Ch.6060. Gray Wolf Leather Jacket

Team Leader Kim Jin-hyeop was watching the footage from that day over and over again.

The video recorded in the training room.

The emergence of Korea’s first, the world’s first, and the world’s only SSS+ rank hunter, and the first hunter to break his shield.

Of course, while the final judgment was Team Leader Kim’s responsibility, the sparring had been recorded for reporting to superiors. The footage captured the moment and the helplessness that Kim Jin-hyeop hadn’t fully registered at the time.

Even the camera couldn’t perfectly capture that exact moment.

“Is this… teleportation?”

When Team Leader Kim first watched the video, and when the staff watched it together, everyone had the same reaction.

At normal speed, at the moment the battle began, Kim Su-hyeon simply disappeared and reappeared in front of Team Leader Kim’s shield, already swinging his sword.

How was it possible to move like that without any preliminary motion or movement?

And the sword swing was impossible to catch at normal speed, so they had to watch it at 0.1x speed.

The world slowed down.

In that slowed-down world within the video, Kim Su-hyeon swung his sword five times and withdrew it all within a single second.

“…”

“…”

Is this possible?

This thought crossed the mind of everyone watching the footage.

Is it possible?

It must be possible.

It must be possible because they were witnessing the evidence with their own eyes.

And could this possibility be realized?

The answer would have to be yes.

Just as “Skills” are supernatural powers whose origins—like the dungeons themselves—cannot be scientifically explained, the scientific consensus is that as long as “Mana” exists, any effect described in a “Skill” can be realized.

But understanding something is possible intellectually and accepting it emotionally are two different things.

What if someone could attack you five times at an invisible speed right before your eyes?

If they were an ally, it would be incredibly reassuring, but what if they were an enemy?

You could die without even realizing it, your life ending in that instant.

That’s why Team Leader Kim’s expression had frozen just from watching the video.

At the time, he had simply brushed it off, thinking he’d been caught off guard and knocked down in one hit without understanding what had happened. But analyzing the video pixel by pixel and realizing the truth was even more shocking.

Moreover, after the first sword swing, for a fraction of a second, Kim Su-hyeon was captured hesitating.

“Why did he do that?”

“I don’t know.”

The analysts had watched it dozens, hundreds of times.

It wasn’t a long video that needed extensive review.

Just one second.

Replaying that moment hundreds of times didn’t take long.

After analyzing it repeatedly, the analysts offered their conjectures.

Of course, it wasn’t the truth.

Only Kim Su-hyeon himself knew what he was thinking when he swung that sword.

“I think he was… testing the waters?”

“Testing?”

“If you look closely, the first attack is a bit duller and slower. It means he was controlling his strength. When the sword touches the shield, he hesitates momentarily, but then swings four more times quickly without hesitation. And there’s something else I can’t quite identify—five additional impacts hit the shield simultaneously.”

“…What is that?”

“I’m not sure. It’s as if something invisible is assisting the attack. There are marks on the shield… they’re so subtle that we barely noticed them without careful examination.”

“Hmm…”

So to summarize, he seemed to hold back on the first attack, followed by four additional strikes, but the shield effectively took ten hits.

All in just one second.

And all precisely in the same spot.

The team members watched the video together and looked at their leader.

The team leader had been their reliable shield and wall.

Whether entering B-rank or A-rank dungeons, Team Leader Kim’s shield had never been penetrated or broken, even when pushed back.

Yet it was shattered in a single attack, not by an A-rank monster or even an S-rank monster, but by a single hunter.

“What rank is this person?”

“…”

Naturally, except for the staff issuing hunter licenses and Team Leader Kim, the other hunters couldn’t know Kim Su-hyeon’s rank.

If he joined the team, his rank would be shared as a team member, but for now, they couldn’t disclose a regular hunter’s rank to team members.

“Could he be S-rank or higher?”

“I’ll tell you if he joins the team.”

“Did you scout him?”

“Of course I did.”

Team Leader Kim was still reassured.

From what he saw, Kim Su-hyeon was an innocent person.

Just a typical young man in his mid-twenties.

He had appropriate caution and his own standards, making him seem somewhat sharp-edged, but he knew how to cooperate and weigh benefits and losses.

Usually, someone with SSS+ abilities might be extremely cautious, viewing everything as a potential threat and hiding their abilities.

The reason?

There are so many people in the world who envy those with power.

But judging by how readily he showed his status window and asked about contract terms first, he seemed to be someone who could reach practical agreements.

In that sense, Kim was confident that the Hunter Association’s offer would be extremely attractive to Kim Su-hyeon.

He would probably consider it briefly, check out a few top-ranked guilds, and then return to the Hunter Association.

“We just need to wait a little.”

New blood coming into the Hunter Association.

He wasn’t nervous or wary about someone stronger than himself joining.

The Hunter Association teams weren’t competitors but colleagues who tackled difficult challenges together.

When dungeon overflows occurred, especially with difficult A-rank or S-rank dungeons, you could only rely on yourself and your teammates—and having an SSS+ rank hunter as a teammate would be incredibly reassuring.

But as the wait extended to the next day, then two days, then three days with no contact, anticipation turned to anxiety.

“…”

Kim Jin-hyeop was a gentle person, but also a persistent one.

It wasn’t so much that he needed to recruit this hunter, but he was curious.

Why?

Just to be sure, he went to ask the contract staff.

“The contract terms are confidential, so I can’t tell you…”

“Just tell me if they were better than mine.”

“Of course they were better than yours, Team Leader. We offered terms according to his rank.”

“Did you mention military exemption and reserve duty exemption?”

“Those are benefits provided to all S-rank hunters and above…”

“What about safe houses? Housekeeping services and such?”

“We mentioned everything.”

“Then why hasn’t he contacted us?”

“…He didn’t seem very interested.”

“Could another country have already approached him?”

During this time, a team member mentioned some auction news.

“Oh, Team Leader, did you hear about the A-rank leather armor being auctioned tomorrow?”

“Ah! That’s tomorrow?”

“Yes. Are you going?”

“Of course I have to go. A-rank leather armor? I must buy it.”

“I heard the competition will be fierce.”

“I’m sure it will be… Do you know where the auction is?”

“Gwangjin Distribution, I think. Should I send you the address?”

“Yeah, thanks. Wait. Gwangjin Distribution? That sounds familiar.”

Then he realized he had seen it while reviewing Kim Su-hyeon’s hunter registration information.

The money that went to Kim Su-hyeon had come through Gwangjin Distribution.

Again?

Something smelled fishy.

Of course, Kim Jin-hyeop wasn’t the type to dig into such matters.

But he sensed that if he went to Gwangjin Distribution, he might see Kim Su-hyeon.

“I definitely have to go.”

Not just for the A-rank armor, but because waiting around for an SSS+ rank hunter to come to him would be foolish.

——————

I went with my father to the blacksmith’s workshop after hearing that the gray wolf leather top was ready.

It was quite a large workshop.

Inside, several craftsmen were cutting leather and making armor. Further in, we found the private workshop of the blacksmith, who was an acquaintance of my father’s friend.

Among the scattered leather pieces and various materials on the workbench, I could see a single garment.

“Oh, welcome.”

I had expected the blacksmith to be a burly older man, but surprisingly, it was a middle-aged woman.

She appeared to be in her mid-fifties.

She approached with a bright smile and offered her hand.

“Thank you. I got to work with excellent leather thanks to you.”

“Ah, no. I should be thanking you. You did it for free.”

Finding good leather is one thing, but finding a skilled blacksmith who can properly process it is another matter.

The effectiveness of leather can be enhanced or diminished depending on the blacksmith’s skill rank and crafting abilities.

That’s why blacksmiths command high prices.

While high-ranked blacksmiths are expensive in general, the one standing before me was said to be one of fewer than five master craftsmen in Korea with an A+ rank armor crafting skill.

It seemed my father only knew exceptional people, but I suppose it’s not strange for someone with connections to high-ranked blacksmiths to know other skilled individuals.

“I gained two levels just from making this armor. I should be paying you. The other leather pieces are in such good condition that I’ll probably gain a lot of experience from them too. Ah! But that’s not important. Look at the armor first. It turned out well.”

The leather top had an extremely sophisticated design.

At first glance, it looked like a thin long-sleeved shirt, with the thickness of a light cotton tee.

It didn’t appear to have the roughness typical of leather when worn, so if it hadn’t been made from gray wolf leather, I might have mistaken it for just a cotton shirt.

“It’s quite simple, isn’t it? That’s the trend these days. People prefer simple designs that look like everyday clothes.”

Though simple in appearance, its item options were anything but.