The Celestial Returned From Hell

‘...I hope it’s a mistake.’

Choi Yeonseung tried to deny it, but it was unlikely that both he and the cat constellation were mistaken.

A future where hunters launched nuclear missiles… He couldn’t imagine what had to go wrong for the future to turn out like that.

***

“Have we gone a hundred years back in time…? How is this possible...?”

Aine was taken aback by Choi Yeonseung’s question.

-Is there a possibility of a nuclear launch from Russia?

...She almost couldn’t believe that he was asking her something like that. She was naturally bewildered.

They weren’t in the Soviet era…

“A constellation foresaw that this might be the case.”

Hearing that, Aine’s expression turned somber. If a constellation had predicted that, they couldn’t take it lightly.

“But… it can’t be… It happened once when you weren’t here. You know about that? The hunters from the Knights of the Holy Temple once kidnapped the US president and tried to launch a nuclear weapon.”

The Knights of the Holy Temple—a group of radical exiled hunters from the UK.

The faction mainly consisted of hunters who had lost their country to an evil god constellation, so it was no surprise that their actions were quite radical. Given that they had tried to kidnap the president of another country and launch nuclear weapons, there was no need to explain how extreme these hunters were…

“The situation was extremely tense at that time. If the Queen of England hadn’t issued an apology, the government in exile would’ve been completely erased.”

“Well, given that it happened once, isn’t it possible for it to happen again?”

“If you say so... Yeah, you have a point.” After a brief pause, Aine continued cautiously, “Do you really think it might happen again?”

“At this point, I’m not sure… I don’t know much about Russia to begin with. I’ve only met a few hunters from there.”

Choi Yeonseung had only learned about Russia from the first-generation hunters he had met in raids. Given where South Korea was located on the globe, there were quite a few hunters from Russia who visited cities like Busan.

Hearing this, Aine suddenly became curious and asked, “How were the hunters on the Russian side? I heard there used to be many conflicts.”

“The Russian hunters... They really liked gukbap.”

“...No, not like that.”

“That’s all I remember about them.”

Aine was flustered, but Choi Yeonseung really didn’t have anything else to tell her. Korean hunters would often meet Chinese and Japanese hunters, but they rarely came across Russian hunters, Choi Yeonseung being no exception.

They would cross paths in dungeons every once in a while and greet each other. Then, when eating out together, Hwang Gyeongryong would be surprised that they also liked gukbap.

“...Umm. I see.” Aine nodded slightly to the unhelpful information.

“In any case, this information came from a constellation, so you better be careful. Even if it’s a white dungeon, it can become a nuisance if things go wrong.”

“Yeah, I appreciate your concern. By the way, what will happen to the stock prices if something goes wrong with the nuclear missiles? You should also be careful,” advised Choi Yeonseung.

“...”

Aine was worried about world peace, whereas Choi Yeonseung was worried about her stocks… She felt terrible for tainting an innocent person with capitalism.

***

Some of Dragon Industry’s most talented Russian experts were present to assist Choi Yeonseung. It started out as a simple mission of raiding a dungeon in another country, but it would inevitably get more complicated as more hunters joined.

Since many A-grade hunters were targeting unexplored dungeons, they would pay attention to everything, including the Russian government and the Russian clans.

They would have to attend the government’s welcome dinner, visit the large Russian clans and have a light exchange with them, and manage other events in order to be able to enter the dungeon.

It was rather bothersome, but this was the price they had to pay in order to clear a precious dungeon in a foreign country.

‘This is my chance!’ Alexander Darren nervously reminded himself.

The secretary office of Dragon Industry didn’t consist only of secretaries. It was a type of planning and coordination department that gathered only talented people who could calmly analyze the status of the group and make accurate predictions.

The people in this office were the brightest minds when it came to planning, analysis, and investment in new businesses.

Thus, the talents in the secretary office had all been determined when Choi Yeonseung had taken over as chairman on behalf of the fallen Hwang Gyeongryong.

-This is an opportunity!I will submit a spectacular plan and impress the new chairman!

Choi Yeonseung was a hunter, and it was common knowledge that hunters were clueless when it came to business. So, they were going to take good care of this famous hunter and become the new brains of the group!

Since they were all elites, it was natural for them to have the ambition to be the best in the company.

...However, Choi Yeonseung had performed much better than they had expected.

He participated in the development of Dragon Artifact without any help and made it rebound, he succeeded in the Abyss’ crops artificial farm project, he succeeded in a raid and secured a few years’ worth of cores, and he fended off the other large artifact companies from other countries and took over...

At this point, it was difficult to tell if Choi Yeonseung was a hunter or a veteran businessman.

The personnel in the secretary office were frustrated with the fact that the new chairman was doing too well, but even so, they didn’t give up. They were sure they would get a chance to show their abilities!

And sure enough, the opportunity finally came. Alexander Darren vowed not to let it go to waste.

“Ah… I don’t want to participate.”

“...”

Darren was baffled and thought he had misheard Choi Yeonseung. Did he just say that he didn’t want to participate in the prestigious welcome dinner?

“T-then let me tell you about the current situation in Russia! As you might’ve heard, finally...”

“Yes, I would be grateful.”

To sum up the current situation in Russia, it was a country ruled by hunters.

Those who criticized the United States often said things like “Is this America or just a country ruled by hunters?” However, Russia was on a different level when it came to that.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian economy had taken a massive hit, and shortly after, the hunter clans emerged.

The clans accumulated huge wealth through attacking dungeons and collecting items, thus sweeping away the Russian companies and taking their place.

As a result, the Russian clans had become the ruling powers of the country.

The clans of the United States had almost as much authority as a state’s government, but the Russian clans were way more powerful than that!

The fact that the current Russian president was a first-generation hunter proved just how powerful hunters were in this country.

“You should also do this in South Korea, Hunter Choi Yeonseung!” Han Seha cried out angrily.

Choi Yeonseung frowned at her absurd suggestion. Did she want him to rule South Korea forever like Russia’s president?

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing... It’s nothing.”

At this time, Choi Yeonseung was flying to Russia with the hunters from the Icarus clan. He had also taken Han Seha with him because he thought this raid would be a good opportunity for her.

‘An unexplored dungeon coveted by a constellation is a good place for hunters to grow.’

It was the law of the Abyss that one would grow stronger by fighting opponents stronger than them.

-It isn’t for me to say this, but I feel like that mortal might be a bit radical.

-...She isn’t that bad. She didn’t attack any politicians or occupy the Capitol. Moreover, she’s never tried to launch a nuclear missile.

-Successor, even though I don’t know as much about humans as you do, I know that the standards for being considered radical are much lower than that…

***

Pudovkin, a hunter from the Russian clan Shilka, sat down with an expression of discontent.

“What is it?”

“What do you think?! We’re just giving this dungeon to foreigners for free! I can’t believe we’re doing this…”

“But countless hunters have failed to conquer it. It’s better to get paid by other hunters than to keep it for ourselves and do nothing with it.”

The unexplored dungeon, also known as Chort, had been secretly shared within the Russian hunter clans.

It wasn’t clear when exactly the dungeon had emerged, but it probably dated back almost to the first generation.

At this time, no one expected this dungeon to fall sooner than 2040.

Moreover, the fact that the countless hunters had failed to conquer the Chort dungeon despite it being less difficult than A-grade dungeons caused the clans to lose faith.

It sounded strange, but it was true.

To be precise, it was quite easy to navigate through the beginning and middle sections of the Chort dungeon. Instead of rushing to attack this unexplored dungeon, the Russian government had only cleared those easy sections.

However, even that had its limits.

As the dungeon was reaching its time limit, with less than two years remaining, the Russian clans started attacking the deeper parts of the dungeon.

Given that a lot of information had been collected over the past few decades, the hunters thought that they could clear the whole dungeon if they put their minds to it.

...However, it turned out to be way more difficult than they had predicted.

The first attempt failed…

And the second one…

And the third one…

As for the fourth attempt, the worst case scenario occurred and an entire clan was wiped out.

Now, the dungeon only had six months left, so the Russian government had a sense of urgency to do something with the dungeon. But suddenly, the Six-Winged Angel Who Hunts Dragons contacted them.

The angel constellation had heard about this dungeon a long time ago and saw it as an opportunity to have his human subordinates grow stronger.

After some fierce disagreements regarding the contract, they finally reached an agreement and the overseas hunters were allowed access into the dungeon.

The Russian hunters understood the situation, but evidently, that didn’t mean that they weren’t bitter about it.

“You’re right.”

“Senior Boris!”

All the Russian hunters in the room stood up.

Boris, a retired first-generation A-grade hunter of the Shilka clan, joined them. Even though he was retired, his presence was still great thanks to his reputation.

He was old and walked with a cane, but everyone stepped aside in a reverent manner.

“The most important thing... is pride. In that sense, we are sacrificing our pride with this dungeon.”

“That’s right!” Pudovkin shouted emotionally while the other hunters looked troubled.

This deal would be highly profitable for the Russian clans, which was why the hunters who were against it couldn’t really voice their discontent. However, now that a senior like Boris told them about pride…

“It’s already been decided. There’s no turning back, but don’t forget today’s humiliation. In addition, don’t cooperate with those people more than you have to. Understood?”

“Yes!”

“...”

Pudovkin nodded at Boris’ soft voice.

“Senior, I will take you there.”

“Yes.”

Boris walked away after Pudovkin voiced his support for him. Seeing this, the clan hunters looked worried.

‘Things might get ugly…’

‘That guy Pudovkin… He doesn’t understand what’s going on...’

***

“So who’s coming?” asked Boris

“Firstly, there’s an A-grade hunter from the UK.”

“Why are there pirates who don’t even have a country coming here?”

“There are many hunters from the US as well.”

“Bah! It’s always them or the British.”

“It’s said that A-grade hunters from South Korea are also participating.”

“Eh, the Koreans are relatively alright.”

“?”

Pudovkin paused. Boris passionately slandered all those overseas hunters, so why just South Korea…?

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