The Assassin Hunter Stops Time
“Time! The time is slowing…!”
A frantic voice crackled over the walkie-talkie.
Then came the faint sound of blades slicing through the air.
“Kuhk.”
A sharp crunch.
And the last scream of Lee Ra echoed through the radio.
Red Knight’s leader, Mun Seok-min, unconsciously clenched his fist.
His lips, already bitten so tightly they were about to split, bled steadily.
“Ha Do-jin… that son of a bitch…!”
Seok-min was never one to show emotion.
In battlefields where dozens died and dozens more killed, he never even blinked.
But now…
“I’ll tear their limbs off and feed them to the pigs. I’ll make him beg for death!”
The deaths of his longest-serving teammates.
Two of them.
Seok-min’s patience had finally snapped.
“Everyone fall back. Lee Ra… is dead.”
Chichik.
“Roger.”
“Understood.”
Everyone had already heard Lee Ra’s final words through the radios.
They spoke calmly, but their eyes were clearly shattered.
An hour later.
At the sprawling mansion below Bukak Mountain.
It looked like an ordinary single-family house from the outside, but this was Red Knight’s base.
Nearly all the team members had gathered here.
Seok-min looked at them.
“Everyone’s here?”
“Yes.”
“What do you intend to do now?”
“Have you located that bastard?”
“The one who killed Lee Ra and Yoo Hyun-woo… I’ll cut off his head myself.”
Seok-min’s cold gaze swept over the furious teammates.
Escaping now was impossible, so…
“Jinhu, have you found out where Han So-hee’s mother is?”
“She’s at Gu Jin-mo’s branch villa in Yeouido. It seems they’re not even trying to hide her.”
“They already know we’re after her.”
“Then SW Technology is already moving too, isn’t it?”
Seok-min nodded.
SW Technology had already intervened.
But the bastards couldn’t move openly.
So the branch villa of Chairman Gu Jin-mo, not the SW headquarters, had been their target.
If they touched the main building directly, Red Circle would react instantly.
That was why…
“We need to give them a clear reason to move.”
Even the largest corporation would stagger if its master gave the order.
Hong Woo-min asked, “Is there any method?”
“We strike directly at SW Technology headquarters.”
Unofficially.
But with Red Knight’s skill level, slipping inside SW Technology headquarters was nothing.
“We’ll make them pay twice as much.”
Seok-min’s voice was ironclad.
But at that moment.
Tuk.
“……!?”
Suddenly every light in the mansion went out, and every teammate’s eyes widened.
‘Surveillance?’
Only a handful of people in the guild knew the location of Red Knight’s base.
One of his own teammates had been tailed by the enemy.
Panic seized them, but they instinctively pulled their weapons.
Seok-min roared, “He’s coming from upstairs!”
A pitch-black night with almost no moonlight.
In the dark mansion, a shadow moved with terrifying speed.
* * *
Tuk.
The moment the wire was severed at the back of the mansion, the lights went out.
Do-jin had scaled the walls in an instant and entered the second floor.
‘I never expected him to be here.’
Only a few people in Red Circle knew the location of Red Knight’s base.
In the past, Do-jin had visited Red Circle’s master, Kang Seungho, only twice.
But that was enough.
As an assassin hunter, he had the habit of memorizing terrain on sight.
‘Speed kill.’
Do-jin drew the Blood Blade and leaped into the first-floor living room.
“He’s here!”
The man in the center shouted.
‘Warrior’s Oath, activate.’
Wuuung!
[Attack power +20%][Mental power -30%][Status abnormality - resistance to confusion.]
Do-jin dove downward and stabbed straight at the man below.
Puk!
The opponent instinctively twisted sideways to dodge.
Do-jin’s blade pierced the man’s shoulder.
“Kuaaaack!”
Mun Taeyoon screamed.
When Do-jin twisted his wrist to slice the man’s neck,
Ssuak!
An attack came from the side.
Do-jin rolled across the floor.
Kwak!
The sofa toppled over with a crash.
Do-jin moved behind the sofa and quickly stood up.
One out of five was injured.
Not fatal, but the left arm was useless.
Taeyoon trembled violently while still bent over in pain.
The short moment had been enough to sever the tendons in his left shoulder.
Seok-min ignored the groaning Taeyoon and barked, “Skill deployment! Capture the bastard!”
He quickly issued orders to the team.
Drdrk! Kklik! Ddrurruk!
Woo-min infused mana into the shoulder armor he wore, and a top-tier portable armor enveloped his entire body.
The best equipment given to the highest-ranked hunter in Red Circle.
Soon Jinhu and Sang-won drew their weapons.
An Sang-won held a chain scythe.
Yang Sang-won gripped two daggers.
And Mun Seok-min had gauntlets reaching to his elbows.
Kwak!
Hong Woo-min moved first.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
Arms spread wide, he charged like a bull.
Jinhu ran straight at Do-jin from the opposite side, trying to grab him.
Ssuueeeek!
Sang-won threw the chain scythe from the side to block.
Yang Jinhu was already moving on the other side, hunting for Do-jin’s opening.
Three of them, but the net was tight.
This was Red Knight’s coordination.
But…
“Huaaah!”
Woo-min had closed the distance and swung both arms with a roar.
“Time Distortion.”
The time around them began to slow.
Seok-min’s eyes flickered.
‘What skill is this?’
A binding-type skill?
But…
“Time! The time is slowing…!”
The words Lee Ra had screamed flashed through his mind.
A skill related to time.
“He has a skill that slows time! Attack at the same time!”
No hunter in the world would have a time-related skill unless they possessed an extremely high-grade blessing.
And even then, the cooldown would be merciless.
“It must be short cooldown or long cooldown.”
Or… the enemy was affected by time itself.
Puk!
“……!”
The armor was ridiculously tight.
Yet Do-jin had found the gap.
The tiny joint near the shoulder where the arm connected to the torso.
A split second of weakness.
Chwaak!
“Kuaaaah!”
Sang-won screamed as the dagger was pulled out, blood spraying.
“Hong Woo-min!”
“This bastard!”
An Sang-won hurled the chain scythe back at Do-jin.
But…
Pabat!
The chain scythe came, but Do-jin’s movement made Sang-won’s eyes shake.
Normally he would have pulled the chain to strike Do-jin’s back.
But…
‘Why… why isn’t it ending…!’
Seruk.
[Reset condition met. Time Distortion cooldown initialized.]
Do-jin’s eyes flashed sharply.
‘Time Distortion.’
In the slowing time, only Do-jin remained unaffected.
To them, his movements looked like those of a ghost.
Agility 300, time slowed 1.6x…
Whish!
It made him even faster.
Puk! Puk! Puk! Seruk!
“Kuhk…!”
He circled behind Sang-won, slicing side, shoulder, chest, and finally the neck.
Thud.
‘Three.’
Four remained.
Considering Taeyoon and Woo-min’s injuries, only Seok-min and Jinhu were left.
In the instant he checked the situation, the cooldown of Time Distortion ticked down.
But since he had landed a critical hit on Sang-won earlier, he could use it once more immediately.
“Insane…”
In the blink of an eye, two teammates were injured and one was dead.
Seok-min watched with his own eyes but still couldn’t believe it.
It was impossible.
‘A ghost? No… what level is he?’
Last year he was still a normal person.
If he awakened this year…
He had awakened less than a month ago.
Yet…
‘How… how is this possible?’
It didn’t matter how much SW Technology had poured into him.
No matter what, it was impossible to create an A-class hunter in just one month.
Everything felt wrong.
Seok-min bit his lip hard.
“Then I’ll just ask him directly.”
Even if I have to capture him, I can get the answer.
Kwakwak!
A powerful aura erupted from Seok-min.
He wanted to kill quietly, but there was no time for that.
“All out! Take him down with killing intent!”
Red flames gathered on Seok-min’s gauntlets.
Fire Fist.
The skill that exploded with intense flames.
The most destructive in Red Knight.
The moment Seok-min’s Fire Fist exploded…
Kwaaaang!
The entire mansion shook, and one entire wall was completely destroyed.
He obviously wasn’t planning to fight secretly.
Do-jin was blasted backward by the blast and flew into the garden.
He quickly stood up and looked ahead.
‘Left.’
Whish!
Yang Jinhu’s dagger grazed just above Do-jin’s head.
The fastest in Red Knight after Lee Ra.
He evaded the dangerous attack.
“Hup!”
Seok-min kept attacking.
A seamless combination.
Do-jin could finally understand why Red Knight’s coordinated attack was so terrifying.
If all seven were here, even Do-jin would be in serious danger.
But…
Chwaak!
“Kuk!”
Do-jin crouched low and slashed Seok-min’s calf, rolling on the floor.
The bastards were already like sand castles before they fell.
Tonight.
“You’re all going to die.”
Finish them before they gather more people.
* * *
“Chairman.”
“……?”
A heavy atmosphere.
Gu Jin-mo sat in the chairman’s office, waiting for news.
Kim Gyeong-taek asked, “You really think Ha Do-jin can defeat Red Knight?”
“Well… it’s not easy.”
Red Knight was one of the main forces even inside Red Circle.
When the whole team was together, they were A-class hunters who could kill one with ease.
But Do-jin, who awakened this year, was supposed to take them all down…
It was normally considered impossible.
Kim Gyeong-taek fell silent.
But…
“If Ha Do-jin really defeats them… what will you do?”
“……”
Gyeong-taek watched Gu Jin-mo for a long time.
The support for Ha Do-jin was purely gratitude for saving his grandson.
He had never viewed him as an equal.
The gap in their power was simply too vast.
But if Do-jin really had the strength to defeat Red Knight…
“Huhu, we’ll worry about that when the time comes.”
The corners of his mouth were smiling, but his eyes were sharp.
And then…
Riiing!
The direct line phone in the chairman’s office rang.
The long-awaited call had come.
Gu Jin-mo nodded, and Gyeong-taek carefully picked up the phone.
Now it was time to see the result.