Kang Tae-Sik felt like he'd been smacked across the back of the head. A guy who had just introduced himself as an E-rank Hunter was showing movements on par with his own—and Kang Tae-Sik had never once lost to anyone in the B-rank when it came to speed.
'Is this bastard messing with me?'
Kang Tae-Sik gritted his teeth.
'Wait, hold on...'
Something nagged at him.
'If he really was a senior Hunter, why would he be here?'
The Association's rank-and-file Hunters had a well-known job. Their main work was clearing Gates that guilds or individuals had abandoned as unprofitable. Compared to other Hunters, the pay was abysmal, and it was hard to earn any respect among fellow Hunters. The guy was probably actually E-rank. Just that his skills exceeded that level.
'But it's not like an unregistered Hunter would be working under the Association's name.'
Kang Tae-Sik arrived at the only logical conclusion.
'Reawakening...'
Come to think of it, he vaguely remembered the Association headquarters buzzing about a suspected reawakening case somewhere nearby not long ago.
'He was definitely said to be an Association Hunter...'
He wished he'd committed the name to memory. It hadn't been that long ago, so if the guy had been putting off re-registration, it was entirely possible he was still operating as an E-rank while helping the Association out. To run into him on a day like this, of all days. He'd gone through the list of Hunters participating in today's raid with a fine-tooth comb and still overlooked the guy.
'Couldn't catch a break.'
That was the only way to think about it.
'This means I'll have to demand a higher fee...'
Kang Tae-Sik recalled the memory from a few days ago and moistened his dry lips with the tip of his tongue.
***
A few days ago. A café near the Association headquarters. The moment Kang Tae-Sik sat down, he asked.
"What is it you wanted to meet me about?"
The middle-aged man sitting across from him looked noticeably haggard.
'Some business owner who went bankrupt, wasn't it?'
It was definitely their first meeting. But after the man's persistent, desperate phone calls, Kang Tae-Sik had finally agreed to give him a little time. The man spoke as if muttering to himself.
"I've heard that anything that happens inside a Dungeon is considered unknown."
The man's voice was so quiet that Kang Tae-Sik had to ask again.
"What did you just say?" "Everything I've saved up is in here."
Without preamble, the man thrust a bankbook across the table. Kang Tae-Sik looked back and forth between the man and the book, then opened it to check. Inside was a staggering two billion won.
"Why give this to me?"
When Kang Tae-Sik wore a puzzled expression, the man hung his head and spoke.
"Among the prisoners you're guarding, there's one who violated my daughter. Because of what he did, my daughter hanged herself, and her mother went into shock—she's still lying in the hospital."
The man continued through choked sobs.
"That bastard is walking around this very street as if nothing happened years later... How am I supposed to sleep at night?"
The man raised his head again, his face filled with grief and fury.
"I'm sure by now you understand what I'm asking."
He bowed his head once more.
"Please, I'm begging you, Hunter!"
Silence fell between them. Kang Tae-Sik leaned back against his chair and sank into deep thought. After a long while, he finally spoke.
"Do you know why I joined the Association's Surveillance Division?" "I'm sorry?"
The man raised his head. Kang Tae-Sik continued.
"A B-rank Hunter like myself is classified as a senior Hunter, and I get recruitment offers from big guilds all the time. So do you know why I'm doing this job on a meager salary?" "N-no, I don't know."
Kang Tae-Sik's lips curled upward.
"I find fighting people far more enjoyable than fighting monsters."
In that sense, the Surveillance Division was practically his calling. It was a position where he could legally beat up Hunters. And sometimes, things went a little further than that.
'...A little further than that.'
Kang Tae-Sik swallowed a laugh inwardly and said.
"Crushing the bug you mentioned is nothing to me. But there are other Hunters in that Dungeon besides those bugs. They look like bugs to me, sure—but will those other people see them as bugs too?"
The man's face fell at Kang Tae-Sik's negative tone. He'd thought he could finally get his daughter's revenge. The sky was crumbling. But as if to mock the man, Kang Tae-Sik wore a sinister smile and opened his lips.
"On top of this money, another billion for the added cost of handling the other Hunters. Can you manage that?"
***
But if those other Hunters included a reawakening Hunter, three billion wasn't going to be worth it. Lives were on the line. The self-proclaimed E-rank Hunter was still radiating a razor-sharp gaze. He looked ready to pounce the instant a gap appeared. Kang Tae-Sik swallowed hard.
'He's no pushover.'
He was confident he could win. Even before becoming an Awakened one, Kang Tae-Sik had almost never lost in a one-on-one fight. But even if he won, it wouldn't be an easy victory. He needed to adjust his plan slightly. Just then, the E-rank Hunter spoke up.
"That prisoner... Why did you kill him?" "The father of the girl those bastards raped came to me personally and begged me to do it. They were beasts that deserved to die. I merely disposed of beasts that prey on people—nothing more."
The E-rank Hunter listened without a word. Maybe there was room for communication after all. Kang Tae-Sik launched into a full persuasion effort.
"I know things have come to this, but I don't want to hurt you guys. How about we pretend today never happened? If you give me your word, I won't lay a finger on any of you again."
Of course, he couldn't leave loose ends. That's why Kang Tae-Sik was thinking. A head-on confrontation risked injury, so he'd slip away first and deal with them one by one at a more opportune time later. But the E-rank Hunter let out a scoff.
"You should've said that before you made your move. Your ambush failed, so now you want to call it off?"
He had a point. Kang Tae-Sik let out a dry laugh, as if he found it absurd.
'So that's how it's going to be.'
Then he'd have to go all out. Kang Tae-Sik's eyes turned ruthless. His sharp gaze swept the E-rank Hunter up and down in an instant. Kang Tae-Sik's brow twitched briefly.
'Where did that knife come from?'
At some point, a dagger had appeared in the E-rank Hunter's hand.
'Well... Does it matter?'
It didn't matter where the weapon came from. What mattered was what the opponent was holding. Kang Tae-Sik finished his brief analysis. Fast movement, a dagger as a weapon—the opponent was a close-range dealer. Probably a specialist in assassination. Coincidentally, that was his own specialty too. But the guy had only recently reawakened. The gap in experience was surely overwhelming. He wouldn't be able to put his skills to proper use.
"Let your senior teach you a lesson."
Kang Tae-Sik drew a knife from his waistband and shot the E-rank Hunter a look of derision.
"Think you can do this too?"
Kang Tae-Sik activated his 'Stealth' skill, concealing his body. The E-rank Hunter panicked visibly, his eyes darting around. His bewilderment was palpable.
'Of course he'd be.'
Stealth was not simply a skill that made you invisible. It erased a user's appearance, sound, and scent—all traces of their presence in an instant. That was what Stealth truly was. Among assassination-type Hunters, only a select few possessed the Stealth skill. Regardless of rank, only the very lucky were granted it upon awakening.
'Quick and decisive!'
In the blink of an eye, Kang Tae-Sik was behind the E-rank Hunter. His back was wide open and defenseless.
'It's over.'
He'd expected a tough fight, but this was anticlimactic. If the guy had been prepared for Stealth, he wouldn't have won this easily. Experience made all the difference in the end.
'Die!'
Kang Tae-Sik's knife slashed viciously toward the E-rank Hunter's ribs beneath his side. But then—Clang! Two daggers collided, sparks flying. Kang Tae-Sik's eyes went wide now that his Stealth had been broken.
"What—how?"
The E-rank Hunter's dagger had intercepted his own with perfect precision. Kang Tae-Sik stared up at the E-rank Hunter's face in disbelief. The E-rank Hunter spoke with an indifferent expression.
"About time you showed up." "W-what did you say?"
At the E-rank Hunter's incomprehensible words, Kang Tae-Sik suddenly felt a nameless dread creep over him.
***
Ding!
[Emergency Quest: Eliminate the enemy!] A hostile intent toward the 'Player' has been detected nearby. Eliminate the enemy to secure safety. Failure to comply will result in a fitting penalty. Number of enemies to eliminate: 1 Number of enemies eliminated: 0
Jin-Woo checked the Emergency Quest message and let out a quiet sigh of relief.
'It wasn't for nothing.'
He'd wondered whether letting Kang Tae-Sik take the initiative—like the time with Hwang Dongsuk's group—would prevent the Emergency Quest from appearing. So he'd tested it, and sure enough, the moment Kang Tae-Sik showed killing intent, the message popped up. The exchange of words and the feigned confusion, the deliberate openings—all of it had been by design.
'I can't use Stealth...'
Honestly, the first time Kang Tae-Sik vanished from his eyes, he'd been a little startled. Stealth was an exceedingly rare skill. But once he focused, he could feel Kang Tae-Sik's movements in such fine detail that he could track them with his eyes closed. That was the power of his high Sensing stat. It was a stat he'd steadily invested in for the sole purpose of distinguishing friend from foe in battle—but it had other uses too.
'Good fortune.'
Thanks to it, Kang Tae-Sik looked as though he'd seen a ghost.
"What—how?"
Now he just needed to finish the guy off to claim the bonus quest reward.
'If we're fighting anyway, might as well collect everything.'
The turn had passed. Now it was time to go on the offensive. The two daggers pressed against each other, locked in a tense tug-of-war. Their strength was evenly matched. In that instant, Jin-Woo's eyes gleamed.
'Let's try a different angle.'
Jin-Woo's foot shot out and stomped hard on Kang Te-Sik's instep. Crack!
"Aagh!"