The Assassin Hunter Stops Time
“Ah, hello…?”
“Hello…”
“Hi!”
First meeting of the three.
Tae-san introduced So-hee to Su-a and Patima.
After recently getting to know her, he also learned that she was the same age as his daughter.
He wanted to introduce a new friend to So-hee, who hunted dungeons every single day, and to Su-a and Patima as well.
“I’m Patima. Nice to meet you.”
“Eh? Pa-Patima? I-I’m So-hee. Han So-hee. Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Su-a. Yang Su-a.”
An awkward English and clumsy Korean flooded the space.
But perhaps the sight amused Tae-san, for he spoke with a faint smile.
“I didn’t know what you’d like, so I prepared a bunch of things. Eat your fill.”
“…Dad, isn’t a tour buffet a bit too much even for a trip?”
“Wow, I didn’t expect so much food…!”
The reactions of Su-a and Patima to Tae-san’s call for a tour buffet differed.
Tae-san just chuckled, and soon the four of them chatted while eating.
Of course, the language barrier and mutual unfamiliarity meant an undercurrent of awkwardness was inevitable.
But perhaps because they were the same age?
Or perhaps because they were simply good people.
They quickly blended in and soon were chatting loudly and noisily.
“Hunter?! Real?!”
“R-Really? Ah, yeah. It’s real. Really, really real hunter.”
So-hee pointed at herself with her finger and slowly spoke in Korean.
Patima raised her thumb.
“Wow! So-hee, good job! D-Dan-dan!”
“But… isn’t entering the Awakening Room something that… hunters have to do?”
For Tae-san’s sake.
Su-a, who had a much stronger grasp of Korean than Patima, spoke up.
So-hee nodded her head.
“Yes.”
“How… did you even think of going in there? It’s dangerous. I… even just thinking about it makes me terrified.”
It was a question that could have been answered with plenty of thought.
Yet when Su-a spoke, So-hee gave a bitter smile.
At that time, she…
“There was no choice. There simply wasn’t any.”
“Choice?”
“Choice.”
“Ah, choice?”
“Had no choice.”
“Ah!”
Tae-san helped her understand.
Su-a nodded.
Sadness seeped into So-hee’s eyes as the dark past resurfaced.
Then.
Squeeze.
Su-a grabbed So-hee’s hand.
“You must have suffered. That decision wasn’t easy. You don’t have to answer. It’s just… that your current self is truly amazing.”
So-hee glanced at Tae-san amid the rapid English flow.
Tae-san translated for her.
“Yeah, you’re truly amazing! I… when I was in that hellish place, I thought about entering the Awakening Room for an eternity.”
“Really?”
Su-a was even more taken aback, looking at Patima.
Patima nodded.
“I spent the whole day on that thought every January first. But… I chickened out because I thought I’d die if I entered, hehe.”
Patima burst out laughing.
Tae-san was in a hurry translating their words at the table where English and Korean flew about.
Thanks to that, the three girls chatted happily.
Yet Tae-san told the three of them.
“Don’t think that way anymore from now on. Just live happily. And… try to study a little harder between Korean and English.”
It was hard to speak with his lips nearly cracking.
So-hee nodded.
“Yes, I’ll study English diligently from now on. And… I’ll level up even harder so I can help Ahjussi. Thanks to Ahjussi… light shone into my life that was like a dark dungeon.”
So-hee recalled the day she first met Do-jin.
That day she was dragged in as merchandise and first encountered him.
Neat hair, clean suit.
Even though she didn’t know what a watch was, she noticed he wore one that looked incredibly expensive just by sight.
‘Thinking back on it…’
Do-jin’s first impression had been quite cold.
Unlike now.
“But a month has passed since Do-jin disappeared. What do you think he’s doing now?”
At Patima’s question.
“I wonder… though I don’t know what he’s doing, he’s probably doing something intensely…?”
So-hee’s words, and all the people in the room nodded.
* * *
Churrrll!
Do-jin watched the ice spikes pouring from above and quickly moved his body sideways.
Crunch!
The moment he shifted position, he severed the neck of the ice goblin beside him.
Do-jin performed evasion and attack almost simultaneously, and the ice hobgoblin let out an enraged roar.
“Kyieeeeeeeek!”
“Kiiaak!”
“Kyieeeeeeeek!”
The ice goblins, over three hundred strong, shouted as they chased Do-jin.
“Ha…”
Do-jin let out a small breath and looked at the innermost ice hobgoblin.
The creature’s magic had been more bothersome than he expected.
It wasn’t the power that was the issue, but the casting speed that was on par with a high-level wizard.
‘It’s almost the level of a B-rank wizard.’
It felt as if he knew exactly why an ice goblin had appeared in a Red Gate.
Especially since it was a dungeon filled with thousands of ice goblins.
And a high-level ice-element mage was commanding them.
Do-jin scanned left and right and looked at the ice goblins.
The creatures moving according to the ice hobgoblin’s command.
It was clear that the difficulty was vastly different when they were alone versus when they received orders from the ice hobgoblin.
‘It’s like they’re forming a formation.’
The ice hobgoblin was intelligent.
If he so much as blinked, the creatures would surround him and inflict an ice blizzard in an instant.
‘Faster… move.’
He had to move before the creatures’ formation was complete.
And before the ice hobgoblin’s magic finished.
Whoosh!
Following the slippery movement, Do-jin’s form sent the ice goblins into a frenzy.
They couldn’t issue commands on how to respond because the sudden intrusion left them without direction.
Thud!
That was precisely what Do-jin had aimed for.
Before the ice hobgoblin could judge the situation and issue orders.
‘Disrupt their formation and eliminate them.’
If the formation collapsed, chaos would ensue.
On the contrary, being on the receiving end of commands would only plunge them into hell.
Thud! Crunch! Slap!
Do-jin weaved through the ice goblins, a true grim reaper.
“Kyieeeeeeeek!”
The panicked ice hobgoblin shouted urgently and issued orders.
He judged that they had to surround the human and prevent him from moving at all costs.
Following the ice hobgoblin’s command.
Dudududududududud!
“Kyieeeeeeeek!”
The ice goblins shouted as they encircled Do-jin.
But…
“If you come closer, I’ll be even more grateful.”
Do-jin forced his way through one side.
“Dark Absorption.”
Kwaaaark!
[Dark Absorption: Achievement rate 100%.]
In an instant, despair surged.
“Explosion.”
Kwaaaang!
A massive explosion sent the ice goblins flying.
More than twenty of them were blasted away.
[Reset condition met. Dark Absorption’s cooldown has been initialized.]
The special reward for dealing damage to five or more at once.
The cooldown hit zero, and Do-jin used Dark Absorption again.
Kwang!
“Dark Absorption.”
Kwang!
After repeated attacks, the ice goblins could no longer approach Do-jin.
Whether the ice hobgoblin shouted orders or not.
Smoothly.
Do-jin looked at the ice hobgoblin.
The ice goblins, already dyed with fear, no longer listened to the creature’s commands.
But that didn’t mean he was going to leave them alone.
“All of them… will be eaten.”
How much experience was this?
Chajajajak!
One, sensing it was now difficult to command the ice goblins, the ice hobgoblin began to unleash magic.
Before killing these—
“I should handle that guy first.”
Surrounding the creature with ice goblins at once was no easy feat.
Of course, that didn’t mean there was no way.
He hadn’t used it much until now because he wasn’t familiar with it.
“But it’s a good thing to use.”
While killing the creature, he obtained that skill.
Do-jin pulled out his knife.
Soon, Do-jin gathered mana and looked at the distant ice hobgoblin.
‘One shot… end it.’
The creature was smart.
The moment the strategy was exposed, it would prepare defenses.
Since it had observed Do-jin’s combat style until now, it had to move in an unpredictable way.
Soon the ice goblins moved, and in the gap they split.
“Ha!”
Do-jin held his breath briefly and threw the knife with all his strength toward the ice hobgoblin.
And seeing the knife shoot out at tremendous speed.
“Kyieek!”
The ice hobgoblin quickly created a shield and prepared to defend.
No matter how sharp Do-jin’s knife was, killing the creature from this distance was impossible.
But…
“I’m sorry, but that’s not the real thing.”
Swwweeeeeeek!
The knife struck the shield the ice hobgoblin had made.
“Thunderbolt.”
The main dealer of the Hwangryong Guild.
Hao Chen’s ultimate move, the Thunderbolt.
Kwaaarrllrll!
“Kyieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!”
The knife fell where it was and swallowed the ice hobgoblin and the surrounding creatures.
Kugugugugugugug!
The ground shook, and the piled ice around cracked apart.
A mere level-one Thunderbolt, but Do-jin’s mental stat was high enough for its power to be considerable.
And…
Twist.
Looking at the ice hobgoblin completely stunned by a single Thunderbolt.
Whoosh!
Do-jin charged forward.
‘At least thirty seconds…’
No, maybe he bought even more time.
During that short time the creature couldn’t gather its wits.
Do-jin used Dark Absorption like an ox and pierced through the ice goblins blocking the way.
[683,000 experience points acquired.]
[683,000 experience points acquired.]
[683,000 experience points acquired.]
[683,000 experience points acquired.]
[683,000 experience points acquired.]
…
…
Experience points kept rising.
He thought he saw a level-up message in the middle, but he had no time to spare.
Do-jin, having dealt with hundreds of ice goblins, finally stood before the ice hobgoblin.
“Ky, kyieeeek!”
Only now did the creature snap to its senses and swing its staff desperately.
Thud! Thud!
Do-jin lowered his stance and stabbed the creature’s legs before retreating.
“Kyak!”
The ice hobgoblin kneeling on both knees.
Because he had precisely severed the nerves, the entire creature trembled.
Even if it was a monster, humanoids had almost the same body structure.
Do-jin grabbed the creature’s head.
“Since we’re all going to be together anyway, don’t feel wronged.”
You and me.
It’s an unavoidable relationship.
Crunch!
Do-jin quickly severed both arms of the creature.
When the boss dies, the gate clears immediately.
“Wait until I kill all these creatures.”
He couldn’t just leave with all this experience.
Soon Do-jin looked at the ice goblins dyed with fear.
Now that the nuisance was gone.
“Let’s start over.”
Soon a grim reaper descended before the creatures once more.