#48
Outside instantly became chaotic. Some people were gathered in one place, moving around with ashen faces, while some hunters were running around busily as if searching for something.
“What’s going on?”
The boss also stuck his head out and stared outside.
“Ha-seong, what’s happening outside…… huh?”
It was when the boss was looking for Ha-seong due to the unusual atmosphere. The figure of the person who had been in front just moments ago had disappeared without a trace.
Where did he go? While the boss was muttering, Ha-seong had quickly come out of the shop. He urgently approached where people were gathered, murmuring.
‘Shit……’
What he encountered there was a woman collapsed and bleeding. Judging by her attire, she didn’t seem like a civilian. Moreover, this was an item street frequently visited by hunters. In other words, there was a high possibility that the collapsed woman was also a hunter.
The hunters who had gathered around quickly began emergency treatment. A hunter who knew healing skills was at the front.
“What the hell is this!”
“What bastard did this!”
Other hunters around were shouting about what happened and seemed to be looking for who did this. Ha-seong narrowed his eyes and carefully observed the chest area that the suffering hunter was clutching.
Gunshot wound.
That was a wound from being shot. Ha-seong quickly moved away from the crowd and looked up, scanning the rooftops of buildings. They wouldn’t have fired the gun directly on this street. This place was crawling with hunters, so they could be subdued if they weren’t careful. If they secured a high position, it would be easy to aim without the target noticing.
It was when Ha-seong was constantly looking around with ‘We’ll Sell Anything’ building as the reference point. He saw something like a black shadow on a fairly tall building to the north.
That’s the one. A hunter was attacked on a street in broad daylight. Then the incident he’d heard about a few days ago naturally came to Ha-seong’s mind. The alley murder case that happened recently. Even then, a hunter was the victim. And now the one collapsed before his eyes was also a hunter, and the weapon was a gun that even civilians could use. In this situation, there was one possibility to consider. There was a high chance it was the same perpetrator as that incident.
Ha-seong didn’t hesitate and entered the ‘We’ll Sell Anything’ shop.
“Boss!”
“Huh?”
The boss, surprised by Ha-seong’s reappearance, asked if he hadn’t left and urgently ran out from inside.
“I’m going to take this again.”
Ha-seong picked up the thorn item he had put down earlier.
“Go ahead.”
The boss had a face asking why he gave it and then took it back, but readily nodded.
“Ah, and do you happen to have a hat or something?”
“A hat? I only have what I wear when hiking.”
“Please give me even that. And if you have glasses, please lend me those too.”
So Ha-seong came out of the shop with the items he received from the boss. In his hands were thin gold-framed glasses and a wide-brimmed hat used for hiking.
Ha-seong put all of that on his face and looked at the rooftop he had looked up at earlier. The guy was still there. He probably wanted to confirm whether that hunter died or if it was properly finished. This moment when he didn’t know he’d been discovered was the right time.
Ha-seong ran around the building in a wide circle, minimizing his footsteps and presence as much as possible. And he didn’t forget to send a text to Do-hyeok.
Running at tremendous speed, he reached the rooftop where the guy was in an instant. Was it because he ran after a long time, or because he was getting older? He was more out of breath than expected. When he was active, he could run all day without any problem.
After catching his breath once, Ha-seong ran to the rooftop. And he tightened the chin strap attached to the hat once. He had disguised himself thinking it would be better not to show his face, but he didn’t know if it would be effective.
Ha-seong cast his gaze at the tightly closed rooftop iron door. The door handle was strangely twisted as if it had been hit hard by something. Ha-seong pushed the iron door at once. With a creepy rusty sound, the door opened with a clang.
“Hey.”
The perpetrator, confirming that someone had entered the rooftop, visibly flinched. He seemed to have been so focused on the victim’s condition that he couldn’t pay attention to the encirclement approaching him.
Ha-seong examined the appearance of the guy standing far away by the railing. He was wearing a long black cloak, so his face and any distinguishing features couldn’t be seen at all. Even his gender couldn’t be distinguished. He looked exactly like the grim reaper.
[Activating trait, Search Skill (S).]
Then a green dot appeared before his eyes. He checked thinking of possible situations, and fortunately it seemed to be a person, not a monster.
“It’s you, right? The one who shot that hunter and stabbed another hunter to death in the alley last time?”
Ha-seong slowly moved his steps. He who had initially been shocked and agitated by Ha-seong’s appearance now seemed quite calm. Like a statue, he stood rigidly in that spot.
“I don’t know who you are, but come with me.”
“……”
“If you did bad things, you have to be punished.”
Ha-seong gripped the thorn he was holding tightly in his hand. And that’s when it happened.
Click-
With an alien mechanical sound, a gun barrel came into Ha-seong’s view. A gun with a silencer. Was it a regular gun? Or a weapon made specifically for hunters?
Either way, it was true that he was at a disadvantage. Guns were one of the weapons excellent for long-range attacks. It was when Ha-seong was keenly observing the guy.
The moment he saw strength enter the guy’s hand, Ha-seong quickly jumped to the side.
Whoosh-
At that moment, a faint wind sound was heard and the bullet instantly struck the ground. That thing was trying to kill someone again. It was when Ha-seong was frowning and repositioning himself. The guy quickly kicked off the ground and jumped. He leaped high to the side and instantly moved to the rooftop of the adjacent building.
“Where does that thing think it’s running?”
Ha-seong also chased him. Even though the distance to the adjacent building was quite far, the perpetrator moved without difficulty. In other words, he was someone with considerable physical abilities. Ha-seong tightened his chin strap more and continued running. The perpetrator seemed to have no intention of facing Ha-seong who was chasing him, and just kept hopping around, moving across the tops of buildings.
It seemed like he had no will to confront Ha-seong. As if his purpose was to escape, there was no hesitation in the guy’s leaping. He thought about using skills, but that had quite a risk in the real world, not a dungeon. Moreover, basically Ha-seong was supposed to not be a hunter. For now, subduing him with force was the goal.
It was when he had jumped onto another wide rooftop. Ha-seong was breathing heavily. At this rate, there would be no end. If they ran around like this and encountered civilians, it would be big trouble. Ha-seong put strength into his clenched hand once more. And focusing his gaze on one part of the guy, he swung his arm forward with all his might.
With a dull sound, the perpetrator collapsed onto the floor with a thud. The thorn that Ha-seong had been holding just moments ago was precisely stuck in his calf. He had accurately stuck it into the rapidly moving leg.
“Ah, really…… this is freaking hard.”
It seemed like he should exercise. It was when the perpetrator who had fallen forward was trying to position himself by supporting himself on the ground. Ha-seong didn’t miss the chance and quickly climbed on top of him.
“Ugh……”
A faint groan burst out from within the cloak. Now that he was on top, he could tell. The guy was a man. When Ha-seong tried to subdue him, the guy struggled even more.
“Stay still. Otherwise, I’ll have to use violent methods too.”
Ha-seong frowned and pressed down on the struggling body. But as if he would continue to resist, the struggling only became more intense. Sigh. Ha-seong sighed and reached back. And he pressed down on the embedded thorn even more.
“Mmph……”
Then the struggling weakened. No matter how strong and powerful someone was, they couldn’t help but feel momentary pain. But perhaps still not wanting to give up, he fumbled around his pocket area. The gun with the silencer slowly revealed itself.
Ha-seong pushed up the boss’s glasses that didn’t fit his prescription and struck the guy’s wrist hard.
Thwack-
As soon as the gun fell to the floor, Ha-seong immediately picked it up. With one hand he subdued the perpetrator and with the other hand he looked over the gun. As expected, this was a regular gun. A gun that even civilians who weren’t hunters could use. Let me see that face. Ha-seong tucked the gun into his waist and reached for the deeply pressed hat.
Was this guy really the one artificially manipulating dungeons? If so, would everything be over just by seeing this face, just by taking this guy? Ha-seong grabbed the hat with such thoughts.
Then would it be over with Cha Do-hyeok too?
At that moment, such a thought suddenly occurred to him. Ha-seong was surprised at himself for having such thoughts. Wasn’t it natural? Originally, he was connected with Cha Do-hyeok because of that matter. He needed money, and that guy needed a capable informant. When people whose interests aligned reached the end of those interests, their relationship should end too.
It would be the same with Cha Do-hyeok. Why did such thoughts occur? It was a bewildering moment.
Bang-
With a tearing roar, something flew toward Ha-seong’s back. At the momentary piercing intense pain, he urgently grasped his shoulder.
“Fuck……”
His palm was soaked with blood. Black and red liquid was gushing out from his shoulder. He had let his guard down. A moment’s thought had created emotional turmoil, and that created a gap of just a few seconds—a gap of carelessness. He tried to turn around to see who was standing behind him, having brilliantly targeted that gap.
Bang-
“Ugh……”
Another shot that flew penetrated Ha-seong’s right side. With the pain felt once more, strength gradually left Ha-seong’s body. The perpetrator who had been pinned underneath pushed him away and barely got up.
Blood flowed abundantly from his body, staining the rooftop floor. Status windows were floating noisily before his eyes.
‘Damn, so noisy, just……’
Ha-seong cursed inwardly. This was a mistake. Letting his guard down for a moment, not thinking about the possibility of accomplices. All of it was his mistake.
As Ha-seong collapsed, the gun he had tucked into his waist rolled onto the floor. Then the guy covered in the cloak immediately picked up the gun.
Ha-seong clutched his painful arm and blinked his eyes drowsily. Then the phone that had fallen to the floor along with him rang loudly.
[Caller: Cha Do-hyeok]
The name he had saved that day when told to save it flickered before his eyes. What should he explain to that guy again? Ha-seong slowly closed his eyes while having such thoughts.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
