The Genius Assassin Who Takes it All

“Can we trust her?”

“What’s there to trust when we’ve never even seen each other’s faces? Ability is the only basis for trust.”

“True, other than Jung Sun-kyu, there wasn’t anyone else whom Ye-rin had only praises for, right?”

“If that picky woman sifted through and still praised so much, it must be trustworthy.”

Kim Su-kyung nodded.

She had become acquainted with Lee Ye-rin a while ago. Ye-rin wasn’t one to add unnecessary words.

Despite this, she always spoke highly of Kang-hoo from the beginning to the end, without any exaggeration.

Then there was no need to doubt and create unnecessary problems.

However, there was one thing that concerned Kim Su-kyung.

As an assassin-type hunter, close-quarters combat was a must, but could he really hold his own on the front lines?

Like it or not, Kang-hoo was the one who would have to position himself closest to Jeon Jong-du.

It was an inevitable fate for an assassin-type hunter. They couldn’t just take lives from a distance.

“I wish time would pass more quickly.”

She was already feeling excited.

She had never seen Kang-hoo before, but she was looking forward to meeting him.

It was out of curiosity about his ability to cleanly sever the left arm of Gong Tae-su, the butcher of Ulsan.

---

“This place seems better.”

Kang-hoo arrived near the entrance of the Hongcheon Liberation Area, leisurely observing his surroundings.

Unlike the Kimcheon Liberation Area, where the acrid smell of burning drugs had greeted him right from the entrance,

The Hongcheon Liberation Area was filled with the fragrance of acacia flowers planted along the streets.

Moreover, despite being late at night, the streetlights were well maintained and brightly illuminated the area.

It was strange; normally at the entrance, there would be some minor disputes or a noisy atmosphere.

But as if something had happened, not a single soul was in sight.

It wasn’t that there were no people to begin with but more like they had been drawn away by something.

However, there were no signs of a bloody smell or an intense flow of mana, so it didn’t seem like a battle had occurred.

The trail was easy to follow.

The residual heat and flow of mana eventually led to a single point.

When Kang-hoo arrived at the location, he encountered someone he had not expected.

Surrounded by numerous hunters, a female hunter suffered under an enthusiastic onslaught of autograph requests.

‘Emilia Rose?’

Kang-hoo recognized her immediately.

Pumpkin-colored eyes.

Silver-grey hair with C-curls and wavy ends.

She wore an all-black shirt and straight pants, adhering to her typical dress code.

She was a named hunter designated as Emilia Rose in the original story.

Her sharp nose, looking as though it could slice through anything, was an unforgettable feature.

‘There’s no answer from the constellation information.’

Kang-hoo clicked his tongue as he browsed through the list of scanned constellation information.

In a simple comparison, it was the same number of constellations held by Jang Si-hwan—thirty in total.

Of course, the reason for her vivid memory wasn’t just the number of constellations.

‘It’s because of The Thirteen Stars.’

It was because of her future.

Currently, out of The Thirteen Stars that Kang-hoo had directly encountered or heard about, there were four: Jang Si-hwan, Chae Gwanhyeong, Yu Cheonghwa, and Casey Rex. Now, a fifth person was added.

However, whether Emilia Rose was currently a member of The Thirteen Stars at this point was unclear.

Her formal and direct appearance in the original story came much later than the current timeline.

Yet, facing a potential adversary right in front of him brought a peculiar sense of excitement.

Emilia’s characteristics.

“She’s adept in psychic and magical abilities. Thanks to her constellation powers, she can even communicate linguistically with animals and plants, not just humans.”

That was Emilia’s hallmark.

She faced no barriers in communication. Her main constellation enabled the exchange of all emotions and languages.

The real reason she was fearsome lay elsewhere.

It was her ability to implant thoughts and beliefs into others, unnoticed. Very covertly and cunningly.

In the original work, she had handled many enemies without The Thirteen Stars’ direct involvement, using this method. Cowardly, indeed.

Is that why?

Even at this location, there were quite a few hunters intoxicated by her charm and seduction.

Some seemed ready to end their lives without hesitation if she commanded them to commit suicide.

Crunch.

Kang-hoo chewed on a Solarkium he had taken out of his pocket.

This was to prevent Emilia from dominating his mind.

Avoiding her mental control was not difficult.

Initially, there was an unpleasant feeling, like a premonition, before one fell under mental control.

Catching that feeling and naturally steering away from it prevented one from being overtaken.

The problem was that Emilia used her charm skill stealthily.

The scattered charm, dispersed in all directions, was particularly potent against the opposite sex.

Like a male mantis mating with a female, knowing it would lead to its death, one lost their rationality.

“Emilia… So amazing…”

“I wonder if she’d give me an autograph if I gave her this item?”

“Even holding her hand would fulfill all my wishes. I wouldn’t mind dying then, huh…”

Many hunters were already spouting such crazy things.

Emilia, enjoying their reactions, threw them a haughty look, escalating their desire.

Then, Kang-hoo’s and Emilia’s gazes intersected momentarily.

Given the crowd, it was natural for their eyes to meet and then drift apart.

However, Emilia didn’t move, continuing to stare at him for a long time.

Kang-hoo felt an unpleasant sensation invade his mind but he easily shrugged off the mental control.

For Kang-hoo, who knew how to evade, it wasn’t difficult. Ignorance was the real danger.

As Emilia walked towards Kang-hoo, her gaze fixed.

Click. Click.

The black flat shoes she wore, matching her outfit, made a unique sound that heightened the tension.

“This guy is surrounded by very toxic constellations. From one to ten, all attached to him are devils.”

Then, Dimension Plunderer coldly remarked upon recognizing the nature of the constellations contracted by Emilia.

Looking at her constellations again.

Indeed, they were far more malevolent than those contracted by Jang Si-hwan or Chae Gwanhyeong.

The nature of a constellation contract often followed the hunter’s personality or instincts.

For a named hunter like Emilia, contracting with constellations of her desired nature was straightforward.

She was not a pure lamb led astray by the devil but rather shaping herself into a devil.

“Excuse me? May I have a word with you?”

“Wow, what’s with that hunter? Why is Emilia going up to talk to him?”

“Who is that?”

“Looks matter after all. Of course, Emilia wouldn’t want to talk to squids like us.”

“Kid, whoever you are, you look pretty handsome.”

Envious glares pierced like knives as Emilia approached Kang-hoo.

Kang-hoo, indifferent to the other gazes and focused only on Emilia, asked back.

“What do you want?”

“How about a drink? I have some decent liquor in my room.”

“Wow… Crazy.”

It wasn’t just a simple conversation request or a date proposal; she was outright inviting a man to her room!

Resentful gazes poured toward Kang-hoo.

“It doesn’t seem like a trick.”

After all, they had already ascertained that mind control didn’t work on him during the unseen probing a little earlier.

It didn’t seem like she was trying to pull off a visible trick.

Even if there were other plans, he had plenty of ways to escape the scene.

He could easily escape to a save point just by using instant teleportation.

“Face stamping. That should be fine.”

Kang-hoo nodded as he looked at Emilia.

Deal.

A private meeting with her seemed to have no downsides for him. He was curious about why she wanted to have drinks, though.

---

Although liberation areas were generally considered dangerous, there were private and safe places.

Thus, the Phoenix Hotel, where Emilia was staying, was one of the safest places in the liberation area.

It was directly operated by Kenax, the administrative organization managing the liberation area, and hence security was top-notch.

Messing with this place could make one a target of extermination in the liberation area, so no one dared to tamper with it.

While following Emilia, Kang-hoo focused on only one thing.

Detecting any area where all skills and abilities would be suppressed.

If a lot of magic stones were used, creating a suppression zone was always possible.

For Kang-hoo, who could sensitively detect the flow of mana, it was easy to look out for such flows.

Fortunately, there were no signs of traps along the way. It seemed Emilia had no such intentions.

Entering her space, as expected, it was the penthouse on the top floor of the Phoenix Hotel.

She immediately poured whiskey into a well-polished, antique-looking glass.

“It’s Shackleton whiskey.”

“A commemorative one?”

“Not at all. It’s the whiskey that Ernest Shackleton buried at the base camp during his Antarctic expedition in 1907.”

“You mean McKinlay’s whiskey?”

“Exactly. That one.”

He had anticipated it when Emilia started the conversation, but reality made his fingertips tremble.

If it was the actual whiskey, it was either from 1896 or 1897, one of the two.

Even if it was the latter, he was drinking a whiskey over 125 years old, rich in history.

This one glass wasn’t about the price, but the profound meaning of the time it embodied.

Emilia filled the glass generously with whiskey and extended it toward Kang-hoo.

As she rolled up her sleeves, a pleasant musk scent wafted from her bronzed wrist.

Emilia continued speaking.

“You are?”

“Jung Sun-kyu.”

“Nice to meet you, Sun-kyu. Do you know who I am?”

“Of course. You’re a name everyone hears when they start as a hunter.”

“Aren’t you curious about me?”

“Do I have to be?”

Kang-hoo retorted.

Hunters known as ‘Named’ possessed this strange kind of ‘pride.’

They found it odd if someone didn’t react with surprise, admiration, or reverence upon meeting them.

Jang Si-hwan had once been intrigued by Kang-hoo’s indifferent response for the same reason.

It’s that weird pride thing – You don’t know me? Really, you don’t know who I am?

“Well, it’s not like that.”

“In the end, we’re both just hunters. I don’t think you’re particularly special.”

“Hah.”

Emilia burst into laughter at his sharply cold remark, which was chilling to the bone.

It was as if she was thinking, ‘You’re the first person to treat me this way.’ Kang-hoo’s words had no brakes.

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