The Shadow of an Ambush
I woke from a dream to find myself lying in the cramped one-room apartment. I picked up my smartphone with my left hand and checked the time. I must have been sleeping hard, because it was already 7 p.m.
Half the day’s gone.
I must have been more exhausted than I realized. Just as I let out a short sigh and started to set the phone down, the ringtone cut through the room.
When I checked the screen, the caller was An Seok-gyu, one of the few friends I had. Hyun-jun remembered that today was the day they were supposed to drink together, and brought the phone to his ear.
"We were supposed to have a drink today. You forget?"
"No. I was just getting ready."
"You know the place, right? Samgyeopsal and soju. The usual spot."
"I’ll be there in twenty minutes."
"Hey, you said you were getting ready..."
He hung up. Then he washed quickly and got dressed. Just as he was about to leave the apartment, a dagger he had been issued when he became a Hunter caught his eye.
There’s no way anything’ll happen, right...?
That thought barely surfaced before Hashashin’s warning came back to him: never trust the word “no way.” Hyun-jun hurriedly picked up the dagger. Carrying a Hunter’s weapon wasn’t illegal, so one dagger should be fine.
After leaving the apartment, he made his way briskly toward the meeting place. And exactly fifteen minutes later, he arrived. Seok-gyu was standing in front of the restaurant, smoking.
"You’re here?"
"Did I keep you waiting long?"
"About fifteen minutes."
"That’s not long at all. Let’s go in."
Hyun-jun went inside first, and Seok-gyu shook his head once before following him. When the samgyeopsal they had ordered arrived, Seok-gyu picked up the tongs first.
"I’ll grill it. You’re terrible at cooking meat."
The pork belly sizzled on the hot griddle until it browned just right. The two of them filled each other’s glasses with soju.
"Congrats on becoming a C-Class Hunter."
Seok-gyu spoke first.
"How’d you even find out? You’re not even with the Hunter Division."
"You’re practically a celebrity at the Dungeon Management Bureau right now. You think it’s common for an F-Class Hunter who went as a porter to survive a C-Class elite dungeon alone?"
"Is that really such a big deal?"
"There are hardly any cases of an F-Class Hunter surviving alone in a dungeon C-Class or higher. And the few that do happen are all second awakeners. The most famous case is Han Jin-woo, who’s SS-Class now."
Hyun-jun also knew about Han Jin-woo, Korea’s first and only SS-Class Hunter. After awakening, he had been judged F-Class, gone into a B-Class dungeon as a porter, and returned alone. Without a single scratch.
"They ended up ruling it a second awakening and tried to recruit him at the Dungeon Management Bureau, but by then Han Jin-woo had already joined Asura Guild, which was Platinum tier at the time."
"Asura Guild’s Diamond tier now, right?"
"Yeah. Rumor has it Han Jin-woo’s a womanizer with a rotten personality too, but the fact he’s still at Asura Guild means they must take good care of him."
Asura was currently ranked number one among Korean guilds.
"The Dungeon Management Bureau hasn’t contacted you? They should’ve sent you an offer to recruit you as a dedicated Hunter."
Becoming a dedicated Hunter for the Dungeon Management Bureau came with its share of headaches, but it also meant a fixed high salary and better terms when selling magic stones. Since powerful Hunters were directly tied to power itself, even a government agency like the Dungeon Management Bureau was desperate to increase its number of dedicated Hunters.
"I haven’t gotten anything like that..."
"Unbelievable. They’ve got some team leader over there who got in through connections, and he’s a total troll. Someone at your level should’ve gotten a call, that’s the normal thing."
Seok-gyu, frustrated, lifted his glass to his lips. He threw back the soju in one gulp, then looked at Hyun-jun again.
"You, in my opinion, are a second awakener. You’re at least material for an S-Class Hunter. The Dungeon Management Bureau shouldn’t be treating you like this. What do they think a C-Class Hunter is? Han Jin-woo came back and immediately got promoted to A-Class."
Hyun-jun let a faint smile play on his lips and refilled Seok-gyu’s glass. In a way, maybe it was fair to call it a second awakening. No one knew what the future would bring, but being recognized by a close friend felt good.
Because Seok-gyu got drunk faster than usual, the drinking session ended sooner than expected. They were waiting for a taxi on the street when Seok-gyu slurred,
"Y-you’re gonna make it... Now that you’re a C-Class Hunter, you can save up and buy an extra-dimensional storage too."
C-Class Hunters could handle small extra-dimensional storage spaces. Buying one required fifty million won, but it still wasn’t an outrageous price.
"You need to start doing well now. You’ve been through so much..."
It was rambling, but the sincerity got through. Hyun-jun smiled at his old friend. Then the taxi arrived, and Seok-gyu drove away.
"I should head home too."
He had slept a lot, but he was still tired. He wanted to go back to the apartment, throw himself on the bed, and sleep again. In order to get there a little faster, he turned into a back alley that was a little dark but ran in a straight line.
That was when it happened.
At the same time, he felt several presences he hadn’t noticed before.
"Come out."
His voice was cold enough to freeze the night air. At once, men in black clothes appeared in front of and behind Hyun-jun. From the strong magical power radiating off them, they were clearly Hunters.
One’s B-Class, and the other’s around C-Class?
Was it thanks to Hashashin’s protection? He could roughly judge their level.
"You’re coming with us for a bit."
"And why should I?"
Hyun-jun answered in the same blunt tone. There was no need to use honorifics with people who had none themselves.
"You seem to be misunderstanding something, but even if you die here, nobody will know."
"Right. If you don’t want to die, come quietly. If you get cut down here, it’s a pointless death. No witnesses either."
Judging by their rough manner, they were clearly Hunters from an enforcement division, though Hyun-jun didn’t know which guild they belonged to.
"No witnesses?"
"...!"
"W-what is this killing intent...!"
Hyun-jun’s lips curled upward. The deep surge of killing intent that burst out in that instant made the two Hunters instinctively recoil and step back.
"This is great. You’re saying if you two get stabbed and turn into corpses right now, nobody would know?"
The dagger he had drawn flashed in the darkness.
"Geong-cheol! Draw your weapon! This bastard’s a monster!"
The B-Class Hunter from the enforcement division realized it instinctively. The C-Class Hunter in front of him, Kang Hyun-jun, was dangerous! Warning his subordinate, he drew two sharp daggers.
"A-alright! Yes, sir!"
The C-Class Hunter called Geong-cheol was just as flustered. From his own small extra-dimensional storage, he drew a massive greatsword.
Here he comes!
Geong-cheol moved first. As expected of an enforcement Hunter with plenty of real combat experience, he had no hesitation about closing the distance and diving into close quarters. Hyun-jun swung his dagger at him. The motion was so dazzling it was hard to believe this was the first time he had ever held one.
"Kuaaaah!"
"Geong-cheol!"
The severed arm scattered red blood across the cement as it rolled across the ground. Geong-cheol screamed and tried to retreat, but Hyun-jun didn’t stand still either.
"Too slow."
The instant killing intent flashed in his eyes, the dagger plunged into Geong-cheol’s throat. In the dying man’s eyes, only a hollow emptiness remained.
"G-Geong-cheol... Wh-what the hell..."
The B-Class Hunter’s gaze trembled wildly. He had never imagined that a Hunter who had only just risen from F-Class to C-Class could overpower someone of the same level. Even now, the momentum coming off Hyun-jun was not that of an ordinary C-Class Hunter. It was the combat stance of an assassin, one perfectly adapted to killing people.
T-this is a monster...
He was a B-Class Hunter, but he had no confidence he could beat the C-Class Hunter before him.
Should I run? No. In the enforcement division, there’s no such thing as running. Besides, my real combat experience is better!
He steeled himself. Then he raised both hands, daggers in hand, and fixed his gaze on Hyun-jun. He steadied his breathing. And the moment Hyun-jun began to approach, he kicked off the ground and hurled himself at him first.
"This won’t be easy!"
With a shout like a battle cry, the B-Class Hunter rushed in. Hyun-jun met him with an indifferent look and swung his dagger. But true to his rank, the B-Class Hunter didn’t go down easily. While moving at high speed, he bent his body at an unnatural angle. Bones cracked, but he managed to evade the dagger slash.
"How about that!"
"You’re slow too."
Hyun-jun twisted the arm holding the dagger. In an instant, the blade’s point shot toward the B-Class Hunter’s left shoulder. Thinking he had fully dodged it was a mistake. Everything had been calculated from the start.
"Kraaah!"
The dagger pierced his left shoulder. The instant the B-Class Hunter cried out in pain, Hyun-jun twisted the embedded blade and drove his strength into it. The man’s body was yanked toward Hyun-jun. In that instant, Hyun-jun’s hand closed around his throat.
"Ghk!"
Even as his breath was cut off, he didn’t let go of the two daggers. He even tried to counterattack, but Hyun-jun was faster. By the time the dagger in his hand burst into a flurry of deadly cuts, the tendons in both of the B-Class Hunter’s arms had been severed, and the two daggers clattered to the cement floor.
"Who sent you?"
"You think I’d tell you that?"
"Then die."
Hyun-jun’s eyes quickly swept the surroundings. Once he confirmed no one was around, he drove the sharp dagger into the B-Class Hunter’s heart.
"K-khheh!"
The man convulsed once, then went limp and sagged lifelessly.