Chapter 194 – Boring Days (3)

The Tushin Guild’s position had been precarious lately.

Under intense investigation, the guild was in disarray. Forget hunting requests; even their dungeon raid applications were all being rejected.

Suspicions had surfaced that the Tushin Guild had been operating with excessive capital, disproportionate to its parent company’s performance.

Many people who had been wronged by them rose up all at once.

As a result, the Tushin Guild’s operations came to a complete halt.

Plenty of people might curse their company, but no one would rejoice if it went bankrupt overnight.

Love it or hate it, they needed the company to earn a paycheck and make a living.

With even their star player, Seol Ji-hoon, being taken into custody, the Tushin Guild’s market share plummeted out of the top ten in an instant.

“Shit, free agency is starting soon anyway, so I can just transfer then. Sucks for you guys, though.”

So said Kim Chi-guk, the main dealer of Tushin Guild’s Team 4.

He was currently a B-ranker.

A ranker referred to someone who was among the best in their respective class.

In other words, he was a figure comparable to an A-rank.

This meant Kim Chi-guk could soon become a free agent hunter and choose to transfer to another guild.

His performance wasn’t bad, and his hunter ranking was decent.

“If the guild disappears, we can always go to another one…”

“Don’t be naive. You think those bastards would dissolve the guild even if it goes under? They’ll keep the contracts as they are.”

There was a gap between the contracts of established hunters and new recruits.

Established hunters could naturally renegotiate their contracts based on their abilities, but rookies had initial investment costs associated with them.

The contracts were set for a minimum of three years, with the intention of making them useful enough to at least recoup the investment.

Ultimately, transferring to another guild while still under contract would be considered a dual contract and could lead to a lawsuit.

And it was highly unlikely that a failing guild would release them from their contracts for free.

They would either sell them off to another guild or, if they weren’t worth any money, simply leave them in limbo.

“I’m sure it’ll work out.”

“Maybe for you, Ha-sol, but this bastard Kim Chang-yeol is screwed.”

Kim Chi-guk said bluntly.

Go Ha-sol was fluent in five languages and was one of the best in terms of search and support abilities.

On top of that, she was skilled with a bow, so with the right gear, she could deal more damage than most dealers.

But Kim Chang-yeol was different.

“What good are good specs? He has no track record and is all talk.”

Kim Chang-yeol retorted resentfully at Kim Chi-guk’s words.

“I’ve only been here a year. What kind of track record am I supposed to have?”

“Look at that bastard Lee Hyunbin. I heard he interviewed at the same time as you guys. Some people are just destined to make it.”

The moment Kim Chi-guk brought up Lee Hyunbin, Kim Chang-yeol’s face twisted.

It was something he heard all too often.

The story of Lee Hyunbin failing his interview due to a lack of specs was famous.

Just because he happened to have interviewed alongside Lee Hyunbin, Kim Chang-yeol was constantly being compared to him.

He was the one who had passed the interview, the winner, while Lee Hyunbin was the loser who had spouted nonsense and failed.

“You’re not exactly in a position to be meddling, senior.”

“Me?”

“I hear that bastard Kim In-ho already made A-rank.”

Being a B-ranker didn’t guarantee you’d be the first to be promoted to A-rank.

The hunter world was all about skill and ability, first and foremost.

“That bastard Kim In-ho only got there because he’s getting massive support from the guild. And do you think a higher rank automatically makes you stronger? That’s why you’re just a subordinate, you punk.”

Even as he spoke, Kim Chi-guk’s expression was a mess.

He, a perpetual B-rank, had been overtaken by a twenty-one-year-old kid.

*Beep, beep, beep!*

Just then, an alert message came in for all three of them simultaneously.

“What’s this?”

The sender was an emergency alert.

A villain committing indiscriminate murder had appeared.

“It’s nearby.”

“Nearby?”

Unlike the tense Go Ha-sol, the look in Kim Chi-guk’s and Kim Chang-yeol’s eyes changed.

“Hey, Ha-sol. Track that villain bastard.”

“Senior?”

Go Ha-sol felt a sense of puzzlement at Kim Chi-guk’s words.

“We don’t have any work anyway. And don’t you know that catching a guy who’s causing enough of a ruckus to trigger an emergency alert will boost our image?”

“But we don’t even know what the villain’s abilities are…”

“This is why women are useless. He’s alone, and there are three of us. Besides, most villains have only awakened their powers; the majority of them can’t even use that power properly. It’s not like they’ve trained like us hunters.”

The victims of villains were mostly ordinary people.

It was true that they would have a hard time against fellow awakened individuals, especially properly trained hunters.

At Kim Chi-guk’s words, Go Ha-sol couldn’t find a rebuttal.

After all, it was the duty of those with power to stop dangerous individuals from roaming free.

The three of them moved out immediately.

Go Ha-sol, the one in charge of searching, handled the tracking and predicted the villain’s route based on his movements.

“Senior, I can’t sense the villain.”

But the search yielded nothing.

Go Ha-sol searched the area where the villain was expected to be, but she couldn’t sense anything.

A villain committing such indiscriminate murder should have been reeking of bloodlust.

“Shit, let’s just head this way. Lunatics usually prefer crowded places.”

Kim Chi-guk took the lead with his ridiculous logic, and Go Ha-sol and Kim Chang-yeol had no choice but to follow.

But Kim Chi-guk’s ridiculous logic turned out to be correct.

They saw the villain just as he was coming out of a clothing store. He looked exactly like the picture from the text alert.

“I’ll make the first strike. Chang-yeol, you run interference. Ha-sol, you support.”

“Got it.”

“…”

Without another word, Kim Chi-guk infused his spear with mana and activated a skill.

Then he lunged.

*Swoosh—*

However, the villain dodged the surprise attack.

Behind the villain were the bodies of three guards.

The market vendors’ faces lit up when they saw the hunters who could stop the villain.

“Huh, hunters!”

“Three hunters came! Great!”

Watching the rejoicing vendors, the villain opened his mouth.

“Hunters. People who hunt.”

A smile spread across the villain’s lips, like a crack forming.

“You should try being the one who’s hunted.”

Seeing the villain’s relaxed demeanor, Kim Chi-guk let out a disbelieving laugh.

“What’s this bastard talking about? Getting a little full of himself after steamrolling a bunch of civilians, huh? Hey, both of you, step aside.”

Kim Chi-guk stepped forward and readjusted his grip on his spear.

He’d been around the block a few times in this line of work and had experienced his fair share of PvP combat.

He wasn’t like those guys who got high ranks just by being good at hunting monsters. He had genuinely built his skills step by step.

“Senior, don’t. Let’s do this together…”

“Just wait.”

Go Ha-sol tried to stop him again, but Kim Chi-guk poured a skill into his spear.

He pointed the spearhead downward and settled into his stance.

His opponent’s weapon was a shortsword.

That meant his reach was overwhelmingly longer.

PvP was simple.

Dodge the opponent’s attack, then attack the opponent.

To do that, you had to know the strengths and weaknesses of each other’s weapons.

A spear was disadvantageous in close combat but had the advantage at a distance.

“I’ll ask this out of courtesy, but if you drop your weapon and surrender now, I’ll let you live.”

“I have no intention of letting you live. Any of you awakened.”

The villain’s eyes were smiling.

Seeing this, Kim Chi-guk scoffed in disbelief.

The opponent clearly didn’t know his rank.

There were some pretty famous villains overseas, but the ones in this country were, at best, on the level of neighborhood thugs.

That was because that damned Lee Hyunbin had taken down all the dangerous ones.

Kim Chi-guk decided to teach the villain a harsh lesson.

“Flash.”

Kim Chi-guk’s high-speed thrust had almost no preparatory motion.

True to its name, the spearhead seemed to flash once before surging toward the villain’s chest.

*Swoosh!*

Kim Chi-guk anticipated the satisfying impact, but his spearhead futilely pierced only empty air.

*Shlick!*

He realized something hot had grazed past his throat.

“Keuk!”

Blood gushed out. He stumbled backward. His throat was cut, so he couldn’t speak properly.

He felt a dizzying sensation for a moment.

If it hadn’t been for his HP shield, that single blow might have killed him.

“This bastard!”

Seeing Kim Chi-guk get hit, Kim Chang-yeol charged in with his sword drawn.

Kim Chang-yeol’s sword never reached the villain’s body.

The villain sidestepped lightly to the right, dodging and swinging his blade in one fluid motion.

“Keuheuk!”

Kim Chang-yeol felt the blade slice across his abdomen.

Thanks to his power suit’s defense function, he avoided a fatal wound. But that single strike made him realize the difference in their skills.

‘Crazy, this guy’s a total monster!’

Kim Chang-yeol’s hands and legs began to tremble.

When he usually hunted monsters, he did so safely with a proper party composition, complete with a healer.

But this time was different.

A villain, a murderer who thought nothing of killing people, was right in front of him.

His eyes met the villain’s.

In that instant, Kim Chang-yeol froze.

It was a gaze that didn’t seem to see a person as a person.

He saw it.

The villain readjusted his grip on his sword and quickly approached Kim Chang-yeol.

He should have gotten up and fought back immediately, but Kim Chang-yeol’s body wouldn’t move, as if paralyzed.

He always boasted about being former special forces, but it was not uncommon to succumb to fear in a real life-or-death battle.

Even as the villain thrust his sword right in front of him, Kim Chang-yeol remained sitting on the ground, unable to move.

At that moment, a spearhead swiped menacingly at the villain.

*Shwiiik!*

The spearhead didn’t even graze the villain’s body.

Kim Chi-guk cursed when he saw the villain dodge his attack.

“Keuheup, shibba, how dare… do you know who I…!”

His throat was cut, so his voice didn’t come out properly. The only saving grace was that the basic medical function of his power suit was suppressing the bleeding.

Kim Chi-guk, a B-ranker, couldn’t believe he was losing to some unknown villain.

After all, villains were just ordinary people who had awakened.

But Kim Chi-guk was quickly forced to change his mind.

*Shwiiit!*

The villain snatched the arrow Go Ha-sol fired out of the air with his bare hand.

“…!”

“…!”

In the middle of a fight, he caught an arrow flying toward him and calmly snapped it.

No outstanding technique or incredible mana could be felt from him. But the villain before them was clearly no ordinary criminal.

Go Ha-sol drew her bowstring again, then flinched.

*Pshk!*

The villain’s blade slashed Kim Chi-guk’s neck once more.

This time, a dark sword aura precisely shattered the HP shield, tore through his throat, and exposed the bone.

The moment she saw it, Go Ha-sol let out a scream.

Kim Chang-yeol could only tremble as Kim Chi-guk’s blood splattered onto his cheek.

“Looks like there’s no need to know who you are anymore, huh?”

The villain looked down at Kim Chang-yeol with a gentle smile.

“Do I need to know who you are, too?”

“D-don’t come any closer…!”

Even the hunters they had trusted were being helplessly slaughtered by the villain.

Seeing the situation, the vendors fled. It was an opportunity, with the hunters—the heroes—buying them time.

“S-stop it!”

Go Ha-sol drew her bowstring again.

The villain glanced at her. Seeing her trembling hands, a crack-like smile formed on his lips.

“E-eek!”

Kim Chang-yeol seized the opportunity and started running without looking back.

Because of Kim Chang-yeol’s actions, Go Ha-sol momentarily lost sight of the villain.

He was gone. The villain.

Just then, Go Ha-sol felt a chilling sensation from behind her.

“You can’t aim properly if you’re trembling.”

Go Ha-sol felt a voice like scraping metal coming from behind her.

The villain pulled her hands and kindly taught her how to shoot a bow.

The target was the fleeing Kim Chang-yeol.

Before Go Ha-sol could even resist, the arrow left the bowstring.

*Fwiiit!*

“Kuaaack!”

Struck by the arrow, Kim Chang-yeol tumbled wretchedly to the ground. Her colleague, screaming in agony.

Go Ha-sol couldn’t bring herself to look back.

“See? It’s easy.”

Go Ha-sol felt a cold sensation on her neck.

She couldn’t resist.

*Shwiiiiit!*

Hearing the sound of something tearing through the air from behind, the villain let go of Go Ha-sol and twisted his body to the side.

Whatever it was, imbued with powerful mana, it flew past the villain and Go Ha-sol and slammed into a statue standing in the center of the market.

*Kwaaaang!*

The statue shattered into pieces, scattering stone dust across the ground.

‘An arrow…?’

The destructive power was absurd, but it was definitely an arrow.

The villain looked in the direction the arrow had come from.

He couldn’t see where it was. At that moment, another arrow filled with mana flew toward him, tearing through the air.