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The hunters got up towards the exit. 

“What? What are we gonna do?” 

“I told you. We’re gonna take care of them here,” said the buzzcut hunter. “Hey, tell the guard to let the bastards from earlier in when they get here.” 

A hunter went out the door and came back at the buzzcut hunter’s order. 

Another hunter crossed his arms and spoke, “You know Changwoo Hyung-nim hates it when we make a mess in here. Let’s take them to the basement.” 

“You dumbass, do you think a returner is just gonna obey and follow us to the basement if we say so?” asked the buzzcut hunter. “We’ll just put up a barrier so that his stuff doesn’t break. Hey, what are you doing? Hurry and get the barriers up.” 

At the buzzcut hunter’s words, a hunter scratched at his head and placed his other hand onto the floor. A thin, transparent barrier spread throughout the floor. All objects in the office shined as if wrapped in cling film. 

“Alright, we got the barrier up, so it doesn’t matter if blood or organs splatter around here. We can just wrap up the barrier afterwards and burn it.” 

“Good job, kehehe. I really didn’t like that guild master’s older brother.” 

“Aren’t we supposed to prepare ourselves for a loss or something if he’s a returner?” 

“Loss? What kind of loss?” asked the buzzcut hunter as he opened the door in the back of the office. 

“The bastard’s a returner. There’s no way he’ll just be defeated easily because we go at him.” 

“Dumbass, we have to trick him into it. What do you even use your brain for?” The buzzcut hunter threw a weapon to each hunter. “They’re new weapons that the Charnel House Sect invented. Apparently it’s great against returners, so let’s try them out.” 

The weapons the hunters picked up were knives. 

“What? This is just a knife. Fitting for the bunch of gangsters they are.” 

“Hey, Buzzcut. What’s the difference between this and a sushi knife?” 

“If you stab with it, the blade will suck in mana. Whether it’s a metahuman or a returner, how can they use magic power when their mana’s being sucked out? They’ll just die.” 

“Are we killing him?” 

“Depends on the situation. We can just tell Changwoo Hyung-nim that we got a bit frustrated and made a mistake. It’ll cost just a few slaps.” 

“Ah, you psycho bastard. I don’t know. It’s all your responsibility.” 

“I’ll tell Changwoo Hyung-nim myself, so you guys go at him too.” 

“Hey, Buzzcut’s gonna take all the blame. Throw me a magic power gun too.” 

The hunters passed around knives and guns, checking them when the door opened with a creak. All the hunters’ heads turned toward the door. 

“You can enter,” the huge guard’s hand entered the office, and next to him, Kang Hyuk entered. 

The hunters each hid their weapons and sat in their place. There was a subtle sound of the door locking. Oh Taeho, being all the way in the back, heard it. 

Dammit, the door’s locked. I knew it. The hunters all figured out what’s happened and were waiting for us. What do I do? There’s no safe spot if a fight breaks out here. I’ll have to fight against those... Oh Taeho was terrified. The hunters that had bullied him were not just regular thugs. They were ability users of Gargoa Guild’s major force of power when Kang Min was alive. Oh Taeho knew he wouldn’t be able to survive fighting them alone. Will the guild master’s brother be able to handle all of them? 

Oh Taeho had seen the battle in the incineration plant, but the hunters they were facing were a different enemy. Gargoa Guild’s incineration plant was just a place to torture and question people into confessing. It wasn’t a place to gain battle experience due to the lack of constant fights. Most hunters that were brought over to the plant were already injured in the process of getting there. On the other hand, the hunters of the club’s office were part of Gargoa Guild’s attack squad. The reason they acted so thuggish was because they had confidence in their strength. 

“Aw, you must be tired from the long way here. Shall I pour you a drink?” asked the buzzcut hunter, making his way towards Kang Hyuk with a shrewd look in his eyes. He opened an expensive spirit bottle and sat down on the couch. 

The atmosphere in the office was sharp like a needle, but the hunters were relaxed. Oh Taeho was unsure how to feel about the atmosphere. He looked to Kang Hyuk to see how he would react. 

“Where’s the bastard that was sitting there earlier?” asked Kang Hyuk. 

The buzzcut hunter’s eyes followed Kang Hyuk’s finger and saw the desk that Goo Changwoo was sitting in. “You’re real casual with the way you talk. What do you mean ‘bastard’ to someone’s hyung-nim?” 

Kang Hyuk looked at the buzzcut hunter. The hunters felt a threatening air from Kang Hyuk. Spread throughout the office, they exchanged glances. Oh Taeho continued to look at the back of Kang Hyuk’s head and failed to notice the hunters’ movements. 

A hunter behind Kang Hyuk took out a knife that he had received earlier. It was a sushi knife about 60cm in length. The light from the ceiling touched the tip of the knife and made it shine. The hunters in the office were Goo Changwoo’s subordinates. 

Kang Hyuk had come looking for Goo Changwoo, who had sent him to the incineration plant, but he decided he will take care of the situation here first. There’s no reason to waste time here to figure out where Hwang Kyuho is. Goo Changwoo definitely knew where Hwang Kyuho was. The fact that he had falsely led Kang Hyuk to Hwang Kyuho meant he was protecting Hwang Kyuho. What Kang Hyuk needed was Goo Changwoo. 

“I gave you guys a chance,” said Kang Hyuk. 

“What?” 

“Awaken.” 

The hunters looked at each other in confusion. There was an awkward silence between the hunters and Kang Hyuk. 

After taking a swig from the spirit bottle, the buzzcut hunter spoke up. “Hey, remember how Kang Min never mentioned the reason why his brother couldn’t return during the interview a while ago and to his friends too?” 

“Yeah.” 

“I think I know why,” said the buzzcut hunter, pointing his empty glass toward Kang Hyuk. “It’s because his brother was a psychopath. Even as a little brother, he knew that he was gonna be ashamed by this crazy piece of shit and just ran off without him.” 

“Hah!” 

“Kuhahah!” 

“Ah, that makes sense. Why couldn’t I think of that?” laughed the hunters in unison. 

Oh Taeho felt anxious. Fuck, where are the skeleton soldiers? They just popped up from the ground back at the incineration plant. Was it not a summoning spell but actually just telling them to get their shit together or what? 

The hunters burst into laughter. Oh Taeho backed off. 

“Newbie, where are you going?” 

“Ah, huh? No, I’m just...” stammered Oh Taeho.  

“Newbie, you can watch with me. You know what I mean, don’t you?” asked a man whose arm was covered in tattoos. 

“Y-yes!” 

As the man put his arm around Oh Taeho’s neck, there was a sudden crashing noise, and something came up from the ground. All the hunters excluding Kang Hyuk turned to look. 

“That’s...” 

“...Undead soldier?” 

A skeleton soldier clothes in black armor was drawing his white bone blade. As it swung the blade, the ceiling light broke. Electricity sparking could be heard, and the office was covered in darkness in a moment. 

“He’s a necromancer!” shouted the hunters. A warning to let each other know of the enemy’s ability. The office was filled with darkness when the light broke. 

For a moment, Kang Hyuk saw a blinking barrier of light. They’ve set up a magic barrier. He grinned. 

The hunter guarding the door outside heard the noise. What a fuss. He wondered if he should open the door. He could hear crashes and other clamorous noises through the soundproof walls. It was certain that a fight was happening inside, but it didn’t sound like they were just beating up one person. The hunter pressed his ear to the door and tried to focus. He could hear voices from within. 

Kill it! Kill it! 

Hey! Tell the hunters outside to get in here!

The hunter’s hand stopped midair while reaching for the door handle. 

“Fuck... The returner bastard,” he muttered while pressing the walkie-talkie button on his wrist. “What’s happening, sir?” 

“Bring all the others into the office now! All of them!” 

“Alright, sir.” 

Crash! As soon as the radio conversation ended, the door and wall behind the hunter’s back vibrated with noise. Simultaneously, light of magic power flashed. From within leaked sounds of objects breaking and falling mixed with screams. If it was loud enough to bypass the soundproof walls, then it meant something serious was going on inside. The hunter swallowed. He recalled Kang Hyuk’s gaze from earlier. Returner Kang Min was the strongest hunter in the world. What if he’s as strong as Kang Min? 

From the first impression, Kang Hyuk looked weaker than Kang Min. He was intimidated because Kang Hyuk was a returner, but he himself was trained by Gargoa Guild’s returners. He had plenty experience, and he knew how to fight. He took out a magic power gun. 

The door and walls vibrated loudly. 

“What’s going on?” A bunch of similarly-sized men were running down the hallway towards the office. 

“How many are there?” asked the guard hunter. 

“You said all, didn’t you? It’s ten excluding the guys at the entrance,” replied one of the hunters. 

The hunter recalled Goo Changwoo’s subordinates. The attack squad members in the office are a total of four. He started to grasp the situation a bit more. If the returner kills all four, and there are ten of us...

“Get in shooting position,” he ordered. 

“What? Why? What’s going on?” asked one of the hunters. 

“Shouldn’t we just go in? It looks like there’s a fight going on.” 

“There’s even a magic barrier. Something’s really going down. We gotta get in there fast and...” 

“There’s a returner inside,” explained the hunter by the door to the protest. “Four of Changwoo hyung-nim’s direct subordinates and just one returner. If we just go in there, and it happens to be a bad timing, we’ll all die. Once the situation looks better, we’ll move on my signal.” 

All ten guard members took their magic handguns out. They surrounded the door that Kang Hyuk had entered in a half-circle. They were planning to kill anyone coming out the door in a crossfire. The closed door in front of them were shaking on its hinges, and the wall the door was in shook with it. 

“Damn it... What’s the returner’s ability that it’s so loud in there?” 

“Hey, who’s the returner that’s inside?” 

“It’s the dead guild master’s older brother.” 

“What?” 

At the door guard hunter’s response, all ten members felt a chill pass through them. 

“The Kang Min’s older brother? Then who’s fighting him?” 

“Changwoo hyung-nim’s subordinate hunters.” 

“How many are there?” 

“Four.” 

“Will they be able to handle it against a returner?” 

“All four inside are Gargoa Guild’s attack squad members. They were all trained by returner Kang Min.” 

The hunters were all filled with confidence. They had learned mana control and fighting skills from the world’s best hunter, Kang Min. They had no need to be afraid just because Kang Hyuk happened to be Kang Min’s older brother. 

“There’s no guarantee that just because Kang Min’s strong that Kang Hyuk’s also strong,” reassured the hunter by the door. “Even if he’s strong, we’ve been trained to the bone by Kang Min on how to face returners. There’s no need to be afraid.” 

The door guard hunter kept his distance from the door and aimed towards it with his magic handgun. All the guard team hunters were nervously waiting for the noise in the office to die down. 

The crashing noises in the office sounded as if magic power was being split. The reverberating noise suddenly stopped. The hunters’ eyes were all glued to the door. A few seconds of silence passed. With a creak, the door opened, and someone came out. It was the buzzcut guild member. 

The door guard hunter let down his gun and spoke, “Phew, the returner’s been rid...” 

Suddenly, the buzzcut hunter charged at him. He saw the eyes of the buzzcut hunter right in front of his nose. A.. dead body? His vision flashed. 

Crash!