Chapter 416 – Part 2 – Berserker

Originally, Choi Seong-min had planned to stay in Westland for several days.

Because he needed to observe the Pentagon’s movements.

‘I need to confirm whether Peter’s subordinates have all gathered before the attack.’

Choi Seong-min’s purpose wasn’t the Magic Core but Peter’s subordinates.

To kill them and raise his synchronization rate, he needed to confirm they had assembled at the Pentagon as planned.

That’s why he was willing to endure a 12-hour flight to Westland.

But now that he had the Shadow Armor, there was no need for that.

‘With Shadow Movement, I can get there instantly.’

Distance was meaningless in front of Shadow Movement.

Whether it was 12 hours or 120 hours, as long as there was a shadow to move to, he could travel between two locations in one second.

‘It would have been a waste of time to take a plane, so this worked out well.’

Choi Seong-min, who had used stealth, thought of Peter and used the skill.

‘Shadow Movement.’

The location changed in the blink of an eye.

Choi Seong-min, who had been in Eastland, instantly entered the Pentagon.

In front of him was none other than the back of Peter’s head.

‘As expected, he’s waiting at the Pentagon guarding the Magic Core.’

Peter had no idea that Choi Seong-min was behind him.

There was no one in the world who could see through stealth with 25 million combat power.

‘Using Peter and Ryu Jong-ik’s shadows, I can easily travel between the two continents.’

The stealthed Choi Seong-min leisurely walked around inside the Pentagon.

Looking at the personnel count, it seemed Peter’s subordinates hadn’t all gathered yet.

‘It’s not time yet. I’ll attack after all the subordinates have assembled.’

Choi Seong-min moved to Ryu Jong-ik’s shadow and left the Pentagon.

Coincidentally, Ryu Jong-ik was meeting and talking with the vice-leader Don Hall.

‘He met with Wings of Hope as I advised. Let me listen to what they’re talking about.’

Quietly eavesdropping on their conversation, Choi Seong-min learned that Don Hall didn’t trust him.

‘This won’t do… They won’t be able to cooperate properly with each other.’

Feeling the need to step in, Choi Seong-min revealed himself.

And to convince Don Hall, he even sparred with him.

It was hardly a spar, really.

‘A-rank hunters have become as easy opponents as breathing now.’

After successfully convincing Don Hall, Choi Seong-min boldly promised to assassinate Peter and left.

‘Shadow Movement is really convenient.’

He had entered and exited the Pentagon without anyone knowing.

With this method, he could easily monitor the Pentagon’s movements.

‘It’s not time to attack yet… what should I do now?’

Having saved so much travel time, he had nothing to do.

‘Should I raise my combat power a bit until Peter’s subordinates gather?’

With time to spare, Choi Seong-min entered the Dragon’s Nest.

Due to the dungeon’s nature, he could only come out after three days, but with Shadow Movement, the story was different.

‘Shadow Movement doesn’t only apply to people. I can use it on monsters too.’

Choi Seong-min could enter and exit the Pentagon even while inside the dungeon.

Since it was instant teleportation, distance didn’t matter.

It was when he had spent a day and a half traveling between the dungeon and Pentagon like this.

‘Peter’s subordinates have all gathered.’

It was time.

Time to attack the Pentagon.

‘I’ve also raised my combat power to 30 million.’

If it was the potential combat power Woo Seong-jae mentioned, there was still a lot left to raise.

‘That can be raised later anyway.’

Right now, attacking the Pentagon as planned was the priority.

‘Shadow Movement.’

Choi Seong-min, who instantly exited the dungeon, looked around.

The place he moved to was the security office guarding the Pentagon’s west gate.

He had moved to the shadow of a guard he had observed beforehand.

‘If I wanted to, I could move to Peter, kill him, and immediately steal the Magic Core, but…’

He didn’t do that.

Because what he wanted were Peter’s subordinates.

‘If I enter the interior directly and launch a surprise attack, it would take more time chasing the scattered subordinates.’

Therefore, he needed to attract attention and concentrate the troops.

This was why Choi Seong-min moved outside.

‘Shall we start the festival?’

Armed with a black mask, two daggers, and shadow armor, Choi Seong-min ostentatiously walked toward the west gate.

Without even using stealth.

Since the black mask had appeared, it was as good as openly telling them to concentrate forces on the west side immediately.

“Th-the black mask!”

As expected, enemies who discovered him began gathering one by one.

‘Shall we go?’

Choi Seong-min’s figure disappeared.

Soon after, a festival of blood began.

Swish swish swish swish swoosh-!

“Kuk!”

“Keuuk!”

“Eok!”

The thrown daggers from Blade Scatter took ten lives.

[Blade Scatter’s cooldown has returned.]

As soon as it became usable again, Choi Seong-min used stealth again.

He scattered blades once more.

[You have killed Hunter Kevin Grant.]

[You have killed Hunter Ronald Ram.]

[You have killed Hunter Kyle Reeves.]

………..

…….

[Synchronization rate 44.0%]

S-rank hunters who had made names for themselves died like bamboo shoots after rain.

It seemed like he was throwing daggers randomly, but he wasn’t.

The daggers went toward hunters without a single waste.

And they accurately pierced heads, necks, or hearts, killing in one strike.

‘With high agility, the skill accuracy is no joke.’

On top of that, with the Precision trait, skill hit rate was unparalleled.

Choi Seong-min’s daggers were already not the type that could be dodged even if one wanted to.

‘And they can’t be blocked either.’

Attacks used after stealth unconditionally ignore defense.

No matter how high their defense and how heavily armed they were, in front of Choi Seong-min they were no different from naked apes.

‘Those who try to block are the most foolish, more than those who try to dodge.’

Hunters who didn’t know this fact couldn’t avoid the afterlife due to a moment’s carelessness.

“Kuk!”

“Ueok!”

“Kkeok!”

Each time he used a skill, S-rank hunters screamed and collapsed.

It was a futile death considering their rank.

‘I don’t need to use the Unyielding Potion.’

Choi Seong-min had one Unyielding Potion.

It was an item from the transcendent-grade random box that Song Chi-hyeon had given him, a consumable as precious as a Potion of Life.

‘If consumed, it’s a fraudulent item that ignores pain and reduces received damage by 95% for one hour.’

Originally, Choi Seong-min had planned to drink this potion if he had to fight multiple opponents.

‘But the Combat Sense trait is telling me. There’s no need to drink a potion against mayflies like these.’

It seemed like a waste no matter how he looked at it, so he postponed using it and engaged in battle.

In the end, it was the best choice.

‘Even if these guys had 5 million combat power instead of 1 million, I’m confident I wouldn’t get hit even once.’

It was confidence possible because his current agility exceeded 100,000.

‘Even if not, I could dodge attacks in advance with Mind Reading.’

If necessary, he could become invincible with Assassination or make enemies tremble in fear with Intimidation.

‘With so many traits, there’s nothing to fear.’

Most of all, the reason Choi Seong-min boldly claimed he wouldn’t get hit even once was because of Shadow Movement.

‘Moving here and there with Shadow Movement, there’s no way they could hit me.’

If he looked at an opponent and used Shadow Movement, he could immediately move behind them.

As long as he could see them, he could instantly take their rear.

‘It’s like shadow-stepping without cooldown, you could say?’

Moving shadows here and there and being active in all directions, opponents had no choice but to be helplessly beaten.

How many minutes had passed like this?

After killing frantically, there were no more hunters blocking Choi Seong-min’s path.

[Synchronization rate 49.0%]

Glancing at the synchronization rate, it had increased by 7%.

He had already killed 70 people.

‘It seems the ground level has been completely cleared.’

Realizing this matched the number of troops he had investigated beforehand, he moved locations.

Now it was time to hunt the hunters on the lowest floor.

Eeeeeeeeeng-

On the lowest floor where the alarm was sounding, there were stronger hunters with combat power of 1.5 million or higher.

‘Even so, the fact that they die in one hit doesn’t change.’

“Black mas…”

Before the hunters who discovered him could finish their words, Choi Seong-min moved first.

With Shadow Movement, he had to be faster.

Thud- Thud- Thud-!

When he drove daggers into the hunters’ heads one by one, they cracked like watermelons.

‘As expected, only insignificant guys…’

Choi Seong-min, who was thinking this, saw something interesting.

[Roger West]

A 42-year-old S-rank hunter. Current combat power is 2,501,991.

The Discerning Eye was telling him this was the strongest among Peter’s subordinates he had seen here.

‘Even so, it would be one hit.’

Sure enough.

When he took the rear after stealth and slit the throat.

[You have killed Hunter Roger West.]

[You have stolen the trait ‘Berserker’.]

The message he had seen to the point of boredom appeared.

‘That figures.’

It was when he turned his head with inner disappointment.

[Blood reflected in the retina has awakened inner instincts.]

[Body is strengthened due to the Berserker trait.]

[All stats increased by 30%.]

[Adrenaline makes senses and brain faster and more active than usual.]

[Dynamic vision improved by 50% compared to usual.]

[Enhanced sense of smell instinctively recognizes the location of surrounding prey.]

At the messages flowing up, Choi Seong-min briefly shifted his gaze.

‘What is this? Sudden heat from my body…’

Choi Seong-min examined the information of the trait he had just obtained.

[Trait – Berserker]

Grade: S

Description: When seeing blood, the body is strengthened like a beast and receives the following buffs.

All stats increased by 30%.

Increased senses and brain rotation.

Dynamic vision increased by 50%.

Detect enemy positions within a 30m radius.

Duration is 3 minutes and reactivates when seeing blood. No cooldown.

‘So this was why.’

It was because of the Berserker trait he had obtained after killing Roger.

Choi Seong-min, who read the description, smiled with satisfaction.

‘Maybe because his combat power was high, he had quite a good trait?’

Not just stats, but senses, brain, dynamic vision, and surrounding detection.

With overall improvement, it really felt like becoming a beast.

‘At my current level, it would be closer to a monster than a beast though.’

He didn’t know for sure, but the guys who died to him would probably all be feeling futile, saying they died to a monster.

‘I’ve seen the Berserker option before, but I didn’t know there was a trait for it.’

Choi Seong-min, who had been a magic swordsman in his previous life, used to enjoy using the Berserker option of the glossy tiger leather armor.

‘It was a fraudulent function that increased strength and agility by 50% when you gathered 100 stacks.’

Of course, it couldn’t be considered more fraudulent than his current Shadow Movement.

‘I’ve had a brief rest, so shall I play once more?’

A little later.

“Keuheuk…”

With the guy he just killed as the last one, Choi Seong-min was able to eliminate all the S-rank hunters on the underground floor without exception.

‘The Berserker’s ability to detect enemy positions was helpful.’

The hunters on the underground floor were elites with combat power of 1.5 million or higher, but they couldn’t last even 1 second in front of Choi Seong-min.

‘Well, it was expected.’

Since expectations were low, disappointment was also small.

Either way, for Choi Seong-min, it was enough as long as he achieved his purpose.

‘The synchronization rate became 52.2%.’

Seeing it increased by 10.2%, he had killed all 102 of Peter’s subordinates without exception.

With this, he had achieved one purpose.

‘Now if I just kill Peter and claim the Magic Core…’

Choi Seong-min looked for the Magic Core storage room.

Since he had scouted beforehand, finding it was quick.

‘Hmm?’

But the senses gained from Berserker told him.

Peter wasn’t here.

‘Did he take the Magic Core and run away?’

That’s what he thought, but what do you know.

The Magic Core was still in the storage room.

Only Peter, who should have been guarding the Magic Core, had disappeared.

‘Don’t tell me he left the Magic Core as bait and ran away just now?’

He probably thought the black mask was only after the Magic Core.

Choi Seong-min snorted and first collected the Magic Core.

‘No matter where you run, you’re still in the palm of my hand.’

Choi Seong-min thought of Peter in his mind and spoke the activation word.

‘Shadow Movement.’