Chapter 64
**CHAPTER 64: The Silent Retaliation**
Ha Dojin had arrived at SW Technology.
He met Han Sohee and Yang Taesan.
The two of them were taken aback by the sudden call from him.
Especially Sohee—fresh from a dungeon run, she had barely even had time to wash up.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“Master, what’s happened?”
Han Sohee and Yang Taesan looked at him with genuine surprise.
Dojin gazed at the pair and spoke calmly.
“I’m sorry for the abruptness. I have something urgent I need to discuss.”
“…?”
“Speak freely.”
“For the time being, I’m going to be away from here.”
“Eh?!”
Dojin’s words left Sohee stunned.
“How long? If it’s like last time, a week should be fine.”
“Probably… one or two months.”
“Huh?!”
Sohee couldn’t hide her shock.
Yang Taesan, standing beside her, asked with a grave expression.
“Where are you going? I’ll follow you.”
Dojin’s sudden disappearance would mean something critical or dangerous was at play.
Taesan immediately stepped forward.
But Dojin shook his head.
“It’s fine. I have to handle this alone… and above all, I need to be with Su-ah.”
He continued.
“Even now it’s unfamiliar territory. The instructor needs to stay by your side so Su-ah can feel safe.”
“But…”
“Don’t worry. It’s only for a little while, and there’s no problem.”
Dojin looked at Sohee.
“And you—you’re coming back to check your levels. In a little more time… I’ll need you. So train with everything you’ve got.”
His gaze grew serious.
Sohee pouted.
“I’m already going all-out. Eighty percent of the mid-level dungeons at Firebird Guild are finished by me.”
“I know. But this is the only time you can focus and grow stronger. Just hang in there a little longer.”
“…Yes.”
Sohee smiled faintly as she watched Dojin gently pat her head.
Yang Taesan turned to him.
“Master. Then… what’s the destination?”
“Thailand.”
“Thailand…”
It was clear he’d drop everything the moment something went wrong.
Dojin told them both.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back safely.”
“Return safely.”
“Come back well. Don’t get hurt!”
Dojin nodded.
Then he met Kim Gyeongtaek, who had come out to greet him.
Kim Gyeongtaek spoke to him.
“Honestly, I opposed this decision.”
“I’m sorry. For suddenly putting you in this difficult position.”
“No, Chairman Gu’s decision is final. But… I respect Ha Dojin Hunter.”
It was an out-of-the-blue remark.
Yet Kim Gyeongtaek pressed on.
“So I hope Ha Dojin Hunter avoids anything too dangerous. But… this assignment is already dangerous enough.”
“It’s a desperate bid to escape greater danger. There’s no choice.”
A Red Gate dungeon was the only way to reach the target level.
That was why SW Technology—and Chairman Gu Jinmo—was the best partner imaginable.
Kim Gyeongtaek said,
“Even now, every trace of Ha Dojin Hunter will be wiped clean. Not even Red Circle’s intel team will find it.”
“I’m truly grateful.”
Then Kim Gyeongtaek asked,
“But there’s just one more question.”
“Go ahead.”
“Is this related to Kang Seungho?”
Dojin had expected it, but he wanted confirmation.
The moment the question was asked, his eyes cooled.
“That’s… I’ll explain everything once I return. After it’s all over.”
“…Understood.”
Kim Gyeongtaek didn’t press further.
He had sensed there must be a reason.
“Return safely.”
Eventually Dojin boarded the car and stepped onto the plane bound for Thailand.
‘…This is the last one.’
With that resolve firmly in mind, he closed his eyes quietly.
And so he arrived in Thailand.
* * *
“Ha… insane.”
It was absurd.
Too ridiculous for words to even form in his head.
“Is this even happening?”
The day he met Ha Dojin and came back.
Kang Seungho had made his decision.
He would kill the bastard as quickly as possible.
But only a week—four days, to be exact—had passed since then.
Just four days.
Yet the bastard had vanished again.
“What the hell are you people in the intel team doing?! How incompetent do you have to be to lose sight of him right in front of you?!”
Seungho shouted.
The man in front of him, Baek Yeojin, couldn’t hide his shock.
The intel team had thrown every available hunter at tracking him.
But…
“T-t-that’s… because SW interfered…”
“Again with SW? Are we just some hole-in-the-wall shop now? If SW’s in the way, we just say too bad and it’s over?!”
Seungho’s eyes bulged.
Yeojin felt his breath catch.
He swallowed hard and continued slowly.
“When Chairman Gu… starts committing resources on purpose, there’s nothing we can do.”
Each word felt like it could burn.
Yet he kept going.
“Physical pursuit is impossible. Especially with… Kim Gyeongtaek leading the charge—an A-rank hunter suspected of being the strongest.”
“…Kim Gyeongtaek.”
Secretary to Chairman Gu Jinmo.
Even without his high level, his versatility was unmatched.
If Kim Gyeongtaek poured every resource into it, as Yeojin said…
‘…Only the intel team won’t be enough.’
Seungho agreed, though anger still boiled inside.
“Ugh.”
He felt the bastard had struck again.
But he couldn’t take it anymore.
Seungho’s eyes turned ice-cold.
“Then he’ll have to come out on his own.”
Seungho looked at Yeojin.
“Investigate every high-level dungeon tied to Firebird Guild. Everything their business is doing.”
“Why Firebird Guild?”
Yeojin asked.
“Because if we crush every single one of the people connected to him, they’ll have no choice but to surface. No matter how strong Ha Dojin Hunter is, or SW.”
There was no way to catch a hidden rat without crushing them all.
Yeojin nodded immediately.
“I’ll check right away.”
“Quickly.”
He didn’t know why the bastard had disappeared, but if he was thinking the same as Seungho…
‘He must never be given time.’
He had to move fast.
‘Kill him.’
Seungho’s gaze flashed coldly.
* * *
Bang!
“M-Master!”
Park Seonggwang burst through the door in a panic, and Hyejin looked up.
She had seen a scene like this somewhere before.
‘Wait… does it happen often now?’
Hyejin let out a small sigh.
“Park Seonggwang, Chief of the Scout Team.”
“Yes?”
“Didn’t I say to knock before coming in?”
After so many repetitions, it no longer felt good.
He’d been warned.
But nothing changed?
Hyejin’s words left Seonggwang looking like he might cry.
“Master, there’s a real emergency right now. I don’t even know what to do…”
“…” What’s wrong?”
Seonggwang was a dramatic one, but this was more than that.
Hyejin’s face hardened at his words.
Something dangerous was afoot.
He held out the documents.
“We’re currently operating high-level dungeons. But today alone, two were forcibly shut down.”
“Wha—?!”
Hunter guilds made money through various businesses, but their core income still came from dungeon drops.
Low- and mid-level dungeons weren’t worth the hassle, so they cleared them fast and closed them.
High-level dungeons were different.
The monsters and mana stones that dropped from them were worth a fortune in themselves.
That was why guilds kept breaking into dungeons, milking drops right up to the final moment, then using dungeon-delay items to strip every last mana stone before clearing.
But…
“After forcibly clearing them, they’re using dungeon-delay items to prevent us from getting anything… or they’re closing the dungeons that were being cleared with those items.”
“You crazy bastards…”
He had had no choice but to accept Kang Seungho’s demands the other day.
For exactly this reason.
But why now?
Hyejin stood up.
“I’m contacting Red Circle immediately. I need to speak with Kang Seungho.”
You bastard.
How dare you stab someone in the back like this?
Hyejin forced down his fury.
But then…
“No need.”
A crisp voice came from the doorway.
Someone was approaching the office.
Thud. Thud.
The door opened and a man stepped in.
“H-Hiik!”
Park Seonggwang jumped back in terror.
Hyejin’s face went pale.
What the hell was this guy doing here?
But the newcomer spoke to Hyejin in a low voice.
“I came to find Ha Dojin.”
“Ha Dojin…?”
What kind of nonsense was this?
Hyejin’s face twisted.
“W-What—? Jang Gwangho Hunter!”
Seonggwang shouted.
Jang Gwangho.
Not widely known publicly, but everyone in the industry knew him.
The fixer for Red Circle.
The second-in-command of the hidden Red Circle guild.
Hyejin asked him,
“What is this rude behavior? Does Red Circle have no respect for its opponents?”
“I don’t know about that… but I’ve already made my demands. If these conditions aren’t met by tomorrow, all the dungeons we’re currently running will be shut down.”
Two today was just a warning.
If Ha Dojin didn’t appear, real trouble would begin.
Hyejin’s expression cooled.
“You’re declaring war?”
“If necessary.”
The weight in his voice was unmistakable.
Hyejin’s eyes turned icy.
He had been dragged along by these bastards for too long.
He didn’t know why they were suddenly looking for Ha Dojin Hunter, but…
‘Even if I comply… this tyranny won’t stop.’
He would only keep being pulled around.
Hyejin made his decision.
He would no longer avoid the fight that had come to him.
“If you can, try.”
At that, deep wrinkles formed on Jang Gwangho’s forehead.