The Dark Merchant (2)

The notification flashed before my eyes and vanished in the blink of an eye.

[Skill, Heavenly Martial Body Lv1 activated.]

The next instant, shadows surged toward me. There were ten of them, yet they moved as if fused into a single entity. They attacked from every direction at once, completely sealing off any escape route as they closed in on their target.

But… unfortunately for them, their every trajectory lay perfectly within Baek Seohyun’s senses and field of vision.

A violet rift swallowed Baek Seohyun’s body. In the next breath, she had already reappeared behind her enemies.

Radiant starlight wrapped around Baek Seohyun’s fist. She drew her arm back as if pulling a bowstring, then unleashed it. With a sharp crack of air, her fist punched straight through one assassin’s head.

Boom—!

The man’s skull exploded like a watermelon. A flicker of shock passed through the eyes of the black-masked assassins.

Baek Seohyun didn’t miss it. She kicked off the ground and plunged straight into their center.

“…!”

The only visible part of these men in their dark night suits were their eyes. Those eyes widened until they looked ready to burst.

And in the very next moment—

Shiiing—!

The starlight had already transformed into the shape of a sword, drawing a brilliant circle through the air. That cold yet beautiful slash struck every single one of them without exception.

Screams shook the night air.

“Gaaah—!”

“Kyaaaah—!”

The result of that single strike… two men were cut clean in half at the waist and died instantly, while the remaining seven had deep gashes carved across their stomachs.

A status window scrolled up before my eyes.

So killing players gives you this kind of bonus too. I had no idea.

I tightened my grip on the hand holding the starlight. It immediately morphed into the shape of a long spear.

And that was when it happened.

Ding—!

“A new trait?”

“…?”

The border of the status window was golden. That meant it was a Legendary-grade skill.

…Was it really okay to live life on easy mode this hard? I was already feeling the insane power of Heavenly Martial Body with my entire being.

The moment that thought crossed my mind, a flood of indirect messages from the constellations poured in.

“Crazy bitch.”

“Pardon?”

Baek Seohyun’s gaze turned toward the dark merchant who had already been rendered combat ineffective. He was clutching his shattered side, leaning against a tree.

“Were you talking to me?”

“Well, who else is the crazy bitch here besides you?”

“Me? Not the people who attacked someone who came to sell goods?”

“…Does a normal person really slaughter people without even blinking?”

“That’s because I don’t really think of you as people.”

What exactly separates people from monsters? Appearance? The orcs I killed in the Tower looked pretty similar to humans. Same with the skeleton generals from the tutorial. What made them different from ‘people’ was… their unconditional hostility toward me. And the fact that conversation was impossible.

That’s why these lunatics who charged at me without a word didn’t feel all that different from the monsters in the Tower. Plus, killing them even gave me experience?

“…Huh.”

“Just sit there quietly and watch. I have a lot of questions for you later.”

Baek Seohyun’s eyes and steps turned back toward the assassins. For the first time, the assassins opened their mouths.

“…We won’t let our guard down anymore.”

“We’ll use every means at our disposal to subdue you.”

“We will fight with all our strength.”

Looking at them, Baek Seohyun spat out coldly with clear disdain.

“…Sure. Go ahead and give it your best shot.”

The next moment, they pulled something glowing green from their pockets. It looked like a capsule, or maybe a grenade. Either way, it was obviously something that would spell big trouble if it hit.

And they threw them at Baek Seohyun all at once.

The capsules shattered on the ground, splattering green liquid everywhere. Thick green smoke immediately began billowing up from it.

I didn’t need to think hard to figure out what it was.

“…Poison?”

The ground sizzled and burned. I instinctively covered my breathing, but the poison started seeping through my skin.

…What a pain.

But then—

…Wow. It really is broken. Now I finally understand why the gallery members were losing their minds over it.

I opened my breathing again and walked straight through the toxic fog toward the assassins.

“…What the hell.”

“The poison doesn’t work?!”

“What kind of monster…!”

Besides that, they threw nets, shot poison darts and sedative needles, deployed special formations that sealed mana… and some even sacrificed their own lives to go into a berserk state that boosted their physical abilities.

“If I can just… just take you down… my family…!”

“Family…”

His muscles had swollen grotesquely from the berserk state. The black clothes he wore had all burst apart. The sight revealed underneath was so hideous it was hard to look at directly.

Hideously bulging veins. Deathly pale skin. No matter how you looked at it, he looked more like a monster than a person.

“…”

A guy who gave up on being human has the nerve to talk about family?

Bang—!

The tip of the spear burst through his heart. The man, now with a massive hole in his chest, collapsed onto the cold park ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

“….”

So murder is the condition? It’s kind of interesting that there are traits that require killing people.

“…I’ll have to ask around in the gallery when I get home.”

My stomach’s growling after moving around so much. I should finish this quickly and order another chicken when I get back.

A faint red aura rose like heat haze around her body. It didn’t take long for all the assassins to be torn apart.

**

I squeezed every last piece of necessary information out of the survivor. With kind words and a bit of persuasion. I don’t think I need to describe exactly how that persuasion went.

I looked down at the man whose arms and thighs had all been torn open and was bleeding ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠profusely. A middle-aged man with a scruffy beard and the unkempt look of someone who hadn’t washed in days. Dozens of fresh wounds were carved across his face.

“The Ares Guild… To think they’d come looking for me. I’m honored, really.”

“…”

“But I’m not interested.”

“…Why?”

“Because a beautiful girl like me doesn’t bow her head to anyone.”

“…You really talk just like they do in the gallery.”

“I can make a living off rice-eating streams… and looking at you, it doesn’t seem like a particularly good job. Even if there’s a lot of money, there’s nowhere to really spend it.”

At my firm refusal, the man before me—Yum Cheon-woo—his expression gradually soured.

The recruitment negotiation had failed. Therefore, the fate awaiting the one who attacked me was as obvious as seeing fire.

“You should’ve just asked me to join the Ares Guild from the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠start. I might’ve at least considered it.”

“Would you have followed if I had?”

“Nope? Your guild master is jealous of me, isn’t he? Who knows what he’d do to me?”

“…”

“Any last words?”

“Please… spare me. I have a family waiting for me at home.”

He knelt pathetically and bowed his head. Then he pulled out his phone and even showed me the wallpaper. It was a photo of a woman who appeared to be his wife and a little girl who looked about six years old.

“…They’re pretty. Both your wife and daughter.”

Of course, they couldn’t compare to me…

I stared back and forth between the man and his phone wallpaper for a while.

“…”

Why? Logically, I knew I had to kill him. If I let him live, he would definitely come back to bite me later. It would mean giving the enemy my abilities for free.

But… scenes from the past flashed through my mind. My father who beat my mother every single day. When she ran away from him, that violence turned toward me. He said it was because I looked like both him and my mother, and it annoyed him every time he saw me.

But… at least the man before me was someone who took on the dirty work for the sake of his family. Even if he was disqualified as a human being, as a father… maybe he was actually a pretty decent one.

Looking him in the eye, I muttered.

“…Just stay out of my sight from now on.”

“…?”

My tightly clenched fist loosened. The starlight I had been holding returned to its original place.

It wasn’t because I felt sorry for the man before me. It was because I felt sorry for the family he would leave behind. I knew all too well what kind of misfortune a child who grew up without parents would have to endure.

What is it about family that makes a person so sentimental?

I stood up right there and started walking out of the park.

And then, the next moment—

Bang—!

“…!”

Along with a gunshot that tore through the night air, something pierced my abdomen. From behind, I heard his sneer.

“Kuhuhu… You actually believed that? You stupid bastard…”

When I turned my head, smoke was rising from the gun in his hand.

“…Was it all a lie?”

“That’s right. Family? As if I’d have something like that. Your liver’s already been pierced, so you’re done for. Just give up.”

He grinned at me. It was truly… a face that made me want to punch it.

The same killing intent I sometimes felt toward the bastards in the Climber Gallery who scratched people’s nerves—it completely took over my mind in that moment.

A blood-red aura began rising around my body.

I felt every last trace of mercy and warmth left in my heart freeze solid. The slight hesitation that had remained after the previous killings sank away coldly, and not a single shred of mercy could be found at my fingertips.

Sensing something was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wrong, he stood up and reached into his pocket.

“…Huh? What the—how are you still moving?”

And then, blood-red energy coalesced in my tightly clenched fist.

The next instant—

“…Eh?”

He pulled the trigger on pure instinct. However—

Kwaaaang—!

The bullet grazed my cheek and missed. My fist punched straight through his heart and even shattered the tree he had been leaning against.

“Guh…! How…?!”

“Now that I’m seeing you up close, you really are ugly. Just like my father.”

I muttered while staring directly into his eyes, right in his face.

“Kek… kek…”

The man, coughing up blood and gurgling, finally went limp.

“…Ugh, I feel dizzy.”

Right after that, an unknown wave of dizziness hit me hard… and my consciousness cut off completely.

When I came to again, I was lying on the bed in my room. The sunlight pouring in through the window made me open my eyes. Out of habit, I reached down for the phone under the bed.

Only then did I realize it was vibrating.

Vrrrr—!

“…?”

Who the hell is this? And more importantly, how did I even get home?

With those thoughts in mind, I stared quietly at the continuously vibrating phone screen.