The fight had set off a nationwide shockwave.
The brawl that broke out at the police station had been captured on video from start to finish. And the one holding the camera? None other than Shim Hyungjae, one of the so-called Three Punks.
Whether he thought it was rare footage or he was just clueless, he uploaded it straight to Facebook. The clip passed ten thousand likes in no time, turning into a national hot topic.
— What kind of nonsense logic is this?
— Like demanding someone hand over their bundle after pulling them from the water.
Public opinion tilted heavily in Ha Jongwon's favor.
But then the story spread that Ha Jongwon was actually a high-ranked combat Slayer under I'UET. When the news reached Hanjin Group, they stepped in to mediate.
Hanjin was one of Korea's leading conglomerates, fiercely protective of its brand image. They issued an official statement expressing regret over the incident, offered the Three Punks' families twenty million won in compensation, and announced that Jongwon would be put on suspension.
Jongwon downed a glass of soju in one go and slammed the empty glass hard onto the table.
"Goddamn it, this pisses me off so much!"
"It's not even bad for you," someone tried to reason. "If anything, it works in your favor. Officially, they called it a suspension, but your base salary stays the same, and you're free to act however you like. If you play it smart, you could end up making even more money than before."
"That's not the point!" Jongwon snapped. "It's not about the money. Those bastards screwed me over. If you hadn't been there, I'd have been dead, couldn't even run. And instead of being thankful, they stab me in the back like this? Damn it!"
Within I'UET, Jongwon was a critical asset. After all, he was one of the rare Slayers who had taken down an Orc solo.
Sure, others might theoretically pull it off, but the guild's own rules required teams of five or more for an Orc hunt. The fact that Jongwon had done it alone made him extraordinary.
If he didn't hold that title, he probably would've been outright expelled instead of receiving this so-called "lenient" suspension. Public support for him was also too strong to ignore.
"Damn it. They messed with the wrong guy. Let's see who comes out on top."
Hyunseok shook his head.
'There it is again, the Mad Dog side of him.'
❋ ❋ ❋
For Hyunseok, the rule of thumb was simple: when Mad Dog's temper comes out, the safest move is to stay out of the way.
Hyunseok was pragmatic. He weighed pros and cons. Not rigidly, but carefully. Jongwon, on the other hand, didn't calculate, he acted on impulse.
Looks like he's dead set on this one.
The law didn't change overnight. Sure, after the case blew up, amendments seemed likely, but not right away.
In the meantime, copycats appeared. "Freeloaders" split their teams, dealt light hits to nearby monsters, and withdrew, claiming the 20% share of loot that went to the initial attacker.
As freeloading spread unchecked, one Slayer finally stood up to it: Ha Jongwon.
He formed an organization - Eradication Squad (Cheokgeoljo) - without knowing what it would eventually grow into.
His first targets? The Three Punks.
Relentlessly, Jongwon hounded them. Not to the point of killing, but enough to make them miserable. He lured monsters onto them, intercepted their targets, and even finished off monsters they had nearly exhausted, claiming the 20% finisher's cut on top.
This loophole, little-known among Slayers, became his weapon.
"Aren't you going too far on kids?" Hyunseok asked once, watching.
Jongwon shot back, furious: "This is the perfect time to make an example! Laws aren't for obeying, they're for using."
Even Hyunseok, technically one of the "victims," was left speechless.
Soon, Eradication Squad gained traction. The more freeloaders appeared, the more people joined Jongwon. What began as petty revenge snowballed into something larger.
To Hyunseok, it was laughable, this childish vendetta became the seed of what Koreans would later call the Union.
In the end, Jongwon forced an apology from the Three Punks. But that wasn't enough for him. He demanded an apology from their parents, who had been backing them from the shadows.
Eradication Squad, meanwhile, won massive support, not just from Slayers but ordinary people. Citizens were furious at those exploiting outdated laws, and seeing them punished (even "legally") brought catharsis.
As Eradication Squad grew, people began suggesting a new name: Union, since similar groups already existed abroad, championing Slayer rights.
Slayers who didn't care about "eradication" but liked the idea of a Union flocked in. Six months after its creation, Eradication Squad transformed into the Korean Union.
Ironically, only after the Union was born did Jongwon succeed in dragging apologies out of the Punks' parents, after three relentless months of hounding them.
That was Mad Dog Ha Jongwon: once he sank his teeth in, he never let go.
❋ ❋ ❋
Three months had passed since Hyunseok's group first got dragged into the lawsuit. Two months since Jongwon formed Eradication Squad.
It was now March. Jongwon was still leading Eradication Squad around, tormenting the Punks. Hyunseok, meanwhile, had been wrestling with his own thoughts.
He'd long since quit his translation part-time job. He wasn't obsessed with Slaying, but whenever he had spare time, or needed money, or even just out of boredom, he went out with Jongwon.
In three months, he had slain one Orc and about ten Stag-type monsters. Splitting profits with Jongwon, he'd earned over 60 million won.
Even someone as unmaterialistic as Hyunseok had to admit, it was tempting.
It really is… an attractive profession.
But that was because his stats were absurdly high. Average Slayers, even skilled ones, typically made 3-5 million won a month.
Still… I'm not so sure.
He already had his iron-rice-bowl job at KEPCO. He wasn't greedy for more money.
And yet, without realizing, he was slowly getting drawn in. He had vowed not to Slay at all, but in three months had already hunted more than ten monsters.
Quitting his job wasn't necessary. If he wanted, he could always switch to being a full-time Slayer later. The mere fact he was considering it marked a big change.
But Hyunseok wasn't the main issue. The real problem was Minseo.
Minseo had turned out to be a remarkably capable support Slayer. When she first awakened, her Intelligence stat was 33, astonishingly high, considering the average for support Slayers was only around 23. (For comparison, Jongwon's Strength at awakening had been 38, the official U.S. record at the time.)
Her growth rate was also remarkable. It implied she had been an exceptional student with natural talent.
Hyunseok worried. Minseo was clearly enjoying Slaying. She described the thrill of repairing things, of restoring broken systems, as euphoric. Other support Slayers said the same.
"Minseo, do you really want to be a full-time Slayer? Monsters might disappear tomorrow, just like they suddenly appeared."
"Oppa, I've told you, I really want this."
"You can wait until you have a proper job skill to fall back on. Do Slaying on the side, like me."
A support Slayer might avoid starvation, but the Slayer economy was brutally competitive. Resources were limited, and stronger guilds could monopolize the real profit.
"Someday, weaker Slayers will be weeded out, while the strong get even stronger. That gap will widen."
Indeed, Orcs were shifting from "threats" to "targets." About ten appeared nationwide each day, while more than a hundred guilds fought over them.
Slayers without strength would be left behind.
Hyunseok worried for her future. Even if support Slayers had steadier income, it was still a dangerous path. Monsters could vanish entirely, or new, stronger ones could appear. Death was always a risk.
And this is still Easy Mode.
For three months, the system message had been consistent: "Current difficulty: Easy Mode." If Easy existed, then so did Normal. And Hard.
And Orcs, by fantasy standards, weren't even that strong.
Minseo finally offered a compromise.
"Then, Oppa, let's do it this way…"
(End of Chapter 10)
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