The Genius Assassin Who Takes it All

“Euhuhuhu…! Euhuhu!”

It took only a few seconds for the four hunters trying to harass the woman to meet their harsh fate.

Kang-hoo quickly ended the fight by targeting their vital points.

In fact, it wasn’t much of a battle.

He aimed for areas that would not be fatal if treated immediately.

Of course, this assumed they received prompt hemostasis; otherwise, they might die from excessive bleeding.

Kang-hoo took her hand and moved as far away from the scene as possible.

While heading toward the approaching safety bus, she did not let go of Kang-hoo’s tightly held hand.

“Thank you. I tried to go home early and took a path I don’t usually take, and then…”

Her choice of path seemed odd, but there was a reason for it.

There were plenty of relatively safe paths to choose from.

She had thought she would be fine even in a dangerous area, but she ended up in this predicament.

“It would be relatively safer to follow the light, even if it takes a bit longer. It’s not good to be close to darkness.”

As Kang-hoo calmly reassured her, she sighed with relief and responded.

“Thank you. I was so flustered that I didn’t even have time to use my self-defense items or make an emergency call…”

“Here it comes.”

Kang-hoo pointed to the approaching safety bus.

“My name is Lee Seon-hee. May I ask your name? I really want to thank you. Really.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t do it for a reward.”

Kang-hoo waved his hand dismissively.

However, the name sounded familiar.

Lee Seon-hee.

It was a name from the original story.

She would awaken about a year later and become somewhat of an ally to Shin Kang-hoo.

Her unique emerald-colored hair and the long cross tattoo around her eyes made her memorable.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’

He thought about giving her a prophetic word about the future but decided against it.

She wasn’t a very important character in the original story, and it was okay to let such characters flow naturally.

“But still…”

“Let’s go. Be careful next time.”

Kang-hoo turned around and waved casually, disappearing into the dark alley.

The person who had just advised Lee Seon-hee against being close to darkness…

Now welcomed it, quickly vanishing into its depths.

---

Time remaining until dungeon entry: 5 minutes.

Precisely, it was the time left until the inside reset and was ready for a new raid.

Kang-hoo waited leisurely for the entrance to open, knowing that being in a hurry wouldn’t speed it up.

In front of the dungeon, guards hired by Lee Ye-rin were already positioned, having arrived early.

They meticulously checked the surroundings, ensuring Kang-hoo’s safety before his entry.

Kang-hoo calculated numerous scenarios and conducted simulated battles in his mind.

To others, it might seem impossible, but for ‘Shin Kang-hoo,’ it was feasible.

He, the creator of the character, had shaped this person and endowed him with innate senses and abilities. It couldn’t be impossible.

[You've grown remarkably. I didn't expect such explosive growth in just a few days.]

‘All I need is time.’

Kang-hoo spoke calmly.

Time to unfold his talents, time to conquer dungeons.

That was all he needed.

[Since you first became a hunter, your life has been like a compilation of tragedies and trials. I found that interesting.]

A Constellation that usually doesn’t speak much was just that.

He felt delighted to receive such attention from it.

Even without flattering praise or support, his conversations carried ‘value.’

[Originally, I planned to observe more, but I reached out to you, drawn by your audacity. Looking back, I would have surely regretted it if I had waited longer. Keep proving your value.]

‘Just by speaking?’

[Soon, there will be a harsh test for you. You'd better be nervous.]

With those words, the presence of the Dimension Plunderer faded away.

An important answer was received.

The word ‘verification.’

A Constellation that contracted with a hunter could trigger special quests, risking a significant portion of their divine power.

These quests were the only times when the concept of a quest, virtually nonexistent for hunters, became active.

The quest was a test to see if the contractor was worthy of receiving more of the Constellation’s power.

Thus, if the contractor died during the quest, they actually died, just like in a real dungeon raid.

Moreover, if the contractor died, the contract with the Constellation automatically terminated.

Sometimes, this was used as a tactic by Constellations wishing to ‘cut losses’ with their contractors.

Of course, if the quest was successfully completed, they became permanently bonded.

In the meantime, as five minutes had swiftly passed, one of the guards at the dungeon entrance nodded to Kang-hoo.

“It’s ready. Please enter.”

The hunters appeared to be over level 150, at a guess.

There were four guards in total.

A significant amount of money was being spent on dungeon escort.

However, they neither wondered nor judged anything about Kang-hoo.

They just moved around the dungeon, staying loyal to their assigned task.

Kang-hoo entered the dungeon.

Five mid-bosses.

One main boss.

If he succeeded without mistakes, it would be the start of a lucrative raid with at least six skill-plundering opportunities.

---

Swoosh!

“Kuk!”

“One shot.”

Upon entering the dungeon, Kang-hoo steadily defeated the monsters, assessing his combat power.

Any monster below level 20 was taken down in one shot.

They couldn’t even respond to Kang-hoo’s leap skill.

Typically, a level 20 hunter held a ‘slight advantage’ against a level 20 monster.

Slightly better than an equal-level monster, capable of winning one-on-one battles.

But this common sense didn’t apply to Kang-hoo, whose abilities and level discrepancy were ridiculously vast.

“Already level 22?”

About an hour after entering the dungeon.

His strategy of luring small groups of monsters and eliminating them suited the assassin class well.

He took breaks without overdoing it and struck the monsters when ready, avoiding triggering hypersensitivity.

Indeed, by hoarding all the experience for himself, he leveled up noticeably fast.

“Now then.”

Kang-hoo nodded as he spotted something approaching from below the slope.

A mid-boss monster.

He habitually allocated the bonus points gained from leveling up into his stamina and then assumed a fighting stance.

Iceman.

The name was plain, yet it conveyed a clear identity.

Its ability, encompassing both trait and skill, was ‘frost attribute infliction,’ which froze upon contact.

During their reconnaissance phase, as they began to charge toward each other,

Kang-hoo gained a tactical advantage over Iceman by combining sight theft and shallow chaos.

Normally, an intelligent-type monster would resist or at least attempt to dodge.

But Iceman, more of a brute-force type monster, rushed in, intending to confront the skills head-on.

As a result, having taken both skills squarely, Iceman experienced a suddenly altered world.

“Uruk?”

He could not see anything and lost his sense of direction—he couldn’t discern front from back, up from down.

As Kang-hoo was gauging the distance, planning to respond with a lateral movement at the right moment,

“Uryak!”

Iceman, having charged in the direction of the slope, suddenly missed his step and started tumbling down.

“……?”

Kang-hoo watched disdainfully as Iceman slid down and struck his head on a rock.

Crack!

A sound that unmistakably indicated a broken bone emanated from Iceman’s head.

[The following skill can be plundered from the target under Plunder activation.]

[Frost Attribute Infliction]

And Plunder was activated.

“What’s this, a shortcut…”

An unexpected shortcut had opened up.

Afterward,

Kang-hoo easily dispatched Iceman and his mid-boss counterpart, Fireman, with similar ease.

Using the Frost Infliction ability he had just acquired played a role, but this guy was also not the brightest.

Not all mid-level bosses are intelligent, so it wasn’t much of a surprise.

[Frost Attribute Infliction]

[Flame Attribute Infliction]

Two more skills joined the list.

Thanks to Plunder and their maxed proficiency, these two skills became versatile and useful in many ways.

Firstly, enchanting a weapon with elemental power could cause more pain to the enemy or hinder their healing.

Given enough mana, it was possible to freeze or burn upon contact.

Of course, it wasn’t an immediate ignition or freezing, so using them cleverly together was key.

“I’m starting to deviate from my original class specialty.”

Kang-hoo was happy to see his skill set expanding beyond his swordsmanship.

It’s always essential and advantageous for a hunter to enhance their abilities, whatever the reason.

This was particularly true for someone like Shin Kang-hoo from the original story, who was notably weak in team battles, almost to the point of being ineffectual.

He definitely needed to compensate for that.

In the future, Jang Si-hwan, the main character, would exploit Kang-hoo’s inability to handle multiple opponents.

Aware of such a glaring weakness, Kang-hoo had no plans to leave it unaddressed.

In that light, the ability to imbue and wield attributes would surely come in handy.

“Now it feels like I’m warming up.”

As his body became more limber, Kang-hoo began to move quicker.

Three mid-level bosses remained to be defeated, not to mention the ‘mob’ monsters he would encounter along the way.

Then, suddenly.

Whoooo.

The dungeon’s sandstorm, quiet until now, started to pick up again.

Though the desert area wasn’t visible on the horizon, the preliminary data indicated it was close by.

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