The Genius Assassin Who Does It All Himself - Chapter 148



Only Krnovel

Episode 148: Chuncheon (1)

It’s Pungroejin.

If I had the chance to upgrade my skills from a long time ago, this was the skill I would have considered as my first priority.

The reason is simple: it is the only skill among Kang-hoo’s skills that allows for a wide-area attack.

However, when upgrading a skill, it was impossible to know in advance what skill it would be.

It was possible to guess.

If you think about it in light of the flow of skill settings laid out in the original work… … .

The upgraded Wind Storm was likely to be the main feature, rather than a secondary concept.

It’s a skill of the type called ‘Psionic Storm’ in a game from Game Company B.

“It’s true that I’m lacking in area-of-effect attacks.”

I judged myself coolly.

In fact, as an assassin, he is a fraud in and of himself, having skills that cover a wide range of fields.

Kang-hoo’s greed was never ending.

I thought that to become an all-rounder, you definitely need at least one skill that you can confidently use in any field.

Long-range attacks are assisted by lightning, and close-range critical hits are assisted by decapitation.

Psychic attacks can utilize hallucinations, shallow confusion, and self-healing is also possible with frenzied healing.

If necessary, you can use one of the constellation abilities stolen from Jeon Jong-du, namely, life absorption.

Here, the bleeding maintenance is unparalleled, as proven by the previous cooperation with the Gru Guild.

However, the wide-area attack skill left many things to be desired.

Although there was a wind and lightning strike, it was more of a nuisance than a lethal weapon.

Even in the dungeon, unless it was a low-level monster, the only thing that would come out was a stinging sensation.

“It would be perfect if there was a picture of a herd hunting.”

Due to the nature of their profession, one-on-many combat is not something that assassins tend to prefer.

This is because the overall skill mechanism is focused on one-on-one.

But if only Kang-hoo could get a useful area-of-effect skill.

I also saw a possibility of gathering monsters in one place and then destroying them all at once with a wide-area skill.

Didn’t this exact picture come out during the dungeon raid with the Gru Guild?

Kang-hoo and Ma-jin-ho gathered the monsters into a narrow area, and the wizards rained down wide-area attacks on them.

“Yes. It’s also a good idea to develop your existing skills to the maximum. It was a good idea to save the redstone.”

Kang-hoo, who had made up his mind, prepared to upgrade the Wind Storm Jin.

It was a bit disappointing that it wasn’t a skill enhancement.

Skill enhancement, which can be obtained with a very low probability in dungeons, immediately changes the skill into an ultimate skill.

However, there was definitely a corresponding change in skill upgrades through the summary stone.

And if you want to give more power to the Wind Storm, you can use the Heartless Assassin constellation.

Since there are various methods, I decided not to think about it in a complicated way.

Two investments were made immediately.

Perhaps because there were two upgrades, the second time around even the skill name changed.

【Brain shock】

【Skill Proficiency: Lv. Max】

【A skill that engulfs all targets except the caster within an 8m radius with a powerful electric storm.

】 The ‘Electrifying’ effect is triggered with a 33% chance, and can be fatal depending on the target’s anti-demon stat.

【Consumes 10 mana per second, and the skill’s maximum duration is 8 seconds. Cooldown is 10 seconds.】

“Brain shock. That’s a nice name.”

If Pungryejin felt like it was vaguely influenced by wind and electricity, Noegyeokjin seemed to have a clear concept.

In fact, the striking range of the wind thunder has also increased from 5m to 8m. In terms of diameter, it has increased by 6m.

Moreover, unlike the electric shock from the wind and lightning, which had a low probability of one digit.

Brain shock has a much improved shock probability than that.

It was also a good strategic option as it could cause additional damage to enemies with low resistance stats.

As long as your team members don’t get caught in a lightning storm, there’s nothing else to worry about.

“I guess I should try testing it.”

Kang-hoo chuckled as he saw a group of monsters appearing in front of him.

I always feel this, but monsters are really good punching bags. They don’t give out false information.

What would be the result if we activated the brain shock and blood fire on those guys?

That question was quickly resolved.

The countless drops of blood and flesh of the monsters scattered in all directions told it all.

Area-of-effect explosion for area-of-effect attacks.

The connection between the two was fantastic.

It was beautiful.

* * *

After finishing some personal training and coming out of the dungeon, Kang-hoo received a phone call as if it had been waiting for him.

It was a call from Lee Ye-rin.

I had already told you in advance that I would not accept any requests related to the White War, but I still got a call.

It seemed like a different type of request had come in.

“Yes, this is Shin Kang-hoo.”

– Mr. Kang-hoo, I’m contacting you because I received a request that has nothing to do with murder.

“Is that really so?”

– At least if we just follow the flow I thought, no one will die.

“I’m concerned that it’s conditional.”

– Would you like to hear it first? If you don’t like it, you can decline.

“Let me hear it.”

Lee Ye-rin’s strength is that she constantly ‘sells’ requests.

If the client does not want a specific request, the offer is made in a form that allows them to bypass it.

It was her skill to somehow get the request.

Of course, in the process, I didn’t force the other person to accept the request or push it onto them.

– We received a request to deliver the Red Key to the First Research Institute of Jeongmun Pharmaceuticals.

“If it’s a Red Key… … . I think it’s a key that’s usually used to activate large-scale barriers.”

– That’s right. To prevent it from being activated randomly, usually three key holders turn it at the same time.

“Why is that?”

– The first research lab of Jeongmun Pharmaceutical in Chuncheon is currently under attack by multinational mercenaries.

“Why?”

– I think Jeongmun Pharmaceuticals has decided to distribute ‘Jeongmunhwan’ soon. It’s a stimulant that has been developed over a long period of time and has almost no side effects.

“They are trying to steal the technology.”

– Yes. Given the circumstances, it would not be strange for the Purification Guild to intervene, but they are too quiet.

It’s just as Lee Ye-rin said.

In any case, Jeongmun Pharmaceutical was a pharmaceutical company based in South Korea and had not attracted any foreign capital.

Looking at the actions of the Purification Guild so far, in cases like this, they tend to intervene for whatever reason.

Public opinion itself is flowing in that direction. Public opinion that we should protect capable domestic pharmaceutical companies.

Whenever such public opinion arose, the Purification Guild would come forward as if they had been waiting and play the hero.

“It’s obvious. He’s probably watching over me.”

– If that’s the case, why bother asking for help from outside? You could have done it yourself.

“If there was a way to get the fruits without getting my hands dirty, I don’t think I would do it myself.”

He said it calmly.

Unlike Kang-hoo, who has seen through the true nature of the Purification Guild, Lee Ye-rin doesn’t seem to have thought that far yet.

Kang-hoo continued speaking.

“Let’s focus on the request.”

– It seems that the barrier is not activating because one of the keyholders was kidnapped.

“If the Red Key is delivered, will the laboratory be able to hold out until then?”

– The multinational mercenary group’s attacks have stopped for now. They are probably waiting for the deposit.

“The logic of capitalism is clear.”

– It’s not like the research center doesn’t have any defense facilities, so I guess they don’t want to take risks without compensation.

“If I hand over the Red Key, will the lab be fine?”

– It looks like it was designed to last at least 15 days. They’ve really invested a lot of money in the lab.

“After spending so much money, I can’t activate it because I don’t have a key holder… … .”

– This could be seen as a typical example of safety insensitivity.

“What about the maintenance?”

– 5 billion for start, 50 billion for success. And in case of success, I was promised 10 Shinhan.

“Each Shinhwan?”

– Yes. You know what kind of guy he is, right? What he said is almost certainly true, right?

“Yes, I know that.”

Kang-hoo was startled.

Each ring.

It is a pill developed by Jeongmun Pharmaceutical that temporarily maximizes the utilization of the brain.

Due to the problems with side effects and aftereffects, the duration of effect is very short, at 10 seconds after taking it.

If you subtract the 2-3 seconds it takes to swallow and disperse inside, the actual time to see the effect is about 7 seconds.

It has not been commercialized yet.

It was a drug that was only used in very small quantities within the main gate pharmaceutical company. Clinical trials before commercialization were completed.

The effect was clear.

All calculations regarding the simultaneous attacks and movements of enemies become possible.

It was possible to solve difficult mathematical problems, and it was also possible to experience the sensation of time passing very slowly, although relatively speaking.

In the original work, the point in time when each Shinhwan becomes commercialized is one year from now.

This is a situation where you can obtain a special drug that has not yet seen the light of day.

What’s scary about Gakshinhwan is that it has few side effects because it is made entirely of natural ingredients.

Unlike narcotic stimulants, it does not cause disruption or destruction of sensory or cognitive systems after taking it.

It seemed like it was worth a try.

It’s just a matter of handing over the key, so it’s not a request that requires killing someone, as Yerin Lee said.

Kang-hoo asked.

“Can you brief me right away?”

– What should we do? Would you like to proceed with the video conference?

“No. I have a lot to check, so I’ll go there myself. I’ll go to the Cheong-an Building.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Kang-hoo immediately activated his teleportation ability.

Then, the surrounding background instantly changed into a landscape centered around the Cheong-an Building.

It was the very spot where Jin Hyo-young had been executed just a short while ago.

* * *

Kang-hoo arrived at the Cheong-an Guild just a few minutes after the call ended.

Although she didn’t show it because it wasn’t a situation that needed an explanation, Lee Ye-rin was very surprised.

If it weren’t for the situation where Kang-hoo was waiting near the Cheong-an building when he called.

This quick visit by Kang-hoo would have been possible thanks to his ability to change locations in an instant.

Long-distance movement skills are nothing new, but if the person using the skill is an ‘assassin’, it’s a different story.

But her thoughts were tied up at the level of a brief surprise.

There were so many things about Kang-hoo’s skill set that even the open-minded Lee Ye-rin couldn’t understand.

So at some point I gave up on the idea itself.

Because it’s Kang-hoo. It’s only natural that Kang-hoo has such skills. It was a kind of positive resignation.

Soon, Lee Ye-rin personally guided Kang-hoo to the conference room for the briefing and continued explaining the request.

I thought it wouldn’t be easy after seeing the rewards, but after hearing the briefing, it was definitely better than I imagined.

“Aside from the fact that there are multinational mercenary groups guarding the perimeter, the physical distance is actually a bigger issue.”

“How many cases did you say had failed before?”

“Seven times. All of them were sniped mid-air and killed. The hunters who attempted to infiltrate through the air were… …dead before they even touched the ground.”

“Every time I receive a request, I feel like I always get requests where there are many cases where someone died beforehand.”

“That’s because I have faith that Kang-hoo can do it. It’s true.”

“You didn’t get more commission?”

“Just a little bit? It’s true that I do take a little bit, but that’s all part of gathering information in advance for Kang-hoo!”

“Hmm. Well, that aside.”

“Hey! I’m not saying that’s true, I’m telling you! Anyway, you don’t have to push yourself too hard. I also said that it would be difficult to find a client.”

“Are you saying that I have to get through this street safely to get to the lab?”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s really… … long.”

Kang-hoo drew a line with his hand along the satellite map shown on the monitor screen.

The distance I had to move was quite long, requiring a lot of finger movement.

At this point, it seemed like I would have to eat Mad Solarium and use my skills without stopping for even a moment.

The extreme of extremes.

Because I had to push my body to the limit, I couldn’t be free from the side effects of my congenital mana hypersensitivity.

It seemed like it would be the most difficult commission I’d ever undertaken.

There may not be any battles where you have to fight with someone and sweat and blood.

It seemed likely that it would be a fierce battle with oneself, challenging one’s limits.