The Black Sect Leader's Underground Lair

Nam Yong-seok was the kind of scum who would only make an already difficult world even worse. The man had directly victimized over five thousand people, and when you factored in the suffering inflicted on their families, he was a villain who had devastated an entire small city’s worth of lives. What surprised me, though, was that he was connected to the organizations manufacturing Blue Eye or Evolution Stones. “Good grief…” A hollow laugh escaped me. I couldn’t even begin to guess how many other pieces of trash were tangled up with those two groups.

“Two small problems, though.”

One was that Nam Yong-seok’s current strength had already reached the middle of C-grade. Of course, the moment he failed to notice me approaching the ceiling, the advantage swung in my favor, but I still had to be cautious—I had no idea exactly what abilities or hidden skills he possessed. The second problem was what to do with the remaining twenty-two people. The minimap marked them as a suspicious group under his control, yet… “They’re not really at fault, are they?” Their weak wills could be blamed, but killing them still felt wrong. The stat gains were tempting, but once Nam Yong-seok died, their minds would return to normal anyway.

“Hmm… This is annoying. Maybe I should just get closer first. Doesn’t look like they’ve set up proper defenses.” From the waves of my senses, none of the twenty-three people down there would detect me. Shhhk— shhk— I carefully widened the hole in the remaining floor until it was large enough to slip through. [Adhesion] I dropped down slowly and clung to the ceiling of their space. The moment I did, an unidentified, nauseating stench made my head spin. “Agh! That bastard. So his ability spreads through scent? I’m seriously going to puke.” I had condensed my senses only to end up saturated with the filthy odor. Still, attacks like this didn’t affect me much—thank goodness. Any other hunter would have started stripping without realizing it.

Anyway, with an ability like that, it made sense why he’d gone to the trouble of building an underground space. Thud— step— I began creeping toward the naked man thrashing in ecstasy. Could he even block my ambush? From what I remembered, he was a villain who absorbed others’ physical stats—strength, agility, stamina—and grew into a powerful close-quarters fighter. But this timeline might be different.

I glanced at Nam Yong-seok buried among the people. “How do I separate him? He’ll definitely throw the others aside and try to run.” Absorbing other people’s stats was an incredible ability, but it alone wouldn’t have made him such a notorious villain. He avoided fights whenever possible and survived by sacrificing his completely subservient minions like a lizard shedding its tail. What if his opponent was someone like me, far below his level? Would he still run? I was confident I could beat him if he charged, but I had no confidence in stopping him if he was determined to flee.

The environment was perfect for Contaminated Breath, so the skill had been active since I made the hole. A sealed space of about thirty pyeong wasn’t large. Five minutes should be enough to paralyze the people clinging to him. The real issue was when the poisoning accumulated enough for the system to notify him. If he bolted the moment the message appeared, things would get annoying. I drew my dagger and closed my eyes, steadying my mind. Using explosives in a residential area was restricted, so I planned to aim for a vital point with a single strike. Killing him in one hit would be ideal, but that probably wasn’t realistic.

“Hoo… Let’s recall splitting that orc in half back in the dungeon… Focus only on the blade…”

— Ang! Ung! Euheu~! Hueung!

“…I can do this. I’ve done it before. If I just concentrate, I can bring back that incredible power…”

— Aaaang~ Haaht!

“F-Focus…”

— Cult Leader! It feels so good…! Ah! I-If you do it there…!

“……Damn it. Screw this. I’m not doing it!”

I ultimately failed to summon that sensation. Whether it was because of the unidentified scent Nam Yong-seok had spread or something else, my concentration was badly scattered. And slipping into my own space amid people writhing so obscenely wasn’t easy. Even with Cold Reason, this was impossible.

Three agonizing minutes passed. The group remained lost in ecstasy, panting like animals, and no one had noticed my presence. Everyone except Nam Yong-seok was an ordinary civilian. Still, I couldn’t afford to be careless. The moment they became his minions, they would gain stats surpassing most low-rank hunters and become formidable warriors. Individually they weren’t threatening, but just like I couldn’t carelessly kill them now, they would remain troublesome opponents later for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the same reason.

“Sniff sniff—! Huh?! Poisoned?! W-What the!!”

The poisoning message finally appeared for him. Nam Yong-seok leapt up with a scream of shock, and the naked people all raised their fingertips, assuming defensive postures. They looked like wild cats rising on their hind legs, their eyes already bloodshot and deeply enthralled by him. Yet half of them were stumbling and collapsing—their lower bodies paralyzed by my skill. Adapting wouldn’t be easy.

“Good.”

He didn’t try to flee immediately. It was the outcome I’d expected, which was why I had prepared. My cloak was already spread above his head. Activating [High-Speed Flight], I dropped straight down, filling my vision ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with the crown ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of Nam Yong-seok’s head. He jerked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his head aside at the last moment, showing decent reflexes, but that was all.

Shluuurk—! “Kuhak!!”

The dagger plunged deep, severing the artery in his neck. A massive spray of blood drenched my body, dispelling Stealth in the process. “Krrk— ghh!” He swung his arms wildly. An incredibly fast hand-blade. Thud——! “Damn it…!” I blocked the attack by moving the spikes on my body, but the impact sent me flying. “How is his neck so thick?” It felt like chopping a waterlogged log. The wound was definitely fatal, but it wasn’t enough.

“Kuhuhak! Uweeeek! Th-This is… bleeding?!”

“Right. So you’re afflicted with a status ailment.”

“Haha, lucky me.”

I had only recently gained the ability to reposition the spikes on my body and use them in combat, but Rough Claws was proving extremely useful. The status ailment [Bleeding] would be a major shackle for someone trying to escape. Watching him stagger, I realized his resistance was weaker than expected. Had I been overly cautious because of his past infamy?

“In that case, no need to give him time.”

I launched myself like a spring to deliver a follow-up strike. “Uwaaaah—!!” “Kwaaaah!!” But the minions, twisting their joints at grotesque angles like zombies, charged at me on all fours. “Hmph!” Their strength and speed were pathetic. I casually swatted them aside, slamming them into the walls. Nam Yong-seok’s ability wasn’t complete yet, so the stats of his minions weren’t high either. That meant the ability was growth-type. Why did such good skills always end up with bad people? Or did those skills themselves lead people down dark paths? I couldn’t tell.

Having to deal with twenty people one by one had noticeably slowed my approach to Nam Yong-seok. “Kuhuhak, cough— What the…! A skull mask? Who the hell are you?! Kgh…” He looked at me with complete bewilderment, but his judgment was swift. Clutching his neck as blood gushed out, he was already sprinting toward the exit. Even in a slightly altered world, his fundamental nature hadn’t changed.

“Kgh—! O-Open! Open up!! Krrk…”

Unfortunately, the fleeing Nam Yong-seok never made it out of the basement. The ceiling had a ladder leading to a hatch, but whether from panic or his severe wounds, he couldn’t open it properly. “Strange. He should be able to lift that easily…” Focusing my senses on him, I noticed the connections to his minions were being severed one by one. Each time a link broke, his level gradually dropped. “Interesting ability. Not only does it permanently drain stats… but it also grants buffs based on the number of minions within range? Or the sum of their abilities?”

The people I had knocked down were unconscious and no longer feeding him power. His stats had now fallen to my level. Dealing with him would be trivial. Thud! “I-I did it! Krrgh… Urgh!” He finally managed to open the hatch and tried to climb up, but when I grabbed his leg and yanked, he smashed his face against the ladder rungs and slid back down.

“P-Please spare me!”

He vomited a bucketful of dark-red blood along with his plea. I ignored it and drove my fist into his stomach first. Thuuud—! “Krrgh… Kuhak…” Deep neck wound, poisoning, bleeding, paralysis, confusion, abdominal pain—those were the effects currently ravaging him. It was impressive he could still speak coherently. He really was a tough bastard.

“I… I’ll explain everything. L-Let’s talk somewhere else. The police station, the management bureau—anywhere! You can arrest me, just… p-please treat me first… I-I think I’m going to die soon…”

“Clack clack clack!”

“Hrk! …Huh? Your mouth is moving… D-Don’t tell me you’re a real monster…?”

“Clack clack clack!!”

“Th-That’s impossible…”

His expression shifted rapidly—smiling one moment, then contorting into tears. The brief smile was probably him desperately hoping this was all a dream. “Easier than I thought. Normally, capturing this guy would’ve required multiple S-grade hunters and a bunch of top-tier subordinates.” I had unintentionally contributed greatly to the nation’s peace, but in the end, all I needed was to kill him and claim one stat.