The Returned Hunter Has Awakened to a Hidden Class - Chapter 17

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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17

Chapter 17

Eyes of Surveillance (2)

 Kim Jun turned his body toward the pillar behind him.

“Come out.”

 A cold voice echoed through the 12th Floor.

 But there was no response from behind the pillar.

[Divine Surveillance Count: 01 minutes 22 seconds]

 Time kept flowing. There was no more time to wait.

 Kim Jun strode toward that direction.

 His feet were heavy due to the slime, but it didn’t matter.

 However.

Whoosh-

 What Kim Jun saw when he reached behind the pillar was only empty space.

“Where did…”

 The moment Kim Jun turned his head, he caught a faint afterimage flickering behind another pillar in the distance.

‘Running away?’

 It was certain. Someone was watching him while maintaining distance at the same time.

“Is hide-and-seek fun?”

 Kim Jun raised the 「Dragon Eater」. 「Black Flame」 began to blaze on the blade.

“Then how about this.”

Whoooosh-!

 A massive black flame flew toward that pillar.

 The marble pillar melted instantly and collapsed.

Rumble-

 But when the dust cleared, there was no one there either.

 Kim Jun’s gaze turned to another pillar. He caught another subtle movement there.

‘It keeps moving.’

[Divine Surveillance Count: 01 minutes 35 seconds]

 The situation was getting worse. As long as that thing was watching him, the count would keep rising.

 But there was something strange.

‘How does it move so fast?’

 The surrounding floor was covered in slime from the Lumina Worms.

 Even Kim Jun found it inconvenient as his feet stuck with every movement.

 But that unidentified being was moving freely without such constraints.

‘Quite fast.’

 Kim Jun analyzed the opponent’s movements.

 If assuming it was a Hunter, it had speed rivaling at least A-rank.

‘But compared to Suin, it’s nothing much. I can catch it.’

 Kim Jun made his decision. It was time to end this hide-and-seek.

 He began to take his characteristic stance.

 Slightly bending his knees, leaning his center forward, concentrating all his body’s strength into one point.

Crackle-

 The surrounding air began to swirl toward Kim Jun.

Flicker-

 The target was behind the third pillar.

Thud thud thud thud-

 And the moment his pupils glowed red like lava-

“「Acceleration」.”

───!

Bang-!

Rumble-

“Kugh!”

 The being hiding behind the pillar was pushed by Kim Jun’s charge and rolled on the floor.

 As the black hood came off, its identity was revealed.

“Finally showing your face.”

 Kim Jun said while pointing Dragon Eater at its throat.

 It was a man with half his face disfigured by burns.

 The scars looked as if his skin had melted, but there was no particular change in Kim Jun’s expression.

“Who are you?”

“…What?”

 The man’s eyes widened. It meant he didn’t recognize him.

“I asked who you are.”

 Kim Jun asked again. He truly seemed not to remember.

“…Keke. Puhahahaha!”

 The man’s face contorted. It was an expression mixed with rage and humiliation.

 The fact that the one who had made him this way didn’t even remember him was even more humiliating.

“My name is Kim Yun-seok!”

“Who’s that supposed to be.”

“You, you! How insolent!”

 Kim Yun-seok gritted his teeth and shouted.

“Because of you! Because of you I became like this!”

 Kim Yun-seok clutched his face.

 The bumpy scars looked even more grotesque.

“Because of you all my comrades died! Because of you I became like this…”

“Ah, there was a surviving bug?”

 This guy’s identity was Eum.

 Kim Jun coldly cut him off.

“When you harmed others, you should have been prepared for the consequences.”

“Harmed others?”

 Kim Yun-seok rather sneered.

“Right. We killed people and stole their equipment. So what?”

 Kim Yun-seok’s voice was calm. As if he was stating something natural.

“This world is originally like that. It’s natural for the strong to devour the weak.”

“So you killed innocent people.”

“Innocent people?”

 Kim Yun-seok laughed loudly.

“Where are there innocent people in this world? They’re all just bastards who stab each other in the back to survive.”

“Interesting way of thinking.”

 Kim Jun snorted.

“Then it would be natural for you to die too. Since you’re weak.”

“Weak?”

 Kim Yun-seok’s eyes turned fierce.

“Yeah, I was weak before. But now it’s different.”

 Kim Yun-seok slowly stood up.

“I’ve gained power now. Power much greater than the wounds you gave me.”

Hisss-

 Two curved daggers flashed in Kim Yun-seok’s hands.

“You’re the prey.”

Ssssssak-!

 Kim Yun-seok rolled across the ground and slipped into Kim Jun’s blind spot.

 Like a snake, smooth and silent.

Whiiik-

 The Eum dagger in his left hand aimed for Kim Jun’s Achilles tendon. Simultaneously, the right-hand Eum dagger flew toward his ribs.

Clang-!

 He had clearly thought he’d slaughtered all those bastards, but somehow this one was still alive – he couldn’t understand why.

Chaeng-!

 But one thing was certain: the opportunity to correct a mistake he’d unknowingly made had come to him on its own. 

 A murderous gaze turned toward Kim Yun-seok.

“!!”

 Kim Yun-seok’s body was crushed by the killing intent. 

 But he turned his body toward Kim Jun again.

 He had paid some price for this. 

 He hadn’t given up being ‘human’ just to show such a pathetic display.

[Divine Surveillance Count: 02 minutes 10 seconds]

 Now the time was 2 minutes 10 seconds. 

 If he could just endure about 8 more minutes, Kim Jun would die. 

 So he would give everything he had, pouring all his strength into these final 8 minutes.

 Kim Yun-seok lowered his body and took his stance.

“「Shadow Fusion」.”

 Instantly Kim Yun-seok’s body became faint and began merging with the surrounding shadows.

Shiiiik-

 Two curved Eum daggers flew toward Kim Jun from different angles.

 One precisely aimed for his neck, the other for his heart.

Clang! Clang!

‘His movements have changed.’

 The attacks were much more precise and faster than before. 

 Kim Yun-seok disappeared again the moment he landed.

Ssssak-

 Not even the sound of footsteps could be heard.

‘From where?’

 The moment Kim Jun surveyed his surroundings, he felt a cold presence behind him.

Whiiik-

 He tried to turn and block, but that sensation was a feint Kim Yun-seok had aimed for.

 The real attack came from his side.

Pat-

 His collar tore and a shallow wound appeared.

‘This aura is…’

 The exact same aura he’d felt from the Ophanim.

‘When caught in the Ophanim’s sight, the count goes up. The monsters share vision with the Ophanim too.’

 The puzzle pieces began fitting together in Kim Jun’s mind.

‘Then when Kim Yun-seok looks at me, the count goes up too…’

“「Chain Eum Daggers」!”

 Kim Yun-seok’s attack began again.

 This time Eum daggers flew from all directions simultaneously. As if multiple people were attacking.

Puk!

 Kim Jun quickly swung 「Dragon Eater」 to block, but it wasn’t perfect. 

‘I couldn’t block it?’

—-

[Name]: Kim Jun

[Race]: Half-Human Half-Demon Half-Dragon

[Grade]: S-rank

[Level]: 45

[Current Status]: No abnormalities

—-

 Kim Jun calmly checked his status.

 His movement speed and attack speed were definitely decreasing.

 But no debuffs were displayed in his status window.

‘I’m getting slower, and he’s getting faster?’

 At first he was A-rank level, but now he was approaching S-rank speed.

 Just as he was about to think more deeply about the connection between Kim Yun-seok and the Ophanim,

“Is now the time to be thinking about other things?!”

 Kim Yun-seok shouted angrily and revealed himself.

 His face was twisted with rage.

“To think of other things while fighting me! Are you still looking down on me?!”

 Even stronger killing intent erupted from Kim Yun-seok’s body.

[Divine Surveillance Count: 02 minutes 45 seconds]

“Die!”

 Kim Yun-seok gripped Eum daggers in reverse grip in both hands and charged.

[Divine Surveillance Count: 03 minutes 02 seconds]

 The same attack.

Clang-

[Divine Surveillance Count: 03 minutes 15 seconds]

 The same pattern.

Ppagak-

[Divine Surveillance Count: 03 minutes 49 seconds]

 The same speed. 

Seogek-

“Kuhahahaha, kuhahahahahahaha!”

“….”

 Kim Yun-seok’s attacks were definitely the same. But as time passed, they became increasingly difficult to counter. 

 Why? 

[Divine Surveillance Count: 04 minutes 30 seconds]

 Time was approaching the halfway point, and his attacks were growing stronger. 

 Only monsters should have been affected by the Ophanim’s count. 

 Why was he getting stronger? 

 The light-attribute aura emanating from his body, identical to the Ophanim’s.

‘Light attribute isn’t something you can easily obtain.’

 And the phenomenon of growing stronger over time.

“Ha!”

 Kim Jun let out a laugh as if finding it absurd. 

“You became a monster, didn’t you?”

*

 Blood dripped steadily from his comrades’ corpses.

Whoooosh-

 Rain began to fall. Red blood and cold rainwater mixed together, flowing toward the drain.

“Kugh-! Gasp!”

 Kim Yun-seok, half-dead, leaned against the wall barely breathing.

 Half his face burned with searing pain. Blood flowed from wounds all over his body.

 But there was something that hurt even more than that.

“Damn it… I can’t end like this.”

 The past flashed through Kim Yun-seok’s mind.

 He had been different since childhood. While other children behaved nicely, he found pleasure in tormenting the weak.

 Catching cats to torture them, stoning stray dogs to death – it was routine for him.

 It was the same after awakening as a Hunter.

 Though he was a pathetic E-rank, even that was absolute power against ordinary people.

“Hand over your money, you bastard.”

 Threatening ordinary citizens in back alleys to extort money was his daily routine.

 He threw punches at those who resisted, sometimes beating them until bones broke.

 That’s when he encountered Assassin Guild ‘Eum’.

“A guy like you is exactly the talent we’ve been looking for.”

 Assassin Guild ‘Eum’ recognized his true nature. A born sadist, trash who enjoyed others’ suffering.

“Please… spare…”

Stab-

“Hahaha! This is what makes life worth living!”

 After that, he killed countless innocent people.

 He could get stronger by killing?

“Wahahahaha!!”

 What a wonderful method this was!

 For Kim Yun-seok, Assassin Guild ‘Eum’ was a place where he could fully unleash his true nature.

 Kim Yun-seok had always been a predator. Others were merely prey.

 The sounds of the weak wailing, eyes filled with despair, begging for their lives.

 All of it was the ultimate pleasure for him.

 But Kim Jun.

 The moment that bastard appeared, everything was turned upside down.

 Kim Yun-seok, who believed himself to be a predator, instantly fell to the level of weak prey.

“How dare… how dare you do this to me!”

 That desperate sense of powerlessness he felt before Kim Jun. The humiliation of experiencing in reverse the very emotions he had so enjoyed.

 The fact that he, who had lived his entire life trampling on others, was regarded as laughably insignificant as an ant.

 It completely shattered Kim Yun-seok’s pride.

“I’m an insect?”

 That gaze Kim Jun had given him. Those cold, indifferent eyes as if looking at a bug on the street.

 That was what Kim Yun-seok could tolerate least of all.

Crackle-

Flicker-

“Kugh, kughhh…!”

 But the black flames lodged between his wounds continued to melt Kim Yun-seok’s body without being extinguished.

 He wanted revenge.

 He wanted to kill.

 And he wanted to kill people again.

 There were still mountains of bastards he needed to kill! He could still get stronger!

 Then, someone appeared.

『Do you want revenge?』

“…Who are you?”

『More importantly.』

 He approached Kim Yun-seok.

『Do you desire revenge?』

 Kim Yun-seok’s eyes flashed.

“Is it possible?”

『Of course.』

“Why are you trying to help me?”

『To respond to an anomaly.』

“An anomaly?”

『You don’t need to know. Right?』

 Right. That was correct. Whoever this being was, whatever they wanted.

 Kim Yun-seok raised his body and shouted.

“I want it. Give me power! Power enough to kill Kim Jun!”

 And he wanted to taste that pleasure again. The thrill of ending someone’s life with his own hands. Especially that bastard Kim Jun!

『Kukuku. Aren’t you curious what the price will be?』

“I don’t care!”

 Kim Yun-seok screamed.

“Take my life, my soul, whatever! Just let me kill that bastard! Let me kill people again!”

『Good, good.』

 The unidentified being nodded with satisfaction.

 Then unknown tentacles from it began to wrap around Kim Yun-seok.

“Gasp!”

 He wanted to kill people again.

“Ugh!”

 He wanted to hear those screams again.

“Kughhhh!”

 He wanted to see those faces fallen into despair again.

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

 Even if it meant becoming a monster.

“I’ll kill him! Without fail!”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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