Chapter 430 – Part 2 – Coup Preparation

He had asked Derkius about it before.

Whether he couldn’t use his existing power after possessing.

‘That’s what he said then. That new version data couldn’t be transferred to the old version.’

But it seems to have been a lie.

Or maybe he didn’t know.

‘Perhaps it’s possible because I’m a transcendent.’

Choi Seong-min’s gaze remained on the blinking golden message.

[Load now? Y/N]

‘I can load new version trait data?’

There was nothing to think about.

‘Of course, yes.’

[You have selected to load data.]

[Found 129 new version trait data stored in user’s Elsis.]

[Will now immediately update to user’s body.]

Choi Seong-min’s body briefly emitted light.

Though he was prepared to wait hours, the update work finished quickly.

[Successfully loaded 129 new version trait data.]

[Update completed.]

Choi Seong-min turned off the Elsis screen and recited the awakener system command.

‘Status window.’

-Name: Choi Seong-min (Age 20)

-Grade: S

-Combat Power: 25,941,837

-World Ranking: 2nd

-Strength: 2,075,361, Stamina: 277,239

-Agility: 166,375, Mana: 4,248

-Traits: Translation(F), Hunter Slayer(EX), Stealth Detection(C), Dagger Mastery(B), Assassin(S), Counter(A), First Strike(B), Herd Instinct(A), Combat Sense(A), Rune Affinity(A) and 994 others.

-Skills: Slash(S), Dagger Throw(S), Rush(S), Throat Slash(S), Shadow Step(S), Stealth(S), Poison Making(S), Poison Coating(S), Ruthless Heart(S), Blade Scatter(S)

With the addition of 129 traits, his stats explosively increased.

‘Strength is 2 million… That’s insane.’

If he focused all this strength into agility with Unbalanced Power?

‘The ridiculous result would be agility alone reaching 2.24 million.’

A realm no other hunter could achieve even if they hunted for a lifetime.

This result was possible because traits collected in his previous life had been combined.

‘Revenge, Magic Swordsman, Strong Mind, Avatar of Battlefield, Reflection, Parasite, Authority of Healing, First Born, Second Born’s Blessing, etc. Really, all my previous traits came in.’

Even the EX-grade Mind Control trait came in.

‘Insane, it’s insane.’

Choi Seong-min was amazed at the number of traits that were difficult to examine individually.

‘875 original traits combined with 129 makes 1,004.’

Originally in his previous life he had 130, but 129 came in.

‘The Hunter Slayer trait seems to be missing.’

The reason was easy to guess.

‘Since it’s a trait imprinted on the soul, it couldn’t be loaded as a duplicate.’

There was nothing to regret.

What he had now was already fraudulent enough.

‘Wait, my potential combat power is… 3.3 billion?’

Choi Seong-min’s mouth fell open at the potential combat power he learned through Insight.

‘It increased by 22 times?’

He had been amazed when it was 150 million, but now it was over 3.3 billion…

The limitless power of Hunter Slayer was simply astonishing.

‘But can’t I load items or stats from my previous life?’

Other things weren’t compatible, so only traits were updated.

‘Why could only traits be brought over?’

Thinking carefully, Insight derived a plausible inference.

‘According to Dayna, the Hunter Slayer trait imprinted on the soul harvests Divine Force from killed opponents and absorbs it into my soul. Perhaps at that time, not only Divine Force but also fragments of stolen trait data were stored in the soul?’

It was a plausible hypothesis given that previous life traits were recognized as missing data.

‘Being able to load data now must be because I became a transcendent.’

Anyway, now he had become strong enough to have no rivals.

To the point where he couldn’t be called human.

‘No, I’m not human anymore. I’m a transcendent.’

He had killed the Great Heroes and achieved 100% synchronization rate.

He became a transcendent and discovered that Derkius was the root of evil.

‘I had no means to oppose the god before, but not anymore.’

Strictly speaking, he wasn’t a god.

Derkius was also a transcendent like himself.

He was just acting like a god through Elsis’s omnipotent functions.

‘If I save Dayna trapped in the underworld and face Derkius together, I can save my family.’

But before that, there was work to do here.

Choi Seong-min’s gaze turned downward.

Looking at Woo Seong-jae’s coldly stiffened corpse, a brilliant idea flashed by.

Insight told him what he needed to do next.

‘Even when leaving, I should wrap things up before going.’

Choi Seong-min took out a flask bottle from his inventory.

* * *

“Leader.”

“Ah, Captain Gang.”

When Gang Min-chan approached, Ryu Jong-ik made a pleased expression.

Perhaps because they had fought a life-and-death battle together, he felt stronger camaraderie than before.

“How has your body been since yesterday?”

“Fine. I didn’t have many injuries anyway. How about you, Leader?”

“I wasn’t seriously hurt either. But I don’t remember how I fainted…”

“You too, Leader? I also don’t remember when I fainted.”

Just yesterday, the two had fought Jo Wang-chun to protect Choi Seong-min’s family.

He was a strong opponent.

Strong enough to be overwhelming even when both attacked together.

That’s why they readily accepted the Black Mask’s words about fainting.

But they couldn’t remember the process of how they fainted.

They only remembered fighting fiercely.

“The Black Mask said we fainted… Could it really be true?”

“What are you saying, Captain Gang? Don’t you trust the Black Mask?”

“It’s not that, but… for fainting, there was too much blood around. Didn’t you think so too, Leader?”

“…That’s true.”

Ryu Jong-ik had also found that part strange when he woke up.

Seeing himself sitting in a pool of blood was shocking enough to drive away sleepiness.

“But for it to be my blood, I had no injuries.”

“Hmm… me too.”

“Could the Black Mask have lied about us fainting…”

“Shh!”

Ryu Jong-ik, putting his index finger to his lips as if to say be quiet, looked around left and right.

“Why are you doing that?”

“In case the Black Mask might be listening. He appears so mysteriously…”

After confirming no one was around, Ryu Jong-ik continued.

“The Black Mask isn’t that kind of person. Why would he tell such lies?”

“You’re right, aren’t you? We really did faint?”

“If not, could we be standing here in perfect condition? We would have been meeting the grim reaper long ago.”

Gang Min-chan nodded in agreement.

The feeling of having died and come back to life must be his own delusion.

“What’s certain is that if the Black Mask hadn’t appeared in time, we both would be dead.”

“That’s right. I acknowledge that point too.”

“So let’s forget about yesterday and talk business. Did you send assembly orders to the members?”

“Yes. As instructed, I sent calls and texts to everyone yesterday. I generously told them to assemble by 3 PM today, so no one will be missing.”

“Well done. Having Captain Gang by my side is truly reassuring.”

“Haha… you flatter me.”

Ryu Jong-ik sent Gang Min-chan a look of trust.

Perhaps because he was recently betrayed by spies, he didn’t know how precious a trustworthy member like Gang Min-chan was.

“Leader, we’re really at the final stage now.”

“Indeed.”

Currently, the two were looking at the association building from a distance.

They were assembling members to prepare to attack the association as the Black Mask commanded.

“Leader, did you request support from the Wings of Hope vice-leader?”

“Of course.”

“How many are coming?”

“Including their vice-leader, twenty A-rank hunters agreed to support us.”

“Twenty A-rank hunters?”

Gang Min-chan was genuinely surprised.

That was similar to Revolution’s power level.

Excluding Choi Seong-min with 10 million combat power, of course.

“They took a flight at dawn, so they should arrive on time.”

“That’s fortunate. Allied forces are helpful at times like this.”

“Indeed.”

The two smiled briefly but returned to serious expressions.

They couldn’t help but be nervous with the great undertaking they’d dreamed of their whole lives ahead.

“I’m starting to feel it’s real. That we’re on the verge of a coup.”

“You seem nervous too, Leader.”

“Of course. I’m human too.”

“I never imagined we’d come this far. No, I imagined it, but I didn’t think this day would come so quickly…”

“Captain Gang.”

“Yes?”

At Ryu Jong-ik’s quite serious expression, Gang Min-chan listened carefully.

“Yesterday I told you. That I made one promise with the Black Mask.”

“Ah… you mean about fighting Kwak Min-cheol first?”

“Yes. Since we plan to fight one-on-one, please don’t interfere no matter what. Even if I get stabbed and die.”

“What? But…”

“I have personal grudges. I don’t want others to stop me. This is something I must finish with my own hands.”

At the serious request, Gang Min-chan couldn’t refuse.

“If you put it that way… I understand. I’ll leave Kwak Min-cheol to you, Leader.”

“Yes. Thank you. Don’t worry too much about the coup. Even if I fail, the Black Mask will take care of Kwak Min-cheol.”

“I’m more worried about something happening to you, Leader…”

“I already prepared to throw away my life long ago. If the coup just succeeds, this measly life doesn’t matter at all.”

When his daughter died, Ryu Jong-ik had vowed.

That if he could kill Kwak Min-cheol with his own hands, he could throw away his life anytime.

‘Eun-bi, wait. Daddy will come see you soon.’

Ryu Jong-ik never expected to survive the confrontation with Kwak Min-cheol from the beginning.

The difference in combat power was too clear.

‘But I will definitely kill Kwak Min-cheol with my own hands.’

While making that vow again, Gang Min-chan looked around for some reason.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah… I was wondering if the Black Mask had arrived yet.”

“He’ll come when it’s time. He said he’d come after killing Melissa and Frank.”

“He hasn’t come yet. Then I wonder if I should say this.”

“What?”

“About the Black Mask. Honestly, I’m suspicious.”

At the word suspicious, Ryu Jong-ik immediately frowned.

Seeing that, Gang Min-chan waved his hands as if it was a misunderstanding.

“Ah, I don’t mean it in a bad way. That the Black Mask is our ally is an undoubtable fact.”

“Then what are you suspicious about…”

“What I’m talking about is the Black Mask’s identity.”

“Identity…?”

“Honestly, aren’t you curious? About the Black Mask’s face.”

“I am curious. What such a great person looks like…”

“To be honest, there’s one person I suspect.”

At those words, Ryu Jong-ik’s eyes widened.

“Who?”

“Hunter Choi Seong-min.”