The Assassin's Broken Will
html, body { margin:0; padding:0; }
Demonic bastards get harsher punishments than regular folks. Sneaking into an Association exam for an assassination attempt? That's obviously a massive crime. They'll probably all get the death penalty.
Since they're gonna die anyway, it's fine if I rough 'em up a bit first. Worst case, I can claim self-defense.
The assassin prick had a mouth sealed tighter than a vault. Must've had professional training, no doubt.
But this was a matter of pride for me. The invincible spear that pierces any shield. That was me.
"Stoooop! I'll taaalk! I'll spill everything! Pleeease, just stop!"
The bastard finally surrendered in a slurred lisp. I'd sliced his remaining arm into 24 pieces, peeled the skin off his face nice and slow, lopped off his dick, and even gouged out one eyeball before he cracked.
Using Light Cure just right kept him from dying, but there wasn't a single intact spot left on his body. With both arms and legs cleanly severed and even the skin stripped away, he looked like a grotesque maggot wriggling on the floor. At this point, he wasn't begging to survive—he was praying for a merciful death.
"I'll tell you eeeeverything I knooow! Just kill meeee!"
"Spit it out first."
I gave his head a solid kick—measured just enough not to kill him. Tears welled in his one remaining eye as he finally opened up.
The info I got from him was this:
He was a member of a Demonic assassin clan called Visaji, and he'd infiltrated on clan orders. His mission: assassinate a dungeon hunter named Han Seungjin.
"......"
Han Seungjin's face darkened as he heard the confession.
"Why the hell are these Visaji fuckers targeting you, Seungjin?"
"I-I'm not sure! B-but... probably an order from higher up..."
"Higher up? You mean someone else commissioned your clan to kill Seungjin?"
"Th-that's all I knooow..."
Who the hell was pulling the strings? Another Hunter Association? Or some Demonic clan pissed about the dungeon entertainment business?
A bunch of questions raced through my head, but the biggest one was different.
"But why go to all this trouble for an assassination? This artificial dungeon seems totally under Demonic control now. They could've killed him anytime without sending a stealth assassin."
Seungjin shrugged at my question.
"Maybe there's someone in this dungeon they can't afford to kill."
"Someone they can't kill?"
"Just a guess. Or maybe the dungeon's security is tighter than we thought. Looks like that's all this assassin knows anyway."
With that, Seungjin extended his hand toward the dying bastard.
Darkness Arrow
Zzzap!
A Darkness Arrow pierced the assassin's skull. He went out with a blissful smile.
"Damn. Might've been more to squeeze out of him."
I grumbled, and Seungjin chuckled softly.
"From what he said, he seems like a low-rank grunt. The info has its limits."
"Oh, yeah—how'd you spot this guy as an assassin anyway?"
His target was clearly Han Seungjin. Sure, Seungjin's the hottest dungeon hunter in Korea right now, but that alone wouldn't make him a target for crime syndicates. There's something about him. No idea what, but...
"My ability sharpens my senses at night. Caught a glimpse through his disguise."
As expected, this guy's mastery of Darkness Control is leagues beyond mine. He'd be a nightmare as an enemy.
"Is that assassin the last one?"
"Hope so, but... who knows. Let's move. The Association's probably busting their asses outside to rescue us."
"Right."
I wanted to straight-up ask what his deal was. But no way he'd give a straight answer. Knowing that, I didn't do anything to raise his guard.
I'll figure it out eventually if I stick with him.
Just had that feeling.
"Guh!"
Jiseokho clutched his wounded right shoulder. Half of it was gone. Where flesh and blood should be, there was just crackling noise. A cyber world injury.
"Tch. Failed, huh."
A young man in a gray hood muttered that, then glanced at Jiseokho.
"I'll return the system. No fun."
"You bastard! Who the hell are you!?"
"Would you tell me if I asked?"
He vanished, mocking Jiseokho to the end. As soon as he was gone, Jiseokho collapsed to the ground.
An insane powerhouse. Pushed him to the brink without breaking a sweat. To toy with a 6-rank dungeon hunter like that? At least 4-rank, minimum.
Shit. If cybernetic ability users are that strong... they could hack anywhere if they wanted. Big trouble! Gotta alert the Association fast!
Of course, the guy had prepped a ton for this infiltration. Hacking's always easier for the attacker than the defender.
Still, losing control of the Association's core systems? No excuse. Jiseokho vowed to inspect every system before even patching himself up.
The black mist... it's gone.
Jiseokho returned to reality.
"Urk!"
The cyber injury carried over to his real body. His right shoulder throbbed sharply.
Not chunked off like in cyber space, so a potion would fix him up enough to work.
"Team leader! You okay!?"
Yuhana, who'd been watching anxiously, shouted sharply.
"Yeah. Just injuries for now."
"Was there someone else in the cyber world?"
"Insane cybernetic ability user. 4-rank or higher, at least... The ones behind this aren't amateurs."
The plan was meticulously organized. Elites that could rival the Association. Few groups could pull this off.
"Gotta be some infamous Demonic clan we all know by name. Head back to HQ first. Need to recheck the systems."
A Demonic clan infamous enough that everyone knew the name.
Yuhana immediately thought of one.
Rosencreutz.
Rose Cross Society in Korean.
"Let's go. Mountains of reports waiting."
With that, Jiseokho teleported back to HQ with the teleporter.
Luckily, the dungeon recovered fast. We all got out of the artificial dungeon. Some official-looking guy was stomping around, taking statements.
"Assassins!?"
Me, Han Seungjin, Yang Hyeonmin, and Seungjin's other party members testified about the assassin. Investigation kicked off immediately, and they found body fragments of suspected assassins inside.
Seungjin had conveniently blasted the fake Park Seungrok's corpse into bits with a Darkness Arrow, so no one dug into my torture session.
If that hit Association ears, it'd be a hassle all around. Me and the other hunters kept our stories straight. They knew it'd bite them too if it went official.
Gene tests confirmed two participants were wanted Demonic fugitives posing as hunters. One from Seungjin's team, one from ours. The real Park Seungrok and another of Seungjin's teammates were MIA. Probably kidnapped and killed by that Visaji group.
A real sour ending. No clue on the backers. The special operator test was a total mess. Association announced a two-week reset and retake.
The second test was under heavy guard. Even after that mess, it was pretty much the same as the first.
No assassin surprises this time. I partied with two shady dudes and cleared the dungeon.
Someone has destroyed the Dungeon Core. The artificial dungeon is shutting down.
"What!? Already!?"
Nine hours in, the core blew. Destroyed core means dungeon gone.
"Fuck! We barely did shit!"
My other party members pounded the ground in rage. They'll probably flunk. I carried almost everything to get here. Ungrateful pricks.
Test over, out of the dungeon. Spotted some familiar faces.
"Jaesung! How'd it go!? Felt great for me!"
Hwang Cheolmin yapped like an excited puppy. I mumbled something vague and ditched him.
"Jaesungie~! It's me! I did it!"
Yeonji jumped into my arms.
"Dungeon core! I smashed it! Gotta pass, right?"
"Probably. Good work."
I stroked her forehead.
Pass notices came five days later. Our party aced it, full team.
"Whoa~! We passed!"
Jisu beamed with joy. Fair enough—military life just got way easier. But enlistment was looming. That soured my mood.
"October 10th... less than two weeks left. Sigh... Military, for real. Thought it'd never touch my life."
A whole year caged up? Hate it. Heard you can only jerk off in there. Fuck, no sex? For real?
Nah, no place is sex-proof. Fucking in a forbidden spot like that? Extra thrill. Yeah. Enlistment means I gotta fuck like crazy.
Sex is the best stress relief. Military sex has gotta taste special. Already hyped. Gotta find the positives, even in shit situations.
Waiting for enlistment, got an international call. Lisa Boji, president of Boji Entertainment.
"Oh. News travels fast. Who told you?"
I'd told Everett about enlisting, obviously. By the time she wraps up admin stuff and hits Korea, I'll be in uniform.
Timing's off again. At least leave's frequent—should meet up a few times a month.
"Hmm. But those terms from before... might be tricky."
Lisa hung up with a loaded line. Good vibes. My gut's rarely wrong.