The Assassin Hunter Stops Time
Black Moon Secret Vault Shelter.
In the office adjacent to the main vault, Peng Ruoan turned his head sideways.
“……”
“Why did you ask, sir?”
“Just a moment.”
Hearing Wei Lang’s question, Ruoan looked at the CCTV screens that illuminated the entire shelter.
The shelter had over two hundred cameras installed throughout. Not a single blind spot existed, and the night vision made concealment in the dark impossible.
But…
“……”
“Perhaps it’s just my imagination.”
He looked exactly as usual, with no abnormalities whatsoever.
A few moments ago, there had been a faint…
‘It felt like something was off. I can’t shake this uneasy feeling.’
Ruoan, who placed great trust in his own senses, found it hard to ignore.
But right then.
“With the Red Gate dungeon right around the corner, your nerves are probably on edge. Maybe this time you’ll even clear level 250.”
“Hm.”
Normally, he would have brushed off the words, but today the mention of level 250 landed with a completely different weight.
Was calm beginning to crack under the weight of the genuine hope that he might actually achieve it?
As Ruoan hesitated for a moment.
“You’ll have to depart soon. If you’re late, you’ll miss the timing.”
It was already early morning.
They had missed the scheduled departure time by a wide margin.
“Leave this place in my hands. Please… achieve level 250, Mr. Ruoan.”
Wei Lang clenched his fist tightly.
Ruoan’s lips, which usually gave nothing away, curved upward at Wei Lang’s words of encouragement.
“Heh.”
“I’ll give it my best shot.”
He wasn’t simply handling a major task in the shadows of the Black Moon. He was also operating as the main hunter for Hwangryong Guild in the open world.
Both were things Ruoan could never abandon.
‘Level 250…’
Yes, it was possible.
Ruoan checked the CCTV screens once more, confirming nothing was amiss, then glanced at his watch.
It was time to return to being Peng Ruoan of Hwangryong Guild.
“Then I’ll leave this place in your capable hands, Wei Lang.”
“Don’t worry. The Lightning-struck Cypress Branch has been transported without any issues, hasn’t it?”
The reason Ruoan had stayed behind at the shelter was simple.
To confirm with his own eyes that the Lightning-struck Cypress Branch was being transported safely.
And now that he had seen the trailer depart, there was no need to worry.
Soon, Ruoan boarded the prepared vehicle.
A faint unease lingered in his chest, but…
‘Level 250.’
He told himself it was merely a small issue arising from the new branch point his life had taken.
One unexpected crisis, however, would soon turn everything on its head.
* * *
Swish.
Dojin’s movements through the darkness were fast yet perfectly concealed.
No more noise than a gentle breeze.
Even if someone stood right beside him, they would never detect his approach.
‘Slowly… I’m getting used to it.’
At only level 150, he already possessed stats that far exceeded level 200.
Agility in particular, over 800, was a number he had never even imagined in his previous life.
This was his first time handling such an extraordinarily physical body, but now he could control the movements with extreme precision.
Like this.
Whoosh!
“……”
*Puff!*
Behind the vault’s pillar.
Crouched in the darkness, Dojin’s figure suddenly shot forward like a bowstring pulled to its limit.
A human body couldn’t possibly spring like rubber, but such movement had become possible.
In the blink of an eye, he had neutralized the three mercenaries surrounding the vault and quietly dragged their bodies aside.
‘Thirty seconds.’
Dojin checked his watch.
Exactly thirty seconds later, two heavily armed mercenaries carrying rifles slowly approached from the side of the building.
The fatigue of dawn duty showed in their grumbling voices.
“Why do they always call us at this inconvenient hour?”
“That son of a bitch needs a good slap to the face. What if it’s the first or second shift? We’re supposed to be dragged out even when we’re asleep.”
“That bastard from the handler team… I’ll catch him myself.”
Grumbling about their dissatisfaction, they finally rounded the building and approached Dojin’s location.
And then…
*Puff!*
*Thud.*
He shoved the two lifeless bodies aside and turned toward the underground stairs leading into the vault.
‘Straight down, then immediately left.’
He already knew their patrol routes perfectly.
Because they were skilled enough to follow a strict schedule, prediction was almost too easy.
Dojin pressed his back against the wall and slowly peeked out.
Two awakened mercenaries with rifles on each side, plus one awakened operative fiddling with his phone in the middle.
‘First… the awakened one.’
Dojin drew Arkal’s Wrath.
For non-awakened mercenaries it wouldn’t be difficult, but knocking out an awakened fighter in one blow was no easy task.
Even if he did knock him out, he might wake up quickly.
Dojin took a deep breath and held it completely still.
For an instant, his figure seemed to dissolve into the space itself.
And right then.
‘Acceleration, Time Distortion.’
A skill that slowed everything within a five-meter radius by 1.5 to 1.6 times for four seconds.
*Pat!*
As Dojin burst forward, the others jerked and turned to look.
“What the—?!”
The awakened operative reacted first.
He tossed his phone and drew his weapon, but…
“……?!”
His face betrayed pure shock at the bizarre flow of reality around him.
At the same time.
‘Night Walker.’
The mysterious enemy had vanished from his sight.
The awakened guard spun left and right in panic, but…
*Pukk!*
The dagger Dojin had thrust upward pierced his jaw and then exploded through his crown.
A single strike.
Speed so overwhelming he might not even have realized he was dead yet.
The mercenaries finally reacted too late and raised their rifles, but…
*Puff puff puff puff!*
Dojin’s thrown dagger embedded itself between their brows and the situation was over.
*Thud, thud.*
Thick blood scent spread from the vault entrance.
Any awakened with a strong sense of smell would have detected the anomaly.
Dojin hurriedly checked the vault door.
It looked sturdy enough, but…
*Uwoong!*
Focusing mana into Arkal’s Wrath, the dagger trembled slightly.
“Cut.”
The blade’s cutting power had no equal, so he didn’t bother with the complicated locks and simply hacked the door apart.
*Kung!*
As the severed door pieces fell to the floor, Dojin stepped inside.
Even a small vault was quite spacious, and inside it, maintaining an icy cold temperature, lay the corpses of monsters that were rare to see.
And…
“……These crazy bastards.”
Preserved internal organs and enhanced body parts of awakened fighters could also be seen.
He had known body parts of awakened fighters infused with mana were traded on the black market, but…
“Damn it.”
Seeing it with his own eyes made it far from pleasant.
Dojin quickly planted mana bombs on both walls.
‘I have to hurry.’
In even the smallest vault, the scale was this large.
“Was Haowi’s word correct?”
If they blew up the entire shelter, it would deliver a blow severe enough to shake the foundation of the Black Moon’s Asian branch.
Hundreds of billions… or perhaps even more, in terms of money.
Dojin hurried outside and looked toward the next vault.
The largest in the center would be the last.
Any commotion there would be unavoidable.
He would have to take a slight detour, but he quickly moved toward the opposite side of the estate.
But right then.
“Qua! Qua! Qua! (Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!)”
Suddenly, loud noises erupted from the estate entrance.
Dojin pressed himself flat against the wall and turned his gaze there just as…
*Buwoong!*
A truck with massive bullet holes in the trailer wall sped toward the shelter.
‘That must be the one…’
The truck that had escaped earlier, before Dojin’s operation began.
What on earth had happened?
Soon, a group of mercenaries and awakened fighters headed toward the truck.
*Klang!*
They hurriedly opened the door and pulled something out.
“……”
For a moment, Dojin’s mind blanked.
‘How did this… get here?’
* * *
Thor, Aiden Taylor.
Dojin’s past life.
Among the hunters of England, the one who had dominated an entire era with overwhelming influence.
Nickname Thunder God, Thor. The hunter who wielded lightning ability of absurd power.
The brain lightning he fired could instantly kill even Wyverns over ten meters long, which were considered lower dragon tribes.
The problem was that at the very beginning, he had not been that powerful.
It was because of one single item.
An item called the Brainstorm Gauntlet that had turned him into the Thunder God.
The legendary item that maximized his lightning power.
And the most essential material in crafting that Brainstorm Gauntlet was…
“Lightning-struck Cypress Branch.”
Dojin muttered quietly.
A large, black box roughly the size of a coffin.
It was probably a containment box that suppressed the powerful reaction leaking from the Lightning-struck Cypress Branch.
Even though it was placed inside such a large box, it was impossible to fully suppress the power of the Lightning-struck Cypress Branch.
Dojin was certain.
‘No way… already by this time?’
Of course, he couldn’t say it was 100 percent certain, but…
Because he had seen the lightning Aiden had released in his past life, he could guess.
The strength and ‘flow’ of the lightning he felt then matched exactly.
And if that box contained the Lightning-struck Cypress Branch…
‘Just that one thing would multiply the value of this operation by dozens.’
There was no need to explode the other vaults.
Even just taking that one would be enough to shake their foundation.
‘I have to confirm.’
Dojin completely changed his plan.
Confirming that black box became priority one.
Swish.
Contrary to his urgency, Dojin’s actions became even calmer.
With sharpened eyes, his figure melted into the darkness.
“What’s going on?! How did this happen?!”
Wei Lang could not hide his shock at the sudden incident.
The trailer that had left for the private jet’s location was suddenly returning here.
But the awakened operative who had been in charge of the transport replied.
“It seems our operation has leaked outside. The flight that was supposed to take off immediately has been destroyed, and our transport team has been ambushed.”
“……”
What kind of madmen would dare touch them?
Wei Lang asked.
“Were there any pursuers?”
“Everyone at the scene has been eliminated. But since there’s no flight left that can take off… I came back because staying outside would only invite more attacks.”
“Damn it…”
Wei Lang’s expression hardened.
Right in this situation where Ruoan-nim was absent.
‘Something as big as the Lightning-struck Cypress Branch… even if it’s still here…’
He should still contact Ruoan…
Wei Lang shook his head.
‘I can’t.’
This was the man who had left to achieve the major feat of level 250.
If he succeeded, the entire Chinese hunter world would fall into his hands.
With that, he would have the strongest support pillar to climb even higher.
That opportunity…
‘I can’t simply let him throw it away.’
Somehow, he had to fix this situation.
Wei Lang bit his lip tightly.
“First, contact Gangmu right now and request support. Our current forces are too small to handle this.”
Since the attackers had all been killed, they could buy a little time.
Or rather, no matter how large the body, they could never touch the Black Moon’s shelter.
But…
‘Where exactly did the information leak from…?’
Excluding the Black Moon, only an extremely small number of people knew of this location.
And yet, precisely when something this large was moving…
“Contact made. They say support troops can arrive within an hour if we set a loose schedule.”
“As expected, Gangmu. Handling situations like this is truly impressive.”
Even though their relationship with the Black Moon was nearly horizontal, the other awakened fighters followed him without a word.
Because he handled everything from important matters to trivial ones with near perfection, beyond mere strength.
The problem was that this would only make another crisis erupt elsewhere.
And…
‘…One hour left.’
Hearing those words, Dojin’s eyes calmly darkened.
“It’s enough.”
Dojin’s figure vanished.