The Hunter Before Dawn
“Heh heh. It seems I was underestimating you.”
“I apologize, Chairman.”
Kim Gyeongtaek bowed his head as he looked at Gu Jinmo.
Gu Jinmo shook his head in return.
“That’s not on you at all. It’s simply that your opponent was better than we expected.”
But the situation was far from lighthearted.
He had been certain the traces had been wiped clean with surgical precision, yet here they were, connected to a hospital in Anyang that belonged to SW Technology.
“Where is So-hee’s mother?”
“She was moved to another facility. If we had been even a moment later, things would have become far more troublesome.”
“That’s something, at least.”
But that was the end of the good news.
At best, the worst-case scenario had been avoided.
Kim Gyeongtaek spoke up.
“Shall we handle the rest?”
Gu Jinmo shook his head again.
“No. If we were going to intervene, we should have done so long ago.”
“SW Technology mustn’t appear publicly just yet. The difference between acting from the shadows and stepping into the light is enormous.”
“If we get involved now, the problem will only grow worse. We should watch from the sidelines. Did you reach out to Dojin?”
“Yes. I left a message, but the dungeon signal is still dead.”
“We’ll wait.”
Even if the situation was far from ideal, this was an opportunity to see the true measure of Ha Dojin.
Gu Jinmo simply stared out the window at the road below.* * *__[You have leveled up.]
Status window.
Name: Ha Dojin
Level: 59
Strength: 104 + 6 Agility: 298 + 29
Health: 100 Spirit: 198 + 2
Bonus Stats: 5
Finally at 59.
He had wanted to reach 60, but settling for 300 agility felt right. Dojin had raised agility to 300 without hesitation and poured the remaining points into strength.
And then.
Night Walker skill acquired.
“This is why I came here.”
“To handle a web of coordinated attacks… the more cards, the better.”
With that said, Dojin stepped out of the dungeon.
Ring!
The phone in his pocket vibrated. Dojin checked the message.
“……Already?”
A flicker of seriousness crossed his face.
He hadn’t underestimated Red Knight’s information network, but.
‘A variable in killing one of them.’
It looked like they had gone out of their way to find him.
Dojin read Kim Gyeongtaek’s message and immediately headed toward the parked car.
He hadn’t wanted to leave it at 60, but there was no time to waste.
‘I have to end this.’
With the Chairman’s power and resources, Red Knight would be a breeze, but.
‘Once I act directly, the connection to him will weaken.’
Transactions depend on mutual verification of value, after all.
If I can’t handle even this one thing properly, I won’t be able to ask for his backing on bigger issues.
“Still, I at least got Night Walker.”
That alone was enough of a harvest.
Dojin glanced at his watch.
‘Tonight. I’ll finish it tonight.’
He sent a message to Kim Gyeongtaek and floored the accelerator to the floor.* * *
Seo was the hunter in Red Knight who excelled at concealment.
I must not take my eyes off them. There is definitely a connection.
Those were the words of Captain Moon Seok-min.
Now that the link to SW Technology had been exposed, watching this place was more important than anything else.
“……Still nothing today?”
Three days in a row.
Il-a muttered from the roof of the building across from SW Technology.
There was clearly a connection, yet nothing was ever caught.
The watch period ended today.
He couldn’t just sit here draining time any longer.
If nothing was found by today, he would slip inside SW Technology.
Il-a chewed on a chocolate bar while grumbling and held the telescope.
But……
“Eh?”
His eyes widened at the figure emerging from the side street next to SW Technology.
Ha Dojin.
“Found him.”
Il-a’s rear end bounced at the sight.
Il-a raised his comm equipment and spoke.
“Cicada, Cicada, come in. Target acquired, target acquired.”
Click.
—Stay on him.
With just that one line, Il-a was already on his feet.
He couldn’t afford to let the only lead slip away.
Soon, as Ha Dojin vanished down the alley, Il-a leaped from the roof.* * *
“Heh heh, you?”
Gu Jinmo couldn’t hide his surprise at the figure that had suddenly appeared before him.
He already knew their connection was exposed.
And yet here he was, walking in openly.
But……
“It seems you have a plan.”
“I intend to deal with those guys.”
Gu Jinmo’s eyes grew cold.
He said, “Not an easy opponent. Those are the hounds they call the hunting dogs.”
Gu Jinmo had already looked into Red Knight.
Even A-rank hunters struggled against them.
“Is there nothing I can help with?”
“What you’ve already done is more than enough.”
“……I see.”
Gu Jinmo’s gaze toward Dojin shifted.
From this angle, it had always seemed Gu Jinmo held a higher position than Dojin, thanks to SW Technology’s vast power and capital.
But if Dojin could take down Red Knight himself this time, the dynamic would change.
Even an A-rank hunter found it difficult to take them on alone.
If Dojin managed it, his value would skyrocket to A-rank overnight.
And within that, he would be ranked as upper-tier.
Even SW Technology could no longer maintain a one-sided relationship.
At the very least, equal partners.
That was what Gu Jinmo had seen.
“I’ll be waiting.”
“Yes.”
The outcome would be Dojin’s choice, regardless.
Perhaps even for SW Technology, this could be the birth of an equal partner.
Gu Jinmo decided to respect the choice.
Dojin gave a light bow and left the chairman’s office.
Kim Gyeongtaek, standing beside him, asked.
“Will it be alright?”
“It’s his choice. We simply wait. Whether he succeeds or fails.”
* * *
Tap tap!
Dojin had barely left SW Technology before he sprinted down the alley at high speed.
‘Are they following?’
He glanced back and saw a single figure hurrying after him from afar.
From the movements, it looked like.
‘Seo.’
No one else at 300 agility could possibly catch up to him.
Given the other hunters’ levels of 150 to 160, only Seo or Yang Jin-ho could track him.
That meant……
‘Night Walker.’
The special ability acquired at 300 agility.
Dojin’s figure blurred for an instant and then.
Whoosh!
He split and vanished in opposite directions.
“……!”
Seo flinched at the figure that had disappeared right in front of her.
‘Where did he go?’
She had studied Ha Dojin thoroughly.
Twenty-five years old.
Until last year, just a normal civilian.
That meant he had awakened as a hunter for barely a month.
‘No information on his activities since then.’
The conclusion they had drawn was that he had grown rapidly thanks to SW Technology’s overwhelming support during those first months.
But even then, his level should have been around 30.
How could he move like that?
“Damn it, where is he?”“Are you looking for me?”“You bastard!”
The voice right behind her made Seo yank the knife from her sleeve and grip it tightly.
Her hand instantly glowed blue with Void Slash.
Her signature skill.
It mixed enormous vibration waves into the blade to maximize cutting power.
It could slice steel like tofu.
Combined with Seo’s lightning-fast movements, the skill’s efficiency was maximized.
But the opponent had been far too good.
“Time Distortion.”“……!”
Her entire body stiffened as if struck by lightning.
What kind of skill is this……?
“Time! Time is slowing——!”
Instinctively sensing the danger, Seo slammed the radio at her waist and shouted.
But before her voice even finished,
Slash!
A bright red line appeared across her throat.
“Cough!”
The sword in her hand clattered to the ground.
Seo clutched her throat with both hands.
Blood spurted between her fingers, and she staggered and collapsed onto the pavement.
‘When……’
She never saw it coming.
Moreover, it was a skill that controlled time.
This was truly dangerous.
Up to now, had any domestic hunter possessed a time-related skill?
‘A unique skill that slows time……?’
She didn’t know how powerful it was, but even a lower-level opponent’s movements were missed.
But the moment she was attacked, Seo realized it wasn’t just the skill.
‘That movement……’
It had slipped into her blind spot completely and vanished.
A pattern well known among assassin-type hunters.
But how many could actually use it instinctively in real combat?
‘Where did such a hunter……’
He had to be warned.
Dangerous.
Be careful.
But……
Thud.
Seo’s head bowed forward.
Watching the neck that had stopped moving, Dojin wiped the blood from his blade.
“Two.”
He had clearly weakened Red Knight’s forces.
The difference between seven and five was stark.
‘I’m glad I got Night Walker.’
He swore she hadn’t even realized he had used it.
Of course.
A hunter who had only awakened a month ago was expected to use Night Walker?
He would have thought they simply lost track while he was momentarily careless.
That tiny difference.
“Didn’t create a big result.”
But now that two were dead,.
Waiting for them to get sloppy from now on was foolish.
They would be furious and come at him with full force.
‘But……’
That was exactly why this was the moment.
To wipe them out completely.
‘If the hunting dogs are all gone…… will the executives move?’
Who was the executive in Red Knight?
Dojin thought for a moment.
And……
“Ah.”
One face instantly came to mind.
“Jang Jun-yeong was in charge.”
The highest decision-maker for the financial side.
The one standing to lose the most now that Red Capital and Burning Red were both in ruins.
With his back against the wall, he had no choice but to move the hunting dogs.
The timing matched perfectly.
But……
“With the current situation…… I can’t take him.”
The limit of what Dojin could handle right now was Red Knight.
Even that was too much to take on at once, so this gradual reduction was necessary.
‘Can’t be helped.’
Jang Jun-yeong was a monster past level 200.
In the old Dojin’s time, maybe, but not now.
Not enough levels, skills, or items.
“Just keep their growth in check.”
And in the meantime, he would grow stronger.
His plan unfolded in his mind.
‘If only……’
He wanted to take down Kang Seungho right now with Gu Jinmo’s help.
‘Even Chairman Gu can’t touch Kang Seungho lightly.’
No, there was no hunter in Korea who could take him down.
So the only way was to regain at least the power of the old him.
‘No.’
He needed something stronger than that.
Dojin turned on his heel.
To do that, he had to.
“First, I need to make sure the trap is set tight.”
Before dawn.
There was work to be done.