Chapter 9: The Strongest Porter (2)

The new Hunter of the Fighting God Guild, Kim Inho, shuddered as he saw Kang Seonsu collapsed, drenched in blood.

The man in the suit standing calmly gave a sly smile.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be joining him soon enough.”

The provocative words from the office worker changed the looks in the other Hunters’ eyes.

“That bastard is a wanted criminal villain!”

“Insane. There are dozens of Hunters here, and he’s blatantly committing murder!”

A dozen or so Hunters drew their weapons. Among them, a Trainer who had once almost reached mid-rank sneered and took the lead.

“We’ll stop him because he deserves it.”

The office worker smirked at the large man standing at the front. The man swung his massive greatsword in a wide arc.

Whoosh!

A sharp tearing sound rang out as the greatsword flew straight toward the office worker’s neck, as if to cleave it in two.

Thud!

But with a dull sound, the greatsword stopped moving.

“What, what the—!”

“What do you mean, what.”

The office worker lightly brushed his hands. Shadow Thorns sprouted from the man’s shoes, pinning them to the floor.

The office worker swung his briefcase at the man’s face.

Crack!

With a gruesome sound of shattered vertebrae, the man’s head rolled on the floor like a bowling ball.

Seeing this, a timid Hunter screamed and recoiled in horror.

“You’re done for.”

The office worker raised both hands into the air. At the same moment, thorns burst out from the shadows surrounding the Hunters.

In an instant, the thorns shot out, binding their legs.

“Well then.”

The office worker began spinning the briefcase as he walked to sever the immobilized Hunters’ necks.

The first target trembled and shook his head, signaling for the man to stay back.

Ssssh!

A sudden ripping sound made the office worker step back reflexively. A kukri sliced the air where he had been standing just seconds ago.

A blond man had quietly approached, frowning as if disappointed at the wasted effort.

The office worker glanced at the man’s feet.

Barefoot. Seeing this, the office worker wiped his neck with the back of his hand.

The familiar sting of an old wound. Sticky moisture clinging to his skin.

“There’s nothing more satisfying than crushing a promising sapling before it grows.”

“No.”

But the blond Hunter wasn’t alone.

“It’s you who’s about to be crushed, trash.”

All the Hunters nearby swarmed in. Among them were even some high-rank Hunters.

“Just to ask, are you really thinking you can handle all of us at once?”

The office worker’s eyes curved into a crescent smile.

The arrogant words made the high-rank Hunter sneer.

“Consider yourself unlucky today.”

With a roar of rage, the Hunters charged all at once.

The overall atmosphere of the Dungeon was a deep gray.

Dungeons are created by Dungeon Cores, which emit highly concentrated magical energy.

Magic, in turn, carries color. A faint yellow aura now stretched across the gray expanse.

When a Dungeon fails to expand once, it locks in the area it had expanded and begins to develop.

Development, however, means little more than producing more monsters.

The fact that the Dungeon had shifted from gray back to yellow meant that the Dungeon Core had reactivated.

And the Dungeon Core moving meant the Dungeon would begin to expand again.

A once-dead Dungeon was stirring anew.

I arrived at the Respawn Point. On the way, I saw people turned into chunks of meat. They had been mercilessly sliced.

From that, I confirmed one thing.

‘They weren’t killed intentionally.’

The murderer had not killed anyone deliberately. Most of the unfortunate dead had died from excessive bleeding.

Those still clinging to life bit their teeth, clutching at severed hands and feet.

As I walked, I caught the pitiful expressions of those looking at me—faces waiting for salvation.

Unfortunately, I’m neither a Healer nor a wealthy Potion Seller. I couldn’t save the dying, but I could at least rescue them.

“I heard if you pick up someone’s wallet, 5% of the money inside is yours. You can’t just walk away after saving everyone, can you?”

“Ugh.”

I took that as agreement and stored everyone I could into my Inventory.

Even I found it amazing—over a dozen people vanished in an instant, as if evaporated.

Their names appeared in my Inventory like a list.

Just in case, I picked up a severed arm and stored it as well. Whoever it belonged to would surely recognize it.

• Palm of Kwon Juho.

Good grief.

Seeing a name appear in my Inventory was convenient but also incredibly creepy.

My 50-slot Inventory suddenly had only 20 slots left. Ten people were inside.

I didn’t know what kind of reward I’d get for saving them.

But they were Hunters who earned well. Surely, they wouldn’t let me walk away empty-handed. They wouldn’t repay kindness with enmity.

The real question was—why hadn’t our murderer killed them outright, even when he knew they wouldn’t die?

Sharks are lured by fish blood deliberately spilled to attract them. They can smell prey from afar.

Most Hunters in the Anyang Amusement Park Dungeon were low-rank or beginners. Only a few mid-rank Hunters hunted in the third layer.

So the murderer was scattering copious amounts of blood in a place where the prey was easy to hunt, drawing something out.

And whatever had been lured had turned the Dungeon’s color from gray to sticky yellow.

In this world, that’s called a ‘Sacrifice.’

I didn’t know what kind of guy the murderer was. Honestly, I didn’t want to know.

I hated Hunters. I didn’t want to understand the mindset of some black-hearted kid thinking, “I’ll wipe out every Hunter in this world.”

Since he was a villain criminal, there was probably a bounty on his head.

Catching him would mean a hefty reward. At least hundreds of millions.

And capturing a notorious villain would increase my notoriety.

Popularity—yes, that was the goal.

Popularity raises your value, leading to commercials, marrying a beautiful actress, building a picturesque house, and living well.

But before all that.

“Hello.”

“Coach…!”

A dark veil choked the blond’s neck. Around him lay people, all severely injured and collapsed.

The office worker, who was strangling the blond, blinked in surprise.

“Others just sliced and finished quickly, but why are you strangling that one?”

“He resisted so much on his own that I got annoyed without realizing it.”

That was our blond. To have lasted against the murderer since the day he first entered the Dungeon.

His face was flushed, as if he was about to cry.

The timing was perfect—or rather, the timing was mine.

I had just rescued those people.

From the office worker’s perspective, his carefully prepared Sacrifices had suddenly disappeared. He must have known I was coming.

“Let’s put down the person and talk. At this rate, our Hunter will die.”

“Didn’t I say you were lucky earlier?”

The office worker smiled softly. If it weren’t for the current situation, he really would look friendly.

“I take that back.”

“Coach…!”

The blond glared at me with fiery eyes.

A black shadow suddenly flew toward me.

High-rank Hunter Lee Junsu couldn’t understand what was happening.

Even if newcomers were involved, ten people attacked at once.

But the result was disastrous.

They couldn’t land a single scratch on the office worker.

Sharp Shadow Thorns erupted from his shadow, piercing everything around.

Lee Junsu was a B+ rank Ranker.

Even an A-rank Hunter couldn’t be toyed with like this.

‘He must be above A-rank.’

An A-rank or higher murderer.

It was nothing short of a disaster.

Most of the comrades around groaned in pain, badly injured.

The high-rank Hunter gritted his teeth. Though he could have killed, he hadn’t.

The office worker was now strangling the neck of the blond new Hunter.

‘Damn it.’

The juniors, just starting out, risking their lives, were about to be slaughtered.

A nightmare came to mind.

The awakening of criminals.

A murderer gaining immense power, triggering horrific events.

Gates appeared, and villains emerged, causing multiple brutal murders. One of these incidents caused high-rank Hunters to lose many comrades since their training days.

‘If they’re going to die anyway.’

He couldn’t stand to watch young guys die like this, unlike the old Hunters who’d been through everything.

The high-rank Hunter forced himself to stand. Exhaling roughly, he spat out blood. He grabbed his weapon again.

Then someone appeared.

‘Is this backup?’

A flicker of hope. But the hope soon turned to despair.

It was a Trainer who hadn’t even awakened.

‘Lee Hyunbin.’

A well-known figure in the Anyang Amusement Park Dungeon.

At thirty years old, still striving for Awakening without giving up.

“Run…”

The high-rank Hunter shouted urgently. Hoping to reduce casualties, but couldn’t finish the words due to the bleeding.

The man looked toward Lee Junsu and raised his hand, as if to reassure him.

Junsu couldn’t understand the man’s calmness.

Was it because he wasn’t a Hunter that he couldn’t sense the opponent’s immense power?

Junsu signaled to the other Hunters who were still able to move.

Just as they gritted their teeth and stood up with weapons in hand—

“Ugh!”

Shadow tendrils the office worker had scattered constricted the bodies of Junsu and the other Hunters.

So strong, yet so vigilant—it was maddening from the Hunters’ perspective.

“I take that back.”

With a sneer, the office worker began showering the man with Shadow Thorns.

The attacks came so fast that the man stood dazed, unable to dodge.

Ssssh.

The sharp tearing sound. The Shadow Thorns failed to pierce the target.

Junsu rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

The office worker tilted his head.

He had clearly hit him, but it didn’t register.

The office worker smirked and fired Shadow Thorns again.

The piercing sound echoed through the cavern’s shadows.

But suddenly, the shadows evaporated.

Thud!

The man smashed a lantern inside the Dungeon.

Thud!

He walked straight toward the office worker, smashing the lanterns one by one.

The office worker frowned slightly.

With the lights gone, the shadows were swallowed by darkness.

The office worker released Kim Taeyang. Grasping his neck, Kim gasped for air.

“No light means no shadows. It’s a simple weakness that no one seemed to notice.”

“That’s something you learn in elementary school. The more educated you are, the faster you forget what you learned as a kid. That’s how you become an adult.”

“The problem is, I knew that little trick too.”

The office worker said, reaching into the void. From the black Inventory space, he pulled something out.

A glowing light source. He scattered it all around.

“I mentioned the shadow principle earlier, right?”

The office worker sneered.

The shadows clinging to his feet spread out like a net toward the man.

“D- Danger…!”

Everyone collapsed here knew how dangerous this technique was.

Shadow Thorns without even a tearing sound.

But the man had already vanished.

The office worker flinched.

Snap!

Suddenly, the man was right in front of the office worker. He delivered a body blow.

‘What?’

The high-rank Hunter saw the office worker stagger.

“Ugh!”

The office worker groaned and took a step back. The man struck another body blow.

The office worker’s body crumpled badly.

The villain, who hadn’t even flinched when a dozen Hunters attacked him all at once, an S-rank-level monster, was now being battered by a single person.

The office worker hastily traced a pattern in the air. In an instant, he disappeared.

“Behind, behind!”

The vanished spot was right behind the coach. Kim Taeyang shouted frantically, but the office worker’s Shadow Blades poured out from all directions like a dense barrage.

It looked like a bullet hell game, with projectiles covering the entire screen.

Kim Taeyang watched helplessly as Coach Lee Hyunbin was slaughtered.

The black thorns mercilessly swallowed Lee Hyunbin whole.

Someone he had unknowingly come to trust over the past two weeks was killed while trying to help—and there was nothing he could do.

“Pfft.”

The office worker laughed without realizing it.

With that man’s death, all hope vanished. Seeing the despair of the Hunters was simply delightful to him.

Honestly, I was a bit stunned.

He was an opponent skilled at exploiting the weaknesses of shadows and proficient in one-on-one combat.

If the opponent had been armed, I might have been the one defeated.

“Now then.”

The office worker prepared to finish off the gathered Hunters.

At that moment, a chilling sensation crept over from behind.

“Why are you laughing? If something good happens, laugh with me.”

…!”

The office worker turned around and extended his arm to create distance.

Following his will, shadows shot toward his opponent. But the opponent dodged them easily.

‘How?’

Contrary to the office worker’s shock, the man grabbed his wrist and pulled him forward.

An absurdly strong grip.

The man—no, Hyunbin—punched the office worker in the jaw.

A blow that seemed to snap his consciousness. The office worker counterattacked but hit only empty air.

“That was just an afterimage.”

Another punch landed on his side, like a hammer strike.

“I didn’t know what you’d like, so I put everything in. Tell me what you like best.”

Thud!

Hyunbin’s straight punch struck the office worker’s face.

This attack was different from before. He borrowed the skill of someone stored in his Inventory.

Strike.

A skill that literally doubles striking power.

Boom!

The office worker collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. Everyone witnessed it.

It was unbelievable.

High-rank Hunter Lee Junsu recalled something someone had said before.

• That guy once caught a monster barehanded because a rookie he was in charge of lost it.
• A normal person without Awakening or any gear skillfully subduing a monster was rare.
• If that guy awakened, he’d be a real monster. Hey, could he be the first S-rank from Anyang Amusement Park?

Junsu had scoffed at the comment back then.

“You’re really lucky today. Go buy a lotto ticket.”

Having ended the situation, he grabbed the collar of the fallen office worker and muttered something unintelligible.