“I have no excuse. I thought I had found a breakthrough, but I didn’t expect the same result as last time.”
“It was fine. Like I told you back then, I had set my expectations very low. I had gotten pretty used to it, too.”
“Wasn’t it hard on you?”
“At first, the pain itself felt distinctive. But now that it has been pain I always carried, I had grown accustomed to it.”
“I should rethink it again from square one. It was stimulating. Maybe it was that I had gotten the drive to find a solution no matter what.”
“Just having you think it through with me like this was more than enough. Truly, thank you.”
The talisman K made the second time still didn’t solve Kang-hoo’s congenital mana hyper-sensitivity.
Just like the first time, it only had a temporary suppressive effect. It wasn’t lasting.
Now, to Kang-hoo, the suffering and pain caused by congenital mana hyper-sensitivity was a constant, not a variable.
So in every battle, he didn’t freshly assign meaning to the pain or call it to mind separately.
He just let it be.
When he thought of it as an unavoidable process for this damned body to output maximum firepower, his mind felt at ease.
They said you got used to it if you suffered long enough, and that was exactly where he was now. A typical headache didn’t even register anymore.
Besides, lately he had even gained a reason not to suppress congenital mana hyper-sensitivity.
It was the existence of Mua-je.
Mua-je was something through which a body uniquely sensitive to mana could display maximized efficiency.
Celestial Assassin had predicted Mua-je’s duration at about one minute, but the actual result had been a very long five minutes.
If Kang-hoo hadn’t had congenital mana hyper-sensitivity, the effect would have been only one-fifth as strong.
All in all, it had become an illness tied to him as a companion, so Kang-hoo didn’t worry about it much.
And with calming measures like Solarkium, it wasn’t as if he only had to suffer unilaterally.
“You don’t have to worry too much. There’s a way to use it cleverly, so it’s fine.”
“If that’s the case, that’s a relief. Still, once I set a new direction, I’ll tell you. In any case, it’s an incurable disease.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Kang-hoo bowed his head politely.
That someone worried about him and paid attention to him—was something to be grateful for, and it felt good.
It seemed that forming a bond with K would help him a great deal going forward, just like his bond with his master, Celestial Assassin.
Above all, he was glad that he and K shared the same perspective on the Jeonghwa Guild.
Until now it had been in the realm of conjecture, but today K had turned it into certainty. He was a definite “ally,” too.
Ten minutes later.
After informing K that he would go for a walk, Kang-hoo came outside and walked along a narrow path.
The surroundings had been filled with nothing but unfamiliar scenery. It was full of all sorts of plants K grew.
For a moment, his gaze was caught by a faded signboard, and on it was written:
-Pietà Cultivation Plot
It was a trace of failure.
Even K, called a master of plant cultivation and care, hadn’t been able to handle Pietà, a tricky flower.
Since he had seen the same kind of struggle with Lars Abel in Germany, he became even more interested in the Pietà flower.
He wanted to learn cultivation and care methods from Emilia, but it didn’t seem like that would ever happen for free.
“For my master, I’ll solve it by going to Sinwol headquarters in person. The problem is Vincent.”
Since he had received a notice that wasn’t quite a notice—packaged in disguised goodwill and concern—through Jang Si-hwan,
it seemed necessary to clarify a strategy for dealing with Vincent.
There were only two ways.
Either he committed to running, making Vincent exhaust himself chasing his tail.
Or he waited for the reverse opportunity and launched an ambush—focusing on an assassin’s true “assassination.”
‘The first option costs too much. The longer that time drags out, the further back the gains I need to secure will get pushed.’
If he excluded growth, choosing the first option would be correct, but he didn’t want to do that over someone like Vincent.
If he always looked for a detour whenever there was a wall, he would hesitate even when he could break through.
‘From the start, the fact that Jang Si-hwan told me at all meant he planned to set the board and watch the show.’
He needed to see the essence of the situation.
Behind Vincent, Jang Si-hwan was still there, no matter what.
Unless he planned to hide forever somewhere no one could notice, even running had its limits.
‘It’d be better to set the table and toss him something easy to eat.’
He judged he could proactively lay out the board first.
For that premise to hold, there was one thing that had to come first: he had to know Vincent’s entry timing.
K’s information network was strong, tied in with Kang Bok-hwa as well.
If it was him, he would have more than enough ways to pull airport entry data from the underworld.
A good idea came to him.
“What a fucking shitty day. Fuck.”
Watching the rain and wind that had started the moment he entered the country, Vincent spat curses and put a cigarette in his mouth.
He had entered, but he had no fixed destination. What he needed now was information.
Vincent made a call.
The recipient was Jang Si-hwan.
Jang Si-hwan, who already knew Vincent’s entry time, picked up before the phone even rang once.
-You’re in?
“Were you waiting?”
-I was.
“Just tell me the location if you’ve got anything. Where’s that bastard Shin Kang-hoo?”
-He’s moving to Dungeon No. 17 in Nampo Direct-Controlled City. He borrowed the license from me.
“North Korea?”
-That’s right.
“So he dug his own grave and walked in. You’re saying he went somewhere that won’t leave even a trace if he dies?”
-You can’t just go to a dungeon on the North Korean side. For Shin Kang-hoo, it must’ve been a temptation he couldn’t refuse.
“Then he might stop once at the base camp on the way. If my old memory’s right.”
-Right. He’ll either stay briefly at the base camp, or go straight into the dungeon and come back out.
“Jang Si-hwan, listen carefully. After I kill Shin Kang-hoo, don’t care what I do. The hidden skill is all mine, and don’t take any pointless interest.”
-What did I say?
“Not yet.”
-Don’t point your blade at me. You’ve got a different prey you’re supposed to be hunting, don’t you?
“That’s true. Hmph.”
The greed had already been thick in Vincent’s eyes as he licked his lips with the tip of his tongue.
The timing was too good.
Wherever Kang-hoo was, he had planned to track him down and steal the hidden skill.
Even if it was in the middle of Seoul, he wouldn’t have cared.
He wasn’t even a hunter with Korean nationality, and if they tried to punish him for murder, he would have just snorted.
International law-enforcement cooperation—Interpol and the like—had become a hollow shell after Judgment Day.
With non-hunters making up the majority, Interpol couldn’t properly catch even a single skilled hunter criminal.
Much less someone at his level. They’d only keep talking, and they would never catch him.
-But Vincent, remember this. Even if you ask for help, I won’t help you. I told you to stop from the beginning.
“Who asked?”
-Don’t beg for your life when it gets dangerous. If you shit yourself, you clean it up. If you mine gold, you eat it alone.
“What a load of bullshit. I’m hanging up.”
Now the destination was clear.
Dungeon No. 17 meant going deep into Nampo Direct-Controlled City, and right now it was Ground Zero’s “peak phase.”
The boundary of Nampo Direct-Controlled City during the peak was filled with killing fog.
Unless the heavy rain temporarily cleared the fog, there was a high chance of trouble entering.
In other words, Kang-hoo would almost certainly stay at the base camp and wait for an entry timing.
Which meant that if he hit the base camp, he could find his prey.
‘To think he walked into North Korean land where I don’t need to worry about cleanup. My luck is great.’
Vincent snickered and moved.
Since he had decided to tail quietly, he planned to rent a usable car at the airport and move.
It was a picture of things going smoothly.
Hidden skills—only seventy-seven existed in the whole world.
He already had three, and now it was time to take one from Shin Kang-hoo and fill the fourth.
At last, the opportunity had come.
At the same time.
“Sara.”
“Yes, Master.”
“One way or another, a result will come out soon. Either Vincent Meyer dies, or Shin Kang-hoo dies.”
“Do I just handle the aftermath?”
“That’s right. Whoever dies, make sure the cleanup is airtight so nothing gets out.”
Jang Si-hwan was instructing Choi Sara to handle the aftermath after the imminent clash between Kang-hoo and Vincent.
Cleanup, really, was just retrieving the corpse cleanly—but in truth, that was the biggest part.
If the traces were erased, there was no way to know whether the person of interest had died or gone missing.
Death would remain forever in the realm of suspicion. It was, effectively, a way to erase physical proof.
“Yes, Master. May I ask just one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“Who do you think will win? The outcome is obvious to anyone, but it feels like you’re seeing a different picture.”
“I’m always on the weak one’s side. You know that, Sara. So this time, too, I plan to cheer for the weak one.”
“Shin Kang-hoo……?”
“Who is the weak one? Think carefully. Heh.”
Jang Si-hwan smiled briefly.
In his eyes, there had been a madness only Choi Sara—who had watched him closely for a long time—could recognize.
A chilliness flowed with that madness, as if he wouldn’t feel sad or regretful no matter who died.
Suddenly, she had a thought.
Since joining the Jeonghwa Guild, even she—who had always given her loyalty—might hold the same meaning to Jang Si-hwan.
Someone he wouldn’t miss if she died and vanished, nothing more than a pawn on a board.
An uneasy discomfort she couldn’t answer lingered in the strange silence. Only Jang Si-hwan himself would know what was in his heart.
Around then, as Vincent expected, Kang-hoo was at a base camp before entering Nampo City.
At present, the North Korean region including Ground Zero was at the absolute peak of the yin-energy peak phase, so he had to be cautious about movement.
Especially around Nampo, the killing fog had surrounded the area like a fence, making it impossible to enter recklessly.
He had sent Mumyeong out as a test, and indirectly experienced its power when the bastard met a glorious death.
Kang-hoo had chosen this place deliberately, expecting that Jang Si-hwan would leak his location.
Because if he aimed to clear the dungeon Jang Si-hwan provided, Jang Si-hwan wouldn’t be able to resist telling Vincent.
He hadn’t even done anything complicated.
He had simply read Jang Si-hwan’s intent—how he would want to pit him against Vincent.
If Kang-hoo died to Vincent anyway, there would be no reason to pay the price for leaking the location.
And if Vincent died to him, Jang Si-hwan could just pin the reason and responsibility on the dead man.
Kang-hoo used Jang Si-hwan as a means instead, assuming Jang Si-hwan had already calculated a way out.
On the way here, Kang-hoo had prepared two key strategic tools in advance.
First was a third eye, and second was pre-saving a point he could instantly teleport to.
He intended to try “assassination” in the truest sense against Vincent.
Yes.
The time of thieving slaughter had arrived.
