SWNOVELS Chapter 8: Suppression (1)
The trait currently bestowed upon Kang-hoo by the Dimension Plunderer felt like a down payment on a house.
It implied that there were still installments and a final payment to be made.
Constellations don’t give all traits to a contractor from the start for a simple reason.
From the fourth trait onward, the contractor’s death could lead to the constellation’s extinction.
[There's a whole different story between supporting a contractor without risk and supporting them with your life at stake.]
Kang-hoo gave a nonchalant expression in response to the Dimension Plunderer’s words.
‘I get it.’
He understood the stakes.
Given the gravity of the decision, the Dimension Plunderer’s cautious reaction was to be expected.
He just had to demonstrate his abilities directly. Then, the heart would open naturally.
A little later.
Kang-hoo entered a quiet space, removed from the monsters inside the dungeon.
He aimed for the spot where he was confident Kim Mok-hyun would be hiding.
The abandoned ruins dungeon, set in a modern city turned ghost town, was riddled with buildings.
Kang-hoo knew the perfect ambush point, where the guy could hide indefinitely and deal with any outsiders who came after him.
It was the same place where Shin Kang-hoo, in the original story, had used as a hideout. Kim Mok-hyun would likely do the same.
Tsk-tsk.
“Phew. Now it feels a bit more livable.”
Kang-hoo sipped the sap of the ‘Solakium’ plant he had fortuitously found on his way.
A rarity in dungeons, this plant had calming and pain-relieving properties.
It was particularly effective for relieving congenital mana hypersensitivity triggered by excessive mana use.
Or for preventing a rejection reaction in the body due to mana overload.
“I’ve got five of these.”
Kang-hoo discarded the desiccated Solakium after draining it completely.
He had four Solakiums left in his inner pocket. Not nearly enough.
In a protracted battle or during a war of attrition, they could all be depleted at once.
The chance of finding Solakium in a regular dungeon was almost 1%. Moreover, they all grew naturally, making mass collection difficult.
In Korea, there was just one person.
This person knew how to cultivate it by hand.
You had to go to him to buy them in abundance for money. Of course, haggling over the price was impossible.
‘I have to brace myself to go to Ground Zero.’
Ground Zero was located where the DMZ used to be. It was a bit far.
Regardless, calming the hypersensitivity was one of the necessary steps.
In the midst of a fierce battle, being constrained by hypersensitivity could mean death.
Swoosh. Fssht. Swoosh. Fssht.
Kang-hoo practiced ‘motion canceling’ to hide the trace of his Abduction skill while moving.
Originally, the Abduction skill involved gripping one hand like a fist and pulling the arm back twice as a preparatory action, like what Iberia did.
However, if you used another skill right after Abduction, 90% of the preparatory action was omitted.
It was like slightly gripping the fist, then immediately transitioning to the next skill. Of course, Abduction was activated.
But timing it right was difficult, so he kept practicing, and now he was getting it right.
“It’s about time.”
Kang-hoo opened his backpack, preparing to take out the materials he had bought from the black market.
Meat, blood, and anesthetics.
These were essential bait for the enemy he would face next. Without them, targeting Kim Mok-hyun would be a pipe dream.
He briefly looked up at the sky.
The powerless clouds, imbued with the red hue of the sunset, spread like flowing blood in all directions.
The scene outside the dungeon was no less gloomy and damp than inside.
Abandoned cars without owners.
A derailed train that had never been returned to its track.
A military helicopter that had crashed and whose crew was never recovered.
A village that had become a den for a criminal organization and was now entirely deserted by civilians.
The scenery at the end of the world seemed even more severe outside than inside the dungeon. By comparison, the inside was ‘peaceful.’
‘Should I stop here?’
Kang-hoo halted his advancing steps and stopped in front of a rock surrounded by thick bushes.
It was but a moment, but he caught a glimpse of someone’s shadow atop a 10-story building stripped down to its skeleton.
‘Found it well.’contemporary romance
There was no need to scrutinize who the shadow belonged to. It was him.
Ziiik! Zzziiik!
Kim Mok-hyun tore enthusiastically into the dried jerky, savoring his first taste of outside food in a while.
Just a few hours earlier, his outside contact had made a visit and departed.
This informant, hired by Kim Mok-hyun, was looking for an opportunity to escape.
In the dungeon, where no electronic devices worked, information was delivered in an old but reliable method: paper.
[Black Panther has conditionally approved Mr. Kim Mok-hyun's organization membership.]
[Just hand over the internal information of the mercenary group run by Lee Ye-rin.]
After reading it, Kim Mok-hyun burned the paper. It was best to leave no evidence.
‘Internal information’ meant details related to the dungeon and rights that she owned.
For example, the ownership of a magic stone mine implemented inside the dungeon, not outside.
Or the potential for regularly obtaining high-grade items by defeating boss monsters.
He had verified and acquired this information after killing a mercenary who had ‘traded’ with Lee Ye-rin for an extended period.
And since he had also stolen a third-grade item from Lee Ye-rin, she must be beside herself with rage.
Most hunters who came at her behest ended up dead.
Perhaps only one or two survived.
Recently, it had seemed that Lee Ye-rin had given up on revenge, as there had been no visitors seeking him out for several weeks.
That’s when, while looking for a chance to leave the dungeon, he received a message from Black Panther.
The Black Panther was a criminal organization that, in conjunction with Eclipse and the mercenary group Cheongan, controlled the rights to the dungeons in the Daejeon area.
“All those fools who believed that woman’s drivel and surrendered their items. The dungeon is truly the perfect hideout. If I choose, there’s a bounty of monsters to hunt.”
Kim Mok-hyun chuckled to himself.
In reality, he had acquired ten items by eliminating hunters who attempted to apprehend him.
Among those were two fifth-grade items, each valued at well over 200 million won.
Then, suddenly,
“Hm?”
Kim Mok-hyun, who had been lounging against the railing of the windowless 10th floor, abruptly straightened up.
Someone was coming.
This was not an area where hunting monsters typically appeared.
That meant the other party had deliberately sought out this building.
There were two likely reasons: they were seeking refuge to recover from exhaustion, or they had some business here.
‘Either scenario presents another prey for me.’
Kim Mok-hyun smirked and rapped his fingers against the concrete wall three times, tap-tap-tap.
Instantly, the figures lurking in the dark shadows of the pillars rose to their feet.
Dusk Wolves.
These creatures were a ‘trial’ that hunters had to pass to gain an audience with him.
As soon as he gave the signal, the Dusk Wolves began to descend the stairs, with two already on the first floor, charging toward Kang-hoo.
“He looks just like an assassin. Those types are perfect for being shredded like paper. Kuk-kuk.”
Kim Mok-hyun munched on his jerky, peering down with a nonchalant gaze.
But then,
Kruck! Kruuk! Kruck!
The three Dusk Wolves that had been hurtling toward Kang-hoo came to an abrupt halt and eagerly devoured something on the ground.
It was meat, heavily seasoned and emanating a pungent smell even from a distance.
Despite the Dusk Wolves’ usual pickiness with their food, they were now uncontrollably gobbling it up.
Had this been the extent of it, it might have been dismissed as a mere incident, but what happened next was the real cause for concern.
Puuk! Puuk! Puuk!
Kang-hoo deftly climbed onto the back of a Dusk Wolf and plunged a dagger into its cervical spine, severing its nerves instantly.
“What the hell, f*ck…”
Kim Mok-hyun’s face turned ashen.
He had painstakingly tamed the Dusk Wolves, dungeon beasts, over time. He didn’t feel confident fighting them himself.
But Kang-hoo had perfectly diverted their attention with meat and killed them while their guard was down.
It was impossible to kill a Dusk Wolf in one strike without knowing its exact weak point.
Failing to sever the nerves right away could lead to being devoured by the rest of the wolf pack.
The cleanup was done in an instant.
The wolves, having eagerly run down lured by Kang-hoo’s bait.
Under the haze and paralysis of the fast-spreading anesthetic, they lost their lives without even feeling pain.
Kang-hoo, an uninvited guest, was expected to end up as a meal for the Dusk Wolves.
However, the outcome was entirely different. He swiftly dealt with the entire pack of Dusk Wolves in one go.
And then.
Pssst! Crack! Hiss!
Smoke rose from the first floor of the building, and the sound of Kim Mok-hyun’s magically set traps being dismantled echoed.
“What is this guy doing, damn it…?”
Kim Mok-hyun’s hands trembled.
Kang-hoo was detecting the traps he had carefully hidden in hard-to-reach places and corners.
It was as if he was looking through the building like someone who had defended it before.
Whistle! Whistle!
In desperation, Kim Mok-hyun blew his whistle, but the Dusk Wolves that should have rushed at the sound did not appear.
They were all dead.
“F*ck, you think I’m scared?”
Kim Mok-hyun cursed, raising the heat in his body that had cooled during the rest.
The uninvited guest he thought would be dealt with by the Dusk Wolves was stronger than expected.
But that was it.
Kim Mok-hyun was equipped with a multitude of items, far exceeding the level of a level 50 hunter.
This was the basis of his confidence.
Calculating the added effects from his items, his effective level was well over 100.
[Fighter of Chaos]
[A malevolent constellation. It bestows abilities effective in causing enemies to lose their directional and visual senses.]
“I am a precious being watched over by the constellation. Understand?”
He smiled proudly, looking at the constellation window, grateful for the constellation that had recognized his talent long ago.
“Let me show you the black magic of hell.”
Kim Mok-hyun prepared for battle with Kang-hoo, gathering the energy of corruption in his hands.
His eyes, which had been dark throughout, now turned blood-red.
[Rage of the Evil God]
[Enters an awakened state, consuming one mana per second.]
It was an ‘awakening,’ a change that maximized the effect of the amulet he wore.
Now, the casting time of his skills would decrease dramatically. This meant that hell was about to unfold for the intruder.
“He really plastered traps all over.”
Kang-hoo was carefully ascending from the first floor, dismantling the traps he spotted.
Playing on a board blatantly set with traps was an excellent way to get killed without a strategy.
But being able to view the scene from outside its influence, the flaws in the traps were glaringly obvious.
Except for when subduing the Dusk Wolves, Kang-hoo was leaping up the railings instead of the stairs.
The building, abandoned mid-construction and left as a bare frame, allowed such maneuvers.
“Phew.”
done.co