Chapter 19
Chapter 19
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Crossed the Line
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Crossed the line hard.
Family matter, huh.
At those words, the branch chief realized.
'It's that Kang Hyun guy.'
He pressed his hand against the hole in his gut and begged.
I was wrong.
Please spare me.
Please, just let me live.
But he couldn't even tell if words were coming out.
No sounds reached his ears at all.
Kang Hyun ignored the branch chief behind him and swung his sword indifferently.
Slice. Slice.
The underlings' heads flew off in an instant.
Without a single sound.
A few Awakeners were among them.
But what good were modern low-rank Awakeners with their mere stats?
How could they even touch Kang Hyun under Shadow Bind?
'Mana's already running low.'
Even E-rank mana drained away steadily.
He'd deliberately used Words of Command on objects instead of Awakeners, and still.
'Compound Words of Command are still a bit much.'
Once the situation ended.
The branch chief mumbled.
Who the hell are you?
How is any of this possible?
"What, didn't you just check my profile?"
But the 'Kang Hyun' on that profile.
Was clearly just F-rank.
Soon, the branch chief flinched.
Where did words end and thoughts begin?
His own voice wasn't audible, leaving him confused.
"I used to be a pretty famous assassin back in the day."
In a space of dead silence, devoid of all sound and light.
Only Kang Hyun's words rang clearly in the branch chief's ears.
Which made it all the more chilling.
Kyle had fought countless assassins.
And was skilled in assassination himself.
He'd had plenty of people to kill, after all.
"Spill everything you know. Then I'll send you off nicely."
With that, he rummaged through the safe's ledger.
"Oh, gold? Wow, so gold bars look like this. Back in my day, it was coins. Thanks, I'll put it to good use."
The branch chief stayed silent.
So Kang Hyun just kept flipping through the ledger.
Then.
"Well, look at this. You're not alone, huh?"
The ledger's contents were fascinating.
The guilds Aden had agonized over, Blaze Guild and Blue Wave Guild.
Surprisingly, Blue Wave was backing these guys.
"Man... Korea's 5th-ranked guild? That's a whole noir film right there."
And that wasn't the end.
The more he read, the more outrageous it got.
"...Hah."
Kang Hyun stowed the ledger in his Inventory.
"Hey."
"... ."
"You guys got in bed with the demonkin."
The Black World Tree's legions, the demonkin.
These were traitors feeding off them.
Specifically, one of the Judgment's executives.
B-rank mage Oh Hyuk-jun.
He was the owner of this branch and the traitor.
"You took a lot of bribes."
They got demonkin support in exchange for killing newbie Awakeners.
A horrific scheme.
"Does Blue Wave know about this? Nah, if they did, they wouldn't have let it slide."
The branch chief interrogation wrapped up simply.
This one ledger was enough.
Kang Hyun severed the branch chief's head.
Slice—
He stored all the bodies in his subspace.
Deal with them in a dungeon.
'...Nah.'
He changed his mind.
He pulled out just the branch chief's head and tossed it on the desk.
A deliberate trace of murder left behind.
It wouldn't lead to pursuit on its own.
This was a minimal warning.
A warning to Blue Wave.
'Done.'
Debt fully settled!
He released Shadow Bind.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Skill <Assassination> has been created.] 'Oh.'
Is this one max level too?
'Nope.'
Level 4.
What's level 4 like?
Better check.
Job done, heading back—
He paused!
'Ah.'
On the desk, documents with family profiles.
"【Ignite】"
Whoosh.
The flames, infused with intent, spread quickly.
Until they engulfed the entire office.
Kang Hyun slipped out leisurely, blending into the darkness.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 📰 Breaking News <Breaking news. Last night, a fire broke out in a building in Nonhyeon-dong. The blaze has been extinguished, but a severed head at the scene has shocked citizens.> <Police say no other traces of the crime were found besides the head, so the investigation will drag on...> <Some are worried about the emergence of a deadly villain. Powerful, and leaves no traces...> Aden stared blankly at the TV.
"Whoa... First the Awakener murders at the loan shark office, now this. The world's getting too scary these days."
"Tell me about it."
The world was terrifying.
Humans shaking hands with demonkin, even.
"Disciple, what's skill level 4 like?"
"Level? Usually..."
Aden explained.
3 was expert level.
"In a fight between same-rank Awakeners, if one has a level 3 skill, it's a landslide win."
5 was master level.
"Owning a level 5 skill bumps your rank up one."
"The system does that?"
"The system stays the same; it's the societal rank. International standard rank."
D-rank becomes C-rank, they say.
7 is pinnacle level.
"The consensus is that level 5 skill holders can beat opponents with higher stats."
"Bigger impact than I thought. Hard to level up?"
"Insanely hard, they say. I don't have any skills yet myself."
But Kang Hyun had the <Reincarnator> trait.
Skills were popping up steadily because of it.
At least for his past life's talents.
"But 7 is pinnacle? What about higher?"
"Nothing known. Worldwide, only double digits have level 7 skills."
No one knows if level 8 exists.
9 is fantasy territory.
'Level 4 is pretty high, then.'
As he finished watching TV, the phone rang.
Section Chief Choi.
Ring ring—
<Is that Kang Hyun?>
"Yes, Kang Hyun speaking."
<...That's not what I meant.>
A pause, as if checking surroundings.
<...The arson murder yesterday. Did you do it, Mr. Kang Hyun?>
"Haha. What, me? A murderer?"
<How on earth did you pull it off?>
Section Chief Choi seemed convinced it was him.
His voice carried shock, though.
Even for a Perfect Clear Awakener, this was separate from dungeon clears.
Kang Hyun was E-rank.
Opponents? Plenty with Awakener murder experience.
All higher rank than him, too.
From a normal perspective, impossible for Kang Hyun.
But the timing was too perfect.
They'd discussed that exact loan shark branch the day before.
And the incident's oddities didn't stop there.
"Close with the police, huh."
<That's not the point.>
His tone turned grave.
<Police are worried about an A-rank villain emerging.>
"A-rank just for killing a few low-ranks?"
<Villain ranks factor in threat level, not just power.>
Stealth that has police stumped.
Modern forensics can't touch it.
If he decided to shake society?
What couldn't he do?
Hell, if he targeted politicians one by one?
"Still, A-rank carries weight. They're such scaredy-cats."
<Mr. Kang Hyun. Tell the truth so I can help keep things from escalating.>
"Won't escalate. Police won't find the perp."
<...>
"Let 'em be scared. Good for them."
Silence for a bit.
If their goals diverged here?
They'd go their separate ways.
Good, he got it.
Section Chief Choi, reliable as ever.
"More importantly, Chief Choi. Free today?"
"Meet up for a bit?"
Not a phone conversation.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Awakener HQ arrived.
Paused in front of the private meeting room.
Chief Choi was inside.
"【Silence】"
Shhh—
An invisible sound barrier enveloped the room.
"Ooh! New Word of Command!? What's that?"
"Let's go in."
Opened the door and entered.
Chief Choi greeted him enthusiastically.
"Well! Still haven't shaken that cold!"
"Not a cold."
"Have some warm tea!"
Caffeine-free grain tea.
Chief Choi, on point. Nice.
Slurp.
"No idea why you're here, but listening to the people's voice is a civil servant's duty! Speak freely!"
"Need a little help with something."
"Help!? Haha! Finally asking! Hit me!"
His energy spiked.
Overflowing confidence?
"Got a ledger from that burned loan shark place yesterday."
"Oh! Great work! Now we can—"
"That place was Blue Wave Guild's errand boys. Dealing with demonkin too."
"... ."
Chief Choi, full of swagger moments ago.
Froze like hit with 'Stop!'
Clearly shocked.
Aden too.
Sensing the heavy air?
Straightened up like Chief Choi.
"This is movie-script level. Right?"
"......This is beyond my pay grade."
"I know."
Figured as much.
Influential or not, just a section chief.
Kang Hyun was used to this scale.
For Chief Choi, it was crushing weight.
"They're vermin rotting the country. I'd love to drag them all to the execution block right now. But..."
Chief Choi was one man.
An ordinary one at that.
Can't feed world hunger.
Can't end all wars.
This was impossible scale.
"In a world where Awakeners are national power, major guilds... are warlords themselves."
Ones where exposing them means one side dies.
"I'll handle it, so gather any related info you can. Nothing too risky."
"Wha, handle it yourself? This isn't something to approach lightly!"
Wow, same template as 100 years ago?
'Exactly what everyone said when I said I'd kill the World Tree.'
But he sealed it in the end.
Even if he died too.
And somehow both sides revived.
Not meaningless.
That war forced demonkin retreat.
Saved Terra in the end.
"No single person can handle this. Mr. Kang Hyun, stop here!"
True words.
But he wasn't just any single person.
"Chief Choi."
"Yes... ."
"I know. Lived it. One person can't beat an organization."
Before war, individuals are powerless.
He'd seen countless atrocities.
"But I can."
He knew because he'd done it.
It worked.
"If you're working with me from now on, remember this."
Heroes don't walk to others' tune.
"If I say I will, I do. If it works, it works. Prep accordingly."
"...Understood."
Voice laced with resolve.
He got it good.
"...Master. But saying it'll all work out, the academy's already—"
"You're dead."
Ugh, damn it.
Why bring up the academy!
"Hey! The ones coming all lack talent, what am I supposed to do!"
"Why blame me!"
"Why blame you? Is the academy failing my fault?!"
Anyway!
"Prep right away. That executive's Oh Hyuk-jun. I'm leaking the ledger to the press."
Korea will erupt.
Not a small matter.
"Lure Blue Wave into cutting off the tail. Once the rotten tail's size and members are clear, we strike."
Chief Choi, who'd been listening quietly.
Asked with a stiff face.
"If I may."
"Yes."
"I've been called an extreme patriot since youth."
"Figures. Talking execution blocks."
About his level.
"But why go this far, Mr. Kang Hyun? For what?"
"Huh? Why?"
He'd ask that?
Why?
"What do you mean? They hooked up with demonkin. Gotta kill 'em all."
"... ."
Chief Choi speechless.
Unexpected answer.
Demonkin? Kill.
Harm humanity? Kill.
Obvious mindset for Kang Hyun.
Not hero killing, but killer who became hero.
Kyle's answer.