Chapter 63
Chapter 63
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: The Art of Assassination
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Assassination is a comprehensive art.
You had to consider everything.
That's why Kosak, as soon as he was summoned, always assessed his surroundings and the situation first.
An action that had become a habit, even while greeting his Summoner.
The time it took Kosak to analyze the event hall was a mere three seconds; just one sweeping glance was enough to understand how things were unfolding.
First, the safety of Summoner Bong.
The most important thing of all.
He seemed safe for now.
His energy shield was also active.
So, he should be able to easily block a few bullets.
However, he was shielding and protecting one other person in his arms.
Someone who should be prioritizing their own safety first, at that.
Ahhh.
Summoner Bong was too kind for his own good.
He was so considerate too.
That bastard seemed to be Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwang-il.
Stupid bastard, shameless too.
In a situation where he should be protecting Summoner Bong, he's receiving protection instead?
And even causing Summoner to go through this dangerous situation?
The saying that a Player's daily life outside the Tower was more dangerous than climbing the Tower didn't come out of nowhere.
Anyway, there were two locations where trouble had occurred.
The woman being held hostage on the stage.
A face seen often on the news.
It was Player Nam Ga-eun.
Come to think of it, she was also an acquaintance of the Summoner.
If she died or got hurt, he would feel very bad.
And the exact opposite side.
The five armed assailants threatening people with their guns pointed.
They were wearing helmets and bulletproof vests.
What to do?
Solving both troubles at once would be too much even for Kosak.
If he dealt with the gunmen first, Nam Ga-eun was in danger.
If he rescued Nam Ga-eun first, people were in danger if the guns fired.
Frankly, he didn't care if other people died.
So what.
It's their inborn fate.
He's just afraid it might hurt the tender heart of Summoner Bong.
So he suggested calling Gobang.
He'd be summoned soon.
Then, where should he go?
A conclusion was reached.
Leave the armed assailants to Gobang, clean up the stage area, then regroup.
Whoosh!
Kosak's figure vanished in an instant.
After arson on Mount Gwanak.
They hijacked an aerial firefighting helicopter.
And forced the pilot to land at the HG Hotel helipad under threat.
They breached the event hall's outer glass wall with bomb drones.
And left one man behind in the firefighting helicopter to watch the pilot.
Himself and five team members entered the site.
For this, they had snuck one Player into the event hall beforehand.
After the drone attack, they needed to take a hostage to control the situation and safely enter the event hall.
They bribed a long-time hotel employee.
By offering an amount of money impossible to refuse.
By now, that employee was probably on a flight to China.
The primary hostage target was CEO Go Yeon-ha.
But just before the operation, the target changed.
Nam Ga-eun.
Korea's top Player as a show model?
Forget someone like Go Yeon-ha.
If they took the top Player hostage, no one would dare make a move.
The plan had no flaws.
It was so perfect it was scary.
And one more thing.
Since the main target of the terror was a Player, there's a point that must be checked.
Whether the elite Players had entered the Tower for the day or not.
Once a day, whether they had already entered, or had not yet.
That was already checked.
The main task of China's Special Intelligence Department was Player abduction.
Having conducted countless operations, they wouldn't miss that.
Korean elite Players were state-affiliated.
They were obliged to conduct Tower conquests.
Once a day,
whether it's upper-floor conquest or repeated runs.
They had to record their conquest process with a bodycam and transmit it to the Management Bureau.
Tower conquests mostly happened in the morning.
After fulfilling their duty, they played in the afternoon.
Nam Ga-eun was the same.
Her Tower entry waiting location was the Management Bureau.
Her climbing routine was exercising at the Management Bureau gym in the morning and then entering the Tower.
Of course, not everyone was like that.
Even now,
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
About three Players were seen fleeing into the Tower.
Well, let the stragglers be,
Anyway, securing Player Nam Ga-eun was successful.
Seeing this, greed arose.
Is it really necessary to kill Nam Ga-eun?
Her value as a hostage was greater than the Korean president's.
If they stayed with her, they became safe.
'If we can keep her as a hostage and take her with us...'
Of course, not to China, but to a third country, for example, North Korea?
If they can just safely reach North Korean territory, the game was as good as over.
They wouldn't be able to chase.
'Hmph! Bunch of idiots.'
The Korean police and National Intelligence Service agents, were frozen stiff not moving.
Pathetic.
Deng Guanlin's team was defeated by these guys?
That didn't make any sense.
Xiao Jun conveyed his intent via hand signal to the team member holding Nam Ga-eun hostage.
Keep the hostage alive, just threaten.
Until we killed every single bastard here.
The team member nodded.
'Now, let's start slowly...'
Right then!
Whoosh!
Suddenly, someone appeared on the stage.
'...Huh?'
Behind the team member who had a knife to Nam Ga-eun's neck,
So stealthily, he didn't even know when he appeared.
And then,
Swish!
Thud!
A hand fell to the floor.
"..."
Xiao Jun's eyes widened. What is this?
Meanwhile.
The team member holding the knife didn't even realize his hand had been cut off.
Hearing something fall, he looked down.
'...It's a hand. Is it human?'
It looked very familiar.
The knife clenched in the severed hand was also familiar.
No blood was flowing, making it look like a fake hand attached to a mannequin.
Feeling strange, he looked at his own hand.
"Huhk!"
The cleanly severed wrist,
'Why, why is my hand...?'
He looked at the hand on the floor once, then stared at his own severed wrist once,
"What on earth…"
Simultaneously, swish!
A burning sensation was felt on his neck.
Thump!
His head, separated from his neck, bounced on the stage as it fell.
Thump! Thump-thump!
Like a ball,
Thump-thump-thump! Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud…
And the body standing upright, falling backward.
Thud!
The onlookers also fell silent.
Nam Ga-eun, who had been taken hostage, was also standing there blankly, stunned.
So was Xiao Jun.
It felt like watching a play.
Even though he saw it with his own eyes, he couldn't believe it.
"...Kill. Kill him."
"Huh?"
"All. All of them. K-Kill him!"
Only then did the team members snap out of it.
They pointed their automatic rifles at the people and put their fingers on the triggers, but...
Whoooosh!
Something grew enormous right in front of them.
Lifting their heads to look up.
"Ah!"
"Wha, what, what?"
"Euaaah..."
A person, no, a giant.
A tremendously massive body, so large its head touched the ceiling.
Was this a movie set?
Was this a fashion show venue?
At that moment!
"GRROOOOAAAARR!!!"
A roar that felt like it would tear their eardrums was heard.
Xiao Jun and the Special Intelligence Department team members' bodies stiffened completely.
A howl that stimulated humanity's primal fear; their knees bent on their own.
The hands holding the guns trembled.
A trigger pulled unconsciously.
Rat-a-tat-tat! Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Who pulled first was unknown.
It wasn't even an attempt to kill.
It was just an instinctive action born from sheer terror.
Thud-thud-thud-thud! Thwack-thwack-thwack!
Gobang took the bullets head-on.
If he manifested Diamond Skin, the bullets would ricochet, but he couldn't risk even a single bullet flying toward the Summoner's direction.
Anyway, bullets couldn't even pierce his skin.
Just a slight sting.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
It only took Gobang three stomps to close the distance to the assailants.
First, grabbing one man's helmet with his hand and applying a little pressure...
Crunch! Crrunch! The helmet shattered and the skull was crushed.
Helmet fragments embedded in the head made it even more gruesome.
Another one,
Crunch! Crrunch!
They dared to threaten the Summoner.
The Summoner who gave him a name, who bought him delicious beef.
He wanted to break every bone in their bodies and let them die slowly in agony, but just in case the Summoner might be endangered, he finishes them as quickly as possible.
Grabbing the leg of one bastard struggling to change his magazine,
"Gyaaaaah!"
He swung him down toward another bastard.
Whoosh! Crunch!
Like wielding a weapon,
Whoosh! Crunch! Whoosh! Crunch!
After swinging like that three times, both the one who became the weapon and the one who became the target turned into a bloody mess together.
Xiao Jun, terrified, blankly watching that scene.
"...Hehe."
A hollow laugh escaped.
Was he fighting monsters inside the Tower?
But he wasn't even a Player.
How could this place be the Tower?
Xiao Jun pulled out the grenade hanging on his chest.
There's nothing else he could do.
At that moment! Swish!
The hand holding the grenade was severed.
"Originally, you cut silkworms like this. Cleanly. If blood splatters, it gets dirty."
Silkworms?
"Don't worry. Last time, I killed everyone without knowing anything and regretted it. I should have kept one alive, but I'll spare you. The public officials of this country need something to do, right?"
Only then did he realize.
It was him.
The being who annihilated Deng Guanlin's team.
'If I had known from the start, a plan like this...'
Wham!
A fist slammed into his face.
Clatter, it was the sound of falling teeth.
Xiao Jun lost consciousness.
This place was all cleaned up.
Kosak stared intently at the rope dangling outside the window.
'Hmm.'
Seems they came down from the roof.
He'd finish it swiftly to the end.
Whoosh!
He leapt through the air, grabbing the rope and climbing up.
A helicopter came into view.
A bastard was pointing a gun at the pilot's head.
'Good thing I came to check.'
Crown Prince Binsala was still in a daze.
Nam Ga-eun, Korea's top Player, was taken hostage.
Then the drone attack that followed.
The event hall's glass windows shattered, and assailants armed with helmets and bulletproof vests rushed in.
Binsala remembered.
The incident in the UAE where state-affiliated Players were massacred in a terror attack.
It was a trauma he still hadn't overcome.
But to think there's terror even in Korea, which he thought was safe.
His bodyguards were tightly shielding him, but what could mere handguns do against them?
Right then!
The man who suddenly appeared on stage and rescued the hostage Nam Ga-eun.
Binsala knew who he was the moment he saw him.
'...Gobang?'
It's certain.
The Player who saved the UAE.
'Why is that person here...'
Actually, how he appeared wasn't important.
Knowing the abilities he possessed, a sense of relief finally washed over him.
Binsala looked at Gobang on the stage with a moved expression.
Naturally, their eyes met.
But upon recognizing him, Gobang's face scrunched up fiercely.
Shiver!
Goosebumps ran down his spine.
'What did I do wrong... Ah!'
Could it be because he mentioned the name 'Gobang' during the interview?
That seemed right.
They agreed to keep each other's secrets.
'P-Perhaps me too?'
Did I come to Korea for nothing? At that moment!
"GRROOOOAAAARR!"
A roar that filled the event hall.
Everyone's gaze turned at once.
"Eua,"
"Tha, that thing?"
"A giant?"
"Ah, no, holy..."
"My god?"
It was massive. There was no other word to describe it.
His body blocked the view of the armed assailants.
Gunfire started, but the assailants were downed in an instant.
Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwang-il also clearly heard and witnessed every moment of this.
Player Bong Joo-hyuk was still by his side.
The words he spoke when he learned that Nam Ga-eun had been taken hostage, after saving him.
'...Summon'
That's what he said.
It was hard to hear clearly, but he definitely said 'summon'.
And the man who appeared with a halo of light.
He exchanged a few words with Player Bong and then revealed himself on stage.
And one more time,
'Summon.'
This time, the man who appeared was a giant of overwhelming size.
The first man saved Nam Ga-eun from danger, and the second giant subdued the enemies without a care despite the hail of bullets.
'So that's what it was.'
Summon.
It felt like all the mysteries were solved.
Jeon Gwang-il turned his head toward Player Bong Joo-hyuk.
"Tha, that, perhaps..."
"Umm, ye, yes. Probably what you're thinking is correct."
Right.
No need to ask in detail.
What more words are needed.
He saw it all with his own eyes.
'Ah right! This isn't the time.'
He first checked the camera installed for the YouTube live broadcast.
It was still pointed toward the stage.
Although the scene of Nam Ga-eun's rescue was likely broadcast, it probably didn't capture the other scenes.
And approaching Noh Young-geun, the First Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service, who still hadn't regained his senses,
"First Deputy Director."
"...Uh, yes yes."
"Immediately confiscate the smartphones of the people gathered here. We don't know if photos or videos were taken."
"Ah! Understood."
"And that bastard doesn't seem dead yet, so arrest him."
Only then did the NIS agents start moving.
He had a lot to say.
Just like when Yu Cheol-min naturalized, just like during the elite Player abduction attempt incident, and now again,
He wondered if he could trust them going forward.
Maybe it's a good idea to form an independent team separately.
'Sigh, at least we need to prevent the video from spreading.'
But that's impossible.
What does confiscating smartphones do?
Everything got saved to the cloud anyway.
Jeon Gwang-il turned his eyes toward the stage.
Nam Ga-eun was sitting slumped with a vacant expression.
But thankfully, medical staff and Management Bureau employees were rushing to care for her.
Of course, he should be over there too, but...
"Player Bong, thank you for saving my life."
"Oh my, what did I even do..."
Joo-hyuk frantically waved his hands.
Don't look at me with those eyes.
It's burdensome.
He'd just called a couple of hyungs I know.
It's just that the hyungs I know are a bit extraordinary, that's the problem.
"Who do these people look like... Perhaps China?"
"We'll have to investigate to know for sure, but it seems likely it's China."
He thought so.
Ignorant bastards.
Anyway, should I just leave it alone?
In the past, he was just an ordinary pushover, so even if something unfair happened, he'd just let it go.
But now the situation was different.
If he said, 'Please teach them a lesson,' he had reliable hyungs and noonas who would rush out right away.
A pushover with athlete hyungs and noonas couldn't be messed with by bullies.
'I'll tell them when I get home.'
That China did this.
The situation seemed all cleaned up too.
Sorry, but he should send Gobang back first.
Joo-hyuk subtly waved his hand at Gobang.
Then Gobang nodded.
'Summon Release.'
Whoosh!
The large body vanished without a trace.
People buzzed in surprise, even at that sight.
'I've really caused one grand incident.'
The worries were as big as a mountain.
How do he handle this situation going forward?
He didn't even know if it could be handled.
But he didn't regret it.
If he had done nothing and hid his identity?
What greater evil karma could there be than that.
He'd deserve to be struck by lightning and die.