BRH 19

The fully bloomed Yubaeghwa releases a large amount of sweet fragrance, and those who inhale it experience a softening of the brain, as if they had ingested a psychotropic drug, readily spilling whatever is asked.

It is harmless to the human body, and daily life is possible after a few hours, so there are virtually no side effects.

Of course, it had no effect on Ha Do-heon, so inhaling it had no effect. Of course, the Hunters in the same space as him would be different.

As the flowers surrounding him emitted their fragrance, the eyes of the Hunter, which had been glowing, became dim. His body, which had been twisting and turning, gradually drooped.

“Hunter-nim, can you hear me?”

“Yes…? Yes… Of course… I can hear you.”

To Ha Do-heon’s question, the man slowly raised his drooping head and answered. Do-heon quickly asked.

“Do you happen to know any Hunter Management Bureau secrets? I asked why I was monitoring and tailing other Hunters earlier. I was wondering if you knew about that.”

“That… Oh… That? Of course, I know. This… you see. It’s an order… that was given only to the Team leader.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Ah… This is a secret… but the higher-ups, yes… an order came down.”

“What order?”

“A sample collection… that’s what they called it.”

Sample collection. Ha Do-heon’s lips hardened. He felt strangely uneasy. The man tilted his head repeatedly, then nodded as if he remembered something.

“About two years ago… you know Hui-seong Hunter. He’s famous as a Re-Awakened Hunter. That guy… was originally E-rank. But… uh, but… he got some kind of disease… and that’s how he became B-rank.”

“A disease?”

“Yes… Something about being infected with some cells… but I only heard about it in passing, so I don’t know the details. Anyway… the higher-ups are saying that getting that disease is how he got a higher rank…”

“Is that why you were monitoring B-rank Hunters recently?”

The man frowned slightly at the mention of B-rank Hunters. As if he remembered something in the middle, his drooping head perked up again.

“Ah, that’s right… That guy’s… party has a high survival rate and a fast completion time… that’s the analysis that came out. So… they’re looking for guys who got sick like Hui-seong again… but what would lower guys like us know? We just do what we’re told…”

As if drunk, the man spilled out the words he had been holding inside. Anyone who saw it would think he was speaking his true feelings while drunk.

“These days, Hunter-nim… these days, Double Dungeons are appearing a lot…”

“Double Dungeons? There’s only one that’s been made public recently.”

“Oh my… did you believe that? There have been about… five recently. So the higher-ups… are really sweating it. If, what was it… uh, if a rank 5 or higher appears, we’re all… screwed, aren’t we? So they’re looking for Re-Awakened.”

The man revealed a few more facts.

One, the appearance of Double Dungeons has been frequent recently, and the rank is abnormally high.

Two, the Hunter Management Bureau is looking for Re-Awakened Hunters.

Three, Hui-seong, who is a Re-Awakened, has been showing strange signs lately, and they are controlling the media about it.

Four, there are several Hunters who exceed the average of the database besides Ha Do-heon.

After revealing that much, the Hunter blinked for a moment, then drooped his head and lost consciousness. Huh, could it be? Do-heon was startled, wondering if there were any side effects, and gestured to Lime to stop and examined the man.

“Snore… Wheeze, snore… Cough!”

“……”

He was just sleeping?!

Since it was the first time it had been used on a person, it was impossible to know what dangerous factors there might be. Only after carefully examining the man’s body did Ha Do-heon breathe a sigh of relief.

Now that he had the information, if he took the man back behind the memorial hall, there would be no more perfect crime than this.

“If you sleep soundly and wake up behind the memorial hall, you won’t be able to tell if it’s a dream or reality. It’s been 30 minutes… perfect. Oh my… I’m sorry.”

So he had to hurry and move him before the man woke up. Ha Do-heon, who had untied the rope, was just bending down to carry the man when.

He faintly smelled cigarette smoke from somewhere. Sniffing, Do-heon wrinkled his nose slightly at the strangely familiar smell. This wasn’t just any cigarette smell he’d smelled once or twice…

“!”

Before he could even realize it. Do-heon felt the air gathering above his head, and in an instant, he grabbed the Hunter on the chair and rolled to the side.

At the same time, an explosion occurred above his head.

Bang-!

No matter how dilapidated the building was, the framework with the reinforcing bars was bound to be strong. But with one explosion, one side of the wall completely crumbled. The place where Ha Do-heon had been was left with only the base of the chair, and the top had vanished as if it had evaporated.

The acrid smoke cleared in an instant by the strong wind blowing from outside. Ha Do-heon entrusted the rescued man to Lime.

“…Take this person and take refuge in a safe place.”

He didn’t have the confidence to keep Lime by his side while keeping the opponent in check.

As the smoke cleared, a person appeared. The first thing he saw was well-polished, sleek shoes. The suit pants covering his ankles had a perfect fit. Unlike the way the wrinkle-free pants wildly wrapped around the man’s solid thighs, the white shirt that clung to his body made him look demure.

With a saintly face, he always held a cheap cigarette in his mouth and smoked it. When he sucked and exhaled the smoke as if his cheeks would cave in like a common thug, he even looked fierce at times.

Thud, thud, the sound of footsteps echoed like a reverberation inside the collapsed abandoned building. Ha Do-heon swallowed hard.

That’s because-.

“Kidnapping, interrogation, intimidation… You have more refined hobbies than you appear. I want to see who it is.”

“……”

“Would you like to take off your hat?”

Because the man he should never see at this moment, the man he didn’t even want to see, happened to appear in this place. Moon Tae-yi.

‘I, uh… Tae-yi-ssi, you said you were going to the dungeon earlier…’

But why are you here?

His jaw twisted like a walnut in frustration, but he didn’t have the guts to ask outright. That’s because Moon Tae-yi suddenly smiled with his eyes.

“You’re asking for a beating… I gave you a chance, but you refused. Okay… I won’t kill you since you seem to be a first-timer.”

At the same time, he felt a heavy sense of unease again. The location was Ha Do-heon’s head. Do-heon, who dodged by arching his back, scraped the sole of his shoe and retreated.

“I wondered if it was a coincidence… but you dodged all of this. What’s your name? I hope you’re not an Unregistered Hunter.”

When the coincidence happened twice, Moon Tae-yi’s eyes changed. His black eyes looked delighted.

Give me time to answer before you ask!

Kwaang! Kwang!

Would there be time to talk while he was busy dodging? Ha Do-heon saw the reinforcing bars soaring out of the cement and put strength into his toes and jumped high.

Kwakwakwakwak-.

Dozens of reinforcing bars were impaled like bamboo spears in the place where he had just been. Even while briefly clicking his tongue, the concrete that sprouted like thorns from the side aimed for Ha Do-heon’s head.

Do-heon, who dodged by tilting his head, distanced himself from Moon Tae-yi. This would never end.

“Why aren’t you fighting back? If you committed a crime to have fun, you have to face your opponent.”

Tae-yi-ssi, I’m sorry, but I don’t have the mental capacity for that!

Clang-!

Do-heon sharply deflected the reinforcing bar that flew as if to pierce his head with a hand blade.

“If you’re an Unregistered Being, it would be good to break both of your legs and take you away… There are no drug side effects, right?”

A calm gaze swept past each other. Ha Do-heon, who had landed on the floor, faced Moon Tae-yi’s cold, gleaming eyes head-on. The chill made the back of his neck tingle.

Tremble-.

“……”

Dozens of stones floated around Moon Tae-yi. Ha Do-heon looked at him with a look of disgust. He wanted to close his eyes tightly, but his heart was shrinking, so he couldn’t.

This is why I didn’t want to meet Moon Tae-yi!

Moon Tae-yi’s ability.

The smallest unit that makes up all matter in the world. Atoms of all units, including liquids, solids, and gases.

Moon Tae-yi was an Atomic ability user. The creation and destruction of atoms. Expansion, deformation… explosion. All the assumptions that came out of his head were possible.

Ha Do-heon also couldn’t fully understand his ability. However, the Hunter Management Bureau had announced Moon Tae-yi’s ability before the regression, and he had vaguely understood and comprehended it at that time.

Perhaps the Hunter Management Bureau had simply used analogies to ‘common sense’ that people knew to make it easier for the public to understand. Moon Tae-yi’s ability may be a mysterious power that is more complex and sensitive than that, and has reached a realm that no one can understand.

He could create and destroy anything except life. He could burst all the cells of living beings, and he could even eliminate the air in a certain section. In addition, it is known that he can manipulate gravity in that way.

Such detailed ability control would be necessary, but those involved who knew his ability unanimously discussed Moon Tae-yi as a genius.

Truly a ‘monster’ born into the world.

Therefore, Moon Tae-yi’s ability, along with the cruelty he showed towards crime, was treated as confidential because it created a sense of fear in society. Until he died.

“…Are your throats blocked? You don’t answer when I ask.”

Ha Do-heon quickly checked the escape route. If he showed his back here… a knife would be stabbed in. But if he tried to break through head-on, if he saw that face… he felt like he would smile happily and spread his arms.

It was now or never.

Either way, the drug’s duration was less than 20 minutes. If he had to escape from here somehow-.

Ha Do-heon slammed his hand into the wall next to him. The wall, where only his fist was stuck in, cracked with a cracking sound. Ha Do-heon, who had torn off one side of the wall with his strength, threw it at Moon Tae-yi with all his might.