Chapter 276

The middle-aged man looked like any other ordinary guy from the neighborhood.

A bluish shadow of stubble ran from his sideburns to his chin. His practical hiking clothes bulged around his belly.

At the crack of dawn, he finished stretching with sleep still heavy in his eyes, then began jogging slowly along a path between the rice paddies.

“One-two, one-two,” he chanted in the hearty rhythm peculiar to middle-aged men everywhere.

He was the “tail” Butler Kim had found.

“Are you sure this is the man?”

Inside an equally ordinary minivan, Song Song watched the footage Butler Kim had recorded with magic and muttered doubtfully.

“He looks normal.”

“Wouldn’t it be stranger if he looked extraordinary? It’s not like you can recognize a Black Hunter the way you can a ninth-grade civil servant.¹”

“Still, that man looks way too normal. Is there something only combat Hunters can recognize?”

“There is.”

I stared intently at the middle-aged man as he finished his jog and entered the mansion.

All I was looking at was a recording, so I couldn’t sense his internal energy. But no matter how talented an actor was, some tiny movement would always give them away.

And I had the eye to see through an act.

“A Peak master…”

“Hm?”

Song Song wasn’t the only one who reacted to my mutter.

Team Leader Choi and Butler Kim looked at me as if to ask what I meant, so I continued.

“…I mean, an A-rank Hunter.”

“You seemed to say something else. Did you say ‘Peak master’?”

“Nope. You must have misheard.”

At times like this, the only answer was absolute denial. If I said I hadn’t said it, what could they do?

Their doubtful looks lasted only a moment before Team Leader Choi and Butler Kim nodded in agreement with my assessment.

“I also believe he is an A-rank Hunter.”

“From what I observed, he ranks fairly high even among A-rank Hunters. I had no choice but to keep my distance because I thought he might detect the surveillance magic.”

Butler Kim’s assessment made sense. He was a battle-hardened veteran of the Great Cataclysm and had observed the man in person.

But Team Leader Choi had a far keener eye than I’d expected.

This wasn’t something just anyone could recognize.

Well, that isn’t important right now.

I asked what I was most curious about.

“But how did you find him? I heard the investigation team had collected all the nearby CCTV footage.”

“We went and retrieved it again.”

No, I meant, how did you manage that?

Before I could ask, Team Leader Choi pressed his thumb and index finger together to form a circle.

“You said this works on just about everyone, Taekyung.”

“Ah…”

“It’s an immutable truth. I’ve made frequent use of it myself for some time.”

So he had bribed someone on the investigation team.

Considering Team Leader Choi’s generosity, whoever it was must have made quite a haul.

“Didn’t you say there was outside pressure?”

“When there’s outside pressure, you give them enough money to withstand it.”

Impressive.

But judging by what he said next, even money had its limits.

“It appears that someone fairly powerful has gotten involved. Normally, they should have told us everything without much resistance, but perhaps they were frightened. No matter how much money we fed them, they refused to talk. The CCTV footage was the best we could get.”

“And that man was caught on it?”

“Yes. There were slight discrepancies, possibly because he used an artifact enchanted with Illusion magic, but there’s no doubt it was him.”

I had expected as much, but it seemed the people pulling the strings wielded considerable power.

They had greased the palm of a supreme council member from a political party and manipulated public opinion online as easily as breathing. Even the police and prosecutors—corrupt enough to accept bribes—were afraid to make a move.

It has to be one of the major Guilds.

A major Guild ranked among the top twenty could pull this off. They were effectively corporate giants operating under the name of a Guild.

They had even cultivated an illegal private army of Black Hunters. That told me everything I needed to know.

“So what does that bastard do?”

“He’s a city dweller who fulfilled his dream of moving to the countryside and becoming a farmer.”

Butler Kim smoothly added one more sentence as he handed me a tablet.

“On the surface.”

The tablet contained everything about the “tail.”

He was now in his mid-forties. He had amassed a considerable fortune in the stock market over a decade ago, but after repeatedly collapsing from a chronic illness, he had decided to move to the countryside.

“A chronic illness?”

“We even have the hospital records.”

What kind of chronic illness could an A-rank Hunter have?

I snorted and flicked through the medical records.

“I’ll bet my left wrist that all of this is bullshit.”

Team Leader Choi nodded as if that went without saying.

“Then I’ll bet Jin Taekyung’s right wrist.”

“…”

Was this lunatic serious? Why was he betting my wrist?

Casually ignoring my incredulous stare, Team Leader Choi continued.

“In any case, on paper, he’s a perfectly ordinary citizen. Apparently, he was sociable from the day he first settled there. He throws a village feast once every two weeks, so the villagers stopped treating him like an outsider long ago.”

“And no one suspects him in a remote mountain village?”

“He’s a rich, good-natured man.”

“It’s the perfect place to hide and do things. For example, train Black Hunters.”

I examined the final image closely.

A picturesque two-story house. The building itself looked relatively small compared to the spacious yard.

A luxury SUV and a sedan were parked beside the gray stone wall.

How many people are inside?

There had been three men in the group that attacked Im Kkeokjeong. They had no reason to scatter like the Dragon Balls,² so I had to assume they were all inside that house.

Ah, wait. Hold on.

“You said he throws a village feast once every two weeks.”

“Yes. Each time, he orders a large quantity of food from outside, but… Ah!”

The village feasts were probably a cover for procuring food.

There might be a lot more of them than I thought.

Did he keep the rest crammed into a basement to train?

Or were they hidden somewhere in the dense forest surrounding the house?

Personally, I hoped they were all huddled together in the basement.

That would make things easier.

“Approaching carelessly could backfire. So for today, we should stop here and—”

“Yes. It’s about time we got started.”

I pulled my hood low and opened the car door.

“I’ll be back.”

“Pardon?”

“The three of you can follow in twenty minutes. It should be almost over by then.”

All three of them stared at me in bewilderment.

Butler Kim, the most experienced among them, spoke first.

“Hunter Jin Taekyung. There is nothing more frightening than an enemy whose capabilities you have not assessed.”

“Yes. I know.”

“I understand that your skills are exceptional, but…”

Butler Kim continued in a grave voice.

“There could be dozens of A-rank Hunters like the man I observed waiting for you.”

“It’s fine. Honestly, the Three Idiots looked stronger than that guy.”

“…?”

“Don’t worry about it. He just reminded me of some people I know.”

Song Song asked incredulously, “You’re thinking about people you know at a time like this?”

“No. I’m always thinking about you.”

“Eek.”

“Be quiet before I punish you with a confession.”

“Aah!”

Whew. I’m fucking cool. No wonder women run screaming.

I was about to step out of the minivan after chalking up another easy win when Team Leader Choi spoke.

“I want to stop you, but I can’t.”

His expression was impossible to describe.

“Every crazy thing you’ve done has always succeeded.”

“You’ve got me figured out. Then move exactly as I said. It’ll all be over within an hour at most.”

“Black Hunters… Those men have been trained to hunt humans, not monsters. Be careful.”

I couldn’t hold back a short laugh.

“Good. That happens to be my specialty, too.”

“Pardon?”

Leaving the wide-eyed Team Leader Choi behind, I stepped outside.

Beneath a rural night sky strewn with stars, I drew the cool air deep into my lungs and stretched.

As I walked toward the Black Hunters’ base, shrouded in darkness in the distance, I was no longer Hunter Jin Taekyung.

I had become Jin Taekyung, a man of Murim.

Grrrrr.

A beast’s eyes flashed in the pitch-black darkness.

I directed my killing intent at the two Tosa mastiffs baring their teeth at me from behind the iron bars.

“If I hear you bark, you’re becoming dog-meat soup.”

Unless the dogs had attended a Korean language academy, there was no way they could understand me.

But killing intent was another matter.

Killing intent, honed through countless battles and brushes with death, awakened a primal fear.

Even a person with exceptional nerve could wet themselves from it. Dogs, which were even more sensitive to such things, were no exception.

Whine. Whimper.

The Tosa mastiffs sensed my killing intent, hid their teeth, tucked their tails beneath their bellies, and flattened themselves against the ground. Their anxious eyes trembled, and they dared not look my way.

“That’s right. Good dogs.”

Slice.

The moment I cut through the iron bars with Palm Force gathered around my hand and stepped into the yard, I felt as though I had passed through a soft membrane.

Then a blaring siren rang out.

Wheeeeeeeeng!

Ding.

System

Alarm Magic has activated!

Sound-Blocking Magic has activated! No noise will escape the mansion!

Vision-Blocking Magic has activated! The scene inside cannot be seen from outside!

They had taken some precautions.

Even better.

The instant the magic activated, the lights inside the mansion blazed to life.

I sensed dozens of people moving hurriedly inside. A moment later, the steel front door burst outward as if it had exploded.

Bang!

Five men emerged first. The “tail” stood at their center.

The ordinary-looking middle-aged man’s eyes now belonged to a killer.

System

Lv. 95 Im Yeongjun

“You…”

His face twisted, and his eyes trembled. He had clearly recognized me.

I gave him a broad smile.

“I’m with the village youth association.”

“Jin Taekyung!”

“Nope. This is Patrick.³”

“How did you find this place?”

“We have a rich Young Master in our Guild. Whatever else you say about him, he knows how to get things done.”

Im Yeongjun’s sharp gaze swept our surroundings.

“Don’t tell me you came alone.”

“What if I did?”

“Looks like you did.”

His mouth twisted.

“Fucking idiot. There’s a limit to how ignorant you can be of the way the world works.”

“That’s what I wanted to say to you. You should’ve chosen your target more carefully.”

“That D-rank nobody who barely qualifies as a Hunter? Did they reattach his arm?”

“They did, but… Apparently, he has some lingering aftereffects. So I came to collect a little compensation.”

“I was going to kill him, but I held back. Be grateful that it ended there. If you don’t want to suffer something worse, lie flat and quiet as a dead mouse.”

“I’ve already seen something worse, and lying flat like a dead mouse isn’t my style. I’m not particularly grateful, either, so isn’t that why I came here?”

Im Yeongjun gave a short laugh.

“Kid, I know you’re excited because everyone around you treats you like a big shot, but don’t make the mistake of thinking we’re ordinary Hunters.”

Just as he said, the aura and killing intent emanating from the Black Hunters were far denser and stronger than those of ordinary Hunters.

I swept my gaze over the mansion.

I could feel them—the presences hiding inside, waiting for orders.

“One, five, ten… Twenty-eight in all. You’ve gathered quite a crowd.”

“…How?”

“I’m not an ordinary Hunter, either.”

Watching his face stiffen, I continued.

“Three. Hand over the three who took part in the attack two days ago, including you. The rest of you, disarm yourselves and tell me everything you know. Then I’ll spare your lives.”

“You crazy bastard.”

“Good. I was worried you might accept.”

That was my first and last offer.

There wouldn’t be another.

Open Inventory. Equip White Flame.

The moment the cool spear shaft filled my grasp, Im Yeongjun shouted, his voice rising almost to a scream.

“Kill him!”

That was the signal.

Dozens of Black Hunters who had been waiting in breathless silence smashed through the walls and windows and surged toward me.

Crash! Shhhhk!

A rain of countless blades and arrowheads poured in from every direction.

My eyes had already gone cold as I watched them.

“You picked the wrong person to mess with.”

Fwoooosh!