Ssshhhk—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As we got closer, the brutal clash of weapons rang out louder and louder.
Just as Kasia said, Jinsu was fighting someone.
“You’re fast! But that’s all you’ve got!”
“Take a look at your wounds and say that!”
Each time Jinsu’s sword clashed with the enemy, sparks burst from Jinsu’s Fiery Pepper Sword, scattering through the air.
At first glance, it looked like Jinsu had the upper hand, but blood was already seeping out from wounds all over his body.
“Ah! Hyung? Gahk!”
“You brat! Are you going to let your guard down with the enemy right in front of you?”
Because Jinsu got distracted by Kasia and me approaching, the enemy managed to slash his arm deeply.
Luckily, he twisted his body at the last moment—otherwise, he might have lost an arm.
“Jinsu! Are you okay?!”
“Urgh, Hyung, you should go home first! Haa, haa.”
‘I have to help Jinsu…’
The moment Jinsu glanced my way for even an instant.
The enemy suddenly crouched like a sprinter and charged at me in a flash.
“Urk!”
Before I could even blink, he was right in front of me, grabbing me by the neck.
“Finally got you.”
He yanked me close, pressing a sword to my throat.
“Urgh… Let me go!”
Jinsu quickly followed, but since it happened so fast, he seemed to freeze in place.
‘Damn it. I ruined everything…!’
I’d become the enemy’s hostage.
“Huh? Try swinging at me like before. If you’re fine with slashing through Minho, that is. Ahahaha!”
He knows who I am.
Who the hell is this guy…?
“Yeongjin Jeon…! Let go of Minho hyung! Fight me fair and square!”
“Fair and square? You think that suits me? Huh? My target from the start was this guy, you know that? Ahahaha.”
Yeongjin Jeon?
I’d heard that name before…
Right, it was that guy.
The direct superior of the two-man team who attacked our house last time—a real piece of work.
I got caught before I could even react, but honestly, this was what I’d hoped for.
I subtly lowered my hand, signaling Jinsu not to move, making sure Yeongjin Jeon couldn’t see.
“Because of you, I’m in real trouble. Huh? All my goons got caught, so now I have to do everything myself!”
“Wh, why, are you, telling, me…!”
He was still squeezing my neck hard, so the words barely came out.
“Oh, right. But that’s not why I’m here. Huh. I need the crops you have that boost Stats.”
“Hrk, I, don’t, have, them, anymore! Haa, haa.”
His grip on my neck tightened even more.
“Gah!”
“Is that so? Maybe you’re out of Peanuts. But Eggs? There’s no way you don’t have any, is there? Especially if you’ve got chickens.”
Fortunately, he seemed to have no info about any crops other than the Eggs and Peanuts I’d put up for auction.
He started dragging me backward, step by step.
Looks like he was heading for my house.
“Hyung!”
Jinsu called out, clearly frustrated as I kept signaling him to stay back.
Why are you doing this, his eyes seemed to ask.
But I was waiting for the right moment, too.
“Fine. Then I’ll give you the Eggs. Just let me go.”
“How am I supposed to believe that? Huh? You’re giving in way too easily, makes me suspicious.”
“Then what do you want me to do?!”
“First, tell that crazy swordsman over there to put down his sword.”
Jinsu looked at me.
I nodded, and he reversed his grip, sticking his sword into the ground.
“No, not like that. Pull it all the way out and lay it on the ground. Huh? Don’t try anything sneaky.”
As soon as Jinsu grabbed the hilt again, I slipped one hand behind my back, forming a circle with my fingers.
Clang! Thud—!
Just then, with a crisp sound, Yeongjin Jeon’s sword bounced from my neck, slipping out of his grip. His hand weakened, as if in pain from his shoulder.
Bang—! Bang—!
Who knew how far away the shot came from—the sound reached us after the bullet.
As expected, Ddakkongi’s marksmanship was top notch.
‘Now!’
I’d been waiting for the right moment to reverse the situation using Communication-Sharing.
[ Communication-Sharing: You can share some Stats or skills with a target you’re in sync with. ]
[ Requesting Stat-Agility Lending from ‘Bae Jinsu’, target in sync. ]
“Huh? Y-yes, I accept!”
[ Target has accepted. ]
Flaash!
As my body suddenly felt lighter, I kicked off the ground and escaped Yeongjin Jeon’s grasp.
He flailed, caught off guard by my unexpected burst of speed.
With my original Stats and half the Agility of an A-Grade Hunter borrowed, there was no way he could react in time.
Not missing the opportunity, Jinsu snatched up his sword and sliced diagonally through the air.
Sensing the Lending wasn’t over yet, Jinsu chose a ranged attack instead.
Ssshhh—!
A streak of dazzling light shot toward Yeongjin Jeon.
He had a look of complete confusion but twisted his body on instinct.
Fssh—!
A red line appeared on his arm, blood soaking and spreading through his clothes.
“Tied now, you bastard! Trying to use hostages, how dirty can you get?”
“Urgh. What the…!”
Just in case, I’d had Ddakkongi wait somewhere visible to everyone.
As a Sniper, he’d seen my signals from far off and fired at just the right moment.
“Huff….”
I could finally breathe.
Jinsu charged forward, giving no time to rest.
Yeongjin Jeon barely managed to block the wild swings of Jinsu’s sword, but it was only a matter of time.
After all, he’d taken hits to his dominant right arm from both Ddakkongi’s bullet and Jinsu’s blade.
“Arghhh!”
He was so frustrated that even as he staggered back, he kept roaring in anger.
Jinsu, relentless, kept targeting his legs.
Maybe that’s why Yeongjin Jeon, who’d been too fast to follow at first, was finally becoming visible to the naked eye.
“Only hitting one spot like a coward!”
“You already lost to the Boss and ran off, didn’t you? You won’t get away this time, you rat.”
Yeongjin Jeon gritted his teeth and switched his sword to his left hand.
Unfamiliar with it, he failed to block several attacks, taking them with his body.
Sensing defeat, his eyes darted around, searching for a chance to escape.
“Do you know why our Party doesn’t have a mage?”
Jinsu’s question.
Different elemental attacks are useful against Monsters in the dungeon.
They all have weaknesses to certain elements.
“What, why?”
I was curious about that too.
Without realizing, I asked back.
“Hyung, you didn’t know? Janghyeon and I are both close-range dealers with attributes.”
Ah~ Now that he mentioned it, I’d forgotten.
Park Janghyeon, who stabbed the Boss Monster’s heart with a spear and froze it, and Jinsu, who decided to learn swordsmanship after seeing Little Pepper’s Fiery Pepper Sword.
“Did you figure out why I asked you this?”
Yeongjin Jeon didn’t even have time to answer, desperately defending against the sword.
“If you run now, you’ll die soon anyway.”
Just as Jinsu said, tiny flames were burning on Yeongjin Jeon’s wounds.
But his legs were still working.
When Jinsu struck hard, the guy managed to block by holding his sword horizontally.
A tense standoff.
Then, Yeongjin Jeon’s knees buckled, slamming to the ground.
Bang—! Bang—!
Ddakkongi’s work again.
He’d shot the back of both knees, destroying his lower body’s balance.
“Arghhh! Who the hell are you people?!”
He probably thought that if he could just grab me, he could achieve his goal through threats.
But I wasn’t alone.
Jinsu pressed down with his sword and kept up his assault.
Too fast for me to follow with my eyes.
‘So this is how A-Grade Hunters fight.’
I think farming suits me better.
With Jinsu’s fierce attacks, dust flew up everywhere, turning the air murky.
It was impressive that Yeongjin Jeon could even block while kneeling.
Of course, it didn’t last long.
“Jinsu, calm down. We need him alive.”
Panting hard, Jinsu came to his senses and eased his stance.
He’d moved so fast that the soles of his shoes had worn down to almost nothing.
Yeongjin Jeon collapsed, motionless.
“We need to interrogate him—he’s not dead, right?”
I put a finger under his nose. Faint, but he was still breathing.
“Yeah. He’s alive. Looks like he passed out. Well, after that fight, no wonder.”
I felt a burning stare and turned to see Ddakkongi’s eyes sparkling, looking at me expectantly.
“Ddakkongi, that was amazing. I knew bringing you was the right call!”
Ddakkongi grinned from ear to ear.
(Hehe, thank you very much!)
Such a cute little guy.
Couldn’t help but smile.
Together with Jinsu, I hauled Yeongjin Jeon back home.
“Kasia, could you bring some rope and cable ties?”
- Understood. Keep a close eye on him.
After tying Yeongjin Jeon up thoroughly, I finally noticed Jinsu’s condition.
Cuts and slashes everywhere.
“Jinsu, sit here.”
“I’m fine, hyung. I’ll heal just by licking it.”
“You have any spit left? Just sit down already.”
No joke, Jinsu was on the verge of collapse.
His mouth must have been dry as a bone.
I grabbed the first aid kit and did some basic patching up.
If only I’d had a Porti Potion.
Since I’m not an active Hunter, I hadn’t requested any, but from now on, I should keep some emergency stock.
“Hyung, I’ll take this guy back to Headquarters.”
“With your body like that?”
He thinks a bit of ointment and he’s healed?
Jinsu needed recovery time, too.
“What if that guy wakes up before you do and overpowers you? You want a rematch?”
“Oh, right.”
“I’ll talk to Minjun. Just rest for now.”
“As expected from Minho hyung! Thank you!”
I told Jinsu to rest, then called Minjun.
When I explained the situation, Minjun already seemed to know.
“Yeah? Ah, so that’s where you were fighting. Got it, then. Okay.”
After setting Jinsu up comfortably to rest, he must have been exhausted because he fell asleep right away.
A little later, a black van pulled up in front of the house.
“Hello. We’re from the Association of Superhumans.”
“Ah, yes. Come in. I’ve already heard.”
A group of Hunters got out of the car.
After talking to the President, Minjun guessed Yeongjin Jeon would target me and had warned Jinsu.
As luck would have it, after losing track of me, Jinsu had returned to Chilcheon-ri and run into Yeongjin Jeon, leading to the fight.
“Hunter Do Minjun said he couldn’t reach Hunter Bae Jinsu, so he sent us.”
Good call.
They should have come earlier, but at least someone could take Yeongjin Jeon, tied up, to the Association in Seoul.
“All right. Let’s wait until Jinsu wakes up and go together.”
Jinsu ended up sleeping two hours straight before we could wake him.
Like he’d sniffed some sleep-inducing Ainosni.
As soon as we entered the Association Hall, chaos erupted.
Was it because our party looked so bizarre?
Jinsu wrapped in bandages like a mummy, a bald man covered in blood, and a bunch of Hunters all showing up in the lobby at once—of course all eyes turned to us.
Embarrassed, I hung back and pretended not to be with them.
“I’m Bae Jinsu, A-Grade Hunter with the Association.”
Jinsu dug around in his bandages, finally pulling out his Hunter License.
Once the Security Staff checked it, people in the lobby finally relaxed.
The Security Staff gave us a polite nod and took Yeongjin Jeon away somewhere.
As Jinsu watched them go, he let out a quiet sigh and looked back at me.
“Hoo, hyung. Let’s head up.”
We took a private elevator that only Association members could use, and Jinsu immediately got a text on his phone summoning him to a meeting.
“Tch, I wanted to wash up first. You’re coming with me, right?”
“Of course.”
No way I’d come this far and just leave.
Jinsu cancelled the Recovery Room floor and hit the top floor instead.
As soon as the doors opened, a conference room appeared.
A long table that could seat over ten people, with chairs lined up on both sides.
Some people were already there—including Park Janghyeon, but no other familiar faces.
“Wow, this place is huge. What’s that door over there?”
“That’s the President’s office. Ah, here he comes.”
“Hello.”
“Welcome.”
Feeling awkward, I sat next to Jinsu.
Within five minutes, every seat was filled.
“Let’s begin.”
The President declared the start, and the lights dimmed as the secretary at the podium began presenting slides via projector.
“Five hours ago, wanted criminal Yeongjin Jeon attempted to kidnap VIP Do Minho. Although Hunter Do Minjun was kidnapped in his place, the criminal escaped due to carelessness. Two hours ago, a second kidnapping attempt was stopped by Hunter Bae Jinsu, who was on VIP protection duty nearby.”
Then came a round of praise for Jinsu.
There was also a session analyzing how Minjun had lost Yeongjin Jeon while testing abilities.
For some reason, it felt satisfying.
Finally, they discussed what to do with Kanghoon and Yeongjin Jeon, who’d been apprehended.
“Recently, we received experimental Porti Purifier from a powerful group and tested it on criminal Kanghoon. There was no Curse activation. From him, we learned the criminal organization’s name is ‘Black Moon Sect’.”
Kanghoon only knew the name, since he’d only taken orders from Yeongjin Jeon.
All we got was a name, but Kanghoon, having outlived his usefulness, would be handed over to government authorities.
“Further details will be obtained from Yeongjin Jeon, who was successfully captured today. Any updates will be shared. Thank you both for your hard work.”
How to handle Yeongjin Jeon.
Since the Association of Superhumans is a public institution, they won’t do anything inhumane like torture.
But since they aren’t entirely public, they decided to use Transference Hypnosis performed by a non-combat superhuman to extract information.
Naturally, there were no objections.
“This concludes today’s meeting.”
As soon as the meeting ended, everyone stood and headed for the elevator.
“What’s with your appearance? You look like a beggar.”
“Minho hyung patched me up, you know?”
“Click. Jinsu, go wash up. You reek of blood. Get some treatment from Suyeon too.”
“Hmph, I wanted to wash up before coming, but you dragged me here… I’m off~”
Grumbling, Jinsu took the elevator down.
“Minho, don’t leave—come here.”
I was about to follow, but stopped when I heard the President calling me.
“Let’s talk a bit.”
I returned to the table, sitting across from the President.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I’m fine. Jinsu got hurt much worse.”
The President snorted.
“He’s tough, he’ll be fine. Suyeon and our Association Healers will take care of him. Anyway, did the Elf resettlement go well?”
“Yes, thank you for sending the Healers. Thanks to you, everyone resettled in good health.”
“Good. Black Moon Sect… The fact that it’s called a ‘Sect’ makes it sound like a crazy cult. You might be entangled in something nasty. Did you talk to Yeongjin Jeon at all?”
Unfortunately, there hadn’t been time or opportunity.
He was fighting Jinsu when I first arrived, and by the time things calmed down, he’d passed out.
All I could relay was that during the hostage situation, he said he was after crops that boost Stats.
“Looking for crops that increase Stats, huh… Well, any Hunter would want that. Still, something feels off. The people behind him, too.”
“I think so as well.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of it… Ah! Any trouble living with Jinsu? He’s silly and tactless, but he’s not a bad guy.”
“Don’t worry. Jinsu and I get along fine.”
“Good. Please keep staying with him for now. Let me know if you ever have any trouble. I can arrange for someone else.”
‘Would be nice if Minjun came, too.’
As if reading my mind, the President smiled slyly.
“Minjun’s off-limits. That kid needs a bit of discipline.”
As if he’d read my thoughts, my ears felt like they were burning up.
Ahem. Well, maybe it is time for him to get a little scolding.