Chapter 140
[Young Lord-nim.]
The moment Suho stepped into Jisan Prison, Beru sent a warning.
“Yes.”
Suho nodded and focused on his surroundings.
He could sense presences all around the prison.
‘They say criminals always return to the scene of the crime. Is that what’s happening?’
But that wasn’t the case.
“This just got more competitive.”
“Is he a summoner?”
The bounty hunters who had arrived at the prison before Suho frowned as soon as they saw him.
More precisely, it was because of the small wolf sniffing the air around him.
“A summon specialized in tracking?”
“Tsk. Another annoying competitor.”
As Suho watched their wary eyes, he was reminded once again of how ruthless the bounty hunting industry was in its competitive nature.
However, not everyone saw him merely as a competitor. Some approached him with goodwill.
“Hey, are you part of a team?”
“Judging by that summon, it doesn’t seem like you’re here for combat. How about joining us?”
“Why don’t we team up…?”
Summoners were generally unpopular in dungeon raids since only combat-related abilities mattered, but in villain hunts like this, it was a completely different story.
Especially when a summon had a keen sense of smell or was specialized in tracking—summoners were highly valued in this line of work.
[Young Lord-nim’s popularity is reaching the heavens.]
Beru nodded in satisfaction, like a proud parent watching his child grow.
However, Suho had no intention of teaming up with them.
Each time he flatly rejected their offers, they backed off reluctantly.
“Hmph. A summoner alone would be in danger if they run into a villain.”
“Guess he’s still young. Well, struggling when you’re young builds character.”
“He looks like a rookie. Hope he doesn’t come begging for help later.”
A series of unsolicited advice from old-timers poured in, but Suho paid no mind.
Some, still reluctant to let him go, even handed him their business cards.
“If you ever change your mind, contact me. We’ll be seeing each other often anyway.”
‘…Baek Miho was right.’
Suho recalled Baek Miho’s words about the shortage of manpower.
“There are far too few bounty hunters for the scale of this job.”
[These are not all of them. This incident happened two days ago, so many must have already checked this place and moved on.]
Beru’s words made sense. Suho nodded.
Just as he had come to investigate here first, most bounty hunters likely started their search at this location.
By examining the remnants of battle left behind, they could roughly gauge the villains’ strength.
It was an assessment of the situation.
“Hmm. Seems like there were some strong ones mixed in.”
“Should we just back off this time? Might be better to hit a dungeon instead.”
“Let’s do that.”
Some hunters decided that this villain hunt wouldn’t be worth it and left without hesitation.
It was a stark contrast to the White Tiger Guild, who had taken on this mission for the sake of public safety.
[To be fair, White Tiger Guild is an exception. Normally, hunters don’t risk their lives for unpaid work.]
Quay whispered to Suho as they watched the hunters leave.
[White Tiger Guild is probably acting this way because their guild master was a firefighter before awakening.]
“A firefighter?”
Suho was surprised to hear that S-rank Hunter Baek Yunho had once been in a profession where he risked his life to save others.
Seeing Suho’s interest, Quay’s eyes gleamed.
It was an opportunity to make a good impression.
[Yes. But this kind of behavior won’t last forever.]
As a former vice president of a major guild, Quay spoke in a cold, analytical tone.
[Eventually, even Baek Yunho will have to prioritize profit over altruism. A guild—especially a large one—needs money to survive.]
“Aren’t you the one who embezzled funds?”
[Hrmm.]
Quay, exposed by Suho’s blunt remark, awkwardly slinked back into the shadows.
Suho chuckled at the sight and thought to himself.
‘That’s interesting. White Tiger’s guild master used to be a firefighter. My grandfather was a firefighter, too.’
It was quite the coincidence.
‘They wouldn’t have known each other, right?’
A fleeting, silly thought crossed his mind, but he quickly brushed it aside to focus on the investigation.
And soon, he came to a definite conclusion.
“This confirms it. There are no traces of tampered electronic ankle monitors anywhere.”
[Indeed. No signs of an explosion, either.]
Beru agreed.
The prison was stained with blood and filled with scars from numerous skills clashing.
However, there were no broken or forcibly removed electronic ankle monitors anywhere.
Which meant…
“They used some special method to disable them.”
They had managed to use magic without removing the monitors.
That was the only logical conclusion based on the evidence.
How they did it was unknown, but it was clear that ankle monitors were no longer an effective means of controlling villains.
However, this wasn’t Suho’s problem to solve.
That was the Hunter Association’s responsibility. Suho’s only concern was gathering information.
“Gray, remember all the scents here.”
“Grrr.”
At Suho’s command, Gray eagerly sniffed the air.
Remembering the faces of 500 villains was impossible.
Especially since they wouldn’t be foolish enough to show their faces openly.
But by making Gray memorize all the scents in Jisan Prison, tracking them later would be much easier.
This was precisely why the other bounty hunters were so interested in Suho.
And just as Suho finished surveying the entire prison—
Swish.
“Hey, are you done investigating?”
A bounty hunter approached Suho with a smile.
“If you’re finished, how about teaming up with me?”
“…….”
Suho stopped walking and silently stared at the man.
At the same time, Gray bared his teeth and growled menacingly.
“Grrowl!”
“Heh. Cute little mutt. Pretty fierce for a tracking summon.”
[Young Lord-nim, this one’s suspicious.]
At Beru’s warning, Suho nodded.
[He reeks of blood. Human blood. He’s killed a lot of people.]
“Oh? You can even tell that? You’ve got some interesting summons. Definitely useful.”
Despite Beru’s words, the man didn’t flinch. Instead, he smirked and casually shrugged his shoulders.
Then, he pulled out his wallet and flashed it to Suho.
[Association-Certified Bounty Hunter]
Name: Kang Taesik (T/N: Wait, is this the assassin hunter Jinwoo killed way back before? The one where he learned “Stealth”?)
Rank: B
Seeing the official certification, Suho’s eyes narrowed.
“I’m one of the few real professional villain hunters. Not like these random nobodies. If you team up with me, you’ll find me quite useful.”
Kang Taesik formally introduced himself, though his introduction was far from ordinary.
“You said I smell like human blood? Of course, I do. I’ve killed more people than I have magic beasts.”
“…….”
“Hey, don’t look at me like that. Even I have feelings, you know? Do you really think I’d be running around with an official license if I killed regular civilians? Obviously, I only kill villains.”
Oddly enough, Kang Taesik wasn’t a dungeon raider. He was a genuine bounty hunter who specialized in tracking down and eliminating villains.
But seeing the wariness still on Suho’s face, Kang Taesik shrugged and made an offer.
“How about this? I’ll share some valuable intel first. You can decide whether or not to team up with me after that.”
“Intel?”
“Yeah. Out of everyone here, I probably have the most information.”
“Alright. Let’s hear it.”
There was no reason to refuse free information.
When Suho nodded, Kang Taesik grinned as if he had expected this.
Then, after making sure no other bounty hunters were listening in, he leaned in and spoke quietly.
“You know that Hwang Dongseok, the mastermind behind this incident, is backed by Hwang Dongsoo, right?”
Suho nodded.
S-rank villain Hwang Dongsoo.
He was once Grid, a Shadow Soldier.
“Well, actually, Hwang Dongseok was cut off by Hwang Dongsoo a long time ago.”
“…Cut off?”
“Yeah. To be precise, it was Hwang Dongseok who cut ties with Hwang Dongsoo.”
And with that, Kang Taesik began to reveal everything he knew. (T/N: It’s refreshing. Maybe in this timeline, he is less than a bad guy?)
—
[The Fraudster Brothers]
Before the Cataclysm, Hwang Dongseok and Hwang Dongsoo were nothing more than third-rate criminals, infamously known as the Fraudster Brothers.
They had always been greedy for money, and that greed only grew stronger as they aged.
Whenever they finished their prison sentences, they would immediately return to crime, treating prison like a second home.
Yet, despite their miserable lifestyle, the brothers were actually content.
They committed the same crimes, served the same sentences, and were locked up together.
Prison life wasn’t too bad when you had your own blood beside you.
But after the Cataclysm, their lives changed overnight.
—”W-What’s happening?”
—”Hyung, did you… awaken?”
The first to awaken was the older brother, Hwang Dongseok.
The moment he felt the surging power within him, he realized something.
He no longer needed to scam people to make a living.
Scams?
That was something weaklings did because they couldn’t fight.
During the chaotic period following the Cataclysm, Hwang Dongseok wasted no time embracing villainy.
He ditched fraud entirely and became an armed robber, storming convenience stores and restaurants for quick cash.
—”Hahaha! Money! This is how you make money!”
Compared to the pathetic tricks he had once used to swindle pocket change, this was infinitely easier.
And then…
—”Tsk. You still haven’t awakened? Maybe you have no talent.”
His younger brother, still powerless, now looked utterly useless to him.
—”Hyung, I heard people awaken suddenly, even later in life. Just give me a little more time—”
—”How much longer, exactly?”
—”…….”
—”Tsk. Useless.”
Despite his brother’s open scorn, the powerless younger sibling couldn’t say anything.
Because it was true.
Magic power was something one was born with. It couldn’t be gained through effort alone.
Eventually, Hwang Dongseok made up his mind.
—”Get lost.”
—”Hyung? What do you mean—”
—”I said get lost, you useless bastard!”
Hwang Dongseok abandoned his brother.
Back when they were con artists, working together had been beneficial. But now? There was no reason to split his earnings.
With that, he cut ties without hesitation.
And after that, he roamed the country, committing robbery after robbery.
Without his slow, useless brother holding him back, his mobility was vastly improved.
And without sharing his profits, his wealth only kept growing.
But his golden days didn’t last long.
One day, the Hunter Association was officially formed.
Woo Jin-Cheol, the Association President, declared an all-out war against villains.
And when the Association hunters finally caught up to Hwang Dongseok, he was taken down almost effortlessly.
Though he tried to resist, he was subdued far too easily.
That was when reality hit him.
For years, he had been drunk on his own power. But the moment he was dragged before the Association, he realized…
He had been nothing more than a frog at the bottom of a well.
Then, the newly developed Magic Power Measurement Device was introduced from overseas.
It revealed that Hwang Dongseok was nothing more than a C-rank Awakener.
Naturally, he was locked up in Jisan Prison, a notorious facility that held countless villains.
And it was there that he heard something shocking.
His abandoned brother, Hwang Dongsoo, had become an S-rank villain.
