Chapter 199 – The Only Witness

One year after the hunter era began.

The brothers Choi Woo-hyun and Choi Woo-jin awakened.

They didn’t awaken simultaneously just because they were twins.

Even as twins, they couldn’t escape the 1 in 1,000 probability.

Because of this, the odds of both twins becoming hunters were extremely low.

A mere 1 in 1,000,000 chance.

If they had parents, they would have proudly announced this fortunate news throughout the neighborhood, but the brothers were orphans.

They were abandoned by their parents just days after birth.

The reason was that they were economically difficult to raise.

Perhaps because they lacked the protective barrier of parents?

The two brothers caused a lot of trouble and frequently engaged in delinquent behavior from a young age.

Dropping out of high school and becoming gangsters was just one indication.

How willfully they had lived.

How much of a lowly life they had led.

But that was only until they became hunters.

The brothers, who had awakened as hunters, are now treated as heroes after 10 years.

From gangsters to heroes.

From commoners to nobility.

It was an excessive social elevation for those who had been living at the bottom of society.

But all of that began to go awry when Go Du-sik’s article was published.

“Woo-hyun, have you seen the article?”

In an S-rank dungeon in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Choi Woo-hyun, who was taking a break after hunting, was annoyed by the leader who suddenly approached and brought up the article.

“Yes. I saw it.”

“Is it true? That you were gangsters in the past?”

“It’s an article written sensationally to get views. I’m planning to sue for defamation soon.”

“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, right? Why did such an article come out?”

“How would I know? But does that affect our hunting?”

“There’s a lot of talk among the party members. They say they’re uncomfortable hunting with former gangsters.”

“Gangsters? Why? Are they afraid we might stab them in the back?”

“That’s part of it, but you’re practically criminals, aren’t you? They just don’t like your very existence.”

The Korean leader’s words were blunt.

It was a situation that would make anyone uncomfortable, even if they weren’t former gangsters.

So how would Choi Woo-hyun, who was actually a former gangster, feel?

In a word, it felt like shit.

‘These bastards. I want to kill them all with area magic.’

Though he felt that way, Choi Woo-hyun, unlike his brother, wasn’t the type to express his emotions.

He just suppressed his anger and asked in a cold voice:

“So? What are you trying to say?”

“Since the party members are uncomfortable, I’d like you to leave the party from this moment.”

“What? Are you telling me to solo hunt from now on?”

“You understand well.”

He wanted to immediately plunge an Ice Spear into the leader’s eyes as he smiled with satisfaction, but he held back.

Instead, he verbally expressed his anger.

“We’ve been hunting well together until now, what nonsense is this?”

“Whoa, calm down. Why are you acting like a gangster? It’s scary.”

Though he said it was scary, there was a clear sneer on the leader’s lips.

“It’s not that we’ve been hunting well together, but that we’ve been suppressing our discomfort. But we can’t do it anymore. It’s too uncomfortable to entrust our backs to gangsters.”

“No, that article is false.”

“Whether it’s false or not, the discomfort remains.”

“Are you telling a mage to solo hunt? Isn’t that basically saying don’t hunt at all?”

Unlike warriors or assassins, solo hunting is inefficient for mages with lower physical abilities.

It’s even more so if they have area magic.

A mage with low health can’t herd monsters for hunting.

Moreover, if magic misses, it can become life-threatening.

“That’s not my concern.”

At the leader’s cold words, Choi Woo-hyun raised his eyebrows.

‘This bastard, is he trying to get rid of me because I have high damage and take all the experience points?’

Indeed, Choi Woo-hyun’s contribution was higher than the other hunters.

Though it was only slightly higher, to Choi Woo-hyun’s eyes, it seemed like they were trying to exclude him for a trivial reason.

“Is this agreed upon by all party members?”

“Of course.”

When he glanced around, he could see it over the leader’s shoulder.

The party members looking at him with contemptuous eyes.

‘Ah… I really feel like killing someone.’

It had been 10 years since he had stopped killing after his gangster days, but the statute of limitations hadn’t even expired yet.

Choi Woo-hyun, who still hadn’t forgotten the thrill of his first kill, barely suppressed his murderous impulse.

‘I’d like to kill them all, but that would be difficult…’

He could kill two or three with a surprise attack, but it was impossible to kill all nine party members.

‘Unless my brother were here.’

But his brother, Choi Woo-jin, was currently dealing with Go Du-sik, the source of the trouble, along with Kim Pil-young.

There was no reason for him to use Teleport to enter the dungeon.

‘The fact that we can use Teleport is our secret.’

However, something unexpected happened.

Swoosh-

“Huh?”

His brother, Choi Woo-jin, had entered the dungeon using Teleport.

And he did it in front of everyone.

“Gasp! What’s that?”

“Is that a person? Did a person just appear?”

“Wait, isn’t that Choi Woo-jin?”

“Yes, it is. The axe warrior Choi Woo-jin!”

“But how did he get in?”

“Did he use stealth to sneak in?”

“What nonsense! The entry limit is 10 people, how could that be possible?”

“Oh? Come to think of it, there are 11 people now?”

Amidst the murmuring, Choi Woo-hyun wore an embarrassed expression.

‘Damn, we’re screwed!’

Of all times, his brother had used Teleport in front of all the party members.

‘I repeatedly told him not to use it when I’m in a dungeon!’

Choi Woo-hyun glared at his brother who had arrived without warning.

But when he saw his brother’s injured state, he realized the seriousness of the situation.

It was rare to see his brother, who was known for his toughness, injured like this.

“Hey, what happened to you…”

“Brother, something terrible has happened.”

Choi Woo-jin looked around and lowered his voice.

“Pil-young hyung is dead.”

“What?”

His brother’s words were true.

When he urgently checked the rankings, Kim Pil-young’s name was gone.

“What happened?”

“When we were trying to kill that reporter bastard, someone suddenly appeared.”

“Someone? Couldn’t you see their face?”

“It’s not that I couldn’t see it, but they were disguised. With your face.”

What kind of nonsense was this?

Disguised with his face?

“Whether it was special magic or what, it was incredibly convincing. At first, I really thought it was you.”

“So. That guy killed Pil-young hyung and did this to you?”

“Yes. I barely escaped thanks to the ring.”

“Haah…”

Choi Woo-hyun rubbed his forehead.

‘If the reporter testifies to the police, we’re definitely going to prison.’

The situation had become thoroughly complicated due to the appearance of some interloper.

At that moment, Choi Woo-jin whispered.

“Don’t worry too much, brother. I killed the reporter.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“And I think I know who attacked us.”

“Who?”

“It’s Min Do-jun. I mentioned him before, right? We visited his guild.”

Choi Woo-hyun nodded.

He had gone to intimidate him at Kim Pil-young’s request, but only felt the difference in strength and returned.

“That bastard must be retaliating for what happened then.”

It made sense.

“Then if we just kill Min Do-jun, the only witness, we can salvage the situation, right?”

“That’s right.”

That was fortunate.

There was still a way to fix things.

Just as Choi Woo-hyun was breathing a sigh of relief.

“Hey. What are you two whispering about?”

The leader thrust his annoying face forward.

“You’re the axe warrior Choi Woo-jin, right? This person’s brother. How did you get in here?”

Choi Woo-jin didn’t answer and just made an unpleasant expression.

“Brother, who’s this bastard?”

“Our party leader.”

“What? This bastard? Did you just call him a bastard?”

The leader was outraged as soon as he heard the insult.

“You fucking gangster bastard, who are you calling a bastard?”

“Brother, can I kill this bastard?”

At his brother’s explosive statement, Choi Woo-hyun almost laughed.

It was because the leader’s dumbfounded expression was worth seeing.

‘Like twins indeed. How can our thoughts be so identical?’

For now, Choi Woo-hyun hid his true feelings and scolded his brother.

“What are you saying? Are you crazy?”

“Why? He saw us use Teleport. We need to clean this up if we don’t want to be exposed.”

“Hey, how many people have seen it now…”

“It’s just nine people, right? All around level 3,000. The two of us could easily kill them all.”

He wasn’t wrong.

‘It’s impossible for me to face nine people alone, but with my brother, it’s a different story.’

After all, the twins’ characteristics showed their true value when they were together.

“What nonsense are these gangster bastards spouting?”

The leader, who had heard the brothers’ conversation face-to-face, laughed incredulously.

However, it didn’t take long for the laughter to disappear.

Because Choi Woo-jin, who had drawn his battle axe, struck first.

KWANG-!

“You fucking…”

Though he barely blocked it with his shield, the leader’s expression wasn’t good.

Probably because he experienced damage beyond his imagination.

“Brother, should we just kill everyone here?”

“Hey, what will we say outside?”

“We can just say a boss appeared. What’s the problem?”

“None.”

Choi Woo-hyun grinned.

“I’ve been wanting to kill those bastards anyway.”

* * *

After returning home, Min Do-jun checked the characteristic he had stolen from Kim Pil-young.

[Characteristic – Critical Hit]

-Grade: A

-Description: When making a physical attack, there’s a certain probability of dealing 4x damage. The probability depends on luck.

Min Do-jun frowned at the unhelpful description.

‘They should at least tell me what the probability is.’

In the end, he would have to try it out himself to know.

‘Since it said it depends on luck, maybe I’ll get a higher probability?’

With his Lucky Charm, he could at least hope for a higher probability.

Min Do-jun, who had gained nothing else of note, sat in front of his computer.

He then inserted the video he had recorded on his phone and edited it.

He also made sure to keep the tracking skill message visible in one corner of the screen.

After editing the video and waiting for the twin brothers to come out of the dungeon.

After a full day, a response came.

[A target with matching scent has been found.]

[Distance to target: 3,586.88km]

‘About 3,600km… That’s almost a 1 hour and 10 minute journey.’

Though he didn’t know where it was, he needed to chase after them as quickly as possible.

Before losing track of them.

Min Do-jun, who had transferred the edited video to his tablet PC, stood up.

‘Awoo, let’s go.’

[Growl!]

* * *

Early dawn.

The twin brothers, who had come out after conquering the dungeon, looked around.

“It’s so quiet, not even a rat around?”

“They don’t even station soldiers, unlike other countries.”

Unlike other countries, Vietnam didn’t have soldiers guarding dungeons.

It was just a system where people autonomously conquered dungeons and recorded it in the control system.

The twin brothers had killed nine party members without hesitation because they knew about this laxity.

“When we record, do we just say they were killed by the boss?”

“If we write it carelessly, they’ll contact us to rewrite it.”

“Then what do we do?”

“We’ll have to write a bit of fiction.”

Choi Woo-jin also smiled at Choi Woo-hyun’s smile.

“Are you satisfied now, brother?”

“With what?”

“Killing people. You’ve been wanting to do it for a while, right?”

“How did you know?”

“Do I not know you? I can tell just by looking at your eyes. When I said I was going to kill the reporter, your eyes were incredibly envious.”

“You bastard. You know my heart too well. You’ve grown up a lot?”

“I’ve always been bigger than you. In every way.”

Choi Woo-hyun chuckled.

His mood after committing murder was currently at its peak.

It felt like all the stress that had been building up was released at once.

Especially the feeling when he plunged an Ice Spear into the annoying leader’s eyes was as thrilling as his first experience.

“What are we going to do now, brother?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are we going to kill Min Do-jun?”

“Of course. He’s currently the only remaining witness.”

“Come to think of it, that bastard saw everything—the reporter’s death and our use of Teleport?”

“Yes. So if we just kill him, everything is resolved.”

“What if he goes to the police station and testifies before that?”

“No police officer would believe him unless they’re fools. But just to be safe, we should find and kill him as quickly as possible.”

“How will we find him?”

“First, we should visit his guild.”

However, an hour later.

The brothers realized they didn’t need to search hard.

Because Min Do-jun had come to find them on his own.