Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Alraune and the Assassin
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Kang Jin-hyuk, having secured the Rebirth Pill, pulled out the remaining scrolls from his inventory and placed them one by one on the floor.
To ensure a proper chain reaction all the way to the exit, he lined them up in a straight path, which consumed a considerable number of scrolls.
“Just how many am I using today?”
Including the ones he’d given to Jeong Dae-yoon, he’d gone through forty scrolls that cost 150,000 won each.
Over five million won vanishing into thin air was painful, but in exchange, Kang Jin-hyuk had obtained a precious item that money couldn’t easily buy.
He swallowed his regret, thinking of it as sacrificing a cow for the sake of the herd.
For the final scroll, he set a separate activation time.
Then Kang Jin-hyuk hurriedly slipped out through the exit.
Once he’d put some distance between himself and the place, a bomb-like explosion erupted from underground, accompanied by a small earthquake.
“Whoa.”
Even wrapped in thick walls, the shockwave was strong enough to leak out like this.
The facilities inside were undoubtedly reduced to dust along with their creators’ corpses.
“Now, as long as I deal with the Alraune, no more Rebirth Pills can be made.”
To create a Rebirth Pill, the honey and pollen from the Alraune’s flower were absolutely essential.
Moreover, according to Lucia, the Alraune only bloomed once every five years.
If they missed this chance, there’d be no next time for Tyrant.
They wouldn’t get another shot at finding a new Alraune.
Kang Jin-hyuk raced to the location Jeong Dae-yoon had mentioned and spotted the Alraune, huddled with its body wrapped in leaves.
Sensing his presence, the Alraune slightly lifted its head and peered toward the source of the sound.
The Alraune, which resembled a young woman, revealed its monstrous true form the moment it spotted Kang Jin-hyuk.
“Shaaaah!”
Countless vines burst from its split-open head, lunging at Kang Jin-hyuk’s limbs.
Even as the vines, capable of piercing iron armor, swarmed from all directions, Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t lose his composure.
Aiming his bat at the Alraune, Kang Jin-hyuk envisioned the form of lightning in his mind.
Crackle!
A blue flash streaked out, turning the Alraune’s vines to ash in an instant.
“Hiss?!”
The Alraune panicked as its most reliable weapon was incinerated by the lightning.
Until now, the humans it had encountered were either friendly or offered as food.
Had there ever been another human approaching with such clear hostility?
The Alraune suddenly recalled Jeong Dae-yoon, who had tried to burn it.
“Shiiiiek!!”
Thinking it could summon other humans to block him like before, it let out a mighty cry.
But this time, no one came to aid the Alraune, no matter how it wailed.
While it wasted time on futile efforts, Kang Jin-hyuk closed the distance further.
“I don’t know what tricks you’re planning, but you’d better give up.”
The moment he entered range, Kang Jin-hyuk brought down the bat raised above his head in a vertical smash.
The Alraune desperately piled up layers of vines to block the falling bat.
But against the baseball bat wrapped in red aura, they offered no more durability than cardboard.
In the end, more than half its body was crushed along with the vines, and the Alraune let out a horrific scream.
“Kyaaaah!!!”
Kang Jin-hyuk’s face twisted involuntarily at the ear-splitting shriek.
It was utterly repulsive how this flower, which grew by devouring people, screamed like a human.
To silence it once and for all, Kang Jin-hyuk swung the bat down while simultaneously unleashing lightning.
There was no way the Alraune, which had grown pampered without a single hunt, could withstand having its body pulverized and then charred by lightning.
The blackened Alraune let out a faint groan before going limp.
“…….”
Kang Jin-hyuk spotted something glowing on the Alraune’s corpse.
[Obtained material item.]
The item Kang Jin-hyuk picked up was a metal object about the size of a handball.
Even appraising it revealed all information as ‘???’, making its identity impossible to discern.
“Looks like I need a more specialized appraisal skill.”
Among material items, some couldn’t be identified with standard appraisal skills.
To uncover the true nature of such items, one needed professions like blacksmiths or alchemists—experts in production.
Kang Jin-hyuk figured it looked metallic enough to hand over to a dwarf.
“Perfect timing. I was looking for a gift for the old man anyway.”
He stowed the item in his inventory and turned his gaze to the empty air.
At a glance, it seemed like everything was settled.
But Kang Jin-hyuk hadn’t let his guard down yet.
The ‘Presence Detection’ enchantment the dwarf had applied to his baseball bat was warning him of a hidden presence.
Aiming the bat’s tip toward where his gaze was drawn, Kang Jin-hyuk issued a warning.
“If you don’t want to end up grilled like that monster, you’d better show yourself now.”
To anyone else, it would look like he was talking to himself.
But there was definitely someone where Kang Jin-hyuk was looking.
“Tch.”
Clicking his tongue lightly, Yoon Song-ho deactivated his stealth skill and revealed himself, his face hidden behind a black mask.
The man who had concealed himself with stealth until Kang Jin-hyuk took down the Alraune.
His identity was the assassin who had ambushed Kang Jin-hyuk in front of his house.
“When did you notice?”
“From the moment you followed me through the barrier.”
“Then the archer girl making eye contact with me back then wasn’t a coincidence after all.”
Yoon Song-ho now realized that Lucia’s lack of reaction had been intentional.
But it didn’t matter.
He had planned to reveal himself right around now anyway.
No matter what scheme Kang Jin-hyuk had, taking his life now would make it all irrelevant.
“I wanted to kill you without you noticing, but no helping it now.”
Yoon Song-ho continued, insisting that only the process had changed, not the outcome.
“You’ve secured the Rebirth Pill and eliminated the Alraune, so you’re useless now.”
“Secured the Rebirth Pill? I’ve got it safe and sound.”
“Once I kill you, it’ll be mine. Same difference.”
“What thug logic.”
Yoon Song-ho made no move as Kang Jin-hyuk assumed his stance.
Detecting his stealth had been unexpected, but to an assassin, it was just a minor hiccup.
‘I know he’s not your average C-rank Hunter, but…’
Yoon Song-ho hadn’t forgotten the moves Kang Jin-hyuk displayed in front of his house.
Despite having the combat-weak cleric class, Kang Jin-hyuk’s actions had been surprisingly quick and threatening.
‘Still, a flea’s a flea.’
Among the hunters Yoon Song-ho had killed, some like Kang Jin-hyuk had skills beyond their rank.
But they were only troublesome at the start.
Once their tricks were exposed, they were no different from the rest.
Yoon Song-ho prepared a hidden counter while resolving to make Kang Jin-hyuk feel the gap in experience.
“I’m different from all the guys you’ve fought so far.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure you are.”
As Kang Jin-hyuk pretended to pick his ear and dismissed it as nonsense, Yoon Song-ho felt a surge of anger.
“You’re not with that damn archer, so what makes you talk so big?”
“Curious? Come find out.”
Kang Jin-hyuk beckoned with his finger, baiting the assassin’s attack.
It was a clichéd provocation, but it worked well enough.
“…If dying that badly is your wish, so be it.”
Yoon Song-ho’s casual confidence from moments ago flipped 180 degrees.
His cold gaze sweeping over Kang Jin-hyuk was like a snake eyeing prey.
Hiding venomous fangs in both hands, Yoon Song-ho vanished in an instant.
Kang Jin-hyuk immediately realized it wasn’t the stealth skill making Yoon Song-ho disappear from view.
The violent dust cloud rising from where he’d stood.
It proved Yoon Song-ho had moved at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.
Aiming for blind spots with rapid repositioning, his approach created the illusion of vanishing right before one’s eyes.
‘Impressive enough to back up the bravado.’
Without Presence Detection, Kang Jin-hyuk would’ve ended up like countless other hunters, throat slit.
“Not on my watch!”
Kang Jin-hyuk swung his bat toward Yoon Song-ho flanking from the side.
The horizontal crescent swing clashed with Yoon Song-ho’s dagger, sparks flying everywhere.
“Urk!”
Outmatched in strength, Yoon Song-ho abandoned the approach and leaped back to create distance.
“This can’t be happening…!”
Yoon Song-ho wasn’t just shocked that Kang Jin-hyuk blocked his attack.
What stunned him was that his sword had shattered against a mere baseball bat.
He’d faced hunters who blocked his attacks before, but none had ever broken or damaged his blade.
“How the hell did you do that with such a half-assed weapon?”
Yoon Song-ho’s dagger was a top-grade rare item, personally bestowed by the organization, enchanted with ‘Durability B’, built on years of trust and achievements.
A bat made of aluminum should’ve been sliced like tofu against it.
“What’re you mumbling about? Not coming at me?”
Impatient to end it, Kang Jin-hyuk took the initiative when Yoon Song-ho hesitated to rush in again.
“Huh?”
Yoon Song-ho let out a dazed sound as Kang Jin-hyuk closed over 15 meters in a single breath.
“You cocky bastard!”
Still, as a seasoned assassin, Yoon Song-ho quickly regained composure and drew a new dagger.
He clashed it against the bat once more.
With the clash of metal, what flew into the air was, again, a fragment of Yoon Song-ho’s blade.
This time, the bat didn’t stop at the sword—it swung for his side as well.
‘Fine, I’ll give you my side!’
In that split second, Yoon Song-ho planned to sacrifice his flank while targeting Kang Jin-hyuk’s neck.
It wasn’t a vital spot, so he figured he could endure one hit from the bat.
But the moment it connected, that notion shattered.
Crack.
The ribs it struck failed utterly at protecting his organs and splintered into pieces.
Unable to withstand the surging impact, Yoon Song-ho’s body flew straight into the building wall.
That merciless blow had never left time to aim for the neck in the first place.
Boom!
Yoon Song-ho, embedded in the wall, breathed no more.
Wondering if the assassin was pulling some trick, Kang Jin-hyuk approached cautiously.
Prodding him with the bat’s tip, Yoon Song-ho’s body flopped lifelessly to the ground.
The way his face hit first was too realistic to be acting.
“Ended up more anticlimactic than I thought.”
Even after killing more people today than he could count on two hands, Kang Jin-hyuk felt no particular guilt.
Perhaps because the visible karma value told him these were irredeemable scum.
It felt worlds apart from his first kill.
“Guess the first time’s always the hardest…”
He’d never felt such unease at growing accustomed to something.
But considering the actions of major guilds and hunters, it was a necessary experience.
He couldn’t keep hesitating forever if similar situations arose again.
“For now, with this done, time to make contact.”
Realizing he couldn’t afford to wallow in sentiment, Kang Jin-hyuk pulled a communication item from his inventory.
Activating the small crystal-shaped item sent a signal straight to Lucia outside.