Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Return
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Ghost of Katabi.
It had been a long time since he'd heard that name.
Besides Kang Hyuk, it was the other name attached to him as he carved through countless corpses.
- When night falls, the ghost comes. Those marked for death perish without even knowing what struck them.
That was why they called him a ghost.
Unlike those who moved in groups, he operated alone.
He never launched reckless assaults in broad daylight.
He struck when the enemy felt safest, when they thought no one would dare attack.
It was usually in the dead of night, shrouded in thick darkness, where he was invincible.
"Is this the place you fled to, of all places?"
He looked at the man addressing him.
The man's face was hidden behind a mask, but the voice was familiar.
"You have no idea how long I've searched for you. Ghost who dyed Katabi in blood!"
He stared at the man howling with resentment toward him.
Seeing that he didn't recognize him, the man tore off his mask.
A deep scar marred the man's face.
"Not a single day have I forgotten that moment. Every night, this scar throbs!"
"And yet."
"…?"
"Who are you?"
"Wha…!?"
Even after removing the mask, the man's face flushed red with rage at not being recognized.
It wasn't intentional provocation.
He'd simply killed too many assassins.
No amount of scars or mask removal would jog his memory.
"Looks like your broken body has rotted your mind too."
Ouch.
A wrecked body.
Not pleasant to hear, but undeniable truth.
The pinnacle of Katabi.
He hadn't held that position for long.
The accumulated damage from countless battlefields and mountains of corpses had worn his body down rapidly.
If only he'd had Yin Force.
Yin Force wasn't just for Assassin Arts.
It was an energy that enveloped the entire body.
It protected against combat damage or neutralized harmful effects from specific arts.
But he had none.
His body's ruin was inevitable.
Without Yin Force, his only recovery was rest and bandages. Against various enemy arts, he endured through sheer toughness.
- Hyuk, without Yin Force, you need more rest than anyone after battle. Recover fully before the next fight.
His Master had warned him constantly, as it was expected.
If only he'd listened.
Not deliberate defiance.
Circumstances didn't allow it.
Fights ended, then resumed after hours at best, minutes at worst.
Did he create the situations, or did they form around him? Memory blurred.
He fought without fully healing from enemy arts, accelerating his collapse.
"I don't know who you are, but you're one of them."
He spoke to the trembling man.
"Cowards who cower when I'm strong, then bare fangs when I weaken a bit."
"…!"
He never thought the survivors would hide forever.
It was a world of kill or be killed, survival of the fittest.
He knew they'd strike when weak.
He'd just underestimated their venom and grudge.
- A poison that works slowly. Accumulates in tiny doses, hastening bodily ruin.
They didn't wait for natural decline.
Constant assassination attempts, unknowingly poisoning him.
With Yin Force, he'd have detected and expelled it.
In hindsight, so futile.
With Yin Force, no collapse or pathetic poisoning.
Thus, his body crumbled, fleeing enemies to this mountainside.
A pathetic end for one at the peak.
"Hoo!"
The man's furious face gradually calmed.
No point raging at a dead man.
"Ghost of Katabi, Kang Hyuk. Any last words?"
He gazed at the enemies before him.
"How about, 'Hurry up so my departed Master won't feel lonely'?"
"Kehkeh!"
His lips bit involuntarily at the mocking laughter from the side.
And then.
He tried not to dwell, but a memory he must never forget surfaced.
Shwaaaah--!
Rain poured.
A torrent so fierce visibility was zero.
"Haa…!"
He climbed the mountain madly through the downpour.
- Fetch these items from here.
On Master's errand, he'd left the mountain for days.
Returning leisurely after completion.
- Goodness, what brings all these top assassin groups to this remote village?
- Indeed. Elites from every nation gathered.
Villagers' conversation chilled him to the bone.
He bolted upon hearing it.
A path that shouldn't wind him, yet breath failed.
"Please…!"
A word he'd never uttered escaped.
Desperate plea.
For nothing to have happened.
For Master to greet him smiling as always.
Climbing with uncharacteristic prayer.
"You… back?"
Master leaned against a rock, greeting him.
Wounds fatal, yet Yin Force kept him clinging.
"…."
Grinding teeth.
Rage boiled from deep within, scorching thoughts.
Attacking a man whose body was failing…!!
Master's body crumbled.
Despite superior Yin Force, he let it, atonement for kills.
"Put away that ghostly face… come here."
Mind filled with rage at his killers, he suppressed it and approached.
Smooth.
Lowering close, Master smiled warmly.
"Good… at least I see your face before going."
Head near bursting from heat, he endured.
Master's final moments.
"Won't say don't go. Useless anyway."
Tight grip.
He clasped Master's limp hand.
Fading pulse through touch.
"Just… if you go, become strongest. Reach the peak."
Master caught breath, raised hand with warm smile.
"That way…."
Warm hand on his face.
As Master's breath weakened.
He leaned in, embracing.
"You said… you wouldn't die…."
After burying Master's body on the mountain.
He ascended the peak, overlooking Katabi, organizing thoughts.
- Not for revenge.
Master atoned even as body failed.
No blood for Master's vengeance.
Only one reason for blood in Katabi henceforth.
- To become strongest, claim the peak.
Thus, he descended, entering Katabi's nations.
Reached the peak.
No end to bloodwinds.
Four years since descent.
Days dyed red continuously.
He roamed Katabi, fighting all comers.
Innumerable battles.
Leading to current plight.
"…."
Long abandoned will to live as it worsened.
What point prolonging this wreck?
But.
Enraging to die leaving them.
Reached peak, yet unfinished kills.
"Listen well to my words."
Glanced at cliff behind.
Dizzying height; even master Body Technique meant death.
"I'll return someday."
"…?"
Unrealistic.
Irreparable body, no survival or return.
But.
He wanted to return somehow.
Reborn after death, crawl from hell's bottom—survive, kill them.
"Return and tear apart everything you cherish."
"Madman delusional to the end!"
Step.
Foot to cliff edge.
"Wait."
Final words.
Leapt off.
"!!"
Kideros, who brought the execution squad to catch the ghost, rushed to the cliff.
Kang Hyuk's sudden leap.
Caught off-guard by bizarre last words.
"Scouts! Check the base of the cliff!"
"Yes!"
Several assassins approached.
Specialized in distant detection.
They cupped eyes, deploying arts.
Kiiing…!
Blue spells from eyes illuminated below.
Abyssal depth, but skilled enough for traces.
"Nothing!"
"What? There should be a body! Scanned to the bottom?"
At Kideros's words, rescan.
Assassin shook head.
"N-no… no corpse."
Unbelievable; Kideros frowned.
That body from this height—no survival.
Yet wanted visual confirmation.
"Lord Kideros, he's dead. How could he survive that drop with broken legs?"
"River below swept the body. Or beasts took it."
"It's over. We got the ghost!"
Assassins clapped Kideros's shoulder.
Logical.
But illogical unease gnawed Kideros.
- Wait.
Kang Hyuk's final word filled his mind.
'Over… worry.'
Gazing below, Kideros turned away.
Plip plip plop!
Ugh.
Rain on face.
Familiar sensation; slowly opened eyes.
What… didn't die?
Impossible.
Sheer cliff.
Body unable proper landing.
Smooth.
Calmed pounding head, rose slowly.
…!
Unfamiliar yet familiar place.
15 years ago.
Daily haunt.
Seoul…?
Spot where, sans rift to Katabi, he'd have fallen.
Skull cracked, no waking, though.
- Zzzt!
Memory flashed.
After "wait" and leap.
Static in ears, sucked somewhere.
Same as 15 years prior.
Faded memory, young age, but unforgettable first sensation.
Rift from Seoul to Katabi.
Now reversed.
Why now…? Pointless.
Experienced before; no pondering trigger.
Crack.
"Kuh…!"
Wrecked body gifted agony.
Lucky…?
Survived inevitable death.
But blessing or curse, this state?
Nothing functional.
Plus, Seoul after 15+ years absence.
Shwaaaah…!
What now?
No answers.
Resigned to die in cabin, yet survived again.
Ah.
Midst pondering fortune/misfortune.
- So my departed Master won't feel lonely.
Enemy's words recalled.
Mocking Master's death, cackling assassins.
Weak thoughts, Kang Hyuk.
No clear path.
But shuttled Seoul-Katabi and back.
Way back surely exists.
Survive.
Forced legs through pain, stood.
No immediate plan, but survive first.
Then payback.
Stagger.
As tottering fully upright.