Chapter 90: The Awakened Criminal Organization, Dagger (2)

The leader of Dagger, having failed to avoid inhaling some of the poison gas that dulled mana responsiveness, did his best to minimize the damage by enveloping his entire body in mana armor. At the same time, he forcibly circulated his mana to expel the poison, even though doing so only drained his mana further. Naturally, his mana consumption had soared, and nearly half of it was already gone.

How devious.

There was no way to know whether Kim Ki-Rok had installed these spikes while predicting that someone might jump onto the window frame to avoid the traps, or whether he had installed them here expecting to catch any intruders who sought to climb up the building facade and through the window.

Nonetheless, the important thing was that the leader of Dagger had gotten caught by these poisonous spikes, and there was no telling how many more of these shitty traps might be waiting ahead.

Expelling all the poison now would risk leaving him without mana when he needed it most. It would be better to reach the rooftop first, then push out the remaining poison just before fighting Kim Ki-Rok, and finally replenish his mana with a mana potion.

Shifting to a better foothold, he propelled himself onward.

Crazy bastard,

he silently cursed.

Just how much money had Kim Ki-Rok spent setting up all of these traps?

From the seventh floor to the eighth, and from the eighth to the rooftop, he had to deflect a nonstop barrage of needles before he finally reached the rooftop door. Just as he prepared to remove the mana armor that was covering his entire body in order to take a mana potion out from his pocket, he realized how unusually quiet the area was and glanced up.

Reaching carefully toward the ceiling, he pinched something between thumb and forefinger.

Peeling off a piece of fabric that was dyed the same color as the ceiling, he revealed the ventilation shaft that was hidden behind.

"This place is a slice of hell," he muttered.

He kept a dagger in his right hand and readied a mana potion in his left. Then he raised his right foot.

Boooom!

He smashed the door open and stepped out onto the rooftop, where poison gas was still leaking from the vent. The cold winter wind could be heard blowing over the rooftop.

To minimize any further inhalation of poison, he had been taking the faintest possible breaths as he moved. Out in the open air, he took one long breath, then his face contorted into a scowl.

Sitting on the rooftop was a small tricycle. And perched on the tricycle was a spiral-cheeked doll[1].

"

Haa,

really... fucking...

haaah...

"

Lost for words at the bizarre sight, he let out a shaky sigh and gritted his teeth, calling out to the man who sat on the railing, "So, to you, setting all these traps to kill people is just some twisted game?"

"Hey now. That's not true at all," Kim Ki-Rok immediately denied.

The leader of Dagger scowled. "Don't lie—"

"How could you call Awakened criminals people? You're all just animals," Kim Ki-Rok cut in, instantly dismissing him.

The leader of Dagger froze, stunned at hearing himself and the others reduced to nothing more than animals.

"Of course, there are those forced into a life of crime circumstantially or for others' sakes," Kim Ki-Rok added charitably. "Those people can still be called human, but not the ones who attacked the DG Guild today."

"All because we tried to attack you?"

"No. Because you all consciously chose to join a crime that involved killing people. Not just anyone, but a child and an underage high school student." Wearing a doll-like mask that matched the figure on the tricycle, Kim Ki-Rok hopped down from the railing. "And now here you are, Gu Seong-Cheol, leader of the Awakened criminal organization known as Dagger."

The man in question downed a mana potion in one gulp, tossed the empty bottle aside, and drew the dagger at his waist with his now free hand, one blade held forward and the other in reverse. Instead of rushing Kim Ki-Rok head-on, he moved fast and vaulted sideways.

Suddenly, two swords sliced through the space he had just barely vacated. Gu Seong-Cheol rolled across the rooftop, sprang to his feet, and faced the figure who had dropped down from the emergency exit with their blades still raised.

That man eyed Gu Seong-Cheol with a stony glare, exuding a crushing wave of killing intent. Even an experienced assassin like Gu Seong-Cheol could tell he was dealing with a Hunter who possessed formidable mana, enough to threaten his life if he let his guard down.

While Gu Seong-Cheol frowned, trying to identify the mysterious swordsman, Kim Ki-Rok's voice rose from behind. "It was two years ago that Dagger accepted an assassination contract from a certain corporation."

Glancing over, Gu Seong-Cheol saw him perched back on the railing, watching calmly.

Kim Ki-Rok continued speaking, "The request came from a rival firm. And before you formally took the job, you investigated that corporation to confirm there were no loose ends, then finally accepted."

Gu Seong-Cheol remembered that job well. A certain company had hired him to eliminate the key figures of a rival company. The instructions were clear: it had to look like an intentional assassination, not some kind of accident.

Their goal was simple: punish one and scare a hundred.[2].

It was a warning, not just to the rival company, but to all the other competitors.

Though it was a particularly high-risk request, Dagger had still accepted it. The group was still new and hungry for notoriety. Pulling off something so high-profile would build their reputation and show the world they would take any assassination request without batting an eye.

Kim Ki-Rok recalled, "At first, the client only listed that company's CEO and senior management as targets," Kim Ki-Rok went on. "But wanting to make a bigger spectacle, you decided to include every former and current employee of that company."

Thanks to that gruesome deed, Dagger's name had quickly spread.

"That was your mistake."

Stomp, stomp, stomp.

The swordsman strode toward Gu Seong-Cheol, murder radiating around him.

"Among the employees at Hansol Corporation—the firm Dagger wiped out—was a man named Lim Tae-Hyun, who'd only just joined the company. And the one standing right here is Gu Seong-Cheol, Lim Tae-Hyun's older brother."

That can't be true,

Gu Seong-Cheol thought. He had spared no effort investigating that company, determined to avoid even a one-in-a-million chance that a single employee was connected to a Named Hunter.

If anyone in the company had a famous Hunter as a relative or close family member, it could deal a fatal blow to Dagger's future operations and growth. Because of that risk, he had spent half the commission fee just investigating everyone in the company.

There should have been no one with any connection to a Named Hunter like the one in front of him.

As Gu Seong-Cheol's eyes filled with confusion, Kim Ki-Rok explained, "His name is Mr Lim Tae-Hyun, and he is a member of the Republic of Korea's National Intelligence Service[3]."

As soon as Kim Ki-Rok spoke his name, Lim Tae-Hyun ground his teeth hard enough that the sound carried. Dagger might be used to people cursing their existence, but Gu Seong-Cheol had never before met a man so utterly steeped in raw fury.

***

"I-I surrender!"

On the DG Guild's fourth floor, inside a small conference room, five Awakened criminals had been caught in traps and had their mana severely suppressed. With Hunters closing in and pushing them into a corner, one of the criminals quickly raised his hands in surrender.

The Hunters reluctantly held their fire, glaring at their enemies.

"Hmm? Surrender?" a Hunter echoed doubtfully.

"R-right. I surrender!"

Sensing a shred of hope in the Hunters' hesitation, the criminal dropped his weapons and raised both hands high. One by one, the other Awakened criminals followed suit, discarding their weapons and surrendering.

"W-we give up!"

"I a-also want to surrender!"

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"I know how to find the black market! I know where the other Awakened criminals hide! Please, spare me!"

A couple of the Awakened criminals made a show of collapsing from their injuries. Meanwhile, the others, desperate to save their own lives, began spilling every secret they had.

"I also know where the hideouts in the black market are hidden!"

"I... I have some information about the projects that Black Money is planning for next year!"

At this, the Hunters turned to one member of their group for a decision. It was clear they considered him the one who had final say. That person, Boo Seung-Tae from the DG Guild, scratched at his neck.

"Uh, but... haven't I heard that Awakened criminals save their worst tortures for the ones who rat them out?" he asked.

That explained why a few criminals had flinched when one of them suddenly offered to surrender. Awakened criminals as a whole were known to unleash their worst punishments on informants, and not just the group being betrayed but all criminal factions operating in South Korea would target anyone who spilled their secrets.

"S-still... either way, we're dead," one of them rationalized bitterly.

They could die painfully in the future or die right now in who-knew-what manner. At least stalling might give them some chance, however slim, to survive.

"What do we do?" one of the other Hunters asked Boo Seung-Tae.

"Huh?"

If that had come from the Shine Guild or Golden Lion Guild, it wouldn't be strange, but it was someone from the Hunters Association who had asked.

"Ah... are you really okay with DG Guild making the decision?" Boo Seung-Tae asked carefully.

"Yes. The Association President told us before we left: in this operation, we should follow the orders of Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok."

"Huh...?" Boo Seung-Tae let out an awkward laugh.

Typically, any operation involving the Hunters Association was firmly under the Association's control. Multiple guilds often had conflicts of interest, so letting one guild call the shots was unusual. Yet here the Association had handed over authority to Kim Ki-Rok.

The man really was incredible.

"Please give me a few moments," Boo Seung-Tae requested as he proceeded to report the situation through his earpiece. "Guildmaster, a few of the Awakened criminals have expressed their intention to surrender. They are offering information in exchange for their lives."

Unlike a walkie-talkie, an earpiece made it hard to hear the other side of the conversation. The Awakened criminals swallowed dryly, their nervousness plain on their faces.

"Ah, what kind of information? The location of the black market, the secret hideouts of other Awakened criminals, and the projects they have planned for next year. Yes. Yes. Ah, yes?" Boo Seung-Tae nodded his head repeatedly as he responded, then turned to look at the Awakened criminals. "Ah, yes. Yes. Huh? Really? Ah, alright. I understand."

As he listened to his Guildmaster's response, Boo Seung-Tae's eyes widened, darting to the criminals. He opened his mouth with a hesitant expression and said, "Maegok Station."

The Awakened criminals all flinched at these words.

Nodding thoughtfully, he continued, "And after that... was it the KY Gas Station?"

"Th-that's fucking insane..." one of the criminals cursed in utter shock.

"And your future plan is Taetan County," he summarized.

"F-fuck. H-how the hell could you have known about that?" another criminal stammered fearfully.

Ignoring them, Boo Seung-Tae ordered, "The Guildmaster says to speak up if he got anything wrong."

The stunned criminals opened and closed their mouths silently, which he took as confirmation.

Boo Seung-Tae cleared his throat and addressed the Hunters, "The Guildmaster says none of it is especially useful, but if we arrest them and lock them up, other Awakened criminals might attack the prison to stop them from talking. That'd be perfect bait."

"So... is Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok planning to wipe out every last Awakened criminal?" asked a Hunter from the Association, voice subdued.

"Probably," Boo Seung-Tae casually replied.

A Shine Guild Hunter, who had been observing quietly, frowned and ventured, "Did something terrible happen to him at the hands of these criminals?"

Boo Seung-Tae shook his head. "Not really. There was a minor clash with a defunct criminal group called Viper's Blood, so he chased them down and discovered Ma Ak-Soo. That's the only thing I've heard."

"Then why..."

What was it that drove Kim Ki-Rok to so aggressively hunt down Awakened criminals across South Korea?

It wasn't inherently a bad thing. These were villains who used powers meant for fighting monsters to indulge their own greed. However, he was striking them with such ferocity that it seemed something else must lie behind it.

"Ah, there's something our Guildmaster often says," Boo Seung-Tae recalled.

Both the Hunters and the criminals perked up their ears. Kim Ki-Rok's words always carried weight, thanks to his formidable connections, massive intelligence network, and innate talent for nurturing people, which had grown the DG Guild into a mid-sized powerhouse in half a year.

"He says Gates are only going to keep multiplying, and their difficulty will keep increasing. Someday, we might see an S-Class Gate rated over Level 100. When that happens, what's the most important thing to have?"

Better-armed Hunters for high-level Gates? Weapons that could damage level 100 monsters even if the user's level wasn't enough?

The Hunters from the Shine Guild, the Golden Lion Guild, and the Hunters Association—even the Awakened criminals—all fell silent, staring at Boo Seung-Tae with tightly pressed lips.

He finally revealed, "Ensuring the rear is stable, so nobody can sneak in and crack you on the back of the head mid-fight."

The other Hunters could only stare in confusion. "Huh?"

"I had the same reaction," Boo Seung-Tae admitted with a shrug. "Even I doubted it, until a few days ago. However, my perspective has changed after the recent events."

Today was December 26, and only one recent event fit that description.

"It was the Christmas Raid Incident."

Also known, in a different Attempt, as Bloody Christmas. Here, thanks to preemptive moves, casualties among civilians and Hunters were minimal, so the Association named it the Christmas Raid Incident.

"If we hadn't known they were planning an attack on December 24th, the moment we stepped away to hold off the monsters, they would've ripped us apart from behind," Boo Seung-Tae said grimly. "If we had to split our forces between criminals and Gate defense, imagine the Hunters' losses."

If they had had to divide their forces in order to counter the criminals' attacks as well, it would have only intensified the damage suffered by the Hunters who were defending the various Gates left at the time.

In the Gate defense that DG Guild supported, they had requested reinforcements once monster waves got intense. Fortunately, Ji-Hee had powered up rapidly and stopped the monsters before help arrived, or there would have been severe casualties.

And if reinforcements never came?

"Well, in any case, our Guildmaster has said that he doesn't mind if we accept their surrender," Boo Seung-Tae concluded, turning a cold stare on the criminals.

The first one who had tried surrendering opened his mouth but closed it again, speechless. In the end, he and his fellow captives could only stand there, numb. From what Boo Seung-Tae said, Kim Ki-Rok intended to kill every Awakened criminal who had joined in this attack.

1. For those who've forgotten, the author is referencing the doll from Saw. ☜

2. This Korean idiom is used to describe how the leader of a rebellious force is killed in as cruel a way as possible to convince the rest not to walk in their footsteps. ☜

3. This is Korea's version of the CIA. Information on its membership is classified, which is why Gu Seong-Cheol wouldn't have been able to find any information on the connection between the two brothers. ☜