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Chapter 488

Carter was dumbfounded.

Of course, the hunters who changed the world weren’t those that demanded huge sums of money in order to help people. Rather, it was those who shouted, “Evacuate everyone right now or I’ll rip your head off and stick it up your ass!”

However, not even such hunters had ever reached positions of power like that of the president. No matter how successful and influential they became, to be on par with the president...

“That’s definitely the case.”

Morales nodded as well.

No other force had achieved as much political power as the hunters ever since the Abyss gate.

In the early days of the gate, hunters were just mobsters that everyone feared and couldn’t get rid of. And over time, they set up clans and established companies, and thus managed to infiltrate the political and business spheres.

And just like that, many hunters eventually became entrepreneurs or politicians... However, no hunter had ever been as powerful as the president.

Until recently...

Even though he wasn’t American, Choi Yeonseung had managed to control the elections like that...

“At this point, there really is a chance that the Eagles have won the championship.”

“Sure, buddy. We’ve had enough shocks already.”

“Isn’t this great for you, Morales? Don’t you have a connection with Hunter Choi Yeonseung? He’s not a stuck-up guy, right? It’ll be beneficial for the hunters,” proposed one of Morales’ subordinates.

Certainly, Morales had a history of raiding with Choi Yeonseung, and he also thought that it wasn’t bad for Choi Yeonseung to have a lot of power.

The government didn’t provide much support for risky raids. Besides having a limited budget, they were also concerned about public opinion.

-Support Clan A for the Abyss raid...

-What support? They’ll just hold another party with our tax money! How can we know that those bastards will use the money for the raid and not for partying with drugs?

...Sadly, such reactions were justified. Even though there were hunters that took risky raids seriously, like Choi Yeonseung and Morales, there were also shameless hunters who didn’t care about anything. In fact, there were a lot of them.

‘But Hunter Choi Yeonseung will know what to do.’

“I’ll go to meet him as an A-grade hunter,” said Morales.

“Good idea. I’ll come as well to say hello,” Carter added enthusiastically. Unlike Morales, he didn’t have a specific goal, but it didn’t hurt to get closer to the most powerful man in America.

“Oh, by the way. Hunter Choi Yeonseung has been promoted to S-grade.”

“...”

“...”

“He’s achieved so much... Really...”

***

America’s S-grade hunter, Dragon Hwang—retired.

China’s S-grade hunter, Chen Xiezhi—retired.

Africa’s S-grade hunter, Cuercu Anan—missing in action.

There were currently no active S-grade hunters on Earth.

-Recruit some new S-grade hunters. How many A-grade hunters are there?

-Even though it’s a prestigious rank, governments don’t really give it out, so A-grade hunters are naturally frustrated and always complaining about it!

Those who knew how things work complained a lot, and those who knew didn’t really have expectations.

-It’s because of international relations that countries can’t have S-grade hunters.

-At this point, we should consider the top A-grade hunters to be S-grade hunters. Even though the S-grade is just a position of honor, it’s too dangerous to bestow it on a single hunter because of its significant symbolism.

One could ascend to S-grade only if the international committee, which consisted of five members that represented the five world superpowers, unanimously agreed on it, but it was virtually impossible for them to agree with each other.

However, nothing remained impossible forever.

The second invasion of the evil god constellations and the US presidential election had brought new opportunities to Choi Yeonseung.

-I’m going to make Hunter Choi Yeonseung the new S-grade hunter.

-Oh, that’s a good idea.

Fortunately for Choi Yeonseung, Georges Montand was still the president of France.

-Mr. President, if you agree to make the hunter of another country into an S-grade hunter, the French clans will be dissatisfied...

-You think I care about our hunters right now?!

-Th-that’s not...

-...

-...

Mike Hwang was speechless as he looked at President Georges screaming at some French hunters, regardless of whether they had complaints.

What was this...?

Was he making fun of the new president of the United States?

-Don’t be surprised. That’s just how he is.

-Oh... Okay...

Dealing with the UK was bound to be easier, given that their exiled government had been relocated on US soil.

-I would like to discuss an S-grade promotion...

-Could you make our A-grade hunter an S-grade hunter as well?

-Are you joking?! With so much instability in public opinion? Hunter Choi Yeonseung will also face opposition. Can you even think of another A-grade hunter who could plausibly be promoted to S-grade?

-Then we don’t have a deal.

-...

At first, Choi Yeonseung thought it would be impossible because of the surprisingly negative reaction.

-It looks like it’s impossible.

-No. We just have to convince them.

-How?

[Scandal over the donations of the exiled UK government! The US Internal Revenue Service gives a warning to the British royal family...]

[Hunters from the British government arrested for violating clan rules...]

-...We were wrong! We’ll go with the promotion!

-Oh, thank you.

‘...Uh, can we actually do this?’

Choi Yeonseung was stunned by how easily his side had convinced the British. Was this what true power was?

Cutting their funds, putting pressure on the organizations they supported, scrutinizing their hunters, and delving into their affairs, such as probing their tax records—in just a week, the British royal family came to have tea with the president and apologized profusely.

Was this what American persuasion was?

After the whole affair was over, Choi Yeonseung personally contacted the royal family. There were still quite a few British hunters in the United States, so he didn’t want them to hold any grudges.

-My constellation told me that he intends to return to the United Kingdom when the time is right.

-Really?

Choi Yeonseung meant it.

Of course, he wasn’t a dictator who wanted to rule forever. After all, ruling over the United Kingdom had no benefits besides gaining faith.

‘On second thoughts, there’s more than that.’

In fact, after claiming the United Kingdom for himself, Choi Yeonseung acquired all the artifacts and possessions of the hunters that had been taken over by the evil god constellations and brought orcs and angels to train there and produce resources that one couldn’t find in the Abyss...

However, Choi Yeonseung had learned something valuable from his last fight.

‘People’s faith is more powerful than I thought.’

Given their nature, many constellations aimed to become Earth’s master. However, few of them actually thought about what was necessary in order to achieve that.

-Bring down the kingdoms of other constellations, weaken them through a constellation battle, and bring the hunters of Earth to their knees.

-Spread overwhelming fear so that no one can escape!

Most of them had very superficial ideas...

Suppressing tribes and conquering kingdoms could be effective in the Abyss, but Earth had an incredible number of inhabitants and was incredibly complex.

Hypothetically, if Choi Yeonseung defeated several high-ranking constellations and spread his reputation... Perhaps a few thousands or tens of thousands of hunters would find it impressive, but most ordinary people would just shrug and get on with their lives.

One had to show more than just strength in order to win over a lot of people.

However, Choi Yeonseung’s power of existence had surged after his last battle, and that wasn’t because of his sheer strength. Rather, it was because he had been consistently putting everyone else above him, and the masses had eventually become convinced that he could and would protect them.

‘It’s not like you can achieve that unintentionally...’

Choi Yeonseung just couldn’t act arrogantly and almighty like other constellations, so he just earnestly did everything he could for people.

It seemed that this indirect method of gaining power was actually the quickest one.

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ sends her faith because of your noble ideals.]

[She says that you will get a reward one day.]

-No, I don’t have any particularly noble ideals.

-...

In any case, this incident had given Choi Yeonseung a lot to think about. Even if he hadn’t necessarily defeated a constellation or engaged in a constellation battle, he had managed to increase his power of existence by leaving a big impression on everyone!

-What... It has to be something else...

-Goddess of Sloth, trust me. That’s what it is.

In that respect, Choi Yeonseung could consider returning to the United Kingdom. Wouldn’t many people praise him for that, like the exiled British hunters?

‘Of course, I have to clean up everything before thinking about it...’

***

Some countries had been persuaded easily, but Russia and China were bound to be difficult to tackle. In a way, Choi Yeonseung was a potential competitor for those countries.

However, the Russian side agreed surprisingly easily. All they asked for was exchange between clans and some support.

Of course, the Russians were asking quite a lot, but since this was about Choi Yeonseung’s promotion, it was a small price to pay.

-Isn’t Russia actually a country of hunter clans? Since they’re close to you, Hunter Choi Yeonseung, they must’ve thought that you wouldn’t help them if they refused.

-I guess I’m the right person for that.

-...Huh? I didn’t think you were that kind of person.

-What kind of pushover do you think I am?

Finally, there was the Chinese government.

In fact, Choi Yeonseung’s side was most apprehensive about dealing with them, since they could never be persuaded with logic.

Besides, China’s S-grade hunter had retired a while back, and if there was an S-grade hunter next door, the people would likely protest by saying things like “What is this incompetent party doing?!” or “The government should reduce its support for hunters!”

Naturally, the Chinese government would never take that risk.

...But to Choi Yeonseung’s surprise, they actually gave their approval. That was how messed up the current situation in China was.

-I’m tired of being ordered around by those who weren’t even hunters. Now that the party’s standing committee members have been secured, there will be enough justification. I am Wei Chang, A-grade hunter, and I urge all of you to join me!

-The Sichuan faction will be led by this A-grade hunter, Chun Zhiyuan. I don’t want to take orders from the Shanghai bastards any longer!

-After all, these hunters have a grudge against you!

China’s senior hunters, whose authority and status had been elevated thanks to the second invasion, started taking matters into their own hands.

Of course, they justified their actions by saying things like “It’s too dangerous to do raids at the moment” and “I have to be here in case the evil god constellations try something,” but everyone could see that they were rebelling.

Those hunters had recruited and kidnapped members of the standing committee, the party’s most powerful political body, and even mobilized the military and various paramilitary units, so their real motives were all too clear.

That was the reason Choi Yeonseung had managed to convince the Chinese government fairly easily.

-I will provide you with various supplies and combat artifacts on an humanitarian level, so please approve the S-grade promotion...

-Okay, Hurry up! Quickly give us support!

-I would like to take this opportunity to get some guarantees on human rights issues in China...

-Fine! Quickly!

-Maybe the issue of the ethnic minorities...

-I said fine!!!

***

This used to be Dragon Hwang’s residence, but now it was Choi Yeonseung’s office. It felt strange to Morales, thinking that two hunters had reached S-grade from this residence.

“Isn’t that a panda? Amazing.”

“Dragon Hwang received it as a gift from the Chinese government.”

“I heard it was stolen...”

“Shh, be careful what you say! That’s just a false rumor created by some Chinese hunters. Would Dragon Hwang do something like that?”