# 51 Contractee Shin Jahun (3)
The table crumbled with a clatter, and Shin Jahun leaned against its broken frame.
*If my stats were a little higher, it might have been dangerous.*
He glanced at the blond man lying unconscious on the floor. It was his superior basic speed that had allowed him to knock the man out with a precise punch to the temple.
He didn’t know what the man used to do, but his movements were different from an ordinary player.
“Sigh.”
On the ground, Minah and Luke lay unconscious.
Taking their lives would not have been difficult if he reached out his hand.
“Dad!”
A girl that looked to be in her early teens shook Luke’s body.
Jahun frowned at this sight. It brought back memories from long ago.
*Annoying.*
Killing a child was distasteful, and doing so in front of their parents was equally unpleasant.
However, it was unavoidable. To avenge his brother, he had to repay in kind.
“Oh, this is interesting.”
“What are you talking about now?”
Shin Jahun, who was about to knock out the crying Rin, became irritated at the sudden voice of Nevilos. The way Nevilos spoke had a seductive quality that made his skin crawl simply by listening.
“Don’t kill the child.”
“Why?”
He hadn’t intended to kill the child in the first place, but Nevilos’s words were unexpected.
It wasn’t something that a freak who relished a child’s sorrow and despair would normally say.
“She has tremendous potential. This high purity of magical power… She’ll surely make a fine ingredient.”
A fine ingredient.
Definitely not a phrase with a good connotation.
It would be kinder to kill her here than to let her face what Nevilos had in store.
“Understood. Can I do as I please with the rest?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Jahun approached the unconscious Minah first.
She was a player with a unique ability and was skilled in combat, but had allowed herself to be approached too easily by him.
She was simply unlucky to have encountered him.
Looking at the peaceful face of Minah, who seemed to be sleeping, Jahun hesitated.
After all, Minah was still a high school student in her teens.
“Tch.”
Eventually, Jahun clicked his tongue and withdrew his hand that was reaching out to Minah.
This is why he should have killed her in one shot before any weird feelings arose.
“Kid.”
“Sob, hic! Y-Yes?”
“Come with me.”
“What?”
Stunned by Jahun’s abrupt command, Rin looked up in bewilderment.
“If you don’t want this man and woman to die, it would be wise to follow me quietly.”
“If I follow you, will you let them live?”
“Yes.”
Originally, he intended to kill them all, but he had not expected there to be a young child, and for another to be that child’s parent.
*Damn it.*
As much as he wanted to curse, he had no choice.
After all, he just needed to create a situation where the Crow couldn’t attack.
He couldn’t kill them but using them as hostages would suffice to provoke the Crow.
Jahun comforted himself with that thought.
“Ok, I understand.”
“Good. Then…”
Jahun raised his hand and struck down on Rin’s nape.
He narrowed his eyes, looking down at the fallen Rin.
*Did this kid just see me strike?*
He felt her eyes follow the trajectory of his hand.
She had clearly seen Jahun’s attack, which even Minah hadn’t fully seen.
Even though he had toned down his strength, his attack hadn’t been slow enough for a child to see.
“What in the world…”
He had found it strange ever since Nevilos started showing interest, but it seemed this child was no ordinary kid.
Plunk.
Casually carrying the unconscious Rin with one hand, Jahun stepped outside, where the rain still poured.
Because the rain was heavy, he was concerned about Rin hanging by his waist.
*What am I even thinking?*
His thoughts were influenced by the image of Rin earlier, crying as she clung to Luke. It was like seeing a ghost from his own childhood.
Jahun pressed his fingers against his temples and then swung a leg over his motorcycle.
Vroom!
But just then, a rush of wind cut through the rain.
It wasn’t the natural wind but something artificially created.
To be honest, it was half by chance. Jahun reflexively ducked his head, and something shot past where it had been, embedding itself into the wall.
“An axe?”
Stuck in the wall, the hand axe was covered in monster blood.
It appeared to have been used recently in a hunt.
“You managed to avoid it.”
The voice was dry as dust.
A woman in the same black dress as Jahun stood across the street.
At first, he thought she was a contractee of the devils.
“What is that?”
Is she human?
He was unsure about the woman who appeared almost inhuman.
Despite the rain battering her, her forlorn standing figure was terrifyingly beautiful, but equally non-human.
Jahun instinctively felt that fighting this thing would not end well.
“You’re also…”
Before he could ask if she was with the others in the building, the woman’s foot moved faster.
She dashed toward him like a bullet fired from a gun.
Her speed was beyond imagination.
*She’s faster than me!*
The rain blurred around him as the woman’s red eyes glowed, and a red line drew swiftly towards Jahun’s neck, her hand reaching out as if to pluck his head off.
Crack!
Jahun countered the woman’s hand with a punch.
While she was faster, her attack was reckless.
Vroom!
The woman grunted.
Surely her hand was broken by Jahun’s counterattack, but it didn’t alter her trajectory in the slightest.
Despite the broken hand, she swung her arm without adjusting her power, aiming straight for Jahun’s neck.
He managed to evade, but honestly, it was chilling.
The woman’s behavior, moving like a human unable to feel pain, was disturbing.
“Your movements are strange.”
But the woman, in turn, claimed he was the one being strange.
“What do you mean?”
“I was sure you would get hit, but you’re dodging like a snake…”
“That’s called weaving.”
“Like in boxing?”
“Similar.”
The woman hmmed softly, then slowly took up a position.
It was very similar to the stance Jahun had just adopted.
Her broken hand had healed as if nothing had happened.
“Is this how you do it?”
She swung her hand towards Jahun, mimicking his previous attack.
It was clumsy, full of openings, but her movements improved bit by bit.
This was not a good sign.
Jahun craved the cigarettes in his pocket.
*Strike her down in one blow.*
He didn’t think it would kill her.
He just needed to shake her off.
He could probably win if they continued to fight, but Sehan would no doubt soon arrive.
There was no certainty of victory, especially against an opponent with self-healing abilities, the worst match-up for Jahun due to the potential for a drawn-out battle.
*One, two.*
The woman always attacked first.
Reading her wasn’t difficult.
She aimed only for vital spots, making it easier to predict her strikes.
*Three.*
The woman’s foot slipped through the rain and she lunged into Jahun’s embrace.
This was the cleanest move she had made so far.
Watching her hand stretched towards his chest, Jahun clenched his fist, twisted his body, and punched straight towards the woman’s face.
A counter.
It was Jahun’s most confident technique.
Boom!
Asphalt caved in where his foot had been, and he hit the woman’s face with all his weight.
She gave a small scream as her body was flung away.
Bang, crash!
The woman flew across the street, denting a streetlamp, then continued into a clothing store, crashing into it.
There was no sign of movement from her.
“That was a bit risky.”
The front of Jahun’s white shirt was stained with blood.
He had dodged, but her speed was too great for him to avoid complete contact.
“Phew.”
Letting out a deep sigh, Jahun sat back on his bike.
Vroom!
He revved the engine and pulled the handle.
As the wheels began to spin, the clothing store shook violently, and the woman burst forth.
“This is crazy.”
Jahun watched the woman in the rearview mirror, her head apparently cracked and bleeding, yet her red eyes still sparkled with intensity.
She looked left and right, searching for him, and upon spotting the motorcycle, she gave chase.
*Am I dreaming?*
The image of the woman in the mirror made Jahun doubt his eyes.
She was running at a speed almost equal to his bike cutting through the storm.
It seemed as though she might catch up any moment.
*How much agility does she have?*
The bike’s speedometer was surpassing 80 km/h.
That meant she was running at least that fast.
Her movements in the fight had seemed quick, but now she was noticeably faster.
Despite taking a blow to the head, which should have affected her brain, she was accelerating.
*I’ll be caught if this goes on.*
The woman was now right behind him.
As he tried to increase the bike’s speed, something flashed from within his clothes.
It was the mask Nevilos had given him earlier.
Boom!
A powerful magical force burst from the mask, blasting away the pursuing woman.
Jahun watched her tumble into the distance, then increased the bike’s speed even further.
Hopefully, this would be the last time she could pursue him.
“I’ve given you a special hand. I couldn’t let you spoil the main dish.”
“Thanks for that.”
Jahun conveyed his gratitude to Nevilos.
This time, he meant it sincerely.
***
“Shin Jahun?”
I tracked Jisoo’s current location while running swiftly.
He must be with them.
*Who really is Shin Jahun?*
As I leaped between buildings and raced along the roads, I kept checking the community.
It seemed that it was this Shin Jahun who had attacked Minah and the others.
From the chats, it appeared that Minah and Luke were defeated, and Jisoo had clashed with him but managed to escape successfully.
He took Rin Taylor with him, of all people.
*Is this Nevilos’s doing?*
I couldn’t grasp his intent.
At first, I thought I went on a raid against the Heukcheonhoe out of revenge, but I didn’t kill anyone.
According to the chat, there was clearly an opportunity to kill, but he only kidnapped Rin.
*It had to be when Jisoo was momentarily away.*
From the fight narrative, if Jisoo had been there, the outcome might have been different.
Apparently, Jahun seems to be a player at a level almost equal to that of Jisoo…
*Is that even possible?*
Just the fact that he fought on par with Jisoo was surprising enough.
Through the Multi-Play Package, Jisoo had been taking some of the points I earned.
In addition to his own talent, which was considerable, his growth rate was unmatched.
He was arguably the strongest player in melee combat next to me.
And yet a player who overpowered Jisoo…
*I should have known about such a person.*
If there were a player like that, Heukcheonhoe would certainly have mentioned him when they started being active.
But I couldn’t remember a name like Shin Jahun no matter how hard I tried.
That meant Shin Jahun must have already died by the time Heukcheonhoe began operating in earnest.
*There can’t be many who could kill such a player.*
At least, not in Korea.
Rin Taylor was too young then, and her talents hadn’t blossomed at all.
“I’ll find out when I meet him face to face.”
Of all things, he had to mess with Rin Taylor.
I activated the Crow’s eyes and tracked Shin Jahun’s location mentioned in the community.
He was heading towards Incheon, specifically in the direction of the docks.
The Incheon Docks were currently deserted due to the surrounding devastation – it would be hard to find a better place for a fight.
“Is this a challenge then?”
Fine by me.
I was afraid something terrible might have happened to Minah or the others, but fortunately, it seemed there were no issues, which was a relief.
All that was left was to successfully rescue Rin Taylor.
*I might even get to see Nevilos.*
Honestly, I had no desire to hear that sultry voice.
I hoped the meeting would be far into the future, preferably when I was ready to take his head. But it looked like it wouldn’t be that easy.
# 51 Contractee Shin Jahun (3)
The table crumbled with a clatter, and Shin Jahun leaned against its broken frame.
*If my stats were a little higher, it might have been dangerous.*
He glanced at the blond man lying unconscious on the floor. It was his superior basic speed that had allowed him to knock the man out with a precise punch to the temple.
He didn’t know what the man used to do, but his movements were different from an ordinary player.
“Sigh.”
On the ground, Minah and Luke lay unconscious.
Taking their lives would not have been difficult if he reached out his hand.
“Dad!”
A girl that looked to be in her early teens shook Luke’s body.
Jahun frowned at this sight. It brought back memories from long ago.
*Annoying.*
Killing a child was distasteful, and doing so in front of their parents was equally unpleasant.
However, it was unavoidable. To avenge his brother, he had to repay in kind.
“Oh, this is interesting.”
“What are you talking about now?”
Shin Jahun, who was about to knock out the crying Rin, became irritated at the sudden voice of Nevilos. The way Nevilos spoke had a seductive quality that made his skin crawl simply by listening.
“Don’t kill the child.”
“Why?”
He hadn’t intended to kill the child in the first place, but Nevilos’s words were unexpected.
It wasn’t something that a freak who relished a child’s sorrow and despair would normally say.
“She has tremendous potential. This high purity of magical power… She’ll surely make a fine ingredient.”
A fine ingredient.
Definitely not a phrase with a good connotation.
It would be kinder to kill her here than to let her face what Nevilos had in store.
“Understood. Can I do as I please with the rest?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Jahun approached the unconscious Minah first.
She was a player with a unique ability and was skilled in combat, but had allowed herself to be approached too easily by him.
She was simply unlucky to have encountered him.
Looking at the peaceful face of Minah, who seemed to be sleeping, Jahun hesitated.
After all, Minah was still a high school student in her teens.
“Tch.”
Eventually, Jahun clicked his tongue and withdrew his hand that was reaching out to Minah.
This is why he should have killed her in one shot before any weird feelings arose.
“Kid.”
“Sob, hic! Y-Yes?”
“Come with me.”
“What?”
Stunned by Jahun’s abrupt command, Rin looked up in bewilderment.
“If you don’t want this man and woman to die, it would be wise to follow me quietly.”
“If I follow you, will you let them live?”
“Yes.”
Originally, he intended to kill them all, but he had not expected there to be a young child, and for another to be that child’s parent.
*Damn it.*
As much as he wanted to curse, he had no choice.
After all, he just needed to create a situation where the Crow couldn’t attack.
He couldn’t kill them but using them as hostages would suffice to provoke the Crow.
Jahun comforted himself with that thought.
“Ok, I understand.”
“Good. Then…”
Jahun raised his hand and struck down on Rin’s nape.
He narrowed his eyes, looking down at the fallen Rin.
*Did this kid just see me strike?*
He felt her eyes follow the trajectory of his hand.
She had clearly seen Jahun’s attack, which even Minah hadn’t fully seen.
Even though he had toned down his strength, his attack hadn’t been slow enough for a child to see.
“What in the world…”
He had found it strange ever since Nevilos started showing interest, but it seemed this child was no ordinary kid.
Plunk.
Casually carrying the unconscious Rin with one hand, Jahun stepped outside, where the rain still poured.
Because the rain was heavy, he was concerned about Rin hanging by his waist.
*What am I even thinking?*
His thoughts were influenced by the image of Rin earlier, crying as she clung to Luke. It was like seeing a ghost from his own childhood.
Jahun pressed his fingers against his temples and then swung a leg over his motorcycle.
Vroom!
But just then, a rush of wind cut through the rain.
It wasn’t the natural wind but something artificially created.
To be honest, it was half by chance. Jahun reflexively ducked his head, and something shot past where it had been, embedding itself into the wall.
“An axe?”
Stuck in the wall, the hand axe was covered in monster blood.
It appeared to have been used recently in a hunt.
“You managed to avoid it.”
The voice was dry as dust.
A woman in the same black dress as Jahun stood across the street.
At first, he thought she was a contractee of the devils.
“What is that?”
Is she human?
He was unsure about the woman who appeared almost inhuman.
Despite the rain battering her, her forlorn standing figure was terrifyingly beautiful, but equally non-human.
Jahun instinctively felt that fighting this thing would not end well.
“You’re also…”
Before he could ask if she was with the others in the building, the woman’s foot moved faster.
She dashed toward him like a bullet fired from a gun.
Her speed was beyond imagination.
*She’s faster than me!*
The rain blurred around him as the woman’s red eyes glowed, and a red line drew swiftly towards Jahun’s neck, her hand reaching out as if to pluck his head off.
Crack!
Jahun countered the woman’s hand with a punch.
While she was faster, her attack was reckless.
Vroom!
The woman grunted.
Surely her hand was broken by Jahun’s counterattack, but it didn’t alter her trajectory in the slightest.
Despite the broken hand, she swung her arm without adjusting her power, aiming straight for Jahun’s neck.
He managed to evade, but honestly, it was chilling.
The woman’s behavior, moving like a human unable to feel pain, was disturbing.
“Your movements are strange.”
But the woman, in turn, claimed he was the one being strange.
“What do you mean?”
“I was sure you would get hit, but you’re dodging like a snake…”
“That’s called weaving.”
“Like in boxing?”
“Similar.”
The woman hmmed softly, then slowly took up a position.
It was very similar to the stance Jahun had just adopted.
Her broken hand had healed as if nothing had happened.
“Is this how you do it?”
She swung her hand towards Jahun, mimicking his previous attack.
It was clumsy, full of openings, but her movements improved bit by bit.
This was not a good sign.
Jahun craved the cigarettes in his pocket.
*Strike her down in one blow.*
He didn’t think it would kill her.
He just needed to shake her off.
He could probably win if they continued to fight, but Sehan would no doubt soon arrive.
There was no certainty of victory, especially against an opponent with self-healing abilities, the worst match-up for Jahun due to the potential for a drawn-out battle.
*One, two.*
The woman always attacked first.
Reading her wasn’t difficult.
She aimed only for vital spots, making it easier to predict her strikes.
*Three.*
The woman’s foot slipped through the rain and she lunged into Jahun’s embrace.
This was the cleanest move she had made so far.
Watching her hand stretched towards his chest, Jahun clenched his fist, twisted his body, and punched straight towards the woman’s face.
A counter.
It was Jahun’s most confident technique.
Boom!
Asphalt caved in where his foot had been, and he hit the woman’s face with all his weight.
She gave a small scream as her body was flung away.
Bang, crash!
The woman flew across the street, denting a streetlamp, then continued into a clothing store, crashing into it.
There was no sign of movement from her.
“That was a bit risky.”
The front of Jahun’s white shirt was stained with blood.
He had dodged, but her speed was too great for him to avoid complete contact.
“Phew.”
Letting out a deep sigh, Jahun sat back on his bike.
Vroom!
He revved the engine and pulled the handle.
As the wheels began to spin, the clothing store shook violently, and the woman burst forth.
“This is crazy.”
Jahun watched the woman in the rearview mirror, her head apparently cracked and bleeding, yet her red eyes still sparkled with intensity.
She looked left and right, searching for him, and upon spotting the motorcycle, she gave chase.
*Am I dreaming?*
The image of the woman in the mirror made Jahun doubt his eyes.
She was running at a speed almost equal to his bike cutting through the storm.
It seemed as though she might catch up any moment.
*How much agility does she have?*
The bike’s speedometer was surpassing 80 km/h.
That meant she was running at least that fast.
Her movements in the fight had seemed quick, but now she was noticeably faster.
Despite taking a blow to the head, which should have affected her brain, she was accelerating.
*I’ll be caught if this goes on.*
The woman was now right behind him.
As he tried to increase the bike’s speed, something flashed from within his clothes.
It was the mask Nevilos had given him earlier.
Boom!
A powerful magical force burst from the mask, blasting away the pursuing woman.
Jahun watched her tumble into the distance, then increased the bike’s speed even further.
Hopefully, this would be the last time she could pursue him.
“I’ve given you a special hand. I couldn’t let you spoil the main dish.”
“Thanks for that.”
Jahun conveyed his gratitude to Nevilos.
This time, he meant it sincerely.
***
“Shin Jahun?”
I tracked Jisoo’s current location while running swiftly.
He must be with them.
*Who really is Shin Jahun?*
As I leaped between buildings and raced along the roads, I kept checking the community.
It seemed that it was this Shin Jahun who had attacked Minah and the others.
From the chats, it appeared that Minah and Luke were defeated, and Jisoo had clashed with him but managed to escape successfully.
He took Rin Taylor with him, of all people.
*Is this Nevilos’s doing?*
I couldn’t grasp his intent.
At first, I thought I went on a raid against the Heukcheonhoe out of revenge, but I didn’t kill anyone.
According to the chat, there was clearly an opportunity to kill, but he only kidnapped Rin.
*It had to be when Jisoo was momentarily away.*
From the fight narrative, if Jisoo had been there, the outcome might have been different.
Apparently, Jahun seems to be a player at a level almost equal to that of Jisoo…
*Is that even possible?*
Just the fact that he fought on par with Jisoo was surprising enough.
Through the Multi-Play Package, Jisoo had been taking some of the points I earned.
In addition to his own talent, which was considerable, his growth rate was unmatched.
He was arguably the strongest player in melee combat next to me.
And yet a player who overpowered Jisoo…
*I should have known about such a person.*
If there were a player like that, Heukcheonhoe would certainly have mentioned him when they started being active.
But I couldn’t remember a name like Shin Jahun no matter how hard I tried.
That meant Shin Jahun must have already died by the time Heukcheonhoe began operating in earnest.
*There can’t be many who could kill such a player.*
At least, not in Korea.
Rin Taylor was too young then, and her talents hadn’t blossomed at all.
“I’ll find out when I meet him face to face.”
Of all things, he had to mess with Rin Taylor.
I activated the Crow’s eyes and tracked Shin Jahun’s location mentioned in the community.
He was heading towards Incheon, specifically in the direction of the docks.
The Incheon Docks were currently deserted due to the surrounding devastation – it would be hard to find a better place for a fight.
“Is this a challenge then?”
Fine by me.
I was afraid something terrible might have happened to Minah or the others, but fortunately, it seemed there were no issues, which was a relief.
All that was left was to successfully rescue Rin Taylor.
*I might even get to see Nevilos.*
Honestly, I had no desire to hear that sultry voice.
I hoped the meeting would be far into the future, preferably when I was ready to take his head. But it looked like it wouldn’t be that easy.
