“Hmm.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It seems I got scratched somewhere.”
The mood, which had been quickly heating up, took a brief pause due to the pain Kang-hoo felt in his wrist.
It felt as though he was pricked by something sharp.
However, Kang-hoo, with a face that seemed to say there was nothing to worry about, softly enveloped Jin Hyo-young’s lips once again.
He realized that paradoxically, the less there was any feeling of love, the more one could immerse themselves in physical contact.
It’s as if… being able to treat the other person like a soulless doll made any action feel less burdensome, perhaps?
From the moment Kang-hoo met Jin Hyo-young, he knew she did not approach him with pure intentions.
He reached out to her first today to draw out the mastermind hiding behind her.If it were merely to prevent danger, he would not have met her in the first place, since he had figured out her purpose.
But having already seen through her, he wanted to see what was behind that.
Even though he had never seen Jin Hyo-young’s skill, he could guess her abilities in advance.
Thanks to the Constellation Scan.
【Dream Demon】
【When you directly kill a target induced into a sleep state with a skill, you permanently gain 10 magic power.
This can be done up to 100 times, after which Dream Demon provides a special bonus of advancing to a new stage.】
【Heart Demon】
【Gives twice the enhanced feeling of fear to enemies or monsters who are afraid of the contractor.
Mental attacks from enemies who fear the contractor are completely neutralized against the contractor.】
From the start, after seeing Jin Hyo-young’s constellation, he judged that she would have abilities related to sleep.
Abilities related to inducing sleep are as varied as any other skill.
However, Kang-hoo presumed she wouldn’t possess a high-level skill, given that her main constellations were two.
For instance, a skill that directly subdues the mind and induces a sleep state.
Such a skill would only be achievable for a sufficiently skilled hunter, with Yu Cheonghwa being a prime example.
However, Jin Hyo-young wasn’t at that level and seemed to rely on tools or items to induce sleep.
That must have been the ‘pricking’ sensation when Kang-hoo and Jin Hyo-young, intertwined, entered the room.
Through that injury, Jin Hyo-young must have utilized her skill to induce sleep.
Indeed, at that moment, Kang-hoo too experienced a brief sensation of lethargy.
But it was a futile trick.
A 2nd-grade necklace recently bought from the market, Breath of the Rebel God, successfully neutralized the sleep poison.
“Should I play along a bit more?”
Kang-hoo pushed Jin Hyo-young onto the soft bed.
“Ah!”
Her long hair fluttered, releasing a sweet fragrance.
If not for the invisible battle of wits, it could have been a passionate night between a man and a woman…
But Kang-hoo was merely playing the part of a man consumed by lust.
Surprisingly rational. He just didn’t show it outwardly.
“Sun-kyu, were you always like this?”
“Why would I be?”
“You weren’t like this when you first saw me. You looked at me as if I was a block of wood, but now you’re so proactive?”
“How could I remain indifferent towards a pretty woman like you? Don’t waste time. It won’t work.”
“Ahh! ……Sun-kyu!”
As he roughly grasped her hands and began to savor her neck, a soft moan escaped from her.
In the process of shaping the character Shin Kang-hoo in the original work.
Even though most of the warmth of being human was taken away, he was made to be faithful to his desires.
The desire for growth.
An unyielding competitive spirit that does not want to lose.
And a fearless pursuit of primal and instinctual desires.
The desire-filled actions Kang-hoo is showing Jin Hyo-young right now are genuine.
It’s just that they contain no love. Neither party harbored love for the other. That’s all there is to it.
“Phew.”
A rough breath, steeped in instinct, burst from Kang-hoo.
Jin Hyo-young, embracing Kang-hoo with both arms, laughed with her face buried in Kang-hoo’s shoulder.
“You’re finished.”
Even with skills that could give Kang Dong-hyun a hard time, it seems inevitable in front of a woman.
“Cha So-hee. So, you said I couldn’t do it. That the world doesn’t run on strength alone.”
Jin Hyo-young had always felt a sense of inferiority towards Cha So-hee, who was secretly favored by Kang Dong-hyun.
In combat, Cha So-hee, with her exceptional skills, was always Kang Dong-hyun’s first choice of confidant.
Watching Cha So-hee, Jin Hyo-young had always wanted to surpass her at least once.
And now, that thought was becoming a reality.
Shin Kang-hoo, whom even Kang Dong-hyun couldn’t handle, was now completely enamored and about to be incapacitated.
“…Ah!”
The moment Jin Hyo-young felt Kang-hoo’s hand sneak inside her clothes, intending to add another layer to her method acting.
Swoosh!
Kang-hoo drew a dagger from within his clothing with his other hand.
The dagger quickly came to a stop right in front of Jin Hyo-young’s pupils. A slight shake downwards, and the cornea would have been ripped open, a dangerously close position.
“Speak. Who are you.”
“Sun-kyu…? What do you mean?”
Jin Hyo-young deflected, considering it could just be the typical suspicion of a hunter who doesn’t trust others easily.
However, Kang-hoo shook his head, disregarding her poorly executed sly act.
“I’ll seriously consider sparing you if you tell me who sent you.”
“…”
Have I been found out?
It doesn’t make sense.
Unless Kang Dong-hyun himself told him, all information about her level and class was camouflaged.
Her level wasn’t even 100, fitting more the setting of a scout with just a knack for running.
This setting was too mediocre to suspect someone powerful behind her.
“There won’t be a second negotiation.”
Slash!
“Aaah!”
The tip of the dagger drew a red line across her cheek.
“This face might be precious to you, but not to me. I’m someone who values my own life.”
“So what! It’ll be the same in the end!”
“…?”
“You’ll soon fall asleep! How long do you think you can keep up this arrogance? Will you?”
As she spoke, Jin Hyo-young repeatedly pricked Kang-hoo’s forearm with the ring on her left index finger.
At first, he didn’t notice, but now he saw that pressing a specific part of the ring extended a sharp needle-like part.
Probably, this was used to make a wound, and through that wound, inject the sleep-inducing effect of her skill.
Since her level wasn’t high enough, the preparation was bound to be imperfect.
“How crude.”
“Why aren’t you asleep…?”
Jin Hyo-young’s eyes wavered.
The ‘sleep poison’ she induced was supposed to make even Kang Dong-hyun unable to resist sleep.
Of course, Kang Dong-hyun would not give a chance for a wound, but if caught off guard like now, there would be no stopping it.
She had already made a wound on Kang-hoo.
And through that wound, the sleep-inducing skill ‘Cradle’s Whisper’ was injected several times.
Shouldn’t he be asleep by now?
Kang-hoo was perfectly fine.
“Trying to take the easy way out, huh?”
“…”
The moment Jin Hyo-young heard Kang-hoo’s words, a shiver ran down her spine.
Was she completely seen through from the beginning? From where did he start to know? And how did he know?
This means Plan A has failed. But fortunately, there’s a Plan B.
Just as Jin Hyo-young wriggled her body, attempting to signal the standby team outside the hotel.
Swoosh!
Kang-hoo firmly grasped Jin Hyo-young’s hand. He was attempting to teleport.
With two people, the probability becomes 50%, so depending on the outcome, Kang-hoo was planning to adjust his next move accordingly.
And then.
Pop!
“Success.”
“Huh?”
Kang-hoo and Jin Hyo-young found themselves not in the hotel in Seoul but in an entirely unexpected place: Daejeon.
The dagger at Jin Hyo-young’s neck remained poised. At any moment, her life could be snuffed out.
Jin Hyo-young gazed at the Cheong-an building sign in front of her, her expression one of disbelief.
What just happened?
Why had they suddenly moved from Seoul to Daejeon, which was quite a distance away? Could this be Kang-hoo’s doing?
“One last time. Who is behind this? Just tell me that.”
“Fuck off, you bastard!”
A harsh curse, ill-fitting of her elegant appearance, erupted from her lips.
Crrrk. Crrrrk. Crrk!
Jin Hyo-young’s blouse and skirt were ruthlessly torn apart.
At the same time, Jin Hyo-young’s entire body was enveloped in a thick, dark red shell that appeared to grow scales.
It all occurred in a blink of an eye.
The shell seamlessly encased her neck and face, forming a protective barrier without any weaknesses.
“This is an interesting ability.”
“I’ll kill you…!”
Her voice transformed.
Where previously a delicate high pitch was heard, it had now shifted to a neutral tone.
Not just her appearance, but her voice had changed as well.
Jin Hyo-young positioned herself at a safe distance from Kang-hoo.
Aware that he was an assassin, she exercised utmost caution.
Meanwhile.
【Clone Technique】
Kang-hoo summoned a clone.
It was his first time deploying it effectively in real combat.
The clone that materialized bore an uncanny resemblance to Kang-hoo, even replicating the small mole near his eye.
The Clone Technique’s hallmark is that it generates a clone as identical as the user perceives himself to be.
Had Kang-hoo been oblivious to the small mole near his eye?
Then, the mole wouldn’t have appeared on the clone. This is how inexperienced assassins often give away their clones.
However, for Kang-hoo, blessed with superior observational skills and meticulous attention to detail, this posed no issue.
“…”
Kang-hoo silently took cover behind his clone.
Jin Hyo-young then began to move, altering her course. She needed to pursue the real Kang-hoo, not the clone.
However, Kang-hoo matched his movements with the clone, changing his position as much as she changed hers.
Having a clone as a ‘wall’ in front made creating blind spots (死角) easy.
【Hundred Days Slash】
By that time, Kang-hoo was already preparing the Hundred Days Slash.
He assumed the durability of the scales Jin Hyo-young possessed seemed quite high.
Even if her offensive capabilities were lacking, if the exterior maximized defensive abilities…
It meant that ordinary physical attacks and half-hearted skills were likely to be ineffective.
Meanwhile, Jin Hyo-young had her own thoughts.
‘All I need to do is get close.’
As Kang-hoo anticipated, this exterior neutralized all attacks below a certain damage threshold.
While it rendered her skill utilization capabilities useless, it drastically increased her physical stats like strength in compensation.
In other words, it became possible to strangle or crush her opponent to death with superhuman strength.
Wham!
Jin Hyo-young charged at Kang-hoo.
She didn’t forget to defend her front by crossing her arms in an X shape in case of an attack.
Since the assassin’s typical repertoire involves approaching from the front and then moving sideways to attack from behind.
She had already completed such calculations.
She was not someone to be defeated by such low-level tactics.
Just then.
For a brief moment, Kang-hoo, who was thoroughly hidden behind the clone, locked eyes with her.
“…?”
At that moment.
Regardless of the high anti-magic resistance she had raised in preparation for battle, Jin Hyo-young felt herself falling into an illusion.
No, she was already ensnared.
Every direction was chaotically mixed like paint dissolved in water, irreversible.
‘Is this an absolute judgment?’
An ‘absolute’ judgment that pierces through all defenses and skills.
She had never imagined that Kang-hoo would possess such an advanced illusion-inducing skill.
Assassins typically possess skills befitting their profession.
Handling spatial skills like teleportation or mental skills like illusions is difficult for them.
Yet, Kang-hoo already possessed an unbelievable combination of these two skills.
This was different from the skill information gathered after Cha So-hee’s death regarding Kang-hoo.
Kang-hoo had upgraded once again.
“Sigh.”
A short sigh escaped.
At that moment, the Hundred Days Slash, unleashed from the dagger, flew through the gap created by the illusion and sliced through her waist.
It was a strike that contained everything. It wasn’t a matter of whether her exterior could withstand it or not.