The Hidden Dagger
The atmosphere in the area grew heavy.
Along with a tension that seemed to press down on their shoulders, the Red Circle hunters all turned to look in one direction.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Just passing through?”
At Dojin’s words, Ilseong’s expression twisted.
But……
A sharp pain shot through him the moment he put weight on his left leg, as if it had been scorched by electricity.
Every hair on his body stood on end.
‘……I cut it clean through.’
In that brief instant.
This guy……
‘He’s the real deal.’
Ilseong didn’t know his identity, but this was someone who had killed before.
And killed a lot.
Ilseong spoke.
“He’s no pushover. Don’t let your guard down and take him down.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Understood.”
The four hunters around Ilseong drew their weapons.
Normally they would have fought with some restraint, but the fact that Ilseong had called the man dangerous changed everything.
Ilseong rarely gave such an assessment to anyone.
Nod.
Exchanging glances, the men nodded and then……
Whoosh!
They charged at Dojin simultaneously.
Han Soo flinched at the sight.
Dojin!
He almost shouted, but the fear that it might only make things worse kept him silent.
However……
Thud!
“……!”
The eyes of the man in the lead widened in shock.
His body suddenly felt heavier, while the figure ahead seemed to accelerate even faster.
“Gah!”
He crashed to the ground, clutching his side.
Red blood soaked his palm.
“Minchae!”
“You bastard!”
“Left side!”
The remaining three split to either side and attacked Dojin.
Dojin’s eyes flicked left and right.
From their movements, he judged their levels.
‘Around the low eighties.’
They had just shed their rookie status and were starting to make some noise.
They seemed confident in their coordinated assault, but……
‘Compared to Red Bite……’
They were children.
“Night Walker.”
Whoosh
Dojin’s figure split to both sides and vanished in an instant.
While the men briefly faltered, having lost sight of him……
“He’s on the right! Watch out!”
“Damn it!”
One man hurriedly raised his shield and twisted right, but……
Thud! Slash!
“Gah!”
Dojin’s strike came first.
A clean, lethal blow.
Ilseong’s eyes trembled slightly as he watched.
It reminded him of something he had seen long ago.
‘He’s the same type as Director Jang Junyeong……!’
The combat style was far too similar to Junyeong’s.
Now Junyeong wore tailored suits and played the refined businessman, but in the early days of Red Circle he had been little more than a butcher.
Back then, he had slaughtered hunters from rival guilds that stood in their way without hesitation.
‘Come to think of it……’
Five men had been posted at the entrance, yet they had all been taken down without anyone noticing before this man reached them.
“Son of a bitch.”
All four subordinates now lay on the floor.
Not a single one remained standing.
This was someone accustomed to fighting multiple opponents at once.
With short, precise movements he had wounded legs, vital points, and sides to restrict their mobility before finishing the others.
When he had clashed with one earlier, the man hadn’t been able to deflect the blow……
‘He’s invested heavily in agility relative to his level.’
Otherwise that kind of speed would have been impossible.
Plus that skill that made him blur and disappear.
Definitely Night Walker.
A skill assassins could obtain upon reaching 300 agility as a class bonus.
‘Where did someone like this suddenly come from……’
More importantly, why was he attacking them?
“……Don’t tell me.”
Ilseong glanced at Han Soo.
Was this man here to scout him?
From where?
Countless question marks floated through his mind.
But thinking wouldn’t give him the answer.
The most reliable way to resolve the situation was right beside him.
Thud!
Ilseong dashed toward Han Soo in an instant.
He intended to take the man hostage and extract information.
However……
“How does nothing ever go according to plan with you?”
“……?!”
Dojin’s figure slid forward smoothly. At the same time, Ilseong felt an odd sensation, as if something were binding his body.
‘Restraint……?’
No, it wasn’t that kind of skill.
It was the speed at which wind flowed.
The subtle movements of insects crawling across the ground.
Even he felt as though he had become the protagonist of a slow-motion video.
And within that slowed space……
Only Dojin moved like lightning.
Whoosh!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Gah!”
Ilseong twisted desperately to dodge, but Dojin’s dagger still carved wounds into his side, right shoulder, and arm.
Even so……
“……So he was wearing armor.”
The blade of Blood Bane had cracked, likely from being swung with excessive force.
It had struck the thin armor hidden beneath Ilseong’s suit and failed to withstand the impact.
‘I can’t use this anymore……?’
Dojin’s brow furrowed slightly.
Attacking further was impossible.
Defending against attacks was equally impossible.
‘I have to dodge everything.’
But Ilseong paid no attention to Dojin’s predicament.
Screeeech!
He tore off his ragged suit and roared.
“I’ll rip your arms and legs off!”
Rumble rumble rumble!
The ground around him vibrated faintly.
A powerful aura pulsed outward, and white light flickered across his body.
“……”
Recovery.
It wasn’t on the level of a high-grade heal used by healers, but it was a skill capable of treating minor injuries.
Tank and dealer.
A type commonly called a bruiser—neither a proper tank nor a proper dealer, an awkward middle ground.
But on the positive side, it meant he could fulfill both roles.
Hissssss!
The bleeding from between his armor plates stopped in an instant.
Dojin stared at Ilseong.
The one fortunate thing was that the tendon in the leg he had struck first hadn’t healed.
And that Ilseong’s main weapon was missing.
Ilseong’s weapon was a two-handed axe as tall as a person.
Someone who could wield such a heavy axe freely would be quite troublesome for the current Dojin.
Ilseong drew the two one-handed axes strapped behind his waist in an X-shape.
“This is all I’ve got, but it doesn’t matter. A lighter axe might actually be better for smashing you to death.”
If he used the two-handed axe, he might only graze Dojin’s collar.
Ilseong’s eyes narrowed.
Even with his left leg injured, considering overall stats, the opponent was probably only just over level 100.
As long as he watched out for the fast movements, there was no reason he would lose.
“Hup!”
Thud!
With a powerful stomp, Ilseong charged at Dojin.
Despite his considerable size, his speed was impressive.
Dojin dodged to the side, but……
“You think you can run?”
Ilseong changed direction immediately and swung his axe.
Whoosh!
Dojin leaned back at the waist to avoid the strike.
When Ilseong had pivoted right earlier……
‘He must have put weight on his left leg.’
Whether it was toughness or sheer recklessness, the man moved without so much as a flinch despite a severed tendon.
Dojin found himself impressed anew.
But……
‘This is exactly the kind of place that breeds people like him.’
Red Circle.
They pretended to be a legitimate corporation, a respectable hunter guild, but the organization was crawling with these kinds of abnormal monsters.
And Dojin intended to wipe every last one of them out.
Whoosh!
Though the axes were small, the power behind them was anything but ordinary.
Dojin was certain that even a decent-sized tree would snap in half from a single blow.
Tap!
Dojin quickly retreated and raised his dagger into a stance.
If he could block even once……
‘I might find an opening.’
But with this dagger, it was impossible.
The moment he tried to stop such a brutal attack, the blade would shatter into pieces.
In the end, he had to keep dodging until an opportunity presented itself……
“……This won’t be easy.”
Dojin exhaled softly and muttered.
Ilseong bellowed.
“What are you mumbling about by yourself?!”
Bang!
The charging figure resembled a bulldozer, and Dojin was growing familiar with the pattern.
Yet the openings remained scarce.
Tap! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Dojin moved swiftly, evading Ilseong’s attacks.
Ilseong’s rage grew with each miss.
“You rat bastard! How long are you going to keep running?!”
His face was flushed red with fury.
Dojin could tell just how angry the man was.
Even so……
‘It’s not like I want to do this either.’
Since Ilseong’s vital points were protected by armor……
‘I have to aim for the neck in one strike.’
If he didn’t kill with a single blow, he might end up being the one killed.
Moreover, he had to fight while protecting Han Soo and his wife.
The moment his weapon broke, the situation would reverse instantly.
“……”
Han Soo’s eyes trembled as he watched the fight between Dojin and Ilseong.
‘What’s going on……?’
Dojin’s fighting style had changed from the beginning.
Han Soo wondered if it was because the opponent was strong, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
‘There were definitely moments where he could have attacked……’
With the movements Dojin had shown earlier, he should have been able to deflect Ilseong’s attacks and counter.
But now he was focusing solely on evasion to an unnatural degree.
“……?”
Then something caught Han Soo’s eye.
The red dagger in Dojin’s hand—and the hairline cracks spiderwebbing across the blade.
Han Soo’s eyes widened.
“W-with a weapon like that……!”
He finally understood why Dojin kept avoiding direct clashes and focused only on dodging.
There was no way that dagger could withstand the opponent’s attacks.
A single hit would surely shatter the blade like glass.
‘Was it because of that earlier attack?’
Or perhaps even before that.
Han Soo thought.
But it didn’t matter.
Knowing the process and cause wouldn’t change the current situation.
Han Soo turned and ran.
“Tch!”
“Honey!”
His wife cried out as she watched him dash off somewhere.
But Han Soo sprinted straight into the workshop.
“Here…… It should be here.”
He began rummaging through the storage area.
Long ago, before leaving that wretched company that had made his life miserable, he had secretly forged a single sword.
Since he had stolen both materials and equipment, he had lacked enough to make anything larger and ended up crafting a dagger instead.
‘I almost got caught trying to sell it, so I couldn’t even put it on the black market and just kept it hidden……’
He never imagined an opportunity to use it would come like this.
“Found it!”
A small wooden box.
Carrying the entire box, Han Soo stepped out of the workshop and looked at Dojin.
Boom!
Dojin narrowly avoided a dangerous situation thanks to the wooden beam behind him, crouching low to dodge the attack.
Meanwhile, the axe Ilseong swung felled a fairly thick tree in a single strike.
Crash!
The power was immense.
Dojin’s expression tightened slightly.
He couldn’t keep dodging like this forever……
But at that moment……
“Ha Dojin!”
“……?”
“Use this!”
Han Soo pulled out the item from inside the box and threw it toward Dojin.
Both Dojin’s and Ilseong’s gazes snapped toward it.
Whoosh!
Dojin moved first.
Leaping into the air, he reached for the object Han Soo had thrown.
“You think I’ll let you?!”
Ilseong shouted and chased after him.
Whoosh!
Dojin hurled Blood Bane at the charging Ilseong.
Ilseong frantically swung his axe at the blade flying toward his face.
Clang!
The dagger shattered in an instant.
But as the fragments scattered in all directions, Ilseong hurriedly raised his arms to shield his face.
Shards of metal were flying straight at him.
In that brief moment……
Thud.
Dojin caught the dagger Han Soo had thrown, his figure stretching like a rubber band.
Whoosh!
In the split second Ilseong’s arms blocked his vision……
“Time Distortion.”
Time Distortion, whose cooldown had just ended.
The world around Dojin began to flow slowly.
Ilseong’s face twisted in confusion at the same strange phenomenon from earlier.
‘What is this……?’
But he had no time to think.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Slash!
The strikes pierced even through Ilseong’s armor with terrifying sharpness.
Ilseong’s body convulsed as if struck by lightning.
Every place Dojin had struck was a vital point.
“Kuh!”
The man coughed up blood and staggered.
Just as he seemed about to drop the axes in his hands……
Slash!
“Guhk!”
A long red line traced across Ilseong’s neck.
His expression was one of disbelief.
How could he…… like this……
“Crazy…….”
Thud!
As Ilseong collapsed to the floor, Dojin exhaled softly and looked down at him.
And then……
“……This is.”
Dojin muttered quietly as he examined the dagger in his hand.