Chapter 41 – Criminal Conspiracy

The Steel Guild is an ordinary guild that’s been around for about 3 years.

Bang Dae-sik and three other hunters were founding members and the strongest hunters there.

“Dae-sik! What happened to your hand?”

“It’s nothing.”

But the guild’s pride, Bang Dae-sik, appeared with a cast on his hand.

This happened to Dae-sik, who was second to none in strength and sturdiness!

“Tell me what happened!”

“Ah, I just got injured while hunting.”

“Nothing else happened?”

“No, nothing.”

Despite the guild master’s interrogation, Dae-sik insisted he was just injured while hunting.

It was a secret from everyone else.

‘I can’t tell them I lost in grip strength to a level 500 hunter, how embarrassing.’

He could only be honest with the team members who were there at the time.

“Dae-sik, how’s your hand?”

“Sigh, damn it.”

“Huh?”

“No, just thinking about spending over 30 million won at the hospital makes me mad.”

“Still, you’re lucky. What if there hadn’t been a healing ability awakener at the hospital? You could’ve lived with one hand for the rest of your life.”

“But it cost so much money!”

Dae-sik was particularly greedy for money.

“Ah, just thinking about losing 200 million really pisses me off…”

“Sigh… I feel the same way about losing money.”

“I can’t let this go like this.”

Dae-sik was also quite proud.

“Let’s get that b*st*rd.”

“What?”

“Let’s beat him up and take all his items. Get our money back too.”

“Even so…”

“Hey, aren’t you angry? Are we just going to take this?”

“Sigh… Wait. Let’s discuss this with the others.”

Dae-sik gathered the team members who were defeated by Min Do-jun and persuaded them.

Though he thought it would be difficult to convince them, surprisingly, the team members nodded easily.

“Yeah, let’s do as you say.”

“I want my money back too.”

So the four people, including Dae-sik, plotted to lynch Min Do-jun.

“How should we do it?”

“First, we need to tail him and wait until he’s alone. Then we strike when we get the chance.”

“But this Min Do-jun, I heard he’s quite famous in the industry.”

“Yeah, there are rumors he solo cleared Armored Mantis and Tarantula King.”

“Can we subdue him with just us? He cleared the dungeon faster than our team of four.”

The team members’ concerns were natural.

They could tell Min Do-jun was strong just by looking at Dae-sik’s hand.

But Dae-sik was confident.

“Don’t worry. I know this guy who used to be a gangster, he’s over level 1,000 now. He’s an assassin. If we pay him, he’ll definitely help us.”

“Really? Level 1,000?”

“That’s reassuring.”

The relieved team members began tailing Min Do-jun at the Ilsan branch he frequented.

But despite following him for days, they couldn’t find an opportunity.

“Sigh, with the manager staying with him all day, we can’t get a chance.”

“Yeah. What kind of guy just runs dungeons without taking any days off?”

They needed to catch him alone, but Min Do-jun only ran dungeons with his handler from morning till late night.

A month passed like this.

“Dae-sik. It’s your turn to tail him today?”

“Yeah.”

“How’s your hand? Cast is off.”

“It’s fine now.”

“Good luck. Probably nothing will happen today either.”

“Right.”

Dae-sik followed Min Do-jun without much expectation.

Then the opportunity came.

Min Do-jun went to a columbarium alone after finishing a dungeon.

“Everyone, gather! Today’s our chance!”

After alerting his team members, Dae-sik urgently called someone.

“Hyung, it’s me.”

-Yes, Dae-sik. Speak.

“Today’s the day.”

-Okay. Tell me the location and I’ll prepare and come.

So Dae-sik and his team members waited for their chance.

And they managed to corner Min Do-jun in a deserted alley.

Everything was going according to plan.

‘But…’

For some reason, that annoying b*st*rd showed no signs of fear.

Rather.

‘He’s smiling?’

He was smiling for some reason.

“Ha, look at this guy?”

Feeling looked down upon, Dae-sik stepped forward with a threatening expression.

“Hey, you know us right?”

“Of course I do. Aren’t you the losers who lost the bet last time?”

“Ha! This b*st*rd is not only smiling but taunting us?”

Dae-sik menacingly waved the sword he drew.

“Can’t you read the situation even seeing this? Don’t you realize what situation you’re in?”

“I know. You’re trying to get revenge for losing the bet last time.”

“You understand well. But you can still smile in this situation? Are we that insignificant to you?”

“Yes, you are.”

As he smiled again while saying that, veins popped on Dae-sik’s forehead.

“Haa, this b*st*rd got completely full of himself just because he broke my hand once.”

“Should I cower then? In front of bugs who aren’t even worth that?”

“You son of a-!”

“Stop!”

At the sudden shout, Dae-sik who was about to charge flinched and stopped.

When Min Do-jun turned around, an unfamiliar man appeared silently from thin air.

It was the assassin hired by Dae-sik.

‘As expected, he was in stealth.’

Min Do-jun had already sensed his presence earlier.

Stealth skills didn’t work on stronger opponents after all.

‘Which means my combat power is higher than his.’

That’s why he pretended not to notice despite detecting him.

To deceive the enemy.

“Don’t fall for his provocation, Dae-sik. That’s what he’s aiming for.”

“H-hyung! But if you reveal yourself like this, the surprise attack…”

“Don’t worry. He’s weaker than me so we don’t need a surprise attack.”

The assassin was confident.

‘Seeing how he passed by without noticing me in stealth right in front of him, it’s certain.’

That Min Do-jun’s combat power was lower than his.

“There was… one more?”

Min Do-jun put on a surprised expression as if he hadn’t known and carefully observed the man.

[Jo Gyu-chan]

-Description: Hunter born in 1995. Currently level 1002. Belongs to Black Sea Guild and his class is Assassin.

-Combat style: Stealth followed by throat slitting. When not in stealth, detonates explosives then uses shadow assault for vital point attacks.

-Weaknesses: Monotonous attack patterns. Weak in direct confrontation. Always avoids strong opponents.

Information about the assassin appeared due to his characteristic.

Having experienced it through Dae-sik and other hunters before, it wasn’t surprising.

However.

‘Black Sea Guild?’

The fact that the assassin before him was from Black Sea Guild was quite surprising.

‘Perfect.’

It seemed he could send a message to Black Sea Guild through him.

Min Do-jun smiled inwardly as he quickly equipped his hunter gear.

Seeing this, Dae-sik let out a mocking laugh.

“You crazy b*st*rd. You should be begging for your life but you still want to fight?”

“Weren’t you planning to kill me anyway?”

“If you quietly hand over our money and your equipment, we might change our minds.”

“You think I’ll give them to you?”

“If you don’t give them up, you’ll have to die.”

At Dae-sik’s words, the team members beside him whispered.

“Dae-sik… we’re not really going to kill him, right?”

“Of course we are.”

“What? Weren’t we just going to subdue him with our fists?”

Dae-sik snickered at those words.

“This idiot’s talking nonsense. How do you subdue a hunter with just fists? You think he’ll quietly hand over his equipment like that? We need to cut off his limbs one by one and torture him to make him give them up.”

“…”

“Wake up, idiots. Did you think robbery would be that easy? If this b*st*rd reports us, we’re finished that day. We either kill him to shut him up or cut off his tongue and limbs so he can’t report us. Got it?”

Not having thought that far, there was unrest among the team members.

Min Do-jun cut in after hearing what Dae-sik said.

“That guy’s right. If I survive, I’ll report all of you to the police.”

“…!”

“So choose quickly. Fight or not.”

The team members struggled with Min Do-jun’s words.

But only briefly.

Shing-

They each drew their weapons and glared at Min Do-jun with murderous eyes.

They realized that at this point, blood had to be spilled.

‘Yes. That’s how you should react so I can kill you without hesitation.’

Seeing Min Do-jun smirk, Dae-sik wore an expression of incomprehension.

‘This b*st*rd can still smile in this situation? He even provoked our guys to fight. Is he sane?’

He couldn’t understand what gave him such confidence.

But seeing Min Do-jun instantly move to cut off a team member’s arm, he understood.

That his confidence wasn’t just bluff.

“Arghhhh!”

Slash!

“Aaaagh!”

‘Take out the small fry quickly.’

Slash! Slash!

“Y-you b*st*rd!”

Seeing him rush in and cut off the team members’ limbs in the blink of an eye, a flustered Dae-sik called out his skill.

‘Tornado Blade!’

Dae-sik’s sword spun in a whirlwind and thrust straight toward Min Do-jun.

Min Do-jun tried to twist his body to dodge but.

‘Huh?’

He couldn’t move as he wanted, caught in the wind generated by the sword.

Clang!

Though forced to take the hit, he wasn’t wounded thanks to his mana skin and ancient armor.

Instead, Min Do-jun who closed the distance swung his sword and cut off both of Dae-sik’s wrists.

“Arghhhh!”

Then he cut one ankle too, making him fall to the ground.

‘Why… why is he so strong?’

Dae-sik couldn’t understand how he was being defeated so helplessly.

‘I’m wearing hunter equipment just like him…’

So why couldn’t his attacks even scratch him while the other cut through like tofu?

The answer was simple.

Min Do-jun’s damage was overwhelmingly higher.

“Urghh…”

“Hnnghh…”

The situation was resolved in less than 20 seconds.

Only Min Do-jun remained standing in the dark alley.

Dae-sik and his team members all had their limbs cut off and were only letting out pained groans.

Except for one person.

‘The assassin is gone.’

The Black Sea Guild assassin was nowhere to be seen even after looking around.

He wasn’t hiding with stealth.

Unlike before, he couldn’t be detected.

‘I expected this and had my brother track his scent.’

Min Do-jun followed the tracking skill and ran.

* * *

‘Bang Dae-sik, you crazy b*st*rd!’

After seeing Min Do-jun fight, Jo Gyu-chan immediately regretted accepting Dae-sik’s request.

‘How is that level 666?’

He didn’t even use any special skills.

Yet the others fell like autumn leaves just from him swinging his sword with a single buff.

‘How high is his attack power to cut down a level 800 in one strike…’

His movements were nimble too.

Not far behind his own agility which approached 700.

‘Something went terribly wrong.’

He’d heard the guy was strong for his level but this was different if he was stronger than himself.

‘Running away is the best option.’

With their limbs cut off, Dae-sik’s group was done for.

It would be wise to save his own life rather than try to help them.

Who would take responsibility if he got injured trying to save them?

‘Good thing I judged quickly. I bought time to escape…’

Jo Gyu-chan thought Min Do-jun wouldn’t be able to track him.

Since he was fleeing through the mountains rather than normal roads.

‘But what’s this presence… gasp!’

When Jo Gyu-chan happened to turn his head, he could see Min Do-jun charging at frightening speed.

And the flame gust flying toward him too.

Whoosh-!

“Ugh!”

Just as Jo Gyu-chan dodged with his high assassin agility and was about to sigh in relief.

Bang!

“Guhk!”

Not expecting it to change direction on its own, he was hit by the flame gust and fell flat.

Thanks to that, Min Do-jun was able to easily catch Jo Gyu-chan.

“You shouldn’t run away.”

Slash!

“Arghhhh!”

Jo Gyu-chan screamed as both his legs were cut off.

Regardless, Min Do-jun put away his one-handed sword and took out another weapon.

It was a dagger with an ominous purple aura swirling around it.

“Let me try you first.”