Chapter 85: The New Master

‘I missed his movement just now.’

Ling Ling bit her lower lip slightly.

As an assassin-type ranker, she took great pride in her skills.

Killing enemies while hidden, combined with her high speed and one-hit-kill power, was enough for others to hail her as a genius.

However, the speed Lee Tae-sung had just displayed surpassed her own level.

If he had attacked her, could she have blocked it?

It didn’t seem likely.

Tae-sung, however, looked indifferent even after delivering such a formidable strike.

He looked down at the fallen hunter and spoke.

“Who do you think this is? Security personnel who were originally at the research center?”

“That’s unlikely. It’s been ages since everyone evacuated. It’s strange that anyone is still here. I already have something to report right from the start.”

Heo Ming grabbed the man with one hand and hoisted him over his shoulder.

“Judging by the fact that he was just standing guard at the entrance, he probably doesn’t know much even if we woke him up to ask. Let’s just take him inside with us.”

“Won’t that be uncomfortable for you?”

“As long as my right hand is fine, it’s enough.”

Heo Ming slung the man over his left shoulder and held his sword in his right hand.

To a ranker who took pride in his strength, being unable to use one hand wasn’t a significant handicap.

In an emergency, he could just toss the hostage aside or use him as a shield, so there was no burden.

“Shall we keep going then?”

“Let’s.”

Tae-sung moved forward with long strides.

Startled by his confident demeanor, Ling Ling quickly followed.

“Wait a moment. I have a trap-detection skill, so I’ll lead—”

*Whoosh!*

*Crunch!*

*Pop!*

“It seems there were a few traps. They were simple, so I removed them easily.”

“……??”

Ling Ling’s eyes widened as Tae-sung threw several hidden blades to destroy the traps ahead.

‘What kind of hunter is he? Is he an assassin type?’

Normally, such a thing was only possible for those with trap-disarming skills.

To destroy them by casually spotting them and throwing hidden weapons?

Tae-sung didn’t pay much attention to their reactions.

He was simply satisfied that Hidden Detect worked well on real-world traps, not just the magical ones he saw in the Dream World.

‘I don’t know how far I can see with it, but it’s quite decent.’

Since Hidden Detect was proving to be useful, he thought he should start looking for an even better skill.

Because it was a skill with clear limits, it would be nice to have something that could provide much more information.

Just then, Heo Ming approached him.

“Ahem. Your skills are good, but… you aren’t thinking of learning those kinds of skills more deeply, are you?”

“……?”

“I’m saying this because I know your swordsmanship. All those other things are useless. Being great with a sword is the best.”

“……”

Heo Ming was genuinely worried that a swordsman might get distracted by petty tricks and neglect the sword!

***

In the beginning, all they encountered were a few traps.

However, it wasn’t long before they ran into enemies.

“The Master’s enemies! Kill them all here!”

“This place shall be your grave!”

“Hraaaah!”

People came charging down the research center’s corridor.

Tae-sung was taken aback.

It wasn’t because the opponents were strong.

On the contrary, it was the opposite.

‘Is this a diversionary tactic? They look like… regular people.’

Looking at their running motions and the way they held their weapons, they were clearly civilians.

They didn’t even seem properly trained.

Both the people aiming guns from the back and those charging with machetes in the front had clumsy postures.

However, unlike their stances, a formidable lightning energy flowed from their weapons.

That crackling, glowing energy was something that could never be taken lightly.

*Bang! Bang!*

“Hyaaaah!”

People fired guns from the rear while those with melee weapons charged from the front.

This time, Heo Ming stepped forward.

*Slash!*

The sword in his hand moved, leaving afterimages, and cut the incoming bullets.

For a ranker-level hunter, cutting a bullet wasn’t difficult because the trigger pull was visible and the trajectory predictable.

While cutting a bullet after seeing it clearly was quite hard, it was doable for a top-tier ranker.

He knocked the charging people unconscious with the back of his blade.

The difference in skill was so vast that he didn’t even need to cut them.

It took less than five seconds for about ten people to be knocked out.

“Ow. That stings.”

However, Heo Ming frowned and slightly shook the hand holding his sword.

He had taken damage while cutting the bullets infused with lightning energy.

He shook his arm a few times as it trembled from the electric shock.

“Their skills are terrible, but their attack power is significant. It would have hurt a lot if I’d been hit properly… Who on earth are these guys?”

“Hmm…”

Tae-sung didn’t know either.

He shrugged his shoulders.

“We’ll find out once we wake them up and ask.”

***

Tae-sung had somehow become very close with the Chinese people.

He had become sworn brothers with high-ranking Jang Xuan and was called a savior by Zhang Lifeng.

Every Chinese official, hunter, ranker, and guild associate he met treated him with extreme kindness.

Because of that, he had forgotten, but the Chinese could be quite terrifying when they wanted to be.

“Gaaah… S-Stop… Sto-o-op…”

After subduing the hostages, Heo Ming and Ling Ling woke them all up and began interrogating them.

Naturally, it was an interrogation accompanied by torture.

They interrogated the hostages with nonchalant expressions as if they were used to such things, and naturally, the hostages, who appeared to be civilians, couldn’t hold out for long.

“W-We are the Master’s slaves. The Master used a skill called Slave Imprint on us…”

Guo Jie had shared information about himself while experimenting with various skills on them.

Since he had only recently begun making and handling slaves, he had done this without thinking, and forgetting that this might happen, he had neglected to order them to keep his information confidential.

As a result, the slaves spilled information about their master under torture.

Unless there was a forced order to keep their mouths shut, it was impossible to endure a hunter’s interrogation.

“Well, now. A Slave Imprint skill. I didn’t know there were hunters with such dangerous skills.”

Heo Ming muttered in surprise.

Beside him, Ling Ling and Tae-sung’s eyes turned cold as they listened to the interrogation.

“A hunter turning people who were victims of bandit human trafficking into slaves… I’m ashamed that such a piece of trash is my countryman. Honestly, I’m embarrassed to even face Guild Leader Lee.”

Ling Ling muttered.

Although she was jealous of Tae-sung’s skill and fame, she felt ashamed of this situation which tarnished her country’s dignity.

“There’s no need for that. Trash like that isn’t a matter of nationality; they exist everywhere, so don’t be embarrassed. However… I don’t feel like just leaving him alone.”

Tae-sung also had no intention of leaving the slave master be.

If he lacked the power, it might be different, but now, he felt like his mood would only sour if he ignored such a person.

***

“Master. The buffs have been cut off. It seems they have all been defeated.”

“Damn it… Damn it… How can this be happening…”

In the depths of the research base, Guo Jie kept spitting out curses at the words of his subordinate, Pei Pei.

He had only two Awakened slaves.

One of them had been assigned to guard the exterior, but the periodic contact that was supposed to come had ceased.

It was absolutely impossible for a slave to do anything else.

A master’s command took priority over everything.

If no contact came, it meant something had definitely gone wrong.

So, he had sent out the other slaves.

They were ordinary people, but Pei Pei’s ability was a buff type.

After she applied a lightning buff to them, they became ordinary people with powerful weapons.

The bullets they fired were strong enough that even Guo Jie, a low-rank Awakened, couldn’t win without using skills.

He thought they would be enough to repel the intruders…

But then Pei Pei reported that all the buffs had been severed.

It meant all the slaves had fallen.

“Listen well, Pei Pei. From now on, you must protect me with your life. It doesn’t matter if you die. But you must protect me. Understood?”

“I understand, Master.”

“Yeah. Damn it. What kind of business do these weirdos have in a desert like this…”

Guo Jie knew this place was a closed, important facility, but he didn’t know exactly what it was.

What would a former bandit know?

Therefore, he hadn’t imagined the intruders would be strong and thought his slaves would be enough to repel them.

*Slam!*

Just then, the steel door of their room was smashed open.

The security systems didn’t work because there was no power, but the iron door was quite thick, and yet it had been punctured right through.

Lee Tae-sung, Heo Ming, and Ling Ling stepped inside from beyond the door.

“Block them!”

Guo Jie shouted, and Pei Pei charged while applying the buff to herself.

*Crackle!*

Powerful lightning energy scattered from the club she held.

However, Pei Pei’s movements as she swung it were, at best, at the level of a novice hunter.

She was no threat to anyone in the group.

Heo Ming subdued Pei Pei with a flick of his wrist.

Ling Ling checked the surroundings for traps, and Tae-sung approached Guo Jie.

The man was running to escape using Pei Pei as a decoy, but Tae-sung caught up to him in an instant using his footwork.

“H-Hieek! Don’t come any closer!”

Approaching him, Tae-sung stared intently into Guo Jie’s eyes.

While playing the Dream World, his ability to identify evil people had grown significantly.

To the point where it didn’t feel like a game, villains each had their own peculiar aura.

Eyes glistening with murderous intent, a way of speaking and expressions that seemed half-insane, gestures and actions that looked ready to butcher the opponent at any moment…

While being part of the Flying Dragon Clan, he had dealt with various enemies, and the variety was truly vast.

And judging by that heightened perspective, Guo Jie was a villain who could not be left alive.

He already knew of the man’s evil deeds from the other slaves they captured on the way, and seeing him in person only confirmed it.

This man was a villain not worth forgiving.

“Kill him! That ability shouldn’t be allowed to exist!”

Heo Ming, who had just subdued Pei Pei, shouted.

Rather than moral judgment, he felt the man couldn’t be left alive because of the danger of the Slave Imprint skill.

To be able to handle both humans and hunters as slaves, even if there were restrictions…

How dangerous was that ability?

*Stab!*

Tae-sung’s sword, which would have been merciless anyway, aimed for the man’s heart without any hesitation.

And at that moment.

*Ding!*

**[You have killed the Master of the Slaves.]**

**[From now on, all slaves belonging to the Master will be transferred to your ownership.]**

‘…Huh?’

Tae-sung flinched at the unexpected notification.