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At Kang Hyuk’s question, the hunters exchanged glances. 

“Who is that?” one asked. 

“Someone Kyuho knows, maybe?” responded another. 

One of the hunters that had been mocking Oh Taeho got up and approached Kang Hyuk, looking him up and down. Once having confirmed that no one was with him, he said, “How did you get in there? The Association employees should be guarding the entrance.” 

“Where’s Hwang Kyuho?” asked Kang Hyuk. 

At his response, the hunter wiped his mouth with his thumb, “He’s already left... How do you know him?” 

Kang Hyuk licked his lips and thought Have I barely missed him? 

He could see the other hunters warily watching him. Kang Hyuk made eye contact with a young hunter surrounded by the others. 

He asked, “Where did he go?” His voice was calm, but the emotion within was clearly delivered to the hunters. 

The hunter standing in front of Kang Hyuk felt this emotion the strongest–that it wasn’t a friendly emotion. He replied, “Hey, you didn’t answer my question. How do you know him?” 

“Let’s say personal matters. Where did he go?” Kang Hyuk answered. 

The hunter twisted his torso a bit to throw a glance to the others. One by one, they began to bring out their weapons. 

“Hey, why would I answer such a question from a stranger out of nowhere?” questioned the hunter, “And why are you talking casually to me? Do you know me? How old are you?” 

Pat, pat– 

The hunters crowded around Kang Hyuk. 

“Why do you want to see Kyuho?” 

“We’ve never seen you before. Who are you?” 

Whoosh– 

A hollow sound made its way into the ears of the hunters. With a blunt noise, one broke through the wall and passed by Kang Hyuk right in front of his eyes. The hunter that approached him first disappeared. 

Crash–!

Where the hunters looked was a shaking spear handle. A hunter’s body was pierced through, and he was struggling. 

“Hiek... hiek...” he moaned. The spear had pierced his lung and was stuck in the wall behind him. Blood trickled down from his mouth. At the sudden ambush, the hunters were unable to react, but they could hear him. 

“Where’s Hwang Kyuho?” 

The hunters understood the situation once he spoke. 

“Kill him!” yelled one, taking out a dagger towards Kang Hyuk. As his dagger was rushing towards Kang Hyuk’s throat, a wall besides them suddenly collapsed with a crash. Through the ruins, skeleton soldiers rushed in and attacked the hunters. 

The hunter who had been aiming to stab Kang Hyuk was lifted into the air by his neck. A skeleton soldier had grabbed him. The soldier ran into a wall while still holding the hunter by his neck. 

Crash! 

It was powerful enough to vibrate the walls. The hunter’s skull exploded. The skeleton soldier took out a sword and stuck it into the hunter’s heart. The sword went through the heart, up the spinal cords and stuck out from the hunter’s body through his collar bones. 

“Cough!” The hunter choked on his blood, and it dripped onto the skeleton soldier’s skull. 

Pow! Slash! Slice!

The hunter’s eyes that had been watching the skeleton soldier followed the noise. The hunters that had just been attacking Kang Hyuk were being beaten up into a pulp. 

He felt the blood within his heart seep out. His eyesight blurred like a broken camera lens. The other hunters were unable to even resist properly against the skeleton soldiers.

Oh Taeho was crawling on the ground screaming. The hunters’ blood splashed onto his back and head, and the mixed sounds of blunt force could be heard. They had been trained in preparation for sudden demonic beast attacks, but this was a different situation. 

The hunter thought Just who is that...? He had fought undead monsters before while following around Kang Min in gate dungeons. All the skeletons he could recall seeing were frail and held an old shield with a bone sword. 

With a slice, a decapitated hunter head fell in front of Oh Taeho, and he screamed in shock, struggling to get away. 

“What are these bastards?!” shouted the last remaining hunter, swinging his sword. Undead type of monsters were common in today’s Earth’s dungeons. 

“Huff... Huff...” 

A skeleton soldier lightly blocked his sword and approached wordlessly. He wondered to himself, What is it? Is it really a skeleton? Why won’t my attacks... 

Shick–

The hunter had been aiming his sword towards the approaching skeleton soldier. His gaze lowered to find a sword coming out of his chest. He could not even sense that a skeleton soldier had been stepping towards him from behind. The skeleton soldier in front of him swung his sword. 

“Agh!” Oh Taeho screamed. The skeleton soldier crushed the last remaining hunter under its foot. Kang Hyuk walked towards him from between the skeleton soldiers. 

“You have one chance. Where is Hwang Kyuho?” he asked. 

They looked at each other. Oh Taeoho thought, Who is this person? He came out of nowhere... Why is he looking for Hwang Kyuho? Wait, before that... If I don’t answer... He had witnessed the atrocities that Kang Hyuk’s skeleton soldiers had carried out. He had already realized that this was not someone he can fight. 

“Hwa-Hwang Kyuho’s probably clubbing in G-Gangnam right now” he answered. 

“Do you want to live?” questioned Kang Hyuk. 

“Y-yes!” 

“Guide me to the club he’s at,” said Kang Hyuk. 

“I-I don’t actually know the exact location...” stammbered Oh Taeho. 

A skeleton soldier standing by Oh Taeho showed its sword to Oh Taeho without saying anything. The hunters’ blood was collected at the tip like morning dew. Swallowing his saliva, Oh Taeho answered, “I know the clubs he goes to often, but he might not be in any of them. Will I d-die then?” 

“Just guide me until we find him. Then I’ll let you live,” Kang Hyuk responded. 

A bitter smile appeared on his face. 

The terrifying gaze went through Oh Taeho’s eyes and straight into his mind, “I-I’ll try to find him!” 

***

The Association employees guarding the exit saw Kang Hyuk and Oh Taeho, “Huh? What is this? Is this all the survivors there are?” 

Oh Taeho glanced at Kang Hyuk while washing his face with the shower potion that an employee had handed him. He answered, “Yes! The boss was stronger than we’d expected.”

The present Earth’s dungeons were full of unknown monsters. Even if hunters were to die within the dungeon, all they could do was record what the surviving hunters reported; they could not check for themselves. 

An employee looked back and forth between Kang Hyuk and Oh Taeho and asked, “But where’s hunter Hwang Kyuho?” 

“Ah, Kyuho said he had an urgent matter and used a Return Stone to leave...” replied Oh Taeho. 

“What? Ugh... What is with him? He has absolutely no sense of responsibility,” said the employee. 

“I’ve only heard about it, but to actually experience it... What is Gargoa Guild doing not firing him?” 

“They’re just doing whatever they want after hunter Kang Min died. He had such good manners when hunter Kang Min was alive. He was reliable and thorough, but he’s totally changed.” 

Kang Hyuk was silently listening to the employees gossiping. A Return Stone allows one to exit the dungeon in a different location than the one that the Association employees guard. Metahumans that awakened as mages could engrave the desired location and address onto the stone to automatically warp anywhere. 

After Kang Min’s death, there had been many occasions where Hwang Kyuho left the cleanup to the newer recruits and quickly left the dungeon by himself. The Association had received reports of such behavior, but due to Gargoa Guild’s power, they weren’t able to do anything. The situation was worsened due to Gargoa Guild’s leader, Kang Min, dying as the risk of conflict between those who wanted to replace Kang Min were increasing. 

“Then how did you defeat the boss? If Hwang Kyuho left alone and all other hunters are dead...” trailed off an employee. 

“This person right here came and took care of the boss,” replied Oh Taeho. 

“Ah, Kang Hyuk did?” 

Oh Taeho stole a glance at Kang Hyuk, having heard the employee’s response. 

“Do you know him?” he asked. 

“Ah, I guess you might not know since you’re young and just recently awakened. This right here is hunter Kang Min’s older brother. There hasn’t been any news out to the public yet, but everyone within the Assoication already knows,” replied the employee. 

“K-Kang Min’s older brother?” stuttered Oh Taeho. 

“...” 

Oh Taeho stared at Kang Hyuk in surprise. What...? He’s Kang Min’s older brother? He could now understand how Kang Hyuk was so powerful. A returner. Unlike those who awakened their powers on Earth, returners were those that survived being summoned to another dimension and came back. All those with the most powerful classes were taken by returners in today’s Earth. Kang Min was an ability user that had returned the latest to Earth. He may have been the latest, but he was the faster than anyone in creating and growing his guild in power and organization. The one who had nurtured the Gargoa Guild into the strongest guild in the world as it is today was Kang Min. 

That’s why he was so strong... I didn’t think there were any returners left out there... Oh Taeho thought. 

The skeleton soldiers Kang Hyuk had summoned were on a different level than the undead demonic beasts Oh Taeho had fought. A man that appeared suddenly to kill all the hunters that had been harassing him. He was understanding to some extent about Kang Hyuk. 

“Then we’ll get going,” Oh Taeho stated. 

“Alright. I’ll report the survivors of the Gargoa Guild as hunter Oh Taeho and Hwang Kyuho. Ah, if you’d also consent to being on the report, Kang Hyu...” 

“No,” cut off Kang Hyuk. 

“Ah, yep! I understand, haha. Then I’ll see you!” 

Kang Hyuk turned to leave. Oh Taeho followed after saying his goodbyes to the employees. Watching them, the employees started talking amongst each other. 

“Phew, that person’s really scary for some reason,” said one. 

“Right? He has such different vibes from his brother,” replied another. 

“But he’s a returner, so he must be also really strong, right?” 

“I assume that’s how he was able to take care of the boss alone and bring back the guild member,” 

“Who do you think would be stronger between him and hunter Kang Min?” 

“Obviously hunter Kang Min. That person looks pretty normal,” 

***

Gangnam’s entertainment district was full of newly established clubs in every alley. The noise from the basement floors could be heard vibrating through the concrete walls. Wherever you turned, you could see women walking around in groups wearing short skirts and black tights. Oh Taeho stopped in front of one of the clubs. 

“Is it here?” Kang Hyuk asked. 

“It’s one he frequents, but... Please be aware that it’s not certain that he’s here. If he’s not here, I’ll take you to another one he might’ve gone to,” replied Oh Taeho. 

“You seem to know him well,” said Kang Hyuk.

“Ah, no. We’re not friends. He just happens to be the leader of the attack squad I’m part of,” said Oh Taeho. 

“Did you go around with him?” 

“I was dragged around.” 

“Go find him.” 

“Y-yes!” 

Kang Hyuk followed Oh Taeho into the club. It was underground and dark like a dungeon. The sound of bass attacked their ears, and the lights shining from the ceiling interfered with their eyesight. There were women shaking their hips, and men trying to hit on them. Kang Hyuk went through this crowd to follow Oh Taeho. 

Where he had entered was a VIP-only area’s hallway. The noise and lights were faraway here, and it was silent. The deeper they went in, the more voices they could hear of people in the rooms: voices of cheer and lewd flirting. Oh Taeho was headed towards the most extravagant and biggest room with the door closed. A burly man was standing guard by the door. When he noticed Oh Taeho, he said, “You’re late.” 

“Ah, I’m sorry,” apologized Oh Taeho. 

The man turned his gaze from Oh Taeho to Kang Hyuk. 

“Ah, this is Kang Min’s older brother,” explained Oh Taeho. 

“Older brother?” he quickly looked Kang Hyuk up and down. He felt a strange feeling of anxiety in Kang Hyuk’s stare, “What are you here for?” 

“Not to see you.” 

The man’s lips twitched at Kang Hyuk’s response, “Are you really Kang Min’s brother?” 

“You heard.” 

The man’s eyebrow twitched this time. This bastard... He closed his fist then opened it again. All returners were storng, so he had no desire to further provoke Kang Hyuk. Had he been a normal metahuman, he would’ve caved his skull in. Returners are all the same. 

He opened the door, saying, “Please enter.” 

Through the open door, Kang Hyuk and Oh Taeho entered. The man had a strange smile on his face while looking at Kang Hyuk and stood by the closed door with a stance as to imply no one to approach him.