The Man Who Knows Their Lines
The crescent moon hanging in the night sky was blue, unlike in the real world.
Insects chirped in the darkness.
Dawn was approaching.
The light inside the workshop had faded.
Hwang Yongho had assembled an elite strike team.
Even for a surprise attack, cramming all twenty people into the narrow workshop was impossible.
He selected only those equipped with offensive gear and confident in their mobility.
The plan was simple: the elite team would ambush and restrain the man, then the rest would rush in to join the hunt.
The elite team consisted of eight men, including Hwang Yongho himself.
Hwang Yongho gripped the weapon he had been given—High-Heat Spear.
Standing near the wooden door of the workshop, he raised a finger to his lips.
“There’s only one target, but since this is our first hunt, mistakes are possible. Let’s finish this quickly and calmly.”
The men nodded with tense expressions.
Their nervousness came from the prospect of their first kill, not from any doubt about success.
There were eight of them.
There was no way a single man could stand against them.
Hwang Yongho carefully opened the workshop door.
Then, in complete contrast to his cautious movement, he swiftly slipped inside.
The other men followed right behind him.
Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the shutters, illuminating part of the workshop.
The cold ashes inside the dormant furnace mingled with the moonlight, casting an eerie glow.
The blacksmithing tools, including ore fragments, showed clear signs of long disuse.
Hwang Yongho tapped the green section on his terminal.
Flashlight activated.
A faint beam of light spilled out.
Hwang Yongho’s group swept their terminals’ lights in every direction.
They kicked aside clutter and flung open closed cabinets.
But the man was nowhere to be seen inside the workshop.
“Maybe he ran away?” one man whispered.
Hwang Yongho shook his head.
“Let’s search a little longer. The workshop light was on just a moment ago. It doesn’t make sense for him to have fled.”
“Aaaargh—!”
A sudden scream erupted from near the anvil.
They swung their flashlights toward the sound.
A man who had been perfectly fine moments ago now lay dead with his throat slit.
“Wh-what the hell?”
Startled, another man stumbled backward.
The moment something brushed against his foot, a cold blade swept across his neck.
A few seconds later, he realized a massive hole had been punched through his throat.
Splat—!
“Guh… guhuhuk!”
Blood gushed from his windpipe.
Another man fell.
The survivors gripped their weapons tightly, faces twisted in panic.
“What the fuck is going on?!”
“T-two of them in an instant!”
They swung their flashlights wildly, but all they could see was blood.
There wasn’t even a trace of the killer’s presence, let alone his shadow.
Then it happened.
Bang—!
The wide-open workshop door slammed shut with a deafening crash.
As if declaring that no one would leave this place alive.
The men were gripped by such terror that panic overtook them completely.
Some swung their weapons wildly at empty air, while others tried to hide in corners.
“Everyone calm down! Panicking right now won’t help us!”
Hwang Yongho shouted loudly, but even he was rattled.
In this pitch darkness, the killer had slain two men without making a sound.
It meant the murderer was acting without the slightest hesitation.
“Ugh—!”
Another scream rang out.
When they shone their lights, they saw a corpse with its heart pierced.
The remaining men’s faces turned deathly pale.
One terrified man screamed.
“I-I’m getting out of here! We have to run!”
The sound of his footsteps racing toward the closed door didn’t last long.
At this point, even shining their lights felt terrifying.
Hwang Yongho suppressed his disgust and pointed his beam forward.
A body with its throat impaled lay sprawled on the floor.
“Aaaargh—!”
“Ugh—!”
“Guhuhuhuk—!”
The speed at which people were dying grew even faster.
Three men’s screams echoed at once.
Before they knew it, seven were dead.
Now only Hwang Yongho remained.
The realization that he was alone, combined with the fear that he might die, amplified his terror.
Hwang Yongho slammed his spear into a table and ground his teeth.
“Who the hell are you?! Show yourself right now!”
Suddenly, he felt a chilling presence behind him.
It was faint, but Hwang Yongho trusted his senses.
He spun around and thrust his spear, colliding with something solid.
Clang—!
The impact released a burst of light.
It was radiance spilling from the opponent’s blade.
Blinded by the brilliant flash, Hwang Yongho frowned, but he could see his enemy clearly.
Short hair.
Skin so pale it looked almost white.
An indifferent expression, like he was wearing a mask.
He looked to be in his early twenties at most.
It was the man who had been alone in the workshop.
That was all he could make out in that brief moment.
After that, he could neither see nor think anymore.
The sword of the man he had tried to kill flew straight toward Hwang Yongho’s face.
“Hup—!”
His cheek was sliced open in a long gash.
Flesh peeled away, exposing white teeth.
Overwhelmed by the intense pain, Hwang Yongho collapsed backward and dropped his spear.
Touching his blood-soaked cheek, the middle-aged man’s hand trembled slightly.
His entire body shook.
It felt like he was facing a ghost.
Flawless movements.
Sword strikes without hesitation.
Nothing about this felt human.
“What the…!”
The moment Hwang Yongho opened his trembling mouth—
A dry voice emerged from the darkness.
“Who the hell are you? What kind of bastard are you?”
Hwang Yongho flinched in shock.
Those were the exact words he had been about to say.
Was it just a coincidence?
Even more startled, Hwang Yongho staggered backward.
Steady footsteps echoed.
The man was walking toward him.
“Kill…!”
“Don’t kill me. I haven’t committed any crime. Killing me would be murder. Don’t you feel any guilt?”
“I…!”
“How do you know what I’m going to say? Damn it. What the hell kind of bastard are you?”
Goosebumps erupted across Hwang Yongho’s entire body.
The man was speaking his lines before he could even say them.
What on earth was happening?
Was this man reading his mind?
Before Hwang Yongho could unravel the questions binding his thoughts—
A voice that chilled him to the bone rang out coldly.
“I’m sick of it. Even your last words.”
The man’s sword came down.
Slice—!
Blood sprayed like a fountain as Hwang Yongho died.
Kang Yoonsoo slowly sheathed his long blade.
He picked up a blanket from the table and wiped away the bloodstains.
Then he collected the necessary equipment from the corpses.
There was no need to light the lamp wick.
Even without seeing, he already knew.
Every time he retrieved and equipped an item, a message appeared on his terminal.
◈ Penetration: 9
◈ The blade heats up when it contacts combustible material.
◈ Strength: 10
◈ Increases strength when worn.
◈ Throwing Power: 4
◈ Low chance to disturb the opponent’s vision.
You have killed eight humans.
Because it was self-defense, your crime score did not increase.
A high crime score may result in disadvantages during investigator inspections.
This is your first kill. Additional experience is granted.
Your level has risen by 12.
Kang Yoonsoo checked his status window.
Each time his level increased by one, he gained one remaining point.
All his stats had been 1 until now.
That didn’t mean his vision was terrible or his nerves were dull.
Stats only provided additional boosts to current abilities.
Even someone naturally tough would have an Endurance stat of 1 if they hadn’t invested any points.
Kang Yoonsoo allocated all 12 points into Strength.
He thrust the High-Heat Spear into the furnace.
The moment it touched the ashes, the blade radiated intense heat.
The cold interior of the furnace glowed bright red.
A reddish heat surged upward.
Once the furnace was properly heated, Kang Yoonsoo pulled the spear back out.
When Kang Yoonsoo stepped out of the workshop, the group waiting outside flinched and stared at him.
“What? Where are the guys who just went in?”
“Why is that man coming out? Ugh. That smell—is that blood?”
“Th-they’re dead. All the men who entered the workshop are dead!”
The survivors gazed at him with horrified expressions.
In contrast, Kang Yoonsoo walked forward with an indifferent face.
A man with a vicious expression blocked his path, pointing a dagger at him.
“Those pieces of equipment belonged to the men who went into the workshop. You killed them, didn’t you?”
The man swallowed hard as he eyed the gear Kang Yoonsoo had looted.
He was the kind of scum who coveted the belongings of the dead more than the dead themselves.
“Hand them over. Those originally belonged to our group. Planning to steal them like a coward? If you don’t give them now, I’ll kill you.”
Kang Yoonsoo looked at them with lifeless eyes.
These were greedy people who had abandoned their humanity for survival.
In the future, they would gather under the worst criminal clan—Black Tiger.
Hwang Yongho would become the assault captain of the Black Tiger clan and slaughter countless people.
Kang Yoonsoo himself had nearly died at their hands more times than he could count.
Kang Yoonsoo looked at them and opened his mouth.
“In twenty seconds, you will all die.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Those are your last words.”
With that, Kang Yoonsoo continued walking.
The moment they made confused faces, a thunderous roar came from behind them.
“Krovit—! Absalun—!”
Splat—!
The person standing at the very back was crushed into a bloody pulp.
A monster holding a massive warhammer growled as it looked down at them.
A muscular body with the head of a bull—Minotaur.
The monster that had claimed many victims on the very first day had followed the scent of blood all the way here.
There wasn’t even time to scream.
The Minotaur swung its hammer like a storm.
All the survivors were smashed into chunks of meat.
Kang Yoonsoo, who had been outside the hammer’s path, remained unharmed.
With a long blade in his right hand and a spear in his left, he aimed both at the Minotaur.
Two weapons with completely different centers of gravity, rhythm, and breathing patterns.
Wielding a sword and spear simultaneously was considered absurd.
But that common sense did not apply to Kang Yoonsoo.
The difference in their specs was overwhelming.
The Minotaur’s level was 47.
For Kang Yoonsoo, who was only level 13, the word “fight” felt inappropriate.
At that moment, the Minotaur snorted and lowered its hammer.
“Krunta—! Marugot—! Kiris—!”
If translated, it meant this:
I’ve secured enough prey for today, so the small fry can run if they want.
Kang Yoonsoo stared quietly up at the Minotaur.
He spoke in the Minotaur’s language.
“Amak. Okonolreu. Karu.”
The meaning was this:
You will die by my hand.
“KRUWOOOOOOOOOOH—!”
The enraged Minotaur raised its warhammer high into the air.