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They lay sprawled on the floor like worms crushed underfoot, their condition showing that they were not merely pretending.

Kang Jin-hyuk assessed that the situation was largely under control and strode confidently toward the bar.

There, he grabbed the brown-haired man, who was collapsed on the ground, by both shoulders.

“Hey, I have something to ask you, so get up.”

The man with the broken nose, bleeding profusely, groaned as Kang Jin-hyuk shook him violently and opened his eyes.

“Uh… Huh?!”

The moment his consciousness returned, the first thing he saw was Kang Jin-hyuk’s face.

Seeing the person who had beaten him rendered him flustered, akin to a fish flopping helplessly out of water.

The brown-haired man tried to back away to put some distance between them, but with Kang Jin-hyuk’s firm grip on his shoulders, he couldn’t move as he wished.

As a consequence of his foolish resistance, he received a body blow packed full of weight.

“Ugh!”

Kang Jin-hyuk released his grip, anticipating that the brown-haired man might vomit up the food he had eaten.

Fortunately, the man managed to quietly kneel without ruining the floor with his bile.

His expression showed he was struggling against the pain, which was quite pitiful to behold.

While the brown-haired man was paying the price for his actions, Kang Jin-hyuk crouched down in front of him.

Adjusting his eye level to match, Kang Jin-hyuk glared at the man with intensity.

“It looks like you’re not a rookie.”

The way he approached, though clumsy, was strategic as he had set up his companions nearby.

He had gone through the trouble of spiking drinks to set up this stage, and every little movement had been part of a careful plan.

‘Damn it!’

The bartender, who had been hiding behind the bar, cursed inwardly.

He was currently acting as though he was terrified like a victim, but he felt he might get exposed as part of the group soon.

‘I need to take him down before he says anything unnecessary.’

Seizing the moment when Kang Jin-hyuk was focused on the brown-haired man, the bartender secretly opened his inventory to pull out a weapon.

This was the perfect opportunity with the brown-haired man distracted.

He believed that Kang Jin-hyuk was unaware of his presence and relaxed.

But that was merely a delusion.

Having seen the bartender’s karma value, Kang Jin-hyuk had already realized they were in cahoots from the start.

“Anyone with a karma value over 400 can’t just be an ordinary person.”

When Kang Jin-hyuk cleverly acted as if he wasn’t paying attention, dodging the sword just before it struck, the bartender’s complexion drained of color.

If his surprise attack failed, how could he possibly defeat the man who had single-handedly taken down the whole group?

The bartender braced himself for a punch aimed at his face or torso, expecting it just like the others had experienced.

Terrified, he squeezed his eyes shut.

Yet, contrary to his expectations, no punch ever came.

Kang Jin-hyuk kicked away the sword that the bartender had been holding and seized him by the collar.

“The real target was you from the very beginning.”

The brown-haired man was merely a bait to lure the bartender into showing himself.

Choosing such a bothersome method was because Kang Jin-hyuk wanted to catch clear evidence instead of relying solely on karma values for interrogation.

While it was true that individuals with high karma values were usually criminals, it’s still just conjecture at that point.

There was always a chance that someone unrelated could get dragged in, so he needed concrete evidence to ensure certainty.

With Kang Jin-hyuk pushing him against the wall, the bartender was choking.

“Talk, and don’t make me ask a second time.”

“W-What should I say?”

“Who’s backing you?”

“W-What do you mean? There’s no one…”

The bartender’s claims were utterly worthless excuses.

“Despite this recurring, it stretches credulity that you don’t have a backer.”

Even as he was pinned down, the bartender kept nodding vigorously, trying to assert his innocence.

But since Kang Jin-hyuk observed his karma value increasing every time he nodded,

that kind of act would never work.

“Stop lying.”

“No! I’m not lying! It’s the truth!”

Kang Jin-hyuk felt a wave of anger as the bartender acted scandalous as if he were innocent in front of him.

He swung the hand gripping the bartender and slammed him to the ground, causing the glass cups resting atop rocks to shatter and crash to pieces.

“Ugh!”

The bartender felt disoriented from the impact that rattled his insides.

As he barely managed to hold onto consciousness, Kang Jin-hyuk asked him again.

“Say it before you get hurt even more.”

“There’s nothing like that…”

The bartender persisted in his denial, trembling from fear of being beaten, almost shielding his eyes with closed lids.

For someone typically cowardly like him, remaining tight-lipped even under duress suggested he held a strong loyalty or was terrified of their backer.

It would probably take a considerable amount of pain to extract information from him.

“Tch.”

Time was running out as sirens from police cars began to echo from outside.

“They couldn’t have called the police… so someone who ran away must have made a report?”

Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t have any guilt in his heart, yet he still wanted to avoid interacting with the police at that moment.

Not long after he had been involved in a murder, being investigated again would be a puzzling issue.

“Ugh ugh, if you don’t want the trouble, you would do well to let go of me.”

In spite of the police sirens outside, the bartender showed no sign of fear and instead warned Kang Jin-hyuk.

Kang Jin-hyuk quickly assumed the bartender’s sudden demeanor change implied that there were connections among the police, too.

“Looks like you have some allies among the cops.”

“Who knows?”

The bartender smirked as though the situation had dramatically reversed.

Bam! Bam!

Outside, police officers slammed against the door with all their might.

As the door hangers rattled but didn’t give way, the officers began to yell threats.

“We know you are in there!”

“Open the door now!”

Despite the police’s shouts, the bartender displayed no signs of panic and remained nonchalant.

“Even if the door is sturdy, it will give way soon enough.”

“Then?”

“There’s no better chance than now to escape.”

The bartender spoke boldly, showing confidence to the point of speaking steep disrespect to Kang Jin-hyuk.

His attitude differed dramatically from when he had been beaten, indicating he had some reliability.

Unable to endure the bartender’s arrogance any longer, Kang Jin-hyuk threw a punch.

“Ugh!”

The punch sank deep into the bartender’s belly, sending violent shockwaves through his internal organs.

Unable to bear the pain, the bartender rolled his eyes and fainted right there.

Kang Jin-hyuk slung the unconscious bartender over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

Lucia couldn’t understand why he was doing such a thing.

“Are we taking that guy with us?”

“For now, I need to sort things out.”

“Why?”

From Lucia’s perspective, it felt like a needless endeavor that strayed from their original goal.

“Our plan was to observe the behavior of people with high karma values. If we just leave him here, what was the point of all this?”

In terms of their situation, Lucia’s argument held validity.

They had already understood enough about the intentions behind the actions of individuals with karma values above 300.

Continuing an experiment that had already run its course seemed pointless.

Yet, Kang Jin-hyuk felt differently.

“There’s still a foul smell lingering. I can’t finish this just like this.”

As he picked up the sword dropped by the bartender, he continued.

“And I can smell some money too.”

To which Lucia, still puzzled by his explanation, observed as Kang Jin-hyuk handed the sword to her.

“Looks like it’s at least a rare grade.”

“A rare grade?”

“It means it’s a very valuable item. The description of the item states that it’s a sword made of rare materials.”

Lucia examined the blade closely, though she wasn’t a blacksmith and couldn’t gauge its worth, she could tell it was certainly superior to the junk that littered the market.

The blue sheen on the blade was beyond what ordinary iron could produce.

“Despite the knights being out of work, it’s bizarre to see hunters with an item like this.”

Kang Jin-hyuk recalled the hunters that had provoked him and felt reassured.

The ones currently lying in this establishment were barely C-rank or lower.

Individuals who couldn’t hunt monsters without the aid of a guild.

For those lowly hunters to possess a rare weapon like this wasn’t plausible.

If a C-rank hunter had casually found a rare item, they would have hastily exchanged it for immediate cash to get by.

“There’s definitely someone sponsoring these guys.”

Someone likely wealthy enough to influence police officers.

While investigating such forces could put him at risk, Kang Jin-hyuk believed it was worth taking on given the potential for reward.

“Usually, stealing items from other hunters is considered a serious crime. But robbing a criminal group is no sin.”

“Oh, so that’s where you’re headed?”

Lucia finally understood Kang Jin-hyuk’s intentions.

Dealing with brigands was an act she had also engaged in when her finances ran low as an adventurer.

“Though it’s quite a profitable and appealing plan, you might get in trouble if things go awry.”

From past experiences, Lucia recounted how lightly she assumed she was dealing with mere brigands only to discover they were tied to regional nobility, thus turning the nobility against her.

“There’s someone you can trust in this case, so it should be fine.”

“A trustworthy figure?”

Lucia then realized that Kang Jin-hyuk was looking directly at her.

She suspected he meant her specifically.

“Don’t tell me you see me as that figure?”

“Hahaha, since we’re in this together, I think it’s not terrible to go all the way.”

“Not terrible? Pray tell, what do you mean by bringing me into it?”

“You really shouldn’t worry. So far, I haven’t encountered anyone stronger than you.”

“I think that’s the problem.”

Lucia sighed heavily, exhaling in exasperation.

While she would have liked to counter with an equally witty retort, the police were actively breaking down the door behind them.

Time was slipping away rapidly for them to leisurely converse.

“Let’s bail from here. We shouldn’t get caught by those cops.”

Indeed, getting arrested by the police would lead to disastrous outcomes on various fronts.

From the vibe set by the bartender, it was likely they would get branded as suspects in this ordeal despite having done nothing wrong.

“Let’s escape through the back door.”

As Kang Jin-hyuk pointed toward the door, Lucia dashed ahead, her left foot kicking the door fiercely.

Though it appeared slender, she managed to shove free a door locked tight, the sound staggering loud enough for the police waiting outside to hear.

“What’s happening inside?!”

“Open the door quickly!”

As if they had brought along a professional door-breaking machine, the police officers began to crash their bodies against the door, rattling the locks.

With little time remaining, Kang Jin-hyuk hastily fled through the back door.

Lucia remained acutely aware of her surroundings, using her advanced senses to scout for paths without any presence of people around.

“This way!”

Kang Jin-hyuk adjusted the bartender he was carrying and followed closely behind Lucia as they sped over the garden wall.