The Returner Switches Job To Hunter

The man wearing black-rimmed glasses looked like a good person. 

Plink Plink.

 But the drops of blood falling from that man's suitcase made him look scary.

 "What do you want?"

 Kang SeonSoo said to him.

 This guy was weird. He didn't look like a hunter. Who comes to the dungeon while wearing a suit?

 Even if he were an employee of a guild, he would be wearing a protective vest at most. 

 'Don't tell me...'

 Kang SeonSoo remembered the notice that every guild had just recently received.

 Some people awakened while working inside the dungeon. And others awakened because of the influence of a gate.

 When they first awakened, some people didn't know what to do.   Most of these people usually register themselves as an awakened person. And instead of being judged by everything they've done until now, they begin to get evaluated by other parameters. 

 But some people choose not to register on purpose.

 The reason was simple.

 When you register yourself as an awakened person, they investigate your criminal records. And even if you're an awakened person, if you commit a crime, you're still going to get judged. 

 People knew what kind of disasters could happen if a criminal had access to something more powerful and dangerous than a gun. 

 Naturally, awakeners that didn't register themselves with the 'Gate Control Bureau' become criminals. 

 But the government gives them time to redeem themselves in exchange for their service. 

 Some people choose to redeem themselves. But some others decided to remain anonymous. 

 Among these people, there was someone that had recently gained notoriety. Someone that's wearing a suit that looks like an intellectual person. He's a villain with the nickname of 'The Salaryman.' 

 "It seems like you know who I am."

 The man gently smiled.

 "From now on, I'm going to kill you."

 Kang SeonSoo took out a club from his inventory. It was a weapon that, when you applied magical power to it, you could paralyze your opponent. 

 Kang SeonSoo grabbed the weapon and tried to hit the opponent with his weapon. But he noticed that he couldn't move his hand.

 'What's happening?'

 Kang SeonSoo tried to move again, but he couldn't. He felt that something was tiding him up.

 "Huh? What! AARRGGG!"

 Kang SeonSoo screamed in pain. The shadow vines coming from his shadow were restraining him just as if it were a chain. 

 The salaryman walked very calmly towards Kang SeonSoo, who was trembling in fear. He felt like a moth that was trapped in a spider's web. 

 "All hunters are evil."

 The salaryman just walked passed him. It was as if he was saying that he didn't need to do more.

 A horrifying scream echoed through the dungeon. 

 It was so loud that all hunters around noticed that something bad was happening. 

 "What's wrong with that scream?"

 "Huh? S... Someone has died!"

 Even though they were killing human-like creatures just a few moments ago, these people were making a scene out of another person dying.

 Every day they kill tens... No, hundreds of life forms...

 The Salaryman smiled. There wasn't anyone here capable of stopping him.

 It didn't matter how many hunters were present here. There wasn't, and there won't be anyone capable of stopping him. 

 "Dear hunters, from now on, I'll teach you what it feels to be hunted."

 * * *

 It was true.

 "Isn't there a healer?"

 "Call the bureau quickly! We need a high-ranking healer! No, call an ambulance first!"

 The entrance of the dungeon resembled a war zone.

 A few moments ago, he had entered this place just like any other day. What he saw was the entrance guard.

 He hated him when he laughed at him, asking when he'd awaken. But when he told him that he had finally awakened, he was genuinely happy for him.

 With the goal of awakening, he had come to this place for half a year. Naturally, he became friends with the people that worked at this place. 

 Seeing people crying because their extremities were cut-off made him sad.

 "E... Everyone died. Only I survived..."

 "Please, stop talking! We need to stop the bleeding!"

 "It's already too late..."

 Every single guard that was protecting the dungeon had died.

 "An S rank hunter will arrive in about 30 minutes!"

 "What are they thinking?! He's probably flying here. 30 minutes is just too long! There's right now a serial killer inside the dungeon!"

 The person that had appeared as a villain with the nickname 'The Salaryman.' Even though he was an awakened person, he was unregistered that used his powers to commit horrific crimes.

 His ability was shadow manipulation, which was an excellent skill to be used in a dark place like a dungeon. 

 He was a hunter that hunted other hunters.

 Kim TaeYang was in danger.

 Even though he had known him for a short while, he learned how to appreciate him. 

 He was harsh with him because he didn't want him to die in a horrific way while exploring a dungeon.

 This was a place where overconfident people died in just an instant because they weren't careful enough. 

 "We can't just sit here waiting for a top hunter to come! Call every soldier available!"

 The person who had been trying to scout me was also making some calls. 

 Is it my imagination, or is she looking at me from time to time?

 I'm at the crossroads of choice. 

 Right now, there's a serial killer inside there. One who was extremely proficient at using his abilities. 

 Even though I had also awakened, since I had just obtained my abilities, I couldn't use them properly. This means that I wasn't confident enough that I'd be able to beat the assassin.

 But inside the dungeon, there was the blondie, whom I'd known for just two weeks, the people I didn't greet, but I knew their faces and my superior from the training center. 

[ The Anyang Amusement Park is getting sealed off soon. ]

 What?

 A strange message suddenly popped out through the system window.

 Since everyone here was an unawakened person, they couldn't read the message.

 I looked at the entrance of the dungeon. Since I was now connected to the system, I also had mana. 

 That means that I could see it.

 At the entrance of the dungeon, a strange energy wriggled.

 -  Master?

 One day, the blondie suddenly said that to him.

 I kindly asked him what he was talking about. Then, while laughing, he said that their relationship reminded him of the ones that a master had with his disciple on martial arts movies.

 That's why I told him that I wasn't old enough.

 Why did I suddenly remember that?

 "Hey, what are you doing?! Stop!"

 "You cannot go inside! Someone catch him!"

 I subconsciously ran towards the dungeon. 3 seconds later, the entrance collapsed. 

 Kaboom! Boom!

 Something exploded at the entrance of the dungeon. The entrance of the dungeon got blocked by a black curtain. 

 "He's the newbie hunter I'm in charge of as a trainer. Things will get bothersome if something happens to him."

 I mumbled while scratching the back of my head.

[ The condition has been unlocked. ]

[ Synchronization 1% ]

 What is this?

 The blue status window that was on the right side began to shine. There was something written inside of it.

 It was impossible to read the content inside because it looked like a damaged image. 

 What is the condition?

 First of all, the other status window has been activated. I'll probably receive something if the synchronization bar gets to 100%. This was obvious. But the problem was that it didn't say what the condition was.

 Entering the dungeon? Getting involved in dangerous situations?

 'I'm annoyed, so let's beat up the serial killer first.'

 I entered the dungeon while mumbling.

 Once inside, I saw drops of blood everywhere. It was a truly horrific scene. 

 What a crazy bastard.

 These sorts of things used to happen frequently in the other world. But this was a democratic country, South Korea. Even if it had become a hunter's world, he couldn't believe that there was someone capable of committing such horrific crimes.

 I remembered the suited man that was at the entrance. His first impression of him wasn't good. 

 - You're really lucky. You should go and buy a lottery ticket. 

 At first, he didn't understand what those words meant. But he was beginning to understand. 

 Basically, he was really lucky because he was about to get out of the dungeon. And thus his own life in the process. 

 Sigh.

 What would have happened if I'd met that guy in the other world? 

 Without exaggerating, I'm sure he wouldn't have been able to look at me in the eyes. 

 And someone like that had spoken as if he had decided to let me go out of his kindheartedness. 

 This makes me really angry.

 Even if I had awakened as a Supporter, my strength had increased, and I had developed Magical Power.

 Even if I'm at level 1, I'm sure I won't lose at someone like him. 

 The deeper I got to the dungeon, the number of victims increased. 

 "Cough, please... Save me..."

 "I... I have kids at home... Since I'd awakened as a hunter... That I'd make them happy..."

 There were two trainers and two hunters. One had died because of excessive bleeding. But the other three were still alive.

 What a dirty bastard. He had cut off people's limbs as if they were lego pieces you could just pull off. Seeing this horrific scenery made me grind my teeth.

 "I'm sorry."

 After hearing my words, the barely breathing survivor's hopes got crushed. Seeing that the person that came here couldn't save them must be soul-crushing. But sadly, I don't have a potion with me. After all, they're too expensive. 

 Potions required Magical Stones of a higher rarity. 

 So, you might be wondering. How much does a potion cost? USD 100K. 

 I'm not kidding. It's indeed that expensive. After all, these potions could heal a person about to die.

 I looked at the wounds of those hurt. They were moaning in pain. I said sorry to them since I wasn't able to help them.

 The killer had cut people's extremities in an almost surgical way. It looked like a doctor would be able to reattach them.

[ Do you want to store him in the inventory? ]

[ Yes / No ]

 What?

 I lifted my hands from the injured person. The message disappeared. When I placed my hands again on him, the message appeared again. 

 Is it talking about this person's clothes? Just in case, I placed my hands on his skin. The message was still there.

 "Store."

 I spoke the command. 

 My voice message got converted into text by the system. Then the system converted it into an algorithm. To keep the explanation short, this basically means that I used a skill.

 The person I was touching disappeared and got into my storage.

 Can something like this be done?

 In the other world, I'd tried doing a lot of different things while using the system. But I had never heard about putting a real human being in the inventory. 

[ Tanker Lee ChangWook Lv.3 ]
Force: 09
Agility: 06
Vitality: 13 
Magical Power: 05
Luck: 05
HP: 0 / 25
MP: 1 / 1
Current Status: Bleeding

 He could see the status of the person inside of the inventory. 

 I tried touching the other people. After all, no one could see that people were vanishing since everyone was in a very critical condition.

 First, I put three people inside my inventory to check how they were doing.

[ HP: 0 / 25 ]

 Just at first glance, it was obvious that they'd all lost a lot of blood. Their HP was also at zero.

 Three minutes had passed. Just in case, I opened the inventory and talked to them. Obviously, I wasn't expecting an answer.

 For the record, this isn't a kidnap. What I'm doing is saving your lives. Don't say anything weird later on.

[ A temporal skill slot has opened. ]

[ Tanker Lee ChangWook's 'Provocation Lv.2' ]

[ Melee Damage Dealer Kim JiHoon's 'Acceleration Lv.1' ]

[ Melee Damage Dealer Shin WooJun's 'Double Cut Lv.3' ]

 It seems like I was able to borrow the abilities of the people that were inside my inventory.

 Right now, I don't have any special skills. So this was better than nothing.

 I reached the respawn place. Suddenly, the dungeon began shaking. I lowered my body and put my back to the wall. 

 An earthquake? No, this felt artificial. After 30 seconds approximately, the dungeon stopped shaking. And then, I realized that the atmosphere of the dungeon had changed. It now felt unpleasant.