Chapter 301- Part 2 – Park Gwang-jin

Ten days ago, Choi Seong-min was promoted to D-rank.

And he had proudly revealed this fact to his team members.

Of course, the team members were shocked at the time.

They hadn’t expected him to become D-rank so quickly.

But now, the faces of the team members showed even more surprise than back then.

246,857th – Choi Seong-min (20 years old) – Combat Power 20,023 (D-rank)

“S-Seong-min’s combat power has already exceeded 20,000?”

“Seong-min, is this really true?”

“Why are you asking something so obvious? Would the system lie?”

“Still, I never thought he’d grown this much…”

“To go from 3,000 to 20,000 in just one month…”

For the team members who had been thinking it would be around 15,000 at most, this was a shocking result.

It wasn’t incomprehensible though.

“No wonder Seong-min was catching Worwolves so easily…”

“I just vaguely thought he was good at catching them because he was D-rank…”

“There was a reason his combat power was so high.”

Since Choi Seong-min could now easily handle even three monsters alone, the team members could accept the combat power of 20,000.

Of course, it was possible to get through without problems thanks to the modifiers of elite, genius, and ace that had been built up over time.

‘Anyway, that’s fortunate. They don’t think it’s strange even with a combat power of 20,000.’

It had taken various efforts for Choi Seong-min to reach a combat power of 20,000.

Over the past four weeks.

He had conquered dungeons twice a day with team members, totaling 56 times.

Not just Worwolf dungeons, but other dungeons of the same level as well.

‘I obtained various runes like Strength, Agility, and Health runes.’

The team had completely excluded dungeons that produced Magic Power runes.

Since there were no team members who needed magic power.

‘I think I obtained a total of 112 runes during that time?’

But the actual increased stats were Strength 65, Agility 84, Health 51, totaling 200.

Because the Rune Affinity trait doubled the effects.

‘Plus, since Strength and Health increase by half of Agility, I actually gained even more when you think about it.’

On top of this, by matching all items except rings to D-rank and wearing the Wolf Head Hood, his stats increased dramatically.

As a result:

-Strength: 330, Health: 326
-Agility: 524, Magic Power: 2

His total stat sum reached close to 1,200.

Of course, this was possible because Pack Instinct increased Agility by 30%.

‘Still, this level is comparable to level 800.’

This was only looking at stats, but it certainly influenced his combat power increase.

That wasn’t all.

[Assassin’s Blood Dagger (Growth Type)]

-Category: Weapon
-Grade: D (Owner’s Grade)
-Attack Power: 360~396
-Effect: Agility +25, Additional Attack Power +180 for 10 seconds when ambushing
-Durability: Infinite
-Usage Restriction: D-rank or higher (Bound)

When he became D-rank, his weapon’s attack power increased dramatically from 160 to 360.

Thanks to this, his combat power increased by several thousand, and he could now kill Worwolves with a single Slash skill.

‘Not only that, but strengthening skills also helped.’

Just like in the previous world, as soon as his rank increased, he purchased skill enhancement stones to upgrade his skill grades.

‘The damage of Slash and Dagger Throw increased by 50% of Agility, and the duration of the Sprint skill increased by 5 seconds.’

Through these improvements in runes, items, and skills, he was able to reach a combat power of 20,000.

‘I haven’t even tried using the new skill I learned yet.’

When Choi Seong-min became D-rank, he learned a skill that could be considered essential for assassins in the skill slot that opened up.

[Skill – Throat Slash]

-Grade: D
-Effect: When attacking from behind the target, damage increases by 2x.
-Damage: Basic attack + 250% of Agility
-Cooldown: 10 seconds
-Usage Restriction: D-rank or higher
-Description: An assassination skill that slashes the opponent’s throat. You can slash from the front too. However, slashing the throat doesn’t necessarily guarantee a kill.

It was the Throat Slash skill, which dealt 2x damage when attacking from behind, making it useful for assassination.

‘If I combine the assassin’s mark with First Strike and Throat Slash, I can deal 8x damage in one hit.’

Of course, successfully using Throat Slash didn’t guarantee the opponent would die.

Most helmets and armor protect the neck area.

‘If used when the neck is completely exposed, you could kill in one hit, but such opportunities aren’t common…’

Still, if the damage was high enough to penetrate defenses, you could kill with one throat slash.

‘Anyway, if I had utilized this Throat Slash skill in combat, my combat power would have been at least 5,000 higher than now.’

He reached a combat power of 20,000 without even using his newly learned skill.

‘I also sold the items I obtained during this time to supervisors at a 3:7 ratio.’

As a result, he was able to secure 20 million won in cash.

‘Even after splitting with the ratio system, I earned 20 million won in a month. As expected, hunters are like winning the lottery in this world too.’

It could be considered hazard pay, but for Choi Seong-min who had been hunting for decades, it was just allowance.

‘Now that I’ve officially earned money, I can escape from the semi-basement.’

But there was one thing he had to do before that.

‘I need to eliminate the evidence.’

Looking at the rankings, he could tell.

The fact that Gwang-jin had been promoted to E-rank.

‘He managed to get promoted to E-rank in just one month.’

He would be discharged from the training camp when morning came.

And he would check the trap he had set.

‘He’ll probably fall for it.’

Since keeping him alive might cause trouble later, he had to kill him.

‘I should try out the skill I haven’t used yet with this opportunity.’

Choi Seong-min, who had formulated an assassination plan in his head, quietly smiled.

---

“Trainee Gwang-jin, no. Trainee Park Gwang-jin. Congratulations. You’re being discharged.”

At Instructor Park Chang-seok’s words, Park Gwang-jin bowed with a face full of emotion.

“Thank you! Instructor! This is all thanks to your teachings!”

Park Gwang-jin, who said words he didn’t mean since it was the last time, was in the best mood ever.

‘Hehe! Finally I can escape from this damn training camp!’

He had desperately built up his skills to escape from the prison-like training camp.

As a result, he was promoted to E-rank just over a month after entering.

‘The feeling when people around looked at me with envious eyes…’

It was good to receive attention from those around him on combat power update day, but on the other hand, it also felt bad.

‘That bastard Choi Seong-min is already D-rank…’

And when he confirmed the ridiculous figure of 20,000 combat power…

‘Whatever. I won’t worry about that bastard anymore. I only have success ahead of me from now on.’

Honestly, he was envious of Choi Seong-min who was ahead at a completely different speed, but he decided to deliberately erase him from memory.

‘I just need to quickly receive the promised reward and go my own way.’

Park Gwang-jin hadn’t forgotten.

Four weeks ago, when Kim Gi-hong came to visit, the promise he made in exchange for spilling information about Choi Seong-min.

‘He definitely said he’d give me a reward when I got out of the training camp, right?’

He had carefully kept the business card Kim Gi-hong had given him at that time without throwing it away.

To contact him as soon as he was discharged.

“Take this. It’s your phone.”

“Thank you, Instructor.”

Park Gwang-jin, who received his confiscated phone back after a month, got on the bus home and turned it on.

Then he immediately called the number written on the business card, but no matter how many times he called, no one answered.

‘What? Don’t tell me he just extracted information and wiped his mouth clean?’

With an ominous feeling, he kept calling, but still no one answered.

‘Did he really disappear? What the hell.’

Just as he was swallowing curses and searching the internet for the number of the Southern Hunter Management Center where Kim Gi-hong worked.

‘Huh?’

Park Gwang-jin saw it.

An article saying that the armory manager of the Southern branch had died.

‘Th-that manager died?’

When he searched for Kim Gi-hong’s name in the ranking system, sure enough, it couldn’t be found.

‘He really died? Then what about the reward? What about the payment for the information I sold?’

Despair clouded his vision at the thought that he wouldn’t be able to receive compensation.

However, it was too early to give up.

Park Gwang-jin was able to discover a text from Kim Gi-hong that had come to him belatedly.

[Kim Gi-hong: When you’re discharged, go to the location I marked. I’ve prepared payment for providing information under the trash collection bin there.]

Below the text was a link with a location marked, which looked quite far from his home.

‘Haha, at least he prepared compensation in advance before dying.’

He didn’t know how he died, but it seemed he sent the text before dying.

‘I should quickly go to the marked location. Some stranger might discover and steal the reward.’

Park Gwang-jin decided to immediately transfer buses and go to the promised location.

Without ever dreaming that this was a trap prepared by Choi Seong-min.

---

A dark alley.

‘Is this the place?’

After 8 hours of travel, Park Gwang-jin, who had arrived in the northern region of Eastland, looked around.

‘Where is it? The payment he prepared?’

According to the map marked in the link, the location was accurate.

‘If it’s an alley between buildings near here, this is the only place…’

Park Gwang-jin, who had been looking around constantly, searched for the trash collection bin where the reward was supposedly prepared.

Then.

“Ah, found it.”

He finally found it and crouched down to examine the bottom of the collection bin.

“What? There’s nothing here?”

Just as he was confused whether there really was nothing or if he couldn’t see because it was dark.

“Throat Slash.”

A familiar voice was heard.

‘Who is it?’

He tried to raise his head to look, but he couldn’t.

Thud-

Park Gwang-jin’s head had already fallen.

[You have killed Hunter Park Gwang-jin.]

[You have stolen the trait ‘Weak Talent.’]

[You have stolen 10 pieces of equipment.]

[Synchronization Rate 13.8%]

The person who killed Park Gwang-jin with a single Throat Slash from behind was none other than Choi Seong-min.

‘As expected, high damage skills deserve to be called suitable for assassination.’

Choi Seong-min, who had finished testing the skill, immediately examined the trait.

[Trait – Weak Talent]

-Grade: D
-Description: Skill damage increases by 10%.

‘Not bad.’

He opened his inventory to check the equipment.

The items he had given to that guy during the visit were back in his possession.

‘The fact that he came all the way here is proof that he sold my information.’

Although he had killed Park Gwang-jin, he felt no guilt.

Because of the information that guy sold, he had almost been killed by Kim Gi-hong.

‘It was only because I predicted and tailed him that it worked out, otherwise my family and I would have been dead.’

That’s why he killed Park Gwang-jin without a moment’s hesitation.

His relationship with the guy who had been his colleague at the Hunter Management Center ended here.

Choi Seong-min put Park Gwang-jin’s corpse in the bag he had prepared.

Then he quickly put it in the trash collection bin so no one would see.

‘Trash goes in the trash can.’

Only after finishing disposing of the body did Choi Seong-min turn around.

Having been careful even about CCTV, even if Park Gwang-jin’s death was discovered, there was no risk of him being caught.

‘With this, I’ve eliminated all evidence that I was the culprit who robbed the armory.’

Now he just had to stay with Team Crush for a while and wait for contact.

‘Song Chi-hyeon, that guy will definitely look for me.’

If he was looking for talent, he would definitely contact him.

He had raised his combat power this much to catch his attention.

Choi Seong-min, filled with anticipation, quickly left the alley.