Chapter 407 – Part 2 – Free Spirit

Stab-

“Keuheok…!”

The man whose lung was pierced by the dagger spat blood from his mouth.

“How is it? Painful? It’s painful, right? Answer me. Oh, can’t speak because there’s a hole in your lung?”

“Heuheuk, heuk…”

Seeing the man shedding tears from the terrible pain, Frank smiled.

“That’s why you shouldn’t interfere in other people’s business and act crazy. Huh? What are you, some agent of justice?”

Frank twisted the embedded dagger.

“Keuheheuk…!”

Eventually the man fainted, unable to endure the pain.

“Tsk tsk, stupid bastard. Must be because he’s a civilian, he can’t even endure this much.”

Frank, who pulled out the dagger, quickly moved his hands.

Stab- Stab- Stab-

He stabbed the heart to kill him for certain.

The man who witnessed the rape scene and tried to help met a futile end.

“Interfering unnecessarily and going to his grave. Right?”

Frank smiled and shifted his gaze to one corner.

The woman who was trembling with her top torn flinched.

“I was enjoying myself when some useless guy interfered and got in the way. Right?”

“Aah…”

“Come here. We need to finish what we were doing.”

Frank, who grinned wickedly, approached the woman.

30 minutes later.

Two corpses were found in the alley, but the perpetrator could not be found anywhere.

---

Frank Larson.

People knew him as a Great Hero with 3.6 million combat power.

But that was only publicly known information.

No one knew his ugly true nature except fellow Great Heroes.

“Tch, even this stuff isn’t fun anymore.”

Frank thought of himself as a free spirit.

Rather than being tied down somewhere, he had a personality that required doing whatever he wanted to feel satisfied.

As a result, he broke many laws and killed many people.

But he was never caught.

Because he was an S-rank assassin.

Moreover, because he was a Great Hero standing above the law.

‘Isn’t there anything interesting?’

Having lived his whole life impulsively, following his heart wherever it led, nothing was fun no matter what he did.

Honestly speaking, he was sick of it.

‘I need something more stimulating.’

After murdering two civilians and escaping the alley using stealth, Frank’s expression was bored.

‘Isn’t there something different?’

In search of stimulation, he had tried various things like murder, rape, torture, drugs, and more.

But he quickly got tired of them.

‘Let me think of something I’ve never tried before.’

Frank, who was pondering, casually opened the ranking window.

1st – Woo Seong-jae (39 years old) – Combat Power 10,020,521 (S-rank)

2nd – Choi Seong-min (20 years old) – Combat Power 10,001,201 (S-rank)

3rd – Peter Fields (50 years old) – Combat Power 4,099,210 (S-rank)

4th – Frank Larson (40 years old) – Combat Power 3,647,281 (S-rank)

When he opened the ranking window, the top rankings were immediately visible.

‘Damn, I’ve been pushed down to 4th place.’

He had maintained 3rd place for over 10 years.

‘Hunter Choi Seong-min? What kind of monster popped up from where?’

He had been pushed down to 4th place because of an Eastlander who appeared out of nowhere.

‘3rd and 4th place feel very different, damn it.’

Frank’s dissatisfaction naturally had to be directed at Choi Seong-min.

‘What did that yellow monkey eat to become so strong?’

His combat power was only 20,000 different from Woo Seong-jae’s.

If things went wrong, Woo Seong-jae might be caught up to.

‘No, looking at the growth rate, he’ll definitely be caught up to.’

Woo Seong-jae, who was called a god even among the 8 Heroes, being caught up to by a rookie hunter who appeared out of nowhere?

It was an unprecedented major event he had never even imagined.

‘I don’t know for sure, but Lord Woo Seong-jae must feel like shit.’

He would too.

If he was reigning as an absolute being and suddenly an unknown hunter appeared to threaten his position…

‘If it were me, I’d want to kill him.’

From Woo Seong-jae’s perspective, he would want to kill the hunter named Choi Seong-min.

‘Or there’s also the option of making him join the same side…’

That possibility was slim.

There was no way Woo Seong-jae would accept Choi Seong-min who might threaten his position.

‘If he accepts him, what happens to us? Do we have to serve that monkey Choi Seong-min instead of Woo Seong-jae?’

Having to pledge loyalty to a hunter who was much younger and whose face he didn’t even know…

Even Frank, who bowed his head to the strong, disliked that.

‘Rather, it would be better to side with Lord Woo Seong-jae and drive that guy out…’

But how to deal with 10 million combat power?

‘There must be a weakness, a weakness.’

Suddenly, an idea flashed in Frank’s head.

‘Even though his combat power is high, that guy is still human. He must have family.’

What if he kidnapped Choi Seong-min’s family, imprisoned them somewhere only he knew, and then threatened him?

‘I can help Lord Woo Seong-jae.’

He could not only support Woo Seong-jae but also blow away his boring daily life.

‘What if someone with 10 million combat power struggles in front of me because of his family?’

Frank made a deep smile.

‘Just thinking about it seems fun.’

He had finally found something stimulating to do.

---

“So this is Eastland?”

Frank, who had crossed continents by plane, took a deep breath.

“Ugh, shit.”

It was his first time visiting this continent, but he didn’t like the air.

Around him were bustling black-haired foreigners.

“Yellow monkey bastards. I want to kill them all.”

That wouldn’t be bad either, but now wasn’t the time.

He hadn’t come here to play.

Clap-

Frank hailed an airport taxi.

“Welcome, customer. Where shall I take you?”

“Let’s go to the central city.”

“What? Yes…”

Although he heard informal speech, the taxi driver drove without complaint.

Seeing how naturally he spoke down to him, he seemed to be of higher status than himself, a merchant.

Of course, not touching Frank was the best choice.

If he had upset him, he might have lost his life.

“How many hours until arrival?”

“We’ll arrive in 30 minutes.”

Frank knew where to go to find Choi Seong-min’s family.

‘Choi Seong-min’s house is in the central city area?’

Finding out Choi Seong-min’s home address wasn’t difficult.

Since he was also a Great Hero, he could easily find out by ordering White House staff.

That wasn’t all Frank had discovered.

‘Mother and younger sister, living together like this? Hehehe.’

Frank made a lewd smile and licked his upper lip.

Tormenting women was one of Frank’s favorite hobbies.

‘Just thinking about what I’ll do after kidnapping those two people makes my heart race with excitement? Keke.’

While giggling inwardly and having pleasant fantasies, he arrived at his destination.

“We’re here, customer. The taxi fare is 10,000 won.”

Frank, who didn’t have a 10,000 won bill, took out a 50,000 won bill.

“It’s a tip. Keep the rest.”

“Wow, thank you, customer! You’ll surely be blessed!”

Frank, who got out of the car chuckling, walked the streets.

“It’s like a rural town.”

He wondered how such a monster could be born in such a place.

Eventually, Frank stopped walking.

‘Is this it? Choi Seong-min’s house.’

Frank saw a 10-story apartment building.

‘He really lives in such a backward place?’

It was a place with a deposit of 200 million won, where you needed some money to live, but to Frank it was the most shabby among all the houses he’d seen.

‘First I need to surveil from in front of the house. Choi Seong-min might be inside.’

Frank wasn’t thoughtless enough to attack recklessly.

If he ever encountered Choi Seong-min, he would have to be prepared to die.

‘I need to target when he’s not there.’

The moment when Choi Seong-min wasn’t home was the timing to kidnap his family.

So Frank began lurking in front of Choi Seong-min’s house.

Since he had memorized the faces of Choi Seong-min and his family members, there was no problem recognizing them.

6 hours after beginning surveillance.

Many people came and went through the apartment’s main entrance, but no faces of Choi Seong-min’s family were seen.

‘It’s boring. But it’s also exciting.’

Frank endured the boring time.

To catch the weakness of someone with 10 million combat power, he could easily endure this much waiting.

‘The more skilled a hunter, the more careful they are.’

When he was continuing his stakeout without sleep until dawn.

Frank’s phone vibrated.

‘Who is it?’

Looking at the screen, Woo Seong-jae’s name appeared as the caller.

‘What does Lord Woo Seong-jae want?’

Frank, who was debating whether to answer or not, ultimately didn’t answer.

Because he could guess why Woo Seong-jae was calling.

‘Obviously he’s planning to give me another annoying task.’

If he was contacting him for a countermeasure meeting, Peter Fields would have called.

Woo Seong-jae only called when he had separate tasks to assign.

‘Like last time, he’s probably going to order me to assassinate someone again.’

Woo Seong-jae occasionally gave Frank assassination missions.

Partly because his job was assassin, but mainly because he had a lot of free time.

‘Anyway, he can’t stand to see me playing around and eating for free.’

He had even been told to at least do assassinations to earn his keep if he didn’t want to get involved in state affairs.

Of course, even without such words, he couldn’t refuse Woo Seong-jae’s orders.

‘I’ve killed many political and business figures on Woo Seong-jae’s orders.’

He didn’t know what wrongs they had committed.

He just killed them without asking questions when told to.

‘This time will probably be the same.’

That’s why Frank deliberately ignored the call.

The vibration that had been ringing for a while quieted down, then rang again.

It was Woo Seong-jae’s call.

He ignored this one too and the vibration stopped.

But it rang again and again.

‘How many times is he going to call? If I ignore it this much, he should think I can’t answer because I’m busy…’

As if determined to call until he answered, the phone vibrated incessantly.

It was disturbing enough to interfere with his stakeout.

‘Should I just turn off the power? No. If I turn it off now, he’ll definitely notice.’

Frank had no choice but to answer the phone.

He couldn’t ignore it indefinitely.

‘He’ll probably yell at me asking why I didn’t answer the phone.’

Preparing for a scolding, he put the phone to his ear, but what he heard was a voice that seemed pleased.

“Frank? It’s me, Woo Seong-jae.”

“Ah, Lord Woo Seong-jae. How are you? I went to the bathroom so I’m just now answering the phone…”

“Where are you now? I’d like to meet urgently…”

A somewhat urgent voice.

Frank made a puzzled expression.

“Why is that?”

“Don’t ask why, where are you?”

“I’m in Eastland right now.”

“Eastland? Why did you go there?”

“Um… well…”

For a moment Frank considered lying but changed his mind.

Since it was for Woo Seong-jae anyway, he would have to tell him eventually.

“I was planning to surprise you, but I guess I have to tell you. I’m currently in front of Hunter Choi Seong-min’s house.”

“What? Did you just say Hunter Choi Seong-min?”

The surprised voice was puzzling, but only briefly.

“Why on earth did you go there?”

First he had to answer Woo Seong-jae’s question.

“To kidnap Hunter Choi Seong-min’s family.”

“What? Why the family?”

“It would be easier to negotiate if I hold hostages. If things go well, Hunter Choi Seong-min might die in place of his family.”

“Wh-what?”

Woo Seong-jae’s voice in the call was trembling.

‘What? Is something wrong? Why is he reacting like this?’

Frank could only be puzzled.

“Di-did you just say you’re going to kidnap Hunter Choi Seong-min’s family?”

“That’s right.”

“Are you crazy? Why do something I didn’t even order…!”

“I don’t understand why you’re so angry. I thought I’d be praised.”

“Praised?”

“Isn’t this all for Lord Woo Seong-jae? Honestly speaking, if Hunter Choi Seong-min disappears, it’s good for you too, isn’t it?”

“…So, did you kidnap the family?”

“Not yet. But why are you asking that…”

“Sigh… No. Never mind.”

The call ended.

“What? What the hell?”

Leaving only questions in Frank’s mind.

‘He was surprised when I said Choi Seong-min… Is something going on?’

It was the first time he’d seen Woo Seong-jae so surprised.

‘Anyway, he didn’t say not to kidnap them.’

Frank continued to monitor the house.

If he kidnapped Choi Seong-min’s family, he might be able to control that guy.

‘Hehe, just thinking about it seems fun.’

While killing time with such thoughts, the phone rang again.

It was another call from Woo Seong-jae.

“Lord Woo Seong-jae? What is it this time…”

“Are you still in front of the house?”

“That’s right.”

“Go in now and kidnap the family.”

“What?”

Frank was bewildered.

‘When did he yell asking if I was crazy, and now suddenly telling me to go in and kidnap them? What is he trying to do?’

Frank, whose puzzlement turned to dissatisfaction, spoke bluntly.

“Didn’t you just yell asking if I was crazy?”

“Earlier I had to say that because Hunter Choi Seong-min was next to me.”

“What?”

Frank couldn’t hide his surprise.

‘Hunter Choi Seong-min was next to him!’

“Hunter Choi Seong-min is currently in Westland due to Peter Fields’ invitation. He just left the White House.”

“I-I see. So that’s why you said that…”

“So go into the house right now and kidnap the family. Now that Hunter Choi Seong-min isn’t there is the opportunity.”

At those words, Frank’s eyes lit up.

“I will obey your command. Keke.”