The Shadow Moves
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Shadow of the Quiet Dawn
Shadow.
The name whispered in the shadows of Red Circle Guild—the organization Ha Dojin had once led. All members here were bound by absolute secrecy. Even the guild master, Kang Seungho, was known to only a select few. Their primary duty was not dungeon hunting, but the assassination of hunters and other agents. That was why, within Red Circle and beyond, they were the most proficient at killing hunters among all groups.
“How is it?”
“……Incredible.”
The shadows had faced three opponents and left him profoundly impressed.
“What level are they at?”
“They’ve just reached 150 and unlocked their specialty.”
“A 150-level hunter trio at this level……”
Cold calculation showed they were a few steps above the slain Red Knight.
Kang Seungho nodded in satisfaction and stepped out of the building. His instructor followed, asking,
“When will we be ready?”
“Send them to the guild in three days. I’ll issue the orders separately.”
“This violates regulations. Orders must be carried out via encrypted documents only along the designated route.”
The corners of Seungho’s mouth twitched upward at the instructor’s words.
Well done.
Five years had passed since he first raised them.
Everything the instructor had just said—the entire system—was one of Seungho’s own creations.
Even if he issued the command personally, it had to be sent only through encrypted documents.
That was vital.
Hunters had the ability to impersonate others perfectly, after all.
But if he created his own cipher, outsiders would never decipher it.
That cipher was known only to Seungho and the Shadow unit he commanded.
“I’ll issue the documents soon. There must be no room for error.”
“Failure means death. I will never fail.”
The conversation ended there.
The moment Seungho left, the instructor turned and walked back inside the building as he always did.
Training time was about to begin.
A heart-wrenching scream soon echoed.
The Shadow unit’s brutal training commenced.
* * *
“Kyaaaaaaaak!”
A tear in the scream.
A powerful blow crashed down from above.
Boom!
It could shatter a rock to dust in one strike.
Yet Sohee stood unharmed, shield raised, and stared at the mud golem before her.
A golem made of mud.
Still, one could not be careless.
It moved sluggishly, mud dripping from its body, but attacked with terrifying solidity.
Its power was like a hammer striking down.
Combined with its inherent strength, it created an unpredictable destructive force.
“Hah.”
Sohee exhaled and lifted her shield.
She had considered using the mace in one hand for an attack, but Dojin’s order had not yet come.
“Uncle! How long do you plan to just defend?!”
“Let’s face three at once.”
“Three?!”
A single one had already made her arms ache; three would be impossible.
Moreover, these mud golems were far stronger than the monsters she had hunted with Firebird Guild’s raiding party.
Sohee grimaced.
She had grown comfortable with the raiding party’s dungeon runs, but the moment Dojin arrived, the difficulty had skyrocketed.
Dojin assessed Sohee’s tanking ability and mentally plotted his next move.
‘Definitely……’
Seungho had lost many of his cards.
Even the guild’s financial backbone was nearly gone.
Not to mention the loss of the strongest first raiding party after the Red Knight.
‘There will be pressure from Hwangryong Guild too……’
Then he would certainly create discord through other means.
Creating a major rift to draw attention when the crisis struck was his specialty.
So, in that case……
‘He will have no choice but to move.’
Though things were still incomplete, Seungho’s options were limited.
If it were Dojin himself, he would definitely move the Shadows.
And the target would be……
“Black Chain’s master, Park Namhee.”
In the current situation, nothing was more effective at shifting attention than killing him.
‘Weakening the strongest rival guild while also exacting revenge for past grudges.’
Many would likely focus their eyes on Red Circle because of this.
After all, Red Circle was the only place suspicion could point.
Seungho would gain two benefits from it.
First, he would be able to walk freely despite suspicion because there was no evidence.
When under suspicion, being investigated and proceeding confidently was the fastest way to clear it.
Second, ‘displaying the resilience of Red Circle Guild.’
Of course there would be skeptics.
But at the same time, they would know that they could kill the master of Black Chain Guild, one of Korea’s three major guilds.
Any guild that dared touch them would have to lower its head.
After the Black Chain master was killed, they would understand their own lives were also at risk.
Dojin recalled the Shadows.
A ruined school on the outskirts of Paju.
There they had trained in real combat, using the abandoned building as a base.
Brutal training with no regard for human rights, but their skill had clearly grown.
Hunting monsters in dungeons was inferior to ordinary hunters, but
‘Hunting other hunters was second to none.’
Dojin himself had been the pinnacle of that skill.
He had once fought a hundred hunters of the same level to a standstill.
If they had surrounded him instead of one by one, he might have slain them all.
“……Hah.”
Dojin stood up, recalling old memories.
Sohee was now fighting four mud golems—three had already been too much for her to watch comfortably.
But she pushed the enemies back with perfect timing.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The skill of a top-rank tank was almost visible.
All that remained was the level capable of supporting that skill.
“Dark Absorption.”
Whoosh!
Despair surged in an instant.
“Explosion.”
Boom!
A massive blast hurled the four mud golems back.
As the explosion tore through their bodies, the cores appeared.
Crack! Boom! Crash! Shatter!
Dojin accelerated and vanished with Night Walker, destroying them in seconds.
Rumble.
The golems without cores died, and experience points rose.
Sohee stared at Dojin in shock, forgetting she had just leveled up.
“Ah, ah, uncle… what exactly happened last month?”
“Various things.”
She had thought she was becoming familiar with hunters’ movements after training with Park Munhyeok, but……
‘It was invisible.’
The four golems had been destroyed almost simultaneously.
Dojin turned his head toward another direction.
“Hurry up and clear. I’ll assign new members. From now on, you’ll have to grind levels hard.”
“Not together?”
“Then shall we do it alone?”
Dojin looked at Sohee.
Sohee jumped in surprise and shook her head.
“No! I’m fine! Even if you assign someone, I’ll work hard!”
At the very least, she would not sit idle in the monster-filled middle while others rested nearby.
A faint smile touched Dojin’s lips.
“Then let’s clear first. I have things to do outside.”
Dojin turned and started walking.
Then……
“……Did you just smile?”
Sohee felt a strangely good feeling from Dojin’s change.
* * *
—30 days. 23:00. Target: Black Chain, Park Namhee. Shadow [5]
The order dropped.
A short cipher, yet clear.
Yang Taesan, the instructor managing the Shadows, turned immediately.
All five Shadows were to leave on the mission.
The target was a hunter boasting combat power that could be counted on one hand in South Korea.
According to rumors, Park Namhee was also skilled in battles against hunters.
But……
“If identity is exposed or the mission fails, proceed per the manual.”
It meant he would take his own life.
At Taesan’s words, the Shadows before him nodded silently.
All wore black masks and tight-fitting clothes.
On their waists and thighs were daggers ready to be thrown instantly.
The Shadows primarily used swords slightly longer than a handspan—military-issue longswords, depending on style.
They still needed training, but……
“A13. You will lead. The others will follow your orders precisely and exit through the designated route after completing the mission.”
No verbal reply.
Only eye contact.
Taesan handed a single sheet of paper the size of a palm to the hunter called A13.
A document with the mission plan encrypted.
“Study the movement route, then destroy it.”
A nod.
“This is the first mission. Failure is not tolerated.”
Taesan turned and looked toward the entrance of the base.
The day they had entered here—their first outing.
Taesan pointed at the prepared vehicle.
“Go.”
Red Circle.
The Shadows Seungho had crafted over the longest time.
Soon released into the world.
* * *
The Shadow cipher was transmitted through an extremely discreet method.
No modern communication devices were used to prevent possible hacking.
They used equipment from the past military era or passed messages hand to hand.
The cipher was known only to them, so even if discovered, damage would be minimized.
“……He moved earlier than expected.”
Because of Red Circle’s situation, the Shadows who should have moved two or three years from now had already begun.
It still felt premature, but
‘It meant he was in a hurry.’
Dojin had discovered the Shadows’ hidden route.
He had not determined the exact date and time, but
‘Still……’
He knew the target was Park Namhee of Black Chain.
As expected, and precisely.
“Ha Dojin hunter-nim, this is what you requested.”
“Thank you.”
Dojin received the documents from Kyungtaek.
A few days ago he had asked him to look into Park Namhee’s schedule.
The documents detailed every detail—places he visited often, routines, times.
Kyungtaek asked cautiously,
“If it’s not an imposition… may I ask why you requested this information?”
Ever since the dungeon incident, Kyungtaek’s attitude toward Dojin had become slightly cautious.
Probably because the aura emanating from Dojin’s body had changed.
Yet Dojin still treated him the same.
“If I were from Red Circle, I would target Park Namhee hunter first.”
“……!”
Kyungtaek’s eyes widened.
For someone skilled at emotional control to react like this meant he was truly shocked.
Dojin, scanning the documents, narrowed his eyes at one part.
‘If I were Kang Seungho……’
This was the moment…… the right time.
But……
‘I need to confirm.’
Dojin moved quickly toward somewhere.