The Genius Assassin Who Does It All Himself - Chapter 223



Only Noblemtl

Episode 223 Encounter (3)

* * *

That’s how my meeting with the two people from the Purification Guild ended.

As Kang-hoo had thought, perhaps because it was their first meeting, the two of them did not move actively anymore.

He probably received some guidance from Jang Si-hwan. He told him not to be too humble.

‘You’ll definitely have your eyes on me.’

You can guess.

Jang Si-hwan has a meticulous personality.

It is shaped like that.

There is always a plan B and a plan C behind plan A. The same is true when dealing with people.

If you have never had any contact with Jang Si-hwan up until now, you might not think about it.

But, whether by chance or fate, I developed a connection with Jang Si-hwan in many ways.

That’s what happened at the observatory, and that’s what happened when we encountered the Golden Goblin in the mine.

Furthermore, he has a record of participating in the Hell of Judgement conquest, where he personally recruited external personnel.

Here, an assassin who acquired a hidden skill appears.

Of course, he wasn’t the only assassin who was a suspect. There were also assassins from China at the time.

However, the mere fact that he is on the ‘line’ of suspicion is enough to attract the attention of Jang Si-hwan, who is cautious about everything.

‘It’s going to be two tracks. Definitely.’

Gong Yoo-seok and Go Joo-hee are the approaches of ‘light’. And there will also be the approach of ‘darkness’ that cannot be seen.

So I had no intention of letting my guard down.

In order for the original author to surpass the protagonist he created, he needs the wisdom to think beyond that.

After finishing the meeting with the Purification Guild.

After saying goodbye to Lee Ye-rin, who had left first due to mercenary work, over the phone, I went outside.

I was thinking about going to Daejeon Station, finding a safe hotel run directly by the Cheongan Mercenary Corps, and stopping by a bar when I got a phone call.

‘Majinho? What’s going on?’

It was Marginho of the Gru Guild.

“Yes, this is Shin Kang-hoo.”

– Hello. My name is Marjinho from the Gru Guild. Do you remember me?

“Of course.”

– If it’s okay, may I meet with our guild master and vice guild master?

“Are you saying that the three of you will come to see me? I would like to hear your business first.”

– There is no grand reason. The two of you just want to see Shin Kang-hoo.

If you say two people, you’re probably talking about Oh Yu-jin and Oh Hye-jin. I know they’re quite capable prosecutors.

In fact, in the original, the Gru Guild was a Jeju Island-based guild that held a neutral position, and that was it.

Since it was not a factor that influenced Jang Si-hwan positively or negatively, it was not dealt with in depth.

Sisters Oh Yu-jin and Oh Hye-jin run the guild, and Ma Jin-ho takes care of the dirty work. And they maintain strict neutrality.

This was exactly the issue that the Gru Guild dealt with in the original work. They were not interested in any place other than Jeju Island.

Of course, that was the original story, and there’s no guarantee that it will still be like that now.

Because the life of a person named Shin Kang-hu has completely changed. The butterfly effect is occurring knowingly or unknowingly.

“Where would you like to go?”

– We will go to where you are. We are here to see you, so there is no need to move around in a difficult way.

“Then please come to Daejeon Station.”

– Okay, I understand. I’m sorry for contacting you so suddenly and for having to make a hasty schedule.

“it’s okay.”

– Then I will leave a message as soon as I get my arrival time.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Kang-hoo hung up the phone.

The purpose of coming to the Gru Guild was obvious. It was probably to recruit or make friends.

The atmosphere is not good these days. This is because the world is suffering from a shortage of assassins.

From Kang-hoo’s perspective, who had no need to hire a bleeding dealer, the existence of bleeding wasn’t really anything special.

Because it was something that came so naturally to me, I couldn’t help but feel regretful about maintaining the bleeding even when playing solo.

However, most hunters do not have the option to maintain bleeding, and their desire is greater than expected.

Especially as the importance of bleeding increases as you go up to higher and top-tier hunters, demand has also skyrocketed.

Didn’t the Ricou Guild immediately request Kang-hoo to help clear a dungeon that requires a bleeding dealer?

‘If you want to increase the ransom, it would be a good idea to increase the options related to bleeding.’

I felt the need to strengthen skills or link options related to bleeding.

I have more than enough now, but if I had been content with that, I wouldn’t have lived so fiercely.

The image of ‘eating everything by himself’, which has become Kang-hoo’s identity at some point, has also become Kang-hoo’s goal.

‘There was a Warlock skill that added a bleeding option to the servants. If you use this… …you might be able to link it to the Shadow of the Shadow Step, which is treated as a conditional servant.’

Thinking expands.

The problem is obtaining the key ‘skill book’, but it is not an impossible task if you put your mind to it.

The problem is that this skill book is in North Korea.

‘It’s North Korea.’

Even for Kang-hoo, who knows a lot, the most difficult and unknown world where information is lacking.

He bit his lip and let out a hollow laugh, feeling as if the northern land was constantly tempting him.

As my greed grew… … it seemed like I would have to go back and forth to Ground Zero North more often.

* * *

A bar near Daejeon Station.

I didn’t go to a specific place, I just picked a bar in the busiest area and went there.

I chose this place because there were quite a few guards around, so I felt like I could drink there with peace of mind.

As soon as we entered, Kang-hoo, who had taken the seat furthest from the bar entrance, habitually called out the menu.

Because a bartender happened to be walking towards me.

“A glass of Solarkyum Burst.”

“Yes! Solar Ki-um Bur… … Huh? Wait a minute! Are we meeting again?”

“hmm?”

I turned my head, wondering if they were going to do some unnecessary construction work on a first-time customer.

There was someone I was really meeting again right in front of me. It was Benny.

I saw you at Club Hades before, and I met you there when I went to Pyeongtaek too.

“I came back to Daejeon because I couldn’t make any money in Pyeongtaek! This was my original home ground!”

“Ah. So you went and came back.”

“Here we are again! They say that when coincidences repeat, they become destiny. Isn’t this fate for us?”

“Then I’ll buy you the cocktail you want to drink.”

“Uh… … That’s it? What, there’s no romantic line like ‘fated love’ or anything like that?”

“doesn’t exist.”

“Tch. Anyway, it’s nice to see you again! I’m working hard with the Cheong-an Mercenary Corps watching over me!”

The first place I met Benny was Club Hades.

Eclipse’s image can’t be good after the accident that devastated the club.

Perhaps that was the reason he left Daejeon and went to Pyeongtaek for a while.

But there must have been someone who called him, and he must have returned because he had the stable support of the Cheong-an mercenary unit.

Thanks to this, my mouth is no longer bored.

Kang-hoo bought Benny a cocktail and added an information fee to the price.

“Oh my! This cocktail comes with conversation tips, so you don’t have to give them to me separately.”

“Then should I take it?”

“No, no! That’s not it! That’s true, but I’m just saying that I’ll use it well. Haha.”

Benny’s eyes, smiling bashfully, scan the number of bills Kang-hoo handed over, following his capitalist instinct.

Kang-hoo knows.

These bartenders are willing to give out more sophisticated and confidential information in proportion to the amount of money they are paid.

You can’t blindly trust the bartender’s information, but it’s definitely worth paying for and the entertainment it provides.

And Benny had a high level of trust in the information he had given earlier. So didn’t he have some fun with it?

But after a while.

Benny returned the money he had just received and took out a Solarium Burst of a slightly different color.

I wondered what he was working so hard on in a place where Kang-hoo’s eyes couldn’t reach, and then the color changed.

“First of all, this is Cherry Blossom Solarium Burst! Try it once, and if you don’t like it, I’ll give you the original.”

“I think you played a weird prank.”

“Would you think differently if you tried it? If you just drink Solar Ki-um Burst, it tastes a bit weird, right?”

“Okay. But why the money?”

“I’ll just… … accept your heart. I’ve never had a customer who would give me this much money so readily.”

“Are you not satisfied with the amount?”

“No! I will really accept your heart. Please think of me as living today because I am happy!”

Kang-hoo put the money he received back into his pocket.

Since I didn’t think he would accept it if I gave it to him directly, I planned to leave it at the counter when I left.

Benny took a sip of the cocktail Kang-hoo had bought him and continued speaking with moist lips.

“There are a lot of interesting stories in Daejeon these days. It’s about Eclipse, and it’s about the hierarchy above Kang Dong-hyun. Have you ever heard of it?”

“Isn’t that a rumor that you can’t be sure whether it exists or not?”

“That’s a well-known fact. It’s said that one of the first or second in the hierarchy is a foreigner.”

“Is there a first or second place?”

“There could be both, or there could be only one. Either way, if there are, then they are both foreign hunters.”

“So, is this what you’re saying about Kang Dong-hyun being the president of Pants?”

“that’s right.”

The eclipse in the original work is a case of natural disintegration.

Because after the Purification Guild declared war on crime, Eclipse’s money supply completely dried up.

Criminal organizations tend to operate on the basis of huge amounts of money, and when the money supply is cut off, they cannot survive.

There was no further discussion about Kang Dong-hyun’s movements after that.

So there is absolutely no way to know whether there was a foreign hunter behind them or not.

“If it’s true that foreign hunters are much higher in rank, then Kang Dong-hyun is also just a toy.”

“Isn’t it fun?”

“Where did you hear that?”

“From a hunter who was in Eclipse and then left. To be exact, I stole it rather than heard it directly?”

It’s a story that’s too heavy to just dismiss as a rumor. Of course, it’s not a story that you can believe unconditionally.

Sounds plausible.

That’s the charm of the mysterious stories bartenders tell their customers.

70% of the story is false, but 30% of it is true, which is why it is interesting to listen to.

When Kang-hoo’s eyes, which were cold at first, began to shine brightly unlike usual, Benny continued talking excitedly.

“And speaking of the Black Lion, this is something that the executive himself told me!”

“That sounds fun.”

“I heard that the Black Lion has been doing a lot of facility maintenance these days and putting a lot of effort into recruiting outside hunters?”

“They already set up a lot of booths around Daejeon Station.”

“Yes. That was a deal where a large amount of capital came in from Russia. I think they received a large investment.”

“You don’t know where it is?”

“Yes, I don’t know about that. I heard that in return, they sold part of the mining rights to one of the magic stone mines.”

“I don’t know who that executive is, but he seems to be so loose with his words that he seems to fly.”

“He’s a braggart, haha.”

Is it just my imagination that the Kashmar Guild naturally comes to mind when Benny talks about Russian capital?

Of course, we can’t completely trust what Benny says.

But, to dismiss it as a ridiculous story to be used as a side dish, there were quite a few aspects of it that fit the current situation.

In particular, the relationship between Eclipse and Kang-hoo was a perfect bad relationship from the beginning, so it was inevitable that they would be nervous.

A story about the hidden backgrounds of two Daejeon-based organizations that were not covered in the original.

I wondered what was hidden behind the veil.

What if Kang Dong-hyun is not the top and the end of Eclipse?

The scale of the ill-fated relationship that will develop in the future may become even larger than it is now.

Gulp- gulp-.

I drank the cocktail in one gulp as my thoughts deepened.

‘Cherry Blossom’ Solarium Burst. Tastes better than expected.