Offer sacrifices to an Evil God Constellation.
It was one of the special methods by which one could grow even without a Quest.
Naturally, if one was caught, the punishment was severe. It was not something as simple as execution. A chip would be implanted in one’s head, and one would live under control for the rest of one’s life, becoming livestock beneath humanity.
In this world, the Government’s will to preserve the system was powerful.
Even so, Hunters like Kim Hoon-cheol were everywhere.
And to Kim Hoon-cheol, the Gimpo City Field was an excellent hunting ground.
The Monsters that appeared there were mediocre, so it was a place mainly visited by F-Grade to E-Grade Hunters.
Especially because
Kim Hoon-cheol also had a Job specialized for this sort of hunt.
It was a strange and unusual Class called [Manipulator in the Dark].
It possessed stealth capabilities, and it was a special Job that granted him the power of Mind Control.
The lower the target’s intellect, the more targets he could easily control; if the target’s intellect was high, he could control only a small number.
That did not mean he could freely brainwash and manipulate them at will.
It was only enough to control them temporarily and make them obey his commands.
Even so, it was a powerful ability.
After all, he could instantly neutralize and kill both people and Monsters.
In truth, it was an ability more specialized for humans than for Monsters. Except for physical-enhancement-type Hunters, all other Hunters could be killed by nothing more than a knife to the throat.
He had survived until now by using this power, and he had offered dozens of F-Grade Hunters as sacrifices.
And the man riding the bizarre Monster before him would also become a sacrifice.
What was this now?
Park Il-sang thought that.
A man had suddenly appeared alone and started picking a fight.
‘Is he fairly confident in his own strength?’
It had happened in the previous Dungeon too, but Hunters killing other Hunters was nothing surprising.
There were plenty of people who would attack and try to kill you the moment they thought they could look down on you.
Among them, walking around alone like that meant he was fairly capable.
Just as Park Il-sang himself was.
“I came to see who was still using such an outdated hunting method…. What the hell is this? Are you a Summoner?”
“And what are you supposed to be?”
Park Il-sang answered at the other man’s level.
At that, the man wearing a visor helmet over his face (something like a motorcycle helmet) reacted as though he found it absurd.
“You are being awfully informal? You do not seem to understand the situation?”
“Who knows. I am not sure which one of us does not understand the situation.”
“Hey. Do you not see me walking around alone? Judging from the fact that I have never seen your face before, you seem like a rookie. If you keep acting tough like that, you might end up dead.”
“I am alone too. Hey. Are you supposed to be someone important?”
“Ha… What a ridiculous bastard.”
The man wearing the black visor helmet shook his head as if he found this absurd.
Then he said, “Forget it. What am I doing talking with a man who is about to die? Mind Control.”
WHOOOOM!
Park Il-sang saw a wave of Mana rise from the man’s body and spread through the surroundings.
It was Mind Control.
-Your opponent is attempting to seize control of the Undead you are controlling.
-The opponent’s Skill failed.
Of course, nothing happened.
It could not have been otherwise.
Park Il-sang’s [Corpse Manipulation] Skill was on an entirely different level from mental-type brainwashing.
“I will let you experience the misery of being killed by your own lackeys. It should feel amazing, right? Hey, you lot. Kill that thing.”
Yet the other man seemed not to realize that his Skill had failed and gave an order.
‘Ha…. How amusing.’
That was funny.
And then, CLATTER. CLATTER.
WHIZZ!
The five Skeleton Centaurs immediately hurled the bone spears they were holding at him.
“What!?”
While the man in the visor helmet flinched in surprise and threw himself aside to avoid the javelins, the huge Skeleton Beast leaped.
“F***!”
The man rolled across the ground.
CRASH!
The Skeleton Beast’s front paw slammed into the ground!
“Gah!”
Although it did not hit the visor-helmet man directly, the fragments that burst up when it struck the ground beside him pelted his entire body evenly.
“Si… Silver Veil!”
Perhaps sensing danger, the visor-helmet man immediately vanished from sight, presence and all.
Seeing that, Park Il-sang spoke.
“Oh. Not bad. From the word Silver Veil, I suppose it is a hiding Skill. Is it a Skill for thief-type Hunters? Having both Mind Control and stealth is not absurdly overpowered?”
So loudly declared the shameless Necromancer.
“I see. I wonder how you are hiding…. I wonder. Can you really hide~?”
Park Il-sang grinned.
“You lot. Kill him.”
And the Undead moved.
***
‘F***! Why did my Skill not work?!’
Kim Hoon-cheol raised his aching body.
Stone fragments had struck him just moments ago, so his entire body hurt. That was only natural, since it was practically the same as having his whole body beaten evenly.
If not for his combat suit and the fact that he was a D-Grade Hunter, the force might have broken something outright.
So the moment he got up and tried to move, a voice reached him.
“Oh. Not bad. From the word Silver Veil, I suppose it is a hiding Skill. Is it a Skill for thief-type Hunters? Having both Mind Control and stealth is not absurdly overpowered?”
‘That crazy bastard! I will make sure I kill you!’
Swallowing his rage, he moved urgently.
He had used the Silver Veil Skill, but he could not maintain it for long.
He could hide for roughly three minutes, and after that, he could not use the Skill again for another three minutes.
So he had to run as hard as he could in the meantime.
Then, “I see. I wonder how you are hiding…. I wonder. Can you really hide~?”
‘That lunatic. Does he think he can find me?! I will lure other Monsters over and rip your jaw apart….’
As he moved while thinking that, “You lot. Kill him.”
He heard a playful voice.
‘What?’
And the moment he looked back,
he saw the things that had first thrown the spears, their upper bodies shaped like humans and their lower bodies shaped like horses, charging toward him at terrifying speed.
“What the f***! What are those things!”
Sinister blue flames blazed in the eye sockets of the skulls that formed their heads.
SHIVER!
The fine hairs along his spine stood on end. Goosebumps rose all over his body.
Death was drawing close.
In a panic, he pulled out a consumable artifact from his waist and threw it.
FWOOSH!
A fierce Blue Flame surged up and wrapped around the charging Skeleton Centaurs.
“SCREEEEEECH!”
The screams of the dead seemed as though they would shake his skull. But Kim Hoon-cheol ran with everything he had.
It was then.
WHOOSH!
The moment a black shadow seemed to appear over his head, THOOOOM!
Something enormous dropped down in front of him.
“Aaaargh!”
The Silver Veil Skill was released. The force of the impact hurled him backward.
He rolled across the ground, then forced himself to rise and look ahead. The huge Summon was sitting directly in his escape route.
“Hiding. And Mind Control. Are those your only two? Well… I can see how you might throw your weight around a little among Hunters….”
Before he knew it, a Skeleton Centaur had approached Kim Hoon-cheol, seized him, and lifted him up.
“Let go, you bastards!”
CRACK!
Even so, Kim Hoon-cheol was still D+ Grade, and he immediately swung his arm. The Skeleton Centaur’s ribs broke on the spot.
“They are nothing special… What is this!?”
CRACK. CRUNCH. SNAP.
But then,
the broken bones joined back together. They even changed shape, binding and wrapping around Kim Hoon-cheol’s hand and arm.
CRACK. CRUNCH!
The same was true for the other Skeleton Centaurs. Before he knew it, all five Skeleton Centaurs had approached, joining their bodies together as they seized Kim Hoon-cheol and held him fast.
It was a Skeleton Prison!
“Nngh! Let go, let go! You son of a bitch!”
Kim Hoon-cheol struggled.
And in front of him, the Skeleton Beast lowered itself.
Park Il-sang stepped down from its back, slowly walked over, and stood before Kim Hoon-cheol.
Fear settled over Kim Hoon-cheol’s face.
‘Th-this bastard’s eyes….’
Kim Hoon-cheol himself was trash who captured people and offered them as sacrifices. Killing people was nothing to him.
He had even enjoyed it.
Murder was pleasure.
He had lived while thinking that.
But
the man before him was somehow different.
He was completely different from Kim Hoon-cheol himself, and from all the trash Kim Hoon-cheol had seen.
It was not the gaze of a human looking at another human.
Nor was it the gaze of someone looking at prey.
That was. That was….
‘F***! Now!’
Kim Hoon-cheol clenched his teeth.
He had one final emergency measure.
Now was the moment to use it.
“Mental Link!!”
His strongest Skill.
Mental Link.
It was a Skill that bound his mind and the opponent’s mind into one, then subdued and controlled the opponent’s mind!
It could be used on only one person, but he had a record of controlling even a C-Grade Hunter with it.
WHOOSH.
His mind connected with the other man’s.
***
A dark space.
A world where nothing could be seen.
But Kim Hoon-cheol was used to this. The inner world of an ordinary person was usually located in this kind of empty darkness.
If he went just a little deeper inside, he would find the world formed from that person’s mind.
He saw something like a city in the distance.
Modern cities.
“Heh… It is ordinary, is it not? You bastard. Now I will make you my lackey. I will work you like a dog. I will make you beg me to kill you instead….”
The very thought put him in a good mood, and Kim Hoon-cheol stepped into the city.
The streets of the city were submerged in a black, viscous liquid. It felt as if it came up to the tops of his feet. And somehow, there was nothing there.
“He is damn gloomy. Why is it this desolate and empty….”
It was then.
CLACK.
The door of a convenience store beside the city opened, and something came out.
“You bastard! So that is where you were! You….”
When Kim Hoon-cheol turned his head in delight, standing there was a corpse with half its face crushed.
They said that when a person was too shocked, they could not even scream, much less speak.
Kim Hoon-cheol himself was exactly like that.
“Wh-what….”
It was then.
CLAMP.
Something snatched his ankle.
When he looked down, a half-rotted hand protruding from the black liquid was gripping Kim Hoon-cheol’s ankle.
“Aaaargh!”
Screaming, he stomped down, kicked away the hand that had grabbed him, and retreated. However, before he knew it, another corpse was standing behind him.
“Wh-what is thiiiis?!”