Chapter 25 - Gokdok (蠱毒) (3)
Gokdok (蠱毒) (3)
Gokdok (蠱毒) (3)
“Gaaah…!”
A gloomy alleyway where not even CCTV existed.
A man’s scream echoed through it.
The assassin whom Lee Jeonseok had slammed to the ground—
his entire body was burning a dark crimson.
The man writhed in agonizing pain.
But only for a moment.
The convulsing body soon went still.
His breath had ceased.
[You have taken a life.]
[You acquire one random trait.]
[You have acquired Swift Feet (D)!]
Good karma did not increase.
Nor did evil karma change.
‘So he wasn’t exactly an evil man… but not someone whose death counts as murder either.’
Lee Jeonseok brushed off his hands and extinguished the flames.
‘That was more underwhelming than I thought.’
He recalled the conversation he had with the assassin.
—Tell me everything you know about Choi Seungcheol.
—Hah…! You think I’d tell you that— Aaargh!!
The man, bound tightly by loyalty, had cracked easily with just a little torture.
But the information gained was less useful than expected.
—I-I don’t know anything! I was only ordered to tail Choi Eunha and report her every move!
Well, it was roughly what he had expected.
The assassin was only D-rank.
Choi Seungcheol wasn’t insane—there was no way he’d entrust important information to someone like that.
—Really? That’s a shame.
—W-Wait…! Spare me—!!
Lee Jeonseok burned the assassin alive.
Cold. Merciless.
There was no reason to let him live.
If he spared him?
Information about him would spread.
That was unacceptable.
Yes.
Unacceptable.
“Your colleague just died. Are you going to keep watching?”
Suddenly—
Lee Jeonseok’s gaze shifted.
His dry pupils locked onto something.
“Why don’t you come out already?”
“……”
No answer.
But Lee Jeonseok felt it.
Beyond the alley—
a presence rapidly retreating.
“Running, huh… That works. I was just itching to test my new trait.”
Lee Jeonseok smiled with interest.
The trait he had just obtained from killing the assassin.
Swift Feet
Grade: D
Effect: Slightly increases running speed.
A passive trait that consumed no mana.
As if it had predicted this very moment.
Low-grade, but few traits were better for tailing or chasing someone down.
Kwoong—!
Moments later—
Lee Jeonseok kicked off the ground with a thunderous boom, dirt exploding upward as he leapt high into the air.
※ ※ ※
Kim Jongsoo was a hunter under Choi Seungcheol.
Recently, he had received a direct order.
—Lee Jeonseok. Watch him. Report every single movement to me.
Tail and monitor a single hunter.
—Understood.
Kim Jongsoo nodded without hesitation.
To him, this was an opportunity.
A chance to rise.
That was why he hadn’t intervened when his colleague was dying.
Just a man whose name and face he knew.
Not a friend. Not even an acquaintance.
Completing the mission mattered more than such a man’s life.
If he earned Choi Seungcheol’s trust and became one of his inner circle, he could secure a high position within Hwasan.
A delusional dream—
but ambition blinded him to that fact.
Then—
while tailing Lee Jeonseok—
‘I’ve been noticed…!’
Yes.
He had been noticed.
Lee Jeonseok had sensed his presence.
How?
‘I suppressed my presence as much as possible. I never revealed myself. I was even using a stealth item!’
Yet he was found.
Kim Jongsoo sprinted across rooftops in the residential area, cold sweat pouring down his face.
‘He’s dangerous… I need to report this to the young master.’
Loyalty and ambition twisted together, igniting his eyes.
Then—
Crack—!
“Guh—?!”
Something slammed into his waist.
His body folded like a bow as he was sent flying.
He crashed through a wall and slammed into the ground.
Dust erupted.
Tap—
Through the settling dust, a figure descended.
Lee Jeonseok.
He clenched and unclenched his bandage-wrapped right hand.
“A defensive trait? You’re sturdier than I expected.”
Despite boosting strength, stamina, and even activating berserk—
pain still surged through his hand.
Which meant—
this wasn’t enough to kill him yet.
As expected—
Wham—!
A silhouette burst through the dust.
“Predictable.”
Lee Jeonseok yawned.
He had experienced this countless times in his previous life.
Enemies losing hope and fleeing—
and he had never let one escape.
Fwoosh—
A flame bloomed like a flower in his left hand.
‘An image… yeah, this will do.’
Lee Jeonseok imagined a dark crimson bow.
The flames solidified into shape.
Fire formed into a bow gripped in his left hand.
He placed the Crimson Dagger atop it.
The flames swallowed the blade, burning fiercely.
‘Forward motion… and explosion.’
Like painting, he layered his thoughts.
Imagination—image—was the most important factor when using traits.
Especially for magic-adjacent traits like ignition.
The stronger the image, the more versatile and powerful the trait became.
Then—
KWAANG—!
The flaming bow exploded exactly as imagined.
The Crimson Dagger shot forward like an arrow—
no,
more like a missile.
A shell propelled by fire.
Then—
“……!!”
It pierced straight through Kim Jongsoo’s abdomen.
A strike aimed to avoid instant death.
The blade tore flesh and organs apart.
Fire exploded again beyond the wound—
“……!!”
A dark crimson trail was carved across the cloudless sky.
Moments later—
Kim Jongsoo crashed back down.
He smashed through the ceiling of an abandoned building.
“Guh…!”
The Crimson Dagger remained lodged in his abdomen, flames still pouring out.
Kim Jongsoo gasped, face contorted in pain.
Step—
Perhaps thanks to Swift Feet—
Lee Jeonseok quickly caught up and approached him.
A pitch-dark abandoned factory.
Motionless rails.
Between them—
Kim Jongsoo lay bleeding.
‘What… what happened…?’
Kim Jongsoo tried to steady his fading consciousness.
The world spun.
Memories fractured.
Pain surged from his abdomen.
“Kh…!”
He tried to rise, failed, and collapsed again.
Then—
“I’ll ask three questions first.”
A voice echoed.
In the darkness, crimson pupils bloomed and fixed on him.
Like standing before a massive serpent—an imugi.
‘I-I… Lee Jeonseok…!’
Kim Jongsoo whispered the monster’s name.
Immediately—
“Aaagh!”
The monster raised his right foot and stomped down on the dagger’s hilt.
The blade dug deeper into his organs.
Blood poured endlessly.
Flames seared his insides.
An unbroken chain of agony.
“S-Stop… please… stop…!”
Finally, Kim Jongsoo screamed.
At the pleading figure, the monster—Lee Jeonseok—smiled cruelly.
“Relax. If you answer properly, I’ll kill you painlessly.”
Kim Jongsoo couldn’t even respond.
Fear of death.
Agony of pain.
The desire to live and the wish to die tangled together.
“First.”
Lee Jeonseok spoke coldly.
“Tell me everything Choi Seungcheol is planning.”
“Guh…!”
Lee Jeonseok lifted his foot off the dagger.
Kim Jongsoo breathed a little easier.
“Th-the young master… plans to kill… Choi Eunha…”
“How?”
“I-I don’t know the details…”
“You should.”
The threat was clear.
Panicking, Kim Jongsoo blurted—
“I-I did hear something…!”
“Say it.”
“Cough—!”
Spitting blood, he continued.
“He said… ‘She ruined my plan, so she deserves punishment.’”
Punishment.
Lee Jeonseok understood immediately.
‘Of course. He always hated his plans falling apart.’
Right now, Choi Seungcheol was probably grinding his teeth—
thinking how to kill Lee Jeonseok and Choi Eunha.
But—
‘He won’t kill her quickly. He’ll want her to suffer.’
That was why he ordered surveillance instead of assassination.
He wanted to push her to the brink—
and watch her die in despair.
A form of venting rage.
“Second.”
Lee Jeonseok continued.
“Where is Choi Seungcheol now?”
“……”
Kim Jongsoo clamped his mouth shut.
“So you still call him your master.”
Meaningless.
“Can’t be helped.”
Lee Jeonseok pulled the dagger free.
Gush—
“Guh…”
Blood poured out.
Then—
Fwoosh—
“Aaaaargh!!”
Lee Jeonseok ignited the wound.
The dying flame flared violently once more.
“I-I’ll talk! I’ll talk, just stop—!”
Unable to endure the pain, Kim Jongsoo screamed.
“H-He’s in Jeju Island…!”
Jeju Island.
Lee Jeonseok recalled his past life.
That bastard had a villa there.
‘So he’s been hiding there since then.’
It made sense.
Having tried to kill Choi Eunha, he’d made enemies among other heirs as well.
Only his closest aides knew the villa’s exact location.
Even in his previous life, Lee Jeonseok had struggled to find it.
But now—
it didn’t matter.
He already knew.
What mattered was—
‘How Choi Seungcheol will act.’
Two assassins lost.
Repeated failures.
Once that became known, his position would waver.
Not fatally—
but the timing was bad.
Internal power struggles within Hwasan were peaking.
Other heirs would seize any chance to tear him down.
So Choi Seungcheol would have no choice but to lie low.
He wouldn’t leave Jeju for a while.
‘Thanks to Choi Eunha, this became easy.’
What should have taken half a month was resolved far sooner.
Maybe he should thank her later.
“Now, the third and final question—”
Lee Jeonseok reversed his grip on the dagger.
Ready to strike Kim Jongsoo’s neck at any moment.
Then—
“Guh—?!”
Suddenly, Kim Jongsoo vomited blood violently.
Not just that—
blood gushed from his eyes, nose, and ears.
‘This is…’
Lee Jeonseok frowned.
Blood poured from every orifice.
A familiar sensation washed over him.
A thick, suffocating stench of death.
‘Don’t tell me—’
He knew.
Kim Jongsoo’s condition.
The flow of mana.
The warning screaming from instinct.
All memories aligned.
‘…Gokdok (蠱毒).’
No doubt.
A trait that used a parasite implanted in the body as a detonator—
triggering a massive explosion.
And it was activating now.
‘I didn’t expect Hwasan to recruit him already.’
Lee Jeonseok clicked his tongue and stepped back.
Unexpected—
but not shocking.
He had never believed the world would follow his memories perfectly.
If it had been that easy, he wouldn’t have fallen into hell.
That was why—
even now, he calmly assessed the situation.
‘Time left… about ten seconds.’
Kim Jongsoo’s body twisted grotesquely.
He’d lost consciousness long ago.
There was no saving him.
Even if he survived, it wouldn’t matter.
Gokdok detonated using the host’s body as fuel.
True, given Kim Jongsoo’s low rank, the explosion’s power and range would be limited—
but—
‘In my current state, that’s still dangerous.’
Decision made instantly.
Lee Jeonseok ignited his entire body.
Dark crimson flames wrapped around him.
“Skel!”
At his call, Skel appeared.
The summon instantly understood his intent.
“My king…!”
Danger.
Protect.
[Skel activates Gigantification.]
Skel’s body rapidly expanded.
He threw himself over Kim Jongsoo.
Crude.
But effective.
The explosion’s power would be reduced.
Meanwhile—
Tap—!
Lee Jeonseok sprinted out of the factory at full speed.
‘Cutting it close?’
He glanced back.
Light flickered between Skel’s massive body.
The explosion was imminent.
No time left to run.
‘Remaining mana… 7.’
Not enough.
But—
if it’s lacking, replenish it.
Lee Jeonseok pulled out a mana potion and drank it.
Then glanced back into the factory.
The flickering accelerated.
That meant—
it was about to happen.
Lee Jeonseok didn’t hesitate.
He expelled all his mana outward.
Mana seeped from his skin into the air.
Blue particles mixed with flame, encasing him.
A high-level technique known as Manifestation.
Mana and fire solidified into a barrier—
‘It’s coming…!’
A final flash—
━━━━!!
A massive explosion tore through the inside of the abandoned factory.
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