Die Easy or Die Screaming

A word on Hunter Ranks, while we're here. They run from Rank 10 down to Rank 1. The lower the number, the better, and every Hunter starts at Rank 10. Setting aside Rank 1 — those who enjoy extraterritorial rights and diplomatic status in most countries of the world — the rest of the ladder looks like this.

Fresh out of the academy: Rank 10. Still wearing the beginner tag: Rank 9. Complete newbies, both of them, the training-wheels sticker slapped on their foreheads for all to see.

A Hunter's Rank is calculated from ability and merit combined. Merit covers things like the number of dungeons you've explored, the volume of byproducts you've sold, or work the Hunter Association officially recognizes. The mercenary guilds in Solari World run a similar system.

Except in a handful of special cases, a Hunter's power grows with experience. Even a prodigy can't display true ability without the solid foundation that only real combat provides. That's why the better the Rank, the more formidable the Hunter. One of the original reasons the ranking system was created was to classify and manage Hunters according to what they could actually do.

From Rank 8 onward, you're considered a fairly solid Hunter. Rank 8 through Rank 6 are called veteran Hunters. Anyone skilled enough to pass the Dungeon Hunter exam will, with steady training and field work, typically reach Rank 6.

The average Dungeon Hunter takes about ten years to hit Rank 6. The variance is huge, of course — a truly gifted Hunter might get there in less than half that — but most take longer than ten years. As I said, Rank isn't just raw power; merit is factored in. If you want Rank 6 ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fast, you have to stay busy.

From Rank 5 up, you're a genuine powerhouse even by the standards of the Hunter world. Effort alone isn't enough anymore. You need talent. Dungeon Hunters are the gifted one percent of all Hunters. The Dungeon Hunters who promote to Rank 5 or better are one percent of that one percent. And every step beyond that, the numbers drop off a cliff.

This guy's probably around Rank 6.

I looked down at Jang Jicheol, collapsed helplessly at my feet, and took the measure of what he could do. Early Rank 6, if I had to guess. Early Rank 6 was enough to be recognized as an outstanding fighter even in the Dungeon Hunter industry. It was not the level of someone who ought to be playing around in the Devil's Basement.

"Khack... khack..."

No matter how outstanding a Dungeon Hunter you were, a hole blown clean through your gut would put you on the ground. That would probably be true of me, too.

Jang Jicheol's pupils shuddered wildly. It didn't seem to be the pain tearing through his body that was doing it. In a voice that shook badly, he put a question to me.

"You... you're a Light Control user. I'm sure of it... so how did you use Dark Control..."

"Not 'I'm sure of it.' You are sure of it. Want me to show you?"

I formed a sphere of light above my right hand. Any Light Control user could do it — calling it a technique was generous. The moment I showed him Light Control, a tangle of suspicions crossed Jang Jicheol's eyes. The man was one stumble from death's door, and he still had the energy to be curious.

"I've got more than one Ability. Or, more precisely, they're Skills, not Abilities. Not that you need to know the difference."

"More than one Ability? Khack! That's impossible... that can't exist..."

"I used to think the same thing. Don't believe it if you don't want to."

I had no interest in chatting with him. I'd left the rest of the party behind, which meant I needed to get back fast. Sujin and Yeonji had said they'd stall for time, but if I took too long, people would start asking questions.

"I kept you alive because I've got a few things I want to know. We're short on time, so let's move this along. You just lying here like this — an Armor Knight could show up any second, you know."

I smiled as nastily as I could. Smiling nastily took no effort at all. The version of me reflected in his pupils was grinning like something genuinely wicked, and maybe that was why his face started to rot from the inside.

"I want to know about the Ecster Clan. Everything you know... would be too much, wouldn't it. We're short on time, so I'll keep it to a few simple questions. You lot are a Demonic clan, right?"

"Khack...! I haven't told you a thing. You'll kill me no matter what I say. Our world's full of bastards like you. The kind who throw away their pawns the second they've got what they want..."

"You've got the wrong man. You're going to die, obviously. You've got two options. Die easy, or die screaming. And you've already fastened the first button wrong."

I picked up a harvesting knife, the kind made to slice through a monster's thick hide. A blade that sharp would take your own finger off if you handled it wrong. Handled right, taking someone else's finger ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠off was nothing.

"That's one!"

"AAAAAARGH!"

I cut off his right thumb. He twisted his whole body and screamed, louder than he had when the hole opened in his gut. That first wound had come too fast for him to feel it. This was different. I worked the knife slowly, deliberately, grinding it so he'd feel every last bit of the pain.

"You might go into shock and die on me at this rate. Ought to leave a last will, don't you think? Open your mouth. Cheap and easy."

"You... devil bastard..."

"Hmm? One wasn't enough?"

"AAAAAARGH!"

I wrung the information out of him one finger at a time. Pain, as always, was the best merchant in the room. He spilled answer after answer. By the time the interrogation was over, the only things left dangling from his hands were a pair of pinkies.

"K...ill... me..."

"Sure, sure. Ah, but the Armor Knight's going to take care of that for you. No idea when he'll show, though. Haha!"

"You son of a bitch...! That wasn't the deal!"

"What are you talking about. Originally I was going to saw your limbs off. This is plenty comfortable. If you're lucky, another party might even come along and save you!"

He was already beyond saving. And I'd already confirmed there wasn't another party anywhere nearby.

I waved at him and headed back toward the others. I'd taken a little longer than I meant to. The party was resting right where I'd left them.

"Oh? You're back?"

Yeonji was the first to catch my presence, and she waved.

"They ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠taught us that even when you need to relieve yourself in a dungeon, you stay with the party. What if a monster attacked you while you were off on your own?"

Go Jisu said it with a worried look on her face.

"Sorry, sorry. It was a big one. Doing my business in front of ladies is a bit much, you know."

"But this is a matter of life and death. A dungeon is an unpredictable place."

"Now that I think about it, you might be right. I'll be more careful next time."

I said it, and then I swept the area for any presence I could find.

Darkness Radar.

Darkness Radar was a Skill I'd newly acquired through training. Steady practice in Solari World and the world of Supreme Sword Heavenly Immortal had netted me several new Skills, and Darkness Radar was one of them — an extremely useful one.

In the dark, I can sweep as far as sixty meters. The reason I picked up their movements first was this ability.

The surrounding terrain lit up in my head as if a map were being drawn. A map as clean and sharp as a game's, laying out not only the lay of the land but every enemy in it. Fifty meters ahead of us, the remnants of Jang Jicheol's party were waiting. Huddled in the corner of a weapon rack.

Those ones were supposed to pin our party down while Jang Jicheol and Jo Jinyong dealt with me. They still don't know those two are dead. Stupid bastards. Splitting the party was your mistake.

I fully intended to deal with the remnants too. We started moving, slowly.

"Something's wrong."

Seo Mungap, one of Jang Jicheol's crew, said it first. He'd been watching Baek Jaeseong's party through night-vision goggles, and the moment Baek Jaeseong — who'd split off from the others — came back, he knew the plan had gone sideways. If things had gone the way they were supposed to, Baek Jaeseong should not have been walking back at all.

"What the hell happened? Weren't the party leader and Jinyong supposed to kill that bastard?"

Kim Jang, another of the crew, had already read the situation and muttered it under his breath. His mind was moving fast.

Baek Jaeseong had come back. That meant only one thing. Jang Jicheol and Jo Jinyong had failed to kill him.

"No way the party leader botched a PK. That guy's only Rank 10."

"Rank doesn't perfectly reflect a Hunter's actual skill."

Seo Mungap added that to Kim Jang's words. It was a fact Demonic hunters knew better than anyone.

Even so, Jang Jicheol and Jo Jinyong failing was hard to swallow. Jang Jicheol was a Hunter at Rank 6 level, and Jo Jinyong was a fighter somewhere around Rank 7.

"They're moving. Coming this way."

"What happened to the party leader and Jinyong..."

"Shit. I don't know. We go in. We've already drawn steel — there's no putting it back."

If Baek Jaeseong made it out alive, their PK trail might be exposed. One way or another, they had to silence every last witness.

"This Armor Knight plate is killing me. Let's just ditch it."

"There are women there..."

"Fuck it. At this point, we bury that bastard and have our way with the women before we kill them too. Not like we've got a choice. The job's already gone to hell."

Kang Mungi, the shortest fuse in the group, blew. Kang Mungi going off wasn't a new development, and Kim Jang had always been the one to hold the center when he did — but at least in this situation, Kang Mungi had a point.

"Mungi's right. We can't turn this around anymore. I don't know what happened to the party leader and Jinyong... but that bastard walking out of there in one piece means this is no ordinary mess. Those two are veterans who've already pulled off a PK more than five times. Something clearly went wrong."

"What if that guy's way stronger than we expected..."

At Seo Mungap's words, Kim Jang pulled a small sphere from his pocket. At a glance, it looked like a squishy rubber ball.

"Poison gas bomb. Refined from Poison Slime toxin. I packed one just in case. One whiff and your respiratory system starts shutting down. Here — take the antidote. Swallow it now and you're immune to the gas."

"That bastard's a healer, though. Will this even work?"

"Just drawing his attention is enough. We're all Rank 7. Their party doesn't have a single Dungeon Hunter at Rank 9 or better. Pin that one guy down and we win."