Chapter 29
Kang Ha-min was normally a gentle person.
There was a reason people nicknamed him Shih Tzu.
He had often heard people say,
"I've never seen you angry."
Of course,
that didn't mean he never got hurt.
He simply kept most of that pain inside.
Either way,
Kang Ha-min rarely looked seriously angry at anyone.
This time was different.
Kang Ha-min was Baek Cheon-myeong's master.
That meant everything connected to Baek Cheon-myeong
was also Kang Ha-min's responsibility.
An adult was someone who took responsibility.
That was one of the things his parents had taught him.
Yoo Ah-rin had been kidnapped by Returnees who were targeting Baek Cheon-myeong.
In other words,
she had been dragged into Kang Ha-min's affairs.
"Tell me your name."
So Kang Ha-min's expression was colder than ever.
The woman who had pretended to be Yoo Ah-rin sat on the floor in front of him.
The contract preventing her from disobeying her master
instantly tightened around her existence.
"Hk!"
Her body shook as though she had been struck by lightning.
Her master's cold expression felt like the end of the world.
She had to speak.
She had to answer.
But fear made her lips freeze.
So she physically grabbed her own jaw
and forced her mouth open.
"Sh, Shin Ji-min! My name is Shin Ji-min!"
Shin Ji-min.
"Age."
"T, twenty-one."
Young.
How old had she been when she was caught in a Dimensional Break?
Ha-min felt sympathy,
but he couldn't stop now.
"Where did you take Yoo Ah-rin?"
"N, near the Incheon docks."
"Good. Guide us."
Now they knew where Yoo Ah-rin was.
There was no reason to waste more time.
Kang Ha-min looked toward Baek Cheon-myeong.
He was already prepared to leave.
"Tell Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong the rest on the way."
Naturally,
Kang Ha-min had no intention of going with them.
He was technically a Hunter,
but he had almost no real combat experience.
If he went,
he could easily become a hostage.
More importantly,
This is the Returnee group that even managed to injure Deus.
They couldn't underestimate them.
"Ah, yes."
Baek Cheon-myeong grabbed Shin Ji-min just as he had when he first brought her home.
She was already terrified of him,
but she couldn't disobey Kang Ha-min's command.
BOOM!
Baek Cheon-myeong launched himself toward the Incheon docks.
Kang Ha-min immediately shared his vision with Baek Cheon-myeong
and steadied his breathing.
"Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong."
His expression was more serious than ever.
"Bring her back safely."
The absolute command of Gravekeeper Kang Ha-min was given.
Baek Cheon-myeong's eyes flashed with terrifying sharpness.
[As you command.]
It was an order he would fulfill no matter what.
Inside an empty building,
a woman lay on the ground with a leather sack covering her head.
Her name was Yoo Ah-rin.
She had been kidnapped while traveling to work that morning.
An A Rank bodyguard was always with her.
But the kidnappers had defeated even that A Rank Hunter with ease
and successfully taken her.
Where am I?
She vaguely remembered the sound of the sea while drifting in and out of consciousness.
If she was near the sea,
Incheon was the most likely place.
It was the closest coastal area to Seoul.
Yoo Ah-rin recalled the faint memories from right before her kidnapping.
Every attacker had worn masks.
She hadn't seen their faces.
But her sharp eyes had noticed one thing.
One man had fur visible between his gloves.
It looked more like animal fur than human hair.
Someone with fur like that,
and enough strength to overpower an A Rank Hunter.
A Returnee.
Yoo Ah-rin quickly reached that conclusion.
The strength of Returnees had been discussed for years.
They possessed monster-like abilities
while also containing mana like Hunters.
Hunters became stronger through the Tower and rewards.
Returnees,
on the other hand,
were said to absorb the mana contained directly within Monster Stones.
They survived beyond Dimensional Breaks by absorbing Monster Stones.
And even after returning to Earth,
they could continue becoming stronger using them.
The fact that a Returnee had survived long enough to return to Earth
already proved their strength.
Their strange abilities often confused even experienced Hunters.
That's why governments capture and study Returnees.
Hunters could only be created through the Tower.
But Returnees could potentially be produced repeatedly
as long as they were able to absorb Monster Stones.
Naturally,
governments paid close attention to them.
Hunters were difficult to control because of human rights and many other reasons.
Their value had already risen too high.
In many cases,
governments were the ones begging Hunters for cooperation.
And once a Hunter achieved Tower Ascension,
they stopped caring about the surface entirely.
No matter how much a country invested in them,
the moment they achieved Tower Ascension,
they were gone.
Governments hated that.
Returnees were different.
They had practically no recognized human rights.
Their appearances were often far from human.
If governments could place a leash around them,
they could become controllable military assets.
And Returnees didn't achieve Tower Ascension.
To governments exhausted by dealing with Hunters,
they were extremely attractive resources.
That was why countries captured Returnees whenever they appeared.
Recently,
however,
news had begun spreading that Returnees were disappearing from facilities around the world.
They were escaping.
So it's them.
Normally,
Yoo Ah-rin didn't pay much attention to Returnee-related news.
It wasn't directly connected to Hunters.
But now things were different.
Returnees had formed their own force
and kidnapped her.
Then why had they taken Yoo Ah-rin?
Are they after money?
No.
If they wanted money,
there was no reason to target a troublesome Hunter.
It would be easier to kidnap someone with greater wealth and social status.
Then there was probably another goal.
If it wasn't money,
