Chapter 300
Chapter 300
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 301
Chapter Title: Long-Range Assassination
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Everyone charged forward, and I followed right behind them.
Even if the situation had deviated from expectations, there was an unspoken duty to stick together for the safety of the team.
All the while, I didn’t forget to keep scanning the inside of the building with my Third Eye.
No matter what, the goal of this operation was to capture their boss, Kwak Hyun-do, alive.
—It’s the Association! Get ready for battle!
—Buy as much time as you can!
Through the Third Eye, I heard shouts from the demons inside the building.
From their conversation, it seemed they’d noticed our intrusion.
Tch.
Where the hell was Kwak Hyun-do?
“Hup!”
In the meantime, a short cry rang out from nearby.
Kim Deok-hyun took the lead and swung his spear at the demon guarding the entrance.
At the same time, a powerful crescent-shaped wave spread out, sweeping through the demons on alert.
—Kuaaaak!
Eight demons spewed black blood and lost their lives in an instant.
I let out a small gasp of admiration at the sight.
To sweep away enemies that far with just a spear swing.
It wasn’t possible without exceptional mana and strength.
This time, Lee Seo-jun leaped forward.
Refusing to be outdone, he sliced through the demons one by one with flashy movements.
“Lee Seo-jun! Seal the entrance, and Team 2, stand by outside!”
At Kim Deok-hyun’s shout, Lee Seo-jun blocked the entrance.
And those in Team 2—me, Yoo Ara,
and a few agents including Jung Hyun-su—waited outside.
The situation was unfolding according to the Special Task Force’s plan.
Except for the fact that Kwak Hyun-do, the most critical target of this operation, was nowhere to be seen.
—Over there!
—Attack!
Then, voices came from the adjacent building, and twenty demons rushed toward us.
From the auras they exuded, each one was a high-rank demon hovering between B-Grade and A-Rank.
“Die!”
Black energy rose from the body of the demon in the lead.
His figure vanished, only to reappear right in front of me as a clump of black energy materialized.
I calmly stepped back and released a magic orb.
But he blocked the attack with his black energy and swung a dagger infused with demonic power at me.
Whoosh!
I tilted my head back to dodge.
Then, concentrating mana in my legs, I kicked him squarely in the stomach.
Thud!
“Urk!”
The demon’s body was flung backward.
I didn’t miss the opening and conjured a new orb, firing it rapidly.
Bang!
The orb pierced his forehead cleanly, leaving a white afterimage.
Black blood splattered on the ground, and he collapsed.
“Oh…”
I’d aimed for his head, but I hadn’t expected such a perfect hit right in the center.
Was it the buff from Pinpoint’s Blessing?
“Not bad.”
The agents who’d watched my performance tossed compliments my way.
I shook my head nonchalantly, as if it were nothing, and surveyed the remaining demons.
Nineteen left in total.
Even facing the Special Task Force, their morale hadn’t broken.
And as I observed them, I sensed something off.
Normally, when the Special Task Force raided, demons would flee. That was the usual pattern…
But they looked like they were stalling to protect something.
“Attack!”
Such thoughts were cut short as the clash between the Special Task Force and the demons erupted.
Amid the chaotic battle, I pulled back from the fight for a moment and moved my Third Eye again.
To figure out why they were buying time.
The Third Eye rose through the ceiling into the sky, revealing an endlessly vast landscape.
Thanks to Pinpoint’s Blessing, everything on the ground was crystal clear, but the overwhelming amount of information made me dizzy for a moment.
My brain couldn’t keep up with the Third Eye’s flood of data.
Gritting my teeth, I continued scanning the surroundings.
And then, as I surveyed the ground broadly.
‘…What’s that?’
I spotted a man running toward the back mountain.
It was the face I’d seen in the hologram during the briefing.
Using Identification through the Third Eye revealed the name ‘Kwak Hyun.’
It was the real name of our target, ‘Kwak Hyun-do.’ But the distance between us was over 400 meters.
Too late to chase him down.
“…Tch.”
No choice but to go with that method.
“Yoo Ara!”
At my shout, Yoo Ara, who’d been focused on the battle, turned to me.
“Cover me for a sec.”
“…What?”
With that, I gathered and compressed my mana.
Yoo Ara gave me a puzzled look and asked.
“What are you—”
But she nodded and stood in front of me.
By then, a decently powerful mana orb had formed above my hand.
With so many eyes on me, I couldn’t use the light attribute, so I’d compressed more mana than usual for a sure hit.
At that moment, a dagger-wielding demon spotted me and charged at full speed.
I was too focused on conjuring the orb to dodge.
“Die!”
Just as the demon, shrouded in black demonic energy, closed in.
A blazing fireball slammed into him with intense heat.
Kwaaaang!
“Kuaaaak!”
The demon exploded and crumpled to the ground.
It was Yoo Ara’s magic.
“…Hoo.”
I exhaled briefly and looked back at ‘Kwak Hyun-do’ through the Third Eye.
Then, I pointed my hand in his direction.
His position was on the back mountain. Even from here, his figure was faintly visible.
400 meters away.
Hitting an enemy moving with demonic power at that range was nearly impossible.
…But.
[Using the effect ‘Pinpoint.’]
[For 5 seconds, the probability of predicting a living target’s movements greatly increases, and hit rate greatly increases as well.]
I had the newly acquired trait effect, ‘Pinpoint.’
As the description stated, Pinpoint boosted movement prediction and hit rate dramatically.
Thanks to it, I could calculate his trajectory like a computer.
[The latent trait, ‘Hyperfocus,’ activates.]
And at an unexpected timing, Hyperfocus kicked in.
The view through the Third Eye sharpened without any headache.
Hyperfocus had created an environment where I could concentrate even more on this moment.
Feeling this new sensation for the first time, I smirked slightly.
I was certain I could hit him from this distance right now.
Woooong….
As the mana forming above my hand began to glow with a faint golden light.
I released the spell.
Paaaaang—
The spell unleashed a massive shockwave that swept through the area.
My body was pushed back hard, and the surrounding demons were caught in the mana vortex, rolling on the ground.
Even the Special Task Force paused their fight, staring blankly at the orb I’d fired.
The orb streaked toward the back mountain in the blink of an eye, trailing a beautiful golden afterimage.
Through the Third Eye, Kwak Hyun-do froze, sensing the intense mana suddenly bearing down on him.
In that split second.
He squinted at the incoming golden orb.
Too late, he tried to erect a barrier of black demonic energy, but it was already over.
—Damn, shi—
Kwak Hyun-do’s body collided directly with the golden orb.
Kwaaaang—
A massive explosion erupted from the back mountain.
Thick black smoke mixed with dust billowed up, gradually dissipating over time.
Moments later, through the Third Eye, I saw Kwak Hyun-do’s gruesome remains—only his upper body left.
Relief washed over me at the thought of mission success, and I let out a sigh.
“Hoo…”
[A-Rank Villain, ‘Kwak Hyun,’ assassinated.]
[Causality increases by 0.8.]
[‘High-Compression Long-Range Assassination’ achievement unlocked.]
[Reward: 5,000 points acquired.]
[‘Mana Control Technique (A)’ proficiency increases by 6%.]
Staring blankly at the messages, I injected mana into my communication magic tool.
“Kwak Hyun-do assassinated.”
With Kwak Hyun-do’s death thanks to Kim Sunwoo’s exploits, the situation wrapped up quickly.
The demons were captured, and though we’d killed Kwak Hyun-do instead of capturing him as planned, we’d obtained the vault key he carried, so the mission was a success.
“Wow. I’d heard rumors, but you’re the real deal. You sure you’re just an intern?”
“More than that, how’d he hit a target that far? That’s sniper-specialized wizard level.”
“I think spotting the fleeing guy from way over there was even more impressive.”
The agents tossed words of praise at him now that the near-failure of an operation had turned into success thanks to Kim Sunwoo.
Kim Deok-hyun glanced at Kim Sunwoo, seemingly deep in thought, then patted his shoulder in approval.
“Kim Sunwoo, good work. We succeeded thanks to you again.”
Kim Sunwoo shook his head at Kim Deok-hyun’s words.
“No, sir.”
“Impressive. No intern has ever performed like you.”
It wasn’t empty flattery.
The Special Task Force had seen countless monsters join its ranks.
It was the organization where most S-Rank wizards who’d made names for themselves worldwide had once served.
But Kim Sunwoo was a bit different from them.
Even those S-Rank monsters had clumsy days early on. Yet Kim Sunwoo showed no such traces.
He displayed mature, cool judgment, as well as versatile mana use—
whether in combat or spellcasting…
To anyone watching, Kim Sunwoo looked like a veteran wizard, not a rookie.
“I hope this relationship holds.”
“Pardon?”
Kim Sunwoo voiced confusion at Kim Deok-hyun’s meaningful mutter.
Kim Deok-hyun shook his head.
“Nothing. You’ve earned a break. Head in.”
“…Yes, sir.”
With that, Kim Sunwoo walked over to Lee Seo-jun and Yoo Ara.
Watching his back, Kim Deok-hyun fiddled with the vault key in his hand—a red crystal.
“Things are moving fast.”
They’d obtained the key to the vault hidden by the demon-run Taesang Finance.
Whatever was inside, it was sure to cause a massive stir.
It had all started with the assassination of the demon Jeong Tae-hyuk.
And Kim Deok-hyun secretly harbored a conviction about the assassin’s identity that no one else suspected.
“…Kim Sunwoo.”
Kim Deok-hyun stared blankly at Kim Sunwoo chatting with Lee Seo-jun.
Then Jung Hyun-su approached him.
“Kim Sunwoo shone again this time. His talent is just unreal, right?”
“Yeah, he keeps surprising us in new ways.”
“He’s got so many strengths that as long as he’s not hiding anything, he’ll be a huge asset to the Special Task Force going forward.”
“True. But he has one massive flaw that renders all that meaningless.”
“A flaw?”
Jung Hyun-su looked puzzled.
He couldn’t spot any flaws in Kim Sunwoo.
“Kim Sunwoo is beyond our control. He’s too big for the Special Task Force to handle.”
Jung Hyun-su understood immediately.
No matter how capable a subordinate, if you couldn’t control them, it meant nothing.
And the Special Task Force had already experienced a similar case once—and the horrific results it brought.
Jin Cheon-woo, called the worst wizard in history, was a prime example.
“You say that, but if things stay this way with Kim Sunwoo, it won’t matter. However…”
Kim Deok-hyun swallowed the rest of his words.
He gazed at Kim Sunwoo’s back with conflicted eyes.
His sharp instincts, honed from leading the Special Task Force to victory for so long, sensed that Kim Sunwoo and the team’s relationship wouldn’t end well in the near future.
After finishing the mission, I returned to my apartment.
I immediately dropped the Kim Jin-woo disguise used for entry and collapsed onto the sofa in exhaustion.
Gretel was sprawled out in the living room center, fast asleep. She was snoring deeply.
Worried I might wake her, I carefully lay down on the sofa.
“…Hoo.”
After all that, fatigue hit hard.
I’d nearly let Kwak Hyun-do escape and fail the mission, but thankfully, the new [Pinpoint] saved the day.
This brought me one step closer to wrapping up the demon arc.
“Man, it’s even better than I expected.”
I checked Pinpoint’s Blessing again.
[Pinpoint’s Blessing (B)] [Level: 1 (23%)]
Pinpoint’s Blessing.
It had performed beyond expectations today.
The effect lasted only 5 seconds, which was a drawback, but since it was essentially free, it didn’t feel like one.
Plus, using golden mana had boosted proficiency by 23%.
That was a huge jump for a single use.
At this rate, it might hit Level 2 soon.
Pondering what to do with the remaining time, I checked my messages thanks to the Outsider’s benefits.
Over 80 unread messages popped up.
[Hello, Kim Sunwoo! We’re QA Guild, tower raid specialists! We’d love for you to join us and…]
As graduation neared, guilds were flooding me with scouting messages.
I had no intention of joining any, so I ignored them all.
Scrolling through, one message caught my eye.
[Hello, Kim Sunwoo. This is Yoon Sun-ji, reporter for Oracle’s Magic Society desk.]
“Oracle reporter?”
Oracle was a massive media outlet covering magic-related news.
Interview requests from reporters were common, so I didn’t think much of it.
But reading the content left me stunned.
[I know about your connection to Wizard Kim Jin-woo.]