Chapter 29
**CHAPTER TITLE: The Assassin Hunter Accepts the Unbelievable Offer**
* * *
The contact was deeply nostalgic.
The life of the past.
The grip felt identical to the sword Dojin had once used.
The moment he held it, it was so familiar he thought it must be the real thing.
“An artisan is indeed an artisan.”
It wasn’t perfectly the same object, but the sensation was unmistakable.
Dojin looked at the blade gleaming with a blue light.
Soon Kwak Hansu approached.
“Mr. Ha Dojin!”
“Mr. Kwak Hansu. Thank you. Thanks to you, I won.”
“...No need to thank me. I should be the one thanking you and apologizing.”
Hansu paused for a moment before asking.
“Have you returned?”
“Yes. A car is entering from that side, but something feels off.”
“Thank you. Truly, thank you.”
If not for Dojin, he and his wife would have faced a terrible fate.
Hansu bowed his head deeply in gratitude.
Dojin shook his head.
“I simply hope no innocent people die like that anymore.”
“...What?”
“It’s nothing.”
It was like a soliloquy from his past self.
He hoped there would be no more people crying blood and dying because of Red Circle.
Without hesitation, Dojin turned his body.
In the current situation, scouting Hansu would be much easier.
But he didn’t want to exploit this opportunity.
Later...
He would find him again.
But then.
“Wait!”
Seeing Dojin turn, Hansu shouted.
“Is the offer still valid?”
“If it’s a repayment decision, you don’t have to accept it. I didn’t come back for that purpose.”
“No, it’s not that.”
Hansu continued.
“Can SW Technology... protect me and my wife?”
Dojin looked at the wife of Hansu, standing in front of the house door with an anxious expression.
And then shifted his gaze back to Hansu.
“I will do my utmost.”
He answered without hesitation.
Hansu asked.
“And... my wife is in a lot of pain. Can you support her so she can receive treatment...”
“SW Technology is connected to the world’s top-level hospitals. I promise to do everything possible to take care of your wife’s illness.”
At those words, Hansu turned to look at his wife.
It was as if their eyes were exchanging conversation.
The wife nodded, and Hansu nodded as well.
Hansu said to Dojin.
“I will. Let’s go together.”
Even if they stayed here, someone who knew him might find them.
In that case, this could happen again.
It would be better to rely on a trustworthy person than face such uncertainty.
Dojin looked at Hansu with surprise.
He never expected someone to accept so readily without even reviewing the conditions.
But since he knew the kind of heart Hansu had.
“Then, shall we go together? All preparations will be made on our side.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Hansu extended his hand.
The man’s face, having made a firm decision, looked quite relieved.
Dojin headed to SW Technology with the two of them, and Red Circle was flipped upside down again.
* * *
“Hyung!”
Seeing Dojin and Sohee approaching, Sunghyun shouted loudly.
Two days of rest had been pure honey.
Now that he had recharged, he had to run again.
“How did your trip go?”
“The rest I’ll leave to others.”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s something like that. By the way, which dungeon today?”
Sohee in the back seat looked at Sunghyun with a nervous expression.
Please, a weak dungeon.
Please...
Although he had rested for two days, Sohee had mostly just received treatment at the hospital and come out.
Even though her level was now 45, she still found even intermediate dungeons difficult.
But...
“The place we’re going today... is the Rival Fighter Dungeon and the Gray Orc Dungeon. Since we’ve been continuously bidding on dungeons, it probably won’t close.”
“Good.”
Dojin nodded.
But soon, his eyes fell on Sohee’s reflection in the room mirror.
“Han Sohee.”
“Yes?”
“What’s your current stamina?”
“Stamina? Just a moment... 102!”
Sohee immediately checked her status window and answered.
Dojin said.
“You’ll gradually get easier. The reason it’s hard now is because you distributed your stats incorrectly during that time.”
“...Yes.”
Before meeting Dojin, Sohee was level 39.
The problem was that she had equally distributed four types of stats without properly understanding her own characteristics.
She had wasted stats that should have been prioritized for strength and stamina, making her equipment and abilities inferior to other tanks of the same level.
Of course, there had been bonus stats from awakening with the SR characteristic, but even that hadn’t helped much because it was equally distributed.
The only reason Sohee had survived until now was because she had a combat sense and had well-parried the enemies’ attacks.
But from now on, she was investing every level-up into stamina during hunts with Dojin.
Right now, she had to fix the broken stat balance first.
“Within this week, get to level 50. Be ready.”
“Hiing!”
She ended up whining, but Dojin said to Sunghyun as if it didn’t matter.
“Let’s go.”
Sunghyun’s car sped down the road.
* * *
“How did it go?”
“We secretly sent a car to Changwon and transported everything.”
At Kyungtaek’s answer, Gu Jinmo nodded.
The sudden man Dojin had brought.
Although he had been pleased to hear that the blacksmith had outstanding skills.
“But he’s entangled with Red Circle again. We’ll have to hide him for a while.”
Getting entangled with Red Circle could cause big problems.
Not long ago, had the master of Red Circle guild, Kang Seungho, not come to warn them personally?
If they were going to have a full-scale war, they would have ignored it.
“But now, there’s no need to create unnecessary problems.”
It was best to avoid what could be avoided.
Thanks to SW Technology’s consideration, Hansu and his wife were provided with a place to stay where they could hide their bodies.
Hansu had fully understood the need to hide their bodies for a while due to Red Circle.
But...
“However, the conditions are quite generous. It seems unfair compared to other employees in the development team...”
“The basic conditions are all the same. The rest will be paid for by Dojin.”
“Dojin...?”
“Fufu, just watch for now. I’m curious about what kind of person Dojin brought.”
It wasn’t someone who would arbitrarily bring a person without any reason.
Especially not with competition against Red Circle.
“First, let’s wait. Dojin has never disappointed me yet.”
“I understand. We’ll proceed with the scheduled schedule.”
“Even so, we must monitor Red Circle’s movements carefully. We don’t know when they might turn their hearts and act rashly.”
“I will remember.”
After Kyungtaek’s answer, Gu Jinmo stood up and looked out the window.
These days felt like walking on thin ice.
But because of that, he could make his resolve even firmer.
Whenever he overcame such anxious situations, he had always grown greatly.
‘This time too... I hope it passes without any problems.’
Why did this feeling of unease not disappear?
Gu Jinmo’s expression as he looked outside carried a cautious worry.
* * *
Thud! Swoosh!
Thud.
When the two Rival Fighters fell, Sohee looked at Dojin in amazement.
Because at such times, the feeling that they were not human was very strong.
“Uncle.”
“...?”
When Dojin turned his head, Sohee asked.
“What grade did you get, Uncle?”
“SR.”
“We’re the same?”
Sohee looked at him with wonder.
Her awakening grade was the same, but how could there be such a difference?
‘If the experience is distributed evenly... the level difference probably isn’t that big.’
Sohee, who had been beaten senseless to raise her contribution in hunting, had started studying dungeons.
At first, she thought it was ridiculous training.
But eventually, Dojin was right.
Even if they entered the dungeon together, if Dojin swept up all the monsters, she wouldn’t get any experience.
But that was why it was even more mysterious.
“Uncle... why are you so strong?”
It was amazing.
Every time she fought monsters, it was desperate, but Dojin didn’t even blink.
But Dojin shook his head.
“It’s you who’s amazing. From what I know, there’s no hunter who can tank like this in an intermediate dungeon before level 50.”
“Is that so...?”
“It’s also because you’re defending so well that I can handle the monsters easily. So endure it.”
“...Yes.”
It seemed to be twisting, but she felt good to receive praise.
Finally, the last Rival Fighters appeared.
“For this one, pull all their aggro. If you hold for 5 minutes, it ends right away.”
“E-eighty? There are 8 Rival Fighters!”
The dungeon clear condition was to eliminate 80 Rival Fighters.
They had defeated 72 so far, and the most at once was 5.
Dojin nodded.
“I can do it.”
With a firm expression, Dojin said.
Sohee had no right of refusal.
And from the results so far, it was true that Dojin’s orders were extremely difficult...
‘But I’ve never been asked to do the impossible...’
Whenever she thought it was overdoing it, he never intervened.
Sohee took a deep breath.
“I’ll try.”
“You have to.”
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Dojin’s mouth.
During the two days of rest.
‘He must have studied quite a bit.’
The tanking video Dojin showed to Sohee.
It seemed to have helped her.
‘She has tremendous talent.’
Even studying on her own to find what she was lacking was amazing, but she was also compensating and acquiring it in a short time.
Five minutes passed in an instant.
Even though there were 8 Rival Fighters, thanks to Sohee moving to advantageous terrain and switching between shield and mace, she had defended easily.
Dojin stood up.
And...
Crack! Thud! Thud! Thud! Slash! Crack!
Dojin’s attack, targeting the rear of the Rival Fighters, was fatal.
Thanks to the weapon Hansu had made, the attack became even sharper.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
All the Rival Fighters fell, and the dungeon was cleared.
Sohee let out a tired breath with a somewhat fatigued expression.
“From now on, we should go to high-level dungeons.”
“...What?”
It seemed that this was what it meant to curse with your eyes.
Dojin endured Sohee’s curse and gave a slight smile.