Chapter 31
“Yes. All the convicts are rank Cs, but the Hunter from the Monitoring Division is actually a rank B, so there is nothing for you to worry about.”
Kim Sang-Sik nodded his head.
The popular opinion stated that you’d need around ten C-rank Hunters in order to contend against a single Hunter ranked B.
Well, a B-rank was personally coming to monitor the troublemakers, not to mention participating in the raid itself, so there was no reason to say no here.
‘One rank B and three rank Cs, huh…..’
Jin-Woo quietly studied the faces of the Monitoring Division’s agent as well as the three replacement convicts, before tilting his head slightly.
‘Something’s off here.’
He could sense a minute trace of murderous intent flowing between those four.
Was this also one of the facets of the enhanced Perception Stat? Or was he simply being overly cautious?
In any case, he was overcome with this unexplainable anxiety all of a sudden.
So, Jin-Woo whispered in Ju-Hui’s ear.
“Miss Ju-Hui, please don’t participate in this raid.”
Ju-Hui looked up at Jin-Woo’s eyes and asked back.
“What about you, Mister Jin-Woo?”
Rather than answering her, he too asked back.
“If I say I’ll be going?”
“Well, in that case, I’m going too.”
She looked like she’d follow him, no matter what.
‘I’m sure she’s only doing this because she’s concerned about me. And….’
And, he learned through prior experience that, whenever Ju-Hui’s face was forming that expression, she’d suddenly become a very stubborn young lady and she’d never change her mind, no matter what.
‘There shouldn’t be a problem with me around, right?’
After all, he had experienced dealing with Hwang Dong-Seok’s gang, which contained five rank Cs in their midst.
Jin-Woo nodded his head.
“In that case, okay.”
The agent from the Monitoring Division finished signing on all of the documents, and then came to speak to the gathered Hunters.
“My name is Kahng Tae-Sik from the Monitoring Division. I believe you’ve been informed of the situation. I’ll keep a very close eye on those three, so you can rest easy.”
Kahng Tae-Sik then beckoned the three convicts to come closer. They all trudged towards him and presented their hands. With a practised hand of his own, Kahng Tae-Sik swiftly undid their cuffs.
“Wowsers. I thought I was gonna die from the stuffiness just now.”
“We ain’t even slaves, so isn’t it against our rights for you to drag us around here and there like this?”
The convicts massaged their freed wrists and continued to pile on their complaints.
Kahng Tae-Sik roundly ignored them and returned his gaze back to the Hunters.
“Who will be taking the lead today?”
Song Chi-Yeol, having led raids before, raised his hand about half way up. Kahng Tae-Sik nodded his head.
“Understood.”
With Song Chi-Yeol in the lead, Hunters entered the Gate one by one.
“Let’s get going as well.”
Jin-Woo and Ju-Hui also entered the Gate, albeit at the same time.
Perhaps the trauma from the last incident remained with her, because she ever so slightly held onto Jin-Woo’s sleeve.
***
Goblins were the main enemies for this dungeon. They were the weakest of all man-type monsters out there. So, clearing the dungeon itself wasn’t hard at all.
“Kiiieeehhk!!”
“Kiiehhk!!”
These strange-looking creatures were weak enough for Jin-Woo to fight evenly one on one even before he got his power boost. Still, Jin-Woo did his utmost best to carefully hunt Goblins with his bare hands.
“Kiiehhck!!”
“Kahk!!”
When Jin-Woo displayed the combat prowess that easily exceeded their imaginations, both Ju-Hui and Song Chi-Yeol’s eyes became extra round in surprise.
“Wow.”
He was hiding most of his true power, yet the result of each fight was still remarkably different compared to the past. Ju-Hui approached him and carefully asked him.
“Have you been working out lately?”
“Well… I, uh, I’ve been jogging every day.”
“Jogging??”
Ju-Hui tilted her head, but well, he wasn’t technically lying here, so….
‘But besides all that… I’m not earning any experience points here.’
“Kiiieeehhck!!”
[The enemy’s level is too low, and your experience points did not rise.]
“Kah-gahk!!”
[The enemy’s level is too low, and your experience points did not rise.]
Jin-Woo formed a disappointed expression.
The message of Goblins being too weak and him not getting any experience points kept repeating itself.
‘This isn’t going to work….’
On top of this, the magic crystals from the Goblins were also the worst grade there could be.
Jin-Woo took a look around him.
The C-ranked convicts must’ve been really excited by the taste of freedom because they were wildly swinging their weapons and energetically ripped Goblins to shreds.
“Kkkiiiieehhhkk!!”
“Kehk! Kehhk!!”
From that scene alone, it was difficult to tell apart just who were the monsters and who were the humans there.
‘I guess there’s no reason for me to break a sweat today.’
Well, he wasn’t earning any experience points, nor was he making lots of money today, either. A certain thought popped up in his head next.
‘If it’s going to be like this from now on, wouldn’t it be better to quit the Association?’
Pretty much the majority of jobs coming to the Association’s way were clearing the Gates ranked D and E. However, if his level wasn’t going to increase from entering those types of Gates, then there was no need to participate in Association’s raids anymore.
‘I can easily earn mom’s hospital fees by myself now, too.’
He could quit the Association at any time he felt like it.
This was why having money was always for the better. As soon as he had some, his selection had widened. While thinking of this and that, the raid team entered deeper into the dungeon.
“Uh?”
“Mm…..”
And soon, a forked road with three paths appeared before them.
Kahng Tae-Sik made a suggestion to Song Chi-Yeol.
“Since the difficulty of the dungeon is low, how about splitting up from here onwards?”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
Song Chi-Yeol readily agreed to that idea.
Jin-Woo closed his eyes and extended his Perception to the max.
‘Now, which path leads to the boss?’
He was hoping that maybe the boss would give him a few experience points, at the very least.
Soon enough, he could pick up on the auras of all living creatures inside the dungeon.
Jin-Woo opened his eyes and spoke to Song Chi-Yeol.
“Ahjussi, let’s go left.”
“Okay.”
Jin-Woo, Song Chi-Yeol, and Ju-Hui chose the left pathway, Kahng Tae-Sik and the three convicts the right one, and the remaining two went down the middle one.
Jin-Woo’s heart began beating a little bit faster.
‘The boss is at the end of this passage.’
Although it couldn’t be described as strong, a unique and different aura from that of a Goblin was leaking out from the end of this cavern-like passageway.
He wanted to quickly kill the boss.
However, groups of Goblins kept jumping out at him every couple of steps he took, and this hindered their progress.
“Kek, kek, kek,”
“Keeriiick.”
“Keeiick.”
And this time, there were around ten of them or so.
One carried a wooden club. One held a wooden sword, one even held a long wooden shaft with a stone shard crudely tied around the tip….
They had armed themselves to the best of their abilities, but…. None of them managed to threaten him.
‘Haven’t you guys had enough yet?’
Jin-Woo frowned really deeply. It proved to be a such a bother, these b*stards that were worth nothing yet moved around in large groups like this.
“There are ten of them this time….”
“What should we do, ahjussi? Should we come back after finding the others?”
However, Jin-Woo’s two companions were getting rather sombre about the current predicament they were in.
“Still, there are only Goblins here, so maybe we should try fighting them first.”
“Okay.”
Flames formed on the tip of Song Chi-Yeol’s fingers, while Ju-Hui got ready to cast her healing magic as well.
Meanwhile, Jin-Woo was scratching the back of his head.
‘Now that I think about it, I’m not feeling nervous at all even though I’m inside a dungeon.’
Was it because he had become incomparably stronger than before? Only now did he grow a little bit more conscious of the changes that had taken place inside him.
Song Chi-Yeol asked Jin-Woo.
“Mister Seong, are you ready?”
“Oh, uh, yes. I am.”
Jin-Woo matched the timing with the rest of his teammates and slowly hunted each Goblin down.
And so, as they steadily cleared the dungeon….
Out of the blue, screams reverberated throughout the dungeon from somewhere, one after the other.
“Uwwaahhhk!!”
“Uwahhkk!!”
Those weren’t from the Goblins. No, they definitely belonged to humans.
Jin-Woo, Song Chi-Yeol, and Yi Ju-Hui exchanged glances.
They thought the things had calmed down, only for yet another desperate scream to enter their ears.
“Uwaahhhh!!”
Song Chi-Yeol’s expression hardened.
“Let’s go take a look.”
The three of them quickly ran to where the screams came from.
Jin-Woo could’ve run faster than his two companions, but for the sake of their safety, matched their speeds.
….Just how long did they have to run?
Ju-Hui cried out in alarm after finding a person.
“There’s a person there….!”
And it just so happened to be the Hunter from the Monitoring Division, Kahng Tae-Sik. He was kneeling on the ground, covered completely in blood.
Kahng Tae-Sik shouted out at them.
“Be, be careful! I don’t know where they could be right now!”
Kahng Tae-Sik spat those words out with great difficulty before collapsing on the ground in pain.
“Euh-heuk….”
Ju-Hui couldn’t watch on anymore and hurriedly ran towards Kahng Tae-Sik.
“Hold on, I’ll heal you right now!”
Ju-Hui was thinking like this; regardless of where the enemies were hiding, she was still a Healer ranked B. Meaning, the speed of her healing magic was very fast.
So, she thought that before enemies attacked them, it’d be more advantageous for her to quickly heal Kahng Tae-Sik.
“Please hold on for a little while longer.”
Ju-Hui stood in front of Kahng Tae-Sik and reached out with both of her hands.
Gentle rays of light gathered near the ends of her hands.
It happened then.
Kahng Tae-Sik rapidly raised his upper body up and took aim at the centre of Ju-Hui’s neck with his hand full of magical energy.
Swish!!
Just before his fingertip could touch Ju-Hui’s Adam’s apple, someone managed to grab Kahng Tae-Sik’s wrist just in time.
Snap!
“Ahh…!!”
The stunned Ju-Hui stumbled backwards before falling on her rear.
Plop.
Kahng Tae-Sik’s expression became one of shocked amazement.
‘He stopped my attack in that short space of time?’
It was not a hard job for a high-ranked Hunter to deal with a handful of lower-ranked Hunters.
The only thorn in his side today happened to a female Hunter ranked B, the same rank as he was. The silver lining about this thorn was that she was not a combat-related Hunter. She didn’t possess any abilities to protect herself, so as long as he succeeded in sneak attacking her, everything would end quite easily.
However…. to think, his sneak attack would end up missing.
With things like this, there was no reward for all that great acting he had put on.
Kahng Tae-Sik’s gaze followed the hand grabbing his wrist and to its owner. And Jin-Woo’s face was at the end.
Jin-Woo’s eyes were emitting a very strong light of murderous intent.
Kahng Tae-Sik frowned deeply.
“How dare you, a f*cking Association bottom-feeder!!”
Swish!
Kahng Tae-Sik’s other fist flew towards Jin-Woo’s face. However, Jin-Woo simply tilted his head out of the way and let the fist fly by.
‘What?!’
Kahng Tae-Sik hurriedly yanked his arm loose from Jin-Woo’s grasp.
“Huh?”
Jin-Woo displayed his shock next. As expected from a high-ranked Hunter and his power.
Now that both of his hands were freed, Kahng Tae-Sik began pouring out attacks without a rest.
However, Jin-Woo also moved at the speed that didn’t lose out to Kahng Tae-Sik’s and went on the offensive of his own, too.
Pow-pow-pabababahat!!
Fists and arms belonging two men endlessly collided and traded countless blows.
None of them showed any signs of backing off.
Seizing this opportunity, Song Chi-Yeol quickly dragged Ju-Hui away from the area.
“Ah-ahjussi….”
Ju-Hui couldn’t finish what she wanted to say because of the sheer shock from seeing what was happening right now.
However, there was one person here who was even more shocked than Ju-Hui, and that was none other than Song Chi-Yeol.
‘Just how on earth is this possible…..?’
This fierce battle unfolding at a scarcely believable speed – he was having a hard time trying to follow with his eyes.
Something like that was expected of a high-ranked Hunter, so that was fine, but then, the Seong Jin-Woo fighting that man couldn’t have been the same person from Song Chi-Yeol’s memories. The youth was definitely not losing out against a rank-B Hunter at all.
‘I’m a C-rank, and even I can’t follow his movements with my eyes!’
Indeed, his gut feeling proved to be right.
The Jin-Woo in front of his eyes right now was not the same youth from his memories, an E-rank who was weak but possessing a good head on his shoulders.
In the blink of an eye, the two traded hundreds of blows and they quickly stepped back while trying to catch their breaths.
Jin-Woo glared at Kahng Tae-Sik and frowned.
“The blood on your clothes… I’m guessing it’s not yours.”
Kahng Tae-Sik loosened his wrist and answered back.
“That’s right, it belongs to those b*stards. Besides all that, I never expected to run into a Hunter of your calibre in this sh*tty place.”
Honestly speaking, Kahng Tae-Sik was really impressed.
He hadn’t heard of any information regarding a high-ranking Hunter slumming it out along with those bottom-feeders working for the Association.
‘This is going to cost me big time.’
He thought that today would be the best time to act, so he did his deeds, but quite unexpectedly, he ran into a pretty steep hurdle here.
Kahng Tae-Sik couldn’t control his curiosity and asked out aloud.
“Who the hell are you? What rank are you?”
Jin-Woo summoned the Poison Fang of Kasaka, and while grasping it tightly in his hand, replied rather curtly.
“Seong Jin-Woo. I’m rank E.”
Chapter 32
Part 4. Rank B Kahng Tae-Sik
Kahng Tae-Sik felt like someone had hit him in the back of his head.
A b*stard that displayed the movement equal to his own speed, which was unmatched within the rank B, introduced himself as a measly rank E just now.
‘Is he trying to make fun of me?’
Kahng Tae-Sik gnashed his teeth.
‘No, hang on….’
Indeed, there was something odd here.
‘If he’s really a high-rank Hunter, there is no reason for him to be here, isn’t it?’
The jobs these bottom-feeder Association Hunters did were quite obvious. Their main role was to clear those Gates that Guilds and freelancers gave up on because of their low monetary values.
Their earnings were pathetically small compared to other Hunters, and they were not widely acknowledged by other Hunters, either. In other words, there was a very good chance that this b*stard really was an E-rank.
Only that, his abilities were anything but.
‘Still, a fake registrant wouldn’t brazenly work under the Association like this, so…’
Kahng Tae-Sik eventually arrived at the only logical conclusion.
‘….He’s a Re-Awakened.’
When he thought about it, he remembered the upper echelons of the Association getting a bit noisier with a rumour of someone going through a Re-Awakening somewhere nearby this location.
‘And, that person was supposedly a Hunter affiliated with the Association….’
He should’ve memorised that name back then.
As that matter happened only a couple of weeks ago, if this b*stard had been delaying getting a re-assignment test for some reason until now, it was very much possible for him to remain as an E-rank and assist the Association with their work.
Who could’ve guessed that such a guy would show up today?
Kahng Tae-Sik had made sure to perform thorough background checks on the Hunters participating in today’s raid, but he had missed the existence of this one.
‘I really have terrible luck, don’t I?’
That’s the only conclusion he could arrive at.
‘I should’ve asked for more money, if things turned out this way….’
Kahng Tae-Sik recalled the events of a few days ago while licking his dried lips.
***
A few days ago….
A cafe near the headquarters of the Association.
Kahng Tae-Sik asked the moment he settled down in his seat.
“What business do you have with me?”
The middle-aged man sitting his opposite side seemed rather haggard for some reason.
‘He said that he’s an owner of some company, didn’t he?’
Kahng Tae-Sik definitely did not know who this man was. However, he still decided to free up some time after this man continued to call him on the phone, sounding quite desperate and all.
The middle-aged man muttered as if he was speaking to himself.
“I’ve heard that no one knows what happens exactly inside dungeons.”
The man’s voice was so soft that Kahng Tae-Sik had to ask again.
“What did you say?”
“This is every cent I have in my name.’
The man suddenly presented his bank account book.
Kahng Tae-Sik alternated his gaze between the book and the man’s face, before confirming the bank balance printed on the book’s pages.
There was a substantial amount of ₩2,000,000,000 printed there.
“And why are you showing me this?”
When Kahng Tae-Sik formed a questioning expression, the middle-aged man’s head dropped lower.
“Among the criminals you’re in charge of, there is one who had hurt my little girl. Because of that, she took her own life, and my wife is still in the hospital from the shock.”
The middle-aged man’s voice became tearful.
“Yet, such a b*stard will be able to roam the streets again in a few years’ time…. You think I’ll be able to rest easy knowing that?”
The man raised his sorrow and rage-filled face.
“I’m sure you can already tell what I’m implying here.”
The man lowered his head again.
“I beg of you, Hunter-nim!!”
A deafening silence descended between these two men.
Kahng Tae-Sik leaned against the back of his chair and fell into a deep contemplation.
Only after a long while passed by did he open his mouth again.
“Can you guess why I chose to work for the Association’s Monitoring Division?”
“Pardon me?”
The middle-aged man raised his head.
Kahng Tae-Sik explained himself.
“As a B-rank Hunter, I’m considered as one of the higher ranked Hunters. Large Guilds continue to send their scouting offers in my direction all the time. Yet, can you guess why I persist in doing this job while getting a pittance in return?”
“I… I don’t know.”
The corners of Kahng Tae-Sik’s lips arched up.
“You see, I… I find it more enjoyable to fight against people rather than monsters.”
In that sense, the Monitoring Division was like the heaven-sent job for Kahng Tae-Sik.
Well, he could beat up other Hunters in the name of the law, after all. And he’d end up killing one or two due to unavoidable circumstances, too.
‘Due to unavoidable circumstances….. Eh.’
Kahng Tae-Sik inwardly smiled and spoke.
“Stepping on that insect you told me about isn’t going to be difficult at all. However, there will be other Hunters inside the dungeon besides the insect, as well. I might view that b*stard as an insect, but will other Hunters think that way, I wonder?”
The middle-aged man formed a disappointed expression after hearing Kahng Tae-Sik’s rather pessimistic-sounding words.
And here he was, thinking that he’d finally get to avenge the death of his little girl. It felt like the heavens were crashing down on top of him.
However, Kahng Tae-Sik formed a sinister smile as if to mock the other man.
“This money, plus one billion Won on top of that, to deal with the other Hunters as well. Can you do it?”
***
However, if a Re-Awakened Hunter was among those ‘other Hunters’, then the amount of 3 billion Won was not quite enough. Well, his own life was on the line, after all.
The self-proclaimed rank E Hunter was still emitting a sharp, observant air even now. He looked as if he’d seize any slight opening there was.
Kahng Tae-Sik swallowed his saliva.
‘I can’t take him lightly.’
Kahng Tae-Sik was confident of winning here. He had never lost a single one-on-one fight even before he underwent the Awakening process.
However, even though he could win, it would not be an easy victory at all.
Right now, he had to revise his plans ever so slightly.
With a nice timing, the rank E Hunters asked a question.
“Those convicts… Why did you kill them?”
“The father of a girl who was raped by those b*stards came to ask me for the favour. Those b*stards were animals worthy of getting killed. And I simply took care of animals that hurt other people, that was all.”
The rank E Hunter was listening without saying anything. It seemed quite likely that talking might work here. Kahng Tae-Sik went straight to persuading the other man.
“Although the matter had come down to this, I don’t wish to hurt you. How about ignoring today’s matter altogether? As long as we make this deal here, I promise I won’t try anything to you and your group.”
Of course, he couldn’t let a potential source of trouble fester.
That was why Kahng Tae-Sik was thinking. There was a chance that a head-on fight would result in him getting badly injured, so he’d get out of here first, wait for an opportune moment, and dispose of all the witnesses one at the time.
However, the rank E Hunter snorted derisively.
“You should’ve said those things before you tried your little tricks. You want us to ignore everything just because you failed your sneak attack?”
That man didn’t say anything wrong there.
Kahng Tae-Sik smirked in dumbfoundedness.
‘In the end, you want to have a go, is that it?’
Well, in that case, he’d have to go all out, then.
The light shimmering in Kahng Tae-Sik’s eyes became colder. His sharp glare quickly swept across the rank E Hunter top to bottom. And his forehead creased up for a second.
‘Where did he get his dagger from?’
Since before he had noticed it, the E-rank Hunter was holding a dagger.
‘Well… It shouldn’t be too important, is it?’
It didn’t matter where that weapon came from, indeed. What’s important here, though, was the type of the weapon.
Kahng Tae-Sik’s quickly concluded his assessment.
The class that used daggers and utilised quick movements; his opponent was a super-close type damage dealer.
Most likely, his speciality was ‘assassination’.
What a coincidence that their specialities happened to be the same.
However, this guy only underwent his Re-Awakening not too long ago. The difference in experience should be absolutely massive. He might not even be able to properly utilise the skills at his disposal.
“Let me teach you a thing or two as your senior.”
Kahng Tae-Sik extracted a knife from his hips and smirked derisively at the rank E Hunter.
“Can you do something like this?”
And then, Kahng Tae-Sik activated his ‘Stealth’ skill, thereby disappearing from the spot.
That caused the rank E Hunter to get flustered and he hurriedly looked around his vicinity. Kahng Tae-Sik could see his naked panic and confusion quite clearly.
‘But, that’s so obvious.’
The ‘Stealth’ skill didn’t only make one’s body go transparent.
The body, the sound, and even the smell!
The skill that cloaked everything about the person activating it!
That was the ‘Stealth’ skill in a nutshell.
There were only a handful of assassin-type Hunters who could use this skill in the entire world.
Utterly unrelated to one’s ranks, you just had to be a lucky few who unlocked this skill when going through the Awakening process.
‘Let’s end this in one hit!’
Kahng Tae-Sik swiftly moved to the rear of the E-rank Hunter. His back was wide open, unguarded.
‘This is the end.’
He was expecting to engage in a bitter battle, but it turned out to be a rather simple fight in the end. If the opponent was getting ready to counter the Stealth skill, then it’d not be this easy at all.
As expected, the difference in experience decided the victor today.
‘Die!’
Kang Tae-Sik’s knife aimed at the spot just below the E-rank Hunter’s ribs and powerfully stabbed forward.
However!!
Clang!!
Two daggers collided in the air and sparks flew off.
With his Stealth skill deactivated, one could now see Kahng Tae-Sik’s wide open eyes.
“What?! But how!!”
The E-rank Hunter’s dagger had accurately blocked off his own dagger.
Unable to hide his shock, Kahng Tae-Sik raised his eyes and looked up at the E-rank Hunter’s face.
And that Hunter opened his mouth with a totally unimpressed face.
“Oh, so now you decide to pop up.”
“Wha-what did you say?”
Unable to understand the words of this rank E Hunter, Kahng Tae-Sik suddenly felt this inexplicable fear in his heart.
***
Tti-ring!
[Emergency Quest: Kill all the enemies!]
There are lifeforms holding murderous intentions towards the ‘Player’. Kill them all in order to secure your own safety. If you do not follow this instruction, a corresponding penalty will be given.
The number of enemies left to kill: 1
The number of killed enemies: 0
Jin-Woo confirmed the Emergency Quest message and breathed a sigh of relief.
‘It wasn’t a waste of time.’
He was kinda worried, that if Kahng Tae-Sik didn’t take the initiative, Jin-Woo wouldn’t receive the Emergency Quest notification. It was quite unlike how it was with Hwang Dong-Seok and his gang back then.
That was why he tested the System out, and it was as he expected.
The moment Kahng Tae-Sik revealed his murderous intent, the message popped up.
He wasn’t just mindlessly chatting with the guy, or revealing his ‘panic’, or showing off openings for nothing until now.
‘I really didn’t know he could use Stealth, though….’
Actually, when Kahng Tae-Sik did disappear in front of his eyes, Jin-Woo was slightly taken aback.
Well, ‘Stealth’ was a pretty rare skill, after all.
But, when he concentrated a bit harder, he easily and accurately sensed Kahng Tae-Sik’s every movement. So much so that he could close his eyes and still find his target with no problem.
This was the effect of his enhanced Perception Stat.
He continued to invest on this Stat just so he could tell whether he should fight or flight, but today, he learned of a new use for it.
‘I got lucky.’
Thanks to that, Kahng Tae-Sik was getting shocked out of his mind as if he had seen the ghosts of his ancestors.
“But, how?!”
And now, when Jin-Woo takes care of this murdering b*stard, he’d be able to enjoy the quest’s delicious rewards.
‘If I’m going to fight anyway, then I might as well get everything I’m supposed to, no?’
It was his turn now.
From now on, he’d start attacking for real.
The two daggers locked in a deadly embrace continued to push against each other.
It seemed that their strength was about the same.
It was here when Jin-Woo’s eyes gleamed dangerously.
‘In that case, should I find an opening somewhere else?’
Jin-Woo’s leg moved in an instant, and he stomped on Kahng Tae-Sik’s foot.
STOMP!!
“Uwaahk?!”
Chapter 33
Kahng Tae-Sik had been paying attention only to the daggers, so he got really stunned by the pain shooting up from his foot, causing him to hurriedly step back.
Jin-Woo didn’t miss this opportunity.
‘Dash!’
[‘Skill: Dash’ has been activated.]
[Your movement speed has increased by 30%. One Mana will be spent every minute during its activation.]
Jin-Woo rapidly got closer to his target.
Kahng Tae-Sik’s eyes grew wider still.
‘He got faster?!’
Jin-Woo had been displaying an already high level of agile movements, but now that he had gotten even faster, Kahng Tae-Sik found it quite disorientating.
Jin-Woo closed the distance in the blink of an eye and sank his Poison Fang of Kasaka down on Kahng Tae-Sik’s thigh.
“Kuwahhhk!!”
He aimed there precisely because Kahng Tae-Sik was focused on defending his upper body only.
[‘Effect: Paralysis’ has been activated.]
[The effect has been cancelled due to the high resistance of the target.]
[‘Effect: Bleeding’ has been activated.]
[The target’s stamina will decrease by 1% per second.]
‘Nice!’
The added effects of the Kasaka dagger kicked in as well. It was a bit regretful that the ‘Paralysis’ didn’t work, but still, this fight had become just a tad easier now.
However, Kahng Tae-Sik was a high-ranked Hunter himself! So, his resistance was nothing to scoff about. His dagger aimed at Jin-Woo’s vitals and continued to fly in.
Swish, swish!
Jin-Woo evaded the blade with only a hair’s breadth and also attacked Kahng Tae-Sik’s vital spots.
Even though his thigh was badly damaged, Kahng Tae-Sik calmly defended against Jin-Woo’s attacks, as befitting an experienced Hunter.
Clang! Cling!
Cold sweat drops formed on the foreheads of both men.
‘Our speeds are about the same!’
‘We’re moving at the same speed!’
Two men were inwardly admiring each other’s agile movements and continued to clash in a dazzling display of super-close proximity knife fighting.
Several powerful attacks, each one capable of ending this fight if hit, were exchanged without rest.
Swish, swish, swiiish, swish, swish, swish!!
It was a truly scary and gripping battle that caused the onlooker’s blood to go cold.
‘I gotta break this stalemate somehow.’
Jin-Woo gathered strength in his eyes.
[‘Skill: Intimidation’ has been activated.]
The moment his eyes met Jin-Woo’s, Kahng Tae-Sik flinched slightly for some reason.
‘What was that?’
[‘Effect: Fear’ has been activated.]
[The target’s (All) Stats will decrease by 50% for one minute.]
‘It worked!’
Jin-Woo knew that he had won now.
On the other hand, a small earthquake erupted in Kahng Tae-Sik’s eyes.
‘How come my body is…..?’
After he had met Jin-Woo’s gaze, his body felt as heavy as if he was floundering in deep water or some such. His trusty speed began decreasing as well.
Swish! Swiiish!!
Wounds on Kahng Tae-Sik’s body increased quickly one by one.
‘This, this isn’t possible!’
Kahng Tae-Sik’s thoughts became confused and messy.
This was, without a doubt, a debuffing effect. But, he had never, ever heard of a case where an assassin class was able to use a debuff magic.
‘Assassination was not his speciality, then?’
If that was the case, then what was up with his crazy speed?
However, Kahng Tae-Sik had stopped his train of thoughts there. His confusion had rapidly morphed into panic, instead. Because… he had spotted Jin-Woo abruptly rushing in closer.
Kahng Tae-Sik hurriedly took aim at Jin-Woo’s eyes.
Swish!!
Jin-Woo quickly tilted his head out of the way, but the dagger still managed to graze his cheek.
Of course, he knew he’d get hurt, at least by this much, or even worse. In order to get that decisive strike in, he decided to take the risk.
Kahng Tae-Sik’s expression crumpled.
‘F*ck.’
Jin-Woo succeeded in getting close to Kahng Tae-Sik’s chest and stabbed down on the latter with the Poison Fang of Kasaka.
Stab.
“Keo-heok!!”
Kahng Tae-Sik’s eyes shot open wider.
Both men knew right away at that moment. The victor had been truly decided with that one move.
Crimson-red blood pooled in Kahng Tae-Sik’s mouth. It was gushing up from his chest. As blood leaked out from the side of his lips, Kahng Tae-Sik formed a smirk.
To actually run into a Re-Awakened Hunter inside a lowly rank D dungeon….
‘Me and my seriously rotten…..’
The dagger in Kahng Tae-Sik’s hand fell to the floor.
He continued to pant heavily as he leaned his head closer and whispered something in Jin-Woo’s ear.
“…..”
Jin-Woo silently listened to those last words, before pulling the dagger out from Kahng Tae-Sik’s chest.
Just like a dress slipping off a clothes hanger, Kahng Tae-Sik crumpled to the floor, lifeless.
Plop.
Tti-ring!
[You have completed ‘Emergency Quest: Kill all the enemies’.]
The expected messages did pop up, but Jin-Woo’s expression wasn’t so good. Just like the last time, the aftertaste of killing someone remained bitter and nothing to feel too happy about. Even though the other guy attacked first and initiated this fight….
[Completion rewards are now available.]
[Would you like to confirm the rewards?] (Y/N)
If there were no rewards, then this would be one hell of a loss-loss situation, that.
Jin-Woo consoled himself with that line of thought and confirmed the rewards.
Tti-ring!
[The following rewards are available.]
Reward 1. Five additional Stat points
‘Huh?’
Jin-Woo formed a confused expression.
The reward on offer was far, far less than when compared to fighting Hwang Dong-Seok and his goons.
‘But, it was a far harder opponent this time, though?’
Did this mean the number of enemies was more important than the skills of the opponent? Or, was there something else he hadn’t figured out yet?
Jin-Woo tilted his head slightly.
It was here that Jin-Woo lowered his gaze and ended up spotting something rather odd. There was a spot of flickering light about as big as a coin gleaming on the corpse of Kahng Tae-Sik.
Jin-Woo’s eyes grew wider and wider.
‘No way, could it be….?’
Although he could hardly believe it, that light seemed far too similar to the one emitted by the loot found on the dead monsters from the instant dungeons.
That light also indicated the position of the magic crystal inside a monster from the Gates. But now, the dead Kahng Tae-Sik was emitting this light.
‘What does this mean?’
Jin-Woo calmed his trembling heart and quietly reached out towards the chest area of Kahng Tae-Sik where that flickering light was coming from.
Tti-ring.
Indeed, he wasn’t seeing things just now.
[You’ve discovered ‘Rune Stone: Stealth’. Take it?]
‘A Rune Stone?! Are you talking about THAT Rune Stone….??’
His heart began pounding even harder than before.
The skill Kahng Tae-Sik used had now become a Rune Stone and was waiting to be discovered on his body.
‘Stealth’ was a rare skill that only a select few Hunters could use. If this message was indeed talking about the Rune Stones he knew, then….
‘Acquire it.’
Suddenly, a small rock with mysterious runic letters carved on the surface appeared in his hand.
[Rune Stone: Stealth]
You can absorb the skill by breaking this Rune Stone.
….Absorbing skills by breaking the stone.
As the description said, this rock was definitely a Rune Stone.
By breaking it, he’d be able to use Stealth from now on.
He had not heard of a Rune Stone that taught one to use Stealth being put up for sale until now. So, it was impossible to estimate just how much this little Rune Stone would go for in the marketplace.
It was then, he heard the voices of two people coming from his rear.
“Mister Seong, are you alright?!”
“Mister Jin-Woo!!”
Jin-Woo hid the Rune Stone inside his pocket and turned around.
And he found Song Chi-Yeol and Yi Ju-Hui busy gawking at him with eyes filled with disbelief.
The rank E Hunter Jin-Woo, who used to struggle like there’s no tomorrow in a rank D dungeon, just defeated a rank B Hunter Kahng Tae-Sik.
As a non-combatant class, Yi Ju-Hui didn’t know this, but the rank C Song Chi-Yeol knew very well how incredibly crazy that notion was.
Jin-Woo checked out his own appearance.
“Well, yeah, I’m okay.”
From a casual glance, he was totally fine. He wasn’t feeling any pain, either. But, when he turned his head a bit, the blood pooling around his chin dribbled down. He reflexively touched his cheek and found that the cut he got earlier was bleeding now.
“Oh.”
“Let me heal that for you.”
For a second or two, a blue light danced around Ju-Hui’s fingertips, before that little cut disappeared from the view.
That was the confirmation; a rank E had successfully defeated a rank B without a single injury.
For the two people here that knew Jin-Woo, rather than the fact of a rank B Hunter trying to kill them, it was the fact of the youth before them defeating said Hunter that shocked them the most.
“How can you be able to…..”
Song Chi-Yeol couldn’t finish his sentence.
Jin-Woo, of course, knew what Song Chi-Yeol and Ju-Hui wanted to say here. That was why he opened his mouth first.
“I’m really sorry. When the right time comes, I’ll tell you both everything, so please, don’t ask me anything for the time being.”
When Jin-Woo made a request in a grave voice, Ju-Hui nodded her head first. Eventually, Song Chi-Yeol nodded, as well.
“If you’re saying that, then you must have your reasons. I understand, young man.”
Jin-Woo then turned his head in the direction where the boss was. Although the situation had become complicated somewhat, his plan of killing the boss hadn’t changed.
He wanted to kill the boss by himself if possible. Also, there was another thing he had to, meaning these two couldn’t be here.
Jin-Woo looked back at Song Chi-Yeol.
“With what has happened here, I think it’s impossible to continue on with this raid anymore. For the time being, you two should leave the dungeon and contact the Association. I’ll remain here and search for other survivors.”
Song Chi-Yeol instantly realised what Jin-Woo was trying to do.
‘He’s going to close the Gate all by himself.’
Even from the older man’s perspective, doing that would ensure the least amount of suspicion.
“That would be a good idea. Miss Ju-Hui, let’s go ahead first.”
Ju-Hui hesitated after hearing Song Chi-Yeol’s recommendation, but then, she quickly ran at Jin-Woo.
“You haven’t forgotten about our dinner date, right?”
Jin-Woo smiled gently.
“I haven’t. I still need to ask you for my change, remember?”
“In that case, you honour that promise, okay? I’ll be waiting on the outside.”
Jin-Woo nodded his head, and that must have relaxed her a lot since she took a step back without saying anything else.
Even as she was escaping from the dungeon, she continued to look behind her several times.
Jin-Woo only let out a sigh once the shadows of the two people were gone for good.
“Fuu-woo.”
And he really wanted to hide for as long as possible, but….
In the end, he got discovered.
There were two eyewitnesses, so it was impossible to talk his way out of this one now.
‘It’s not like I can threaten Ju-Hui or Mister Song ahjussi, either.’
Killing the rank B should be seen as self-defence. He had two eyewitnesses, so no worries there. The real issue would be with how a rank E managed to kill a rank B.
‘I guess being a Re-Awakened is the most plausible excuse there is, huh.’
He decided to go with that one, then.
He’d reveal himself to be a Re-Awakened Hunter and get himself a re-assignment test.
No one would believe him even if he told them about the System or levelling up and all the other stuff. There was also no reason for him to reveal that information voluntarily, anyway.
After he decided to go through with the re-assignment test, he kind of felt relieved on one hand, and a bit wistful on the other.
‘And here I was, hoping to do the test only after I got even stronger….’
But, since when did the world move as one wished?
There was nothing he could do about it now.
‘I wonder, how high will my new rank be?’
Since he fought on equal footing with Kahng Tae-Sik, was he slightly stronger than a rank B Hunter at this moment?
He thought that he had gotten really strong now, but as it turned out, those high ranking Hunters, starting from B all the way up to S, were indeed all freakish existences far surpassing his imaginations.
‘Oh well, let’s think about the future once I get out of here.’
For the time being, he had to get rid of the boss first.
The dungeon that emitted magical energy waves equalling a rank D only had a bunch of rank E Goblins inside. In that case, there was a good chance that the magical energy wave was actually coming solely from the boss.
A boss like that should give him enough experience points for a level up.
‘But before I do that….’
There was something else he had better confirm first.
Jin-Woo pushed his Perception to the limit and carefully combed over all auras present within the dungeon.
“Found you.”
Jin-Woo began waking to his new destination.
On the way, he discovered the cold corpses of Kim Sang-Sik and the other Hunter.
This was the power of a high ranked Hunter; if such a Hunter really wanted to, then killing a few lower ranked Hunters could be done in the blink of an eye.
Jin-Woo’s expression hardened as he walked past them.
Chapter 34
A short while later.
“Euph, euph, euph!!”
Jin-Woo discovered a lone convict struggling on the ground not too far from him. His arms and legs were all tied up with a rope, and there was a gag placed in his mouth.
It was as Kahng Tae-Sik said, just before his final breath.
[“I’ve tied up the rapist not too far from here. I was thinking of disposing of him last, after the victim’s father asked me to make him suffer for a bit.”]
Kahng Tae-Sik stopped breathing after those words.
The convict began to struggle even harder after seeing Jin-Woo. It was as if he was asking to be freed as soon as possible.
“Euph! Euph! Euph!”
Now that Jin-Woo took a closer look, it was none other than the same guy who threw a dirty wink at Ju-Hui earlier on.
As soon as Jin-Woo pulled the gag off the convict’s mouth, he breathed in and out heavily and widened his eyes.
“Pant, pant, pant!! That, that crazy b*stard, Kahng Tae-Sik killed everyone! He killed everyone!! What the f*ck happened?? Did he leave? There’s blood on your clothes?! Did you get done in by him, too??”
Jin-Woo didn’t reply and simply raised his head to stare straight ahead.
….Towards where the boss was.
The convict’s words poured out in great urgency.
“Untie me first. Hurry! We gotta escape before Kahng Tae-Sik shows up! God d*mn it!! There’s some sort of magic energy flowing in the ropes and I can’t tear them apart! You have some sort of a weapon with you, right? Why aren’t you saying anything? Can’t you hear me??”
When a bottom-feeder Hunter from the Association continued to ignore him, the convict forgot about the position he was in and began frowning in dissatisfaction.
Remaining expressionless until then, Jin-Woo finally opened his mouth.
“The boss should be just up ahead.”
“What?”
A confused, questioning expression floated up on the face of the convict.
“Feels like it’s a bit stronger than a regular rank D dungeon boss, too. I’m getting really curious about its attack patterns, you see.”
The convict listened to those words and lost his cool, roaring out at the top of his voice.
“What the f*ck are you even talking about?!”
Jin-Woo calmly continued on with what he wanted to say.
“Before all that, though, I gotta ask you about something. You remember the girl you raped before?”
“What? Which one are you talking about? You a family member of the victim?”
Jin-Woo’s brows quivered.
Just now, this man asked ‘which one’, rather than answering with yes or no. Meaning, he had hurt well more than one or two girls.
Hunters possessed extraordinary strength, so if they wanted to, they could become a horrifying monster at any time. And this b*stard used that strength to violate women until now.
With that, Jin-Woo’s mind was made up.
He coldly stared down at the convict and spoke.
“Now I know, so there’s that.”
“What?! Euph? Euph!!”
Before the convict uttered out more rubbish, Jin-Woo swiftly gagged the b*stard again. Then, he began slowly dragging the convict by the ankles towards the boss room.
“Euph! Euph!! Eeuuuph!!!”
The convict struggled even more desperately as he got dragged along. Both of his wide-open eyes were now completely bloodshot.
Not even slightly fazed by the criminal’s desperate struggle, Jin-Woo successfully dragged him into the boss room.
“Euph! Euphhh!!”
And inside the boss room, there was a large group of Hobgoblins waiting for their arrival. These monsters reputedly enjoyed snacking on human entrails. Apparently.
“Euph! Euph!! Euphhh!!”
The convict finally realised what Jin-Woo was planning to do here.
He cried out and shook his head around wildly after seeing the group of Hobgoblins. The blue convict’s pants began dyeing in a yellow colour, as well.
“Fuu-woo.”
Jin-Woo took a deep breath, and he chucked the convict among the waiting Hobgoblins.
“Eeuuuph-!!”
“Kiiiigiik.”
“Kiihit.”
“Kiiieekk!”
Picking up on the smell of a fresh, living prey, Hobgoblins pounced on the convict all at once and began tearing into his stomach.
“Eeeuupph!! Euph! Euphhh!!”
As the convict desperately struggled on and thrashed about, the vessels in his eyes burst open one by one, dyeing his eyes utterly crimson red.
“Eeeupphhh….. Euh, euh…..”
Even though the convict gradually lost his consciousness, Hobgoblins greedily and restlessly tore into him.
Just what would it feel like to be devoured alive by the disgusting monsters?
Jin-Woo frowned deeply as he quickly scanned the interior of the room, searching for the boss.
‘There it is.’
A huge Hobgoblin, definitely the boss of this dungeon, sat arrogantly over yonder on the other side of the boss room.
With its subordinates all too preoccupied with the fresh prey, there was not one guard around the boss itself, which meant that this was the perfect opportunity.
‘Dash!’
Jin-Woo immediately dashed past the Hobgoblins in the blink of an eye and arrived before the boss.
“Kkieehk?!”
The surprised Hobgoblin boss quickly stood up, but before it could complete the action, its head fell and rolled on the ground.
Plop.
Tumble, tumble.
Tti-ring!
[You’ve killed the owner of this dungeon.]
[Level up!]
‘Ah, hang on a sec.’
Only after he had sliced the boss’s head off did Jin-Woo remember the existence of the Rune Stone.
‘There was no need to lure them out with a bait, was there? I could’ve just learned the Stealth skill and sneaked closer, couldn’t I?’
Jin-Woo shifted his gaze over to what little remained of the convict and clicked his tongue.
Of course, he wasn’t feeling any sympathy for the b*stard there.
‘Well, whatever…..’
In any case, his plan was a success.
Part 5. Cogwheel
It wasn’t difficult to deal with the group of confused and leaderless Hobgoblins.
“Kiiieek!!”
“kiiieaahhk!!!”
“Kyahk!!”
The Hobgoblins ran around trying to escape from Jin-Woo, but were all hunted down soon afterwards.
“Kkyaaahkk!”
When he killed the very last one, another feel-good message popped into his view.
[Level up!]
‘It rose up again?’
His expression brightened up after this rather unexpected reward of the day’s labour fell into his lap.
Jin-Woo cleaned all the blood off the Poison Fang of Kasaka, and along with all the magic crystals extracted from the Hobgoblins, stored them inside his Inventory, before summoning his Status Window.
Tti-ring!
Name: Seong Jin-Woo
Level: 27
Class: None
Title: Slaughterer of Wolves
HP: 5,114
MP: 548
Tiredness: 0
[Stats]
Strength: 72
Stamina: 43
Agility: 82
Intelligence: 39
Perception: 69
(Available points to distribute: 5)
Physical damage reduction: 20%
[Skills]
Passive skills:
– (Unknown) Lv. Max
– Tenacity Lv. 1
Active skills:
– Dash Lv. 1
– Intimidation Lv. 1
[Equipped items]
Gatekeeper’s Necklace (A)
Before he knew it, his level was almost near the ’30’ mark.
Jin-Woo wasn’t expecting much from this dungeon at the time of hunting down the weak Goblins by the entrance. But, well, he got a level up by killing the Hobgoblin boss, and then another one from hunting down every single one of the Hobgoblin underlings, as well. His level rose up by two in such a short time.
What a lucky day it was for him, every single strong monster being in the boss room and all.
‘No, hang on a bit here. It’s a bit too much to call this good luck, huh.’
Three diverging pathways, and the difficulty of the boss room….
If the low-ranked Hunters got too conceited after hunting down weak Goblins and arrogantly stepped into the boss room, then they might have met with a serious accident from the appearance of all these Hobgoblins.
Unlike the Goblins, Hobgoblins were pretty tough monsters to contend with.
‘There are some instances of Hobgoblins appearing in dungeons full of Goblins, but….’
Well, it was still very rare to see such a big group of Hobgoblins in a single location as it was in the case of this dungeon.
Really now, it was utterly impossible to predict what might happen inside a dungeon. Someone’s lucky day might turn into someone else’s worst nightmare.
The only protection one had in this place was the one’s own power.
That was why Jin-Woo wanted to get stronger. Surviving inside a dungeon was one thing, but what if there was a dungeon break near the hospital where his mother was staying?
What if, he got sneak-attacked by a monster while out walking on the street?
No, the monsters wouldn’t be the only problems to worry about, either.
Hunters were also dangerous existences, just as much as the monsters themselves. Even if various organisations were trying to manage them, there would always be a limit.
Indeed, he needed to possess the necessary strength to protect himself.
‘There are limits to how powerful a Hunter could become.’
However, there was no such thing for himself.
Theoretically, he could grow stronger indefinitely as long as his Stats increased and he found the right type of equipment to wear.
And today, one more method of getting stronger had been added to his arsenal. It was none other than the Rune Stones!
Jin-Woo pulled out the Rune Stone from his pocket.
Just like with other items, the information on the stone floated up like a hologram projection.
[Rune Stone: Stealth]
You can absorb the skill by breaking this Rune Stone.
To those who didn’t know, this thing would’ve come across as a small pebble with weird letters carved on the surface, but if you were a Hunter, you’d be salivating like crazy regardless of what your rank was.
High-ranked Hunters would’ve used it for themselves, while the lower-ranked ones would’ve sold it to the higher ranked Hunters.
And a Rune Stone containing rare skills, such as this one with the ‘Stealth’ skill, would’ve especially fetched a large amount of money. When placed in an auction, this particular stone should fetch at least a few billion Won, and when sold through the black market, several times more than that.
There was only one reason why it would be more expensive in the black market. Because, there would be no official record of who bought what with how much money, that was why.
Having a hidden skill was the same thing as possessing one more powerful weapon.
‘….Just like how Kahng Tae-Sik had been hiding his Stealth skill.’
If it weren’t for his high Perception Stat, Jin-Woo would’ve been killed for sure. Thinking about that sent chills down his spine.
‘Let’s forget about selling this. I can always make money later on.’
He’d not fall for the monetary temptation right now. His current priority was to become stronger than ever before, after all.
There was no need to even mention just how useful this rare ‘Stealth’ skill would prove to be in the future.
“And to think, this little stone is worth several houses, no, several buildings, even.”
Still, Jin-Woo quickly did something he’d never have dreamed of doing in the past.
When he squeezed his hand tightly, the Rune Stone shattered into pieces without much resistance.
Crack.
A reddish aura seeped out from the cracks of the Rune Stone and slowly wrapped around his body.
It was almost the same as when receiving the effects of the healing magic. Only the colour was wrong, being red and not blue.
In any case, it wasn’t a bad sensation.
The reddish aura circling around him smoothly entered through his nose and was absorbed into his lungs. Right away, he could sense an unknown power well up inside of him.
A familiar mechanical beep went off shortly afterwards, too.
Tti-ring!
[You’ve learned ‘Skill: Stealth’.]
[You can now use ‘Skill: Stealth’.]
‘Nice!’
He managed to successfully absorb the skill.
He was feeling rather nervous since this would be his first time using a Rune Stone to learn a skill, but the whole process turned out to be unexpectedly quick and simple.
‘So, does this mean that I can use Stealth now?’
His heart began pounding harder from the sense of accomplishment after learning a rare skill.
Well, the wise elders, they said that seeing was believing, so….
Jin-Woo activated his new skill right away.
‘Stealth.’
Just as he finished thinking about activating it, his body vanished from his own view. From the tips of his fingers right down to his toes, every part of him became transparent.
What a strange feeling it was, unable to see his own hands right in front of his eyes.
‘What would happen if I do this?’
Since he thought about it, Jin-Woo quickly summoned his dagger from the Inventory to confirm.
Then, he sensed gripping something in his hand. Rather mystifyingly, though, he could sense it but couldn’t see it.
‘As expected….’
Just like the knife that Kahng Tae-Sik had been carrying around, the ‘Stealth’ skill was also applied to his Poison Fang of Kasaka.
As he thought, it wasn’t that Kahng Tae-Sik’s weapon was strange, it was simply the power of this skill, instead.
‘I wonder, just how far does this skill cover?’
Chapter 35
Jin-Woo picked a pebble up from the ground, and it too disappeared from the sight.
‘Can I do that with this, too?’
He got even more curious, so he reached out and touched the shoulder of the dead Hobgoblin, but nothing happened next. It seemed that there definitely was a limit to this skill.
At least, he was now sure of the clothes he wore and the objects held in his hand being affected by the skill.
It happened right then.
[You’ve exhausted all of your Mana and ‘Skill: Stealth’ will be deactivated.]
“Eh?”
Suddenly, ‘Stealth’ came undone.
‘But, it has been only a few seconds, though??’
Jin-Woo had been moving his body this way and that, trying to familiarise himself with the state of being cloaked, but after the skill came undone all by itself, he hurriedly summoned the skill list and confirmed the details with a flustered look on his face.
[Skills]
Passive skills:
– (Unknown) Lv. Max
– Tenacity Lv. 1
Active skills:
– Dash Lv. 1
– Intimidation Lv. 1
– Stealth Lv. 1
What he sought was the information on the Stealth skill.
The relevant words quickly floated up before his eyes.
Tti-ring!
[Skill: Stealth Lv. 1]
Active skill.
Mana required to activate: 200
Simultaneously cloaks the body and hides all traces of the skill holder. During its activation, 10 Mana will be spent every second.
He needed 200 Mana to activate, and further 10 would be spent every bloody second?!
“Hah….”
No wonder his MP couldn’t hold up.
[MP: 7/548]
His remaining Mana of 7 looked rather pitiful to his eyes.
‘It’s really all spent up, huh.’
Currently, the maximum amount of Mana he could store was around 550. If he were to activate the Stealth skill once, he’d be able to maintain the cloaked state for around 35 seconds.
But, if he were to use other skills, then he’d not even get the full 35 seconds, either.
‘Now that I think about it, even Kahng Tae-Sik cancelled his Stealth pretty quickly, didn’t he?’
He didn’t do that accidentally, as it turned out.
If a high-ranking Hunter like Kahng Tae-Sik couldn’t keep the skill going for long, then it meant that lower-ranked Hunters wouldn’t even be able to use it.
“….My Mana is the issue here, huh.”
Until now, he had invested all his Stat points on every Stat other than Intelligence, and not even once did his MP value rise up from doing that.
In other words, he now needed to raise the Intelligence Stat as well….
‘I guess it’s about time I did that.’
Still, it kind of felt like a waste investing his hard-earned Stat points on a non-combat related Stat just so he could use a skill for a few seconds longer.
‘Compared to other Stats, Intelligence just has too low of an efficiency.’
Strength, Stamina, Agility, and Perception.
He had personally felt the effects of those four Stats increasing. As they increased in value, he became physically stronger and stronger.
The only Stat that he couldn’t sense any tangible change taking place inside him was this Intelligence, although it had climbed up a bit now.
‘I mean, it’s now almost four times the value compared to when I was a level 1.’
If he were to really dig around and find the difference, then it’d be his increased MP value. That was all, really.
So, to invest his points on this Stat based only on a single result like that…..
‘It’s just too wasteful.’
Those points would become his flesh and blood if he were to invest them elsewhere. The only conclusion he could draw here was to continue on with his levelling up until he no longer had to worry about his MP.
Meanwhile, he’d spend his precious Stat points on other, better Stats….
‘My Stat points….’
He abruptly recalled that he still had five extra points he got as the reward from the emergency quest.
He pondered for a second or two on whether he should invest that on ‘Intelligence’, but in the end, he spent 3 points on Strength and the other 2 on Stamina.
[Stats]
Strength: 75
Stamina: 45
Agility: 82
Intelligence: 39
Perception: 69
(Available points to distribute: 0)
Reduction in physical damage: 20%
‘As I thought, numbers ending in 5s are the best.’
As a satisfied smile formed on Jin-Woo’s face…
RUMBLE….
The earthquake inside the interior of the dungeon became too severe for him to ignore.
‘Is it the one hour mark already?’
There was no more time to waste here.
Jin-Woo closed his Status Window. He had been deliberately wasting time, waiting for the Gate to nearly close, but if he stayed here for a second longer, he might get trapped inside, unable to leave forever.
Before leaving, Jin-Woo turned around and swept his gaze around the boss room one more time.
‘I extracted all the magic crystals, and….’
Well, it looked like he hadn’t missed a thing.
After confirming this fact, he rapidly disappeared down the exit.
RUMBLE…
As if to warn those still inside that the Gate was about to close, the dungeon began shaking even harder than before.
***
With excellent timing, agents from the Association’s Investigation Department arrived in front of the Gate. Their eyes grew real round after spotting Jin-Woo leisurely exiting from the Gate as it gradually closed behind him.
“H-Hunter-nim!! Are there any other survivors besides you?”
“No. No one else.”
“Euh!!”
The expressions of the agents hardened in an instant.
Nine people entered it, yet only three walked out alive. This undoubtedly qualified as a huge incident.
What with several similarly bad incidents occurring within a single district, it was little wonder why these Association agents felt like they had stepped on an almighty pile of dog poo at this very moment.
They wanted to make sure there were no other survivors, but the Gate closed on them so that was no longer possible, too.
This was precisely the reason why Jin-Woo waited around until the time limit was almost up, however.
‘Well, I can’t let them know that there indeed was a survivor, now can I?’
With this, the testimonies of the three survivors would have to suffice. One of the agents spoke with a complicated tone of voice.
“Just now, the Investigation Department has received a telephone call from the chairman of the Geumgang Industries, wishing to hand himself over.”
It was here that Song Chi-Yeol entered into the conversation.
“The chairman of the Geumgang Industries, you say?”
“He’s the father of the victim, and he allegedly has paid off the Hunter Kahng Tae-Sik from the Monitoring Division to murder the convicts.”
“Oh….”
The chairman had confessed to everything after he heard that Kahng Tae-Sik was indeed successful in killing the rapist.
‘Although, it wasn’t Kahng Tae-Sik but me….’
Cops headed there, and the Association came here, it seemed.
Jin-Woo listened quietly before asking a question.
“If that’s the case, there is no problem on this side, isn’t that right?”
At Jin-Woo’s question, the agents formed troubled expressions.
“Yes, basically.”
There was a clear evidence of Kahng Tae-Sik’s crimes, and these three people fought Kahng Tae-Sik in order to survive. Just as Jin-Woo asked, there was nothing here that could be seen as problematic.
….Except for one thing.
One of the agents asked the part that felt the most suspicious to him.
“Just who delivered the final killing blow to Mister Kahng Tae-Sik, who was a rank B Hunter?”
The agents had only arrived at the scene not too long ago, and they were not briefed on the minute details of the situation yet.
‘Oh, well. The distance from here to the Association headquarters is really far, so it can’t be helped, huh. It’s already quite commendable that they had arrived here before the Gate actually closed.’
They surely had to leave the HQ and drive super fast to get here in time as soon as receiving the call.
Hints of fatigue were clearly visible on the faces of the agents.
Just before Jin-Woo was about to speak the truth, he recalled the face of Yu Jin-Ho.
‘What a missed opportunity this is, but looks like I won’t be helping that kid out with his raid quota after all.’
By making an excuse of him being a Re-Awakened Hunter, and going ahead with the re-assignment test, he’d not be able to humour Yu Jin-Ho’s plan anymore.
What Yu Jin-Ho looked for was a low-ranked Hunter that possessed incredible skills. As soon as Jin-Woo’s ranking was re-assigned and it dramatically rose up, everything would’ve been for nothing.
However, what was up here?
When Jin-Woo imagined the dejected, depressed face of Yu Jin-Ho, he found that sight rather humorous, instead of feeling apologetic.
Sure, Jin-Woo was kind of bummed out about the promised building, but, oh well.
‘Well, naught I can do here now.’
Jin-Woo thought as such and was about to open his mouth, but then….
“It was me.”
….His head naturally swivelled towards the source of that voice. And he saw Yi Ju-Hui, her wide-open eyes full of surprise, staring at Song Chi-Yeol.
“But, ahjussi….?”
Before Jin-Woo could ask what his intentions were, Song Chi-Yeol took the initiative and walked closer to the agents.
“I’m the one who killed Kahng Tae-Sik.”
The questioning agent still didn’t look convinced, however.
“Song Chi-Yeol Hunter-nim, are you saying that you brought down Kahng Tae-Sik Hunter-nim?”
His suspicions had merit; not only was Song Chi-Yeol a rank C Hunter, but he also had lost his left arm as well. On the other hand, wasn’t Kahng Tae-Sik often referred to as a high-ranked Hunter, someone who was ranked B?
The power of high ranked Hunters easily exceeded one’s imaginations. The accepted norm was that the difference in strength between a rank B and a rank C was far, far wider than that between a rank C and a rank D.
It was here that Song Chi-Yeol began chuckling amiably.
“Have you all forgotten just who is behind me?”
“….Ah!”
Just as the gazes of everyone focused on her, Yi Ju-Hui’s face reddened and she quickly lowered her head.
Yi Ju-Hui was a B-ranked Hunter. She hadn’t been mentioned until now because her class was not combat-related, but when looking only at her rank, then she was a high-ranked Hunter, just like Kahng Tae-Sik had been.
Why wouldn’t a rank C Hunter be able to defeat a rank B Hunter, when a rank B Healer was lending her aid from the side?
The agents finally formed expressions of understanding.
Taking the opportunity born from the momentary confusion, Jin-Woo stood real close to Song Chi-Yeol and whispered to the older man.
“Why are you lying to them, ahjussi?”
Song Chi-Yeol replied back in a whisper as well.
“I thought that there must be a good reason why you were trying to conceal your abilities. Did I overstep my boundaries?”
Of course, he didn’t. Thanks to him, Jin-Woo would get to avoid dealing with many inconvenient matters. This was the reason why one could never discount wisdom formed from years of experience.
“No, you didn’t.”
“I’ve received a lot of your help until now, so I’m glad to hear that I was able to help out you now, even if it’s just a small thing,”
Meanwhile, one of the agents walked closer to the two men.
“Mister Song Chi-Yeol, why don’t you come with us? Help us for a minute or two with writing up the report.”
“Alright. Let’s get going, then.”
Song Chi-Yeol left for the Association along with the agents, and before anyone knew it, only Jin-Woo and Yi Ju-Hui remained on the scene.
The sun had set a long time ago.
Ju-Hui must’ve found Jin-Woo and the somewhat altered aura he emitted a bit foreign, because she hesitated greatly before cautiously approaching him.
“Would you like to walk with me for a little while?”
‘Is she talking about that dinner date?’
He was starving after moving around for a bit today, so he found her suggestion to his liking.
Jin-Woo agreed with a welcoming expression.
“Okay, let’s.”
As if they had made a promise earlier, the two young people began quietly walking side by side under the soft lights of the street lamps.
“….”
Ju-Hui’s eyes remained fixed to her toes.
Because, if she tried to raise her head, her gaze automatically drifted towards to her side. She tried very hard not to think about it, but it was of no use.
In the past, she found him comfortable to talk to, but now, the current Jin-Woo was overflowing with this certain sense of power. She found it much harder to talk to him now as a result.
‘Just what happened….?’
He was strong enough to subdue a rank B Hunter without too much trouble. He had changed so drastically.
Since he requested her to keep it a secret, she wasn’t planning to pry, but his amazing transformation kept tugging at the corner of her mind.
💖 Support My Work, Please Donate Here👇
![AN UNDERSTATED DOMINANCE [Original Version]](https://i1.wp.com/ethiclearners.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Add-a-heading-1.png?resize=85,105 "AN UNDERSTATED DOMINANCE [Original Version]")
