to end. However, humans were adaptable beings. After withstanding such a crisis brought on by the great invasion, hunters grew stronger and gradually gained more experience.

The era of clearing dungeons for profit, not for survival, had come.

Having survived the initial crisis, hunters used the abilities they had improved, accumulated wealth, and established connections with politicians. They also caused problems here and there, the developed countries, or those faced with political instability, being among their targets.

Hunters either overthrew the governments of their own countries, or they went to different countries and established themselves as the new leaders. Such things had happened so frequently that they were now listed as examples.

Choi Yeonseung listened attentively to Aine’s explanation, seemingly captivated. He asked, “So what happened? Are there any countries where things went well?”

“Um... Most of them were ruined.”

Aine’s secretary, who was next to her, cautiously opened her mouth.

The hunter clans were just like every dictator that quickly got ousted because they had no clue as to what they were doing.

At first, they suppressed the citizens with powerful magic that couldn’t be matched by modern weapons. However, they soon lost their advantage as people quickly became unafraid of magic and realized that hunters were still human.

Hunters could easily block the projectiles of tanks when they were on the defensive, but when they were left defenseless, a single pistol bullet was enough to knock them down.

The foreign hunters arbitrarily oppressed the citizens using force and failed to govern the country properly. Naturally, the people of that country had no reason to tolerate such treatment. There were rebellions and revolutions!

“The clan that established the ‘Hunter African Republic’ was decimated, with only one person making it out alive. The clan that settled in the Yemen Republic fled because military groups joined forces and rebelled... Also...”

“There’s not a single case where things went well?”

Choi Yeonseung was slightly sullen. It was rather unpleasant to find out that the hunters on Earth had just been messing around during his absence.

Aine comforted him. “Hunters are so greedy... How could they possibly run a country well?”

Those hunters had worked hard to get into a position of power, but made a fuss in order to get their money’s worth. Then they ended up ruining it.

“It’s not very comforting... Don’t you have something more positive to tell me?”

“Um... Following the revolutions and whatnot, hunter clans gave up on the idea of unnecessarily occupying a country, so they started running corporations.”

“...”

“I-Isn’t that better?”L1tLagoon witnessed the first publication of this chapter on Ñøv€l--B1n.

Aine was really flustered by Choi Yeonseung’s sullen reaction and tried to cheer him up somehow. She had never seen him like this before.

“It saddens me to hear that they have become experts in having fun and living comfortably, rather than engaging in raids like clans should do...” said Choi Yeonseung.

“The SSL is also popular.” The secretary tried to help, but only managed to annoy Aine.

“Why are you talking?”

“I-I’m sorry...”

Choi Yeonseung sighed and shrugged. “It can’t be helped.”

“Right?” said Aine, seemingly relieved by Choi Yeonseung’s response. She continued trying to cheer up Choi Yeonseung. “Learn from the mistakes of those hunter clans and do better.”

“You’re right.”

“In addition, aren’t there clans that are doing alright?”

Aine showed him the data she had brought with her. The data was about the Aiden clan’s rulership of the republic. Even though other hunter clans had failed and had been driven out, the Aiden clan were holding their own!

The secrets of their success could be summarized in a few main points:

1. Good relations with neighboring countries.

Whether it was an artifact or a simple treasure, they were all valuable, and it was a good idea to obtain them.

“Hmm. How about setting up an artifact development factory in the United Kingdom?”

“Doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”

“What about establishing a research institute that researches, develops, and synthesizes materials from the Abyss?”

“I like that.”

“What about a factory that can make food from ingredients from the Abyss?”

“...Do you really need that?”

***

It was nice thinking about what to do with the new acquisition, but the good always came with the bad.

The atmosphere in the Abyss had suddenly shifted as many entities wanted to keep in check the newly rising constellation.

Of course, Choi Yeonseung didn’t care about this. His new ranking was in front of him.

‘Is it the twenty-ninth place?’

Choi Yeonseung was thrilled by the enormous power flowing through him.

His current amount of power of existence was on a completely different level compared to when his ranking was in the three digits. He felt like if he put his mind to it, he could make any being strong!

-...While it’s good to do that, try using your power of existence a bit more flexibly. I know it is difficult, but your current abilities are too focused on combat.

The words spoken by the goddess of sloth hit the nail on the head. Despite acquiring various powers and getting stronger, Choi Yeonseung always...

He always only used physical strength.

-Ugh. That’s true.

-Indeed. I’m always right.

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ is congratulating you for the shared victory.]

[She proudly says that she is ranked seventy-seventh.]

“...?”

Choi Yeonseung was flustered for a moment. Given that the previous victory had raised his rank to twenty-nine, he had assumed that the goddess of balance would at least land in the top thirty. Had she suffered that much damage?

‘Still, isn’t it strange?’

-Perhaps... I think it’s likely because the humans in the United Kingdom are sending their faith to someone else.

-What does that mean?

-Think about the fight that just took place. If you were British, who would you find more reliable?

The goddess of balance and her household members hadn’t appeared during the battle. On the other hand, despite being in the middle of a fight, Choi Yeonseung had beaten up the police officers in order to evacuate the citizens.

Moreover, there had been rumors that he had wiped out all the nobles who lived by relying on the collector constellation. The moment the British people heard these rumors, they looked forward to the reign of this new constellation. After all, wasn’t it going to be better than the rulership of the collector constellation?

-...It’s troublesome.

Choi Yeonseung was quite embarrassed.

The victory that the goddess planned and achieved hadn’t been split evenly. He was the one who had gotten all the credit. No matter how generous the goddess was, this was something she had to be angry about. A constellation was bound to be furious about something like this!

“Goddess, I’m sorry. I went overboard, so you didn’t gain enough...”

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ is shaking her hand in surprise and saying that this isn’t the case!]

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ declares that she’s not a constellation who holds grudges over such things!]

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ declares that she is so broad-minded that no other constellation can match it.]

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ says that if you really feel sorry about this incident, it isn’t a bad idea to tell your master to help with the work more. Of course, she isn’t forcing it. It is just a minor adjustment to the work...]

“...”

Choi Yeonseung was left speechless by the unnecessarily long speech of the goddess of balance, which was delivered in a rather shy tone.

Meanwhile, the goddess of sloth was deep in thought.

Was the goddess of balance that sloppy? Could she really fake something like that through acting?