Requiem Of A Failed Hero

Unranked? 

The word was so unreal to Mok Jae-Hwa. In fact, now that it is being mentioned, the presence of the person before him seemed like a fairytale. It was because unranked were considered to be different from every other hunter. 

From the viewpoint of every other hunter, these people were gods. To sit so casually before one. No, this had to be a fairy tale.

Mok Jae-Hwa's brows furrowed and his head slowly went down. It was a show of respect. 

Seong Nara's tone changed.

"I'm sorry, sir. We did not know that an unranked hunter would be at a place like this." 

The person they were referring to clicked his tongue in irritation. 

'I have seen this reaction over and over again and I hate it...' 

Being an unranked hunter, Bastien hated his fate. Unable to make any friends. He was considered an asset everywhere he went to. At first, he enjoyed the attention. But fame had destroyed him, he had learned a lot even though he wasn't thirty yet.

It wouldn't be an understatement to say he had experienced his fair share of life. And now, he had come to hate his identity as an unranked hunter. It pushes people away from him.

Just like now, they all changed the moment they realized he was the red Beast. The strongest beast-class hunter in the world. They all changed... they all...

Something was off...

Bastien slowly turned his head to the left. 

'This guy?...' 

Not giving a damn thing about what was going on, Balam was savoring and tearing the steak with his shark-like teeth. 

"Huh?" 

Bastien cocked his head a bit. This was the first time for him, it was shocking. 

Mok Jae-Hwa's head stayed low but he couldn't help but dart glances at Balam, hoping that the demon would look his way and he would be able to give him any kind of warning that this man before them was an untenable monster. 

But Balam just kept eating, even when their eyes met, he would just keep eating and not pay any attention to Mok Jae-Hwa... as if all that was going on was none of their business. 

"I like you... Are you from around here? You don't look Korean?" 

It was quite obvious because of the color of his skin. But Balam didn't care. He paused, took a couple of seconds to completely swallow what was in his mouth then talked: 

"I am Balam, I am here as a representative of lord Raven. You will treat me as he should be treated" 

He still gave the steak on his plate greedy glances even as he spoke. 

This, Bastien found to be very amusing. He wasn't angry, if anything he was glad to meet someone like this, someone who was indifferent to his identity, someone who didn't care much. But he also knew there were two classes of these kinds of 'someone'

The class that has been living in some cave or something, the idea is, they have been so isolated from society that they don't know what is going on in the world. This Bastien didn't believe to be possible or else the person was living in a cave, away from any internet or social environment. And wouldn't that make such a person even more interesting? 

The second class, however... was the type Bastien really got his hopes high for. 

Those that are too strong to care.

'Is he this laid back because my strength is an indifference to him or is he just dumb' 

Curling up the corner of his lips, Bastien observed him well then spoke:

"I see, this Raven must be very busy. I will try to be understanding. But that old hag wouldn't. She could fly over to Korea to bring his ass over if it irks her so much." 

Balam frowned.

"You mean Ruan Zhaohui the flying empress." 

Mok Jae-Hwa spoke drawing Bastien's attention away from Balam. It was a smart move so Balam's irritated state wouldn't annoy the hunter in any way. From mere stories alone Mok Jae-Hwa knew he couldn't win against the hunter. He'd probably die with the first attack if the unranked hunter should get serious. Should he team up with Seong Nara... well, he couldn't tell what the result would be, Seong Nara is a very powerful hunter, or huntress whichever suited her. 

If he was to add Balam to the equation. He was sure they would seize victory but it didn't mean they were going to live after that. Currently, all the seven catastrophe-ranked hunters in the world are gathered here along with several more disaster-ranked ones. Then there is the unranked granny, Ruan Zhaohui the flying empress, and the other unranked hunter whose identity to most is unknown. 

Hell in no way they'd survive. Mok Jae-Hwa killed the thought of confrontation immediately. 

Bastien looked at them and moved his eyes back to Balam. As his eyes stayed on Balam, Mok Jae-Hwa could see red sparks in the center of his pupils. 

A couple of seconds later he closed his eyes and lowered his head. His shoulder then began to shake, the shake got intense and he raised his head in a pool of laughter. With his arms folded, he laughed quite hard before coming to a stop. 

Afterwards, he looked at Balam again. 

"You are something eh? I have never had anyone block my beast instincts." 

Balam raised a brow. 

'This bastard, he did try to use a weird skill on me.' 

In that 'couple of seconds silence' Balam and Bastien had shared a fierce unseen battle. With Bastien trying to intimidate Balam and take a look at his skills to cause him to know the extent of Balam's strength. 

Which for Balam wasn't a big deal, he could easily block off a mental attack like that one. 

With an unsuccessful attempt, Bastien was left with nothing but his laughter. 

'I was right after all. He was this laidback because he is strong.' 

"I will warn you to call him if you can. That lady is known for her nasty temper. Even Li Mingwu used to fear her when she gets mad."

He stood up and pocketed his hand.

"Well, it's quite a disappointment that I couldn't meet him. But considering an interesting guy I found, I guess it wasn't all that bad" 

He said then turned away, waving his hand at them as he walked through the door. 

Sigh! 

Mok Jae-Hwa and Seong Nara sank into their seats. They felt like they had just dropped a huge stone that they had been holding for hours, trying to stop it from crushing them. They heaved several heavy sighs before they started talking again. 

Mok Jae-Hwa looked at Balam. 

"Is it that you didn't know or didn't care?" 

Balam paused and dropped the steak. A bitter smile appeared on his face.

"Now, that he said shit about Master, everything is not tasting good anymore." 

He looked at Mok Jae-Hwa and responded:

"That human is strong but not strong enough to defeat me." 

"Ah..."

"And definitely not strong enough to defeat master."

"I see..." Mok Jae-Hwa nodded.

If Balam was saying it, then it is true. 

"Why are you guys like this?" Seong Nara scoffed looking at the two of them with disgust. 

However, they returned her stare with even more disgust. 

"Seriously, I get that this hunter Raven is strong but this is the red Beast we are talking about. Jae-Hwa-ssi, you of all people should know better."

She's right, Bastien was no joke. The guy was a beast class and the strongest so far, even with those slim hands, in his human state, he could easily pull out a tree from the ground. When he enters his beast mode, only he could raid an S-rank dungeon. 

This was not exaggerated news, they've seen this stuff over the news on the TV. So, why was Mok Jae-Hwa easily succumbing to the thought that a catastrophe-ranked hunter like Raven Raith would be able to defeat an unranked hunter, the red Beast for that matter? 

Seong Nara found them to be very childish in their heads, all because Raith was cool didn't mean he could defeat everybody. 

Mok Jae-Hwa scoffed...

'She does not understand, so I can't blame her.'

"Drop the topic. It's fine. Anyway, we survived a meeting with one of the unranked hunters in the world. I feel like I need to write a book about this day" 

He inhaled and exhaled deeply as if he was breathing in the whole experience and breathing it out. 

"So what are you going to do about it." 

She crossed her fingers and exchanged glances between the two of them. 

Mok Jae-Hwa and Balam looked at each other and said simultaneously:

"About what?"

She pulled back in unbelief, her expression betraying the irritation in her as she realized she had just admitted a bunch of doofus into her accommodation. 

"The unranked hunter gave you guys some advice. Shouldn't you guys be calling Hunter Raven right now? Didn't you hear what he said?" 

Balam stood up...

"Since I can't eat anymore. I would like to go sightseeing. I have heard amazing things about this place."

"Yes, that is right! There are quite a lot of things waiting to be seen by us. What do you Narassi, will you go with us?" 

Mok Jae-Hwa also got up, excitedly. 

Hunter Seong Nara sighed and sank her face into her palms. 

"Oh God, how can they be so laid back..."