Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: The Assassin's Visit
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The response from Seo Sang-ho brought a flush of color to Kang Jin-hyuk's face.
Seo Sang-ho had replied to his hail-Mary contact with support from thirty hunters.
The reason for such a bold decision wasn't to recruit Kang Jin-hyuk into the guild.
As the head of a major guild, he couldn't just stand by as a human being—he'd rolled up his sleeves.
Proof of that was that Seo Sang-ho demanded nothing in return for this support.
"With a guild master like that, I can't fathom why Titan's lot are such a mess."
Perhaps even an individual's power couldn't stop an organization from rotting.
No matter how elite an S-rank hunter was, what they excelled at was hunting monsters.
Not the politics of backstabbing people.
"We need to get our own preparations in order without delay."
Kang Jin-hyuk's grim declaration planted a question mark over Lucia's head.
She tilted her head fifteen degrees to the left like a puppy and blinked.
"Other guilds are stepping up—do we really need to go?"
"We should at least pick up the crumbs they drop."
He'd gone to the trouble of exposing Tyrant's atrocities; sitting back as a bystander now didn't sit right with him.
"Besides, it's questionable whether those support hunters will even do their jobs properly."
Seo Sang-ho was overseas right now and couldn't directly control the guild members in the country.
That meant the hunters stepping up for support would be commanded by Titan's A-rank hunters, no doubt.
Kang Jin-hyuk recalled how Titan's hunters had reacted to him.
To put it bluntly, they were far from friendly.
Even in the thick of life-or-death combat, they'd been aiming for his back.
Friendly? It was a relief they hadn't outright turned hostile.
That train of thought made it impossible not to go to the scene himself.
Without hesitation, Kang Jin-hyuk left the dungeon and made full preparations.
He pulled expensive potions from the depths of his fridge and stowed them in his inventory.
He also packed return scrolls for emergencies.
Scrolls that worked even at a distance of 300 km—they cost a fortune, but when else would he use them?
"Why are you packing all that junk, seriously."
Lucia wrapped wind magic around her mouth and looked at him pitifully.
Watching him anxiously stuff odds and ends into his inventory made her sigh involuntarily.
"Do you even plan on leaving today?"
At this rate, he'd set out after sunset, she lamented.
"Hold on. It'll be done soon."
"Good grief. The guy's saying 'soon' but why's he got the closet wide open?"
Lucia freaked out when she spotted the closet stuffed full of items.
She desperately wanted to stop him, but she didn't need to lift a finger herself.
The sudden ring of the doorbell made Kang Jin-hyuk pause his closet teardown.
* * *
After dealing with the brown-haired man at the bar, Yoon Song-ho didn't stop tracking until the sun rose the next day.
He had no intention of sleeping until he found 'Choi Seo-hoon,' who knew Tyrant's secrets.
Chasing Choi Seo-hoon's trail led him to a row of dilapidated buildings.
It was a residential area with hardly any residents—barely any signs of life.
Considering its obscurity, it was perfect for hiding.
Yoon Song-ho pulled out his tracking item and scanned the area again.
'No matter how many times I check, this is the most likely spot.'
The compass-like item contained a strand of Choi Seo-hoon's hair he'd acquired beforehand.
Unless Choi Seo-hoon's DNA had been altered, there was no escaping this item's tracking.
"The arrow's pointing to..."
Following the item's reaction, Yoon Song-ho fixed his gaze on one house.
"That one."
So far, no one had ever eluded this item's effect.
Confident, Yoon Song-ho hid behind a nearby building.
A minute later, when he emerged, his outfit had changed—from a masked man to a delivery worker.
Except now he wore a medical mask instead of a balaclava.
He looked like any ordinary delivery guy you could spot anywhere.
"Better safe than sorry."
He'd never failed a disguise before, but Yoon Song-ho didn't get cocky.
As he prepared a box to pass off as a delivery, he also hid a dagger up his sleeve to slit the target's throat.
He was confident he could sever the carotid in under a second if the guy showed even a hint of suspicion.
"Overkill for a C-rank hunter?"
Yoon Song-ho had investigated everyone in the house he was targeting.
"He's somewhat of an internet sensation, but..."
No way he was a match for him.
Yoon Song-ho was certain of that.
Sure, he'd drawn attention by catching a new-type monster, but it was just luck.
No amount of luck could make a mere C-rank overcome him.
He'd quietly taken out over fifteen hunters so far.
Not a single one below B-rank.
Full of confidence, Yoon Song-ho rang the doorbell without hesitation.
After counting to ten, a voice came from inside.
"Who is it?"
"Delivery."
The magic words that made anyone open the door.
Sure enough, Kang Jin-hyuk poked his head out without hesitation.
"Delivery?"
Yoon Song-ho sensed something off in Kang Jin-hyuk's demeanor.
Normal people would focus on the box the delivery guy was holding.
They'd pay more attention to their future possession than some guy they'd brush past once.
But Kang Jin-hyuk stared straight at the assassin disguised as a delivery man, ignoring the box.
'Did he spot me?'
Yoon Song-ho dismissed the thought.
Just changing clothes wouldn't cut it, but he'd used skills to erase any sense of incongruity and even clouded the target's perception.
No A-rank hunter had ever noticed this disguise until the blade hit their neck.
A run-of-the-mill street C-rank hunter wasn't seeing through it at a glance.
Trusting his skills, Yoon Song-ho kept his cool.
"Yes, you're Kang Jin-hyuk, right? Sign here, please."
Yoon Song-ho handed Kang Jin-hyuk a pen.
The moment he touched it, a paralyzing needle would shoot out and prick his finger.
The poison could immobilize large animals in seconds—no hunter could withstand it.
If he didn't touch the pen, the sleeve knife would slit his throat.
He was prepared for anything.
Yoon Song-ho was convinced Kang Jin-hyuk had no way out.
But there's no such thing as absolute in this world.
After checking the assassin's karma value, Kang Jin-hyuk suddenly snapped his fingers.
"Gah!"
Before Yoon Song-ho could comprehend the action, an arrow flew from inside the house.
Thanks to his instincts kicking in, he avoided a vital hit.
"Argh!"
As Yoon Song-ho staggered back with an arrow through his shoulder, Kang Jin-hyuk's right fist smashed perfectly into his jaw.
The shock traveling up his jawbone rattled his brain, blurring his vision.
Yoon Song-ho realized losing consciousness here meant game over and forced his eyes wide.
"Damn it...!"
He spun backward like he was collapsing, tumbling under the railing.
Then he fled without looking back.
Kang Jin-hyuk watched him go, then raised a hand to stop Lucia.
She obediently released the drawn bowstring.
"You're just letting him go?"
"It's fine. He'll come back anyway."
"How do you know?"
"A guy this methodical won't back off after one failure."
The assassin's karma value that Kang Jin-hyuk had seen was over 900.
The human traffickers after Alraune's rejuvenation pill had been in the 200-300 range—this assassin was over three times that.
For him, killing people was probably more common than stepping on ants.
"I don't know why he's targeting me, but if I play it right, I can use him."
He'd been worrying about the fallout after raiding Tyrant's branch.
Even with Titan hunters coming to help, it wouldn't resolve things.
Blaming Titan would likely spark all-out war between Tyrant and Titan nine times out of ten.
A guild that kidnapped people to make Alraune's pills wouldn't hesitate to fight in the middle of the city.
Kang Jin-hyuk wanted no part of that chaos.
If he had to pin blame, better on someone unrelated to him—someone who deserved it.
And right on cue, the perfect candidate had shown up at his door.
From Kang Jin-hyuk's perspective, it was like a pumpkin rolling right into his lap, vine and all.
"The question is how to reel him in..."
* * *
While Kang Jin-hyuk pondered, Yoon Song-ho escaped the residential area and slumped in an alley, gasping for breath.
He bit down hard on a cloth from his pocket and yanked out the arrow in his shoulder.
"...!"
The cloth muffled his scream, but his jaw throbbed like it might dislocate.
Yoon Song-ho applied potion to stop the bleeding, bandaged it, and finished first aid.
He never dreamed he'd use the emergency medical skills he'd learned for contingencies—on a mere C-rank hunter.
"No, not a C-rank hunter."
Shaking his head, Yoon Song-ho recalled the figure in the house.
He couldn't see clearly in the shadows, but it was a slender person holding a bow.
How could someone that frail, with barely any muscle, shoot such a fast arrow?
If it was skill-assisted, they had to be at least B-rank.
Otherwise, they couldn't have hit his shoulder so easily when he'd even dodged an A-rank hunter's strike right in front of him.
"Looks like he's got backup."
Yoon Song-ho admitted his mistake.
He'd underestimated the target as a C-rank and hadn't considered accomplices.
Amateur hour for a veteran.
"I need to investigate more thoroughly before moving."
Grinding his teeth, Yoon Song-ho stood.
The arrow had missed vitals, and with first aid done, movement was no issue.
Backing off now wounded his pride, so he planned to try again today.
"I'll make you regret this."
If he'd just spilled Choi Seo-hoon's location, maybe a knockout would've sufficed.
But after resisting this fiercely, death was the only option.
For his comrades' sake, he had to nip this threat in the bud.