The Assassin Hunter Stops Time
Over one hundred and seventy centimeters tall, with a commanding presence that demanded attention. Left-parted jet-black wavy hair cascaded from his shoulders all the way to his chest. A thick layer of dark eye makeup framed his gaze, while his lips—neither overly painted nor bare—remained natural and understated. His physique, visibly toned and robust at first glance, flowed seamlessly into graceful curves from the waist down to his hips. His long, toned legs, accentuated by high heels, only made him appear even more imposing. A strong first impression. Dojin recognized her immediately. '……Lee Hyejin.' Guild Master of Firebird Guild. He had known her face instantly. The reason was simple. In his past life, he had been the one to kill her. "……?" Hyejin tilted her head, puzzled, as she stared back at the man who was studying her so intently. She pulled out her hand mirror to check her reflection. "No smudges?" "Ah, sorry." It seemed he had been staring too fixedly, thanks to memories from his previous life resurfacing. As Dojin spoke, Hyejin smiled. "No, it happens sometimes. A person can be beautiful and still catch someone's eye." "……Not quite like that." "Excuse me?" "I said nothing." Dojin shook his head urgently. Hyejin pouted in mild irritation, then extended her hand. "Firebird Guild Master, Lee Hyejin." "Kim Cheolsu." Dojin took her hand. "You have a pretty thick skin for a liar. I almost believed your name was actually Kim Cheolsu." "Exactly, Kim Cheolsu." "Yes, yes." Hyejin nodded dismissively. Her eyes then drifted toward the dungeon. "Do you know what kind of dungeon this is?" "You’ll find out once we go in." "It’s a Resting Place of the Wandering Dead." "……" The Wandering Dead’s Resting Place. A dungeon filled with undead, fitting the name perfectly. But it wasn’t classified as a low-rank dungeon just because undead appeared. When Dojin glanced at her, Hyejin continued. "The official rating is low-rank. In cases like this, it means either the total number of entities is small, or there are no necromancers and only skeletons." "I see." He had no intention of arguing. Dojin gave a short reply, and Hyejin’s expression turned curious. "Did you awaken recently?" "Secret." "……You might not know, but skeletons are no joke." "I don’t consider them manageable." He had planned to ease her fear a bit, but her face didn’t change at all. Hyejin felt a trace of confusion at Dojin’s completely unreadable expression. 'What is this guy?' According to all the information, this person couldn’t be over level 50. So what kind of confidence was he showing now? 'How long has he been awakened?' A high-level hunter, perhaps? He had awakened quite some time ago, but only started operating now. Of course, it was only a guess. '……No way he awakened this time.' If he had awakened recently, it would’ve been less than a month. Hyejin let out a scoff. 'What nonsense.' She had come all this way chasing down the mysterious Kim Cheolsu, but now she felt even more at a loss. There was nothing about this person that felt predictable at all. Hyejin stared at Dojin in silence. But then… "Senior, I’m all ready… whoa! M-Master!" Seonghyun, who had been approaching Dojin, froze in shock upon seeing Hyejin standing beside him. Once he straightened into a proper ready stance, Hyejin gave him a professional smile. "You’ve worked hard. Carry on like this." "Y-Yes!" "Then, Mr. Kim Cheolsu, I’ll see you later." "Yes." Dojin answered casually, and Hyejin turned on her heel and left. A cold atmosphere lingered in the air, so Seonghyun asked cautiously. "W-What happened?" "It did." "Eh?" "Should we head in before that?" "Yes, go ahead. Wait—oh, hold on a sec." Seonghyun rushed back to the car, grabbed something from the trunk, and hurried over. "I had a hard time finding this for you, senior." Dojin looked at the object in Seonghyun’s hand. "……" It was a jacket. Dojin was very familiar with jackets of this type. "Is this for assassin hunters?" "Not exclusively, but most agile or stealth-focused hunters—thieves, archers, and such—use them." The term referred to agile and stealth hunters like assassins and marksmen. Dojin took the jacket from Seonghyun. It reached about halfway down his thigh. A deep hood that could be pulled low. Sleeves and the inside had rings for sheaths. The color was a deep navy, far from the usual plain black. Seonghyun scratched his cheek at Dojin’s expression. "……I figured you’d want to wear it anyway, so not too deep black would suit better. Still, it has to hide you in darkness… I chose a color with the lowest saturation possible." His tone was careful, as if afraid Dojin wouldn’t like it. A soft swish. Dojin slipped the jacket on. It fit perfectly. "Does it suit me?" "U-Uwaa! Senior, you’re insane!" Seonghyun shouted dramatically. But he wasn’t doing it just to please Dojin. The moment Dojin put it on, it felt like a Grade-A assassin hunter had appeared. Dojin gave a faint smile. "It’s nice. Wear it well." "Ah, uh… yes." Soon after, Dojin turned and entered the dungeon, leaving Seonghyun to mutter while watching him go. "Did he just laugh…?" Maybe he had misread. * * * Swish. With that familiar feeling, Dojin stepped into the dungeon as usual, scanning his surroundings first. Thick darkness pressed in. A crescent moon’s faint light only illuminated the piles of graveyard dirt, unable to dispel the gloom. In the silence, the sound of screams could be felt. A cold wind brushed over like the breaths of corpses—this was a graveyard. "Long time no see." 『Resting Place of the Wandering Dead』 Like the name suggested, this place was a graveyard filled with the Wandering Dead. On a fairly wide plot of land, as if from a medieval cemetery, crooked tombstones were planted at odd angles. It was undoubtedly a resting place for the undead, but if a living being stepped inside like now… [Kkkkkkkkk!] The sound was less like something heard by the ears and more like it echoed inside the skull. Drdrdrdrdr! The entire graveyard began to shake, and shadows burst through the ground, flashing with red light. Skeletons. These creatures made of the bones of the dead now gripped rusty, clumsy swords in each hand. Clack clack clack clack. The clattering of teeth sounded nonstop. It felt like the earlier silence had been preferable. A few of them still had plenty to say. Swish. Dojin spotted the skeletons that had revealed themselves. Roughly… 'Fifty of them.' Hyejin’s words echoed. ―The rating is low-rank. In cases like this, it means either the total number of entities is small, or there are no necromancers and only skeletons. The fact that the number of entities was small. 'Did she get deceived?' Fifty skeletons should be pushing it for low-rank. But it didn’t matter. They would all be taken down anyway. "Hmmm……." Dojin, fiddling with his dagger, exhaled softly and sheathed it. For these skeletons, even cutting the joints would make them reattach easily. Better this way. "Just crush them." Whoosh! Dojin charged at the skeletons, clenching his fist. Though not ideal opponents, he had no intention of backing down in the slightest. Boom! In an instant, Dojin appeared beside a skeleton and smashed its temple. Crack! They were tough—probably from drinking a lot of milk in life. But seeing the crack forming, Dojin stretched his fist again. Crack! Two hits. Looking at the battered skeleton, Dojin stared at his now-red fist. Honestly, without any gloves, it would’ve been tough to take down fifty skeletons in this state. "No choice." Dojin pulled out his dagger again. A bit tedious… but the only way was to completely shatter them so they wouldn’t regenerate. The Resting Place of the Wandering Dead, lit faintly by moonlight. Dojin was delivering true rest to them. * * * "The phone’s dead, sound sample……" "You damn bastard!" Crack! The thrown phone shattered completely and scattered. Uwin stared at the documents he couldn’t calm his anger over. Ha Dojin. Maybe even this was a stolen identity. "Fucking bastard." Uwin spat curses while clenching his teeth. If they couldn’t find the guy… "……Damn." He really might get killed by that bear-like creature. They had to find him no matter what. "Damn…… I didn’t want to get involved with that guy." He had kept a safe distance because the bastard was so sinister. But when it came to this, among the people he knew, that guy was the expert. "……Should I buy a drink set?" Irritation was already boiling up. * * * Crack! With a crisp sound, the skeleton’s head and body separated. The moment the neck was severed and the wrist snap made the head float slightly in the air… Kwooodddd! It sounded like a blender mixing two skulls. He had completely destroyed the head at insane speed. [128,000 experience points obtained.] 'Three left.' Dojin checked the remaining experience and immediately charged at the next skeleton. The instant Dojin moved, the skeleton swung its sword. Whoosh! For a low undead, the speed was quite fast. Unlike zombies or ghouls, skeletons had decent balance as monsters. But to Dojin, the attack was obvious. Tap! Dojin twisted his body lightly to the side and lowered his stance, targeting the knee joint. Crack! The blade went in perfectly. The skeleton staggered and fell to the ground, and Dojin rose, slicing the thin bone between the jaw and neck with his dagger. Crack! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! He mercilessly stomped the skulls of the skeletons on the ground until they shattered. Whoosh! Thud! He slapped the face of the one sneaking up from behind with the back of his hand. "That’s two." And the last one. Whoosh! Kwok! Kwoddddd! In an instant, he finished the final skeleton. [128,000 experience points obtained.] [Level up.] Flash! The moment he reached level 50, a small light flickered across Dojin’s body. [Level 50 achieved.] [Unique-grade blessing applied.] [Bonus stats obtained.] [Skill: Shadow Absorption acquired.] [Unique-grade blessing applied.] [Skill: Shadow Absorption upgraded to Dark Absorption.] Dojin stared at the message that had appeared before his eyes. A class skill gained upon reaching level 50. But because of the blessing? 'Bonus stats.' Dojin immediately opened his status window. Name: Ha Dojin Level: 50 Strength: 92 Agility: 239 Stamina: 88 Mana: 86 Bonus Stats: 55 Excluding the five stats gained when leveling from 49 to 50… 'Did I get fifty stats from the blessing…?' Dojin stared at the status window with a hardened expression.