It Just Worked
"It just worked, though?"
Baek Se-rin. According to the intel, she was the unchallenged top assassin in the Back World right now.
But Jin Hyun-cheol eyed her meager arsenal with keen interest—far sparser than he'd imagined. Aside from a slightly unusual stiletto, it was just a bunch of cheap daggers, wires, poison vials, and the like. Plenty to kill with, sure. But surviving the Back World with that gear? You'd have to be extraordinarily strong. Which made her three years of thriving there, building that reputation at such a young age, solid proof that the reports on her were spot-on.
Feeling his intrigue deepen, Jin Hyun-cheol turned to the assassins who'd gathered their weapons.
"Alright, then. Time to explain the test. It won't be anything too complicated."
With that, he nodded to his own exclusive assassin, Do Jin-hyeok.
Catching the signal, Do Jin-hyeok flipped a switch on the wall. The room rumbled and began to shift.
Ku-gu-gung—
The once-spacious reception room transformed, revealing an adjoining space. One side now resembled a lab or testing ground: steel walls on all sides, with vents scattered for releasing... something. The connecting wall was glass, letting them watch from outside.
"Enter one by one and take the test. The rest wait out here. The top scorer becomes my daughter's exclusive assassin. Nothing complicated—no need to repeat myself, right?"
All five assassins nodded at Jin Hyun-cheol's question. He nodded back, then pointed to the one on the far left.
"You first. Everyone else, wait outside."
The test to select an exclusive assassin for Baek Ya-seong's youngest daughter had begun.
"Hm."
This test—prepared with his exclusive assassin Do Jin-hyeok and his two sons' assassins—was vicious enough to call brutal without exaggeration. Fitting for selecting an exclusive assassin.
"Passing this is next to impossible."
It simulated scenarios an exclusive assassin might face, in three stages.
First: Trap evasion. Targets weren't just random grunts; often named individuals or execs with heavy defenses. Bodyguards were standard, but traps triggered by motion sensors, laser grids, poison gas—you name it. Stage one: clear them all unscathed.
Stage two: Hostile assassins. Baek Ya-seong assassins often faced multiples at once, bullets raining from sightlines and blind spots alike. Dodging invites close-quarters blades. Normally five or six max, but here? Worst-case: fifteen assassin bots simultaneously, right after the traps.
Brutal already. But the three exclusive assassins' design had one more stage.
Final: Protect the principal. More vital than missions—guarding the master outside Baek Ya-seong. Face five assassin bots without a scratch on the dummy stand-in.
"A flawless dummy might be asking too much, though."
Jin Hyun-cheol figured even Back World elites couldn't pull that off. Exhausted from prior stages, guarding a stationary dummy in an open field? No cover, no movement from the target. Tough even fresh. He'd pick the one with least damage to it.
That was the plan.
"...Huh."
But the sight before him now left him speechless.
His predictions held for the first four—they all failed the final stage. Guarding a dummy in the open was near-impossible.
So what was this?
Ka-ga-ga-gang—!!!
Deflecting incoming bullets with twin daggers. Seizing a split-second opening to hurl a knife, smashing a gun barrel. Ducking a blind rear slash without looking.
"How the hell...?"
Overwhelmed by the display, Jin Hyun-cheol stepped closer to the glass.
"Enhancement procedures? No, even that can't explain this level..."
Guns: humanity's easiest killer, an assassin's constant foe. Reacting to bullets with a normal body? Near-impossible. Assassins countered with armored clothes (costly upkeep) or enhancements: bio-engineered muscles, organs, nerves, skin for superhuman reflexes, durability, sensory control.
"But no enhancement lets you deflect bullets..."
They weren't omnipotent. Matching bullet speed or batting them away? Unheard of. This was skill making the impossible real.
"...Guess I'll have to ask directly."
Unable to resolve his doubts, Jin Hyun-cheol exhaled and eyed the foregone result. No need for comparisons.
His youngest, Yeon-ah's exclusive assassin: Baek Se-rin.
"Hmph... Not bad. Piece of cake, really."
Thwack.
I yanked my knife from the gun barrel, scanning the unscratched dummy and trashed field as I muttered.
Traps, fifteen-bot swarm, then five more guarding the dummy. I'd half-considered yanking it out at first, but it was bolted too solid—not rigged for that. So I danced harder. Breath a bit short, but dummy's perfect. Good enough.
"Full marks, easy."
Nothing lacking, by my lights.
"Damn... this one's toast."
Six daggers shattered blocking shots—bummer. But as an exclusive? They'd hook me up with better. I ditched the shards.
Rolling my shoulders, waiting... the door hissed open.
Whiiiing—
In walked Jin Hyun-cheol, Do Jin-hyeok at his side.
"Impressive. Truly awestruck. First time I've seen an assassin like you."
"Uh, thanks."
His praise hit awkward as he approached. He kept going even standing before me, till my squirming face made him pause.
"Ahem. As you probably guessed... you're my daughter's exclusive assassin. Head to temp quarters and rest."
"I'll guide you there," Do Jin-hyeok added.
But before I moved, Jin Hyun-cheol stopped me.
"Hold on."
"Yeah? What's up?"
"One question before you go."
His eyes turned serious, unlike the praise.
Meeting them, he hesitated, then asked:
"That final stage—deflecting bullets. How? Non-lethal rounds, sure, but subsonic like regular pistol ammo. One or two, maybe. But all of them? No enhancement makes that possible. How'd you do it?"
"Oh, that?"
I played it cool outside, but yeah—flustered inside.
How do I even answer this?
It was impossible. Even in games, pure evasion. I'd pulled it off with my mods. No good lie came.
So I shrugged it off.
"What can I say... it just worked for me?"
Always had. Scratching my head, I brushed past his stunned face and out.
"Mind showing me to my room?"
With Do Jin-hyeok guiding.