Eradicating the Shadows

I'd bought the HUD, but I didn't use it this time.

Dragging an unfamiliar item into a fight to kill enemies could lead to mistakes. I planned to eliminate them without a single variable, so I stuck to my usual method.

"Still, let me help you out, yo!"

Ollie entered the operations room and put on the 'agent communication earpiece' that Jenny had used last time. Apparently, the HUD had this function built in too.

Jenny, having clearly imaged the target point, formed a distortion point. She'd set it fairly close. 'That woman Baekya uses system-type powers! I'll twist them all up, so it won't detect you!' Thanks to Ollie's intel.

I applied Invisibility and slipped into the clean, orderly distortion magic.

With 8x magnification and the scope, I observed the situation. One crow, one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠masked woman, one long straight-haired woman.

Three in total.

'Supposed to be two, but someone's joined them.'

She seemed friendly, so I didn't ask Ollie for details. She was facing off against the Chinese hunters in a tense standoff. Behind her were several intimidating figures like attendants.

The earpiece transmitted voices from the scene. The audio quality was a bit glitchy.

— Go back.

— Hongmaehwa, huh.

The long-haired woman seemed to be Seol from Hongmaehwa, the one who'd tried to contract me. Come to think of it, I'd never seen her face before. The problem was she was pretty close.

The warning allowed only one shot. It was handy for non-lethal spotting of impact zones. With Ollie around, no issue.

For whatever reason, they were internationally approved for summary execution.

Ollie then ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠verbally briefed sensor data, but without HUD vision sharing, there were limits.

'Trust my senses.'

At 8x, I could nail it now. Per Ollie, winds were 2-3 knots, a vague breeze. Time for confidence.

The crow was Heukhae. It had turned into a man at some point.

— Pfshut!

Hit.

— Ugh! Kughhh!

Hard to stay sane. But I prepped the next sniper shot right away.

It was just non-lethal to gauge impact. I intended to kill.

— Pfshut!

— Pwaaang!

Heukhae was down. Didn't feel like a gunshot kill, so 'neutralized' might fit better.

But it wasn't over.

Baekya was right there.

I shifted aim to her and steadied my breath. Impact stabilized—finish quick.

Seol from Hongmaehwa noticed the 'Unregistered' presence and backed off on her own. Even better. She was Korean ally; no friendly fire risks.

Only Baekya left. Trembling in place, unable to move.

Unlucky assassin, in a way.

Early awakening me might've hesitated, seeing her as human. But as a sniper now, no mercy.

Enemies get killed.

— Pfshut!

— Pwaaaang!

Hit.

Baekya burst like Heukhae.

"......"

But something off. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠No blood. Like a system exploding, pixels scattering. Clone ability maybe.

No chance. I now had a genius dwarf tracking her real-time.

Checked right: Baekya leaping airborne, charging somewhere. Mashing system windows.

"?"

— Whoosh! Shushushuk!

Baekya multiplied to five mid-air, posing to scatter.

Finding her now wouldn't be hard, but annoying.

Kind of her to float up—easy target.

— Pfshut!

— Pwabababang!

All five Baekyas burst simultaneously.

"What. Again."

One 'real' one glitched, reforming. Cockroach-level evasion.

— Rescue request! Reeeescue requeeeest!

Now spamming 'rescue request' on a system screen. No leisure to flee leisurely—I wasn't dragging this out.

Reloaded warning despite cooldown from earlier use. Need to shatter her mental to stop tricks.

— Pfshut!

Hit.

Senses sharp today. Tracked her fast flight path—lucky maybe. Baekya froze mid-air.

— Kughhh... Kughhhh!

Couldn't even scream properly. Her 'rescue request' screen flickered anxiously. Frozen—convenient. One more.

— Pwaaaang!

Blood sprayed everywhere this time. Neutralized.

— Shooo.

Back to the shelter.

Baekya and Heukhae were officially 'most-wanted'. Top level.

Listed by China via International Hunter Alliance—summary execution anywhere, regardless of location/nation.

Reason: China used them for big assassinations without loose ends.

Then Baekya video-called.

Direct from Director Jingwei's system.

"......"

Jingwei ignored it, so Baekya hacked through, filling the entire screen.

"!!!"

Glitchy quality, but her half-unmasked face loomed huge before Chinese bureau staff.

"W-what! Why hack here! Cut it now!"

"Wait, uh, this won't—!"

Staff activated blocks fast, but no hacker better than Baekya in the bureau.

"How dare you!"

Jingwei shot up from his seat, roaring. Unlike Heukhae, she wasn't erratic—yet pulling this stunt, knowing it ruined her record.

'What does she want to say, pulling this?'

Only wait for her to finish.

As Jingwei inwardly vowed to dispose of Baekya post-mission, the connection stabilized.

Her expression cleared up—mask half-off, face fully exposed, tears and snot streaming as she ranted madly.

— Rescue request! Rescue! Rescue requeeeest!!! You fucking bastards! You tried to kill me, right? You dog shits! Aaaah! Rescue! Reeeescue!!!

"......?"

Connection to Heukhae/Baekya severed, only knew they'd entered Seoul via code. No details.

What situation was this? Baekya never acted like this. Where was Heukhae? Baekya flying frantically mid-air call.

Then,

— Kughhh. Kughhhhh!

"!!!"

Before all bureau staff/advisors, her face distorted live.

Blood from all orifices. Agony like brain melting—eyes fully red, nose gushing blackish blood like a fountain.

"What is this."

Not under attack. Just self-destructing mid-air.

"......"

"......"

Too gruesome; speechless. One staffer tried killing feed—failed.

All stared at her now-zombie face live. Even intel gatherers couldn't look away.

Then,

— Pwaaaang!

"!!!"

What was Baekya burst instantly. Now just clear Korean sky.

Her system info processed as [Death & Deletion]. Dead.

"......What the hell is this."

As Jingwei panicked, staff tried cutting feed. Dead, so hack should end.

"Uh, wh-why won't it—?"

Connection lingered. Recording should've ended, but Korean-located Baekya clip stayed 'end recording' in Chinese ops room. Then,

Odd system voice from Baekya feed. But tension spiked after.

"!!!"

Someone rewound 10 seconds.

Pre-burst Baekya face returned—blood from orifices, skin blackened. Then odd symbol in corner.

★.

"Wh-what."

Another ★ opposite. Stars moved toward dying face.

One covered left eye, one right. Then line (-) for mouth.

★_★

Result: thus.

"......!!!"

"......"

Won't end.

Can't power off. Data loss.

"!!!"

System message changed.

"......"

All froze. Then screen shifted.

An elderly man's face. Known to all in bureau.

Director Jingwei's face.

— Flick!

One staffer severed system link entirely. Some secrets lost—no time to care.

Jingwei had ties to the Chairman. Couldn't let it go that far.

"......"

Deadly silence followed.

Only ops room feed lingered, unkillable. No more remote control, but

Jingwei's face now had ★_★ overlaid.

Snipe over.

Just hunter PVP—no system changes. No level-up.

"Huuu."

Not fully relieved—lie if I was. No soldier purely joys killing in war.

But resolved no emotions. Would face this often. Getting famous against my will, world full of enemies. Maybe just starting.

Jenny cast distortion outside ops room. Kid shouldn't see blood spray.

"How'd it go, Captain! Did you take out the bad guys?!" Answering yes, she clenched fists cheering.

"Ollie. Done now. Come out!"

Ollie helped most actively. Still tinkering in ops.

Loves the ops room. Fiddling, maintaining sniper system.

"Ah, hehe! Yep! Finishing up quick, yo!"

Ollie debriefed results unasked. Excellent post-op.

Time to feed Jenny/Ollie—took them out. But "Ah, one more thing I can do!" Made simple table.

'What is this guy?'

Ollie charted my level-up changes, popping a status window.

Used to tap one-by-one; this overview rocks.

'Guidance' skill caught eye.

"......Impressive skill."

Checked it. Entered training ground.

— Gangneung Gate resolved!

Hae-dong and Kim Chi-gon handled Gangneung.

Lucky boss-type, with two high-rankers specialized. Minimal casualties. No Unregistered this time.

Meanwhile, Team Leader Kim Chun-gyu used detectors to pinpoint Heukhae/Baekya. Site left with bloodstains, flesh chunks.

Hongmaehwa's Seol arrived at bureau simultaneously.

"Who else could it be."

Kim knew she'd moved, but "......They killed themselves without us lifting a finger. Felt watched already. Unregistered." No need for Hongmaehwa combat.

Yes. At that moment, Unregistered was here.

'Mosquito-squash those two tough nuts. Another shock.'

Kim Chun-gyu looked queasy.

Heukhae/Baekya no pushovers.

'Toppled a conflict-ridden nation, massacred world #22 hunter and his mafia—two-man job, vanished traceless.'

Even Hongmaehwa would expend huge force against their combo.

Not matching Unregistered's combat, but 'killing them' meant something else.

Mobility, intel, infiltration, stealth.

Peak assassins all-around.

Sudden thought:

'Worth sharing gate info with Unregistered?'

(Deny later) China's pros. Hongmaehwa could've found on Seoul entry.

'Tracks and kills on own...'

[Unread] meaning solidified. Wiped harpies gate-open instant. Pre- or on-open presence.

But requested Cartibes secrets. Hard to gauge info reach. Anyway, keep sharing.

"Relief, at least."

Worried worst-case. Seems even those two helpless vs Unregistered. Fortunate. If enemy...

Wonder China's reaction now. Officially abandoned, so stonewall expected.

Probably baffled like our Unregistered feelings.

'......Ponder hard. See if answers come.'

Then,

"All gathered?"

White-haired Director Baek Moon-seong entered conference.

Emergency: foreign gates.

Global chaos like Korea. But Korea's fast clears flooded support requests.

"No support. Plenty excuses. You understand."

"......"

No replies.

Present high-rankers all private guild masters. (Hae-dong still Gangneung.) Bureau rankers field-deployed.

"Yet summoned for global Holy Relic intel—our task too."

Gist: Bureau handles domestic relics—guilds overseas.

Private guilds lack state rep, so max Necrophilia relic info abroad.

Compensation astronomical.

"......"

Rare-attending Hongmaehwa intrigued—not money, info-gathering.

Baek continued:

"Key: how much share to 'that person' absent but known. Bureau decides, requests cooperation separately. Objections?"

Scanning room:

"Black Harpy, minor gates one-two solved zero resources—sparked lake-defense global top, snowball start. All know."

All silent, no objections.

"......Motion passed."