The Handsomer You Are, the Stronger You Become-Chapter 149: Friends (10)

It could have ended at any moment.

This dungeon would clear as soon as the Succubus Queen was defeated.

The entire time spent here had been no more than five minutes.

However.

Kang Hyunsoo didn’t kill the Succubus Queen. Instead, he restrained her and allowed the Frontier to continue summoning monsters.

The monsters being summoned were ones Hyunsoo had never encountered in his previous life, and their levels were close to 800. As a result, the experience points they yielded were enormous.

Killing just two of them resulted in leveling up once.

Thanks to this, his party members were able to hold their ground despite the continuous raid.

“W-What?! We’re leveling up every time we kill just two monsters?”

“I’m leveling up with every single one I take down!”

“Hana, if you’ve applied the buff, get back here!”

Seeing the Succubus Queen restrained, the support members busied themselves casting buffs from a safe distance, giving Kang Hyunsoo room to fight comfortably against the incoming monsters.

It didn’t feel like they were in danger—it was more like they were having fun at a party.

“This... this is completely absurd!”

The masked Frontier, Joo Ho-seong, could barely conceal his shock.

When he triggered the SS-grade forced dungeon break across the globe, he was certain of success.

Using the power granted to him by the Remnants of the Abyss, he had connected the deepest layers of Hell to Earth, allowing the corrupted monsters of the Abyss to emerge.

Monsters numbering in the tens of thousands, all at levels exceeding 750, had been unleashed upon the world’s major cities.

But now.

Things were taking an unexpected turn.

According to his plan, the world should already be under his control. Yet, somehow, all the monsters in the Gangnam area had been wiped out.

Elsewhere, everything was progressing as expected.

New York, London, Tokyo, Beijing—one after another, these cities were falling to the Abyssal monsters.

But in South Korea’s Seoul? Not only had the monsters been swiftly annihilated, but someone had even entered the dungeon he had carefully prepared.

Kang Hyunsoo.

The inheritor of the Sin of Lust. The man who had disrupted his plans in the Paju Dungeon was doing it again.

If the Succubus Queen were defeated, the dimensional gateway painstakingly connected to the Abyss would close.

Joo Ho-seong had poured all his strength into suppressing Kang Hyunsoo. Yet, unbelievably, Hyunsoo handled everything with ease.

And not just that—he was far stronger than he had been before.

“Damn it. The power of the Sin of Lust alone couldn’t have made him this strong. How the hell...?”

Although he couldn’t understand, Joo Ho-seong decided it didn’t matter.

He had prepared his ultimate weapon, and it was about to make its entrance.

“You... you arrogant bastard! Let’s see if that confidence lasts after facing this!!”

At Joo Ho-seong’s shout, the portals in the air began to merge into one, growing larger and larger.

[Lv 820. Liberated Ancient Demon Galat]

Boom—! Boom—!

A massive demon stepped through the portal.

“Is this it? The place where my long-desired craving shall take root...!”

Standing over ten meters tall, wielding a colossal greatsword, with horns on his head and bat-like wings sprouting from his back, the demon radiated an aura of overwhelming malice.

Though dressed in tattered prison rags, the being known as Galat was unmistakably an Ancient Demon—his presence far more menacing than that of ordinary monsters.

But then.

Slice—!!

“Gah...!!”

The moment Galat emerged, he suddenly clutched his neck, spewing blood.

The reason was simple.

Beneath him stood Kang Hyunsoo, twin swords in hand, both blades dripping with blood.

The instant Galat stepped out of the portal, Hyunsoo had dashed forward, unleashing Bloom, Blossom, and every sword technique at his disposal.

“H-How...?”

[Lv 820. # Nоvеlight # Liberated Ancient Demon Galat has been defeated.]

[Your level has increased!]

Galat muttered in disbelief but couldn’t finish his sentence.

Thud—! Whoosh—!

His enormous body collapsed to the ground before disintegrating into dust.

Hyunsoo swung his swords, shaking off the blood, and spoke calmly.

“Galat. An Ancient Demon who grows stronger over time. Did you really think you could defeat me with such a creature?”

“......!!”

Joo Ho-seong’s eyes widened in shock.

It wasn’t just that Hyunsoo had defeated Galat so quickly. He also seemed to know the demon’s traits perfectly.

Of course, there was a reason for that.

‘An opponent I’ve faced before.’

This wasn’t Hyunsoo’s first encounter with Galat.

In his previous life, Galat had appeared as the boss of an SS-grade dungeon during the forced dungeon breaks.

Galat’s key weakness was that he became stronger the longer he remained active, so taking him down immediately was critical.

This time, Hyunsoo had already activated his Bloom skill after dodging over 100 attacks from other monsters. The moment Galat appeared, Hyunsoo unleashed everything, killing him in an instant.

It was to be expected.

Hyunsoo not only had prior experience fighting Galat but also knew his weaknesses inside and out.

[You have reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship.]

[Several swordsmanship skills have advanced by one grade.]

And he had regained his strength.

The rewards from completing the Sword King title quest didn’t stop at heightened awareness and enhanced sword strikes.

Skills like Charge and Acceleration had leveled up, and the Sky Blade skill had evolved into Sky Spear.

Combined with Bloom and Blossom, Hyunsoo was now far stronger than he had ever been before regression.

It was no wonder he had been confident about clearing this SS-grade dungeon in under 30 minutes.

However, Joo Ho-seong was struggling to accept reality.

“T-This... This doesn’t make any sense...!”

As Galat’s life was snuffed out in mere moments, Joo Ho-seong couldn’t hide his panic and began retreating.

Eventually.

Whoosh—!

He summoned a violet portal in an attempt to flee.

But even that didn’t go as planned.

Thunk—!

A barrier appeared, blocking his path.

The cause was revealed shortly after.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“......?!”

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Hovering above the violet portal was a swallow wearing sunglasses, smirking smugly.

The bird had conjured the barrier, preventing Joo Ho-seong from escaping.

It was absurd—a swallow wearing sunglasses—but that wasn’t the main issue.

When Joo Ho-seong tried to shatter the barrier with his staff, his efforts were interrupted.

“You’re not going anywhere!”

“Haahh!”

“Ugh!!”

Han Sungbin and Jin Seoyun charged from either side, their attacks landing simultaneously.

The next moments were a chaotic blur.

‘Damn it... there’s no way out of this.’

Joo Ho-seong realized it was the end.

Escape was impossible. Death was inevitable.

So he decided to take his own life.

As he lay sprawled on the ground, he bit down on a capsule of poison hidden beneath his molar.

But just as the capsule touched his tongue, someone grabbed his jaw and forced his mouth open.

“Planning to die gracefully? Not happening.”

“Urgh...?!”

Before Joo Ho-seong could process what was happening, a blow to the back of his neck knocked him unconscious.

“Trying to escape responsibility? Not a chance.”

Hyunsoo plucked the poison capsule from Joo Ho-seong’s mouth and tossed it to the ground.

Then.

“Let’s see who this is...”

Removing the mask from the unconscious Frontier’s face, Hyunsoo’s eyes widened in shock.

***

Boom—! Crash—! Screeeech—!!

The deafening sounds echoed through the tall buildings.

Not long ago, the streets of Gangnam Boulevard had been filled with the panicked cries of hunters.

With SS-grade monsters pouring out of the portals, no area was safe from the onslaught, and reinforcements were desperately needed everywhere.

The hunters had been steadily pushed back, even considering a full retreat. But now...

“What the... This doesn’t make sense.”

“Is that even possible?”

“I thought she was just a mukbang creator, but she’s this strong?”

They stood frozen in place on the streets, dumbfounded.

It wasn’t as if they lacked the will to fight.

They wanted to protect the civilians, follow the orders of the Hunter Bureau’s director, or even safeguard their precious Gangnam properties, painstakingly acquired with hard-earned money.

They were ready to fight.

But there were no monsters left to fight.

To be precise, all the SS-grade monsters emerging from the portals had been obliterated by one person: Choi.

She smashed them with her hammer, flung them, and crushed them into oblivion.

Flying monsters like wyverns and manticores were taken down by her hurling her hammer, which would boomerang back into her hand thanks to a retrieval skill.

The hunters spent more time watching Choi in awe than fighting monsters.

The overwhelming strength pouring out of her small frame captivated everyone who witnessed it.

Meanwhile, the object of all this attention, Choi herself, was thinking:

‘I’m starving....’

She wasn’t particularly thrilled about the attention.

The sight of the level-up messages popping up after so long was interesting, and killing monsters was fun, but every time she used her strength, her hunger intensified, clouding her thoughts.

So even as she crushed monster after monster, their corpses would catch her eye, and she’d think:

‘Ugh! No way am I eating that.’

She tightly shut her eyes to block out the temptation.

It wasn’t just because the idea disgusted her to no end.

“Good evening, viewers! I’m reporting live from the forced dungeon break site!”

“Currently, all SS-grade monsters are being wiped out, and the hunter leading the charge is... mukbang creator Choi!”

Reporters were filming from beyond the defensive line.

Even from a distance, modern camera technology would capture her every move.

They were already filming her heroics, marveling at her strength.

If she were caught eating a monster on camera?

She didn’t even want to imagine it.

Even just slaying monsters was already damaging her public image as a mukbang creator. Eating them? That would cause a scandal on an entirely different level.

To distract herself from the hunger threatening to consume her, Choi pulled out her phone and started a live stream.

Fortunately, the explosive reaction from her audience was enough to curb her appetite.

└Oh! The stream is live! Hey, Choi!

└Sis! Is it true you’re smashing monsters like moles?

└What kind of nonsense... Oh my god, it’s true?!

└Wow, the YouTuber I loved is actually a hunter!

└Hunting SS-grade monsters? That’s insane!!

“You’re all surprised, right? I just stepped out for some air. I wasn’t trying to hide it, but, well, the situation was urgent....”

What kind of YouTuber steps out “for some air” and starts taking down level-700 monsters?

Even Choi knew her excuse didn’t hold water.

But she couldn’t help cracking a joke to lighten the mood.

As her stream provided a brief lull in the action, something unexpected happened.

Whoooosh—!!

A beam of light suddenly shot down from a portal in the sky, striking the ground below.

Someone—or something—was coming through.

A monster? A person?

Everyone’s attention shifted to the beam of light.

“Huh! Someone’s coming out!”

“All hunters, gather up!!”

Choi, along with the other hunters, turned to see who would emerge from the beam.

There were four figures in total.

“They’re out!”

“They’ve done it, everyone!!”

It was Yuhana, Han Sungbin, Jin Seoyun, and Kang Hyunsoo.

The team that had entered the SS-grade dungeon had completed the raid and returned.

Above them, the massive portal in the sky was slowly shrinking.

Kang Hyunsoo had really succeeded in clearing the dungeon in under 30 minutes.

But there was something strange.

Shin Won-sik, Jin Gijun, and Go Kyungseok all tilted their heads in confusion.

“Huh? What’s that?”

“There were definitely four of them when they went in, right?”

“Now there are five coming out?”

Resting limply over Kang Hyunsoo’s shoulder was a fifth figure, clad in a robe.