The Genius Assassin Who Takes it All

The Towusi guild member caught in the Blood Flower died instantly. There was no reason to doubt his death, as he had exploded.

As always, Kang-hoo thought that the constellation would be plundered from that hunter.

Just as the plunder was about to proceed, a message suddenly appeared indicating that the contract had been terminated.

The message was as follows:

【The contract with 'God's Wind' has been terminated. This contract cannot be maintained with an unbound contractor.】

The information about the constellation, God’s Wind, which had briefly appeared in the constellation window, was fading.

He quickly checked the content.

【God's Wind】

【Grants a glorious opportunity to become a member of the Divine Soldiers to the contractor who ends their life by self-destruction.】

His brows furrowed.

Not only does it imply that death is not the end, but that it serves as a bridge to what follows.

It seemed the Towusi guild member had chosen self-destruction without hesitation.

Kang-hoo couldn’t guess what the Divine Soldiers mentioned there were. It wasn’t a setting in the original work.

If it’s a setting not found in the original work, there are two possibilities.

It’s either a lightweight setting that didn’t need to be established or a setting related to the Demon King.

One of the two.

The reason for not establishing a setting related to the Demon King was too simple.

The novel’s ending was just before the Demon King’s appearance. Hence, the ending involving the Demon King’s subordinates.

‘It seems more like the latter. To think I’d see such a constellation here.’

Kang-hoo’s eyes deepened.

The constellation observing Kang-hoo seemed equally surprised, as the Great Catastrophe – Darkness spoke up for the first time in a while.

【Darkness always lurks slyly behind the light. You've discovered a secret darkness nearby.】

‘Do you know about God’s Wind?’

【I do not. It seems to be of a different kind from me.】

The response from the Great Catastrophe – Darkness was brief. What could this constellation, unknown even to the constellations of the Great War, be?

Given the mention of self-destruction and Divine Soldiers, it doesn’t seem like an ordinary constellation.

It feels like it would have made a name for itself in the Great War, but the Great Catastrophe – Darkness knows nothing about it.

【It might be an entity on the outskirts of the Great War. Or it could be a secret within the Great War itself.】

The Dimension Plunderer added.

Because the story was about a constellation that even constellations didn’t know well, Kang-hoo’s tension rose.

It felt like facing an unknown truth. In terms of the novel, it felt like only a hint was given, creating a mysterious mood.

A hint that even the original author didn’t know.

Anyway, saving his grandmother’s life and making the Rikou Guild indebted once again was a success.

However, it wasn’t a pleasant feeling to have plundered a constellation only to lose it again.

Of course.

“Brother, I’ll handle things here for now, so why don’t you go back to the lodging? I’ll collect the items.”

Thanks to An Yeong-ho’s tactful intervention, a form of reward appeared.

It seemed he intended to hand over the items retrieved from the deceased Towusi guild hunter.

It would be sufficient as compensation. Or perhaps more than enough.

“Alright. It doesn’t seem like a situation where we can just relax and have a meal. Let’s clean up and see.”

“Yes, brother.”

“Good job.”

He turned back towards the hotel.

People were capturing Kang-hoo’s image on their smartphones, taking videos, but he didn’t pay much attention.

The skills he used in this battle were only the Veil of Craftsmanship, lateral movement, and the Grand Slash.

However, it seemed likely that this would become a hot topic on Hunter Gram for a while.

It would be fortunate if he didn’t get a cringe-worthy title like ‘Osaka Justice Enforcer’.

On the way back to the hotel, Kang-hoo conversed more with the Great Catastrophe – Darkness and the Dimension Plunderer.

First, the Great Catastrophe – Darkness asked not to be doubted.

Even though Kang-hoo didn’t particularly doubt him, he strongly emphasized having no connection with God’s Wind for a simple reason.

He didn’t want to be lumped together with it in Kang-hoo’s eyes.

At the same time, it was because he still maintained interest in Kang-hoo.

His surveillance was still ongoing, and among the three contractors he was watching, Kang-hoo was undoubtedly the best.

However, due to the constellation’s pride, he was dissatisfied with being on the same level as other constellations.

Anyway, during his hesitation, Kang-hoo had grown significantly, so the balance had tilted quite a bit.

Currently, it was a situation where the Great Catastrophe – Darkness had to carefully consider Kang-hoo’s mood.

The Dimension Plunderer, who had never had her plundering rejected before, was flustered.

Her reaction was unlike her usual calm and composed demeanor.

For now, Kang-hoo decided not to think too deeply about parts he couldn’t find answers to.

Because thinking in circles would only lead to endless questions.

It would only trigger unnecessary anxiety. If even the constellations didn’t know, he wouldn’t find out.

Since he had found a clue about God’s Wind this time, he would eventually see its entirety.

He would think about it again then. Knowing that there was a constellation called God’s Wind was enough for now.

After wrapping up the conversation, he relaxed in the hotel, watching TV.

As always, he turned on the Hunter-related channel. It was all in Japanese, but he had no difficulty understanding.

-Hunter ‘Hosaka Kenji’ has been spotted with the current top-level fugitive ‘Ishihara Yuji’.

The Japanese Public Safety Bureau expressed concerns about the combination of the two hunters.

They also warned Hosaka Kenji to immediately cease his cooperation with Ishihara Yuji.

“Two crazy guys met.”

Kang-hoo chuckled dryly.

Hosaka Kenji is a well-known hunter in Japan for his spatial utilization abilities.

When Kang-hoo rescued Min Su-hyun:

-“It’s truly an incredible spatial movement ability. Even Hosaka Kenji, who is famous for spatial movement in Japan, would find such a distance difficult.”

The person Lee Hyun-seok mentioned was him.

Kenji’s long-distance spatial movement skill easily exceeds 10 km.

While Kang-hoo’s teleportation ability has limitations, Kenji can use his skill anytime as long as he has mana.

The combination of Kenji’s spatial ability and Yuji’s extreme damage-dealing ability.

It’s a combination seen many times. It’s the same combination as Jang Si-hwan and Chae Gwan-hyeong’s abilities seen in the Hell of Judgment.

-“The video recorded yesterday showed the two entering Osaka city.”

-“The Rikou Guild immediately issued a warning statement about the two hunters, demanding their immediate departure from Osaka city.”

“It’s going to be quite troublesome.”

It seemed that the timing of the visit to Japan was not ideal.

Of course, if one were to nitpick every single thing, there would be no place to go. It’s something to accept.

“There is no paradise in this damn world. Maybe hell, but not paradise.”

Lying on the bed, Kang-hoo murmured a familiar phrase.

It was one of the things the original Shin Kang-hoo said to Jang Si-hwan.

It truly suits this world. An era where strength becomes the law, and weakness becomes a sin.

“Phew.”

As soon as he exhaled a hot sigh, he fell asleep.

To focus on farming the Dark Period from tomorrow, recovering his stamina was essential. He needed to improve his condition.

A week passed since then.

Level: 188.

His level increased by 2 each time he cleared a dungeon, and he had cleared a total of five dungeons.

【Shin Kang-hoo Lv. 188】

【Class: Assassin】

【Unique Talents: Quite Excellent Stamina / Exceptionally Keen Vision】

【Strength: 760】【Agility: 1015】

【Stamina: 841】【Mana: 21】

【Anti-Magic: 510】【Endurance: 660】

【* Dark Period: 280】

His Dark Period stat had greatly increased.

It rose from 130 to 280, an increase of 150.

He had predicted about 15 Dark Period per dungeon, achieving double the target. It was a significant overachievement!

“Solarkium, I used Mad Solarkium to my heart’s content. This must be what it feels like for bones and muscles to melt.”

Lying sprawled in front of the dungeon exit, Kang-hoo was cooling off in the cold wind.

He was down to 8 Solarkium, and Mad Solarkium had also dropped to 10. It was time to buy more.

He had saved up his Gaksinhwan.

There were many times when he felt the urge to use it.

However, due to its rarity and difficulty to replenish, he couldn’t bring himself to use it. His hands trembled.

Nevertheless, he managed to succeed in the strategy. It was partly because the dungeon level wasn’t very high.

“Black Moon Slash is significant.”

That was Kang-hoo’s overall assessment.

If an average hunter had tackled the same strategy, they would have barely raised their Dark Period by 30 across five dungeons.

Hunting wraith monsters is essential for large-scale Dark Period farming, but it’s impossible to kill them without the right skills.

Kang-hoo used the hidden skill, Black Moon Slash, which utilizes Dark Period, to hunt wraith monsters.

The difference between having the relevant skill and not having it resulted in more than five times the expected value. It was an enormous disparity.

“I plundered two skills from the fifth dungeon, which had a mid-boss and a main boss… This is enough.”

In the previous four dungeons, which lacked mid-bosses or main bosses, no additional skills were obtained.

However, the last dungeon had two bosses, and he managed to gain skills from them.

【Black Night (漆夜)】

【Skill Mastery: Lv. Max】

【On nights without the sun, the recovery speed of Dark Period doubles.】

Currently, Kang-hoo’s Dark Period recovery speed is 1 per minute, thanks to the Pure Black Pilgrim.

Thanks to Black Night, he could now expect a recovery of 2 per minute, provided it’s nighttime.

Dark Period cannot naturally recover without the influence of constellations, so related effects are extremely important.

【Hypocrisy (僞善)】

【Skill Mastery: Lv. Max】

【When attacked with divine power, part of the divine power is converted to Dark Period. However, non-attribute attacks are excluded.】

Another intriguing skill was obtained.

Perhaps because all the undead monsters in the dungeon were based on Dark Period, the skill became specialized like this.

In the future, there will be times when he faces monsters that wield divine power or fights with hunters.

Thinking ahead, it was a very good setup.

For instance, it would be greatly beneficial when facing divine power-based hunters like Saintess Elizabeth.

‘Currently, there’s only one Dark Period-based skill, Black Moon Slash, but it will increase in the future.’

It was similar to investing in a promising blue-chip stock, so Kang-hoo had high expectations.

Dark Period-related skills are powerful, just as the rarity of the stat suggests.

Dark Period is generally expected to double damage for every 150 points up to a stat of 1,000.

Thus, Black Moon Slash, which increased by 150 this time, could be expected to do at least twice as much damage as before.

Even conservatively speaking, that much, and considering various variables, it could very well be 2.5 or 3 times more.

“Damn Takashi bastard.”

Being alone in the dungeon, he cursed Takashi immediately.

During the entire week of tackling the undead dungeons, Kang-hoo struggled to regain the habit of Shadow Step.

But he couldn’t find it.

Although he memorized every movement, he couldn’t identify where the problem was.

That thought made his movements and posture more refined, but it left him feeling frustrated.

With this, the tug-of-war with Takashi was completely one-sided.

Of course, he gritted his teeth and didn’t send a single trivial DM to Takashi during the entire week.

He had deeply appealed to become friends, so now he decided to wait until Takashi contacted him.

That’s Takashi’s personality.

If he gets too close, he loses interest and pulls away.

Yes, ‘eccentric’ was the perfect term. To maneuver his psychology, the right recipe was essential.