Test

I found him.

He sat on a rock, draped in a cloak. His black hair fell in curls to his shoulders, and his eyes were sunken deep in their sockets. When he saw us, he lowered the wooden flute from his lips.

"B-rank Hunter Seong Yujin. Ha Seung-hee of the Sejin Group. Correct?"

His sharp voice spoke Korean with an awkward edge. He might have been faking the accent on purpose.

"You came looking for us knowing full well. Why bother confirming?"

"I once killed an innocent hunter who wasn't my target. I believed he was. Korean faces all look the same to me."

"I'm Seong Yujin. And you?"

"You don't need to know."

"You son of a bitch!"

I swung Hwaryeonbido at him. Sword energy sliced through the air. He backstepped lightly and dodged it clean.

Watching his movement, I clicked my tongue. B-rank at minimum.

"Impatient, aren't you."

"That's rich coming from a killer."

"Calm down for a moment. I have no intention of killing you."

"Is that supposed to be a joke? We nearly died because of you."

"But did you die? The Fogsnake ambush was my greeting. I knew that with a B-rank Hunter like you present, a few hundred Fogsnakes wouldn't be enough to take you down."

"Some fucking greeting. What country are you from?"

"……."

He shut his mouth. Clearly determined to hide every scrap of information about himself.

If he really sent those Fogsnakes to attack us without intending to kill us… then his goal was to drain even a little of my strength.

Of course I didn't believe him. I stayed wary to the end.

…Where is he from? Not Southeast Asia… seems more like China or Japan… or maybe he's Korean, deliberately mangling his Korean.

I cut the thought short. Suspicion only breeds more suspicion. Chasing that line of thinking gets me nowhere. The answer is right in front of me. Catch him and interrogate him.

His gaze shifted to Ha Seung-hee.

"I want only one thing. The drug that grows plants in an instant. Hand it over, and I won't touch you. We walk out of this dungeon without further incident."

"Without further incident, my ass."

The moment I hand over HB-1, Ha Seung-hee's plans and dreams shatter. I don't want that. She put her body on the line and made a deal with me for the sake of her ambition. That was part of what made her attractive. Submitting to this bastard here would damage her value and her allure.

Charna.

I kicked off the ground hard and leapt. His pupils tracked me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a beat too late. He hadn't fully read my movement.

He gripped the wooden flute tightly with both hands. Hwaryeonbido's crimson blade dropped toward his right shoulder.

Boom!

A shockwave erupted. My body flew backward. I spun midair and landed on the ground.

…Wind?

I'd seen it just before the shockwave hit—the presence of wind wrapping around his body. The wind was protecting him.

He brought the wooden flute to his lips.

Crackle.

Electricity sparked from my body.

A moment later, a bolt of lightning dropped from the sky onto him. He didn't even glance at it. Didn't dodge. The wind armor protecting his body blocked the lightning too.

Wind manipulation like Jin Seyeong's?

He played the flute.

It wasn't the grating noise he used to control Fogsnakes. This was music. The wind that passed through the flute became melody, and the melody burrowed through the ears straight into the mind.

"Aaaagh!"

Ha Seung-hee screamed and clutched her ears. She staggered, lost her balance, and collapsed to the ground, squeezing her eyes shut.

"You bastard! What did you do?!"

I had to save Ha Seung-hee first.

I gathered lightning in my palm.

I scattered the lightning into the air. It writhed and spread in every direction. The mana roiling through the space was driven out by Scattered Thunder and vanished. Ha Seung-hee lowered her hands from her ears. Her expression eased.

"You temporarily expelled the mana from this area? Impressive."

He spoke flatly and resumed playing the flute.

The sound was different this time. The wind that had been wrapping his body burst outward as if releasing pressure. The wind moved in time with the music.

I glanced at Ha Seung-hee, still sprawled on the ground. Protecting her from wind that was invisible and free to move in straight lines or curves was going to be nearly impossible.

Stormbreaker.

A great spear materialized before me. I gripped it in one hand and threw it toward Ha Seung-hee. She flinched in surprise, thrusting both hands forward as if to block it. Just before the spear could pierce her hands, it shattered into pieces and clung to her body, forming armor.

I trusted Stormbreaker's defensive power. That should take care of my worries about Ha Seung-hee.

"…Yujin-sunbae. If you had something like this, you should have told me earlier. I thought you were trying to kill me."

"No time."

The wind blew.

The skin on the hand holding my blade was sliced open, and blood droplets flew. I hurriedly circulated mana to reinforce my body.

"Sunbae. This is armor, but the fit is surprisingly comfortable. Doesn't even feel like armor. Want to sell it to me?"

"No. I've only got the one."

His playing grew more intense. The wind answered, growing stronger.

Heavenly Eye.

I could see the mana mixed into the wind. The source generating it. Wind and mana were expanding in time with the flute's sound.

I raised my blade. Hmmmm. Hwaryeonbido trembled. Blue sword energy wreathed the crimson blade.

Even formless wind can be cut if you can see it.

I brought the blade down.

The wind in front of me vanished. A path opened. I charged into it without hesitation.

I saw panic on his face. His wavering pupils reflected me. His fingers frantically worked the flute.

A wind barrier formed. What I needed to sever wasn't the wind—it was the flow of mana.

There.

I swung. The wind barrier vanished easily.

Screeeeech!

A sharp sound rang out. The ground beneath my feet surged upward. Thanks to Heavenly Eye, I saw it coming. I barely dodged the rising earth and sprinted toward him.

Charna.

The world slowed.

I confirmed the origin point of the wind armor wrapping his body. It started from his chest.

His ability isn't wind—it's sound. He controls wind, earth, monsters, and people through sound. There must be conditions.

The true nature of the wind armor was his heartbeat. That steady, minute sound was maintaining the armor.

This bastard underestimated me. I may be B-rank, but my skill isn't just B-rank.

I brought the blade down toward his shoulder.

The wind armor tried to push the blade away. A shockwave erupted. I knew it was coming and refused to take it. I forced myself to hold and poured in strength, and the blade punched through the wind armor and cleanly severed his right shoulder.

"Ghk…"

He swallowed the scream that tried to escape.

…Huh?

He hadn't swallowed it.

He was gathering it. His Adam's apple bobbed several times, and his chest swelled. Then he opened his mouth wide and unleashed the scream.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAH!!"

Sound became physical force. I went flying backward along with the surrounding trees and tumbled across the ground.

I'm fine. Just some bruises. I pushed myself up.

Vines burst from the ground beside my feet and seized my ankle.

"…A monster?"

I lifted my foot and tore the vines free.

KRA-KRA-KANG!

A red flower bud erupted from the earth. A massive flower nearly three meters tall bloomed. Its interior was packed with razor-sharp teeth, and twenty vine tentacles beneath it whipped in every direction like lashes.

Alax.

A plant-type monster.

This dungeon's boss-class monster.

Tweet! Tweet-tweet, tweet!

He kept playing the flute. Alax advanced on me in time with it. Alax was under his control too.

Tsk. I clicked my tongue. While Alax closed in, he was putting more and more distance between us. He planned to pin me down with Alax and escape.

A boss monster won't go down in one hit… but if I let him get away, word of HB-1 will spread to the world.

Which is more urgent?

No need to think. I ignored Alax and ran toward him. Alax's vines targeted my back.

Crack.

Just as I was about to burn Alax's vines with lightning, Ha Seung-hee appeared behind me and sliced the vines with her invisible claws.

"Catch that man. I'll handle this monster."

"It's a boss monster. You sure?"

"This armor is really something. Wearing it, I feel power overflowing."

Stormbreaker's performance scales with its master's skill.

Ha Seung-hee was wearing Stormbreaker, but I was still the master. Meaning it was being sustained by my mana, and its performance was only slightly lower than when I wore it myself.

And that was more than enough to handle something like Alax.

"I'm counting on you."

I left Alax to her and chased the fleeing man.

Acceleration.

Even with Acceleration, catching him wasn't easy. He was practically flying on the wind. On top of that, he was altering the tracks on the ground to throw me off. Without Heavenly Eye, I might have fallen for it.

With an arm cut off, he can't run far.

The distance closed steadily. His back came into naked-eye view.

I launched sword energy charged with lightning. It sliced through the tree branches in its path and struck his back. He coughed blood and collapsed. His wooden flute rolled across the dirt.

"Now we can have a proper conversation."

I approached him. I kicked his side as he lay face-down, flipping him onto ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his back.

"Cough, cough!"

He coughed up blood. His face was going black, dying. I scowled. I'd cut off his right arm and my sword energy had carved his back, but from a hunter's perspective those weren't fatal wounds. He had skill beyond B-rank, after all.

"Did you take poison?"

"I… can't give you any information."

Even with a potion, I couldn't save him. Potions don't neutralize poison. An antidote? He wouldn't carry a poison simple enough for a generic antidote as a suicide measure. On top of that, his heart was already destroyed. He'd used his own ability to destroy it. Poison and heart destruction. Using both. Thorough bastard.

"Why go that far? You can't spend the money you've made if you're dead. Or is there a reason you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have to go that far?"

"You will obtain no information whatsoever."

"I've seen your face. Your corpse will tell me plenty. Ever heard of DNA testing?"

"There is no information on me anywhere. I exist, and yet I do not exist."

He died.