The Assassin Hunter Stops Time
Creak, creak.
Staring at the blood-soaked street, Kang Seungho’s eyes grew icy cold.
Red Circle guild hunters collapsed with blood pouring from their mouths, their bodies twisted.
What was even more laughable was that the Firebird Guild hunters who had declared war were treating them.
The Firebird Guild hunters performing emergency care for the critically wounded lifted their heads sharply.
“Kang Seungho?!”
“It’s Kang Seungho!”
They all stood up in unison, the sudden appearance of Kang Seungho sending them into full alert.
They were clearly prepared to draw weapons and charge at any moment.
But Seungho simply looked down at his own guild members lying on the ground.
A cold, emotionless gaze.
What on earth was he thinking?
It was impossible to read his intentions.
Kang Seungho turned to the Firebird Guild hunters and spoke.
“Keep doing what you were doing. It doesn’t matter to me anyway.”
“What did you say?!”
“How dare you—!”
No matter how arrogant Kang Seungho was, the number of Firebird Guild hunters gathered here far exceeded forty.
It was an impossible number to handle alone.
Yet Seungho showed no interest and simply turned his head toward the guild building.
His aura.
‘…He must be waiting for something.’
He was openly displaying his presence without hiding any of his momentum.
Seungho didn’t hide his own aura either.
“If you leave now, I’ll spare you. But if you come back after killing that bastard and find yourselves still here…”
Seungho’s eyes turned even colder.
The sensation was like a dagger flying straight into his chest.
The Firebird Guild hunters unconsciously stepped back a pace without realizing it.
Seungho continued.
“All of you will die without a single survivor. This is the last bit of mercy you’ll receive for healing my guild members.”
It was a threat, but it didn’t sound like a simple threat.
It felt like he genuinely meant it.
The Firebird Guild hunters could only tense up under his razor-sharp aura.
What… was this momentum?
One moment.
Swish.
Seungho turned his body and walked toward the guild building.
Blood drops on the floor seemed to be guiding his way.
Here.
He had to come here.
He pressed the twelfth floor on the elevator, and the blood footprints remained clear.
Ding!
The elevator doors opened, and at the end of the long corridor was his office.
The sight of Dojin sitting at the desk inside the wide-open room.
The two were now only about ten meters apart.
Just one leap.
A distance that could be closed in the blink of an eye.
Dojin looked at Seungho and said.
“I was waiting for you.”
“I never thought you’d come out so boldly. You really prepared well for this.”
“It’s only natural to face the opponent.”
“Precisely identifying the opponent is very important. You’re excellent.”
Seungho poured mana into the item on his left shoulder.
In that instant.
Clang clang!
Armor formed over his entire body.
Then clink.
He finally grabbed the sword hanging beside him.
There was no more need for words.
They were both beings that simply could not coexist.
Only one thing remained.
“I have one question.”
“…?”
Dojin tilted his head at the question.
Seungho continued.
“What is your reason for interfering with my work?”
“…Ah.”
Now I see.
Kang Seungho didn’t know why Dojin was trying to get revenge on him right now.
It was only natural.
Dojin had been killed in his past life.
But even if it was the Seungho of this life, he was the same as before.
Dojin answered.
“Because you’re an incredibly annoying bastard?”
“…!”
Seungho’s expression twisted.
He hadn’t expected such a proper answer, but to say it like that?
Dojin let out a small laugh at that look.
He had answered with sincerity, but it seemed to have struck a deep wound in the bastard.
Clink.
Seungho drew his sword.
His eyes now released a fierce killing intent that could kill with nothing but momentum.
“That’s a sufficient answer.”
With those words.
BOOM!
Kang Seungho kicked the ground with tremendous force and charged toward Dojin at blinding speed.
* * *
“Kang Seungho… has arrived.”
“Yes. The battle must have already begun by now.”
Kim Gyeongtaek’s words made Gu Jinmo quietly close his eyes.
He had never felt even the slightest unease about the things Dojin had done so far.
“This time might not be as easy as before.”
“If the Hunter Kang Seungho has reached level 250…”
And every indicator pointed to that.
The high probability that Kang Seungho had achieved level 250.
But Gu Jinmo remembered something more than the numbers—the way he had boldly approached him back when Red Circle was rising to become one of Korea’s top three guilds.
That Kang Seungho had been reckless but brimming with confidence, and most of all, he hadn’t hidden the enormous greed burning in his eyes.
Gu Jinmo knew well that the more such ambition drove a man, the harder he would push himself toward his goal.
Evidence of that was how quickly Red Circle had become one of Korea’s top three guilds.
Gu Jinmo muttered softly.
“Perhaps he has already reached that point.”
That was why he was worried for the first time.
Please…
“Come back alive, Hunter Ha Dojin.”
It was the first prayer he had ever offered that was not just a prayer.
* * *
BOOM! CRASH! The entire left side of the twelfth-floor building exploded in a massive blast.
“Watch out! Take cover!”
The Firebird Guild hunters below screamed as stones and glass rained down from above.
It wasn’t particularly threatening, but for the injured it was a different story.
Even though they were enemies, the master’s command was clear: do not let them die.
It was Dojin’s will, but Hyejin also didn’t want ordinary people swept up in this fight.
This battle would only end with Kang Seungho’s death.
“Hang in there, Hunter Ha Dojin.”
Hyejin muttered softly.
There was no one else who could finish this fight.
And…
Thud!
Kang Seungho closed in on Dojin at blinding speed and swung his sword upward in a diagonal arc.
A trail of blue light followed the powerful slash.
It was a strike so fast it was almost impossible to track with the eyes.
Moreover, it carried the precision of a lethal finishing move.
But…
Twitch.
Even though it was a perfect strike, Seungho’s eyebrows furrowed and his gaze shifted to the opposite side.
By now Dojin had already moved toward the office entrance from near the window.
“Unbelievable speed.”
“Do you have the luxury to talk?”
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
As Dojin released intense momentum in all directions, every light fixture on the ceiling exploded.
Darkness descended completely.
The only light came from moonlight filtering through the shattered walls.
Even that barely pierced the office interior.
Slither.
Soon Dojin’s figure melted into the darkness.
The man who had been right in front of him was gone.
Seungho unconsciously swallowed hard.
It was because he realized how bizarrely agile the bastard’s movements were—far beyond what he had expected.
“Even as an assassin hunter…”
It should have been difficult to move like that.
Even if they were the shadows he had personally nurtured, such movements were impossible.
Seungho muttered.
“Just as I predicted.”
If he had fought this man back when they first met, he couldn’t have guaranteed victory.
It didn’t matter when Ha Dojin awakened or how long his career was.
‘That bastard…’
How strong he was.
That was all that mattered.
So he was willing to risk everything to reach him.
So he could win for sure against the bastard.
Seungho’s pupils began to turn blood-red.
“You can rest easy. I prepared everything for you.”
“…”
For a moment, Seungho’s aura shifted.
It seemed he was about to go all out after the previous strikes had missed.
Whoosh!
Soon a terrifying momentum exploded from the bastard’s body.
It was a completely different feeling from before.
Dojin narrowed his eyes.
‘That…’
He couldn’t say he knew every skill of Kang Seungho, but he understood them to some extent.
But this…
‘A special skill gained at level 250…?’
A completely new side of Seungho that Dojin didn’t know.
The true appearance of a level 250 hunter was.
“Be careful. The control of this power isn’t easy yet.”
Blue light trailed from the bastard’s body.
He didn’t know the skill name, but the mana was flowing out so intensely it was clearly visible in his eyes.
Mana was amplifying, pulling up his physical abilities.
BOOM!
Instantly, with an explosion, Seungho’s body disappeared.
His physical ability had risen far beyond expectations.
Thud!
Dojin instinctively ducked.
An edge grazed his neck.
‘Fast.’
Sweat ran down his back in an instant.
It was a difference so great it felt like it was the same person from before.
He didn’t know what price had been paid, but.
‘It’s a skill that raises overall stats…?’
There was no room to relax.
But at that moment.
“You look quite surprised.”
Seungho chased after the retreating Dojin and said.
A smile had already formed at the corner of the bastard’s mouth.
Seungho looked at Dojin with gleaming eyes.
“It’s a special skill I obtained by reaching level 250. It’s a skill that possesses abilities you can’t even imagine.”
Seungho swung his sword from top to bottom.
Even without using the skill, the power was terrifying.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The wall, floor, and wherever the sword struck were all destroyed in a straight line.
Seungho continued.
“This skill raises my overall stats by 30 percent until I run out of mana. And I can even use sword energy from the blade itself.”
“…”
All the level 250 hunters who had reached that point had gained skills that defied logic.
And Seungho was no different.
Seungho smiled viciously.
“Your chances of winning are 0 percent.”
CLANG!
Seungho’s sword struck Dojin for the first time.
He blocked it with his own sword, but.
BOOM!
The body that was repelled crashed straight through the wall and flew to the opposite side.
“…Huu.”
Dojin, who had risen from the ground, let out a small breath.
Even though he had blocked the attack, it felt like his insides were twisting.
His palm holding the sword was torn, blood pouring out, and his wrist throbbed as if a bone had cracked slightly.
‘…He’s at a level I can stand against.’
His confidence had skyrocketed with the sudden surge of power.
But…
“You’re not the only one holding a card.”
“Whatever you say, the result won’t change.”
Seungho glared with bloodshot eyes and charged at Dojin like a beast once more.
And in that moment.
“Time Distortion.”
Time began to slow at the center between Dojin and Seungho.