Chapter 156 – According to Plan

Na Han-gyu, a C-rank Black Sea Guild member, received a mission from his superiors.

The mission was to assassinate a female college student who would appear near Hapjeong Station in two weeks.

‘An easy mission.’

Though he was just a low-ranking guild member at level 700, assassinating an ordinary person who wasn’t even a hunter was as easy as wringing a chicken’s neck.

‘A female college student… I don’t know what the story is, but she’s pitiful. Once targeted by our guild, there’s no chance of survival.’

He was briefly curious about why the target needed to be killed, but that didn’t last long.

He just needed to follow orders from above and slit the throat.

That was what it meant to be a true assassin and the rule of the Black Sea Guild.

‘I must succeed.’

Though it was an easy mission, he couldn’t help but feel tense.

It was a solo mission given only to him, bypassing other guild members.

And that wasn’t the only reason for his tension.

‘There was a strict order to succeed in the assassination even at the cost of my life.’

That meant prioritizing the target’s elimination with no room for failure.

‘It must be an important mission.’

The fact that such an important mission was assigned to a low-ranking member like him suggested it might be some kind of test.

‘If I succeed in this mission, the higher-ups will see me differently.’

For Na Han-gyu, a low-ranking member, this was truly a mission he had to succeed in at all costs.

So on the promised date, after tailing the target, he initiated his action when she entered a conveniently secluded alley.

“Hye, Hyeri! Kuheck!”

He boldly killed the man who was with her first, leaving only the target.

“Such a shame to kill someone with such a beautiful face.”

Honestly, he wanted to have some fun with the target before killing her, but there was no time for that.

“I’m sorry, but it’s an order.”

Putting aside his regrets, he immediately thrust his dagger toward her neck.

He planned to leave the scene as soon as the target clutched her neck and died.

Since he didn’t have a stealth skill, it was best to escape as quickly as possible.

However, the situation took an unexpected turn.

Ting-

The dagger he thrust was blocked by a sword that suddenly appeared.

‘What?’

Surprised, Na Han-gyu quickly stepped back.

Only then did he notice the man holding a blue sword.

‘Who, who is this guy? How did I not notice him?’

He hadn’t seen when the man appeared.

To appear like a ghost and block an instantaneous attack.

‘Did he use stealth?’

If he could use stealth, it meant he was at least a B-rank hunter or higher.

Higher level than himself, who couldn’t even learn stealth as a C-rank.

“Are you okay?”

The man who suddenly appeared checked on the target’s well-being.

As if Na Han-gyu wasn’t even worth acknowledging.

‘This bastard!’

He was a C-rank hunter at level 700, not someone to be looked down upon.

Being treated like air naturally wounded his pride.

‘You dare ignore me?’

Na Han-gyu, gripping his dagger in reverse, activated Shadow Stepping, an assassin’s signature technique.

Sruruuk-

His body sank below the ground and quickly stepped on the man’s shadow.

Instantly gaining a position behind his opponent.

‘Throat Slitting!’

He aimed for the neck with his reverse-gripped dagger, but.

Ting-

The man, as if anticipating it, blocked it with his sword.

But.

‘It’s not budging at all?’

The sword that clashed with his dagger didn’t move an inch.

The implication was clear.

‘His strength is overwhelmingly higher than mine…!’

It meant his strength stat far exceeded Na Han-gyu’s, which was close to 300.

Na Han-gyu quickly retreated and threw his dagger.

He wasn’t aiming at the man in front of him.

‘If I can’t subdue the opponent in front of me, I’ll at least kill the target first.’

With quick thinking, he threw the dagger at the woman, but.

Ting-

Even that was blocked by the sword-wielding man.

‘Not just high strength, but agility too…’

As his attacks repeatedly failed, Na Han-gyu finally had to reveal his last card.

‘To think I’d have to use this…’

What he took out from his inventory was a Magic Bullet.

Similar to a grenade but much more powerful, it was a terrorist item provided by the Black Sea Guild.

However, the meaning of its use in the Black Sea Guild was slightly different.

‘Being given a Magic Bullet by the guild means they want me to carry out a suicide bombing.’

In other words, the Magic Bullet was only used for suicide bomb attacks.

‘The order to kill the target even at the cost of my life must mean to use this if necessary.’

He had hoped it wouldn’t come to using the Magic Bullet, but it had come to this.

‘Anyway, if I return after failing the mission, the boss will kill me. I have no choice but to show my worth.’

Rather than dying shamefully as a failed mission executor, he would die honorably by demonstrating his courage and loyalty.

Having made up his mind, Na Han-gyu ran while tightly gripping the Magic Bullet.

His target was solely the female student.

‘I don’t know if I can harm the hunter in front of me, but at least I can take the target with me.’

He could throw it like a grenade, but the man would just deflect it with his sword.

‘In that case, I’ll embrace it myself and die with the target!’

Running with the intention of engulfing the target in the explosion, Na Han-gyu uttered the activation word.

‘Activate!’

The Magic Bullet, which had been blue, turned red and heated up.

The trigger was pulled.

Now, after a 5-second countdown, the Magic Bullet would explode, turning the area into a wasteland.

‘Hehehe, I’ll detonate it as close to the target as possible!’

He could see the man blocking in front of the target.

But it was already too late.

In 3 seconds, the surroundings would be engulfed in flames.

That’s when Na Han-gyu saw it.

The killing intent pouring from the man’s eyes.

Shunk-

“Kuheck!”

The sword, drawn at a speed difficult to track with the eyes, pierced Na Han-gyu’s heart.

But that wouldn’t stop the explosion.

With just 1 second left until detonation.

‘I, I succeeded in my mission…’

Right in front of him, he could see the man urgently embracing the target.

“Duck your head!”

With those final words.

Kwaaang!

Flames engulfed the alley.

* * *

‘That was close.’

Min Do-jun smiled as he saw the message that appeared.

[You have killed Hunter Na Han-gyu.]

[You have stolen the characteristic ‘Courage’.]

[You have stolen 7 pieces of equipment.]

‘I killed him just in time.’

Just before the Magic Bullet exploded.

He killed Na Han-gyu and stole his characteristic.

‘If I had been just 1 second late, I would have lost the characteristic.’

Indeed, Na Han-gyu was a Black Sea Guild member.

In other words, he was Min Do-jun’s subordinate and a long-term piece that would eventually be killed and converted into a characteristic.

‘I couldn’t let such a person self-destruct.’

Even if he had to die, it should be by Min Do-jun’s hand.

It would be a waste to lose the characteristic like this.

‘Fortunately, everything is going according to plan.’

Two weeks ago, Min Do-jun had instructed a Black Sea Guild member.

To kill Shin Hye-ri who would appear at Hapjeong Station.

Of course, he didn’t genuinely want her to be killed.

‘It’s a kind of staged act.’

When his subordinate tried to assassinate Shin Hye-ri, if he appeared at the right timing and saved her?

‘Shin Kyung-min would be indebted to me for saving his sister.’

He would be grateful to Min Do-jun for saving his only family from danger.

‘Then I can gain Shin Kyung-min’s trust.’

If Shin Kyung-min came to trust and rely on Min Do-jun, it would create the perfect environment for betrayal.

‘It couldn’t be better.’

It was a plan to gain Shin Kyung-min’s trust by using a Black Sea Guild member who would have to be killed anyway.

‘But if Shin Hye-ri died, it would all be for nothing.’

That’s why he entrusted the mission to a low-ranking hunter who couldn’t even learn stealth, to minimize variables.

‘In the process, the man on the blind date with Shin Hye-ri ended up dead, but…’

It was an unavoidable sacrifice.

He was only protecting Shin Hye-ri while invisible.

‘I didn’t expect Na Han-gyu to kill the man first.’

If Na Han-gyu had attacked Shin Hye-ri directly, Min Do-jun would have intervened, and the man might have lived.

But the result was as seen.

‘Still, I protected Shin Hye-ri as planned.’

Though the flames from the Magic Bullet swept through the area, Shin Hye-ri was relatively unharmed.

Indeed, it was because Min Do-jun had embraced her with his entire body, becoming a shield.

‘A mere level 700 Magic Bullet can’t harm me at all.’

The damage of a Magic Bullet is twice the user’s level.

So, he had to endure 1,400 damage, but with Min Do-jun’s high health, defense, and fire resistance, it was merely ticklish.

‘The damage itself isn’t that high either.’

It was a level of damage that would be difficult to kill even a werewolf in one hit, so he could unhesitatingly take it with his body.

[You have absorbed the target’s corpse.]

[Your health is recovering.]

Moreover, with his health recovering like this, not even a burn mark could remain on Min Do-jun’s body.

‘Now there’s only one thing left to do.’

While cradling Shin Hye-ri’s head in his arms, Min Do-jun said inwardly.

‘Parasite.’

A green energy entered her head.

[You have planted a parasite in the target’s head.]

[Infected targets: 20/20]

He had planted a Parasite without her noticing.

‘With this, I’ve filled the vacancy.’

The vacancy created by Na Han-gyu’s death was now filled by Shin Hye-ri.

“Are you okay?”

At Min Do-jun’s question, Shin Hye-ri raised her head from where she had buried it.

“Ah…”

Though she felt the hot air on her face, she could tell.

The situation was over, and she was now safe.

“That, that man…?”

There had been two men, so it wasn’t clear who she was referring to, but the answer was easy.

“They’re all dead. The assailant self-destructed with a Magic Bullet.”

“……”

Shin Hye-ri looked around as if to confirm.

As Min Do-jun had said, in the devastated alley, not even corpses remained.

It was a situation where one could imagine how large the explosion had been.

‘To survive in such a situation…’

She couldn’t believe she was alive.

Shin Hye-ri finally emerged from his embrace and looked at Min Do-jun.

The man who had appeared when she thought she was surely dead.

The man who had shielded the explosion with his body in a critical situation.

‘He looks about my age…’

As she examined the man’s face, she realized it was impolite and was startled.

As if this wasn’t the time, she hurriedly bowed her head.

“Th-thank you for saving me.”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

At that question, Shin Hye-ri was momentarily dazed.

‘I should be the one asking if you’re okay…’

Coming to her senses, she said.

“Yes. Thanks to you, I think I’m fine. Are you okay? You were closest to the explosion…”

“I’m fine. By the way…”

Min Do-jun turned his attention to the surroundings.

Judging by the murmuring sounds, people seemed to be coming after hearing the explosion.

“I should go now. I dislike noise.”

“What? But, but if you leave like this…”

“I trust you’ll explain well to the police in my place. Ah, before that, you should go to the hospital. Even if your body seems fine, there might be mental issues, so you should get checked. Well then.”

Leaving only those words behind, as he was about to depart, Shin Hye-ri belatedly called out.

“Excuse me, at least your name…!”

But the man, seemingly skilled even among hunters, disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“Ah…”

Shin Hye-ri looked at the spot where Min Do-jun had disappeared with a gaze filled with regret.

* * *

Thump thump- Thump thump-

Shin Kyung-min’s heart pounded as he visited the hospital.

Indeed, he had heard news as shocking as a bolt from the blue.

‘Kyung-min, go to the hospital quickly. Your sister was attacked by an assailant.’

That news, heard right after conquering an S-rank dungeon, had angered Shin Kyung-min from head to toe.

‘Which bastard…!’

Though he had heard from the Guild Master that there were no injuries, the problem was that she had been exposed to danger.

‘This is why I almost cut off contact with my sister…’

Shin Kyung-min didn’t view this situation as a coincidence.

He judged that someone targeting him had targeted his sister.

After all, the position of rank 1 was as dangerous as it was high.

Bang-

Shin Kyung-min, uncharacteristically agitated, flung open the door to the private room.

“Hye-ri!”

“Oppa?”

Seeing her brother’s face after a month, Shin Hye-ri burst into tears.

“Sob sob, oppa…”

“What’s wrong? Are you in pain? Are you really okay?”

“I, I’m fine. I’m just happy to see your face…”

“Are you really okay?”

“Yes. All the tests are done, and they said I could be discharged today if I wanted.”

Seeing that she didn’t seem injured, he was somewhat relieved, but that didn’t mean his anger had subsided.

“F*ck, who did this to you? I’ll chase them to the ends of hell and kill them.”

“He’s already dead, oppa.”

“What? How?”

Shin Hye-ri calmly explained the circumstances of the incident.

After hearing the whole story, the first thing Shin Kyung-min asked about was the name of the benefactor.

“Who’s this person who saved you?”

“I don’t know either.”

“You don’t know?”

“He said he didn’t like troublesome situations and left immediately. All I know is his face and that he’s a hunter.”

Shin Kyung-min couldn’t hide his surprise at the fact that someone had saved a life and asked for nothing in return.

“To think there’s such a person in this day and age…”

A benefactor who saved a life and left without seeking any reward.

Shin Kyung-min wanted to find him.

Because he had protected his only family.

‘If he wasn’t even scratched by a Magic Bullet, he must be at least an A-rank hunter…’

After some thought, Shin Kyung-min asked his sister.

“What did that person look like? Could you draw a sketch if asked…?”

Shin Kyung-min stopped speaking.

Because his sister was staring blankly at the TV.

“What are you doing?”

“That’s him.”

“What?”

“The person who saved me.”

Turning his gaze to the TV, he saw that the news was showing the Hongdae Street video.

The image of a man massacring rock lizards alone was visible.

It was a man Shin Kyung-min knew well.