Assassin (2)
"An assassin, huh."
There was one assassin among the S-ranks — a bastard named Kim Kang-hoon, the kind who could kill a Hunter without making a sound.
"Guess killing the same guy twice can't be helped."
I scratched my head and called for Yujin.
"Yujin."
"Yes?"
"Looks like we'll have a body to clean up today. Get ready."
I stood and shoved my hands into my pockets. Going out to kill some small-fry nobody was, to me, simpler than a trip to the grocery store.
AJ Yeonnam-dong Headquarters.
"This thing is ridiculously tall."
"S-Seonghun."
"What?"
Yujin covered her skirt with both hands, her face burning red. I'd dragged her out so abruptly she hadn't even had time to change out of her maid outfit.
...Didn't think to be considerate. What is this, a public humiliation scene?
As luck would have it, Yujin had been walking around in a maid outfit in the middle of the day.
"You can't just suddenly drag me out like this..."
"Sorry."
"I mean it."
Yujin sighed.
"Y-you do realize I'm not with the government anymore, right?"
"...You know the outfit."
"...How do you even know about that?"
Yujin's body flinched, a tremor running through her.
The "outfit" I was referring to were the body-disposal specialists.
The world had gone to hell, and with it, the body count had soared. Plenty of those deaths weren't exactly legal. Being a Hunter meant living with pain — getting torn apart, stabbed through, over and over. A lot of Hunters turned to drugs just to endure it. And where there were drugs, there was crime. A few people dying here and there was just another Tuesday.
The government didn't have the power to stop any of it. So they'd settled on what people called the Erasers — specialists who cooked away every last trace of a person. I called them maggots. The kind of filthy things that tore rotting flesh off a corpse the moment they laid eyes on one.
"I'll cover the cost, so get in touch with them. Tip off the government while you're at it. I'll be on my way. It won't take long — have everything ready."
Only then did Yujin seem to grasp how serious this was. She bowed her head deeply.
"Yes, sir. Understood, Boss."
Today was not a good day. Hearing that someone wanted me dead wasn't exactly a mood-lifter.
If even a sliver of this spilled over onto Chaewon...
I entertained the thought, and it made my blood run cold. I knew the classic assassin playbook inside and out — I'd lived through it more times than I could stand. To take down someone strong, you went after the people around them first. The women got raped. The men got tortured to death.
Those fucking bastards. This time, I'll wipe the whole lot of them out.
Just thinking it made my blood boil. Today, I wasn't planning on showing a shred of mercy. Leaving a bewildered Yujin behind, I walked into the building.
Seol Min-ah had no reason to tell me something like that. Meaning she's one of them. Internal fracture's the most likely explanation.
Seol Min-ah knew about my power. She'd seen it with her own two eyes. So bringing up the assassin was obvious — she wanted me to get rid of him.
I'll play along.
You don't go around advertising an assassination. Two or so corporations had tried to bury me... Seol Min-ah was in on it, so that's how she got the information. She'd just been smart enough to play it well.
In the old days I would've killed her along with the rest. But keeping one whistleblower around works in my favor.
I didn't want that elixir I'd mixed into her noodles yesterday to go to waste. Seol Min-ah was a card I intended to squeeze for every drop of value.
"Hold it."
A security guard blocked me as I headed naturally for the elevator.
"This area is off-limits. If you're an employee, please use the entrance over—"
"Move."
I don't have any particular grudges right now. Anyone who did is already in a coffin. Which means the culprit is a corporation that employs an S-rank assassin.
That was why I'd come here.
"There's a root I need to pull."
"...Are you even listening—"
WHAM!
I shattered the guard's jaw. I had base stats. The guard was probably an Awakened too, but your average nobody couldn't take a hit from me. He went flying and smashed through a wall.
"Kyaaaaah—!"
A sharp scream rang out. Before anyone could process what had happened, I forced a path through and stepped into the elevator.
I reached into the air and pulled out an item. A black mask of simple design. I put it on without hesitation.
A mask that looks suspicious no matter who sees it!
You're better off not using this! It'll hide your identity, sure — but you'll stand out even more. Watch out!
"I think people ought to know their place."
"Ghk— gah—! P-please, spare me!"
Finding the chairman hadn't been difficult. The most expensive room, the finest furnishings — the well-dressed old man sitting in it was the chairman. Of course, I'd seen him in my previous life too. He'd died by my hand then as well. The first time had been easy. The second time was easier still.
I grabbed Chairman Jeong Cheol-yong by the collar and drove him to the edge of the rooftop. His entire body was being held up by the strength of my arm. Both feet off the ground. If he fell, he died. Obviously.
"You picked the wrong person to mess with."
There's a technique to grabbing someone by the collar. You need them to feel the force — but crush the windpipe too hard and you won't get the answers you want.
"If you don't want to die, start talking."
"Ghk— gah! L-let go of me!"
"There's an assassin you personally ordered to kill me."
That was enough fear. I yanked Chairman Jeong Cheol-yong in and flung him onto the rooftop floor like a sack of trash. He curled up like a pill bug, and I approached him like a devil. I crouched down and asked, my voice ice-cold:
"Got a cigarette? Ah, here we go."
I pulled one from the pack sitting in plain view on his chest. He handed me a lighter without even being told.
I'd only smoked once or twice in my life. The acrid sting stabbed my throat, but I was the kind of person who'd grit through a hole in my gut. I didn't let it show.
"Bring him to me before this cigarette burns out. Do that, and I'll let you live."
Obviously a lie. Today I was going to kill every last enemy threatening Chaewon and me, without leaving a single one standing.
If this blew up and made the evening news? If the government felt threatened and put out a public warrant? Fine by me. I had no intention of getting caught, and anyone who pushed back would just die.
I'd done it in my previous life. I killed around a hundred thousand of China's public security forces, and they learned to behave all on their own.
If someone touched my little sister, I could become a far worse devil than that.
The cigarette had burned down to halfway. Chairman Jeong Cheol-yong clutched the receiver with desperate eyes.
The weather was clear.
Click!
Someone flung the rooftop door open in a hurry.
"You here?"
I turned my gaze toward the entrance as naturally as breathing. But there was no one there. As if a ghost had opened the door.
"What, did you kill him?"
A cold voice spilled from empty air. Even at a glance, it was thick with rage.
"The cigarette burned out."
I pointed at the butt lying on the floor. Beside it, Chairman Jeong Cheol-yong had collapsed, limp and spent.
A sharp something whipped past my cheek.
"From the moment I stepped onto this rooftop, I could have killed you a hundred times over."
"Then why didn't you?"
"Plans changed. I've decided not to kill you."
"An assassin should stick to his job. If you're not killing people, what kind of assassin are you?"
"I'll cut off your limbs and lock you in a basement. You'll wish you were dead."
He and Chairman Jeong Cheol-yong must have been close. Offering to keep me alive just to make me suffer said as much.
"Not going to show yourself, are you?"
Personally, I was hoping he would. Whether he was using some kind of invisibility artifact, I couldn't see him at all.
This is going to be a pain.
My instant-death skill had one fatal flaw. If I couldn't visualize the image, it wouldn't activate. Meaning if I just vaguely pictured a person in my head and told them to die, nothing would happen. The skill wouldn't so much as twitch.
"The only person who ever knew my face was my mother. She's dead now, of course!"
Vicious killing intent bloomed right in front of my nose. I ducked. A second later and my head would have been rolling.
"You dodged?"
"I could dodge attacks like that all day. Got anything else?"
I sighed and looked at the empty air.
Need to wrap this up.
I'd left a sign on the shop: Stepped out to the store — back in a bit. Someone might be waiting out front. I couldn't afford to waste any more time here.
A blade came flying in at my waist. I twisted my body to slip past it, then snatched the wrist behind it.
"...!"
"I can see the sword you're holding, you know."
"Thanks for the intel."
Something heavy came flying at my face. Invisible, but it felt like a fist. I tilted my head just enough to let it pass. Wouldn't want a scratch on this handsome face.
"Let's have a look at you."
I splashed a liquid over him.
Caught in a hallucination? Don't worry. Just drink it!
Effect:Reveals fabricated, false appearances.
Warning:If you are currently under any buff effects, they may disappear.
"Kh!"
His form bled into view, bit by bit.
"Ugly."
He squinted hard, like a man seeing the sun for the first time in years. I murmured it without a shred of feeling.
Die.
The bastard's head burst open like a firework.
Yuri kneaded the warm heat pack in her hands.
"Ugh, it's freezing."
She'd been standing in line in front of the pop-up store for about an hour. The reason was simple: Pupu. The teddy bear she'd hugged constantly back when she was sick.
I can't resist a limited edition...!
New products and limited editions were simply not things she could walk away from. She'd gotten her allowance from Yujin, too. Today, she fully intended to splurge.
Finally — I'm next!
The line had been brutally long, as popular as the drop was. But her turn had finally come. Please, please don't let them be sold out.
And then.
A massive rumble rolled through the area, followed by a thunderous roar.
"Wh-what was that?"
"Don't tell me it's a Roulette Gate?"
"Everyone, run!"
The crowd erupted into murmurs, then full-blown panic.
No way.
Yuri stared, hollow-eyed, as the store began pulling down its shutter. She had been next. She'd been about to buy a whole armful of cute, pretty dolls.
Could anyone possibly have luck this bad?
Nothing I can do about it...
She was about to start walking toward the shelter when a woman behind her clicked her tongue in irritation.
"Ugh, I was next after next. What kind of monster is this?"
A person with a hat pulled down low over her face. Yuri glanced over — and their eyes met.
"Um, hey. Could you hold my spot?"
"Huh? There's a Roulette Gate happening right now?"
Yuri stared at her like she'd grown a second head.
Is she crazy...?
Her life was in danger. Pupu was not the issue here.
"I'll wrap it up real quick and come right back. You can hold my spot, right?"
"...They said it's disaster-class?"
"As long as it's not catastrophe-class, I can handle it."
"Uh, okay."
Yuri accepted the request before she'd even thought it through. But who was this person, that she could just casually handle a disaster-class Gate? She could catch glimpses of the woman's eyes through the gap in the hat.
I feel like I've seen her somewhere before.
"I'll be right back."
Before Yuri knew it, the woman's clothes had changed into combat gear. She nodded, dazed.
"Isn't that Seol Min-ah?"
"We're saved! It's Seol Min-ah!"
"What? Seol Min-ah?! Aigoo, thank you!"
Seol Min-ah...?
Yuri watched the woman's retreating back with glittering eyes.