Chapter 372 – Part 2 – 5 Million

Choi Seong-min still looked at his combat power with unbelieving eyes.

His combat power was exceeding a whopping 5 million.

‘What is this…’

In his previous life, he had reached up to 50 million, so it wasn’t that surprising.

‘But I only conquered one dungeon and it rose this much?’

The fact that he had just conquered one dungeon made it hard to take lightly.

Of course, it was an S-rank dungeon, so calling it “just one” would be belittling it.

Even in his previous life, it was a place you’d need to be at least level 4,000 to conquer.

‘Even so, I didn’t think it would rise this much.’

The fact that it rose this much from one conquest meant his potential combat power was that high.

‘When my combat power was 8 million in my previous life, it took 24 hours to conquer.’

But now, even though it was lower at 5 million, it only took 12 hours.

‘That means my potential combat power is over 5 million.’

In reality, it was incredibly high, but just hadn’t been reflected yet.

‘This is crazy, absolutely crazy.’

Choi Seong-min shook his head with an incredulous expression.

For now, he had to exit the dungeon first.

Swoosh-

Choi Seong-min’s bewildered expression was hidden by stealth.

* * *

When he came out of the Obsidian Castle, it was already getting dark.

Vroooom-

On the way to Song Chi-hyeon’s mansion, driving the sports car he had secretly parked.

Choi Seong-min checked his combat power once more.

‘5 million in one day…’

The more he looked at it, the more absurd it seemed.

‘To grow this rapidly with just one EX-grade weapon.’

No, it wasn’t just one.

Including the replicated one, it was like holding two.

‘With 5 million combat power, I can kill most Great Heroes.’

There were four heroes in Westland.

Their combat power ranged between 2 million and 4 million.

There was no way Choi Seong-min with 5 million couldn’t win.

‘Needless to say about Kwak Min-cheol with 1.8 million.’

Kwak Min-cheol, who had seemed so powerful, now felt laughably weak.

‘If I do well, might I even surpass Woo Seong-jae?’

The unrivaled ranking 1st Woo Seong-jae’s combat power was a whopping 10 million.

Combat power sufficient to make other Great Heroes grovel.

‘I don’t know yet. Whether I’m at a level comparable to Woo Seong-jae right now.’

What was certain was that he now had overwhelming power to smash Kwak Min-cheol’s head immediately.

‘I can move up the assassination schedule.’

But he decided to wait for now.

If he was going to kill Kwak Min-cheol, he should kill him next month.

‘In just 18 days, the combat power update day will come.’

Then Kwak Min-cheol would learn of Song Chi-hyeon’s death and Kogo’s death.

‘And on that day, Kwak Min-cheol will die just like them.’

To kill Kwak Min-cheol and make maximum use of his power, it would be better to kill him right after the update.

‘We’re here.’

Choi Seong-min, who had arrived at the mansion before he knew it, got out of the sports car.

There was a package in front of the mansion.

When he opened it, there were two skill books inside.

They were definitely the S-rank skill books he had ordered.

‘The goods arrived correctly.’

Items worth a whopping 3 billion won.

Of course, since he bought them with Song Chi-hyeon’s money, they were essentially free.

‘To be delivered right to the door with just one touch. This is why Noble Place is good.’

Noble Place allowed convenient purchase or sale of items through an app.

Since only those with military status could use it, there was no chance of riffraff muddying the waters.

In short, it was an item trading site exclusively for upper-tier hunters.

That’s why all the items listed were either A-rank or S-rank.

‘There’s no better place than here to dispose of items.’

If he sold the items he had taken from the armory here, he could secure massive profits.

‘I should join soon too. I’ll probably use it frequently.’

Since he met the condition of military status, there would be no problem joining.

‘First, shall I try learning the skills?’

Choi Seong-min opened the skill book packages and learned the skills.

[Skill – Ruthless Heart]

-Grade: S

-Effect: Ignores defense when attacking after stealth.

-Duration: Automatically applied when using stealth

-Cooldown: None

-Usage Restriction: S-rank or higher

-Description: A passive skill that applies automatically just by learning it. Can deal critical hits after stealth.

The first skill Choi Seong-min chose was a skill that assassins absolutely had to learn.

‘It’s an overpowered skill that triggers defense ignore with 100% probability when using stealth.’

With this alone, he could cut through any armor like tofu.

Even a tank covered in high-defense items could suffer fatal wounds in one strike.

Of course, defense ignore only applied when using stealth, so it couldn’t be used indiscriminately.

Normally, one would save stealth like a special move and then unleash it…

‘But not me.’

This didn’t apply to Choi Seong-min, who had no stealth cooldown.

He could apply defense ignore to all attacks.

‘No matter who the opponent is, they’re like being naked in front of me.’

Choi Seong-min grinned and opened the next skill book.

[Skill – Blade Scatter]

-Grade: S

-Effect: 360-degree area damage. Cooldown reduced by 1 second for each enemy hit.

-Damage: Basic attack + 100% of agility

-Cooldown: 10 seconds

-Usage Restriction: S-rank or higher

-Description: Scatters daggers in all directions to damage multiple enemies. Can hit enemies up to 15m away.

The second choice was an area skill.

‘With this, I don’t have to catch them one by one.’

The weakness of assassins was being strong against single targets but weak against multiple enemies, and this skill compensated for that.

‘The range is 360 degrees and the distance is 15m, same as dagger throw.’

The damage seemed low, but it was a skill that had to be learned for its ability to handle multiple enemies at once.

‘The cooldown also decreases for each enemy hit, so it’s not bad.’

The corners of Choi Seong-min’s mouth curved up with satisfaction.

He was already strong, but by learning two skills, he became even stronger.

‘Since I learned the skills, it would be natural to test them.’

He had already decided where to test them.

‘I should go find the human trafficking gang that the Investigation Department minister was using right now.’

Since it was night, those bastards would be gathered, ready to operate.

Since he knew the location, there was no reason to delay.

‘I can enter S-rank dungeons after finishing the job.’

Choi Seong-min, who decided to try out his new skills against the human trafficking gang hunters, got in the car and moved.

They wouldn’t know.

That today would be the last night they breathed.

* * *

‘Lower-grade magic resistance, blunt weapon mastery, weak endurance, etc…’

Disappointment soon appeared on Choi Seong-min’s face as he recited the traits he had acquired.

‘They’re all C-rank or lower traits.’

At dawn, Choi Seong-min had raided the human trafficking gang.

It was the place the Investigation Department minister had been using.

‘Many traits came in though.’

He had killed 8 hunters there alone.

But they were all mediocre traits.

‘Still, it’s better than nothing.’

Since traits were something where more was always better, he stopped complaining.

‘Let’s be satisfied with testing the skills.’

Killing them was easy.

After killing the strongest hunter among them, he disguised himself as that person and called the rest together.

Then he massacred 20 people including workers and hunters with his newly learned skill, Blade Scatter.

The result?

‘They all died in less than 2 seconds.’

Even though it was an area skill with low damage, 10 people died each time he scattered blades.

This was due to Choi Seong-min’s overwhelmingly strong damage.

‘With agility exceeding 50,000, it’s a natural result.’

Moreover, because of the newly learned passive skill, defense ignore triggered with 100% probability, so they couldn’t withstand it.

‘When 10 people died, the cooldown returned immediately.’

When he used Blade Scatter twice in succession like that, no one remained.

They didn’t even have time to run away.

‘As expected, having an area skill is convenient.’

It had been annoying to catch them one by one until now, but it seemed like it would be useful for mob hunting.

‘With this, I’ve raided three human trafficking organizations?’

Though he didn’t know for sure, Kwak Min-cheol would probably be furious when he found out.

‘I don’t know what scale the organization is, but this should have caused sufficient disruption to the business.’

The plan to interfere with Kwak Min-cheol’s business seemed to have succeeded to some extent.

‘I’d like to kill more, but I don’t have information.’

To annihilate the remaining human trafficking gangs, he had no choice but to examine Kwak Min-cheol’s memories.

‘First, I need to get into his sights and become a direct subordinate.’

Since he had planted a good first impression and shown overwhelming growth, he would probably contact him first soon.

‘In the meantime, should I go through the Obsidian Castle and raise my combat power?’

He wanted to enter other S-rank dungeons too, but he didn’t have time.

‘There’s no place like the Obsidian Castle for quick conquest and exit.’

If he erased the manager’s memory like yesterday, he could use it with peace of mind.

Choi Seong-min smiled coldly and headed to the dungeon.

* * *

Monday morning.

Kwak Min-cheol, who went to work at the association, had to hear an absurd report from the morning.

“What? Several teams were annihilated?”

-Y-yes, that’s right.

The person on the call was A-rank hunter Lee Geol-ryun with 550,000 combat power.

He was someone who had learned under Yang Baek-du and had recently been entrusted with the human trafficking business.

“Tell me in detail.”

-Over the past two days, someone attacked the bases and killed all the workers and hunters. Teams 1, 5, and 8 were completely wiped out.

“Three teams in just two days?”

Kwak Min-cheol operated a total of eight teams.

If three of them were hit, it wasn’t ordinary.

“What about the goods?”

-They all disappeared.

Crash-!

The desk was half-destroyed by Kwak Min-cheol’s punch.

“Fuck… How much was all that worth…”

For Kwak Min-cheol, who was making considerable profits from human trafficking, it was a painful loss.

“Which bastard is interfering with other people’s business?”

-It’s probably the work of competing forces or other organizations.

“What competing forces when I have a tight grip on this business!”

Competing forces was nonsense.

However, if it was another organization, there was one that came to mind.

‘Could it be Revolution, those bastards?’

If they were terrorists who harbored resentment against society, they would have sufficient justification to interfere with the business.

‘Fuck, what is Christopher doing? Just letting terrorists run wild!’

Kwak Min-cheol, who had been grinding his lips, put Revolution on the suspect list for now.

He couldn’t even imagine it was Choi Seong-min’s doing.

“But why are you reporting this critical matter two days later?”

-Pardon? Ah… that’s…

“You fuck, you found out late after receiving complaints that goods weren’t coming in, didn’t you?”

-…Y-yes, that’s right.

“I can tell immediately. Didn’t I tell you that security and vigilance should be thorough, especially for things like this?”

-…I’m sorry.

“Do you think I put you in that position to hear sorry from you? You fucking bastard?”

-…I-I’m deeply sorry. I’ll accept punishment gladly.

“Fuck punishment. Will the goods that ran away come back just because I mess with a bastard like you? If you made a mistake, think about how to fix it so this doesn’t happen again next time, you stupid bastard! And keep the kids’ mouths shut properly!”

-I-I’ll correct it…

Kwak Min-cheol hung up irritably.

“Such an idiot bastard. How did he educate the kids that information got leaked?”

Despite being quite thorough about security, three places were raided in two days.

Clearly, those who were raided spilled the locations of other teams, leading to this situation.

“Damn, if Yang Baek-du had managed it, this wouldn’t have happened.”

He had entrusted the business operations to a guy named Lee Geol-ryun instead of Yang Baek-du, but there wasn’t a single thing he liked about him.

As you can see, incidents broke out not long after he took charge.

“Fuck, but I can’t replace him with someone else either…”

Even if he replaced Lee Geol-ryun with someone else, it would be like covering your eyes and playing peek-a-boo.

They were all the same, and it would take time to teach them this and that.

Most importantly, the biggest problem was not having a trustworthy subordinate like Yang Baek-du.

‘First, I should tell that bald minister too. That human trafficking gang use is impossible for the time being.’

He had told Investigation Department Minister Am Pil-yeon to use prostitution services freely.

Since one of the annihilated teams was the one Am Pil-yeon had been using, he needed to inform him.

Ring ring- Ring ring-

He called, but there was no answer.

Usually, he would answer before three rings, but even after dozens of ring tones, the other party had no intention of answering.

“What’s this bastard doing? Didn’t he come to work?”

Since he wasn’t answering the phone, Kwak Min-cheol decided to move directly.

It was the same association building anyway, so the Investigation Department minister’s office was just a 2-3 minute walk.

Kwak Min-cheol, who had arrived in front of the minister’s office, burst open the door.

He could see Am Pil-yeon sitting in his chair.

“I thought you didn’t come to work, but you did? Hey! Why aren’t you answering the phone? Are you ignoring my calls?”

Kwak Min-cheol approached, but Am Pil-yeon just stared with round eyes without giving any response.

“What? Now you’re openly ignoring what I say?”

Kwak Min-cheol, who had been glaring with deliberately scary eyes, was suddenly flustered.

Am Pil-yeon made a crying face and then burst into tears.

“Wah, wahhhhh! Wahhhhhhh!”

“Wh-why is this bastard in this state? Did he eat something wrong?”

Kwak Min-cheol, genuinely flustered, tried talking to him repeatedly, but the minister just kept crying like a child.

“What are you doing at your age, acting like this!”

“Wahhhh! Wahhhhh!”

The crying that seemed endless stopped after some time passed.

“Hey, Minister. What happened?”

“Wahhhh…”

“Fuck… What the hell…”

It didn’t look like a joke.

There was no way he would dare put on such ridiculous acting in front of him.

‘To regress like a child at his age…’

Kwak Min-cheol had no idea what had happened.

He could only guess.

“Don’t tell me you saw the bastards who annihilated the team while using prostitution services? Did you become like this from that shock?”

“Wahhhh…”

“Ha, really. I’m going to die from frustration! Fuck.”

There was no answer like this.

“Why did you come to work when you can’t even understand what people say? Get lost right now, bastard!”

“Wahhhh…”

“No, I’ll leave. I’ll go!”

Kwak Min-cheol, who irritably left the minister’s office, had an intuition.

That the Investigation Department minister would be of no help whatsoever.

‘Maybe this worked out well? The mouth-sealing is certainly done.’

With such thoughts, he was walking down the corridor.

“Hmm? That bastard is…”

There was a person who caught Kwak Min-cheol’s eye.

It was Choi Seong-min.

“Hey.”

Kwak Min-cheol pointed at Choi Seong-min with his finger.

“You, come see me for a moment.”