Chapter 35 – Ghost Wolf

Before meeting Kang Cheol-gyu, Min Do-jun stopped by the hunter wholesale market first.

‘I need to prepare thoroughly to deal with him.’

Kang Cheol-gyu’s current level was 550.

A month ago it was around 500, but it had already increased by 50 levels.

‘That guy’s growth rate is not ordinary.’

Of course, it was nothing compared to his own.

“Welcome!”

Min Do-jun, who frequently visited the store, scanned the weapons.

‘This looks good.’

[Long Sword Glowing with Magic Power]

-Category: Weapon

-Grade: C

-Attack Power: 450~520

-Effect: Magic Power +34

-Durability: 3,400/3,400

-Usage Restriction: Level 500 or higher

-Description: A long sword imbued with magic power. The blade always glows with a blue light.

It was a weapon with a magic power option that he always purchased.

Not just that, but helmets, armor, shoes, necklaces, etc.

He chose everything with magic power options to match level 500.

When he piled them all on the counter, the merchant’s mouth stretched to his ears.

“How much is it all?”

“280 million won, sir!”

After coolly completing the payment and turning around, the merchant bowed 90 degrees.

“Thank you always, sir! Please come again!”

Min Do-jun, who had sold his equipped gear and looted items, returned home and took out a skill book from his inventory.

‘Now I can finally use this.’

Ghost Wolf Summon skill book.

He was finally learning it now, after keeping it in his inventory because of the level 500 requirement.

‘Learn.’

[The skill slot is full. Would you like to remove a skill and learn this one?]

‘Learn it. Remove Charge Lightning.’

As the skill book disappeared with a flash of light, the B-grade summoning skill took the place of the D-grade Charge Lightning.

‘Summon Ghost Wolf.’

As soon as he uttered the activation phrase, a wolf appeared with a flash of light.

But it was too small to be called a wolf.

‘…A puppy?’

The ghost wolf Min Do-jun knew was large and majestic, but the wolf summoned before his eyes was rather cute.

‘Ah, is it because it’s B-grade?’

He thought it might be because of the skill’s low grade.

‘The one I saw was an S-grade ghost wolf.’

[Awoooo!]

The howling wolf wagged its tail and looked at Min Do-jun.

‘The size is definitely puppy-level, but…’

Its transparent, ghost-like appearance was the ghost wolf Min Do-jun knew.

‘Summon Info.’

[Ghost Wolf]

-Name: None (needs to be set)

-Level: 1

-Grade: B

-Combat Power: 0 (unmeasured)

-Strength: 3, Stamina: 3, Agility: 3

-Unallocated Stats: 0

-Characteristics: Ghostification, Bond

-Skills: Tracking, Fierce Attack

One characteristic of summons is their level.

They share a certain percentage of experience when defeating monsters with their master and level up.

Therefore, they start weak at level 1 but gradually become stronger as they are raised.

‘That’s why people are reluctant to use them.’

Most skills can deal strong damage as soon as they’re learned, but summoning skills require raising levels to a certain point before they can deal damage.

Because of this drawback, people don’t bother with the effort of raising summons.

‘But once they pass level 1,500, summons become stronger than most A-grade skills. Even a ghost wolf can pull its weight after passing level 500.’

However, since no one raises them that far, the strength of summons was not yet known.

‘There’s no need to raise it urgently right now. What I want are just the characteristics and skills the summon has.’

Min Do-jun checked the ghost wolf’s characteristics.

[Characteristic – Ghostification]

-Description: The summon is permanently invisible and can pass through objects and walk on air. Deactivates when attacking (cannot attack while passing through objects).

[Characteristic – Bond]

-Description: Can carry out all orders through thought alone and increases the master’s magic power by 10% of the summon’s level.

Most summons only have one characteristic.

‘But the ghost wolf has two.’

Moreover, the effects of the characteristics were better than imagined.

‘Magic power increases by 10% of the summon’s level.’

This alone was reason enough to raise the summon.

‘And the tracking skill the summon has.’

This was the biggest reason Min Do-jun coveted the ghost wolf.

‘This will be a great help in finding Kang Cheol-gyu.’

Min Do-jun, who was grinning, suddenly made an agonized expression.

It was because he had to name the summon.

‘It would be easier to give orders if it had a name…’

Min Do-jun, who was pondering a suitable name, looked at the ghost wolf.

[Awoooo!]

“Alright. Your name is Au.”

It seemed somewhat hastily chosen, but an easy and simple name to call would be good for giving quick orders.

[The ghost wolf’s name has been set to ‘Au’.]

After naming it, Min Do-jun tried giving an order.

‘Au, do a somersault!’

The ghost wolf flipped once in the air exactly as he thought.

‘Au, come here!’

This time it flew through the air to the desired position.

‘The response speed is faster than I thought.’

At this rate, there shouldn’t be any issues with slow responses getting in the way.

‘Now what’s left is…’

Min Do-jun, who had finished preparing, made a call somewhere.

* * *

The sales team leader of the Wanted Guild had been having a headache recently.

It was none other than because of Min Do-jun.

‘How long has it been since we bribed him, and still no response?’

A month ago, the team leader had the new employee Chae So-hyun deliver a bribe.

It was a 100 million won low-grade random box.

It was a bribe prepared with the guild master’s permission, but.

‘I can’t believe he’d just take such an expensive thing and keep his mouth shut.’

He didn’t expect it wouldn’t work.

‘Should I have given something more expensive?’

The team leader shook his head.

‘No. He must be hesitating because he happened to receive the same gift on the same day.’

He heard that the Hunter Management Center had given the same random box.

‘Even so, no bite for a month means it’s a bust, right?’

He sighed and tried to think of other methods, but no good ideas came to mind.

‘Maybe he just doesn’t like guilds themselves…’

According to rumors, Hunter Min Do-jun dislikes belonging to any organization.

That’s why it’s said he rejected all the love calls from dozens of guilds.

‘If that’s the case, there’s no answer, no answer at all.’

Is that why?

Wooong-

The team leader didn’t have much expectation for Chae So-hyun’s call.

“What is it?”

-Team leader. Hunter Min Do-jun…

“What? Did he cause some trouble?”

-He says he wants to visit our guild.

“What?”

The team leader stood up as if a spark had fallen on his bottom.

“Really?”

-Yes.

“T-then go and bring him right away.”

-I’m already on my way.

“Good. Well done!”

A smile finally appeared on the team leader’s face as he ended the call.

‘Finally got a bite!’

He hurriedly left his seat to report this fact to the guild master.

* * *

Min Do-jun was waiting for someone in front of his house.

Soon after, a Carnival stopped in front of him.

The window rolled down and a beautiful woman with short hair smiled.

“Hello, Hunter.”

It was Chae So-hyun from the Wanted Guild.

“Get in for now.”

As Min Do-jun got in the back seat, Chae So-hyun spoke while driving.

“It’s been a while. A month, right?”

“Probably.”

“I was waiting for when you’d contact us, but I didn’t expect it to be today.”

“I’ve been a bit busy lately.”

“Anyway, thank you for contacting us.”

Min Do-jun inwardly smirked at those words.

‘Anyone watching would think I’m going to sign a contract.’

Min Do-jun had only said he would visit, not mentioning anything about a contract.

But Chae So-hyun already looked elated as if she had secured a contract.

‘Well, this is the natural reaction.’

It’s only natural to think positively when a man who had been rejecting other guilds and putting up walls suddenly expressed intention to visit.

But Min Do-jun had absolutely no intention of contracting with the Wanted Guild.

‘Their management style doesn’t suit me, and it’s still too early for me to join a guild.’

Above all, he didn’t want to join a guild where Kang Cheol-gyu was.

‘I can’t say such things directly.’

Min Do-jun didn’t want to break Chae So-hyun’s misunderstanding.

Because that would be more advantageous for him.

After that, they spent time chatting about everyday things, and soon arrived at their destination.

“We’re here.”

As they got out of the car and approached the building, a man welcomed them with open arms.

“Welcome, Hunter Min Do-jun! Welcome to the Wanted Guild.”

He was the guild master of the Wanted Guild, a civilian greedy for money.

“Our guild has a curriculum honed by over 4 years of know-how and solid financial power…”

Min Do-jun let it go in one ear and out the other.

As it was a place he had once been a part of, there was nothing he didn’t know about the Wanted Guild.

“Ah, what am I doing keeping a guest standing… Let’s go into the office and have some tea while we talk…”

“I’d like to look around the facilities first.”

“Oh, is that so? I’ll have our manager guide you through that part. Min-ho!”

“Yes!”

A neatly dressed male manager bowed to Min Do-jun.

“Hello! I’m Manager Seong Min-ho. This way please!”

Min Do-jun followed the manager to look around the guild’s interior.

As expected of a major guild, the facilities were certainly several times better than the Platinum Guild he had seen before.

“This is the lounge, and here’s the smoking room…”

He nodded appropriately while letting the manager’s explanations go in one ear and out the other.

He was already familiar with the building’s structure and facilities.

‘It’s strange though.’

Min Do-jun glanced at the manager who was explaining enthusiastically.

‘I’ve been bringing the summon along all this time, but no one has noticed.’

In fact, he had summoned the ghost wolf before getting into Chae So-hyun’s car.

But perhaps because it was invisible, no one had discovered the ghost wolf sitting on his head.

‘Now that I’ve confirmed Au can’t be seen…’

It was time to start taking action.

“This is the fitness room. There are shower facilities next door, and a large locker room is provided like this, so hunters often use…”

As Min Do-jun nodded and looked around, he searched for Kang Cheol-gyu’s name.

Noting it, he followed the manager to the next location and ordered:

‘Au, go to the fitness room we saw earlier.’

[Woof-!]

The ghost wolf on his head flew through the air.

Passing straight through the wall, it arrived in an instant.

‘Go into Kang Cheol-gyu’s locker there and use the tracking skill.’

Following the instructions, it entered Kang Cheol-gyu’s locker and used the skill.

[Your summon has used the tracking skill.]

[Your summon has memorized the scent.]

[Tracking location in real-time.]

Hearing the notification, Min Do-jun inwardly smiled in satisfaction.

‘It’s over.’

[Skill – Tracking]

-Description: Memorizes the target’s scent and tracks their location in real-time. Can track one scent or similar scents.

‘With the tracking skill, I can find Kang Cheol-gyu anytime.’

This was Min Do-jun’s reason for visiting the guild.

‘Just memorize the scent in the locker room full of sweat smell and it’s done.’

There was no need to even meet Kang Cheol-gyu.

Once the scent is memorized, the same scent can be found anytime, anywhere.

‘That’s the terrifying part of the ghost wolf.’

Memorizing the scent meant it could be tracked until death.