Chapter 396 – Part 2 – S-Rank Among F-Ranks

[You have killed Hunter Park Hui-jun.]

[You have stolen the trait ‘Quick Adaptability’.]

[You have stolen 7 pieces of equipment.]

[Synchronization rate 32.1%]

Park Hui-jun trembled and breathed his last.

Choi Seong-min, wearing the black mask, looked down at him coldly.

‘He almost stabbed an ally.’

Park Hui-jun had tried to stab a comrade before escaping.

The reason was his dissatisfaction with the organization.

‘This is why you shouldn’t involve criminal bastards in operations.’

Park Hui-jun’s betrayal wasn’t surprising.

Since he had read his thoughts, he knew this would happen.

‘But I didn’t know the situation would unfold like this either.’

For some reason, the guys at the training facility were prepared for the attack.

As if they had received advance notice about when the assault would come.

‘It’s a trap.’

It was obvious who had orchestrated this trap.

‘Christopher, it’s that bastard’s doing.’

He was the only one who wanted Revolution to fall.

‘Besides Park Hui-jun, there must have been another spy that guy planted.’

From the beginning, he hadn’t thought it would just be Park Hui-jun alone.

He had kept in mind that there might be more.

‘Who could it be? Well, it’s not something I need to know right now.’

Finding the spy would come later.

Right now, resolving this chaotic situation was the priority.

How to resolve it?

‘Like this.’

Choi Seong-min rotated his body and scattered blades.

Swish swish swish swish slash!

“Kek!”

“Kreuk!”

“Urk!”

Ten daggers embedded accurately in ten bodies.

[You have killed Hunter Ahn I-deuk.]

[You have killed Hunter Jo Du-sik.]

[You have killed Hunter Yu Hyeong-cheol.]

……

……

[Synchronization rate 33.1%]

Messages scrolled up but he ignored them.

There were still many more to kill.

Swish swish swish swish slash!

When he scattered daggers again, the training facility hunters fell with short screams.

The F-rank criminal hunters couldn’t handle the Blade Scatter from someone with 25 million combat power.

Wherever they got hit, it meant death.

“Shit, what? What’s going on?”

As their nearby comrades died, the criminals belatedly noticed Choi Seong-min’s intervention.

“Be careful of that masked bastard over there!”

But seeing the continuously piling corpses, the criminals realized.

That this wasn’t an opponent they could win against just with numbers.

It was no different from dozens of ants charging at a human.

“Everyone run away!”

“Escape! If you get near the black mask, you die!”

They were just busy warning their comrades and running away.

That’s how overwhelming and brutal Choi Seong-min’s force was.

‘Do you think you can escape?’

Vowing not to let a single one get away, Choi Seong-min massacred the criminal hunters.

It was when he had killed about 50 of them.

‘What are those guys?’

Three S-rank hunters in stealth came into Choi Seong-min’s view.

The trait Discerning Eye picked out the S-ranks among the F-ranks.

‘S-ranks among F-ranks… Obviously they must be Christopher’s subordinates.’

Reading their thoughts, they were targeting leader Ryu Jong-ik.

‘They must have received orders to assassinate the leader and eliminate Revolution.’

Three S-ranks with 1.5 million combat power could definitely accomplish that.

‘That’s assuming I’m not here, though.’

Choi Seong-min smiled and changed targets.

No one saw that smile behind the mask.

* * *

Christopher had four S-rank subordinates.

Henry, Tyler, Michael, and Melvin, with combat power between 1.7 million and 1.2 million.

All of them were excellent assassins, and the first three were lurking at the hunter training facility performing assassination missions.

“Everyone knows the priority, right?”

At leader Henry’s words, Tyler and Michael, who were on standby, nodded.

“Of course. We just need to kill that yellow monkey named Ryu Jong-ik first, right?”

“He’s also an S-rank hunter with 1 million combat power, so we can’t be careless.”

“Don’t worry. Who do you think we are?”

“I could take that bastard’s head by myself.”

Though the team members spoke confidently, leader Henry didn’t become complacent.

He was cautious when it came to missions.

“Still, all three of us will attack simultaneously to handle it for sure. Got it?”

“Yes.”

Since Christopher had specifically ordered them to kill Ryu Jong-ik, there could be no mistakes.

“What about after we handle Ryu Jong-ik?”

“After that, it’s individual play. Each of you kill Revolution members as you see fit. They range from D-rank to A-rank, so it shouldn’t be difficult.”

“Haha, it’s been a while since I got some blood on my dagger.”

“Tyler. Want to make a bet with me? Who can kill more?”

“Haha, that sounds good. Let’s bet one A-rank magic stone each.”

“Boss, don’t join in. Your combat power is 200,000 higher than ours.”

“I wasn’t planning to join, you guys.”

“Hehehe.”

The hunters laughed, showing their teeth, not seeming nervous at all.

For them, the difficulty of this mission wasn’t particularly challenging.

“Anyway, we must handle Ryu Jong-ik for sure.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“But we absolutely must not face that hunter named Choi Seong-min. You know that, right?”

“Of course. Naturally.”

“I may be called crazy sometimes, but I’m not crazy enough to show off in front of 10 million combat power.”

“Right. If you value your life, stop fighting and run immediately. Just killing Ryu Jong-ik will achieve our purpose.”

“Don’t worry, boss. We’ll run without looking back.”

“Don’t feel hurt later that we left you behind. Keke.”

The three chatted happily in the darkness.

Since Revolution hadn’t attacked yet, they could afford to be leisurely like this.

“You’ve memorized Hunter Choi Seong-min’s face, right?”

“Of course. To avoid the grim reaper, we need to know his face.”

“Christopher is counting on us, so we can’t fail.”

“Stop worrying, will you.”

“There’s a generous reward waiting after this job, so let’s all work hard.”

“Yes sir.”

“By the way, why was Melvin excluded from the assassination mission?”

“Christopher is impersonating that guy. It would be troublesome if he died, so he was excluded from the mission.”

“That bastard, he lent his name to the Great Hero and now he’s completely living the sweet life.”

“Envious, even though he’s the youngest.”

While the three were having trivial conversation.

“Waaahhh!”

Suddenly shouts and the sound of weapons clashing could be heard.

It seemed the training facility hunters and Revolution members had clashed.

“It’s started. If everyone’s ready, use stealth.”

Swoosh!

The three equipped people used stealth and approached the scene.

When they arrived at the scene, a chaotic battle was unfolding.

90 F-rank hunters and 30 Revolution members were entangled in combat.

Seeing this, Henry smiled with satisfaction.

‘Just as Christopher predicted, a chaotic battle has unfolded.’

A good situation to assassinate Ryu Jong-ik.

Fortunately, Ryu Jong-ik was at the front subduing criminal hunters.

“Look there, that’s the target.”

“Confirmed.”

“Let’s take him out right away.”

“Wait a minute. First let’s check if Hunter Choi Seong-min is nearby.”

The three who had been whispering scanned through the chaotic battle.

“He’s not there.”

“Looks like we can go in?”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

After confirming there were no obstacles, the three entered the battlefield.

“Kill them!”

“Fucking bastards!”

“Ahhh, my arm!”

In the chaos where criminal hunters and Revolution members were fighting, the three walked toward their target.

Even though they were walking right next to them, no one paid them any attention.

There was no one who could see them with their 1.5 million combat power.

Even S-rank Ryu Jong-ik couldn’t do it.

’20m distance from target. Just a little closer and we can throw daggers.’

If the three threw daggers simultaneously, they could easily assassinate him.

While approaching with the intention of killing Ryu Jong-ik like this.

‘Hm?’

At some inexplicable chilly feeling, Henry turned around.

Then he couldn’t help but be surprised.

“Wa-wait, everyone stop.”

“Boss?”

“Why are you doing that?”

“Look behind us.”

At those words, the team members turned their heads and soon had to gape.

“Wh-what are all these corpses…”

At least 50 corpses were piled up behind them.

They were all criminal hunters.

They had been dying behind them, but they hadn’t noticed because of the shouts coming from everywhere.

“Wh-when did so many people die?”

“Did the Revolution guys attack from behind?”

“It’s not them.”

Henry said with a hardened expression.

“It looks like one person’s doing.”

There was one person walking among the corpses.

A suspicious hunter wearing a black mask.

Blood was dripping from the red-glowing daggers in both hands.

“I’m not sure, but from the atmosphere, it seems like that guy’s doing.”

“Looks like he’s walking this way?”

“He can’t see us, right?”

Even though they had spoken as quietly as possible so they couldn’t be heard, the black mask was walking straight toward them.

“Looks like he can?”

“He can see us?”

If someone in stealth could be seen, it meant combat power of at least 1.5 million.

“Yeah. Everyone be alert.”

Henry gulped.

“That bastard is a master.”

A master recognizes another master, and you could tell just from the atmosphere he gave off.

The black mask was definitely not someone to underestimate.

‘What should we do? Should we ignore that guy and kill Ryu Jong-ik first? Or should we handle that guy first and then leisurely kill Ryu Jong-ik?’

Either way, he thought they could kill both.

Henry thought so.

Until Tyler’s head next to him spurted blood.

Thunk!

‘Wh-what is this…’

Henry’s eyes widened beyond measure as he witnessed Tyler’s death.

‘A dagger flew and pierced through his head?’

That meant he died from one dagger throw.

The moment Henry turned his head with an unbelieving face.

Someone bounced up behind Michael like a spring.

It was the black mask.

Slice!

Michael’s head floated upward.

It was a Shadow Step followed by Throat Slash combo.

‘That guy, he’s the same type of assassin as us!’

Though they were the same type of assassin, the damage was worlds apart.

It was his first time seeing a head pierced by one dagger throw.

And that was an S-rank with 1.5 million combat power.

‘He’s not just a simple master. He’s far beyond the level of an assassin.’

To define the opponent in one word.

‘Monster.’

It was when Henry was trembling with fear.

“Who are you calling a monster?”

Slice!

Henry’s head fell to the ground.

He couldn’t even think of responding.

As proof, Henry couldn’t even raise his arms.

His head just fell after hearing the black mask’s voice.

It was the first and last voice he heard.

* * *

Ryu Jong-ik couldn’t understand the current situation.

‘What happened here?’

He understood that the organization had fallen into a trap.

The criminal hunters who should have been sleeping were waiting fully armed.

It would have been impossible without a spy inside.

What he really couldn’t understand was something else.

‘I never thought the black mask would appear…’

The black mask.

The unidentified existence who saved Do Eun-jeong from crisis and destroyed human trafficking gangs.

He couldn’t understand why that black mask, who he had only heard about, appeared at such perfect timing.

‘But for the black mask to join the battle…’

Whose side he was on was crystal clear.

Criminal hunters were falling like reeds to his daggers.

“Kek!”

“Urk!”

“Kreuk!”

With death screams, corpses piled up in heaps.

Every time he scattered daggers, hunters died.

There was no mercy in the black mask’s hands.

It seemed he intended to kill all the criminal hunters.

“……”

Ryu Jong-ik, who had planned to capture and persuade the hunters to become allies, couldn’t help but be dissatisfied.

But Ryu Jong-ik couldn’t bring himself to step forward.

He couldn’t even think of stopping the black mask.

He had no choice.

‘How could I stop that monster…’

The black mask’s prowess was beyond imagination.

‘He’s a top-tier fighter even among S-ranks.’

At a glance, the black mask’s damage and skill were S-rank or higher.

Power that even he with 1 million combat power couldn’t dare to challenge.

Most of all, the momentum of relentless slaughter made his body freeze.

Thunk!

With the final dagger throw, the criminal hunters fell.

No hunters were standing except for Revolution.

‘Crazy. Alone, 90-some people in an instant…’

Though it was a massacre, no one could say anything to the black mask.

Even S-rank Ryu Jong-ik felt his knees go weak, so how much more the other hunters?

“……”

The black mask silently looked at the Revolution members.

Flinch!

Perhaps because of the brutal massacre, the red light from the mask felt frightening.

Fortunately, the black mask didn’t point his blade at Revolution.

He just turned and left the scene.

Without a single word, leaving only corpses behind.

“……”

With the smell of blood so strong it numbed the nose and only corpses remaining, the hunters maintained silence for a while.

Ryu Jong-ik bit his lip hard.

‘To think the black mask was such a skilled fighter…’

Looking at the dagger’s power, his combat power seemed to be at least 3 million.

‘It was fortunate he was an ally, otherwise it would have been Revolution that became corpses.’

No, that wasn’t necessarily true.

Didn’t Revolution have a secret weapon?

‘Hm? Come to think of it…’

Ryu Jong-ik looked around searching for someone.

For some reason, that person who suddenly came to mind was nowhere to be seen.

“I don’t see Hunter Choi Seong-min. Does anyone know where he went?”