Chapter 147 – Kim Byung-soo

Kim Byung-soo took his eyes off the other person.

The transaction was complete.

Now he just needed to unwrap the skill book’s packaging and say the command ‘acquire’ in his mind to learn the Ghost Wolf Summon skill.

‘I’m so curious, it’s driving me crazy!’

From its appearance to the skills it used.

Kim Byung-soo, who was curious about everything about the Ghost Wolf, thought for a moment before unwrapping the skill book.

‘Which skill should I delete to learn the Ghost Wolf?’

His skills consisted of 6 summon skills and 1 buff skill.

He needed to delete one of them.

The deliberation wasn’t long.

‘Of course I should delete the buff skill.’

The 6 summon skills were pets that had shared his joys and sorrows.

They weren’t something to be casually deleted or learned.

Having decided to delete the buff skill, he was about to learn the new skill when.

‘Wait a minute.’

Suddenly a question flashed through Kim Byung-soo’s mind.

‘Didn’t that person say he wasn’t feeling well?’

His attention, which had been focused on the skill book, shifted to the seller.

Looking at the seller’s body, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with him.

Then, suddenly noticing the other person’s expression, Kim Byung-soo noticed another strange thing.

‘Why doesn’t he look happy?’

Most people would show signs of happiness when a transaction is completed and money comes in.

Especially with a huge sum of 146.4 billion won, it goes without saying.

‘But that person isn’t smiling?’

No, he was smiling.

He was wearing an expression that anyone would recognize as satisfaction with the transaction.

But having dealt with people for 70 years of his life, Kim Byung-soo could tell.

‘That’s not a real smile.’

Only his eyes were smiling, but the corners of his mouth weren’t raised at all.

‘He’s just putting on a facade, but his eyes are completely cold.’

Eyes don’t lie.

With his 70 years of experience, he could see it.

That the man in front of him was about to make some kind of decision.

Having recognized the disharmony in the other’s expression, Kim Byung-soo summoned all his familiars with a wary look.

Paaaat-

Hunting dog, Black Cat, Familiar, Hyena, Alligator, King Bear.

Six summons instantly lined up in front of Kim Byung-soo.

The man in front of him showed signs of being flustered.

“What are you doing……”

Kim Byung-soo was also surprised.

‘The scent is the same?’

Kim Byung-soo couldn’t hide his surprise at what he discovered after summoning the hunting dog.

“What is your true identity?”

The old man looked at Min Do-jun with wary eyes.

“What are you talking about……”

“Drop the pathetic act. I know that face is fake.”

At Kim Byung-soo’s words, the corner of Min Do-jun’s mouth twitched upward.

“How did you know?”

“I met a middle-aged man at Tapgol Park recently. Thinking I might meet him again since he was someone I could talk to, I had my hunting dog remember his scent… And that scent is coming from you.”

“Oh. I didn’t expect you to remember my scent.”

Kim Byung-soo spoke with a still wary expression.

“Tell me. How can you have the same scent but a different face?”

“Is there any need to explain?”

Instead of explaining, Min Do-jun directly transformed his face.

Sruruuk-

Kim Byung-soo couldn’t take his eyes off the strange sight of a face changing right before him.

Soon, not Kim Jae-won, but the face of the 40-year-old he had seen at Tapgol Park appeared.

“This is my true face.”

Min Do-jun hid his shamelessness and lied.

He was worried about being seen through again, but even Kim Byung-soo couldn’t think that far.

“I thought the voice sounded similar… So it was that man from the park after all.”

Thinking that the 40-year-old appearance was his true form, Kim Byung-soo clapped his hands together and then sent a sharp gaze.

“I didn’t expect to see you again like this, but what business do you have with me? Judging by how you approached me with a changed face, your intentions can’t be good.”

“Do you really need to ask? Obviously, I’m here to kill you.”

Though he asked, Kim Byung-soo had already guessed to some extent.

That the other person had disguised himself and lured him here to kill him.

“So the Ghost Wolf skill book was just bait?”

Instead of answering, Min Do-jun drew his ghost sword.

“Seeing how confident you are, you’re probably not level 1,500. And the identity of Kim Jae-won must be fake too.”

“……”

“Why are you doing this to me?”

“It’s hunting.”

“What?”

“Just as you hunt vermin, I too kill vermin like you. That’s all.”

“Hahaha, hahahahaha!”

Kim Byung-soo laughed loudly.

“Could it be that you saw me taking care of that dog dealer?”

“……”

“Haha, I thought there were no witnesses, but I was mistaken.”

Kim Byung-soo’s laughter suddenly stopped.

A killing intent that hadn’t been there before appeared in the old man’s eyes.

“Now that I know there’s a witness, I can’t let you live. Well, wanting to kill me is reason enough for you to die.”

After briefly looking around, Kim Byung-soo spoke as if surprised.

“But are you alone?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’ve made a serious mistake. I’m not alone.”

“Those summons don’t scare me, even if they attack in a group.”

“Hahaha, you’re really underestimating my children.”

Indeed, looking at them individually, summons are weak beings.

But when not just one, but six of them gather, the story changes.

Especially if they’re Pet Master’s summons, they’re qualitatively completely different.

His ability not only enhances the summons’ skills but also increases their basic stats.

In other words, it would be a big mistake to think of them as ordinary summons.

Moreover, the higher the owner’s level, the stronger the summons become.

Pet Master’s summons, with his level exceeding 2,500, were undoubtedly weapons of war.

“Children. Show this naked ape a taste of your power.”

Though he said “a taste,” the order he gave was to kill.

Knowing this, the summons bared their teeth and charged.

Kwaaang!

Woof woof!

Grrrorarorara!

The sight of different types of animals charging at once was a spectacle.

‘This is the scene I saw when Pet Master was hunting monsters…’

Now the target has changed to a human.

‘Interesting.’

As Min Do-jun smiled leisurely, Kim Byung-soo, who was watching, twitched his eyebrows.

‘He’s smiling?’

Even with the summons approaching right in front of him, Min Do-jun didn’t lose his composure.

All he did was slowly raise his sword and then swing it down at the right timing.

Kwaaang!

A fan-shaped flame exploded from the tip of the sword.

Double damage due to the Revenge characteristic.

Double damage due to the First Strike characteristic.

20% damage due to the Enchanted Sword.

20% damage due to the Trinity Set effect.

25% damage due to the Archmage characteristic, and so on.

Various amplifications overlapped, making Magnum Burst more than 7 times stronger, burning the summons.

“Byung-hoon! Ye-seul!”

The summons with low health disappeared with painful screams.

The larger summons like the Alligator and King Bear survived, but their skin was peeled off due to the flames.

They were clearly not in a good state.

“Y-y-you cruel bastard!”

Kim Byung-soo glared at Min Do-jun with eyes that seemed to see a mortal enemy.

To him, summons were like his own children.

Of course, even if they disappeared after their health was depleted, they could be summoned again after the cooldown, so they weren’t permanently dead.

But he couldn’t bear to see his summons suffering.

“I’ll kill a demon like you right here!”

Kim Byung-soo, who roared, used a buff skill.

Kuooooo-

Grrrrrr-

The eyes of the Alligator and King Bear turned red, and their skin, which had been burnt and blistered, rapidly healed.

“Kill him! My children!”

At Kim Byung-soo’s command, the alligator and bear charged with excited faces.

Slash-

After cutting off the arm of the King Bear that charged first, Min Do-jun immediately turned his attention to the alligator.

But.

Kuooooo!

The King Bear, as if unaffected, attempted to strike with its remaining front paw, and.

Kwaaang!

Min Do-jun, who barely blocked it with his sword, floated up into the air.

Then, as if to swallow him whole, the alligator opened its mouth wide.

‘Frenzy.’

[Using Frenzy.]

[Strength and Agility increase by 1.5 times.]

[Strength+1,063, Agility+1,190]

[Time remaining: 2 minutes 59 seconds]

Tueup-!

Min Do-jun, who momentarily increased his agility using Frenzy, narrowly avoided the attack.

Tueup- Tueup- Tueup!

He stabbed his sword into the persistently snapping mouth of the alligator, but.

Tueup- Tueup!

Seeing the creature continuing to try to bite as if it felt no pain, he shook his head.

‘I need to completely finish it off.’

Just as he was thinking that and thrusting his sword.

Kwaaang!

The King Bear once again sent Min Do-jun flying through the air.

Whirlik- Tuk-

Though he landed safely after doing a somersault in the air, Min Do-jun’s expression wasn’t good.

‘It doesn’t hurt, but it’s hurting my pride.’

The fact that he couldn’t even approach Pet Master because of just two summons scratched at Min Do-jun’s pride.

‘I’ll admit the summons are strong.’

Fighting them, each summon felt like it matched an A-rank hunter.

‘No, they’re even more troublesome. They don’t feel pain and their health rapidly regenerates.’

The King Bear’s arm, which he had cut off earlier, was gradually growing back.

It was probably due to the effect of the buff.

‘If my Battle Avatar buff was at full stack, I would have dealt with these things in an instant.’

Currently, Min Do-jun had accumulated 4 stacks of the Battle Avatar buff.

And that was from killing four summons with Magnum Burst just now.

‘With just a 4% stat increase, I shouldn’t expect dramatic effects.’

Compared to the full stack of 50%, it was disappointing, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t confident in winning.

After all, he hadn’t gone all out yet.

“I’ll end this quickly.”

Min Do-jun put strength into his legs.

Even without the Battle Avatar buff, his strength under Frenzy had exceeded 3,000.

Tuboong-!

Min Do-jun shot forward like a bullet.

“B-block him!”

Kim Byung-soo, surprised by the speed that was faster than expected, put his two summons in front like shields.

However, Min Do-jun, who had no intention of wrestling with the summons.

Sruruuk-

Disappeared using invisibility while running.

“W-where did he go…!”

A flustered Kim Byung-soo rolled his eyes around.

But he was able to find his opponent quicker than expected.

“Here you are.”

Simultaneously with the voice from behind, the ghost sword aimed at Kim Byung-soo’s chest.

But.

Ting-!

The ghost sword, which seemed capable of cutting through anything, was blocked by an invisible wall and bounced back.

‘What’s this?’

This time Min Do-jun was surprised, but only for a moment.

Kuooooo!

Seeing the King Bear suddenly collapse with its chest pierced, he could understand the situation.

‘It seems the summons are blocking for him.’

Min Do-jun briefly clicked his tongue at the hypocrisy of someone who disliked seeing his summons in pain but used them as shields when he himself was in danger.

‘Anyway, I just need to break through the shield.’

Min Do-jun hit with Gust Blade and Fire Blast simultaneously while swinging the ghost sword multiple times.

As the burst damage came in instantly, the summons that were substituting for their master disappeared in pain.

“Ah……”

Kim Byung-soo, who was now alone, raised his head.

The opponent was smiling while pointing a blue sword at him.

“It’s over.”