Chapter 12 – First Murder

“Ugh…”

Shim Jin-seop, who had collapsed from shock, regained consciousness.

It took 10 minutes.

And the moment he instinctively tried to move.

“Argh!”

Tremendous pain surged from his lower body.

When he lifted his head to look, sure enough, there was a large hole in his thigh.

“You’re awake?”

Startled by the sudden voice, Shim Jin-seop turned his head.

The culprit who had done this to him, Min Do-jun, was smiling.

“I thought you’d die, but you’re surprisingly alive? I guess hunter equipment is pretty good after all?”

“You, you b*st*rd…! You did this on purpose!”

“Did you think I hit you by mistake?”

Shim Jin-seop might not have known due to the flawless acting, but that wasn’t important now.

‘I need to kill him while he’s off guard!’

Although he couldn’t use his legs, he could still use skills.

It was a simple matter of just mentally reciting the skill name.

But Shim Jin-seop couldn’t put it into action.

Because he spotted the Ice Spear that Min Do-jun had summoned.

‘Damn, I can’t cast a skill like this…’

He couldn’t use a skill when the opponent was already aiming at him.

It was clear who would land their skill first.

As if reading that thought, Min Do-jun warned:

“It’s best not to make any rash moves. I might accidentally pierce your head before I know it.”

“Why are you doing this to me? What’s the reason?”

He couldn’t help but be curious why someone he just met was suddenly attacking him.

“Is it for money? For items?”

Most hunters don’t turn their blades on each other.

There’s no benefit in killing them.

Killing monsters gives experience points, but killing another hunter yields nothing.

All equipped gear disappears the moment they die.

To get items from a hunter, you have to make them unequip their gear and take it out of their inventory.

So occasionally there were some bad apples who tortured fellow hunters to rob them, but they were a minority.

Most hunters aren’t desperate enough to covet others’ items.

“What do you want? Is it items? I’ll give you everything. If you spare my life, these measly items… Argh!”

Min Do-jun’s Ice Spear pierced Shim Jin-seop’s intact thigh.

At the same time, he created a Lightning Spear as a precaution.

But Shim Jin-seop had no intention of retaliating whatsoever.

“Ugh! Why, why are you doing this? I said I’ll give you whatever you want!”

“I don’t need it.”

“Then why the hell are you doing this?”

“Revenge.”

“What?”

Shim Jin-seop made a confused expression at the unexpected reason.

And he thought hard.

Whether he might know Min Do-jun from somewhere.

But no matter how much he thought, it was a face he was seeing for the first time.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Well. Who could I be?”

“Don’t tell me you’re Hyemi’s boyfriend?”

“…”

Min Do-jun remained silent, not sure what he was talking about.

“Judging by your expression, I’m right.”

Shim Jin-seop sneered, seeing the hardened expression.

“That bitch told you, didn’t she? That I r*p*d her.”

“…”

“If that’s why you’re doing this, you’ve got the wrong number. She was the one who came onto me first, asking to drink.”

Shim Jin-seop said that while gauging Min Do-jun’s reaction.

‘Please believe it.’

Hyemi was Shim Jin-seop’s first love from high school.

He had run into her by chance recently, and overcome with lust at her prettily dressed up appearance, he ended up committing the act.

The claim that she came onto him first was a lie.

It was a fabrication to get out of the situation.

‘I heard she had a boyfriend, I guess it was this b*st*rd.’

Meanwhile, Shim Jin-seop observed Min Do-jun’s expression.

There was a slight hint of confusion visible.

‘Good! If I persuade him a bit more, he’ll fall for it!’

Shim Jin-seop, who had gravely misunderstood, pleaded as if begging to be believed.

“You think I’m lying? But it’s the truth. It’s hard to believe, but that bitch Hyemi really did come onto me first!”

“You piece of trash.”

“What?”

“As expected, you were trash from the beginning.”

Min Do-jun summoned an Ice Spear after saying that.

“W-wait! What’s wrong? You don’t believe me?”

“Of course not. Would you believe it if you were me?”

“It’s not a lie! It’s the truth!”

“I listened quietly to see what you’d say, but to think you’d brag about the crime you committed.”

“Hey! I’m telling you it’s not true!”

“Thanks to you, I won’t have to feel any guilt.”

Min Do-jun immediately launched the Ice Spear.

“Gah!”

Before the ice spear lodged in his chest could disappear, the Lightning Spear that followed shook Shim Jin-seop’s entire body.

“Grrrgh!”

Shim Jin-seop foamed at the mouth and rolled his eyes back.

But this time it wasn’t just fainting, as the equipment he was wearing disappeared like a mirage.

[You have killed Hunter Shim Jin-seop.]

[You have stolen the characteristic ‘Magic Swordsman’.]

[You have stolen 16 pieces of equipment.]

[You have stolen 7 magic stones.]

Min Do-jun did not rejoice at the flurry of notifications.

He was simply feeling the emotions of having killed Shim Jin-seop.

‘It doesn’t feel particularly good.’

He thought he’d feel relieved after succeeding in his revenge, but his heart felt heavier than expected.

He could quickly realize the reason.

‘I’ve only gotten revenge on one guy. There are still 14 left.’

It felt heavy because there was still a long way to go, because the revenge wasn’t completely over yet.

Min Do-jun, who had ignited the flames of revenge, finally turned his attention to the notifications.

[Characteristic – Magic Swordsman]

-Grade: S

-Description: Strength, Vitality, and Agility increase by half of Magic Power.

In other words, raising Magic Power by 1 increases the other stats by 0.5 each.

‘Being able to raise all stats evenly just by investing in Magic Power… it’s overpowered.’

It was the perfect characteristic for a magic swordsman who needs all stats evenly.

‘Status window.’

-Name: Min Do-jun (Born 2000)

-Level: 121

-Grade: E

-Combat Power: 5,928

-Domestic Ranking: 20,919th

-World Ranking: 3,097,875th

-Strength: 129, Vitality: 144

-Agility: 156, Magic Power: 186

-Unallocated Stats: 0

-Characteristics: Revenge(S), Hunter Hunter(EX), Magic Swordsman(S)

-Skills: Ice Spear(E), Lightning Spear(E), Energy Shield(E)

Combining the all-stat increase from the hidden achievement and the stat increase from the Magic Swordsman characteristic, all his stats had risen evenly.

And by no small amount.

Satisfied, Min Do-jun then examined the items he had stolen.

‘Why are there so many pieces of equipment?’

It seemed like not only the equipped gear, but everything in the inventory had come in as well.

‘Most of them are D-grade equipment.’

There were also a few E-grade items with a level requirement of 150, so he couldn’t equip them yet.

Even so, they weren’t as good as what Min Do-jun was wearing.

‘I’ll keep what I need and sell the rest.’

There were also magic stones to sell.

‘6 E-grade, 1 D-grade… not bad.’

There was a financial gain, but the biggest gain was obtaining the characteristic.

Characteristics couldn’t be bought even with money.

Not that it made Min Do-jun feel grateful to Shim Jin-seop.

Considering the pain he had suffered, even his life wasn’t enough to pay for it.

‘I should leave now.’

Before leaving, Min Do-jun tore off a man-sized leaf from a nearby tree.

He intended to cover Shim Jin-seop’s corpse with it.

‘It would be troublesome if it’s discovered unnecessarily.’

There was no evidence that Min Do-jun had done it, but it was better to cover it up just in case.

Before covering it with the leaf, Min Do-jun looked down at Shim Jin-seop one last time.

He felt no emotion at the sight of him lying dead in casual clothes.

Shim Jin-seop was too insignificant to quell the anger deeply seated in his heart.

‘This is just the beginning.’

The revenge was starting now.

He had opened the curtains of revenge, starting with Shim Jin-seop.

‘I’ll work my way up steadily and kill every last one of them without exception.’

With that, Min Do-jun walked away, leaving Shim Jin-seop behind.

There was no need to dispose of the corpse separately.

The guy would disappear from this world once the dungeon was cleared anyway.

There would be no problem even if his party members asked about his whereabouts later.

He could just make up an excuse that Shim Jin-seop had gone off alone saying he would look for the warriors.

-Completion rate: 25/80 Werewolves

-Time remaining: 1 hour 53 minutes 52 seconds

‘Time is running short…’

Looking at the progress window, the number of Werewolves killed had increased.

The warriors who had separated from Min Do-jun had killed some somewhere.

‘The hunting speed isn’t bad, but…’

Time was lacking.

It wasn’t enough time for two warriors to clear it.

‘At this rate, we’ll fail.’

They might incur a penalty for the first time.

Unless Min Do-jun stepped in.

‘I guess I have to do it properly now.’

There was no problem in showing his true skills since no one was watching.

They might find it strange to see the numbers on the progress window rising quickly, but it would be better than a penalty.

Min Do-jun, who had become much stronger, set out to help with the hunting.

* * *

Kang Taewon and Ko Sungmin are experienced warriors.

You could tell just by how they ran towards the Werewolves without hesitation when they appeared.

‘Heavy Smash!’

Clang!

‘Sword Slash!’

Clang!

Two Werewolves died at their hands.

[Experience +200] (100% contribution)

They each perfectly killed one Werewolf.

Though it took some time.

“Whew, that’s impressive! You took down a Werewolf by yourself.”

“You did too, Taewon. And faster than me.”

“That’s just because my level is higher.”

“Come on, you’re only 2 levels higher than me.”

The two smiled at each other.

“Shall we take a short break?”

“Sure. It’s tough with just the two of us.”

The two sat down and recalled the troublemaker who had caused this situation.

That headache named Min Do-jun.

“Min Do-jun was it? What a hassle because of that guy.”

“I know. Jumping right into a challenge with a level restriction without the skills to back it up… so inconsiderate.”

“He’s probably just looking to get carried.”

“And then he even wasted time asking to be taught how to land skills in the dungeon…”

“Sigh, I’ve never seen such an inconvenience before.”

“Are we going to end up clearing a 4-person dungeon with just the two of us at this rate?”

“Three, if you include that Shim Jin-seop person.”

“That guy didn’t seem very capable either. He’s a mage after all.”

“True, a mage’s hunting speed can’t compare to a warrior’s.”

That was the reality.

As a mage with no means other than skills, their hunting speed was bound to be slower than warriors.

Especially now when elemental affinities hadn’t been revealed yet.

That’s why the two couldn’t shake off an ominous feeling.

“What if we fail the clear because of the mages?”

“Oh no, surely not…!”

Feeling a bad premonition, the two hurriedly opened the progress window.

-Completion rate: 40/80 Werewolves

-Time remaining: 1 hour 40 minutes 14 seconds

“Huh?”

The two made puzzled expressions looking at the progress window.

“What’s this? Why has the number gone up so much?”

“Wasn’t it 30 just 10 minutes ago?”

“Oh, it just went up by one again.”

The warriors who had thought poorly of the mage team felt a bit relieved.

“Looks like they’re hunting well?”

“Oh, it went up again.”

It was more than just hunting well.

“It went up again…”

“What, they already killed another one?”

It was going up almost every minute.

It was an impossibly fast hunting speed for two mages.

But they didn’t know.

That it was Min Do-jun hunting alone right now.

“They’re hunting really well.”

“…”

It was hard to believe even seeing it with their own eyes.

For the two who already had pride in being warriors, it was unacceptable to be outdone by mages.

“We should step it up too.”

“Let’s do that.”

Just as the warriors were about to resume hunting with renewed determination.

Grrrrowl-

The howl of a Werewolf was heard right on cue.

“Well that’s convenient, we don’t have to go looking…”

“Wait. Something’s different.”

The depth of the howl was different from usual.

It didn’t seem to be an ordinary Werewolf.

Grrrrowl-

The warriors looked around with weapons in hand.

But while they could hear the sound, they couldn’t see any Werewolves.

All they could see were two red lights floating in the dark forest.

“N-no way!”

“A Red-Eyed Werewolf?”

The boss of the Werewolves had appeared.