Chapter 42

Swish—

Snowflakes fluttered down.

On an unnamed mountain range, soaked in crimson blood, pristine white snow fell, covering everything.

Crunch, crunch.

And a man walked.

A man, a blood-stained dagger in one hand, a longsword at his hip…

Behind him, a pile of grotesquely sprawled corpses lay.

Red blood flowed, and white snow covered it.

The Red Star Military Guard Unit, 2nd Special Brigade’s Viper Corps.

They, masters of the deadliest assassination techniques, were all laid low.

And a man leaned against a large tree.

No, a closer look revealed he wasn’t standing.

The corps commander’s face and chest were charred black, flesh melted away.

A sword was plunged into his chest.

As if a warning.

‘Hoo…’

Kang Yuseong had sustained considerable injuries himself.

Indeed, his Chakra Force was still insufficient to completely overwhelm them.

Pressing a hand firmly against his shoulder, deeply wounded by the corps commander’s dagger, Kang Yuseong descended the mountain.

As he passed, D-87 Dungeon was dimly visible.

Inside, countless Hunters were likely trapped and isolated.

Some would be cursing the relentless blizzard, others yearning for home.

Kang Yuseong looked in that direction and smiled faintly.

They probably wouldn’t know.

That today, they had been saved.

‘May they…return safely.’

Kang Yuseong uttered those words inwardly and resumed his walk.

A biting wind, sharp as a blade, swept through, but Kang Yuseong paid it no mind.

Extreme conditions were never a significant problem for him.

Crunch, crunch.

Leaving footprints on the white, snow-covered path, he disappeared.

White snow piled up over them.

* * * * *

Returning home, Kang Yuseong bandaged his shoulder and submerged himself in a hot bath. He had taken a Healing Potion on the way, so his wound was considerably healed.

‘…’

In truth, this battle hadn’t been easy either.

The corps commander’s skill alone was not something Kang Yuseong could take lightly.

However, the ‘instant’ that shattered their preconceptions proved fatal.

First, he dismantled their firm belief that they could never be ambushed; second, he made them witness corpses reanimating with their own eyes.

This would have completely paralyzed their rational thought.

Yet, as individuals subjected to extreme training, they quickly regained their composure.

At that moment, Kang Yuseong exploited their opening with a daring breakthrough, ultimately succeeding in taking down the corps commander and his unit.

Had it been an all-out frontal assault from the start, Kang Yuseong would not have emerged unscathed.

But Kang Yuseong was a born Hunter.

When setting a trap, he precisely penetrates the opponent’s psyche.

His brutal killing of the corps commander stemmed from this.

That single blow would have profoundly shocked the unit members.

Had he not plundered the Fireball skill from Jang So-dan, he wouldn’t have been able to achieve such a dramatic effect.

‘Hoo…’

The Karma Power gained from annihilating them was beyond imagination.

He had acquired points nearly comparable to the Karma Power obtained in Chinatown.

‘Twenty-five thousand…’

Though their numbers were small, if there had been more of them…

And extrapolating from that, one could grasp the extent of evil deeds committed by North Korea’s special forces.

While Karma Power could accumulate from killing monsters or living beings, it accumulated most significantly through murder.

Humans were apex predators in the ecosystem, but strangely, Karma Power was heavily absorbed from beings who committed many murders.

For now, Kang Yuseong intended to use the Karma Power gained from this battle to reduce the cooldown of Thieving Eye.

[Thieving Eye cooldown reduced. Karma Power required: 15,000. Cooldown reduced from 1 hour to 30 minutes.]

It required a hefty 15,000 Karma Power.

However, Kang Yuseong shortened the Thieving Eye cooldown without hesitation.

The shorter the cooldown of the Thieving Eye skill, the more potent it became.

With the remaining Karma Power from last time, he now had about 11,000 points left.

This was because he had plundered ‘Chakra, Two-Headed Snake’s Dance’ from the corps commander.

But then, a new window popped up.

‘Hmm?’

Kang Yuseong furrowed his brow, staring at the window.

[Thieving Eye can be enhanced to gain a new ability.]

[Deep Eye (深眼): Enhances Thieving Eye to expand the limit of plundered abilities.]

[Deep Eye Stage 1: Can discern additional abilities from each target. Discernment +1]

‘This is…!’

Kang Yuseong’s expression hardened.

So, the abilities he had seen with Thieving Eye until now…

‘Now that I think about it…!’

He hadn’t realized it while engrossed in battle, but the number of patterns he could see with Thieving Eye was woefully small compared to the target’s actual abilities.

Even Kang Yuseong himself had cultivated a considerable number of Chakra techniques, yet only two or three patterns had appeared from Jang So-dan or the corps commander.

‘Deep Eye… So this ability…’

It seemed to be a skill that broadened the range of abilities he could plunder.

Kang Yuseong gave a wry smile.

Indeed, plundering others’ abilities came with a significant cost.

‘In that case.’

Kang Yuseong chose to activate Deep Eye.

[Deep Eye activated. Karma Power required: 5,000.]

Flash—

As a massive 5,000 Karma Power vanished, Kang Yuseong’s vision brightened.

‘Hoo…’

With this, the number of abilities he could plunder increased.

It was an exceedingly useful ability.

He had always found it strange that only low-tier skills appeared, but this was the secret hidden behind it.

Having completed the Deep Eye activation, he closed his eyes.

Submerged in the hot water, he felt all his distracting thoughts vanish.

And he remained there, eyes closed, for a long time.

* * * * *

The next morning, Gangwon Province, where the heavy snow advisory had been lifted, was thrown into chaos.

This was because a horrific scene of slaughter had been discovered by the Dungeon Rescue Team, which had been mobilized to save Hunters isolated inside the dungeon.

On a ridge not far from D-87 Dungeon, numerous bodies lay dead, one of them frozen solid, impaled on a tree.

Their uniforms suggested they were North Korean special forces, and the utterly gruesome state in which each of them died sent shivers down the spines of those who saw them, making them wonder what horrors had transpired there.

Some were scorched by fire, others cut by blades, and some had their flesh torn apart as if by wild beasts.

What was particularly unusual was that the mouths of the corpses lying nearby were filled with what appeared to be pieces of flesh from those very victims.

It went without saying that this bizarre incident had completely overturned not only Gangwon Province but the entire nation.

Some also connected this incident to the mass slaughter that had occurred recently in Incheon’s Chinatown.

Both incidents featured grotesquely slain bodies scattered about, and in each case, at least one person had a sword plunged into their chest, as if a warning had been issued.

But who committed these acts remained a complete mystery.

Neither the major guilds nor the government knew, which was frustrating.

While the methods were brutal, in a way, hadn’t South Korea narrowly avoided a truly horrifying situation?

Like the Chinatown incident, if these presumed North Korean special forces had continued south and carried out their operation unimpeded…

“Minister Lee Dong-seok, what are your thoughts?”

Late in the afternoon, President Kang Tae-seok, having received a report on the situation, asked Minister of National Defense Lee Dong-seok.

Since the National Dungeon Management Bureau falls under the Ministry of National Defense, Minister Lee Dong-seok was indeed responsible for this matter.

Minister Lee Dong-seok, with his white hair and stern, upright demeanor, remained silent for a moment.

He, too, had felt a chill upon receiving the report.

First, that such special forces had infiltrated south without any detection, and second, what if their plan had been executed…

And tactical maps found in their backpacks suggested they intended to penetrate as far as Seoul.

Seoul.

If those bastards were targeting Seoul, there could only be one reason.

Right here, the Blue House.

President Kang Tae-seok was undoubtedly asking about that very point.

“I have nothing to say.”

Lee Dong-seok bowed his head.

A major incident where the border had been breached, and on top of that, countless lives had nearly been exposed to the enemy’s blades.

While someone’s actions had prevented it, this was not an incident that could simply be overlooked.

“Minister.”

Kang Tae-seok called him.

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“Take responsibility and thoroughly investigate this situation. Request cooperation from the National Security Agency. And…”

President Kang Tae-seok’s eyes were fixed on the large monitor in the situation room.

“Find out who stopped them…that, too.”

Lee Dong-seok bowed even deeper.

“Understood.”

President Kang Tae-seok was not an incompetent man.

On the contrary, his intuition was exceptional, and his crisis detection ability was unrivaled.

Had he been president during peacetime, he might have been considered incompetent, but now, a semi-war state persisted.

It was a frustrating situation, to the point of being exasperating, with the Mega Shock having occurred, dungeons appearing, and various countries exerting pressure.

In this situation, Kang Tae-seok fully utilized his abilities to systematically resolve all matters.

However, the damage from the Mega Shock had been so severe that many government departments were still not functioning properly.

Kang Tae-seok, nonetheless, sensed that something monumental lay hidden behind this incident.

Something unknown to both the nation and the major guilds.

He gazed intently at the monitor, deep in thought.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, Kang Yuseong visited the attack unit after a long time.

The attack unit was staying at a dormitory near the factory, going out on hunts or helping with factory work when they had nothing else to do.

“Gah, who is it! C-Commander!”

Jwa Myeong-hoon, who had been idly sitting in a corner, sprang to his feet with a startled expression upon seeing Kang Yuseong suddenly appear.

“Commander.”

Baek Myeong-han also brightened when he saw him.

Other Hunters smiled and approached Kang Yuseong.

“Seriously, we haven’t seen you in ages! Where have you been?”

When Baek Myeong-han asked, Kang Yuseong simply replied with a smile.

“Well, things happened. Is everything running smoothly here?”

Baek Myeong-han, who had been overseeing the factory’s operations in consultation with the factory manager, sighed deeply and shrugged his shoulders.

“Honestly… it feels like we should quit being Hunters and just work here. We can’t even keep the Stamina Potions in stock, they sell out so fast. Oh, but…”

Baek Myeong-han looked at Kang Yuseong with an expression that suggested he had something more to say.

“Even with our help, the staff are really struggling. It’s just that the sheer volume of orders is so immense…”

Kang Yuseong smiled.

“It’s about time, isn’t it? Alright. Increase the special bonuses by 200% and expand the staff. And if anyone gets tired while working, they’re welcome to drink one Stamina Potion each. However, they must not overdo it.”

“Excuse me…?”

He understood the bonuses and staff expansion.

But the part after that…

Kang Yuseong grinned.

“One bottle a day won’t harm the body. If they drink one when they’re exhausted, it’ll be quite effective.”

“Ah… I see what you mean.”

Baek Myeong-han nodded.

“But don’t just push the staff recklessly. Hire the necessary personnel immediately and arrange shifts so that the existing staff don’t get overtired.”

Baek Myeong-han smiled at Kang Yuseong’s words.

“Understood. Honestly, at this rate, I wonder if I should quit hunting and just go into business.”

“Team Leader Baek, I trust you completely with this. But you have many other responsibilities, so just oversee it appropriately.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Before becoming a Hunter, Baek Myeong-han had worked in sales management at a small-to-medium enterprise, so he was quite capable in such matters.

“And.”

Kang Yuseong looked at him again.

As Baek Myeong-han met Kang Yuseong’s gaze, Kang Yuseong grinned.

“We have a hunt to go on, don’t we?”