Shadow in the Dark
Deep in the mountains, Taemin stood alone. He scanned the area with quick, searching eyes, as if looking for something. Two drones circled overhead, casting light in every direction.
“How is it?”
Along with a cold voice, someone appeared behind Taemin. It was Hyun-jun. He had been training Hashashin’s Protection with Taemin, the skilled assassin from the Enforcement Division.
“I didn’t notice you again at all.”
“When did you sense my presence?”
“Not until I heard your voice did I feel anything.”
At Taemin’s answer, Hyun-jun began walking on with a satisfied smile.
“That’s enough for today?”
“Yes. Since we never know when an enemy might attack... I think it’s best to leave ourselves plenty of mana in reserve.”
One had to prepare for the worst at all times. At least, that was how Hyun-jun saw it. Fortunately, Taemin seemed to agree; he nodded silently and followed after him.
Hyun-jun returned home in the car Taemin was driving. The armed guard posted at the front gate checked the vehicle number, then opened the gate leading to the garage. Watching that, Hyun-jun spoke up.
“Security is solid.”
“We hired ten people from an armed security company this time. Nine are E-Class or D-Class Hunters, and one is a C-Class Hunter.”
Roughly half the personnel in armed security companies were Hunters of F-Class or higher but below D-Class.
Hunters in that range were numerous, dungeon queues were long, and the pay was not especially good, so many of them chose to become armed security for private companies in search of stable income.
Being armed security did not place any major restrictions on dungeon raiding, so while they were not full-time Hunters, many of them still made dungeon runs regularly.
“They may be low-ranked, but they’re still Hunters who’ve surpassed the limits of ordinary humans. Their combat ability is higher than that of regular armed guards.”
Taemin explained. Hyun-jun gave a nod instead of answering.
“They’re equipped with automatic rifles and submachine guns, which are efficient in human combat. As the Guild Leader has probably heard, when the opponent is a human being, it’s better for D-Class Hunters and below to use firearms.”
The reason Hunters did not use guns when hunting mana beasts was the Mana Skin. That thin, colorless protective membrane offered formidable defense against weapons that lacked mana. Modern firearms, especially bullets and shells, were not easy to imbue with mana.
If they concentrated enough firepower to completely wear down the Mana Skin, they could hunt mana beasts that way, but it was inefficient. That was why Hunters used melee weapons like swords and spears, which could be saturated with large amounts of mana.
“I selected the best people we could hire right now.”
There were skilled operators in the armed security industry who worked unofficially, but Race’s influence was not enough to reach them.
“We don’t know when something will happen, so keep the alert level high for now.”
“Jongseo has joined us as well. Don’t worry too much. We’re doing everything we can.”
Taemin answered with a faint smile at the corner of his mouth. Rather than lying just to reassure him, he made a point of showing that they were truly giving it their all.
“I’ll be taking part in the guard duty today as well. Rest easy and sleep well.”
With that said, Hyun-jun nodded and went up to the third floor. He passed the second floor, but his younger siblings were already asleep, and the light in Sojin’s room was off as well.
Hyun-jun figured she was probably struggling in her own way with the sudden changes and wasn’t about to disturb her private time, so he continued up the stairs to the third floor. After a quick shower, he threw himself onto the bed and fell asleep almost instantly. When he opened his eyes again, he was in the Hall where the Rooms of Past Lives were gathered.
“Shadow Behind You...”
He read aloud the epithet engraved on the pitch-black wooden door. A smile spread across Hyun-jun’s lips. Since he didn’t know when the attack would begin, he needed the power of Hashashin, master of assassination and schemes, the one bearing the epithet Shadow Behind You. That was why, even during training, he had kept using his protection to enter Hashashin’s room.
“Welcome. I have been waiting for you.”
As he opened the door and stepped inside, a calm voice greeted him from within the dense darkness. When he moved farther in, faint lights came on one by one, revealing Hashashin. As always, he was dressed in noble formal wear, his face as pale as a ghost’s.
“An unseen enemy is targeting you. You’ve realized that much, I trust?” Hashashin said.
“Yes. I’m making preparations.”
“With the protections engraved on you now, it will be difficult to detect distant danger in advance.”
“That’s why I need a new protection.”
“You’re quite confident.”
“You came to engrave one on me, didn’t you?”
At that sharp question, a smile touched Hashashin’s lips. Conversations like this only seemed to improve his mood.
“You didn’t come here merely for idle talk.”
“You understand perfectly. Since you’ve been meeting your past lives often lately, your instincts have become sharper.”
Hashashin sounded impressed. The timid fool he had first met was no longer here. In his place stood a hardened warrior who had endured terrible trials.
“You have trained well, making full use of the protections I engraved upon you. As a result, your synchronization with me has increased considerably. That is why I have come here to engrave a new protection upon you.”
Rising synchronization with a past life did not merely strengthen existing protections; it could also create opportunities to learn new ones, or to encounter yet another past life.
“What kind of protection is it this time?”
“I will engrave a protection that lets you send out shadows to monitor enemies at a distance. I can say with confidence that it is the power you need most right now.”
Hashashin spoke with absolute certainty. Hyun-jun nodded and narrowed the distance between them. If it was a technique for sending out shadows to become his eyes and ears and keep watch over enemies, it would be of tremendous help in the current situation.
“I’ll begin the engraving now.”
A cold breath brushed against his back. Hashashin had moved behind him at some point, and now he placed his right hand on Hyun-jun’s shoulder.
“I’m ready.”
“It will hurt a little.”
“Kraaaagh!”
Once mana was injected into him, intense pain crashed through his body. He was used to pain, but it was still hard to hold back the scream that burst out of him. His body convulsed violently as though he were seizing, yet Hashashin did not stop. His usual cold expression did not waver in the slightest. If anything, he summoned shadows to bind Hyun-jun’s arms and legs.
“It is finished.”
How long had the pain lasted? At last, Hashashin withdrew his hand and spoke. Even the shadows vanished, and Hyun-jun collapsed weakly to the floor. It still felt as though tremors were lingering in his body.
“Hoo...”
He did not remain down for long. Soon he drew a deep breath, collected himself, and stood back up. Hashashin took a step back, then subtly lifted the corner of his mouth.
“I transmitted the method of use along with the protection. How is it?”
“It’s not as complicated as I expected.”
Hyun-jun frowned, then sifted through the newly implanted memories before answering Hashashin.
“Of course. The moment the protection manifests, your memories of your past lives revive and assist the technique’s operation. No matter how complex the technique may be, it will feel relatively simple. You will probably appreciate that properly once you begin learning magic.”
“Do you have mages among your past lives?”
“I have 990,000 past lives. Naturally, that includes the strongest archmages in the dimensions. And quite a variety of them, in fact, each specialized in different fields.”
Hyun-jun swallowed dryly. The fact that such formidable supporters, these 990,000 past lives, stood behind him was both reassuring and enough to make his heart race.
“That will do for now... Would you like to try using the protection once?” Hashashin asked.
Hyun-jun recalled the memory of the usage method Hashashin had planted in him and circulated his mana. As he extended his hand, black mana poured out and took the form of a shadowy double.
“Could I make one more?”
Instead of answering, Hyun-jun drew his mana higher. But the second pulse of black mana shattered apart like fragments once it had only half formed a human shape.
“So one is the limit...”
He muttered under his breath, biting his lip slightly. The activation had consumed a great deal of mana, but he had expected to create at least two, so the disappointment stung. Seeing that, Hashashin spoke in a calm voice.
“This shadow clone, if one were to classify it, is among the more troublesome and mana-hungry of high-level magic. Creating even one is an impressive achievement.”
“I see.”
“Now go back. Send your shadow to keep watch on the most dangerous enemy executive. With your current synchronization, you should be able to send shadows anywhere in Gyeonggi Province.”
And with that, the dream ended.
When Hyun-jun woke from it, he summoned Taemin at once. It was the middle of the night, but Taemin answered the call.
“You called for me?”
They met in the third-floor study. Taemin carefully asked why he had been summoned. Hyun-jun, who had been reading over the intelligence report on major threats submitted by the Information Division not long ago, slowly lifted his head.
“Head of Enforcement.”
“Yes, sir.”
“If false information leaked from the so-called ‘shadow’ side were to spread, which guild would move first?”
At Hyun-jun’s question, Taemin organized his thoughts. About five minutes passed before he finally spoke with caution.
“Guilds above Gold Tier have reliable intelligence networks, so they’d know it was nonsense spreading. That means the movement would come from Silver Tier... I think Andersen in Vanguard would be the most likely to act.”
“Why?”
“Andersen has a bad reputation even among Silver Tier guilds. It’s one of the most vicious guilds among those that grew rapidly in the short term through illegal methods. There are even rumors that internal power struggles in their Enforcement Division never stop.”
Hyun-jun nodded as he listened to Taemin’s explanation. He had heard rumors about Andersen before as well.
“Then they’d use force externally in order to clean up their internal mess.”
“More than that, my private source says their guild leader is extremely greedy. There was an incident in the past where he tried to smuggle out an A-Class piece of equipment, though he failed in the end.”
That was enough.
“Good. Send one of my personal informants to Andersen Guild.”
“A personal informant?”
“I can’t tell you the details yet, but he’s someone I trust.”
“If he’s someone the Guild Leader trusts, then I trust him too.”
“You may return.”
Taemin left. Hyun-jun circulated his mana and memorized the technique. Black mana took on a human shape. It was shadow itself.
“Go find this man.”
He raised his smartphone and showed the shadow a photo of the Andersen Guild leader. Since the guild leader was a public figure, finding a picture had not been difficult.
“Go and bring me information.”
The shadow nodded, then vanished into the darkness. Hyun-jun gazed at the place where it had stood moments before with a satisfied expression and gave a slight nod.
He had sent out his eyes and ears. Now it was time to wait for the prey to step into the trap.