The Blood-Soaked Killer's Legacy
He did not know when he had lost consciousness, but when he came to himself, he was back in a dream, in the space of his past lives. On the black iron door before him were the words "Blood-Soaked Killer." He opened it carefully. Inside, instead of something fitting that grim epithet, he found a neatly kept British-style study.
This is a first.
He had received Ripper’s blessing more than once, but this was the first time he had found his room. He closed the door softly behind him and stepped inside.
The study was fairly spacious. Turning the corner, he saw a pale gentleman in a black top hat seated by the window. His gaze had been fixed on the boards that sealed off the glass, but it soon landed on Hyun-jun. More precisely, on the small case in Hyun-jun’s right hand.
“Is this what you were looking for?”
As he spoke, he lifted the case toward Ripper. Ripper nodded. His expression was calm, yet a deep sorrow seeped through it.
When Hyun-jun opened the case, he saw an old necklace. The dagger that had been inside was nowhere to be seen. Still, it did not seem to matter much; Ripper did not appear to care. He reached into the case, took out the necklace, and gently stroked it as tears fell from his eyes. Then it was over. When Hyun-jun next came to his senses, he was lying beneath a white ceiling.
Am I in a hospital?
As he sat up, the memory of the night before came rushing back. So-jin had erased the burns left behind by the battle, and Tae-min had handled the admission paperwork, saying Hyun-jun needed to stay for recovery. That was the last thing he remembered.
Hyun-jun turned his head and took in the hospital room. It was a fairly large private room, and on the side table sat the case he had brought from the Echo Guild office. He opened it carefully. In the place where the necklace had been, only gray dust remained, and beside it lay the dagger. It seemed they had taken the necklace and left the dagger behind as his reward.
Ripper, the Blood-Soaked Killer, has bestowed upon you a brutal blessing of blood. From now on, the blood your enemies shed will make you stronger.
The moment he picked up the dagger, a voice sounded in his head.
I should go see an appraiser.
He wanted to know just how good the equipment Ripper had left behind as a reward really was. He decided he wanted it appraised as soon as possible. For the executive chief of the Echo Guild to have stored it away separately, it had to be worth something. More than that, Ripper did not seem like the sort to be stingy with rewards.
He moved the dagger from the case into his subspace pouch and was just about to sit back down on the bed when he felt a presence stop at the hospital room door.
“Mr. Kang Hyun-jun? Are you awake?”
The voice that came with the light knock belonged to Tae-min.
“Come in.”
“Excuse me.”
The door opened, and Tae-min stepped inside. He pulled over the chair beside Hyun-jun’s bed and sat down before speaking.
“Han So-jin is resting at our guild office with her younger siblings. I thought you might want to know that first.”
At Tae-min’s words, Hyun-jun felt relief. He had dealt a fatal blow to the Echo Guild executive branch, but he had not been able to relax because of the hidden hand the executive chief, Jeong Seong-min, had mentioned at the end. He did not know who the shadow behind it all was, but if they were at the guild office, then at least for the moment they were safe.
“Our guild is taking every possible measure to ensure Han So-jin and her siblings’ safety, so please don’t worry too much.”
“Thanks for taking care of them. What happened to the Echo Guild executive branch?”
“They took a heavy blow. It’s only been a day, but some of the regular guild members have already started to leave.”
Tae-min’s calm, orderly report made him look like the very picture of a loyal secretary.
“The special police have begun investigating the guild office, but they say they haven’t found any concrete evidence.”
Hyun-jun nodded. That was only natural, since Hashashin’s blessing had erased the evidence.
“Good. Report anything unusual immediately.”
“Understood. You needn’t worry.”
It sounded like a conversation between superior and subordinate, but Tae-min did not mind. In the age of dungeon raids, he believed it was only natural to bow his head to the strong, and more importantly, Hyun-jun was a benefactor to the Wraith Guild. Above all else, since they were on the same side against the shadow behind the Echo Guild, if Hyun-jun chose to join Wraith Guild, he might truly become Tae-min’s superior. That was why Tae-min was already preparing for it.
“You still don’t have any information on the force backing the Echo Guild?”
“I’m sorry. We were unable to uncover anything with our guild’s capabilities.”
He had asked in case there was a chance, but the answer was as expected. If they could identify who stood behind the Echo Guild, they might be able to prepare a little, but Wraith Guild’s intelligence network was not strong enough to trace that connection easily.
“Keep watching them.”
They had taken a serious hit, so retaliation was inevitable. They had lost most of the execution branch hunters used for covert work, but if there was still a backer behind them, they might also receive support.
“Our guild is committing every resource as well, so please don’t worry too much.”
Tae-min spoke with a serious expression. It was a dependable look.
*
Thanks to So-jin visiting every day to heal him, he was discharged after only three days. The first thing Hyun-jun did after leaving the hospital was go to an appraisal shop. At the nearest one, he took the dagger Ripper had left behind as his reward from his subspace pouch and laid it out on the counter.
“I’d like to have this equipment appraised.”
“Let’s have a look.”
Mana flowed from the appraiser’s fingertips and washed over the dagger.
“Hm?”
“Is there a problem?”
“No. It’s just not a common type of equipment, so I was a little surprised.”
“Not a common type?”
At Hyun-jun’s question, the appraiser nodded calmly.
“It’s a sealed piece of equipment.”
“What do you mean by that...?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. Its main ability is sealed away. I’d only ever heard of sealed equipment in rumors, and this is the first time I’ve seen one myself. It wouldn’t be strange for a hunter not to know about them.”
The appraiser said it lightly, but Hyun-jun knew almost nothing about sealed equipment, so he needed more explanation. Realizing that a little late, the appraiser opened his mouth again.
“There are several types of sealed equipment, but in this case, like this dagger, a specific condition must be met each time to unlock another layer of the seal.”
“So right now it’s worthless as equipment?”
That would be a problem. But the appraiser shook his head.
“Not at all. Even in its current state, with every seal still intact, I’ve confirmed a B-rank mana absorption rate and a user body-enhancement option.”
A smile spread across Hyun-jun’s face before he could help it. Equipment with excellent mana absorption improved the efficiency of aura usage. It was one of the options many aura users absolutely needed.
“For now, the equipment’s original name has been confirmed as Butcher.”
The appraiser could inspect equipment information with mana. Learning the name was no difficult task.
“I can’t tell how many seals are on it with my abilities alone, but if the final seal is lifted, I think it should be rated at least S-rank. Even as it stands now, it is by no means lacking as a B-rank item.”
With this, Hyun-jun’s armament had gained another B-rank piece of equipment.
“Any other options?”
“A retrieval function has also been confirmed. If you shout the activation word Retrieval, the dagger will return to the hand of the user whose mana it remembers. It’s a favored option among hunters who specialize in throwing daggers. I’ll record the details in the appraisal certificate.”
He filled out the certificate. It was a simple job, so it did not take long.
“It’s finished. Once you confirm it, I’ll handle payment.”
Everything the appraiser had said was written there exactly as described. Hyun-jun gave a single nod and took out his card to pay the appraisal fee of 1 million won. For a moment he considered having the C-rank longsword he had obtained during the unofficial guild battle appraised as well, but he quickly shook his head. A C-rank piece of equipment was unlikely to have any meaningful options, so he did not want to waste money on it.
“How would you like to handle the payment plan?”
The appraisal shop offered installment plans for hunters short on cash, but...
“In full, please.”
Hyun-jun answered without hesitation. Unlike before, he had a lot of money in his account now. He had already saved up nearly 200 million won from dungeon clears and the unofficial guild battle, and this morning Wraith Guild had given him a 1 billion won reward for neutralizing the Echo Guild executive branch, so he was practically swimming in it.
He finished the payment and stepped out of the appraisal shop, heading home when his smartphone vibrated in his pocket, signaling an incoming call. He took it out and checked the screen. The caller was Tae-min.
“Hello.”
“This is Kim Tae-min. I found a detached house suitable for defensive combat.”
Tae-min’s voice came through the phone. Hyun-jun had asked him yesterday to find a detached house where So-jin and the siblings could stay together.
He could not keep them at the Wraith Guild office forever. Since the orphanage was exposed to danger, he planned to get a new house and have them stay there. Wraith Guild had already promised to assign hunters to handle security.
“Where is it?”
“Suwon.”
Suwon was not far from Seoul, so the location was fine.
“We’re checking the interior structure today. Would you like to come with me?”
“Yes. That works.”
“I’ll send a vehicle. Please send me your location.”
Not long after he sent it, a black sedan arrived. Hyun-jun and Tae-min rode together to Suwon and checked the condition of the detached house.
“What do you think?”
The real estate agent asked cautiously.
“Not bad.”
The interior layout was excellent. Probably because it was not in Seoul, the space was larger than expected for the price, and the facilities were not bad either. More than anything, Tae-min had said it was a structure well suited for defense if a battle broke out, which made Hyun-jun like it even more.
“When can we move in?”
“It is a new house, but it’s still underprepared, so immediate move-in would be difficult.”
“I don’t care how much it costs, so please make it possible as quickly as you can.”
Hyun-jun said it plainly. He did not want So-jin and the children staying long in the uncomfortable guild office. If possible, he wanted to bring them somewhere safe as soon as he could.
“I-if cost isn’t an issue, I’ll have it handled within a week.”
The real estate agent said. Hyun-jun let out a satisfied smile and nodded. As expected, in South Korea there was nothing money could not do. He had suddenly started spending bigger, but since his ability had grown to match, he decided not to worry about it.