Chapter 18: Kim Ji-Hee (2)
Awakened criminal Il-Ho—Ma Ak-Soo's closest subordinate—first appeared in 2048.
That had been two years before the S-Class Gates first appeared, so during his 1st and 2nd Attempts, Kim Ki-Rok hadn't known anything about her.
He first met her on the 3rd Attempt.
This was after he had given up on reaching the end and instead made a lot of money using his knowledge of the future so that he could live a life of luxury. He had made this decision after one of his businesses had been burned down by Ma Ak-Soo and his gang.
Kim Ki-Rok had great resentment toward those criminals for burning down his business, so from his 4th Attempt onward, he had returned to the life of a Hunter and fought against Il-Ho repeatedly.
He had lost his life on some Attempts because he couldn't block her attacks. Other times, he had instead managed to take her life.
As for her past?
He hadn't given any thought to it. In the beginning, Kim Ki-Rok's only goal had been to destroy the S-Class Gates, so he had solely focused on becoming stronger and spared no attention to others.
After his 10th Attempt, when there was finally some leeway for him to dig deeper, Kim Ki-Rok had decided to expend some effort to try and save her. During the 12th Attempt, before Ma Ak-Soo could get his hands on the incredible potential of this little girl, Kim Ki-Rok had been able to save her by eliminating his gang with the help of the Association and the Guilds.
It was then that he had found that young girl trapped in a basement.
He had learned that the young girl had been abandoned by her parents and was now being experimented on. The Awakened criminal Il-Ho, one of the worst criminals to have ever lived, had simply turned out to be a victim of another's crime.