The Cold Wind Carries an Unexpected Message
A cold wind brushed across my cheek, sharp and unforgiving.
March had already passed, yet the chill lingered stubbornly in the air.
I had experienced the absence of spring and fall with my own body.
On the rooftop of SW Technology’s headquarters.
Ha Dojin stood alone, gazing down at the city below.
Seoul’s sparkling lights danced like waves of light, dazzling to the eyes.
A world this beautiful and bright.
“……”
Even in this moment,
Bad things were happening somewhere.
Yang Taesan.
Dojin’s only master.
If every Shadow had been shaped by Yang Taesan’s hands, it was no exaggeration.
Yet the owner had been Kang Seungho.
That was why Dojin couldn’t decide how to approach him.
No matter how many thoughts he had turned over.
Dojin fixed his gaze downward with a heavy expression.
But then.
“What are you doing, you rude bastard?”
“……”
Dojin turned his head at the voice from behind.
It was Sohui.
Sohui, who had recently reached level 70, was nothing less than an emerging dark horse rising through the hunter ranks.
It was only natural.
After all, she possessed exceptional talent, and her backing came from SW Technology itself.
Training, equipment, everything.
She had grown like a young tiger with wings, soaring forward.
Perhaps even a hidden card tucked away for Dojin.
Dojin looked at the approaching Sohui and said,
“How’s your condition lately?”
“It’s great. But you don’t look so good, mister?”
A small wound on his left cheek.
When Dojin noticed the wound, Sohui touched her cheek lightly.
“I got scratched a bit fighting the Red Wolf. Don’t worry.”
“I blocked it perfectly. If you get hurt, your mother will worry.”
“Got it. I’ll shut up after you see it.”
Sohui stood beside Dojin, looking down.
“Ugh! It’s too high up!”
Sohui jumped back in fright.
At that sight, Dojin let out a faint smile.
From some point onward, he had started smiling in front of Sohui… or at least more often than not.
Of course, Sohui was surprised every time she saw it.
“Is something wrong? Are you hurt?”
“Of course not.”
Just his head was in chaos.
The plan hadn’t changed.
But after a few words with Sohui, the knot in his chest loosened.
Dojin looked at Sohui.
A child living a life completely different from his previous one.
His world had already become completely different from the past.
She was walking a much better path.
‘……Me too.’
After finishing this, could I walk the path that followed?
When that time came……
“Let’s go down. The wind is freezing.”
And right now.
Dojin had decided how to move forward.
With Sohui, the steps of Ha Dojin descending below felt a little lighter.
* * *
The atmosphere was heavy.
Kang Seungho sat facing two men with completely opposite atmospheres.
He said with a stiff expression,
“So suddenly cutting off the backers? Is this even a logical thing to say?”
“Whoa, cutting off the backers? I didn’t say that.”
“If the current business isn’t restored, you said you’d collect the support penalty for the time being. Isn’t that the same as cutting ties?”
Sunglasses with narrow, sharp frames.
A man dressed in clothes with dazzling patterns as if bought from somewhere in Southeast Asia.
He stroked his lips and curled the corner of his mouth upward.
“Why are you so pessimistic? We’re behind you, and there’s no way Red Circle can’t recover the business it’s lost so far, right? It’s just that we’re only speaking formally. We also need to have something to say to Master when we go back, don’t we?”
Swoosh.
With that word, the man sitting neatly beside him in a suit placed a document on the table.
“Read it and sign.”
“……You really mean to do this?”
“We received orders too, so we have no choice. Would you want to talk to Master about this kind of thing?”
The man wearing sunglasses smiled smoothly and said,
“If this matter is resolved smoothly, Master will be acknowledged for his abilities and the relationship will be even warmer. Then that piece of paper won’t mean anything anymore.”
He slid the document toward Seungho again.
“So let’s not talk long. There are positions on both sides, after all.”
“Because of those positions… it’s hard to sign…….”
Seungho stopped speaking.
What would he gain by saying more to these guys?
‘No, they’d only get more stubborn.’
They were the kind of guys who had no intention of giving up and no position to begin with.
Seungho looked at the document on the table.
What if this didn’t recover……
Swish, swish!
A pen moved smoothly across the paper.
Seungho, who had signed roughly, slid the document toward them.
The man with the sunglasses picked it up and grinned.
“Then we’ll be waiting for good news, Master Seungho. Hang in there, please.”
Creak.
Soon the two men left.
“Fucking bastards……!”
His clenched fist trembled.
How long could they keep looking down on him?
‘I’ll bring everything back to the way it was. And……’
I’ll seize all the plans I originally had and stand at the peak of South Korea.
“Hoo!”
Seungho let out a deep breath.
To do that,
I need to handle the rat that’s been interfering soon.
Seungho, having sorted his thoughts, stood up from his seat.
* * *
The sound of footsteps on gravel was familiar yet strange.
How long had it been since he came here?
‘……Is Kang Seungho still around?’
A smart guy.
It was something he could never overlook if he wanted to achieve his goal.
Up until now, it had just been luck that things had succeeded.
‘The moment I slip even once, everything will collapse.’
That was why he had always had to be vigilant and careful.
Perhaps Kang Seungho had already noticed something about him.
‘I had to always keep that in mind and move accordingly.’
That was why he had rushed the plan this time, even though it was somewhat risky.
Thanks to the special ability he gained after reaching level 100 in the previous Red Gate dungeon, he could execute it.
Now, with his current self……
“At the very least… I won’t die.”
It was still impossible for Dojin to win against Kang Seungho.
He knew his own skill best.
Although Dojin had completely shattered Jang Junyeong, Kang Seungho was a bit different in combat.
‘Kang Seungho is… strong.’
Well,
Not like the well-polished blades of someone like Dojin, but rather that the human himself was strong?
Because of that, he could make no mistakes when facing the guy.
‘If only I could reach level 150……’
He didn’t know what the next special ability would be, but when the time came, he would definitely defeat Kang Seungho.
But before that.
Dojin stopped.
He had seen the abandoned school beyond his line of sight.
The place he had stayed in for quite a while.
Here, at this place……
“I learned a lot.”
Of course, it wasn’t good things.
Killing people, hiding bodies, practicing how to fight even more efficiently.
That was why he had trained combat skills here.
In the process, he had faced quite a few enemies who almost killed him.
Thinking about it now,
‘It was, in a way… favoritism, I guess?’
Because he learned the skills too well, the other guys had been more ruthless toward him.
But if…… I had to fight him,
He hesitated.
Dojin, who had been about to walk forward, stopped.
‘If I told him about Sua and he still doesn’t listen……’
In the end, he had no choice but to fight him.
The thing he had always worried about was exactly this.
Because it was a place where the situation could easily turn out the way Dojin wanted.
“I have no choice but to confront him.”
He had already made his decision and come here, hadn’t he?
Dojin slowly moved toward the abandoned school.
Toward the outskirts, which were good for stealth.
But……
“……When did this start?”
Dojin, moving toward the outskirts of the abandoned school, muttered quietly.
Had his vigilance weakened because of memories from the past?
Or had the guy’s hiding exceeded Dojin’s senses?
Either way, it wasn’t good, but if it was the latter, the situation was bound to be serious.
Dojin turned his head.
“Come out.”
“……So the guy has sharp senses.”
Behind a bushy tree.
The man who emerged from there, Dojin’s gaze gradually calmed.
He had thought that meeting him for real would be quite intense.
‘Rather……’
He felt oddly peaceful.
He asked,
“Who are you?”
“A person who will become your benefactor.”
“……If you answer in a way that doesn’t make sense one more time, I’ll kill you.”
Yang Taesan.
A body with a fair amount of muscle.
With his untidy beard, his jawline was sharp, contrasting with his body.
But the light in his eyes when he looked at Dojin.
It was completely different from the killing intent that flowed from someone who had truly killed many people.
Seeing Yang Taesan’s gaze, Dojin unconsciously entered a combat stance.
Rather than bursting out with momentum, it actually sank.
His mind cooled, and he calmly judged the situation.
‘……Six, no, ten……?’
In such a short time, ten Shadows had already surrounded them.
The moment Yang Taesan’s order was given, the guys would move without hesitation.
Yang Taesan asked,
“What’s your identity?”
“Before I explain, please leave the surrounding area. It’s really important to you.”
“Go ahead.”
Yang Taesan said, as if there was nothing more to hear.
But……
“Sua.”
“……Wait a moment.”
The Shadows moving flinched.
Thanks to that, it was clearer where she was.
But Yang Taesan said to Dojin as if that didn’t matter,
“You……”
Then he raised his hand.
Pi!
The sound was very small.
So small that you wouldn’t even know it made a sound unless you listened carefully.
The Shadows had backed off.
Soon Yang Taesan asked Dojin,
“That name. How do you know it?”
A ferocious killing intent flowed from his body.
Basically, he specialized in training related to assassination.
‘……This is the real appearance of that human.’
Yang Taesan was far from an assassin.
If forced to choose, a warrior.
Especially……
‘He’s not a berserker at all.’
He had the tough strength of a berserker who charged into battle with bloodlust.
With his expression twisted in anger and the momentum bursting out, it felt like his breath would be choked off.
Dojin said,
“Yang Sua. The daughter you lost and are looking for, right?”
“How do you know that name?”
Thud.
Yang Taesan took a step forward.
The pressure grew stronger with each step.
But Dojin maintained his calm and said,
“Kang Seungho won’t be able to save Sua. No, he might be able to, but he won’t find her.”
“Are you trying to test me with just a few words? The price will be your life.”
“The best guild in South Korea. If the pinnacle, Kang Seungho, decided to find Sua, it wouldn’t have taken even a month. An ordinary hunter like me wouldn’t have needed a month to find Sua.”
“……What does that mean?”
Dojin reached into his pocket.
Click!
At that moment, Taesan had a handgun in one hand and a dagger in the other.
Tremendous reflexes.
Dojin raised his left hand slightly to show he had no intention of attacking.
Then, slowly, very slowly, he pulled a phone from inside his jacket and showed it to Taesan.
Even a moment’s carelessness would result in bullets filled with mana flying out.
Dojin called a video call with Sua.
And……
“Hello, mister?”
Dojin showed the phone to Taesan and said,
“She’s the daughter you’ve been looking for so desperately.”
At those words, Taesan collapsed.