The Genius Assassin Who Does It All Himself - Chapter 290



Only Krnovel

Episode 290 Apple (4)

* * *

It was after Kang-hoo returned to the villa and started eating that his mouth naturally returned to its original state.

When we returned to the villa following the thousand-year-old tree, warm rice and meat dishes were prepared for us.

I didn’t really feel like eating anything, so I was thinking of eating a cup of ramen, but then the situation changed.

“My daughter worked hard to prepare this. Enjoy it. If your expression is even a little off… … .”

The thousand-year-old man pushed Kang-hoo towards the table and gave him a sharp look. His eyes were more playful than scary.

“Eat.”

Joo Hae-mi set up a glass of cool water for Kang-hoo and then left.

Kang-hoo asked.

“Have you eaten, Master? Can I eat it?”

“I made this for you to eat, you punk. We ate it a long time ago while you were sleeping long enough to open your mouth.”

When I looked in the direction of the sink at the words of the thousand-year-old man, I saw dishes and cups that had been washed. It seemed like quite some time had passed.

“Then I will eat it with gratitude.”

“That’s right. You should be grateful.”

Leaving behind the cold, thousand-year-old man’s gaze, Kang-hoo took a spoonful of steaming white rice.

‘it’s good.’

Maybe it was because I was eating after a tough training session, but my mouth started watering even though I only ate rice.

The meat that Joo Hae-mi grilled was also very good because the seasoning was just right.

I wondered how long it had been since I had a home-cooked meal.

After being possessed by Shin Kang-hoo, I lived a life far from home cooking.

Even when he was living the original author’s life, Kang-hoo’s staple food was instant food or delivery food.

If I occasionally eat instant rice or take-out, that’s akin to home-cooked meals. But I don’t eat it that often.

“Master, it’s really delicious.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I can’t say empty words.”

“Haha. That’s right.”

Perhaps because he felt happy at the delicious response, Cheon-sal-no-su sat down across from Kang-hu.

Suddenly, the thousand-year-old man looked at him with a fierce gaze, and his body became tense.

He made a gesture for me to eat comfortably, but there was no way I could eat comfortably with those glaring eyes in front of me.

But he was even hungrier than that, so Kang-hoo scooped up another big spoonful of rice and put it in his mouth.

Now, even if I eat rice without any side dishes, it tastes so good. It’s like heaven.

The thousand-year-old man watched Kang-hoo eat for a long time.

And after he had finished eating his full bowl of rice, he continued to speak seriously.

“Kang-hu.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Your venom is a learned, staged venom. That won’t do. You need a venom that comes from within.”

“… … .”

As if he had seen right through the fact that he was possessed.

The thousand-year-old man spoke with a meaningful voice. A learned, staged venom. Did he see it in his eyes?

That wasn’t a wrong statement.

This is because it is a personality that is superimposed and synchronized with the life of the character Shin Kang-hoo.

It was not a 100% pure poison that was born with him. It was also a poison that was ‘directed’ by the existence of Shin Kang-hoo.

Of course, Kang-hoo wasn’t denying himself. He didn’t even think that he was acting.

But if you ask me if this is my perfect true self, I can’t say with confidence that it is.

Even though 98% of the appearance is of Shin Kang-hu himself, 2% of the appearance contains the life of the original author.

That was the driving force that made Kang-hoo move not on the black border, but on the gray border.

So, I was living somewhere where the line between good and evil was ambiguous.

“I understand what you mean.”

“For you, you need to work on strengthening your flesh more than the cancer of ‘assassination.’ That will make you much stronger than you are now.”

“Yes, Master.”

“It would be good to be faithful to the emotions that can cause anger. Enmity, revenge, anger, hatred, etc. There are many emotions that can easily stimulate you. However, you should not be immersed in those emotions.”

Kang-hoo understood the thousand-year-old man’s words in this way.

Rather than viewing your opponent as a subject for experimentation or measurement, you should really try to tear them apart and kill them.

The thousand-year-old man added.

“Even if you split the air, you must carry the will to live. Throw away such foolish experiments.”

“Yes, I will engrave it again.”

“There will be no further training until you recognize the change in your emotions. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Then take a rest. Finish the dishes and go upstairs. We each clean up after ourselves after eating.”

“Do you wash the dishes that you eat?”

“I’m the one covering my own face. You’re talking about the obvious. You pathetic bastard.”

Leaving Kang-hoo behind, who had suddenly become a pitiful man, the thousand-year-old old man clicked his tongue and headed to his room.

The table became quiet again.

When Kang-hoo saw the empty rice bowl, he said something for the first time that he had never said before.

“I need to drink one more glass of water.”

Joo Hae-mi’s food was really the best.

* * *

Late at night.

A phone call came to Kang-hoo, who was resting soundly in his room.

Because it was quite far from civilization, the night was extremely quiet, and so the vibrations were quite loud.

The sender was Jeon Se-hyeok.

“Yes, this is Shin Kang-hoo.”

– We have recruited a trustworthy person inside the Qingming camp.

Knowing that Kang-hoo disliked Misa Yeo-gu, Jeon Se-hyeok got to the point.

The Qingming camp was currently one of Kang-hoo’s biggest concerns, and he was thinking about this issue at the time.

“Can you tell me more about that?”

– Are you aware that Eclipse is currently focusing all its attention on the Cheongju Liberation District?

“No, I don’t know.”

It wasn’t information I had a vague idea of, it was information I didn’t know at all.

There is a liberated zone in Cheongju. Its size is similar to that of Gimcheon liberated zone.

However, there was no element of conflict in the Cheongju Liberation Zone because it was already tightly controlled by the criminal organization ‘Black’.

There is an organization that has a solid foundation, and then Eclipse suddenly comes rushing into it?

– It seems that Eclipse has been trying to eat Cheongju Haebanggu for quite some time.

We recruited people like ourselves who we could trust. And yesterday, the leader of Black died.

“Are you talking about the captain?”

– Yes, Captain Park Min-kwon is dead. And the forces under Eclipse’s protection have taken control.

“Then it seems that Eclipse itself must have moved quite a bit of personnel.”

– That’s right. It seems that they have removed all the members of the organization who were staying in the southern part of Gyeonggi Province and Cheonan.

It is not completely under control, so fighting is taking place within the liberated zone.

“In the meantime, eat one of the liberated areas… … .”

– After losing the Pyeongtaek branch, he must have felt his power shrinking, so he made a bold move.

“I think so. From Kang Dong-hyun’s perspective, he probably needed an issue that would resolve internal discontent.”

– Yes. For that reason, Eclipse’s attention and power are now concentrated on the Cheongju Liberation Zone.

“It seems that quite a few people have left the Qingming camp.”

– Even though we kept the number of guards in check so that it wouldn’t be revealed, the quality of guards has changed. Their power has also been weakened.

“hmm…….”

If Jeon Se-hyeok’s words are true, there has never been a better time to plan a Cheongmyeong concentration camp.

This is especially true when Eclipse is distracted by other things.

Moreover, up until now, the Qingming camp has never been attacked from outside.

This was because the power of the Eclipse was that strong, and there were many forces that were afraid of opposing them.

But not now.

Jeon Se-hyeok continued speaking without hesitation, perhaps realizing the meaning of Kang-hoo’s words that had paused for a moment.

– The Cheong-an Mercenaries and the Black Lion are already ready to move.

Of course, there is only one reason why I am saying this to you, Kang-hoo. It is not to ask you to move with us.

It’s okay to act alone, but it’s meant to be known in advance that there is such a movement.

“You were considerate.”

– I would appreciate it if you could interpret it that way. It’s just a very unlikely situation.

If Kang-hoo eliminates Jo Hwan-seong, the current camp commander… … .

“What if I remove it?”

– When we take over the camp and secure ownership of the magic stone mine, we guarantee an 8% share of the net profits.

“It’s a plausible proposal, but it also feels like a tightrope walk.”

– I don’t want you to overdo it. Hahaha.

Cheongmyeong Detention Center Commander Cho Hwan-seong.

It is ranked 7th in the Eclipse internal sequence.

He is a skilled swordsman who can freely use a double-edged axe. Judging by his appearance alone, he belongs to the same class as Jeon Jong-du and Ma Jin-ho.

There is no need to doubt that Go Kyung-ho, who died a while ago, was ranked 8th in the hierarchy, and that he is a much stronger hunter than him.

Compatibility.

He is definitely a worthy opponent.

It’s also true that I’ve become much stronger than when I faced Go Kyung-ho.

This is because Kang-hoo has his own way of dealing with characters with super strength such as Jo Hwan-seong.

If my memory serves me right, the net profit from mining magic stones at the Cheongmyeong concentration camp was around 1 billion won per day.

If 30 days is a month, it would be 30 billion won, and if 8% of that is guaranteed, it would be 2.4 billion won per month.

It’s not a small amount of money.

But Kang-hoo wanted something bigger than money.

In fact, 2.4 billion won is an amount that Kang-hoo could earn in a few hours if he wanted to.

“I’d like to make a counteroffer.”

– Shall we listen?

“We will reduce the profit guarantee to 4%.”

– hmm?

“Instead, if the Union takes firm control of the Cheongmyeong Detention Center, please make sure to raid all the dungeons inside at least once.”

– Do you want to obtain a permanent license?

“No. You just need to try to conquer them all once.”

There are a total of seven dungeons within the Qingming Prison.

Difficulty ranges from easy dungeons for recommended levels 100 and below, to difficult dungeons for levels 500 and above.

What Kang-hoo was after was a skill that could kill and rob the middle and main boss monsters of that dungeon.

Even if you catch just two guys in one place, you can steal a total of fourteen skills. That’s for sure.

– Is that all?

“Yes. Of course, it needs to be written down, not just a verbal promise. If it’s guaranteed, I don’t care about the profit at all.”

– Just a premise… … .

“Oh, I know. That I have to kill Jo Hwan-seong myself.”

How the compatibility and fight will play out is something we will have to see for ourselves. We cannot know the outcome in advance.

However, there was reason to believe that Kang-hoo could confidently fight Jo Hwan-seong.

Because no one is as well-versed in the internal structure of the Cheongmyeong concentration camp as Kang-hu.

For Shin Kang-hoo, the original villain, the Qingming concentration camp was the cradle and mother of evil.

Because the original creator had put so much effort into creating the stage, he knew all the secret spaces and passageways inside.

In a location where you need to escape, the routes available to you may be limited.

From the attacker’s perspective, that is, the one who needs to infiltrate, there were many routes they could utilize.

He probably knows more about the space than the officers inside the Qingming concentration camp.

The entire camp was in the palm of my hand. I was naturally confident about the level of infiltration.