Chapter 25: Chapter 25

The assailant had never anticipated that his ambush would fail completely.

Thank goodness his face was covered by a mask.

Had it been exposed, he would have undoubtedly shown a bewildered expression directly to Kang Jin-hyuk.

“Damn it!”

The assailant’s dagger was coated with a highly concentrated paralysis potion.

Its potency was such that even a small syringe could instantly incapacitate an elephant.

Even the slightest scratch could allow the poison to enter through the skin, leading to his demise.

However, no matter how threatening a weapon might be, it meant little if one couldn’t land a hit.

“What are you doing?!”

With agile movements, Kang Jin-hyuk dodged the assailant’s dagger and reached out to unmask him.

But the assailant, having predicted Kang Jin-hyuk’s actions, stepped back first and activated his disguise skill again.

Like a magic show, the figure disappeared and reappeared before Kang Jin-hyuk’s eyes, leaving him in a state of confusion.

He was unaware of the assailant’s intentions or reasons for his actions.

While he could make a few educated guesses, they would remain mere speculations until he heard it directly from the source.

Kang Jin-hyuk glanced around, releasing his aura powered by divine energy.

‘He’s still nearby.’

He could faintly hear footsteps.

Though he couldn’t pinpoint the exact location, the assailant was surely holding his ground at a keen distance.

‘This isn’t to my advantage.’

The enemy knew exactly what he was doing while Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t have a clue where he was.

If this state continued, he might end up revealing a gap, ultimately allowing for a surprise attack.

As Kang Jin-hyuk contemplated a solution, he suddenly sprinted away with all his might.

The assailant, hidden in the shadows, misinterpreted his sudden movement as an attempt to flee.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

The assailant had absolutely no intention of letting Kang Jin-hyuk off the hook.

He was determined not to give up until he snatched the remains of the newly discovered monster.

Chasing after Kang Jin-hyuk, the assailant finally burst out into the alley.

As soon as he exited, he found himself surrounded by visible buildings and a bustling crowd.

“Did you come to a place with a lot of witnesses on purpose…?”

To conceal a tree, one should hide it within a forest.

Hiding in a crowded area made it difficult for the assailant to spot Kang Jin-hyuk with just his eyes.

“Not a bad idea, but your situation isn’t too great.”

In the midst of the crowd, the insidious figure activated his tracking skill.

Though his surprise attack had failed, he managed to mark Kang Jin-hyuk as soon as he dodged the dagger.

As long as that mark was active, he could find Kang Jin-hyuk no matter where he tried to escape.

“There he is.”

The assailant identified the building where Kang Jin-hyuk had taken shelter.

“How did he reach a department store that far behind so quickly?”

It hadn’t been long since they had exited the alley.

Kang Jin-hyuk’s position, found via the tracking skill, was located at a department store across the street.

Setting up shop so far away through two crosswalks was impossible at any normal speed.

“Earlier, he managed to thwart my ambush… So capturing a new monster wasn’t just luck.”

When he had only heard rumors, he thought the lucky nobody had received a reward beyond their capability.

But after facing him directly, he changed his tune.

The average C-rank hunter he believed Kang Jin-hyuk to be possessed considerable skill and a plausible ability to react.

He wished he had come better prepared, but there was no time for that now.

“I need to finish this before I’m caught hiding and reporting my presence.”

The assailant hurriedly dashed toward the department store.

As things turned out to be more complicated than expected, he felt a surge of impatience.

The moment he laid eyes on Kang Jin-hyuk, he brandished his dagger and strode into the entrance.

As the assailant pushed open the glass door and entered the building, Kang Jin-hyuk, who had been hiding right next to the door, swung a punch instantly.

“Urg!”

The assailant was struck unexpectedly and fell to the ground in utter disbelief.

The shock even caused his disguise skill to falter.

Barely managing to get back to his feet, the assailant hastily gulped down a potion.

‘H-h-how did that happen…?’

Kang Jin-hyuk clicked his tongue, disappointed to see that the assailant wasn’t unconscious.

Even if he had a basic estimate of the position, the fact that he couldn’t aim for a vital point due to lack of visibility was unfortunate.

“If one hit isn’t enough, I can keep hitting until it is!”

Before the assailant could vanish again, Kang Jin-hyuk charged in.

Suddenly cornered, the assailant’s complexion darkened.

The potion simply relieved his pain, but the shoulder smashed by the bat showed no signs of recovery.

Even if he tried to use the disguise skill with his current state, he couldn’t manage to increase the distance significantly.

‘Whatever he did, that guy will notice my location if I get too close…!’

Unable to widen the distance, the disguise skill offered little support.

The assailant reluctantly raised his left hand and activated his defensive skill.

“Shield!”

A translucent shield appeared before him, similar to Kang Jin-hyuk’s ‘Holy Shield.’

Seeing this, Kang Jin-hyuk quickly realized that the other party was a Magician.

Only such a class would have the ability to conjure a shield.

‘Ideally, I’d be in a disadvantageous position, but now it’s a different story.’

Magicians possessed powerful long-range skills.

However, the location they occupied was a department store filled with civilians.

Using their long-range skills in such an environment could lead to a massive disaster.

Kang Jin-hyuk assumed that if the assailant was a reasonable human, he wouldn’t use his skills.

Feeling reassured, Kang Jin-hyuk punched forward with all his might.

And at the same time, he ensured to charge his fists with divine power.

Bang!

When the baseball bat collided with the shield, a deafening noise erupted akin to an explosion.

Everyone inside the department store turned to look in surprise at the source of the sound.

There stood the shattering shield skill and the horrified-faced masked assailant.

“What madness!”

The assailant doubted his own eyes.

How could a C-rank hunter shatter a shield skill with a single strike?

Especially since his investigation indicated the guy’s previous occupation was Cleric.

It made no sense for a Cleric armed with merely support skills to break a shield with his bare hands.

Caught off guard by this hard-to-believe outcome, the assailant could only remain stunned.

But he couldn’t remain dazed for long.

The fist that had broken the shield was now aimed at him.

Of the skills the assailant possessed, there was only one capable of defending against it.

Despite knowing which was his only option, he struggled to commit to it.

‘If I use it here…’

Overwhelmed by a smidgen of guilt, he hesitated.

But forced into a corner, he ultimately stretched out a hand toward Kang Jin-hyuk.

“Flame Storm!”

Kang Jin-hyuk gasped in shock at the assailant’s skill name and the flames bursting from his hands.

A blazing storm was about to engulf not only Kang Jin-hyuk but also the nearby civilians.

Sprinklers erupted from the ceiling, desperately trying to suppress the fire, but the flames raging inside the department store showed no signs of relenting.

With the material surrounding it catching fire, the flames only grew more intense.

The suddenly engulfed civilians screamed in terror.

“Ahhh!”

“Help me, please!!”

The flames roared in front of the department store entrance, preventing anyone from escaping.

Trapped inside, the people desperately attempted to break windows for an escape.

“Heh heh…”

The assailant let out a hollow laugh upon witnessing the chaos he had unleashed.

He craved the newly discovered monster’s remains, leading him to commit such a heinous act that escalated to this magnitude.

Regretting that he hadn’t learned a wider variety of skills beforehand sunk deep into his mind.

“I’m grateful I hid my face.”

Believing that no one would recognize him, the assailant figured he could escape unscathed after fleeing.

Though he regretted not being able to claim the monster’s remains from the now likely deceased Kang Jin-hyuk, that was no concern of his.

Lingering any longer might lead to capture from the guild that arrived with the chaos.

The assailant rose from the ground, taking advantage of the civilian’s confusion to sneak towards the entrance.

“Damn, what a rough luck today.”

“That’s on me to say, you bastard!”

“Wait…?”

The assailant, stunned, turned towards the unexpected voice.

He stood in shock at the sight of Kang Jin-hyuk, charred and wearing blackened clothes.

“How… how are you still alive?!”

The last time he had checked, Kang Jin-hyuk had been engulfed in flames.

In most cases, it was only natural for one to perish under such circumstances.

“Ugh, damn it!”

Feeling the pressure crushed upon him, the assailant again raised his arm to strike.

It had only been difficult at the start; repeating the earlier method now should be easy.

Even with other civilian lives on the line, he made no efforts to lower his voice.

“Flame St—!”

Noticing something flying toward him, the assailant finally opened his eyes.

As the realization set in, it was too late; his head met a solid object with a resounding thud.

The last thing he saw was Kang Jin-hyuk throwing a thermos with all his might.

Kang Jin-hyuk was well aware that this very thermos would almost guarantee the death of anyone it hit at such speed.

Even if he knew this truth, he had no other options.

It was purely self-defense, and he had no idea what further devastation could ensue if he did not take action.

“Damn it!”

Watching the headless body of the assailant collapse to the floor, Kang Jin-hyuk sat down, unable to comprehend what had just occurred.

This guilt from murder didn’t spring from the action itself.

Of course, killing someone was shocking, but this opponent deserved it without question.

Kang Jin-hyuk’s expression twisted not from remorse but from the burden of being a Hunter and the conditions of a Cleric.

When a Hunter kills someone, the stats window reflects a title of ‘Evil.’

This detail was visible to all other Hunters, rendering it almost like a scarlet letter.

Even worse, an Evil title rendered most Cleric skills unusable.

Even if skills remained listed in the skill window, they would be marked as unusable.

This implied a loss of divine energy, meaning he wouldn’t be able to wield any of the learned aura abilities.

“Damn it…”

What tormented Kang Jin-hyuk even further was regret.

He had come to believe that with so many people around, he could behave more prudently, yet he never could have imagined things would escalate this way.

Had he settled the matter in the alley, it wouldn’t have spiraled into chaos.

Lost in thought, an alert sound echoed before Kang Jin-hyuk’s eyes, pulling him back.

[Your karma level is increasing due to murder.]

[Due to justified murder, the title ‘Evil’ will not be established.]

[Cleric skills are being modified.]

[Your level has increased.]

[You have met the conditions for a secondary job transfer (hidden).]

Kang Jin-hyuk was left in shock upon reading the messages.

Not only modified but also eliminated?