The battle began in earnest, with fewer than 10 seconds passing.
Sweat trickled down Greyfer’s temple; he had prepared for the battle with a somewhat relaxed mind.
“…….”
Kang-hoo’s location was indeterminable.
He planned to use his long-range advantage, persistently sniping at the enemy before they could get close.
However, the plan went awry from the outset.
Kang-hoo alternated between illusion techniques and Shadow Step, confusing Greyfer’s vision.
Even with his vision expanded and enhanced, he couldn’t distinguish the real Kang-hoo from the illusions.
There seemed to be at least three identical Kang-hoos. He was lost in thought, trying to decide where to shoot as time swiftly passed.
In battle, every moment involves continuous choices that must be made quickly.
The more he thought, the faster the enemy moved and approached.
But Greyfer had given Kang-hoo too much time due to his hesitation.
Bang!
This isn’t to say he didn’t pull the trigger.
He fired a precise shot at what he believed was the real target—a powerful magic bullet.
Kang-hoo, prepared for such a situation, used a rapid evasion skill and flattened himself on the ground to dodge it.
It was a wise precaution.
Unfortunately for Greyfer, his sniper shot was aimed at an illusion, piercing emptily through the air.
‘A gunner and an assassin are indeed natural enemies.’
Kang-hoo, having closed the distance, was at ease.
The one who panicked was Greyfer.
Accustomed to long-range sniping, he needed to refocus even at close range.
In FPS games, sometimes one must have the sense to snipe without aiming.
Regrettably,
Greyfer, who served as a middle boss in a level 110 dungeon, lacked such skill.
Even with Kang-hoo right in front of him, he sadly had to aim before pulling the trigger.
Thus, Kang-hoo easily inflicted vision theft and a shallow chaos on him.
If Greyfer had maintained his composure, he might not have fallen so pathetically to the combination of these two skills.
Greyfer’s eyes filled with panic as Kang-hoo approached with surprising speed.
He couldn’t even keep a poker face, making him easy prey.
After a lateral movement, Kang-hoo meticulously slashed Greyfer with subsequent attacks.
The moment a dagger embedded in his neck, his fate was virtually sealed.
It was only a matter of how he would die.
Whoosh!
Ultimately, along with Blood Flower, he met a gruesome end, his body spouting a fountain of blood.
[The following skills can be stolen from the target activated by Plunder.]
[Precise Aim]
Skill plunder was successful.
Precise Aim.
It’s like a telescopic effect.
A very helpful skill for wanting to see a specific target in greater magnification and high resolution.
For the assassin class, which primarily conducts stealth attacks, it’s a skill that perfectly scratches the itch.
Being able to observe an opponent from a considerable distance, its utility becomes boundless as it is used.
“The start is good.”
With a satisfied expression, Kang-hoo moved on.
His condition was excellent, and there was no need to catch his breath or rest. He was determined to rush through to the final section.
A while later.
“I guess they created a boss monster to induce guilt.”
Kang-hoo, having reached the main boss area without any major incidents, now faced the final boss.
The main boss monster, Saemi.
A boss monster with the appearance of a child, specialized in psychic attacks.
The gender or age of the monster isn’t significant.
However, the brief guilt felt when facing a childlike monster is a consideration.
In fact, the original story often used elderly, female, and infantile boss monsters to evoke psychological dilemmas and shake the protagonist Jang Si-hwan.
With fond memories of his grandparents who had raised him, Jang Si-hwan in the original story once refrained from attacking an elderly-type monster.
I recalled that episode received hundreds of angry comments, which led to major revisions.
Anyway, Saemi was undoubtedly designed to provoke an attacker’s guilt.
It bore the exact appearance of a carefree seven-year-old child, replete with a bright smile.
“Just need to think about it differently.”
Kang-hoo thought simply.
Regardless of the bosses’ appearances, their primary goal was to kill him.
If you don’t want to die, you have to kill. It was a simple judgment, not based on appearance.
Pop!
He engaged in combat immediately.
The skill Kang-hoo intended to steal from Saemi was ‘Hallucination’.
It created illusions or sensations that didn’t exist, leading to confusion.
Essentially, Kang-hoo’s immediate concern was Saemi’s hallucinatory attacks.
“The response is simple.”
Mental attacks were known to be the hardest to counter, often avoided by hunters.
But Kang-hoo was different.
In the original setting, there was a simple and intuitive way to counter hallucinations.
That was, if you were already immersed in greater delusions than those induced by the hallucinations.
For example, imagining Lee Ye-rin nude or Han Seo-yeon corrupted and decadent.
Such thoughts, unlikely in normal circumstances, could be drawn up from the subconscious.
In this way, Saemi’s hallucinations wouldn’t create significant mental disturbance or unpredictability.
Hallucinations meant nothing to someone already lost in delusion.
“Ee-ing?”
Was that the reason?
In most cases, the target would have been quickly disoriented by the hallucination, becoming an easy victim.
But Saemi was surprised to see her opponent closing the distance rapidly, without any significant change in his expression.
‘This dungeon’s boss has many naive aspects. If the best plan fails, move to the next best.’
It was pitiful.
Typically, the first attack affected the opponent effectively.
This meant the initial method always worked, eliminating the need to consider other options.
Even if various strategies had been considered in the past, they became blunt over time.
Just like with the middle boss Greyfer earlier, and now with Saemi.
As her attempt to induce hallucinations failed completely, Saemi’s gaze wavered.
“Ah…!”
Finally, Saemi hastily resorted to a lethal skill for protection.
Kang-hoo hadn’t expected to approach Saemi easily.
He was more focused on how quickly he could force her to use her ‘important’ card.
It happened within the first 10 seconds of the battle.
In a card game analogy, it was like losing a poker face right at the start.
From the opponent’s perspective, it was either a quick fold or a plan stripped down to the end.
Doo-doo-doo-doo!
Saemi started spinning in place.
When a boss monster specializing in psychic attacks displayed such strange behavior, there was a reason behind it.
It was part of the process and means of attack.
However, Kang-hoo didn’t slow down his approach to Saemi.
Because that’s what Saemi wanted. Creating distance or dodging would give her time.
Then, Saemi would press harder with even stronger mental attacks.
It was likely that simple delusions wouldn’t be enough to withstand them then.
In short, he had to finish the fight before Saemi could learn from the first outcome and produce an improved second response.
At that moment.
Whoosh!
‘An acid sphere, perhaps?’
A greenish sphere was launched from Saemi.
To anyone, it looked filled with poison and acid.
He easily dodged it with rapid evasion.
Dodging a single sphere was easier than eating cold soup.
But then.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
‘No way?’
This time, two spheres were launched.
So, he completely moved away from his original position to dodge them.
They seemed to be launched, predicting Kang-hoo’s lateral movements, and maintaining a certain distance apart.
The attack continued.
And then.
‘What kind of nonsense is this?’
He couldn’t help but laugh.
This time, there were four.
It felt like playing a shooting game, having to dodge while carefully managing his range of movement.
He actively used illusion techniques and Shadow Step.
It seemed he needed to switch places with shadows often.
By making it hard to pinpoint the target with illusions, he could use more space.
Eight. Sixteen.
Then thirty-two. Sixty-four!
Saemi’s attacks demanded extreme evasion skills, but Kang-hoo avoided them all.
It was a victory of skill and senses he had diligently honed.
Without a doubt, if he had lacked even one skill, he would likely be visiting the afterlife by now.
Anyway, breaking through the gap, Kang-hoo succeeded in stabbing Saemi as he intended.
Saemi, engrossed in her attack, was hit without realizing Kang-hoo was close.
“You should focus on these acid attacks rather than psychic ones.”
“Keuk…”
With Kang-hoo’s sincere advice(?), Saemi’s life ended.
Fortunately, he avoided the attack, but had he failed, even Kang-hoo couldn’t guarantee his safety.
Thick sweat drops on his back vividly displayed the tension of each moment.
[You have reached Level 49.]
Now at Level 49.
Next time in the dungeon, reaching Level 50 seemed certain.
A new basic skill was added.
As always, he invested bonus points in health.
For the sake of the ‘Soulmate’ gloves, which scale with health, he planned to continue investing in health.
He checked his stats.
It had been a long time since he scrutinized them so carefully.
[Shin Kang-hoo Lv. 49]
[Class: Assassin]
[Unique Talent: Quite Strong Main Force / Exceptionally Excellent Dynamic Vision]
[Strength 120] [Agility 85]
[Health 438] [Magic Power 20]
[Anti-Magic 45] [Toughness 70]
“Good. With full health, I can withstand mana hypersensitivity for at least 7 minutes.”
With increased health, his body could now withstand mana hypersensitivity for longer periods.
Although his mana storage was limited, supply was not a concern, thanks to hypersensitivity.
The real issue wasn’t supply, but the body’s inability to cope with the rapid influx of mana.
“That’s an issue of endurance, to be calmed with potions like Solarkium.”
His health was certainly high.
For a Level 50 hunter, even one who prioritized health, 200 was considered exceptional.
Acquiring decent items at this level was very challenging.
Most hunters focused on easier, lower-level dungeons rather than attempting to solo more difficult ones.
However, thanks to his solid foundation and significant earnings, he could afford an equipment setup beyond imagination.
At this point, he might as well be considered Level 100, perhaps even 130. Possibly even higher.
In that instant—
“Setting aside skill plunder, there’s another windfall.”
Kang-hoo gazed at the mana stone dropped by Saemi and smiled with satisfaction.
The reward coaxed an involuntary smile to his lips.