The Tyrant’s Hunting Method (4)
Current leader of Cheonyang-ji.
The place where former fugitive Jo Jeong-hwan had lived.
Yeongjong Island.
Just ten years ago, this place had been booming thanks to the casino that had settled in and invigorated the local economy.
That is, until the day a flying monster burst out of a Gate and turned the island into a wasteland.
Back then, the Hunters had been helpless.
No matter how awakened they were, there wasn’t a single Hunter in Korea who could fly freely through the sky.
The Air Force fought back with fighter jets, but the attempt left a great many dead.
After that, a few more flying monsters appeared, and Yeongjong Island gradually fell into ruin. Illegal immigrants, foreign workers, and criminals gathered there, forming a slum.
I passed through a long row of tents and stopped walking.
So this is it.
The spot where the casino had once stood was now nothing but a barren vacant lot.
A nearby shopping center had half-collapsed, rising like a grotesque mass of concrete.
I looked around.
There was no sign of anyone.
He didn’t run, did he?
Everything was ready.
Even if I had laid a thorough trap to catch Go Pil-hun, it would all be pointless if the prey never showed up.
If the bait doesn’t come, all the preparation goes to waste...
Fortunately, someone walked out of the darkness.
“You the one? This Purple Devil or whatever the hell?”
Go Pil-hun glared at me.
“As you can see.”
I slowly raised both hands.
I was wearing a purple suit and mask.
It was Karki’s new model, P5.
A refined version of the P4 I’d worn when I fought the leader of Cheonyang-ji.
The material was made from the remaining Silver Knight, the silver dragon hide.
It’s unfinished, though.
At a glance, the design looked decent enough, but it was still too rough for serious combat.
Whatever.
Today’s operation wasn’t about winning a fight.
I had to lose.
To fail completely.
Let’s see.
I studied Go Pil-hun in silence.
At first glance, his face resembled Go Ju-hun’s.
Go Pil-hun was wearing the custom suit his brother had once worn in life, breathing hard beneath it.
Maybe the fit was wrong, because thick folds of flesh were spilling out between the seams.
“You’re really putting in the effort.”
“What?”
“Trying so hard to act like your brother that you’re about to split your crotch.”
“...You know my brother?”
“Go Ju-hun? Of course I do. I killed him.”
“... ...”
Go Pil-hun clenched his fist.
A vicious aura rolled off his body, though the amount was pathetically small.
Utterly pathetic.
Go Pil-hun had once climbed as high as B+ rank.
Just from this, I could tell how badly he’d let himself go over the years.
He lifted his chin.
“You should at least ask before you kill someone.”
Go Pil-hun smiled with shameless confidence.
“Why are you doing this? What the hell did I ever do to you?”
Interesting.
When I first met Lee Yu-seol, I’d had a conversation not unlike this one.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Why? Are you asking about the justification for my actions? Fine. I’ll answer. First of all, it’s to invite you into our guild.”
Go Ju-hun wanted me to join Dio Guild.
And in the end, I’d entered Dio Guild and begun slowly, methodically seizing control of that massive empire from the roots up.
“The reason, then...”
I spoke solemnly.
“Revenge.”
Go Pil-hun didn’t seem especially surprised.
“Revenge for who? Ah, hell if I know. I’ve got a lot of enemies, you know. Hahaha!”
Yeah. Keep acting relaxed.
The game started now.
“Gu Bo-yeon.”
“... ...”
At the unfamiliar woman’s name, Go Pil-hun froze.
Gu Bo-yeon. Age twenty-seven at the time of her death.
Ten years ago, she had been Go Pil-hun’s lover, and now she was missing.
The police had concluded it was homicide.
A few suspects had come under scrutiny at the time.
One of them was Go Pil-hun.
“You killed her, didn’t you?”
“... ...”
Go Pil-hun forced the corners of his mouth upward.
“Wh-what?”
“Hah. You’re terrible at lying.”
Go Pil-hun had been released for lack of evidence, then fled to the United States soon after.
I lowered my stance and slipped into a fighting posture.
“I’m one of Gu Bo-yeon’s family. So you could call this revenge for her.”
Go Pil-hun flared up immediately.
“What kind of bullshit is that? Bo-yeon was an orphan! There’s no way she had family!”
“You said you didn’t know her a second ago. So you’re admitting it? That you killed her?”
“...You little...”
With a rough swipe, Go Pil-hun struck at the back of my neck.
I knocked his hand aside, and the exchange began.
He drove his elbow toward my jaw.
I slipped away easily, and Go Pil-hun answered by hammering a fist into my abdomen.
For a moment, I was taken aback.
Not because he was stronger than I expected.
Because he was far weaker than expected.
Did he deliberately hold back?
No way.
...It’s like being hit by a pillow.
I didn’t even need to use God’s Aura.
There was no impact to speak of.
Ah. Right, I can’t let that happen.
I lowered my head a beat too late.
“Ghk!”
I frowned and groaned.
It didn’t hurt at all, but I acted like it did.
“Kuhahaha! What do you think? Can’t breathe, can you? That’s my signature power uppercut!”
The stink of alcohol was pouring off Go Pil-hun’s mouth.
His pupils were bloodshot when I looked closely.
His tongue seemed twisted, too.
He’s wasted.
Go Pil-hun unleashed a flurry of attacks.
“A fool who doesn’t know his place needs a beating!”
I let out a sigh before I even realized it.
Pathetic.
Power, speed, accuracy—everything was a mess.
And the quality of his mana is garbage.
Go Pil-hun’s skill had not merely dulled; it had rusted over completely.
I stepped back quickly.
Unlike me, who remained calm, he was...
“Huff, huff!”
Go Pil-hun drooled at the corners of his mouth and panted for breath.
“What’s with you, punk? Scared? Come here! Come on, I said come here!”
Idiot.
He still couldn’t tell the difference in our ability.
I drew White Revenge from the sheath strapped to my thigh.
“Let’s finish this.”
“Fine by me. That’s exactly what I wanted.”
Go Pil-hun slowly pulled a dagger from his waist.
“Hey, purple head. Want me to tell you what my talent is?”
Maybe because he was drunk.
Go Pil-hun talked too much.
Even better. Keep talking.
“It’s Tyrant. The angrier I get, the more my mana increases exponentially. You screwed up. You actually made me angry.”
He was babbling on and on about something I didn’t even care to hear.
Just a little more patience.
It was almost time.
I curled my finger at him.
“You’ll run out of breath first.”
“Shut up!”
The dagger sliced through the air and narrowly grazed my cheek.
“For the record, I’ve been known as a blade master since my teens. I’ve split open plenty of bellies with a jackknife.”
Right. Sure you have.
That should be enough.
I deliberately acted as though one of my feet had caught on a rock.
Losing my balance, I let my body tilt.
“Huh?”
Go Pil-hun’s eyes gleamed.
Seeing his opening, he didn’t hesitate.
“This is it! Die!”
The tip of his thrusting dagger sank into the center of my abdomen.
A tingle ran down my spine.
I could feel the cold hunk of metal burrowing into my guts with eerie clarity.
“Die! Die!!! You son of a bitch!!!”
Go Pil-hun didn’t stop. He kept stabbing my stomach again and again.
“Ugh.”
With a final groan, I crumpled.
Hot blood spilled from my belly and soaked the ground.
I forced my head up with visible effort.
“...Ugh.”
Go Pil-hun looked down at me.
“Kuh! You worthless bastard.”
Drunk on victory, Go Pil-hun began shaking all over.
“...I won. I won!!!”
Watching him howl, I narrowed my eyes.
Go Pil-hun kept screaming like a lunatic.
“Trash! You little piece of trash! Ahh! That feels good! I’m finally satisfied!”
Christ, enough already.
Still...
That actually hurts.
Fresh blood gushed from my abdomen.
While pretending to be dead, I activated my ability.
Regeneration has been activated.
The wound is rapidly healing.
I healed the wound with Speeder’s ability.
The bleeding stopped at once, and new flesh began to knit together over the deep stab wounds.
Thank God.
I hadn’t exactly been gambling my life on some reckless stunt.
When I fought Go Ju-hun, I’d suffered far worse injuries than this.
A few knife wounds are nothing.
Go Pil-hun threw both arms into the air.
“I killed Purple Devil! I, the great Ares, killed Purple Devil!!!”
Go Pil-hun’s callsign was Ares.
The Greek god of war and strife.
It wasn’t really a title earned through his accomplishments as a Hunter so much as something he’d gotten by leaning on his family’s status.
I’m almost there. Focus.
Like a candle guttering out its last flame.
I stretched a trembling hand toward Go Pil-hun.
“...Where is your sister?”
“Sister? Ahh. Bo-yeon did have some distant younger cousin or something. What, are you two freaks some kind of cousins-with-benefits? Puhahaha!!!”
Of course, that was a bright red lie.
Gu Bo-yeon and I had nothing to do with each other.
All of this was nothing more than...
a scheme to steal Dio Guild.
Go Pil-hun snickered.
“Fine. I’ll tell you this much as a parting gift on your way to hell. I chopped Bo-yeon up and buried her in the grave on Mount Guryong. I go check on her sometimes, and for some reason it makes my luck better. Like a talisman, you know? Heh-heh!”
Mount Guryong in Seocho District, Seoul, was private property belonging to Dio Guild.
It was land purchased by Go Ju-hun’s father, the founder of Dio Guild.
After the founder died, a grave had been built on Mount Guryong.
He’d buried his old lover’s body where his own father lay.
What a disgusting hobby.
I pressed my lips shut and put as much fury as I could into my eyes.
“Whoa, whoa. No matter how hard you glare, I can’t do anything about it. Dead people don’t come back to life, you know.”
Go Pil-hun kept droning on without pausing for breath.
“Ah, right. Before I chopped her up, I did a few things to her too. Heh. Probably still got plenty of my scent on her. You should go see for yourself if you have time. Huh? Oh, right—you’re already dead, aren’t you?”
At last.
I had the truth I’d been waiting for.
I closed my eyes without regret and played dead.
After a short silence, Go Pil-hun’s voice drew nearer.
“Let’s have a look at that face.”
He removed my mask.
A sharp intake of breath echoed in the darkness.
“...Choi, Yongki?”
That was when someone else cut in.
“Surprised? I was too, at first.”
Go Pil-hun spun around in alarm.
I watched quietly with my eyes half-lidded.
“Team Leader? Why the hell are you here...”
“Why do you think?”
Lee Yu-seol pointed somewhere behind him.
“I’ve got proof of your murder confession. I’ve been filming from over there the whole time.”
Far away.
On the second floor of a concrete building, Karki was grinning brightly and waving.
Lee Yu-seol waved back with equal cheer.
“That brat. He’s cute.”
Karki quickly went stone-faced and flipped her off.
“Honestly. Why does he hate me so much?”
It would have been a ridiculous scene under ordinary circumstances.
But Go Pil-hun wasn’t laughing.
He couldn’t have been laughing.
“...You were filming?”
“Why ask when you already know the answer? Yes. And we recorded the audio too. Lucky for us, there’ll also be DNA from Gu Bo-yeon’s body.”
Lee Yu-seol smiled thinly.
“Representative. Or should I say former representative? You’re done. You’re a murderer, plain and simple.”
Go Pil-hun staggered, wavering on his feet.
Lee Yu-seol looked at me steadily.
“How long are you planning to keep that act going?”
I shut my eyes tightly for a few seconds.
Then I brushed myself off and stood up.
“Man. Playing along with you is exhausting.”
Go Pil-hun backed away as if he’d seen a ghost.
“Y-you...”
Of course he was shocked.
A corpse had just risen up like a zombie.
“What kind of joke are you playing right now?”
“Joke? You still don’t understand what’s happening?”
Embezzlement, breach of trust, sexual favors, drugs.
Those were serious crimes, sure, but if it was a first offense, you wouldn’t spend all that long in prison.
But murder was different.
After the Hunter Act was revised, murder no longer had a statute of limitations.
And the sentence was severe.
Though to be fair, it already happens out in the open all the time.
Still, with evidence that couldn’t be denied, the story changed completely.
Lee Yu-seol continued, “I’ve already dispatched agents to Mount Guryong. Since it’s in Gangnam, they’ll arrive within ten minutes.”
Everything was perfect now.
The time had come to put the finishing touch on it.
“Hey, Go Pil-hun.”
Go Pil-hun flinched.
“I’ve got something I want to ask you... no, something I want to order you to do.”
“Shut the hell up!”
Go Pil-hun grabbed his knife and charged.
I twisted my waist.
My right fist drove cleanly into the bastard’s face.
Go Pil-hun’s features crumpled, and his teeth burst into the air like popcorn.
“Kgh! Khuh!”
Go Pil-hun rolled across the ground, kicking up dirt and dust.
I tightened my fist and heard the bones crack.
“A fool who doesn’t know his place needs a beating?”
The operation was over.
Which meant...
There was no need to hide my strength anymore.
There was no need to keep up the clumsy act.
All right, then. Time to get serious.
“First, let’s give you a proper beating.”