hotmtlnovel Chapter 396: Fight Club (3)
Chapter 396: Fight Club (3)
After talking at length with Lars,
Kang-hoo and Ayane got out of the limousine in front of the Leipzig Arena.
He spoke plainly, yet in a way that highlighted the weaknesses and problems of the Jeonghwa Guild and Jang Si-hwan—and it had worked better than expected.
Just before leaving after dropping them off, Lars had said something rather memorable.
“I feel embarrassed, realizing how blindly I admired the Jeonghwa Guild without ever examining its light and shadow.”
“Perspective is always relative.”
Kang-hoo’s reply this time was one step withdrawn.
Clever framing was never achieved by bluntly pointing out what was bad.
Good, yet bad.You read what the other person wanted to hear, and scratch exactly where it itched.Once you do that, at some point, even without explicit criticism, a negative feedback loop begins on its own.
That was exactly what had happened to Lars.
Kang-hoo coolly acknowledged the well-known strengths, while amplifying the doubts—nudging them in a negative direction.
By the time the conversation ended, the Jeonghwa Guild and Jang Si-hwan had turned into an organization that felt overly hypocritical and secretive.
“In any case, contact us whenever you need to. Once we’re ready, we’ll inform you immediately.”
“Will do.”
“We’re nearby, so if you just call, I can come see you within fifteen minutes.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you.”
Lars left right away.
Left alone, Kang-hoo and Ayane looked up at the towering structure ahead of them.
The Leipzig Arena.
A stadium capable of accommodating up to 100,000 spectators—larger than most football stadiums.
The reason was simple: battles between hunters required enormous space.
Moreover, to ensure that spectators were not caught up in skills during combat, dense safety barriers were layered both inside and out.
It was said that magic stones worth over ten billion won per day were consumed just to maintain the protective barriers for the audience.
What was frightening was that this cost could be covered by the betting fees from just a single match.
With such enormous wagers placed on each bout, and Leipzig Arena taking ten percent as commission, there was a common saying that the true winner was not the hunter who won the match, but Leipzig Arena itself.
A joke-like truth.
As the arena’s capital grew larger, it produced ever more sensational and powerful matchups.
Today’s match was a prime example.
Seventy percent of the special booths set up around the arena entrance were dedicated to that “main attraction.”
“Looks like all those people are Red Skull fans. Even a lot of regular civilians showed up.”
“Yeah. They’re selling a crazy variety of merchandise. It’s insanely expensive, but no one hesitates to open their wallets.”
“Kang-hoo. Want me to buy you a Red Skull doll?”
“No, I’m not really into that kind of thing. I’ll take the thought, though.”
“That one came out really cute.”
Ayane pointed at a doll selling briskly at one of the booths—a chibi-style doll of a red skull.
Red Skull.
A guild formed specifically to participate in the death matches held at the Leipzig Arena.
While most guilds pursued growth through dungeons and a conventional hunter path,
Red Skull’s primary objective was making money in the arena.
In short, a group of brawlers.
That did not mean they were a gathering of mediocre fighters—far from it. They were elite among elites.
Out of a total of thirty-five members,
only ten were selected through weekly internal sparring and evaluations to participate in death matches.
Red Skull’s matches were ten-versus-ten group battles.
More than anything else, teamwork was the lifeline of their fights.
— Thank you sincerely to all spectators who have come to the Leipzig Arena today.
-Additionally, the betting table for the Red Skull versus Siegfried death match, which will begin in thirty minutes, has just reached fifty billion dollars!
-Accordingly, a special fund that has been accumulated separately will be awarded to the winning team.
-As of now, the total amount of the special fund that the winning team will receive is nine hundred sixty-one million two hundred thousand dollars.
-The official sponsor of today’s main match is Audax Therapeutics, providing both medical and pharmaceutical support.
-Thank you.
The stakes of the main match exceeded the combined total of all other matches held that day.
On top of that were broadcasting rights, special sponsorship funds, and additional cuts from betting commissions.
All of it pooled into a special fund awarded entirely to the winning team—making the match extremely sensational and event-driven.
Then—
“Wow! It’s Red Skull!”
“Where? Where?”
“They’re getting out of the van! Over there! Look! They just arrived!”
“Let’s go! Hurry!”
People began murmuring, then surged toward one spot.
From the van they pointed to, a group of hunters stepped out.
Hunters wearing masks emblazoned with red skulls—members of Red Skull.
“I heard they dump every bit of their distributed earnings straight into item setups. They’re dead serious about death matches.”
“Money doesn’t lie.”
At Ayane’s comment, Kang-hoo replied with a phrase he always regarded as an eternal truth.
Items were stats, and stats clearly translated into strategic and physical superiority over opponents.
“...Hmm?”
Separate from his curiosity about Red Skull amid the fans’ cheers, Kang-hoo’s expression stiffened.
Out of the ten Red Skull hunters who got out of the van, five bore marks.
【Autumn Wind, Falling Leaves】
【Leaves a special mark on all hunters contracted with God’s Wind, or any constellations subordinate to it.
The mark’s shape can be selected from the patterns below, and the target does not recognize that they are marked.】
For intuitive recognition, Kang-hoo had chosen a skull motif—ironically overlapping with Red Skull’s image.
“Right. There’s no reason the chains connected to the Demon King would be limited to Korea and Japan.”
It was not particularly surprising.
Since all of them wore masks, he could not identify the names or faces of the marked hunters.
In fact, among Red Skull’s members, only two had publicly known names and faces.
The rest used aliases, and even their faces were obscured—only stylized images of eyes and noses with mouths hidden.
That was why most “full-face shots” of Red Skull members circulating on the market were fabricated images.
People simply guessed what they might look like below the nose.
Naturally, they were different from reality.
“Kang-hoo! Want to grab an ice cream before we go in? Look! They even have Solarkium ice cream!”
“...They really do.”
Ice cream made with Solarkium, famous for its adult flavor. That was impossible to resist.
He liked Solarkium Burst cocktails—there was no way he could just pass on ice cream made with that flavor.Thirty minutes later.
Kang-hoo and Ayane began watching the main match.
Kang-hoo did not place any bets.
Unlike the time he had used future knowledge to bet with Park Sang-oh, he knew nothing this time.
He could have burned money just for fun, but it felt like meaningless gambling, so he kept his wallet closed.
Ayane, however—already caught up in the excitement—had bet thirty million dollars.
Naturally, she had bet on Red Skull.
The odds were only 1.1—extremely low.
In other words, most spectators present had already poured their money onto Red Skull’s victory.
“Whoa...! As expected of Red Skull! Their timing is perfect! They take one out right from the start!”
Less than ten seconds into the match, one hunter from the opposing team, Siegfried, was eliminated.
To be precise—killed.
In a death match, defeat meant death.
All items carried by the dead hunter were taken by the winning team’s hunters.
Winner-takes-all rules.
“Kang-hoo! What do you think? Fun, right? Doesn’t it get heated right from the start?”
“......”
Ayane, brimming with excitement, called out to Kang-hoo—but got no response.
Wondering what was wrong, she quietly turned her head.
Kang-hoo’s gaze was completely locked onto the match.
At first unfamiliar, but now a well-known trait of his—whenever there was something to analyze, he became utterly serious.
He dissected and studied every moment, slicing time into fragments, searching endlessly for ways to grow stronger.
“That’s Kang-hoo’s charm—always looking for something that adds value to himself, no matter the situation.”
A smile spread across Ayane’s lips as she silently watched his profile.
That earnestness in every moment was what she found most attractive about him.
Since getting to know Kang-hoo, she had never once looked down on him for his level, nor taken him lightly.
He was always someone to admire—someone who constantly surprised her. His fighting spirit was full of lessons.
“He might actually beat a Red Skull hunter... Even Oscar Wolfram feels like someone he could take on.”
Oscar Wolfram.
An assassin among the Red Skull members participating today.
Known as the Mad Assassin, he could wield multiple daggers like flying swords.
With more than ten daggers moving independently, he excelled at both offense and defense, and their power was formidable.
“Kang-hoo?”
“Huh? Ah, sorry. I was replaying how that assassin scored the first kill. His dagger control is unique—and he charges in without hesitation.”
“His name is Oscar Wolfram.”
“An alias, I assume?”
“Probably. He likes infighter-style combat. But he doesn’t stick to a single concept, so it’s hard to pin down his style.”
“Flying-sword-style dagger control... That makes my mouth water.”
Kang-hoo was genuinely envious of Oscar’s skill. He had never experienced anything similar himself.
“He’s skilled and relatively polite, but... he’s kind of a lunatic. He always says something before killing his opponent.”
“What is it?”
‘“Where is Kalos?” Apparently he always asks that. No idea who Kalos is.”
“Hmm.”
Nothing immediately came to mind.
Usually, if someone obsessively searched for another person, there were only two possibilities.
Either a benefactor who had saved their life—or someone they desperately wanted to kill.
Judging by context, it was probably the latter.
Just then—
— A second elimination has occurred for Siegfried! The one who delivered the final blow is Oscar Wolfram! Incredible as ever, Red Skull!
The announcer’s voice boomed through the arena.
Oscar had reduced the enemy count by one more.
Kang-hoo was deeply impressed by the way Oscar fought as if he had no tomorrow.
Kang-hoo himself favored an infighter approach, but at decisive moments he tended to become cautious.
Oscar, however, used his own body as bait—offering up a shoulder to take a heart.
In terms of exchange value, he traded injury for death—an absurdly efficient deal.
As Kang-hoo kept his eyes glued to Oscar, Ayane read his thoughts and brought up a new topic.
By now, she could read his desires faster than anyone, just from his gaze.
“Kang-hoo. Want me to tell you something interesting?”