Near Bukhansan, Seoul.
A middle-aged man who had just gotten out of his car stretched.
"I'm stiff as a board."
He frowned as he checked his reflection in the rearview mirror.
Before, his gray hair had been patchy. Now it was thick.
That meant he'd been under a lot of stress, right?
"Maybe I should quit the Player Hunter Agency."
Of course, the man knew it was just talk.
His precious, sweet salary.
No way he was giving that up.
*Ring ring ring.*
The man, who had been about to pull out a cigarette to wake himself up, let out a deep sigh.
No wonder his gray hair was multiplying.
"Yeah, I got it."
** Hunter Kang-san. This is Yoon Mi-ri from the Situation Room.**
"Mi-ri, long time no see."
** We talked an hour ago.**
"That's because I missed you. You never pick up."
** Haha... I'll try harder next time.**
"Don't bother. Sorry you had to deal with an old geezer like me. So? What's the plan?"
** An explosion believed to be a missile just went off in Pangyo, Seongnam-si. CCTV analysis shows a total of 15 rounds. Dozens of gunshots were also reported.**
"Someone's going all out."
He whistled.
Missiles and guns in the middle of a city center.
Familiar to Kang-san, but certainly not to this peaceful Republic of Korea.
"So, can I start?"
** Yes.**
"Can I kill them?"
** If you deem it necessary.**
"Oho. No mention of subduing them and extracting information. You must have caught something."
** Yes. It'll take some time since we need to route through hundreds of relays.**
"Okay. So I just need to blow them away so they can't cause any trouble in the meantime."
** I'll leave it to you.**
"Don't mention it. I get paid, so I should work hard. By the way, Mi-ri, the Runner must live in Pangyo, huh? Since the missile landed there."
** Make sure to wear your safety gear. I'll contact you again in an hour.**
Kang-san smiled and nodded.
Then, along with the call, he put away the cigarette he was about to light.
A cigarette only tastes good after you've finished what you need to do.
He opened the trunk and grabbed the necessary equipment.
Not much.
Just boots with excellent instantaneous acceleration, a knife with superior cutting power, and a single silenced gun.
Walking toward the warehouse in front of him, he removed the eyepatch covering one eye.
A black pupil revealed itself.
An eye with bizarre patterns engraved around it.
*Kiiiiik!*
He didn't bother with infiltration through windows or surprise attacks.
Kang-san flung open the steel door the moment he arrived.
"Hm?"
The people gathered there turned their heads.
Silence hung in the air for a moment at the unexpected visit.
Kang-san spoke first.
"You folks here to hunt the Runner?"
"We weren't told anyone else was joining."
"You wouldn't have been told. It wasn't planned."
"State your affiliation. We're from the Mexican..."
"Ecartage?"
*Click.*
The Ecarta members aimed their guns.
"Did the client send you?"
If not, they'd have to kill him.
Because it meant their identity had been exposed in an unexpected place.
"No?"
"Kill him!"
The trigger was pulled simultaneously with the shout.
Or rather, just before it was pulled.
Question marks appeared on the faces of the Ecarta members.
Kang-san had vanished from their sight in an instant.
"Human cognition is, you know, surprisingly weak and sloppy. So much so that even a little manipulation can cause serious delusions."
They aimed their guns again toward where the voice came from.
But Kang-san wasn't there either.
*Tssss.*
A sound of something igniting, and smoke billowed out.
"But that doesn't mean delusions are always bad. There's no need to realize it, right? The moment you die."
The moment Kang-san finished speaking, all the Ecarta members' bodies crumpled.
Some had their throats slit, some had their neck bones broken, and some had their heads pierced.
Kang-san, who had blown out another puff of smoke, put his eyepatch back on.
Then he looked at the fallen Ecarta members.
'Too weak.'
No matter how hidden the Runner's identity was, everyone knew he was an 80th-floor clearing player.
Yet they sent assassins like this, with such pathetic awakened abilities?
Unless they were addicted to wasting resources, something felt off.
"Hmm."
How to put it... he felt like he'd bitten on a bait that was deliberately laid out.
After thinking for a while, Kang-san shrugged.
Anyway, he'd done his assigned task. That was enough.
Leave the rest to the Player Hunter Agency. Time to head back.
---
* * *
---
Near Suwon, an abandoned construction site.
"Kyaaah!"
"You, you son of a bitch!"
Sharp scraping sounds mixed with Japanese curses.
*Splash!!*
Blood sprayed into the air, ignored.
A yakuza who had fallen on his ass scowled.
"Why is the Tiger of Kansai here...!!"
Japan's official rank 7, Matsuna Hiyori.
Meeting her in Korea was not in their plans.
If they'd known in advance, they wouldn't have come even for a fortune.
*BOOM!!!*
An explosion from below brought silence to the construction site.
Hiyori, who had been slaughtering yakuza while weaving through the steel beams, also stopped moving.
*Thud.*
The yakuza's faces turned pale.
Emerging through the dust cloud was Korea's ranker, Cheon Se-yeon.
"Oh?"
Se-yeon tilted her head at the scene unfolding before her.
There was a guest who had arrived first.
"You're..."
"I didn't expect to meet you here. The sacred shield protecting the Republic of Korea, Ranker Cheon Se-yeon."
"Did the Japanese Player Hunter Agency also decide to cooperate?"
"No, it's more of a personal debt relationship. Watch your side."
Dozens of gun muzzles flashed.
Hundreds of bullets flew toward Se-yeon.
But none of them reached her.
The immense output of holy power surrounding Se-yeon.
The bullets, blocked there, clattered to the ground.
Se-yeon's gaze turned toward the yakuza who had just fired.
At her indifferent look, the yakuza broke out in cold sweats.
"What, what kind of monster is this...!"
"Calling a person a monster."
Shrugging, Se-yeon looked at Hiyori.
"We'll talk later."
"Sure."
And with that, it began.
*Splash!! Boom!! Crash!!*
An overwhelming massacre that made resistance impossible.
It took only about five minutes for all the yakuza to stop breathing.
---
When the fight ended, Hiyori and Se-yeon gathered in one spot.
Hiyori spoke first.
"Their level is way too low."
She had obtained information about the personnel who had moved from Japan to Korea with Sato Tsubasa's help.
The ones listed there were no mere minnows like these.
They were dangerous individuals that even Japan was keeping a close eye on.
She came because they were supposed to be here, but where had they all gone, leaving only these leftovers behind?
"A decoy?"
"Probably. But Cheon Se-yeon Hunter."
"Yes?"
"It looks a bit rude with just me using casual speech. How about we both speak casually?"
She wanted to say that using casual speech with someone you just met wasn't proper, but...
Given Hiyori's reputation for being eccentric and straightforward, Se-yeon decided to let it slide.
There didn't seem to be any ill intent either. Plus, they looked about the same age.
Nodding, Se-yeon looked around at the scattered yakuza bodies.
"What do you think? If this is a decoy, where do you think the main force is and what are they doing?"
"How are the other Korean hunters doing? Similar situation?"
"Yeah."
"Then they'll show themselves soon."
Smiling, Hiyori turned her gaze outside the construction site.
"Because us being here means we took the bait."
Normally, realizing they'd fallen into the enemy's trap would make them flustered.
But why? Was it because she knew the target was that Runner, Yoo Jin-hyuk?
Her heart wasn't racing at all.
"If that's the case, we might as well go to where the Runner is and wait together."
Shrugging, Hiyori turned around.
Judging it to be a good decision, Se-yeon also moved.
And almost simultaneously, they looked at each other.
Neither was certain yet.
Whether the other knew that Yoo Jin-hyuk was the Runner.
"By the way, that personal debt you mentioned earlier?"
"I owe a huge debt to the Runner."
"Where are you heading now?"
"How about we both mark our destinations on the map and show each other?"
Nodding, the two opened their map apps.
After entering their destinations, Se-yeon and Hiyori showed them at the same time.
Their destinations matched perfectly.
They shrugged.
Then they walked in the same direction.
Looked like they'd be going together.
---
* * *
---
Jaewoong Construction Headquarters, Chairman's Office.
Chairman Ryu Jin-soo looked down at the city through the window.
Behind him, his son Ryu Seung-kwon was fidgeting nervously.
"Why are you acting like a dog that needs to shit?"
"Th-the news is broadcasting live right now."
The screen showed several sites turned into chaos.
Bodies being carried out from those places.
The reporter was reciting the identities of the deceased based on information just obtained.
They were all personnel that Ryu Seung-kwon had recruited under Ryu Jin-soo's orders.
"So what?"
At Ryu Jin-soo's indifferent question, Ryu Seung-kwon broke out in a cold sweat.
So what? These were the people he'd brought in to blow up the house in Seopangyo and kill Yoo Jin-hyuk.
But instead of the Seopangyo house being destroyed, they were dying before even reaching it.
"F-father. Could it be that bastard really is the Runner? Otherwise, there's no way the Player Hunter Agency would move like this."
The organizations from various countries that had shown lukewarm responses to Jaewoong Construction's proposal.
Ryu Jin-soo had leaked false information that the target was the Runner to string them along.
So he did that, and thanks to it, he successfully brought them to Korea.
But the situation was gradually turning strange.
It made him wonder if the saying about a cow stumbling into a mouse was applicable here.
"Seung-kwon, my son."
"Y-yes!"
"Do you really think I entrusted everything to a piece of shit like you?"
"Sir...?"
"I'm asking if you think it's possible to pull off something like this with just the power of our Jaewoong Construction."
"Th-that is..."
Seeing Ryu Seung-kwon unable to answer, Ryu Jin-soo clicked his tongue.
"Pathetic."
He turned his head back to the window.
In this matter, Ryu Seung-kwon's role was only a small part—merely spreading plausible bait.
"Wait quietly. Stop trembling like a piece of trash. Just wait a little longer, and that Yoo Jin-hyuk bastard will die, and the Player Hunter Agency won't even be able to touch us. They'll just be spinning their wheels until it's over."
Ryu Jin-soo's lips curled upward.
This game was destined to end that way from the start.
Because this round wasn't on a scale that some national agency could handle.
---
**-He's the Runner. We guarantee it.**
---
Ryu Jin-soo shook his head.
'Runner. You thought the whole world was yours just because we hyped you up a bit.'
Whether it was the Player Hunter Agency or the Runner, they were all equally pathetic.
If you wanted to hide your identity, you should have done it properly.
Acting so arrogantly was what caused things like this.
'You might be invincible in the Tower, but this is reality. Let's see how you handle the heat...?'
Ryu Jin-soo squinted.
Something caught his eye.
Approaching at incredible speed.
"!!!"
It didn't take long.
To realize it was a person.
*CRASH!!!*
Someone burst through the window and entered the office.
"Whoa, that was really scary this time."
Muttering to himself, the man got up.
And looked at Ryu Jin-soo.
"Nice to meet you."
The man's lips curled up slightly.
"I'm the Runner."
----------
T/N:
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