In the latest post, Lee Ha Yeon is standing in front of a foreign landscape with a wide smile on her face.
‘Lee Ha Yeon is still in Bali….’
Lee Ha Yeon, who went to Bali for a photoshoot, has yet to return to the country even after her schedule ended. Since it’s currently July, it looks like she’s enjoying a vacation while she’s there.
‘I thought I had all the evidence.’
Although Jiho thought all that’s left is to piece together all of the evidence he collects, he can’t even collect that evidence right now because of the murderer.
After Park Geon Ho began investigating Na So Jeong, he reported that Na So Jeong and Lee Ha Yeon came in contact with each other multiple times. Needless to say, they’re still in contact now. In very secretive ways.
On top of that, Na So Jeong often comes in contact with both the CEO of Lee Ha Yeon’s agency, Dream Road, and her stylist as well. And Park Geon Ho additionally reported that Lee Ha Yeon’s stylist is probably an unregistered awakened one.
‘Suspicious.’
Na So Jeong’s frequent contact with three unrelated people. An unregistered awakened one. And the location of the picture of Joo Yiwon and Lee Hayeon that had started the scandal last time is near Dream Road Agency.
If he suspects something, the way to check is simple. As long as Jiho meets Lee Ha Yeon, who’s at the center of all of his suspicions, and uses his [Understand] skill on her, he’ll be able to get a general idea of her past.
But he was immediately rejected when he asked to meet Lee Ha Yeon. Even though he proposed a brief meeting in a public setting to prevent any misunderstandings, Lee Ha Yeon’s reaction was cold, as if Jiho had made a dirty request.
That excessive reaction made Jiho suspect her even more.
So even though he felt slightly bad, Jiho wanted to follow her and check her system window. But because of that American psycho murderer, his hands are tied.
‘Thanks to that though, I got through a lot of work.’
Had he gone to Bali, the issue of Bangbae Dungeon #14 would’ve been pushed much further back. At least he gained something.
Thinking positively, Jiho absorbed himself in the rest of his work. The sound of his pen gliding and keyboard clicking bring Jiho peace. Jiho remained absorbed in his work for a long time.
When Jiho stopped, it had been a few hours since Ryu Dae Geon turned the lights on in his dark office.
“Guildmaster Shin, how about getting off of work now?”
“Ah, sure.”
Jiho nodded his head despite still having work left. Ryu Dae Geon prefers guarding him from Joo Yiwon’s house than from No Name Guild. Since that house could hypothetically survive a nuclear explosion, Ryu Dae Geon can be more at ease there than at the guild.
In order to get on the elevator that takes him to the highest floor, Jiho has to take the elevator down to the first. Although it doesn’t take long, he does find it inefficient just to get to a house right above him.
It’d be nice if there were at least stairs to the top floor, but in order to do that, the balance of the barrier would collapse or whatnot…. Until they find a solution, Jiho can only travel like this.
After getting on the elevator, Jiho was going to lean back on the wall when his eyes widened. Suspicious mana stirred above his head dangerously. The mana’s so strong and violent that Jiho doesn’t know how he could’ve missed it.
“Hunter Ryu Dae Geon!”
Ryu Dae Geon automatically pulled Jiho in by his waist at Jiho’s yell. Almost at the same time, the elevator began a free fall.
“Ack!”
“Hold on tight!”
Dae Geon spun Jiho around and placed him on his back before crouching down and spreading his palm towards the wildly shaking floor.
Mana soon spread from Dae Geon’s wide palm and formed a thick shield. This defense skill, which can apparently withstand the force of a large truck, is what Dae Geon is known for.
Dae Geon’s fist struck above his head at nearly the same time. Unlike the stable mana that’s flowing out of his hand creating a shield, sharp mana shot out of this hand like bullets.
Clang!
Thanks to Dae Geon’s attack, the roof of the elevator flew off with a loud sound and lots of sparks. Large, sharp fragments recklessly flew from the elevator wreck.
Afraid that he’d be hit by the fragments, Jiho unconsciously flinched, but Dae Geon’s skill blocked them, sending them down to the ground.
“Shin Jiho-ssi, bite down!”
Jiho followed Dae Geon’s words and prepared for impact. As Jiho bit down and tightly wrapped his arms around Dae Geon’s neck, Dae Geon stretched both hands down and poured all of his mana down.
Thanks to that, a large shield materialized from Dae Geon’s hands and dug itself into the wall.
KAGAGAK!
The shield, which made sharp sounds as it slid down, slowly found its balance and came to a stop. Though the balance is shaky, at least it stopped their endless fall….
WHOOSH!
Hot desert wind blew up from the bottom and seemed to shake the shield. With a sudden bout of dizziness, darkness swallowed them both.
“Ugh….”
When his vision returned, they were in a completely different location.
“Where is this?”
Jiho frowned as he relaxed the hand hugging Dae Geon.
The first thing he saw was a tall fence made of thick, rusted wire. To one side of the intimidating fence is an old, abandoned dog house. Behind that is an abandoned building with smashed windows and an iron door hanging off of its hinges.
When he casts his sight further out, he sees not a horizon, but a low hill and a field so quiet that all you hear are the sounds of bugs.
They were just in the middle of a crowded Gangnam…. But the area around this abandoned building doesn’t even look like Seoul.
Crunch.
Careless footsteps echoed through the dark. Jiho tensed as he glared at the human-shaped figure through the dark. As his eyes quickly adjusted to the dark, Jiho instantly recognized the figure.
Even though he’s never seen him before, Jiho can’t mistake him.
The hunter murderer who escaped after killing people from the American Delta Guild, James Whitaker.
Instead of being intimidated with two people in front of him, James whistled. And, he sent a harassing look towards Jiho.
“Are you Shin Jiho? You’re surprisingly normal.”
The Americans are supposed to be carefully monitoring and pursuing him so that he doesn’t escape. How did he manage to get here in four days?
No, why did he come here?
After exchanging looks with Ryu Dae Geon, who was also tense, Shin Jiho stepped forward. While he isn’t sure that the other has the intention to talk, he should try to pull out as much information as possible.
“Yes, that’s right. I’m Shin Jiho. Why did you bring us here?”
Jiho responded to him in English as he opened James’s system window.
Status
| Name | James Whitaker |
| Occupation | Wanted Criminal |
| Rank | A |
| Title | Hyena’s Nature One Who Sneaked Secrets Traitor of Delta Enemy of the American Government Assassin |
| HP | 608 |
| MP | 498 |
| STR | 892 |
| AGI | 744 |
| Skill | Bloody Friday ( A ) Beast of the Ruins ( A ) Wind Blade ( A ) Shadow Stitch ( A ) Sneak Attack in the Dark ( B ) Melt into Darkness ( B ) Even Darker and Deeper ( B ) A Thug’s Spirit ( C ) I’ll Make You a Weakling ( C ) Trauma ( D ) |
Based on his skillset, this is an advantageous battlefield for James. However, Jiho doesn’t think Ryu Dae Geon would necessarily lose. Since Dae Geon currently has [Blessing of the Star], which boosts stats by two or three times their original amount, on him.
But James smirked as if he also had something backing himself up.
“Why do you think I’m here?”
“Judging from how you sneaked into another person’s territory and abducted them, I doubt you came in peace.”
“Haha! Naturally. I came here for you, Shin Jiho. To capture you alive.”
So why him and at this specific time?
Running away is hard enough as it is, but by going after a foreign hunter, he’ll be pursued by two different countries. At a time that he should be quietly running away, doing something like this is insane.
James Whitaker grinned at Shin Jiho, who was full of questions.
“Did you know, boy? Delta’s supporting you.”
“What? You mean Delta Guild, the guild you were in?”
“Yup.”
“I think you’re mistaken, I have no relation with that guild.”
“But doesn’t Chungram’s guildmaster?”
Jiho flinched at those ambiguous words.
Joo Yiwon again? First with Lee Ha Yeon and now with Delta Guild? Is that why Joo Yiwon stuck a person next to Shin Jiho as soon as the murders happened in Delta Guild?
But why…. Why would Joo Yiwon reach to a foreign guild to protect Shin Jiho?
Jiho doesn’t understand how they’re supporting him either. He’s never thought anyone was looking after him.
Seeing Jiho’s confused gaze, James snorted.
“Hm, it seems that you really are a clueless young master.”
Whitaker mocked before rushing at Jiho. He’s an A-rank. Jiho thought Ryu Dae Geon would have an easy time blocking him, but….
“Keuk!”
Ryu Dae Geon, who had received [Blessing of the Star] was instantly pushed aside. Isn’t Ryu Dae Geon one of the stronger A-ranks? Jiho checked his stats in case the skill’s effect had cooled, but there was still time left.
“Haha, you’re not so special after all!”
James hollered, completely intoxicated by his own strength. Whenever James moved, he launched a sharp attack towards Dae Geon. Each attack was life-threatening and fatal. All Dae Geon could do was block those attacks.
With the buff in place, Ryu Dae Geon should be close to S-rank, yet… as an A-rank, James Whitaker is overwhelming him.
How is this possible?
To be fair, it doesn’t make sense that James Whitaker managed to pass through all of the defenses Joo Yiwon set up around his building and install the explosives and teleporter. Since a simple combat hunter can’t install such complicated devices on his own.
[Blessing of the St]….
Thinking there’s no other choice, Jiho was going to cast more mana on Ryu Dae Geon, but something from the back suddenly struck him. It doesn’t look like something James did, but thanks to the unexpected attack, Jiho missed his timing and fell forward.
“Haha, stupid Asian.”
Whitaker said something truly brainless as he used his mana.
That was it.
Unable to resist any longer, Ryu Dae Geon unceremoniously fell to the ground. Naturally, his injuries weren’t light. Seeing the dark red blood on the ground, Jiho’s heart also fell.
“Poison….”
Was he poisoned in the elevator? Dae Geon’s blood is too dark to look normal. Looking closely, his skin had blackened too. And so had Jiho’s.
“Haha.”
James Whitaker’s eyes gleamed dangerously like someone on drugs as he stared at Jiho.
“Good, as long as I have you….”
Jiho shivered. It felt like he was looking at a valuable object, not a person.
Jiho bit his lips and pulled a box out of his inventory. The box is an item he received from Kim Tae Yong, [Treasure Chest of the Dragon Palace]. Since it doesn’t say it can only take one person, as long as he touches Dae Geon before he uses it, they should both be immediately transported to Mireu’s guildmaster’s office.
Even though he had a plan and was ready to go forth with it, Jiho felt conflicted.
Is it really okay to use this item? What if he’s crawling into an even more dangerous person’s home ground?
Isn’t the only person capable of getting through Joo Yiwon’s defenses and installing explosives and teleporters Mireu’s Kim Tae Yong? Jiho can only move cautiously because it’s not only Shin Jiho but also Ryu Dae Geon in danger.
Yet there’s no time to hesitate.
“Euk!”
Jiho narrowly avoided James’s fist. Even without [Blessing of the Star], Jiho is an S-rank. His AGI isn’t low. Jiho clenched his jaw and ran towards Dae Geon.
Noticing this, James soon targeted Ryu Dae Geon. Jiho had no choice but to tank that attack with his body.
The attack didn’t hurt as much as he thought it would. But right as it hit his back.
SWOOSH!
A huge flame shot up. A single figure quietly floated down between James and Shin Jiho.
LaZ Bird Corner
HEHE he’s here…. Who could he be…? ʚ^..^ɞ
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