The Genius Assassin Who Takes it All

Chapter 181: The Qualification Of A Friend (1)

The rain that had started in the evening grew heavier, and by midnight, it had turned into a full-blown downpour.

The TV, which was left on, broadcasted a breaking news segment about a heavy rain warning. It seemed that some areas were already experiencing flooding.

Whether in Korea or Japan, heavy rains always caused a ruckus.

Going out in such weather would be pure misery.

However, standing on the terrace, sipping coffee while overlooking the city, had its own charm.

The unique rhythm created by the raindrops became a pleasant noise. It felt like it was wiping away all unnecessary thoughts.

The hotel, with a clear view of Osaka’s cityscape, was so comfortable that I could imagine living here forever.

This hotel was exclusive to members and affiliates of the Rikou Guild, and the service quality was truly exceptional.

“I’ve managed to increase it by another 15 billion won.”

15 billion won. That was the amount recovered from selling the items of the Touishi Guild member who had lost his life to Kang-hoo.

Thanks to An Yeong-ho personally overseeing the entire process, all I had to do was check the balance without worrying about any complications.

185 billion won.

That was the amount in the bank account.

Including the small change, it would add up to an extra 10 or 20 million won, but that calculation was left aside.

Moreover, once midnight passed and the new month began, the limit on the gold card would be reset.

Last month, I used the gold card provided by the Spitfire Guild to purchase supplies from Master K.

This month would likely be similar to the last, especially since the supply of Solarkium and Mad Solarkium was running low.

Kang-hoo was thinking about other tasks that could be done in the future.

As for farming during the dark period, as long as the dungeon was ready, it could be done at any time.

The reason for stopping after clearing five areas wasn’t just due to physical exhaustion.

Spending an entire week facing nothing but undead monsters had become tedious.

The combat patterns and routines had grown too monotonous, so I intentionally broke the flow.

Familiarity, adaptation, and repetition.

These were changes I despised the most. They stifled creativity and led to complacency.

“Skill copying requires caution, so I can’t make up my mind easily.”

The chance to copy a skill obtained earlier was still available.

【Skill Copy 1 Use Remaining】

【You can copy one skill from a Hunter, regardless of gender, level, or class, as long as you have witnessed it directly.】

【There are no penalties for class mismatch during the process, and efficiency is inherited 100%.】

It was a 100% freedom skill copy with no restrictions or limitations.

As long as the target was a Hunter, and the skill was something seen directly with one’s own eyes.

If these conditions were met, even a skill from a level 1,000 Hunter could be copied.

The first person I thought of copying a skill from was Jang Si-hwan.

However, attractive skills weren’t exclusive to Jang Si-hwan. Besides, he was a bit different from Kang-hoo.

Since the chance to copy a skill couldn’t be taken back, I was carefully considering my options.

On the other hand, thinking about it so much had also made it a situation where the opportunity might just go to waste.

“Should I perhaps look for Cheonsalnosu?”

I decided to change my line of thought.

Cheonsalnosu.

A named assassin in China who had just turned seventy this year.

As an assassin like Kang-hoo, he had a lot of skills worth copying.

However, as indicated by the ‘sal’ (kill) in his nickname, he responded to outsiders with absolute retribution.

Because of this, no Hunter dared to approach the place where Cheonsalnosu resided.

Regardless of their intentions, they would be killed by his hand before they had a chance to explain.

“Though it’s risky, in terms of value, Cheonsalnosu might be the better option. I’ll need to go to China soon.”

After much consideration, it seemed that copying a skill from an assassin like him would be the best choice.

He had a wide range of skills specialized in assassination, whether for mass killing or single-target killing.

Even if I could successfully copy just one of these, future battles would become much easier.

Of course… it was still uncertain whether I could get close enough to witness a skill with my own eyes.

Kang-hoo started thinking about other tasks that could be done while still in Japan.

The skill-copying task related to Cheonsalnosu was meaningless until I went to China.

“Wasn’t the Corrupted Truth in Japan?”

What came to mind was the set effect related to the dagger Kang-hoo was currently wielding, the Corrupted Conviction.

【Corrupted Resolution – Displays the location of five items that possess the set effect ‘Corrupted Resolution.’

The location can only be displayed when the item is in a dungeon, and cannot be known if owned by a specific individual.

The list of five items is as follows: Dagger, Breastplate, Necklace, and two Rings.】

The dagger was already in Kang-hoo’s possession.

Upon checking the location of the others, the breastplate was in Germany, and the necklace was in South Africa.

One of the rings was in China. The remaining one was confirmed to be in Japan.

Since it displayed the current location like a GPS, it was easy to pinpoint which dungeon it was in.

The only problem was…

“Fukuoka Liberation Area, huh?”

The problem was which territory that dungeon belonged to.

In Japan, it was called Fukuoka Kaihoku, similar in name to Korea’s Liberation Area.

Judging by the nature of the situation, it was similar to Korea’s Osan situation.

Multiple guilds were competing for the open dungeon and the right to mine the magic stones.

There was a guild that almost took control, but it fell through at the last moment due to the formation of an anti-force alliance.

This area was far from Rikou Guild’s jurisdiction. Officially, I couldn’t expect any help.

So, I called An Yeong-ho, just to see if he had any connections in the Fukuoka Liberation Area.

If anyone could help, it would be him.

---

Due to drinking a lot of coffee all evening, I couldn’t sleep when dawn came.

So, I headed to the underground training ground that Fumiya had kindly arranged for me.

Since I couldn’t sleep anyway, I thought I might as well loosen up my body a bit.

It wasn’t that my body wasn’t tired, but I disliked the idea of lying around idly when I couldn’t sleep.

Inside, there was a variety of weapons. It felt like they had everything except for what they didn’t have.

Of course, they weren’t high-end weapons since they were meant for practice and training, but they were more than sufficient for individual practice.

Kang-hoo, who had been fiddling with a dagger for a while, soon pushed it aside.

After spending an entire week gripping a dagger, he wanted to avoid any interaction with it, at least for now.

“Should I give it a try?”

The weapon Kang-hoo chose was a magic bullet gun.

Thanks to his passive skill, Ultra-Sense – Weapon, he didn’t need to learn the basic operations separately.

Since he didn’t have any gunner-related skills, he couldn’t use any skills to utilize the magic bullets more effectively.

However, the basic magic bullet shot, which involved condensing mana, was still possible.

All he had to do was gather the mana into a single point.

Then, the gun’s focusing device would gather the mana in one place and start compressing it to the maximum.

Beep. Beep beep. Beep.

Kang-hoo pressed a few buttons on the training device located inside the training ground.

It was a device that created virtual targets, allowing you to set the desired level in front of you.

Using magic stones, it generated a sort of mana mass. You could think of it as a barrier resembling a human body.

He set it to simulate a level 200 Hunter, creating a virtual target with durability and stamina to match that level.

And then.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz!

Kang-hoo began pouring mana into the magic bullet gun at full power.

The existing mana was immediately sucked in and vanished at the start, and soon after, Mana Hypersensitivity activated.

Then, as if watching a vacuum cleaner, the surrounding mana was explosively sucked into Kang-hoo.

That mana was absorbed straight into the gun, and every time it did, the magic bullet gun vibrated.

As time passed, the gun began to turn slightly red, showing signs of overheating.

Just as his body, feeling the strain of excessive mana recovery, started to groan from a headache.

“Hoo.”

Kang-hoo took a deep breath and fired at the virtual target, aligning with the aiming point.

It was a trigger pull in a state where only pure mana was infused. No skills were used.

And at that moment.

Boom……!

The virtual target exploded.

At the same time, the message “Instant Death” appeared on the scoreboard to the right.

In other words, the magic bullet Kang-hoo had just fired was powerful enough to instantly kill a level 200 Hunter!

‘So, this is how Mana Hypersensitivity can be used? In that case, the magic bullet gun might actually be quite compatible with me.’

Kang-hoo’s eyebrows twitched.

Of course, it wouldn’t be possible to use such a powerful shot frequently.

It also required time to gather mana, so it wasn’t a card that could be used instantly in an emergency.

But using the magic bullet gun as a supplementary or secondary concept seemed quite viable.

Or, in a pinch on the battlefield, it would be possible to improvise by seizing and using the enemy’s gun.

Suddenly, Kang-hoo remembered something Ban Se-young had said in the past.

A genius assassin who handles everything by himself.

If I could handle other weapons, wouldn’t it be possible to call myself a genius ‘Hunter’ who handles everything alone? He smiled at the silly thought.

“I really have no sense of humor or wit in this area.”

Kang-hoo was judging himself more critically and accurately than anyone else.

---

While Kang-hoo was resting and trying to find a way to reach the Fukuoka Liberation Area through An Yeong-ho.

Takashi was staring at the DM window of the secure Huntergram account, with no contact even after a week.

“Did I offend him by pointing something out? He didn’t seem like the kind of person to be so petty.”

Since the day they met, and he sent that first message to confirm the address, Kang-hoo hadn’t contacted him at all.

Although he didn’t desperately want to meet him, Kang-hoo was someone whose skills he wanted to observe more closely.

But as time passed without contact, he started wondering if he had somehow offended him.

The truth was… he was bored.

He hadn’t had much interaction with the members of Justice lately.

Even when they briefly gathered in Seoul before, it was just to see Vincent and Elizabeth.

In fact, no one paid much attention to him during the gathering.

Of course, he didn’t expect them to.

He just wanted to chat a little under the name of ‘colleagues’ or ‘friends,’ to get to know each other better.

But it seemed everyone was too busy with their own matters or just didn’t care about him, as no one really spoke to him.

Even Emilia and Yu Cheonghwa, who usually treated him warmly, were now entirely focused on the newly joined Elizabeth.

Since then, both of them seemed to have gone into a dungeon, as they were out of contact.

Even though he was a member of Justice, Takashi was feeling a sense of isolation so profound it bordered on loneliness.

Although he didn’t show it, Takashi was feeling cold and distant emotions throughout his entire body.

“There really aren’t any decent assassins. I can’t remember seeing anyone promising lately, but that guy…”

Kang-hoo was definitely different.

That’s why he kept thinking about him.

It didn’t seem like Kang-hoo had shown everything in front of him, and it would be fun to explore further.

However, seeking out Kang-hoo without a good reason felt like a blow to his pride, and it would look bad.

So, he decided to throw out some bait.

But then.

“No, what kind of friend doesn’t contact at all? Is a friend someone you only look for when you need something?”

While sending the message, Takashi grumbled.

Kang-hoo was exactly the kind of person who was annoying but whom you still wanted to see!