The Genius Assassin Who Takes it All

Afterwards, I parted ways with Ayane.

I wondered if there was ever a need to contact her. It felt similar to when I first met Baek Seon-tae.

She is undoubtedly a hunter with considerable skills, but is there a need to meet specifically?

Except for the brief coordination at the Main Gate Research Institute, I have never seen Ayane’s skills in action.

Of course, the fact that the Hayabusa Guild has brought in external mercenaries indirectly confirms her capabilities.

It’s rare to employ external mercenaries for guarding a dungeon with vested interests.

However, that trust did not extend as far as to me.

“It’s curious indeed. To meet like this here. You must be just dipping your toes into the grey boundaries like me.”

Usually, I would consider such a connection to be fleeting and move on.

But Kang-hoo decided that he might contact Ayane when he has some free time.

Giving up the original pursuit and sharing contact information probably means a significant expression of interest.

Why she is so engrossed in me is a mystery, but perhaps it will be resolved when we meet again.

Anyway, after that, I caught some monsters conveniently located along the path to my destination.

Having a sort of GPS indicating the location of the Corrupted Truth made things really convenient without uncertainties.

Before I knew it, my level reached 190.

Reaching the threshold of level 200, where I acquire a basic skill, was now within sight. Just 10 more levels to go.

Would the items be from monsters or hidden in geographical features?

Just as my curiosity peaked, I finally saw the location holding the Corrupted Truth.

There, a lone monster was occupying the spot pointed out by the status window.

Sssssss… Shh…

At first glance, the heavy greatsword was being dragged along the ground. To call it a monster seemed more human than not.

“Undead?”

Judging by the pallor, it definitely wasn’t a living human. Parts of its body were rotting and crumbling.

“Grrrr…”

Clutching the greatsword in both hands, it wandered aimlessly with unfocused eyes.

It seemed like it lacked the strength to carry the greatsword, but that wasn’t the case.

It must be ready to exert force at any moment, typically just loosening its muscles intentionally.

Kang-hoo attempted a Throne Scan.

If it were a pure undead, there would be no throne, but if a hunter, he could find out the throne information.

【Throne information of a deceased hunter cannot be confirmed.】

“But it’s moving.”

A deceased hunter.

Yet, a moving hunter.

The word that came to Kang-hoo’s mind was ‘hybrid.’

Hybrids are a type of mutant monster that emerged in the North Korean region.

They are byproducts of areas untouched by human hands for long periods.

Though hybrids exist in North Korea, their numbers are overwhelmingly larger in Western Australia.

After the age of hunters began, so many monsters appeared in Australia that people in the west massively migrated east.

Thus, Western Australia became a playground for all sorts of hybrids.

Among them, there were nimble kangaroo-monster hybrids, causing headaches for the Australian Public Safety Bureau.

“Ugh… it’s making me feel nauseous.”

The hybrids originating from North Korea had a bizarre creation process.

Despite being written in the original text, Kang-hoo bit his lip as he felt a wave of nausea rising.

The North Korean-derived hybrid monsters are cases where the Brood Queen implanted her offspring in the body of a deceased hunter.

The ‘Brood Queen’ is a female and sovereign of wasp-like mutant monsters, enlarged by mutation.

Instead of laying eggs, it births offspring that immediately hatch and grow inside a human body.

They take over the brain, establishing themselves and using it as a control tower to manipulate the human body.

The hunter’s abilities are maintained while becoming a deceased entity, which made them difficult to deal with.

“I found the ring.”

The ring was dangling on a necklace worn by the hybrid. It was the Corrupted Truth.

Glancing around, I noticed a hunter’s body well-hidden behind a rock not visible before.

It wasn’t visible at first, but changing my position to check the hybrid’s location made it visible.

“If so many hunters have died here, there must be one reason. It has an instant-death ability.”

Kang-hoo looked at the corpses of hunters who seemed to have died without a fight.

To call it a death at the end of a chaotic battle seemed off as the bodies were generally clean.

Considering the progression of decomposition, there were very few wounds on the bodies.

Judging by the fact that they were stripped of their items, it seems they were killed elsewhere and then gathered here.

【Lee Gwon-su】

The monster’s name appeared.

It seems its name from life has become its monster name.

I’m not sure why the owner of a body that died in North Korea ended up here, but that’s none of my business.

Anyway, seeing a hybrid directly, which was only mentioned as a plot point in the original work, felt strange and quite unpleasant.

To think someone came up with the method of implanting offspring in a dead human’s body to inherit their abilities.

“First and foremost, be wary of the instant-death skill.”

Kang-hoo clearly set his prime directive and prepared to engage in battle with Lee Gwon-su.

“Yeah, could I really get a grade 2 item for free? A price must naturally be paid.”

Before approaching.

Kang-hoo deployed a skill particularly effective against undead-type monsters.

【Commander’s Silence】

A skill that camouflages one as another undead. If it works well, the situation could resolve quite smoothly.

Whirrrring!

As soon as Lee Gwon-su sensed that Kang-hoo’s presence had disappeared from afar, he immediately raised his greatsword to activate a shield.

Just in case, Kang-hoo stopped using Commander’s Silence.

Swoosh.

Lee Gwon-su then lowered his greatsword and deactivated the shield.

“He’s meticulous.”

After that, Kang-hoo repeatedly used and stopped Commander’s Silence.

Each time, Lee Gwon-su synchronized with Kang-hoo, creating and retracting his shield.

Keeping Commander’s Silence on continuously to understand the pattern meant that the shield didn’t drop.

“For now, Commander’s Silence is dismissed.”

It wasn’t effective in this setup.

Kang-hoo reflected on his underhanded intentions. Yes, it’s no fun if the monster is too foolish.

He closed the distance.

A battle between a greatsword and a dagger meant that close combat was inevitable.

Although he was at a disadvantage in terms of length, he was clearly faster.

But as Kang-hoo approached, Lee Gwon-su’s actions, which had been defensive, began to change.

Ooong. Ooong. Ooong.

It was a stationary spin.

Like Sammi’s Annihilation Great Spin and Turebo’s Tornado skill before.

Monsters with threatening offensive abilities often employed spinning attacks.

From the opponent’s perspective, these attacks were quite tricky because they left little room for vulnerabilities.

“It’s not a blender.”

Exactly like that.

It felt like approaching a human blender. A wrong move could mean getting shredded to death and bones.

This intimidation was always present in spinning attack patterns.

【Blinding Speed Blade】

Kang-hoo targeted Lee Gwon-su with a spare dagger. Since timing the approach was difficult, he tried stabbing first.

Spinning wasn’t all-powerful; rather, exploiting vulnerabilities during such times could inflict significant damage on Lee Gwon-su.

Usually, their own bodies aren’t protected during a spin due to the deactivation of defensive mechanisms.

But at that very moment.

Chak! Daang!

“……”

A different response than Kang-hoo had anticipated came while he was spinning and expected to deflect the dagger.

The moment the dagger left Kang-hoo’s fingertips, Lee Gwon-su stopped moving and immediately struck the dagger down.

If not affected by the spin and dizziness, this was the most standard and safe defense method.

“Phew.”

Kang-hoo exhaled a hot breath mixed with various emotions. It seemed the battle wouldn’t be easy.

---

Before starting the battle in earnest, Kang-hoo consumed one Mad Solarkium.

Before he knew it, the remaining count had dwindled to a single digit: nine. It was time to contact Master K.

Lee Gwon-su possessed a repertoire of defenses that made long-range attacks almost ineffective.

Therefore, instead of maintaining distance, Kang-hoo chose to engage in close-quarters melee.

Through the perilous melee, Kang-hoo learned that Lee Gwon-su’s mental fortitude was waning.

Dressed in a human guise but more insect-like, it had poor resistance to mental disruption.

This was a separate issue from its combat prowess and related to the total mental capacity of the ‘Brood Queen,’ the core insect.

Consequently, it was continually affected by skills like hallucinations, sight theft, and shallow chaos.

These led to distorted senses, loss of sight, and skewed balance, causing disruption.

Kang-hoo suppressed Lee Gwon-su’s spinning attack pattern as much as possible while unleashing a fierce assault up close.

Of course, Lee Gwon-su also counterattacked fiercely a few times.

During moments of stalemate in the battle, the recovery option Kang-hoo used proved very effective.

【Frenzied Healing】

【Skill Proficiency: Lv Max】

【Converts 1 mana to 1 health in a stationary state, allowing for ultra-fast recovery.】

It was a healing skill obtained from Ad previously.

With Mad Solarkium, Kang-hoo was suppressing the pain of mana hypersensitivity, making it an invaluable tool.

Thus, when Lee Gwon-su allowed Kang-hoo a moment to breathe, it inadvertently permitted his health to fully recover.

After acquiring the skill, there hadn’t been much need for focused usage, but now, in a battle of attrition, it became essential.

Because of this skill, the gap between Lee Gwon-su’s and Kang-hoo’s health widened.

While Lee Gwon-su’s mouth increasingly gaped, Kang-hoo’s breathing quickly stabilized.

To avoid a favorable situation for Kang-hoo, it needed to launch relentless attacks.

However, Lee Gwon-su—or rather, the Brood Queen controlling his body—wasn’t making the best decisions.

There was another problem.

【Protective Barrier】

【Forced Destruction by Will】

Kang-hoo was intentionally destroying the protective barriers he kept creating.

The Protective Barrier skill was used to reliably safeguard the body from enemies.

Though it’s a ‘defensive skill’ by design, Kang-hoo utilized it in a different way.

Much like how the side effects of a medication can be beneficial for some people, the current usage of the Protective Barrier was exactly that.

【Upon destruction of the Protective Barrier, the 'Devastation' effect activates, evaporating all mana within a 10m radius.】

The Devastation effect.

Until now, it was an inconsequential option activated after destruction, but this time it was different.

Kang-hoo had realized that Lee Gwon-su was drawing a significant amount of mana from the surroundings.

Lee Gwon-su’s mana utilization efficiency was extremely poor, like a car with bad mileage.

By intentionally destroying the protective barriers and triggering the Devastation effect, all surrounding mana was obliterated.

For Kang-hoo, who could draw mana from further away due to mana hypersensitivity, this was undoubtedly beneficial.

Lee Gwon-su was inevitably being pushed into a flow where he was running out of time. This was, in essence, a prelude to death.