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It was no wonder.

He had sent someone out to find a new mine, only for that person to return empty-handed, dragging along a filthy beggar instead.

The man with his face covered by a bag was sprawled on the ground, his hands and feet tightly bound—like an insect pressed against the floor.

Though still, he seemed almost dead, but fortunately, he was still breathing.

“You lot are supposed to be looking for a mine, and here you are pulling off a kidnapping instead.”

The dwarf couldn’t fathom why they would carry out such a sordid act right in front of someone else’s workshop.

“I couldn’t think of anywhere else to hide him. Ha ha…”

“Is that a proper answer?!”

As the dwarf raised the hammer he held tightly, Kang Jin-hyuk quickly thrust a sword into his hands—the very sword he had taken from bartender Choi Seo-hoon.

“For now, take a look at this sword.”

“What do you expect me to do with it? I could make three more of these in a day!”

“No, look at the materials used for the sword.”

Finally, the dwarf set down his hammer and grabbed the sword that Kang Jin-hyuk offered him.

Just by eyeing it, he grasped the materials and techniques used in its crafting, thumping his nose with disdain.

“The materials are decent iron. But who was the fool that put out such a shoddy piece?”

“I figured you’d think the same, sir. That’s why I brought it here; it’s such a waste of materials.”

“Is that so…”

The dwarf caught on to Kang Jin-hyuk’s intention in showing him the sword.

“So you brought this in place of a mine, huh?”

Indeed, it was preferable to bring back iron that had already been refined than to mine raw ore.

However, the amount brought back was nowhere near sufficient to satisfy the dwarf.

“But what am I to do with just this one? You should have at least brought back a bundle worth carrying!”

“I’m planning to do just that.”

Kang Jin-hyuk then pointed to Choi Seo-hoon, who lay face down on the floor.

“What’s that brat got to do with this?”

“He’s tied to the organization that provided that sword.”

“Organization? Are you saying you’re tangled up with some crime group?”

“Exactly. Seeing as they provided valuable items even to the scrubs, it seems pretty substantial.”

“Well then! How on earth did you get mixed up with that bunch?”

“They approached Lucia first for human trafficking.”

The dwarf’s face turned to a perplexed expression, as if he couldn’t comprehend.

“They’re supposed to be good kids, aren’t they? How can you tell they’re a crime organization?”

“Damn it, this short bastard…!”

Luccia, who had been silently listening, shot up in fury.

When she pulled a dagger from her pocket, the dwarf readied his hammer again.

“Oh, so you want to fight, do you?”

Before things escalated, Kang Jin-hyuk quickly stepped between them.

“Let’s calm down here and interrogate him as planned.”

It was meant to pacify Lucia, but it was the dwarf who answered.

“If you’re going to do it, find somewhere other than here. I don’t care to see a man scream in agony in front of my workshop.”

Swatting his hand dismissively, the dwarf expressed his distaste.

“You’re okay with goblin screams but not human ones? How arbitrary.”

“Since it’s in front of my workshop, it’s only right I make the rules, you little brat.”

Kang Jin-hyuk found some logic in the dwarf’s assertion, but Lucia did not seem to agree at all.

“It’s not like this dungeon belongs to you. Why make a fuss over nothing? You must be bottling up your emotions because you’re so short!”

“Breaking your face should be easy enough with this height! Want to give it a shot?”

As the dwarf and Lucia glared at each other like kindling ready to ignite, Kang Jin-hyuk rubbed his temples.

The sigh escaping him felt powerful enough to reverberate through the dungeon floor.

As he pondered over what to say to calm them down, a sound pulled his attention away instead—

“Uuhhhh! Ugh!!”

Choi Seo-hoon, who had been sprawled on the ground, was stirring as he regained consciousness, face still hidden under the bag.

Blinded and bound, panic naturally overtook him.

However, Lucia showed no signs of leniency, even if the reasoning was understandable.

“Shut up!”

She struck the bag-covered head of Choi Seo-hoon with a swift blow, causing him to slump immediately.

To Kang Jin-hyuk, it appeared as though his head should have cracked open.

“What happens if the hostage dies?”

“Don’t worry. He won’t die from something like this.”

Though she spoke with confidence, Kang Jin-hyuk found it hard to dismiss the sight of the recent incident as anything less than murder.

Still uncertain, Kang Jin-hyuk cautiously approached Choi Seo-hoon to check his breathing.

“…He isn’t breathing!”

“Uh?”

Luccia, who first laughed at the moment, broke into a cold sweat at the serious look on Kang Jin-hyuk’s face.

* * *

Thanks to the potion he had gulped down, Choi Seo-hoon regained his consciousness just before crossing the Sando River.

Now, he was trapped in an unfamiliar facility with no idea of where he was.

Something was covering his face, obstructing any view of his surroundings.

However, from the echoing voices, he could tell he was in an enclosed space.

‘Is there a burning smell too…?’

Choi Seo-hoon had learned his lesson from trying to move earlier and getting hit, so this time he kept his mouth shut.

He played unconscious for the chance to escape by contemplating ways to break free from the current situation.

‘Damn! I must find a way to untie these ropes first!’

Just moving a little revealed that the ropes were tied in such a way that ordinary strength wouldn’t get him free.

What kind of material could bind a hunter’s strength like this?

Perhaps they were some item created by a skilled craftsman.

Choi Seo-hoon decided against using brute force to escape.

“Looks like he’s pretending to be asleep while scheming in his head, huh?”

The sound of a familiar voice made Choi Seo-hoon’s shoulders twitch.

A thin, high-pitched voice—the moment he heard that sound, the face of the person behind it popped into his mind.

‘That woman dragged me here…!’

The one his associate had described as an excellent target.

Thinking back to just a few minutes before, his frustration boiled over.

‘If it weren’t for that damn hunter she brought with her, I wouldn’t be in this mess!’

Miscalculating his target had flipped his position—from a hunter trading on human trafficking to himself being abducted.

Life was unpredictable, that much was true, but this was exceedingly out of his expectations.

A person capable of challenging eight C-rank hunters shouldn’t waste time with monsters and run around the streets instead.

The more he thought about it, the less sense it made.

‘Is she perhaps here undercover?’

Choi Seo-hoon pushed that notion aside and found it ridiculous.

‘No, the police in this area have formed an alliance with the Tyrant guild. They wouldn’t suddenly turn around to investigate now.’

He ran through various possibilities in his head before carefully opening his mouth.

“You’re from Altron, huh?”

Judging by the skills, it was obvious he was facing off against a highly skilled hunter.

Surely it pointed to the guild Altron attacking them.

“I don’t know who you heard it from, but it’s best you stay out of our way.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because the Altron guild will be destroyed soon!”

Choi Seo-hoon had said those words with a sense of threat in mind.

Had he actually been from Altron, perhaps it would have been effective.

If it stormed into a confrontation between Altron and Tyrant, the latter would flip the tables like a tide against many sectors in crime.

Unfortunately for him, the attacker was not an Altron member.

“Are you trying to start a war?”

“A war? No! This is a massacre!”

Choi Seo-hoon chuckled maniacally as if under a spell.

Watching a person lose their sanity in real time, Kang Jin-hyuk quietly set down the gruesome tools he had been holding.

“It seems you’re getting more talkative than I expected even without torture.”

Lucia agreed with a nod.

“I did burn some hallucinogenic herbs to make him confess easier, but I never expected it would cause him to talk this much.”

When they had caught him at the bar, he had acted like he would never say a word.

Now, under the influence of the cheap herb, Choi Seo-hoon babbled uncontrollably.

Kang Jin-hyuk tightened his mask, fearing he might spill out too many words himself.

“So in summary, the organization backing them is the Tyrant guild.”

“What do they do?”

“The largest guild in the country.”

They were known for having two S-rank hunters and wielding substantial influence globally.

As they weighed the situation, it was not a foe one would tackle head-on relying on personal power alone.

“Seems far tougher than we anticipated.”

“What now? Just give it all up?”

“It’s a shame to have to let it lie.”

Kang Jin-hyuk believed that now, while Altron and Tyrant were still pre-occupied with each other, was a prime moment to take action.

While storming in head-on seemed impossible, perhaps they could take on a small outpost from Tyrant.

Even if the evidence got uncovered, it would likely be misidentified as Altron’s doing.

“How do you plan to pull off a slaughter? After all, their strength is likely equal to ours.”

At the question, Choi Seo-hoon’s eyes widened even further.

Breathing fumes from the herb, it was now apparent he was losing his reason.

Judging from how he was unraveling, Choi Seo-hoon ended up sharing secrets better kept till death.

“Why? Because the formation will soon be complete!”

“Formation?”

“Correct! The formation of the Alraune! Kiki-kik!”

Even when he disclosed a shocking truth, Kang Jin-hyuk was unable to fathom what he meant.

Contrarily, it was Lucia who reacted most intensely.

“Are you out of your mind?!”

She clawed Choi Seo-hoon by the collar with a pale face.

“Do you have any idea what that is?!”

“Of course! It’s a magical item that doubles your stats with just one dose! Kiki-kik!”

Choi Seo-hoon let out a series of high-pitched laughs which Luaia found unbearable.

When she lifted her foot, Kang Jin-hyuk reacted dramatically.

“What the hell, all of a sudden!”

“Do you not know? What those lunatics are attempting to create!”

While hearing the words, Kang Jin-hyuk had caught a clear picture of the situation.

If consuming the magical item led to absurd growth, then logically, it was a pursuit everyone would desire.

Desire could lead to rage, but there were lines one should not cross in the pursuit of greed.

The Alraune’s Magick was a method that overtly crossed that line.

“The large guilds should be abundant in hunting grounds! Why ever resort to something like that?”

“Leveling up is both time-consuming and exhausting, no? You C-rank hunters wouldn’t understand just how slow progression becomes after reaching A-rank.”

As levels increased, experience requirements also grew, and this applied particularly to S-rank hunters who were few and far between.

Just fighting monsters could no longer sustain their growth.

“Alraune’s Magick would let the Tyrant guild leader surpass S-rank!”

Becoming the one and only entity in the world.

That was the aspiration of the Tyrant guild leader, Choi Seo-hoon cackled.

“Are you going to let something like that happen?!”

“Stop me if you can! The ritual gets completed in a week!”

Choi Seo-hoon’s taunt glossed over the reality.

Kang Jin-hyuk knew he was challenging someone whose skills limited their chances against the Tyrant guild, even if the timing measured in days ran dangerously tight.

“…So it’s being cultivated directly within the guild?”

“Of course not, they’d get caught! They do it secretly in desolate areas away from prying eyes.”

Choi Seo-hoon, unaware that he had placed himself at a disadvantage, was still wrapped up in self-satisfaction.

With that, he carelessly revealed things he had yet to comprehend.

“If they attack after midnight, the guards will be down to a third. Might be easier, huh?”

Right when Kang Jin-hyuk thought he had obtained the necessary information, he shifted to contemplate how to deal with Choi Seo-hoon next.

Feeling he was no longer useful, he raised a question.

“How many women have you kidnapped up to now?”

“Well, let’s see? Maybe around twenty?”

Despite employing human fertilization, Choi Seo-hoon retained a casual demeanor.

He burst into laughter again that flowed out as if he had been in a heated fit of amusement.

Having had his fill with the matter, he rambled on from a previous digression.

“Uheh! So sad, the last girl we got was quite a find.”

“…”

“She’s not a virgin, but she’s high quality, and such a waste just to bury her!”

As the smoke inside the enclosed space expanded, Choi Seo-hoon’s laughter continued to swell alongside it.

The more overwhelming laughter echoed, the more Kang Jin-hyuk’s expression turned stony.

“What happens if I let loose here?”

Choi Seo-hoon couldn’t contain his wild laughter after seeing everyone’s reactions.

“Some thought they could save their skins if they stayed quiet? Nonsense! Hahaha!”

As Kang Jin-hyuk picked up the weapon he had put down earlier, Lucia acted first.

Lifting a small hammer used by the dwarf, she brought it down hard on Choi Seo-hoon’s head.

Although smaller than the dwarven variant, it would work sufficiently for breaking a human skull.

A dull, squishy sound echoed through the room, and the laughter was obliterated instantly.

The bag covering Choi Seo-hoon’s head stained entirely red within moments.

When Lucia glanced at Kang Jin-hyuk’s stunned expression, her shoulders shrugged once.

“Did you need to hear more?”

Kang Jin-hyuk shook his head in reply.