He sat at the corner table of the dimly lit café, the soft hum of conversation blending with the clink of cups and saucers. A lukewarm coffee sat before him, untouched. He leaned back slightly, his long black hair falling loosely past his shoulders, a few strands tucked behind one ear. His jaw was sharp, lightly dusted with a few days' worth of stubble — not messy, but enough to show he didn't care for a perfectly clean face.
His fingers tapped idly on the table. Large, strong hands, scarred from past fights, calloused from both weapons and rough work. His dark eyes were narrowed slightly, not from anger, but from deep thought.
Defeat the rogue hunter.
Defeat… or kill?
He sighed, brushing a hand back through his hair. The system's quest window had been clear on the target, but vague on the outcome. He wasn't sure if he was meant to bring this guy in or take him out for good. He didn't want to be the kind of hunter who killed just because the system told him to.
Suddenly, the café became silent everyone looked at a single place. He too looked towards the attraction, brow furrowing.
The mounted TV above the counter showed a live news broadcast. Reporters swarmed a young woman in black hunter gear, sweat glistening on her forehead, her long dark hair tied neatly back.
Park Harin.
His little sister.
The banner flashed across the screen: BREAKING NEWS: KOREA'S 8TH S-RANK HUNTER! PARK HARIN ENTERS THE NATIONAL LEADERBOARD AT RANK 7!
Reporters pushed in, shoving mics forward.
"Hunter Park! How does it feel to become an S-Rank at such a young age?"
Harin gave a calm, collected smile. "I'm grateful. But this isn't just my achievement — it belongs to my guild, my mentors, my family."
"Family, huh…"
He exhaled quietly, his hand tightening slightly around the coffee cup.
The reporters kept shouting.
"Do you plan to aim for Rank 1? Will you be challenging the top hunters?"
She let out a soft laugh, brushing a loose strand behind her ear. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I just want to protect as many people as I can. That's enough for me."
"Protect..."
He felt heat rush through his chest — frustration first, an old, bitter annoyance. She was always the golden one, the perfect one, always in the spotlight.
But underneath that anger… a flicker of something warmer.
"Just don't go too far, harin-ah" he muttered.
With a slow breath, he rose from his chair. Standing tall, his broad shoulders and strong frame made him stand out even in the small café. His long coat shifted around his legs as he moved.
He gave the TV one last glance, watching as his sister's image faded to a panel of commentators chattering excitedly.
He stepped outside, the cold evening air brushing against his skin, and pulled his hood up over his long hair.
Let's see about this rogue hunter.
---
He went to his house and sat on the bed.
"If I am going to be fighting a hunter i need strategy.
First: Fights between awakened people is illegal and can get you into awakeners jail.
Second: Considering the defeat or kill.
Third: The place of the battle.
....
If I am right, the best place would be a dungeon. I will be able to easily k... Can I really kill a human being.?"
"I need to think. It did say
"think,think,think...."
"Lets go"
He started packing his own personal items.
"if I am found out, they will already have my address from the hunter licence and the identity card. I need to abandon this house"
He stuffed the last of his things into a backpack — a spare shirt, gloves, cash, a burner phone — and slung it over his shoulder. His old apartment already felt cold and empty, like it knew he wasn't coming back.
He sat at the small desk by the window overlooking the narrow street below, pulling out his laptop.
Find the rogue hunter.
He opened the search engine, fingers flying across the keyboard.
Name: Jang Hyunsoo.
Title: Ex-member of Black Fang Guild.
Status: Rogue.
He pulled up every bit of public info he could — old guild records, news articles, even blurry fan-taken photos from dungeon raids.
Then he switched tabs.
Social media.
Hyunsoo's name popped up across several platforms. Not official accounts — those had been deleted ages ago — but his name lingered in group chats, fan pages, guild rumor threads. Hunters couldn't fully erase their online footprints; there were always scraps left behind.
One particular post caught his eye.
"Spotted Jang Hyunsoo near Dongdaemun last night. Is he back in Seoul??"
He clicked through, tracing the trail. A blurry photo: someone in a hooded jacket, broad-shouldered, sharp jawline, leaning against a streetlamp.
Another post, two hours later.
"My friend works at a gym in Mapo — swears Hyunsoo's been coming in late at night, training."
His lips pressed into a thin line. Mapo. That narrowed things down.
He grabbed his burner phone and opened the hunter network app. As an official hunter, he had limited access to tracking tags — especially for rogues. He entered the name: Jang Hyunsoo.
[ROGUE STATUS CONFIRMED. LAST KNOWN DUNGEON ENTRY: MAPO DISTRICT, LEVEL C-RANK GATE.]
A slow exhale left his chest.
So that's where you're hiding.
He pulled his hood up again, glancing around the dark apartment one last time. Then, without another word, he slipped out into the Seoul night.
The streets were cold, the neon signs flickering overhead. Somewhere across the river, his sister's name was probably still plastered all over the news. But here, under the shadow of the Mapo district's gates, he walked unseen, unnoticed.
---
He waited near the dungeon gate, eyes half-lidded, hands shoved into his coat pockets. A few hunters passed by, giving him curious glances — but none recognized him. That was fine. That was how he wanted it.
He didn't have to wait long.
A tall man approached, hood drawn, broad shoulders tense, sharp jawline visible under the streetlight. Jang Hyunsoo.
Their eyes met briefly.
"…You a hunter?" Hyunsoo asked, voice rough.
He gave a small nod. "Yeah. Solo. You?"
Hyunsoo smirked faintly. "Same."
An idea slipped smoothly into his mind. Befriend him. Enter the dungeon together. Let your guard down — then strike.
"Mind if I tag along?" he asked, keeping his tone casual. "Better odds for clearing."
Hyunsoo gave a low chuckle. "Sure. Just don't slow me down."
They entered the C-rank gate side by side, the air shimmering as they passed through.
Inside, the dungeon smelled damp and cold. Rough stone walls stretched into darkness, lit faintly by Hyunsoo's conjured light orb.
The lizard-like creatures appeared first — small, fast, spitting acidic venom. Together, they cut through them efficiently. Hyunsoo moved like a veteran, twin daggers flashing as he weaved through the monsters, while the system's power boosted his partner's strikes effortlessly.
For a moment, it almost felt like a real partnership.
Almost.
The lizards lunged.
Jinwoo raised his hand — three rapid-fire flame bolts shot out, slamming into the front line. The monsters screeched, bodies igniting as they tumbled. But more surged past, jaws snapping.
"On your left!" Hyunsoo barked, already moving. His twin daggers flashed — a clean arc sliced through one lizard's throat, the second blade parrying another's claw swipe.
Jinwoo spun, drawing a sigil in the air — a shimmering wall of wind erupted between them and the incoming pack, buying a precious second.
"Push them back!" Jinwoo shouted.
Hyunsoo grinned. "With pleasure."
He dashed forward, daggers carving precise, brutal lines. His footwork was fast despite the scarred knee, using the momentum of each kill to flow into the next.
Behind him, Jinwoo planted his feet, palms raised. Mana flared in his chest — he gathered flame, compressing it tighter, tighter, until the air itself rippled.
"Hyunsoo, clear out!"
Hyunsoo backflipped, blades crossing to shield his chest. Jinwoo released the spell — a roaring column of fire surged forward, sweeping through the remaining lizards like a scythe.
When the smoke cleared, the floor was littered with charred bodies.
Panting, Hyunsoo glanced over his shoulder. "Okay… mage-boy. You're packing more than just 'offense.'"
Jinwoo gave a crooked smile. "You're not too bad yourself, dagger-boy."
But inside, his thoughts churned. His mana reserves hadn't dropped as much as they should have. And his healing spell — a non-mage skill — still pulsed faintly at his fingertips, like the system wasn't restricting him.
Just what was happening to him?
Hyunsoo sheathed one dagger, tossing a glance further down the corridor. "There's still the dungeon boss ahead." His eyes gleamed, a touch wild. "Think you can handle it, magic man?"
"Sorry, Hyunsoo. I think you should rest now."
"True, I am kinda tired"
"I meant rest in peace"
Jinwoo immediately shot a flare, not compressed but large. As if to knock him out.
Hyunsoo dodged, as he glared at jinwoo like a mad dog.
"What's this? Are you from the killers guild?"
"Nope. I just came for a reason."
---
Hyunsoo's eyes narrowed, a flicker of realization flashing through them.
"You're here for me, aren't you?" he muttered, voice low, teeth clenched.
Jinwoo's heart pounded — not with excitement, but with cold determination. "The system gave me a quest: defeat the rogue hunter."
"System? Is that someone who you address as boss? There sure are people after me."
Jinwoo's hands glowed faintly, flames curling around his fingers. "I didn't want to kill you."
"Good." Hyunsoo drew both daggers again, the blades humming faintly with his aura. "Because you won't."
He lunged.
Jinwoo ducked under the first slash, rolling sideways, sending a blast of wind to knock Hyunsoo back. But the rogue was faster — he twisted midair, boots skidding across the dungeon floor, blades flashing as he came right back.
Jinwoo gritted his teeth, raising a shield just in time — the daggers scraped across it with a hiss of sparks. He shoved back, flinging Hyunsoo off balance, and hurled a compressed fireball at his chest.
But Hyunsoo moved again, body low, dodging smoothly as if he could read the spells.
He's been fighting hunters for years, Jinwoo realized grimly. He knows exactly how we move.
They circled each other.
Hyunsoo's eyes gleamed. "Come on, mage-boy. Show me what you really are."
"Fire isn't the only thing I got."
Jinwoo said as he closed his eyes, thinking of a memory. He flashbacked, remembering the time when there was a storm, lighting struck everywhere. He covered his sister, as she was scared of lighting strikes.
He placed his palm towards Hyunsoo, bright yellow strips connected from his five fingers. He shot the lighting strike at Hyunsoo, it was fast, of course it was. Light travels at the speed of 300,000 km/s. No human can dodge it, unless they are at least A-Rank.
The blast of lightning cracked through the air — a blinding flash, the sharp scent of ozone filling the dungeon.
Hyunsoo's eyes widened — but only for a split second. His body jolted, thrown violently backwards as the lightning strike hit square in his chest.
Boom!
The impact slammed him into the stone wall with enough force to crack it. Dust and small rocks showered to the floor.
Jinwoo stood there, panting slightly, arm still outstretched. His fingers trembled faintly, the last arcs of electricity snapping between them.
"…It's over," he muttered.
But as the dust settled, a low, ragged laugh echoed through the chamber.
Hyunsoo staggered to his feet, steam rising from his body, smoke curling off his burned jacket. His daggers clattered to the floor — but his eyes… his eyes gleamed like a beast's.
"You… little…" he coughed, blood at the corner of his mouth, but his grin was feral. "That was a good one. But you're not the only freak here, kid."
With a sudden snarl, Hyunsoo's aura flared — dark red, violent, pulsing like a heartbeat. Jinwoo's eyes widened.
Berserker-type awakening?!
"Y-You were a berserker? Not a rou-"
Before jinwoo could finish his sentence, Hyunsoo lunged, putting his fist into jinwoo's stomach.
But what he didn't knew was that jinwoo has waited for that. He grabbed Hyunsoo's hand with both his arms and sent a electric shot into his body.
The shock was too much, as Hyunsoo was already tired from the fight in the dungeon, and fighting jinwoo too. He ultimately fell to the ground with a hard thud.
"F#ck you..." Hyunsoo said his last words before losing conscious. He wasn't dead, but almost.
"I am into women"
Jinwoo stood there pant. He was also injured from that fight. But there was something still bothering him.
"kill... Should I?.."
Suddenly he heard a soft chime.
[QUEST COMPLETE: Defeat The Rouge Hunter.]
[REWARD: Rare Skill Upgrade Scroll, Rogue's Ring (Unique), +1 level, +10 bonus stat points, +2000 Exp]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[Current level: 12]
[+3 bonus stats points, +60 MP]
The system window flickered briefly in Jinwoo's vision. His shoulders sagged with relief — no kill required.
"Thank God, So..Rouge ring?"
Suddenly a ring teleported just infront of his hand but he failed to catch it due to it being so sudden, it fell at his feet. He picked it up and wore it on his right hand's ring finger.
[SYSTEM SCREEN: ITEM DETAILS]
Item Name: Ring of Greater Mana Absorption(The Rouge king's ring)
Grade: Rare
Effect: Absorbs mana from enemies by touching. Converts absorbed mana into the wearer's mana pool.
Note: Does not apply to friendly units or non-combatants.
Jinwoo's eyes flicked over the screen. "Absorbs… mana?" His lips tugged into a grin. "Looks like I hit the jackpot."
—
FLASH!
The dungeon boss, a grotesque lizardlike creature, let out a final screech before its body crumbled to dust. Jinwoo stood over the spot, panting lightly — but his mana gauge was surging, filling higher and higher thanks to the ring on his finger.
[SYSTEM: Mana absorbed — +245]
He clenched his fist, feeling the energy surge through him. "Alright. That takes care of that."
He glanced over to where Hyunsoo lay unconscious, his body still trembling from mana exhaustion.
—
Outside, under the dark Seoul sky, Jinwoo crouched in front of the hospital entrance. Carefully, he laid Hyunsoo's limp form on the ground, making sure he looked like someone who had simply collapsed from exhaustion.
"You were a great temporary friend."
He gave one last look, pulled up his hood, and walked away into the night.