Chapter 183 – Theodore Townsend

Min Do-jun was surprised for a specific reason.

The assassin’s guild was a very famous one.

‘The assassin who wanted to kill me is from the Overlord Guild?’

The information written in the weakness detection was definite.

‘Just this morning, the Overlord Guild was trying to recruit me.’

And now the person who had shown killing intent toward him was from the Overlord Guild.

Could this be a coincidence?

‘Did the Overlord Guild order my assassination? Why?’

What could be the reason?

‘There’s no way I’ve done anything to make the Overlord Guild hold a grudge against me… Oh.’

There was one thing.

‘Could it be because I put the offer on hold?’

As a globally recognized top guild, they would have a lot of pride.

They had humbled themselves and offered the enormous sum of 400 billion won, yet Min Do-jun had clearly rejected them.

‘It wasn’t a rejection but a postponement, but that alone might have hurt their pride…’

Could the guild master have ordered the assassination out of wounded pride?

With the mentality of “if we can’t have him, no one will.”

‘No, that can’t be it.’

Min Do-jun shook his head.

‘They wouldn’t kill someone just because they put an offer on hold.’

He had been overthinking and failed to analyze the situation coolly.

‘Besides, that person wasn’t even among the six.’

In Min Do-jun’s memory, the Overlord Guild member wasn’t part of the group from which he had detected killing intent.

‘I’m certain that person was with Gilbert.’

He had been part of the group of three that hadn’t shown any killing intent.

‘He’s not the assassin.’

Then why was he tracking Min Do-jun’s traces?

‘I’ll find out if I ask.’

With that thought, Min Do-jun approached the person from behind.

“Looking for me?”

Startled by Min Do-jun’s voice, the person tried to turn around but couldn’t due to the cold sensation of a dagger against his neck.

“Be careful. Move and you’ll get cut.”

Having restrained the person with the Cursed Dagger just in case, Min Do-jun asked in a low voice.

“You. Why are you looking for me?”

“M-Min Do-jun Hunter?”

“Yes.”

“W-why are you being so scary? Put down the knife first.”

“You still haven’t answered my question.”

“I didn’t come with bad intentions. Please believe me.”

“That’s not the answer I want. I want to know the reason.”

“If you want to talk, can’t we do it without this? Please put this down…”

“You might be trying to kill me for all I know.”

“Th-that’s…! Why would I try to kill you?”

“That’s why I’m asking for the reason.”

The person swallowed once and then spoke as if he had no choice.

“I-I was ordered by our guild to monitor you.”

“Which guild is that?”

Though he already knew, he pretended not to know to see if the person would lie.

“The Overlord Guild. I’m Theodore Townsend, a guild member. We were introduced before we entered the dungeon…”

Of course, Min Do-jun remembered.

‘I just thought it was a coincidence that he was from the Overlord Guild.’

He hadn’t expected to end up having a private conversation in the forest like this.

“Your guild ordered you to monitor me?”

“Yes.”

“For what reason?”

“I-I shouldn’t tell you this…”

After hesitating, Theodore finally revealed the purpose of the monitoring.

“They told me to observe how well you fight and report back. To determine if you’re qualified to join the guild…”

“Determine? Does that mean they might reject me even if I want to join?”

“Yes. Usually, they’re not this strict when accepting guild members… But I think the guild master is quite angry because you put the 400 billion offer on hold.”

“You even know how much I was offered.”

“Yes. I heard everything from the guild master. Even that you’re ranked first in the Tower of Infinity…”

Min Do-jun recalled Theodore’s expression when they were first introduced.

‘Unlike the other hunters, he didn’t look down on me.’

It was probably because he had heard about Min Do-jun being first in the Tower of Infinity.

‘Come to think of it, he’s been using formal language with me all along.’

Plus, he wasn’t showing any resistance.

‘Even with a dagger at his neck, he would try to resist if he was confident…’

The reason he was staying still was probably because he was gauging Min Do-jun’s abilities.

Tseeut-

Min Do-jun dismissed the dagger from his hand.

“I apologize.”

He also changed his speech from informal to formal.

“I truly thought you might be someone trying to assassinate me, so I had to be forceful. I’m sorry.”

“Assassinate…? How could you think… Are you in a situation where your life is being threatened?”

“Not exactly, but I felt killing intent directed at me when we entered the dungeon.”

“Killing intent…? You can sense that?”

“It might have been my imagination.”

As Min Do-jun shrugged, Theodore couldn’t help but feel bewildered.

‘Is this the same person who was threatening me with a knife just now? His demeanor has completely changed.’

Honestly, when he heard the voice behind him, he almost wet himself.

During their conversation, the air had felt so heavy that it was hard to breathe.

‘But now that pressure is completely gone. It’s vanished without a trace.’

The temperature difference was so stark that he could hardly believe it was the same person.

Theodore unconsciously touched his neck area.

It was drenched with cold sweat.

‘To think he could make me, an S-rank hunter, this nervous…’

In any case, it was fortunate that the situation had been resolved peacefully.

“I apologize once again for earlier. Theodore.”

Whether he was truly sorry or not, he bowed his head repeatedly, making Theodore wave his hand dismissively.

“It’s fine. After hearing your explanation, I can understand. Besides, I was the one who acted suspiciously first.”

“Thank you for understanding. Theodore.”

“Just call me Theodore comfortably.”

The two shook hands, resolving their misunderstanding.

Min Do-jun looked at the path Theodore had come from and asked.

“Did you come alone to monitor me? Is there anyone else…?”

“No. I’m the only one who came to track you.”

“It must not have been easy to leave the party… What did you tell them?”

“I said I couldn’t let someone go into the dangerous forest alone, so I followed. Surprisingly, they didn’t try to stop me. But…”

Theodore looked around at the ground.

There were bloodstains everywhere.

“It seems the situation wasn’t as dangerous as they said.”

“I have enough strength to handle a few monsters.”

‘Not just a few.’

Looking at the widespread traces of battle, Theodore’s eyes grew serious.

‘He fought at least ten monsters.’

Whether he fought them one by one or all ten at once was unclear, but he had definitely killed more than ten here.

‘If the monsters in the forest are werewolves, and he killed more than ten of them, it means he has at least S-rank abilities.’

This was definitely not something an ordinary A-rank hunter at level 2,600 could accomplish.

‘This man is beyond ordinary.’

But this alone wasn’t enough to evaluate him.

‘Is he truly worth twice as much as Justin Walker?’

Theodore, who had been watching Min Do-jun’s face, was startled when Min Do-jun suddenly spoke.

“Are you evaluating whether I’m suitable for the guild?”

“What? Oh, that…”

Embarrassed that his thoughts had been exposed, Theodore was flustered.

“It’s alright, Theodore. You’re just doing your job. I won’t complain about you monitoring me.”

“Ah… thank you.”

“I just hope you won’t interfere with my prey.”

“Pardon? Are you planning to hunt alone?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not going back to where the party members are?”

“That was my intention from the beginning.”

Originally, he had left to identify the assassin, but the situation seemed to have changed.

‘I can’t wait forever.’

At this point, it seemed better to at least do some solo hunting.

‘I made such a scene and endured all that criticism to leave, I should at least get some experience points.’

Though he hadn’t found the hunter who had shown killing intent, they would eventually come to kill him when the time was right.

‘I’ll just have to wait until they show killing intent again.’

Having made up his mind, Min Do-jun asked Theodore.

“What will you do? I plan to hunt separately from the party members. Will you continue to follow me? Or will you go back?”

“Hmm…”

Though Theodore had been discovered by Min Do-jun, his mission wasn’t over.

‘He said he doesn’t mind if I monitor him as long as I don’t interfere with his prey…’

Having made his decision, Theodore nodded.

“I still haven’t fully assessed your abilities. I’ll follow you.”

“Understood. But remember, any prey targeting me is exclusively mine.”

“Yes. I won’t interfere and will just observe from behind.”

With that, their partnership was established.

“Let’s go.”

As Min Do-jun took the lead, Theodore followed.

And they didn’t have to walk far before finding prey.

Growl-

Two black wolves blocked Min Do-jun’s path.

Of course, both Min Do-jun and Theodore knew these weren’t ordinary wolves.

Sure enough.

The wolves transformed into werewolves and prepared for battle.

‘Fighting two werewolves simultaneously is no easy task.’

Knowing the strength of werewolves, Theodore watched with tense eyes.

‘As promised, those monsters are Min Do-jun Hunter’s prey, so I won’t interfere.’

Still, he raised his hammer, his main weapon, in case the aggro was pulled to him.

‘Now I’ll be able to see Min Do-jun Hunter’s abilities.’

Though others had dismissed him as an A-rank, Theodore hadn’t.

‘How many hunters would dismiss someone after hearing they’re ranked first in the Tower of Infinity?’

When he first heard it from the guild master, he couldn’t believe it.

To think someone had not only broken Justin Walker’s record, which had remained unbroken for years, but had done so with an overwhelming point difference.

‘I wonder just how strong he is…’

Thump thump.

Theodore’s heart filled with anticipation.

Intending to thoroughly assess Min Do-jun Hunter’s abilities, he watched with wide eyes.

Perhaps because he was so focused?

Theodore failed to notice the werewolf behind him.

Growl!

As the werewolf moved, Min Do-jun disappeared.

“Huh?”

Slash- Slash-

After seeing the werewolves’ heads fly up, Theodore quickly turned around at the sound behind him.

Growl!

A werewolf he hadn’t noticed was charging at him with its claws raised.

‘Ah!’

Just as he thought it was too late to respond.

Slash-

The werewolf’s head floated up.

Thud- Thud- Thud-

Three heads fell in sequence.

“M-Min Do-jun Hunter?”

Theodore was bewildered to see Min Do-jun suddenly behind him.

‘W-what just happened?’

With a dazed expression, he looked forward again.

The bodies of the two werewolves Min Do-jun had been facing were turning to smoke.

‘He killed the two in front of him, then came behind me and killed the one targeting me?’

All three heads had fallen within 5 seconds.

‘Is this even possible?’

Theodore looked at Min Do-jun as if he were looking at a monster.