Translator: Seven

  Editor: Ana_Banana

  A closed, overgrown school located in Kita-Ku, Kyoto City, was filled with people and exuded a gloomy atmosphere.

  The school grounds were currently filled with incredibly expensive vehicles, and Self Defense Forces personnel stood guard around them with guns.

  The school’s gym was where the most people congregated.

  The ceiling had fallen, and the floor was destroyed. however, there were about 90 people checking their equipment in front of the dungeon gate that was in the center of the room.

  Kim Woo-jin was one of the 90 people.

  His appearance was completely different from usual, wearing thick horn-rimmed glasses and a neat 8:2 part in his hair.

  [Black Lizard]

  – Number of Floors: 3

  – Difficulty: B+

  – Maximum number of entries: 120

  – Requirements: Level 95 and lower

  – Conditions: Subjugate the pack of Black Lizard

  – Reward: Catalogue to the hunter of the Boss Monster

  A man then approached him while he was reading the dungeon report.

  “Mr. Woo.”


  Kim Woo-jin put down the dungeon report before reaching out his hand to the large man with tanned skin.

  The man grabbed his outstretched hand immediately.

  “Nice to see you again.”


  The man’s name was Arai Kazuhiko.

  He was also the leader of the team that the other side had requested Kim Woo-jin to join to attack the dungeon.

  “Yes, nice to see you again.”


  Naturally, Kim Woo-jin had met Arai Kazuhiko before.

  They’d met and discussed the plan for the dungeon.

  “The preparations are completed.”


  Therefore, there was no reason for them to have a long conversation now.

  “This is my senior.”


  Instead, Kim Woo-jin introduced him to Lee Jin-ah who was standing behind him, to Arai Kazuhiko.

  “Oh!”


  Arai Kazuhiko looked at Lee Jin-ah with a surprised expression.

  “This sir…”


  “He will help us with the attack, as I notified you previously.”


  “Right!”


  At Kim Woo-jin’s words, Arai Kazuhiko gave a bright smile without hesitation.

  “Thank you very much for your help. I will make sure to treat you both after the dungeon attack, you won’t be disappointed.”


  “You don’t have to worry too much about it. You paid for it after all.”


  The people around them didn’t pay much attention to them.

  They just prepared to attack the dungeon with their own groups.

  “It’s time!”


  And so the dungeon attack began.

  …


  “They entered the dungeon.”


  Oh Se-chan, who was enthusiastically tapping away at his laptop did not respond as his subordinate said those words.

  “97 people entered with them. We checked the backgrounds for everyone, but we didn’t find anything unusual.”


  After the report, the employee then asked.

  “Did you find anything?”


  In response to the question, Oh Se-chan stopped tapping on his keyboard and wiped the sweat off his forehead with a napkin that seemed to be taken from a coffee shop.

  There was a pile of reports in front of him.

  These reports were the information on all the players that had entered the dungeon with Kim Woo-jin and Lee Jin-ah.

  “No, no matter how I look, I can’t find anything out of the ordinary.”


  As he said those words, Oh Se-chan’s expression was stiff.

  He was certain that there were some among the players who had entered the dungeon with Kim Woo-jin that wanted to attack him.

  However, Oh Se-chan could not find who these players were.

  “All the reports here are clean, perfect even. No matter who saw them, they would think that these were just ordinary, talented players.”


  To be precise, he was unable to find any connections to the Messiah Guild, the Bow God, or the Yamato Federation.

  Of course, Oh Se-chan didn’t actually believe that these players were as ordinary as they appeared.

  “As expected, it seems that they put hidden talents that the Japanese government have been nurturing from the start.”


  “You mean it’s one of those elites?”


  “Perhaps.”


  Instead, he believed that they had implanted elite players that no one knew about for this mission.

  When they heard this, Oh Se-chan’s subordinate’s expression stiffened.

  “Will they be okay?”


  At that question, Oh Se-chan frowned.

  “The Bow God’s people also accepted Lee Jin-ah’s participation without any hesitation. That means they are confident in their elites.”


  “I see.”


  “Since they know that Kim Woo-jin is proficient in poison, they will certainly have prepared to deal with poison.”


  Oh Se-chan paused for a moment.

  There was silence for a long while, and when the silence started becoming tense, Oh Se-chan finally spoke.

  “The good news is that Bow God and the Sword Saint’s disciples did not participate. That means that Japan’s best aces were excluded.”


  …


  In a forest with trees that had red leaves reminiscent of autumn, a man was meditating with his eyes closed.

  The scene of the man meditating was very calm and soothing.

  Even people who watched him would feel calm.

  Krrr.

  However, for the five Orcs that were passing by, he seemed to be easy prey.

  Roar!

  Naturally, the moment they spotted this prey, the Orcs rushed toward him at the same time.

  As they roared and rushed forward like a small wave, the Orc’s momentum was stifling.

  However, the meditating man did not seem to notice their approach.

  Kehung!

  His expression did not change even when the Orcs were 1 meter away from him.

  Just as the Orcs’ weapons were about to touch the man.

  Puk!

  The man maintained his meditation even as arrows poured in from the sides and turned the Orcs into hedgehogs.

  “Ito-sama.”


  The man only ended his meditation when a group of eleven people gathered around him,

  “The preparations are complete.”


  The moment he heard this, the man opened his eyes.

  “Once again, this will be our first mission out of the shadows.”


  This man’s name was Ito Shunsuke.

  He was one of the core players in the group secretly created by Japan and the Yamato Federation, Sun Shadow.

  “The Sword Saint even gave us a weapon that he has never used before to ensure our success.”


  In addition, he was one of the hidden students of the Sword Saint.

  He wasn’t just an ordinary disciple, but a super talented individual strong enough to be considered among the top 3 disciples!

  Furthermore, despite being so talented, this person was loyal enough to choose to remain in the shadows instead of basking in the fame gained from his talent.

  They had been given this important task as a test, not only to benefit the Bow God, but also to prove Japan’s efforts.

  “We have been ordered to claim Kim Woo-jin’s head.”


  One of their missions was to kill none other than Kim Woo-jin.

  In other words, both the Sword Saint and Bow God recognized Kim Woo-jin for the threat he could become.

  They no longer considered him to be a lucky rat, but instead a sly beast.

  Nevertheless, they had expressed their determination to get rid of him this time.

  “I will not tolerate any of you dying to that guy. If you think he’s going to kill you, split up and give up.”


  Ito Shunsuke once again reinforced his orders to his men, who all nodded silently.

  As Ito Shunsuke said, they would rather commit seppuku(1) than allow themselves to die by Kim Woo-jin’s hands.

  It was then.

  A woman ran toward Ito Shunsuke and his men at a high speed.

  “Hoo, hoo.”


  She had an urgent expression on her face as she approached.

  In fact, her urgency was noticeable even from the distance.

  However, Ito Shunsuke watched the woman approach with a calm expression. Even after she finally arrived, his expression didn’t change.

  He knew.

  ‘There’s Isaac Ivanov’s partner as well as Kim Woo-jin.’


  That their target wasn’t an ordinary person, and that the person beside him was none other than the legendary Isaac Ivanov’s teammate.

  ‘Even if there are some unexpected variables, it wouldn’t be strange.’


  So he was aware that everything might not go as planned.

  This was the reason why he’d calmed his mind with meditation.

  Even if his subordinates could get shaken by changes in the situation, Ito Shunsuke ensured that he would be able to remain calm no matter what.

  “T-, there, there’s a problem.”


  So while the woman stuttered as though she was too shocked to speak properly, Ito Shunsuke still spoke to her in a composed tone.

  “I want you to formulate what you want to say in your head before telling me.”


  He projected his calmness onto his subordinate.

  “T-, that…”


  However, she was still unable to calm down.

  Ito Shunsuke frowned at that.

  “Speak clearly.”


  Eventually, she forcibly regained her composure when she noticed his displeasure, and after taking a few deep breaths, she finally managed to calm herself somewhat.

  ‘What the hell is going on?’


  Ito Shunsuke could not understand what kind of situation would cause this player, who had undergone hellish training and was far from ordinary, to become so flustered.

  Fortunately, it did not take long for him to get an answer.

  “Kim Woo-jin, while hunting monsters…he died.”


  “What did you say?”


  His composure cracked.

  (Note:

  1. Seppuku, sometimes referred to as harakiri, is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor but was also practised by other Japanese people later on to restore honour for themselves or for their families.

  TL: Lovely little cliffhanger for you I suppose ^-^)