Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: The Night Deepens
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East Village Building.
Boom!
The Miru Guild hunters who had gone outside returned.
“Branch Chief!”
“Branch Chief, where are you?!”
Their faces flushed with excitement, they searched for Kim Dae-wook.
Normally, these were people too terrified of Kim Dae-wook to even make a peep.
But this was no time for that.
“Did you find out?”
Kim Dae-wook greeted them, his face crumpled in fury.
Only then did the hunters lower their voices and swallow hard.
One of them, who had rushed back out of breath, caught his breath and spoke.
“The factory was first discovered by Lee Seo-yeon from Gangbuk Police Station!”
Grind!
At the name Lee Seo-yeon, Kim Dae-wook ground his molars.
It was a name that had worn blisters on his ears.
“That damn bitch finally...”
To Kim Dae-wook, Lee Seo-yeon was a thorn in his side.
No matter how much he bribed her superiors to pressure her, she never backed down.
Lee Seo-yeon always interfered with whatever he was doing.
There had even been times when a one-day job dragged on for over a week just to avoid her eyes.
“Should've killed her sooner.”
Kim Dae-wook rubbed his forehead.
Even as a mere detective, Lee Seo-yeon was part of the public authority.
Killing her recklessly carried too much risk.
Even with bribes keeping her in check, predicting how the police would react if a colleague died was impossible.
It could lead to catching a flea and burning down the whole house, so he had no choice but to leave her alone.
“Branch Chief! Lee Seo-yeon is coming here with detectives!”
“What...? What the hell is that station chief doing?!”
“Suspicions about the factory's connection to Miru have already hit the news. He says he can't do anything.”
Bang!
“Useless bastard!”
The Gangbuk station chief, who took the money but bailed when it mattered.
Kim Dae-wook breathed heavily at the chief's cowardice.
“What about the incoming ones?”
“Mostly Gunner class from Gangbuk Station. All trained, level 20 or higher.”
Crunch.
Level 20 alone wouldn't be much of a threat.
But these were people trained to be police even before Kalderon.
Their basic combat prowess and experience would be different.
The other Miru hunters, excluding Kim Dae-wook, wouldn't handle them easily.
Can't be helped.
Kim Dae-wook squeezed his eyes shut and spoke.
“Clean up the building.”
“...!”
They knew exactly what that meant.
Their eyes widened at the order.
Besides the factory, there was one more place processing people.
This very building they stood in.
“Branch Chief, what about this month's quota...?”
“Who cares about that?! Clean it up before that bitch Lee Seo-yeon gets here!”
“Y-yes... Yes!!”
The terrified underlings rushed out of the room.
Left alone, Kim Dae-wook rubbed his forehead again.
“Hoo!!”
He knew it too.
The people in the building were essential for meeting this month's quota.
Ordering their cleanup meant failing the quota.
And that meant massive accountability from the guild.
Can't be helped. Gotta survive tonight first.
Opening his eyes, Kim Dae-wook glared fiercely at the ceiling.
Once we do, I'll find them. Find them and...!
Grind.
Tear them to shreds!
“Ugh.”
Debi pressed her pounding head and opened her eyes.
What the hell had happened?
- Try this.
It had been an ordinary evening.
A Miru Guild hunter stopped Debi on her way back to the dorm and handed her a bottle, saying it was a new drink they'd made.
- Thank you!
They often exchanged greetings in passing, so she accepted it without suspicion and downed the drink.
Her memories after that were hazy.
Her vision blurred suddenly, and the ground rushed up to meet her.
“Urk!”
As soon as she came to, Debi covered her nose with her hand.
It was an overwhelming fishy stench.
So thick it pierced her nose straight to her brain.
Debi sat up and looked around.
“Ah...!”
Her hand blocking her nose moved to her mouth.
She nearly screamed.
The room she'd been lying in was drenched in red blood.
I... I have to get out.
The moment she stepped down from the shelf she'd been on.
Slick... Thud!
She slipped on the liquid pooling on the floor and fell.
“Hup!”
Sure enough.
What made her fall was blood that hadn't even coagulated yet.
A... A magic trick that could help...!
Debi's class was Illusionist.
Not specialized for combat.
No matter how she scanned her skills, nothing seemed useful for escaping.
Creeeak.
Then the room's door opened.
The woman from last night stood there.
“Oh, you're up early.”
“Young-kyung...! Why to me?!”
She looked the same, but...
The Yoo Young-kyung before her was not the friendly person she'd greeted before.
Yoo Young-kyung shook her head with a sneer.
“That's why you shouldn't gobble up whatever you're given. Be careful if you're from another world.”
With that, she tilted the can she carried.
Gasoline poured over the fallen Debi.
“Kyaa!”
“What? Kyaa? Anyway, now that your eyes are open, guess you need to close them again.”
Clunk.
After emptying the gasoline on Debi, Yoo Young-kyung tossed the can aside.
“P-please... spare me!”
Debi begged in terror, but...
Killing people seemed routine to Yoo Young-kyung, who simply pulled out a lighter.
“What a waste. Could've sold for good money.”
Looking at Debi like a regrettable item, Yoo Young-kyung flicked open the lighter.
Click.
“Huh?”
In that instant.
As the lighter opened, the light illuminating the room vanished.
“Wh-what?”
It wasn't just Yoo Young-kyung's room that went dark.
The building's lights went out, plunging everything into darkness.
“What's happening?!”
“The generator's down!”
“Tch.”
Yoo Young-kyung clicked her tongue and turned toward Debi.
Whether the lights were out or not, she had to finish the job.
She lit the lighter.
Flick!
The flint sparked a bright flame.
“N-no...”
In Debi's despairing eyes, she saw Yoo Young-kyung's face lit by the lighter.
No trace of pity in those eyes.
“Bye.”
Fling.
She casually tossed the lighter while looking down at Debi.
The lighter descended slowly, illuminating the dark room from above.
“Ah...”
Still weakened by the drug, Debi couldn't move properly.
She could only watch the lighter falling toward the floor.
At most one second.
In one second, it would hit the floor.
As Debi closed her eyes before the approaching death.
Snap!
“!!”
Even before it touched the floor.
The lighter's flame in mid-air went out.
The room plunged back into darkness.
“Wh-what the fuuuuuck?!”
In that split second, Yoo Young-kyung turned toward the hand reaching for the lighter.
And then.
Crack!
Yoo Young-kyung's head twisted far beyond what it should.
Thud.
Her body collapsed to the floor.
In the pitch-black darkness where nothing was visible.
“If you want to live.”
A familiar voice came from somewhere toward the trembling Debi.
“Stay right here.”
Screeech...!
Crack! Boom! Boom!
“Wh-what?! Where is it?!”
Hunter shouts mixed with the sounds of impacts.
What else?
Slash!
“Gurk...!”
Death.
I started hunting the hunters one by one as I moved swiftly.
I couldn't even count how long I'd waited since arriving in East Village.
For the sun to set and night to fall.
- No electricity in the building. So they put a generator on the first floor.
Explanation from the electrician uncle I'd met in the village.
He was the one who'd installed it, so I got the exact location.
- That's all I know.
I bowed to the uncle who said he had nothing more to tell.
It was enough.
I only wanted one thing.
Darkness.
Enemies with no experience fighting in complete darkness inevitably make mistakes.
“You bastard! Where aaaare yoooou... Gahk!”
Thud.
Screaming to overcome the fear brought by darkness was the first.
“Turn on the flashlights!”
“Light up everywhere! Find the guy!”
Flash.
Lighting fires to push back the eye-searing darkness was the second mistake.
“Here...”
Boom!
Crack!
“The light... off... gurk.”
I sliced and snapped first those who lit up and revealed their positions.
Begging me to kill them first.
“Here!”
Finally, a Miru hunter spotted me with his phone light.
Stab!
I immediately drove Daikon's claw into his forehead.
Bang bang bang bang!
Rat-tat-tat!
Screeech!
Bullets and magic barrages poured toward where the hunter had shouted moments ago.
But I was already hidden in the darkness.
Twinkle.
A path of light pointing to a room on the upper floor.
I looked up at the remaining Miru hunters.
They'd definitely interfere if left alive.
I'll kill them all.
Tat-tat-tat...!
I accelerated.
Crack! Boom!
“Kyaak!”
Rat-tat-tat!
“S-spare... grrk!”
The top of the five-story building.
Kim Dae-wook stood in the largest room.
Screams of his underlings echoed from all sides.
Venturing out now was dangerous, so he kept the room brightly lit, waiting for the intruder.
Which group are they from...!
Screams spreading from 1st floor to 5th in an instant—not just one person.
Had to be an organization targeting Miru after the factory fell to police.
Cheondo Gate bastards!? Or Dojeong faction!?
Many suspects.
They knew Miru backed by corporate power, so they lurked without direct confrontation.
You're dead meat, you fuckers!
Vowing revenge, Kim Dae-wook vented steam from his left arm.
He'd always trusted his left arm's strength since childhood.
Even after choosing Martial Artist as his first class, he relentlessly trained it.
His second advancement: Heavy Arm.
Perfect fit.
I'll crush you in one hit!
“Magic arro... guh... ah.”
Thud.
The screams that started on 1st floor had spread to the 5th where Kim Dae-wook was.
And reached the underlings guarding the room.
Gulp.
The enemy was right in front of him now. Kim Dae-wook swallowed dryly.
Creeeak...!
Moments later, the door opened, and a man drenched in blood entered.
He brushed back his blood-soaked black hair, his blood-red eyes gleaming.
“I'll kill you, you fuck!!”
Kim Dae-wook roared and charged at the man.
“Don't shout like that.”
“Uwaaa!”
The man stared at the oncoming Kim Dae-wook with a sinister smile.
“You look weak.”