The Genius Assassin Who Takes it All

Chapter 152: Surgery (2)

Meanwhile, Lee Ye-rin was able to confirm the on-site news from Jungmun Pharmaceuticals, their client.

It was that Kang-hoo had safely delivered the Red Key.

Moreover, it goes without saying that he had also shaken off the pursuit of Jeung Seon-rak, the mercenary leader.

On top of that, it was said he even cut off Jeung Seon-rak’s fingers, causing him to lose his ring item.

“I never imagined he would not only succeed but also land a blow on the captain.”

Lee Ye-rin clicked her tongue.

The saying that Kang-hoo always exceeds expectations was perfectly fitting.

Because it was Kang-hoo, she had thought he might succeed in this request that everyone else had failed. She had expectations, naturally.

But she had also thought that if a powerful external force intervened, the possibility would vanish entirely.

Lee Ye-rin was confident that if she had faced Jeung Seon-rak, she wouldn’t have lasted even a few seconds.

That’s the reason for the existence of levels.

The gap in skills and stats, coupled with the gap in experience, becomes a formidable wall that’s hard to overcome.

Yet Kang-hoo had overturned this common sense.

No matter who heard this news, they would undoubtedly react the same way she did.

Jungmun Pharmaceuticals had also expressed a desire to have Kang-hoo check the security of other labs.

It was a task to assess which direction of the lab was easiest to breach and which areas were poorly guarded.

They judged that Kang-hoo was perfect for this request, as it required a skilled and perceptive hunter.

“This is quite stimulating…”

Lee Ye-rin bit her lip.

She was not only an excellent broker in securing and guiding requests but also a hunter herself.

Seeing Kang-hoo’s remarkable growth made her envious. She felt a desire to follow him.

Considering the level when she first met Kang-hoo, her own growth felt insignificant.

From a third-party perspective, Lee Ye-rin’s growth was undeniably rapid.

However, since she was evaluating herself against Kang-hoo, it inevitably felt slow.

“Should I really lift the restriction?”

Lee Ye-rin tore off a memo she had stuck in Kang-hoo’s file.

It was a note setting the maximum request level at 350, considering Kang-hoo’s current level.

This meant that the upper limit for requests was set at what could be proposed to a level 350 hunter.

Even that was a high estimate, considering Kang-hoo’s current level was seen as more than twice that.

But this restriction seemed meaningless.

If he could evade Jeung Seon-rak’s pursuit, would level 400 be enough? No, even that was low.

“Alright, let’s lift it. If I propose it, he’ll accept it according to the difficulty. Lifting the restriction.”

Crumple!

Lee Ye-rin threw the crumpled memo into the trash can.

Restrictions were meaningless to Kang-hoo. And since he would be the one making the choice anyway, there was no need to worry.

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She thought it was also meaningless for her to judge whether it was possible or impossible.

Wasn’t it so?

Seeing Kang-hoo successfully complete all the requests that were thought to be impossible.

“I should start taking international requests soon. The brokerage fee is much higher, and there are many attractive requests.”

Lee Ye-rin decided on a new direction. Kang-hoo was now one of her VIP clients.

In that case, it seemed best to find requests that were attractive to Kang-hoo and also brought her substantial commissions.

The domestic mercenary market clearly had its limits. She wanted to expand Kang-hoo’s range of activities.

“…I am human after all.”

Kang-hoo woke up after sleeping for a whole day.

Thanks to the blackout curtains, he had no sense of time passing. It had been a day.

As a result, the view outside the window was the same as before he fell asleep.

Except for the fact that the date and day displayed on his smartphone had changed to the next day, everything seemed normal.

He felt refreshed, as if his body, which had seemed to sink and shatter endlessly, had recovered completely.

Kang-hoo recalled his body experiencing both the highest and lowest points, feeling relieved on the other hand.

He had never been so physically exhausted before, so at one point, he wondered if his body didn’t know pain.

He had worried that some sensory issues might cause his body not to function properly.

It was an unnecessary worry.

His body was honest, crying out in pain when it hurt.

“It feels weird.”

It felt exactly like the moment when surging sexual desire was resolved all at once.

After pushing his body to the limit and recovering with enough rest, he felt quite refreshed.

He did think it was a bit perverted to find pleasure in this process, but he didn’t care.

Such pleasure was welcome anytime. It meant he had performed well on the battlefield.

“I was drained.”

Since he had slept without a single phone call, he thought he had slept well. But when he checked his smartphone, it was dead.

He didn’t know when it had turned off, but it seemed to have happened shortly after he fell asleep.

After plugging in the charger and turning on the smartphone, the first thing he saw was a message from Park Dong-jae.

【Hyung, do you know? Someone targeting you has recently entered the country. Reliable information.】

【The name is Cha So-hyeok. He’s a hunter from ‘Sun’ and Cha So-hee’s older brother. Verified through the Black Network.】

It seemed to be information obtained from a deep source, too deep to be called just insider information.

This meant there was an insider at a mid-level or higher position, suggesting how much effort had gone into acquiring this information.

Kang-hoo had always felt the limitation of gathering information alone.

Lee Ye-rin was more focused on request-based information and had a broader view of the domestic scene.

But Park Dong-jae, while he might lack in macro aspects,

he undoubtedly excelled in detailed, in-depth information in specific fields.

Kang-hoo highly valued Park Dong-jae’s usefulness. His worth was high as both a buffer and an informant.

It was very satisfying to have someone like Park Dong-jae, who trusted and followed him while paying close attention.

“Cha So-hyeok.”

An unfamiliar name.

In the original work, Cha So-hee was depicted as a loyal subordinate of Kang Dong-hyun, but she was not a hunter with significant focus.

Therefore, it was unlikely that her older brother would have been portrayed in detail. His name wasn’t even mentioned.

However, living as Shin Kang-hoo, he had formed an inseparable bad relationship with Cha So-hee.

In the process, with Cha So-hee’s death, a new vendetta was created. It was a blood feud.

It was clear that he had come to avenge his deceased younger sister.

There seemed to be no way to avoid it. Not that he intended to avoid it, of course.

“He’ll be persistent until it’s over.”

As Kang-hoo loosened his stiff neck, he checked the additional data Park Dong-jae had attached.

His level was between 350 and 400. He was an extreme damage-dealing style swordsman who used a greatsword aggressively.

While it might sound exaggerated, from an assassin’s perspective, he was among the top 5 most challenging concepts to deal with.

Not that there was an easy class, but such extreme damage-dealing swordsmen could kill with a single blow.

A class with a one-hit-kill capability was certainly the nemesis of an assassin, who had relatively poor endurance.

At that moment.

Bzzzt!

Park Dong-jae contacted him directly.

Was the timing just right?

Or did he know Kang-hoo had just checked the message and called immediately?

“Yeah, Dong-jae.”

-Hyung! Did you see the message?

“I saw it. Thanks for the information.”

-Thanks? It’s just regular information I collect anyway, nothing special!

“Regardless.”

Park Dong-jae’s reaction was too obvious, pretending it was nothing.

The more he spoke like that, the more it paradoxically showed he cared a lot. Knowing his personality, it made sense.

-Hyung! Do you want to go to a dungeon? This time, the Myeongga Guild offered us a dungeon!

“They offered us a dungeon?”

Well, they’re giving us the opportunity to enter. You could call it a license rental. That’s the right term.

Is this the power of connections?

When you know someone, and that person is valuable, such things happen.

Dungeon exploration was always a welcome offer for Kang-hoo, who owned few personal dungeons.

Especially if it was a place he had never visited, its value skyrocketed.

If he could eliminate the middle boss or main boss, he could definitely steal a skill.

Since the dungeon Park Dong-jae mentioned was one Kang-hoo had never visited, just going would be beneficial.

“What kind of dungeon is it?”

-It’s quite unique. Specifically, we’ve been guided to a special entrance to an open-type dungeon.

“So, if we enter, it’s not directly a dungeon but a passage?”

-Yes! You have to go through that passage to enter the open-type dungeon.

“Any other peculiarities?”

-Hunters from all over the world gather there. You’ll probably see quite a few foreign hunters.

“And we can’t go back through the passage we used?”

-Right. If we enter through Passage A and another hunter enters through Passage B, we can’t use B to go back.

“I get the structure.”

-Recommended level 300. The management is under the American guild Canis, but they only control the main area.

“Got it. What’s the date?”

-Tomorrow night at 9. How about it? I’ll send the meeting place on the map right after this call, hyung.

“Okay. Tomorrow night it is. See you then.”

An unexpected but certainly beneficial schedule appeared.

Opportunities related to Lee Hyun-seok or An Yeong-ho were secured dungeons that could be accessed anytime.

However, such sudden opportunities were rare and might not come again.

A dungeon connected to hunters from other countries. As much as he was curious, he thought he needed to be cautious.

There was still time until dawn.

Having slept the whole day, Kang-hoo, who had no more sleep to squeeze out, suddenly thought of Huntergram.

Instead of passively watching AI-recommended content, he was actively looking for someone he wanted to see.

Since it was the Huntergram of a somewhat famous person, the name popped up at the top as soon as he typed it.

【Akiyama Takashi】

Akiyama Takashi, one of Japan’s renowned hunters, and also a member of The Thirteen Stars.

There were many words to describe Takashi, but the core term that penetrated all those descriptors was one:

“Variant.”

For this reason, public perception wasn’t great. Negative comments on his Huntergram were not uncommon.

Moreover, even The Thirteen Stars considered Takashi a variant and didn’t keep him close.

In the original work, Takashi was always doing something else during The Thirteen Stars meetings.

It felt like he couldn’t concentrate, much like a five-year-old child.

For this reason, most of Takashi’s words and actions were ignored.

When decisions were made, he was just informed, and he didn’t particularly mind.

Still, thanks to Yu Cheonghwa and Emilia taking care of Takashi like sisters, he wasn’t completely isolated.

However, Chae Gwanhyeong disliked Takashi and often openly suggested expelling him from The Thirteen Stars.

“Honestly, looking at the current picture, he’s the easiest to separate from The Thirteen Stars.”

Kang-hoo’s eyes deepened.

If Takashi had the weakest sense of belonging, maybe he could shake his heart somehow.

Considering the issue with An Yeong-ho that would take him to Japan, it seemed like good timing.

By now, eight of The Thirteen Stars should be gathered. Five were still scattered.

Before they fully assembled, he wanted to create a crack among them.

Like quietly spreading poison.