The Ambush (1)

Thirty minutes before Doha cleared the 1st floor, the Cheongryong Sect was screaming its lungs out outside the Tower.

"Son of a—! My emergency funds!! Three years of magic stones, gone!!!"

All they could do was wail at the empty space where the Gwanaksan Gate had once stood, cursing their own helplessness.

If a hideout collapses, you dig through the rubble and retrieve whatever stones you stashed away. But what are you supposed to do when the ground the hideout stood on vanishes into thin air?

There wasn't a single precedent to consult. This had never happened before.

While the Giant continued to shriek, the Dark Mage calmly analyzed the situation.

If the Gwanaksan Gate really was cleared... then the funds are already beyond recovery...

Only now did he belatedly open the Hunter Gallery—the very board he'd neglected, his attention having been hijacked by that rookie hunter's antics. By then, the gate's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠clearance had already been established as fact.

There are even eyewitness reports, so it's certain... First I'll head back to HQ, get a proper grasp of the situation, and salvage whatever money is left.

That was when a fact he'd overlooked resurfaced in his mind.

The Association would have learned of this faster than anyone... Which means they've already surveyed the site and left behind some means of tracking us...?

The Dark Mage rapidly spread his mana outward through the surroundings. His mana found a tracking sigil concealed stealthily beneath a boulder.

That's the Association's signature spellwork...!

A chill ran down his spine. He shook the Giant, who was still wallowing in despair, awake.

"B-Boss! Pull yourself together! We have to get out of here, now!"

"What the hell are you on about? We have to dig up the funds if it's the last thing we—"

"The Association! The Association's already been here! They laid down a tracking sigil before they left!"

"What? But those bastards never come south of the Han River."

"They must be planning something while we're in chaos. We need to leave this spot immediately!"

Urged on by the Dark Mage, the Giant dusted himself off and rose to his feet.

"Damn it... I suppose we head back to HQ for now?"

"Not a chance. The tracking sigil has already latched onto us. We need to get to the black market and have a specialist remove it first..."

"Ugh, fine. Then let's move, and fast."

The Giant and the Dark Mage began making their way across the treacherous terrain, pushing to escape Mount Gwanak. Even for Awakened like them, a mountain after sundown was no easy place to flee from.

Anxiety gnawing at him, the Dark Mage kept suffering the creeping illusion that someone was tailing them.

"Boss, what if the Association sends hunters after us? What if they've decided to finish us off for good?"

"Hmph... I doubt anyone's in a hurry to fight us right now."

The Giant, among the upper echelon of A-Rank Awakened, didn't seem particularly worried about an ambush.

"They could still swarm us in numbers... We should move more cautiously and stay alert for—"

The Giant patted the Dark Mage's shoulder, speaking with utter nonchalance.

"Hey, did you forget the Northern Wall just collapsed? Every high-rank Awakened in the Association is bogged down up there."

"You can never be sure... They might be planning to rip us out by the roots before our organization grows any bigger..."

"Ha. You and your paranoia—that's what being a mage does to you. Look, if they were going to ambush us, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they'd have hit us right after the gate vanished, while we were still in disarray."

"...That does seem likely."

"Besides, they laid down a tracking sigil, remember? That means they never intended an all-out war in the first place. They know perfectly well we can get something like that removed on the black market. It's just a warning, nothing more."

The Dark Mage acquiesced to the Giant's reasoning, but he couldn't shake a strange unease.

My master always said never to underestimate a mage's intuition... Something is off.

He scanned their surroundings. The area was eerily quiet—so quiet that even the ever-present chirping of field insects was absent.

What is this...?

If the gate had truly been cleared, the massive residual mana should have scattered, leaving the surrounding atmosphere unstable. Yet the mana across Mount Gwanak lay perfectly still—as if pinned down by the weight of something far, far greater.

No way...!

The Dark Mage extended his senses with his mana. Only then did he grasp the true nature of the déjà vu haunting him.

An S-Rank...!

A presence several times more immense than the Giant walking beside them was closing in from behind.

The moment he registered it, the Dark Mage immediately deployed his necromantic wards, shrouding their surroundings in darkness.

Their vision dimming, the Giant voiced his confusion.

"What are you doing?"

"Boss, we've picked up a tail."

"What? Are those Association bastards insane? Do they seriously want a fight?"

"Lower your voice... It's an S-Rank."

"...You've got to be kidding me. Seriously?"

"I'm certain of it..."

The Giant ran a hand down his face, then shrugged off his auxiliary gear and dropped it to the ground.

"You'd better lighten your load too."

"Understood..."

The Dark Mage stripped off even his robe—the badge of his identity as a mage—shedding every ounce of weight he could.

"So what's the plan? Can we outrun it?"

"That depends on what type of S-Rank it is."

The Dark Mage reinforced the barrier of spirits he'd raised and continued.

"Melee, we escape half the time. Ranged, maybe thirty percent. If it's a mage... we're caught, no question."

"Lee Seoa is the only S-Rank mage in the Association. It won't be her."

"True. Let's just pray it's not a ranged type..."

Having sized up their prospects, the two opted to flee at full speed first and think later.

Recalling his spirit barrier, the Dark Mage pointed toward a steep ravine.

"Boss, this way."

"What? That's deeper into the mountain, isn't it?"

"...If we go this way, there's an emergency portal that leads straight to the black market."

"You little—! You had something like that stashed away all to yourself?"

"M-Master left it to me..."

"Ugh... We'll talk about that if we live."

The moment the Giant and the Dark Mage wheeled around and broke into a sprint, a thunderous roar erupted behind them as something came hurtling their way.

Twang—

Hearing the singing of a bowstring, the Giant screamed.

"S-split up! It's a ranged type!"

"Whaaargh—!"

Shwieeek—

Physical force beyond anything a mere arrow should have carried came crashing down between the two men.

KA-BOOOM!

A massive boulder lodged in the ravine shattered into fragments and exploded in every direction.

"Aww~ You dodged that one."

A familiar voice reached the ears of the two men as they scrambled into dense tree cover. They'd never heard it in person, but they'd heard it plenty on the news and on X-Tube.

"Damn it! Do S-Ranks just get to kill people whenever they feel like it?!"

"I wasn't trying to kill you? It's a suppression shot?"

"An arrow that shatters boulders, and you call that SUPPRESSION?!"

South Korea's #1 ranged S-Rank, the Association's rabid huntress—Go Jurang.

BANG! CRACK—

Using the trees as shields, the Giant and the Dark Mage threw themselves into a desperate sprint. Watching trees burst apart as if struck by artillery shells, cold sweat poured down their entire bodies.

One hit and we're dead...!

The Giant felt, in his very bones, the gulf between S-Rank and A-Rank. A gap that could never be explained away as a single rank's difference.

Arrows with the force of missiles—that's supposed to make sense?!

That thing shouldn't be counted among humans. She belonged in the same category as the calamity-class magical beasts.

The Giant desperately called out to the Dark Mage.

"Hey! How far to that portal?!"

"Almost there! When you see the waterfall, dive under it!"

"It was hidden in the water? Of course it was, you secretive little..."

Weaving between trees toppling from every direction, the two men drew within reach of their destination. The waterfall came into view—and at that exact moment—

Shwieeek— BOOM!

Go Jurang's arrow demolished the gently sloped path leading up to the falls, turning it into a sheer cliff edge.

"..."

"..."

"Aaand~ Now it's a dead end! Care to surrender nicely?"

The Giant drew his sword and hid the Dark Mage behind him.

"Go Jurang! Didn't the Association wash its hands of everything south of the Han? Lay a finger on us and the Black Market Alliance won't sit still for it!"

"Hmm... You think the underworld S-Ranks would rally up for revenge because one of you dropped dead? I'm gonna go with no~"

"..."

Shallow threats getting him nowhere, the Giant began to think.

Damn it, she's even crazier than the rumors said. How do we get out of this alive? Should I offer to sell out this Dark Mage bastard's master or something?

While the Giant's gears were grinding, Jurang suddenly burst out laughing.

"Ahaha, kidding! Just kidding~"

"Th-then lower your weapon and back off already!"

At his outburst, the corners of Jurang's mouth curled upward.

"Relax, I'm not going to kill you. There's something I want to ask you two, you see."

Jurang raised the bow she'd been carrying and took aim at both the Giant and the Dark Mage.

With no way to win, we have to grovel for now!

"Fine! What is it?! We'll tell you anything!"

Years of scrabbling through the strong-devour-the-weak underworld had made the Giant a bully to the weak and a bootlicker to the strong, and he shouted his surrender in a panic.

"Well, aren't you cooperative? Then do you know where Kim Doha is? I figured you'd be tracking her."

"K-Kim Doha? Who's that?! We don't know anyone by that name!"

"Hmm... So you won't talk, huh?"

As the bowstring drew taut, the Giant urgently whispered to the Dark Mage.

"I'll take the hit—you slip out the back!"

"B-Boss!"

Just as he was trying to buy the Dark Mage's escape, a notification abruptly popped up before his eyes.

"Now what the hell is this...?"

The notification window blooming out of nowhere blocked her sight line, and Jurang instinctively loosed the string, flailing her arm.

"Boss! Hold on tight!"

Seizing the opening without hesitation, the Dark Mage summoned his spirits to encircle himself and the Giant—and plunged them both over the cliff's edge.

"Are they out of their minds...?"

Jurang swatted the notification away and immediately leapt off the cliff after them.

"Huh...?"

Beneath the cliff, only the roar of the rushing river greeted her. There was no trace of the two men anywhere.

Meanwhile, the Hunter Gallery was in complete meltdown. Every refresh flooded the board with an entire page of new posts.

Having slipped safely through the portal into the black market, the Dark Mage had his tracking sigil removed while checking the Gallery.

So Go Jurang believed the silver-haired runt we were chasing was Kim Doha... With the power to clear floor 0 in three seconds, no wonder she could subdue Cheolmin in a single stroke...

Having finished his analysis based on Jurang's words and the Gallery intel, he turned to the Giant who'd escaped with him.

"Boss, it seems all but certain that Kim Doha is the silver-haired brat we were chasing..."

"What? Isn't that the Awakener #1 person or whatever?"

"Yes... I don't know why, but apparently she only began climbing recently."

"Hmm... Awakener Number One, huh..."

The Giant mulled over the report for a moment.

"Hey, wait. She awakened younger than Go Jurang, didn't she?"

"Wouldn't that follow? In the footage we saw, she had the build of a middle schooler."

"Then... she must have been waiting until she'd grown enough. That's why she only started moving now."

Once he said it aloud, the pieces snapped neatly into place.

The world's first Awakened, pinned to floor 0 for five years. Clearly she'd been biding her time, honing the blade. If she'd climbed the Tower in a child's body before her powers had matured and died there, that would have been the end of it.

Then, the moment her preparations were complete, she'd shattered floor 0 in three seconds flat. She'd even unearthed the grand hidden stage called the True Tower—never mind whatever perks or abilities came with being Awakener #1.

Methodical... This was all planned.

A faint hiss sounded as the sigils binding the Giant and the Dark Mage's arms dissolved. The mage in the black market's back room pocketed a few magic stones and left, leaving the two of them alone.

The Giant leaned back against the wall and stared up at the ceiling.

"Damn it... If that woman keeps growing, she's going to be dangerous, isn't she...?"

"I'm sorry? Boss, what do you mean?"

"Think about it—we made ourselves a permanent enemy. If that woman actually hits S-Rank and joins the Association, we'll spend the rest of our lives running..."

"...Boss, how about we eliminate her before the Association takes her in?"

The Giant startled at the suggestion.

"What? Are you insane? She could be hiding ANY ability, and you want to attack her?"

"Our relationship with Kim Doha is already past the point of no return... Better to strike now while we can. And Boss—"

The Dark Mage pointed at the Giant's sword and continued.

"With your current specs, how many seconds do you think it would take you to clear floor 0?"

"Hm... I'd have it done in under three seconds, I'd say?"

"Same here. Statistically there's little difference between us, and if we attack in numbers, don't we have a real chance?"

The Giant seemed to deliberate for a moment—then nodded.

"You're right. What war experience could she possibly have? If we prepare properly and strike from ambush, she won't stand a chance... So how do we track her? We spent three whole days fumbling around and came back with nothing."

"We know her name now, don't we? A nationwide manhunt would be one thing, but finding one person in a small neighborhood? The spirits can sniff her out in no time."

The Giant and the Dark Mage purchased, from the black market, the auxiliary gear they'd abandoned on Mount Gwanak along with equipment for anti-personnel combat.

"Unbelievable... Never thought the day would come when I'd be hunting Awakener Number One..."

"She's the next S-Rank, isn't she? If we don't kill her now, a year from now she'll have grown past anything we could dare to oppose..."

At the Dark Mage's words, the Giant found himself recalling the arrows Go Jurang had fired earlier—arrows that had flattened half a mountainside. If someone who grew into that ever learned they'd come after her... the Cheongryong Sect would not survive the reckoning.

"You're right... We have to cut this weed out at the root."

Steeling his resolve, the Giant rose and set off.

Late at night, after returning from clearing the 1st floor, Doha was so worn out from the fierce battle that she'd fallen asleep the moment she'd finished washing up.

Darami, curled up in the nest gnawing on a magic stone to fill her belly, suddenly saw a notification window bloom before her eyes.

A skill she hadn't even activated was gathering information all on its own.

Darami flung aside the magic stone she'd been munching on and scurried headlong into the living room.