Chapter 15 - Assassin (1)
Assassin (1)
Three days had passed since Yeon Seon-hwa visited Lee Jeon-seok’s home.
There was still no contact from Kim Baek-dong.
Was it because Lee Jeon-seok’s rank was too low?
Even with Kim Baek-dong’s authority, it seemed to take time.
Well, getting anxious wouldn’t solve anything anyway.
There was still plenty of time before the large-scale operation planned by the Association, so there was no need to rush.
Still, he couldn’t just stay at home doing nothing.
Lee Jeon-seok felt that time flowing away like a river was too precious to waste.
There were no obvious villains or dungeon outbreaks nearby…
(Which was only natural—such things weren’t supposed to appear easily in everyday life.)
So Lee Jeon-seok sought out an F-rank dungeon.
It was to test the new effect of the Heavenly Slaughter Star.
A gate that looked as if paint had been splashed across empty space.
Lee Jeon-seok approached it.
Then—
“Hold it.”
Suddenly, someone blocked his path.
A man dressed in black, wearing sunglasses.
A badge was pinned to his left chest.
A badge engraved with a flowering tree.
It was the emblem of Hwasan, indicating that the man belonged to the Hwasan Guild.
“Please present your Hunter ID.”
The man spoke as he stood in Lee Jeon-seok’s way.
But only for a moment.
“Lee Jeon-seok. F-rank Hunter. Verified.”
After briefly checking the Hunter ID, the man stepped aside.
Like this, the Association or guilds often stationed Hunters to manage dungeons, and people commonly referred to them as “gatekeepers”—Hunters who guarded dungeon entrances.
“Thank you.”
After receiving his Hunter ID back from the gatekeeper, Lee Jeon-seok entered the gate.
[You have entered the dungeon.]
The system message appeared, and his vision twisted.
A sensation as if the world itself were spinning.
Soon, light seeped in, and his vision returned.
Inside the dungeon.
It was a forest filled with trees.
When he slightly lifted his head, the evening glow filtered through the densely packed leaves.
[You have entered Paradise of the Agwi (F).]
A window appeared before his eyes.
Agwi.
An alias for goblins.
In other words, this was a dungeon where goblins primarily appeared.
Rank: F.
—
Paradise of the Agwi
Rank: F
Description: The Agwi regarded this place as paradise.
—
The description wasn’t much either.
Just a single, ominous line.
‘Paradise, huh…’
In the past, he wouldn’t have given the word much thought.
But now, it carried a different weight.
In the underworld, paradise usually referred to heaven.
The suddenly added Good Karma and Bad Karma stats.
And even the Karma Shop as a trait.
The system and the underworld.
Was there some kind of connection between the two?
‘Hm.’
He didn’t know.
It was suspicious, but there was no evidence.
In the end, Lee Jeon-seok abandoned the thought.
It was difficult to reach any conclusion right now.
To begin with, he couldn’t even be sure whether the word “paradise” used by the system actually meant heaven.
Swoosh—.
Lee Jeon-seok dismissed the system window.
“Summon.”
He summoned a Skeleton Warrior.
Giant bones formed in midair.
Clack—.
The Skeleton Warrior appeared, immediately kneeling and even bowing its head.
It looked like a well-trained soldier.
Was this also due to its high loyalty?
Either way, it didn’t matter.
Lee Jeon-seok placed a hand on his chest.
Light scattered like flower petals.
He knew well how to use traits.
The system always implanted an instruction manual into his mind the moment he acquired a trait.
Almost as if it wanted humans to adapt smoothly to supernatural abilities.
And the same was true for the Heavenly Slaughter Star’s new effect.
Gray light flowed from his chest along his hand and outward.
[Essence of Gigantification.]
A window appeared before his eyes.
A sphere—often referred to as the origin of a trait.
Lee Jeon-seok had seen it several times before, so he wasn’t particularly startled.
“Transfer.”
A single word.
The activation keyword.
Then—
[Skeleton Warrior receives Gigantification.]
[Skeleton Warrior has acquired Gigantification.]
The gray light seeped into the Skeleton Warrior.
Even though Gigantification was designated as a collateral trait, it seemed transferable to summons.
Then—
[Skeleton Warrior is moved to tears by your gift.]
Suddenly, it began to cry.
This wasn’t a metaphor.
A clear liquid flowed down from the empty sockets along its cheekbones.
A truly bizarre sight.
“O King… thank… you…”
The Skeleton Warrior spoke in a dry voice.
Its emotions were transmitted directly.
Perhaps because of the bond between summoner and summon.
But again, that didn’t matter.
What mattered was how well it could handle Gigantification.
“Grrrk…”
Just then, a goblin appeared.
A grotesque-looking monster.
Its height was roughly that of a kindergarten child.
It wore primitive leather clothing, and in one hand it held a dagger as thick as its own forearm.
“Grrrk!”
The goblin smacked its lips as it looked at Lee Jeon-seok.
Goblins primarily ate meat.
And among all meats, they preferred human flesh the most.
Drooling, it circled around Lee Jeon-seok, clearly recognizing him as prey.
It was likely assessing him.
The strength of its prey.
Meanwhile—
“Skel—hmm, that name’s long.”
Lee Jeon-seok started to call the Skeleton Warrior, then changed his mind.
“From now on, your name is Skel.”
A simple name taken from the first two syllables.
Then the system appeared.
[Skeleton Warrior’s name has been changed to Skel.]
[Skel likes its new name.]
Even Lee Jeon-seok hadn’t expected that.
‘…Didn’t think even the system would change.’
Should he have given it a better name?
Well, if the summon itself liked it, wasn’t that fine?
At that moment—
Whoosh—!
A dagger flew in from the side.
A rather small blade.
Poison coated its edge.
Clang—!
Lee Jeon-seok casually knocked it away with the Crimson Shortblade.
“Grrk?!”
The goblin staggered back in surprise.
But only briefly.
“Skel.”
Lee Jeon-seok gave an order.
“Go wild.”
“Yes… my king…”
Perhaps it understood its master’s intent.
[Skel uses Gigantification.]
Skel’s body began to swell.
Literally.
Exactly five meters.
That was how much its height increased.
Lee Jeon-seok looked at Skel’s status window.
—
Skel
(Skeleton Warrior)
Rank: F
[Strength – 70] [Agility – 58]
[Vitality – 61] [Mana – 4 (8)]
Traits: Charge (F), Gigantification (C)
Loyalty – 100%
—
Perhaps due to Gigantification.
Mana dropped from 8 to 4.
In exchange, every stat except mana had increased by 50.
And that wasn’t all.
In its empty sockets—
Blue flames burned.
They gleamed like blazing eyes.
“━━━!”
A monstrous roar echoed.
“G… grrk…”
The goblin trembled in fear.
Boom—!
Skel took a massive step forward.
It felt as though heaven and earth shook.
Trees swayed, and the wind stirred violently.
The goblin fell to the ground.
Something flowed down between its legs.
Its teeth clattered uncontrollably.
Fear had completely seized it.
Skel reached the goblin.
“━━━!”
Raising its now equally gigantic curved blade, it slammed it down.
Immediately—
Boom—!!
The goblin’s body was crushed outright.
Like being struck by a club.
Flesh, reduced to an unrecognizable mass, scattered in all directions along with blood.
[You have hunted a Goblin.]
The system appeared.
‘Not bad.’
Lee Jeon-seok admired Skel’s performance.
With Strength exceeding 70, its power had already surpassed common sense.
There was no way a mere goblin could withstand that.
Skel turned to look at Lee Jeon-seok.
“……”
Lee Jeon-seok remained silent.
The stats had increased.
That was confirmed.
But more important than that was intelligence.
Would the reduced intelligence caused by Gigantification harm its summoner?
Then—
Thud—.
Skel knelt.
It bowed its head as well, though its large size meant it was still looking down at Lee Jeon-seok.
“……”
It said nothing.
Perhaps because its intelligence had dropped.
Still, the loyalty displayed on the status window seemed unchanged.
Just as Lee Jeon-seok let out a relieved breath—
[Gigantification’s duration has ended.]
Skel returned to its original size.
‘Duration?’
Lee Jeon-seok frowned.
When the villain used it, there hadn’t seemed to be any duration…
And the time was far shorter than expected.
About twenty seconds.
Was it a difference in proficiency?
‘This trait is even more absurd than I thought.’
Short duration.
And intelligence dropping to animal levels.
It was hardly practical.
‘The original owner probably extended the duration through repeated use.’
Even then, they must have given up in despair, unable to remove the drawback of reduced intelligence.
But for Skel, that drawback was meaningless.
Loyalty compensated for the loss of intelligence.
It might not follow complex commands, but it clearly wouldn’t attack indiscriminately without distinguishing its master.
As for duration?
That could be increased.
The villain who rampaged in Yeongdeungpo.
Judging by him, the duration could probably be extended to minutes.
Because of that—
Lee Jeon-seok thought.
‘If I can tame more undead and transfer traits to them in the future…’
A one-man army.
He might become an existence equivalent to thousands—tens of thousands—perhaps even hundreds of millions of Hunters.
There had actually been such a Hunter in his previous life.
Not quite hundreds of millions, but he had faced dozens, sometimes hundreds of Hunters alone.
A throne that did not yet exist.
An SSS-rank Hunter who freely commanded spirits and divine beasts, earning the epithet “Legion” as a single individual.
Of course, since King of the Dead was only a C-rank trait, there would be limits on how many summons he could contract…
But Lee Jeon-seok wondered—
If he raised the rank with Evolution Runes, wouldn’t that limit increase as well?
Then much more would become possible.
‘To think a trait I thought was useless would turn out like this.’
Lee Jeon-seok let out a hollow chuckle.
It was truly unexpected.
Then—
“…!”
A scream suddenly rang out.
A faint voice that quickly vanished into the wind.
A voice he had heard before.
The Mark of Eternity prevented him from forgetting faces, speech patterns—even voices.
It made him remember even words he had only heard briefly.
Because of that—
Lee Jeon-seok immediately recognized who the scream belonged to.
As expected—
When he ran toward the sound, weaving between trees…
The woman he had encountered in the Bukhansan dungeon was surrounded by three or four goblins.
‘A Hwasan guild member?’
Her name was probably Choi Eun-ha.
She was a manager, not a Hunter.
Then—
Why was she alone in a place like this?
The question lasted only a moment.
“Skel, stay inside for now.”
Lee Jeon-seok recalled Skel.
Then he hurled the Crimson Shortblade with all his strength.
Thunk—.
The blade pierced straight into a goblin’s head.
Blood sprayed as it collapsed.
“Gah!”
It all happened so suddenly.
Choi Eun-ha trembled in shock.
In the meantime—
Lee Jeon-seok swiftly moved to her side.
There was no time to retrieve the blade.
The remaining three goblins.
The moment they recognized Lee Jeon-seok, they charged with daggers raised.
“Y-you are…”
Choi Eun-ha’s voice reached him faintly.
Lee Jeon-seok didn’t answer.
He focused solely on the enemies before him.
‘The two in front first.’
The two goblins that were slightly faster than the other.
Grabbing their heads simultaneously, he slammed them into the ground.
His Strength stat was low, so the impact wasn’t massive—but it didn’t matter.
Fwoosh—!
Using Flames of Incineration, he burned their heads like roasting meat.
[Level Up!]
His level rose to 26.
Lee Jeon-seok looked at the remaining goblin.
“Grrk…?!”
It stumbled backward in fear.
A brief opening.
Lee Jeon-seok drew the Crimson Shortblade.
Slash—.
The blade, now sharper after drinking blood, flashed.
Holding it in a reverse grip, he sliced the goblin’s neck.
It couldn’t react at all.
It simply died, helplessly beheaded.
Killing a frightened predator was this easy.
Thud—.
The goblin collapsed, blood splattering everywhere.
Lee Jeon-seok shook the blood off the blade.
Then—
“So, why is someone who’s just a manager wandering around a place like this?”
He asked, looking at Choi Eun-ha, who was sitting on the ground in shock.