Deja Vu (5)
He had that strange, disoriented feeling of being lost in the forest. Memories that refused to surface kept tugging at him, as if he needed to remember something right now or else face dire consequences.
He would be too late if he didn’t remember. His instincts screamed a warning.
“…….”
But he still couldn’t recall.
It was as though someone had hidden it away, locked it deep in the recesses of his mind.
A sigh escaped him as frustration boiled over, and the man seated in the old chair stared at him strangely.
“Brother Gwangmu, why are you staring like that?”
“The one with the smile that never reaches his eyes, remember?”
“…….”
“The face that looks like it’s always grinning… I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before.”
“I told you, it was someone I didn’t know.”
“Yeah, definitely someone I didn’t know.”
“Then what’s the problem? Why keep obsessing over it? That’s not like you.”
“…….”
He nodded as if agreeing, but the vague unease gnawed at Choi Yeon. Not knowing the reason made it all the more unsettling.
If the middle-aged woman’s voice hadn’t spoken up from beside him, he might still have been lost in thought.
Swish. The middle-aged woman lowered her black sunglasses and looked straight ahead.
“Oh my, it really is the smile that never reaches his eyes, is it?”
“You finally brought him along, huh?”
Choi Yeon muttered, then finally showed his face.
At the mouth of the alley stood Choi Heeseok alone.
Even Jeong Se-jun, who had come to have the seal stamped, stood there without the new recruit Choi Yeon had sent.
Suddenly, Choi Yeon blurted out.
“Kim Ho-won. Where did the others go? You came all the way here alone?”
“Leave the two of them. Right now, they’re enjoying sweet dreams.”
“Tsk, the useless bunch.”
“So if you treat them well, they’ll loosen up, right? Starting tomorrow—or better yet, right now—let’s send them on a dungeon run.”
“Yeah, yeah, that works.”
The mention of “dreams” made Red Fang misunderstand and chatter away without a care.
Choi Yeon deliberately didn’t correct the misunderstanding. He had said it on purpose so they would start with the wrong idea.
“By the way, that guy is hilarious. We sent them here to make them look bad, and they still showed up without the sense to stay back?”
“Wouldn’t that be better? Mr. Gang Ji-hyeok.”
“Those kids are hopeless. Selling out our names like that?”
“No, we knew from the start. The middle-aged woman’s name is Oh Hye-rim, right?”
“Middle-aged woman? You’re feeding me this right now? My eyes still can’t even open properly—”
Swoosh.
The middle-aged woman’s words were cut off by Choi Yeon’s gesture.
A dagger slipped from his waist. It was aimed at Red Fang, including her.
You were supposed to be the one fixing me. Here I am. What more do you need to say?
Seeing that, Choi Yeon shook his head.
“These young ones these days. Drawing a blade like that—what do they think it’ll achieve? Hey, Kim Ho-won. Watch this.”
He accelerated the mana cycle that had been gently circulating. He pointed at the man’s back as if to say, look at this rough, turbulent flow.
“You see it? Extremely flamboyant, right? This is D-class hunter level. E-class like you can’t even dream of that speed.”
“…….”
Watching Choi Yeon’s arrogant ramblings, Choi Yeon felt utterly bewildered.
The mana cycle was definitely faster, but it lacked smoothness. Without proper control, it would scatter and waste itself.
It was sheerly ignorant circulation. Compared to yesterday’s Red Fang team leader, it was still better.
A D-class hunter cycling mana like this usually fell into one of three categories: severe injury, illness, or lack of training.
If he had to pick one…
Choi Yeon didn’t particularly like betting, but if he had to choose the third option, he’d stake everything.
An old man living off a young hunter’s blood would never train properly.
A smirk crept across his face.
“Yeah. That’s it! The smile that never reaches his eyes is the most annoying!”
He kicked off with a rough step.
Red Fang tried to block him, but Gang Ji-hyeok stopped her.
“Enough. What would Brother Gwangmu be doing here? Here, I’ll—”
He rose from the chair with an air of ease, only to let out a scream worthy of a ghost’s wail, the kind you’d hear in a haunted house. It was almost identical to the sound of someone thrashing through tall grass and startling a snake.
Whip! Snap! Whoosh!
The wire shot from the chair and lashed around Gang Ji-hyeok’s body, pinning him back down.
What the hell is this?
Startled and dumbfounded, Red Fang stood there as Choi Yeon hurled a dagger from his pocket.
Clang! Crash!
Gwangmu immediately drew his sword and blocked it. He only deflected the one aimed at him and Hye-rim; the dagger meant for Gang Ji-hyeok still flew past.
Thunk.
The dagger pierced Gang Ji-hyeok’s thigh, and he let out a curse.
“Aaah! Damn it, what kind of guy aims here! You almost hit me!”
“Don’t worry. I aimed precisely at the spot.”
“Wha—”
“The thigh—there’s a major blood vessel, the femoral artery, so the poison takes effect fast.”
Hye-rim leaned forward from behind Gwangmu, head peeking out. A dagger now rested in her hand, and she licked the tip lightly with her tongue.
A wicked smile bloomed on her lips.
“Crota viper poison. Are you fun?”
“Fun? I’m not, ow…”
He slumped forward. The poison was taking effect too quickly; his body went numb.
Watching him, Hye-rim chuckled.
“Yeah, that’s why I told you to get a poison resistance skill, Sis.”
“Get me a demonstration of what real poison is, Hye-rim.”
“Gladly!”
She dove behind Gwangmu to use him as a shield. The mana began to gather as she cast.
Seeing that, Choi Yeon sprinted forward.
According to the information Hye-rim’s agency had sent, her poison-blast magic was at least D-rank or higher.
“Seed of Vengeance!”
As she burst out after closing half the distance, Hye-rim fired.
The poison-blast was short-cast, three shots. Only one reached Choi Yeon.
Looking at the seeds of vengeance, Choi Yeon recalled his specialty again.
It was too weak.
Of course. Gwangmu’s mana cycle was rough, and she was no different.
If that was the case…
Boom.
Choi Yeon didn’t block the blast. He simply took the hit. The pathetic power of the poison blast didn’t slow his charge even a little.
“You blocked my poison blast like that?”
“I used poison before. You probably have a resistance skill too, like me!”
“Ugh!”
“Keep shooting! You won’t be immune!”
“W-wait! I get it!”
Guild master, my ass.
After quickly assessing the situation, Gwangmu charged. Clang! The blades collided.
Clang, crash!
While metal rang out in the alley, the seeds of vengeance wedged themselves between strikes.
As fellow guild members who had once clashed, he could tell the poison blast was annoying.
If Choi Yeon hadn’t had poison resistance, things would have been different.
Thwack.
He casually threw a dagger, missing it by a hair.
The blade sliced through the air beside Hye-rim’s head. He felt no regret.
“Wire Shift.”
Mana threads coiled around Hye-rim’s body like snakes. Just like Gang Ji-hyeok, she was pinned and collapsed in a tangle.
At that moment, Gwangmu roughened his mana cycle further. Seeing no dagger in Choi Yeon’s hand, he judged it a perfect opening.
His sword came sweeping down.
The power was stronger than before, but Choi Yeon felt it was nothing special. Because his cycle was rough, speed was slower and mana kept scattering.
Thanks to that, Choi Yeon easily dodged Gwangmu’s blade and moved as he pleased.
Thud.
His back hit the wall.
It was the outer wall of a public parking garage. Gwangmu had finally cornered him and used a skill.
“Strong Bind!”
The sword that scraped the wall in a diagonal line reached his neck—
“Huh?”
It couldn’t.
The force from the sword had been perfectly absorbed by the outer wall.
Gwangmu stared at the building, stunned. Even after using a skill, something had blocked him.
Choi Yeon, however, hadn’t been surprised. If the mana cycle was this rough, the power simply wouldn’t show properly.
He guessed that even that Strong Bind skill would be far stronger if another hunter had used it.
“The outer wall is sturdy, huh? I came early and tested it myself. Surprised me.”
“W-what?!”
Gwangmu gritted his teeth and reached for his sword.
He didn’t succeed. A new dagger from his waist pressed against his side.
“Stop. Even if you twitch a single hair, I’ll bleed you dry?”
“Don’t joke around!”
Gwangmu was more foolish than he looked.
He ignored the warning and moved, only to end up bleeding.
Thud! He clutched his stomach and glared at Choi Yeon.
“Kim Ho-won…! You’re not an E-class hunter, are you?”
“Finally realized?”
“Who… who are you?”
“Me?”
“Who sent you!”
Angrily questioning him, Choi Yeon was honestly bewildered.
His awareness had become monstrously oversized. He couldn’t believe anyone would send someone like Red Fang to handle this.
Still, he dismissed it with vague words and didn’t ignore him outright.
“If I had to point a finger, it would be you.”
“What?”
“The trouble you’ve caused… is what brought me here today.”
“What does that even—”
“I am Choi Yeon, Seonhwa-dong Dungeon Hunter.”
“……!”
Gwangmu’s eyes widened.
Seonhwa… Dongdae…?
The old memory surfaced vividly.
Only now did he understand why he had felt that sense of déjà vu back then.
“Don’t ignore me.”
When he was a newbie. Gwangmu had faced the smile that never reached his eyes in a dungeon in Seonhwa-dong.
The name of that Dongdae hunter had been clear…
“…Kim Jaesang?”
“That’s our dungeon master’s name.”
“You’re that bastard’s subordinate? The most unlucky one?”
“Haha. You must be talking about the same person if you call him unlucky.”
“…….”
“But what happened?”
The answer came to mind when asked. The memory sharpened, and Gwangmu’s face flushed red.
Seeing it, Choi Yeon wondered why he wasn’t too angry. It was just enough to leave a smudge on his face.
Still…
“Since you keep asking even though you’re annoyed, let me ask. Miss Hye-rim.”
“What is it?”
“Those sunglasses… did you copy Modini’s style?”
“…So what? Why? What! Are you Modini’s fan?”
“Not a fan.”
“You’re kidding. You are a fan! So? Does that make me look tacky too?”
“Not that. I’m just bewildered.”
Choi Yeon shrugged.
Following a celebrity’s style, what did age matter? Envy didn’t age.
But.
“If a mage in charge of ranged attacks wears black sunglasses, can they… see their opponent properly?”
“…….”
Exactly.
Because he hadn’t seen clearly, only one of the three seeds of vengeance had reached him.
Even if he had hit all three thanks to poison resistance, it wouldn’t have mattered.
Choi Yeon didn’t say it just to make Hye-rim blame herself.
When she bit her lip in anger, Gang Ji-hyeok glared at her. But she stared back, unfazed.
The guy who had fallen to combat incapacitation at the start, what was he so proud of?
Pinned by wire, stabbed by a paralyzing dagger. She would have been the same, but the victim was him, so it was easy to point out.
While Gang Ji-hyeok and Hye-rim glared at each other, Gwangmu called out to Choi Yeon.
“Why didn’t you say from the beginning that you’re a Dongdae hunter?”
“If you had, I would have just gone back to Yuseong-gu. I wouldn’t have touched you like this.”
“…I see.”
“It won’t do. I came to eliminate Red Fang today.”
“Eliminate? Since when do Dongdae hunters have that authority?”
“Do you need it?”
Choi Yeon pointed toward the back of the alley. Kim Jaesang, the dungeon master, had appeared somewhere along the way.
A smile played on his lips, and Gwangmu’s eyes flew open in shock.
“There’s that unlucky bastard over there.”
“Speaking of ‘unlucky bastard’—”
“It’s you, Gwangmu. The dungeon master said you’re terribly unlucky.”
“Gwangmu? Hah, I’m offended. I even saved your life when you almost died.”
Agh! Gwangmu gritted his teeth.
It was a memory he wanted to forget—being saved by a hunter.
It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the reason.
What was shameful about a hunter being saved by another hunter? They were all in the same guild, after all.
“Being lured by an orc and almost dying.”
Ah, that was worth forgetting.
How exactly did one get lured by an orc? A low-rank D dungeon with only Orc Centurion monsters.