Chapter 91 – Lee Se-yun

There was no time to react.

The sword his younger brother swung had already sunk into Lee Se-yun’s shoulder.

*Slash!*

“Argh! Aaaagh!”

Pain surged as his arm was severed entirely.

But this wasn’t the time to scream.

Instinctively, Se-yun equipped his hunter gear and retreated.

Alarms blared incessantly in his mind.

Staying close meant death.

“Damn it… Who are you?”

Se-yun couldn’t believe the person before him was his younger brother.

Though the face resembled his brother, he was certain it was someone else.

Never mind where he’d gotten the sword—no ordinary person could possess the strength to cut down a hunter.

‘Wait, that sword…’

The flickering blade looked familiar.

He’d seen it somewhere before.

“Could it be… Min Do-jun?”

“Got it right.”

The younger brother’s face twisted into a smirk, then began to change.

“Gasp!”

Se-yun gasped as he saw the face transform into that of Min Do-jun.

‘He can change his face at will…?’

He’d never heard of such a skill before.

He couldn’t even tell if it was a skill or an item.

Of course, what shocked him more was the fact that Min Do-jun had attacked him.

“So… you really are Min Do-jun?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Though he still doubted due to the face-changing ability, hearing the voice confirmed it was indeed Min Do-jun.

‘So that’s why he seemed taller…’

He also realized why Min Do-jun had been so silent earlier.

‘He must’ve been afraid of revealing his identity…’

Realizing this too late, Se-yun glared at him.

Though he’d tried hard to reconcile, there was no way he could view someone who attacked him favorably now.

“Was it you who texted me pretending to be my brother?”

“Yeah.”

Judging from their text exchange, the phone clearly belonged to his younger brother.

‘He must’ve stolen it from school.’

If he had an invisibility skill, stealing it wouldn’t have been difficult.

“…Why?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why lure me here?”

“What a stupid question. Obviously, to kill you.”

Se-yun bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.

Blood continued pouring from the stump of his severed arm.

He still couldn’t adapt to the sight of Min Do-jun smiling menacingly at him.

“But why…? Why are you trying to kill me? Is this about the skill book? Are you seriously trying to kill me just because I blocked you from getting a skill book!?”

His voice cracked with frustration, but Min Do-jun found it absurdly amusing.

“If anyone heard this, they’d think I’m the villain.”

“You are, you bastard!”

“A moment ago, there was trash here planning to kill his younger brother… Where did he go?”

“T-that was just talk! Do you think I’d actually kill my brother…!”

“You would. You’re more than capable of doing that.”

“What do you even know about me!?”

As Se-yun shouted furiously, Min Do-jun sneered coldly.

“I know enough—that you’re trash who’ll get in my way in the future.”

With that, he swapped his sword for a violet dagger from his inventory.

“I’ll take my time playing with you.”

Min Do-jun charged with the cursed dagger in hand.

Even though Se-yun was a level 2,200 hunter, having lost an arm made proper resistance impossible.

‘Especially since I cut off the arm he uses for wielding weapons.’

The outcome was already decided.

Having observed Se-yun’s combat style during their dungeon run proved invaluable.

“Don’t underestimate me!”

Se-yun tried thrusting with a rapier in his unfamiliar left hand but—

Min Do-jun dodged swiftly and slashed at Se-yun’s forearm with the dagger.

At that moment, Se-yun’s skin turned golden and—

*Shhhk*

‘…What?’

A sharp pain shot through Min Do-jun’s own forearm as if he’d cut himself.

Chapter 91. Lee Se-yun

As expected, a long gash appeared on Min Do-jun’s forearm.

Meanwhile, the spot where the dagger had grazed Lee Se-yun’s arm remained unscathed.

‘It reflects attacks…?’

Even with his knowledge of the future 10 years ahead, Min Do-jun had never heard of a reflection skill.

‘Or is it a trait?’

Whether it was a skill or a trait, one thing was clear—the golden skin reflected attacks when activated.

The proof was the wound on his own arm, even though the dagger hadn’t touched him.

And the accompanying messages confirmed it.

[Cannot inflict a curse.]

[Curse nullified.]

If not for Gil Chung-su’s Debuff Nullification trait, he would have been cursed, and the situation would have turned dire.

‘So he was hiding this ability.’

It didn’t seem to be an automatic ability.

If it were, his arm wouldn’t have been severed during the surprise attack.

‘He must activate it manually at the right moment.’

In a way, it was fortunate that the surprise attack had succeeded.

If he’d given Se-yun time to react or attacked openly, it might have been Min Do-jun’s arm that was severed instead.

Holding his rapier confidently moments ago, Se-yun suddenly turned and fled.

Having no chance of winning, he chose to run.

‘As expected.’

Min Do-jun sheathed his dagger and drew his ghost sword.

*Whoosh*

He hurled a fireball at the fleeing Se-yun.

Though startled by the fireball when he glanced back, Se-yun didn’t dodge.

Instead, he leaned into the fireball as if welcoming it.

He intended to use his reflection ability again.

‘I knew you’d do that.’

But Min Do-jun had already figured out his trick.

As soon as Se-yun’s body turned golden, Min Do-jun redirected the fireball mid-flight.

“What?”

Not expecting magic to change direction, Se-yun let out an involuntary sound.

Moments later, his golden skin reverted to its normal color.

‘Now.’

Judging that Se-yun couldn’t use the ability consecutively, Min Do-jun unleashed Fire Blast without hesitation.

*BOOM!*

“Argh!”

Engulfed in flames, Se-yun collapsed backward.

Closing the distance quickly, Min Do-jun drove his sword into Se-yun’s chest.

*Squelch*

“Guh!”

Blood spurted from Se-yun’s mouth as his movements gradually ceased.

[You have killed Hunter Lee Se-yun.]

[You have stolen the Reflection trait.]

[You have stolen 14 pieces of equipment.]

[You have stolen 19 skill books.]

[You have stolen 4 collectibles.]

Without even using his full strength, a level 2,200 A-rank hunter was dead.

A somewhat anticlimactic end.

‘This was much easier than fighting Kim Peter.’

Of course—it was inevitable since he’d started by severing an arm.

Moreover, while Kim Peter had higher combat power than him, Lee Se-yun did not.

Though it felt too easy, things could have gotten dangerous due to the Reflection trait if he’d been careless.

‘I need to clean up quickly and leave this place.’

Even though it was a remote mountain area, there was always a chance of witnesses appearing.

The noise from their fight wasn’t exactly quiet either.

Fortunately, there was no need to worry about leaving evidence behind.

[You have absorbed the target’s corpse.]

[Health restored.]

Just like that, Lee Se-yun’s body disappeared completely thanks to his trait.

Even the wound on Min Do-jun’s forearm from earlier healed cleanly thanks to Life Recovery.

‘As long as I deal with what’s left, there won’t be any problems.’

*Crunch* *Crunch*

Min Do-jun crushed Lee Se-yun’s phone and wallet into powder with his hands.

‘This ensures no trace of our text exchange remains.’

He burned all remaining clothes with Fire Blast until nothing but ashes remained.

Finally, Min Do-jun picked up another phone lying on the ground—his brother’s phone.

As suspected by Lee Se-yun earlier, it had indeed been stolen from school using stealth skills.

*Crack*

He crushed it completely in his hand as well. 

Now there was no evidence left anywhere. 

The only thing that might remain was traces of Lee Se-yun’s blood.

‘Just in case, I’ll cover the blood with dirt.’

After finishing the cleanup, Min Do-jun heard footsteps.

“I heard some noise around here.”

A hiker approached, looking around.

But all they saw were trees and bushes—nothing unusual.

Min Do-jun had already left the area using Invisibility.

* * *

The world remained unaware of the explosion at the Korean Hunter Association.

The Association had concealed it thoroughly to avoid unnecessary chaos.

Of course, a bigger reason was that they didn’t want the existence of the legendary sword to be revealed.

“Heh, as if hiding it will make a difference.”

But there was someone who had known about the sword from the start.

It was none other than Ahn Gwang-hyun, the guild master of Black Sea Guild.

Not only did he know that the Association was safeguarding the legendary sword, but he also knew where it had been moved after the explosion.

‘So Hwang Ui-cheol has the legendary sword?’

According to scouts, the only hunter who entered and exited the Association after the explosion was Hwang Ui-cheol.

‘No matter how disoriented the Association President is from the explosion, he wouldn’t store it in the building again.’

He must have entrusted it to a reliable hunter’s inventory instead.

‘Hwang Ui-cheol’s inventory is certainly secure. He’s trustworthy.’

Ahn Gwang-hyun knew Hwang Ui-cheol well.

A 10-year veteran and one of the early hunters, Hwang Ui-cheol was an A-rank government hunter over level 2,000.

Beyond his public credentials, they had met several times personally as well.

After all, Ahn Gwang-hyun himself was also a 10-year veteran hunter from the early days.

‘That guy couldn’t stand injustice. It made him boring.’

Having partied together multiple times, Ahn Gwang-hyun was familiar with his personality.

‘We clashed often because our personalities were polar opposites.’

This gave him confidence.

If anyone held the legendary sword with the Association’s trust, it would be Hwang Ui-cheol.

‘An S-grade item would naturally be entrusted to a high-level hunter.’

The more he thought about it, the clearer it became—Hwang Ui-cheol was likely safeguarding the sword.

“Suk-jae.”

Ahn Gwang-hyun called out to his subordinate waiting outside his office.

“You called for me?”

“How’s surveillance on Hwang Ui-cheol going?”

“Of course. Two guild members specializing in surveillance are monitoring him discreetly. As per your orders, they’ll report immediately if they confirm he has the sword.”

“I did give those instructions, but confirming it won’t be easy. He’s not stupid enough to take out the sword in public.”

“Understood.”

“Anyway, it’s certain that Hwang Ui-cheol has the sword. Keep monitoring him carefully until it’s time to strike.”

“Yes, sir.”

Though he answered confidently, Suk-jae couldn’t help but tremble slightly.

‘I’ve heard that Hwang Ui-cheol used to be one of Guild Master Ahn’s old comrades…’

The casual way Ahn spoke about ambushing an old comrade sent chills down Suk-jae’s spine.

For Ahn Gwang-hyun, emotions like loyalty were disposable when it came to achieving his goals.

This ruthlessness was what made him so fearsome as a guild master.

‘Truly an extraordinary man.’

Then a question suddenly arose in Suk-jae’s mind.

“Guild Master.”

“What is it?”

“You mentioned ambushing him… but do you think we can manage with our skills? The target is over level 2,000 while most of us are barely level 1,500. It seems difficult…”

“Don’t worry about that.”

Ahn Gwang-hyun’s eyes gleamed sharply.

“I’ll handle it myself when the time comes.”