Chapter 42 – The Cursed Dagger

Min Do-jun pulled out a cursed dagger.

A special weapon that curses with just a touch.

But Cho Gyu-chan had no way of knowing this.

“Ugh……”

He was too preoccupied with the pain of his severed leg to notice what Min Do-jun was doing.

Swish-

Even when Min Do-jun cut his forearm with the dagger, Cho Gyu-chan showed no particular reaction.

But moments later.

“Urgh… uh?”

He noticed something wrong with his body.

“Uh? Uh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Uh uh? Uh uh…!”

“What are you saying? Say something.”

“Uhhh…..”

While Cho Gyu-chan could only mumble incoherently without answering, Min Do-jun wore an unusually satisfied smile.

‘The curse worked well.’

A helpful notification had appeared.

[You have cast a Curse of Silence on the target.]

[Duration decreases with target’s higher level.]

[Time remaining: 9 minutes 58 seconds]

Though the duration wasn’t even 10 minutes, it was quite useful considering just a small cut could have such an effect.

‘What happens if I cut again?’

Swish!

“Urgh!”

Swish!

“Urghh!”

Though Cho Gyu-chan cried out as if telling him to stop, Min Do-jun kept making cuts.

But contrary to expectations, no new notifications appeared.

‘So it only works once?’

It seemed multiple curses couldn’t be applied.

The duration also kept decreasing without resetting.

To test the dagger further, he needed other subjects.

‘I guess I’ll have to try it on the others.’

Min Do-jun quickly ran to the alley where Bang Dae-sik’s group was.

He left Cho Gyu-chan alive.

‘A man with severed legs won’t be able to escape anyway.’

He could deal with him later.

“Urgh……”

“Hnngg……”

Upon reaching the alley, he heard the groans of those with severed limbs.

‘Good, they’re still alive.’

Though they had lost a lot of blood, none had died yet thanks to their high health.

Min Do-jun approached the nearest one and made a small cut with the dagger.

Slash-

Then.

“Arghhhh!”

Though the cut wasn’t deep, the man screamed as if dying.

Others might have thought he was exaggerating, but Min Do-jun knew better.

[You have cast a Curse of Pain on the target.]

[Time remaining: 16 minutes 49 seconds]

‘A curse that causes continuous pain?’

But the screaming man was already calming down, catching his breath.

Min Do-jun cut him again.

“Arghhh!”

This time he just slightly cut a finger.

“Urghhhh!”

‘Hooh.’

Min Do-jun finally understood the nature of the curse.

‘So it’s a curse that makes even small wounds extremely painful.’

Smiling amusedly, Min Do-jun sought his next target.

Swish-!

[You have cast a Curse of Blindness on the target.]

“What? I can’t see! My eyes! My eyeeees!”

Swish!

[You have cast a Curse of Hallucination on the target.]

“No, stay away, monster! Stay awayyyy!”

After testing various curses, Min Do-jun looked at the remaining person.

Bang Dae-sik involuntarily trembled under that gaze.

“Dae-sik, was it?”

Approaching with an evil smile, Min Do-jun appeared nothing short of a demon to him.

“Why did you have to mess with me? Was breaking your hand back then not enough?”

“Wh-what are you going to do with us……”

“You already know.”

He asked just in case, but as expected.

Bang Dae-sik resigned himself to his fate.

“Fine, kill me……”

“I’m not planning to kill you yet.”

Min Do-jun stabbed Bang Dae-sik’s shoulder with the dagger.

“Urgh!”

“Not until after I finish testing.”

[You have cast a Curse of Petrification on the target.]

[Time remaining: 16 minutes 42 seconds]

Crack-crack-crack-

Suddenly Bang Dae-sik’s body turned grayish-white.

Then he literally became a stone statue.

Just like those big-eared monkeys after hearing the lion’s roar.

‘This is the most overpowered ability.’

If the statue were broken, Bang Dae-sik would surely die.

‘Should I test it?’

Just as he thought there were no more subjects to test the dagger on and had confirmed its effects.

“Police officer! Over here!”

“There are people here!”

The sound of many people running came from beyond the alley.

Someone must have discovered and reported it while Min Do-jun was away.

‘Tch.’

Realizing time was short, Min Do-jun quickly switched to a one-handed sword.

And.

Slash-! Slash! Slash!

Thud- Thud- Thud-

In an instant, he cut three throats and pushed the petrified Bang Dae-sik.

Crash-!

Rumble!

[You have killed Hunter Kim Cheolmin.]

[You have killed Hunter Han Seokhyun.]

[You have killed Hunter Im Suhwan.]

[You have killed Hunter Bang Dae-sik.]

Notifications about killing hunters and obtaining various equipment and characteristics appeared, but there was no time to check.

Getting away was the priority.

“Gasp! What?”

“H-human heads!”

The citizens and police finally arrived at the scene but couldn’t find Min Do-jun.

He was already gone, climbing the hill.

“Urghh!”

Min Do-jun returned to where Cho Gyu-chan was and raised his sword.

Then without hesitation stabbed Cho Gyu-chan in the chest.

Stab-

[You have killed Hunter Cho Gyu-chan.]

Notifications about taking characteristics and equipment appeared but he ignored them and left a mark on Cho Gyu-chan’s chest.

The ‘X’ mark that was Black Sea Guild’s signature.

‘I need to get out of here quickly.’

Min Do-jun escaped the scene by crossing the hill.

There were no CCTV cameras in the alley where it happened, so he didn’t need to worry about being caught as the culprit.

‘To think I, the victim, have to run away……’

Having committed murder, it would be hard to claim self-defense.

Though he ran away knowing this, he couldn’t help feeling wronged.

‘What if I had no power?’

He would have been tortured and had all his equipment and items stolen.

And they would have mercilessly cut his throat to destroy evidence.

‘I would have been the one dying painfully in that cold alley.’

That’s why he felt no guilt about killing five people.

He just felt uneasy about committing murder on his parents’ death anniversary.

‘But even my parents in heaven wouldn’t have liked seeing me suffer horribly at their hands.’

He survived because he had power.

Only power protects oneself.

‘I need to get stronger. Strong enough that no one dares challenge me.’

At just level 666, there was plenty of room to grow.

He had actually gotten stronger from killing the hunters.

‘To think I got five new characteristics……’

It was all thanks to the Hunter Hunter characteristic.

‘So I can steal characteristics and items even from those who aren’t revenge targets.’

Min Do-jun had only killed those he needed revenge on until now.

Though there was the exception of Seok Hocheol, that was mostly the case.

‘I didn’t think much when I killed Seok Ho-cheol, but this confirms it. I can steal characteristics and items just by killing hunters.’

Of course, nowhere in the description did it say only revenge targets’ characteristics could be stolen.

But since it was a characteristic gained after regression, he sometimes wondered if it only applied to revenge targets.

‘But that wasn’t the case. Just as described, I can steal from any hunter.’

The five characteristics and items gained from killing them were proof.

‘None of the items are useful to me, and the characteristics……’

Three of the five characteristics were D-rank.

‘Tough Body, Weapon Sharpening, Fire Resistance.’

Characteristics that increased HP by 10%, weapon damage by 15%, and fire resistance by 20% respectively.

‘Well, not bad.’

It would have been gloomy with just one, but having three helped.

‘And one C-rank.’

[Characteristic – Sturdy Equipment]

-Rank: C

-Description: All equipment defense increases by 10%

The characteristic obtained from Bang Dae-sik wasn’t bad either.

‘The best one must be from the assassin?’

[Characteristic – First Strike Victory]

-Rank: B

-Description: First attack damage is doubled once

A B-rank characteristic obtained from Cho Gyu-chan.

As expected of an assassin, he had a characteristic advantageous for surprise attacks.

‘Though it has the limitations of first strike and one-time use……’

If successful, the doubled damage could secure victory.

‘A characteristic suitable for backstabbing them.’

A perfect characteristic for someone like Min Do-jun who had advantages in first strikes.

‘This makes 11 characteristics now.’

Others might call it nonsense, but it was true.

‘There will be more in the future.’

But for that, he needed to avoid getting caught by police first.

‘Killing outside has high risk. I should be careful until I learn invisibility.’

Concerned about leaving trails, Min Do-jun decided to refrain from killing outside.

* * *

[Four Steel Guild members killed in alley. Dead hunter found on nearby hill. No guild affiliation.]

The middle-aged man reading the newspaper in his office looked at the man standing before him.

“The hunter found dead on the hill was our guild member?”

“Y-yes. A B-rank hunter named Cho Gyu-chan had our guild’s mark on his chest.”

“Our signature on a dead man’s chest? On our guild member’s chest?”

Black Sea Guild leaves their signature when killing targets.

But having their signature on a non-target means……

“Someone’s impersonating us.”

“It seems so. The hunter named Kang Cheol-gyu who died last month also had the mark on his chest. Even though we didn’t kill him. Someone is framing their crimes as ours.”

“Are you sure it’s not an insider?”

“Yes. We investigated but it’s not an insider. They all have clear alibis.”

“How does a non-insider know our guild’s signature?”

“Maybe a victim’s family? Or heard from someone in the Association….. Either way, we suspect someone with a grudge against our guild.”

“Hah, there must be many with grudges. We’ve killed enough to fill dozens of trucks.”

The middle-aged man snorted while lighting a cigarette.

“By the way, who was managing Cho Gyu-chan?”

The man hurriedly bowed his head.

“I-it was me, Guild Master. I’m sorry. It was my fault for failing to manage him. I’ll accept any punishment!”

“Even though our guild values individual play, you should have monitored properly.”

“Y-you’re right. Wise words……”

“But why didn’t you, knowing this?”

“W-well, since he was high level, I gave him some freedom……”

“Isn’t that why this mess happened?”

“Y-yes. I’m sorry.”

“Life sentence. That’s my punishment.”

“Wh-what?”

“Will you appeal?”

“N-no. I’ll accept it!”

Though he said he’d accept it, the man’s face was deathly pale.

“I’ll give you a chance.”

“Pardon?”

“One month. Bring me whoever killed Cho Gyu-chan within that time. Then I’ll clear your crime.”

“Thank you! I’ll definitely catch them no matter what!”

“Of course you should.”

The middle-aged man’s cigarette smoke rose thinly.

* * *

Min Do-jun was reading news articles on his smartphone while waiting in Park Dong-yun’s car.

It was an article about the Steel Guild attack incident.

The article said investigation was struggling due to lack of suspect leads with no CCTV in the area.

‘Fortunately I wasn’t caught.’

Though he had worried about leaving trails, it seemed he could relax now.

‘I was careful enough coming home so no need to worry about getting caught.’

Since he planned to avoid killing outside for a while, there shouldn’t be concerns if he stayed careful.

‘The problem is Black Sea Guild?’

They must have seen Cho Gyu-chan’s corpse and the mark on his chest by now.

‘They must have clearly recognized there’s an impersonator now.’

They’re probably searching desperately for him with burning eyes.

‘That’s enough.’

It was what he wanted.

Making Black Sea Guild recognize the impersonator’s existence and getting them riled up.

That was what Min Do-jun desired.

“Manager, how much waiting time is left?”

“5 minutes left now. Shall we head out?”

Min Do-jun got out of the car and prepared to enter the dungeon.

He had to run the Archaeopteryx dungeon without fail today too.

Alone.

But.

Vrrrrrrm!

With just minutes remaining, a sleek Ferrari entered the parking lot.

‘Damn it……’

Min Do-jun sensed it.

The person inside must be a hunter seeking the same dungeon as him.

‘So much for going in alone.’

Just as he was feeling disappointed.

Click-

A man in his early 20s got out of the car.

And seeing the man’s face, Min Do-jun couldn’t help but be surprised.