Assassins in the Capital
The scornful black society consisted of minor villain groups and demon groups. Unlike demon groups, villain organizations often hid themselves by disguising as ordinary entities scattered throughout society. The Gargantua Guild of Lavre, one of the top five villain organizations, was no exception. Right in the heart of densely populated Seoul, they owned a 30-story building.
"Hey, how's the mission progressing?"
On the top floor of that 30-story building, Myeongseong Oh, a hunter with the special talent for information gathering, spoke up.
"No idea."
Oh Chun-hwa, the master of transformation, brushed off the question lightly.
"No idea? It's your mission."
"...Honestly, I'm questioning whether I even need to use my full power against these small fries."
Oh Chun-hwa was full of complaints. True to her epithet as the master of transformation, she had led countless assassination missions up to now. An assassin's fame depended on the backgrounds and number of targets eliminated. But lately, doubt had been creeping in. She was only being pitted against nobodies who wouldn't even scratch her reputation.
"You almost blew the last mission too, you know, auntie. Get your head in the game, seriously."
Myeongseong Oh's jab made Oh Chun-hwa bristle.
"Auntie? Who're you calling auntie?!"
"You are an auntie."
Oh Chun-hwa continued in disbelief.
"I'm still in my early thirties! It's the age of centenarians these days! Up to fifty, I'm still a miss!"
"...You're hilarious."
"Ha! Stuck in this building all day like a hermit, no wonder you have no clue how the world turns. Talking big without knowing shit."
Myeongseong Oh's face twisted at her words.
"Who're you calling a hikikomori right now?"
"Who said hikikomori? I just said you're living like a hermit. Got a guilty conscience?"
"You little shit... Wanna die?"
At that moment, black mist gently spread from the floor, and within the thick silhouette, golden eyes gleamed sharply.
"...Don't fight."
Her appearance made Oh Chun-hwa and Myeongseong Oh shrink back.
"Guild Master, you're here. Oh, we weren't fighting..."
"She's the one picking fights, Guild Master."
The guild master had no intention of indulging their squabble. She spoke sternly.
"This mission is important. Failure will not be tolerated. Give it your all."
"Yes, of course. Especially since it's a request from the Scatter Star Group..."
"Have you finished scouting the people around the target?"
At her question, Oh Chun-hwa glanced at Myeongseong Oh. He furrowed his brow but reported diligently.
"Yes. No notable figures identified. There's Choi Ji-seong, son of the so-called saint Choi Kang-cheol, but our assassin here can handle that easily... As for security personnel, based on prior intel, there won't be any guards on the target on the day."
The guild master gestured, activating the beam projector screen. In the dim room, the screen lit up brightly. It pointed to a local internet news article uploaded that morning—specifically, the incident during the academy's dungeon practice.
"Today's local news report. Have you scouted the person involved in that incident?"
She pointed at the figure on the screen.
"Uh... that's..."
Myeongseong Oh fell silent. Seeing this, Oh Chun-hwa smirked smugly at him.
"You didn't scout properly, huh. Gotta stay alert on missions, alert. Tsk tsk."
Myeongseong Oh was annoyed but swallowed his anger and made excuses.
"My apologies, but we couldn't obtain info on that individual."
"Why not?"
"My ability couldn't access it."
Oh Chun-hwa said in disbelief.
"It's just some academy cadet. Name's... Imir? Weird name. And your ability couldn't get it? You didn't half-ass the mission?"
As Myeongseong Oh glared at Oh Chun-hwa, the guild master spoke sternly.
"A condition issue?"
"No. For this mission, I've been isolated from society for 10 days to prepare my ability. But... it was simply inaccessible."
"Info on some puny academy cadet..."
Oh Chun-hwa sneered dismissively at Myeongseong Oh, but the guild master thought differently.
"Oh Chun-hwa."
"Yes, Guild Master."
"Don't get complacent on this mission. If you use an artifact dummy like last time to fake it, you'll face severe punishment."
"...Yes."
"Handle it personally and complete the mission to the best of your ability."
Oh Chun-hwa was irritated, but the guild master's orders were absolute.
"As you command."
She bowed deeply toward the black mist.
After lunch, I stopped by the library to book a visit to the 3rd layer. Then came afternoon classes. The first Monday afternoon class was sparring practice. Once again, facing Park Dae-sik's brutal violence, I managed to raise my tenacity stat.
Tenacity 2.22 → 3.33
How does my tenacity stat go up every time I get beaten? I really don't get it.
"...Should I be happy about this or not. Tsk."
As I grimaced checking my grown stats, the next instructor entered.
"Ugh. Sweat stench."
Every 3rd and 4th Monday afternoon, instead of monster preview, they held general weapon response practice. Instructor Gu Yun-hwan, in charge of the class, complained the moment he entered.
"This is why I wanted classes before sparring. Ugh, cleanup's sloppy too—such lack of manners. Probably 'cause you're all using bare hands... Ahem."
He blatantly fanned the air with his hand, then set up a mana dummy and began the lesson.
"Greetings, cadets. I'm Gu Yun-hwan, your general weapon response practice instructor. Over the semester, I'll teach you how to use and counter the eight basic weapon types."
He lectured fluently.
"First, the eight basic weapons: swords, blunt weapons, spears, axes, whips, thrown weapons, projectiles, and polearms. Swords include straight swords, curved blades, daggers, greatswords, and so on..."
After the long explanation, practice began.
"Now, let's do some practice."
Gu Yun-hwan gestured, and holographic dummies appeared before the cadets.
"But first, to master the patterns I explained, you need to memorize the sequences and stances precisely. Best to see it in action. Hmm, to demonstrate properly, I need a cadet for the support role..."
As he spoke, he blatantly eyed me. I already knew why. Gu Yun-hwan was a gun user who looked down on bare-handed fighters. Arrogant and authoritarian, he subtly enjoyed flaunting his abilities by comparing to others.
"Conveniently, there's a cadet in this class who switched from weapons to bare hands. Perfect for support. Name... Imir? Great name. Come on up."
No choice, I strode forward as requested. Standing face-to-face with the dummy, he said,
"The dummy will now attack sequentially with a sword. I just explained, so you can handle it, right?"
I nodded.
"Yes."
Suddenly, without warning, the dummy swung its sword. Speed tough for a cadet to counter.
"As you see, when a sword attack comes suddenly like this, you can't dod—"
But I dodged.
"—well, you dodged perfectly. Must've listened well. Others, do the same. Next..."
Before he finished, the dummy thrust again. I easily evaded by twisting my upper body.
"......"
Gu Yun-hwan's face stiffened slightly. Originally, I'd fail here, and he'd replicate it successfully to show off his authority—first lesson and all. But his plan failed. Looking awkward, he cleared his throat.
"...Impressive cadet. Did everyone see?"
The cadets replied.
""Yes.""
Is it over? I thought, but I was wrong. Gu Yun-hwan dragged it out pettily.
"But combat is real, so no complacency..."
The moment he spoke, the dummy smashed down unexpectedly. But I dodged that too, just as taught.
"......"
Gu Yun-hwan stared at me in disbelief. How'd a regular cadet dodge that? Sure, my growth was lacking, but I had experience. Training dummies followed fixed patterns: left foot forward for overhead smash, right for swing, hand pull-back for thrust.
"...You can return to your seat, Cadet Imir. Good work."
As Gu Yun-hwan's face froze coldly, text appeared before my eyes.
'Practice King' Achieved!
Awarded bonus stats.
Strength +1
Dexterity +1
Hidden sudden achievements were rare, but they sometimes granted stats like this. Lucky me. Internally thrilled at the windfall, suddenly sharp glares poured from all sides. Heading back, side-eyeing: Mo Ye-ji smiling uncomfortably at me, Ha Yeon-si glaring dissatisfied. Woo Yu-na in the back looked surprised. Tsk. They'll bore holes in me. Besides them, someone else stared—Yoo Seong-won's gang, one glaring murderously. What's his name again? Ignoring the stares, I returned to my seat.
Class ended. Training time arrived as usual. Turning to head to the training grounds, someone called me.
"Hey, caveman."
The voice wasn't friendly.
"You extorted my friends, you punk?"
Turning, one of Yoo Seong-won's gang glared at me like he wanted to kill me.