Evolution Theory of the Hunter

“You guys are fine?”

They looked our way with clear annoyance in their faces.

“You retards over there. If you guys are done clearing the damn dungeon, shouldn’t you get the hell out!”

“What the hell are you going on about. Dumb little shits.”

Manager Kim started cursing aloud as his face turned a bright shade or red. Then I could see him sneaking a look at me to see if it was ok to say that.

If he was going to do that, he should have stayed quiet from the start. This man.

“Hey old man. You’re pretty good at cursing. Are you the boss? You realize you messed up our reservation? What are you going to do about it?”

The biggest guy in the group took a step forward. From the looks of it, he was a tanker. He had on a no name level 3 armor, and I couldn’t really tell what sword he carried just from looking at the scabbard. But based on everyone else’s equipment, everything they carried was at least a level 3.

In other words, these guys were not a general party.

You could tell if a group was a general party. Because you could smell the desperation in wanting to earn as much money as humanly possible on them. That was their main goal. They were not the type of people who would enter a level 2 dungeon with level 3 equipment.

“Something came up and we lost track of time. We will make sure to pay the penalty, so please step outside. We will follow shortly.”

“Penalty? It’s not as if we’re going to see any of it so what does that have to do with us?”

“It’s my understanding that you are reimbursed a part of the penalty fee.”

I explained calmly. It wasn’t as if I didn’t know they were purposely trying to provoke us to try and get a rise out of us.

But this situation was different from the time with Park Jungbeh.

I was now responsible for more people than just myself. The reason why it was easier when I had to just deal with Jungbeh that time was because if something happened, it would have only resulted in hot water for me.

This was different. Whatever happened now would affect the lives of six more people besides myself.

“Whatever. On our way here, we noticed a bunch of dropped items. We’ll be taking those. Just know that.”

“Why are you deciding that on your own?”

“Because we feel like it. We lost out on something so we’re recouping our losses. Isn’t that right?”

Tanker guy walked up closer to me. When I gave a frown, he smirked.

“Look at this guy. He looks like he just might have a temper.”

“Is that the bag you put our ores in?”

“Yeah. But you know what? You even had a level 2 item drop. Keu keu keu.”

At those words, everyone’s face in our party turned dark. If it was a level 2 item, it was worth at least 200 to 300,000 dollars. He was saying he would be taking that from right under our noses.

“That’s…”

“Lucky. If I didn’t come in, we wouldn’t have picked up on such a thing.”

Tanker guy gave a big ugly grin. It seemed, even though he was part of a leisure party, that he was in great spirits for being able to come up on a free item like that.

It was a fact that people with money were even more greedy for it.

“What will you do if I said we needed it back?”

“What will I do? Are you asking as if you don’t know the answer you idiot?”

He pulled out his sword. From the pattern, I could tell it was the Honcheon Sword. It had an explosive damage ability as an option. The value was at around 800,000 dollars.

That meant his equipment and skill was all a level 3.

I wonder if I could beat him at my current ability.

I needed to be able to win without there being any casualties or serious injuries. Would that be possible?

It would certainly not be easy.

At least over 20 ores and a level 2 item was on the line. Though it was a shame to throw them away, I recognized that that was the best option.

“…let’s leave.”

“It looks like you understand the situation.”

“Let’s go, everyone.”

I said as I walked to my party. Though they were all unhappy with the situation, they followed my order. They knew why I had decided to do this.

I was barely able to contain my anger. But I kept it down. All those years as a porter…I could handle this much.

Then tanker guy spoke.

“Oh yeh. And leave your equipment too.”

“…what did you say?”

“Don’t make me say it twice. I said to leave your equipment and buzz off. I was about to kill you guys but decided not to after seeing all your dropped shit so be thankful I’m leaving you with your lives. Leave your equipment there and live your lowly level 2 lives. Think of it as a gift from me.”

“Look at Jungpal getting started again ke ke ke.”

“Hey that guy over there. He has a level 3 sword. We could probably sell it for a good amount.”

Tanker guy pointed at helmet guy and smiled.

Were they planning on doing this from the start?

“Ah ah. I get it now.”

“What?”

“It’s protocol for the dungeon manager to be the one to determine what happens when you go over your time. So I thought it was weird that you guys were the ones to come in. Which means you purposely came in just to lay claim on our items after turning away the dungeon manager.”

“Bastard. You got a good head on your shoulders. So what? That doesn’t change shit. Are you going to go out and tell on us? How will anyone knows what happened in here? We could just kill you on the spot and say you guys died while hunting.”

Tanker guy said this while tapping lightly on my cheek.

I could hear something deep inside me snap.

But I remained calm. It was important to stay calm.

“Keuk.”

Tanker guy fell to his knees as blood started spilling out from his neck.

Right before he died, I pulled out the sword from his scabbard.

This was what I had decided.

I couldn’t say it any other way.

I had killed a person.

[+300]

Reward points?

I’ll worry about that later.

“What, what the hell? What the hell did that bastard just do?”

“He stabbed Jungpal! That crazy bastard!”

Four out of the five guys behind Jungpal’s now dead body drew their swords. The remaining guy was probably a porter.

“Mr. Cho Youngoo!”

“Yes? Yes!”

Cho Youngoo hurriedly answered me.

“Protect everyone. Mr Jong Sawon, feel free to move about as needed. If you don’t want to dirty your hands, you can go to the back.”

“Just give me an order, and I will follow it.”

Helmet guy pulled free his sword and stepped forward.

There was no hesitation. I was starting to like him.

“Kill them!”

The level 3 enemies ran toward us.

I held the Honcheon sword in my right hand and the bloodysword in my left.

Not bad.

“SunbehOppa.”

I’ll be honest.

I dreaded what she might be thinking of me at this moment.

“Kill those pieces of shit! NO MERCY!”

A blinding light began to shine above my head.

“Keuk.”

I let out a laugh. To think that I would have people on my side even in a situation like this. I was so grateful.

***

The impact of my Honcheon sword against my enemy’s armor sent his head flying into the air. Seems he trusted in his level 3 armor too much. Too bad it wasn’t enough to save his life. He departed from the world without even being able to let out one final scream.

“What, what the hell? Why is this bastard so fast?”

“Shut up and just attack!”

Only three were left. Helmet guy was fighting one, and I was fighting against two. I guess they pegged me as the most dangerous since I was able to kill two of them without so much as putting up a fight.

“Keuk.”

I could hear Jong Sawon let out a small sigh. He was already at his limit before this. I guess fighting against an opponent with level 3 skill and armor was really pushing it.

At that moment, an arrow flew out. The enemy who was ready to strike at Jong Sawon’s leg stepped back in surprise.

Level 1 arrow? Level 3 armor? In a fight, none of that mattered. No matter what level armor you had on, if you had any exposed skin and was hit by an arrow…that was it.

“Mr. Jong Sawon! We got your back!”

Thanks to Han Joonseok and glasses girl’s aid, helmet guy was able to keep up.

Now how would I handle these two?