Chapter 44
Perfect.
Approaching while keeping a fixed distance from the enemy Support, he finally found an opening and unleashed his carefully prepared strike.
Thanks to that, the target party’s Support was now injured in the leg.
‘I used the arrow dropped by the monster, so there’s no way they’ll figure it out.’
To avoid suspicion, he had used an arrow dropped from the monster the target had killed.
He even fired from the same direction where the monster had collapsed, so they wouldn’t think anything strange.
‘They’ll just assume they were stupid and didn’t finish off the monster properly.’
He had also kept a safe distance from the Support, who had detection skills, so there was no risk of being discovered.
And with that Support injured, their detection range would be even shorter now.
‘I’ll slowly close the distance and then ambush them the moment the boss fight ends.’
Everything was going smoothly according to plan.
Soon, those people up ahead would be corpses, and the Hanul Corporation’s precious grandson would fall right into their hands.
Once that happened, he could finally say goodbye to this shitty back-alley life.
Pull off one big job, then run straight to China. That would be the end of it.
‘Damn… I can finally live like a human.’
Luxury awaiting him.
He let himself imagine the comfort of the life he’d enjoy afterward, but quickly forced himself to calm down.
‘Too early to celebrate.’
Getting carried away always led to mistakes.
As always, he needed to finish the job cleanly, without acting out of emotion.
‘Just keep moving quietly.’
No need to get cocky and mess things up.
So, as he had done so many times before, he carefully led his group as they shadowed the party.
Thankfully, no matter how close they got, the enemy never noticed.
With the Support’s detection range weakened, he moved even closer, and soon the raid neared its end as they reached the boss.
Kuwaaaa—!
The A-rank boss: Wolfbear.
A vicious-looking creature that charged the moment it spotted the target party.
“Attack the moment you see an opening.”
“Y-yeah, I know.”
The reply was unreliable, shaky.
He had a weak heart, but his shooting ability alone made him worth bringing. Results mattered more than nerves.
Hidden and silent, they watched the Wolfbear clash with the party.
‘What’s with that guy?’
A frontliner—an F-rank irregular.
He expected the kid to be, at best, B-rank level, but the way he was holding his ground against the Wolfbear shocked him a little.
‘He’s getting pushed back, but… at this level he could pass for A-rank.’
His movements weren’t normal.
They hadn’t been able to watch properly until the Support got injured and they could get closer.
Naturally, he had assumed the kid was barely keeping up among A-ranks.
‘Well, of course Hanul’s grandson wouldn’t keep a mere B-rank around.’
Come to think of it, it made sense.
Although the situation differed a bit from expectation, it wasn’t enough to derail the plan.
‘He’s not a real threat anyway.’
The enemy party was completely focused on the boss.
They had no idea someone was hiding nearby. They’d be fully absorbed in finishing the raid.
Kwoooorrr—!
The Wolfbear’s roar echoed.
The target party was loudly calling out strategies, yelling instructions even loud enough to hear from here.
The ambushers watched their own leader raise a hand.
Perfect timing for a surprise attack.
They needed to strike the moment the frontliner left an opening.
“Ggh!”
It was then.
The frontliner staggered under the Wolfbear’s blow.
The F-rank irregular lost his balance midair and was about to land awkwardly.
“Now.”
With that command, an arrow shot out from behind.
It traced a perfect trajectory, flying toward the F-rank.
At this rate, it would pierce his neck and the ambush would succeed—
Tak—!
…or it should have.
‘He caught it?’
He caught the arrow.
Mid-fall, off-balance, while landing from the air…
The kid reached out and effortlessly grabbed the arrow coming from a direction he hadn’t even been looking at.
A chill ran through the entire group.
“W-what the fuck…?”
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
It was a guess.
A very simple guess.
A conclusion drawn not from evidence, but from pure instinct.
‘What do I do.’
If he made a move too early without proof, he could cause bigger problems.
He couldn’t even casually warn his allies. Raising suspicions without evidence would only cause chaos.
So what was the best move?
‘What are the people tracking us after?’
That was the key point.
What was the pursuers’ goal?
‘It’s definitely not me.’
He wasn’t rich, didn’t belong to a guild—no ransom value.
There was only one person worth kidnapping.
‘Hanul Corporation’s grandson.’
Someone worth a massive amount of money.
That was precisely why they were hired—to prevent such incidents.
So the most reasonable conclusion was that the feared situation had already begun.
‘Should I just run over there and take them all out?’
A part of him wanted to storm in alone and drag them all out.
But he didn’t know their exact position or numbers.
He didn’t think he’d lose, but he had someone to protect.
‘I’ll have to wait.’
They targeted the Support first to reduce detection range and get closer.
By now, the enemy was likely far nearer than before, quietly watching them.
‘And they still didn’t strike… cautious.’
How to force them to show themselves?
Only a few answers existed.
‘If I can’t charge them, I’ll make an opening.’
A bait.
A flaw so obvious they’d be unable to resist.
The enemy had no idea he’d already noticed them.
‘When they panic, I’ll strike back.’
His own private plan.
He entered the boss fight and acted sloppier than usual, as he’d planned.
His party looked confused, but they didn’t seem to think it was strange enough to question it. They simply supported Juhyuk and continued attacking.
Kwoooorrr—!
Soon after, Juhyuk deliberately let the Wolfbear hit him loudly.
“Kgh!”
He pretended to lose balance and fall to the ground.
Meanwhile, his body was fully prepared to counter anything.
‘Come on… come on…’
His posture was full of holes—so many that no assassin could ignore.
As he let himself fall—
Shwik—!
A tearing wind.
Killing intent aimed at him.
Without turning his head, Juhyuk simply reached out.
Tak—!
He caught the arrow flying toward him.
No ordinary human—or even a trained hunter—could do that easily.
Catching an arrow shot from outside his field of vision was something out of a comic.
But Juhyuk had endured such things countless times in the Training Room.
Catching arrows from his blind spots? Child’s play.
“Wh-what?!”
His party panicked at the sudden arrow from nowhere.
Meanwhile, Juhyuk landed lightly, threw aside the arrow, and sprinted toward the Wolfbear.
Kwaak—
It didn’t even have time to scream.
In an instant, he severed the Wolfbear’s neck.
Just like that.
The party, who had been struggling, suddenly felt like idiots. The Wolfbear’s head flew cleanly off after a single strike.
“…”
Everyone was stunned.
Even after seeing it, they couldn’t comprehend what happened.
“Everyone, protect the injured and Hyunsoo.”
“Huh?”
“It’s an ambush.”
No time for long explanations.
Juhyuk said only that, then sprinted toward the direction the arrow had come from.
“I’ll handle them. The rest of you stay in defensive formation.”
“Wait, what—”
Before anyone could respond, he was gone.
There was no time to hesitate.
He sprinted directly toward the arrow’s origin and immediately sensed movement.
He dove into the bushes—just as expected, several unfamiliar figures came into view.
‘How many?’
He couldn’t determine the exact number.
If he had detection skills, he could have counted them. But he had none.
So he relied solely on instinct.
“F-fuck! Attack, all of you!”
Their presence exposed, several enemies revealed themselves and attacked.
Just the visible ones numbered at least six.
One of them—a man with a bow—was aiming at him.
‘The leader?’
He glanced briefly at the man who had shouted, scanning their formation.
Then he calculated the optimal route and moved.
“Kgh!”
He cut off the wrist of the nearest man.
The sensation was disturbingly familiar—no different from cutting down a humanoid monster.
It felt wrong.
‘Focus.’
A flicker of distraction from killing his first human.
No time for that.
“F-fuck! My arm!”
Two, three, four, five—
He severed all their arms cleanly, disabling them instantly.
Blood sprayed from the stumps, speckling his face.
Not pleasant.
While slicing down each man, even the ones hiding finally appeared.
A dozen or so attackers—all taken down in less than three seconds each.
“Kugh…”
“M-my… my hands…”
Barely thirty seconds had passed, and the place was already a massacre.
Thunk—!
Another arrow.
He caught it again.
The leader, witnessing this impossible scene, collapsed on the spot.
“Wh-what… what is this…”
Before he could react further, Juhyuk threw the arrow he had caught.
Thud—!
The sniper hidden up in a tree dropped to the ground, neck pierced clean through.
Juhyuk slowly walked toward the leader.
The man trembled, unable even to think of running.
“Got you.”
The face looking down at him—
was that of a monster.
