Ch.215215. Declaration of War

Skills don’t necessarily require hands to be used.

Particularly, Kang Sungjun’s explosion ability, while typically used as if throwing bombs, can actually detonate explosions at any desired location. It requires quite precise control, and considering that a mistake could catch him in the blast as well, it’s not exactly an easy feat.

So I first cut off Kang Sungjun’s remaining arm.

Just in case he tried to struggle, without arms he wouldn’t be able to recklessly use his ability.

With only one leg and now no arms, he wouldn’t be able to walk properly, so using his explosion ability would be unthinkable unless he was attempting suicide.

I didn’t have any particular information I wanted from Kang Sungjun.

I just brought him to the farm because I thought it was right to eliminate the source of all this trouble before uprooting everything else.

And I did it openly.

While he was streaming.

I wasn’t afraid of being exposed.

I deliberately raided his streaming location to make it known.

Besides, I didn’t even intend to kill him.

There was no need to get blood on my hands.

The Black Monkeys took Kang Sungjun to their forest, drooling as they carried away his severed arm too.

I told them not to spill anything near the farm, so they’d take him far away and dispose of him where he wouldn’t be seen.

For a moment I wondered if it was right to treat a person this way, but I steeled myself and returned to Earth.

Kang Sungjun’s belongings… if you could call them that.

When I picked up the camera, the livestream resumed broadcasting, and I inadvertently inherited Kang Sungjun’s YouTube live.

As the broadcast resumed, viewers flooded in.

– ?

– Is this Farmer Hunter’s stream?

– Why is such an esteemed person in this humble place…

– Did you come to apologize?

– Apologize for what? lol Shouldn’t Kang Sungjun be the one apologizing?

For a washed-up YouTuber, quite a lot of people came to watch, so I turned off the broadcast.

“I’ll explain everything on my own channel, please come over there.”

When I searched to see what had happened, as expected.

Hunters was completely filled with posts about me and Kang Sungjun.

It made sense.

The subject people are most interested in is personal grudges and revenge.

If we’re being technical about who’s the victim and who’s the perpetrator, Kang Sungjun would be the victim and I the perpetrator based on actual harm done. But since his despicable actions had already been covered in various videos, most people were speculating that I had come to finish him off completely.

– Did he come to kill him?

– Why kill him? He’s already been socially buried and is half-dead anyway.

– When you think about it, it’s infuriating. He dared to challenge an SSS+ rank.

– True… but seriously, why would Kang Sungjun provoke a real SSS+ rank? lol

– For real, was he kidnapped? Where did he go?

– Where do you think? Honestly, if you’re targeted by an SSS+, it wouldn’t be strange to die anytime.

– But what happens if he really killed him? There’s evidence, right?

– What evidence? Just briefly appearing on the stream?

This is exactly what I was aiming for.

I took Kang Sungjun away during his broadcast.

But from the viewers’ perspective, they would have just seen me greeting them before the broadcast suddenly cut off.

And when it came back on, I was holding the camera and Kang Sungjun was nowhere to be seen, so they could only speculate.

I turned on my YouTube livestream.

As expected, many people joined.

Due to my increased subscriber count, there were more people who were already subscribed to my channel and joined when I went live than those who came from Kang Sungjun’s channel.

It didn’t matter anyway, since this livestream wasn’t going to be about Kang Sungjun.

Without waiting for more people to join, I got straight to the point.

Those who were curious could watch the replay later to catch up.

“Recently, I was nearly assassinated by Dark Site, a transnational terrorist organization. Two assassins, one SS-rank and one S-rank, secretly entered Korea targeting me and my family. In the process, my family nearly died. Currently, my mother is in a safe location, and my father is working hard.”

– ??

– What?

“With my special ability, I discovered that these two assassins were from Dark Site, and that the request was placed by a YouTuber named Kang Sungjun, or Kang-spung, who paid tens of billions for the hit.”

– Special ability: Beat them up

– lol

There’s a lot of content that can’t be proven.

Because the dead don’t speak.

Actually, all the scout’s testimonies were recorded, but since he’s dead too, there was no need to meticulously verify every detail.

That’s not why I started this broadcast.

“This is the mark of Dark Site, and all their members carry one of these. They are furious that their assassination failed and their assassins went missing, and they’re directing their anger at me. My family and I are in even greater danger, and we can no longer just sit back and take it. That’s why I’m speaking out.”

What I’m saying doesn’t quite add up.

Anyone listening would find some elements that make them go “Huh?”

– ? So the assassins went missing? Or were they killed?

– Nobody knows. But whether they were killed or died, since nobody knows, “missing” is correct, right?

– That’s true!

There are exaggerated parts too.

But all the important content was included.

“The terrorist group Dark Site is targeting me and those around me, putting the entire country of Korea in danger. Many hunters have been entering Korea recently, and with forces emerging that are trying to defame Farming Company, I couldn’t just stand by.”

As I continued speaking like I was giving a speech, I felt a bit of regret.

I quickly got to the main point.

“I hereby declare war on Dark Site. I will destroy their headquarters and ensure that hunter powers can never again be used against ordinary people for money.”

After this solemn declaration.

I gestured toward the camera.

“Murad Ampole. Wait for me. I’ll take your head first.”

And with that, the YouTube live ended.

It wasn’t a particularly meaningful video.

I made it to provoke Dark Site, who would surely be watching.

And by escalating things this way, Dark Site would be less likely to act rashly.

What was once just between me and Dark Site would now involve anyone with a stake in the matter—individuals, nations, organizations—who would assess the situation and take action.

Indeed, as soon as the livestream ended, Kellin started her own YouTube live, posting an unnecessary video pledging to mobilize all her resources to help me.

While this wouldn’t prompt the U.S. government to step in, at least the flames of this controversy had crossed the ocean and were blazing in America too.

Then I got a call from Team Leader Kim Jin-hyeop.

“I apologize. We had no idea your family went through such an ordeal due to our inadequacy…”

“What? Oh, that? I made it up.”

“…Pardon?”

“I exaggerated. It’s true they moved to a safe location, but…”

Team Leader Kim didn’t tell me not to go or anything like that.

Instead, he just said to let him know if I needed anything.

Then he asked about something else.

“May I ask how you dealt with Kang Sungjun?”

“What? ‘Dealt with’… Why are you asking me where he went…”

“Should I consider him missing?”

“I wonder… Isn’t he probably being eaten by monsters somewhere no one can find him? If he entered a dungeon, that is.”

“I understand.”

This conversation made me newly appreciate how much power an SSS+ rank hunter holds in modern society.

Team Leader Kim is just an S-rank tanker, but he’s also a team leader in the Hunter Association.

Lately, he seems to be on an important mission working with the government to prevent other countries from poaching me.

This incident would have already been reported up the chain, but there was no mention of an investigation.

I was curious, so I asked.

“Will there be an investigation?”

“…This isn’t something I should say over the phone, but you are currently treated as a more important figure than the president in South Korea. No one will question your handling of… especially those who threaten your safety.”

“You’ve changed a lot since we first met.”

“Haha… I’ve been promoted quite a bit.”

Anyway, Team Leader Kim arranged a private jet for me to go wherever I wanted.

He offered to provide hunters as escorts, but I declined, saying I preferred to go alone, and headed to Syria where Dark Site’s headquarters was reportedly located.

It was impossible to land directly in Syria, so I had to land in Lebanon and travel 2-3 hours, but rather than finding transportation on site, I simply flew there.

With the coordinates Kellin kindly provided registered in my navigation, finding the location wasn’t difficult.

It was a ruined village.

The surrounding area was a wasteland with good visibility, filled with armed hunters and terrorists.

Looking at it this way, it felt like I was about to raid a native village in a desert biome.

I drew my Light Demon Sword and leaped toward a guy who was pulling out binoculars, wondering what was floating in the air.