Pop! Pop! Bang! Bang!

"Kheeeeeh!"

"Khek!"

Watching the sabre steel tooth tigers collapsing helplessly at my attack, I couldn't help but say, "I thought I would never see you guys again, but here we are again..."

I didn't feel good that I was seeing them again here.

I hated them all the more because I had a fantastic hunt in my previous hunting ground.

Of course, they might not be happy to see me, either.

Honestly, it was very easy for me to hunt them before, and it's a piece of cake even now. I can hunt them with my eyes closed.

Of course, there were other hunting grounds for level 1000 and level 1100.

But nonetheless, there was a reason why I picked this hunting ground.

According to the message, the more I hunted other monsters, the faster the predator status would drop.

That's why I came to this place again because I could hunt very fast here and other hunting grounds with lower level monsters gave me too little EXP, no matter how many monsters I hunted.

Also, I could hunt very fast here through herding the monsters.

Anyway, I devoted myself to hunting every day so I could lose my predator status and go back to the Cunning Vampire Garrison as soon as possible. I was also preparing for the possible attack of Japan's Mitsuya Guild.

At the Mitsuya Guild conference room in Japan.

"They asked us to wait?"

"Yes. Myongjin sent us a reply asking us to give them some time to think about our offer."

"Hmm..."

Chairman Ryu Sechi groaned, stroking his beard.

Then he quietly opened his mouth.

"The purpose of our offer was too obvious, wasn't it?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

No one answered the chairman's question because they knew the answer already.

And it was confirmed by what Chairman Ryu Sechi said next.

"Okay. As one of the top business groups in Korea, Myongjin probably noticed our intent. Besides, they have been hunting stone squirrels all along, right? Even though they might not know how to use the mineral masses, they might have guessed that they have great value."

Chairman Ryu Sechi was guiding the conversation by himself at the moment.

Looking at him, Kimoshita, the head of the intelligence department, opened his mouth.

"We have to account for Asirante when thinking about Myongjin's response The fact that the Pioneers' City has been renamed Asirante and that it is occupied by Myongjin's 3rd and 4th League is very relevant."

"I agree. By the way, what did Asirante say at that time?"

Chairman Ryu Sechi once tried to scheme against Asirante after Asirante initially disrupted his plan. Of course, it happened even before the name of Asirante became widely known, but Chairman Ryu Sechi could not ignore it because he suffered a perfect defeat.

Kimoshita answered his question again.

"He said he handed it over to Myongjin after receiving 10 billion yen, or 100 billion won in Korean money. Of course, I don't know if this is true or false, but it seems certain that the relationship between Myongjin and Asirante is not bad anyway. We should consider the possibility that Asirante will intervene in this matter on Myongjin's side."

"Hum...Asirante. Good. So, what is your opinion as our intelligence chief? Do you think it's possible to stop Asirante using the Oizuki brothers?"

"Well, I have no idea."

He pondered over it when Chairman Ryu Sechi asked, but he could not give a definite answer.

Although Asirante was formidable, the Oizki brothers were no slouches either. So much so that the Mitsuya Guild kept them as something like a secret weapon.

"Good. Get ready anyway. In the future, coins will be more valuable than anything else, and it will be of tremendous benefit if we secure them, even if we get only a small supply."

"Understood!"

As soon as the Chairman issued his order, the Mitsuya Guild prepared to take possession of the stone squirrels' rocky area.

If Myongjin didn't give in, the Mitsuya Guild was determined to confront them.

Of course, they took other measures, just in case.

As a matter of fact, they secretly reached out to the Daesung and Kusan alliance, for if they attacked a Korean hunting ground right after the walls were lifted, it could be taken as an invasion. As a result, other Korean powers, such as the Mirae Guild and the Deasung and Kusan Alliance could band together to help the Myongjin Guild.

So, Chairman Ryu Sechi set out a plan to ally with the Daesung & Kusan Alliance. He did not bother with the MIrae guild as they had invaded Japan previously.

Anyway, the Mitsuya Guild and Chairman Ryu Sechi were busy trying to wrest control of the rocky area from Myongjin because they could never concede as far as the stone squirrels were concerned.

At the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.

I did not stop hunting for a few days because my predator status had not disappeared yet.

Of course, lots of things happened in the meantime.

The biggest thing among them was the alliance between Myongjin and Mirae.

Obviously, it was Mirae that showed an interest in the alliance with Myongjin first, and they reached out to me with the offer, so it was possible to conclude the alliance with terms favorable to Myongjin.

First of all, the Myongjin and Mirae Alliance was the new name.

After the alliance was concluded, the heads of both groups actually met.

Of course, I also attended their meeting where I could meet not only Chairman Yon but also his daughter Bora and Director Sungyop Yu.

The Mirae Group openly singled me out as Asirante.

"Hello, Chairman Yon. It's been a while since I saw you like this. I'm Juyoung Hong."

"Hahaha, Chairman Hong, you must feel very proud when you watch your sons Kiyoung and Juyoung, and your daughter Suyoung growing well like this."

"Thank you, but I haven't done anything. They have taken care of themselves until now."

My father responded as if he knew nothing, and Chairman Yon also greeted me casually as if he knew nothing, either.

Dinner was served after that.

It wasn't that crowded because this was a meeting for just the top leaders of both groups and their direct descendants. I would have been much more comfortable if Bora had not been next to me, but unfortunately, my seat was arranged next to her.

"I heard you're staying in Gangwon Province. Right?" she asked.

According to Director Yu, Bora conclusively spotted me as Asirante from the beginning.

However, Bora didn't express such feelings at all.

Of course, I didn't reveal anything as well and replied casually.

"Yeah, because it's a bit dangerous anyway."

"Well, the army has been deployed, but we can't yet feel relieved. Grandpa is also nagging me to escape quickly. By the way, how about the guy who has reached level 1200 at Myongjin?"

"Well, I hear that there are a couple more appearing now as well. But what matters is not level 1200, right? If you don't have coins, level 1200 means nothing."

"That's right. It's all messed up. I just don't know how the world is going to change."

"You bet."

In any case, the Myongjin and Mirae Alliance was widely publicized not only in newspapers but also in the other news media.

A few days after that I received a message while I was hunting at the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat

[The predator status you received from the Cunning Vampires has disappeared.

-The Cunning Vampires will attack you first as before.]

"Whew!"