Chapter 48: Hunter Crimes (3)
Did Park Jun-tae notice there were no passersby?
“Hey, my motto is to live honestly.”
He led the conversation with a relaxed demeanor.
Fortunately, after I showed interest in his proposal, the life-threatening aura seemed to ease a bit.
That didn’t mean the situation had improved, though.
“Anyway, it seems you’re thinking about switching jobs. Hey, you really thought this through! If you join us, work will be fun, and the kids are all nice.”
The well-groomed man spoke with a big smile.
“Alright then, let’s discuss the details at my hideout. We both have plenty of questions for each other.”
But even if I pretended to join the organization to avert the crisis for now, what would come next?
Even a five-year-old knows not to follow a stranger.
Moving to a different location could lead to more complicated problems.
‘With my F-Class power, if I’m trapped somewhere, I won’t be able to escape alone!’
I was sure.
Some instinct told me that this was the only moment to escape from this guy.
So, I momentarily stopped talking and fell deep into thought.
“What’s up? You aren’t changing your mind, are you?”
“……”
“By the way, I smashed the security cameras over there on my way in. Just something to keep in mind.”
For now, he was clearly quite relaxed.
There was no need to rush in front of someone I could take down anytime.
“But damn, you really are F-Class. I didn’t know until I met you, but your Awakening Level….”
It was a confidence based on evident grounds.
That man also confirmed Kim Gi-ryeo’s dreadful magic condition right here.
Park Jun-tae grinned at me and then pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it to the ground.
‘A shadowy lump?’
I glimpsed it for a moment; it looked like a magic tool for quick movement.
“…Hey, you really don’t plan on joining us, do you?”
But about three seconds later.
Since I was still keeping my mouth shut, he must have sensed something was off. Suddenly, he pressed on.
“No.”
“What do you mean no? It’s obvious.”
He took a step closer.
I took a step back to match.
“Honestly, we don’t have anyone in our gang who can use brainwashing skills.”
“And so?”
“If you keep acting this way, there’s only one option left.”
Alright, remain calm.
Just because there seemed to be nobody in this alley doesn’t mean it’s not a park.
If I broaden my search range even a little, I could find quite a few passersby.
Also, I always carry a magic amplifier in my pocket.
Right now, I was secretly using it while he was not looking.
‘It’s definitely slower than ingesting, but…’
I clenched my fist tightly, scratching my palm with my nails.
Applying potion to the visible veins would serve as a temporary measure.
“Are you trying to kill me?”
I had no choice.
This really wasn’t something I could handle alone. I need to request help.
Whether it’s Ahn Yoon-seung or the police, I would have to call.
“Haha, that’s only natural.”
And with this kind of chaos, someone outside might just call the cops.
“I’d rather see you getting attached to the competition than… um?”
Rustle…
From somewhere far away, the sound of countless trees shaking started to ring.
And just as the sound, resembling a heavy downpour, reached my ears.
“What the.”
Park Jun-tae reflexively looked up to check the direction of the noise.
I had no need to engage in such actions.
I already knew what was happening.
Rumble rumble.
Caw! Caw! Caw!
Beeeep. Beeeep.
This was the best I could do right now.
Let me put it simply.
With my life on the line, I cast a spell to gather all the intact corpses of birds from the mountains behind me.
“Birds?”
I created a massive sound pollution to distract the park-goers and those Earthlings over there.
Beep beep beep!
Caw! Caw!
“Ugh!”
A black cloud of dead birds swarmed into the area.
Great tits, wild pigeons, crows.
The birds of all kinds gathered, screeching until their vocal cords ripped as they circled around me and Park Jun-tae.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
There were so many of them; their flapping wings created a gust that hit me.
“This guy, he really wasn’t an appraiser…!”
But actually, this was the end.
This spectacle looked flashy, but the attack power was zero.
With F-Class magic, even a headbutt from these crows wouldn’t scratch him.
Ack.
As expected, my mana ran out in just a few seconds.
Thud. Dozens of birds halted their movements and fell lifeless to the ground.
‘Looks like I overdid it with that many…’
But that was enough.
While he was distracted by the birds, I successfully pulled out my phone and dialed 112.
‘Anyway, with my physical abilities, trying to escape would just get me caught anyway. At this point, even if I die, that guy is going to call the cops. The bracelet’s shield should buy me a few more seconds!’
I took a deep breath, filled with desperation.
I originally intended to raise my phone to the mic and plead my case.
“──Wait! Stop!”
However, before I could lift the phone to my face, a loud cry emerged from his side.
“Help me!”
Huh…?
I didn’t quite understand why he was saying what I was going to say.
“Ah, ahaha! Let’s, let’s talk. Let’s talk.”
Park Jun-tae suddenly lowered his stance.
His face was turning pale.
*
Park Jun-tae.
Or Pyo Na-gil.
Nothing about this man, from his name to his appearance, was real, and he had unknowingly expressed a genuine sense of fear.
This was unbelievable.
Caw! Caw!
At first, he thought, what the hell are those birds?
Of course, he possessed several skills aside from cutting, so he thought he could handle this amount.
Beeeep…
Chirp chirp…
His expectations were shattered completely.
Kim Gi-ryeo didn’t summon those birds to show off his controlling ability.
“…!”
A few seconds later.
In an instant, the noise ceased.
The chirping birds lost their voices and plummeted to the ground in unison.
Thud thud thud.
Watching the shower of corpses falling from the sky made his head freeze in disbelief.
The power to kill living beings without any premonition and without even touching them.
To his knowledge, there was only one skill capable of such a feat.
‘A curse-type hunter…’
It was an exceptionally rare category, and even if there were probably two curse hunters in Korea, it wouldn’t be that surprising.
The problem lay elsewhere.
‘The birds died instantly.’
Park Jun-tae recalled the recent information he had gathered on curse skills to assassinate Esther.
Curses are typically status altering skills.
In fact, fighting solely with this was significantly challenging.
Usually, one couldn’t take a life just through cursing.
At best, it could dull their movements or cause brief confusion…
The primal survival instincts of animals were indeed strong defensive mechanisms.
Yet the ability to kill living beings solely through curses was possible for just one person on Earth.
‘This is unbelievable.’
Seo Esther.
The mass death of creatures by curses was something only that S-Class Hunter could achieve.
So how could such a scene unfold right now?
‘Who the hell is this guy!’
In a state of chaos, Park Jun-tae glanced around aimlessly.
And there, a chilling sight caught his eye.
‘Ugh!’
Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter.
He was watching this side without a single change in his emotions.
Why hadn’t he noticed this sooner?
Despite only being F-Class, he had shown no reaction at all to the continuous threats to his life.
He hadn’t flinched even once.
‘Could it be that there’s an item that lowers Awakening Levels like this…? Have I been duped?’
There was no more time to think after that.
Park Jun-tae squeezed his eyes shut and yelled.
“Help me!”
The mass death of the birds was a warning shot.
That man was currently displaying his power while observing our reactions.
‘If I mess up here, I’ll be cursed!’
Park Jun-tae pretended to surrender on the outside while grinding his teeth on the inside.
Why had they put so much effort into bringing [Night Walker] back?
Curses were known for their long range.
In other words, they were the worst match against his abilities.
Originally, he thought to overcome this gap with stealth skills.
If he could quietly close the distance and launch a surprise attack, the rest could be solved with overwhelming offensive power.
‘Ugh…’
But against that blond hunter, even that wouldn’t work.
“Begging for your life…?”
Eyes that could recognize an Invisible Man.
The ability to kill living beings with mere will.
In fact, this was more troublesome than Esther.
“Ah, hello. I’m calling to report something.”
Gi-ryeo quietly observed the surrendered man, lifting the phone he held.
“I’m at △△ City Citizen Park.”
How could he be calmly making a call in such a situation? Was he out of his mind?
“There’s been an awakening incident, so please hurry up…”
Park Jun-tae thought the other guy was distracted.
So he tried to slowly close the distance, but as soon as his leg muscles twitched, Gi-ryeo covered the phone’s mic with his palm.
“Don’t move.”
Kim Gi-ryeo’s attitude changed.
He spoke in a low, oppressive tone, stopping Park Jun-tae.
At this point, he had realized that the other guy was misunderstanding something.
“If you do any funny business, I’ll turn you into one of those dead birds.”
Kim Gi-ryeo threw out the threat as if he had never been scared before.
How brazen!
However, Park Jun-tae had no choice but to fall for this act.
“Ah, ah, I understand.”
When viewed objectively, Kim Gi-ryeo had a rather chilling demeanor.
Of course, it’s not common to overly underestimate someone just because their eyes looked a bit scary…
But the behavior of the other side, being an alien, was often oddly warped.
“Sorry for suddenly stopping my words. Detective, how soon can you arrive?”
Just like now.
Kim Gi-ryeo could unintentionally instill a sense of fear.
“Yes. Understood.”
He was dangerous.
Park Jun-tae thought that while looking at the man holding the phone.
Even as a High-Ranking Awakened, he was calmly making a call with his eyes wide open.
This meant he didn’t even consider him an opponent, right?
‘Damn it!’
He failed to gauge the level of his opponent. At least that’s what Park Jun-tae thought.
Even a bold villain who commits countless crimes values his own life.
In the end, Park Jun-tae kept an eye on the situation and seized the moment when Gi-ryeo’s guard loosened to escape.
“Uh?”
It was an obvious action, but it couldn’t be prevented.
‘Oh no! I totally forgot about that!’
The guy had used the magic tool, which he had laid on the ground earlier, to make his escape.
The man surrounded by a dark shadow disappeared in an instant.
Gi-ryeo let out a sigh of relief that he had been holding back. It seemed he had managed to get through somehow.
“Is this the place?”
“Wow, what’s this? Are all these corpses?”
“Ay, how pitiful~”
A moment later.
Perhaps due to the ruckus, citizens from the park began gathering here one by one.
As Gi-ryeo quietly observed the situation, he soon spotted a familiar uniform among the crowd.
The police had arrived.
“Hmm?”
But there seemed to be someone else mixed in unexpectedly…
