Chapter 192 – An Uninvited Guest Who Is Not an Uninvited Guest

Two weeks had passed since Min Do-jun conquered Vampire’s Night.

During that time, Min Do-jun’s routine was simple.

He would spend 12 hours conquering the Spirit Forest, then spend the remaining 12 hours resting at home and sleeping.

By conquering the Spirit Forest once a day like this, he had managed to reach level 2,997.

‘Awkwardly stuck with 3 levels left. It would have been nice to hit exactly level 3,000 before leaving.’

Min Do-jun grumbled, but his expression wasn’t bad.

Three levels was something he could raise with just two rounds of herding monsters in the dungeon.

Since he had just left the dungeon, he would have to wait 12 hours before entering again, but he could wait that long with a happy heart.

[1. Bizarre Tree Elemental]

[2. Bizarre Tree Elemental]

……

…

[9. Bizarre Tree Elemental]

[10. Lee Min-ji]

Min Do-jun, who was examining the list of souls, touched Lee Min-ji’s name.

[Ah…!]

Like a blind person regaining sight, Lee Min-ji let out a voice full of emotion as her darkened vision brightened.

‘It’s been a while since you’ve seen the world, hasn’t it?’

[Yes…]

The last time Min Do-jun had spoken with Lee Min-ji was right before killing Tian Lisheng.

Since then, he hadn’t spoken with her at all, so she wouldn’t have been able to see the world either.

After all, when the conversation is blocked, the vision is blocked too.

[How many days has it been since you called me?]

‘Not even a month.’

[I was so scared, thinking I had been annihilated.]

Min Do-jun couldn’t see Lee Min-ji’s appearance, but he could tell from her voice alone.

That she was deeply relieved not to have been annihilated.

‘You must have a lot of lingering attachments to the world.’

[Of course. I died in the prime of my life, how could I not have lingering attachments?]

‘This is the first time I’ve heard someone in their 30s described as being in the prime of their life.’

[At least my appearance was in my 20s.]

‘You must resent me.’

[To be honest, I do, but it’s all my own doing, isn’t it?]

How unusual for her to pretend to be remorseful.

‘Do you have something to ask me?’

When he asked directly, Lee Min-ji replied in a guilty voice.

[Um… if I ask, will you grant it?]

‘We’ll see.’

[I want to see if my sister is doing well.]

Min Do-jun nodded.

It was what he had expected.

She had adored her sister dearly in life, so it was natural that she would want to see her.

However, Min Do-jun was firm.

‘No.’

[What? But, but you said you would listen…]

‘I can’t grant it for free. Give me information.’

[What kind of information?]

‘Information that would be useful to me.’

Lee Min-ji seemed to be thinking, as she remained silent for a while.

‘Nothing?’

[…I’m sorry. No matter how much I think about it, I don’t have any suitable information…]

‘Justin Walker, Shin Kyung-min, Kang Hyuk-su, Seo Jin-cheol, Choi Woo-hyun, Choi Woo-jin. If you know anything about them, tell me.’

[Those people are all hunters in the top ranks, aren’t they?]

They were also Min Do-jun’s remaining revenge targets.

[What kind of information do you want?]

‘Information not known to the public.’

[I’m sorry. I’ve never heard of or met any of them…]

Disappointment appeared on Min Do-jun’s face.

If this was the case, there was no point in keeping Lee Min-ji’s soul for information.

‘Then I have nothing to offer you either.’

[Ah…]

With those words, Min Do-jun blocked the conversation.

‘She’s not helpful at all.’

Shaking his head, Min Do-jun stopped by the guild office.

He occasionally visited to clean and prevent dust from accumulating in the empty office, and today was one of those days.

‘But I don’t just come here to clean.’

While personal dungeons were fine, on days when he officially ran dungeons, he had to access the computer in the office to record it in the system.

He had also visited the office to handle administrative work after returning from the Vampire’s Night dungeon.

‘Plus, I need to use the office computer to look up the next S-rank dungeon…’

The office wasn’t completely idle.

‘Still, it’s a bit troublesome. If only there was someone who could do it for me…’

Suddenly, he remembered someone who had wanted to join the guild.

Park Dong-yun from the Ilsan branch, who had been his handler.

But Min Do-jun shook his head to dismiss the thought.

‘I can’t call my handler just to handle some chores.’

Another reason he didn’t call anyone was that there wasn’t much work to do to justify hiring someone.

Slurp-

After finishing cleaning, Min Do-jun stood by the window and drank his coffee.

As he was enjoying the view of the Han River, he turned his head toward the door.

‘Who could it be?’

His presence detection radar picked up two people approaching.

Sure enough.

Knock knock-

Two people peeked their heads into the office.

“Hello. Is this the Guardian Guild?”

The first person who entered was an unfamiliar face.

But Min Do-jun could identify his name through weakness detection.

‘Kim Pil-young? Who is that?’

It was a name he had never heard before, even in his past life.

However, the person who entered after him was someone Min Do-jun knew well from before his regression.

‘Choi Woo-jin?’

A build comparable to Kang Hyuk-su, who was ranked 2nd.

A man with a fierce appearance and tattoos visible here and there that made him look more threatening than a gangster.

‘He was suspected of being an ex-gangster, wasn’t he?’

Moreover, he and his brother were also targets of Min Do-jun’s revenge.

‘The Choi Woo-jin and Choi Woo-hyun brothers. The twin brothers I need to take revenge on.’

The image of Choi Woo-jin chopping his shoulder with an axe and Choi Woo-hyun burning his body with magic appeared like a mirage before disappearing.

‘I was wondering how to find them, and they come to me on their own.’

Min Do-jun briefly lowered his head and smiled imperceptibly.

‘How fortunate.’

When he raised his head again, the smile had vanished from his face.

Only a wary expression remained as he faced the two strangers.

“Are you Hunter Min Do-jun?”

“Who are you?”

“I’m an A-rank hunter named Kim Pil-young. Level 2,987, soon to become an S-rank hunter.”

He didn’t appear to be here to join the guild.

Weakness detection already showed that he belonged to another guild.

‘Lee Min-ji.’

[Ah!]

Min Do-jun touched the soul list to call her.

Hoping she might be of some use.

‘Do you know anything about this guy?’

The person Min Do-jun was referring to was Kim Pil-young.

Since he was with Choi Woo-jin, one of his revenge targets, he needed to gather information about him.

[I know him!]

Fortunately, Lee Min-ji knew about Kim Pil-young.

[Kim Pil-young used to be a gangster. He seems to have cleaned up his image and is doing well now.]

‘How do you know that?’

[I chatted with him a few times when we were in a party together. He was hitting on me and bragging about how he used to handle knives in the past.]

At that moment, Kim Pil-young interrupted.

“Are you checking my ranking? Why? Do you think I’m lying?”

He must have thought Min Do-jun was checking his ranking when he touched the soul list.

Min Do-jun ignored him and spoke to Lee Min-ji.

‘Continue.’

[No, I don’t want to. This is rare information I know, I can’t give it away for free.]

‘…’

As Min Do-jun remained silent, Kim Pil-young, seemingly displeased, said:

“When someone asks you a question, you should answer.”

“So what’s your business?”

When Min Do-jun spoke with cold eyes, Kim Pil-young raised his chin and looked at him with an unpleasant gaze.

“Tsk, a guest comes and you don’t even offer them a seat…”

“What’s your business?”

The reason Min Do-jun was being so cold was simple.

He could intuitively sense that the other party had come with impure intentions.

“Fine. Let’s skip the pleasantries and get to the point.”

Kim Pil-young’s tone and expression changed.

He had taken off his mask.

“Originally, I was supposed to be the twentieth S-rank hunter in Korea, you know? But because you’ve been rising so quickly, I’m about to be pushed to twenty-first.”

“…”

“Well, that’s fine. But the problem is that an advertising company I contracted with, thinking I would be the twentieth S-rank, has filed a complaint. How would you feel in my position?”

“…”

“It’s frustrating, right? These bastards are trying to control me, someone who’s about to become an S-rank, with just a piece of paper. But what can I do? There’s no legal issue.”

“…”

“I’d like to beat them all to death if I could. But the world isn’t that easy, and as humans, we have to abide by the law, right?”

“Your tongue is long. Just get to the point.”

Since the other side had dropped formalities first, Min Do-jun responded in kind.

At this, a flash of killing intent briefly appeared in Kim Pil-young’s eyes.

“Ha, right. I’m the one asking for a favor, so I should be patient.”

After taking a deep breath, Kim Pil-young continued.

“To get to the point, I’d like you, Hunter Min Do-jun, to stop hunting until I become an S-rank. Until I become the twentieth S-rank. That way, we can resolve this issue peacefully without anyone getting hurt.”

“Do you think I would agree to that?”

“That’s why I’m here to ask. Just hold off for ten days. Then I’ll quickly become an S-rank and mention your name as someone who helped me during interviews…”

“I don’t want to.”

“What?”

Despite his long-winded speech, Min Do-jun’s answer was brief.

“I said I don’t want to.”

“Think carefully before…”

“Enough. There’s nothing more to hear. Get out.”

At Min Do-jun’s dismissal, Kim Pil-young’s face turned as red as a volcano about to erupt.

“You bastard, I tried to be nice, but it seems you don’t understand the situation…”

As Kim Pil-young looked to the side, Choi Woo-jin stepped forward as if on cue.

His massive frame, standing over 190cm with bulging muscles, was intimidating to anyone.

But for Min Do-jun, who could see through weakness detection, it only elicited a sneer.

“What is this, the 1980s? What era do you think we’re in, trying to intimidate with size?”

Size means nothing in front of a hunter.

However, Kim Pil-young sneered, suggesting they hadn’t just relied on size.

“You probably don’t know, but he’s also a hunter. And an S-rank hunter at that.”

“I know. Choi Woo-jin. Level 3,220 hunter.”

Surprised that Min Do-jun recognized him, both men widened their eyes.

“How did you know?”

“Aren’t you famous as twin hunters? Your brother is Choi Woo-hyun.”

“But you should be seeing my face for the first time?”

While names might have been publicized through various media, faces had never been revealed.

“I have my ways of knowing.”

“Could it be that you have an acquaintance in the organization…”

“Hey, hey.”

Kim Pil-young hastily nudged Choi Woo-jin with his arm.

It was a signal to stop saying unnecessary things.

Kim Pil-young’s gaze returned to Min Do-jun.

Seeing him, he noticed that Min Do-jun didn’t look intimidated at all.

‘He knows who we are and still acts so confident?’

No matter how strong Min Do-jun was, he was still only A-rank.

He shouldn’t be a match for Choi Woo-jin, who was S-rank with a combat power exceeding 700,000.

With that thought, they had come to intimidate him, but for some reason, this hunter named Min Do-jun was waving his hand dismissively as if annoyed.

“I’ll let you leave, so just go. Don’t rely on your size to act tough.”

“Size? Do you think I’m just relying on my size right now?”

Choi Woo-jin glared with narrow eyes and reached for Min Do-jun’s shoulder.

He intended to grab his shoulder to demonstrate his strength, but before he could, Min Do-jun caught his wrist.

“Where do you think you’re putting your dirty hand?”

“Eek…!”

Insulted, Choi Woo-jin’s face contorted before shifting to a bewildered expression.

Finding this strange, Kim Pil-young whispered:

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“…”

Choi Woo-jin’s failure to pull his wrist away seemed odd to Kim Pil-young, but he didn’t realize.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t pulling away, but that he couldn’t pull away.