Chapter 148 – Pet Master

Kim Byung-soo clearly realized from the previous attack.

That the hunter before him was on a completely different level.

‘Impossible damage. This isn’t an opponent I can defeat.’

The other person was at least an S-rank hunter, if not more.

Someone with enough power to step on and kill him, a mere level 2,502, like an insect.

‘I need to escape.’

If there was one thing he excelled at above all else, it was escaping.

‘I have the cheat skill of trace erasing.’

With enhanced trace erasing, he could erase his very existence.

‘It’s a kind of ghostification, I suppose.’

Unlike stealth or invisibility, once he disappeared, no attack could reach him.

It was truly a flawless stealth state.

Even against an S-rank opponent, he could safely vanish.

‘But for that, I need Ye-seul…’

As was evident, he was in a difficult situation having lost all his summons.

‘There’s still a 3-minute cooldown left.’

This meant that if he could endure for just 3 minutes, he could save his life.

‘I need to buy time.’

At that moment, his opponent pointed the sword at his chest.

“It’s over.”

“W-wait!”

Kim Byung-soo, now desperate, spoke in a pitiful voice.

“W-why are you doing this to me?”

“I told you. It’s hunting.”

“Do you really think you can kill me and not get caught by the police?”

“Yes.”

“……”

The other person’s expression suggested it was obvious.

“Look around. This is the perfect place to kill someone.”

“A-are you really going to kill me like this? Aren’t you concerned about losing the skill book?”

If he died, the Ghost Wolf Summon skill book would disappear too.

A skill book worth 146.4 billion won, no less.

However, the other person didn’t seem to care.

“I’ll just take it after killing you.”

“What are you saying? When someone dies, nothing…”

“Farewell.”

At that moment, feeling that his summon’s cooldown had reset, Kim Byung-soo summoned the Black Cat.

Meooow!

‘Enhance trace erasing skill! Ye-seul! Quickly erase my traces…!’

Whoosh!

Kyaaaaa-

The Black Cat he had summoned was hit by a fire pit and disappeared.

Kim Byung-soo was speechless at the sight of his summon vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.

“Did you think I’d give you time to escape?”

The man, presumed to be S-rank, showed a sinister smile.

With even his last hope gone.

‘Damn it…’

Despair spread across the old man’s face.

Judging that further resistance was meaningless, Kim Byung-soo slumped to the ground.

Min Do-jun, who only had the execution left, placed the ghost sword against his neck.

“Any last words?”

“I wanted to spend my remaining life happily with my summons…”

Kim Byung-soo shot Min Do-jun a resentful glare.

“You, whose name I don’t even know, have ruined my entire life.”

“……”

“Kill me, you dog trash.”

Having prepared himself mentally, Kim Byung-soo closed his eyes.

It would either be his neck being severed or his heart being pierced, but there was nothing he could do.

The man before him had no intention of sparing his life, no matter what he said.

He could tell just by looking at those cold eyes.

‘He’ll cut off my head right away.’

However, contrary to expectations, Kim Byung-soo was able to keep his life a while longer.

“…?”

When he opened his eyes, he saw his opponent deep in thought.

‘Why isn’t he killing me?’

Though he was curious, he didn’t mind.

‘I shouldn’t rush him. I’ll just keep buying time like this.’

It would take 10 minutes for the Black Cat to be summonable again.

If he could stall for 10 minutes, he might have another chance to escape.

Whether aware of this scheme or not, Min Do-jun remained lost in thought.

It wasn’t that he suddenly felt compassion or guilt about killing.

He was like this because of Kim Byung-soo’s final statement.

‘He wants to spend his remaining life happily with his summons?’

It was an ordinary wish befitting Pet Master, but considering the time before his regression, Min Do-jun couldn’t help but question it.

‘Would someone like that join hands with Shin Kyung-min and participate in a coup?’

The wish seemed too ordinary for someone who had participated in turning the world into hell.

‘Burning the country down with a coup and then wanting to live happily with summons… It doesn’t add up.’

How could someone who desired a peaceful daily life later bring down the country?

‘Did Shin Kyung-min have some kind of leverage over him?’

With these questions in mind, Min Do-jun looked at Pet Master.

“There’s something I’m curious about.”

“…?”

“If I were to spare your life in exchange for you joining a coup, would you do it?”

“A coup?”

“Yes. Killing all government officials and taking over the country. Would you join?”

Kim Byung-soo was silent for a while.

Whether to buy time or because it was genuinely a difficult question, it wasn’t clear.

What was certain was that it wasn’t a question one could answer readily.

“Are you really planning to stage a coup?”

“Yes.”

Though it was a lie, Min Do-jun pretended to be sincere to draw out Kim Byung-soo’s answer.

“Hmm.”

After contemplating, Kim Byung-soo eventually said:

“If you spare me, I’d do anything.”

“…I see.”

It wasn’t the answer he wanted, but it made things clear nonetheless.

‘Whether willingly or unwillingly, all those who participated in the coup are trash.’

Perhaps sensing Min Do-jun’s eyes growing cold again?

Kim Byung-soo, looking slightly flustered, tried to buy more time by speaking.

“I won’t betray you. If you just spare me, whether it’s a coup or anything else… Kuheck!”

The ghost sword pierced Kim Byung-soo’s chest.

“For someone who’s lived a long life, your will to survive is impressive.”

“Y-you bastard… What does age have to do with wanting to live…”

Even as he was dying, Kim Byung-soo managed to speak haltingly.

“You’ll regret this… Because of you, many people will die…”

“You don’t need to worry about that. As I said earlier, I have no intention of staging a coup.”

“Khuhu… I wasn’t talking about the coup…”

“Then what?”

“……”

Kim Byung-soo couldn’t continue speaking.

Min Do-jun learned of his death when a notification appeared.

[You have killed Hunter Kim Byung-soo.]

[You have stolen the characteristic ‘Pet Master’.]

[You have stolen 8 pieces of equipment.]

[You have stolen 5 magic stones.]

[You have stolen 1 skill book.]

The Ghost Wolf Summon skill book, which almost went to someone else, came back into Min Do-jun’s hands.

‘That’s a relief. I was able to protect the Ghost Wolf.’

While the existence of the Ghost Wolf might become known, its abilities should not.

The skills possessed by the Ghost Wolf were so overpowered that he wanted to keep them to himself.

‘If people knew the skill’s effects, they wouldn’t find 146.4 billion won expensive at all.’

A skill book that sold for a whopping 146.4 billion won.

He never expected it to sell for such a high price.

‘Unintentionally, my assets have more than doubled.’

The amount of about 145 billion won, after deducting fees, would be transferred directly to his account, which he had linked to Kim Jae-won’s ID.

‘The equipment and magic stones I obtained this time are also quite profitable, but…’

They couldn’t compare to the 145 billion won.

‘Perhaps the only thing comparable to the 145 billion is the characteristic?’

Min Do-jun, who already knew its effects to some extent, examined the acquired characteristic.

[Characteristic – Pet Master]

-Grade: S

-Description: You can give all commands to summons through thought, and the damage and all stats of summons increase by 20%. Additionally, you can enhance and use one skill of a summon. To do this, call the skill name while the summon is out, then say the activation word “Skill Enhancement.” Only one skill can be enhanced at a time.

‘So the characteristic name was actually Pet Master,’

The name was surprising, but even more surprising was its ability.

‘I already anticipated the skill enhancement ability, but I didn’t know it also inherently increases damage and stats.’

While the other basic effects were good, the value of this characteristic lay in skill enhancement.

‘Originally, summon skills can’t be enhanced, but with the Pet Master characteristic, it’s a different story.’

Making the impossible possible was what made it so overpowered.

‘I wonder what will happen if I enhance the Ghost Wolf’s tracking skill with this.’

After all, he had sought this characteristic specifically to enhance the tracking skill.

‘By the way…’

Min Do-jun looked at the spot where Kim Byung-soo had been.

Now only his clothes and belongings remained.

‘What he said at the end is bothering me.’

That because of him, many people would die.

‘It doesn’t seem like a baseless curse…’

If such a thing were to actually happen, it would be unsettling.

Min Do-jun rummaged through Kim Byung-soo’s phone to extract information.

Recent text messages caught his eye.

-Monday, February 8, 2021-

[Dong-pal. I’ll be away for two weeks starting tomorrow, so manage the dungeon well in my place.]

[Ah, old man. Going abroad again? Where to this time?]

[South America.]

[Ah, I’m busy too, but fine. Have a good trip.]

-Tuesday, February 9, 2021-

[Dong-pal, I need to postpone my trip for now.]

[What? It’s canceled?]

[Yes. There’s something urgent I need to buy in Korea.]

[That’s good. Tomorrow will be the 5th day since the dungeon was abandoned. Can you reset it if you have time? I was thinking of entering the dungeon tonight since I canceled because of you.]

[Sure. Leave the dungeon to me.]

[Thanks. The dungeon break will happen at 8 PM tomorrow, so make sure to reset it before then!]

[Don’t worry and just enter the dungeon.]

Min Do-jun couldn’t help but be surprised by the conversation.

‘Pet Master had a personal dungeon?’

Something he didn’t know.

‘And it’s not a dungeon he uses alone. At least two people are using it.’

There might be more, but from the messages, it was clear he was sharing the dungeon with someone called Dong-pal.

‘According to the conversation, today is the 5th day since the dungeon was abandoned.’

Even though it was a personal dungeon, it seemed they weren’t consistently conquering it.

‘Just the fact that they left it until a dungeon break was imminent shows how carelessly they managed it.’

They were probably taking turns conquering it out of obligation.

‘The dungeon break will occur at 8 PM.’

Pet Master was probably planning to go there after completing the transaction.

He would want to level up his Ghost Wolf.

‘Is this what Kim Byung-soo was referring to at the end?’

When he said many people would die because of him, he must have been talking about the dungeon break.

‘If the dungeon break isn’t prevented, that would indeed happen.’

But if Min Do-jun prevented it instead, there wouldn’t be a problem.

‘First, I need to find the dungeon’s location.’

Min Do-jun hurriedly searched through the phone.

If the dungeon break at 8 PM was true, there wasn’t much time left.

‘Only 2 hours remain. I need to find and conquer the dungeon within that time.’

However, he couldn’t find any information about the location on Kim Byung-soo’s phone.

‘Damn. What should I do? I can’t ask Kim Byung-soo since he’s already dead.’

At that moment, a method occurred to Min Do-jun.