Chapter 137: The Path to Becoming an Insider

Episode 137

“What?”

One of the black men made a dumbfounded expression.

“You tried to kill us even though you knew? Aren’t you afraid of the Triunfo Clan’s retaliation?!”

“I was just standing there. You were the ones who pulled out daggers, trying to kill me.”

“Shut up!!”

The one in the middle shouted, then nudged his comrade’s side with his elbow.

“Hey, call a Triunfo Clan member right now!”

“…Huh?”

The comrade asked back with a confused expression, and the one in the middle raised his voice.

“What are you doing?! Call them!”

He yelled, then signaled with his eyes, ‘Act a little smarter, you clueless idiot!’

“Ah! Got it.”

The comrade finally understood and pretended to take out his phone and search for a number.

The one in the middle warned Kim Jinsung, watching his comrade,

“Just a call, and all the Triunfo Clan hunters in the area will come running! You better hand over everything you have and run away before that!”

His sword was trembling so much that Kim Jinsung could see it, even as he threatened him with a glare.

Kim Jinsung pondered for a moment, watching him practically begging with his whole body, ‘Please run away!’

How should he deal with these guys?

‘I need to keep one of them alive to find out which clan they belong to…’

Judging by their pathetic skills, they were definitely not qualified to be members of the Major Clan, Triunfo.

However, the fact that they had posters with his and Karen’s sketches on them meant that they were likely part of a subcontracted clan under Triunfo.

So, he was thinking of using the ‘Ability Seal’ skill on one of them and letting him go. Then, he could follow him and naturally find out which clan they belonged to.

‘Should I just kill two of them and make the other one run away in fear? But I don’t want to waste the 1 billion Blanc I just spent…’

Kim Jinsung’s gaze shifted towards the CCTV cameras installed near the road.

Not only the one with its lens pointed directly at him, but there were also CCTV cameras installed at close intervals along the entire road.

If he killed them here, he would definitely be chased by the Paladins because of the CCTV footage, rendering the 1 billion Blanc he spent on modifying his hunter watch information meaningless.

‘…Let’s just let all three of them go.’

Kim Jinsung made up his mind and spoke,

“So, you’re telling me to hand over everything I have just because you’re connected to Triunfo?”

“That’s right! What are you gonna do about it?!”

“Do you even know who I’m affiliated with?”

The three men’s expressions changed.

They exchanged glances, their faces filled with confusion.

‘…W-what?’

‘Judging by the way he’s talking, he must be from a big organization…’

‘No wonder he’s so skilled…’

They were at a loss for words, caught off guard by his unexpected statement. It was then that,

“…Huh? Wait a minute!”

The one in the middle suddenly exclaimed, struck by a thought.

‘He definitely looks Russian, he’s incredibly skilled, and he’s not even fazed by the mention of Triunfo…?’

He whispered to his comrades,

“Could he be from the Mosco Clan?”

His comrades’ eyes widened.

If he was a hunter from the Mosco Clan, the strongest clan representing Russia, it was a completely different story.

Mosco was currently considered even stronger than Triunfo, a Major Clan among Major Clans.

“No way… Why would Mosco members be wandering around the B district?”

“But what if he really is from Mosco?”

“……”

They stopped whispering and started backing away simultaneously, as if they had planned it.

“…W-we have a prior engagement, so we’ll be going!”

“You’re lucky!”

“We won’t let you off next time!”

They each left a parting threat, then turned and ran away.

A notification appeared before Kim Jinsung, who was watching them silently.

—

▶ You have used the ‘Ability Seal’ skill.

▷ The target can no longer use mana or unique abilities.

▷ You can now check the target’s current location and actions.

—

Kim Jinsung, who had used the ‘Ability Seal’ skill on the one in the middle, tore the posters he was holding into pieces and threw them away.

He then continued walking instead of chasing after them.

‘I’ll go to the mercenary guild, get a quest, and then chase after the guys who ran away.’

Since he had already walked all the way here, he planned to achieve his initial goal before pursuing them.

* * *

Kim Jinsung arrived at the B15 district without any problems and headed straight to 45th Street, where the Bloodsword Mercenary Guild was located.

The appearance of the Bloodsword headquarters was very different from what he had expected.

“…Yes, your identity has been verified. Please wait a moment while I process your registration.”

A small office, no bigger than 165 square feet.

A lone female employee was sitting at a desk, typing away.

With Kim Jinsung sitting across from her, the small office, which felt cramped, was the headquarters of the Bloodsword Mercenary Guild.

‘I imagined a large building filled with muscular men, like in fantasy novels…’

He had expected such a scene because his first quest experience had been at ‘Adria’, which had a strong analog vibe.

He had assumed that this mercenary guild would have a similar atmosphere, like when he had chosen a quest by flipping through document files.

“You’re all set~.”

The female employee’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

She handed his hunter watch back to him and continued,

“Now, search for ‘Bloodsword Mercenary Guild’ on the app store, download it, and log in. You can log in by scanning the unique code on your hunter watch screen with your smartphone camera. And…”

Kim Jinsung was finally able to leave after listening to all her explanations.

As he walked down the street, he downloaded the app and logged in as instructed.

He then pressed the ‘Recommended Quests’ button, and the screen changed, displaying a message at the top.

– We recommend personalized quests for ‘Alopsky’.

Below the message, a seemingly endless list of quests was displayed.

Most of them were similar in level to the Level 10 Demon World Dungeon he had last conquered.

‘…That’s why they said I only needed to visit once.’

Once he registered, he could receive quests anytime, anywhere through the app.

‘Let’s choose one while having lunch.’

Realizing it was lunchtime, Kim Jinsung entered a large Chinese restaurant nearby.

He ordered fried rice and carefully browsed through the quests on his smartphone while waiting for his food.

‘…Huh?’

His right index finger, which had been scrolling through the app screen, suddenly stopped.

He started reading the quest details displayed on the screen.

Organization: Boko Haram Clan

Objective: Clan War

Requirements: Cleared Demon World Dungeon Level 5 or higher.

Number of Participants: No limit.

Recruitment Period: Unlimited.

Reward: Starting from 500 million Blanc per week. Negotiable after the second week.

The strongest clan in Sselepoh City! The ‘Boko Haram’ Clan, the ruler of the B18 district and officially subcontracted by the Triunfo Clan, is constantly recruiting brave individuals to fight off invaders!

Join us and share the glory under the name of Triunfo!

‘…They openly declared themselves as a Triunfo subcontracted clan?’

This was quite unexpected for Kim Jinsung.

He had assumed that most clans would hide their relationship like Nature Animal, but he hadn’t imagined he would find a subcontracted clan so easily.

He didn’t know the reason, but it was definitely beneficial for him.

‘I have to choose this quest.’

He pressed the ‘Accept Quest’ button without hesitation.

It was a golden opportunity to gather information by personally observing a clan that was subcontracted by Triunfo.

And he could earn money at the same time. It was a win-win situation.

– You have accepted the quest. The ‘Boko Haram’ Clan has been notified, and you will be contacted at ‘Alopsky’s’ number by today at the latest.

A message appeared on his smartphone screen after he pressed the button.

* * *

The call from Boko Haram came less than 30 minutes after he accepted the quest.

The person in charge, who called right after he finished his meal, told him to come to their headquarters and sent him the address via text message.

Kim Jinsung departed immediately and soon arrived at 18th Street in the B18 district, where the headquarters was located.

‘…They’re really open about their business.’

He saw a huge sign at the entrance of a three-story commercial building that read, ‘Triunfo’s Subcontracted Clan, Boko Haram’.

‘But… the guy I used ‘Ability Seal’ on is inside this building?’

He could see one of the three black men who had attacked him earlier busily moving around inside the building through the ‘Ability Seal’ skill.

That meant they were likely all Boko Haram Clan members.

‘They weren’t lying about working under Triunfo.’

Kim Jinsung walked towards the entrance.

Two large black men in hunter attire, who were guarding the entrance, blocked his path.

Kim Jinsung said to them,

“I’m here to apply as a mercenary.”

“Show us your ID.”

One of them said, holding up a measuring device.

Kim Jinsung presented his hunter watch, and the guard scanned it, comparing the information on the device with a file he was holding.

“Okay. Go straight up to the auditorium on the second floor.”

Kim Jinsung entered the building and went up the stairs.

As soon as he reached the second floor, he saw some familiar faces.

“…Huh!”

“You’re…!”

The three black men from earlier, who were carrying luggage while sweating profusely, stopped in surprise when they saw him.

Kim Jinsung chuckled.

“I thought you guys were in some high position because you said you worked under Triunfo, but you’re just doing chores?”

“Ugh…!”

“Shut up, you bastard!”

The three clenched their fists, ready to strike him.

But none of them actually dared to attack.

They had realized earlier that Kim Jinsung was much stronger than them.

“What are you doing here?!”

“I’m here to apply as a mercenary.”

“What? Then what was that about being from the Mosco Clan?”

“I never said that. You guys just assumed it.”

“Uh…”

The three fell silent, speechless.

But they soon realized and started getting angry again.

“Wait a minute! So this bastard wasn’t even affiliated with anyone?!”

“You think you can work as a mercenary here after making enemies of us?!”

“Hold on! I’m going to talk to the person in charge right now…”

**Bang!**

At that moment, the auditorium door burst open, and a well-built black man in hunter attire appeared.

“Who’s making all that noise outside?!”

The three black men instinctively cowered at the tall man’s booming voice, which seemed to belong to someone over six and a half feet tall.

‘Yikes…!’

‘It’s Akuma! We’re screwed…!’

They hurriedly stood at attention.

Akuma strode towards them.

“Akuma!”

One of the black men called out to him.

“I have something to report!”

He glanced at Kim Jinsung as he spoke.

He was about to tell him about what had happened earlier with Kim Jinsung.

—