Chapter 323 – Part 2 –  Assassination Order

‘A job involving killing people?’

Choi Seong-min was genuinely surprised by the unexpected order.

It wasn’t an act.

He had never dreamed that such an order would come at this timing.

That’s why he didn’t hide his thoughts.

-To think the Great Hero would give me an assassination contract…

Song Chi-hyeon could tell what Choi Seong-min was thinking without even using his ability.

It was all revealed in his expression.

“You seem surprised that I suddenly told you to kill someone.”

“Honestly, yes.”

Choi Seong-min was curious.

Who was the person Song Chi-hyeon wanted to kill?

As if reading such thoughts, Song Chi-hyeon spoke first.

“Do you want to know who I’m telling you to kill?”

“Yes.”

“Before that, I want to hear your answer first.”

“Answer?”

“You once said before. That you were confident you could do anything if I ordered it. Do you remember?”

“I remember.”

“Then I need to clarify this once more here.”

Song Chi-hyeon spoke with a deliberately solemn expression.

“Can you do anything if it’s my order? Even if it means killing an innocent person?”

Understanding the atmosphere, Choi Seong-min prostrated himself and answered in a serious voice.

“I will. I will unconditionally follow orders if it’s what you command. Even if it’s murder.”

Song Chi-hyeon showed his teeth in satisfaction at the answer without a moment’s hesitation.

It was truly a perfect answer.

“As expected, you don’t disappoint. Very good.”

Song Chi-hyeon, thinking he had chosen his subordinate well, spoke as if granting a favor.

“Originally I was only going to give the assassination order without telling you the plan, but I’ll specially trust you and let you know.”

Song Chi-hyeon, who had been speaking like that, glanced around briefly before speaking in a low voice.

“There’s a troublesome old man in the Association called Secretary Yang Baek-du. I’m planning to kill that bastard.”

“S-Secretary?”

Since he knew who Yang Baek-du was, he couldn’t help but be surprised.

Wasn’t he the real power in the Association with influence second only to Kwak Min-cheol?

But Choi Seong-min, who couldn’t show that he knew, had to pretend to be surprised for a different reason.

“Isn’t Secretary a quite high position?”

“That’s right. You could say he’s the right hand of Association President Kwak Min-cheol.”

“To assassinate such a high-ranking executive… Ah, of course I’m not saying this in opposition to the Great Hero’s will, it’s just so sudden…”

“I know. It’s like saying I’ll stab a colleague I work with in the back, so you can’t help but be surprised. But just because you work in the same place doesn’t necessarily mean you’re close. Even among Great Heroes.”

“…”

He already knew that the Great Heroes didn’t get along well with each other, but he hadn’t expected Song Chi-hyeon to be in conflict with Yang Baek-du.

“Th-then is Secretary Yang Baek-du the person I need to kill?”

“No, I’ll handle that guy myself. Even you would find it impossible to beat an A-rank hunter with 550,000 combat power.”

“Then…?”

“The one you need to kill is someone else. You know him too. Yang Jo-young.”

“Hunter Yang Jo-young?”

While Choi Seong-min was surprised, Song Chi-hyeon added an explanation.

“Yang Baek-du has two legitimate sons. The eldest Yang Jo-geon and the second Yang Jo-wi. But there’s also a third son born from his affair, and that’s the bastard Yang Jo-young.”

He had heard about the bastard part before when Song Chi-hyeon and Yang Jo-young came to recruit him.

“From what I know, Yang Baek-du adores his children. The first and second sons, that is. He seems to discriminate against the bastard Yang Jo-young… but that’s not important so let’s move on. Anyway, my plan is this.”

Song Chi-hyeon spoke in a secretive voice as if someone might overhear.

“I’m going to kidnap the two sons Yang Baek-du cherishes and lure him into a trap. The first and second sons are civilians so they’ll be easy to kidnap, but the problem is Yang Jo-young.”

“Hunter Yang Jo-young?”

“If that guy at the Association somehow hears the news and calls for support, it’ll become troublesome. Wouldn’t it be cleaner and better to only involve Yang Baek-du’s family so it doesn’t reach other people’s ears?”

“You’re absolutely right.”

“That’s why your role is important.”

“My role?”

Song Chi-hyeon told him specifically what he needed to do.

“While I’m luring Yang Baek-du in, you need to tie down Yang Jo-young’s feet. So he can’t contact the Association.”

“How…”

“Whether you deceive him by saying you want to rejoin Team Crush, or use my name to lure him outside the Association. In the meantime, I’ll be settling things with Yang Baek-du.”

It was a kind of diversionary operation.

“So I just need to keep his attention so Yang Jo-young can’t focus on other things?”

“That’s right. And when the opportunity comes…”

Song Chi-hyeon made a throat-slitting gesture.

“Kill Yang Jo-young.”

“Understood.”

Even though it was someone he knew which might have been uncomfortable, Choi Seong-min’s answer was without hesitation.

That made Song Chi-hyeon feel good.

“But will I be able to beat Hunter Yang Jo-young?”

“Yang Jo-young’s combat power is 160,000, but you’re both B-rank and you’ve become quite strong with full equipment, so if you stab him in the back when he’s defenseless, you should be able to kill him.”

“Hmm…”

“Even if you can’t kill him and only wound him, don’t worry. If you fight with the resolve for a final battle, you can overcome the combat power difference. You know, right? That the first strike is half the battle.”

“Of course.”

“Do you understand the entire operation?”

“Yes.”

It was a simple operation where Choi Seong-min would draw Yang Jo-young’s attention while Song Chi-hyeon dealt with Yang Baek-du using hostages.

“Can you do it?”

“Of course.”

“If you’re uncomfortable about killing Yang Jo-young, tell me. I can assign another subordinate even now.”

“No. Since I have a connection with Yang Jo-young compared to other subordinates, it’ll be easier for me to tie him down. Please trust me with this.”

“Hehe, good. If you had said you were uncomfortable, I would have been greatly disappointed.”

Would he have only been disappointed?

His head might have fallen off right there.

No matter how capable, a subordinate who doesn’t listen isn’t needed.

Since he had become Song Chi-hyeon’s direct subordinate, he had no right to refuse assassination orders.

“Having a reliable subordinate is so reassuring.”

“If you entrust it to me, I will definitely accomplish it.”

“Good. I’ll let you know when the execution date is decided. We can’t execute it recklessly – the movements, timing, and various situations need to align.”

“Understood.”

“I’m sorry to entrust you with such an important task right after becoming B-rank.”

“Not at all.”

“If this matter is resolved well, I’ll immediately elevate you to military status, so wait for now.”

Choi Seong-min bowed his head deeply.

“I will follow your orders.”

* * *

During the journey from the mansion back home, Choi Seong-min’s mind was complicated with various thoughts.

‘To think Song Chi-hyeon wants to kill Yang Baek-du…’

Though he didn’t show it, it was even somewhat shocking.

He knew well that Song Chi-hyeon didn’t get along with Kwak Min-cheol and was building forces to oppose him.

‘But I didn’t know he’d think to cut off Kwak Min-cheol’s right arm this quickly.’

It wasn’t just a thought.

He had even made specific plans to properly execute it.

In other words, it wasn’t something he wanted to do in anger, nor was it a joke.

‘If Yang Baek-du is killed, Kwak Min-cheol won’t stay still…’

If the assassination succeeded, a storm would sweep through the Association.

Song Chi-hyeon couldn’t not know this fact.

‘But the fact that he’s still taking action means he has something to rely on.’

What was certain was that the assassination of Song Chi-hyeon would have to be postponed for the time being.

‘If I, as a third party, interfere in a situation where internal division is occurring like now, it would lead to catastrophe.’

If he didn’t want to be caught in the crossfire, the best strategy was to quietly follow orders.

‘The problem is whether I can trust and follow Song Chi-hyeon like this…’

What if Song Chi-hyeon was defeated in the fight with Yang Baek-du?

Kwak Min-cheol would try to erase all traces of Song Chi-hyeon who committed treason.

‘Even me, his direct subordinate.’

If it was revealed that the boss was a traitor, subordinate Choi Seong-min couldn’t escape punishment either.

‘Probably all of Song Chi-hyeon’s direct subordinates would be executed.’

In the end, he’d die for choosing the wrong side.

Therefore, if Song Chi-hyeon lost, everything would be over.

‘Not just me, but Ye-rin and my family too.’

In this situation, the best outcome would be for Song Chi-hyeon to win, but there was another option.

‘I could betray Song Chi-hyeon and switch to Yang Baek-du’s side.’

On the day of executing the operation, if he told Yang Jo-young the truth to prevent the incident and instead cornered his lord Song Chi-hyeon?

‘Then I could definitely gain the favor of Yang Baek-du’s family.’

If he protected Yang Baek-du, he could also gain Kwak Min-cheol’s favor as a bonus.

Getting close to Kwak Min-cheol could be good groundwork for betraying him later.

‘It’s one or the other. Whether to take Song Chi-hyeon’s side or Yang Baek-du’s side.’

Song Chi-hyeon and Yang Baek-du.

Predicting which of the two would be the victor wasn’t easy.

‘Looking at combat power alone, it’s 600,000 vs 550,000 with Song Chi-hyeon having the advantage.’

With his thought-reading trait, Song Chi-hyeon was advantageous in human combat.

Wasn’t he originally skilled enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with other Heroes?

‘But such traits don’t work among Great Heroes either.’

Because of the weakness that it could be easily countered if you knew about the trait, Song Chi-hyeon was always treated as the lowest among Great Heroes.

‘What if Kwak Min-cheol also told Yang Baek-du information about the trait?’

Even with lower combat power, Yang Baek-du could actually have the advantage.

Song Chi-hyeon with his trait rendered useless was just an A-rank hunter with high combat power.

‘It’s troubling, so troubling.’

Choi Seong-min’s worries continued until he got home.

* * *

After a day and a half had passed.

While he was still agonizing over which rope to grab to survive.

Song Chi-hyeon’s call came in the morning.

-The time has come.

The time to decide which side to take had arrived.

-At 6 PM today, we’ll execute the plan I mentioned before. Are you ready?

“Of course.”

He answered without hesitation, but actually hadn’t decided whose hand to take yet.

-Good. Hearing your resolute voice makes me feel confident. Then I’ll share the plan with you. It’s better for you to know too.

Song Chi-hyeon’s plan was simple.

There was a restaurant Yang Baek-du frequently visited, and he had made a reservation to dine with his family at 6 PM today.

Song Chi-hyeon had already acquired that restaurant under someone else’s name and set a trap.

-The restaurant is a trap for him. Just for today, I’ve disguised my subordinates as restaurant staff. The moment Yang Baek-du and his family enter the restaurant without any suspicion, the game is as good as over.

“Then what should I do?”

-At that time, you should meet Yang Jo-young and keep him busy. Until I finish dealing with Yang Baek-du. It won’t take long. I’ll send you a text as soon as I’m done.

“Should I kill Yang Jo-young when the text comes?”

-Yes. But if Yang Jo-young notices something or acts suspiciously before that, I permit you to kill him early.

“Understood.”

-Then act normally until evening. We need to create an alibi.

“Yes. I wish you good fortune.”

Choi Seong-min, who hung up the call, checked the time.

‘8 hours left until the operation.’

Even if he worked at the Association as usual and left work, there would be time left.

‘I have to decide by then. Whose side to take.’

Choi Seong-min’s eyes became infinitely serious.

Choosing the right side would determine his future prosperity or ruin.