Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: Off to Steal Again Today
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Thorough vigilance.
They couldn't let their guard down for even a moment.
If enemies burst in, they had to buy as much time as possible, even if it meant sacrificing their lives.
That was the mission assigned to them.
No, it was their sacred duty.
Death held no fear for him, not really.
On the contrary, dying for Him would be an honor.
The members guarding the top floor probably all felt the same way.
Drauder.
He was truly the hero who would set this country right.
So they kept their vigilance sharp at all times, surveilling every direction meticulously.
One of their comrades had already gone downstairs to fetch the hostages.
If they could just hold out until then, they'd have fulfilled their duty almost completely.
Revolutionary member.
Vasili believed that without a doubt.
'Not even a single rat will get in or out of this place!'
His resolve burned brighter.
This was one step toward the revolution.
Thinking that way filled him with even greater pride as a revolutionary soldier.
Vasili patrolled the corridor with more spirited steps than before.
The section he was responsible for was the second corridor.
The passage connecting the first room and the second room right in the middle.
To move to the next room, they'd have to pass through this corridor no matter what.
Slipping in unnoticed was next to impossible.
There were three members surveilling this corridor alone, including himself. How could anyone fool their eyes and pass through?
They were patrolling in turns without missing a single spot.
"How's it over there?"
"All clear here."
"Same here."
The members crossed paths.
There were still no suspicious signs.
The second corridor remained utterly quiet.
No reports of enemies infiltrating the stronghold yet, so it made sense that the upper floors were this calm.
Therefore, this area was safe.
And since the first floor was still secure, they could retrieve the hostages without issue.
Vasili turned the corner, thinking just that.
He should run into one of his comrades any moment now.
But.
'Hm?'
What was this?
Why wasn't the member in sight?
They should have crossed paths by now. He was definitely supposed to be coming back this way, so why couldn't he see his comrade Maxid?
"Maxid?"
"......"
"Hey, Maxid, answer me."
Maybe he'd gone into the previous room?
Vasili slowly walked toward the end of the corridor.
And cautiously opened the door to peek inside.
"......Maxid?"
But Maxid was nowhere to be found in the first room either.
A belated sense of unease washed over him.
Something was wrong.
Vasili felt it instinctively, but he couldn't grasp what exactly was happening.
He didn't even know where Maxid had vanished to in the first place.
The comrade's whereabouts had become mysterious.
He wasn't the type to leave his post carelessly while on watch.
Even if there was an emergency, he would have notified them first before stepping away.
'This isn't good.'
He couldn't just stand here.
The other comrade, Fabu.
He had to inform Fabu of this immediately.
And then the comrades guarding the other corridors as well...
"Fabu."
Quickly.
"Fabu!"
As soon as possible.
"Fa......"
He had to let them know.
"......bu?"
He wasn't there.
His comrade who should have been patrolling the opposite side.
Fabu was nowhere in sight.
Gulp!
The second one after Maxid.
Cause unknown.
No corpses or traces anywhere nearby.
Shing.
This couldn't be happening.
His comrades patrolling the corridors front and back suddenly vanishing?
Absolutely impossible.
So Vasili drew his sword outright.
To prepare for any potential enemy attack.
And to protect himself.
Thump!
Was it an enemy attack after all?
Thump!
But could someone really infiltrate without making a sound or presence?
He didn't know.
He knew nothing at all.
His breath caught in his throat.
His hands trembled uncontrollably.
His bloodshot eyes darted around wildly.
'Calm down.'
Vasili told himself, but his body wouldn't listen.
'Stay calm.'
Please.
'Calm down!'
His body.
Listen to him.
"......"
Then.
The door on the opposite side caught his eye.
At the same time, thoughts of his comrades patrolling and surveilling other sections came to mind.
'Right, if I can just make it to the third corridor...!'
He could call for help.
And inform everyone of this.
If he could do that, he might save his own life too.
Yes.
If he could just get over there...
Plop!
Get over there.
"......"
It would work.
But what was that sound from behind him?
And this chilling cold?
It felt like someone was standing right behind him.
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
Terror seeped into his bones.
Within that, Vasili slowly turned his head.
And.
Pfshk!
The world went black.
Thud!
Second corridor.
Another member guarding this section collapsed.
This made exactly three.
'Holy shit.'
The perpetrator who assassinated them.
Luke looked down at the fallen Vasili, still hardly able to believe it.
Sneak Mastery, which amplified the effects of all stealth-related skills.
Ever since acquiring it, his assassinations had become even cleaner.
The scene before his eyes was proof.
Not even the slightest sound leaked out.
And as long as he didn't make eye contact, opponents wouldn't sense his presence from a certain distance.
This was a realm nearly impossible even with stealth skills.
Yet here he was, achieving it without any stealth skill.
Something he couldn't have even dreamed of back in his Worst Criminal in History days.
'This is insane.'
On top of that, combining it with Parkour, which let him scale walls and ceilings, made for the ultimate combo.
If he could just clean up traces even more neatly here, he could roam around performing perfect assassinations.
Luke thought that as he picked up the dropped items.
Then he stripped the corpse before moving to the next room.
"Po, Poco..."
Poco was grunting as he dragged something away.
That something was none other than a revolutionary soldier's corpse.
'Why didn't I think of this sooner? If I can't move them, Poco can do it instead.'
That's right.
Sneak Mastery.
Parkour.
And the third reason enabling even stealthier assassinations.
Using Poco for body disposal.
'Unlike me, a user, Poco has no distance restrictions.'
Poco was undeniably an NPC.
Or treated as a monster.
Naturally, there were no restrictions on moving corpses.
Unlike users, he could haul them far away.
And that wasn't all.
Small stature.
Yet sufficient strength stats to carry corpses.
Plus, high enough intelligence to understand human speech and cleverly hide the bodies on his own.
In other words, no need for separate orders—he could operate independently with ease.
'He's a total lucky charm!'
Perfect body concealment.
He killed the enemy, and Poco handled the body.
Then he just erased any remaining traces and moved to the next target.
"Aigoo, my Poco!"
"Po, Poco?!"
"Seriously, is there anything you can't do? How can you be this perfect?!"
Luke couldn't hold back and hugged Poco tightly.
Grinning slyly, he rubbed his cheeks against the struggling Poco multiple times.
"Pocoooo..."
The struggling quieted down.
He didn't seem to hate the praise, not shoving him away like before.
Proof their relationship had progressed.
And as if to confirm it, messages appeared before his eyes shortly after.
At that sight, Luke grinned even wider and leaned in for a kiss.
"Acting like you hate it. Come here, I'll give you a special reward..."
"Poco!"
Thwack!
Luke got kicked away immediately.
"Gahk!"
"Grghhh!"
"Keurk!"
After that, the assassinations continued.
Stealthy infiltration.
Stealth concealment using Sneak Mastery and Parkour.
And sudden assaults from outside the target's vision.
Thanks to the Thief's field perk, he could scout nearby enemies' positions and vision ranges in advance, making approaches easier.
The proficiency gains for common skills rose steadily through the process.
Especially the assassination-related messages felt all the more welcome.
Why?
Because the common skills related to assassination were ones he'd had even before his job change.
'Backstab, I think? A grab judgment skill?'
Backstab.
A technique where you grabbed the opponent from behind and delivered a strike.
Its biggest advantage was immobilizing the target first by grabbing them.
However, it locked the user in place during that moment too, making it a high-risk move.
'And the other one... Hmm, no idea what this is.'
The common skill proficiency that rose from hiding in one spot for a long time.
He'd just gotten Sneak Mastery related to stealth, and now another skill message in that vein popped up.
'Eh, I'll figure it out naturally later.'
What mattered now was the top floor of the temporary stronghold.
Specifically, the very last room right in front of him.
Five corridors in total.
He'd dealt with all the revolutionary soldiers in those sections and reached this point.
The minimap clearly indicated this was the final room ahead.
'Just one red dot inside.'
A larger dot than Regur Balkins'.
That red dot was probably the revolutionary leader, Drauder.
All that was left was to enter and take him down.
The hidden quest conditions stated as much.
But.
'No need to follow the quest exactly.'
Luke had no intention of killing Drauder.
'Looks like killing Drauder drops the remaining secret map...'
The quest description had hinted at that setup early on.
But he had no need for that.
He could just steal the remaining secret map from the guy.
So this time too, infiltrate without being detected.
To that end, Luke first pressed close to the door.
And peered inside through the slightly ajar door crack to assess the situation.
'Where... Huh?'
Luke's eyes trembled.
A massive build.
Muscles bulging from gaps in his armor.
A huge greatsword slung across his back.
The extraordinary figure stood with arms crossed, silently gazing out the window.
The revolutionary leader.
Drauder himself.
But that was already inferred from the minimap.
The real issue was the NPC info floating above his head.
'......Level 154?!'
It far exceeded expectations.