Chapter 55 – Robber Meets Robber

“It’s about time they come out. Everyone get ready.”

At Kiyotsugu’s words, the team members who were playing mobile games slowly got up and prepared.

“Has it already been three hours?”

“Time flies when you’re gaming.”

“Stop dawdling and put on your equipment.”

As the team members equipped their gear, Kiyotsugu spoke.

“Soon, someone who entered the hidden dungeon will come out. I’ll do the talking, you guys stay armed and ready for any situation.”

“Boss, what if they’re a foreigner?”

“A foreigner?”

“Yeah. They might not understand our language if they’re from another country.”

Seemingly not having considered this possibility, Kiyotsugu thought for a moment before speaking.

“Well, they should know some English or Japanese. I can speak English decently.”

“What if they don’t?”

“Then we’ll have to explain with gestures. Besides, it’s better if they’re foreign. We can confiscate their items under the pretext that they targeted another country’s hidden dungeon.”

“What if they don’t comply?”

“Then we’ll beat them up and take the items anyway. Think they can just waltz into our country’s hidden dungeon?”

“Hehe, we can’t let that slide.”

“Boss, you’re not planning to kill them, right?”

Kiyotsugu nodded.

“Killing would be messy. Let’s just rough them up a bit.”

“But won’t our faces be exposed?”

“That’s why I brought masks. Here.”

Kiyotsugu handed masks to his team members.

Though they looked highly suspicious with masks and weapons, it didn’t matter as long as they could steal the items.

“They should be coming out about now…”

Kiyotsugu anxiously watched the dungeon entrance while checking the time.

Three hours had passed, but there was no sign of movement from the hidden dungeon.

“Boss, could that BJ have lied? Or maybe got the time wrong?”

“Well, that’s possible. Let’s wait a bit longer.”

Just then.

As soon as he finished speaking, a human figure appeared in the dungeon portal.

“Get ready!”

The three immediately raised their weapons on guard.

The person who appeared was none other than Min Do-jun.

Though his appearance was different from usual, the hunters didn’t notice the change.

They simply stood their ground with weapons raised, observing their opponent.

‘Given that he entered the dungeon, he must be a B-rank hunter…’

He didn’t look particularly strong.

Of course, judging someone by appearances alone was amateur behavior.

Kiyotsugu spoke while maintaining his cautious gaze.

“Who are you?”

“Who are you people?”

Kiyotsugu bit his lip slightly at the fluent Japanese.

‘If only they were Korean or Chinese, we could have easily taken their items under the pretext of targeting another country’s dungeon…’

Based on their appearance and way of speaking, they seemed Japanese, so Kiyotsugu had to try a different approach.

“We’re hunters from the Association. State your name first.”

“Why should I?”

A vein popped on Kiyotsugu’s forehead.

‘This guy’s not going to be easy.’

He had hoped to at least check their level if they revealed their name, but they weren’t cooperating.

“This is our jurisdiction’s hidden dungeon. You’re the one trespassing, so please follow procedures.”

“Jurisdiction over hidden dungeons? That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”

While hidden dungeons naturally belonged to whoever discovered them, Kiyotsugu persisted with his unreasonable claims.

“You might not know, but the law was recently amended. All dungeons in our jurisdiction belong to the Association. That includes hidden dungeons.”

“There’s a limit to absurdity.”

Kiyotsugu bristled at the man’s sneer.

“You b*st*rd, state your name first.”

“I don’t see any reason to do that.”

“Are you defying the Association?”

“With you pointing weapons and speaking aggressively, I have no reason to comply with any ‘Association’ or whatever.”

‘What’s with this guy? He’s not intimidated by three B-rank hunters?’

Puzzled by this inexplicable confidence, Kiyotsugu observed his opponent carefully.

‘Judging by the worn armor and huge battle axe, he’s definitely a warrior type…’

As Kiyotsugu sized him up, his gaze lingered on the opponent’s battle axe.

The weapon emanated a fierce aura and looked expensive at first glance.

Kiyotsugu’s eyes gleamed with greed.

“Fine, forget the name. That weapon, where did you get it?”

“Why do you ask?”

“If it’s an item from the hidden dungeon, you’ll have to hand it over immediately. This is our jurisdiction’s hidden dungeon, meaning all items from it are Association property.”

“This is a bound item though?”

Momentarily flustered, Kiyotsugu quickly regained his composure.

“Then you’ll have to pay for it. It looks like an A-rank weapon, so that’ll be 2 billion. That’s just for the weapon, of course. You’ll need to hand over everything else you got in there too.”

Min Do-jun smirked at this desperate attempt to extort him.

‘This is way too forced.’

He hadn’t expected them to try such blatant extortion.

‘Of course, I came out disguised with a different weapon and face for this very reason.’

And not just any disguise, but as the hunter known as Japan’s murderous demon.

‘He was famous before my regression.’

Sakaida Hatsuichi.

The name of a hunter who had terrorized all of Japan.

He was a serial killer who had murdered over 100 people in Japan alone.

This was the face Min Do-jun had disguised himself as.

‘He was a vicious murderer who used an axe as his main weapon.’

Of course, if his notoriety had been limited to Japan, Min Do-jun wouldn’t have remembered him in such detail.

‘When Japan launched a major investigation, he fled to Korea and killed many more people there. Though he was eventually caught.’

There was a specific reason for impersonating such a vicious character.

He figured violence would be necessary for what was about to unfold.

“Better do as we say while we’re asking nicely. Hand over everything you got from the dungeon, every last bit!”

“And if I refuse?”

“Then we’ll take it by force.”

The three hunters approached with murderous intent in their eyes.

‘So it comes to this after all?’

Min Do-jun looked at each hunter in turn.

‘1251, 1002, 989. Apart from this Kiyotsugu, they’re nothing special.’

Though all three were higher level than him, he wasn’t worried about losing.

His Weakness Detection showed him everything he needed to know.

‘Their combat power is definitely lower than mine. They can’t even tell I’m in disguise.’

The fact that they couldn’t see through his disguise was proof they were below his level.

‘I won’t kill them, but maybe rough them up a bit?’

Swoosh!

In the blink of an eye, Min Do-jun appeared right in front of one of them.

“Huk!”

Before the startled hunter could swing his weapon, Min Do-jun’s fist connected with his face.

Thwack-!

Crash!

Before they could even react to their comrade being thrown into a wall, Min Do-jun’s fist smashed into the next target’s face.

Crack!

With the sound of a jaw dislocating, the hunter’s head was driven into the ground.

The hunters were tough enough not to die, but they’d be hospitalized for a while.

“You bastard!”

Kiyotsugu roared and charged with his sword.

While it was shocking to see his two teammates taken down instantly, that was all.

He believed he wouldn’t go down so easily.

Clang!

His full-power downward slash was blocked by the axe.

As they briefly struggled for dominance, Kiyotsugu broke into a cold sweat.

‘Urgh! This, this strength!’

It was monstrous power.

Even with over 900 strength, he couldn’t budge his opponent.

This was possible because Min Do-jun’s Hunter Slayer trait doubled his damage.

That’s why he could match strength even with just 800 points in it.

‘This won’t work.’

Just as Kiyotsugu was about to counter with a skill.

Bang!

Min Do-jun broke the deadlock with pure force and struck the sword again.

Clang!

“Ugh!”

The moment Kiyotsugu lost his grip on the sword from the overwhelming force.

Thwack!

“Kuheuk!”

A fist buried into his stomach, making Kiyotsugu vomit.

“Filthy b*st*rd.”

A kick sent Kiyotsugu rolling to the end of the corridor.

Bam! Bam!

What followed was Min Do-jun’s merciless beating, and Kiyotsugu could only take the hits without resistance.

“Trying to rob an innocent citizen?”

“Urgh…”

“Did you think I’d fall for your nonsense? Association property? Don’t make me laugh.”

Boom!

Min Do-jun’s axe struck the corridor floor.

“How should I quell my anger? Even chopping you into tiny pieces might not be enough.”

At this moment, Min Do-jun was acting as the murderer Hatsuichi.

But it seemed so genuine that Kiyotsugu trembled in fear, his teeth chattering.

‘He, he’s really going to kill me.’

Beyond the terrifying strength, those psychopathic eyes were truly frightening.

In reality, it was because Hatsuichi’s face was naturally scary-looking.

“Pl-please spare me.”

“Why should I? Huh?”

“If you spare my life, I’ll give you all my possessions.”

“Don’t just talk, show me.”

Kiyotsugu emptied his inventory of items.

Everything from magic stones to equipment and skill books he’d been saving for higher levels.

Though there were over ten items, Min Do-jun showed his dissatisfaction by striking his axe on the floor again.

Boom-!

“Eek!”

“What kind of trick is this? This is all you have?”

Under that murderous glare, Kiyotsugu finally surrendered even his hidden items.

A total of twenty items.

“What? Why’d you stop? This isn’t everything, is it?”

“Th-this is really all I have…”

“What about what you’re wearing? Why aren’t you handing those over?”

“Ah…”

Reluctantly, Kiyotsugu removed and handed over even his equipped gear.

About thirty items in total.

Though not many were useful, they could fetch over 3 billion when sold, which was satisfactory.

After putting everything in his inventory, Min Do-jun tapped Kiyotsugu’s cheek.

“I’ll specially spare your life.”

“Th-thank you…”

Min Do-jun stood up and went back into the room.

Feeling ominous, Kiyotsugu asked.

“Wh-why are you going there…”

“I said I’d spare your life, didn’t say anything about the others.”

“Ah…”

Min Do-jun woke up the unconscious hunters and forced them to submit, extracting their items as well.

Not too much, just enough.

‘If you were prepared to rob someone, you should be prepared to cough up this much.’

After taking their items, he magnanimously said he’d spare their lives.

“Be grateful I’m ending it here. Understand?”

“Y-yes…”

Min Do-jun, with his axe over his shoulder, vanished silently.

“…Huk!”

The hunters gasped, not expecting him to use stealth.

‘He was definitely out of our league…’

They would have detected stealth from a weaker opponent, but his invisibility being completely undetectable proved he was far superior.

‘To think we tried to rob someone of that caliber…’

Regret washed over them, but who hasn’t experienced this?

Regret always comes too late.

The three of them sighed simultaneously.