Chapter 136: A Glimmer of Hope

Episode 136

Kim Jinsung finished his preparations to go out and stepped out of the safe house.

As he walked towards 31st Street, where the hacker named Louis was located, he checked for any CCTV cameras in the area.

‘…There’s none in the alley.’

He had walked for quite a while, as 31st Street was quite a distance away, but he couldn’t find anything that even resembled a CCTV camera.

Only when he left the alley and entered the main road with large shopping malls did he finally see CCTV cameras.

‘There were no CCTV cameras in the alley from the safe house to here. Confirmed.’

Kim Jinsung passed by the large shopping malls and entered a shabby three-story commercial building next to them.

‘It’s on the second floor, room 210…’

He went up the stairs and stood in front of room 210, which had no sign or writing on it.

Sensing someone inside, he knocked and carefully opened the door.

A Western man with brown hair, who looked to be in his late thirties, was sitting at a desk, diligently typing away, seemingly oblivious to Kim Jinsung’s entrance.

Only when Kim Jinsung walked right up to the desk did the man finally glance at him, his gaze momentarily leaving the monitor.

“What’s the matter?”

The man asked nonchalantly, still focused on typing. Kim Jinsung asked,

“Are you Louis?”

“Yes, I am. What do you want?”

Kim Jinsung took off his hunter watch and placed it on the desk.

“1 billion Blanc per identity modification. Correct?”

Louis scanned Kim Jinsung once again.

Then, he turned his gaze back to the monitor and replied,

“You’ve got the wrong person. I’m just an ordinary programmer, not someone who does that kind of work.”

He then closed his mouth and focused on typing.

Kim Jinsung watched him for a moment, then took out the dagger from his waist, still in its sheath.

He slightly drew the dagger from its sheath and quietly placed it on the desk.

Louis’s gaze briefly shifted towards the dagger.

The moment his gaze landed on the blade,

“……!”

His hands, which had been typing endlessly, finally stopped.

He then picked up the dagger and examined the blade properly.

After carefully observing the intricately engraved burning skull mark, he looked up at Kim Jinsung.

His eyes were no longer emotionless but filled with a mixture of surprise, astonishment, and a hint of familiarity.

He stared at Kim Jinsung with a gaze that was a mix of surprise, unexpectedness, and a sense of familiarity, then finally spoke,

“…It’s been a while.”

“I thought all of Ukobachi died after that incident a few years ago.”

“That’s what everyone thinks.”

Kim Jinsung naturally responded to Louis’s words.

“Nice to see you. I’ll modify it right away.”

Louis picked up the hunter watch, placed it inside a black device next to his computer, and closed the lid.

He then moved his hands back to the keyboard and asked,

“How do you want me to change it?”

“The name is Alopsky. Age 27. Nationality, Russian.”

Kim Jinsung answered fluently. His appearance had been transformed into one of the pirates who had attacked the Argentinian passenger ship, thanks to the ‘Organism Transformation’ skill.

He then showed Louis his smartphone screen and asked,

“Can I still deposit the money into this account?”

A banking app was open on the smartphone screen, displaying an account number.

It was the same account number written in the note.

Louis glanced at the account number on the banking app and chuckled.

“That’s the account number Ukobachi Clan members used back in the day. It’s changed now. Deposit it here.”

He handed Kim Jinsung a business card with an account number written on it.

As Kim Jinsung received the business card, entered the account number into the app, and was about to press the ‘Transfer’ button,

Louis removed his hands from the keyboard and spoke,

“It used to take about 20 minutes to modify. Remember?”

He continued, smiling at Kim Jinsung,

“As you know, it’s not just about modifying the information inside the watch, but also hacking into the Paladin database and modifying the information there.”

‘…Is that how it was?’

Kim Jinsung was inwardly surprised, although he nodded nonchalantly on the outside.

“But these days, it only takes about three minutes. I recently recruited a Paladin insider as a spy. Thanks to him, I don’t need to hack anymore. He takes care of everything.”

Louis explained casually, all traces of wariness gone from his face.

He had visibly relaxed after confirming that Kim Jinsung was from Ukobachi, and his guard completely disappeared after seeing the account number.

Kim Jinsung agreed with him.

“The maintenance costs must be quite high.”

“Hehehe… It can’t be helped. Expenses for security are essential if you want to make a living doing this kind of work.”

Just as Louis finished speaking, a beep sounded from the machine containing the hunter watch.

“Alright, it’s done.”

Louis opened the lid and handed the hunter watch to Kim Jinsung.

Kim Jinsung put it back on his wrist, turned on the screen, and checked.

After confirming that it had been perfectly modified, he extended his hand to Louis.

“Thanks for the help. I’ll be visiting often.”

Louis shook his hand and replied,

“Please don’t die. You guys are a glimmer of hope for people like us.”

‘…Hope?’

Kim Jinsung didn’t understand what he meant, but he shook his hand and left the office.

As he went down the stairs of the commercial building, he thought to himself,

‘I should look into Ukobachi soon.’

He had been curious about the clan from the beginning, and his curiosity was growing as he went around.

After leaving the commercial building, Kim Jinsung checked his next schedule.

“Now… It’s time to go to the mercenary guild.”

He recalled the information written in the notebook.

※ Bloodsword Mercenary Guild

A mercenary guild that mainly handles combat-related quests, and one of the representative guilds in the western B district. They offer generous rewards.

Location: 45th Street, B15 District

Direct Number: XXXX-XXXX-XXXX

Note: First-time clients must visit in person. Subsequent requests can be made remotely.

There is a possibility of repercussions when accepting ‘Clan War’ quests. Therefore, thorough investigation is required before accepting such quests.

‘…It said first-time clients must visit in person.’

Kim Jinsung started walking towards the B15 district.

As he walked, he continued thinking,

‘If Cesare hadn’t contacted Karen personally, I would have continued using Adria.’

He couldn’t bring himself to trust Cesare and continue receiving quests from him after he had helped set a trap.

Moreover, he had contacted Karen first, even though Kim Jinsung was the one who was supposed to receive the reward.

– Are you alive? Contact me immediately if you are.

After sending that text message to Karen, he had only sent a message to Kim Jinsung, depositing the 10 billion Blanc, after a few minutes of no reply.

– I have confirmed that the quest is complete. I heard you were almost solely responsible for the success. Please visit us again soon.

If Karen had been alive and replied first, would he have sent such a message to Kim Jinsung?

Or would he have even deposited the 10 billion Blanc properly?

‘One thing’s for sure, if Karen had escaped safely, they would have continued to contact each other and monitor my every move.’

Once they had worked together like that, there was no way they wouldn’t collude again to kill him.

‘Don’t trust anyone in the New Continent,’ they said.

It was better to avoid dealing with someone he felt uneasy about. He could lose his life trying to earn a few extra Blanc.

* * *

Kim Jinsung decided to walk to the B15 district instead of taking a taxi, as he usually did.

He wasn’t in a hurry.

He had changed his appearance and even tampered with his hunter watch, so he didn’t need to worry about being attacked.

He had nearly 9 billion Blanc in his account and had acquired a secret safe house for free.

‘I have plenty of time, so let’s check where the CCTV cameras are installed.’

Since he planned to continue living in the B19 district, where the safe house was located, it would be helpful to memorize the surroundings.

Moreover, he would be frequenting the bustling B15 district, so it was better to familiarize himself with the route.

‘As long as I don’t encounter any armed robbers on the way…’

“You little punk!!”

At that moment, he heard someone shouting from ahead.

He saw three black men, looking like they belonged in a ghetto, brutally stomping on someone while armed.

“Who told you to carry so little money in your wallet?! Carry a hefty amount next time! You got that?!”

“Get lost, you bastard!”

“Hey, you! The one staring! Come here!”

One of them spotted Kim Jinsung and beckoned him over.

‘…Damn it.’

How could he encounter armed robbers right after thinking about them?

The three black men swaggered over and stood in front of Kim Jinsung.

“We’re conducting a brief inspection. You see, we’re looking for the culprit who blew up our comrade’s factory yesterday…”

The black man in the middle said in a flippant tone, holding out a poster in front of Kim Jinsung.

“……!”

Kim Jinsung’s eyes widened.

The poster had a sketch of his face on it.

That wasn’t surprising in itself. The problem was the amount written below the sketch.

’20 billion Blanc? The previous poster didn’t have an amount…’

As he was inwardly surprised, he heard the black men talking amongst themselves.

“Wait a minute! This guy resembles the guy named Karen!”

“You’re right? He looks pretty suspicious…”

“Hey, show us your ID. Take out your wallet and phone, now!!”

They were threatening him, comparing him to Karen’s sketch, which he didn’t even resemble. It was clear they were trying to extort money from him using that as an excuse.

The person who had been stomped on earlier must have suffered the same fate.

“This punk isn’t responding… What?”

The black man, who had been approaching Kim Jinsung with a menacing expression, suddenly looked confused.

Kim Jinsung had somehow snatched the posters from his hand and was staring at them intently.

He finally snapped.

“You bastard!!”

He threw a punch at Kim Jinsung’s temple with all his might.

**Thud!**

“Aaaaaargh!!”

A scream of agony filled the air.

But it wasn’t Kim Jinsung who was screaming. It was the black man who had thrown the punch.

“…What are you doing?”

“Tsk tsk, you pathetic idiot…”

The other two, looking at their comrade in pain with disdain, took out daggers from their pockets.

“Did you get some skin-strengthening drug injections or something…?”

“……!”

But they too were soon met with the same fate as their comrade.

Kim Jinsung snatched their daggers with speed that was almost invisible to the naked eye.

He then gripped the blades of the daggers in one hand and slightly tightened his grip.

A crunching sound was heard.

As Kim Jinsung released his hand, the shattered blades fell to the ground.

“……”

“……”

The three stared blankly at the scene until all the blades had fallen, then they snapped out of their daze and

**Clang! Clang! Clang!**

drew their swords simultaneously, channeling their mana to the maximum.

One of them shouted in a tense voice,

“Y-you bastard! Do you know who we are?! We’re hunters working under Triunfo, the Major Clan that represents Argentina!”

Kim Jinsung listened to his outburst, then chuckled and replied,

“I know.”

—