Chapter 182: Chapter 183: The Qualification Of A Friend (3)

Afterward, Kang-hoo and Takashi continued to advance inside the dungeon.

There were hardly any battles with monsters, and even if there were, they were swiftly dealt with.

Thirty minutes passed like that.

Kang-hoo focused silently on solving the dungeon’s patterns.

Thanks to that, Takashi, who had nothing to do, started feeling bored.

“Shall we stop now?”

Takashi was the first to break the silence.

Kang-hoo replied with a smile.

“It seems you’re not curious about anything else anymore?”

“Hmm?”

“I was wondering how long you’d continue with the tests.”

“Well… I suppose this is enough?”

Even though his true intentions were exposed, Takashi didn’t seem particularly embarrassed.

After all, he had brought Kang-hoo to a dungeon where the patterns were blatantly obvious. Only a fool wouldn’t have noticed.

Takashi asked another question.

“Didn’t you want to take it easy in an unfamiliar dungeon?”

It’s a natural instinct for a hunter.

Facing uncertainty can be directly linked to death, so most hunters avoid it.

Of course, there are hunters who enjoy challenges and adventures, but usually, they prefer to have prior information.

That way, they can minimize risks while reaping all the rewards.

Kang-hoo shook his head.

“Well, who knows what might happen next? Is there any point in trying to stay comfortable in a dungeon?”

“Heh.”

“It’s just my nature to stay constantly alert, ask questions, and explore and understand the situation.”

Kang-hoo’s words, spoken nonchalantly, carried genuine sincerity.

Since awakening in this world, Kang-hoo had never lived in peace.

For an ordinary person, the situation would have already led to extreme fatigue and breakdown.

But Kang-hoo enjoyed the tension.

And he was grateful to have a goal he had to pursue with all his might.

The Thirteen Stars were still a significant threat to Kang-hoo, making them a motivating force.

Takashi, who was in front of him now, was no different.

In terms of level alone, he was at least three times higher than Kang-hoo. They were on completely different planes of existence.

“Honestly, I was surprised. You have quite a few impressive skills for an assassin.”

Takashi spoke in admiration.

If he knew that what he saw today was only a portion of the skills Kang-hoo possessed, he would be even more astonished.

After all, since Takashi was still connected to The Thirteen Stars, Kang-hoo hadn’t shown him everything.

Still, Kang-hoo had confidence that it was enough.

Takashi focused on observing Kang-hoo’s Shadow Step, Duplication Technique, Intuition, and Soul Wave.

Even though it’s natural for an assassin to excel in deception.

It was quite surprising to see that Kang-hoo also had preemptive evasion abilities and mental capabilities.

While Takashi’s foundation was swordsmanship, his mastery of the Duplication Technique alone had brought him to his current level.

Hunters admired Takashi’s ability to manipulate duplicates and also found it extremely tricky.

Just having one or two additional secondary abilities attached to a primary skill could change how one is evaluated.

But Kang-hoo had quite a few skills that completely broke away from the assassin mold.

And Takashi was certain.

Kang-hoo hadn’t fully trusted him yet, so he had deliberately hidden some of his abilities.

That only made Takashi more curious. The more something is hidden, the more one naturally wants to see what’s inside.

An assassin with great skills and specs, who constantly questions everything and works tirelessly.

Takashi found Kang-hoo quite appealing. He felt they were cut from a similar cloth.

Outside the dungeon.

Kang-hoo and Takashi sat on the steps in front of an apartment.

Since the apartment was on a hill, a long flight of stairs led down from the front.

Although no one lives here now.

It seemed like the kind of stairs where children would have run up and down while playing when people still lived here.

Takashi drank the coffee he had prepared in his backpack. It was warm mixed coffee in a thermos.

It was questionable why he brought it since a duplicate couldn’t drink, but thanks to him, Kang-hoo got free coffee.

While sipping the warm coffee and soothing his slightly chilled body,

Takashi’s duplicate, sitting beside him, pretended to drink and matched Kang-hoo’s rhythm.

At that moment, a man came out from the mansion visible at the bottom of the stairs, took out the recycling, and returned.

Sitting here and looking at the scenery brought to mind a residential area from the 1990s…

It was cozy and peaceful, a place where no other thoughts intruded. It felt good.

The silence that followed was also fine. Kang-hoo enjoyed silence rather than finding it awkward.

But there was something Kang-hoo really wanted to say to Takashi, so he broke the silence and spoke first.

“I’m not looking to chatter with you or deliberately seeking any benefits.”

It was the truth.

It was true that he approached Takashi to separate him from The Thirteen Stars.

But he absolutely hadn’t approached him just to extract dungeon information or something valuable from him.

On the contrary, he genuinely appreciated Takashi’s passion for the meticulous analysis, research, and strategy concerning the dungeon.

There was certainly a part where he felt that they were similar.

Takashi asked back.

“Don’t you think you don’t know much about me? This is the first time we’ve met, after all.”

“Does that matter?”

“……”

Indeed.

When a relationship was formed and how well you knew each other was never the most important thing.

That’s how it is with hunters.

Even if you were close and friendly yesterday, you could be enemies today.

If that’s the case, it’s fortunate. Tomorrow, they might not even be by your side. Death is always near, like the wind.

“I just want to approach and conquer each dungeon with the same affection as you do. I want to meticulously study, conquer, and feel the satisfaction of those heart-pounding dungeons.”

Kang-hoo found himself speaking much more than usual in front of Takashi, who wasn’t good with words.

He didn’t find it unnatural or unpleasant.

It was because Takashi was important enough for him to suppress his natural personality and speak with higher tension.

Takashi, seemingly moved by Kang-hoo’s words, nodded in agreement.

“I also like to challenge dungeons fiercely from start to finish. It makes me feel alive.”

Kang-hoo nodded instead of responding. That was a very Takashi-like answer. He was just like his character in the original story.

Takashi added.

“I tested you before, too. I’m sorry for testing you again this time. I just wanted to know more about you.”

“I understand.”

“Next time, would you like to properly strategize with me? There are quite a few unsolved dungeons left.”

“That would be great.”

Of course, it’s okay.

Regardless of cutting ties with The Thirteen Stars, Takashi is also a very capable hunter.

Honestly, it’s more a question of whether he would fit in with me, rather than me wondering if I’d fit in with him.

“Let’s not worry about each other’s level or what we do. It’s too exhausting.”

“Let’s just make sure we pull our own weight, then.”

“Next time, I’ll contact you first. I hope by then, we can at least call each other by name.”

“I’m Shin Kang-hoo. I’m 29 years old.”

“Akiyama Takashi. Thirty-three.”

“I’ll call you hyung.”

“No, just call me Takashi. I’m not too fond of the word hyung…”

At that moment, Kang-hoo paused as a thought about Takashi crossed his mind.

It wasn’t directly mentioned in the original, but it was implied—something about Takashi and the younger brother he lost, which had led him to live as a recluse.

It seemed that had been faithfully reflected in the character. If that’s the case, Kang-hoo could fully understand Takashi’s pain.

“Alright, Takashi.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Yeah, Shin Kang-hoo. Let’s meet again.”

The two stood up and brushed off their seats.

Kang-hoo was so accustomed to farewells and reunions that the sudden shift in atmosphere didn’t feel awkward.

As Kang-hoo was about to leave the apartment complex and say goodbye to Takashi, Takashi showed him his right pinky finger.

At first, Kang-hoo wondered what kind of signal it was, but Takashi’s next words cleared up all the confusion.

“When you use Shadow Step, your pinky finger trembles slightly. Check it yourself. You’ll see the difference.”

It was about a flaw in Kang-hoo’s habit, the weakness in his Shadow Step skill, which he had never been able to resolve on his own.

As a gift for becoming friends, it was a significant one, as precious to Kang-hoo as life itself.

Back at the Rikou Tower.

Kang-hoo went straight to the underground training room to start practicing.

As Takashi had pointed out, there was indeed a slight tremor when he used Shadow Step.

‘Because the mana distribution wasn’t perfect, the mana flow changed just before movement.’

The cause had been diagnosed.

It was a habit.

His eagerness to deploy the shadow quickly had led him to only cover 99% of the details, not 100%.

The missing 1% was the slight tremor in his pinky finger.

‘I’ve gained advice that can’t be bought with money. It feels like a block has been lifted. And I saw this on our first meeting.’

Kang-hoo felt a renewed sense of admiration for Takashi’s observation skills.

He was pretty good himself, but in terms of observation skills, he seemed to be a bit lacking compared to Takashi.

In any case, he felt proud to have gained something significant today.

Getting closer to Takashi didn’t require deep contemplation.

With him, it’s better to be straightforward and push forward honestly than to overthink or calculate.

After all, he’s the type who doesn’t respond well to beating around the bush or flattery.

So Kang-hoo planned to continue being honest with Takashi in the future.

If he thought Takashi was valuable, telling him so straightforwardly would be the right answer.

It might sound strange depending on how it’s heard, but Takashi was the kind of person who really appreciated such honesty.

“I’ll postpone the remaining five dark dungeons for now.”

Kang-hoo checked the current situation on his smartphone, confirming the strategy schedule he had deliberately put on hold.

The full-scale war with the Toushi Guild was intensifying again.

Of course, the dungeons weren’t in the combat zone, but he didn’t want to push himself unnecessarily.

‘I remember that the Imbalance Point is near JR Sapporo Station. But the exact location isn’t clear.’

One of the reasons Kang-hoo came to Japan was because the Imbalance Point was here.

It was a space he had already enjoyed domestically, a place where he could take advantage of the errors created by time and space.

He had always planned to visit it when he came to Japan, but he couldn’t remember the exact location in detail.

The original text mentioned it like this:

-The Imbalance Point near JR Sapporo Station was located inside an eerie dungeon next to a building that never received sunlight.

Jang Si-hwan had wondered how on earth he found the Imbalance Point here. The location was that absurd.

With that information, he would have to find a dungeon that met those conditions. It wouldn’t be easy.

Just then.

A call came from An Yeong-ho.

Since the dungeon talks were on hold, there could only be one reason for him to call at this point.

“Hey, Yeong-ho.”

-Hyung, I found someone who can help us enter the Fukuoka Liberation Area. We’ve got a free pass for the checkpoints.

“An insider.”

He had acquired a human pass to enter the Fukuoka Liberation Area.